The body of 2 Maccabees (2.19–15.39) narrates three attacks on the Jerusalem temple by Israel’s enemies and their defeats by supernatural agents or by Judas and his companions. The first attack (3.1–40) occurs under Seleucus IV when Heliodorus seeks to plunder the temple treasury. The second attack (4.1–10.9) takes place under Antiochus IV Epiphanes and ends with Judas’s capture of the temple and its purification. The third attack (10.10–15.36) happens under Antiochus V Eupator and involves the defeat of his general Nicanor as he tries to kill Judas. Though this outline does not include everything in the book, it does bring out the events that were most important for the author and underlines his emphasis on the holiness and inviolability of the Jerusalem temple.
Literary Connections and Character
IN THE AUTHOR’S PREFACE (2.19–32) we are told that 2 Maccabees is the condensation of a five-volume work by Jason of Cyrene (2.23). Jason’s work is no longer extant, and there is no way of being sure how closely the condenser/epitomator followed his source. The original language of both Jason’s five-volume work and 2 Maccabees was Greek. The Greek is not nearly as “biblical” as that of 1 Maccabees. Jason may have written shortly after the events he described; at least the narrative breaks off before the death of Judas. The “author” of 2 Maccabees claims to rely on Jason for the facts and proposes to give a pleasurable and memorable account. The condensation may have been completed by 124 BCE, the date of the “cover letter” preserved in 1.1–9.
The major theme of 2 Maccabees is the Jerusalem temple and its Defender, the God of Israel, who is at work in angelic figures and especially in Judas Maccabeus. Because the book stresses the sanctity of the temple, it has been referred to as “temple propaganda.” The book has also been described as “pathetic history” in that it speaks to and plays upon human emotions (Greek pathe). The two prefixed letters (1.1–9; 1.10–2.18) encourage Jews in Egypt and elsewhere to observe the festival of Hanukkah as it was being observed in Jerusalem. The letters appear to have been added to the main work when it was sent to Jews in the Diaspora.
As a historical source 2 Maccabees is especially valuable for information concerning the disputes among Jews regarding the high priesthood (held by Onias III, Jason, Menelaus) and the cultural-religious program of hellenization carried out under Antiochus IV (4.9–17; 6.1–9). These matters are treated more briefly in 1 Maccabees. When 2 Maccabees recounts the battles and other events described in 1 Maccabees, it tends to be less reliable about the facts and more concerned with religious matters. The two books share a tendency to inflate the numbers of enemy troops and casualties. The author of 2 Maccabees probably did not have access to 1 Maccabees, which may not have yet been written. It is possible that the two writers used a common source, but that is difficult to prove. The letters quoted in ch. 11 very likely reflect authentic documents, though they contain some confusions and obscurities.
Theological Ideas
BESIDES STRESSING THE INVIOLABILITY OF THE JERUSALEM TEMPLE, 2 Maccabees is noteworthy for its teachings about suffering (5.18–20; 6.12–17) and portrayals of martyrs (6.10–11, 18–31; 7.1–42; 14.37–46). The sufferings inflicted on the Jews are interpreted both as the consequence of their leaders’ sins (Simon, Jason, Menelaus) and a sign of God’s loving discipline toward the chosen people. There is an expectation that Israel’s enemies will eventually be punished appropriately. The martyrs (especially Eleazar, the seven brothers and their mother, and Razis) willingly undergo torture and death rather than be unfaithful to the distinctive precepts of Judaism. In ch. 7 these two themes come together around the theme of the resurrection of the body. In the resurrection the martyrs will be rewarded with eternal life and the wicked (like King Antiochus IV) will be punished. The author’s own strong belief in resurrection led him to interpret Judas’s sin offering for his dead soldiers (12.39–45) as atonement on behalf of the sins of the dead. 2 Maccabees is canonical for Catholics and Orthodox, deuterocanonical/apocryphal for Protestants, and noncanonical for Jews (though it does recount the origin of Hanukkah). [DANIEL J. HARRINGTON]
2 MACCABEES 1
A Letter to the Jews in Egypt
1The Jews in Jerusalem and those in the land of Judea,
To their Jewish kindred in Egypt,
Greetings and true peace.
