LITERARY ACTIVITY
Since this section looks at the literary activity of The Intertestamental Period, grave importance must focused on The Apocrypha. What value does The Apocrypha contain? No one person buys books with a missing section or a page missing. If you accidently purchased one, remember the difficulty felt when the first noticing of that last sentence on the left-hand page did not continue on the right. How about that number that suddenly leaped from 148 to 158. Naturally, this book would be returned; but what if that was the only copy available. The mysterious disappearance of a few pages should not be disastrous, but you don’t regard such a book as satisfactory. The Bible without The Apocrypha remains very much like a book with a missing section. This omission is not fatal since The Episcopal Church tells us no essential doctrine [salvation] is affected (Article 6 of The 39 Articles) and that the main course of the Biblical narrative remains clear. But still, the fact that The Bible without an Apocrypha remains an incomplete Bible and that leaves a considerable gap in the story. Therefore, it is vitally important to realize just how large that gap really is. During the Intertestamentary Period, literary activity within Judaism centered around the Septuagint included:
1st Esdras...The Books of Maccabees...Tobit...Judith...Wisdom of Ben Sira (ECCLESIASTICUS)...just to name a few. (to see a full viewable list, click here.)
The first book of the Apocrypha stands in a class by itself in that it is, with the exception of one portion, a somewhat free Greek version of the biblical history from Josiah's Passover (2nd Chronicles 35) to the Reading of the Law by Ezra (Nehemiah 8). It differs, however, in several important particulars both from the corresponding canonical passages and from the more literal Greek translation of them (also preserved in the Septuagint), and an adequate treatment of its text and contents belongs properly to the commentaries and handbooks on Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah. Consequently, in order to keep the Introduction and Notes within limits, it has seemed desirable to print the Revised Version of the ' apocryphal ' and ' canonical ' passages side by side, and to restrict all remarks to those points which appeared to be essential for the study of the relation between the texts and their significance for the period which they cover
1st Esdras...The Books of Maccabees...Tobit...Judith...Wisdom of Ben Sira (ECCLESIASTICUS)...just to name a few. (to see a full viewable list, click here.)
The first book of the Apocrypha stands in a class by itself in that it is, with the exception of one portion, a somewhat free Greek version of the biblical history from Josiah's Passover (2nd Chronicles 35) to the Reading of the Law by Ezra (Nehemiah 8). It differs, however, in several important particulars both from the corresponding canonical passages and from the more literal Greek translation of them (also preserved in the Septuagint), and an adequate treatment of its text and contents belongs properly to the commentaries and handbooks on Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah. Consequently, in order to keep the Introduction and Notes within limits, it has seemed desirable to print the Revised Version of the ' apocryphal ' and ' canonical ' passages side by side, and to restrict all remarks to those points which appeared to be essential for the study of the relation between the texts and their significance for the period which they cover
1st Esdras 1:1 – 7a
"And Josias held the Passover in Jerusalem unto his Lord, and offered the Passover the four-teenth day of the first month ; having set the priests according to their daily courses, being arrayed in their vestments, in the temple of the Lord. And he spake unto the Levites, the temple-servants of Israel, that they should hallow themselves unto the Lord, to set The Holy Ark of The Lord in the house that king Solomon the son of David had built : and said, Ye shall no more have need to bear it upon your shoulders : now therefore serve The Lord your God, and minister unto his people Israel, and prepare you after your fathers' houses and kindreds, according to the writing of David king of Israel, and according to the magnificence of Solomon his son: and standing in the holy place according to the several divisions of the families of you the Levites, who minister in the presence of your brethren the children of Israel, offer the Passover in order, and make ready the sacrifices for your brethren, and keep the Passover according to the commandment of The Lord, which was given unto Moses..."
1st Book of Maccabees
The book is a sober and, on the whole, trustworthy account of the Jewish struggle for religious liberty and political independence during the years 175 – 135 B.C., i. e. from the accession of Antiochus Epiphanes to the death of Simon the Maccabee. The narrative is, with few exceptions, written in chronological order, and is concerned almost wholly with military events. The main part of the book deals with the exploits of Judas Maccabaeus, who is regarded as the central figure in the whole struggle.
