Block, SkipCaptcha, Upload, Automoderated users, edit, move, protect
30,891
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Line 88:
Line 88: − + − + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + − + + + + + Line 116:
Line 156: + +
new section "Historical-critical textual analysis" Article still needs work
*[http://carm.org/dictionary-eisegesis Dictionary: eisegesis. Brief informal definition and discussion of eisegesis: —''citing a classic example of Mormon eisegesis on 1 Cor. 8:5'' (KJV)] —carm.org. ''Eisegesis'' is severely condemned according to many literalist readings of the text of the [[Deuteronomy|Book of Deuteronomy]] and the [[Book of Revelation]] See [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/revelation/22-18.htm# Literalist commentaries on Revelation 22:18] and [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/deuteronomy/4-2.htm# Literalist commentaries on Deuteronomy 4:2] (biblehub.com).</ref>) of the name "Antiochus" as representing only the one man Antiochus IV Epiphanes alone, in each of the three narratives discussed above, a contradiction and confusion and error is perceived and introduced where none in fact exists. There is no awareness of the supportive factual details of history in such a reading and in such commentaries, which only leads to erroneous conclusions about the factual historicity of the book. See [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=mark%204:24-25&version=NABRE Mark 4:24-25]<blockquote>"And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given. For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath." KJV</blockquote>
*[http://carm.org/dictionary-eisegesis Dictionary: eisegesis. Brief informal definition and discussion of eisegesis: —''citing a classic example of Mormon eisegesis on 1 Cor. 8:5'' (KJV)] —carm.org. ''Eisegesis'' is severely condemned according to many literalist readings of the text of the [[Deuteronomy|Book of Deuteronomy]] and the [[Book of Revelation]] See [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/revelation/22-18.htm# Literalist commentaries on Revelation 22:18] and [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/deuteronomy/4-2.htm# Literalist commentaries on Deuteronomy 4:2] (biblehub.com).</ref>) of the name "Antiochus" as representing only the one man Antiochus IV Epiphanes alone, in each of the three narratives discussed above, a contradiction and confusion and error is perceived and introduced where none in fact exists. There is no awareness of the supportive factual details of history in such a reading and in such commentaries, which only leads to erroneous conclusions about the factual historicity of the book. See [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=mark%204:24-25&version=NABRE Mark 4:24-25]<blockquote>"And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given. For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath." KJV</blockquote>
== Historical-grammatical analysis of the text ==
==Historical-grammatical text analysis: historical setting==
The ''context of the composition'' of the book of Second Maccabees shows that it was written after the composition and distribution of copies of the First Book of the Maccabees. It begins with 2 letters of official correspondence highlighting the importance of commemorating and celebrating the Feast of Booths, one of them dating after the time of John Hyrcanus I (died 104 B.C.), followed by an additional introductory preface by the author explaining his purpose in writing the book, before it presents the author's abbreviation of that 5-volume history written by Jason of Cyrene some time after the events; and it ends with an "Afterword" by the author restating his purpose in writing this book:<blockquote>"So these things being done with relation to Nicanor, and from that time the city being possessed by the Hebrews, I also will here make an end of my narration. Which if I have done well, and as it becometh the history, it is what I desired; but if not so perfectly, it must be pardoned me. For as it is hurtful to drink always wine, or always water, but pleasant to use sometimes the one, and sometimes the other: so if the speech be always nicely framed, it will not be grateful [grating, unpleasant] to the readers. But here it shall be ended." —2 Maccabees 15:38-39 ''Douay-Rheims Bible'' DR.
The two Books of Maccabees contain independent accounts of events (in part identical) that accompanied the attempted suppression of Judaism in Palestine in the second century B.C. The vigorous reaction to this attempt established for a time the religious and political independence of the Jews.
