Syriac Maccabees - Deuterocanonical Books

Syriac Maccabees - Deuterocanonical Books PDF Author: Scriptural Research Institute
Publisher: Digital Ink Productions
ISBN: 1998288862
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 205

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Book Description
The Syrian tradition churches of the Middle East and South Asia, have maintained several deuterocanonical books that are not included in the Peshitta, the standard Syriac version of the Christian Bible. The Peshitta includes Syriac translations of the four books of the Maccabees found in the Septuagint, along with a 5th book of Maccabees, which is also labelled as the The History Of The Destruction Of Jerusalem. This book is a Syriac translation of the 6th book of Josephus’ The Judean War. General Josephus had started on the Judean side of the rebellion, however, was captured by the Romans, and survived the war. During the fall of Jerusalem, he was part of Caesar Titus’ entourage who tried to negotiate with the Judean rebels in Jerusalem. After the destruction of Jerusalem, Josephus was given some of the surviving archives and wrote Antiquities of the Judeans, as well as The Judean War. These books survive in Greek; however, it is generally agreed that Josephus wrote these books in Judeo-Aramaic, and then translated them into Greek, as the audience he was writing to was the Judean diaspora in the Middle East. The Syrian churches have traditionally claimed that the Peshitta’s 5th Maccabees is a Syriac transliteration of Josephus’ original Aramaic text. In addition to the five books of the Maccabees found within the Peshitta, there is additional Syriac literature associated with the woman and her seven sons, who were tortured to death by King Antiochus. In this literature, she is named Shamoni, and her sons are known as the Maccabean martyrs. This concept appears to have developed in the Syriac tradition before the full text of the four Maccabees books in the Septuagint were translated into Syriac in the 5th century AD. The particular Maccabees books in the Septuagint were written in Greek, although they drew on older Aramaic and Judahite literature that is now lost. In the Greek, Hebrew, and Arabic books about the Maccabees, the seven martyrs are never referred to as the Maccabees, this term is used to refer to the followers of Judas, several decades later.The most famous of these Syriac works is the poem Lady Shamoni and the Maccabean Martyrs, which Western biblical scholars have dubbed 6th Maccabees. The poem goes into more detail regarding the torture of the sons of Shamoni than 2nd Maccabees, where the author skipped over most of the gruesome details and then ended the chapter with “This is enough about the eating of sacrifices and the extreme tortures.” A lesser-known Syriac work is The Story of the Lady and her Seven Sons, which Western biblical scholars have dubbed 7th Maccabees. 7th Maccabees is probably the older of the two, as it does not refer to the seven martyrs as the Maccabees, which is common in Syriac Christian literature. This isn’t clear, as the reference to the seven martyrs as ‘the Maccabean Martyrs’ is found in the title of 6th Maccabees, and not the text itself. The title is likely something created by the Christian editor. In 563 AD, a Syrian scholar named John Malálas composed a history of the world subsequently called the Chronographia. The Chronographia was written in Greek, however, John was drawing from both Greek and Syriac sources and created one of the longer historical works of the era. A very small section of his work mentions the beginning of the Maccabean Revolt, which has garnered the attention of academics studying the era. His text is clearly influenced by the Syriac tradition here and ignores the Greek entirely for some reason. This section of the Chronographia has been dubbed 8th Maccabees by scholars studying Maccabean literature.

Syriac Maccabees - Deuterocanonical Books

Syriac Maccabees - Deuterocanonical Books PDF Author: Scriptural Research Institute
Publisher: Digital Ink Productions
ISBN: 1998288862
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 205

