| Maccabees is a deuterocanonical book written by a Jewish author after the restoration of an independent Jewish kingdom, probably about 100 BCE.Contents
The setting of the book is about a century after the conquest of Judea by the Greeks under Alexander the Great, after Alexander's empire has been divided so that Judea was part of the Greek Seleucid Empire.In the first chapter, Alexander the Great conquers the territory of Judea, only to be eventually succeeded by the Seleucid Antiochus IV Epiphanes.The latter practice discouraged the Jewish practice of circumcision, which had already been forbidden, even further; a man's state could not be concealed in the gymnasium, where men socialized in the nude.There is one complete loss of a thousand Jews (men, women and children) to Antiochus when the Jewish defenders refuse to fight on the Sabbath.The festival of Hanukkah is instituted by Judas Maccabeus and his brothers to celebrate this event (1 Macc.Simon and his successors form the Hasmonean dynasty, which is not always considered a valid kingship by the Jews, since they were not of the lineage of David.In Hebrew, the first letters of this four word slogan form the acronym MKBY (Mem, Kaf, Bet and Yud).This became synonymous with the revolt.The name came to be used for his brothers as well, which accounts for the title of the book.Scholars infer that in the original Hebrew, the term used for "abomination of desolation" would have sounded similar to "Lord of heaven", so that this term might refer to an image or altar of Zeus.The history presented is very accurate, comparing favorably to pagan historians such as Livy or Tacitus.Josephus most likely used some form of this text in writing his account of the Maccabean revolt.Though the original book was written in Hebrew, as can be deduced by a number of Hebrew idioms in the text, the original has been lost and the version which comes down to us is the Septuagint.Some authors date the original Hebrew text even closer to the events covered, while a few suggest a later date.Origen (cited by Eusebius Eccl Hist vi.He shows intimate and detailed geographical knowledge of the Holy Land, but is inaccurate in his information about foreign countries.The author interprets the events not as a miraculous intervention by God, but rather God's using the instrument of the military genius of the Maccabees to achieve his ends.External links
The Book of First Maccabees Full text
Catholic Encyclopedia: 1 Maccabees
Jewish Encyclopedia: Maccabees, Books of
Encyclopedia Britannica: Books of the Maccabees
1 Maccabees, article in historical sourcebook by Mahlon H.Seleucids and Ptolemies battled for the prize.Seleucids to retreat from Palestine.Jews' demand for independence.Complete Idiot's Guide to Middle East Conflict.Maccabees are historical
narratives and tell the inspiring story of the Jewish people
fighting for the right to worship God.Syrian king, Antiochus IV
Epiphanes, decided to force the Jews to give up their religion and start
worshipping Greek gods.Syrians, restored the Temple, and ruled Israel themselves
until the Romans and Herod took over in 37 B.Antiochus IV Epiphanes
is a central figure in the Book of Daniel as the type of the Antichrist...Before the Maccabees the resistance to the Antichrist
was passive, with prayers and patience...Maccabees are in the Catholic and Orthodox Bibles, they
are the Word of God as much as Exodus, included in the canon even in two General Councils,
in Florence and Trent.Bible to relate the history of Antiochus
IV Epiphanes, a main type of the Antichrist in the Book of Daniel...Also, the popular Hanukkah, the Feast of Lights
in December, celebrating the restoration of the Temple, is only described in the Bible in
the Books of Maccabees.New historical information about Antiochus IV
Epiphanes, the type of the Antichrist in the Book of Daniel.The martyrdom of
Eleazar (6).It is not included in the Catholic nor Protestant Bibles, but it is included in
some Orthodox Bibles.It
praises the Maccabees for the good they did for their faith.Although it is not included in any Bible, it offered
inspiration to early Christians who were willing to die for their faith in Jesus.In 2 Maccabees, the author mentions that his work is a summary of the
larger history in five books of Jason of Cyrene (2Mac.The Maccabees is a priestly family which under the
leadership of Mattathias in 167 B.With him ended the rule of the Maccabees.Herod
successively murdered all the relatives of the Maccabees and the line of the Maccabees
became extinct in 7 B.Bibles use the name Maccabee.Hasmoneans or Asmoneans: The family patronymic of
the Maccabees however was Hasmoneans or Asmoneans, from Hashmon, Gr.English and Spanish)