The ''context of the composition'' of the book of Second Maccabees shows that it was written after the composition and distribution of copies of the First Book of the Maccabees. It begins with 2 letters of official correspondence highlighting the importance of commemorating and celebrating the Feast of Booths, one of them dating after the time of John Hyrcanus I (died 104 B.C.). These two letters are followed by an additional introductory preface by the author explaining his purpose in writing the book, before it presents the author's abbreviation of a 5-volume history written by Jason of Cyrene some time after the events. It ends with an "Afterword" by the author restating his purpose in writing the book:<blockquote>"So these things being done with relation to Nicanor, and from that time the city being possessed by the Hebrews, I also will here make an end of my narration. Which if I have done well, and as it becometh the history, it is what I desired; but if not so perfectly, it must be pardoned me. For as it is hurtful to drink always wine, or always water, but pleasant to use sometimes the one, and sometimes the other: so if the speech be always nicely framed, it will not be grateful [grating, unpleasant] to the readers. But here it shall be ended." —2 Maccabees 15:38-39 ''Douay-Rheims Bible'' DR.
:
:
Compare [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2maccabees%202:19-32&version=NABRE 2 Maccabees 2:19-32 NABRE] and [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2maccabees%2015:38-39&version=NABRE 2 Maccabees 15:38-39 NABRE]</blockquote>
Compare [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2maccabees%202:19-32&version=NABRE 2 Maccabees 2:19-32 NABRE] and [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2maccabees%2015:38-39&version=NABRE 2 Maccabees 15:38-39 NABRE]</blockquote>
==[[Historical-critical method (Higher criticism)|Historical-critical]] textual analysis==
2 Maccabees is not a continuation of the history given in 1 Maccabees, but an alternate account of the events described in 1 Maccabees 1–7. The Second Book of Maccabees describes the struggle of the Jews for religious, cultural, and political independence against the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes, a Greek who aggressively pressed for the complete hellenization of Judah and the utter elimination of every trace of Judaism.
The book belongs to what is called 'pathetic history', which tries to create sympathy for the actors and is not primarily aimed at the full truth. It is slightly ironic that Jason and the anonymous author of the Second Book of Maccabees wrote a ''history'' to make his point, because this literary genre was invented by Greeks. It is also a more religious book than its twin 1 Maccabees, using many themes from the Jewish Bible (for example, several titles for God). The book places a strong emphasis on loyalty to the Law and on God's reward in reserve for martyrs who die for their faith. One of the most interesting theological aspects is that the author assumes that the people who maintain God's Law will be resurrected.
James King West (''Introduction to the Old Testament'', page 468) tells us that the author's description of the toils, difficulties, and responsibilities of being an epitomizer is a classic (2:26-31). Since Jason's work has been lost, how faithfully the epitomizer has represented the scope and character of his work, and how much, if anything, has been brought into the present work from other sources, is moot, since the epitomizer has also assumed responsibility for making his work pleasant reading (2:25), and to that end employed the devices and style of popular Greek rhetoric. West concludes that the epitomizer can hardly have written earlier than 100 B.C., and observes that some scholars date his work as late as A.D. 50.
J. Alberto Soggin (''Introduction to the Old Testament'', page 469) writes that the book abounds in explanation of the law (see 6:5 and 5:17-20; 6:12-17 respectively), having a much greater interest in theology than 1 Maccabees, although somewhat roughly expressed in the form of ''reward and punishment''. In 2 Maccabees 10:4 the pagans are defined as 'blasphemous and barbarous nations', but the writer also severely censures the considerable numbers of apostate Jews. A series of theological features absent from 1 Maccabees and present in 2 Maccabees includes the resurrection of the body in 7:11; 14:46, in striking contrast first to Wisdom and then to Philo, who following Neo-Platonic lines, tend rather to teach the immortality of the soul. 2 Maccabees 7:28 presents the first expression in Hebrew thought of the doctrine later called ''creatio ex nihilo'', though not in the absolute form sometimes presented by other authors: the Greek is''' ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων ἐποίησεν αὐτὰ ὁ Θεὸς '''''ex ouk onton epoiesen auto ho theos'', that is, 'God made the world not from things which were', which is not identical with 'nothing' in the philosophical sense of the term. In 7:9, 14 (see 14:46; 12:43) are concepts of eternal life and death, and in 12:43 the practice of intercession of the living for the dead, an element on which, Soggin says, the Catholic church has sometimes sought to found the doctrine of Purgatory. Soggin mentions a well-developed angelology in the book (3:24-28; 5:2-4; 10:29ff.; 11:8, etc.). He says that Pfeiffer has well observed the fact that 2 Maccabees is more a work of edification than of history. For Soggin, the author, Jason of Cyrene (in Cyrenaica), seems to have been a diaspora Jew who lived at Alexandria about 100 B.C..
