Purpose and Motifs of 4 Maccabees
On the Thesis of 4 Maccabees
It is not hard to determine the purpose of 4 Maccabees because the author is very explicit in the opening verses as to what his purpose is. Indeed, he not only states his purpose, but he defines his terms as most philosophers are want to do. Note his introduction:
1:1-2 Highly philosophical is the subject I propose to discuss, namely, whether devout reason is absolute master of the passions, and I would strictly counsel you to give earnest attention to my philosophical exposition. The subject is an indispensable branch of knowledge but it also includes a eulogy of the greatest of virtues, by which I mean of course prudence.
It should be observed that the author explicitly states that his work will primarily consist of philosophical discourse. Additionally, however, he will insert the genre of eulogy since his philosophical discussion centers around the martyrdom of an aged priest and a mother and her seven sons who were of the highest character. This, then, is the explicit purpose of the author. He is arguing for a philosophy of life and also commending as virtuous examples the lives of nine highly esteemed individuals whom he deemed to exemplify this philosophy.
The author's thesis is also explicit, as one would expect from a philosophical treatise. He states in 1:6,
It is not over its own inherent defects that reason is master but over the passions that are opposed to justice and courage and temperance, and master over these not in such a way as to eradicate them but to keep men from surrendering to them.
In other words, the author is not simply arguing a sense of rationalism. He has a specific agenda. Presumably, he is distraught over the Hellenization of his people that he sees going on around him. They are capitulating to their passions and so he issues a call for reform which can only begin within--i.e. with an inner resolve, or commitment, to a principle higher than self. That principle is reason. But it is not reason in the abstract; it is reason as derived from the standard of God's Law (i.e. Torah). This is another refrain that pervades the work. God is the one who established the Law and conformed it to human nature. It is the Law that teaches the virtues of life such as temperance and how to control one's desires. It is the Law that establishes piety. Consider the following passage wherein Eleazar speaks to Antiochus' decree that the aged priest should eat swine's flesh which was "forbidden by the Law" (5:14). Antiochus' previous cajoling of Eleazor was on the basis that God would overlook such a capitulation as a small thing since it had been imposed on him:
5:19-25 Accordingly, you must not regard it as a minor sin for us to eat unclean food; minor sins are just as weighty as great sins, for in each case the Law is despised. You mock at our philosophy as though our living under it were contrary to reason. On the other hand, it teaches us temperance so that we are in control of all our pleasures and desires; and it gives us a thorough training in courage so that we willingly endure all hardship; and it teaches us justice so that whatever our different attitudes may be we retain a sense of balance; and it instructs us in piety so that we most highly reverence the only living God.
So the Law is the standard for reason, not the mind of man as in philosophical rationalism. The Law as God gave it is for the purpose of conducting life aright; in short, for a life of piety.
It has already been noted that the repeated refrain throughout the book is that reason is master over passions. Certainly, this is what the author means and intends to convey. Certainly, this is what every commentator highlights when summarizing 4 Maccabees. But there is an observation that seems to have been overlooked by the commentators. Whether the author recognizes it or not, his argument actually (and logically) entails yet an underlying principle behind reason. That principle is piety. In other words, the author, at face value, is arguing for reason over passions. Yet, as he develops his argument, reason is not his absolute stance; piety is. Though it may be subtle, it is arguably clear. Recall his thesis statement once again in 1:6. There he states that reason is "master over [his passions] not in such a way as to eradicate them but to keep men from surrendering to them." This is because, once a man surrenders to his passions, he has lost his piety. And piety, for the author of 4 Maccabees, is the highest principle. This fact is even explicit. Note carefully the statement in 5:16-19:
We, Antiochus, who firmly believe that we must lead our lives in accordance with the divine Law, consider that no compulsion laid on us is mighty enough to overcome our own willing obedience to the Law. Therefore, under no circumstances whatever do we ever deem it right to transgress the Law. And even if our Law was not, as you suggest, in truth divine, and we only reckoned it to be divine, it would still in fact be impossible for us to ruin our reputation for piety. [emphasis added]
In other words, sincerity and integrity are what count and not the object toward which the sincerity and integrity are applied. Truth is not the absolute principle, but piety is. Perhaps another verse will underscore this observation:
7:18 Only those who with all their heart make piety their first concern are able to conquer the passions of the flesh.
