Was the Rejection of Gifts One of the Reasons for the Outbreak of the Maccabean Revolt? A Preliminary Note on the Role of Gifting in the Book of 1 Maccabees

The article deals with the role of gift-giving during the period of the first Hasmoneans. Whereas Mattathias rejected gifts and other grants offered by the Seleucids (and by doing so sharpened the rift between Jews and Seleucids), from Jonathan onwards the Hasmoneans became players within this frame...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Mendels, Doron (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Sage 2011
In: Journal for the study of the pseudepigrapha
Year: 2011, Volume: 20, Issue: 4, Pages: 243-256
Further subjects:B Social status
B Hasmonean policies
B Humiliation
B rhetoric of gifting
B Reciprocity
B Concession
B Hellenistic kings
B Hellenistic etiquette
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Parallel Edition:Electronic
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Summary:The article deals with the role of gift-giving during the period of the first Hasmoneans. Whereas Mattathias rejected gifts and other grants offered by the Seleucids (and by doing so sharpened the rift between Jews and Seleucids), from Jonathan onwards the Hasmoneans became players within this framework of gifting on the international scene and enter into the complex network of gifting and reciprocity. A distinction between gift, grant and concession is drawn, taking into account various aspects such as valuability (value of gift), status (the social stature of giver and receiver), supplementation (rhetoric that is considered to be part and parcel of gifting in Hellenistic etiquette), as well as compatibility (whether the gift is in proportion to the wealth of the giver and to the occasion it was given). The article concludes with a reference to the possible critical stance of the narrator of 1 Maccabees concerning gifts and gifting adopted by the later Hasmoneans in their relationships with Hellenistic powers.
ISSN:1745-5286
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal for the study of the pseudepigrapha
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1177/0951820711411218