Neil J. McEleney (''The Jerome Biblical Commentary'', vol. 1, page 462) says the first letter, 2 Maccabees 1:1-9, dated to 124 B.C., references another letter (verses 7-8) written in 143. He says that the undated second letter, 2 Maccabees 1:10-2:18, is considered substantially authentic and a literary unity by Abel and Starcky (''The Jerome Biblical Commentary'', vol. 1, p. 27-30), who assign it to a contemporary of Judas writing in 164. McEleney cites other, dissenting, authors (W. Brownlee, IDB 3, 208; Dancy, IDB 3, 15-16; Eissfeldt, OTI 580-81) who consider it instead to be spurious, and even a composite, because 2 Maccabees 1:19-2:15 seems to interrupt the flow of the letter, which they see as "a later addition" to the book,.
Lawrence H. Schiffman (''The Jerome Biblical Commentary'', page 898) writes that it is most likely that the abridger worked directly from the works of Jason of Cyrene, shortening the lengthy text into this small book. He says the two letters in 2 Maccabees 1:1-2:18 have been added, either by the abridger, or by another editor, to the beginning of the book; and that it is difficult to judge the full extent of Jason's 5-volume history. Considering its length, it is difficult to believe that it was only a more detailed history of the fifteen years. Schiffman speculates that the abridger selected a period of great importance to him and prepared an abridgment and adaptation of Jason's account of that period. He points out that there are a number of indications that the letters were added by a third hand, since, as the text now stands they are not fully integrated into it, and may have been added in an attempt to propagate the observance of the festival of Hanukkah, which celebrated the purification of the Temple by Judah in 164 B.C. Schiffman says a few other additions were most certainly made, either by the abridger or some other editor.
Daniel J. Harrington (''Invitation to the Apocrypha'', pages 138-139) writes that the author expresses himself in his preface in a forthright and engaging way, which can mask several critical problems in using 2 Maccabees as a historical source, the first concerning the relationship between the original five-volume work of Jason of Cyrene (now lost) and the one-volume 2 Maccabees. Both works seem to have been originally composed in Greek; but no one can know how closely the ''epitomator'' (as the author is often called) followed the style and vocabulary of Jason of Cyrene. Harrington also says there is no way of knowing what the ''epitomator'' omitted or inserted into Jason's story in his efforts to entertain and tell the story from his own perspective. He asks particularly if Jason's work was as focused on the defense of the Jerusalem temple as is the ''epitomator'' of 2 Maccabees?
David A. deSilva (''Introducing the Apocrypha'', pages 269-270) assures the reader that assessing the date of the work is difficult, as Jason's original history must post-date 161 B.C. and may even have been written just before, or shortly after, Judas's death, which 2 Maccabees does not mention. However, he cites Goldstein (1983: 71-83) who dates Jason's work as late as 85 B.C., after 1 Maccabees. DeSilva acknowledges that the epitome is generally held to have been composed prior to A.D. 50, given its influence on 4 Maccabees and the Letter to the Hebrews, and probably as early as before 63 B.C., given the positive portrayal of relations with Rome, 4:11; 8:10, 36; 11:34-36 (he cites van Henten 1997: 51). The importance of the date of the two prefixed letters enters the discussion of the question of how the epitome came to be connected with them, the later letter (1:1-9) written (he says) in 124/123 B.C., a period in which Judea enjoyed prosperity and strength under John Hyrcanus I, and a suitable period in which to invite the translocal Jewish community (yet again) to join in the celebrations of their independence from Greek rule (again citing van Henten 1997: 53). DeSilva cites Harrington (1988: 38) who suggests that the epitome was used as support for the request for observance of Hanukkah among the Jews in Egypt, perhaps to provide the festal story. But deSilva maintains that the epitome was probably not composed for this purpose, since the epitomator's prologue itself gives no hint that promoting Hanukkah was part of his agenda but certainly contributed to it. In this hypothesis, deSilva says that both Jason and his abridger would have completed their work prior to 124 B.C..