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Book Description
The Syrian tradition churches of the Middle East and South Asia, have maintained several deuterocanonical books that are not included in the Peshitta, the standard Syriac version of the Christian Bible. The Peshitta includes Syriac translations of the four books of the Maccabees found in the Septuagint, along with a 5th book of Maccabees, which is also labelled as the The History Of The Destruction Of Jerusalem. This book is a Syriac translation of the 6th book of Josephus’ The Judean War. General Josephus had started on the Judean side of the rebellion, however, was captured by the Romans, and survived the war. During the fall of Jerusalem, he was part of Caesar Titus’ entourage who tried to negotiate with the Judean rebels in Jerusalem. After the destruction of Jerusalem, Josephus was given some of the surviving archives and wrote Antiquities of the Judeans, as well as The Judean War. These books survive in Greek; however, it is generally agreed that Josephus wrote these books in Judeo-Aramaic, and then translated them into Greek, as the audience he was writing to was the Judean diaspora in the Middle East. The Syrian churches have traditionally claimed that the Peshitta’s 5th Maccabees is a Syriac transliteration of Josephus’ original Aramaic text. In addition to the five books of the Maccabees found within the Peshitta, there is additional Syriac literature associated with the woman and her seven sons, who were tortured to death by King Antiochus. In this literature, she is named Shamoni, and her sons are known as the Maccabean martyrs. This concept appears to have developed in the Syriac tradition before the full text of the four Maccabees books in the Septuagint were translated into Syriac in the 5th century AD. The particular Maccabees books in the Septuagint were written in Greek, although they drew on older Aramaic and Judahite literature that is now lost. In the Greek, Hebrew, and Arabic books about the Maccabees, the seven martyrs are never referred to as the Maccabees, this term is used to refer to the followers of Judas, several decades later.The most famous of these Syriac works is the poem Lady Shamoni and the Maccabean Martyrs, which Western biblical scholars have dubbed 6th Maccabees. The poem goes into more detail regarding the torture of the sons of Shamoni than 2nd Maccabees, where the author skipped over most of the gruesome details and then ended the chapter with “This is enough about the eating of sacrifices and the extreme tortures.” A lesser-known Syriac work is The Story of the Lady and her Seven Sons, which Western biblical scholars have dubbed 7th Maccabees. 7th Maccabees is probably the older of the two, as it does not refer to the seven martyrs as the Maccabees, which is common in Syriac Christian literature. This isn’t clear, as the reference to the seven martyrs as ‘the Maccabean Martyrs’ is found in the title of 6th Maccabees, and not the text itself. The title is likely something created by the Christian editor. In 563 AD, a Syrian scholar named John Malálas composed a history of the world subsequently called the Chronographia. The Chronographia was written in Greek, however, John was drawing from both Greek and Syriac sources and created one of the longer historical works of the era. A very small section of his work mentions the beginning of the Maccabean Revolt, which has garnered the attention of academics studying the era. His text is clearly influenced by the Syriac tradition here and ignores the Greek entirely for some reason. This section of the Chronographia has been dubbed 8th Maccabees by scholars studying Maccabean literature.

Old Testament Pseudepigrapha

Old Testament Pseudepigrapha PDF Author: Richard Bauckham
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN: 1467463361
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 848

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Book Description
This work stands among the most important publications in biblical studies over the past twenty-five years. Richard Bauckham, James Davila, and Alexander Panayotov’s new two-volume collection of Old Testament pseudepigrapha contains many previously unpublished and newly translated texts, complementing James Charlesworth’s Old Testament Pseudepigrapha and other earlier collections. Including virtually all known surviving pseudepigrapha written before the rise of Islam, this volume, among other things, presents the sacred legends and spiritual reflections of numerous long-dead authors whose works were lost, neglected, or suppressed for many centuries. Excellent English translations along with authoritative yet accessible introductions bring those ancient documents to life for readers today.

The Universal Bible of the Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox, Ethiopic, Syriac, and Samaritan Church

The Universal Bible of the Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox, Ethiopic, Syriac, and Samaritan Church PDF Author: Joseph Lumpkin
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781936533534
Category : Bibles
Languages : en
Pages : 782

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Book Description
OLD TESTAMENT BOOKS- 1. Genesis - 2. Exodus - 3. Leviticus - 4. Numbers - 5. Deuteronomy - 6. Joshua - 7. Judges - 8. Ruth - 9. 1 Samuel - 10. 2 Samuel - 11. 1 Kings - 12. 2 Kings - 13. 1 Chronicles - 14. 2 Chronicles - 15. Ezra - 16. Nehemiah - 17. Esther - 18. Job - 19. Psalms and 151, 151.1 - 20. Proverbs - 21. Ecclesiastes - 22. Song of Songs- 23. Isaiah - 24. Jeremiah - 25. Lamentations - 26. Ezekiel - 27. Daniel - 28. Hosea - 29. Joel - 30. Amos - 31. Obadiah - 32. Jonah - 33. Micah - 34. Nahum - 35. Habakkuk - 36. Zephaniah - 37. Haggai - 38. Zechariah - 40. Malachi - NEW TESTAMENT- 1. Matthew - 2. Mark - 3. Luke - 4. John - 5. Acts - Including Chapter 29 - 6. Romans - 7. I Corinthians - 8. II Corinthians - 9. Galatians - 10. Ephesians - 11. Philippians - 12. Colossians - 13. I Thessalonians - 14. II Thessalonians - 15. I Timothy - 16. II Timothy - 17. Titus - 18. Philemon - 19. Hebrews - 20. James - 21. I Peter - 22. II Peter - 23. I John - 24. II John - 25. III John - 26. Jude - 27. Revelation - Additional Books of the NEW TESTAMENT- Epistle to the Laodiceans - Acts of Paul and Thecla - III Corinthians - APOCRYPHA - 1. 1 Esdras - 2. 2 Esdras - 3. 1 Maccabees - 4. 2 Maccabees - 5. 3 Maccabees - 6. 4 Maccabees - 7. Letter (Epistle) of Jeremiah - 8. The Prayer of Azariah - Song of the Three Children - 9. Baruch - 10. Prayer of Manasseh (Manassas) - 11. Bel and the Dragon - 12. Wisdom of Sirach - 13. Wisdom of Solomon - 14. Additions to Esther - 15. Tobit - 16. Judith - 17. Susanna - 18. Enoch - 19. Jubilees - 20. 1 Clement - 21. The Ascension of Isaiah - 22. Shepherd of Hermas - 23. The Didache - 24. Apocalypse of Baruch - 25. Josephus' Jewish War VI - 26. 4 Baruch -

