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Bible Overview is a wonderful resource for anyone interested in Bible study. Each month we feature a book of the Bible (in order) by Bible scholar and lecturer, Mary Jane Chaignot.
This month we will continue our study with the book known as 3 Maccabees. Any logical reader might assume that this book would continue the story of the Maccabees and their rebellion against the Greek kings. That, however, is not the case. Despite its title, this book really has nothing to do with the Maccabees. It predates them by roughly 40-50 years and focuses on problems with the Ptolemaic kings, not the Seleucids. It was probably given its name because it followed 1 and 2 Maccabees in several manuscripts, and it does have a Hellenistic setting. Because it begins very abruptly, some scholars think it is a fragment of a larger book, whose title was then lost. If you want to read some of the history previous to this selection, you can find the earlier books in our archives.
The Bible Time-Line is another quick reference for locating individuals or specific books. We encourage readers to share their Bible study success stories on this site. Email us at overview@biblewise.com to be included on next month's site.
3 Maccabees
At best, 3 Maccabees is a misnomer. It begins its story with a battle that was taking place in 217 BCE in Raphia, a town in Palestine about three miles from Gaza and near the Egyptian border. Ptolemy IV (sometimes referred to as Philopator) was in the midst of a war against Antiochus III, the Syrian king. Historically, Palestine was still controlled by Ptolemy. One night a rebel, Theodotus, (who had been the commander of the Egyptian forces but had gone over to Antiochus’ side) returned to assassinate Ptolemy. This attempt was thwarted by a Jew named Dositheus. Dositheus anticipated such possibilities and had the king’s physician sleep in the king’s tent. The king’s physician was killed, but Ptolemy was safe and grateful to the Jew.
Though this Jew was a full participant in the Greek way of life, Ptolemy decided to tour Palestine, ostensibly to show his gratitude but more likely to make sure Jews were still loyal to him. Upon arriving in Jerusalem, he showered the people and the city with gifts, hoping to increase their morale and loyalty to himself. As part of this gift-giving mission, he went to the Jerusalem Temple and determined to enter the Holy Place. Needless to say, this was contrary to all the Jewish rules: only one priest could enter the Holy of Holies once a year – on the Day of Atonement. Ptolemy decided to exercise his right as king, which he thought allowed him to enter any place at any time in his kingdom.
The priests began to protest and pray. Soon the people were thronging the streets doing the same. The High Priest, Simon, appealed to God to save them from this pompous and arrogant king. With the city in the throes of panic, Ptolemy stepped forward to enter the Holy Place. At the very last moment, however, an invisible force prevented the king from going forward. In fact, he was tossed from side to side so that he lay helpless on the ground, not able to move or to speak. His bodyguards hastened to retrieve him; all were exceedingly fearful. Apparently, they left in haste. Later on, the king would make a full recovery – at least physically.
By the time he returned to Egypt, Ptolemy was furious with the Jews. He vowed to punish them for the attack upon his person while attempting to enter the Temple. He did not stop to consider that he might have been in the wrong. Thereafter, he began to oppress the Jews, much like Antiochus would do later on. He offered the Jews the option of joining the cult of Dionysus, which would have entailed full acceptance of the Greek religion. Along with it, however, was the caveat of obtaining full Alexandrian citizenship – a desired state for all those living in Egypt. Roughly, 300 Jews took him up on this offer.
The others, however, refused. Those who refused were to be branded as slaves and registered in a poll tax. This tax would essentially reduce their status in the country. And any Jews who refused to comply would be summarily executed. While, on the one hand, this appears to be a method of clarifying Jewish status in the country, the author of this book sees it as a serious Jewish persecution.
Since most Jews refused to join the cult of Dionysus, Ptolemy believed his worst fears had come to pass: the Jews were, indeed, disloyal to his government. His next idea was to gather all the Jews from the surrounding areas and bring them together in Schedia at the hippodrome. Schedia was a promontory about three miles from Alexandria. The hippodrome was located just east of the city gate. The author spends a great deal of ink in describing the reactions of the Jews – weeping and wailing, lamenting their fate, and crying out against the injustice of it all. The Gentiles, on the other hand, partied and feasted. This might be an indication that anti-Jewish sentiment was prevalent throughout the country even at the best of times.
