2 Maccabees

Title

The title Maccabees derives from Heb “maqqabi,” “hammer” (cf. Isa 44.12), the nickname given to Judas Maccabeus, the leader of the Jewish revolt that the story narrates. The original Greek title was “Book Recounting the Matters Pertaining to Maccabeus.” The titles of the two main manuscripts of this work specifically refer to “the deeds of Judas Maccabeus” (terming it, respectively, an “epistle” or an “epitome” about those deeds). This title is especially appropriate for this work, in contrast to 1 Maccabees, which develops the history of several subsequent members of the Hasmonean dynasty after Judas.

Canonical Status

Second Maccabees is part of the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox canons and the Protestant Apocrypha, but has no sacred status in Judaism. The text survived as part of the Septuagint (LXX), the Greek version of the Hebrew scriptures.

Date, Authorship, and Literary History

In the introduction, the author tells us that the work is an abridgment of a longer work, now lost, written by Jason of Cyrene. Jason, who is otherwise unknown, probably wrote in the mid-second century bce, within a decade or so of the last events described in the work. The present abridgment was produced not long thereafter, around the same time as 1 Maccabees. Whereas 1 Maccabees was originally composed in Hebrew, 2 Maccabees was composed in Greek.

Structure and Contents

The body of the work (chs 4–15) deals with Judean history from King Antiochus IV Epiphanes's ascent to the Seleucid throne in 175 bce to Judas Maccabeus's victory over the Seleucid general Nicanor in 161 bce. It is prefaced (chs 1–2) by letters from Jerusalem urging the Jews of Egypt to celebrate the festival of Hanukkah, which commemorates Judas's purification and rededication of the Temple of Jerusalem in 164 bce; by the abridger's introduction (2.19–32); and by a story (ch 3) about the way the Temple was miraculously preserved from desecration in the days of Antiochus's predecessor, an episode that in its present context serves as something of an idyllic prologue to the book's main story.

Chapter 4 begins that story with the introduction of Hellenized institutions into Jerusalem, which, according to the author, engendered sinful neglect of Jewish laws. God, in response, disregarded (5.17) Jerusalem, i.e., suspended his providential care for it and thus allowed terrible things to happen, culminating in Antiochus's decrees against Judaism. These decrees then led to the noble martyrdom of those who refused to obey (chs 6–7).

Beginning in ch 8, however, God's anger changes to mercy (8.5; the pivotal verse of the book), and things dramatically improve: Judas Maccabeus wins battle after battle, Antiochus dies a terrible death (ch 9), Judas retakes Jerusalem and restores proper worship in the Temple (ch 10), and further victories bring about the repeal of Antiochus's decrees against Judaism (ch 11). More campaigns follow (chs 12–15) until the Seleucid army, commanded by Nicanor, is finally and decisively defeated. The book ends with the establishment of a holiday, “Nicanor's Day,” to commemorate that event.

Accordingly, the main part of the book has two parts, in each of which, in the tradition of biblical dual causality, history and theology coincide. Chapters 4–7 present the problem: sin leads to persecution and Antiochus has the upper hand, while chs 8–15 present the solution: atonement makes for “reconciliation” (5.20; 7.33; 8.29) between the Jews and God, and Judas wins victory after victory until the circle is completed. The narrative opens in 3.1 with “the city” being once upon a time in ideal circumstances, and closes with the announcement in 15.37 that “the city” was restored to (other) ideal circumstances and so remained happily ever after.

Interpretation

The book is a fascinating blend of Hellenism and Judaism. It was composed in the literary Greek of its day, comparable to that of the second-century bce Greek historian Polybius, and has numerous allusions to Greek literature. For example, the author compares Antiochus's arrogance to that of the Persian king Xerxes (5.21; 9.8), portrays his heroes as complete Hellenistic gentlemen (4.37; 15.12,30), depicts his central martyr (6.18–31) as a Jewish Socrates, and, throughout the story, focuses upon Jerusalem as the Jews’ polis, portraying Antiochus as a “barbarian” who tried to change the city's “constitution” and forbid Jews to “act as citizens” (6.1) according to Jewish law. But it is also a very Jewish book; its basic interpretative model is the Song of Moses (Deut 32), according to which God providentially cares for the Jews but hides his face (disregards them) when they sin, thus allowing foreigners to persecute them until the shedding of “his servants’” blood works atonement, whereupon God steps in, revenges himself upon their enemies, and restores his providential care for them. The author supplies several substantial excurses (4.16–17; 5.17–20; 6.12–17), as well as various shorter remarks (e.g., 8.5; 9.13) to make sure readers understand his interpretation of events.

In addition to providing a parallel witness to the events reported in 1 Macc 1–7, this work (apart from the two introductory epistles) also bears witness to Judaism in the Hellenistic Diaspora. While the opening epistles have much in common with 1 Maccabees, the body of the book aligns more easily with such Diaspora works as 3 Maccabees, the Letter of Aristeas, and the writings of Philo. This affinity is especially evident in the book's rosy picture of the Jews’ usual relations with Gentiles (e.g., 4.35–36,49; contrast 1 Macc 5.1–2; 12.53), its assumption that Gentile rulers are usually benevolent (3.1–3; 5.16; contrast 1 Macc 1.9), its relative lack of interest in the Temple rituals (contrast 5.16 with the detail in 1 Macc 1.21–22 and note 2 Maccabees’ emphasis upon God's residence in heaven in 3.39; 14.35), its high esteem for martyrs (see 6.11n.), and its insistence upon the priority of the people rather than the place (5.19; see also 5.6n).

Daniel R. Schwartz

1

The 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

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,^{a 12}for 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 goddess^b 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.

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 free 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.^a

2

One 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 Solomon^a 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.

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.

3

While the holy city was inhabited in unbroken peace and the laws were strictly observed because of the piety of the high priest Onias and his hatred of wickedness, ²it came about that the kings themselves honored the place and glorified the temple with the finest presents, ³even to the extent that King Seleucus of Asia defrayed from his own revenues all the expenses connected with the service of the sacrifices.

⁴But a man named Simon, of the tribe of Benjamin, who had been made captain of the temple, had a disagreement with the high priest about the administration of the city market. ⁵Since he could not prevail over Onias, he went to Apollonius of Tarsus,^a who at that time was governor of Coelesyria and Phoenicia, ⁶and reported to him that the treasury in Jerusalem was full of untold sums of money, so that the amount of the funds could not be reckoned, and that they did not belong to the account of the sacrifices, but that it was possible for them to fall under the control of the king. ⁷When Apollonius met the king, he told him of the money about which he had been informed. The king^b chose Heliodorus, who was in charge of his affairs, and sent him with commands to effect the removal of the reported wealth. ⁸Heliodorus at once set out on his journey, ostensibly to make a tour of inspection of the cities of Coelesyria and Phoenicia, but in fact to carry out the king's purpose.

⁹When he had arrived at Jerusalem and had been kindly welcomed by the high priest of^a the city, he told about the disclosure that had been made and stated why he had come, and he inquired whether this really was the situation. ¹⁰The high priest explained that there were some deposits belonging to widows and orphans, ¹¹and also some money of Hyrcanus son of Tobias, a man of very prominent position, and that it totaled in all four hundred talents of silver and two hundred of gold. To such an extent the impious Simon had misrepresented the facts. ¹²And he said that it was utterly impossible that wrong should be done to those people who had trusted in the holiness of the place and in the sanctity and inviolability of the temple that is honored throughout the whole world.

¹³But Heliodorus, because of the orders he had from the king, said that this money must in any case be confiscated for the king's treasury. ¹⁴So he set a day and went in to direct the inspection of these funds.

There was no little distress throughout the whole city. ¹⁵The priests prostrated themselves before the altar in their priestly vestments and called toward heaven upon him who had given the law about deposits, that he should keep them safe for those who had deposited them. ¹⁶To see the appearance of the high priest was to be wounded at heart, for his face and the change in his color disclosed the anguish of his soul. ¹⁷For terror and bodily trembling had come over the man, which plainly showed to those who looked at him the pain lodged in his heart. ¹⁸People also hurried out of their houses in crowds to make a general supplication because the holy place was about to be brought into dishonor. ¹⁹Women, girded with sackcloth under their breasts, thronged the streets. Some of the young women who were kept indoors ran together to the gates, and some to the walls, while others peered out of the windows. ²⁰And holding up their hands to heaven, they all made supplication. ²¹There was something pitiable in the prostration of the whole populace and the anxiety of the high priest in his great anguish.

²²While they were calling upon the Almighty Lord that he would keep what had been entrusted safe and secure for those who had entrusted it, ²³Heliodorus went on with what had been decided. ²⁴But when he arrived at the treasury with his bodyguard, then and there the Sovereign of spirits and of all authority caused so great a manifestation that all who had been so bold as to accompany him were astounded by the power of God, and became faint with terror. ²⁵For there appeared to them a magnificently caparisoned horse, with a rider of frightening mien; it rushed furiously at Heliodorus and struck at him with its front hoofs. Its rider was seen to have armor and weapons of gold. ²⁶Two young men also appeared to him, remarkably strong, gloriously beautiful and splendidly dressed, who stood on either side of him and flogged him continuously, inflicting many blows on him. ²⁷When he suddenly fell to the ground and deep darkness came over him, his men took him up, put him on a stretcher, ²⁸and carried him away—this man who had just entered the aforesaid treasury with a great retinue and all his bodyguard but was now unable to help himself. They recognized clearly the sovereign power of God.

²⁹While he lay prostrate, speechless because of the divine intervention and deprived of any hope of recovery, ³⁰they praised the Lord who had acted marvelously for his own place. And the temple, which a little while before was full of fear and disturbance, was filled with joy and gladness, now that the Almighty Lord had appeared.

³¹Some of Heliodorus's friends quickly begged Onias to call upon the Most High to grant life to one who was lying quite at his last breath. ³²So the high priest, fearing that the king might get the notion that some foul play had been perpetrated by the Jews with regard to Heliodorus, offered sacrifice for the man's recovery. ³³While the high priest was making an atonement, the same young men appeared again to Heliodorus dressed in the same clothing, and they stood and said, “Be very grateful to the high priest Onias, since for his sake the Lord has granted you your life. ³⁴And see that you, who have been flogged by heaven, report to all people the majestic power of God.” Having said this they vanished.

³⁵Then Heliodorus offered sacrifice to the Lord and made very great vows to the Savior of his life, and having bidden Onias farewell, he marched off with his forces to the king. ³⁶He bore testimony to all concerning the deeds of the supreme God, which he had seen with his own eyes. ³⁷When the king asked Heliodorus what sort of person would be suitable to send on another mission to Jerusalem, he replied, ³⁸“If you have any enemy or plotter against your government, send him there, for you will get him back thoroughly flogged, if he survives at all; for there is certainly some power of God about the place. ³⁹For he who has his dwelling in heaven watches over that place himself and brings it aid, and he strikes and destroys those who come to do it injury.” ⁴⁰This was the outcome of the episode of Heliodorus and the protection of the treasury.

4

The previously mentioned Simon, who had informed about the money against^a his own country, slandered Onias, saying that it was he who had incited Heliodorus and had been the real cause of the misfortune. ²He dared to designate as a plotter against the government the man who was the benefactor of the city, the protector of his compatriots, and a zealot for the laws. ³When his hatred progressed to such a degree that even murders were committed by one of Simon's approved agents, ⁴Onias recognized that the rivalry was serious and that Apollonius son of Menestheus,^b and governor of Coelesyria and Phoenicia, was intensifying the malice of Simon. ⁵So he appealed to the king, not accusing his compatriots but having in view the welfare, both public and private, of all the people. ⁶For he saw that without the king's attention public affairs could not again reach a peaceful settlement, and that Simon would not stop his folly.

⁷When Seleucus died and Antiochus, who was called Epiphanes, succeeded to the kingdom, Jason the brother of Onias obtained the high priesthood by corruption, ⁸promising the king at an interview^c three hundred sixty talents of silver, and from another source of revenue eighty talents. ⁹In addition to this he promised to pay one hundred fifty more if permission were given to establish by his authority a gymnasium and a body of youth for it, and to enroll the people of Jerusalem as citizens of Antioch. ¹⁰When the king assented and Jason^a came to office, he at once shifted his compatriots over to the Greek way of life.

¹¹He set aside the existing royal concessions to the Jews, secured through John the father of Eupolemus, who went on the mission to establish friendship and alliance with the Romans; and he destroyed the lawful ways of living and introduced new customs contrary to the law. ¹²He took delight in establishing a gymnasium right under the citadel, and he induced the noblest of the young men to wear the Greek hat. ¹³There was such an extreme of Hellenization and increase in the adoption of foreign ways because of the surpassing wickedness of Jason, who was ungodly and no true^b high priest, ¹⁴that the priests were no longer intent upon their service at the altar. Despising the sanctuary and neglecting the sacrifices, they hurried to take part in the unlawful proceedings in the wrestling arena after the signal for the discus-throwing, ¹⁵disdaining the honors prized by their ancestors and putting the highest value upon Greek forms of prestige. ¹⁶For this reason heavy disaster overtook them, and those whose ways of living they admired and wished to imitate completely became their enemies and punished them. ¹⁷It is no light thing to show irreverence to the divine laws—a fact that later events will make clear.

¹⁸When the quadrennial games were being held at Tyre and the king was present, ¹⁹the vile Jason sent envoys, chosen as being Antiochian citizens from Jerusalem, to carry three hundred silver drachmas for the sacrifice to Hercules. Those who carried the money, however, thought best not to use it for sacrifice, because that was inappropriate, but to expend it for another purpose. ²⁰So this money was intended by the sender for the sacrifice to Hercules, but by the decision of its carriers it was applied to the construction of triremes.

²¹When Apollonius son of Menestheus was sent to Egypt for the coronation^c of Philometor as king, Antiochus learned that Philometor^a had become hostile to his government, and he took measures for his own security. Therefore upon arriving at Joppa he proceeded to Jerusalem. ²²He was welcomed magnificently by Jason and the city, and ushered in with a blaze of torches and with shouts. Then he marched his army into Phoenicia.

²³After a period of three years Jason sent Menelaus, the brother of the previously mentioned Simon, to carry the money to the king and to complete the records of essential business. ²⁴But he, when presented to the king, extolled him with an air of authority, and secured the high priesthood for himself, outbidding Jason by three hundred talents of silver. ²⁵After receiving the king's orders he returned, possessing no qualification for the high priesthood, but having the hot temper of a cruel tyrant and the rage of a savage wild beast. ²⁶So Jason, who after supplanting his own brother was supplanted by another man, was driven as a fugitive into the land of Ammon. ²⁷Although Menelaus continued to hold the office, he did not pay regularly any of the money promised to the king. ²⁸When Sostratus the captain of the citadel kept requesting payment—for the collection of the revenue was his responsibility—the two of them were summoned by the king on account of this issue. ²⁹Menelaus left his own brother Lysimachus as deputy in the high priesthood, while Sostratus left Crates, the commander of the Cyprian troops.