Public domain text.Mattathias, after killing an apostate Jew who took part in a Greek sacrifice, killed the royal enforcing officer.Judas Maccabeus, from whose surname the family name is derived.Judas, an excellent military leader, defeated an expedition sent from Syria to destroy him.Judas' brother Jonathan, the new leader, was successful for a time; he supported Demetrius' rival, Alexander Balas, and made treaties of friendship with Sparta and Rome.John Hyrcanus was succeeded by his son Aristobulus I, who died a year later.She favored the Pharisees and governed well.After her death, her son John Hyrcanus II, who had been high priest, acquired the temporal rule as well, but his more energetic brother, Aristobulus II, revolted.The house of the Maccabees made several efforts to throw off Roman rule.Antigonus, the son of Aristobulus II, invaded Judaea with Parthian aid.The name Maccabees has been extended to include the Jewish martyrs of the persecution, notably those of 2 Mac.The original early biblical
Maccabees were a priestly family of Jews who organized a successful rebellion against the
Seleucid ruler Antiochus IV and reconsecrated the defiled Temple of Jerusalem.In 1896, the Knights of the Maccabees had a
membership of 209,831.Their name
comes from the Biblical Maccabees.Before 1914, it was known as the Knights of the Maccabees.Knights of the Maccabees of
the World, organized originally in Canada, was incorporated in Michigan in 1884.The Maccabees were one of the more successful of fraternal benefit
societies which sprung up after the Civil War.Groups like the Maccabees, Foresters, Woodmen, and so
on provided a safety net along with pleasant social meetings and other
gatherings.Foresters, Robin Hood, for
example, and the Maccabees the story of Mattathias Maccabee and his sons, the
leaders of the Jewish revolt against Syrian desecration of the Temple.The insurance aspect of the
fraternity has always been paramount.The
Knights of the Modern Maccabees and The Maccabees of the World have since consolidated and
were known simply as the Maccabees.In 1891, a young woman went to a summer picnic
that would transform her life as well as Port Huron's history.At age 18, she completed her studies at St.My Aunt Jean Drane Yott (with glasses) is on the far right, and my Grandmother
Jean Drane is beside her.The picnic, which she attended with an aunt,
was sponsored by the Maccabees, a fraternal benefit society led by Port Huron
native Nathan Boynton.On the spot, she decided she would change that.Her motivation was the thought of two of her best pupils, whose mother had died
without insurance.It was taken while on a Ladies of the Maccabees outing!Her
grandmother, Jean Drane is draped on the fender.As state organizer for the Ladies of the
Maccabees, she built its membership from 319 in 1892 to 5,770 in 1894.The
organization, later renamed the Women's Benefit Association, had 75,224 members
in 42 states by 1900.The rapid growth led the Maccabees to build a
second temple in 1904 at the intersection of Huron and Pine Grove avenues.This circa 1922 application for
membership in the Ladies of the Maccabees came from the family of Edward Ward.He was
born June 23, 1837 in Port Huron, Michigan.His father, Granville P.He invested his
savings in Michigan pine lands and was promptly wiped out by the Panic of 1857.Along the way
he married and had his first of six children, Charles Boynton, in 1860.And it was here that Boynton's
star began to shine.He served under Burnside In the campaign of East Tennessee and was in one
of the first units that marched Into Atlanta alongside General Sherman.Eleven years later he and his friend, Congressman William S.Linton, traveled to Florida in search of a winter retreat from the harsh
Michigan winters.They sailed down the newly dredged Florida East Coast Canal
(the Intracoastal) in Fred C.He died in Port Huron at
11:30pm on Saturday, May 27, 1911.The medal is 4 inches long with a nice 1 inch
tin litho.The silver plating has minor wear and tarnish.It has a pin on the top to hold a
ribbon and the other pin is broken off.This Knights of the Maccabees medallion served
much the same purpose as the Mark Master Chapter Penny.There were a lot of Maccabees and every
member had one of these.It was destroyed by a
fire after serving many years as the Algonquin hotel.This
picture was taken looking northeast.Maccabee
Temple are no longer there.In the pictures below you can see
the former Maccabees Headquarters being torn down after the fire in 2000.Dale McDonald who took the above pictures of the (Algonquin
Hotel) the original Maccabees Headquarters being torn down!Above is an early
cabinet card photograph of a uniformed Maccabee.Their dress is very
similar to that of a Masonic Knight Templar.Here is another
young Maccabee wearing his badge and hat.COMMANDER:
Sir Knight R.SERGEANT:
Sir Knight First Master of the Guard, take this station.COMMANDER:
The words are correct; return to your station.COMMANDER:
Are they in possession of the passwords?Sir Knight Sentinel, relieve the Picket and
instruct him to report to this station.Relieve the Sentinel and instruct him
