Maccabees in the Book of Mormon

[_MCB]

Here is what I have found so far:
(Chapter 2, I Maccabees)
5 Then they were joined by a group of Hasideans, valiant Israelites, all of them devout followers of the law.
43
And all those who were fleeing from the disaster joined them and supported them.
44
They gathered an army and struck down sinners in their anger and lawbreakers in their wrath, and the survivors fled to the Gentiles for safety.
45
Mattathias and his friends went about and tore down the pagan altars;
46
they also enforced circumcision for any uncircumcised boys whom they found in the territory of Israel.
47
They put to flight the arrogant, and the work prospered in their hands.
48
They saved the law from the hands of the Gentiles and of the kings and did not let the sinner triumph.
War against the Gadiantons

Chapter 3, I Maccabees
In his actions he was like a lion, like a young lion roaring for prey.
5
He pursued the wicked, hunting them out, and those who troubled his people he destroyed by fire.
Description of the Mormon Jesus in III Nephi

Chapter 3 I Maccabees
Judas said: "Arm yourselves and be brave; in the morning be ready to fight these Gentiles who have assembled against us to destroy us and our sanctuary.
59
It is better for us to die in battle than to witness the ruin of our nation and our sanctuary
I nephi justification for slaying of Laban

chapter 4
They saw the army of the Gentiles, strong and breastplated, flanked with cavalry, and made up of expert soldiers.
8
Judas said to the men with him: "Do not be afraid of their numbers or dread their attack.
9
Remember how our fathers were saved in the Red Sea, when Pharaoh pursued them with an army.
10
So now let us cry to Heaven in the hope that he will favor us, remember his covenant with our fathers, and destroy this army before us today.
11
All the Gentiles shall know that there is One who redeems and delivers Israel."
12
When the foreigners looked up and saw them marching toward them,
13
they came out of their camp for battle, and the men with Judas blew the trumpet.
14
The battle was joined and the Gentiles were defeated and fled toward the plain.
15
1 Their whole rearguard fell by the sword, and they were pursued as far as Gazara and the plains of Judea, to Azotus and Jamnia. About three thousand of their men fell.
general military stuff

http://www.usccb.org/nab/Bible/1maccabees/intro.htm

[_Enuma Elish]

Hello MCB,

While I agree, tis the season to reconsider those lost treasures 1 and 2nd Maccabees, connections between these works and the Book of Mormon that amount to "general military stuff," and a "description of the Mormon Jesus in III Nephi" pursuing the wicked like a lion, are clearly superficial at best.

Extremely general thematic parallels will never prove convincing in making an argument for literary dependency. Not in biblical scholarship, nor in an effort to identify influences upon the Book of Mormon. If you wish to support your claim, you'll need to provide explicit connecting words and/or phrases.

[_MCB]

Oh-- I got them, in spades. LOL.

[_Enuma Elish]

Oh-- I got them, in spades. LOL.

Well, by all means, do share, for I'm extremely interested in the topic, but I'm afraid thus far, I suspect no one will ever find links that include "general military stuff," and a "description of the Mormon Jesus in III Nephi" pursuing the wicked like a lion in any way convincing.

If you would like some direction in supporting your claim, you need not consult any translation of the books beyond the King James version of the Apocrypha to identify specific examples of connecting words and/or phrases, since this would be the form accessible to Joseph Smith.

Good luck!

[_MCB]

More probably Solomon Spalding. Thank you for the suggestion of KJV, I didn't know that there was one.