1st Book of Maccabees 1:1 – 4
"And it came to pass after Alexander, the son of Philip the Macedonian , who came from the land of Chittim, had smitten Darius, king of the Persians and Medesb ,that he reigned in his stead, And he waged many wars, and won strongholds, and slew kings, and pressed forward to the ends of the earth, and took spoils from many peoples. But when the land was silenced g before him, he became exalted, and his heart was lifted up. Then he gathered together a very mighty army, and ruled over lands and peoples and principalities; and they became tributary unto him.
2nd Book of Maccabees
2nd Maccabees is not a sequel to 1st Maccabees. It is, in Luther's words, second book upon the Maccabaean struggle, not the second book. As the period of its narrative (175 – 161 B.C.) coincides with part of 1st Maccabees, a comparison of the two books might be expected therefore to clear up the problem of their relative value, and furnish a standard for valuating the second.
2nd Book of Maccabees 1:1 – 10
"To the brethren, the Jews in Egypt, greeting. The brethren, the Jews in Jerusalem and throughout the land of Judaea, wish you perfect peace ; yea, may God do good unto you, and remember his covenant with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, his faithful servants; may he give you all a heart to worship him and do his pleasure with hearty courage and a willing soul ; may he give you an open heart for his law and for his statutes, and make peace, and hearken to your supplication; may he be reconciled to you, and not forsake you in time of evil. Such, then, are our prayers for you in this place. In the reign of Demetrius, in the hundred threescore and ninth year, we the Jews have already written unto you in the extreme tribulation that came upon us during these years, from the time that
Jason and his company revolted from the holy land and the kingdom, setting the porch on fire and shedding innocent blood : but we besought the Lord, and were heard ; we offered sacrifice and made the meal offering, we lighted the lamps, and set forth the shewbread. See that ye keep the days of the feast of tabernacles in the month Chislev. Written in the hundred fourscore and eighth year."
Jason and his company revolted from the holy land and the kingdom, setting the porch on fire and shedding innocent blood : but we besought the Lord, and were heard ; we offered sacrifice and made the meal offering, we lighted the lamps, and set forth the shewbread. See that ye keep the days of the feast of tabernacles in the month Chislev. Written in the hundred fourscore and eighth year."
3rd Book of Maccabees
The scene of ) Maccabees is placed in the reign of Ptolemy IV (Philopator) at the time of the battle of Raphia (217 B.C.). It narrates an attempt made by the king to enter the Temple at Jerusalem, and his miraculous repulse. In consequence he determines to wreak his vengeance on the Jews of Alexandria, and of Egypt as a whole, first by interfering with their religion, and altering their political status, and afterwards by letting loose drunken elephants to trample them to death in the Hippodrome of Alexandria. After his purpose has been several times providentially delayed, it is finally foiled by a vision of angels which turns the elephants upon the persecutors. The king repents and becomes the patron of the Jews, who return in safety and rejoicing to their homes. The story as it stands is full of impossibilities and bombastic exaggerations, but each one of the incidents taken singly may well rest on some basis of fact, though they certainly did not all take place in the same reign. The general accuracy of the technical and official language of the book is confirmed by a comparison with Ptolemaic Papyri, and the book as a whole has striking points of contact with 2nd Maccabees and the Letter of Aristeas. It would seem to have been written in Alexandria at about the same time as these books, not far from 100 B.C., a date which is confirmed by indications drawn from Papyri. The writer apparently used the lost memoirs of the reign of Philopator, written by Ptolemy Megalopolitanus shortly after his death. He seems to have combined a narrative of Philopator's attempt to enter the Temple with a later story, preserved in another form by Josephus, of a persecution of Egyptian Jews by Physcon.
