Textual History of the Account of Alexander the Great in 1 Maccabees

The great interest in Alexander the Great — a figure admired and extolled in the literature of many of the cultures of the ancient world — appears to have prompted the scribes and copyists of 1 Maccabees to elaborate the passage relating to him in 1 Macc 1,1-7. This scribal activity is evident from the changes in sequence that are found in the various versions and manuscripts of v. 1 and vv. 3-5. This paper proposes that these additions reflect the worldview of later scribes regarding the place of the Hellenistic period within world history and the idea that Alexander’s hubris led to his death.