Difference between revisions of "3 Maccabees" - New World Encyclopedia

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The book of 3 Maccabees is found in most Orthodox Bibles as a part of the deuterocanonical books, but Protestants, Catholics, and Jews regard it as apocryphal. It tells the story of persecution of the Jews under Ptolemy IV Philopator (222-205 B.C.E.).

Despite its title, the book actually has nothing to do with the Maccabees or their revolt against the Greek Empire, as described in 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees. The name of the book apparently comes from the similarities between this work and the stories of the tyranny of Greek rulers in Jerusalem, the martyrdom of Eleazar and the Maccabean youths in 2 Maccabees, and the heroic resistance of the pious Jews. Unlike the other Maccabean works, however, it concludes with a miraculous intervention directly by God to save his people from mass martrtom.

Synopsis

The contents of the book have a legendary character, which scholars have not been able to tie to proven historical events, and it has all the appearances of a romance. It begins by describing how, after Ptolemy's defeat of Antiochus III in 217 B.C.E. at the battle of Raphia, he visited Jerusalem and the Second Temple. However, he was miraculously prevented from entering the building. This led him to hate the Jews, and upon his return to Alexandria he rounded up the Jewish community there to put them to death in his hippodrome.

Egyptian law, however, required that the names of all those put to death be written down. God caused all the paper of Ptolemy's scribes to be used up in attempting to do this, so that the Jews were temporarily able to escape. Ptolemy then order that the Jews by brought to a huge area, where they would be killed by a force of 500 of ravaging war elephants. However, due to various interventions by God in which the king is made to look both insane and extremely foolish, the Jews escaped this fate. Finally, the king was converted and bestowed favor upon the Jews, allowing them also to take violent revenge on those Jews who had formerly collaborated with the Egyptians. The date of their miraculous deliverance was then established as a holiday for all the Jews living in Egypt.

Authorship and historicity

Critics agree that the author of this book was an Alexandrian Jew who wrote in Greek. In style, the author is prone to rhetorical constructs and a somewhat bombastic style, and the themes of the book are very similar to those of the pseudepigraphal Epistle of Aristeas. The work begins somewhat abruptly, leading many to think that it is actually a fragment of a (now-lost) longer work.

Although some parts of the story, such as the names of the Jews taking up all the paper in Egypt, are clearly fictional, parts of the story cannot be definitively proven or disproven. Some scholars are willing to accept the first section, which tells of the actions of Ptolemy Philopator in being kept of the Temple of Jerusalem and later persecuting the Alexandrian Jews, as having a historical basis. Josephus notes that many Jews were put to death in Alexandria under the reign of Ptolemy VIII Physcon (146-117 B.C.E.) due to their support for Cleopatra II, and this execution was indeed carried out by intoxicated elephants. Some believe that the author of 3 Maccabees has transferred the historical incident to an earlier time period and added an fictitious connection to Jerusalem.

Another theory about the historical basis of the book was advanced by Adolf Büchler in 1899. He held that the book describes the persecution of the Jews in the Fayum region of Egypt. It is certain that the Jews abruptly changed allegiance from Egypt to Syria in 200 B.C.E. This author presumes that the change must have been due to persecution in Egypt. One theory holds that the book represents a polemic against the persecution of Jews by the Roman emperor Caligula, thus dating from around 40 C.E., but this theory has been rejected by more recent authors, on the grounds that in the book, Ptolemy does not claim divine honors as Caligula did.

The book was written at some point after 2 Maccabees, on which 3 Maccabees apparently relies. This sets the date of composition to the end of the first century B.C.E. and its use in the Orthodox Church also speaks for its composition before the first century CE.