Again, note what he says two verses later:
7:21-22 For what philosopher is there, who lives by the whole rule of philosophy and believes in God and knows that it is blessed to endure every pain for the sake of virtue, who could fail to master his passions for the sake of piety? [emphasis added]
Admittedly, this piety is derived from Torah, and this Torah has been handed down from God, but perhaps this commitment to piety betrays a works-based salvation. In a work that purports to be philosophical in nature (and is), this is a point worthy of investigation.
On Final Rewards and Punishment
The book of 4 Maccabees divides into two main parts plus a prologue. After the prologue (1:1-12), the author, in the first main section (1:13-3:18), engages in philosophical argument about the supremacy of reason over passion (i.e. emotions). To make his philosophical point he resorts to illustrations drawn from both common history and biblical history. This is the second and longest section of the work (3:19-18:24). In this section, the genre switches from philosophical discourse to narrative. The motifs of the philosophical section have already been highlighted above. In the narrative section (3:19-18:24), some interesting motifs occur. One of the most evident motifs occur throughout chapters 9-18. The motif is that of final reward and punishment. There is no mention of a final judgment day, but the fact of retribution is reiterated over and again. This comes out most prominently in the successive martyrdom of the seven sons and their mother. Just prior to the death of each of the sons, each, in turn, pronounce a woe upon Antiochus for his brutality and that they, conversely, are the recipients of blissful reward. Below are their excerpted utterances to the pagan king with preceding sigla identifying whether it is a statement of final reward [R] or final punishment [P].
Eleazor
5:37 [R] Pure shall my fathers welcome me, fearless of your punishments even unto death.
Seven Sons in Unison
9:8 [R] By our suffering and endurance we shall obtain the prize of virtue and shall be with God on whose account we suffer.
9:9 [P] But you, because of our foul murder, will suffer at the hand of divine justice the everlasting torment by fire you deserve.
The Eldest Son
9:15a [P] Most abominable tyrant, enemy of heaven's justice...
9:15b [R] ...you punish me in this fashion not as a murderer or man of impiety but as a champion of the divine law.
9:24a [R] Fight [my brothers] the sacred and noble fight for true religion and through it may the just providence that protected our fathers become merciful to our people...
9:24b [P] ...and take vengeance on the accursed tyrant.
The Second Son
9:31a [R] I am sustained in my ordeal by the joys that arise from defending virtue.
9:31b-32 [P] But you are tortured by the threats that confront impiety. You cannot, vile tyrant, escape the penalties of the divine wrath.
The Third Son
10:10 [R] We, vile tyrant, suffer all this for our training in divine virtue.
10:11 [P] But for your impiety and savagery you will suffer endless torments.
The Fourth Son
10:20 [R] Gladly, for the sake of God, do we allow the limbs of our body to be mutilated.
10:21 [P] But you God will speedily overtake, since you are cutting out the tongue that sang songs of praise to him.
The Fifth Son
11:3 [P] Of my own accord [I] come forward so that you might kill me and for your further misdeeds incur the punishment the heavenly justice will inflict on you.
11:4-5 You enemy of virtue and enemy of man, what have we done that you destroy us in this way? Is it because we revere the creator of all and live according to his virtuous Law?
The Sixth Son
11:20 [R] How sacred and seemly is the agony to which so many of my brothers and I have been summoned as to a contest in sufferings for piety's sake, and yet we have not been vanquished.
11:22-23 [P] Fully armed with goodness, I, too, shall die along with my brothers, and I, myself, shall confront you with one great avenger more, you deviser of new tortures, you enemy of men of true religion.
