Maccabees, BOOKS OF. Two books of this name are recognised as canonical by the Church of Rome, and enumerated in the articles of the Church of England among those apocrypha which 'the church doth read for example of life and instruction of manners, yet doth not apply to establish any doctrine.'
1 Maccabees, by far the more important of the two, after a rapid account of the conquests of Alexander the Great and the distribution of his dominions among his successors (i. 1-9), goes on to describe the Hellenising policy of Antiochus Epiphanes towards the Jews and its baneful effects (i. 10-64). Chapter ii. gives the genealogy of the Maccabean family and an account of the efforts of the aged Mattathias to rouse the spirit of active resistance among his countrymen (168 B.C.). The rest of the book falls into three main divisions, relating respectively to Judas (iii. 1-ix. 22), Jonathan (ix. 23-xii. 53), and Simon (xiii. 1-xvi. 18), the sons of Mattathias, and concludes with a brief mention of the accession of John Hyrcanus, referring for details to 'the chronicles of his priesthood' (xvi. 19-24). The work as we now possess it is the Greek translation of a Hebrew original, which was still extant in Jerome's time. According to Origen its Hebrew title was Sarbeth Sabaniel (meaning, perhaps, 'the prince of the house which God built up'). The date of its original composition cannot have been much (if at all) earlier than 106 B.C. (the last year of Hyrcanus), nor later than 64 B.C., at which time the relations of the Jews with the Romans changed so greatly for the worse. The author was plainly a Hebrew-speaking Jew, well acquainted with the topography of Palestine, who, if he had not actually witnessed or taken part in some of the transactions he describes, had at least conversed with those who had, and been at pains to make himself acquainted with the authentic oral traditions regarding them. He also had access to written documents, some of them of a public and official character. In spite of some inaccuracies and exaggerations he is entitled to high rank as a sober, painstaking, and trustworthy historian. The date of the Greek translation cannot be determined, but it was probably made very soon after the appearance of the original. 1 Maccabees was translated by Luther, who speaks of it as almost on a level with the canonical books, and hardly unworthy to be reckoned among them.
2 Maccabees opens with two letters (i. 1-9 and i. 10-ii. 18), purporting to be addressed by the Jewish authorities in Jerusalem to their brethren in Egypt, urging them to the regular observance of the Feast of the Dedication. The second and longer of the two contains much legendary and fabulous matter about Jeremiah and Nehemiah, and on the internal evidence generally it seems certain that both must be regarded as spurious. The reference in these letters to the wars of liberation leads the author of the book to speak of Judas Maccabæus, and to introduce himself as the epitomator of the five books of Jason of Cyrene on this theme. Who Jason of Cyrene was, or at what date he lived, is not known; he wrote in Greek, at some distance, both in place and in time it would seem, from the events he describes. He does not appear to have been acquainted with 1 Maccabees. The date of his epitomator is also uncertain; all that can be said with certainty is that it must have been prior to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. In numerous instances the statements of 2 Maccabees do not admit of reconciliation with those of 1 Maccabees, and the result of critical examination is in every case in favour of the latter. It is evident that the epitomator, at least, if not also Jason himself, was comparatively indifferent to rigid accuracy in historical detail; he writes mainly with a didactic purpose, and seeks at every point to give prominence to supernatural interventions on behalf of the chosen nation.
Besides the above comparatively well-known writings, there occur in certain MSS. of the Septuagint two other books known also by the name of Maccabees, though called so only in a loose sense.
3 Maccabees, in seven chapters, relates two occurrences in the reign (222-205 B.C.) of Ptolemy IV. Philopator—his attempt to desecrate the Temple, which was miraculously defeated through the prayers of Simon the high-priest, and the frustration of his vindictive scheme to destroy all his Jewish subjects, whom he had caused to be gathered together in the circus at Alexandria. The narrative is in many parts obviously fabulous, and at every point is without historical confirmation.
4 Maccabees, as its original title, 'On the Sovereignty of Reason' implies, is a discourse on the sovereignty of pious reason over the passions (i. 1-iii. 18); to this are appended numerous illustrations from the time of the Maccabees (iii. 19-xviii. 23). The second and larger portion may possibly have been based on the work of Jason of Cyrene (see above); the work as a whole is of a hortatory character, and the suggestion has been made that it was originally a synagogue sermon. Of the author nothing is known except that he was a sincere Jew, well read in Greek philosophy, and especially in that of the Stoics.
A fifth book of Maccabees, in Arabic, is printed in the Paris and London polyglots. It gives a summary of Jewish history from 180 B.C. to the close of the reign of Herod the Great, but has no independent value.
The best edition of the text of the four books of Maccabees is that of Fritzsche (Libri Apocryphi Veteris Testamenti Graece, 1871), and the best commentary that of Grimm in the Exegetisches Handbuch (1 Macc. 1853; 2-4 Macc. 1857). English translations are given in Cotton's Five Books of Maccabees in English (1832).