The First and Second Books of the Maccabees

As a pastor who sees Maccabees as Apocryphal, and extremely interesting background material for the Jewish culture and heritage backdrop of the New Testament, I was excited to start reading this translation of Maccabees. Just like my trusty NEB, this follows in the same tradition of what I would label as a 'startlingly fresh' translation. When compared to the Anchor Bible's translation by Jonathan Goldstein, this is far superior. Just for the translation of the text alone, this is worth acquiring. In the comments, which are about two pages for every page of text, the author, John Bartlett gives some technical information (usually it is helpful and crucial to understanding the text). He avoids enumerating endless textual critical theories (I'm very grateful for that). He sometimes gives inspiring links to similar accounts. Let me illustrate what I mean. Take 2 Maccabees 6 on Eleazar's martyrdom as an example: This famous story of the Jewish elderly man has the NEB translation (I just love it). Then he starts in with two pages of comments. In his notes he mentions that the Greek behind the NEB's 'clemency' vs.22 is the Greek word philanthropia and ties this to royal privileges given to the Jews by the Syrian King. It's just enough to stir the thinking reader onward. He ties into Daniel 12 and the Wisd of Sol 3.1 pm torment. He also discusses how this links into chapter 7. His comments are helpful. Unlike my other commentaries on Eleazar, Bartlett makes a helpful comparison to Polycarp's martrydom, drawing a link to the Apostolic Fathers and Maccabees. I found that stimulating and inspiring. The indexes in the back are weak with no scripture index at all!!!! There is a defense of reading apocryphal books in the back, designed for protestants like myself. Honestly this book is way over priced. If I found it in a bookstore, I would not pay over $8 or $10 for it. It's an inexpensive paperback binding from the 1970s. Fonts are just ok and there is little footnote/cross referencing for further study. So, in short, this is one of my favorite commentaries on Maccabees 1 & 2, especially because of the translation of the text and some of the inspiring elements in the comments. I recommend it for pastors, bible teachers and students working on papers. If you are into textual criticism, look to Goldstein's Anchor Bible Commentary on II Maccabees instead.