For a table of contemporary Syrian kings, see Axti- ocnus; and for further information, see Milman, Hist, of the Jeics, vol. ii ; Prideaux, Connection, vol. ii (Oxford,
MACCABEES, BOOKS OF
60G
MACCABEES, BOOKS OF
1838); Ewald, Geschichte des V. Israel, vol. iii, part ii; HerzfeUl, Geschichie d. Volkes Isr.; Kaphall, IJist. of the Jews ; Griitz, Gesch. d. JiiJen, vol. iii ; Jost, Gescfi. d. Is- raeliten; Weber uiid Holtzmann, GescJi. d, Volkes Israel (Lcipsic, 181)7, 2 vols. 8vo), vol. ii, ch. iii.
Maccabees, I5ooks of (Mrt/cKo/iai'tuv a, /3', etc.). Four books which bear the cominou title of "Macca- bees" are found in some MSS. of the Sept.; a fifth is found in an Arabic version. Two of these were included in the early current Latin versions of the Bible, and thence passed into the Vulgate. As forming part of the Vulgate, they were received as canonical by the Coun- cil of Trent, and retained among the Apocnjpha by the Eeformed churches. The two other books obtained no such wide circulation, and have only a secondary con- nection with the Maccabiean history. But all the books, though they differ most widely in character, and date, and worth, possess points of interest which make them a fruitful field for study. If the historic order were ob- served, the so-called third book would come first, the fourth would be an appendix to the second, which would retain its place, and the. Jirst would come last; but it will be more convenient to examine the books in the order in which they are found in the MSS., which was probably decided by some vague tradition of their rela- tive antiquity. In the following account of these books we adopt much of the matter I'ound in the dictionaries of Kitto and Smith.
The controversy as to the mutual relations and his- toric worth of the first two books of Maccabees has given rise to much very ingenious and partial criticism. The subject was very neai'ly exhausted by a series of essa3's published in the last century, which contain, in the midst of much unfair reasoning, the substance of what has been written since. The discussion was occasioned by E. Frolich's Annals of Syria (Amiales .... Syrue .... numis veteribus illustrati,\m(\oh.Yi'i'^'). In this great work the author — a Jesuit — had claimed para- mount authority for the books of Maccabees. This claim was denied by E. F.Wernsdorf in his Prolusio de foniibus histories Syrite in Libris Mace. (Lipsite, 1746). Frolich replied to this essay in another, Defontibus hint. SyricE in Libris Mace, prolusio .... in exainen vocata (^'indob. 174G), and then the argument fell into other hands. Wernsdorf's brother ((ili.Wernsdorf) undertook to support his cause, which he did in a Commentatio his- torico-critica defde librorum Maccab. (Wratisl. 1747); and nothing has been written on the same side which can be compared with his work. By the vigor and free- dom of his style, hy his surprising erudition and unwav- ering conlidence — almost worthy of Bentley — he carries his readers often beyond the bounds of true criticism, and it is only after reflection that the littleness and sophistry of many of his arguments are apparent. But, in spite of the injustice and arrogance of the book, it contains very much which is of the greatest value, and no abstract can give an adequate notion of its power. The reply to Wernsdorf was published anonymously b}' another Jesuit : A uctoriias utriusqiie Libri Mace, ca- nonico-historica adserta . . , a quodam Soc. Jesu sacer- dote (Vindob. 1749). The authorship of this was fixed upon J. Khell (Welte, Einleit. p. 23, note); and while in many points Khell is unecpial to his adversary, his book contains some very useful collections for the history of the canon. In more recent times, F. X. Patritius (an- otlier .Icsuil ) has made a fresh attempt to establish the complete harmony of the books, and, on the Mhole, his essay (De Consensu utriusqiie Libri Muec. Komse, 1856), though far from satisfactory, is the most able defence of the books which has been published.
For a copious list of original editions, translations, and commentaries on the first three books of Maccabees, see Fiirst. Bibliatheca Judnit^i. ii. ;516 sq. ,
IMACCABEES, the FIIJST Book of, the most im- portant one of the five apocryphal productions which have come down to us under this common title.
I. Title and Position of the Book. — In the editions of
the Sept. which we follow, this book is called the first of Maccabees (MuKKnfialujv a'), because in the MSS. it is placed at the head of those apocryphal books which record the exploits and merits of the Maccakeau family in their struggles for the restoration of their ancestral religion and the liberation of their Jewish compatriots from the Seleucidian tyranny. According to Origen, however (comp. Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. vi, 25), the orig- inal Hebrew title of this book was ^apjiijQ 'S.apjiav'i tX. Great difficulty has been experienced in the endeavor to obtain the exact Hebrew equivalent to these words. They have been resolved — 1. Into ^"la r!!;"!!!? (or "IIT) bs ^33, History of the Princes of the Sons of God, that is, of Israel (iMichaelis, Orient. Biblioth. xii, 115, and most modern commentators). 2. Into "^33 ^113 i;"i3"H!3 ?N, The Sceptre of the Prince of the Sons of God, i. e. of Simon, who is called prince in 1 Mace, xiii, 41 ; xiv, 47 (Bochart, Buddeus, and Ewald, Geschichte d. V.Isrctel iv, 528). But this makes chapters xiii-xvi the princi- pal part of the book, and the rest a mere introduction, 3. Into PX "iji TO n'^3 ^UJ, Princeps templi (i. e. pon- tifex maximus), Princeps filioi-uin Dei (i. e. dux populi Judaici), based upon the words 'S.i/.aovog apxtipiwi; /ji- ydXov Kai (rTpaTi)yov KCti yyovph'ov 'lov^ctiwv, 1 Mace, xiii, 42 ; andtn-i 'Sij.uovoQ apxifOHog tv "Eapa^itX, ibid, xiv, 27 (Wernsdorf, Comment, de fide libb. Maccab. p. 173). 4. Into bx ^rn^D i:'i2TJ, Sceptrum rebel- Hum Dei, i. e. of the Syrian kings, who were regarded as rebelling against God because they persecuted the Jews (Junius, Huetius, etc.), or as Herzfeld, who es- pouses this solution of the words, explains it, the chas- tisinfi rod of the ajwstates, which he submits is an appro- priate appellation of the Jlaccabieans (Geschichte d. V. Israel, i, 265). We incline to the first explanation, be- cause it escapes the censure which the second incurs, and is less artificial than the third and fourth. It must, however, be remarked that this title does not occur in the Hebrew literature, and that both the ancient and modem Jews call the book C^N3"i^irnn "SD, The Bookofthellashmonceans; iXJTCirnb "(VrX"!, /. //a«A- monceans; ''i<!1?2'i'n TT'n Th^O, The Scroll of the Fam- ily of the Ilashmonceans, or simply "^XJItCiTI r?i'2. The Scroll of the Ilashmonceans, after the title Ilashmonetans, or AshmontEans, by which the Maccabajan family are denominated. See Maccabee.