to report to this station.Return, guard well the inner door,
allow no one to pass without giving the proper signal and password or obtaining
permission.SERGEANT:
Sir Knight Lieut.Commander, the Sentinel and the Picket are in possession of
the proper passwords.Allow no one to pass
the inner door not in possession of the passwords, without permission.Return to your stations.SERGEANT:
Sir Knight Lieut.Commander, alt present are qualified to remain.CHAPLAIN:
Supreme Ruler, strengthen our hands in building up this Order.May our
Order grow and prosper.Singing
the joyful song of gladness.COMMANDER:
Sir Knight Lieut.COMMANDER:
What is the permanent password?COMMANDER:
Give me the test word.COMMANDER:
In the name of Judas Maccabeus, the liberator of his people, and with a firm
belief in the brotherhood of man, I, as Commander of this Tent, now declare it
open and ready for action.Reports of sickness or distress.Report of Committees (standing and special.Report of suspensions and reinstatements since last report.Does
any Sir Knight know of employment for a Sir Knight who is out of work?Tent of The Maccabees.You have been well recommended and elected to membership.But, in order to prepare you in a measure for what will soon take
place within your sight and hearing, allow me to call your attention to an event
in the history of the human race that was certainly one of the most pathetic and
in some respects, the most remarkable this world has ever seen.ELEAZAR, slowly and with much deliberate emphasis:
No, O King!It would be shameful in
me to take shelter in hypocrisy, neither will I stain my old age by appearing to
embrace thy false teachings.And, although I could escape thy punishment for the present, I could never
escape from the hands of the Almighty.KING, soliloquizing:
This foolish old man is filled with conceit, and hath an exalted opinion of
himself.Rising, in a loud tone of voice:
Guards, away with him!SENTINEL, opening the door slightly, says:
Who comes?SENTINEL, returns and opens wide the door and says:
Judas, thy father, bids thee enter, and present thy friend.Addressing candidate, says:
Stranger, art thou true and loyal to thy home and friends?Dost thou observe them thyself?If, therefore, thou wouldst recall or
modify them, do so now before it is too late.The King makes proclamation unto you.Unfolds scroll and reads.The Maccabees contemptuously torn away.In token
of your compliance, you are commanded to sacrifice before the reader of these
present.Mattathias returs
and looks upon Apelles with scorn.Yea, even Jason the High Priest at
Jerusalem and many more of thine own people have obeyed.MATTATHIAS:
Traitor, thou must DIE!Judas proceeds as follows.The venerable
Mattathias, the father of the Maccabees, was the first man to activity oppose
the mandates of the pagan king.Rather did it speak the sudden
impulse of the patriot, driven to desperation by the wrongs inflicted upon his
country and his people.Be brave, be true, and all may be well.GENERAL, addressing soldiers:
An alarm at the outpost.SENTINEL, AS GUARD:
An enemy!SOLDIER:
Shall we kill him or take him to the General?SOLDIER:
General, the foraging band you dispatched up the valley, came upon three
miserable looking peasants and proceeded to capture them.Let him stand aside and wait
his doom.In his delirium he continually
called for a friend.This we do not understand.Here is
his sword stained with the blood of our comrades.And thou art
the arch rebel, under whose leadership this small land of rebellious Maccabees
hath so long harassed the Syrian armies and spread death, desolation and dismay
throughout the realms of Antiochus.This hour thou shalt pay
the penalty.Take this
blade and with it slay this arch rebel, and thus end this rebellion.GENERAL:
He is not brave enough to meet death with his eyes open.SOLDIER then shouts:
Take that, thou rebel!GENERAL:
Shorten the distance and make your aim sure.The destiny of Judea and the liberty of its people hang
in the balance.Come, let us hasten
to join the forces of the Maccabees that we may aid in the cause of humanity,
and share in the glory of their triumph!Songs of triumph to him sing.Sound
the trumpets, beat the drums.COMMANDER, rising:
Welcome, Judas Maccabeus!Thrice welcome art thou!What tidings from the front?COMMANDER:
To the patriotism of thy father, Mattathias, is due the credit of having begun
this revolution, but to thee, JUDAS MACCABEUS, belongs the honor of having
achieved its victories.For myself I ask nothing, but permit me to recommend for
membership in the family of Maccabees the friend at my side who has so nobly
complied with all our requirements.To thus
defer to a friend is nobler than to wear a crown.COMMANDER:
I will now instruct you in the private work of the Order.COMMANDER:
The Step is given thus ...This is also the voting sign.You should not proceed
with any remarks until recognized by that officer.The
gavel, the emblem of authority in the hand of the presiding officer, is used as