The Youngest Son
12:12 [P] Justice will hold you in store for a fiercer and an everlasting fire and for torments which will never let you go for all time.
12:14 [P] [My brothers] for their part, have died nobly and so fulfilled their piety toward God, but you will groan dreadfully for having slain the champions of virtue without cause.
12:17 [R] I call upon the God of my fathers to be merciful to our people
12:18 [P] You he will punish in the present life and in death.
Mother of the Seven Sons
16:17 [R] shameful were it indeed that [Eleazor] should endure agonies for piety's sake. ...Remember that it is for God's sake you were given a share in the world and the benefit of life, and accordingly you owe it to God to endure all hardship for his sake.
16:24-25 [N/A] With these words the mother of the seven exhorted each one and persuaded them to die rather than transgress the commandment of God, and they knew full well themselves that those who die for the sake of God live unto God.
Author's Synopsis of All
17:11-15 [P, R] Truly divine was the contest in which they were engaged. On that day virtue was the umpire and the test to which they were put was a test of endurance. The prize for victory was incorruption in long-lasting life. The first to enter the contest was Eleazar, but the mother of the seven sons competed also, and the brothers as well took part. The tyrant was the adversary and the world and the life of men were the spectators. Piety won the victory and crowned her own contestants.
18:4-5 [P] And it was because of them that our nation enjoyed peace--they revived the observance of the Law in their land and repulsed their enemies' siege. And the tyrant Antiochus was punished on earth and continues to suffer punishment in death.
18:22 [P] And for these acts the divine justice has pursued and will pursue the accursed tyrant.
18:23 [R] But the sons of Abraham, together with their mother, who won the victor's prize, are gathered together in the choir of their fathers, having received pure and deathless souls from God, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Clearly, these citations reveal the author's strong belief in retribution for the impious and reward for the pious. Other than a generic reference to "God" he does not articulate precisely who will render the recompense for evil deeds, but the fact of it is unquestionable. Nor does he express a precise time that such will take place other than after death. There may be, however, a hint of a final resurrection in 11:23 (see citation above). Certainly, it admits to a conscious afterlife, but the fact that the sixth son declares to Antiochus that he will confront him after his death with another "great avenger" may imply a resurrection of the body. 1
On Atonement
Atonement is also a motif that is threaded throughout 4 Maccabees. Close observation of this story of the martyrdom reveals that the deaths of Eleazor, the sevens sons and their mother, did not merely accomplish what the death of a martyr accomplished. The author of the work is seeking to establish more than an exemplary model of piety. He also wants to attribute to their deaths actual expiation. M. Gilbert observes this when he comments on the nature of the martyrdom in 4 Maccabees:
To die a martyr also means serving as a ransom through suffering, expiating the faults of the community, purifying the fatherland, gaining peace for the nation and chastisement for the tyrants, whose arrogance is already conquered by the martyr's endurance.2
To illustrate the expiatory nature of their martyrdom, consider a couple of examples from the text.
1:11 And so they became responsible for the downfall of the tyranny which beset our nation, overcoming the tyrant by their fortitude so that trhough them their own land was purified.
6:29 [Eleazor's plea to God:] Be merciful to your people and let our punishment be a satisfaction on their behalf. Make my blood their purification and take my life as a ransom for theirs.
17:20-22 These then, having consecrated themselves for the sake of God, are now honored not only with this distinction but also by the fact that through them our enemies did not prevail against our nation, and the tyrant was punished and our land purified, since they became, as it were a ransom for the sin of our nation. Through the blood of these righteous ones and through the propitiation of their death the divine providence rescued Israel, which had been shamefully treated.
Thus, the motif of atonement is significant, even though it differs significantly from the New Testament's presentation of atonement.
Notes
1The "great avenger" may also be a veiled messianic reference.
2M. Gilbert, "Wisdom Literature," in Jewish Writings of the Second Temple Period: Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha, Qumran Sectarian, Writings, Philo, Josephus, ed. Michael E. Stone (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984): 318.
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