2 Maccabees

Note: this article is currently being expanded and improved for accuracy and balance. Please be patient.

---

The Second Book of Maccabees is found in the books of the Septuagint, the Old Testament accepted as inspired and canonical by the Orthodox Church in the Greek Orthodox Bible, and found in the books of the Old Testament of the Vulgate and included in the canon of inspired scripture by the Third Council of Carthage (397). It is included in the canon of the Ethiopian Orthodox Bible. Since the Council of Trent it is dogmatically accepted as inspired and canonical by the Catholic Church in the Catholic Bible—books of the Bible accepted as divinely inspired by the majority of Christian believers in the United States and throughout the world.

2 Maccabees was first removed from the Old Testament and placed in the Apocrypha by Martin Luther in the 16th century. The Second Book of Maccabees is regarded as an apocryphal book of the Old Testament by less than one-third of Christian believers.

See Apocrypha
See Biblical Canon

Content

2 Maccabees is one of the Historical books of the Bible, similar in tone to the books of Kings and Chronicles and Joshua and Judges. It is a religious summary or epitome by an unknown author of a 5 volume work by an unknown Jason of Cyrene, covering the history of the Jews from the time of the rise of Alexander the Great during the high priesthood of Jaddua about 333 B.C., through the persecution of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, and the resistance of the Maccabees under Judas Maccabeus. The book is prefaced by copies of official correspondence sent to the Jews in Egypt in 124 B.C., and a second document addressed to Aristobulus II "of the family of the anointed priests" Hasmonean high priest of the nation 66 to 63 B.C. in the time of Pompey of Rome. The book was evidently written shortly after that time as an encouragement to the Jews to remain faithful to God with confidence in his power over the nations.

The Dedication (2 Maccabees 10:1-8 and John 10:22-23)

2 Maccabees Chapter 10:1-8 relates the triumphant recovery and dedication of the Temple after the defilement of the pagans and apostate Jews who had gone over to Hellenism. The Feast of the Dedication is mentioned in the Gospel According to John, chapter 10:22-23. Today this celebration is called Ḥanukkah. It demonstrates the miraculous providence of God in preserving the nation in the face of violent religious oppression, and the overcoming of pagan forces seeking the annihilation of the Jews and the destruction of the books (scrolls) of the sacred scriptures containing the written Word of God. It ends with the triumphant defeat of Nicanor, the Syrian general, his beheading, and the decree that this day be celebrated, the 13th day of Adar, the day before Purim on the 14th and 15th day of Adar the 12th month of the Jewish calendar.

Chapter summary headings

The chapter summary headings as they appear in the Douay-Rheims Bible are as follows:

1 Letters of the Jews of Jerusalem to them that were in Egypt. They give thanks for their delivery from Antiochus [Antiochus X Eusebes]: and exhort their brethren to keep the feast of the dedication of the altar, and of the miraculous fire.

2 A continuation of the second letter. Of Jeremias' hiding the ark at the time of the captivity. the author's preface.

3 Heliodorus is sent by king Seleucus to take away the treasures deposited in the temple. He is struck by God, and healed by the prayers of the high priest.

4 Onias has recourse to the king. The ambition and wickedness of Jason and Menelaus. Onias is treacherously murdered.

5 Wonderful signs are seen in the air. Jason's wickedness and end. Antiochus takes Jerusalem, and plunders the temple.

6 Antiochus commands the law to be abolished, sets up an idol in the temple and persecutes the faithful. The martyrdom of Eleazar.

7 The glorious martyrdom of the seven brethren and their mother.

8 Judas Machabeus gathering an army gains divers victories.

9 The wretched end, and fruitless repentance of king Antiochus.

10 The purification of the temple and city. Other exploits of Judas. His victory of Timotheus.

11 Lysias is overthrown by Judas. He sues for peace.

12 The Jews are still molested by their neighbours. Judas gains divers victories over them. He orders sacrifice and prayer for the dead.

13 Antiochus and Lysias again invade Judea. Menelaus is put to death. The king's great army is worsted twice. The peace is renewed.

