Commentary on 1 Maccabees

About the First Book of Maccabees Chapter I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII XIII XIV XV XVI The orderly chronological flow of the sacred code, and the more or less coherent, historically consistent content of its books - after the books of Nehemiah and the prophet Malachi - is suddenly disrupted by a large gap of several centuries (440-175 BC), which did not find a worthy perpetuation in the sacred books. From the year 175, the books of the Maccabees again continue the presentation of events of a sacred nature for Old Testament humanity and bring it to 135 BC, after which the Old Testament code again breaks off completely, giving way to the sacred books of the New Testament code, which begins with the gospel stories about the birth of the Savior of the world. The Maccabean books borrowed their name from the nickname originally given to the 3rd son of the priest Mattathias - Judah - Maccabees, which means “hammer” 1, for his outstanding heroism and success in the fight against the enemies of the Jews (1 Mac. 2:4 - Ιούδας ό επικαλούμενος Μακκαβαιος; cf. Ιούδας Μακκαβαιος – 1 Mac.2:66,3:1,5:24,8:20 etc. In 2 Maccabees in many places ( 2 Mac.8:5,16) directly ό Μακκοβαιος, and even simply Μακκαβαίος – 2 Mac.10:1, as found in 1 Mac.5:34). – From this nickname of Judas the whole family of Judas’ brothers received the name “Maccabees,” and the movement itself, caused and led by them, became known as the struggle or era of the “Maccabees.” Under the name "Maccabees" in the Bible there are three books recognized as non-canonical. The First Book of Maccabees, briefly conveying the circumstances of the accession of Antiochus Epiphanes to the Syrian throne, narrates about the severe persecution of this atheist against Judaism faithful to God and about the heroic struggle for their faith and freedom of the successively entire family of Maccabees, starting with Mattathias, the ancestor of this family, and ending with Simon, i.e. from 175-135 BC. (Mattathias, 1 Mac.1–2.; Jude, 1 Mac.3:1–9:22; Jonathan, 1 Mac.9:23–12:53; Simon, 1 Mac.13–16). According to the testimony of Origen and Blessed. Jerome, this book was originally written in Hebrew. The evidence of the first (in Eusebius, Hist. eccles. VI, 25) is as follows: έξω τούτων (i.e., besides these canonical books of the Old Testament) έστ i τα Μακκαβαικα 2, απερ έπιγέγραπται Σαρβήθ Σορβανέ έλ – (Heb. ..., i.e. “dominion”, or “History of the princes of the sons of God”). - Blazh. Jerome in his testimony (prolog. galeat.) names only two Maccabean books among the books that do not belong to the canon, and at the same time notes: Machabeorum primum librum hebraicum reperi; secundus graecus est, quod ex ipsa quoque phrasi probari potest. – Both books are already in the Codex Italica, and from it they were transferred to the Vulgate, so blessed. Jerome did not translate them again. Time to write a book. The time of writing of the book can be approximately indicated - at the end of the life of the High Priest John, Simon's successor. This follows from the note of the writer himself at the end of the book, where, having reached the history of John, he refers the reader to the book of the days of his high priesthood, without mentioning his death, but listing - “and his wars, and his courageous deeds, gloriously accomplished, and the construction of the walls that he erected, and his other deeds ... from the time that he became a high priest after his father” - (1 Mac.16:23-24). The translation into Greek of the Hebrew original was undoubtedly made soon after the appearance of the original. Made quite free from the original and apparently by an equally authoritative person, this translation supplanted even the original, entering the Greek canon instead. Josephus Flavius, the famous Jewish historian, used exclusively translated text for his classic work. The writer of the book (as well as the translator) is definitely unknown. He was probably a Palestinian Jew who was close to the persons and events described, who had the opportunity to use not only personal impressions and memories, but also official documents of that time when writing the book. This very thing puts the authenticity and historical reliability of the events described beyond any doubt, especially since other Syrian and Greek historians (especially Polyvius) narrate all of this in complete agreement, setting out the events of the times of the Syrian kings. The books of Maccabees are translated from Greek because they are not in the Hebrew text. Same as the German "Martell". Although the expression τά Μακκαβαικά apparently implies several books, however, the Hebrew inscription of the book given further leaves no doubt.