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December 30, 2024

The Books of Maccabees

The non-biblical Hanukkah story.

Purim has the book of Esther, Tisha b’Av Lamentations, and Passover the book of Exodus itself. By contrast, Hanukkah commemorates a historical event, but nowhere does the Hebrew Bible tell its story. Christian Bibles, however, have two such books: 1 and 2 Maccabees, compiled by Jews in ancient times. Daniel R. Schwartz describes these books, how we know that the first was originally written in Hebrew (although only the Greek survives), and the differences between them in conversation with Nachi Weinstein. (Audio, 57 minutes.)

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