01-30-2009, 06:12 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-dhu+Jan 29 2009, 02:56 PM-->QUOTE(dhu @ Jan 29 2009, 02:56 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->Husky, please post the following in the historicity thread. The narrative is much clearer now.Â
http://www.livius.org/maa-mam/maccabees/1macc01.html
<!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>1 Maccabees 1</b>
The First Book of Maccabees describes the struggle of the Jews for religious, cultural, and political independence against the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes and his successors, who were Greeks and sympathized with the hellenization of Judah. It is slightly ironic that the anonymous author of The First Book of Maccabees wrote a history to make his point, because this literary genre was invented by Greeks.Â
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Although the book is biased, it is not the worst of all historical studies from Antiquity; in fact, the author is quite capable. He presents the Jewish leaders Judas, Jonathan, and Simon as devout people and has little sympathy for people who favor hellenization, but it must be noted that he nowhere mentions divine intervention.
The contents of the book can be summarized as follows:
  * Chapter 1-2: The <b>hellenization of Judah</b> and the non-violent resistance by Mattathias;
  * Chapter 3-9: Military actions by Judas the Maccabaean ('battle hammer'): after 166, he defeats the Seleucid armies three times and liberates Jerusalem, where the temple is purified; more operations; Judas' defeat and death in 161;
  * Chapter 9-12: Continued warfare, led by Judas' brother Jonathan (160-143), who, benefiting from wars of succession in the Seleucid Empire, restores the fortunes of the Jewish nationalists and adds to their territories;
  * Chapter 13-16: The third brother, Simon, achieves political independence, and founds the Hasmonaean dynasty.
The author must have been a cultivated Jew living in Judah, and can be dated to c.100 BCE. The <b>presumed Hebrew or Aramaic original is now lost, but the Greek version</b>, which must have been popular in the Diaspora, has survived and was accepted as canonical by the Christians, until, in the sixteenth century, the scholars of the Reformation preferred to concentrate on those texts of the Jewish Bible that were written in Hebrew.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
[right][snapback]94007[/snapback][/right]
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http://www.livius.org/maa-mam/maccabees/1macc01.html
<!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>1 Maccabees 1</b>
The First Book of Maccabees describes the struggle of the Jews for religious, cultural, and political independence against the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes and his successors, who were Greeks and sympathized with the hellenization of Judah. It is slightly ironic that the anonymous author of The First Book of Maccabees wrote a history to make his point, because this literary genre was invented by Greeks.Â
Â
Although the book is biased, it is not the worst of all historical studies from Antiquity; in fact, the author is quite capable. He presents the Jewish leaders Judas, Jonathan, and Simon as devout people and has little sympathy for people who favor hellenization, but it must be noted that he nowhere mentions divine intervention.
The contents of the book can be summarized as follows:
  * Chapter 1-2: The <b>hellenization of Judah</b> and the non-violent resistance by Mattathias;
  * Chapter 3-9: Military actions by Judas the Maccabaean ('battle hammer'): after 166, he defeats the Seleucid armies three times and liberates Jerusalem, where the temple is purified; more operations; Judas' defeat and death in 161;
  * Chapter 9-12: Continued warfare, led by Judas' brother Jonathan (160-143), who, benefiting from wars of succession in the Seleucid Empire, restores the fortunes of the Jewish nationalists and adds to their territories;
  * Chapter 13-16: The third brother, Simon, achieves political independence, and founds the Hasmonaean dynasty.
The author must have been a cultivated Jew living in Judah, and can be dated to c.100 BCE. The <b>presumed Hebrew or Aramaic original is now lost, but the Greek version</b>, which must have been popular in the Diaspora, has survived and was accepted as canonical by the Christians, until, in the sixteenth century, the scholars of the Reformation preferred to concentrate on those texts of the Jewish Bible that were written in Hebrew.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
[right][snapback]94007[/snapback][/right]
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