The Maccabean Poet - Quick Facts

The Maccabean poet writes about the grief felt by many over their dead sons during the celebrations of Hebrew independence

His stories are about the grief of many Hebrew parents who lost their boys during the war

When: 140 BCE

Where: Judea

Greatest Works: The Plague of the Firstborn, Psalms 119, parts of Job

Traits: tragic, Hellenized, bitter

Scholarly Name: none

We can learn a few important things about the Maccabean poet from his texts. He wrote in 140 BCE, the year the Hebrews transitioned from a civil war and war of revolutionary independence into official Hebrew independence, and he wrote about grief, bereavement, losing children, the difficulty of moving on from that, and the desire for vengeance it might evoke in us. 

The story of the Plague of the First born is read today as a terrible story about gruesome vengeance, but the story is written like a tragedy, and the death of the children of the enemy do not make the Hebrews happy or joyous, even though it brought them liberty. It's a heartbreaking tragedy, which is mirrored in his texts in Paslms and Job. Job, too, lost children and could not get over the pain.

When we take all of this information together, it is reasonable to assume that the Maccabean poet lost a child who fought during the civil war or war of independence, and that even though he is told this sacrifice brought the Hebrews victory and liberty, he seems to say that for the bereaved parent, it was not worth it. Nothing is worth this.