HarperCollins Study Bible
Page 428
Promise of Divine Deliverance
74Listen, my elect ones, says the Lord; the days of tribulation are at hand, but I will deliver you from them. 75Do not fear or doubt, for Godr is your guide. 76You who keep my commandments and precepts, says the Lord God, must not let your sins weigh you down, or your iniquities prevail over you. 77Woe to those who are choked by their sins and overwhelmed by their iniquities! They are like a field choked with underbrush and its paths overwhelmed with thorns, so that no one can pass through. 78It is shut off and given up to be consumed by fire.
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a Other ancient authorities lack cloth of goats’ hair
b Other ancient authorities read fire when dry straw has been set on fire
c Other ancient authorities read a cluster may remain exposed
d Other ancient authorities read be for briers
e Cn: Lat do not believe the gods of whom the Lord speaks
f Other ancient authorities read therefore those who are married may know that they will produce children for captivity and famine
g Other ancient authorities add or the unjust done injustice
h Lat for he
i Other ancient authorities read Lord God
j Other ancient authorities read confined the world between the waters and the waters
k Or breath
l Other ancient authorities read of the Lord Almighty
m Other ancient authorities read the Lord
n Other ancient authorities read the Lord
o Meaning of Lat uncertain
p Other ancient authorities read For people, because of their misfortunes, shall
q Other ancient authorities read fear God
r Other ancient authorities read the Lord
s Other ancient authorities read seed
16.1–17 Judgment is irrevocable on the four nations that represent the Roman Empire. No historical situation can be envisaged.
16.1 Syria. See note on 15.30.
16.2 Signs of mourning. See 2 Sam 3.31; Am 8.10.
16.3 Sword…upon you. Cf. Ezek 21.8–11.
16.6 Lion. Cf. Am 3.8. Stubble. Cf. Isa 5.24; 47.14.
16.9 For fire as God’s instrument, see 13.9; 15.23; Jer 4.4.
16.10 For lightning as God’s instrument, see 2 Sam 22.15.
16.12 The earth and its foundations quake. Cf. 2 Sam 22.8, 16. The very underpinnings of the creation are shaken. Fish. Cf. Ezek 38.20.
16.13 Arrows…he shoots. Cf. vv. 7, 16. This image is not frequent, though it appears in 2 Sam 22.15.
16.14 Cf. Jer 30.24.
16.15 At judgment the earth will be destroyed by fire; cf. 2 Pet 3.10; Josephus, Antiquities 1.70.
16.17 Cf. Isa 50; Jer 4.19–26; 15.10–18; Mic 7.1.
16.18–34 The eschatological desolation emerges from the discussion of judgment.
16.19 Correction. See Prov 3.11–12; Am 4.6–12.
16.21 Provisions…assured for them. Cf. 1 Enoch 96.4–6. Plenty, regarded as a sign of virtue, will give false confidence.
16.22 Famine, sword. See 15.5, 57–58.
16.23 See 5.3.
16.24 See 6.22.
16.25–26 Cf. the covenant curses in Lev 26.16, 20.
16.27 Cf. 5.3.
16.28 Ten…left out of a city. Cf. Am 5.3. Two, out of the field. Cf. Mt 24.40–41. Clefts. Cf. Isa 2.10; Rev 6.15–16.
16.29–31 Cf. Isa 17.4–6. Clusters. See 12.42.
16.32 Cf. Isa 7.23–25. Note the different application of the same image.
16.33 Virgins…husbands. Cf. Jer 7.34.
16.35–52 The eschatological woes are to come, and God’s people must separate themselves from this-worldly concerns such as property.
16.35 The elect people are addressed again; see note on 15.53.
16.36 Prophetic opening: the Latin text is odd here and is emended.
16.37 Calamities, like those just prophesied; see 15.27.
16.38 The image of the pregnant woman is frequent in 2 Esdras and is used in similar contexts; e.g., 4.40–43. The troubles preceding the Messiah are called “birth pangs” cf. Mt 24.8; Rom 8.22; 1 Thess 5.3.
16.40 The idea of the eschatological battle is greatly developed in the Dead Sea Scrolls War Scroll (1QM). Strangers, as in Heb 11.13; 1 Pet 2.11.
16.41–44 Advice to regard the present world as temporary; cf. 1 Cor 7.29–31.
