Dictionary of New Testament Background: A Compendium of Contemporary Biblical Scholarship (The IVP Bible Dictionary Series) by Craig A. Evans and Stanley E. Porter

Author:Craig A. Evans and Stanley E. Porter
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Published: 2010-06-11T04:00:00+00:00

Fourth Maccabees

1. Third Maccabees.

1.1. Synopsis. Third Maccabees opens abruptly with Ptolemy IV Philopator’s advance against the forces of Antiochus III at Raphia, near Gaza. After a plot against his life is thwarted through the timely warning of a lapsed Jew, Ptolemy defeats Antiochus III and goes through the cities in that region to confirm their loyalty to his throne and to encourage them in the aftermath of the war (3 Macc 1:1-8). As was customary for Hellenistic monarchs, he visits sacred sites in order to confer gifts to increase morale. This becomes a problem for the author when Ptolemy enters *Jerusalem and desires to enter the holy place of the *temple there, contrary to local law (Torah). The people flock to the streets in protest and prayer, and Simon, the high *priest, successfully arouses divine intervention. Ptolemy is chastised by invisible forces and, upon recovery, returns to Egypt vowing to inflict vengeance upon the Jewish population there for the repulse he suffered in Jerusalem (3 Macc 1:8—2:24).

Ptolemy’s vengeance takes the form of clarifying the civic status of Jews in *Alexandria and the Fayum: those who will assimilate to Hellenistic customs, symbolized by participation in the Dionysus cult, will be enrolled as full citizens; those who do not will be reduced to the status of *slaves, branded as such, and executed if they object. About three hundred Jews accept the benefit of full citizenship at the cost of exclusive commitment to one God; most prefer to suffer loss for their ancestral covenant and even show open contempt for those few who accept the king’s offer (3 Macc 2:25-33). This assures Ptolemy of the nation’s ill will, so that he now proposes to assemble all the Jews living in his kingdom (save for the apostates) and execute them in the hippodrome (3 Macc 3:1—4:13).

At this point, God’s intervention on behalf of his people in Egypt begins. During the registration of the Jews, the king’s agents run out of papyrus and pens, allowing some, perhaps, to escape detection (3 Macc 4:14-21). The Jews are herded into the racetrack, and the elephants, which are gathered to trample the Jews to death, are prepared with wine and drugs. In response to prayer, God frustrates Ptolemy’s plans first by causing him to sleep through the time appointed for the execution, then by causing the king to forget his plan and become temporarily deranged (3 Macc 5:1-35). On the third day, the king manages to give the order to release the elephants upon the Jews, a sight that fills the victims with a terror portrayed by the author with great pathos (3 Macc 5:36-51). An aged priest named Eleazar silences the screams of the people to lead them in *prayer, after which *angels, visible to all but the Jews, frighten the elephants and turn them back on Ptolemy’s soldiers (3 Macc 6:1-21). The king repents of his plan, blames his courtiers for leading him into this self-destructive plan and releases the Jews, providing for a seven-day feast for all the Jews and issuing a decree protecting Jewish rights thenceforth (3 Macc 6:22—7:9).

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.