Apparently, Ptolemy’s original plan to register all the Jews was the reason he gathered them at the hippodrome. It would be easy to register people who had all been gathered in one place. Still, the Jews cried out to God. And then a very strange thing happened. The officials ran out of paper and pens. They claimed there were so many Jews that they simply could not complete their task. Needless to say, this enraged the king even more.
Filled with anger, Ptolemy summoned Hermon, the keeper of the elephants, and ordered him to prepare them for engagement. He told Hermon to give them plenty of wine so that they would be driven mad. Hermon dutifully obeyed the king, who went back to his drinking party with his friends. The next morning Hermon went to the palace to await the king’s final approval. But “the Lord sent upon the king a deep sleep,” and no one could arouse him. After waiting all day, the effects of the wine on the elephants began to wear off and they were no longer mad. Officials were finally able to arouse the king late in the day, and he was furious that the order had not been given to destroy the Jews. When the events were told to him, he brushed them off saying Hermon should prepare the elephants again for the next day. The king went back to celebrating with his friends.
The next day, Hermon again had the elephants crazed with drink. This time when he went to the palace, the king could not remember why he was there. When Hermon and the king’s friends reminded him of the plan, Ptolemy was outraged “because by the providence of God his whole mind had been deranged concerning these matters.” The king threatened not only Hermon, but also his friends with destruction. Needless to say, they were all completely confused, and the king began to party once again. Later in the evening, he wondered aloud why Hermon had not completed his assignment. Both Hermon and the king’s friends tried to explain to him what he had said earlier in the day.
This displeased the king even more. Finally, he determined that the next day the elephants would be let loose upon the Jews and would trample them all. At dawn the elephants, Hermon, and the king’s army all approached the hippodrome. The streets were also filled with citizens who expected to see a veritable slaughter of the Jews.
When the Jews saw the dust raised by the elephants and the people, they cried out to God in terror and chaos, believing they were near death. An elderly priest, Eleazar, called them to silence and offered a public prayer for their deliverance. The result was that two angels appeared and so confused the elephants that they turned around and trampled the soldiers in their efforts to get away.
When the king saw these events, he had an immediate change of heart. His anger was turned to tears and pity for all that he had considered doing to the Jews. He blamed his friends for leading him in the wrong direction, accusing them of treason and cruelty beyond tyrants. He was very upset that Jews had been forced from their homes and tied up and threatened with extinction. He ordered them to be untied and allowed to return to their homes.
Before they had a chance to leave, however, he feted them with wine and everything needed for a festival that would last for seven days. (Some scholars think this was the institution of another unnamed, but annual, festival celebrated in Egypt.) Along with this, he issued another decree restoring the rights of Jews throughout his kingdom. Before they left, however, the Jews asked for the right to execute those who had originally apostatized. This was done, and the Jews “purged” the land of those apostates. Whatever they had lost was returned to them in even greater abundance by the end of the story.
Most scholars think this book was composed sometime during the Roman occupation of the first century. It was intended to edify Jews and to explain a particular Jewish festival celebrated in Egypt. By the end of the story, Jews and Egyptians are shown working together in harmony. The hardship they had endured was the result of an arrogant king who had been brought to his senses. And, in spite of his arrogance, God had, once again, delivered them in response to the prayers of the priests and the people. The fact is that the Jews were good citizens, as long as they were able to maintain their separateness – a lesson that the king had to learn.
There are roughly six sections to this letter: 1:1-7 – Battle of Raphia; 1:8-2:24 – Ptolemy Attempts to Enter the Temple; 2:25-4:15 – Ptolemy’s Persecution of the Jews; 4:16-5:51 – God Thwarts Ptolemy’s Plans; 6:1-29 – Eleazar’s prayer and the reversal of fortunes; 6:30-7:23 – Restoration of the Jews. |