follows: Three raps, thus ...PAST COMMANDER, to candidate, seated:
My kinsman, you are about to have conferred upon you the title of a Knight of
The Maccabees, but before this is done, I desire to call your attention to the
objects of our Order and to some of the requirements of a membership among us.Its great object is to unite fraternally all those who are physically and
morally qualified under its laws, in order to better aid and assist those who
may become disabled, or who may reach the allotted age of man, and to provide
for the widows, orphans, and dependents of its members.Maccabees unto this day.Should you ever knowingly or willing violate
this solemn pledge, you need not longer expect our confidence and fellowship.After seeing and hearing what you have seen and heard, and
making such promises as you have made, you will surely go hence a better man,
filled with a higher ambition, and inspired with a nobler purpose in life.While you remain true to your pledges, rest assured that in the Maccabees you
will find friends who will comfort you in your sorrow, assist you in adversity
and rejoice in your prosperity.When the battle of life is ended and you are
about to commence your journey to that realm beyond the grave, you will have the
consolation of knowing, that, among us, you have brothers who will give your
remains a fraternal burial, keep green your memory, defend your character and
provide for those who are nearest and dearest to you.COMMANDER:
Sir Knight Commander, our kinsman awaits your pleasure.COMMANDER:
In commemoration of the Valor, Friendship and Obedience of Judas Maccabeus, one
of the first fruits of genuine chivalry, and by the authority in me vested as
Commander of this Tent, I now dub, create and proclaim you a Knight of the
Maccabees.CHAPLAIN, taking Candidate by the hand:
I welcome, and at the same time, congratulate you upon your admission to
membership among us.These were the colors chosen
by Judas Maccabeus, during his struggles for the liberation of his people.Red, indicative of his fire,
and zeal for the right; and White, emblematic of the purity of his motives.COMMANDER rises:
Master at Arms, That officer rises and gives token
of sincerity what is the last and constant care of every Knight of
the Maccabees?Give three raps with gavel.As it
comes from that beautiful shore.And
endeavor to lighten each load.Let us join in the song, etc.Sir Knights, retire to your homes in peace, and hold
yourselves ever in readiness to serve our noble cause.Historical and Religious Character.Book of Maccabees is inserted as treating the subject from a Jewish standpoint.I, II, III, and IV Maccabees.The first of these is the only one of the four which can be regarded as a reliable historical source.Maccabees: The First Book of the Maccabees covers the period of forty years from the accession of Antiochus (175 B.Its contents are as follows: Ch.The events are followed with intense interest and sympathy.The Hebrew original seems not to have borne the name "Maccabees," though it is not known what was its real designation.Torrey (Cheyne and Black, "Encyc.The Greek version seems to be a literal one, often preserving the Semitic, and sometimes even the Hebrew, idiom; but it is clear, and probably it is, on the whole, a satisfactory translation.The idea is not lacking, however, as in the Book of Esther, but is represented by "Heaven," or by the pronoun "He."Second Book of the Maccabeesaccords them.From these facts Geiger conjectured that the author was a Sadducee, and most recent writers follow him in this opinion, although they consider him wrong in calling the First Book of the Maccabees a partizan document; its temperate and just tone certainly redeems it from such a stricture.As the Romans are throughout spoken of in terms of respect and friendliness, it is clear that the terminus ad quem must be sought at some time before the conquest of Jerusalem by Pompey in 63 B.Bible") think that not more than a decade or two had elapsed, and date the work in the first or second decade of the first century B.Torrey, on the other hand, thinks ("Encyc.Those who maintain the later date of the work are obliged to account for the vivid details which it contains by supposing that the writer employed older sources, such as letters and memoranda.In either case the First Book of the Maccabees is one of the best sources known for the history of the Jews.Michaelis held that Josephus used the Hebrew original of the book, which differed in some important particulars from the present text.He has been followed by Wellhausen ("I.In all probability, therefore, the First Book of the Maccabees has retained its original form.Hebrew Text of I Maccabees, in Jour.II Maccabees: The Second Book of the Maccabees opens with two letters written by Jews resident in Palestine to brethren dwelling in Egypt.These letters, it is thought by some, formed no part of the original work.Eleazar