2May God do good to you, and may he remember his covenant with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, his faithful servants. 3May he give you all a heart to worship him and to do his will with a strong heart and a willing spirit. 4May he open your heart to his law and his commandments, and may he bring peace. 5May he hear your prayers and be reconciled to you, and may he not forsake you in time of evil. 6We are now praying for you here.
7In the reign of Demetrius, in the one hundred sixty-ninth year,a we Jews wrote to you, in the critical distress that came upon us in those years after Jason and his company revolted from the holy land and the kingdom 8and burned the gate and shed innocent blood. We prayed to the Lord and were heard, and we offered sacrifice and grain offering, and we lit the lamps and set out the loaves. 9And now see that you keep the festival of booths in the month of Chislev, in the one hundred eighty-eighth year.b
A Letter to Aristobulus
10The people of Jerusalem and of Judea and the senate and Judas,
To Aristobulus, who is of the family of the anointed priests, teacher of King Ptolemy, and to the Jews in Egypt,
Greetings and good health.
11Having been saved by God out of grave dangers we thank him greatly for taking our side against the king,c 12for he drove out those who fought against the holy city. 13When the leader reached Persia with a force that seemed irresistible, they were cut to pieces in the temple of Nanea by a deception employed by the priests of the goddessd Nanea. 14On the pretext of intending to marry her, Antiochus came to the place together with his Friends, to secure most of its treasures as a dowry. 15When the priests of the temple of Nanea had set out the treasures and Antiochus had come with a few men inside the wall of the sacred precinct, they closed the temple as soon as he entered it. 16Opening a secret door in the ceiling, they threw stones and struck down the leader and his men; they dismembered them and cut off their heads and threw them to the people outside. 17Blessed in every way be our God, who has brought judgment on those who have behaved impiously.
Fire Consumes Nehemiah’s Sacrifice
18Since on the twenty-fifth day of Chislev we shall celebrate the purification of the temple, we thought it necessary to notify you, in order that you also may celebrate the festival of booths and the festival of the fire given when Nehemiah, who built the temple and the altar, offered sacrifices.
19For when our ancestors were being led captive to Persia, the pious priests of that time took some of the fire of the altar and secretly hid it in the hollow of a dry cistern, where they took such precautions that the place was unknown to anyone. 20But after many years had passed, when it pleased God, Nehemiah, having been commissioned by the king of Persia, sent the descendants of the priests who had hidden the fire to get it. And when they reported to us that they had not found fire but only a thick liquid, he ordered them to dip it out and bring it. 21When the materials for the sacrifices were presented, Nehemiah ordered the priests to sprinkle the liquid on the wood and on the things laid upon it. 22When this had been done and some time had passed, and when the sun, which had been clouded over, shone out, a great fire blazed up, so that all marveled. 23And while the sacrifice was being consumed, the priests offered prayer—the priests and everyone. Jonathan led, and the rest responded, as did Nehemiah. 24The prayer was to this effect:
“O Lord, Lord God, Creator of all things, you are awe-inspiring and strong and just and merciful, you alone are king and are kind, 25you alone are bountiful, you alone are just and almighty and eternal. You rescue Israel from every evil; you chose the ancestors and consecrated them. 26Accept this sacrifice on behalf of all your people Israel and preserve your portion and make it holy. 27Gather together our scattered people, set f
ree those who are slaves among the Gentiles, look on those who are rejected and despised, and let the Gentiles know that you are our God. 28Punish those who oppress and are insolent with pride. 29Plant your people in your holy place, as Moses promised.”
30Then the priests sang the hymns. 31After the materials of the sacrifice had been consumed, Nehemiah ordered that the liquid that was left should be poured on large stones. 32When this was done, a flame blazed up; but when the light from the altar shone back, it went out. 33When this matter became known, and it was reported to the king of the Persians that, in the place where the exiled priests had hidden the fire, the liquid had appeared with which Nehemiah and his associates had burned the materials of the sacrifice, 34the king investigated the matter, and enclosed the place and made it sacred. 35And with those persons whom the king favored he exchanged many excellent gifts. 36Nehemiah and his associates called this “nephthar,” which means purification, but by most people it is called naphtha.e
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a 143 B.C.
b 124 B.C.
c Cn: Gk as those who array themselves against a king
d Gk lacks the goddess
e Gk nephthai
1.1–9 In 124 BCE the Jews of Jerusalem and Judea wrote to the Jews in Egypt to urge them to celebrate Hanukkah. The letter may have been composed to accompany the copy of 2 Maccabees sent to Egypt.
