HarperCollins Study Bible

by Harold W. Attridge

  b Other ancient authorities add everything; others add me; others read who will hear me

  c Or angel

  d Or foreigner

  1 Small. In Hebrew the same adjective is used to describe David in 1 Sam 16.11; 17.14 (“the youngest”) and by Solomon in speaking of himself in 1 Kings 3.7 (“a little child”). Youngest. Gideon describes himself with the same adjective in Judg 6.15 (“the least”); see Ps 119.141. This verse in the Hebrew reads, “Smaller was I than my brothers and the youngest of the sons of my father, yet he made me shepherd of his flock and ruler over his kids” (on “shepherd,” see 1 Sam 16.11; on “ruler,” see Ps 105.21). Some Syriac manuscripts conclude v. 1 with “and I found a lion and a wolf and I killed and rent them.”

  2 The Hebrew concludes v. 2 with “and (so) have I rendered glory to the LORD, thought I within myself.”

  3 The Hebrew text here is both longer and multivalent:

  The mountains do not witness to him, nor do the hills proclaim;

  The trees have cherished my words and the flocks my works.

  For who can proclaim and who can bespeak and who can recount the deeds of the Lord?

  Everything has God seen, everything has he heard and he has heeded.

  Greek manuscripts vary considerably in the reading The Lord himself; it is he who hears; one important Greek witness (Sinaiticus) reads “the Lord himself, he hears everything,” reflecting, like the Hebrew, 1 Sam 16.7. The reason the Hebrew recensionist or Greek translator omitted most of the lines of the Hebrew was that they seem to contradict frequent biblical assertions that nature does indeed proclaim the glory of God. In the context of the Hebrew poem the surrounding mountains and hills seem to be mute, while the solitary shepherd dedicates his musical gifts to the glorification of God by fashioning musical instruments, tunes, and words (2 Chr 29.26; cf. Am 6.5).

  5 The first poetic unit of Psalm 151 in the Hebrew scroll concludes:

  He sent his prophet to anoint me,

  Samuel to make me great;

  My brothers went out to meet him, handsome of figure and appearance.

  Though they were tall of stature and handsome by their hair,

  The Lord God chose

  them not.

  But he sent and took me from behind the flock and anointed me with holy oil,

  And he made me leader of his people and ruler over the people of his covenant.

  6 The second poetic unit in the original Hebrew, with its superscription, reads: “At the beginning of David’s power after the prophet of God had anointed him. Then I [saw] a Philistine uttering defiances from the r[anks of the enemy].” By his idols. See 1 Sam 17.43. Some later Latin, Arabic, and Ethiopic manuscripts continue, “and I threw three stones at him in the middle of his forehead and felled him by the power of the Lord” (cf. “a stone” in 1 Sam 17.49–50).

  7 His own sword. See 1 Sam 17.51.

  3 MACCABEES

  1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |

  THE TITLE 3 MACCABEES is a misnomer, as the book has nothing to do with the Maccabees. It is found in some manuscripts of the Greek Bible (Alexandrinus and Venetus, but not Vaticanus or Sinaiticus). The title probably comes from the fact that this book follows 1 and 2 Maccabees in the manuscripts and is set in the Hellenistic period (332–63 BCE). Because it was not included in the Latin Vulgate, it is not one of the deuterocanonical books that are accepted by the Roman Catholic Church, nor is it among the traditional Protestant Apocrypha. It is, however, regarded as deuterocanonical in the Eastern Orthodox Churches.

  Content and Historical Accuracy

  THIRD MACCABEES DESCRIBES THREE EPISODES in the reign of Ptolemy IV Philopator, king of Egypt (221–204 BCE). Chapter 1.1–5 describes how an attempted assassination of Ptolemy was foiled by the intervention of an apostate Jew named Dositheus. An unsuccessful attempt by the king to enter the Jerusalem temple is recorded in 1.6–2.24; the main body of the book, 2.25–7.23, describes Ptolemy’s persecution of the Egyptian Jews.

  Although some scholars have accepted 3 Maccabees as either wholly or partly a historical account, the genre of the narrative raises grave doubts about its historical value. The story has strong legendary features and seems designed to edify and inspire wonder rather than to report accurately. The plot to assassinate Ptolemy (1.2) is also reported by the second-century BCE Greek historian Polybius, but without mention of the Jew Dositheus, whose role in 3 Maccabees is reminiscent of that of Mordecai in Esth 2.21–23. The unsuccessful attempt to enter the temple has a parallel in 2 Macc 3 in the story of Heliodorus. A variant of the longest episode, the persecution of the Egyptian Jews, is found in the tract Against Apion (2.53–55), written by the Jewish historian Josephus at the end of the first century CE. There, however, Ptolemy is identified not as Philopator but as Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II (Physcon, 144–117 BCE). This variation shows that the story became traditional and that historical accuracy was not the primary consideration in its transmission. It may, of course, refer to historical events (such as the battle of Raphia), but these references are incidental. The book is best viewed as a historical novel with a religious message.