16.45 Cf. 5.12.
16.47–48 God’s anger at possessions, an ascetic dimension of the writer’s views.
16.49 Iniquity as a prostitute, a widely used image.
16.50 He comes who…every sin on earth. God and his agent, Jesus, are intended.
16.52 Eschatological righteousness.
16.53–67 The sinner must not deny sinning because God the creator will know.
16.53 Cf. 1 Jn 1.8.
16.54 That the Lord…knows everything is a common biblical theme; cf. Sir 15.19.
16.55–62 Loosely based on Gen 1.
16.56 God’s power in creating and numbering or naming the stars; cf. Isa 40.26; Ps 147.4.
16.57 See Job 38.16.
16.58 Confined the sea. See Jer 5.22; Pr Man 3; 1 Enoch 69.19. Suspended. See Ps 136.6.
16.59 See Gen 1.6–8; Isa 44.24.
16.60 Water in the desert. Cf. Isa 40.22 (Septuagint); Ps 107.35.
16.61 Formed human beings. See Gen 2.8; 2 Esd 8.8–13.
16.62 Cf. Deut 29.29; Ps 44.21.
16.64 The idea of the public character of judgment is found prominently in 7.37.
16.65 Put to shame. Cf. 7.87.
16.66 Glory as the revealing element; see 7.112.
16.67 Exhortation.
16.68–73 An attack to test the righteous is foreseen.
16.68 Cf. Acts 15.20; 1 Cor 8; 2 Macc 6.7–8.
16.73 See Isa 48.10; Zech 13.9; 1 Pet 1.7.
(d) The following book appears in an appendix to the Greek Bible.
4 MACCABEES
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
THE BOOK OF 4 MACCABEES is found as an appendix to some manuscripts of the Septuagint, although it was never considered canonical. It is also found in some manuscripts of the works of the first-century CE Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, although Josephus’s authorship of 4 Maccabees is now universally rejected.
Content and Purpose
FOURTH MACCABEES IS DIVIDED INTO TWO PARTS. The first part (1.1–3.18) is a philosophical discourse demonstrating the supremacy of “devout reason” over the emotions and the compatibility of reason with Mosaic law. This compatibility is illustrated by several biblical examples. The second and much longer part (3.19–18.24) gives three examples to support the thesis hat sets the scene (3.19–4.26), the author tells the stories of the torture and martyrdom by the Seleucid ruler Antiochus IV Epiphanes of the elderly priest Eleazar (5.1–7.23), seven brothers (8.1–14.10), and their mother (14.11–17.6). These examples are followed by a loosely organized peroration (17.7–18.24). The author’s purpose was, through the use of Greek rhetorical and philosophical conventions, to persuade his fellow diaspora Jews to continue to observe the Mosaic law strictly in the face of the pressures and attractions from the surrounding world to desert observance of the law and assimilate to a Greek way of life.
Literary Genre, Occasion, and Sources
FOURTH MACCABEES WAS COMPOSED IN GREEK, and its author was familiar with Greek rhetorical conventions and, to some extent, Greek philosophical viewpoints. The style of 4 Maccabees reflects the florid, elaborate “Asiatic” style of Greek rhetoric rather than the classical, Attic style. The book is an example of epideictic rhetoric (the rhetoric of praise and blame). More specifically, it is a combination of two literary genres: moral instruction and funeral oration, but it also contains elements drawn from Greek rhetorical historiography and Greek tragedy in its descriptions of the suffering and death of the main characters. The genre of moral instruction, with its emphasis on the domination of devout reason over the emotions, is most prominent in 1
.1–3.18 but is also found scattered throughout the book (e.g., 6.31–35; 13.1–5). The genre of funeral oration dominates the rest of 4 Maccabees, which covers the actual descriptions of the suffering and death of Eleazar, the seven brothers, and their mother. Greek funeral orations, such as Pericles’ funeral oration for the Athenian dead (Thucydides, Peloponnesian Wars 2.35–46) and Plato’s Menexemus, have many thematic elements in common with 4 Maccabees. These themes include praise of the noble birth, education, courage, piety, and endurance of those who have fallen, praise of their opposition to a tyrannical king, and praise of the ancestral land for which they died. Both Greek funeral orations and 4 Maccabees were intended to encourage the living to show similar virtues.
