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14
PARTI:JUDEAUNDERTHEHASMONAEANS(167–63BCE)
ThereligiousatmosphereinJudeaatthetimeprecedingtheoutbreakofhostilities
ispicturedonlyintheBookofDaniel.Strikingly,Qumrantextscontainnoreference
whatevertotheconflictbetweenJewsandGreeks.3Considereduseful,evenifthey
evadeclearjudgmentoftheirvalueashistoricalevidence,aretextsofapocryphalor
pseudoepigraphicliterature.4Thechiefdifficultyinattemptstousethemisintheir
problematicdating.Peculiarincharacter,mostsuchtextshaveinvitedawiderangeof
oftencontradictorydatingsuggestions,hypotheses,andarguments.Attemptstouse
historicalinformationrelatedinrabbinicalliteraturehavenotyieldedsatisfactoryre-
sults,noraretheylikelytosupplymanymorecluesinthenearfuture.Thisisbecause
ofthedidacticandreligiousnatureofmostsuchworks.Thehistoricalepisodesquoted
thereservedtherabbischieflyasanillustrationfortheircommentsonHalakhalaws.In
thecourseofmultiplereinterpretations,wherebyTalmudicauthorsrepeatedlyadapted
casedescriptionstorealitiesoftheirowndays,theoriginalhistoricaleventsreferredto
havebeenlostorgreatlydistorted.5
Withoutadoubt,theauthorof1Maccintendedtoshowtheexceptionalcontributions
ofthefirstgenerationoftheHasmoneansinfightingagainstthekingsofSyria.Such
featsweremeanttobolsterthepoliticalpositionofHasmoneansuccessorsaslegitimate
leadersofanindependentJudea.6Toensurethathisaccountcausedproperresonance,
thesameauthorresortedtopassingovercertaineventsorpresentingtheminawaythat
servedtheHasmoneancause.7Somescholarsgosofarastosuggestthattheauthormay
havedeliberatelyfalsifiedcertaindevelopmentsearlyintheuprisinginordertobetter
highlighttheroleofhisprotagonists.8
ThepictureofeventswheretheHasmoneansplayedtheleadingrolesaspaintedby
JosephusinhisBellumJudaicumisinstarkcontrasttothatintheAntiquitatesJudai-
cae.Theearlierworkoffersagreatlyabbreviatedaccountofthosedevelopments(BJ
1.31–164)beingpartofalectureonthehistoryofJudeafromAntiochusIV(i.e.,from
ca.170)totheoutbreakofthegreatJewishrevoltagainstRomein66CE.Regrettably,
Josephusleavesusinthedarkabouthissources.9InhisAntiquitates,thepassageonthe
Hasmoneanperiodismanytimesasbroad.Moreover,weknowsomeofthesourceshe
3Maier2000:55ff.
4Cf.Mendels1987.
5SeeEfron1987:287ff.;Avery-Peck2004:269ff.Thisisconfirmedbystudiesonreferencespre-
servedinrabbinicalliteratureconcerningPhariseesandSadduceesbefore70CE.Studiesclearlyimplythat
anysuchreferencestobothgroupsaredevoidofanymeaningfulhistoricalvalue,thereforetryingtocon-
structonsuchgroundsanyhypothesesorhistoricalinterpretationsleadstoerroneous,unfoundedconclu-
sions,seeRavenna1962:384ff.;Neusner1971:320–368;Alexander1999:111ff.;Saldarini2001:199–237,
esp.235ff.Forthisreason,V.Aptowitzer’shistoricalanalysis(1927)basedonrabbinicaltraditiondidnot
winmuchapprovalintheeyesofhiscritics,seeEfron1987:55n.49,164–165n.98;Sievers1990:14.
6Literatureon1Maccisveryrich.Forguidanceinprincipalproblemsinvolvedwiththisbook,rec-
ommendedreadingmayinclude,apartfromcomprehensiveanddetailedcommentaries,atleastaselection
ofworksfromthepasttwentyyears:Abel1949;Abel/Starcky1961;Nickelsburg1971;Nickelsburg1981:
114–117;Attridge1984:171–176;Bar-Kochva1989:151–170;Delcor1989:456–463;Sievers1990:1–4;
Schwartz1991:21–38;Fischer1992:440-2;Harrington1999:122–136;Mittmann-Reichert2000:20–39;
Rappaport2001:711–734.
7Cf.Sievers1990:9.
8Cf.Mittag2006:261,268.
9Sievers1990:11.
