conservative, keeping to classic traditions of Judaism in opposition to the influence of Greek thought on Judaism, such as Greek beliefs on the immortality of the soul that 2 Maccabees includes. One of the main goals of the book may have been to explain the reason behind the Purim-esque festival celebrated by Egyptian Jews. In this theory, the origins of the festival had been muddied by time, and the author expanded existing stories of persecution into a story of how God saved the Jews of Egypt. The author shows a high regard for the power of prayer; the work frequently depicts the Jews praying for aid, and God answering their prayers. Simon, the Jews collectively, and Eleazar all pray to God in situations of dire need, and these prayers are answered directly. Influence 3 Maccabees was not influential. No Jewish writers of the ancient era appear to reference it or be familiar with it, even those who wrote in Greek. The book was not translated into the Latin Vulgate, hence the Western Church's rejection of including it even as a member of the deuterocanonical books. While the book was kept in the Greek-speaking Eastern Church's scripture, it is only very rarely referenced or alluded to. Theodoret briefly summarizes 3 Maccabees in one of his writings, but this is the rare exception; the work had little influence on Christianity. 3 Maccabees is included in the deuterocanon of the Eastern Orthodox Church and some Oriental Orthodox Churches: the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Syriac Orthodox Church, and the Assyrian Church of the East. The Apostolic Canons approved by the Eastern Church's Council in Trullo in 692 verified 1, 2, and 3 Maccabees were deuterocanonical, but the Council was rejected by the Western Church's Pope Sergius I. Notes References Bibliography External links , , (NRSV translation) Early Jewish Writings: 3 Maccabees 1st-century BC books Anagignoskomena 3 Jewish Ptolemaic history Jewish texts Old Testament pseudepigrapha Texts in Koine Greek Texts in the Septuagint Jewish apocrypha Ptolemy IV Philopator