³⁰While such was the state of affairs, it happened that the people of Tarsus and of Mallus revolted because their cities had been given as a present to Antiochis, the king's concubine. ³¹So the king went hurriedly to settle the trouble, leaving Andronicus, a man of high rank, to act as his deputy. ³²But Menelaus, thinking he had obtained a suitable opportunity, stole some of the gold vessels of the temple and gave them to Andronicus; other vessels, as it happened, he had sold to Tyre and the neighboring cities. ³³When Onias became fully aware of these acts, he publicly exposed them, having first withdrawn to a place of sanctuary at Daphne near Antioch. ³⁴Therefore Menelaus, taking Andronicus aside, urged him to kill Onias. Andronicus^b came to Onias, and resorting to treachery, offered him sworn pledges and gave him his right hand; he persuaded him, though still suspicious, to come out from the place of sanctuary; then, with no regard for justice, he immediately put him out of the way.

³⁵For this reason not only Jews, but many also of other nations, were grieved and displeased at the unjust murder of the man. ³⁶When the king returned from the region of Cilicia, the Jews in the city^c appealed to him with regard to the unreasonable murder of Onias, and the Greeks shared their hatred of the crime. ³⁷Therefore Antiochus was grieved at heart and filled with pity, and wept because of the moderation and good conduct of the deceased. ³⁸Inflamed with anger, he immediately stripped off the purple robe from Andronicus, tore off his clothes, and led him around the whole city to that very place where he had committed the outrage against Onias, and there he dispatched the bloodthirsty fellow. The Lord thus repaid him with the punishment he deserved.

³⁹When many acts of sacrilege had been committed in the city by Lysimachus with the connivance of Menelaus, and when report of them had spread abroad, the populace gathered against Lysimachus, because many of the gold vessels had already been stolen. ⁴⁰Since the crowds were becoming aroused and filled with anger, Lysimachus armed about three thousand men and launched an unjust attack, under the leadership of a certain Auranus, a man advanced in years and no less advanced in folly. ⁴¹But when the Jews^a became aware that Lysimachus was attacking them, some picked up stones, some blocks of wood, and others took handfuls of the ashes that were lying around, and threw them in wild confusion at Lysimachus and his men. ⁴²As a result, they wounded many of them, and killed some, and put all the rest to flight; the temple robber himself they killed close by the treasury.

⁴³Charges were brought against Menelaus about this incident. ⁴⁴When the king came to Tyre, three men sent by the senate presented the case before him. ⁴⁵But Menelaus, already as good as beaten, promised a substantial bribe to Ptolemy son of Dorymenes to win over the king. ⁴⁶Therefore Ptolemy, taking the king aside into a colonnade as if for refreshment, induced the king to change his mind. ⁴⁷Menelaus, the cause of all the trouble, he acquitted of the charges against him, while he sentenced to death those unfortunate men, who would have been freed un-condemned if they had pleaded even before Scythians. ⁴⁸And so those who had spoken for the city and the villages^b and the holy vessels quickly suffered the unjust penalty. ⁴⁹Therefore even the Tyrians, showing their hatred of the crime, provided magnificently for their funeral. ⁵⁰But Menelaus, because of the greed of those in power, remained in office, growing in wickedness, having become the chief plotter against his compatriots.

5

About this time Antiochus made his second invasion of Egypt. ²And it happened that, for almost forty days, there appeared over all the city golden-clad cavalry charging through the air, in companies fully armed with lances and drawn swords—³troops of cavalry drawn up, attacks and counterattacks made on this side and on that, brandishing of shields, massing of spears, hurling of missiles, the flash of golden trappings, and armor of all kinds. ⁴Therefore everyone prayed that the apparition might prove to have been a good omen.

⁵When a false rumor arose that Antiochus was dead, Jason took no fewer than a thousand men and suddenly made an assault on the city. When the troops on the wall had been forced back and at last the city was being taken, Menelaus took refuge in the citadel. ⁶But Jason kept relentlessly slaughtering his compatriots, not realizing that success at the cost of one's kindred is the greatest misfortune, but imagining that he was setting up trophies of victory over enemies and not over compatriots. ⁷He did not, however, gain control of the government; in the end he got only disgrace from his conspiracy, and fled again into the country of the Ammonites. ⁸Finally he met a miserable end. Accused^a before Aretas the ruler of the Arabs, fleeing from city to city, pursued by everyone, hated as a rebel against the laws, and abhorred as the executioner of his country and his compatriots, he was cast ashore in Egypt. ⁹There he who had driven many from their own country into exile died in exile, having embarked to go to the Lacedaemonians in hope of finding protection because of their kinship. ¹⁰He who had cast out many to lie unburied had no one to mourn for him; he had no funeral of any sort and no place in the tomb of his ancestors.

¹¹When news of what had happened reached the king, he took it to mean that Judea was in revolt. So, raging inwardly, he left Egypt and took the city by storm. ¹²He commanded his soldiers to cut down relentlessly everyone they met and to kill those who went into their houses. ¹³Then there was massacre of young and old, destruction of boys, women, and children, and slaughter of young girls and infants. ¹⁴Within the total of three days eighty thousand were destroyed, forty thousand in hand-to-hand fighting, and as many were sold into slavery as were killed.

¹⁵Not content with this, Antiochus^b dared to enter the most holy temple in all the world, guided by Menelaus, who had become a traitor both to the laws and to his country. ¹⁶He took the holy vessels with his polluted hands, and swept away with profane hands the votive offerings that other kings had made to enhance the glory and honor of the place. ¹⁷Antiochus was elated in spirit, and did not perceive that the Lord was angered for a little while because of the sins of those who lived in the city, and that this was the reason he was disregarding the holy place. ¹⁸But if it had not happened that they were involved in many sins, this man would have been flogged and turned back from his rash act as soon as he came forward, just as Heliodorus had been, whom King Seleucus sent to inspect the treasury. ¹⁹But the Lord did not choose the nation for the sake of the holy place, but the place for the sake of the nation. ²⁰Therefore the place itself shared in the misfortunes that befell the nation and afterward participated in its benefits; and what was forsaken in the wrath of the Almighty was restored again in all its glory when the great Lord became reconciled.

²¹So Antiochus carried off eighteen hundred talents from the temple, and hurried away to Antioch, thinking in his arrogance that he could sail on the land and walk on the sea, because his mind was elated. ²²He left governors to oppress the people: at Jerusalem, Philip, by birth a Phrygian and in character more barbarous than the man who appointed him; ²³and at Gerizim, Andronicus; and besides these Menelaus, who lorded it over his compatriots worse than the others did. In his malice toward the Jewish citizens,^{a 24}Antiochus^b sent Apollonius, the captain of the Mysians, with an army of twenty-two thousand, and commanded him to kill all the grown men and to sell the women and boys as slaves. ²⁵When this man arrived in Jerusalem, he pretended to be peaceably disposed and waited until the holy sabbath day; then, finding the Jews not at work, he ordered his troops to parade under arms. ²⁶He put to the sword all those who came out to see them, then rushed into the city with his armed warriors and killed great numbers of people.

²⁷But Judas Maccabeus, with about nine others, got away to the wilderness, and kept himself and his companions alive in the mountains as wild animals do; they continued to live on what grew wild, so that they might not share in the defilement.

6

Not long after this, the king sent an Athenian^c senator^d to compel the Jews to forsake the laws of their ancestors and no longer to live by the laws of God; ²also to pollute the temple in Jerusalem and to call it the temple of Olympian Zeus, and to call the one in Gerizim the temple of Zeus-the-Friend-of-Strangers, as did the people who lived in that place.

³Harsh and utterly grievous was the onslaught of evil. ⁴For the temple was filled with debauchery and reveling by the Gentiles, who dallied with prostitutes and had intercourse with women within the sacred precincts, and besides brought in things for sacrifice that were unfit. ⁵The altar was covered with abominable offerings that were forbidden by the laws. ⁶People could neither keep the sabbath, nor observe the festivals of their ancestors, nor so much as confess themselves to be Jews.

⁷On the monthly celebration of the king's birthday, the Jews^a were taken, under bitter constraint, to partake of the sacrifices; and when a festival of Dionysus was celebrated, they were compelled to wear wreaths of ivy and to walk in the procession in honor of Dionysus. ⁸At the suggestion of the people of Ptolemais^b a decree was issued to the neighboring Greek cities that they should adopt the same policy toward the Jews and make them partake of the sacrifices, ⁹and should kill those who did not choose to change over to Greek customs. One could see, therefore, the misery that had come upon them. ¹⁰For example, two women were brought in for having circumcised their children. They publicly paraded them around the city, with their babies hanging at their breasts, and then hurled them down headlong from the wall. ¹¹Others who had assembled in the caves nearby, in order to observe the seventh day secretly, were betrayed to Philip and were all burned together, because their piety kept them from defending themselves, in view of their regard for that most holy day.

¹²Now I urge those who read this book not to be depressed by such calamities, but to recognize that these punishments were designed not to destroy but to discipline our people. ¹³In fact, it is a sign of great kindness not to let the impious alone for long, but to punish them immediately. ¹⁴For in the case of the other nations the Lord waits patiently to punish them until they have reached the full measure of their sins; but he does not deal in this way with us, ¹⁵in order that he may not take vengeance on us afterward when our sins have reached their height. ¹⁶Therefore he never withdraws his mercy from us. Although he disciplines us with calamities, he does not forsake his own people. ¹⁷Let what we have said serve as a reminder; we must go on briefly with the story.

¹⁸Eleazar, one of the scribes in high position, a man now advanced in age and of noble presence, was being forced to open his mouth to eat swine's flesh. ¹⁹But he, welcoming death with honor rather than life with pollution, went up to the rack of his own accord, spitting out the flesh, ²⁰as all ought to go who have the courage to refuse things that it is not right to taste, even for the natural love of life.

²¹Those who were in charge of that unlawful sacrifice took the man aside because of their long acquaintance with him, and privately urged him to bring meat of his own providing, proper for him to use, and to pretend that he was eating the flesh of the sacrificial meal that had been commanded by the king, ²²so that by doing this he might be saved from death, and be treated kindly on account of his old friendship with them. ²³But making a high resolve, worthy of his years and the dignity of his old age and the gray hairs that he had reached with distinction and his excellent life even from childhood, and moreover according to the holy God-given law, he declared himself quickly, telling them to send him to Hades.

²⁴“Such pretense is not worthy of our time of life,” he said, “for many of the young might suppose that Eleazar in his ninetieth year had gone over to an alien religion, ²⁵and through my pretense, for the sake of living a brief moment longer, they would be led astray because of me, while I defile and disgrace my old age. ²⁶Even if for the present I would avoid the punishment of mortals, yet whether I live or die I will not escape the hands of the Almighty. ²⁷Therefore, by bravely giving up my life now, I will show myself worthy of my old age ²⁸and leave to the young a noble example of how to die a good death willingly and nobly for the revered and holy laws.”

When he had said this, he went^a at once to the rack. ²⁹Those who a little before had acted toward him with goodwill now changed to ill will, because the words he had uttered were in their opinion sheer madness.^{b 30}When he was about to die under the blows, he groaned aloud and said: “It is clear to the Lord in his holy knowledge that, though I might have been saved from death, I am enduring terrible sufferings in my body under this beating, but in my soul I am glad to suffer these things because I fear him.”

³¹So in this way he died, leaving in his death an example of nobility and a memorial of courage, not only to the young but to the great body of his nation.

7

It happened also that seven brothers and their mother were arrested and were being compelled by the king, under torture with whips and thongs, to partake of unlawful swine's flesh. ²One of them, acting as their spokesman, said, “What do you intend to ask and learn from us? For we are ready to die rather than transgress the laws of our ancestors.”

³The king fell into a rage, and gave orders to have pans and caldrons heated. ⁴These were heated immediately, and he commanded that the tongue of their spokesman be cut out and that they scalp him and cut off his hands and feet, while the rest of the brothers and the mother looked on. ⁵When he was utterly helpless, the king^c ordered them to take him to the fire, still breathing, and to fry him in a pan. The smoke from the pan spread widely, but the brothers^d and their mother encouraged one another to die nobly, saying, ⁶“The Lord God is watching over us and in truth has compassion on us, as Moses declared in his song that bore witness against the people to their faces, when he said, ‘And he will have compassion on his servants.’”^e

⁷After the first brother had died in this way, they brought forward the second for their sport. They tore off the skin of his head with the hair, and asked him, “Will you eat rather than have your body punished limb by limb?” ⁸He replied in the language of his ancestors and said to them, “No.” Therefore he in turn underwent tortures as the first brother had done. ⁹And when he was at his last breath, he said, “You accursed wretch, you dismiss us from this present life, but the King of the universe will raise us up to an everlasting renewal of life, because we have died for his laws.”

¹⁰After him, the third was the victim of their sport. When it was demanded, he quickly put out his tongue and courageously stretched forth his hands, ¹¹and said nobly, “I got these from Heaven, and because of his laws I disdain them, and from him I hope to get them back again.” ¹²As a result the king himself and those with him were astonished at the young man's spirit, for he regarded his sufferings as nothing.

¹³After he too had died, they maltreated and tortured the fourth in the same way. ¹⁴When he was near death, he said, “One cannot but choose to die at the hands of mortals and to cherish the hope God gives of being raised again by him. But for you there will be no resurrection to life!”

¹⁵Next they brought forward the fifth and maltreated him. ¹⁶But he looked at the king,^a and said, “Because you have authority among mortals, though you also are mortal, you do what you please. But do not think that God has forsaken our people. ¹⁷Keep on, and see how his mighty power will torture you and your descendants!”

¹⁸After him they brought forward the sixth. And when he was about to die, he said, “Do not deceive yourself in vain. For we are suffering these things on our own account, because of our sins against our own God. Therefore^b astounding things have happened. ¹⁹But do not think that you will go unpunished for having tried to fight against God!”

²⁰The mother was especially admirable and worthy of honorable memory. Although she saw her seven sons perish within a single day, she bore it with good courage because of her hope in the Lord. ²¹She encouraged each of them in the language of their ancestors. Filled with a noble spirit, she reinforced her woman's reasoning with a man's courage, and said to them, ²²“I do not know how you came into being in my womb. It was not I who gave you life and breath, nor I who set in order the elements within each of you. ²³Therefore the Creator of the world, who shaped the beginning of humankind and devised the origin of all things, will in his mercy give life and breath back to you again, since you now forget yourselves for the sake of his laws.”

²⁴Antiochus felt that he was being treated with contempt, and he was suspicious of her reproachful tone. The youngest brother being still alive, Antiochus^c not only appealed to him in words, but promised with oaths that he would make him rich and enviable if he would turn from the ways of his ancestors, and that he would take him for his Friend and entrust him with public affairs. ²⁵Since the young man would not listen to him at all, the king called the mother to him and urged her to advise the youth to save himself. ²⁶After much urging on his part, she undertook to persuade her son. ²⁷But, leaning close to him, she spoke in their native language as follows, deriding the cruel tyrant: “My son, have pity on me. I carried you nine months in my womb, and nursed you for three years, and have reared you and brought you up to this point in your life, and have taken care of you.^{d 28}I beg you, my child, to look at the heaven and the earth and see everything that is in them, and recognize that God did not make them out of things that existed.^e And in the same way the human race came into being. ²⁹Do not fear this butcher, but prove worthy of your brothers. Accept death, so that in God's mercy I may get you back again along with your brothers.”

