Historical Books of the Old Testament: 1&2 Maccabees

Mr. Bartlett's volume, like the others in the series, contains the text in the New English Bible. After a general introduction to the book as a whole, the text is given in short passages, with a commentary directly following each. These Jewish historical works, the two books of the Maccabees, were written to describe the struggles of the Jews in the second century B.C. against the encroachment of the Greek way of life and against the political domination of the Syrians. The particular purpose of this commentary is to bring out the political and religious motives of the various parties to the struggle. The world is very conscious of the struggle of minority groups against alien masters and alien cultures, and 1 and 2 Maccabees have much to say to those who wish to understand the problems of small groups or nations with strongly held convictions.

Old Testament reading guide, 13.

Contents: Introduction -- The content and character of our two books -- The extant sources of First and Second Macabees -- Josephus and the work of Onias IV -- The date and setting of First and Second Macabees in the polemics of the Hasmonaean period -- Sources of First and Second Macabees no longer extant -- What really happened: the civic and religious policies of Antiochus IV -- What really happened: chronilogical table -- The witnesses to the text -- Selected bibliography -- Translation and notes -- The Hellenistic empire from Alexander to Antiochus IV (1:1-10) -- The Jewish Hellenizers (1:11-15) -- The victories of Antiochus IV in Egypt (169 B.C.E.) (1:16-19) -- Antiochus IV punished the Jews (1:20-64) -- Mattathias' act of zeal (2:1-26) -- Mattathias' guerrilla campaign (2:27-48) -- Mattathias' last words (2:49-70) -- Judas' early victories (3:1-26) -- The king marches eastward (3:27-37) -- Judas defeats Nicanor and Gorgias (3:38--4:25) -- Lysias fails to crush Judas' band (4:26-35) -- The restoration of the temple (4:36-61) -- Wars with hostile neighbors (5:1-68) -- The death of Antiochus IV (6:1-17) -- The expedition of Antiochus V and Lysias (6:18-63) -- The high priest Alcimus and the campaign of Nicanor (7:1-50) -- The alliance with Rome (8:1-32) -- The death of Judas (9:1-22) -- Jonathan succeeds Judas (9:23-31) -- Jonathan as guerrilla chieftan (9:32-73) -- Alexander Balas makes Jonathan high priest (10:1-21) -- Jonathan grows in power (10:22-66) -- Jonathan defeats Apollonius (10:67-89) -- The fall of Alexander Balas (11: 1-19) -- Demetrius II honors Jonathan and the Jews (11:20-37) -- Jonathan breaks with Demetrius II (11:38-59) -- Victories under Antiochus VI (11:60-74) -- Diplomacy with Rome and Sparta (12:1-23) -- Further gains under Antiochus VI (12:24-38) -- Tryphon treacherously captures Jonathan (12:39-53) -- Simon leads the Jews to liberty (13:1-42) -- Further victories under Simon (13:43-53) -- Simon's glory (14:1-49) -- Simon is bold to Antiochus VII (15:1-36) -- Simon and sons rout Kendebaios (15:37-16:10) -- Simon's death (16:11-24)

Contents: Introduction -- The content and character of Second Maccabees -- The sources of First Maccabees and the abridged history -- The historical methods of Jason of Cyrene -- When were the histories written and how are they interrelated? -- What really happened: the civic and religious policies of Antiochus IV -- What really happened: chronological table -- The witnesses to the text -- Selected Bibliography -- Translation and notes -- Epistle 1: A call to the Jews of Egypt to repent and observe the Festival of Tabernacles in the Month of Kislev (1:1-10a) -- Epistle 2: A forged letter to the Egyptian Jews purporting to have been written in 164 B.C.E. (1:10b--2:18) -- The abridger's preface (2:19-32) -- The miraculous thwarting of Heliodorus (3:1-40) -- The atrocious sins of the Hellenizing usurpers (4:1-50) -- How Jason rebelled and Antiochus punished Jerusalem (5:1-27) -- The imposed cult and the persecution (6:1-17) -- The martyrdom of Eleazar (6:18-31) -- The martyrdom of the mother and her seven sons (7:1-42) -- Judas' first victories (8:1-36) -- The death of Antiochus IV (9:1-29) -- The festival of purification (10:1-8) -- Troubles early in the reign of Antiochus V (10:9-38) -- The first expedition of Lysias and the end of the persecution (11:1-38) -- Local wars (12:1-45) -- The expedition of Antiochus V and Lysias (13:1-26) -- The reign of Demetrius I: The high priest Alcimus and the career and fall of the Govenor Nicanor (14:1--15:36) -- The abridger's epilogue (15:37-39)

