6 Maccabees, or the Sixth Book of Maccabees, [1] is an anonymous Classical Syriac narrative poem about the martyrdom of Eleazar and the woman with seven sons under Antiochus IV as described in the prose Greek works 2 Maccabees and 4 Maccabees. [2] 6 Maccabees is a conventional title based on the theory that it is an Old Testament pseudepigraphal work of Jewish origin. [3]
6 Maccabees was originally written in Syriac and only a Syriac text is known, preserved in at least three manuscripts. [2] The whereabouts of only one of these is currently known: Bodleian, Or. 624 (Syr. 134), an 18th- or 19th-century copy in Nestorian script from the Christian community of Malabar in India. [4] The manuscript tradition and the final form of the text are certainly Christian. [5] The work itself may be of a very late date. Sebastian Brock proposed the 12th or 13th century. [2] Sigrid Peterson, on the other hand, argues that the earliest, unembellished form of the text must be earlier than 4 Maccabees (1st–2nd century). [5] The text as we have it, however, makes reference to 4 Maccabees when it says that Josephus wrote the martyrs' history, since 4 Maccabees was commonly if erroneously attributed to Josephus. [6]
6 Maccabees contains 678 lines of verse. [1] Its use of rhyme is indicative of a medieval, as opposed to ancient, origin. Its dodecasyllabic metre is strongly associated with Jacob of Serugh (died 521). [2] The genre of the piece, mēmrē, is that of a homily in narrative verse, [5] with characteristics of a dramatic dialogue and perhaps even of Jewish piyyutim. [7] Much of it consists of the speeches given by the woman, Martha Shamoni (Marty Shmuni), before the execution of each of her sons. [4] The names of the sons in 6 Maccabees are Gadday, Maqqbay, Tarsay, Hebron, Hebson, Bakkos and Yonadab, which are the names known in both the East and West Syriac traditions. [6]
The content of 6 Maccabees is a mix of Jewish and Christian. There is an emphasis on keeping the Jewish law, [5] but also references to Jesus, Paul and Stephen, to the intercession of saints and to the construction of churches commemorating the Maccabean martyrs. [2] Although forceful arguments have been made for a Jewish original in Syriac, there is no clear evidence of the use of that literary language among Jews. [2]
The Syriac text with an English translation was published by Robert Lubbock Bensly in 1895. [8] A revised translation can be found in Peterson's dissertation. [9]
6 Maccabees, or the Sixth Book of Maccabees, [1] is an anonymous Classical Syriac narrative poem about the martyrdom of Eleazar and the woman with seven sons under Antiochus IV as described in the prose Greek works 2 Maccabees and 4 Maccabees. [2] 6 Maccabees is a conventional title based on the theory that it is an Old Testament pseudepigraphal work of Jewish origin. [3]
6 Maccabees was originally written in Syriac and only a Syriac text is known, preserved in at least three manuscripts. [2] The whereabouts of only one of these is currently known: Bodleian, Or. 624 (Syr. 134), an 18th- or 19th-century copy in Nestorian script from the Christian community of Malabar in India. [4] The manuscript tradition and the final form of the text are certainly Christian. [5] The work itself may be of a very late date. Sebastian Brock proposed the 12th or 13th century. [2] Sigrid Peterson, on the other hand, argues that the earliest, unembellished form of the text must be earlier than 4 Maccabees (1st–2nd century). [5] The text as we have it, however, makes reference to 4 Maccabees when it says that Josephus wrote the martyrs' history, since 4 Maccabees was commonly if erroneously attributed to Josephus. [6]
6 Maccabees contains 678 lines of verse. [1] Its use of rhyme is indicative of a medieval, as opposed to ancient, origin. Its dodecasyllabic metre is strongly associated with Jacob of Serugh (died 521). [2] The genre of the piece, mēmrē, is that of a homily in narrative verse, [5] with characteristics of a dramatic dialogue and perhaps even of Jewish piyyutim. [7] Much of it consists of the speeches given by the woman, Martha Shamoni (Marty Shmuni), before the execution of each of her sons. [4] The names of the sons in 6 Maccabees are Gadday, Maqqbay, Tarsay, Hebron, Hebson, Bakkos and Yonadab, which are the names known in both the East and West Syriac traditions. [6]
The content of 6 Maccabees is a mix of Jewish and Christian. There is an emphasis on keeping the Jewish law, [5] but also references to Jesus, Paul and Stephen, to the intercession of saints and to the construction of churches commemorating the Maccabean martyrs. [2] Although forceful arguments have been made for a Jewish original in Syriac, there is no clear evidence of the use of that literary language among Jews. [2]
The Syriac text with an English translation was published by Robert Lubbock Bensly in 1895. [8] A revised translation can be found in Peterson's dissertation. [9]