14 Demetrius challenges the kingdom. Alcimus applies to him to be made high priest: Nicanor is sent into Judea: his dealings with judas: his threats. The history of Razias.

15 Judas encouraged by a vision gains a glorious victory over Nicanor. The conclusion.

THE END OF THE OLD TESTAMENT

See Literalist Bible chronology

Confused readings of the identity of Antiochus in 2 Maccabees 1

Some commentaries and footnotes on the deuterocanonical/apocrypha books of 1 and 2 Maccabees state that there are 3 conflicting accounts of the death of Antiochus IV Epiphanes in these works, some writers adducing from this interpretive reading of the text (and other perceived indications) that the books are false and unhistorical, full of errors, and therefore apocryphal. They are evidently misled by the name "Antiochus" into believing that all 3 accounts are drawn from independent and conflicting sources, each attempting to describe the death of one man, and not of different men, each of whom was named Antiochus, and that they were collected together without any attempt at editorial correction, harmonizing, or comment on their differences by the author of the book. Our recent custom of numbering kings with the same name as I, II, III, IV, V, etc., the First, the Second, the Third, the Fourth, the Fifth, etc. is unknown in antiquity, and is perhaps a factor contributing to the confusion of identity. However, the text alone of the books of the Maccabees mentions distinctly separate individuals having each the name of "Antiochus" combined with a second nomen (see Topical Bible: Antiochus):

• Antiochus Epiphanes ("the Illustrious"), who succeeded his brother Seleucus Kallinikos 175 B.C..

(2 Maccabees 4:7) Antiochus IV Epiphanes called simply ,"Antiochus": 1 Maccabees 1–6; 2 Maccabees 4–9.

• Antiochus Eupator ("Nobleborn"), son and successor to Antiochus Epiphanes, who ascended the throne as a boy (163-161 B.C.)

(2 Maccabees 9:29; 13:1) Antiochus V Eupator called simply ,"Antiochus": 1 Maccabees 6–7; 2 Maccabees 11–14.

• Antiochus Theos ("God"), or, according to coins, Dionysus Epiphanes, the son of Alexander Balas, who claimed to be the son of Antiochus Epiphanes, and thus brother of Antiochus V Eupator. Alexander Balas left the throne to his son Antiochus in 146 B.C.

(1 Maccabees 11:39-40; 54-57). Antiochus VI Theos called simply ,"Antiochus": 1 Maccabees 11–13.

• Antiochus Eusebes ("Pious")

(2 Maccabees 1:11-17). Antiochus X Eusebes called simply ,"Antiochus": 2 Maccabees 1.

In the 1st chapter of 2 Maccabees, the second letter (1:10–2:18) is addressed to Aristobulus:

"...To Aristobulus, who is of the family of the anointed priests, teacher of Ptolemy the king ...Having been saved by God out of grave dangers we thank him greatly for taking our side against the king. For he drove out those who fought against the holy city."

This aggressive military action of Antiochus X against Jerusalem is related indirectly by Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book 14, Chapters 2—4, in which he relates that numbers of men swarmed out of Persia and fought against the Jews, and the holy city. The second letter of 2 Maccabees relates (1:13-16) the death of Antiochus X Eusebes and his men, during the course of a military expedition, as locked inside the temple of Nanaya/Nanea in Persia, stoned to death and beheaded by the priests. Mahlon H. Smith states that, according to Syrian records, Antiochus X Eusebes died fighting the Parthian Empire (which included Persian territory). This Antiochus should not be confused with the earlier Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who failed to take Elymais and its temple, and afterward died of parasitic infection and decay in the mountains of Persia. 1 Maccabees 6:1-16; 2 Maccabees 9:1-10, 28.

See Literalist Bible chronology.

Some scholars (The New American Bible 1970 for example) nevertheless believe that the Antiochus referred to in this text of 2 Maccabees 1:14 was Antiochus IV Epiphanes:

[2 Maccabees] "1, 14-17: A different account of the death of Antiochus IV is given in 2 Mc 9, 1-29 and another variant account in 1 Mc 6, 1-16. The writer of this letter probably heard a distorted rumor of the king's death. This fact and other indications show that the letter was written very soon after Antiochus IV died, hence in 164 B.C."