Arabic Maccabees

Arabic Maccabees PDF Author: Scriptural Research Institute
Publisher: Digital Ink Productions
ISBN: 1998288323
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 283

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Book Description
Arabic Maccabees is the longest surviving book of Maccabees, however, does not appear to have originated as a book of Maccabees, but a pseudo-history book of the independent Kingdom of Judea from the Maccabean Revolt through the death of Herod the Great. The book concludes by claiming the story of Herod’s son Antipater in the book the author had previously written, which does not appear to have survived to the present. This lost book was probably not translated into Arabic like Arabic Maccabees, as it would have covered the era when Jesus was born, but probably did not mention him. The Arabic translation appears to have been made by a Christian, while the original text appears to have been written in Palestinian Aramaic by a Jewish woman, sometime in the mid 6ᵗʰ century AD. The text only survives in Arabic, which is the reason it is named Arabic Maccabees. It is also known somewhat erroneously as 5ᵗʰ Maccabees, based on the similar Syriac book of 5ᵗʰ Maccabees, however, the Syriac book is simply a translation of Josephus’ The Judean War. The title of 5ᵗʰ Maccabees was introduced to the Arabic book by Anglican historian Henry Cotton in 1832, and picked up by other English authors, however, is not accurate. Josephus’ The Judean War is considered extended canon in the Syriac Bibles under the name 5ᵗʰ Maccabees, as well as the Ethiopic Bibles under its original name, while Arabic Maccabees is not considered canon in any bible. The author appears to have intended the book as a ‘Jewish’ history book, which is often not dependent on historical facts. The author clearly had access to ancient sources, like Josephus’ Antiquities of the Judeans, however, deviates from the older sources so often that the deviations cannot be errors. The author uses poetic terminology, such as referring to Judea as the ‘Holy Land,’ and Jerusalem as the ‘city of the sacred temple,’ giving the work a mythic quality. It suggests she intended the work for adolescents, unlike the earlier writers’ works, which were intended for adults. Most of the content of the book is a retelling of the stories found in the Septuagint’s 1ˢᵗ and 2ⁿᵈ Maccabees and Josephus’ Antiquities of the Judeans, however, chapter 12 is only otherwise found in Hebrew Maccabees. Chapters 1 through 17 are remarkably similar to the content of Hebrew Maccabees, suggesting it was the primary source used by the author of Arabic Maccabees for the first third of the book. It is likely that the rest was reworked from some ancient source, and Jason of Cyrene, Justus of Tiberias, or Nicolaus of Damascus have all been proposed as sources as little of their work has survived to the present, although it was considered important during the Roman era. Justus of Tiberias was a 1st-century Jewish historian who had been the secretary of King Herod Agrippa II, the last ruler from the Herodian dynasty who reigned over territories outside of Judea as a Roman client. Agrippa II fled Jerusalem in 66 AD, during the Judean uprising, and supported the Roman side in the First Judean-Roman War. Although Justus had not been mentioned in Josephus’ earlier The Judean War, Josephus wrote over 30 pages in his autobiography attacking Justus. One of Josephus’ claims was that Justus’ History of the Judean War was filled with errors, but does not discuss them in detail. Josephus claimed that Justus’ work lacked facts because Justus did not have access to the field notes of Vespasian and Titus, which suggests that Justus’ work was written from the Judean perspective, and ignored the Roman perspective, unlike Josephus’ work. Justus also wrote the Chronicle of the Judean Kings, which survived until the 9th century, but its content is unknown today. If it was also written from the Judean perspective, and not too dependent on facts, it is possible that the author of Arabic Maccabees used it as a source.