1.2–6 The prayer following the greeting may be criticizing the Jewish temple founded by Onias IV at Leontopolis in Egypt in about 160 BCE.
1.5 Time of evil, perhaps a persecution of Egyptian Jews under Ptolemy VIII.
1.7–8 Demetrius II (145–140 BCE). The letter referred to was written in 143 BCE and recounted the events described in 5.5–10.
1.9 The festival of booths was celebrated in the seventh month (Tishri), not the ninth month (Chislev). For Hanukkah as similar to the Festival of Booths, see 10.6.
1.10–17 A second letter begins the long explanation (reaching to 2.18) about Hanukkah’s origins in Jewish history. It starts with an account of the death of Antiochus IV Epiphanes.
1.10 If the letter was from Judas Maccabeus, it must have been written between 164 (Antiochus’s death) and 160 BCE (Judas’s death). Aristobulus, the Jewish teacher of Ptolemy VI (180–145 BCE).
1.11–12 King, Antiochus IV (175–164 BCE). For the recovery of the holy city of Jerusalem, see 10.1.
1.13–17 Leader, Antiochus IV, though the story may first have been told about Antiochus III, his father. Nanea, originally a Sumerian goddess of love and fertility. For different accounts of the king’s death, see ch. 9; 1 Macc 6.1–16; Dan 11.40–45.
1.17 From the Jewish perspective Antiochus died for behaving impiously against the Jerusalem temple, not the temple of Nanea.
1.18–36 The miracle of the fire is one precedent for the purification of the temple commemorated at Hanukkah. The strained search for precedents here and in 2.1–18 suggests that observing Hanukkah was still controversial.
1.18 For the date, see 6.7; 10.5; 1 Macc 1.59. The Second Temple and its altar were already built when Nehemiah came to Jerusalem as governor.
1.19 The Jews were exiled to Babylon, not Persia, but Babylon had become part of the Persian Empire by Nehemiah’s time.
1.20 Thick liquid, a kind of highly flammable petroleum (naphtha; see v. 36) that burst into flames under the heat of the sun (v. 22).
1.23 Jonathan may be the same as Mattaniah “who was the leader to begin the thanksgiving in prayer” (Neh 11.17). Both names mean “God’s gift” in Hebrew.
1.24–29 The prayer’s emphases on monotheism, divine mercy, and Israel’s election were very appropriate to the situation of Israel in the second century BCE, as was the plea that God rescue Israel and punish its enemies.
1.31–34 Fire was sacred to the Persians, who sometimes built temples around it. The event described in vv. 31–32 stresses the sacredness of the altar in the Jerusalem temple.
1.36 For the interpretation of Hanukkah as a purification, see 2.18; 10.3; 14.36. Naphtha. See note on 1.20.
2 MACCABEES 2
Jeremiah Hides the Tent, Ark, and Altar
1One finds in the records that the prophet Jeremiah ordered those who were being deported to take some of the fire, as has been mentioned, 2and that the prophet, after giving them the law, instructed those who were being deported not to forget the commandments of the Lord, or to be led astray in their thoughts on seeing the gold and silver statues and their adornment. 3And with other similar words he exhorted them that the law should not depart from their hearts.
4It was also in the same document that the prophet, having received an oracle, ordered that the tent and the ark should follow with him, and that he went out to the mountain where Moses had gone up and had seen the inheritance of God. 5Jeremiah came and found a cave-dwelling, and he brought there the tent and the ark and the altar of incense; then he sealed up the entrance. 6Some of those who followed him came up intending to mark the way, but could not find it. 7When Jeremiah learned of it, he rebuked them and declared: “The place shall remain unknown until God gathers his people together again and shows his mercy. 8Then the Lord will disclose these things, and the glory of the Lord and the cloud will appear, as they were shown in the case of Moses, and as Solomon asked that the place should be specially consecrated.”