³⁰While she was still speaking, the young man said, “What are you^f waiting for? I will not obey the king's command, but I obey the command of the law that was given to our ancestors through Moses. ³¹But you,^a who have contrived all sorts of evil against the Hebrews, will certainly not escape the hands of God. ³²For we are suffering because of our own sins. ³³And if our living Lord is angry for a little while, to rebuke and discipline us, he will again be reconciled with his own servants.^{b 34}But you, unholy wretch, you most defiled of all mortals, do not be elated in vain and puffed up by uncertain hopes, when you raise your hand against the children of heaven. ³⁵You have not yet escaped the judgment of the almighty, all-seeing God. ³⁶For our brothers after enduring a brief suffering have drunk^c of ever-flowing life, under God's covenant; but you, by the judgment of God, will receive just punishment for your arrogance. ³⁷I, like my brothers, give up body and life for the laws of our ancestors, appealing to God to show mercy soon to our nation and by trials and plagues to make you confess that he alone is God, ³⁸and through me and my brothers to bring to an end the wrath of the Almighty that has justly fallen on our whole nation.”

³⁹The king fell into a rage, and handled him worse than the others, being exasperated at his scorn. ⁴⁰So he died in his integrity, putting his whole trust in the Lord.

⁴¹Last of all, the mother died, after her sons.

⁴²Let this be enough, then, about the eating of sacrifices and the extreme tortures.

8

Meanwhile Judas, who was also called Maccabeus, and his companions secretly entered the villages and summoned their kindred and enlisted those who had continued in the Jewish faith, and so they gathered about six thousand. ²They implored the Lord to look upon the people who were oppressed by all; and to have pity on the temple that had been profaned by the godless; ³to have mercy on the city that was being destroyed and about to be leveled to the ground; to hearken to the blood that cried out to him; ⁴to remember also the lawless destruction of the innocent babies and the blasphemies committed against his name; and to show his hatred of evil.

⁵As soon as Maccabeus got his army organized, the Gentiles could not withstand him, for the wrath of the Lord had turned to mercy. ⁶Coming without warning, he would set fire to towns and villages. He captured strategic positions and put to flight not a few of the enemy. ⁷He found the nights most advantageous for such attacks. And talk of his valor spread everywhere.

⁸When Philip saw that the man was gaining ground little by little, and that he was pushing ahead with more frequent successes, he wrote to Ptolemy, the governor of Coelesyria and Phoenicia, to come to the aid of the king's government. ⁹Then Ptolemy^d promptly appointed Nicanor son of Patroclus, one of the king's chief^e Friends, and sent him, in command of no fewer than twenty thousand Gentiles of all nations, to wipe out the whole race of Judea. He associated with him Gorgias, a general and a man of experience in military service. ¹⁰Nicanor determined to make up for the king the tribute due to the Romans, two thousand talents, by selling the captured Jews into slavery. ¹¹So he immediately sent to the towns on the seacoast, inviting them to buy Jewish slaves and promising to hand over ninety slaves for a talent, not expecting the judgment from the Almighty that was about to overtake him.

¹²Word came to Judas concerning Nicanor's invasion; and when he told his companions of the arrival of the army, ¹³those who were cowardly and distrustful of God's justice ran off and got away. ¹⁴Others sold all their remaining property, and at the same time implored the Lord to rescue those who had been sold by the ungodly Nicanor before he ever met them, ¹⁵if not for their own sake, then for the sake of the covenants made with their ancestors, and because he had called them by his holy and glorious name. ¹⁶But Maccabeus gathered his forces together, to the number six thousand, and exhorted them not to be frightened by the enemy and not to fear the great multitude of Gentiles who were wickedly coming against them, but to fight nobly, ¹⁷keeping before their eyes the lawless outrage that the Gentiles^a had committed against the holy place, and the torture of the derided city, and besides, the overthrow of their ancestral way of life. ¹⁸“For they trust to arms and acts of daring,” he said, “but we trust in the Almighty God, who is able with a single nod to strike down those who are coming against us, and even, if necessary, the whole world.”

¹⁹Moreover, he told them of the occasions when help came to their ancestors; how, in the time of Sennacherib, when one hundred eighty-five thousand perished, ²⁰and the time of the battle against the Galatians that took place in Babylonia, when eight thousand Jews^b fought along with four thousand Macedonians; yet when the Macedonians were hard pressed, the eight thousand, by the help that came to them from heaven, destroyed one hundred twenty thousand Galatians^c and took a great amount of booty.

²¹With these words he filled them with courage and made them ready to die for their laws and their country; then he divided his army into four parts. ²²He appointed his brothers also, Simon and Joseph and Jonathan, each to command a division, putting fifteen hundred men under each. ²³Besides, he appointed Eleazar to read aloud^d from the holy book, and gave the watchword, “The help of God”; then, leading the first division himself, he joined battle with Nicanor.

²⁴With the Almighty as their ally, they killed more than nine thousand of the enemy, and wounded and disabled most of Nicanor's army, and forced them all to flee. ²⁵They captured the money of those who had come to buy them as slaves. After pursuing them for some distance, they were obliged to return because the hour was late. ²⁶It was the day before the sabbath, and for that reason they did not continue their pursuit. ²⁷When they had collected the arms of the enemy and stripped them of their spoils, they kept the sabbath, giving great praise and thanks to the Lord, who had preserved them for that day and allotted it to them as the beginning of mercy. ²⁸After the sabbath they gave some of the spoils to those who had been tortured and to the widows and orphans, and distributed the rest among themselves and their children. ²⁹When they had done this, they made common supplication and implored the merciful Lord to be wholly reconciled with his servants.^a

³⁰In encounters with the forces of Timothy and Bacchides they killed more than twenty thousand of them and got possession of some exceedingly high strongholds, and they divided a very large amount of plunder, giving to those who had been tortured and to the orphans and widows, and also to the aged, shares equal to their own. ³¹They collected the arms of the enemy,^b and carefully stored all of them in strategic places; the rest of the spoils they carried to Jerusalem. ³²They killed the commander of Timothy's forces, a most wicked man, and one who had greatly troubled the Jews. ³³While they were celebrating the victory in the city of their ancestors, they burned those who had set fire to the sacred gates, Callisthenes and some others, who had fled into one little house; so these received the proper reward for their impiety.^c

³⁴The thrice-accursed Nicanor, who had brought the thousand merchants to buy the Jews, ³⁵having been humbled with the help of the Lord by opponents whom he regarded as of the least account, took off his splendid uniform and made his way alone like a runaway slave across the country until he reached Antioch, having succeeded chiefly in the destruction of his own army! ³⁶So he who had undertaken to secure tribute for the Romans by the capture of the people of Jerusalem proclaimed that the Jews had a Defender, and that therefore the Jews were invulnerable, because they followed the laws ordained by him.

9

About that time, as it happened, Antiochus had retreated in disorder from the region of Persia. ²He had entered the city called Persepolis and attempted to rob the temples and control the city. Therefore the people rushed to the rescue with arms, and Antiochus and his army were defeated,^d with the result that Antiochus was put to flight by the inhabitants and beat a shameful retreat. ³While he was in Ecbatana, news came to him of what had happened to Nicanor and the forces of Timothy. ⁴Transported with rage, he conceived the idea of turning upon the Jews the injury done by those who had put him to flight; so he ordered his charioteer to drive without stopping until he completed the journey. But the judgment of heaven rode with him! For in his arrogance he said, “When I get there I will make Jerusalem a cemetery of Jews.”

⁵But the all-seeing Lord, the God of Israel, struck him with an incurable and invisible blow. As soon as he stopped speaking he was seized with a pain in his bowels, for which there was no relief, and with sharp internal tortures—⁶and that very justly, for he had tortured the bowels of others with many and strange inflictions. ⁷Yet he did not in any way stop his insolence, but was even more filled with arrogance, breathing fire in his rage against the Jews, and giving orders to drive even faster. And so it came about that he fell out of his chariot as it was rushing along, and the fall was so hard as to torture every limb of his body. ⁸Thus he who only a little while before had thought in his superhuman arrogance that he could command the waves of the sea, and had imagined that he could weigh the high mountains in a balance, was brought down to earth and carried in a litter, making the power of God manifest to all. ⁹And so the ungodly man's body swarmed with worms, and while he was still living in anguish and pain, his flesh rotted away, and because of the stench the whole army felt revulsion at his decay. ¹⁰Because of his intolerable stench no one was able to carry the man who a little while before had thought that he could touch the stars of heaven. ¹¹Then it was that, broken in spirit, he began to lose much of his arrogance and to come to his senses under the scourge of God, for he was tortured with pain every moment. ¹²And when he could not endure his own stench, he uttered these words, “It is right to be subject to God; mortals should not think that they are equal to God.”^a

¹³Then the abominable fellow made a vow to the Lord, who would no longer have mercy on him, stating ¹⁴that the holy city, which he was hurrying to level to the ground and to make a cemetery, he was now declaring to be free; ¹⁵and the Jews, whom he had not considered worth burying but had planned to throw out with their children for the wild animals and for the birds to eat, he would make, all of them, equal to citizens of Athens; ¹⁶and the holy sanctuary, which he had formerly plundered, he would adorn with the finest offerings; and all the holy vessels he would give back, many times over; and the expenses incurred for the sacrifices he would provide from his own revenues; ¹⁷and in addition to all this he also would become a Jew and would visit every inhabited place to proclaim the power of God. ¹⁸But when his sufferings did not in any way abate, for the judgment of God had justly come upon him, he gave up all hope for himself and wrote to the Jews the following letter, in the form of a supplication. This was its content:

¹⁹“To his worthy Jewish citizens, Antiochus their king and general sends hearty greetings and good wishes for their health and prosperity. ²⁰If you and your children are well and your affairs are as you wish, I am glad. As my hope is in heaven, ²¹I remember with affection your esteem and goodwill. On my way back from the region of Persia I suffered an annoying illness, and I have deemed it necessary to take thought for the general security of all. ²²I do not despair of my condition, for I have good hope of recovering from my illness, ²³but I observed that my father, on the occasions when he made expeditions into the upper country, appointed his successor, ²⁴so that, if anything unexpected happened or any unwelcome news came, the people throughout the realm would not be troubled, for they would know to whom the government was left. ²⁵Moreover, I understand how the princes along the borders and the neighbors of my kingdom keep watching for opportunities and waiting to see what will happen. So I have appointed my son Antiochus to be king, whom I have often entrusted and commended to most of you when I hurried off to the upper provinces; and I have written to him what is written here. ²⁶I therefore urge and beg you to remember the public and private services rendered to you and to maintain your present goodwill, each of you, toward me and my son. ²⁷For I am sure that he will follow my policy and will treat you with moderation and kindness.”

²⁸So the murderer and blasphemer, having endured the more intense suffering, such as he had inflicted on others, came to the end of his life by a most pitiable fate, among the mountains in a strange land. ²⁹And Philip, one of his courtiers, took his body home; then, fearing the son of Antiochus, he withdrew to Ptolemy Philometor in Egypt.

10

Now Maccabeus and his followers, the Lord leading them on, recovered the temple and the city; ²they tore down the altars that had been built in the public square by the foreigners, and also destroyed the sacred precincts. ³They purified the sanctuary, and made another altar of sacrifice; then, striking fire out of flint, they offered sacrifices, after a lapse of two years, and they offered incense and lighted lamps and set out the bread of the Presence. ⁴When they had done this, they fell prostrate and implored the Lord that they might never again fall into such misfortunes, but that, if they should ever sin, they might be disciplined by him with forbearance and not be handed over to blasphemous and barbarous nations. ⁵It happened that on the same day on which the sanctuary had been profaned by the foreigners, the purification of the sanctuary took place, that is, on the twenty-fifth day of the same month, which was Chislev. ⁶They celebrated it for eight days with rejoicing, in the manner of the festival of booths, remembering how not long before, during the festival of booths, they had been wandering in the mountains and caves like wild animals. ⁷Therefore, carrying ivy-wreathed wands and beautiful branches and also fronds of palm, they offered hymns of thanksgiving to him who had given success to the purifying of his own holy place. ⁸They decreed by public edict, ratified by vote, that the whole nation of the Jews should observe these days every year.

⁹Such then was the end of Antiochus, who was called Epiphanes.

¹⁰Now we will tell what took place under Antiochus Eupator, who was the son of that ungodly man, and will give a brief summary of the principal calamities of the wars. ¹¹This man, when he succeeded to the kingdom, appointed one Lysias to have charge of the government and to be chief governor of Coelesyria and Phoenicia. ¹²Ptolemy, who was called Macron, took the lead in showing justice to the Jews because of the wrong that had been done to them, and attempted to maintain peaceful relations with them. ¹³As a result he was accused before Eupator by the king's Friends. He heard himself called a traitor at every turn, because he had abandoned Cyprus, which Philometor had entrusted to him, and had gone over to Antiochus Epiphanes. Unable to command the respect due his office,^a he took poison and ended his life.

¹⁴When Gorgias became governor of the region, he maintained a force of mercenaries, and at every turn kept attacking the Jews. ¹⁵Besides this, the Idumeans, who had control of important strongholds, were harassing the Jews; they received those who were banished from Jerusalem, and endeavored to keep up the war. ¹⁶But Maccabeus and his forces, after making solemn supplication and imploring God to fight on their side, rushed to the strongholds of the Idumeans. ¹⁷Attacking them vigorously, they gained possession of the places, and beat off all who fought upon the wall, and slaughtered those whom they encountered, killing no fewer than twenty thousand.

¹⁸When at least nine thousand took refuge in two very strong towers well equipped to withstand a siege, ¹⁹Maccabeus left Simon and Joseph, and also Zacchaeus and his troops, a force sufficient to besiege them; and he himself set off for places where he was more urgently needed. ²⁰But those with Simon, who were money-hungry, were bribed by some of those who were in the towers, and on receiving seventy thousand drachmas let some of them slip away. ²¹When word of what had happened came to Maccabeus, he gathered the leaders of the people, and accused these men of having sold their kindred for money by setting their enemies free to fight against them. ²²Then he killed these men who had turned traitor, and immediately captured the two towers. ²³Having success at arms in everything he undertook, he destroyed more than twenty thousand in the two strongholds.

²⁴Now Timothy, who had been defeated by the Jews before, gathered a tremendous force of mercenaries and collected the cavalry from Asia in no small number. He came on, intending to take Judea by storm. ²⁵As he drew near, Maccabeus and his men sprinkled dust on their heads and girded their loins with sackcloth, in supplication to God. ²⁶Falling upon the steps before the altar, they implored him to be gracious to them and to be an enemy to their enemies and an adversary to their adversaries, as the law declares. ²⁷And rising from their prayer they took up their arms and advanced a considerable distance from the city; and when they came near the enemy they halted. ²⁸Just as dawn was breaking, the two armies joined battle, the one having as pledge of success and victory not only their valor but also their reliance on the Lord, while the other made rage their leader in the fight.

²⁹When the battle became fierce, there appeared to the enemy from heaven five resplendent men on horses with golden bridles, and they were leading the Jews. ³⁰Two of them took Maccabeus between them, and shielding him with their own armor and weapons, they kept him from being wounded. They showered arrows and thunderbolts on the enemy, so that, confused and blinded, they were thrown into disorder and cut to pieces. ³¹Twenty thousand five hundred were slaughtered, besides six hundred cavalry.