and the seven young men and their mother; while ch.The time covered by this material is barely fifteen years, from the very end of the reign of Seleucus IV.In no other way, the writer believed, could they share in the glory and the fruits of the great struggle for liberty.In contrast with I Maccabees, the language of II Maccabees is highly religious.God appears as the great "Sovereign" who miraculously delivers His people (see iii.This places his work in a very different class from that of I Maccabees.But his purpose, style, and temperament are such that, since the time of Ewald, it has been recognized that the work is not a sober and restrained history like I Maccabees, but is rhetorical and bombastic.This, together with his attitude toward the priesthood asshown in his lifting the veil which I Maccabees had drawn over Jason and Menelaus, led Bertholdt and Geiger to regard the author as a Pharisee and the work as a Pharisaic party document.If this is true, the work of Jason, like II Maccabees, concluded with the victory over Nicanor.II Maccabees) were written in Greek, and that the latter was a Hellenistic Jew.Book of Esther, which would preclude any earlier date of authorship than about 130 B.On the other hand, II Maccabees was known to the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews (see Peak, in "The Century Bible," p.The work, therefore, must have been composed about the beginning of the common era.The two letters prefixed to II Maccabees have excited much discussion.There is in the letters nothing which is inconsistent with their belonging to the time from which they profess to come, and there seems to be no good reason for doubting that it was the epitomist himself who prefixed them to the book.III Maccabees: The Third Book of the Maccabees has in reality nothing to do either with the Maccabees or with their times.The author of this fiction was certainly an Alexandrian Jew who wrote in Greek, for its style is even more rhetorical and bombastic than that of II Maccabees.If true, it is one of a very few grains of fact in the whole account.Jews of Alexandria, who, as adherents of Cleopatra, were his political opponents, to intoxicated elephants.It would seem that the author of III Maccabees, anxious to connect this celebration with Jerusalem, has transferred it to an earlier Ptolemy and given it an entirely unhistorical setting.This work was written later than II Maccabees, for its author made use of that book (see ii.He can not have written earlier, therefore, than the end of the first century B.On the other hand, he can not have written later than the first century C.Philopator is not represented as claiming divine honors.IV Maccabees: The Fourth Book of the Maccabees, so called, is a semiphilosophic discourse, or sermon, on the "supremacy of the pious reason" (ch.It consists of a prologue (i.Second Book of the Maccabees.This discourse, also, is too abstruse for an ordinary congregation; it is an address to a more select circle.Its style is oratorical and ornate, though not so extravagant as that of III Maccabees.The Hellenic and the Jewish elements in his work both appear at their best and in a combination almost without a parallel; the nearest example is the New Testament Epistle to the Hebrews.It is probable, therefore, that the author of IV Maccabees was an Alexandrian Jew.IV Maccabees to be included in many editions of the works of Josephus.But the language and style of the work differ so radically from those of the writings of Josephus that it is clear that this is a mistaken opinion.The writer of IV Maccabees had certainly come under the influence of the culture of Alexandria, even if he lived and wrote in some other city.As to the time when the book was written, the data for an opinion are the same as in the case of III Maccabees: it was written probably at the close of the last century B.The writer is a strong believer in immortality, but he has abandoned the Pharisaic standpoint of II Maccabees, which recognizes a bodily resurrection, and holds to the view that all souls exist forever, the good being together in a state of happiness (xvii.These views are the more striking as they are entwined with the same narratives which in II Maccabees express the more materialistic view.The writer holds, also, that the suffering of the martyrs was vicarious; by it they wrought deliverance for their nation (comp.Bibliography: For the Greek text of IV Maccabees, as well as of the other books, see Swete, The Old Testament in Greek, vol.History of the Jewish People; see also Bensly, The Fourth Book of Maccabees in Syriac, 1895.Book of Maccabees is inserted as treating the subject from a Jewish standpoint.Maccabees, now extant only in Greek, was originally composed in Hebrew or Aramaic, most probably the former; but the original can not have been long in circulation.The fragment of a Hebrew text of I Maccabees published by Chwolson (1896) and again by