It has been suggested that 4 Maccabees was written as a synagogue homily, a lecture, or a genuine funeral oration commemorating the anniversary of the deaths of the martyrs. Given its combination of literary genres and its ornate style, it was more likely composed as a fictive oration unconnected with any particular occasion, similar to the oration in Plato’s Menexemus.
The source of the stories in 4 Maccabees is 2 Maccabees. 4 Macc 3.19–4.14 derives from 2 Macc 3.1–40, 4 Macc 4.15–26 from 2 Macc 4.7–6.11, 4 Macc 5.1–6.35 from 2 Macc 6.18–31, and 4 Macc 8.1–18.19 from 2 Macc 7.1–42. Although the author of 4 Maccabees may have been acquainted with the work of Jason of Cyrene, of which 2 Maccabees is a “summary,” it is much more likely that the differences between 4 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees are due to reinterpretations and rhetorical expansions by the author of 4 Maccabees himself.
Author, Place, and Date of Composition
THE IDENTITY OF THE AUTHOR of 4 Maccabees is unknown, but he was certainly an observant Jew of the Hellenistic Diaspora who had a Greek rhetorical education. Although he makes use of Greek philosophical concepts and vocabulary (such as the cardinal virtues and the supremacy of reason over the emotions), his knowledge of Greek philosophy is limited and reflects an eclectic Stoicism that was common during this period. It is the philosophical knowl edge someone would have obtained as part of a rhetorical rather than an extensive philosophical education. In the end it serves exclusively to support his views about the importance of the faithful observance of Mosaic law.
The precise date and place of composition of 4 Maccabees are unclear. It was almost certainly composed in the Hellenistic-Jewish Diaspora, i.e., outside of Palestine. Antioch in Syria and several of the coastal cities in Asia Minor, all of which had significant Jewish communities, have been suggested as places of composition. Since later Jewish and Christian tradition located the tombs of these martyrs at Antioch, that city may be the most plausible suggestion, although the others cannot be ruled out. Various dates of composition have been suggested, from the middle of the first century BCE through the early second century CE. The most plausible range of dates, however, is from the middle of the first century to the early second century CE.
Religious Ideas
FROM A THEOLOGICAL POINT OF VIEW, 4 Maccabees is notable for its belief in the immortality of the soul (e.g., 9.22; 14.5; 15.3; 16.13; 17.12; 18.23), a viewpoint it shares with the Wisdom of Solomon (ca. 30 BCE–70 CE) and the writings of Philo of Alexandria (ca. 10 BCE–50 CE). The pure and immortal soul will enter into the incorruption of everlasting life. There is also a strong belief in divine reward (e.g., 5.37; 9.8; 15.3; 17.12) and retribution (e.g., 4.10–12; 9.9, 32; 10.11, 15, 21; 11.3; 12.12, 18; 18.5, 22). God will reward those who die for the sake of Mosaic law and will punish both in this life and after death those who torture and execute them. Finally, there is the belief that the suffering and death of these martyrs have a redemptive efficacy and have secured God’s pardon for Israel (6.28–29; 17.21–22; see also 1.11; 9.24; 12.17; 17.10; 18.4). The idea of vicarious atonement was also used in the NT to explain the efficacy of Jesus’ suffering and death (e.g., Mt 20.28; Mk 10.45; Rom 3.24–26; 5.9–10; 8.3; 1 Tim 2.6; Heb 9.11–14). Though it is possible that some NT writers took this concept from 4 Maccabees, it is much more likely that both 4 Maccabees and the NT writers shared a belief that, although not widespread, was present in Judaism during this period (see also the Dead Sea Scrolls Rule of the Community [1QS] 5.6; 8.3–4, 6, 10; 9.4). [THOMAS. H. TOBIN]
4 MACCABEES 1
The Author’s Definition of His Task
1The subject that I am about to discuss is most philosophical, that is, whether devout reason is sovereign over the emotions. So it is right for me to advise you to pay earnest attention to philosophy. 2For the subject is essential to everyone who is seeking knowledge, and in addition it includes the praise of the highest virtue—I mean, of course, rational judgment. 3If, then, it is evident that reason rules over those emotions that hinder self-control, namely, gluttony and lust, 4it is also clear that it masters the emotions that hinder one from justice, such as malice, and those that stand in the way of courage, namely anger, fear, and pain. 5Some might perhaps ask, “If reason rules the emotions, why is it not sovereign over forgetfulness and ignorance?” Their attempt at argument is ridiculous!a 6For reason does not rule its own emotions, but those that are opposed to justice, courage, and self-control;a and it is not for the purpose of destroying them, but so that one may not give way to them.
