Acc. to 1 Macc. 4:43 ff.
the desecrated altar was replaced by a new one when the temple was consecrated
under Judas in 164 b.c. The stones
of the old one were deposited in a suitable place on the temple hill “until a
prophet should arise who would say what should be done with them.” If in the
first instance this means only that the final decision as to what should be
done with an unserviceable piece of cultic equipment was left to the chance
prophet who might arise, 1 Macc. 4:46 takes on added significance in connection
with the other verses. While 1 Macc. 4:46 stands at a climax in the whole
story, 1 Macc. 9:27 introduces the darkest period in the Maccabean episode.
Judas fell in 160 b.c. and his
followers were delivered up to Bacchides: “Thus there came on Israel great
tribulation such as had never arisen since the time when a prophet had last
appeared among them.” It is an open question who was the last prophet acc. to
the Hasmonean view of history but it would seem that 1 Macc. 9:27 is not
just meant to be a dogmatic statement about the absence of prophecy in the
present. Acc. to 1 Macc. 14:41 Simon was appointed commander and high-priest
in 141 b.c. “Then the Jews and
priests resolved that Simon should be their leader and high-priest for ever
until an authentic prophet should arise.” The striking thing about this is that
a ἕως τοῦ ἀναστῆναι προφήτην πιστόν follows the
concluding statement εὐδόκησαν τοῦ εἶναι αὐτῶν Σιμωνα ἡγούμενον καὶ ἀρχιερέα εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα.. From this it is concluded on the one side that the national decision
would be in force until the extinguished prophetic gift should be kindled again
in an authentic bearer of the Spirit and should perhaps call for a
constitutional change, while on the other there is seen behind 1 Macc. 14:41
the expectation of an eschatological prophet who would come forth as προφήτης
πιστός.
The general trend of 1
Macc., which is in essentials a single unit, is against any such long-range
expectation. The guiding thread in the book is the fluctuating rise of the
Hasmoneans up to Simon; there then follows a new threat to the dynasty with the
assassination of the priest-prince and his two older sons by a relative, but
this is averted when John Hyrcanus arises and can be installed as the new
priest-king, 1 Macc. 16:11–22. John, who is the climax of the story of the
fluctuating battle of faith and the rise of the Maccabeans, has passed into
history as the bearer of the munus
triplex, → 825, 26 ff. The prophetic office of this ruler and
high-priest would seem to give to 1 Macc. 9:27 and 14:41, and finally also to
4:46, a satisfying sense. If I Macc. 9:27 refers to the time when a prophet
last appeared, now, after the days of affliction and conflict, a prophet has
appeared again, and thus the age of salvation has come. If again 1 Macc.
14:41 makes the national decision regarding a hereditary priestly monarchy
dependent on its sanctioning by a prophet, now the royal dignity is confirmed
by John Hyrcanus himself, since as a priestly ruler he bears the prophetic
charisma, as even the Rabb. did not deny. If finally 1 Macc. 4:46 leaves the
decision what to do with the desecrated altar to a future prophet, in John
Hyrcanus there has now arisen for the Hasmonean party (→ Σαδδουκαῖος) a high-priest who is charismatically empowered to make valid decisions
in temple matters.(Gerhard Friedrich, “Προφήτης, Προφῆτις,
Προφητεύω, Προφητεία, Προφητικός, Ψευδοπροφήτης,” Theological Dictionary of the
New Testament, ed. Gerhard Kittel, Geoffrey W. Bromiley, and Gerhard Friedrich,
10 vols. [Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1964–], 6:815–816)