³²Timothy himself fled to a stronghold called Gazara, especially well garrisoned, where Chaereas was commander. ³³Then Maccabeus and his men were glad, and they besieged the fort for four days. ³⁴The men within, relying on the strength of the place, kept blaspheming terribly and uttering wicked words. ³⁵But at dawn of the fifth day, twenty young men in the army of Maccabeus, fired with anger because of the blasphemies, bravely stormed the wall and with savage fury cut down everyone they met. ³⁶Others who came up in the same way wheeled around against the defenders and set fire to the towers; they kindled fires and burned the blasphemers alive. Others broke open the gates and let in the rest of the force, and they occupied the city. ³⁷They killed Timothy, who was hiding in a cistern, and his brother Chaereas, and Apollophanes. ³⁸When they had accomplished these things, with hymns and thanksgivings they blessed the Lord who shows great kindness to Israel and gives them the victory.

11

Very soon after this, Lysias, the king's guardian and kinsman, who was in charge of the government, being vexed at what had happened, ²gathered about eighty thousand infantry and all his cavalry and came against the Jews. He intended to make the city a home for Greeks, ³and to levy tribute on the temple as he did on the sacred places of the other nations, and to put up the high priesthood for sale every year. ⁴He took no account whatever of the power of God, but was elated with his ten thousands of infantry, and his thousands of cavalry, and his eighty elephants. ⁵Invading Judea, he approached Beth-zur, which was a fortified place about five stadia^a from Jerusalem, and pressed it hard.

⁶When Maccabeus and his men got word that Lysias^b was besieging the strongholds, they and all the people, with lamentations and tears, prayed the Lord to send a good angel to save Israel. ⁷Maccabeus himself was the first to take up arms, and he urged the others to risk their lives with him to aid their kindred. Then they eagerly rushed off together. ⁸And there, while they were still near Jerusalem, a horseman appeared at their head, clothed in white and brandishing weapons of gold. ⁹And together they all praised the merciful God, and were strengthened in heart, ready to assail not only humans but the wildest animals or walls of iron. ¹⁰They advanced in battle order, having their heavenly ally, for the Lord had mercy on them. ¹¹They hurled themselves like lions against the enemy, and laid low eleven thousand of them and sixteen hundred cavalry, and forced all the rest to flee. ¹²Most of them got away stripped and wounded, and Lysias himself escaped by disgraceful flight.

¹³As he was not without intelligence, he pondered over the defeat that had befallen him, and realized that the Hebrews were invincible because the mighty God fought on their side. So he sent to them ¹⁴and persuaded them to settle everything on just terms, promising that he would persuade the king, constraining him to be their friend.^{a 15}Maccabeus, having regard for the common good, agreed to all that Lysias urged. For the king granted every request in behalf of the Jews which Maccabeus delivered to Lysias in writing.

¹⁶The letter written to the Jews by Lysias was to this effect:

“Lysias to the people of the Jews, greetings. ¹⁷John and Absalom, who were sent by you, have delivered your signed communication and have asked about the matters indicated in it. ¹⁸I have informed the king of everything that needed to be brought before him, and he has agreed to what was possible. ¹⁹If you will maintain your goodwill toward the government, I will endeavor in the future to help promote your welfare. ²⁰And concerning such matters and their details, I have ordered these men and my representatives to confer with you. ²¹Farewell. The one hundred forty-eighth year,^b Dioscorinthius twenty-fourth.”

²²The king's letter ran thus:

“King Antiochus to his brother Lysias, greetings. ²³Now that our father has gone on to the gods, we desire that the subjects of the kingdom be undisturbed in caring for their own affairs. ²⁴We have heard that the Jews do not consent to our father's change to Greek customs, but prefer their own way of living and ask that their own customs be allowed them. ²⁵Accordingly, since we choose that this nation also should be free from disturbance, our decision is that their temple be restored to them and that they shall live according to the customs of their ancestors. ²⁶You will do well, therefore, to send word to them and give them pledges of friendship, so that they may know our policy and be of good cheer and go on happily in the conduct of their own affairs.”

²⁷To the nation the king's letter was as follows:

“King Antiochus to the senate of the Jews and to the other Jews, greetings. ²⁸If you are well, it is as we desire. We also are in good health. ²⁹Menelaus has informed us that you wish to return home and look after your own affairs. ³⁰Therefore those who go home by the thirtieth of Xanthicus will have our pledge of friendship and full permission ³¹for the Jews to enjoy their own food and laws, just as formerly, and none of them shall be molested in any way for what may have been done in ignorance. ³²And I have also sent Menelaus to encourage you. ³³Farewell. The one hundred forty-eighth year,^a Xanthicus fifteenth.”

³⁴The Romans also sent them a letter, which read thus:

“Quintus Memmius and Titus Manius, envoys of the Romans, to the people of the Jews, greetings. ³⁵With regard to what Lysias the kinsman of the king has granted you, we also give consent. ³⁶But as to the matters that he decided are to be referred to the king, as soon as you have considered them, send some one promptly so that we may make proposals appropriate for you. For we are on our way to Antioch. ³⁷Therefore make haste and send messengers so that we may have your judgment. ³⁸Farewell. The one hundred forty-eighth year,^a Xanthicus fifteenth.”

12

When this agreement had been reached, Lysias returned to the king, and the Jews went about their farming.

²But some of the governors in various places, Timothy and Apollonius son of Gennaeus, as well as Hieronymus and Demophon, and in addition to these Nicanor the governor of Cyprus, would not let them live quietly and in peace. ³And the people of Joppa did so ungodly a deed as this: they invited the Jews who lived among them to embark, with their wives and children, on boats that they had provided, as though there were no ill will to the Jews;^{b 4}and this was done by public vote of the city. When they accepted, because they wished to live peaceably and suspected nothing, the people of Joppa^c took them out to sea and drowned them, at least two hundred. ⁵When Judas heard of the cruelty visited on his compatriots, he gave orders to his men ⁶and, calling upon God, the righteous judge, attacked the murderers of his kindred. He set fire to the harbor by night, burned the boats, and massacred those who had taken refuge there. ⁷Then, because the city's gates were closed, he withdrew, intending to come again and root out the whole community of Joppa. ⁸But learning that the people in Jamnia meant in the same way to wipe out the Jews who were living among them, ⁹he attacked the Jamnites by night and set fire to the harbor and the fleet, so that the glow of the light was seen in Jerusalem, thirty miles^a distant.

¹⁰When they had gone more than a mile^b from there, on their march against Timothy, at least five thousand Arabs with five hundred cavalry attacked them. ¹¹After a hard fight, Judas and his companions, with God's help, were victorious. The defeated nomads begged Judas to grant them pledges of friendship, promising to give him livestock and to help his people^c in all other ways. ¹²Judas, realizing that they might indeed be useful in many ways, agreed to make peace with them; and after receiving his pledges they went back to their tents.

¹³He also attacked a certain town that was strongly fortified with earthworks^d and walls, and inhabited by all sorts of Gentiles. Its name was Caspin. ¹⁴Those who were within, relying on the strength of the walls and on their supply of provisions, behaved most insolently toward Judas and his men, railing at them and even blaspheming and saying unholy things. ¹⁵But Judas and his men, calling upon the great Sovereign of the world, who without battering rams or engines of war overthrew Jericho in the days of Joshua, rushed furiously upon the walls. ¹⁶They took the town by the will of God, and slaughtered untold numbers, so that the adjoining lake, a quarter of a mile^e wide, appeared to be running over with blood.

¹⁷When they had gone ninety-five miles^f from there, they came to Charax, to the Jews who are called Toubiani. ¹⁸They did not find Timothy in that region, for he had by then left there without accomplishing anything, though in one place he had left a very strong garrison. ¹⁹Dositheus and Sosipater, who were captains under Maccabeus, marched out and destroyed those whom Timothy had left in the stronghold, more than ten thousand men. ²⁰But Maccabeus arranged his army in divisions, set men^c in command of the divisions, and hurried after Timothy, who had with him one hundred twenty thousand infantry and two thousand five hundred cavalry. ²¹When Timothy learned of the approach of Judas, he sent off the women and the children and also the baggage to a place called Carnaim; for that place was hard to besiege and difficult of access because of the narrowness of all the approaches. ²²But when Judas's first division appeared, terror and fear came over the enemy at the manifestation to them of him who sees all things. In their flight they rushed headlong in every direction, so that often they were injured by their own men and pierced by the points of their own swords. ²³Judas pressed the pursuit with the utmost vigor, putting the sinners to the sword, and destroyed as many as thirty thousand.

Places associated with the campaigns of the Maccabees in 2 Macc 8-15

²⁴Timothy himself fell into the hands of Dositheus and Sosipater and their men. With great guile he begged them to let him go in safety, because he held the parents of most of them, and the brothers of some, to whom no consideration would be shown. ²⁵And when with many words he had confirmed his solemn promise to restore them unharmed, they let him go, for the sake of saving their kindred.

²⁶Then Judas^a marched against Carnaim and the temple of Atargatis, and slaughtered twenty-five thousand people. ²⁷After the rout and destruction of these, he marched also against Ephron, a fortified town where Lysias lived with multitudes of people of all nationalities.^b Stalwart young men took their stand before the walls and made a vigorous defense; and great stores of war engines and missiles were there. ²⁸But the Jews^c called upon the Sovereign who with power shatters the might of his enemies, and they got the town into their hands, and killed as many as twenty-five thousand of those who were in it.

²⁹Setting out from there, they hastened to Scythopolis, which is seventy-five miles^d from Jerusalem. ³⁰But when the Jews who lived there bore witness to the goodwill that the people of Scythopolis had shown them and their kind treatment of them in times of misfortune, ³¹they thanked them and exhorted them to be well disposed to their race in the future also. Then they went up to Jerusalem, as the festival of weeks was close at hand.

³²After the festival called Pentecost, they hurried against Gorgias, the governor of Idumea, ³³who came out with three thousand infantry and four hundred cavalry. ³⁴When they joined battle, it happened that a few of the Jews fell. ³⁵But a certain Dositheus, one of Bacenor's men, who was on horseback and was a strong man, caught hold of Gorgias, and grasping his cloak was dragging him off by main strength, wishing to take the accursed man alive, when one of the Thracian cavalry bore down on him and cut off his arm; so Gorgias escaped and reached Marisa.

³⁶As Esdris and his men had been fighting for a long time and were weary, Judas called upon the Lord to show himself their ally and leader in the battle. ³⁷In the language of their ancestors he raised the battle cry, with hymns; then he charged against Gorgias's troops when they were not expecting it, and put them to flight.

³⁸Then Judas assembled his army and went to the city of Adullam. As the seventh day was coming on, they purified themselves according to the custom, and kept the sabbath there.

³⁹On the next day, as had now become necessary, Judas and his men went to take up the bodies of the fallen and to bring them back to lie with their kindred in the sepulchres of their ancestors. ⁴⁰Then under the tunic of each one of the dead they found sacred tokens of the idols of Jamnia, which the law forbids the Jews to wear. And it became clear to all that this was the reason these men had fallen. ⁴¹So they all blessed the ways of the Lord, the righteous judge, who reveals the things that are hidden; ⁴²and they turned to supplication, praying that the sin that had been committed might be wholly blotted out. The noble Judas exhorted the people to keep themselves free from sin, for they had seen with their own eyes what had happened as the result of the sin of those who had fallen. ⁴³He also took up a collection, man by man, to the amount of two thousand drachmas of silver, and sent it to Jerusalem to provide for a sin offering. In doing this he acted very well and honorably, taking account of the resurrection. ⁴⁴For if he were not expecting that those who had fallen would rise again, it would have been superfluous and foolish to pray for the dead. ⁴⁵But if he was looking to the splendid reward that is laid up for those who fall asleep in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought. Therefore he made atonement for the dead, so that they might be delivered from their sin.

13

In the one hundred forty-ninth year^a word came to Judas and his men that Antiochus Eupator was coming with a great army against Judea, ²and with him Lysias, his guardian, who had charge of the government. Each of them had a Greek force of one hundred ten thousand infantry, five thousand three hundred cavalry, twenty-two elephants, and three hundred chariots armed with scythes.

³Menelaus also joined them and with utter hypocrisy urged Antiochus on, not for the sake of his country's welfare, but because he thought that he would be established in office. ⁴But the King of kings aroused the anger of Antiochus against the scoundrel; and when Lysias informed him that this man was to blame for all the trouble, he ordered them to take him to Beroea and to put him to death by the method that is customary in that place. ⁵For there is a tower there, fifty cubits high, full of ashes, and it has a rim running around it that on all sides inclines precipitously into the ashes. ⁶There they all push to destruction anyone guilty of sacrilege or notorious for other crimes. ⁷By such a fate it came about that Menelaus the lawbreaker died, without even burial in the earth. ⁸And this was eminently just; because he had committed many sins against the altar whose fire and ashes were holy, he met his death in ashes.

⁹The king with barbarous arrogance was coming to show the Jews things far worse than those that had been done^b in his father's time. ¹⁰But when Judas heard of this, he ordered the people to call upon the Lord day and night, now if ever to help those who were on the point of being deprived of the law and their country and the holy temple, ¹¹and not to let the people who had just begun to revive fall into the hands of the blasphemous Gentiles. ¹²When they had all joined in the same petition and had implored the merciful Lord with weeping and fasting and lying prostrate for three days without ceasing, Judas exhorted them and ordered them to stand ready.

¹³After consulting privately with the elders, he determined to march out and decide the matter by the help of God before the king's army could enter Judea and get possession of the city. ¹⁴So, committing the decision to the Creator of the world and exhorting his troops to fight bravely to the death for the laws, temple, city, country, and commonwealth, he pitched his camp near Modein. ¹⁵He gave his troops the watchword, “God's victory,” and with a picked force of the bravest young men, he attacked the king's pavilion at night and killed as many as two thousand men in the camp. He stabbed^a the leading elephant and its rider. ¹⁶In the end they filled the camp with terror and confusion and withdrew in triumph. ¹⁷This happened, just as day was dawning, because the Lord's help protected him.

¹⁸The king, having had a taste of the daring of the Jews, tried strategy in attacking their positions. ¹⁹He advanced against Bethzur, a strong fortress of the Jews, was turned back, attacked again,^b and was defeated. ²⁰Judas sent in to the garrison whatever was necessary. ²¹But Rhodocus, a man from the ranks of the Jews, gave secret information to the enemy; he was sought for, caught, and put in prison. ²²The king negotiated a second time with the people in Beth-zur, gave pledges, received theirs, withdrew, attacked Judas and his men, was defeated; ²³he got word that Philip, who had been left in charge of the government, had revolted in Antioch; he was dismayed, called in the Jews, yielded and swore to observe all their rights, settled with them and offered sacrifice, honored the sanctuary and showed generosity to the holy place. ²⁴He received Maccabeus, left Hegemonides as governor from Ptolemais to Gerar, ²⁵and went to Ptolemais. The people of Ptolemais were indignant over the treaty; in fact they were so angry that they wanted to annul its terms.^a26Lysias took the public platform, made the best possible defense, convinced them, appeased them, gained their goodwill, and set out for Antioch. This is how the king's attack and withdrawal turned out.