  Language, Place, and Date of Composition

  THERE IS GENERAL AGREEMENT that 3 Maccabees was written in Greek, probably in Alexandria (in Egypt). It was most likely written during the Roman era (30 BCE–70 CE). It shows signs of dependence on the Greek editions of Esther and Daniel, which would require a date no earlier than the first century BCE. The most specific indication of date is the statement in 2.28 that “all Jews shall be subjected to a registration involving poll tax and to the status of slaves.” The Greek word laographia, lit. “census,” here translated “registration,” acquired a special connotation in Roman times because of a poll tax introduced by Augustus in 24/23 BCE. Greeks were exempt from this tax, but Jews were not, so they suffered a de facto reduction in status. This tax bore directly on the issue of whether the Jews had “equal citizenship with the Alexandrians” (2.30).

  A further indication of date lies in the book’s peculiar combination of episodes that find parallels in different sources and may have circulated as independent stories. The decision of the author of 3 Maccabees to combine the story of a threat to the Jerusalem temple with that of the persecution of Egyptian Judaism brings to mind the reign of Caligula (37–41 CE). During that reign there was a pogrom in Alexandria and also an attempt to introduce a statue of Caligula into the Jerusalem temple (both incidents are described in the treatise On the Embassy to Gaius by the Jewish philosopher Philo of Alexandria). Though the stories in 3 Maccabees are traditional tales and were not composed as allegories for the crisis of the Roman era, that crisis may have been the occasion for their combination and edition in this book.

  Some scholars, however, date the book to the early first century BCE, before the beginning of Roman rule in Egypt, mainly because of the author’s accurate use of terminology relating to the Ptolemaic court.

  Message and Outlook

  THIRD MACCABEES IS REMINISCENT of the stories of Esther and Dan 1–6 as a description of life in the Jewish Diaspora. It describes a situation of divided loyalty. The Jews are loyal servants of the king but also strict observers of the Jewish law. Problems arise because of the arrogance, even madness, of the king and his bad advisers. But these problems are aberrations. In the end, the king comes to his senses and all is well for the Jews. 3 Maccabees also distinguishes sharply between the Alexandrians, who are hostile to the Jews, and “the Greeks,” who are sympathetic. This distinction is of dubious historical value, as the Alexandrians were predominantly Greek, but it reflects the desire of the Jewish community to be accepted as Greek and its refusal to dignify its enemies with that name.

  3 Maccabees can be seen as an illustration of the problems of a religious minority in an alien land, and as such it is relevant to situations that have recurred throughout history. The view point of 3 Maccabees is optimistic. Evil is an aberration, and divine providence will prevail. The religious message of the book is
that God responds to those who pray for deliverance (see 2.21; 5.28; 6.18). There is no appeal to the ideas of immortality or afterlife that were widely accepted in Hellenistic Judaism by this time. The optimistic theology of the book was still possible for Jews in the time of Caligula, but in the following century the Jewish community in Egypt was virtually destroyed. Unfortunately, subsequent history has more often reminded readers of the book’s picture of Jews being rounded up for destruction (ch. 4) than of its picture of miraculous deliverance. [JOHN J. COLLINS]

  3 MACCABEES 1

  The Battle of Raphia

  1When Philopator learned from those who returned that the regions that he had controlled had been seized by Antiochus, he gave orders to all his forces, both infantry and cavalry, took with him his sister Arsinoë, and marched out to the region near Raphia, where the army of Antiochus was encamped. 2But a certain Theodotus, determined to carry out the plot he had devised, took with him the best of the Ptolemaic arms that had been previously issued to him,a and crossed over by night to the tent of Ptolemy, intending single-handed to kill him and thereby end the war. 3But Dositheus, known as the son of Drimylus, a Jew by birth who later changed his religion and apostatized from the ancestral traditions, had led the king away and arranged that a certain insignificant man should sleep in the tent; and so it turned out that this man incurred the vengeance meant for the king.b 4When a bitter fight resulted, and matters were turning out rather in favor of Antiochus, Arsinoë went to the troops with wailing and tears, her locks all disheveled, and exhorted them to defend themselves and their children and wives bravely, promising to give them each two minas of gold if they won the battle. 5And so it came about that the enemy was routed in the action, and many captives also were taken. 6Now that he had foiled the plot, Ptolemyc decided to visit the neighboring cities and encourage them. 7By doing this, and by endowing their sacred enclosures with gifts, he strengthened the morale of his subjects.