References
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External links

Preceded by:
2 Maccabees

Books of the Bible

Succeeded by:
4 Maccabees

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-{{Books of the Old Testament}}
+The book of '''3 Maccabees''' is found in most [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox]] [[Bibles]] as a part of the [[deuterocanonical books]], but [[Protestantism|Protestant]]s, [[Catholic]]s, and Jews regard it as [[apocrypha]]l. It tells the story of persecution of the [[Jew]]s under [[Ptolemy IV of Egypt|Ptolemy IV Philopator]] ([[222 B.C.E.|222]]-205 B.C.E.).
-One of the [[Pseudepigrapha]],<ref name ="Harris">[[Stephen L Harris|Harris, Stephen L.]], Understanding the Bible. Palo Alto: Mayfield. 1985.</ref> the [[Bible|Biblical]] book '''3 Maccabees''' is found in most [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox]] Bibles as a part of the [[deuterocanonical books]] but [[Protestantism|Protestant]]s and [[Catholic]]s regard it as [[apocrypha]]l. The book actually has nothing to do with the [[Maccabees]] or their revolt against the [[History of Hellenistic Greece|Greek empire]], as described in [[1 Maccabees]] and [[2 Maccabees]]. Instead it tells the story of persecution of the [[Jew]]s under [[Ptolemy IV of Egypt|Ptolemy IV Philopator]] ([[222 B.C.E.|222]]-205 B.C.E.). The name of the book apparently comes from the similarities between this book and the stories of the [[martyr]]dom of [[Eleazar Maccabeus|Eleazar]] and the Maccabeean youths in 2 Maccabees; the High Priest Shimon is also mentioned.
+Despite its title, the book actually has nothing to do with the [[Maccabees]] or their revolt against the [[History of Hellenistic Greece|Greek Empire]], as described in [[1 Maccabees]] and [[2 Maccabees]]. The name of the book apparently comes from the similarities between this work and the stories of the tyranny of Greek rulers in [[Jerusalem]], the [[martyr]]dom of [[Eleazar Maccabeus|Eleazar]] and the Maccabean youths in 2 Maccabees, and the heroic resistance of the pious Jews. Unlike the other Maccabean works, however, it concludes with a miraculous intervention directly by God to save his people from mass martrtom.
 ==Synopsis==
-The contents of the book have a legendary character, which scholars have not been able to tie to proven historical events, and it has all the appearances of a [[Romance (genre)|romance]]. According to the book, after Ptolemy's defeat of [[Antiochus III]] in 217 B.C.E. at the battle of Raphia, he visited Jerusalem and the [[Second Temple]]. However, he was miraculously prevented from entering the building. This led him to hate the Jews and upon his return to [[Alexandria]], he rounded up the Jewish community there to put them to death in his [[hippodrome]]. However, [[Egypt]]ian law required that the names of all those put to death be written down, and all the [[paper]] in Egypt was exhausted in attempting to do this, so that the Jews were able to escape. Ptolemy then attempted to have the Jews killed by [[crushing by elephant]]; however, due to various interventions by [[God]], the Jews escaped this fate, despite the fact that the 500 elephants had been specially intoxicated to enrage them. Finally, the king was converted and bestowed favor upon the Jews, with this date being set as a festival of deliverance.
+The contents of the book have a legendary character, which scholars have not been able to tie to proven historical events, and it has all the appearances of a [[Romance (genre)|romance]]. It begins by describing how, after Ptolemy's defeat of [[Antiochus III]] in 217 B.C.E. at the battle of Raphia, he visited [[Jerusalem]] and the [[Second Temple]]. However, he was miraculously prevented from entering the building. This led him to hate the Jews, and upon his return to [[Alexandria]] he rounded up the Jewish community there to put them to death in his [[hippodrome]].
+[[Egypt]]ian law, however, required that the names of all those put to death be written down. God caused all the [[paper]] of Ptolemy's scribes to be used up in attempting to do this, so that the Jews were temporarily able to escape. Ptolemy then order that the Jews by brought to a huge area, where they would be killed by a force of 500 of ravaging war elephants. However, due to various interventions by [[God]] in which the king is made to look both insane and extremely foolish, the Jews escaped this fate. Finally, the king was converted and bestowed favor upon the Jews, allowing them also to take violent revenge on those Jews who had formerly collaborated with the Egyptians. The date of their miraculous deliverance was then established as a holiday for all the Jews living in Egypt.