Hebrew Maccabees

Hebrew Maccabees PDF Author: Scriptural Research Institute
Publisher: Scriptural Research Institute
ISBN: 199828834X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 159

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Book Description
Hebrew Maccabees is one of the stranger Hebrew books to have survived to the present and is either a relic of the oldest surviving book about Judas the Hammer, or a remarkably heretical medieval forgery. There is no academic consensus on what it is, and few scholars have bothered to comment on it. The book deals with the life of Judas ‘the Maccabee,’ which is of little interest to Christians. His life is of interest to Jews, however, almost all books dealing with the Maccabean Revolt are rejected as scripture in Rabbinical Judaism. Jews generally treat the Septuagint’s 1st and 2nd Maccabees, and Josephus’ Antiquities of the Judeans as historical texts of debatable accuracy, while using the Megillat Taanit and Megillat Antiochus as sources on how Hanukkah should be practiced. Hanukkah, also called the Festival of Lights, is a holiday based on the rededication of the temple in Jerusalem that happened when Judas occupied Jerusalem. The festival continues, but all records of what happened are lost or ignored. The Megillat Taanit dates to the 1st century AD, and Megillat Antiochus dates to the 2nd century AD, and neither is considered a historically reliable source by academics. This suggests that what actually happened in the time of Judas was actively suppressed during the Hasmonean and Herodian dynasties, likely because Judas was later viewed as a heretic. In most of the books featuring Judas, he reports seeing angelic horsemen that no one else could see. These horsemen are clearly part of Judas’ story, however, if they were, in fact, angels riding horses, then Judas would be a prophet. Yet, he is not accepted as a prophet in Judaism or Christianity. The idea of angels riding horses is itself unheard of in Israelite and Judahite texts, other than in texts related to Judas, which suggests he may have actually been following a different religion. During the era of the Maccabean Revolt, the high priest in Jerusalem was not a Judahite, but a Phrygian named Philip. The Phrygians worshiped Sabazdiôs, the great horseman of the sky, who was represented by a hand. The Greeks interpreted the Phrygian Sabazdiôs and Judahite Sabaoth as two forms of Dionysus. In 2ⁿᵈ Maccabees, Dionysus is used as the name of the god worshiped in the temple in Jerusalem under Greek rule. Sabaoth was recorded by the Greeks of the Hellenistic era as the name of the Judahite god, based on the Aramaic ṣbảwt, meaning ‘desires.’ However, this word took on a very different meaning as Classical Hebrew formed during the Maccabean Revolt, becoming a word meaning ‘armies’ or ‘battles.’ The duel meanings of ‘ṣbảwt’ in Semitic languages go back to very ancient times, where the oldest recorded form was the Akkadian ṣābum, meaning ‘soldier.’ Over thousands of years, the name transitioned to ‘server’ and finally ‘desires’ in Aramaic and ‘abundance’ in Arabic. When the Hasmonean dynasty decided to ‘restore’ the Hebrew language, many ancient words and meanings were introduced to the Judahite dialect of Canaanite, resulting in the new Hebrew language having many archaic terms, including ṣbảwt. The name Sabaoth is used in the Septuagint, generally where the Masoretic texts used the word ‘armies,' which has resulted in many modern academics simply accepting this as a mistranslation, however, in Hebrew Maccabees, Judas is repeatedly referred to as the ‘Anointed of Sabaoth,’ confirming that if nothing else, the author viewed Sabaoth as a proper god. While it is natural to assume that the Maccabean Revolt was about getting rid of the worship of Sabaoth / Sabazios / Dionysus, as recounted in 2nd Maccabees, this book contradicts that, and reports that Judas was a Sabaoth worshiper. Moreover, there is some incidental evidence of the continuation of Sabaoth worship under the rule of the Hasmoneans in the writing of Josephus, and also the Babylonian Talmud.

