The Books of Maccabees: Containing the Books of 1, 2, 3, and 4 Maccabees

By: Joseph Lumpkin

Narrated by: Mel Jackson

• 1 Maccabees - The book presents the Jewish leaders Judas, Jonathan, and Simon as devout people and has little sympathy for people who favor Hellenization, but nowhere does the text mentions divine intervention. Chapter one to two: The Hellenization of Judah and the non-violent resistance by Mattathias is covered; Chapter three to nine: Tells of the Military actions by Judas the Maccabaean ("battle hammer:): after 166 where the temple is purified; Chapter nine to 12: recounts the continued warfare led by Judas' brother Jonathan (160-143), who, benefiting from wars of succession in the Seleucid Empire, restores the fortunes of the Jewish nationalists and adds to their territories; Chapter 13-16: The third brother, Simon, achieves political independence and founds the Hasmonaean dynasty.
• 2 Maccabees - The book has a much greater interest in theology than first Maccabees. Second Maccabees is not as well written and has a less polished form. The pagans are defined as "blasphemous and barbarous nations", but there are also severe censures of apostate Jews. We find a theological features in second Maccabees such as the resurrection of the body in 7.11; 14.46. This stand in stark contrast first to Wisdom and Philo, both of which teach the immortality of the soul. We have concepts of eternal life and death and in 12.43 the intercession of the living for the dead, an element on which the Catholic church bases the belief in purgatory and prayers for the dead.
• 3 Maccabees - The book is a misnomer because the book has nothing to do with the Maccabees, who are never mentioned in it. The book is a story about a situation in which the Jewish people, this time in Egypt, were in danger of being annihilated by a Hellenistic monarch, who was attempting to top their religious convictions and practices.
• 4 Maccabees - The book belongs to the Maccabees series only because it deals with the beginning of the persecution of Jews by Antiochus IV Epiphanes.

©2019 Joseph Lumpkin (P)2019 Joseph Lumpkin

Not cannon for a reason

An interesting history reference to supplement the Bible, but awkward solnit isnt cannon.

the narrator is terrible. The pronunciation is horrific. Aunty Okus and the Trash-ians... please learn to pronounce.

what a history lesson

this was an incredible amount of detail. actually wish I would listen to it where I could have looked at maps and been able to search some of the information to understand some of the kings and power players that were in the books.

Interesting text, poor delivery

Fascinating glimpse of Jewish history. Delivery was poor to the point of distraction and at times, questionable authenticity.

Was "ok"

The Narrator mispronounces MANY words like escape. There's no "X" in escape. He's also rather boring to listen to and doesn't do a great job.

Waste of time.

With all due respect to the author, this book is a sham. It repeats itself over and over and offers no real details beyond a gloss. But it repeats that gloss over and over under different headings. It almost appears as if this book was written using AI.

It is also inaccurate in places. John Hyannis was but the son in law of simon.

It also fails to include significant events, probably cause AI glossed over them.

Wafts if money. And time.