Mark 13:14 and 1 Maccabees

by Leolaia 14 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  Leolaia

  Midget, rocketman, PP....Very interesting thoughts, all. I believe that even within the Maccabean struggle itself, the Jews were looking back to the Babylonian attacks on Jerusalem and the pagan captivity of the Jews, seeing parallels between that situation and their own time. That would explain why Daniel -- a semi-prophetic, semi-historical work set in the age of Nebuchadnezzer, Belshazzar, and Darius the Mede -- proved to be the successful vehicle for commenting on and predicting the end of the Maccabean crisis. The stories about the proud Nebuchadnezzer being humbled by God, the persecution of Daniel in his friends for refusing to worshop idols, and Belshazzar losing his kingdom overnight all had relevance with Antiochus Epiphanes and his pride and (at least from the Jewish point of view) claims of being God, his persecution of the Jews and enforcement of idolatry in Judea, and the expected sudden end of Antiochus' kingdom. Moreover, the 70 years allotted to the "desolations (pl.) of Jerusalem" in Daniel 9 (originally a period of Babylonian rule) was expanded into 490 years in view of the "sevenfold curse" of Leviticus 26, and thus came to include Antiochus Epiphanes' attacks on Jerusalem and the preceding "time of trouble" (e.g. Daniel 8:11, 9:27, 11:31; 1 Maccabees 1:20-24, 29-54; 2 Maccabees 5:21-26; 4 Maccabees 4:22-23).
  

  During the Jewish Revolt of AD 66-70, no doubt many were emboldened by the past historical successes of the Maccabees and the short glory of an independent Jewish state during the Hasmonean period. The failure of Daniel in predicting the actual outcome of the Maccabean wars and the subsequent march of history was a key factor that encouraged the reinterpretation of the "fourth kingdom" as Rome and the "little horn" as some future king who would follow in Antiochus' footsteps. This is the interpretation found in Mark 13, which expected another "abomination of desolation" as still future (as well as a tlipsis megalé "great tribulation" which has as its original the Antiochean persecution described in Daniel 12:1 and 1 Maccabees 9:27 which in both cases is referred to by the same expression). It is widely known that Caligula's attempt to install a statue of himself in the Temple in AD 39 encouraged such an expectation, and we find in Revelation and in the Sibylline Oracles a more developed concept of the former Roman emperor (Nero redivivus) as the Antichrist figure originally typified by Antiochus Epiphanes.
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  Leolaia

  Devastation of Jerusalem

  "You see these great buildings [of the Temple]? Not a single stone will be left on another: everything will be destroyed" (Mark 13:2).

  "The city and the sanctuary will be destroyed by a prince [Antiochus Epiphanes] who will come ... he will put a stop to sacrifice and oblation, and on the wing [of the Temple] will be the abomination of desolation until the end, until the doom assigned to the desolator" (Daniel 9:26-27).

  "Insolently breaking into the sanctuary, he [Antiochus Epiphanes] removed the golden altar and the lampstand for the light with all its fittings, together with the table for the loaves of offering, the libation vessels, the cups, the golden censers, the veil, the crowns, and the golden decoration on the front of the Temple, which he stripped of everything ... removing all of these he went back to his own country, leaving the place a shambles...Suddenly he fell on the city dealing it a terrible blow, and destroying many of the people of Israel. He pillaged the city and set it on fire, tore down its houses and encircling wall" (1 Maccabees 1:21-24, 30-31).

  False Christs and Those of Say "I AM HE"

  "Many will come using my name and saying, 'I am he,' and they will deceive many...If anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ' or "Look, he is there,' do not believe it; for false Christs and false prophets will arise and produce signs and portents to deceive the elect" (Mark 13:6, 21-22)

  "He [Antiochus Epiphanes] is going to speak words against the Most High, and harass the saints of the Most High. He will consider changing seasons and the Law, and the saints will be put into his power...The king will do as he pleases, growing more and more arrogant, considering himself greater than all the gods; he will utter incredible blasphemies against the God of gods" (Daniel 7:25, 11:36).

