Commentaria in I Machabaeorum
I suppose these two books to be Canonical, as the Council of Trent defines, session IV; Carthage III, Canon 47; Innocent I, epistle 3, to Exuperius; Gelasius and others. Among the Hebrews they are not Canonical, both because they do not exist in Hebrew, whence they are unknown to the Hebrews; and because they were written after the Canon of the sacred books was established by the Synagogue in the time of Esdras. See Bellarmine, book I On the Word of God, chapter v; Sixtus of Siena, book VIII of the Bibliotheca, and Serarius here.
There exists in addition a third book of Machabees, and with some a fourth; but these the Church has not admitted within the Canon. Wherefore these two are like the third and fourth book of Esdras.
The argument of the first and second books of Machabees is to write down the deeds and battles of Judas, Jonathan and Simon the Machabee brothers against Antiochus and other enemies. These two books therefore contain the history of the Synagogue, that is, of Israel and the people of God; for Esdras ends with the Pontiff Jeddoa or Jaddus, who met Alexander the Great, from whom the first book of Machabees begins, and continues the history of Israel through the successors of Alexander, namely the kings of Asia and the kings of Egypt, who now were allied with the Jews, now waged bloody wars, in which the wonderful courage of the Machabees shone, and the singular direction and protection of God giving them victory. Incidentally and briefly it touches the deeds of Alexander the Great and his successors down to Antiochus Epiphanes, who began to persecute the Jews and harass them with war: whence it relates at length his acts and those of his successors, namely Antiochus Eupator, who was the son of Epiphanes, King Demetrius and Alexander, and another Antiochus, who was son of Demetrius, who waged wars with Judas, Jonathan and Simon the Machabees. It embraces, therefore, the deeds of about sixty years.
Who the author was is not known. It is likely that he was one of the priests or Pontiffs; for to these was given the care of writing the history of their nation, according to Josephus, book I Against Apion. It is probable that the first book was written by John Hyrcanus, son of Simon, brother of Judas Machabeus and uncle, who was present at the deeds; whence he is honourably mentioned at the end of book I. Add that he was also a Prophet, as Josephus asserts, book XIII, chapter x, whom hear: “Hyrcanus dies in the 31st year of his rule, held by God worthy of three greatest honours, the government of the nation of the Jews, and the Pontificate, and prophecy. For he enjoyed divine colloquies; whence he gained such foreknowledge of the future that he foretold that the two eldest of his children would not long be possessors of their father’s rule.” The same writer asserts that he foretold the present victory of his sons fighting far away. Finally he presided over Israel 34 years, and kept peace with his neighbours, and therefore had leisure in abundance for writing this. So Sanchez. He therefore wrote of his grandfather Mathathias, the father of Simon, and of his uncles Judas and Jonathan, the heroic battles and deeds of his family, and therefore ended with the death of Simon his father. The histories of the second book were written at length by Jason of Cyrene in five books, which a chief priest condensed into an epitome and made the second book, and that by order of the Synagogue. For in the name of the Synagogue the whole second book was written, as an epistle to the Jews dispersed through Egypt, to console them, afflicted by the persecution of Antiochus and his successors, with news of better things, as is plain from its beginning: “To their brethren,” it says, “the Jews that are throughout Egypt, the brethren that are in Jerusalem send greeting.” Among these, however, was Judas; not Machabeus, as Bellarmine and others will have it; for he was already dead, but another, either a prophet or prince of the people and Senate, in whose name the epistle was written, of whom more in book II, chapter i, 10 and chapter ii, 24. Hence Serarius thinks that this Judas is the author of the epistle, and surnames him the Essene.
The first book of Machabees existed in Hebrew in the time of St. Jerome, as he himself confesses in the Helmeted Prologue. That the second also existed in Hebrew Eusebius intimates in the Chronicle for the year of the world 4800: “The history of the Machabees,” he says, “the Hebrew computes here the kingdom of the Greeks; but these books are not found among the divine Scriptures;” understand, by the Hebrews. And reason persuades it. For it was written to the Jews scattered through Egypt: but the native and mother tongue of the Jews was Hebrew, nay many of them were ignorant of others.
Furthermore the authors of the Greek edition of these books cannot be the Seventy Interpreters, because these flourished under Ptolemy Philadelphus, who preceded by a hundred years Antiochus Epiphanes, whose persecutions are described here.