===Indispensable value for understanding of Jewish and early Christian traditions===
As a primary source for the history of the Jews during the second century B.C., 2 Maccabees is absolutely invaluable. Again, for those who wish to have a better understanding of the development of traditional Jewish and Christian beliefs and practices, this book is indispensable. It can also be very exciting to see the manner in which God fulfilled the prophecies of Daniel (especially Daniel 8 and 11), which were given almost four centuries prior to the time of their fulfillment. And as an added bonus, 2 Maccabees was written in a very readable literary style.
Though there is substantial overlap between 1 and 2 Maccabees (that is, the central events related in both works are the same), nevertheless the story told in 2 Maccabees both commences and concludes earlier in time than the story told in 1 Maccabees. 2 Maccabees is neither a sequel to nor a continuation of I Maccabees (unlike I and II Samuel, I and II Kings, and I and II Chronicles). It is a second book about the Maccabees, having been written somewhat later than the First Book of Maccabees.
Unlike I Maccabees, which was written in Hebrew and translated into Greek, 2 Maccabees was written in Greek. Therefore the author must have been a Greek-speaking Jew. In order to write 2 Maccabees, he relied upon the five-volume history, long since lost, written in Greek by a Jewish historian named Jason of Cyrene (2 Maccabees 2:23). This demonstrates that the otherwise unknown Jason was reasonably learned, and may well have lived-or at least studied-in the large Jewish community in Alexandria, Egypt, which is made all the more likely by the fact that 2 Maccabees begins with copies of two letters written from Jerusalem to the Jewish community of Egypt (2 Maccabees 1:1-36; 2:1-18), and doubtless were read to the assembled worshipers in the synagogues there. Finally, from the content of his book it is evident that the author held beliefs very similar, if not identical, to those of the Pharisees and the later rabbis of Orthodox Judaism, so that he himself may have been a Pharisee.
===Second Maccabees and the Early Church===
Although this book began to be excluded by the rabbis from the canon of Hebrew Scriptures after the rise of Christianity at the end of A.D. the 1st century—apparently because it was written in Greek, and after the time of Ezra and Malachi, and not in Israel or Judah—it had been included in the earlier rabbinical Greek translation of the Old Testament known as the Septuagint used by the Jews of the Diaspora. The early Christians used the same Septuagint to preach the Gospel throughout the Roman Empire, where Greek was the lingua franca, and thus from the very beginning of Christianity the Second Book of Maccabees was already a part of the Bible of the apostles, and it has been so retained in the Old Testament of the Greek Bible since the 1st century. As has already been mentioned above, there are many theological and eschatological points of contact between 2 Maccabees and the beliefs of the early Christians. The early Church could point to 2 Maccabees 5:19 as support for their belief that the Temple had been superceded by the risen Messiah. They could also see the close resemblance between the words of the Maccabean Martyrs in 2 Maccabees 7 and the words of Jesus in Matthew 10:28, an understanding which is part of the ancient Christian traditional reading of these texts.
The practice of offering sacrifices for, praying for, and willingly submitting to suffering on behalf of sinners—both for sinners who are still alive and for sinners who are already dead—is another point of continuity of doctrine between 2 Maccabees and Christianity. But this practice has its deeper roots in the days of Abraham, as can be seen in Genesis 18:23-32 and 20:7, and is mentioned with approval in 2 Maccabees 3:31-33; 7:38; and 12:40-46, and it may be found even today in Orthodox Judaism and most of Christianity. For some students of history and of the Bible the Apostle Paul also seems to allude to this practice in 1 Corinthians 15:29, where he mentions Christians undergoing penitential "baptisms" on behalf of the dead, interpreting these in the sense of Mark 10:38, and Colossians 1:24, as meaning self-sacrificial suffering fully united to the single unique atonement of Christ himself suffering for and with and in them as his body, rather than literal water baptisms. However, other readings of this text see in it the practice of an intercessory and substitutionary water baptism of salvation for the souls of those who had died without being able to receive it, as a divinely ordained legal procedure on their behalf, which is the reading of members of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints]].
