The Role of ‘Scripture’ in the Eulogy of Simon (1Macc 14:4–15) (original) (raw)
Related papers
Judas Maccabeus’s Wars Against Judaea’s Neighbours in 1 Maccabees 5: A Reassessment of the Evidence
The fifth chapter of the First Book of Maccabees recounts a whole range of wars waged by Judas Maccabeus against Judaea’s neighbours, who are depicted as threatening the lives of the Jews living in their midst. The account of these punitive expeditions contains the only explicit reference found in the book to an anathema (herem) against a foreign people, a reference which has led some scholars to see Judas as re-enacting the biblical prescription of the herem against the Canaanites. In contrast with this interpretation, the present article argues that the description in 1 Maccabees 5 is highly literary and rhetorical, and that it is part of a strategy which aims at presenting Judas as the heir of the first kings of Israel. In particular, a careful literary analysis shows that nearly all the differences between the accounts in 1 and 2 Maccabees can be explained by taking into consideration the project of the author to present Judas's military expeditions in the light of Saul's campaigns, following 1 Samuel 10–15 (especially 14:47-48). Given the indebtedness of 1 Maccabees 5 toward such biblical traditions, the historicity of Judas's wars against Judaea’s neighbours should be re-assessed.
The First Book of Maccabees (15:28–36) records a diplomatic exchange over disputed cities and territories between Simon, Judas Maccabeus’s brother, and the Seleucid king Antiochus VII. In vv. 33–34, Simon argues that the Jews/Judeans have not seized foreign lands that belonged to others but have simply taken back “the heritage of our fathers.” Many scholars have interpreted Simon’s reply as a self-evident indication that the Hasmonean dynasty saw itself as reconquering the promised land. However, a closer analysis of the text shows that this claim is exaggerated. Moreover, scholars refer to this passage alone in support of such a theory. Through the analysis of the literary construction of the passage and of its connections with biblical traditions, with Seleucid rhetoric as presented in 1 Maccabees itself, and with Hellenistic arguments used in cases of territorial strife, I argue that “the heritage of our fathers” refers to Judea alone, and that Simon’s discourse cannot be interpreted solely through the lens of biblical intertextuality but rather needs to be compared with the ways of arguing about one’s legitimate right to possess a territory in the Hellenistic world at large.
The Middle Maccabees. Archaeology, History, and the Rise of the Hasmonean Kingdom
SBL Archaeology and Biblical Studies, SBL Press: Atlanta, 2021, 2021
The Middle Maccabees lays out the charged, complicated beginnings of the independent Jewish state founded in the second century BCE. Contributors offer focused analyses of the archaeological, epigraphic, numismatic, and textual evidence, framed within a wider world of conflicts between the Ptolemies of Egypt, the Seleucids of Syria, and the Romans. The result is a holistic view of the Hasmonean rise to power that acknowledges broader political developments, evolving social responses, and the particularities of local history.
The Books of the Maccabees: History, Theology, Ideology
BRILL eBooks, 2007
The present volume contains papers read at the Second International Conference on the Deuterocanonical Books, organised by the Shime'on Centre for the Study of Hellenistic and Roman Age Judaism and Christianity of the Reformed Theological Academy, Papa, Hungary. The topic of the conference was the Books of the Maccabees-important witnesses to the thinking of a particular strand of early Judaism-which nicely mirror the theological and ideological interpretation of history by their authors. Within a certain frame, consisting of three papers treating either general, introductory questions of the Deuterocanonical corpus as a whole, or some relevant topics of cognate literature, the contributions in this volume intend to work with the interrelated questions of history, theology and ideology. In doing this, they seek to find the place of the Maccabaean literature within the thinking of the circles that authored them, and to contextualise these works in the contemporary literature. The editors express their deep gratitude to John Kampen, professor of the Methodist Theological School in Ohio, who kindly offered his invaluable help in correcting the English of the volume, and to the series editor, John J. Collins, who kindly accepted this book-as its predecessor on Tobit-for publication in the series of JSJ Supplements.