These books are not part of the canonized tanakh hebrew bible used by modern jews, though the catholic and orthodox churches consider them part of the old. While hanukkah is welldocumented in 1 and 2 maccabees, theres very little about it in the talmud and in the later traditions of rabbinical judaism. Perhaps the term maccabees was generalized so as to denote all who suffered for their faith. The account concludes with the defeat of the syrian general nicanor in a revolt led by judas maccabeus and his brothers in 161 bc. First maccabees covers the efforts of the jewish people to regain their freedom following the desecration of the temple by antiochus iv epiphanes. Books of maccabees encyclopedia of the bible bible gateway. The maccabees were a band of jewish freedom fighters who freed judea from the syriangreek occupiers during the second temple period. We, for instance, have a site, ekron, from the end ofstill from the first temple period. A theological treatise such as 2 maccabees differed widely from the unadorned, factual approach found in 1 maccabees. From the maccabees to a miracle to hanukkah donuts. At hanukkah, shifting the focus from militarism to miracles. Where the book of the covenant was found in the possession of any one, or if any one adhered to the law, the decree of the king condemned him to death. Dec 20, 2014 1 without the catholic church, hanukkah wouldnt be the same. The big book of hanukkah published by the shalom hartman institute and devora publishing.
The people of israel have been specially chosen by the one true god as covenantpartner, and they alone are privileged to know and worship god, their eternal benefactor and unfailing source of help. The first and second books of maccabees relate the accounts of the jewish revolt against the syrian greek tyrant antiochus epiphanes. The first book of the maccabees tells another version of the story, describing an eightday celebration that followed the rededication but making. In the first part of this series we did not elaborate on the horrors committed by antiochus iv, nor did we discuss at length the mighty triumphs of the maccabees. These books tell the story of the small band of jewish fighters who liberated the land of israel from the syrian greeks. The story of hanukkah discover first fruits of zion. The book of 2 maccabees consists of a greek synopsis of a fivevolume history of the maccabean revolt written by jason of cyrene. The books of the maccabees quotes showing 12 of 2 and they cut in pieces, and burnt with fire the books of the law of god. The first two books of maccabees were both written in the second century bce. The same title is used for a syriac version of 6th book of josephus jewish war. Hanukkah, the jewish festival of lights, celebrates the maccabean revolt 167160 bce, and the narrative that jewish rebel judas maccabeus vanquished the evil greek emperor antiochus and rededicated the temple, at which the miracle of the oil occurred. Use highlighting, underlining, and take notes while you study the bible. The first two books only are part of canonical scripture in the septuagint and the vulgate hence are canonical to roman catholicism and eastern orthodoxy and.
Posted on september 26, 2017 may 8, 2018 by cheryl. Books of the maccabees kindle edition by douay rheims. The study of antiquity and the middle ages 11,690 views. Welcome to part 2 of our series the miracles, mysteries and histories of hanukkah. Maccabees, books of, 12 international standard bible. Miracle of the maccabees the chanukah story story time. Rather, it is another book about the maccabean era. Jews in egypt to celebrate the new feast of hanukkah. The word maccabee is an acronym for the hebrew words that mean who is like you among all powers, g. The stories of hanukkah, as told by first and second maccabees are. The author of the second book of maccabees presented the conflict as a struggle between judaism and hellenism, concepts which he coined. The story of hanukkah is not included in the bible.
Books of the maccabees, the ancient jewish works in which the events of the maccabean revolt are recorded. The books of first and second maccabees are still accessible today only because they were. The record in 2 maccabees begins one year earlier than that of 1 maccabees, but as the latter reaches down to 5 bc and probably below 105 bc. The new testament mentions jesus visiting the temple during hanukkah john 10. Bible storykindergartenpreschool the maccabees and hanukkah. Miracle of the maccabees was written, produced, and directed by chaim clorfene and simcha gottlieb, whose additional credits include many pioneering jewish educational films, videos, radio programming, books, and multimedia. Second maccabees includes a different edition of the first seven chapters of 1 maccabees and was written at a later date, likely in alexandria, egypt. This book does not discuss hanukkah traditions, so if you want a discussion of menorahs, dreidels, and latkes, go to another book. In contrast to first maccabees, the book of second maccabees is a summary of a history written originally in greek for diaspora hellenistic jews living in the greekspeaking area in egypt.
