4 Maccabees
- non-canonical -- but "appendix" to Greek Bible
- What is significance of "appendices" to
various canons?
- original title probably "On
the Supremacy of Reason"
- preserved in some LXX manuscripts and some manuscripts of
Josephus
- probably written 20-54 C.E. (note administrative
combination in 4 Macc 4:2)
Outline
- Thesis and definitions [4 Macc 1:1-30a]
- Historical illustrations of thesis [4 Macc 1:30b - 3:18]
- The martyrs [4 Macc 3:19-17:6]
- Introduction [4 Macc 3:19-21]
- Eleazar [4 Macc 5-7; compare 2 Macc 6:18-31]
- (notice Stoic-Cynic emphasis on freedom
of reason from tyrant's power)
- Seven brothers [4 Macc 8 - 14:10; compare 2 Macc
7]
- Mother of brothers [4 Macc 14:11 - 17:6; also
from 2 Macc 7]
Observations and applications [4 Macc 17:7 - 18:24]
Themes and Influences
- Reason and Torah
- highest virtue is rational judgment [4 Macc 1:2]
- it is sovereign over emotions [4 Macc
1:13]
- reason prefers wisdom [4 Macc 1:15]
- wisdom is education in Torah [4 Macc 1:17]
Identification of wisdom with Torah occurs also in Baruch and
Sirach. However, this identification in conjunction with a
"philosophical" approach is best known in the works of
Philo Judaeus.
- Four cardinal virtues (prudence, temperance, justice,
courage) [4 Macc 1:3-4, 18]
- Immortality
- 4 Macc 7:19; 14:5-6; 16:13, 25; 17:12; 18:23
- Is this incompatible with Resurrection?
What happens to martyrdom as obedience to the Law when it is
attached to a guarantee of resurrection or immortality?
[Is the
centrality of the Law replaced by the centrality of one's own
eternal life?]
How do these "real" martyrs relate to
the potential martyrs in the Daniel traditions?
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This page last modified 19 March 2002.