Meqabyan

Meqabyan (Amharic: መቃብያን), also called called Ethiopic Maccabees or Ethiopian Maccabees, are three books in the Ethiopian Orthodox Biblical canon of the Old Testament. They are very different in content from the Books of Maccabees in Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Bibles. The Maccabees described in the three books are not those of the Hasmonean dynasty, and their "Five Holy Maccabean Martyrs" do not match the "woman with seven sons", who were also called "Maccabees" and are revered throughout Orthodoxy as the "Holy Maccabean Martyrs".^[1]

The books appeared only in Ethiopian languages for a long time but have recently been translated into English.

According to this book, a certain man from the territory of Benjamin called Meqabis had three sons Abya (Amharic: አብያ- Abijah), Seela (Amharic: ሴላ- Shelah), and Pantos (Pantera), who opposed the tyrannical policies of the king and refused to worship his idols. Their account consumes only a short section of the book, spanning Chapters 2 to 5. A second group of brothers is later introduced in Chapter 15: Yihuda (Amharic: ይሁዳ- Judah), Meqabis and Mebikyas, and they are said to have led a successful revolt against the ruthless King Akrandis of Midian. That appears to be a historical allusion to King Alexander I Balas, who ruled the Seleucid Empire after the death of Antiochius IV and supported the legitimacy of the Maccabees' cause. However, in this folk rendering of history, Mebikyas enters the king's military camp and decapitates him at his dinner table while his food is still in his mouth. The remainder of the book, Chapters 16 to 36, have no dealing with the Maccabean Revolt and offer no further historical narrative. Their purpose is unknown, as they recount significant events from the Old Testament.

• The Book of Second Meqabyan has 21 chapters and starts: "After he found the Jews in Syrian Mesopotamia". The story is that a king of Moab, Meqabis, makes war against Israel, whcih is its punishment. Later, he feels bad for his sins and teaches God's law to the people living in Israel. After his death, Tsirutsaydan introduces idolatry and burns the sons of Meqabis.

• The Book of Third Meqabyan has 10 chapters and starts: "And the islands of Egypt shall rejoice". It tells about salvation and punishment, as seen in the lives of Adam, Job, David and others.

    Selassie, Feqade. Ethiopian Books of Meqabyan 1–3, in Standard English. 2008; Lulu Press Inc, Raleigh, NC

    Curtin, D.P. The 1st Book of Ethiopian Maccabees. 2017; Dalcassian Publishing, Philadelphia, PA

1. ↑ Mertens' Encyclopedia

• The Biblical Canon Of The Ethiopian Orthodox Church Today, by R. W. Cowley - specific info on Meqabyan 1-3 found at footnote #9
• The Book of First Meqabyan in Iyaric