Chapters of 2 Maccabees
The book 2 Maccabees contains 15 chapters. It is a deuterocanonical book originally written in Koine Greek that is part of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox Christian biblical canons. It is still considered an important source on the Maccabean Revolt by Jews, Protestants, and secular historians of the period who do not necessarily hold the book as part of a scriptural canon. The chapters chronicle events in Judea from around 178-161 BCE during the Second Temple Period. Judea was at the time ruled by the Seleucid Empire, one of the Greek successor states that resulted from the conquests of Alexander the Great. 2 Maccabees was written by an unknown Egyptian Jew. The account is distinct from the book 1 Maccabees, which was written by someone in the Hasmonean kingdom that was formed after the success of the revolt. In general, 2 Maccabees has a more directly religious perspective than 1 Maccabees, frequently directly crediting prayers, miraculous interventions, and divine will for events.
The most influential chapters of the book are likely [|Chapter 6] and [|Chapter 7] which deal with the martyrdom of the woman with seven sons and Eleazar the scribe during the persecution of Judaism under King Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Chapter 7 and [|Chapter 12] both discuss a coming bodily resurrection of the righteous; 2 Maccabees is one of the earliest pieces of literature to advocate for this belief. [|Chapter 15] is also one of the earliest references to the Jewish festival of Purim. While 2 Maccabees was originally written for an audience of Hellenistic Jews, verses in its chapters have been used in some branches of Christianity as scriptural backing for indulgences, prayers for the dead, and the intercession of saints. These became controversial during the Protestant Reformation, and was one of the factors that led to Protestant denominations considering the book as non-canonical.
Like other books of the Bible, the division of the text into chapters and verses was not in its original form, and was instead added later.
Chapters 1 and 2
The first two chapters are an introduction and not part of the main narrative, which begins in Chapter 3. They consist of two letters to the Jews of Ptolemaic Egypt, followed by the epitomist's preface. Some earlier scholars such as Benedikt Niese interpreted it as one long letter, although this position finds little support since the work of Elias Bickerman in the 1930s in favor of seeing the text as two letters.Many scholars question whether these letters were truly authentic, especially the second one which appears to have, if based on an authentic letter at some point, been affected by manuscript interpolations over time. There are also questions of whether the epitomist who wrote the main narrative was who attached these letters to the beginning of the narrative, or if some other compiler did so. Arguments against the epitomist being the one who prepended the letters include that the epitomist's preface appears to be written as if it was an introduction already, with the two letters detracting from this literarily; that the account of King Antiochus's death in 1:13-16 differs from the account in Chapter 9; and that the epitomist's narrative builds toward Nicanor's Day as the finale and most important lesson, while the letters instead focus on Hanukkah and the cleansing of the Temple.
First letter
The first letter, from 1:1-1:10a, is an invitation to celebrate the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem: the festival of Hanukkah. It opens with a salutation and stylized expressions of good will. It then segues into a brief summary of how the troubles began with High Priest Jason, a reminder of how the Jews of Judea called out for aid from the Jews of Egypt in the past, and closes with the encouragement of Hanukkah celebration for diaspora Jews : "And now see that you keep the festival of booths in the month of Chislev, in the one hundred and eighty-eighth year." The year 188 of the Seleucid era is equivalent to 124-123 BCE. If interpreted as a reference to the letter originally being sent then, it would suggest that the form of 2 Maccabees we have today was arranged in that year or later.Another date of interest is found in verse 7, that "In the reign of Demetrius, in the one hundred and sixty-ninth year, we Jews wrote to you," suggesting that the letter is referencing an earlier letter. 169 SE would correspond to 143 BCE, which was indeed during the reign of a Demetrius: King Demetrius II Nicator. According to, the nascent Hasmonean state was dealing with the hostile Diodotus Tryphon at the time, and allied with Demetrius II against him. The letter suggests that perhaps the Jews of Judea had also reached out to the Jews of Egypt for support against Tryphon.
