The two books of the Maccabees are not included in the King James Bible. They aren’t included in most protestant bibles. Even the Jews are wobbly on their proper place in scripture. The Catholic bible does include them.
The reason for their uncertain status is that the only original copies extant are written in Greek. Both Jews and Catholics were troubled by the lack of Hebrew script.
Could they be truly canonical if not written in Hebrew? Some claim the first Book of Maccabees was written in Hebrew though the copy was lost. There is no agreement on this. Even so, the story of the Maccabees is worth the telling. The story begins with a historical preface: the conquest of Judea by Alexander the Great.
After Alexander’s death his empire was divided between his Generals.
The events recorded in Maccabees happened a century and a half later. Judea was now part of the Greek Seleucid Empire, ruled by a Greek who thought Judaism both barbaric and backward.
His name was Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Antiochus was brutal in his zealotry to replace Judaism with the light of Hellenization. In 168 BC, He desecrates the Second Temple by converting it to a Temple of Zeus. This was a sacrilege too far.
The war begins when a functionary of Antiochus orders an elderly priest, Mattathias, to make sacrifice to Antiochus’s pagan gods. Mattathias responds by killing Antiochus’s minion and fleeing to the hills with his five sons. They recruited a guerrilla force that would become a mighty army.
This was the start of a war that would last from 175 to 142 BC. Mattathias died of old age in the first years of the revolt he started. His son, Judas took control. Judas, like his father and brothers was Hasmonean. The people did not call him Hasmonean. They called him Judas Maccabee.
Maccabee was a Hebrew word that translates as, the Hammer. Thereafter the forces of Judas were known as Maccabees. In 165 BC. The Maccabees marched on Jerusalem, cleansed the Temple, and restored the traditional rituals of Judaism.
They commemorated their success with a festival still celebrated – Hanukkah.
The war continued until The Maccabees reclaimed all of Judea from the Seleucid Empire. They gave all glory to God for guiding their victories.
It was the first time Judea had been independent in 500 years. The new ruling reign made possible by Maccabean conquest was called after their family name, the Hasmonean Dynasty.
The Hasmonean Dynasty ruled for nearly a century. The Maccabees were militarily victorious, but lacked proof of divine leadership. They also lacked proper religious credentials for both rulership and high priesthood.
So what, an outsider might say. They won, any problem of religious credentials is just nit-picking.
Not so.
Most of the Old Testament chronicles God’s fateful interactions with his chosen people. There is little revelation of Godly intervention in the two books of the Maccabees. If God did choose the Maccabees to free the land and restore the Hebrew religion, there was no prophet who proclaimed it.
Actions and suppositions unauthorized by God are serious concerns for the orthodox. Lack of orthodox verification cast a shadow over the Maccabees’ successes. It affected popular acceptance of some of their after-victory policies.
The Rabbis fretted about legitimacy.
Scholarly debate on the matter continues today. What was the concern about? When the battles were done and won, Judas Maccabee became King. His brother, Simon, became High Priest. The Maccabees were by blood Hasmoneans, of the tribe of Levi - not the tribe of Judah.
The usurping of these two roles by Levites transgressed Torah in specific particulars. Genesis 49:10 – Kingship must always come from the line of Jacob’s son, Judah.
Also, Kingship must be separated from the line of priests, which must come from the line of Levi. This, to balance the powers of secular and spiritual by Divine decree. Furthermore, though Levites are ordained as assistants to the High Priest they cannot be High Priest.
Only descendants of one special Levite - Aaron, can become High Priest. The Maccabees defended their usurpation with a time-honored argument - might makes right.
Surely it was God who guided them through victory after victory. He wouldn’t have done that had he not intended them appointed heirs to the leadership of Moses, Joshua, and David.
The Rabbis didn’t quite buy this line of reasoning. The people were content with regaining freedom to worship freely.
Aside from theological quibbles, and military details, the books of Maccabees contains three other records of Jewish and Christian significance:
1. Jewish: Hanukkah: Early-on, it was thought only a Maccabee celebration. It wasn’t considered an orthodox Jewish Holiday. It has since become an orthodox Jewish Holiday because of a miracle that made orthodoxy possible:
When Juda freed the Temple, proper dedication required ritual cleansing by a certain holy oil used to light the menorah for eight days. There was only one jar of this oil left. Just enough for one day. Miraculously, The oil burned for all eight days. Hanukkah was Blessed.
2. Christian: Several doctrinal issues first recorded in the second book of Maccabees were adopted by the Catholic Church - Purgatory, Masses for the dead, Intervention of Saints, and Resurrection on Judgment Day.
3. Christ: King Herod’s only claim to Jewishness was a technicality. Herod’s grandfather, Anipas, was the first of Herod’s family to convert to Judaism. Anipas was led to his conversion by the persuasive conquests made by the Maccabees/Hasmonaeans.
If not for Maccabees converting his grandfather, Herod would not have been acceptably Jewish. He would not have been King. The players in the Biblical account would have been different players.
Would that have made a difference in what unfolded? Who knows? It might have. The Maccabees influenced in ways known - and in some ways beyond our knowing.
I don’t know.
Only God knows what makes a differenc.