The maccabees fought both the foreign seleucids and homegrown hellenism. The answer to this was that those jews who wouldnt compromise in any way started a war, known as the maccabean revolt, and in the end won. Once antiochus epiphanes desecrated the temple by sacrificing a pig on the altar and erected a statue of zeus in the holy of holies, the profane act both shocked those loyal to yahweh god and caused the rise of the priestly maccabee family to rise up and wage war against the tyrant. The awful horror will be placed on the highest point of the temple and will remain there until the one who put it there meets the end which god has prepared for him. Daniel is actually a figure from the babylonian exile.
Oct 29, 2015 after the death of alexander the great, his kingdom was divided into four. The book of daniel glorified the kingdom of the saints which would follow the four successive kingdoms of the beasts. The book of daniel was probably published toward the beginning of the revolt when the outlook was bleak for the rebels daniel 7. The author of the second book of maccabees presented the conflict as a struggle between judaism and hellenism, concepts which he coined.
The company of greek officers who arrived at modiin intending to enforce the kings ordinances addressed mattathias first, for he was held in. Modern scholars, however, argue that the king intervened in a civil war between traditionalist jews in the countryside and hellenized jews in jerusalem. While the book of daniel claims to be written roughly around 530 bc, critics of the ot claim that it was written in 167 bc, during the maccabean era. The bible testifies that the jewish people experienced many times of bleakness, but for the faithful, there was always hope in god for rescue and. Egypt, the seleucid empire, the kingdom of pergamon and macedon including greece. Ii maccabees was originally written in greek and based on earlier work written by jason of cyrene. One of the seleucid successors of antiochus later had menelaus killed since his bad advice had caused the maccabean revolt. He went home and opened the windows of his house so that he was visible and seen praying to his one true god. Jan 17, 2020 the history of the maccabean revolt is found in 1 and 2 maccabees and in the writings of josephus. If pious jews could just hold out for three more years, god would supernaturally intervene to destroy antiochus and set up the eternal messianic kingdom. These practices and other outrages contributed to the revolt of the maccabees, led by the priest mattathias, son of hasmon, and his 5 sons. We should not be surprised to hear daniel prophesying about the antimessiah of the last days.
Maccabees, priestly family of jews who organized a successful rebellion against the seleucid ruler antiochus iv and reconsecrated the defiled temple of jerusalem. Daniel 6 and maccabees 12 i believe that daniel is a great example of how christians should act in any situation that goes against our beliefs. This is a quote from maccabees regarding the awful horror mentioned in daniel which was set up by king antiochus, probably the jews most. Anatomy of a biblical revolution harrington, daniel j. The maccabees were jewish leaders who took part in a revolt against the seleucids between 175 and 4 bc. The scripture that chanukah in part fulfilled is in daniel daniel and the book of maccabees dan 8. Babylon see ezra 12 exiles begin to return to jerusalem. Jan 02, 2020 the book of 2 maccabees consists of a greek synopsis of a fivevolume history of the maccabean revolt written by jason of cyrene. The original hebrew is lost and the most important surviving version is the greek translation contained in the septuagint. The revolt launched by the priest mattathias and later led by his third son, judah maccabee, was both a civil war and a war against an outside enemy. The first and second books of maccabees contain the most detailed. The first two books only are part of canonical scripture in the septuagint and the vulgate hence are canonical to roman catholicism and eastern orthodoxy and.
Maccabees and daniel noncatholic religions catholic. Dec 23, 2011 the detailed and accurate prophecies contained in that book have motivated many, skeptic and professed believer alike, to subscribe to the theory of a late date of composition for daniel in the time of the maccabees. And in fact the book of revelation is largely a christian interpretation of the. Their circumstances were the result of their own failed revolt. A resurrection for tortured jews 2 maccabees the bart. The book covers the whole of the revolt, from 175 to 4 bc, highlighting how the salvation of the jewish people in this crisis came. The origin of hanukkah is traced back to the maccabean revolt. The first book, although written from a biased perspective, does not directly mention god or divine intervention. The author of the first book of maccabees regarded the maccabean revolt as a rising of pious jews against the seleucid king who had tried to eradicate their religion and against the jews who supported him. The books of the maccabees biblical literature britannica. Some hold that the book was written originally as a kind of introduction to the books of maccabees, which it precedes as book i in cottons five books of maccabees. I maccabees was originally written in hebrew as an official court history for the hasmonean dynasty. A resurrection for tortured jews 2 maccabees i have pointed out that the notion of resurrection first appears in jewish writings in the book of daniel, and i am arguing that this notion is intrinsically connected with the apocalyptic view of the world that developed at the time. Judith and esther, heroines of the recent past, were depicted as the daughters of the bold prophetess deborah, while judah.
