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Tales of High Priests and Taxes

The Books of the Maccabees and the Judean Rebellion against Antiochos IV

Tales of High Priests and Taxes

The Books of the Maccabees and the Judean Rebellion against Antiochos IV

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Paperback / softback

£34.00

Publisher: University of California Press
ISBN: 9780520383142
Number of Pages: 570
Published: 16/03/2021
Width: 15.2 cm
Height: 22.9 cm

In the wake of the conquests of Alexander the Great, the ancient world of the Bible—the ancient Near East—came under Greek rule, and in the land of Israel, time-old traditions met Greek culture. But with the accession of King Antiochos IV, the soft power of culture was replaced with armed conflict, and soon the Jews rebelled against their imperial masters, as recorded in the Biblical books of the Maccabees. Whereas most scholars have dismissed the biblical accounts of religious persecution and cultural clash, Sylvie Honigman combines subtle literary analysis with deep historical insight to show how their testimony can be reconciled with modern historical analysis by conversing with the biblical authors, so to speak, in their own language to understand the ways they described their experiences. Honigman contends that these stories are not mere fantasies but genuine attempts to cope with the massacre that followed the rebellion by giving it new meaning. This reading also discloses fresh political and economic factors.

Preface and Acknowledgments
General Introduction

PART I. IOUDAÏSMOS: 1 AND 2 MACCABEES AS DYNASTIC HISTORY
Methodological Introduction: The Modern Semantic Categories of “Religion” and “Politics” and Ancient Societies
1. 2 Maccabees as Dynastic History
2. Temple Foundation and Royal Legitimacy: A Narrative Pattern and Its Message
3. Ioudaïsmos as the Legitimate Social Order Founded by Judas Maccabee
4. Royal High Priests and Temple Foundation: The Narrative Pattern and the Hasmonean Political Order 
Conclusion 

PART II. HELLENISMOS: THE CAUSES OF THE REBELLION ACCORDING TO THE AUTHORS OF 1 AND 2 MACCABEES
Methodological Introduction: Symbolic Universe, Cultural Codes, and Causal Analysis in 1 and 2 Maccabees 
5. Hellenismos: The Social Order of the Wicked Rivals in 1 and 2 Maccabees 
6. The “Religious Persecution” in the Light of Ancient Judean Cultural and Narrative Codes 
7. The Causes of the Rebellion according to 1 and 2 Maccabees 
Conclusion 

PART III. HISTORY: THE JUDEAN REBELLION IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE, 200–164 B.C.E. 
From Literary Analysis to History: A Summary of the Conclusions of Parts I and II 
8. Judea and Koile Syria and Phoinike under Antiochos III, 200–187 B.C.E. 
9. Seleukos IV Philopator and the Revision of Antiochos III’s Settlement in Judea, 187–175 B.C.E. 
10. Judea under Antiochos IV Epiphanes: The Reforms, 175–ca. 172 B.C.E. 
11. Judea under Antiochos IV Epiphanes: The Suppression of the Rebellion, 169/8–164 B.C.E. 

Appendix A. The Literary Composition of 1 Maccabees 
Appendix B. The Literary Composition of 2 Maccabees 
Abbreviations 
Notes 
Bibliography 
Index of Subjects
Index Locorum

Sylvie Honigman

Sylvie Honigman is Professor of History at Tel Aviv University.

"Remarkably comprehensive . . . Tales of High Priests and Taxes deserves to be at the center of discussion in the coming years." * Journal of Jewish Studies * "Honigman presents a sophisticated, encompassing, and ultimately persuasive reconstruction of the political, economic, cultural and literary forces at work that resulted in the production of these two puzzling books." * Heythrop Journal *

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