—New American Bible, 2 Maccabees 1:14–17, footnote.

However, the address of the letter of the senate and Judas in Jerusalem to "Aristobulus, who is of the family of anointed priests", that is, of the family of the Hasmonean high priests, indicates a period after 104 B.C., after the death of John Hyrcanus I.

As with the text of Daniel 11:45, a literalist interpretation of 2 Maccabees rejects the liberalist scholarly view of a "distorted rumor" in favor of an "inerrant" reading that takes the narrative as an accurate report, and therefore as not referring to the death of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, but to the actual death of another Antiochus who was slain by the Parthians in the (Syrian) region of Persia/the Parthian Empire in the temple of Nanaya. The extra-biblical evidence cited by Mahlon H. Smith and others regarding the "official" circumstances of the death of Antiochus X tends to support a literalist view that the "official" Syrian record is an ancient historical revisionist account written to cover up the truth of his humiliating and scandalous death as recorded in the Bible, and presented by embarrassed Syrian chroniclers as being instead the death of a king in the midst of a battle against his Parthian enemy, but this literalist understanding of the contradicting historical record is currently a minority opinion.

It is a characteristic mark of liberalist scholarship to take the word of pagan writers as being unquestionably more reliable and accurate than the word of the biblical author, and to take the judgment of the biblical canon by Jews who reject Christianity and the entire New Testament and Jesus Christ himself as being unquestionably more reliable and accurate than the judgment of the Holy Spirit who guided and led the apostles and early Church leaders who accepted and preserved all the books of the Septuagint as that authentic Old Testament of the Bible which clearly proves that Jesus is the Christ together with the judgment of those Christian Church leaders ("obey those who are over you in the Lord; for they watch over your souls" Hebrews 13:17) who finally closed the debate over the canonical status of the books of the Bible.

Text comparison

Online links to the three texts are provided here for comparison (Douay-Rheims Bible):

• 1 Maccabees 6:1-16
• 2 Maccabees 9:1-29
• 2 Maccabees 1:11-17

Compare: 1 Maccabees 6:8 and 2 Maccabees 9:3-10 The abbreviated summary statement in 1 Maccabees 6:8 is simply related, with the details of the story related in 2 Maccabees 9:3-10. In both accounts, Antiochus goes to Persia. In 1 Maccabees he tried to take Elymais and its temple; and in Persia, after being withstood, and fleeing with intention to return to Babylon, and after hearing of the revolt in Judea, while still in Persia, he is stricken ill, and he dies. In 2 Maccabees, while he was in Persia, Antiochus also went to Persepolis and attempted to rob the temple ("temples" plural RSV) and control the city, and after being withstood, and again shamefully retreating, and while he was in Ecbatana, in Persia, and after hearing of the revolt in Judea, he departs from Ecbatana, he is stricken ill, and he dies (2 Maccabees 9:28; Daniel 11:44-45). There is no conflict here: the story is essentially the same. An omission in one narrative which is included in another is not a contradiction of the source. Compare 1 Maccabees 1:16-52 and 2 Maccabees 5:1-26. The second invasion of Egypt in 2 Maccabees 5:1 is not mentioned in 1 Maccabees, but there is no conflict here. The two accounts complement each other: what one has not, the other has. And it is the same with the narratives of 1 Maccabees 6:1-16 and 2 Maccabees 9:1-29.

But there is another, distinctly different story, about another Antiochus. In the 1st chapter of 2 Maccabees another Antiochus dies inside the temple of Nanea, in Babylon, not in Persia. Compare: 2 Maccabees 1:14-16. The temple of Nanea/Nanaya was not in Elymais near Susa, but westward of that city, outside of Persia, closer to Judea, in Uruk, an ancient city of Sumer, later Babylonia, situated east of the present bed of the Euphrates river. The distance between Susa in the east and Babylon toward the west is about 2,435 miles (3,919 kilometers) in a straight line. The setting of this story is clearly not the same.

