''Megillat Antiochus'' ( he, מגילת אנטיוכוס - "The Scroll of Antiochus"; also "Megillat HaHashmonaim", "Megillat Benei Hashmonai", "Megillat Hanukkah", "Megillat Yoḥanan", "Megillat HaMakabim" or "Megillah Yevanit") recounts the story of

Hanukkah or English translation: 'Establishing' or 'Dedication' (of the Temple in Jerusalem) , nickname = , observedby = Jews , begins = 25 Kislev , ends = 2 Tevet or 3 Tevet , celebrations = Lighting candles each night. ...

and the history of the victory of the Maccabees (or Hasmoneans) over the Seleucid Empire. It is distinct from the

Books of the Maccabees The Books of the Maccabees or the Sefer HaMakabim (the ''Book of the Maccabees'') recount the history of the Maccabees, the leaders of the Jewish rebellion against the Seleucid dynasty. List of books The Books of the Maccabees refers to a series o ...

, which describe some of the same events.

History

Early texts of the work exist in both

Aramaic The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated in ...

and

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

, but the Hebrew version is a literal translation from the Aramaic original. It was written somewhere between the 2nd and 5th centuries, with the greater likelihood of it having been composed in the 2nd century. The Hebrew version dates to the 7th century. The work is first mentioned by

Simeon Kayyara Simeon Kayyara, also spelled ''Shimon Kiara'' (Hebrew: שמעון קיירא), was a Jewish-Babylonian halakhist of the first half of the 8th century. Although he lived during the Geonic period, he was never officially appointed as a Gaon, and ...

(ca. 743 CE) in ''Halakhot Gedolot'', wherein he claims that the scroll was compiled by the "elders of the

School of Shammai The House of Hillel (Beit Hillel) and House of Shammai (Beit Shammai) were, among Jewish scholars, two schools of thought during the period of tannaim, named after the sages Hillel and Shammai (of the last century BCE and the early 1st century CE) ...

and the elders of the School of Hillel".

Saadia Gaon Saʻadiah ben Yosef Gaon ( ar, سعيد بن يوسف الفيومي ''Saʻīd bin Yūsuf al-Fayyūmi''; he, סַעֲדְיָה בֶּן יוֹסֵף אַלְפַיּוּמִי גָּאוֹן ''Saʿăḏyāh ben Yōsēf al-Fayyūmī Gāʾōn''; ...

(882‒942 CE) argued that it was composed in the

language by the Hasmonaeans themselves, and entitled ''Megillat Beit Hashmonai''. He translated it into

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

in the 9th century. The original Aramaic text can be found in an old Yemenite ''Baladi''-rite Prayer Book from the 17th century. The Hebrew text was first published in 1557 in

Mantua Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and '' comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the province of the same name. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture. In 2017, it was named as the Eur ...

, northern Italy. The Hebrew text, together with an English translation, can be found in the ''

Siddur A siddur ( he, סִדּוּר ; plural siddurim ) is a Jewish prayer book containing a set order of daily prayers. The word comes from the Hebrew root , meaning 'order.' Other terms for prayer books are ''tefillot'' () among Sephardi Jews, '' ...

'' of

Philip Birnbaum Philip Birnbaum (; March 30, 1904 – March 19, 1988) was an American religious author and translator. He is best known for his work ''Ha-Siddur ha-Shalem'', a translation and annotation of the Siddur first published in 1949. Biography Birnbaum ...

. Louis Ginzberg declared it a "spurious work" based on "unhistorical sources," with the exception of its citations taken from certain passages from First Book of the Maccabees.

Use in ritual

Section_from_Aramaic_Scroll_of_Antiochus,_April_2015

During the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

, ''Megillat Antiochus'' was read in the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

synagogues A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of wors ...

on Shabbat Hanukkah. A ''machzor'' of the Kaffa rite from the year 1735 gives the instruction to read the Megillat Antiochus in the Mincha service of Shabbat Hanukkah.

Yemenite Jews Yemenite Jews or Yemeni Jews or Teimanim (from ''Yehudei Teman''; ar, اليهود اليمنيون) are those Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Is ...

of the Baladi rite had it as a custom to read the scroll after the ''haftarah'' reading on Shabbat Hanukkah.

Chronology in Megillat Antiochus

The Scroll of Antiochus equates the 23rd year of the reign of

Antiochus Eupator Antiochus V Eupator (Greek: ''Αντίοχος Ε' Ευπάτωρ''), whose epithet means "of a good father" (c. 172 BC – 161 BC) was a ruler of the Greek Seleucid Empire who reigned from late 164 to 161 BC (based on dates from 1 Maccabees 6:1 ...

with the 213rd year since the building of the Second Temple. According to

Josephus Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for '' The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly ...

, Antiochus Eupator began his reign in the year 149 of the

Seleucid Era The Seleucid era ("SE") or (literally "year of the Greeks" or "Greek year"), sometimes denoted "AG," was a system of numbering years in use by the Seleucid Empire and other countries among the ancient Hellenistic civilizations. It is sometimes r ...

, corresponding to 162 BCE, making the 23rd year of his reign 139 BCE. Since, according to the Scroll of Antiochus, the Second Temple had by that time been standing 213 years, this would mean that the Second Temple was completed in 352 BCE. This date matches traditional Jewish sources, which say that the Second Temple stood 420 years, before being destroyed in the 2nd year of the reign of

Vespasian Vespasian (; la, Vespasianus ; 17 November AD 9 – 23/24 June 79) was a Roman emperor who reigned from AD 69 to 79. The fourth and last emperor who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty that ruled the Empi ...

, in 68 CE. However, modern scholarship places the building of the Second Temple in 516 BCE, based on chronologies that emerge from the

Babylonian Chronicles The Babylonian Chronicles are a series of tablets recording major events in Babylonian history. They are thus one of the first steps in the development of ancient historiography. The Babylonian Chronicles were written in Babylonian cuneiform, f ...

.Richard A. Parker & Waldo H. Dubberstein, ''Babylonian Chronology 626 BC - AD 75'', Providence 1956

References

External links

Text

A manuscript containing Megillat Antiochus
circa

1480 Year 1480 ( MCDLXXX) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–December * March 6 – Treaty of Toledo: Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain recognize the Africa ...

, from the collections of the

National Library of Israel The National Library of Israel (NLI; he, הספרייה הלאומית, translit=HaSifria HaLeumit; ar, المكتبة الوطنية في إسرائيل), formerly Jewish National and University Library (JNUL; he, בית הספרים הלא� ...

Original Aramaic text with English, Hebrew and Yiddish translations

Birnbaum English translation

Hebrew and English texts as PDF

TorahLab Hebrew and English text with footnotes

Analysis

Antiochus, Scroll Of
Louis Ginzberg, jewishencyclopedia.com
Scroll of Antiochus
''

Encyclopedia Judaica The ''Encyclopaedia Judaica'' is a 22-volume English-language encyclopedia of the Jewish people, Judaism, and Israel. It covers diverse areas of the Jewish world and civilization, including Jewish history of all eras, culture, holidays, lang ...

''
The Scroll of Antiochus
Rabbi Benjamin Zvieli
The Unknown Chanukah M'gillah

Rabbi

David Golinkin David Golinkin (born 1955) is an American-born conservative rabbi and Jewish scholar who has lived in Jerusalem since 1972. He is President of the Schechter Institutes, Inc., President Emeritus of the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies and Pr ...

, myjewishlearning.com
Class Lecture Notes on Megillat Antiochus
prepared by Pesach Steinberg, makomshlomo.com {{Authority control Hasmonean dynasty Jewish prayer and ritual texts Rabbinic literature