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5 Maccabees
The Fifth Book of the Maccabees is an ancient Jewish work relating the history in the 2nd and 1st centuries BC. Content The book chronicles the events from Heliodorus' attempt to rob the Temple treasury in 186 BC to the death of Herod the Great's two sons about 6 BC. Similar to other Books of the Maccabees, this work aims at consoling Jews in their sufferings and encouraging them to be steadfast "in their devotion to the Mosaic law". Textual history The book survives in Arabic, but was probably composed in Hebrew, judging from numerous Hebraisms. As no trace of a Hebrew text exists, some scholars (e.g. Zunz, Heinrich Graetz and Samuel Davidson) consider the work to have been in Arabic from Hebrew memoirs. The author probably was a Jew living some time after the destruction of the temple in 70 AD. The book bears some relationship to the history of Josippon.James R. Davila'The More Old Testament Pseudepigrapha Project.' U of St. Andrews. Last accessed: 7 May 2013. The boo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maccabees
The Maccabees (), also spelled Machabees ( he, מַכַּבִּים, or , ; la, Machabaei or ; grc, Μακκαβαῖοι, ), were a group of Jewish rebel warriors who took control of Judea, which at the time was part of the Seleucid Empire. They founded the Hasmonean dynasty, which ruled from 167 BCE to 37 BCE, being a fully independent kingdom from about 110 to 63 BCE. They reasserted the Jewish religion, partly by forced conversion, expanded the boundaries of Judea by conquest and reduced the influence of Hellenism and Hellenistic Judaism. Etymology The name Maccabee is often used as a synonym for the entire Hasmonean dynasty, but the Maccabees proper were Judas Maccabeus and his four brothers. The name Maccabee was a personal epithet of Judah, and the later generations were not his direct descendants. One explanation of the name's origins is that it derives from the Aramaic ''maqqəḇa'', "the hammer", in recognition of Judah's ferocity in battle. The traditi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
