Alcimus’ Last Command
History and Propaganda in 1 Maccabees 9:54
In: Journal for the Study of JudaismSearch for other papers by Daniel Lanzinger in
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The note in 1 Maccabees 9:54 that the high priest Alcimus ordered the destruction of the wall of the inner temple court is taken by most scholars as a description of a historical event. This paper, however, suggests that the note should rather be read as part of a pro-Maccabean propaganda which serves to defame Alcimus. It is argued that, from a historical perspective, it was not Alcimus but Judas who was responsible for serious damage at the temple precinct as a result of his unsuccessful military operation against the Seleucid Acra (6:18-54). The author of 1 Maccabees tries to downplay this event and to villainise Alcimus by calling destruction what was actually restoration. The paper ends with a comparison to two other passages in 1 Maccabees (4:44-46 and 5:55-62) which shows that the suggested understanding of 9:54 fits well the strategies of legitimisation and delegitimisation that can be found throughout the book.
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4
Cf. Benjamin E. Scolnic, Alcimus, Enemy of the Maccabees (Studies in Judaism; Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, 2005), 69-70.
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14
Cf. James C. VanderKam, From Joshua to Caiaphas: High Priests after the Exile (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2004), 228; Victor Parker, “Historische Studien zu den Hohen Priestern der frühen Makkabäerzeit,” zdpv 124 (2008): 143-70, esp. 157-64; Kay Ehling, Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der späten Seleukiden (164-63 v. Chr.): Vom Tode des Antiochos IV. bis zur Einrichtung der Provinz Syria unter Pompeius (Historia, Einzelschriften 196; Stuttgart: Steiner, 2008), 116; and Benedikt Eckhardt, Ethnos und Herrschaft: Politische Figurationen judäischer Identität von Antiochos III. bis Herodes I. (sj 72; Berlin: de Gruyter, 2013), 170-71, to name just the recent studies.
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21
My interpretation follows Eckhardt, Ethnos und Herrschaft, 279.
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Alcimus’ Last Command
History and Propaganda in 1 Maccabees 9:54
In: Journal for the Study of JudaismSearch for other papers by Daniel Lanzinger in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
The note in 1 Maccabees 9:54 that the high priest Alcimus ordered the destruction of the wall of the inner temple court is taken by most scholars as a description of a historical event. This paper, however, suggests that the note should rather be read as part of a pro-Maccabean propaganda which serves to defame Alcimus. It is argued that, from a historical perspective, it was not Alcimus but Judas who was responsible for serious damage at the temple precinct as a result of his unsuccessful military operation against the Seleucid Acra (6:18-54). The author of 1 Maccabees tries to downplay this event and to villainise Alcimus by calling destruction what was actually restoration. The paper ends with a comparison to two other passages in 1 Maccabees (4:44-46 and 5:55-62) which shows that the suggested understanding of 9:54 fits well the strategies of legitimisation and delegitimisation that can be found throughout the book.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 328 | 54 | 8 |
| Full Text Views | 245 | 2 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 66 | 7 | 0 |
