5 Maccabees

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. It is little more than a summary of the events in first and second book of the Maccabees and the relevant chapters in Flavius Josephus. Only chapter 12 is original but also "teems with errors of various kinds". [http://net.bible.org/dictionary.php?word=Maccabees,%20Books%20Of,%203-5 NetBible: The 3rd, 4th, and 5th boks of the Maccabees] ]

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 books bears some relationship to the history of Josippon.

The book has never been recognized as canonical by either Jews or Christians.

Title

The designation "5 Maccabees" first appears in an article by Cottonclarifyme in 1832 and was perpetuated by Samuel Davidson and others. Alternative titles include "Arabic 2 Maccabees" and "Arabic Maccabees".

The name is also used to denote a text contained in the "Translatio Syra Peshitto", edited by Ceriani, which however is nothing more than a Syriac version of 6th book of Josephus' Jewish War.James R. Davila, " [http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/academic/divinity/more_xn_apoc_paper.html More Christian Apocrypha] ".]

References

External links

* [http://www.biblia.com/jesusbible/maccabees.htm The 5 books of the Maccabees]
* [http://net.bible.org/dictionary.php?word=Maccabees,%20Books%20Of,%203-5 NetBible: The 3rd, 4th, and 5th boks of the Maccabees]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • MACCABÉES (LES) — MACCABÉES LES Nom d’une famille juive qui vivait à Jérusalem au IIe siècle et qui joua un rôle important dans la sauvegarde du judaïsme face à l’hellénisme. Le nom de Maccabée n’appartenait à l’origine qu’au troisième fils du prêtre juif… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • MACCABÉES (Ier LIVRE DES) — MACCABÉES Ier LIVRE DES D’abord appelé Livre de la maison asmonéenne, le Ier Livre des Maccabées est un ouvrage apocryphe omis dans la Bible hébraïque mais inclus dans la Septante. Bien que seules des traductions grecques nous en soient parvenues …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • MACCABÉES (IVe LIVRE DES) — MACCABÉES IVe LIVRE DES Ouvrage apocryphe, qui fut d’abord intitulé «La Souveraineté de la raison», et ne fut pas inclus dans le canon hébreu mais figure dans certains manuscrits, grecs ou latins, de la Bible chrétienne. Il s’agit d’un traité… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • MACCABEES, FOURTH BOOK OF — (IV Maccabees), apocryphal book, included in the Septuagint. It presumably dates from the first century C.E., and is erroneously ascribed by Christian tradition to josephus . It does not deal with the warriors of the Maccabean revolt, but with… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • MACCABEES, SECOND BOOK OF — (II Maccabees), known in Greek as Τά Μακκαβαïκά, that is, the narratives about (Judah called) the Maccabee. It was this title which gave the title to the other books of the apocrypha bearing the same name. It is an abridgment of a larger work of… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • MACCABÉES (IIe LIVRE DES) — MACCABÉES IIe LIVRE DES Seule source existante concernant l’histoire des juifs de Palestine pendant la décennie précédant le règne d’Antiochos IV Épiphane (MACCABÉES (IIe LIVRE DES) 175 MACCABÉES (IIe LIVRE DES) 164/63). Le Livre se limite au… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • MACCABEES, FIRST BOOK OF — (I Maccabees), a historical work extant in Greek, covering the period of 40 years from the accession of Antiochus Epiphanes (175 B.C.E.) to the death of Simeon the Hasmonean (135 B.C.E.). Its name in the Septuagint and in the writings of the… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • MACCABÉES (IIIe LIVRE DES) — MACCABÉES IIIe LIVRE DES Ouvrage apocryphe ne figurant ni dans le canon hébraïque ni dans le canon chrétien (bien que présent dans certains manuscrits de la Septante). Ce livre n’a aucun rapport avec les trois autres livres des Maccabées, qui… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • MACCABEES, THIRD BOOK OF — (III Maccabees), apocryphal book, included in the septuagint , probably dating from the first century B.C.E. It has nothing to do with the Maccabees, but relates a legend to explain why the Jews in Egypt have a Purim like festival in the summer… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Maccabees (disambiguation) — Maccabees may refer to:*Maccabees, Jewish rebels against Hellenization in the 2nd Century BCE *Books of the Maccabees, deuterocanonical books *Knights of the Maccabees, fraternal organization *The Maccabees, British band * The Makkabees, a band… …   Wikipedia

  • Maccabées — (Livre des) nom de quatre livres de l Ancien Testament. Seuls les deux premiers font partie de la Bible cathol. Le deuxième relate l histoire de sept frères (les sept Maccabées) martyrisés avec leur mère pour leur fidélité à la loi de Moïse, sous …   Encyclopédie Universelle

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”