 ==Authorship and historicity==
-Critics agree that the author of this book was an Alexandrian Jew who wrote in Greek. In style, the author is prone to rhetorical constructs and a somewhat bombastic style, and the themes of the book are very similar to those of the [[Epistle of Aristeas]]. The work begins somewhat abruptly, leading many to think that it is actually a fragment of a (now-lost) longer work.
+Critics agree that the author of this book was an [[Alexandria]]n Jew who wrote in Greek. In style, the author is prone to rhetorical constructs and a somewhat bombastic style, and the themes of the book are very similar to those of the [[pseudepigrapha]]l [[Epistle of Aristeas]]. The work begins somewhat abruptly, leading many to think that it is actually a fragment of a (now-lost) longer work.
-Although some parts of the story, such as the names of the Jews taking up all the paper in Egypt, are clearly fictional, parts of the story cannot be definitively proven or disproven and many scholars are only willing to accept the first section (which tells of the actions of Ptolemy Philopator) as possibly having a historical basis. [[Josephus]] notes that many (but certainly not all) Jews were put to death in Alexandria under the reign of [[Ptolemy VIII of Egypt|Ptolemy VIII Physcon]] ([[146 B.C.E.|146]]-117 B.C.E.) due to their support for [[Cleopatra II of Egypt|Cleopatra II]], and this execution was indeed carried out by intoxicated elephants. This may be the historical center of the relation in 3 Maccabees and the author has transferred it to an earlier time period and added an ahistorical connection to [[Jerusalem]] if this theory is correct.
+Although some parts of the story, such as the names of the Jews taking up all the paper in Egypt, are clearly fictional, parts of the story cannot be definitively proven or disproven. Some scholars are willing to accept the first section, which tells of the actions of Ptolemy Philopator in being kept of the Temple of Jerusalem and later persecuting the Alexandrian Jews, as having a historical basis. [[Josephus]] notes that many Jews were put to death in Alexandria under the reign of [[Ptolemy VIII of Egypt|Ptolemy VIII Physcon]] ([[146 B.C.E.|146]]-117 B.C.E.) due to their support for [[Cleopatra II of Egypt|Cleopatra II]], and this execution was indeed carried out by intoxicated elephants. Some believe that the author of 3 Maccabees  has transferred the historical incident to an earlier time period and added an fictitious connection to [[Jerusalem]].
-Another theory about the historical basis of the book was advanced by [[Adolf Büchler]] in 1899. He held that the book describes the persecution of the Jews in the [[Fayum]] region of Egypt. It is certain that the Jews abruptly changed allegiance from Egypt to Syria in 200 B.C.E. This author presumes that the change must have been due to persecution in Egypt.
+Another theory about the historical basis of the book was advanced by [[Adolf Büchler]] in 1899. He held that the book describes the persecution of the Jews in the [[Fayum]] region of Egypt. It is certain that the Jews abruptly changed allegiance from Egypt to Syria in 200 B.C.E. This author presumes that the change must have been due to persecution in Egypt. One theory holds that the book represents a polemic against the persecution of Jews by the Roman emperor [[Caligula]], thus dating from around 40 C.E., but this theory has been rejected by more recent authors, on the grounds that in the book, Ptolemy does not claim divine honors as Caligula did.
-The book was written at some point after 2 Maccabees, since that book is cited in the text. This sets the date of composition to the end of the [[first century B.C.E.]] and its use in the Orthodox Church also speaks for its composition before the [[first century|first century AD]]. One theory, advanced by Ewald and Willrich, holds that the relation is a polemic against [[Caligula]], thus dating from around AD 40, but this theory has been rejected by more recent authors, because Ptolemy in the book does not claim divine honors as Caligula did.
+The book was written at some point after [[2 Maccabees]], on which 3 Maccabees apparently relies. This sets the date of composition to the end of the [[first century B.C.E.]] and its use in the Orthodox Church also speaks for its composition before the [[first century|first century CE]].
 ==References==