Apocrypha & Pseudepigrapha

1,329 texts · Page 109 of 148

The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha: ancient Jewish texts composed during the Second Temple period that, while not included in the canonical Hebrew Bible, preserve invaluable traditions about angels, the afterlife, and the end of days.

Holy Sanctuary and Jerusalem

Apocrypha The Book of Maccabees I 1:45

1 Maccabees 1 paints a stark picture: "Her sanctuary was laid waste like a wilderness, her feasts were turned into mourning, her sabbaths into reproach, her honour into contempt." ...

TorahTempleSabbathHoly Land

Voice of Torah of Temple

Apocrypha The Book of Maccabees I 1:49

That's the world the Maccabees faced. The Book of Maccabees I, a historical text not included in the Hebrew Bible but considered canonical in some Christian traditions, paints a vi...

TorahTempleSacrificeCovenant

High Priest Enters and Judah

Apocrypha The Book of Maccabees I 1:53

The Book of Maccabees I gives us a stark glimpse. Imagine this: a decree echoes across the land, reaching every corner of the kingdom. Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the Seleucid king, is...

TorahTempleMysticismSacrifice

Glory of the Temple

Apocrypha The Book of Maccabees I 1:57

We find ourselves in the era described in the Book of Maccabees I, a historical text that vividly recounts the struggles of the Jewish people under the Seleucid Empire. Imagine thi...

TorahTempleSacrifice

Mattathias Before the Flood

Apocrypha The Book of Maccabees I 2:1

The story of Hanukkah, the festival of lights, isn't just about oil lasting for eight nights. It's a story etched in blood, faith, and unwavering defiance. Let's turn the clock bac...

Noah & FloodTorahHoly LandDeath

Mattathias and the King

Apocrypha The Book of Maccabees I 2:8

Mattathias, father of the Maccabees, certainly felt that way. Our story isn't from the Hebrew Bible we know as the Tanakh. This comes from the First Book of Maccabees, part of the ...

King DavidTempleHoly LandExile

Mattathias and the Holy Sanctuary

Apocrypha The Book of Maccabees I 2:15

That’s the kind of raw, desperate place we find ourselves in at the beginning of the story of Mattathias and the Maccabees. The Book of Maccabees I plunges us into a world where Je...

TempleHoly Land

Kingdom of Mattathias and the Altar

Apocrypha The Book of Maccabees I 2:19

Our scene unfolds in a small town in Judea, under the oppressive rule of the Seleucid Empire. King Antiochus IV Epiphanes has decreed that everyone must abandon their ancestral tra...

TorahWisdomHoly Land

Mattathias and Noah of Modin

Apocrypha The Book of Maccabees I 2:24

We're talking about a time when the Seleucid Empire, under King Antiochus IV Epiphanes, was in full swing, trying to Hellenize, or make Greek, everyone under its rule. It wasn't ju...

Noah & FloodTorahTempleSacrifice