MACCABEES

There are four books of the Maccabees extant in Greek, of which the Western Church receives only the first two as canonical.

The first book of the Maccabees contains a trustworthy history of the Maccabean revolt. It was originally written in Hebrew by an orthodox Jew, probably during the first or second decade of the first century B.C. It is a record of priceless and sterling worth.

The second book of the Maccabees is, in the main, an abridgment of a larger history of the Maccabees in five volumes written by Jason of Cyrene. The epitomiser was perhaps an Alexandrian Jew, of the first century B.C., who wrote in Greek. The historical value of the book is much inferior to that of the first book.

The third book of the Maccabees contains no reference to the Maccabees, and the events recorded in it, which may rest upon some historical basis, are placed at an earlier date (B.C. 217–209). The author was an Alexandrian Jew, who wrote in Greek, perhaps in the first century B.C., although a much later date is given to the book by some scholars.

The fourth book of the Maccabees contains in an expanded form the story of the Maccabean martyrs, which is used as a basis of a philosophical treatise on the triumph of reason over the passions. Eusebius and Jerome attributed this book to Josephus, but it does not resemble his style, and it is more probably the work of an Alexandrian Jew written during the century before the fall of Jerusalem.

The third and fourth books of the Maccabees have been translated for this edition of the Apocrypha.