  Philopator Attempts to Enter the Temple

  8Since the Jews had sent some of their council and elders to greet him, to bring him gifts of welcome, and to congratulate him on what had happened, he was all the more eager to visit them as soon as possible. 9After he had arrived in Jerusalem, he offered sacrifice to the supreme Godd and made thank offerings and did what was fitting for the holy place.e Then, upon entering the place and being impressed by its excellence and its beauty, 10he marveled at the good order of the temple, and conceived a desire to enter the sanctuary. 11When they said that this was not permitted, because not even members of their own nation were allowed to enter, not even all of the priests, but only the high priest who was pre-eminent over all—and he only once a year—the king was by no means persuaded. 12Even after the law had been read to him, he did not cease to maintain that he ought to enter, saying, “Even if those men are deprived of this honor, I ought not to be.” 13And he inquired why, when he entered every other temple,f no one there had stopped him. 14And someone answered thoughtlessly that it was wrong to take that as a portent.g 15“But since this has happened,” the kingh said, “why should not I at least enter, whether they wish it or not?”

  Jewish Resistance to Ptolemy

  16Then the priests in all their vestments prostrated themselves and entreated the supreme Godi to aid in the present situation and to avert the violence of this evil design, and they filled the temple with cries and tears; 17those who remained behind in the city were agitated and hurried out, supposing that something mysterious was occurring. 18Young women who had been secluded in their chambers rushed out with their mothers, sprinkled their hair with dust,j and filled the streets with groans and lamentations. 19Those women who had recently been arrayed for marriage abandoned the bridal chambersk prepared for wedded union, and, neglecting proper modesty, in a disorderly rush flocked together in the city. 20Mothers and nurses abandoned even newborn children here and there, some in houses and some in the streets, and without a backward look they crowded together at the most high temple. 21Various were the supplications of those gathered there because of what the king was profanely plotting. 22In addition, the bolder of the citizens would not tolerate the completion of his plans or the fulfillment of his intended purpose. 23They shouted to their compatriots to take arms and die courageously for the ancestral law, and created a considerable disturbance in the holy place;l and being barely restrained by the old men and the elders,m they resorted to the same posture of supplication as the others. 24Meanwhile the crowd, as before, was engaged in prayer, 25while the elders near the king tried in various ways to change his arrogant mind from the plan that he had conceived. 26But he, in his arrogance, took heed of nothing, and began now to approach, determined to bring the aforesaid plan to a conclusion. 27When those who were around him observed this, they turned, together with our people, to call upon him who has all power to defend them in the present trouble and not to overlook this unlawful and haughty deed. 28The continuous, vehement, and concerted cry of the crowdsn resulted in an immense uproar; 29for it seemed that not only the people but also the walls and the whole earth around echoed, because indeed all at that timeo preferred death to the profanation of the place.

  next chapter

  * * *

  a Or the best of the Ptolemaic soldiers previously put under his command

  b Gk that one

  c Gk he

  d Gk the greatest God

  e Gk the place

  f Or entered the temple precincts

  g Or to boast of this

  h Gk he

  i Gk the greatest God

  j Other ancient authorities add and ashes

  k Or the canopies

  l Gk the place

  m Other ancient authorities read priests

  n Other ancient authorities read vehement cry of the assembled crowds

  o Other ancient authorities lack at that time

  1.1–5 The battle of Raphia (217 BCE). The abrupt beginning suggests that this passage was adapted from a longer account. A full description of the battle is found in Polybius, Histories 5.79–86.

  1.1 Philopator, Ptolemy IV, king of Egypt (221–204 BCE). Antiochus, Antiochus III, later called the Great, king of Syria (223–187 BCE). Raphia, a town in Palestine, three miles from Gaza, near the Egyptian border.

  1.2 According to Polybius, Theodotus had been commander in chief of the Egyptian forces in Syria but had defected to Antiochus. Single-handed. Polybius says Theodotus took two soldiers with him.