Schweizer (1901) is not part of the original; and it may well be that even Origen knew only an Aramaic translation and not the original.He calls (Eusebius, "Hist.Of the name "Maccabees" it may be mentioned that in a text of the Megillat Anteyukas ("J.As to the date of the book, much turns on the meaning of the last two verses.Berlin, 1900) maintain that the last verses imply that I Maccabees was written after the death of John Hyrcanus (105 B.Critics are practically unanimous in attaching great value to I Maccabees as a historical record.Maccabees that in the reports of the numbers engaged in battle, of speeches, and even of documents, its account is inexact and sometimes quite incredible.Such defects are shared by Thucydides and Livy.But in I Maccabees, nevertheless, history is written from the human standpoint.Sadducean apologist for the Hasmoneans.Mattathias is unknown to II Maccabees, though the latter is supposed by Geiger to be a Pharisaic counterblast to the Sadducean I Maccabees.God is not "named" in it; the term "heaven" replaces the divine name.From this the inference has been drawn that "God was absolutely conceived as reigning in the remote heaven, and no longer as dwelling among the people by the Shekinah" (Fairweather and Black, "I Maccabees," Introduction, p.In I Maccabees the personal pronoun is most significantly used (iii.Unlike I Maccabees, the book known as II Maccabees was written in Greek.For the history of the war it is of less value than I Maccabees, though some recent writers (in particular Niese) have maintained the opposite opinion.Besides this, II Maccabees, written quite independently of I Maccabees, is a strong support of the general truth of the familiar story of the revolt, though II Maccabees is embellished with angelical and miraculous ornament foreign to the first book.That the book has a Pharisaic color is undoubted, but not in the sense of being a partizan pamphlet in reply to I Maccabees, which, indeed, the author of II Maccabees most probably did not know.Moreover, II Maccabees takes no account of Mattathias, nor, indeed, of any of the band of heroes except Judas; and this is not easily forced into evidence of Pharisaic partizanship.Pharisees, and from whom the Hasmoneans were soon alienated.Sadducean doctrines, II Maccabees has a very clear expression of belief in the resurrection.Death is a "short pain that bringeth everlasting life" (II Macc.In this preference of the second to the first book, Niese stands practically alone, but he has done great service in vindicating the importance and value of the former (comp.It remains to add that the authenticity of the letters prefixed to II Maccabees has been fiercely assailed.Yet it is coming to be recognized that the letters have a clear bearing on the design of the book, as explained above, and it is quite conceivable, though very improbable, that they were part of the original work of Jason.The martyrdoms described in II Maccabees, especially of the mother and her seven sons, have given the book undying value as an inspiration and encouragement to the faithful of all ages and creeds.As will be seen below (in connection with IV Maccabees), this feature of the Maccabean heroism made a special appeal to the Christianity of the first four centuries.Bevan, "House of Seleucus," 1902, ii.III Maccabees purports to record a persecution of the Jews in Alexandria during the reign of Ptolemy (IV.In the event the elephants turned against the persecutors, and the Jews not only escaped, but were treated with muchhonor by the king.Physcon is, as most assume, the original of III Maccabees.The book would thus belong at the latest to the first century C.On independent gounds, the present writer ("J."Tobiaden und Oniaden," pp.Jews of Egypt were then undergoing persecution.On the other hand, Willrich ("Hermes," 1904, xxxix.Fayum theory and supports the view that the book is best explained as referring to Caligula.The beautiful work known as IV Maccabees is a homily, not a history.The authorship of IV Maccabees was at one time ascribed (as by Eusebius, Jerome, and other authorities) to Josephus, but this is clearly wrong.In its present form it contains possibly some Christian interpolations (e.Later on, Christian homilists used the same topic, the martyrdoms, as the theme for sermons; the Church maintained a Maccabean feast (though not on the same date as the Jews) for at least four centuries.Homilies by Gregory Nazienzen and Chrysostom for the festival of Aug."Birthday of the Maccabees") are extant on this subject.On the "Maccabees as Christian Saints" see Maas in "Monatsschrift," xliv.Maccabees, so called by Cotton ("Five Books of Maccabees," 1832), is known also as the Arabic II Maccabees.It has clear relations to II Maccabees, the Arabic "Yosippus," and the Hebrew "Yosippon."Late in origin and without historical value, the book is, however, of considerable importance from other points of view. |