3rd Book of Maccabees 1:1 – 6a
"Now when Philopator had learned from those who had returned of the capture by Antiochus of the places which had been held by him, he issued orders to all his forces, foot and horse, and taking with him his sister Arsinoe, marched to the district over against Raphia, where the army of Antiochus was encamped. But a certain Theodotus, determining to carry out his plot, took with him the bravest of the soldiers of Ptolemy who had been previously assigned to him, and went by night to the tent of Ptolemy, intending to kill him single-handed, and thereby put an end to the war. But Dositheus, called the son of Drimylus, who was by birth a Jew, but had subsequently abandoned the observance of the law, and renounced his ancestral faith, had conveyed Ptolemy away, and put some obscure person to sleep in the tent ; and so it happened that on this man fell the vengeance intended for the other. And when a fierce battle had begun, and things were favoring Antiochus, Arsinoe went frequently up and down the ranks, and her hair disheveled, exhorted them with lamentation and tears to fight manfully for themselves, their children, and their wives, promising to give them if they conquered two minae of gold each. And thus it came about that their adversaries were destroyed in the encounter, and that many were also taken captive."
Tobit
This book, composed, possibly in Aramaic, in the last quarter of the 3rd Century B.C., probably emanated from orthodox circles in Egypt. It therefore throws considerable light upon the religious and ethical conditions of the Diaspora in that country some 150 years after the date of the recently discovered Aramaic papyri. The evidences of its popularity, almost from the moment of its composition until the 18th or 19th century of our era, in themselves constitute a long and interesting history. Its influence is apparent alike in Jewish writings, in the New Testament, in the early Church and in mediaeval art. Carefully revised by 150 A.D. in Jewish circles into the form most common to-day, but almost immediately translated into Aramaic from the first Greek version and later, and more than once, into Hebrew, and yet again revised in Greek in Christian circles, it remained on the one hand a favorite Jewish work, and on the other hand, translated into various languages, it followed the spread of the Christian religion to Edessa in the East, to Rome and Africa in the West, and Ethiopia in the South.
Tobit 1:1 – 2
"The book of the words of Tobit, the son of Tobiel, the son of Hananiel, the son of Aduel, the son of Gabael, the son of Raphael, the son of Raguel, of the seed of Asiel, of the tribe of Naphtali; who in the days of Shalmaneser king of the Assyrians was carried away captive out of Thisbe, which is on the right hand of Kedesh Naphtali in upper Galilee above Asser, behind the < road> leading west, on the left of Phogor."
Judith
"As to the anonymous author there is no tradition. From his writing in Hebrew and from his detailed references to the geography of the Holy Land, it may be inferred that he was a Palestinian Jew. From his theological views it seems that he belonged to the Pharisaic party. He was a man of some literary skill. The story is well told, and apart from a certain tendency to exaggerate the magnitude of the military operations, the style is restrained and straightforward, without unnecessary elaboration. He was also well acquainted with the literature of his people, for, while his descriptions have vigor and originality, the book is full of reminiscences of the Old Testament."
Judith 1:1 – 6
"In the twelfth year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, who reigned over the Assyrians in Nineveh, the great city ; in the days of Arphaxad, who reigned over the Medes in Ecbatana, and built at Ecbatana and round about it walls of hewn stones three cubits broad and six cubits long, and made the height of 'the wall seventy cubits, and the breadth thereof fifty cubits; and set the towers thereof at the gates thereof, a hundred cubits high, and the breadth thereof in the foundation threescore cubits ; and made the gates thereof, even gates that were raised to the height of seventy cubits, and the breadth of them forty cubits, for the going forth of his mighty hosts, and the setting in array of his footmen : even in those days king Nebuchadnezzar made war with king Arphaxad in the great plain : this plain is in the borders of Ragau. And there came to meet him all that dwelt in the hill country, and all that dwelt by Euphrates, and Tigris, and Hydaspes, and in the plain of Arioch the king of the Elymaeans; and many nations of the sons of Chelod assembled themselves to the battle."
Wisdom of Ben Sira (ECCLESIASTICUS)
The original book was written, approximately, between the years 190 – 180 B.C.
Ben-Sira was a scribe and a teacher.
Ben-Sira had spent some time in the service of an influential person, whether a Jew or Gentile remains uncertain.
He also appears to have sojourned at the court of some foreign ruler.