Second letter
The second letter, from 1:10b to 2:18, is purportedly a letter from the gerusia of Jerusalem and Judas Maccabeus upon receiving news of the death of King Antiochus IV Epiphanes but before the celebration of the first feast of the Dedication of the Temple, and thus an earlier letter than the first one. It seems to be addressed to Aristobulus of Alexandria, a figure mentioned by Clement of Alexandria and Eusebius. The letter describes the death of Antiochus while attacking a temple dedicated to the goddess Nanaya in Persia and how God saved Jerusalem by expelling "those who drew themselves up to war".The letter then continues an extended analogy going backward in time tying Judas's Temple to figures in the Jewish past. The priest Nehemiah is said to have found a special liquid used to kindle the altar's holy fire called nephthar or nephthai. The liquid was then poured into rocks. The story continues with how the prophet Jeremiah hid both the liquid and various other Temple appurtenances for Nehemiah to find later. It also includes a brief story that King Solomon prayed for fire from heaven in a manner similar to Moses, which consumed a sacrifice. He then proceeded to celebrate for eight days. The letter writes that Nehemiah also established a library of writings and books, and that Judas has followed his example and done likewise, compiling a library of Jewish histories. The story of Nehemiah pouring the mysterious liquid into the rocks is possibly related to 10:3 which states that after purifying the Temple, Judas "ignited rocks and extracted fire from them". This would establish a direct link between the altar of Nehemiah and Judas's temple. The theological intent is to tie Judas's cleansed temple to the original First Temple and establish it as equally legitimate. The altar fire came from heaven to Solomon; Jeremiah hid the Temple items and the fire as a way of ensuring the survival of the Temple for the future in a way beyond the reach of foreign rule during the Babylonian exile; Nehemiah rediscovered it; and now Judas had reignited this same fire reaching all the way back to heaven.
Similar to the first letter, it concludes with an invitation for the Jews of Egypt to join the Jews in Judea in simultaneously celebrating Hanukkah, an eight-day celebration of purification and fire, akin to Solomon's claimed celebration. Presumably, Egyptian Jews needed convincing, as the feast of Hanukkah was a new invention not described in the Hebrew Bible.
While some sort of letter from Judas to Egypt existing cannot be ruled out, scholars generally consider large parts of the letter forged or interpolated at a much later date than when Judas was alive. Jonathan A. Goldstein finds signs that the letter's claimed chronology is questionable, and that the letter makes more sense as a later writing than the first epistle. Many of the stories in the letter appear in no other piece of earlier literature—Nehemiah and the sacred fire, the quotes attributed to Moses, and so on. Robert Doran suggests that the concerns in the letter suggest a more settled state of affairs for when it was authored, perhaps during the reign of later Hasmonean kings such as John Hyrcanus or Alexander Jannaeus.
One aspect of note is the location of the temple of Nanaya. The letter indicates that it was in Persia, but Elymais is where the wealthy temple was according to 1 Maccabees, Josephus, and Appian. It is unclear whether the author considered Elymais part of Persia or simply made a geographical error.
In later Jewish theology, Abraham Geiger, the founder of Reform Judaism, believed that verse 2:17 indicated the author had a belief in a universal priesthood shared by all Jews, and that the author of the letter had an anti-Sadducee bent.
Epitomist's preface
In 2:19-32, the anonymous writer, referred to variously as the epitomist, the epitomator, the author, and the abridger, introduces himself and his work to the readers. He discusses his effort in making an abridgment, or epitome, of Jason of Cyrene's five-volume history and compares himself to a decorator who adds beauty to an existing structure. He is clearly someone possessed of a strong education in both Greek literature and Judaism.One minor point of curiosity is that 2:19 refers to the exploits of "Judas Maccabeus and his brothers", yet the main history pays little attention to Judas's brothers, focusing on Judas personally instead. This is in contrast to 1 Maccabees, which often discussed and referred to the rest of the Hasmonean family. Whether the epitomist wanted to discuss and highlight the brothers but Jason's work simply discussed them little, or he played down the brothers in the main history but felt obligated to mention them in the preface due to their fame, is unclear.
