Introduction

The Fourth Document about the Maccabees is a sustained argument about faith, clear thinking, and self-control. The writer asks whether reason guided by devotion to God can govern desires and emotions such as greed, anger, fear, and pain. The point isn’t that faithful people feel nothing, but that they can choose to obey God’s instructions even when their feelings pull them strongly in another direction.

After explaining this argument and giving examples, the writer retells the suffering of Eleazar, seven brothers, and their mother under King Antiokos (Antiochus). These are the people whose deaths are also described in chapters 6–7 of The Second Document about the Maccabees. Here their speeches and endurance become the main examples supporting the argument.

The closing chapters dwell on the brothers’ love for one another and their mother’s love for them. The writer praises their faithfulness, presents their endurance as a victory over the king’s cruelty, and encourages readers to follow their devotion to God. This is a reflection on the meaning of their suffering, with the argument and the account woven together throughout.

The Fourth Document about the Maccabees appears in an appendix to the Greek Septuagint. It is considered to be apocrypha by most church traditions. It is preserved here for its supplementary historical value.

Makabi (from which the term Maccabee is derived) is an acronym formed from the first letters of Exodus 15:11: “Mi kamokha ba’elim YHWH” — “Who is like you among the gods, Yahweh?”

This is still an early look into the unpolished text of the Open English Translation of the Bible. Please double-check the text in advance before using in public.