14

Three years later, word came to Judas and his men that Demetrius son of Seleucus had sailed into the harbor of Tripolis with a strong army and a fleet, ²and had taken possession of the country, having made away with Antiochus and his guardian Lysias.

³Now a certain Alcimus, who had formerly been high priest but had willfully defiled himself in the times of separation,^c realized that there was no way for him to be safe or to have access again to the holy altar, ⁴and went to King Demetrius in about the one hundred fifty-first year,^a presenting to him a crown of gold and a palm, and besides these some of the customary olive branches from the temple. During that day he kept quiet. ⁵But he found an opportunity that furthered his mad purpose when he was invited by Demetrius to a meeting of the council and was asked about the attitude and intentions of the Jews. He answered:

⁶“Those of the Jews who are called Hasideans, whose leader is Judas Maccabeus, are keeping up war and stirring up sedition, and will not let the kingdom attain tranquility. ⁷Therefore I have laid aside my ancestral glory—I mean the high priesthood—and have now come here, ⁸first because I am genuinely concerned for the interests of the king, and second because I have regard also for my compatriots. For through the folly of those whom I have mentioned our whole nation is now in no small misfortune. ⁹Since you are acquainted, O king, with the details of this matter, may it please you to take thought for our country and our hard-pressed nation with the gracious kindness that you show to all. ¹⁰For as long as Judas lives, it is impossible for the government to find peace.” ¹¹When he had said this, the rest of the king's Friends,^b who were hostile to Judas, quickly inflamed Demetrius still more. ¹²He immediately chose Nicanor, who had been in command of the elephants, appointed him governor of Judea, and sent him off ¹³with orders to kill Judas and scatter his troops, and to install Alcimus as high priest of the great^c temple. ¹⁴And the Gentiles throughout Judea, who had fled before^d Judas, flocked to join Nicanor, thinking that the misfortunes and calamities of the Jews would mean prosperity for themselves.

¹⁵When the Jews^e heard of Nicanor's coming and the gathering of the Gentiles, they sprinkled dust on their heads and prayed to him who established his own people forever and always upholds his own heritage by manifesting himself. ¹⁶At the command of the leader, they^f set out from there immediately and engaged them in battle at a village called Dessau.^d17Simon, the brother of Judas, had encountered Nicanor, but had been temporarily^g checked because of the sudden consternation created by the enemy.

¹⁸Nevertheless Nicanor, hearing of the valor of Judas and his troops and their courage in battle for their country, shrank from deciding the issue by bloodshed. ¹⁹Therefore he sent Posidonius, Theodotus, and Mattathias to give and receive pledges of friendship. ²⁰When the terms had been fully considered, and the leader had informed the people, and it had appeared that they were of one mind, they agreed to the covenant. ²¹The leaders^h set a day on which to meet by themselves. A chariot came forward from each army; seats of honor were set in place; ²²Judas posted armed men in readiness at key places to prevent sudden treachery on the part of the enemy; so they duly held the consultation.

²³Nicanor stayed on in Jerusalem and did nothing out of the way, but dismissed the flocks of people that had gathered. ²⁴And he kept Judas always in his presence; he was warmly attached to the man. ²⁵He urged him to marry and have children; so Judas^a married, settled down, and shared the common life.

²⁶But when Alcimus noticed their goodwill for one another, he took the covenant that had been made and went to Demetrius. He told him that Nicanor was disloyal to the government, since he had appointed that conspirator against the kingdom, Judas, to be his successor. ²⁷The king became excited and, provoked by the false accusations of that depraved man, wrote to Nicanor, stating that he was displeased with the covenant and commanding him to send Maccabeus to Antioch as a prisoner without delay.

²⁸When this message came to Nicanor, he was troubled and grieved that he had to annul their agreement when the man had done no wrong. ²⁹Since it was not possible to oppose the king, he watched for an opportunity to accomplish this by a stratagem. ³⁰But Maccabeus, noticing that Nicanor was more austere in his dealings with him and was meeting him more rudely than had been his custom, concluded that this austerity did not spring from the best motives. So he gathered not a few of his men, and went into hiding from Nicanor. ³¹When the latter became aware that he had been cleverly outwitted by the man, he went to the great^b and holy temple while the priests were offering the customary sacrifices, and commanded them to hand the man over. ³²When they declared on oath that they did not know where the man was whom he wanted, ³³he stretched out his right hand toward the sanctuary, and swore this oath: “If you do not hand Judas over to me as a prisoner, I will level this shrine of God to the ground and tear down the altar, and build here a splendid temple to Dionysus.”

³⁴Having said this, he went away. Then the priests stretched out their hands toward heaven and called upon the constant Defender of our nation, in these words: ³⁵“O Lord of all, though you have need of nothing, you were pleased that there should be a temple for your habitation among us; ³⁶so now, O holy One, Lord of all holiness, keep undefiled forever this house that has been so recently purified.”

³⁷A certain Razis, one of the elders of Jerusalem, was denounced to Nicanor as a man who loved his compatriots and was very well thought of and for his goodwill was called father of the Jews. ³⁸In former times, when there was no mingling with the Gentiles, he had been accused of Judaism, and he had most zealously risked body and life for Judaism. ³⁹Nicanor, wishing to exhibit the enmity that he had for the Jews, sent more than five hundred soldiers to arrest him; ⁴⁰for he thought that by arresting^c him he would do them an injury. ⁴¹When the troops were about to capture the tower and were forcing the door of the courtyard, they ordered that fire be brought and the doors burned. Being surrounded, Razis^a fell upon his own sword, ⁴²preferring to die nobly rather than to fall into the hands of sinners and suffer outrages unworthy of his noble birth. ⁴³But in the heat of the struggle he did not hit exactly, and the crowd was now rushing in through the doors. He courageously ran up on the wall, and bravely threw himself down into the crowd. ⁴⁴But as they quickly drew back, a space opened and he fell in the middle of the empty space. ⁴⁵Still alive and aflame with anger, he rose, and though his blood gushed forth and his wounds were severe he ran through the crowd; and standing upon a steep rock, ⁴⁶with his blood now completely drained from him, he tore out his entrails, took them in both hands and hurled them at the crowd, calling upon the Lord of life and spirit to give them back to him again. This was the manner of his death.

15

When Nicanor heard that Judas and his troops were in the region of Samaria, he made plans to attack them with complete safety on the day of rest. ²When the Jews who were compelled to follow him said, “Do not destroy so savagely and barbarously, but show respect for the day that he who sees all things has honored and hallowed above other days,” ³the thrice-accursed wretch asked if there were a sovereign in heaven who had commanded the keeping of the sabbath day. ⁴When they declared, “It is the living Lord himself, the Sovereign in heaven, who ordered us to observe the seventh day,” ⁵he replied, “But I am a sovereign also, on earth, and I command you to take up arms and finish the king's business.” Nevertheless, he did not succeed in carrying out his abominable design.

⁶This Nicanor in his utter boastfulness and arrogance had determined to erect a public monument of victory over Judas and his forces. ⁷But Maccabeus did not cease to trust with all confidence that he would get help from the Lord. ⁸He exhorted his troops not to fear the attack of the Gentiles, but to keep in mind the former times when help had come to them from heaven, and so to look for the victory that the Almighty would give them. ⁹Encouraging them from the law and the prophets, and reminding them also of the struggles they had won, he made them the more eager. ¹⁰When he had aroused their courage, he issued his orders, at the same time pointing out the perfidy of the Gentiles and their violation of oaths. ¹¹He armed each of them not so much with confidence in shields and spears as with the inspiration of brave words, and he cheered them all by relating a dream, a sort of vision,^a which was worthy of belief.

¹²What he saw was this: Onias, who had been high priest, a noble and good man, of modest bearing and gentle manner, one who spoke fittingly and had been trained from childhood in all that belongs to excellence, was praying with outstretched hands for the whole body of the Jews. ¹³Then in the same fashion another appeared, distinguished by his gray hair and dignity, and of marvelous majesty and authority. ¹⁴And Onias spoke, saying, “This is a man who loves the family of Israel and prays much for the people and the holy city—Jeremiah, the prophet of God.” ¹⁵Jeremiah stretched out his right hand and gave to Judas a golden sword, and as he gave it he addressed him thus: ¹⁶“Take this holy sword, a gift from God, with which you will strike down your adversaries.”

¹⁷Encouraged by the words of Judas, so noble and so effective in arousing valor and awaking courage in the souls of the young, they determined not to carry on a campaign^a but to attack bravely, and to decide the matter by fighting hand to hand with all courage, because the city and the sanctuary and the temple were in danger. ¹⁸Their concern for wives and children, and also for brothers and sisters^b and relatives, lay upon them less heavily; their greatest and first fear was for the consecrated sanctuary. ¹⁹And those who had to remain in the city were in no little distress, being anxious over the encounter in the open country.

²⁰When all were now looking forward to the coming issue, and the enemy was already close at hand with their army drawn up for battle, the elephants^c strategically stationed and the cavalry deployed on the flanks, ²¹Maccabeus, observing the masses that were in front of him and the varied supply of arms and the savagery of the elephants, stretched out his hands toward heaven and called upon the Lord who works wonders; for he knew that it is not by arms, but as the Lord^d decides, that he gains the victory for those who deserve it. ²²He called upon him in these words: “O Lord, you sent your angel in the time of King Hezekiah of Judea, and he killed fully one hundred eighty-five thousand in the camp of Sennacherib. ²³So now, O Sovereign of the heavens, send a good angel to spread terror and trembling before us. ²⁴By the might of your arm may these blasphemers who come against your holy people be struck down.” With these words he ended his prayer.

²⁵Nicanor and his troops advanced with trumpets and battle songs, ²⁶but Judas and his troops met the enemy in battle with invocations to God and prayers. ²⁷So, fighting with their hands and praying to God in their hearts, they laid low at least thirty-five thousand, and were greatly gladdened by God's manifestation.

²⁸When the action was over and they were returning with joy, they recognized Nicanor, lying dead, in full armor. ²⁹Then there was shouting and tumult, and they blessed the Sovereign Lord in the language of their ancestors. ³⁰Then the man who was ever in body and soul the defender of his people, the man who maintained his youthful goodwill toward his compatriots, ordered them to cut off Nicanor's head and arm and carry them to Jerusalem. ³¹When he arrived there and had called his compatriots together and stationed the priests before the altar, he sent for those who were in the citadel. ³²He showed them the vile Nicanor's head and that profane man's arm, which had been boastfully stretched out against the holy house of the Almighty. ³³He cut out the tongue of the ungodly Nicanor and said that he would feed it piecemeal to the birds and would hang up these rewards of his folly opposite the sanctuary. ³⁴And they all, looking to heaven, blessed the Lord who had manifested himself, saying, “Blessed is he who has kept his own place undefiled!” ³⁵Judas^e hung Nicanor's head from the citadel, a clear and conspicuous sign to everyone of the help of the Lord. ³⁶And they all decreed by public vote never to let this day go unobserved, but to celebrate the thirteenth day of the twelfth month—which is called Adar in the Aramaic language—the day before Mordecai's day.

³⁷This, then, is how matters turned out with Nicanor, and from that time the city has been in the possession of the Hebrews. So I will here end my story.

³⁸If it is well told and to the point, that is what I myself desired; if it is poorly done and mediocre, that was the best I could do. ³⁹For just as it is harmful to drink wine alone, or, again, to drink water alone, while wine mixed with water is sweet and delicious and enhances one's enjoyment, so also the style of the story delights the ears of those who read the work. And here will be the end.

1.1–9: Letter to the Jews in Egypt. This letter from Jerusalem invites the Jews of Egypt to observe the Hanukkah festival by referring to a previous letter written in the one hundred sixty-ninth year of the Seleucid era (v. 7), in the reign of Demetrius II (i.e., 143/142 bce), which overlapped the first year of Hasmonean independence, according to 1 Macc 13.41. The letter portrays the Jews’ troubles as having begun with Jason's revolt against the kingdom (v. 7), i.e., the kingdom of God; see ch 4. Thus, this epistle was written as something of a cover letter accompanying the body of the work, in an attempt to convince the Jews of Egypt to join in celebrating the Hasmoneans’ victory. 2: See Gen 15.18; 26.3; 35.12. 8: Lit the lamps and set out the loaves, as mandated by Lev 24.1–9; see 10.3. 9: Festival of booths in the month of Chislev (i.e., Hanukkah). The festival of booths (or tabernacles; Heb “Sukkot”) is celebrated in the autumn month of Tishri (September); Chislev (November-December) of 164 is when Judas retook the Temple, purified it, and rededicated it in a celebration reminiscent of that of the autumn festival (see 10.6–7). In the one hundred eighty-eighth year, ca. 124 bce, but the date may be corrupt.

1.10–2.18: Another letter to the Jews of Egypt. This letter focuses on the history of the fire on the altar of the Temple of Jerusalem, working backward from Nehemiah through Jeremiah to Solomon. It claims that the fire that descended from heaven in the days of Solomon (2.10; 2 Chr 7.3) was hidden by pious priests at the time of the destruction of the First Temple (1.19). At the time of the restoration, it was found by Nehemiah, after a metamorphosis into a viscous and combustible liquid (1.20–36). He used some of it to rekindle the fire on the altar of the Second Temple, while the rest of it was preserved in rocks (1.31–32), from which Judas would eventually extract it when rededicating the Temple (10.3). So the restored Temple still had the original fire that descended from heaven. Thus, this letter constitutes an extended argument for the legitimacy of the Second Temple by connecting Nehemiah's restoration and Judas's rededication to Solomon's original dedication. 10: The senate, lit., “council of elders.” Judas Maccabeus; this letter is presented as if it were written in contemplation of the first Hanukkah or perhaps its first anniversary. Aristobulus was an Alexandrian Jewish philosopher and biblical exegete in the days of Ptolemy VI Philometor, king of Egypt, 180–145 bce. By naming him merely “Ptolemy” the Judean authors of this epistle reveal how little they care about that foreign king; contrast the use of “Philometor” in the body of the book (4.21; 9.29).

1.11–16: Antiochus Epiphanes's death in Persia. For other versions of Antiochus's death during his eastern campaign, taken here to be part of God's rescue of the Jews, see ch 9 and 1 Macc 6.1–16. 13: Nanea, an ancient Mesopotamian goddess of love and fertility (Nanay) who remained popular in western Asia, identified by the Persians with their goddess Anahita and by the Greeks with Artemis. 14: His Friends, courtiers of high rank; cf. 7.24; 14.11. The sacred marriage was a traditional part of the cult of Nanea. This is not the only case of a fictive sacred marriage ritual being used as a pretext to obtain money from a sanctuary. 18: Chislev, see 1.9n. Celebrate the festival of booths, cf. 1 Macc 10.21; 1 Kings 8.2; Neh 8.13–18. Here the appeal is to celebrate Hanukkah similarly.