In most of the Greek manuscripts the title of our book runs: “The Wisdom of Jesus, the son of Sirach.”...NOT to be confused with Christ Jesus. The name was normally used during this time period as John, Bob, Billy, and Chris are used today. This is presumably the translation of the title in the original Hebrew ; the proper names may, however, be spelled in a way approximating more closely to the original, thus : “The Wisdom of Jeshua Ben-Sira.”
A Moral Guide Book
The book was much used in the early Church for instruction in conduct of life.
The title “Ecclesiasticus” comes from the Old Latin Bible ; it was the name by which the book had been known to the Western Church from the 3rd Century, and was, therefore, adopted by St. Jerome when he made his Latin Version of The Bible.
Ben-Sira was a scribe and a teacher.
Ben-Sira had spent some time in the service of an influential person, whether a Jew or Gentile remains uncertain.
He also appears to have sojourned at the court of some foreign ruler.
In most of the Greek manuscripts the title of our book runs: “The Wisdom of Jesus, the son of Sirach.”...NOT to be confused with Christ Jesus. The name was normally used during this time period as John, Bob, Billy, and Chris are used today. This is presumably the translation of the title in the original Hebrew ; the proper names may, however, be spelled in a way approximating more closely to the original, thus : “The Wisdom of Jeshua Ben-Sira.”
A Moral Guide Book
The book was much used in the early Church for instruction in conduct of life.
The title “Ecclesiasticus” comes from the Old Latin Bible ; it was the name by which the book had been known to the Western Church from the 3rd Century, and was, therefore, adopted by St. Jerome when he made his Latin Version of The Bible.
Wisdom of Ben Sira (ECCLESIASTICUS) 1:1 – 10
The Origin of Wisdom:
–1. All wisdom is from the Lord, And is with Him for ever.
–2. The sand of the seas, and the rain-drops, And the days of eternity, who can number them?
–3. The height of heaven, and breadth of earth, And the deep, who can trace out?
–4. Wisdom was created before all, And wise insight from everlasting.
–[5. The source of Wisdom is the word of God in the heights, And her ways are eternal commandments.]
–6. To whom hath the root of Wisdom been revealed ? And who hath discerned her subtleties?
–[7. To whom hath the understanding -of Wisdom been manifested ? And who hath grasped her rich experience?]
–8. One there is Who is wise, greatly to be feared, The Lord sitting upon His throne;
–9. He Himself created her, and saw, and numbered her, And poured her out upon all His works ;
–10. In measure l upon all flesh, But without measure doth He grant her to 'them that love Him.
–1. All wisdom is from the Lord, And is with Him for ever.
–2. The sand of the seas, and the rain-drops, And the days of eternity, who can number them?
–3. The height of heaven, and breadth of earth, And the deep, who can trace out?
–4. Wisdom was created before all, And wise insight from everlasting.
–[5. The source of Wisdom is the word of God in the heights, And her ways are eternal commandments.]
–6. To whom hath the root of Wisdom been revealed ? And who hath discerned her subtleties?
–[7. To whom hath the understanding -of Wisdom been manifested ? And who hath grasped her rich experience?]
–8. One there is Who is wise, greatly to be feared, The Lord sitting upon His throne;
–9. He Himself created her, and saw, and numbered her, And poured her out upon all His works ;
–10. In measure l upon all flesh, But without measure doth He grant her to 'them that love Him.
The name Apocrypha came to us via St. Jerome, a patron saint of Biblical scholarship. By certain terms, he had to deal with these extra books. Two of them, The Tobit and Judith, where translated very hastily from Semitic manuscripts. He also translated The Additions to Daniel and Esther. But, the remaining books he left in their original Old Latin form. Oddly, The Roman Catholic Church accepted Jerome’s translations but did not accept his theory about the Old Testament Canon. The official Old Testament of the Roman Church today contains no separate section called the Apocrypha. Very few would take the time to maintain that the Apocryphal books, as a whole, partake of the same degree of inspiration as the greater part of the canonical Scriptures. Even at the lowest of levels, they remain at the least an important product of life. For the discerning reader, there exists a clear indication that the task for preparing the way of The Lord was still going on EVEN in the period between The Testaments...The Intertestamental Period!