Reception and Manuscript Attestation

Fourth Maccabees is not included in the Hebrew Bible and as such is noncanonical for the Jewish tradition. Fourth Maccabees is included in some Greek Septuagint manuscripts. The early Christian Bibles Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Alexandrinus both include 4 Maccabees (fourth and fifth centuries, respectively); however, the fourth-century Codex Vaticanus does not. The eighth-century Codex Venetus also includes 4 Maccabees. Since the fourth century, people mistakenly ascribed 4 Maccabees to Josephus; therefore, numerous manuscripts of his works also contain 4 Maccabees. Fourth Maccabees was translated early on into Syriac and included in the Syriac Peshitta. The Latin Vulgate did not include 4 Maccabees. However, there is an Old Latin paraphrase from the late 4th century, known as the Passio Maccabaeorum (“Passion of the Maccabees”), which was occasionally included in medieval Latin Bibles (Signori, “Introduction,” 6).

Fourth Maccabees is noncanonical for the Roman Catholic, Protestant, and Ethiopian Orthodox traditions. The Syriac tradition churches affirm 4 Macabees as canonical. Although 4 Maccabees often appears as an appendix in Eastern Orthodox Bibles, it is considered additional, noncanonical material (however, the other three books of the Maccabees are considered canonical). The presence of 4 Maccabees in Eastern Orthodox Bibles varies by regional tradition: it generally appears in Greek Orthodox Bibles but not in Russian Orthodox Bibles.

For further information on why 4 Maccabees was once in some early Christian Bibles, but is no longer canonical for most Christian traditions, see this article: Canon, Books in Codices. For further information regarding the canonical reception of the books of the Maccabees, see this article: Maccabees, Books of The.