  1.3 Dositheus, the name of a Jewish general in Egypt in the mid-second century BCE. Dositheus son of Drimylus occurs as the name of a pagan priest in a papyrus from the third century BCE (Papyrus Hibeh 90), but there is no evidence that this individual was Jewish. Note that apostate Jews are held in abhorrence in 2.33. Polybius identifies the man who slept in the tent as Andreas, the king’s physician, who was not insignificant. The author of 3 Maccabees may have misread “Andreas” as andra (Greek, “man”).

  1.5 According to Polybius, Antiochus lost nearly 10,000 foot soldiers and 300 cavalry, and 4,000 were taken prisoners, while Ptolemy lost 1,500 foot soldiers and 700 cavalry.

  1.6–15 Ptolemy attempts to enter the Jerusalem temple. Cf. the story of Heliodorus in 2 Macc 3.

  1.9 The supreme (lit. “greatest”) God is mentioned often in 3 Maccabees and also in 2 Macc 3.36. Josephus claims that Alexander the Great also sacrificed to God in Jerusalem (Antiquities 11.336).

  1.10 He marveled at…the temple. Philopator was known for his interest in architecture.

  1.11 Only the high priest was allowed to enter the inner sanctuary, or most holy place (Ex 30.10; Lev 16.2, 11–12, 15, 34; Heb 9.7). In 63 BCE the Roman general Pompey outraged the Jews by entering the most holy place. In contrast, Antiochus the Great, in 198 BCE, decreed it unlawful for any foreigner to enter the temple enclosure (Josephus, Antiquities 12.145).

  1.16–29 The Jewish reaction to Philopator’s effort to enter the temple. A very similar account is found in the story of Heliodorus in 2 Macc 3.15–22. There
were comparable incidents in the first century CE when Pilate allowed military standards with images of the emperor to be brought into Jerusalem and when Caligula ordered the erection of his statue in the temple.

  1.23 The Jews’ resolve to take arms and die courageously for the ancestral law is comparable to the stand taken by Mattathias in 1 Macc 2. Barely restrained by the…elders. Josephus reports similar attempts to restrain the rebels at the outbreak of the Jewish War in 66 CE.

  3 MACCABEES 2

  The Prayer of the High Priest Simon

  1Then the high priest Simon, facing the sanctuary, bending his knees and extending his hands with calm dignity, prayed as follows:a 2“Lord, Lord, king of the heavens, and sovereign of all creation, holy among the holy ones, the only ruler, almighty, give attention to us who are suffering grievously from an impious and profane man, puffed up in his audacity and power. 3For you, the creator of all things and the governor of all, are a just Ruler, and you judge those who have done anything in insolence and arrogance. 4You destroyed those who in the past committed injustice, among whom were even giants who trusted in their strength and boldness, whom you destroyed by bringing on them a boundless flood. 5You consumed with fire and sulfur the people of Sodom who acted arrogantly, who were notorious for their vices;b and you made them an example to those who should come afterward. 6You made known your mighty power by inflicting many and varied punishments on the audacious Pharaoh who had enslaved your holy people Israel. 7And when he pursued them with chariots and a mass of troops, you overwhelmed him in the depths of the sea, but carried through safely those who had put their confidence in you, the Ruler over the whole creation. 8And when they had seen works of your hands, they praised you, the Almighty. 9You, O King, when you had created the boundless and immeasurable earth, chose this city and sanctified this place for your name, though you have no need of anything; and when you had glorified it by your magnificent manifestation,c you made it a firm foundation for the glory of your great and honored name. 10And because you love the house of Israel, you promised that if we should have reverses and tribulation should overtake us, you would listen to our petition when we come to this place and pray. 11And indeed you are faithful and true. 12And because oftentimes when our fathers were oppressed you helped them in their humiliation, and rescued them from great evils, 13see now, O holy King, that because of our many and great sins we are crushed with suffering, subjected to our enemies, and overtaken by helplessness. 14In our downfall this audacious and profane man undertakes to violate the holy place on earth dedicated to your glorious name. 15For your dwelling is the heaven of heavens, unapproachable by human beings. 16But because you graciously bestowed your glory on your people Israel, you sanctified this place. 17Do not punish us for the defilement committed by these men, or call us to account for this profanation, otherwise the transgressors will boast in their wrath and exult in the arrogance of their tongue, saying, 18‘We have trampled down the house of the sanctuary as the houses of the abominations are trampled down.’ 19Wipe away our sins and disperse our errors, and reveal your mercy at this hour. 20Speedily let your mercies overtake us, and put praises in the mouth of those who are downcast and broken in spirit, and give us peace.”