The story of the Maccabean Martyrs probably resonated most directly with early Christians, who saw in their faithfulness to God even unto death a perfect model for their own painful experiences, first at the hands of their Jewish brethren, and later at the hands of the pagan Roman government. There is little doubt that the martyrologies of 2 Maccabees 6 and 7 informed Jesus Christ's own frequent encouragement to His disciples to remain faithful in the face of persecution and martyrdom, which is the ancient Christian traditional understanding of these texts of the Bible. "Blessed are you," He said, "when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in Heaven" (Matthew 5:11); "By your endurance you will gain your lives." (Luke 21:19). The story of the Maccabean Martyrs is even mentioned in Hebrews 11:35. The author of 2 Maccabees is responsible for the birth of a whole literary genre, known as "martyrology"—detailed narratives of men and women being tortured and murdered for their faith. This literary genre quite naturally became especially popular in the infant Church and starting A.D.the second century through the fourth century. Examples of martyrologies exist today in the 21st century official documentary accounts of Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant Christians being slaughtered and persecuted throughout the world solely because of their religion.
==New Testament allusions to 2 Maccabees==
==New Testament allusions to 2 Maccabees==
The martyrdom of the mother and her 7 sons in [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2maccabees%207&version=DRA 2 Maccabees 7] is referenced in [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=hebrews%2011:35&version=KJV Hebrews 11:35.] The 6th chapter's testimony of the witness of the aged Eleazar faithful to the Law in the face of death [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2maccabees%206:18-31&version=DRA 6:18-31] and the 7th chapter's testimony of the powerful words of the seven sons to the tyrant before they died are referenced as the angel with the little scroll who cried out like a lion roaring and the 7 thunders sounding, whose words John sealed up and did not write, in [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=revelation%2010:1-7&version=KJV Revelation 10:1-7] (compare the "sons of thunder", "''boanerges''" in [http://biblehub.com/multi/mark/3-17.htm Mark 3:17]).
The martyrdom of the mother and her 7 sons in [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2maccabees%207&version=DRA 2 Maccabees 7] is referenced in [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=hebrews%2011:35&version=KJV Hebrews 11:35.] The 6th chapter's testimony of the witness of the aged Eleazar faithful to the Law in the face of death [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2maccabees%206:18-31&version=DRA 6:18-31] and the 7th chapter's testimony of the powerful words of the seven sons to the tyrant before they died are symbolically referenced visually in John's vision as the angel with the little scroll who cried out like a lion roaring and the 7 thunders sounding, whose words John sealed up and did not write, in [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=revelation%2010:1-7&version=KJV Revelation 10:1-7] (compare the "sons of thunder", "''boanerges''" in [http://biblehub.com/multi/mark/3-17.htm Mark 3:17]).
==Martin Luther's judgment of 2 Maccabees==
[[Martin Luther]] said: "I am so great an enemy to the second book of the Maccabees, and to [[Book of Esther|Esther]], that I wish they had not come to us at all, for they have too many heathen unnaturalities." <ref>{{cite book | last=Luther | first=Martin | authorlink=Martin Luther | others=trans. William Hazlitt | title=The Table-Talk of Martin Luther | origyear=1566 | year=1893 | id=LCC Library of Congress Catalogue BR332.T4 | publisher=Lutheran Publication Society | location=Philadelphia | chapter=Of God's Word: XXIV | chapterurl=http://www.ccel.org/ccel/luther/tabletalk.v.i.html}}</ref>
==References==
==References==
[http://graceandknowledge.faithweb.com/apoc2.html An Introduction to the Apocrypha-Part Two. The Second Book of Maccabees, By Jared L. Olar] (graceandknowledge.faithweb.com)
[http://graceandknowledge.faithweb.com/apoc2.html An Introduction to the Apocrypha-Part Two. The Second Book of Maccabees, By Jared L. Olar] (graceandknowledge.faithweb.com)
[http://beggarsallreformation.blogspot.com/2008/09/luther-2-maccabees-purgatoryrevisted.html Beggars All: Reformation & Apologetics. Sunday, September 28, 2008. Luther, 2 Maccabees & Purgatory....Revisited]
[http://www.bible.ca/catholic-apocrypha.htm Roman Catholic and Orthodox Faith Examined, and The Apocrypha: "Reasons why the Apocrypha does NOT belong in the Bible!"] (bible.ca)
[http://www.bible.ca/catholic-apocrypha.htm Roman Catholic and Orthodox Faith Examined, and The Apocrypha: "Reasons why the Apocrypha does NOT belong in the Bible!"] (bible.ca)