You ask first: Who and what sort were the Machabees, and whence so called? Josippon Ben Gorion writes that Judas the brother of Jonathan was first called Machabeus from his strength, for his father Mathathias, about to die, thus addressed him: “O my son Judas, who for thy strength shalt be called Machabeus,” namely from the root macha, which signifies to quench, to slay, to destroy, so that Machabeus is the same as extinguisher and slayer of enemies. So Eusebius book III of the History chapter x, saying: “Which book they entitled of the Machabees, because the contests and struggles for piety toiled through by the Machabees are contained in it.” It is favoured by what Mathathias says when dying, chapter ii, 66, exhorting all to the defence of the law and their nation and to war: “Judas Machabeus, strong of body from his youth, let him be the leader of your army.” Again Pagninus in the Hebrew names derives the name Maccabi (for so he thinks it should be written) from maccabi, that is, a blow by which; for nacha is to strike, to smite, to kill, so that Maccabi is the same as striker, slayer, such as Judas Machabeus and his companions were. These two etymologies are apt, so that it is hardly doubtful that they are alluded to. Others derive “Machabeus” from the Greek verb machomai, that is, I fight, as if you should say fighter, athlete, combatant. Isidore of Pelusium, book 3, epistle 4: “Machabeus,” he says, “in the Persian tongue means lord.” Moreover others derive Machabeus from caab, that is, to grieve; whence Benoni Hiphil macib, that is, causing grief, tormenting the enemies of Israel. Others derive it from chabab, that is, to love, as if Judas were called Machabeus from the burning love of God, that is, lover, or Amadeus. Others from mackeba, that is, hammer. For Judas was the hammer of the Gentiles.
But Hebrews and Latins commonly report that Judas was called Machabeus because he had received as the watchword of the sacred war against the infidels, the followers of Antiochus, that saying of Moses singing after Pharao was overcome, Exodus xv, 11: Mi camocha baelim Jehova, that is: “Who is like to thee among the strong, O Lord?” and therefore had inscribed on his standards the initial letters of these words, namely M K B I, which, the vowel points being supplied and run into one word, make Machabi, that is Machabeus, so that machabi is as it were the same as Michael, that is, who is like God; which name he afterwards transmitted to his companions and successors. That it is so is plain from the following deeds and battles of Judas, Prolegomena to the books of the Machabees.
in which Judas always places all hope of victory in God alone, and therefore invoking him, rushes like a lion upon the enemies and overthrows them, and did the same before his father’s death from his youth, as the father himself asserts, chapter ii, 66, where for this reason he appoints him leader of the war and of the people. Wherefore before his father’s death his emblem was: Mi camocha baelim Jehova, that is: “Who is like to thee among the strong, O Lord?” and thence by abbreviation he was called Machabi, that is, “Machabeus.” Wherefore he himself, about to engage with Nicanor, gave his men this watchword of war, “The help of God,” as is plain book II, chapter viii, 23. So Genebrard in the Chronicle, Sixtus of Siena, book I; Arias, on Isaias chapter x; Baronius, in the Martyrology on the 4th of August, Serarius, Salianus, Sanchez and others. In a like compendium of writing was written that: Mane Thecel Phares, Daniel v. Similar abbreviations are found everywhere in the books of the Rabbis, by which with the first letter they signify a whole word, all of which Mercer collected into one and explained.
You ask second of what Tribe was Judas, and his other brothers and nephews the Machabees. Some think they were of the tribe of Juda. For from this the sceptre was not to fail until Christ, Jacob had foretold, Genesis xlix, 10. Hence also I Machabees v it is said: “And the men of Juda were magnified.”
But I say that they were of the tribe of Levi and priestly. For they were themselves High Priests and at the same time Princes of the people. That it is so is clear from book I, chapter i, where Mathathias is called a priest descended from Joarib; and Joarib descended from Aaron and Levi, as is plain from I Paralipomenon xxiv, 7. Hence Mathathias calls Phinees the son of Eleazar the son of Aaron his father and that of his people, book I, chapter ii, 54. To the place Genesis xlix, 10, I answered there: to the place of Machabees I shall answer below. Furthermore the Machabees were by another name called Asamoneans, from Asamoneus, who was grandfather or great-grandfather of Mathathias, according to Eusebius, Josephus, book XII of the Antiquities chapter vi and others. Hence the Hebrew Asamonai is the same as Nobles or Princes. For such the Machabees were.