Jews and Protestants

Jews and Protestants PDF Author: Irene Aue-Ben David
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 3110664712
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
The book sheds light on various chapters in the long history of Protestant-Jewish relations, from the Reformation to the present. Going beyond questions of antisemitism and religious animosity, it aims to disentangle some of the intricate perceptions, interpretations, and emotions that have characterized contacts between Protestantism and Judaism, and between Jews and Protestants. While some papers in the book address Luther’s antisemitism and the NS-Zeit, most papers broaden the scope of the investigation: Protestant-Jewish theological encounters shaped not only antisemitism but also the Jewish Reform movement and Protestant philosemitic post-Holocaust theology; interactions between Jews and Protestants took place not only in the German lands but also in the wider Protestant universe; theology was crucial for the articulation of attitudes toward Jews, but music and philosophy were additional spheres of creativity that enabled the process of thinking through the relations between Judaism and Protestantism. By bringing together various contributions on these and other aspects, the book opens up directions for future research on this intricate topic, which bears both historical significance and evident relevance to our own time.

Ge'ez 1ˢᵗ Maccabees

Ge'ez 1ˢᵗ Maccabees PDF Author: Scriptural Research Institute
Publisher: Digital Ink Productions
ISBN: 1998636038
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 178

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Book Description
The Orthodox Tewahedo Churches of Ethiopian and Eritrean have maintained many deuterocanonical books that are not included in the Bibles of various other Christian churches. Some of these books are shared with the Beta Israel community, the ancient Israelites of the Ethiopian highlands who are also sometimes referred to as “Ethiopian Jews.” Most of these texts were translated into Ge'ez, the classical language of Axum, sometime between the 5ᵗʰ and 10ᵗʰ centuries AD. Axum was the kingdom that ruled Eritrea and northern Ethiopia in the 1ˢᵗ through 9ᵗʰ centuries AD. At its peak in the 3ʳᵈ through 6ᵗʰ centuries, Axum also controlled Yemen and was considered by some to be one of the four great powers in the world, alongside Rome, Persia, and China. One of the unique collections of texts found in the Orthodox Tewahedo Churches and Beta Israel community is the Ge'ez books of the Maccabees. These books are different from the books of the Maccabees used by the Orthodox churches across Eurasia. Within Greek biblical manuscripts, there are four books named Maccabees, all of which were translated into Syriac, and are part of the Syriac churches’ bible. The Syriac bible also includes a fifth book of Maccabees, which is a translation of part of Josephus's writing from the 1ˢᵗ century AD, and the Syriac tradition churches have maintained additional Maccabean literature, but none of it parallels the Ge'ez Maccabean literature. Medieval Hebrew and Arabic books of Maccabees also exist, however, they do not include any of the same content as the Ge'ez literature. Western scholarship regarding the texts is sparse, and they are generally dismissed as Axumite in origin. There are a number of reasons for this, the biggest one being that if they are ancient, they challenge a lot of common assumptions about the origin of Christianity. This bias against the Ge'ez books runs so deep that many Christian scholars refuse to recognize them as Maccabean literature, and simply refer to them as Meqabyan books, a direct transliteration of “Maccabean” from the Ge'ez script to the Latin script. Nevertheless, the books contain many linguistic relics that support an ancient origin. Based on linguistics, the content of Ge'ez 1ˢᵗ Maccabees must have existed in 4 forms before finally being translated into Ge'ez. The final translation would have been directly into Classical Ge'ez, not the older South Arabian script, and likely took place sometime between the 5ᵗʰ and 10ᵗʰ centuries. The Ge'ez translator added a curious scribal note in chapter 36 that explains that manna was similar to injera, a flatbread commonly eaten in East Africa. This suggests the book was translated by a Christian, and before the books of Moses were commonly used by the churches in the region. A member of the Beta Israelite community would have been familiar with manna and therefore would have not needed the explanation.

Septuagint: Maccabees

Septuagint: Maccabees PDF Author: Scriptural Research Institute
Publisher: Scriptural Research Institute
ISBN: 1990289185
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 407