  In the early part of his reign (e.g. 175-172), his coins bore the title "BASILEOS ANTIOCHOU" (King Antiochus) but in the later portion of his reign (e.g. 169-164), during his persecution of Judea, he bore the title "BASILEOS ANTIOCHOU THEOU EPIPHANOUS NIKEPHOROU" (King Antiochus the God Manifest, Bearer of Victory) and his portrait bears features of Zeus Olympios.

  Wars and Rumors of Wars

  "When you hear wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed, this is something that must happen, but the end is not yet. For nation will fight against nation, and kingdom against kingdom" (Mark 13:7-8).

  "His [e.g. Antiochus'] end will come in catastrophe, and until the end there will be war and all the devastation decreed...He [Antiochus] will rouse his strength and his heart against the king of the South [Ptolemy IV Philometer] with a great army. The king of the South [Egypt] will march to war with a huge and powerful army, but will offer no resistance, since he will be outwitted by trickery...The ships of Kittim [Rome] will oppose him, and he will be worsted....He will invade coutnries, overrun them and drive on. He will invade the Land of Splendour, and many will fall; but Edom, Moab, and what remain of the sons of Ammon will escape him. He will reach out to attack countries: the land of Egypt will not escape him" (Daniel 9:26, 11:25, 20, 40-42).

  "Once Antiochus had seen his authority established, he determined to make himself king of Egypt, and the ruler of both kingdoms. He invaded Egypt in massive strength, with chariots and elephants and a great fleet. He engaged Ptolemy, king of Eygpt, in battle, and Ptolemy turned back and fled before his advance, leaving many casualties" (1 Maccabees 1:16-19).

  Persecution

  "They will hand you over to sanhedrins; you will be beaten in synagogues; and you will stand before governors and kings for my sake to bear witness to them...You will be hated by all men on account of my name" (Mark 13:9, 13).

  "He is going to speak words against the Most High and harass the saints of the Most High ... and the saints will be put into his power for a time, two times, and half a time....Those who break the covenant he will corrupt by his flatteries, but the people who know their God will stand firm and take action. Those of the people who are learned will instruct many; for some days, however, they will be brought down by sword and flame, by captivity and by plundering. And thus brought down, little help will they receive" (Daniel 7:25, 11:32-35).

  "The kign also sent instructions by messenger to Jerusalem and the towns in Judah directing them to adopt customs foreign to the country, banning holocausts, sacrifices and libations from the sanctuary, profaning sabbaths and feasts, defiling the sanctuary and the sacred ministers ... so that they should forget the Law and revoke all observance of it. Anyone not obeying the king's command was put to death...Many of the people, that is, every apostate from the Law, rallied to them, and so committed evil in the country, forcing Israel into hiding... Any books of the Law that came to light were torn up and burned. Whenever anyone was discovered possessing a copy of the covenant or practicing the Law, the king's decree sentenced him to death...Yet there were many in Israel who stood firm and found the courage to refuse unclean food. They chose death rather than contamination by such fare or profanation of the holy covenant" (1 Maccabees 1:44-49, 52-32, 62-63).

  Abomination of Desolation

  "When you see the domination of desolation set up where it ought not to be (let the reader understand), then those in Judea must escape to the mountains; if a man is on the housetop, he must not come down to collect any of his belongings" (Mark 13:14-16).

  "He will put a stop to sacrifice and oblation, and on the wing [of the Temple] will be the abomination of desolation...Forces of his will come and profane the sanctuary citadel; they will abolish the perpetual sacrifice and instal the abomination of desolation there" (Daniel 7:27, 11:31).

  "On the fifteenth day of Chislev in the year one hundred and forty-five (i.e. December 8, 167 BC) the king erected the abomination of desolation above the altar; and altars were built in the surrounding towns of Judah" (1 Maccabees 1:54).