A couple of centuries later, jewish scholars found themselves in jamnia with the temple destroyed and jerusalem lost. The term mostly refers to two deuterocanonical books contained in various canons of the bible. Harrington sets the stage for both compositions by addressing the maccabean revolt, underscoring its importance in a time of great crisis. Daniels vision of the ram and goat shows the goat alexander the greats demise and the four hornskingdomswhich grow from his empire. Against this background, his hypothesis seems paradoxical. The name maccabee was a title of honour given to judas, a son of mattathias and the hero of the jewish wars of independence, 168164. In this way, we can reconstruct the outbreak of the civil war in judea that has gone down in history as the revolt of the maccabees. This segment comes from the matthew commentary published by koinonia house. But the book of daniel attributed to him is actually written during the maccabean revolt.
Old testament book 12 kindle edition by harrington, daniel j download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. The books of the maccabees were both written in the first century bce. First, some background on the events leading up to the maccabean revolt. Daniel 11 and the historic events which are depicted in the. With first and second maccabees, daniel harrington, s. The old testament closes with the book of malachi, covering events to roughly 400 bc.
Di lella, the book of daniel, ab 23 garden city, n. Maccabees, books of, 12 international standard bible. That ruler will have a firm agreement with many people for seven years, and when half this time is past, he will put an end to sacrifices and offerings. When mattathias died, the revolt was led by his son judas, or judah maccabee, as he is often called. First and second maccabees are important witnesses in our reconstruction of the second temple period and its various actors. Perhaps the term maccabees was generalized so as to denote all who suffered for their faith.
Although it is beyond the scope of this brief article to describe and discuss the debate that has arisen on the question of single authorship as versus dual or. First and second maccabees new collegeville bible commentary. First maccabees covers the efforts of the jewish people to regain their freedom following the desecration of the temple by antiochus iv epiphanes. Jun 21, 2019 although outside of 1 and 2 maccabees, the maccabees family receives no mention, we do have a peek of the time period in which all these events take place in daniel. The book of daniel is the apocalyptic book of the hebrew bible. By the end of the war, simon was the only one of the five sons of mattathias to survive and he ushered in an 80year period of jewish independence in judea, as the land of israel was now called. May 17, 20 in this segment chuck missler discusses the maccabean revolt. Hanukkah and the prophet daniel, pt 2 messianic jewish. This order fulfilled the prophecy of the abomination of desolation prophesied by the prophet daniel in daniel 8. The books of the maccabees, four books, none of which is in the hebrew bible but all of which appear in some manuscripts of the septuagint.
Egypt, governed by ptolemy i soter allowed for judaism in jerusalem to flourish with very little intervening in the 3rd century bce. First and second maccabees by daniel harrington, paperback. The doctrine expressed in the book is the customary belief of israel, without the new developments which appear in 2 maccabees and daniel. Maccabees is the name given to the jewish family that led the armed revolt. This is the subject of more sources, such as the first book of the maccabees roughly the same vintage as the second book and the bible book daniel. Schwartz of the hebrew university discusses the the first and second books of maccabees. In the first and second books of the maccabees, the maccabean revolt is described as a response to cultural oppression and national resistance to a foreign power. The book of daniel is preserved in the 12chapter masoretic text and in two longer greek versions, the original septuagint version, c. The book of daniel and the maccabean thesis up until. Daniel 11 and the historic events which are depicted in the prophecy verse text from the book of daniel historical events 1. The people of israel have been specially chosen by the one true god as covenantpartner, and they alone are privileged to know and worship god, their eternal benefactor and unfailing source of help. The books of maccabees describe the revolt led by the maccabean family against the syrian king, antiochus epiphanes. Why the maccabees arent in the bible my jewish learning.
Andrews university seminary studies, summer 1983, vol. Most jews learn about it directly or indirectly from first and. Tcherikover lists a number of explanations suggested by other researchers as to why antiochus persecuted the jews. In the course of the books opening stories, the kings keep realizing that daniels god is, in fact, everybodys god, or the only godand then they immediately do something. Maccabean revolt biblical studies oxford bibliographies. Generally, the maccabeean theory holds that the book of daniel was written around 168165 bc. By the time you finish reading daniel, youll probably be wondering how all these babylonian and persian kings could be so incredibly thick. Daniel and the book of maccabees chanukah is not an appointed moedim listed in lev 23 with the other seven festivals of yhwh. Books of the maccabees kindle edition by douay rheims. If this is true, the relatively late date of the maccabean revolt would preclude its. The books of the maccabees are books concerned with the maccabees, the leaders of the jewish rebellion against the seleucid dynasty and related subjects. The books motto comes from augustine of hippo, who questioned why god abandoned the maccabees, and this leads not only to the main topic, but also to nazi germany, from which bickerman escaped and in which this book was originally published. The record in 2 maccabees begins one year earlier than that of 1 maccabees, but as the latter reaches down to 5 bc and probably below 105 bc.
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