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Book Description
Four books of Maccabees were ultimately added to the Septuagint, three in the 1ˢᵗ century BC, and the 4ᵗʰ as an appendix in the 1ˢᵗ century AD. No trace of these books have been found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, and they are generally thought to have been written in Greek. 1ˢᵗ and 2ⁿᵈ Maccabees do include several Aramaic loanwords that support an Aramaic source text. A different book of Maccabees has survived in the Arabic language, either called Arabic Maccabees, or 5ᵗʰ Maccabees. Three additional books of Maccabees have survived in the Ge'ez language in Ethiopia and are generally considered translations from either Syriac or Arabian sources. 1ˢᵗ Maccabees tells the story of the Maccabean Revolt against the rule of the Seleucid Empire in the 2ⁿᵈ century BC. The content of 1ˢᵗ Maccabees appears to be a Sadducee text, as it clearly gives all credit to the self-declared high-priests that led the rebellion against the Greeks, and barely mentioned the sky-god Shamayim, or the earth-goddess Eretz. It also omits the names of the other gods that 2ⁿᵈ Maccabees and 3ʳᵈ Maccabees mentions the Judeans worshiping, such as Dionysus, which supports its authorship in the Hasmonean Dynasty, when the other gods were no longer tolerated. 2ⁿᵈ Maccabees claims to be an abridged version of Jason of Cyrene's now lost five-volume version of Maccabees. Jason's books of the Maccabees were likely composed earlier than 1ˢᵗ Maccabees, as the story ends decades earlier, and contains many references to Sabaoth, translated into Greek as Dionysus, which are missing from the 1ˢᵗ Maccabees. While 1ˢᵗ Maccabees is a very secular version of the events that led to the creation of the Hasmonean kingdom, and was, therefore, almost certainly composed by a Sadducee, 2ⁿᵈ Maccabees claims that Judas the Hammer, the protagonist of both 1ˢᵗ and 2ⁿᵈ Maccabees was a Hasidean, suggesting that either Jason of Cyrene, or whoever abridged his work, was a Hasidean. 1ˢᵗ Maccabees mentioned the Hasideans joining Judas' forces, but did not claim he was one. 4ᵗʰ Maccabees is a philosophical interpretation of 2ⁿᵈ Maccabees. It was added to the Septuagint in the 1ˢᵗ-century AD, however, it could have been written anywhere between circa 100 BC and 100 AD. This text includes more details regarding the torture of the Hebrew youths from 2ⁿᵈ Maccabees, which may have come from Jason of Cyrene's original five-volume version of Maccabees. The author of 4ᵗʰ Maccabees accepts the flying horsemen of 2ⁿᵈ Maccabees as sky messengers, which implies the Phrygian imagery was widely accepted by Jews at the time and supports the Greek and Roman records that indicate the Phrygians and Hebrews worshiped the same god. Unlike 2ⁿᵈ and 3ʳᵈ Maccabees, 4ᵗʰ Maccabees does not mention the god Dionysus/Sabaoth, indicating that the book was written in Hasmonean Dynasty or later. 4ᵗʰ Maccabees also does not have any Aramaic loanwords, indicating it was almost certainly written in Greek.

Chronographia: 8ᵗʰ Maccabees

Chronographia: 8ᵗʰ Maccabees PDF Author: Scriptural Research Institute
Publisher: Digital Ink Productions
ISBN: 199828882X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 20

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Book Description
In 563 AD, a Syrian scholar named John Malálas composed a history of the world subsequently called the Chronographia. The Chronographia was written in Greek, however, John was drawing from both Greek and Syriac sources and created one of the longer historical works of the era. His Chronographia was later translated into several ancient languages, and fragments survive in Georgian and Old Slavonic. It was eighteen volumes long, however, is of limited historical value, as it combines ancient mythologies, biblical stories, and events copied from older historical texts into a fantastical history of the world. Some of the earlier historians that John drew on are accepted as the Greek writers Eusebius of Caesarea and Eustathius of Epiphania, however, his Syriac sources are undocumented. John’s work is unusual for the era as he was focused on creating a work for monks and commoners, not the aristocrats. This is likely why it was carried to as many lands as it was and used as a source by later authors. One of the major works to use it as a source from it is the Primary Chronicle, one of the earliest Eastern Slavic works, believed to have been compiled near Kyiv in the 1110s. John’s literary style was simple, reflecting the straightforward communication of the written language of everyday business of the era. The majority of the Chronographia focused on the history of Antioch and then Constantinople, which is believed to have reflected John’s move from Antioch to Constantinople in 540, caused by the Persians attacking Antioch. Based on his diction, he is believed to have been a lawyer, however, some have theorized he was a religious scholar. A very small section of his work mentions the beginning of the Maccabean Revolt, which has garnered the attention of academics studying the era. His text is clearly influenced by the Syriac tradition here and ignores the Greek entirely for some reason. He referred to the seven martyrs Antiochus Epiphanes killed as the Maccabees, the same as the Syriac poem Martha Shamoni and the Maccabean Martyrs, which Western biblical scholars have dubbed 6ᵗʰ Maccabees. None of the Greek, Hebrew, or Arabic translations refer to the martyrs as the Maccabees.

The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia

The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia PDF Author: James Orr
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Bible
Languages : en
Pages : 776

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Book Description