The Jewish community and the Hellenistic culture in the light of the Books of the Maccabees

Abstract

Summarising the proposed analyses of the contents of the Books of the Maccabees, it can be noted that the Biblical authors described three main attitudes of the Jews to the Hellenistic culture and the pagan religion that was part of that culture: the attitude of openness and ready adoption of the “Greek customs,” military resistance, as well as the heroic attitudes of giving one’s life for the sake of fidelity to the prescripts of the Law. As the Books of the Maccabees show, the high priests of Jerusalem played a non-unimportant role in the process of the city Hellenization. It also should be observed that the authors, describing historical facts, sometimes put their own interpretation on them to express a definite theological message.