1.19–36: The latest link: the preservation of the fire. This story assumes that Nehemiah rebuilt the Second Temple. In fact, he was active in the mid-fifth century bce, several generations after the construction of the Second Temple in the late sixth century. The mistake was common in Jewish tradition, which frequently remembered the Persian period as shorter than it really was. 19: Persia, the exiles were actually led to Babylonia (cf. 2 Kings 24.14), which later became part of the Persian empire. 20: Nehemiah … commissioned, Neh 2.7–8. 22: The sun … a great fire blazed up, with no human involvement, as in the days of Solomon (2.10; 2 Chr 7.1,3). The story also echoes one about Elijah in 1 Kings 18.33–38. 23: Jonathan is unknown, although it may refer to Mattaniah “who was the leader to begin the thanksgiving in prayer” (Neh 11.17) and whose name, like Jonathan, also means “God's gift” in Hebrew. 27: Gather … set free those who are slaves among the Gentiles, this Judean attitude contrasts diametrically with that of the Diaspora author of the body of the book. 29: As Moses promised, Ex 15.17; Deut 30.5. 34: The Persians considered fire holy and sometimes enclosed sites of sacred fire. 36: “Nephthar,” which means purification, this etymology is obscure but Hanukkah is often seen as a purification; cf. 2.18; 10.3. Naphtha is a form of petroleum.

2.1–18: The penultimate link: Jeremiah. The tradition that Jeremiah saw to the hiding of various ritual objects at the time the First Temple was destroyed supplements the preceding one about what “pious priests” (1.19) did at the same time. For similar traditions, see 2 Baruch 6. 2: Instructed those who were being deported, not mentioned in the book of Jeremiah but see Letter of Jeremiah. 3: Their hearts, see Jer 31.33. 4: Mountain, Nebo (Deut 32.49). Inheritance of God refers to the Holy Land in this Judean letter; elsewhere, notably in Deut 32.9, it often refers to the people (see 5.19n. and 6.16n.). 8: Glory … cloud, see Ex 40.34–38; 1 Kings 8.10. 9–10: Solomon, 1 Kings 8.62–64; 2 Chr 7.1. 10: Moses prayed, Lev 9.24. 11: “They were consumed …” does not appear in the Bible but may refer to the story in Lev 10.16–19. 12: The eight days of dedicatory celebrations by Moses (Lev 8.33–9.1) and Solomon (2 Chr 7.9) are cited as precedents for Hanukkah (10.6). 13–14: Memoirs of Nehemiah … Judas also collected, the biblical book of Nehemiah does not contain these references. Cf. Ezra 3.1–6; 1 Esd 5.46–50. It is important for the author, however, to underline these parallels between the putative founder of the Second Temple and its restorer, so that his claims are documented and thus should be believed by his addressees. Although there is no other evidence for the claim that Nehemiah founded a library, the reference to kings and prophets, and the writings of David sounds like a way of referring to the latter two parts of the Hebrew canon; compare the prologue to Sir and Lk 24.44. Votive offerings, such as those mentioned in 3.2 and 5.16. 17: All … to all, including the Jews of Egypt. Kingship and the priesthood, a usual Jewish way of reading the promise of Ex 19.6.

2.19–32: The author's preface. 19–23: An involved sentence, in which the author shows his control of Greek from the outset. 21: Appearances (Gk “epiphaneiai”) … from heaven are given significant attention in the ensuing narrative at 3.24–26; 5.2–4; 10.29; 11.8; 12.22; etc. These true “epiphanies” are contrasted with the arrogant villain's byname, “Epiphanes.” Judaism, the first known use of this term for the religion. Barbarian hordes as a term referring to the Greeks is a calculated reversal, which allows the author to mobilize the sympathies of Greek readers; so too 5.22; 13.9; 15.2. 23: The five-volume work of Jason of Cyrene, of which 2 Macc is an abridgment, is no longer extant. Cyrene, in Libya. 29: The author compares his work to that of a decorator, in relation to Jason's original construction; for another analogy, see 15.39.

3.1–3: Prologue. Once upon a time everything was fine. 1: The holy city, Jerusalem. This opening bracket announces the book's topic; for the closing bracket, see 15.37. In the next two verses, the author quickly moves, using the inclusive term “place” (v. 2, cf. 13.23), to the Temple. For the notion that his piety guaranteed the stability of the city, cf. Sir 10.2. Hatred of wickedness, a universal moral quality that also characterizes good Gentiles (4.36,49) and God himself (8.4). 3: King Seleucus IV Philopator ruled 187–175 bce. Asia was a frequent designation of the Seleucid Kingdom.

3.4–40: Simon's plot against Onias. 4: But signals the beginning of the story; cf. 12.2 and 14.26. A man named Simon, just as Greek kings are generally represented as benevolent and the villainous Antiochus is an exception, so too concerning Jewish villains our author prefers lone wolves and bad apples, not parties; see 4.7 (contrast 1 Macc 1.13–14),40; 14.3 (contrast 1 Macc 7.5, also 1.11; 2.46). That is, the author in general portrays his world as good, with only occasional problems; contrast the world according to 1 Macc, which needed serious revision by the Hasmoneans. Of the tribe of Benjamin, since 4.23 identifies Menelaus as Simon's brother, many scholars prefer to read, with Latin witnesses, “of Bilgah” (a priestly clan, 1 Chr 24.14). Captain of the temple, cf. “captain of the temple” in Acts 4.1 and 5.4. 5: Tarsus, capital of Cilicia in southern Asia Minor (Acts 21.39), then part of the Seleucid empire. Coelesyria, lit., “hollow Syria” (see 1 Macc 10.69n.), here used of Palestine. 6: Simon apparently claimed that the royal budgets, earmarked for sacrifices (as in v. 3), were instead being accumulated; in vv. 10, 15, it is claimed that in fact the funds that had accumulated were private deposits. 7: Heliodorus, the prime minister of Seleucus IV, is known from inscriptions and historical sources—including a recently discovered inscription that relates to the administration of temples in the region and suggests that his involvement here bespoke Seleucid policy and not merely a misinformed response to the complaint of a disgruntled Jewish officeholder. 11: Hyrcanus son of Tobias, a well-known aristocratic Jewish family in Transjordan; see also 12.17. Hyrcanus was pro-Egyptian. He fled east of the Jordan after 198 bce and built the fortress now known as Araq el-Emir. He committed suicide on the accession of Antiochus IV in 175. A talent weighed ca. 75 lb (34 kg). 14–21: A purple passage, typical of fashionable Hellenistic “pathetic” (i.e., pathos-arousing) historiography, which used vivid rhetoric in order to allow readers to share in the emotions of the characters, as if they were watching them on a stage. 15: The law about deposits, see Ex 22.7–13. 19: Sackcloth was a common sign of self-humiliation or mourning, used to support appeals for divine aid; cf. 10.25 and Esth 4.1. Young women who were kept indoors, cf. Sir 42.9–12. 22–23: They … Heliodorus, the author often emphasizes the opposition of the two sides set for a showdown; cf. 10.28; 15.25–26. 25: A miraculous horse and rider also appear in 5.2–3; 10.29; 11.8. 26: Two young men, angelic figures, as in 10.30 and 3 Macc 6.18. 34: Flogged by heaven, in answer to prayers of vv. 15,20; note esp. v. 39. 36: He bore testimony, as do others in this book who learned the same lesson (8.36; 9.17; 11.13). 39: Dwelling in heaven, an important belief for Diaspora Jews; see 14.34–35 and Acts 7.47–50.

4.1–6: Simon plots against Onias again. See 3.4n. Simon resumes his hostility to the righteous Onias, who therefore turns to the king, whose providential benevolence is emphasized, as is typical for diasporan writers. 4–5: Coelesyria, see 3.5n.

4.7–17: Jason's reforms; “Antioch in Jerusalem.” 7: When Seleucus died, 175 bce. He was said to have been assassinated by Heliodorus (see 3.7n). After the Roman defeat of Antiochus III at the battle of Magnesia (190 bce) and Antiochus's capitulation to Rome in the Treaty of Apamea (188 bce), one of his sons, Antiochus IV, was held hostage in Rome while another, Seleucus IV, reigned on the Syrian throne. With the death of Seleucus, Antiochus IV returned to Syria and ascended to the throne, having been replaced in Rome by Demetrius I, Seleucus's young son; see 14.1n. 8: Talent, see 3.11n. 9: Gymnasium, a Greek school, the place not only of sport but also of political and cultural education, in short, the hallmark and bearer of Hellenism; cf. 1 Macc 1.14. As citizens of Antioch, that is, Jason received permission to establish a “polis,” a Greek-style city-state in which citizenship status was essential to participation in political and economic life, called “Antioch in Jerusalem.” 11: The existing royal concessions, privileges recorded by Josephus (Ant. 12.138–146), granted by Antiochus III upon the establishment of Seleucid rule in Judea around 200 bce, including the promise that Jewish law would be observed. The establishment of Antioch in Jerusalem is taken, by our pious author, to abrogate or undercut those privileges. John the father of Eupolemus is said, here, to have negotiated those privileges, just as his son, Eupolemus, was later to be a Jewish ambassador to Rome (1 Macc 8.17). The move from the father's Hebrew name to the son's Greek name illustrates the rise of Hellenism in contemporary Jerusalem, as does “Jason son of Eleazar,” Eupolemus's partner (1 Macc 8.17). 12: Right under the citadel, here probably refers to the Temple Mount; cf. v. 28. The Greek hat was broad-rimmed; symbolic of the acceptance of Greek culture, it also allows our author to show off here with an impressive pun (Gk “hypotasson … hypo petason,” “induced … the hat”). 16–17: An authorial excursus asserting that sin will bring punishment in a manner appropriate to the misdeed (cf. 4.26 34, 38; 5.9–10; 13.8).

4.18–22: Two pictures of life in Antioch in Jerusalem. The first story (vv. 18–20) shows that one may be a citizen of a “polis” and still avoid idolatry, and the second (vv. 21–22) shows the Jews were good subjects of the Seleucid king. 18: Tyre, a major city on what is now the Lebanese coast. Regular games had been held there since the late fourth century bce. 19: Envoys were commonly sent by Greek cities to observe games and celebrations in others. A drachma was equivalent to a day's wages for a laborer. Hercules, the Greek name of the god Melkart of Tyre. 20: Triremes were standard Phoenician, Greek, and Roman war ships, with three tiers of rowers on each side. 21–22: Apollonius, see v. 4. Coronation, or perhaps a coming-of-age ceremony. Ptolemy VI Philometor (ca. 180–145 bce) became hostile to Syria, and claimed Palestine, which is why the Seleucid king travels east to secure his relationship with Jerusalem before proceeding to Phoenicia, the coastal plain. Jason and the city, as at 3.9, the high priest serves as something of a mayor; cf. Sir 50.1–4.

4.23–50: Menelaus. The quality of the high priest now goes from bad to worse. Jason, who supplanted Onias (4.7–8), was guilty of institutionalizing Hellenization in Jerusalem; Menelaus, who supplanted Jason (tit for tat, v. 26), was a cruel (v. 25) and negligent (v. 27) governor who corruptly sought his own enrichment (v. 32) and did not shrink from murder (v. 34) and bribery (v. 45). He held onto his position, or tried to, until ca. 162 bce (see 13.3–8). 26: Land of Ammon, east of the Jordan, near modern Amman. 28: Sostratus the captain of the citadel, commander of Seleucid forces in Jerusalem; on the Seleucid citadel, see also 15.31 and 1 Macc 1.33. 30: Tarsus … Mallus were cities in southeastern Asia Minor. Hellenistic kings often provided a wife or concubine with a regular income by giving her a city. Antiochus, being extravagant (see 1 Macc 3.30), was often in need of money. 31: It is important for our author to claim that when injustice was done the king was absent, and that upon his return (v. 36) the king was enraged and meted out well-deserved punishment; cf. vv. 1–6n. 33: Sanctuary at Daphne, of Apollo. Daphne is about 5 mi (8 km) from Antioch. Andronicus is thus shown to have violated the sanctity of a Greek temple in order to murder the Jewish high priest. 35–36: Not only Jews … other nations … Greeks, the author insists on the basic unity of humanity and especially upon the Greeks’ respect for Jews (see also v. 49 and 12.30–31); after all, Onias was a man. 37: Moderation and good conduct were appropriate to a Hellenistic gentleman; cf. 15.12. 38: The Lord, an explicit statement of dual causality: Antiochus did the Lord's work. 39: The city, Jerusalem. 42: Killed close by the treasury, frequently the punishment fits the crime in 2 Macc, thus demonstrating God's equitable management of history; see also vv. 16,26,38; 8.33. For Menelaus's own end, see 13.8. 45: Dorymenes had fought for Ptolemy IV against Antiochus III; his son Ptolemy had been governor of Cyprus and had deserted to Antiochus IV (see 10.12–13). 47: Scythians, a proverbially brutal people north of the Black Sea; see 7.4n. 48: The city and the villages and the holy vessels, see textual note b. The reference first of all to the city, and only thereafter to the holy vessels, although the issue pertained to the latter, is typical for the orientation of this book; see 3.1n.

5.1–27: Antiochus IV desecrates the Temple. 1–4: Apparition over Jerusalem. 1: Antiochus made his second invasion of Egypt in the spring of 168 bce, the first having occurred in 170 (see 1 Macc 1.20). The second was successful, although a Roman ultimatum forced him to withdraw (Dan 11.29–30). This humiliation may have created the false rumor of Antiochus's death (v. 5). 2–4: There appeared over all the city, an apparition of a military nature. Because its meaning was ambiguous, all the Jerusalemites could do was pray that it be for the good; the rest of the chapter shows it was not. 5–10: Jason, who had been ousted by Menelaus and expelled from the city (4.26), now attempts a comeback. In light of the claim that Jason was forced out of the city (v. 7), even though Menelaus had withdrawn to the citadel (v. 5) (or, perhaps, to the Temple Mount; see 4.12n), there was probably a nationalist rebellion against Seleucid rule at the same time, as Antiochus inferred (v. 11). But our author prefers to ignore that. 6: Compatriots, lit., “fellow citizens.” Trophies commemorate victories over enemies (15.6), not compatriots, lit., “members of his people.” In this sentence, the Diaspora author uses first a political (city-oriented) category (“citizens”) and then two ethnic ones (“kindred,” “members of his people”). 8: Aretas I, king of Nabatean Arabia, southeast of Judea; his capital was at Petra. 9: Rejected in Egypt, Jason fled to the Lacedaemonians in Sparta; other Jewish sources (e.g., 1 Macc 12.7,21) similarly allege kinship between the Jews and Spartans. 10: Unburied … no funeral, a common theme in this book (9.15,28; 12.39; 13.7). 11–16: Antiochus attacks Jerusalem thinking that all Judea, not just the villain Jason, was in revolt. He was raging inwardly because the Romans had forced him out of Egypt (the Roman envoy, Popillius Laenas, had threatened him with war if he refused to vacate Egypt; see Dan 11.30); both his foreign and his domestic programs were collapsing. 12–13: This account of murder of young and old, outside and inside, seems to allude to Deut 32.25. (On Deut 32 as the basic biblical subtext of this book, see the Introduction.) 15: Even Jews were forbidden to enter the most holy parts of the temple. That the high priest Menelaus would guide Antiochus further indicts him as unfit (4.25). 16: The relative lack of interest in ritual details (only “holy vessels”; contrast 1 Macc 1.21–23), and the need to underline that most Gentile kings are benevolent and respectful to Jews, are typically diasporan.

