3 Maccabees

Summary:  

A romantic historical narrative (pathetic / tragic history) recounting God's saving interventions in behalf of persecuted Jews of Alexandria, Egypt. The persecution was occasioned by Ptolemy IV Philopater's (late 3rd century BC) revenge for being denied entrance into the holy of holies of the Jerusalem temple, when God intervened in response to the prayer of Simon the high priest. A second divine deliverance thwarted efforts to register Alexandrian Jews who refused to participate in the cult of Dionysius. A third miracle, coming in response to the prayers of Eleazar, a pious old priest, spared these Jews from being trampled by a herd of drunken elephants. The book stresses the power of prayer and the sovereignty of God to encourage Jews to sustain their religious traditions, defends the Jews as loyal citizens despite their unique way of life, and explains the origin of an annual celebration among Egyptian Jews. The title of the book is completely inappropriate, since the book deals with events in Egypt half a century before the Maccabean struggle in Palestine.

Canonical Status:

Among the Deuterocanonical books of Eastern Orthodox Churches Among the Old Testament Apocrypha of Roman Catholics Among the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha of Protestants Included in the Septuagint (Greek), Peshitta (Syriac), and Armenian Bibles Not included in the Hebrew Scriptures - Tanak - or the Vulgate (Latin)

Author: An anonymous Alexandrian Jewish author

Date: Sometime between the late 2nd century BC and early 1st century AD

Original Language: Greek

Notes prepared by George Lyons (Professor of Biblical Literature)

for the  Wesley Center for Applied Theology at Northwest Nazarene University

Copyright 2000 by the Wesley Center for Applied Theology

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