ABSTRACT
When the envoys departed and returned to Jerusalem, cannot be determined from the First Book of Maccabees alone. The question of the timing of the Jewish Embassy has a bearing on what Judas planned to obtain from the Roman Senate. The chronological relationship of the embassy to the final stages of the Maccabaean revolt alters our perspective on Judas’ expectations of the mission to Rome. Despite the uncertainty of the dating, there may exist another method that would help to indicate when the envoys were actually in Rome. Before starting that investigation, it is important to review previous scholarly attempts to date the first Jewish Embassy to Rome. Efforts to pinpoint when the envoys set out for the city and the date of their return are hampered by the fact that no date is given in 1 Maccabees 8. Commonly, the chronology of the departure and the return of the envoys is measured according to the placement of chapter 8 in 1 Maccabees. This entails assigning a date to the interval between the end of chapter 7, which tells of the death of Nicanor, and the beginning of chapter 9, which opens with the return of Bacchides to Judaea. Various time periods have been proposed for this interval. The length of time suggested varies from only one or two months, according to Grimm and Abel,1 to a maximum estimate of up to thirteen months, according to Welhausen.2 The first estimation, of one to two months, does not permit sufficient time for the long voyage to Rome.3 The second reckoning has not won general acceptance. However, rather than interpret the position of chapter 8 as marking the date of departure of the envoys, it is possible to consider its position as reflecting the date of the conclusion of the alliance. Grimm first noticed that the narrator of 1 Maccabees bound together the sending of an embassy and the determination of a treaty.4
