Meqabyan

I, II, and III Meqabyan (Ge'ez: መቃብያን, sometimes spelled Makabian) are three books in the Ethiopian Orthodox Old Testament Biblical canon.

Although these books are totally different in content from the books of Maccabees in Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Bibles, they are sometimes referred to as Ethiopic Maccabees or Pseudo-Maccabees.

These three books long existed only in Ethiopic, but have recently been translated by Ras Feqade Selassie and published by Lulu (2008). He previously published online an edition in Iyaric, the liturgical English of the Rastafari Movement.

• The Book of First Meqabyan has 36 chapters. It begins: "In the days of the Moabites and Medes". It says that there was an idol-worshipping king of Media and Midian, named '"Tsirutsaydan". A Benjamite called Meqabis taught that men should worship the true God, and his 5 sons and others were burnt by the king.

• The Book of Second Meqabyan has 21 chapters. It begins: "After he found the Jews in Syrian Mesopotamia". It says that a king of Moab named Meqabis made war against Israel as a punishment on them. Later he repented of his sins and taught the Israelites God's law. After his death, Tsirutsaydan introduced idolatry and burnt the sons of Makabis.

• The Book of Third Meqabyan has 10 chapters. It begins: "And the islands of Egypt shall rejoice". It is a diffuse account of salvation and punishment, illustrated from the lives of Adam, Job, David and others.

External links

• The Books of Meqabyan Online (translated into Iyaric by Ras Feqade I)
• The Biblical Canon Of The Ethiopian Orthodox Church Today, by R. W. Cowley - specific info on Meqabyan 1-3 found at footnote #9

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