9It was also made clear that being possessed of wisdom Solomona offered sacrifice for the dedication and completion of the temple. 10Just as Moses prayed to the Lord, and fire came down from heaven and consumed the sacrifices, so also Solomon prayed, and the fire came down and consumed the whole burnt offerings. 11And Moses said, “They were consumed because the sin offering had not been eaten.” 12Likewise Solomon also kept the eight days.
13The same things are reported in the records and in the memoirs of Nehemiah, and also that he founded a library and collected the books about the kings and prophets, and the writings of David, and letters of kings about votive offerings. 14In the same way Judas also collected all the books that had been lost on account of the war that had come upon us, and they are in our possession. 15So if you have need of them, send people to get them for you.
16Since, therefore, we are about to celebrate the purification, we write to you. Will you therefore please keep the days? 17It is God who has saved all his people, and has returned the inheritance to all, and the kingship and the priesthood and the consecration, 18as he promised through the law. We have hope in God that he will soon have mercy on us and will gather us from everywhere under heaven into his holy place, for he has rescued us from great evils and has purified the place.
The Compiler’s Preface
19The story of Judas Maccabeus and his brothers, and the purification of the great temple, and the dedication of the altar, 20and further the wars against Antiochus Epiphanes and his son Eupator, 21and the appearances that came from heaven to those who fought bravely for Judaism, so that though few in number they seized the whole land and pursued the barbarian hordes, 22and regained possession of the temple famous throughout the world, and liberated the city, and re-established the laws that were about to be abolished, while the Lord with great kindness became gracious to them—23all this, which has been set forth by Jason of Cyrene in five volumes, we shall attempt to condense into a single book. 24For considering the flood of statistics involved and the difficulty there is for those who wish to enter upon the narratives of history because of the mass of material, 25we have aimed to please those who wish to read, to make it easy for those who are inclined to memorize, and to profit all readers. 26For us who have undertaken the toil of abbreviating, it is no light matter but calls for sweat and loss of sleep, 27just as it is not easy for one who prepares a banquet and seeks the benefit of others. Nevertheless, to secure the gratitude of many we will gladly endure the uncomfortable toil, 28leaving the responsibility for exact details to the compiler, while devoting our effort to arriving at the outlines of the condensation. 29For as the master builder
of a new house must be concerned with the whole construction, while the one who undertakes its painting and decoration has to consider only what is suitable for its adornment, such in my judgment is the case with us. 30It is the duty of the original historian to occupy the ground, to discuss matters from every side, and to take trouble with details, 31but the one who recasts the narrative should be allowed to strive for brevity of expression and to forego exhaustive treatment. 32At this point therefore let us begin our narrative, without adding any more to what has already been said; for it would be foolish to lengthen the preface while cutting short the history itself.
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a Gk he
2.1–18 More precedents for Hanukkah are found in connection with Jeremiah, Solomon, Moses, and Nehemiah.
2.2 For Jeremiah’s warnings against idolatry, see the Letter of Jeremiah.
2.4 Prophet, again Jeremiah. Mountain, Nebo (Deut 32.49), from which Moses viewed the promised land but did not enter it.
2.8 Glory of the Lord, cloud. See Ex 40.34–35 (Moses and the tent of meeting); 1 Kings 8.10–11 (Solomon’s temple).
2.10–12 For fire from heaven, see Lev 9.23–24; 2 Chr 7.1. For the words of Moses, see Lev 10.16–19. Eight days. See 1 Kings 8.65–66; 2 Chr 7.9.
2.13 The “memoirs” in Neh 1–7, 11–13 do not mention the building of the temple or the fire. Nehemiah’s library may have included historical books (1 Samuel through 2 Kings), Prophets, Psalms, and the royal decrees in Ezra 6.3–12; 7.12–26.
2.14 For Jewish books…lost on account of the war, see the reference to destroying “the books of the law,” 1 Macc 1.56–57.
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