Another aspect that comes across as odd to modern readers are the complaints of "sweat and sleepless nights" in composing the epitome in 2:26. While reading strangely today, such a statement of the author proclaiming how hard they worked was common in ancient prefaces of the era. A similar passage is also seen in.
Chapter 3
The third chapter recounts the story of Heliodorus's attempt to tax the Temple. It is a self-contained story and a prelude to the main history of the revolt, but establishes that God protects the Second Temple when his people and their leaders are faithful. During the term of Onias III as High Priest and Seleucus IV Philopator as king, a Jewish supervisor named Simon has a falling out with Onias. He tells the governor that the Temple had a gigantic stockpile of illegal treasure that could be lawfully taken, as revenge on Onias. The king sends Heliodorus to investigate. Upon Heliodorus's arrival in Jerusalem, Onias denies Simon's claim; Heliodorus says that the money the Temple did have must nevertheless be impounded. All Jerusalem prays for deliverance by God. On the day that Heliodorus and his entourage visit the temple's treasury, a fearful apparition of a horseman wearing golden armor appears. Two mysterious handsome and strong youths also appear, wearing splendid raiment, and standing on either side of Heliodorus, deliver a barrage of blows and floggings to him. Heliodorus, near death, is carried off in a litter; his entourage begs Onias III for help. Not wishing for trouble with the king, Onias III performs a sacrifice for Heliodorus's salvation and healing. The youths, presumably angels, tell Heliodorus that he should be grateful to Onias, and that his new mission is to proclaim the greatness and power of God to all. After he returns to Antioch, Heliodorus testifies to the power of God, and wryly suggests that Seleucus IV send some enemy of his to Jerusalem next, as he'll have him back flogged, if alive at all.The basic historicity of such a tax dispute is uncontested. The Book of Daniel seems to allude to the incident in. The Heliodorus stele documents an order from Seleucus IV to Heliodorus in 178 BCE to attend to the temples of Coele-Syria and Phoenicia, and the appointment of a person named Olympiodorus to supervise the province's temples. While this perhaps suggests that it is more likely Olympiodorus was who visited Jerusalem's temple rather than Heliodorus personally, the basic memory of an attempt to interfere with the temple that was rebuffed is probably accurate, even if the more miraculous elements such as the heavenly horseman and handsome men are legendary.
Onias III reports that the temple contained deposits belonging to widows and orphans, as well as the treasure of Hyrcanus son of Tobias totaling 400 silver talents and 200 gold talents. In the era, gold talents were worth about 10 times silver talents, so this would be equivalent to 2400 talents—a large sum for the era, but not quite the incalculable treasure described by Simon. For comparison, the Seleucids owed an annual tribute of 1,000 silver talents to Rome under the terms of the Treaty of Apamea. Hyrcanus has usually been considered the same person as a Hyrcanus described in Josephus's work, a patriarch of the Tobiads. One of his best-known traits was that he was wealthy, having grown rich during Ptolemaic rule of the region, although much of what is known of him is colored by folklore-style exaggerations. Jonathan A. Goldstein argues the reference to him was added later by a follower of Onias IV; Robert Doran suggests it might be original, and the author was attempting to emphasize the unity of all Jews despite the known animosity against the Tobiads.
Theologically, the author emphasizes that the inviolability and holiness of the Temple stems from the people and their leaders, a theme also seen in earlier Jewish writing. The prelude thus serves as a positive counterpart to the troubles later. The author also writes as a diaspora Jew living under Greek rule in Ptolemaic Egypt. Thus, the return to the status quo ante of Jews living under tolerant Greek rule is not portrayed as problematic, but rather God's will and a suitably happy ending. This contrasts with the more absolutist stance of the author of 1 Maccabees, who considers the only honorable peace one with Jewish autonomy and preferably independence.