5.17–20: Authorial excursus (cf. 4.16–17). The author explains that the Temple could suffer this profanation and robbery because it was secondary to the people; for a similar argument see Mk 2.27. 17: For a little while … disregarding is the author's Greek way of rendering the biblical notion of God's hiding his face (Deut 32.20), something which he does at times “for a little while” (Isa 54.7–8) due to the Jews’ sins. 18: Heliodorus, see ch 3.

5.21–27: Further troubles. 21: Thinking in his arrogance … describes Antiochus according to the standard Greek topos of an arrogant oriental monarch. Talents, see 3.11n. 22–23: Phrygia, a region of western Asia Minor. The people: at Jerusalem … at Gerizim, the author considers Samaritans to be Jews, although they worshiped at a different temple, on Mount Gerizim. The author's evenhandedness reflects the situation of Diaspora Jews who worshiped at neither; cf. Jn 4.21. 24: Captain of the Mysians, lit., “Mysarch,” commander of mercenary troops from Mysia, a region of Asia Minor. 25: Parade under arms recalls the apparition in vv. 1–3 and clarifies its meaning. 27: Judas Maccabeus, the third son of Mattathias, of the Hasmonean family (1 Macc 2.1–28). Mention of him here provides a ray of hope throughout the next two chapters of suffering. He will reappear, with a much larger force, at the beginning of ch 8. Live on what grew wild, in observance of Jewish dietary laws that prohibited the consumption of unclean animals; cf. 11.31; 1 Macc 1.62–63; Dan 1.8.

6.1–11: Decrees against Judaism. Jason made Hellenization available in the social, political, and economic spheres; Antiochus now pollutes the Jews’ Temple and attempts to force new rituals upon them which, however Semitic or syncretistic, were viewed by many Jews as Greek customs (v. 9), because a Greek king imposed them. 1: Athenian, Antiochus's ties to Athens are well documented; cf. 9.15. 2: See 5.22–23n. 4: The temple was polluted; see also 1 Macc 1.46–59 and Dan 11.31. Prostitutes … intercourse, temple prostitution is a stereotypical accusation (1 Kings 14.24; 15.12; 22.46; 2 Kings 23.7). It was not a Greek religious practice. 5: Although abominable offerings are mentioned, no reference is made to the “desolating sacrilege” of 1 Macc 1.54; cf. Dan 11.31. 7: Antiochus's birthday was celebrated on the twenty-fifth of each month (1 Macc 1.58–59). Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and harvest. 8: Ptolemais, the Hellenistic city founded at Acco, north of Haifa. 10–11: These first stories of martyrs are paralleled at 1 Macc 1.60–61 and 2.29–38. 2 Maccabees, however, praises the martyrs in the caves who refused to fight on the sabbath, whereas 1 Macc 1–2 uses the pious but impractical martyrs as foils for the Hasmoneans. Cf. 7.38n.

6.12–17: Authorial excursus (cf. 4.16–17; 5.17–20). The author explains to his readers that it is God's graciousness to his people that brings him to allow punishment for sins as they occur, thus enabling atonement and reconciliation. 12: To discipline, as in Deut 8.5. 14: Full measure of their sins, which would then bring upon them irrevocable punishment; Gen 15.16. 16: He does not forsake his own people, Ps 94.14.

6.18–31: Martyrdom of Eleazar. 18: Scribes were scholars of the Torah; cf. 1 Macc 7.12. 4 Macc 5.4 adds that Eleazar was a priest. Swine's flesh is the best known of biblically prohibited meats (Lev 11.7–8; Deut 14.8). In this case the problem is compounded because the meat was sacrificed in a pagan rite (v. 21). 23: Hades, the Gk name of the underworld (Heb “Sheol”). 28: Eleazar is presented as a Jewish Socrates; his speech resembles Socrates's final speech in Plato's Apology. 30: Body … soul, a distinction that reflects the influence of Greek anthropology on Jewish thought. Fear, revere. 31: Not only to the young, as he said in v. 28; the next chapter, however, focuses on the young.

7.1–42: Martyrdom of seven brothers and their mother. This story is the principal subject of 4 Macc, and may be inspired by Jer 15.9; it may have been appropriated from an independent source, as is suggested by the king's presence and by the absence of “political” (city-oriented) formulations so typical of this book. 1: The king is Antiochus IV (v. 24), although he returned to Syria in ch 5 and imposed the decrees through his agents. Swine's flesh, see 6.18n. 2: Ancestors, lit., “fathers,” whose laws are thus made to compete with the commands of the king. 4: Scalp, lit., “cut him around the Scythian way”; see 4.47n. 6: As Moses declared, Deut 32.36. On Deut 32, see Introduction. 8: Language of his ancestors (i.e., Hebrew), an assertion of ethnic and religious identity. 9: Raise us up, resurrection is a recurrent theme in this chapter; see also 12.43–45 and 14.46. This belief's only clear attestation in the Hebrew Bible, Dan 12.1–3, seems to be a response to the same persecutions. 11: Heaven, a circumlocution for God; see v. 34. 18: Because of our sins, as in v. 32 and throughout this book. The brothers have not sinned, so here “our” is collective, as 4.16–17; 5.18; but cf. 12.40 where the death of individual Jews is associated with their idolatry. Astounding things, namely, your successes against the Jews. 22:It was not I who gave you life, in words reminiscent of Eccl 11.5, the mother argues that just as God can give life to the lifeless before birth, so can he do so after death (v. 23). Elements, here the reference seems to be to the parts of the body, not (as in Greek philosophical and scientific usage) to the elements of nature. 24: His Friend, see 1.14n. 27: native (or “ancestral,” as in v. 8) language, probably Hebrew, as is shown by its use for prayer in 12.37 and 15.29, in contrast to “Aramaic” in 15.36. 28: Did not make them out of things that existed, this verse was understood by Origen (185–254 ce) and subsequent Christian authors to be a statement of the doctrine that God created the universe out of nothing. 33: Angry for a little while, see 5.17n. Reconciled with his own servants, alluding to Deut 32.36; see v. 6n.; 8.29. 34: Children of heaven, the Jews; see v.11n. 38: Their deaths are not in vain, but rather effective; contrast 1 Macc 1.62–63; 2.29–41; 3.8. In 1 Macc it is not the death of the martyrs but Judas's valor that turns away the wrath. In 2 Macc the deaths increase the suffering of Israel to such a degree that God is moved to intervene for them; cf. Deut 32.36; Bar 4.

8.1–7: Judas begins the revolt. See 1 Macc 3.1–41. 2–4: The troops’ prayer summarizes the events narrated by the book so far. 3: The blood that cried out to him, cf. Gen 4.10. 4: Innocent babies, 6.10; in context, this also refers, with some exaggeration, to the seven sons of ch 7. 7: The nights, see 10.28; 12.6,9; 13.15; and especially 1 Macc 4.1–25.

8.8–36: First victory over Nicanor. See 1 Macc 3.38–4.25. 8: Philip, see 5.22. Ptolemy (see 4.45n.; 10.12–13; 1 Macc 3.38). 9: According to 1 Macc 3–4, Gorgias was the main figure in this campaign, but 2 Macc makes Nicanor the principal villain. Chs 14–15 narrate Judas's further clashes with him, and the book ends with the establishment of a festival commemorating his final defeat. Friends, see 1.14n. 10: The tribute due to the Romans imposed by the Treaty of Apamea (see 4.7n.); the Seleucids were in arrears. Talent, see 3.11n. 11: Ninety slaves for a talent was half or less of the usual price. 13: Ran off, 1 Macc 3.55–56 portrays this as part of a ceremony mandated by Deut 20.5–8, but 2 Macc uses the occasion to emphasize the courage of those who remained. 15: Covenants, see 1.2n. Called them by his … name, a standard argument in prayers asking God to intervene: God's own reputation was at stake; cf. Ex 32.12; Deut 32.27; 1 Macc 4.33. 19: Sennacherib, king of Assyria; see Isa 37.36; 2 Kings 19.35; this miracle is also cited at 15.22. 20: Galatians, a people of Asia Minor, known for their invasions westward in the third century bce and for their service as mercenaries; the battle mentioned here is otherwise unknown. If “Jews” is omitted (see textual note b), Judas would be citing a case in which God helps worthy people regardless of their identity; see 4.35–36n. 21: Four parts, Judas commanded the first (v. 23). 22: His brothers, see 1 Macc 2.2–5. Although they scarcely figure in 2 Macc, Simon was high priest from 142 to 134 bce (see 1 Macc 13–16), and Jonathan headed the movement from 160 to 143 or 142 (see 1 Macc 9.23–12.53). Joseph, perhaps John is meant; see 1 Macc 2.2; 9.35–36. 23: Eleazar, another brother, was killed at Beth-zechariah (1 Macc 2.5; 6.43–46). 25: Captured the money of those who had come to buy them, the punishment fitting the crime, as often in this book (4.42n.). 26: Day before the sabbath required preparations; cf. 12.38; Mk 15.42. 1 Macc 4.15–16 has no such religious explanation; rather, the Jews broke off the pursuit when it became too dangerous. 27–29: Beginning of mercy … wholly reconciled with his servants, completes the process predicted at 7.33. 30–33: This scene is located here, although out of place chronologically (see 1 Macc 5.6–7; 7.8–25), to illustrate the pious practice of sharing spoils with the needy (see Num 31.25–47; 1 Sam 30.21–25). 34: Thrice-accursed Nicanor, as in 15.3. 35: Having succeeded chiefly in the destruction of his own army, the author loves to gloat; cf., e.g., v. 25; 3.28; 5.9–10; 9.8–10. 36: Proclaimed, like Heliodorus (see 3.39n.), that the Jews had a Defender, i.e., God; cf. 11.13.

9.1–12: Antiochus's retreat and illness. See 1 Macc 6.1–16. Antiochus IV Epiphanes began his eastern campaign in 165 bce, leaving behind his young son Antiochus Eupator with a guardian, Lysias (1 Macc 3.31). 2 Macc simplifies matters by first mentioning that pair only after recounting Antiochus IV's demise; see 10.10–11. For another version of the king's defeat and death, see 1.11–17. 1: Antiochus went to Persia to strengthen his authority there and to get funds. 2: Persepolis, the capital of Persia, near modern Shiraz, founded by Darius I. 3: Antiochus was on his way to Babylon (1 Macc 6.4) but apparently went north by way of Ecbatana (near modern Hamadan). 4: But the judgment of heaven rode with him, as elsewhere in this chapter, the author employs irony: Antiochus thinks he will punish the Jews but does not even know that his own nemesis is riding along with him. 5: Incurable, as in Isa 14.6. That chapter, on the fall of the king of Babylon, informs other parts of this chapter as well. 6: Tortured the bowels, both by inflicting pain and by forcing Jews to eat forbidden foods (chs 6–7). 8: Command the waves of the sea, 5.21. Weigh the high mountains in a balance is something only God can do (Isa 40.12). 9: Worms, a common motif in narratives about the death of tyrants (e.g., Jdt 16.17); Acts 12.23. Stench, from Joel 2.20, of “the northerner,” who was easily identified as Antiochus Epiphanes (the “king of the north” of Dan 11.21–45). 10: Touch the stars of heaven, Isa 14.13.

9.13–27: Antiochus's vow and letter to the Jews. The author enjoys himself, concocting promises and self-humiliation by the desperate king. 14: Free, of taxes; perhaps also having asylum status. 15: Not considered worth burying, see 5.10n. 16: Cf. 3.3; 5.16. Antiochus's promises conform to his brother's practice (3.3). 17: To proclaim the power of God, as did Heliodorus (3.37–39) and Nicanor (8.36). 17–18: Would visit … had justly come upon him, the Greek verbs are identical, ironically underlining the contrast between Antiochus's confident promise and his inability to fulfill it. 19–27: The letter is no supplication (v. 18). Some scholars consider this to be an authentic letter, but one that was addressed only to Jews loyal to the king, bidding them to support his son Antiochus V (vv. 25–27); cf. the authentic letters in 11.16,22,27,34. If it is authentic, it does not fit the context. Alternatively, it may be an ironic composition by the author, designed to make Antiochus appear ridiculous. 19: Citizens means fellow-citizens (as in 5.6, “compatriots”). By naming the addressees first Antiochus ascribes them greater importance; contrast the authentic letters in ch 11. 23: My father, Antiochus III, who appointed Seleucus IV as his successor. The upper country, i.e., Babylonia and Persia, the inlands of Asia, as in 1 Macc 3.37; 6.1. 25: What is written here, lit., “What is written below,” as if the letter had an appendix: more spoofing of official letters (such as 1 Macc 11.31; 12.7). Cf. 11.17n. 26: Your present goodwill, the way this contradicts the facts so blatantly again constitutes authorial humor.

9.28–29: Antiochus's death. Philip apparently tried to seize the Seleucid government (1 Macc 6.55–56) without success and so went over to their enemy, Ptolemy VI (see 4.21). As cuneiform evidence attests, Antiochus died late in 164 bce, around the same time as the rededication of the Temple.

10.1–8: Rededication of the Temple (cf. 1 Macc 4.36–61). This passage, needed to support the invitation in the letters prefaced to the book, seems to have been inserted by the Judean authors of those letters. It interrupts the preceding account, which continues in 10.9, and in contrast to the book as a whole displays an interest in the Temple and an antipathy for Gentiles. 1: The temple and the city, historical order reversed; contrast 3.1–3; 4.48; 15.17. 3: Striking fire out of flint, lit., “igniting rocks and extracting fire from them”; see 1.10–2.18n. The incense, lamps, and bread of the Presence, prescribed by Ex 30.7–8; 25.30. 4: Disciplined, see 6.12n. 5–6: Chislev … festival of booths (December 164 bce); see 1.9n.,18. The Hanukkah festival, celebrated for eight days like Solomon's dedication of the first Temple (1 Kings 8.65–66) and Hezekiah's reconsecration of it (2 Chr 29.17), commemorates this event. See also 1 Macc 4.52–59. In the mountains and caves like wild animals, see 5.27. 7: Ivy-wreathed wands, contrast 6.7. Fronds of palm, cf. 1 Macc 13.51; Jn 12.13.

10.9–13: Antiochus V Eupator ascends to throne. See 9.1–12n. Antiochus V, son of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, ruled 164–162 bce, when he was murdered by order of Demetrius I at the age of eleven. 10: Eupator, who was the son of that ungodly man is ironic, since “Eupator” means “who has a good father.” 11: Lysias, see 1 Macc 3.32–33. Coelesyria, see 3.5n. 12: Ptolemy Macron, see 4.45. We know no more about his fair policy toward the Jews. 13: Friends, see 1.14n. Philometor, see 1.10n. In claiming that Seleucid courtiers condemned Ptolemy Macron for moving his loyalty to the Seleucids, our author is condemning them, as usual; cf. 14.11.

10.14–23: Fighting the Idumeans. Cf. 1 Macc 5.3–5. 14: Gorgias, see 8.9; 12.32. The region, of Idumea (south of Judea) according to 12.32, which explains the link to the next verse. 15: Those who were banished from Jerusalem, apparently by Judas when he retook the city. 17: Twenty thousand, a favorite number (see also v. 23; 8.9,30). 20: Drachma, see 4.19n.

