this thread may be getting a bit off course, it started on 3-4 maccabees
then jim west said
> First, the language of the maccabean materials is NOT
>translation Greek, reflecting an earlier Hebrew Vorlage. Second, there is
>not a shred of evidence supporting the idea that these texts were written
in
>Hebrew.
which would be true as far as 3-4 maccabees and most of 2 maccabees. that
was how i interpreted jim's comment until he elaborated on a later
question.
the following exchange is most surprising:
(Jack kilmon had written)
>>What about the Hebrew copy of 1 Mac that Jerome knew? A translation?
(jim west replied:)
>yup.
>Jim
1 maccabees is transparently translation greek.
[2-4 maccabees is greek greek]
raymond martin's syntax criticism, rough as it is, makes this clear, if you
want published studies.
more specifically, 1 maccabees is from hebrew, not aramaic (notice the lack
of narrative tote/edayin).
"mac" does not occur at qumran, though probably not because it didn't exist
but because it represented enemy literature.