3. Integrity.—In its present form 3 Mac appears to be incomplete. It begins abruptly (ὁ δὲ Φιλο- adrwp); in 13 there is a reference to ‘the plot’ (τὴν ἐπιβουλήν) of which no previous mention has been made; and in 2” allusion is made to the king’s ‘before-mentioned’ companions, although the fore- roing part of the work is silent regarding them.
ut it is unnecessary (with Diihne, Ewald, Fritzsche) to suppose that it is a mere fragment; the loss of an introductory chapter would explain all (Grimm). Fritzsche thinks the title of the book indicates that we have in the extant fragment a sort of
rolegomena to a complete history of the Macca-
ese Certainly ‘Book of Maccabees’ is a mis- nomer as app ied to the existing work, which professes to deal with a situation considerably anterior to the Maceabman rising.
4. Language.--ir book bears every evidence of having been written in Greek by an Alex- andrian Jew. The vocabulary is exceptionally rich. Hebraisms are comparatively rare, and never harsh (e.g. ‘thy glorious name,’ 2%; ‘the heaven of heavens,’ 2" ete.). The style, however, is ‘ bom
194 MACCABEES, BOOKS OF
MACCABEES, BOOKS OF
bastic and involved,’ and even further removed from the category of ordinary prose narrative than is that of 2 Mac, with which it has many points of affinity, such as, e.g., the use of τόπος to designate the temple at Jerus., and of ἐπιφάνεια to denote the special miraculous interposition of God, and the love of rhetorical word-painting (1° 45% 5**), It exceeds that work, however, in obscure expres- sions (19: 14-17 981 411), and in straining after poetic effect (118 48 5° 6% 8). The opening words of 5% (ὅσοι γονεῖς παρῆσαν ἢ παίδων γόνοι) form an iambic trimeter, and seem to be a quotation from some Greek dramatist. Some words bear an unusual meaning, 6.9. διάγειν (18), ἀπρόπτωτος (3.3), κατα- χρᾶσθαι (45); others do not occur elsewhere, e.g. ἀνεπιστρέπτως (15), λαογραφία (2), προσυστέλλεσθαι (23), χαρτηρία (45); and others are very rare, or are used only in late Gr. writings, e.g. ἔνθεσμος (271), φρικασμός (31:7), ἀλογιστία (5%), weyadouepS (6%). The work appears to be more or less coloured by the influence of the Alexandrian philosophy ; compare in this connexion the names (μέγιστος, 19-16 418 722; ὕψιστος, 6? 7°) applied to the Supreme Being, and the distinction made between God and His glory (2°).
5. Use by Jews and Christians.—The book seems to have been practically neglected by the Jews, while the first Cristian reference to it occurs in the Canones Apostolorum, c. 85 (MaxxaBalwy τρία). It is mentioned (ad Dan. 11’) by Theodoret of Antioch (tc. A.D. 457); in the catalogue of Nicephorus (Μακκαβαϊκὰ γ᾽), and in the Synopsis Athanasii apparently as Ilrodeuaixd.* The work found no acceptance with the Latin Church, and is not included in the Vulg.; but in the Syrian Church it met with considerable favour, as is shown by the existence of an ancient Syriac version, by the respectful allusions of Theodoret, and by the fact that in all probability the cata- logue of Nicephorus had its origin in the Syrian Church.
6. MSS and Versions.—3 Mac is found in most MSS and editions of the LXX. A Latin trans- lation was first made for the Complutensian Poly- glott, and has since been followed by several others. Many German versions also now exist, among which may be mentioned those of the Ziiricher Bibel, Berlenburger Bibel, Bunsen’s Bibel- werk, and Kautzsch’s Apocryphen u. Pseud- Se sa According to Cotton (The Five Books of Maccabees in English, Oxford, 1832, Introd. p. xx), the first English version (by Walter Lynne) appeared in 1550, and was with some modifications embodied in a folio Bible issued by John Daye in 1551.
D. TV MAcCABEES.—1. Contents. —This, as a philosophical treatise, occupies a unique position among apocryphal books. The writer’s theme is ‘the supremacy of pious reason (=religious prin- ciple) over the passions,’ + and the Judaism which he advocates is distinctly coloured by the Stoic
hilosophy. Although the composition takes the orm of a discourse in which the direct mode of address is adopted (11:7 214. 13° 181), we are not therefore warranted in supposing (with Freuden- thal) that we have here an actual specimen of a Jewish sermon. The style is too abstruse for an ordinary congregation, and it never became the habit to base discourses upon philosophical pro- positions instead of Scripture texts. At the same time, the work is not a mere academical thesis. If it suggests an artificial spirituality rather than the natural outflow of a ie deeply under the
*The text reads Μακχαβαϊχὰ βιβλία 3° Πτολεμαῖκά, but Oredner is probably right in substituting καὶ for δ΄.
tL) εἰ αὑτοδίσποτός ἔστιν τῶν ταθῶν ὁ ἰὐσιβὴς λογισμός ; 118 gf αὐτοκράτωρ ἰἱστὶν τῶν παθῶν ὁ λογισμός ; 181 τῶν παθὼν δισπότης στὴν ὁ εὐσιβὴς λογισμός.
pawn of religion (Grimm), the writer undoubtedly 1andles his subject with vigour, moral earnest- ness, and a desire to edify his readers (or hearers). These were apparently confined to his co-religion- ists (181 Ὦ τῶν ᾿Αβραμιαίων σπερμάτων ἀπόγονοι παῖδες Ἰσραηλεῖται), whom he assures that in order to lead a pious life they have only to follow the dictates of ‘pious reason.’
After an introduction (11.132), the author lays down his thesis that pious reason is perfect maste1 of the passions, and expounds this proposition not without dialectic skill. Reason he defines as ‘intelligence combined with an upright life, and holding in honour the word of wisdom’ (1%5),* anu wisdom as ‘the knowledge of affairs divine and human, and of their causes’ (1%). Wisdom is attained through ‘the instruction of the law’ (117), and is manifested in four cardinal virtues, viz. φρόνησις, δικαιοσύνη, ἀνδρεία, σωφροσύνη (18. A description and classification of the affections, with special reference to the antagonism offered by them to the four cardinal virtues, is also given, and it is shown by examples taken from Jewish history that pious reason is lord of all the affec- tions except forgetfulness (λήθη) and ignorance (ἄγνοια). With this ends the first and more strictly philosophical part of the book (118-318), In the second part (3!-18"), after a historical review of the tyrannical treatment of the Jews under the Syrian king Seleucus and his son (sic) Antiochus Epiphanes (3!*-4”), the conquering power of reason is further represented as most brilliantly illus- trated in the martyrdom of Eleazar (5-7) and of the seven brethren (8-14!) and their mother (14}}.- 16%). The writer accompanies his account of the martyrdom of these heroic defenders of the faith with frequent and copious remarks of a religious and edifying nature, and introduces occasionally eae ee reflexions (e.g. 5°) which would