In the words of rabbi hillel hayyim laveryyisraeli, today hanukkah is perhaps the bestknown jewish holiday throughout the world. The author of the first book of maccabees regarded the maccabean revolt as a rising of pious jews against the seleucid king who had tried to eradicate their religion and against the jews who supported him. The events that led to the heroic maccabean revolt, the battles, the victories, the miracle of the. There are not a lot of jewish childrens books that present the history of hanukkah in such an eloquent, powerful way. Hanukkah, the jewish festival of lights, celebrates the maccabean revolt 167160 bce, and the narrative that jewish rebel judas maccabeus. The first book of the maccabees first book of the maccabees first book of the maccabees maccabees 1 new revised standard version nrsv alexander the great.
But the contents of the book do not agree with this view. The jewish holiday of chanukah is known as the festival of lights. The brightness of the first chanukah light had dwindled down. Chanukah, the annual jewish festival commemorating the rededication of the jerusalem temple in 164 bce. The first book of the maccabees is preserved in the greek translation. Iii maccabees has no relation to the other three books of maccabees, all of which deal with the revolt of judaea against antiochus iv epiphanes. The word hanukkah comes from the hebrew word hanukh, which means dedication or education. It purports to be a historical account of the repression and miraculous salvation of egyptian jewry during the reign 221205 bc of ptolemy iv philopator. While researching jewish childrens books with an element of poetry and rhyme, i stumbled across this book called, maccabee. The books of the maccabees biblical literature britannica. Dec 07, 2009 the jewish holiday of chanukah is known as the festival of lights.
Share the chanukah story with friends and kids with this easy to. These books are not part of the canonized tanakh hebrew bible used by modern jews, though the catholic and orthodox churches consider them part of the bible. Hanukkah is celebrated as the feast of dedication to remember the rededication of the temple after god faithfully delivered israel from her oppressors. It purports to be a historical account of the repression and miraculous. Hanukkah in the book of maccabees welcome to part 2 of our series the miracles, mysteries and histories of hanukkah. The books of the maccabees, four books, none of which is in the hebrew bible but all of which appear in some manuscripts of the septuagint.
These chapters are primarily a compressed version of the first book of maccabees, supplemented by. Why were the rabbis so uncomfortable with the maccabees. The story of hanukkah is preserved in the books of the first and second maccabees, which describe in detail the rededication of the temple in jerusalem and the lighting of the menorah. What you need to know about the hanukkah story my jewish.
The jews to whom the book was addressed were both loyal to their nation and its new hasmonean state and yet. Dec 12, 2014 hanukkahs real and imagined history robert siegel speaks with simon schama, author of the story of the jews, about the political history of hanukkah. After defeating the syriangreeks in the battlefield, the first of the two miracles celebrated on hanukkah, the maccabees returned to jerusalem. Probably the author of first maccabees supported the hasmonean court and believed his book continued the biblical tradition of chronicles. Therein the story is told of how judah maccabee and his heroic band of freedom fighters overthrew the tyrannical seleucid forces that had subdued judea and defiled the jerusalem temple. This evening, the jewish holiday of hanukkah begins. The doctrine expressed in the book is the customary belief of israel, without the new developments which appear in 2 maccabees and daniel. The miracle of the oneday supply of oil miraculously lasting eight days is first described in the talmud, committed to writing about 600 years after the events described in the books of maccabees. Some hold that the book was written originally as a kind of introduction to the books of maccabees, which it precedes as book i in cottons five books of maccabees.
Indeed, so distinct are these two works that one must not label the epitome the second book of maccabees, as if it were a continuation of 1 maccabees. Hanukkah in the book of maccabees galilee of the nations. The books of 3 and 4 maccabees are ancient jewish writings included in various lists of the orthodox church canon. This does, however, tell the story of the maccabees and the miracle of the oil in a fun and inspiring way. First maccabees written circa 4104 bce and describing the period of 1665 bce is devoted to presenting the maccabean dynasty, from mattathias through his son judah, to jonathan and simon who became high priests and gained political independence. They kept using violence against israel, against those found month after month in the cities. The canon of orthodox deuterocanonical books and the armenian bible list 3 maccabees, while 4 maccabees is listed in the canon of the georgian orthodox bible. The original hebrew is lost and the most important surviving version is the greek translation contained in the septuagint. The first book of maccabees i maccabees is historical work extant in greek, covering the period of 40 years from the accession of antiochus epiphanes 175 b.