The original language of 1 maccabees: A reexamination

Recent scholarly interest in determining the original language of apocryphal books, as well as the new methodology and arguments presented in these studies, necessitate a renewed and detailed examination of 1 Maccabees. The scholarly assumption of a Hebrew Vorlage of 1 Maccabees is traditionally based on four main types of evidence that will be reexamined. In this paper, I also investigate two farther criteria in light of the new arguments raised in the Apocryphal research: Quotations from and literary allusions to biblical texts in 1 Maccabees, and the reflection of the Hebrew of the Hellenistic period.