For four centuries, the story is missing from most Bibles. This is where it survives.
When a foreign king outlawed the Sabbath, forbade circumcision, and set up a pagan altar inside the Temple in Jerusalem, one priest refused to comply. What began with Mattathias's defiance in a small village became a war that lasted for decades, reclaimed a defiled sanctuary, and gave rise to the festival now known as Hanukkah.
The Books of the Maccabees brings together 1, 2, 3, and 4 Maccabees in modern English; the complete surviving body of Maccabean literature, most of it left out of Protestant Bibles entirely. Most editions stop at the first two books, or quietly treat all four as one continuous story. This edition does neither. It presents each book honestly for what it actually is: two histories of the revolt, a persecution narrative from Egypt, and a philosophical work on faith and reason, connected but distinct.
Inside this edition, you'll find:
• A clear modern English rendering of all four Maccabean books
• Chapter-by-chapter historical commentary explaining the politics, culture, and religion behind the text
• The real origin of Hanukkah, verified against the earliest sources, not just the later oil legend
• Study notes and discussion questions for personal reflection or group study
• A full timeline of the intertestamental period, a glossary of names and places, and a guide to the world between the Old and New Testaments
Accurate, accessible, and complete, this is the first edition to present all four Maccabean books honestly, without collapsing them into a single legend.
The revolt. The martyrs. The miracle. The history behind the holiday, finally in one book.