Scriptural Research Institute 
Syriac 7th Maccabees [EPUB ebook] 
The Story of the Lady and her Seven Sons

In addition to these five books of the Maccabees found within the Peshitta, there is additional Syriac literature associated with the woman and her seven sons, who were tortured to death by King Antiochus. A lesser-known Syriac work is The Story of the Lady and her Seven Sons, which Western biblical scholars have dubbed 7th Maccabees. 7th Maccabees does not appear to have been significantly altered by Christians. There is a reference to the youths believing in the Messiah that is often assumed to be a reference to Jesus by Christians, however, the prophecy of the Messiah long predated the time of Jesus. Therefore, it does not indicate the work of a Christian editor, but simply that the youths believed a Messiah would come to save the Judeans. This story could also be interpreted as evidence that Judas the hammer was once considered the Messiah, as he drove the Greeks out of Judea. However, he is not viewed that way today. If the story was associated with Judas’ cause at one point, it could explain why 6th and 8th Maccabees refer to the youths as the Maccabean martyrs.

The name of the lady is also rendered strangely in 7th Maccabees. In 6th Maccabees, she is called Lady Shamoni, however, in 7th Maccabees the term mrta is sometimes spelled as mrim or mrtim. Mrta was the Syriac word for ‘lady’ or ‘noble woman, ‘ which was adopted as the name Martha in Greek, and spread into most European languages. As a result, her name is sometimes translated as ‘Martha, ‘ with both mrim and mrtim dismissed as scribal errors. Nevertheless, mrtim was the Judeo-Aramaic word for ‘ladies, ‘ suggesting the word is not an error but a transliteration from an older source text. The Syriac form of Aramaic used simpler pluralization, and mrta was both the singular and plural form of the word ‘lady/ladies.’ Therefore, the terms mrtim or mrta are both translated as the title ‘lady’ in this translation. It is unclear why the term would have been pluralized in the original Judeo-Aramaic text unless there were originally more than one lady in the text. It suggests her original name was Mary Shamone, however, this name is not consistent with Judean or Aramaic naming conventions from the era. If Mary was a mistranslation of mrtim, then this likely originated as a reference to eight noble women, not one. If so, the original title of this work was The Story of the Ladies and Their Seven Sons.