Saturday, September 30, 2023

Note on the Use of 2 Maccabees 7 in Hebrews 11:35

  

. . . the reference to Maccabees (Hebrews 11:35) represents a Christian writer addressing Jews who belong to a synagogue that uses Maccabees (Hannukah readings), but because it is likely contested (as Mishnah debates witness), it is only used obliquely (possibly betraying its respected but disputed status in the regions known to the writer). We note that only 1-2 Maccabees were in some places read at synagogue for Hannukah Sabbath. (Martin Jugie, A Complete History of the Biblical Canon in the Christian East and West, Volume 1: Greek, Latin, and Slavic Biblical Canon from the New Testament Until AD 1500, translated, edited and expanded by Christiaan Kappes [N.P.: Patristic Pillars, 2022], 187 n.5)