Contents: Introduction -- The letters and the narrative -- The narrative -- The goals of the author -- The date and place of composition -- A suggested time line from 2 Maccabees -- The text -- Commentary -- 1:1-10a The first prefixed letter -- 1:10b-17 The second prefixed letter: greetings and well wishes -- 1:18-36 The second prefixed letter: the body of the letter I -- 2:1-18 The second prefixed letter: the body of the letter 2 -- 2:19-32 Prologue -- 3:1-39 Heliodorus comes to the temple -- 3:40--4:6 Transition to chaos -- 4:7-22 Jason as high priest -- 4:23-50 The death of Onias -- 5:1--6:9a Antiochus assaults the temple -- 6:9b-7:42 Righteous martyrs -- 8:1-36 Judas Maccabeus leads a revolt -- 9:1-29 The end of Antiochus IV Epiphanes -- 10:1-8 The purification of the temple -- 10:9-38 Events under Antiochus V Eupator -- 11:1-38 Relations with Lysias -- Excursus The letter in 2 Maccabees 11-16-38 -- 12:1-45 Battles with local commanders -- 13:1-26 Struggles with Antiochus and Lysias -- 14:1-25 Final assault on the temple: the approach of Nikanor and his treaty -- 14:26-46 Final assault on the temple: the persecution -- 15:1-36 The defeat of Nikanor -- 15:37-39 Epilogue

The commentary was originally written in Spanish as part of a Spanish Bible version entitled: Sagrada Biblia (known in English as the Navarre Bible) with a commentary by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre.

Contents: The origin of 1 Maccabees -- The composition of 1 Maccabees -- Chronology and sequence -- Chapters 1 and 2 : the decree of Antiochus -- Chapters 3.1-9.22 : the acts of Judas -- Chapters 9.23-16.24 : Jonathan, Simon--and John -- Epilogue : the historian

The Catholic biblical quarterly., Monograph series ;, 31.

Contents: Introduction: Canonical and historical settings -- Daniel: God's kingdom -- Second Maccabees: God's temple -- First Maccabees; God's dynasty -- Anatomy of the Maccabean revolution -- Related sources -- Significance

Contents: 1. The unity of 2 Maccabees -- The prefixed letters -- The attempts to find sources -- 2. The syntax and style -- 3. The structure of 2 Maccabees -- 3:1-40 -- 4:1-10:9 -- 10:10-15:36 -- 4. The literary character -- An epitome? -- Tragic history? -- Festal legend? -- Conclusion

Hengel's classic work refers not only to all of Josephus' works, but also to every relevant Rabbinic tractate, Qumran text, contemporary Latin or Greek author and biblical, apocryphal or pseudepigraphical and early Christian text.

Contents: Pt. I. 1 Maccabees 1:10-7:50. 2 Maccabees 4:7-6:11, 8:1-15:39. Jewish War 1.41-45. Jewish antiquities 12.237-12.412 -- pt. II. 1 Maccabees 8:1-13:42. Jewish antiquities 12.413-13.214 -- pt. III. Jewish war 1.50-357. Jewish antiquities 13.215-14.491

With a rigorous use of the sources, the book throws new light on the High Priesthood (301-152 BCE). Setting this institution in the widest contest of the interaction between the Judaic and Hellenistic world, it gives a valid contribution to the international research in this field.

The so-called 'Antioch Incident' - the confrontation between the apostles Peter and Paul in Galatians 2.11-21 - continues to be a source of controversy in both scholarly and popular estimations of the emergence of the early church and the development of Pauline theology. Paul and the Crucified Christ in Antioch offers an innovative interpretation of Paul's account of and response to this event, creatively combining historical reconstruction, detailed exegesis, and theological reflection. S. A. Cummins argues that the nature and significance of the central issue at stake in Antioch - whether the Torah or Jesus Christ determines who are the people of God - gains great clarity and force when viewed in relation to a Maccabean martyr model of Judaism as now christologically reconfigured and redeployed in the life and ministry of the apostle Paul.