Texts in Conversation
In a prayer at the temple in 2 Maccabees, the priests call God the one who needs nothing yet chose to dwell among his people. Simon’s prayer in 3 Maccabees echoes that same description as it appeals for the temple’s protection.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
2 Maccabees 14:35
Deuterocanon
34 And having said this, he departed. But the priests, stretching forth their hands toward heaven, called upon him who always fights for our nation, in these words: 35 “You, O Lord of the universe, who in yourself have need of nothing, were well pleased that a sanctuary of your habitation should be set among us. 36 So now, O holy Lord of all holiness, keep undefiled forever this house that has been recently cleansed.”
Date: 160–63 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
3 Maccabees 2:9
Deuterocanon
8 These saw and felt the works of your hands, and praised you, the Almighty. 9 You, O King, when you created the immeasurable and measureless earth, chose this city. You made this place sacred to your name, even though you need nothing. You glorified it with your illustrious presence, after constructing it to the glory of your great and honorable name. 10 You promised, out of love for the people of Israel, that if we fall away from you, become afflicted, and then come to this house and pray, you would hear our prayer.
Date: 100 BCE – 70 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
... The phraseology in the prayer in 3 Maccabees clearly draws upon the prayer in 2 Maccabees 14:35-36 and upon 2 Maccabees 3:30 ... It thus seems likely that the author of 3 Maccabees borrowed ἀπροσδεής directly from 2 Maccabees and not from the Letter of Aristeas. Second Maccabees, on its part, may be indebted to Pseudo-Aristeas for this epithet, or else we are to posit that ἀπροσδεής was more common in Jewish-Greek (and possibly also in secular Greek) literature than its few surviving instances would lead us to believe. Indeed, the concept of God and of the divine cosmos as self-sufficient and in need of nothing can be traced back to Classical Greek literature, where it is expressed in terms which are close to the term ἀπροσδεής. ...
Nikolaos Domazakis, “The Neologisms in 2 Maccabees” (diss., Lund University, 2018), 180.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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