1 Maccabees

The book of 1 Maccabees is the first volume of the Maccabean literature. It is contained in a group of scriptures known as the Apocrypha?. The book tells the narrative of the Maccabean Revolt begun by Mattathias?, the Jewish priest, in the mid second century BCE. The Revolt apparently began due to overwhelming forced hellenization? by Greek forces. In 1 Maccabees 2:15-39, the reader is told the story of when Greek forces came to Modein? to force Jews to make a sacrifice to Zeus. When a Jew began to do this, Mattathias killed the Jew and the official who requested the sacrifice. This event signaled the beginning of the Maccabean Revolt (ZifferBCMJ2006, 20-1).

The theme of the book is that God delivered the people of Israel from the oppression of the Greeks. And the author of the book makes it very clear that the Maccabees were God's "intrument's in bringing about Jewish independence" (HarringtonIM1993, 1645). After the zealous Jews were victorious in their revolt, the enjoyed a period of independence which lasted almost 100 years.

The text of 1 Maccabees was preserved in the Greek language in the Septuagint?. However, many scholars assume that the book was originally composed in Hebrew, and that the Hebrew text was lost (HarringtonIM1993, 1645-6).

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