  "They shed innocent blood all round the sanctuary and defiled the sanctuary itself. The citizens of Jerusalem fled because of them, she became a dwelling place of strangers... Then Mattathias went through the town, shouting at the top of his voice, 'Let everyone who has a fervor for the Law and takes his stand on the covenant come out and follow me'. Then, with his sons, he fled into the hills, leaving their possessions behind in the town" (1 Maccabees 1:37-38, 2:27-28).

  Great Tribulation

  "For in those days there will be such a great tribulation that, until now, has not been equalled since the beginning when God created the world, nor ever will be again. And if the Lord had not shortened that time, no one would have survived" (Mark 13:19-20).

  "There is going to be a time of great tribulation, unparalleled since nations first came into existence. When that time comes, your own people will be spared" (Daniel 12:1).

  "These traced and searched out the friends of Judas [Maccabeus] and brought them before Bacchides, who took revenge on them and humiliated them. A great tribulation began in Israel; there has been nothing like it since the disappearance of prophecy among them" (1 Maccabees 9:27).

  The Son of Man

  "And then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory; then too he will send the angels to gather his chosen from the four winds, from the ends of the world to the ends of heaven" (Mark 13:26)

  "And I saw, coming in the clouds of heaven, one like a Son of Man....On him was conferred sovereignty, glory and kingship...At that time Michael will stand up, the great prince who mounts guard over your people ... of those who lie sleeping in the dust, many will awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting disgrace" (Daniel 9:13-14, 12:1-2).
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  peacefulpete

  Thanks leolaia, laying it out like that helps explain a great deal. The author of Mark 13 was seeing his experience throught the lens of already distant history.
  

  Even when still a JW I wondered how Antiochus managed to enter the temple and strip it without getting leprosy or something. After all the 'House was not abandoned' until Jesus! No prophet had come to warn the priests ot people to repent or else. Funny how the whole episode is dismissed by the WT (and Christians in general) as irrellevent because it did not fit the theological model they were building.
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  Leolaia

  PP...Here is another vivid example. In Mark 13:17, we read the following concerning the appearance of the abomination of desolation: "Alas for those who are pregnant and for those who give suck in those days!" This statement is pretty general and does not elaborate on what would happen to mothers and children; I have always thought of it in general terms as women and children being caught up in the disaster. However, 1 Maccabees includes a grim account of how such women and children were specific targets of the persecution:

  "On the fifteenth of Chislev ... the king erected the abomination of desolation above the altar.... Women who had had their children circumcised were put to death according to the edict, with their babies hung around their necks, and the members of their household who had performed the circumcision were executed with them" (1 Maccabees 1:54, 60-61).

  This puts the statement in Mark 13:17 into a whole new light. These events were so ghastly that they are narrated as well in 2 Maccabees and in 4 Maccabees. Thus we read in 2 Maccabees 6:10: "For example, there were two women charged with having circumcised their children. They were paraded publicly round the town, with their babies hung at their breasts, and then hurled over the city wall". Similarly, 4 Maccabees 4:25 mentions "women who knew in advance what was in store for them were hurled headlong from the walls with their infants because they had their children circumcised".
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  Narkissos

  I've been away for a few days...

  Narkissos....I'm not sure, but could it at all be a neuter plural (as a second aorist active participle)?

  Imo a second aorist active participle, neuter plural, would rather be something like stanta... However a morphological contamination, barbarism or solecism, is not impossible.

  This would not agree with the singular to bdelugma tés erémóseós "abomination of desolation" in number, but it would match it in gender and it would recall the plural shqwtsym mshmm of the MT of Daniel 9:27 which is grammatically difficult for different reasons (a plural noun with a singular participle). If the participle is masculine, could this also have been influenced by the masculine participle shmm "appalling, astonishing, desolating" in the Hebrew of Daniel?

  In the highly problematic MT of Daniel 9:27 mshmm doesn't seem to function as an attribute or epithet of shqwçym: "on the wing of abominations [there will be] a desolator". However this may well be a corruption (cf. the more regular forms of 11:31; 12:11, BHS).