MACCABEES, THE FIRST BooK OF, one of the five apocryphal productions which have come down to us under this common title.
I. Title and position of the .Book.—In the editions of the Sept. which we follow, this book is called the first of Maccabees (Maxxa(3alcov ci), because in the MSS. it is placed at the head of those apocry phal nooks which record the exploits and merits of the Maccabean family in their struggles for the restoration of their ancestral religion and the libera tion of their Jewish compatriots from the Seleu cidian tyranny. According to Origen, however (comp. Euseb., Hirt. Ecclesiast. ,vi. 25), the original Hebrew title of this book was Zappi20 Mappave Great difficulty has been experienced in the endea vour to obtain the exact Hebrew equivalent to these words. They have been resolved-1. Into (or it)) 41tt, rinv, History of the princes of the sons of God, i. e., of Israel (Michaelis, Orient. iblioth. , xii. 115, and most modern commentators).
2. Into nty tynn the sceptre of the prince of the sons of God, i. e., of Simon, who is called prince in i Maccab. xiii. 41; xiv. 47 (Bochart, Buddeus, and Ewald, Geschichte d. V Israel, iv. 528). But this makes chapters xiii.-xvi. the prin cipal part of the book, and the rest a mere intro duction. 3. Into 1VJ Princeps templi (i. e., pontifex maximus), Princeps filiorunt Dei (i. e., dux populi Judaici), based upon the words 21,cicoyos cipxLepgcos Kat arparnyoii Kat -y ovulvou 'IouSalcoo, i Maccab. xiii. 42 ; and girl ligiovos cipxicpecos lv MapalaX, ibid. xiv. 27 (Wems dorf, Commentat. de fide libb. Maccab., p. 173) ; and 4. Into 9,t..; '1)=1 vz-v, sctptrum rebellium Del, i. e., of the Syrian kings, who were regarded as rebelling against God because they persecuted the Jews (Junius, Huetius, etc.), or as Herzfeld, who espouses this solution of the words, explains it, the chastising rod of the apostates, which he submits is an appropriate appellation of the Maccabeans (Geschichte d. V Israel, i. p. 265). We incline to the first explanation, because it escapes the censure which the second incurs, and is less artificial than the third and fourth. It must, however, be remarked,
that this title does not occur in the Hebrew litera ture, and that both the ancient and modern Jews call the book nainvrn -m r), the book of the Hashmoneans ; iltvxn, I. Hashmoneans ; 119,M the scroll of the family of the Ilashmoneans, or simply Nt-nlnem 1-1,r3, the scroll of the Hashmoneans, after the title Hashmoneans, or Ashnzoneans, by which the Maccabean family are denominated [MACCABEES, THE]. Though the book occupies the first position, it aught, according to the historic order, to be the fourth of Maccabees, inas much as its narrative commences at a later period than the other three books. Tradition, however, in determining the priority of position, was evi dently guided by the age and the intrinsic value of these books, since 1 Maccab. is obviously the oldest, and surpasses the other three books in im portance. Cotton, in his translation of the Macca bees, has departed from this traditional and com monly accepted arrangement, and placed the first book as second in order.
2. Contents and Division of the Book. —This book contains a lucid and chronological history of the tyrannical proceedings of Antiochus Epiphanes, commencing with the year 175 B.C., and of the series of patriotic struggles against this tyranny, first organised by Mattathias, 168 B.C., down to settled sovereignty and death of Simon, 135 B.c., thus embracing a period of forty years. The whole is divisible into four parts, according to the four periods during which the four successive high priests and princes, Mattathias, Judas Maccabeus, Jonathan, and Simon, ruled over the people and led their armies against the heathen oppressors.
i. The first part, of which Mattathias is the hero, comprises chap. i.-ii. 70, and embraces a period from the commencement of Antiochus Epiphanes's reign to the death of Mattathias, 175-167 B.C.