3.5 1 Maccabees 3:50b–53 The congregation’s prayer
5 Conclusion: Emotional alchemy in Israel
tions on the impact of Antiochus’s occupation of Jerusalem and all Israel (1:20–
3:37).
The author inserted the narrator’s laments in order to draw attention to the reversal of fortunes that the people of Israel experienced under the Hasmoneans from their early days of affliction, which Mattathias and Judas addressed, to the latter days of harmony under Simon. The eulogy of Simon constitutes the highpoint of the Hasmonean story (14:4–15).38 In the earliest version of 1 Macca-bees, Mattathias’s description of Jerusalem’s streets as littered with the bodies of young Jews served as a counterpoint to the eulogizing portrayal of Israel’s streets as populated by elderly citizens and young men wearing military attire (2:9; cf. 14:9). The author subsequently inserted the narrator’s laments to ex-pand the contrast to the eulogy of Simon, and thereby enhance Israel’s graphic reversal of fortunes. The verbal counterpoise to the eulogy is most apparent in the first lament: Israel’s mourning contrasts with its ultimate joy; terrified young men become valiant; sighing gives way to pleasant conversation among the elders; and the land that trembles eventually has rest and becomes peaceful (1:25 [cf. 14:11]; 1:26 [cf. 14:9b]; 1:26 [cf. 14:9]; 1:28 [cf. 14:8, 11]). The contrasts continue in the second lament: the citadel, once an enemy enclave, is cleansed of renegades; the citizens who had fled return home; the desolate sanctuary is restored to glory; and dishonour concedes to honour (1:36 [cf. 14:7]; 1:38 [cf.
14:12]; 1:39 [cf. 14:15]; 1:40 [cf. 14:4]. The narrator’s final poem – which describes the desolation of Jerusalem and the sanctuary, the alienation of the citadel, and the despondency of the people – constitutes a dramatic foil for the transfor-mation in Israel that the eulogy of Simon celebrates (3:45a–b [cf. 14:9, 12]; 3:45c–d [cf. 14:7, 15]; 3:45e [cf. 14:11].
5 Conclusion: Emotional alchemy in Israel
The five laments at the beginning of 1 Maccabees are expressions of grief but not resignation. They ignite the souls of observant Jews to take action against the Seleucid occupation of Jerusalem and Judah and then to establish Israel as an independent Jewish nation. The first four laments give vent to inner turmoil while the fifth is the only one formulated as a prayer. Although the congrega-tion voices this prayer within rites of mourning, its appeal to Heaven contains
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38 From a narrative perspective, the details of Simon’s accomplishments inscribed on the bronze tablets expand upon the eulogy (14:27b–45). On the Hellenistic style of the inscription, see Gardner, Leadership, 332–337.
no confession of sins or profession of faith.39 The prayer is an invocation for God to support the forces of Judas as they enter their first battle against the Seleucid army (3:50b–53; cf. 3:54–60). This petition is consistent with the previous four laments in so far as it calls forth energies of aggression against the adversary.
All the interludes are conscious expressions of grief, which gradually mutates into an anger that empowers these observant Jews to change their situation.
First Maccabees is a narration of emotional alchemy among Jews who love Jerusalem, defend the Temple and adhere to the law. Their capacity to trans-form fear into courage, grief into contentment, and sorrow into joy is evident in the contrasts between the five laments at the beginning, and the eulogy of Si-mon at the end of the story. Moreover, the survey of emotions throughout the narrative discloses a contrast in temperaments between the Jewish loyalists, who manifest courage and optimism as they turn defeat into victory, and their adversaries, whose rage and fear result in their own deaths and eventual retreat from Israel.
The author of 1 Maccabees was a historian who adapted his theology to the concerns of realpolitik. His psychological profile of the Jewish populace under Hasmonean leadership enhanced his argument that, in the world of interna-tional politics at the beginning of the first century BCE, the nation of Israel was a force to be reckoned with.
Abstract
1 Maccabees recounts the story of Israel’s transformation from a people living under foreign oppression into an independent Jewish state. The author credits the movement of Jewish nationalism to the leadership of the Hasmonean dynas-ty. An examination of the emotional dynamics in 1 Maccabees uncovers the energies that animated Jewish independence and that distinguish the people of Israel among all nations early in the first century BCE. The narrative presents a contrast in dispositions between the courageous Jewish protagonists and their fearful adversaries. The first expressions of emotion are in five laments that manifest the grief of observant Jews, which subsequently mutates into an anger that compels them to take up the battle for independence against the Seleucid
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39 The absence of any confession of sin in the interludes represents a stark contrast to Lamen-tations (cf. Lam 1:5, 8; 2:14). Moreover, there are no acknowledgements of guilt in the rites of mourning (cf. 1 Macc 2:14; 3:47–49). In 1 Maccabees, the terminology of “sin” pertains exclu-sively to the enemies of the Jews at the beginning of the story (1:10, 34; 2:44, 48, 62).
overlords. As outpourings of misery on the part of an oppressed people at the beginning of the story, these laments provide counterpoints to the joyous cele-bration of freedom in the eulogy of Simon at the end. When read in light of the final panegyric to Simon, the laments accentuate the reversal of fortunes expe-rienced by the Jewish people over the course of 1 Maccabees. Literary analysis indicates that the author added three of the laments after he had completed the narrative.
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