Maccabees I & Ii

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The first two books of Maccabees are accounts of the Maccabean/Hasmonean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire. This story takes place somewhere between 175-135 BCE. While differences such as authorship and credibility are a great topic for discussion, an even better quality of the first two books is how appropriately they contrast each other. The recurring theme of Maccabees I is the negative depiction of assimilating Jews with mixed, Hellenistic interest. The recurring theme of Maccabees II is the perseverance of tradition. By comparing and contrasting various qualities of the first two books of Maccabees, it will become more evident as to how the differences of the two accounts actually create more completion than confusion in regards to the Maccabean Revolt and the Hasmonean and Seleucid Empires. The contradiction is closure. Both texts shun Hellenization by portraying gentiles and Judean traitors as destroyers of values and traditions, yet Maccabees I shuns Hellenization as a means to boast about the greatness of the Hasmonean Empire throughout this era. For example, the author depicts the Hasmonean internal approach as part of its greatness for protecting the Judeans from other enemies external to the Hasmonean Empire. Since this is an era filled with many revolts and wars, it focuses on the present and ultimately recognizes military success. While the heroes of Maccabees I, Judas Maccabeus and his brothers, are signified as a means of connecting Judean roots to the Hasmonean Empire, G-d is a significant theme of Maccabees II, in which the author prioritizes the importance of Judean perseverance of tradition and law as a means of unity. Maccabees II is intended as an account which could be easily passed down from one generation to the next. The author’s intentions are to rekindle Judean tradition by simultaneously starting a new tradition which
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