7I could prove to you from many and various examples that reasonb is dominant over the emotions, 8but I can demonstrate it best from the noble bravery of those who died for the sake of virtue, Eleazar and the seven brothers and their mother. 9All of these, by despising sufferings that bring death, demonstrated that reason controls the emotions. 10On this anniversaryc it is fitting for me to praise for their virtues those who, with their mother, died for the sake of nobility and goodness, but I would also call them blessed for the honor in which they are held. 11All people, even their torturers, marveled at their courage and endurance, and they became the cause of the downfall of tyranny over their nation. By their endurance they conquered the tyrant, and thus their native land was purified through them. 12I shall shortly have an opportunity to speak of this; but, as my custom is, I shall begin by stating my main principle, and then I shall turn to their story, giving glory to the all-wise God.
The Supremacy of Reason
13Our inquiry, accordingly, is whether reason is sovereign over the emotions. 14We shall decide just what reason is and what emotion is, how many kinds of emotions there are, and whether reason rules over all these. 15Now reason is the mind that with sound logic prefers the life of wisdom. 16Wisdom, next, is the knowledge of divine and human matters and the causes of these. 17This, in turn, is education in the law, by which we learn divine matters reverently and human affairs to our advantage. 18Now the kinds of wisdom are rational judgment, justice, courage, and self-control. 19Rational judgment is supreme over all of these, since by means of it reason rules over the emotions. 20The two most comprehensive typesd of the emotions are pleasure and pain; and each of these is by nature concerned with both body and soul. 21The emotions of both pleasure and pain have many consequences. 22Thus desire precedes pleasure and delight follows it. 23Fear precedes pain and sorrow comes after. 24Anger, as a person will see by reflecting on this experience, is an emotion embracing pleasure and pain. 25In pleasure there exists even a malevolent tendency, which is the most complex of all the emotions. 26In the soul it is boastfulness, covetousness, thirst for honor, rivalry, and malice; 27in the body, indiscriminate eating, gluttony, and solitary gormandizing.
28Just as pleasure and pain are two plants growing from the body and the soul, so there are many offshoots of these plants,e 29each of which the master cultivator, reason, weeds and prunes and ties up and waters and thoroughly irrigates, and so tames the jungle of habits and emotions. 30For reason is the guide of the virtues, but over the emotions it is sovereign.
Observe now, first of all, that rational judgment is sovereign over the emotions by virtue of the restraining power of self-control. 31Self-control, then, is dominance over the desires. 32Some desires are mental, others are physical, and reason obviously rules over both. 33
Otherwise, how is it that when we are attracted to forbidden foods we abstain from the pleasure to be had from them? Is it not because reason is able to rule over appetites? I for one think so. 34Therefore when we crave seafood and fowl and animals and all sorts of foods that are forbidden to us by the law, we abstain because of domination by reason. 35For the emotions of the appetites are restrained, checked by the temperate mind, and all the impulses of the body are bridled by reason.
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a Or They are attempting to make my argument ridiculous!
a Other ancient authorities add and rational judgment
b Other ancient authorities read devout reason
c Gk At this time
d Or sources
e Other ancient authorities read these emotions
1.1–3.18 In a lengthy philosophical introduction, the author develops his thesis about the supremacy of devout reason over the emotions and its harmony with Mosaic law. He then offers the conduct of Joseph, Moses, Jacob, and especially David as examples.
1.1–12 Rhetorical exordium (prologue). The author states the philosophical thesis that devout reason is sovereign over the emotions (vv. 1–6) and promises to prove this thesis by the examples of Eleazar and the seven brothers and their mother (vv. 7–12).
1.2–4 Rational judgment (or prudence), self-control (or temperance), justice, and courage are the four cardinal virtues commonly discussed in both the Platonic (Plato, Republic 427E–448E) and Stoic (Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers 7.92) schools of Greek philosophy. They are also discussed in Wis 8.7 and frequently in the works of Philo of Alexandria (e.g., Allegories on the Law 1.63–73). See v. 18; 5.23–24; 15.10.