Antiochus IV Epiphanes was not alive during the high priesthood of Aristobulus II 66–63 B.C. when the second letter of 2 Maccabees 1 was written. The Antiochus who died in the temple of Nanea was not Antiochus IV. The stories are of two different occurances with two different men who died at two different times and in two different places. They are not the same. The editor and author of 2 Maccabees does not identify them as representing the same event, nor should we. From the context the two letters of 2 Maccabees 1–2 were not part of the work by Jason of Cyrene epitomized by the author of 2 Maccabees, but were written approximately 36 and 95 years, respectively, after the events he documented in his history (Nicanor was defeated by Judas 160 B.C.).

By an interpretive reading (eisegesis ) of the name "Antiochus" as representing only the one man Antiochus IV Epiphanes alone, in each of the three narratives discussed above, a contradiction and confusion and error is perceived and introduced where none in fact exists. There is no awareness of the supportive factual details of history in such a reading and in such commentaries, which only leads to erroneous conclusions about the factual historicity of the book. See Mark 4:24-25

"And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given. For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath." KJV

Historical-grammatical analysis of the text

The context of the composition of the book of Second Maccabees shows that it was written after the composition and distribution of copies of the First Book of the Maccabees. It begins with 2 letters of official correspondence highlighting the importance of commemorating and celebrating the Feast of Booths, one of them dating after the time of John Hyrcanus I (died 104 B.C.), followed by an additional introductory preface by the author explaining his purpose in writing the book, before it presents the author's abbreviation of that 5-volume history written by Jason of Cyrene some time after the events; and it ends with an "Afterword" by the author restating his purpose in writing this book:

"So these things being done with relation to Nicanor, and from that time the city being possessed by the Hebrews, I also will here make an end of my narration. Which if I have done well, and as it becometh the history, it is what I desired; but if not so perfectly, it must be pardoned me. For as it is hurtful to drink always wine, or always water, but pleasant to use sometimes the one, and sometimes the other: so if the speech be always nicely framed, it will not be grateful [grating, unpleasant] to the readers. But here it shall be ended." —2 Maccabees 15:38-39 Douay-Rheims Bible DR.

Compare 2 Maccabees 2:19-32 NABRE and 2 Maccabees 15:38-39 NABRE

New Testament allusions to 2 Maccabees

The martyrdom of the mother and her 7 sons in 2 Maccabees 7 is referenced in Hebrews 11:35. The 6th chapter's testimony of the witness of the aged Eleazar faithful to the Law in the face of death 6:18-31 and the 7th chapter's testimony of the powerful words of the seven sons to the tyrant before they died are referenced as the angel with the little scroll who cried out like a lion roaring and the 7 thunders sounding, whose words John sealed up and did not write, in Revelation 10:1-7 (compare the "sons of thunder", "boanerges" in Mark 3:17).

External links

The Old Testament Text. (wmcarey.edu/browning/Classes)

Septuagint Quotes in the New Testament

Introduction to 1 Maccabees (includes introduction to 2 Maccabees)

Introduction to 2 Maccabees Good News Translation (US Version) (GNTD) (bible.com)

Early Jewish Writings: 2 Maccabees (earlyjewishwritings.com)

2 Maccabees (livius.org) includes Revised Standard Version text

An Introduction to the Apocrypha-Part Two. The Second Book of Maccabees, By Jared L. Olar (graceandknowledge.faithweb.com)

Roman Catholic and Orthodox Faith Examined, and The Apocrypha: "Reasons why the Apocrypha does NOT belong in the Bible!" (bible.ca)

CARM Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry: Reasons why the Apocrypha does not belong in the Bible, by Ryan Turner (carm.org)

Reasoning From the Scriptures with Ron Rhodes Critique of Chapter 2, Does the Apocrypha Belong in the Bible?, by Matt1618

Presentation Ministries: Introduction to the Bible (1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees). Audio AV31-3. Description: A 30-minute introduction to each book of the Bible. Speaker: Fr. Al Lauer (presentationministries.com)

Greek and English Septuagint
Latin and English Vulgate
Kings James Apocrypha Online