Editing 1 Maccabees (section)

==Authorship and date==
The author of 1 Maccabees is anonymous and unknown.  He wrote in the post-independence Hasmonean kingdom, probably during the reign of High Priest [[John Hyrcanus]] (reigned ~134&ndash;104 BC), with a few scholars suggesting that early in the reign of [[Alexander Jannaeus]] (reigned 103&ndash;76 BC) is also a possibility.{{refn|group=note|Scholarly estimates for the date of authorship include:{{ubl|[[Seth Schwartz]] and [[Arnaldo Momigliano]] argue for "early" dates prior to 129 BC.  Reasons include a reference to the [[Kingdom of Pergamon]] being promised vast territory by Rome that would be obviously false in retrospect after Rome's annexation of Pergamon in 129, as well as insular attitudes suggesting a smaller kingdom with fewer Gentiles than later in Hyrcanus's reign.<ref>{{cite book |last=Momigliano |first=Arnaldo |author-link=Arnaldo Momigliano |date=1976 |title=L'Italie préromaine et la Rome républicaine. I. Mélanges offerts à Jacques Heurgon |publisher=[[École française de Rome]] |pages=657–661 |chapter=The date of the first Book of Maccabees |chapter-url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/efr_00000000_1976_ant_27_1_1828 |isbn=2-7283-0438-6 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Schwartz |first1=Seth |date=1991 |title=Israel and the Nations Roundabout: 1 Maccabees and the Hasmonean Expansion |journal=[[Journal of Jewish Studies]] |volume=42 |issue=1 |pages=16–38 |doi=10.18647/1577/JJS-1991 |access-date=}}</ref>|
[[Bezalel Bar-Kochva]] also argues for an early date, and suggests before 125 BC, given the first-hand knowledge he sees of the Revolt in the work.{{sfn|Bar-Kochva|1989|pp=162-164}}|
[[Uriel Rappaport]] and [[Daniel R. Schwartz]] argue for the later years of Hyrcanus's rule.{{sfn|Rappaport|2001|loc=Author, Date, and Title}} Schwartz notes that the author condemns the "taking of crowns", suggesting the book was written before [[Aristobulus I]] declared himself king in 104&ndash;103 BC.{{sfn|Schwartz|2022|loc=Authorship and Date of Composition}}|
John R. Bartlett argues for somewhere between 110&ndash;90 BCE.{{sfn|Bartlett|1998|p=34}}|
[[Jonathan A. Goldstein]] believes 1 Maccabees was published during Alexander Jannaeus's reign (103–76 BC), but argues that the first half of it was heavily based on a lost "Common Source" that was written in the 150s BC while the Revolt was fresh in memory and [[Jonathan Apphus]] was the leader of the Maccabees.{{sfn|Goldstein|1976|pp=62-63}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Goldstein |first=Jonathan A. |author-link=Jonathan A. Goldstein |date=1983 |title=II Maccabees  |location=Garden City, NY |publisher=Doubleday |series=The Anchor Bible Series |isbn=0-385-04864-5 |volume=41A |pages=37–41; 48}}</ref>}}}}  All agree that the book was written before 63 BC, as the author shows great admiration toward Rome and does not know of the Roman general [[Pompey]] [[Siege of Jerusalem (63 BC)|conquering Jerusalem]] and reducing the Hasmonean kingdom to a client state of the Roman Republic in that year.{{sfn|Goldstein|1976|pp=62-63}}{{sfn|Rappaport|2001|loc=Author, Date, and Title}}  He was likely a [[court historian]] or equivalent.{{sfn|Rappaport|2001|loc=The Author's Views}}{{sfn|Schwartz|2022|loc=Title, Major Theme, and Structure}}  The author appears to be very familiar with Judea and its geography, but appears less well-informed about the wider Hellenistic world.{{sfn|Schwartz|2022|loc=Authorship and Date of Composition}}  The entire work is generally considered to be a unity composed by a single author on both [[philology|philological]] and thematic grounds, although there are occasional short passages sometimes contested as potentially being added at a later date.<ref>{{harvnb|Schwartz|2022|loc=Sources and Chronology}}.  Schwartz is citing Ettelson, Harry W. (1925).  ''The Integrity Of I Maccabees'', p. 257-260.</ref>{{sfn|Mendels|2021|loc=The Unity of 1 Maccabees}}