10.24–38: Fighting Timothy. 24: Timothy, who had been defeated by the Jews before, this might be a secondary gloss (see 8.30–33n.). To take Judea, but according to 1 Macc 5.6–8,11 this warfare was in Transjordan; see v. 32n. 25: Sprinkled dust, or possibly “ashes,” as in Esth 4.1; cf. 14.15 and Josh 7.6. 26: The steps before the altar, cf. Joel 2.17 and see 9.9n. As the law declares, at Ex 23.22. The very next verse there promises that God's angel will go before the Jews; see below, v. 29. 28: The one … the other, cf. 3:22–23n. 29: Horses with golden bridles, as at 3.25. 32: Gazara (Gezer) was conquered by the Hasmoneans only decades later (1 Macc 13.43–48); here we should probably read (as in 1 Macc 5.8) “Jazer,” a town in Transjordan, west of Amman. Chaereas, Timothy's brother, according to v. 37. 37: A cistern was a large pit with plaster walls that stored water. The author often denies his enemies honorable death in battle; cf. 8.34–35; 9.1–2; 11.12; 12.35.

11.1–15: Beth-zur campaign (cf. 1 Macc 4.26–35; 6.31). Beth-zur was a fortress 16 mi (25 km) south-southeast of Jerusalem. 1: Lysias, see 9.1–12n. Kinsman, an honorific title; cf. v. 22, “brother.” 2: He intended, lit., “thinking”; see v. 4n. 3: High priesthood for sale every year, which would demean it greatly, for traditionally, until Jason (4.7; cf. 4.24), it had been held for life and passed from father to son. 4: He took no account whatever, lit., “not thinking more,” responding to the verb in v. 2: i.e., Lysias depended upon his own thoughts, and did not give more consideration to the power of God. He will learn: see v. 13. Elephants, often used to force openings in opposing ranks of soldiers (cf. 1 Macc 1.17; 3.34; 6.34–35). 5: Five stadia, lit., “five schoinoi”; a “schoinos” was a Persian measure popular in Egypt, equivalent to ca. thirty stadia (see 12.10–28n.), so the distance here is approximately 18 mi (29 km), which is close to the actual distance of 16 mi (26 km). 6: A good angel, as at 15.23; see 10.26n. 12: Lysias himself escaped by disgraceful flight, see 10.37n. 13–15: According to 1 Macc 4.35 no peace was made, but Lysias returned to Antioch for reinforcements. He may have heard of Antiochus's death and hastened home to take control. 13: God fought on their side, as at 8.36.

11.16–38: Four official letters. These are usually assumed to be authentic, but their location here, after the death of Antiochus IV (ch 9) and ascent of Eupator to the throne (ch 10), is problematic. The second letter is definitely by Antiochus Eupator, who refers to his father's death in v. 23. But the other three bear dates in 164 bce, when Antiochus IV Epiphanes was still alive and ruling, although campaigning in the east; see 9.28–29n. The author's mistaken assumption that all four letters are from the period after that king's death engendered disorder in the narrative; see 12.1n., 12.10n., and 13.23n.

11.16–21: Lysias's letter to the Jews. 17: John, perhaps Judas's brother (1 Macc 2.2); Absalom, see 1 Macc 11.70; 13.11. Your signed communication, read “your communication attached below”; the reference is to the document mentioned in v. 15, which was not preserved. 18: And he has agreed, read “and I have agreed” (see vv. 35–36); Lysias distinguishes between decisions he is authorized to take and others that require the king's attention. 19: Maintain your goodwill, Lysias diplomatically ignores the warfare. 21: The one hundred forty-eighth year of the Seleucid era ran from autumn 165 to autumn 164; the name of the month is corrupt. The date is before Judas rededicated the Temple late in 164.

11.22–26: The king's letter to Lysias. 24: We have heard that the Jews do not consent, more diplomatic understatement. 25: Antiochus rescinds his father's decrees against Judaism (ch 6), ignoring the fact that the Temple was already in Jewish hands.

11.27–33: The king's letter to the Jews. 29: Menelaus as late as spring 164 bce was attempting to mediate between Antiochus and the Jews. 30: Thirtieth of Xanthicus, equivalent to Heb Nisan (March-April). 31: The special emphasis on food corresponds to that focus of the decrees (chs 6–7; 1 Macc 1.62–63). 33: Xanthicus fifteenth, the amnesty's deadline was only two weeks later (v. 30), which is unlikely. Given the identity with the date in v. 38, which too is suspicious, it is likely that this date is corrupt.

11.34–38: Letter of the Romans to the Jews. 34: The Romans in this period were periodically sending embassies to the East. Judas apparently asked them to use their influence with the Seleucids, just as a few years later he would establish a mutual defense pact with them (see 4.11 and 1 Macc 8). 35–36: What Lysias … has granted … referred to the king, see v. 18n.

12.1–9: Clashes in coastal towns. 1: This agreement, lit., “these covenants.” But the documents in ch 11 are not covenants; they are one-sided decisions. Chapter 13, in contrast, does end with “covenants” (13.25, same term in Greek). Given the author's difficulties coordinating ch 13 with earlier material (see 13.1–26n.), perhaps it originally preceded ch 12. The Jews went about their farming, a pastoral image of returning “to their own affairs” (11.23,26,29). 2: Timothy, 8.30–33; 10.24–37. Governor of Cyprus, read “Cypriarch,” i.e., commander of mercenaries from Cyprus (cf. 5.24n.). 3: Joppa, Jaffa, next to modern Tel Aviv; a major port on the Mediterranean, later conquered by the Hasmoneans (1 Macc 12.33–34). 8: Jamnia, ca. 14 mi (22 km) south of Joppa; cf. v. 40 and 1 Macc 5.58.

12.10–28: Fighting in Transjordan. This section parallels much of 1 Macc 5, which contains a fuller account. The order is confused here, for “one mile” (v. 10, lit., “nine stadia”; a stadion was ca. 625 ft [190 m]) would not take Judas's forces from the Mediterranean coast to Transjordan; “ninety-five miles” (v. 17) could. Perhaps the two stories have been erroneously exchanged. 10: Timothy, some confusion is present here too, as he had been killed at 10.37; see 11.16–38n. 10–11: Arabs … nomads, the author often varies his terminology; cf. “no light matter … not easy” in 2.26–27 and “festival of weeks … Pentecost” in 12.31–32. 1 Macc 5.25 identifies these Arabs as Nabateans and claims they were peaceable from the outset; 2 Macc first allows Judas another heroic victory before they make peace. 13: All sorts of Gentiles is pejorative, as in v. 27. Caspin, ca. 10 mi (16 km) east of Lake Gennesaret (the Sea of Galilee). 15: Overthrew Jericho, Josh 6.1–21. 16: Adjoining lake, perhaps a swamp. 17: Charax, “fortified camp”; location unknown. Toubiani, Jews associated with the Tobiad family (3.11n.); cf. 1 Macc 5.13. 21: Women … children … baggage, lit., “women, children, and other baggage,” reflecting patriarchal values. Carnaim, farther east in Transjordan (1 Macc 5.26–27). 22: Manifestation, epiphany; see 2.21n. Injured by their own men, a literary convention in battle scenes. 26: Carnaim, see v. 21n. Atargatis was a Syrian goddess, corresponding to the Canaanite Ashtoreth/Astarte. 27: Ephron, ca. 8 mi (13 km) east of the Jordan River, opposite Scythopolis (v. 29; 1 Macc 5.46–51). War engines, large catapults.

12.29–31: Return to Jerusalem. 29: Scythopolis (Hellenistic Beth-shan), a major city west of the Jordan River, ca. 16 mi (26 km) south of the Sea of Galilee (Judg 1.27; 1 Kings 4.12). 31: Went up, the usual verb for pilgrimage to Jerusalem; see, e.g., 1 Sam 1.3; Acts 21.15. 31–32: Festival of weeks … Pentecost, this holiday comes seven weeks (“Pentecost” = fifty [days]) after Passover (Lev 23.15–16; Acts 2.1). Gorgias, see 8.9; 10.14.

12.32–45: New fighting in the south, sin, and atonement. 35: Thracians were well-known mercenaries in the Hellenistic period. Marisa was a major Idumean town, 20 mi (32 km) southwest of Jerusalem. 37: Language of their ancestors (i.e., Hebrew). 38: Adullam, ca. 10 mi (16 km) southeast of Marisa. 40: Although only “a few” Jews had died (v. 34), it is important for the author that it is sin, not the chances of war, that caused their death. Sacred tokens of the idols of Jamnia, probably taken as spoil. Which the law forbids, see Num 33.52; Deut 7.25–26. 43–45: The author expounds upon Judas's care for the dead as evidence of his belief that their lives did not end with death; see 7.9n. 45: Fall asleep, a common metaphor for death.

13.1–26: A new invasion. This chapter, which makes no allusion to ch 11, reports yet another campaign by Lysias and Antiochus Eupator that focuses on Beth-zur (vv. 18–22). This is problematic, both because no attempt is made to coordinate this narrative with that of ch 11, and because according to the parallel narrative in 1 Maccabees this second campaign began around Beth-zur (1 Macc 6.31) but quickly moved north to Beth-zechariah (1 Macc 6.32–47), which is not mentioned here. Similarly, Philip's role is puzzling; see 13.23n. It appears that the author was confused. 3–8: Death of Menelaus. This interruptive interlude takes care of a loose end. 3: Menelaus, see 4.23–50n. 4: King of kings, a typical Persian epithet. Here it refers to God. Beroea, Aleppo in northern Syria. 5: Fifty cubits high, cf. Esth 7.9; a cubit was ca. 18 in (45 cm). This method was Persian; we are not told whether Menelaus died by burning in hot ashes, or by suffocating in cold ashes. 7: Without even burial, see 5.10n. 8: The apparent artificiality of this explanation of poetic justice shows how important the notion is for 2 Macc; see 4.42n. 9: To explain why the invasion continued although the real troublemaker had been recognized and executed, the author can only claim that the king's attitude toward the Jews changed for the worse; no reason is given. 11: Just begun to revive, so relapse would be all the worse; cf. 14.36. 12: Fasting … for three days, as in Esth 4.16. 14: Modein, ca. 20 mi (32 km) northwest of Jerusalem, the hometown of the Hasmoneans (1 Macc 2.1). 15: Watchword, cf. 8.23. Leading elephant and its rider, cf. 1 Macc 6.43–46, where Eleazar dies after heroically killing the lead elephant. 16: According to 1 Macc 6.47, the Jews fled. 19: Beth-zur, see 11.1–15n. 23: Philip, who had been left in charge of the government, had revolted, this comment is confusing, since 9.29 reported that Philip had fled to Egypt out of fear of Eupator; see 11.16–38n. 24: Received Maccabeus, formally taking leave of him, as at 3.35. Hegemonides, like Heliodorus (3.7) and Ptolemy Macron (10.12), this Seleucid official is known from inscriptions. From Ptolemais to Gerar, the coastal region from Acco down to below Gaza (cf. Gen 10.19); for this administrative district, see also 1 Macc 11.59 and 15.38. 25: The treaty, see 12.1n.

14.1–25: Alcimus and Nicanor. Enter a new villain, Alcimus, said to have formerly been high priest, which is possible if Antiochus V appointed him after the death of Menelaus. He incites the new Seleucid king against Judas, and a royal expedition is sent out, commanded by Nicanor, who is taken by the author, perhaps mistakenly, to be identical with the “thrice-accursed” (8.34; 15.3) villain of ch 8. According to 1 Macc 7.12–25 the first campaign incited by Alcimus was commanded by Bacchides; 2 Macc assigns it to Nicanor in light of its general focus upon him, culminating in his defeat in ch 15 and the festival established to celebrate it (15.36); cf. 8.9n. 1: Three years later, about 162 or 161 bce. Demetrius I (r. 162–150), son of Seleucus IV, had been sent to Rome to replace Antiochus IV Epiphanes as a hostage. When Seleucus IV died in 175 bce, Demetrius was still a child, and Antiochus assumed the throne (see 4.7n.). After the death of Antiochus IV, Demetrius viewed his cousin Antiochus V Eupator as a usurper (see 1 Macc 7.2). Demetrius escaped from Rome in the late summer of 162 bce and quickly established himself upon the Seleucid throne. Tripolis, in northern Lebanon. 2: See 1 Macc 7.3–4. 3: A certain Alcimus, acting alone; cf. 1 Macc 7.5, where he leads a delegation; see 3.4n. Times of separation refers to the days of Antiochus's decrees. 4: Crown of gold and a palm, customary gifts to kings; cf. 1 Macc 13.37. 6–11: Alcimus's speech is meant to be understood as self-serving. His pretended concern for the commonweal is a parody that contrasts him with Onias (4.1–6). 6: Hasideans, meaning “pious ones”; see also 1 Macc 7.13 where they are a party separate from the Maccabees and Judas is not their leader. In 1 Macc their pious peace-seeking is represented as naïve, and many of them are killed, making them, as those depicted in 1 Macc 1.62–63 and 2.29–38, foils for the smarter, more violent, Hasmoneans. Cf. 15.27n. 11: Friends, see 1.14n. 14: Cf. 8.11. 15: Dust, see 10.25n. 16: Dessau, precise location uncertain. 17: As at 10.20, Simon is something of a foil for Judas, although not condemned. 18: Country, lit., “fatherland”; see 7.2n. 23–25: Idyllic relations between Nicanor and Judas. The author again portrays mutual respect between Jew and Gentile, as long as troublemakers do not interfere; see 4.35–36n.

14.26–15.36: Alcimus and Nicanor, continued. As elsewhere (3.4; 12.2), the idyll is destroyed, and so the story resumes, with a heavy “But.” Alcimus again misrepresents the good relations between Nicanor and Judas to Demetrius, and the king responds by renewing his orders to Nicanor to assert royal rule and arrest Judas. Nicanor has no choice but to obey, and so the way is paved for a new clash. 28–33: Cf. 1 Macc 7.30–38. 30: Cf. Gen 31.2. 33: Stretched out his right hand, usually a gesture of prayer (3.20; 15.12), but here it is a threat, apparently modeled on Isa 10.32, where it is ascribed to an Assyrian king leading an army against Jerusalem. The threatening gesture is answered first in the next verse and then, conclusively, at 15.32. Dionysus, see 6.7n. 34: Toward heaven, to protect the Temple, as in 3.39. 35: In contrast to the parallel in 1 Macc 7.36–38, the Diaspora theology of 2 Macc emphasizes that God resides in heaven, not in what the Bible calls “the house of God,” of which God really has no need. 36: Been so recently purified, see 10.1–8; 13.11.

14.37–46: Martyrdom of Razis. This account of martyrdom functions similarly to those in chs 6–7, namely, it is the premise of the victory over Nicanor depicted in the next chapter. 37: Father of the Jews, an honorific title. 38: The reference to Judaism shows that Razis fought, in his way, for the same cause as did Judas and his men in theirs (2.21; 8.1). 42: Die nobly, like Eleazar (6.28). 43–44: Courageously … bravely: the Diaspora author emphasizes that martyrs share the same qualities as heroic soldiers. 46: See 7.9n.

15.1–36: Death of Nicanor. 1: Attack … on the day of rest, cf. 5.25; 8.26. 3: Thrice-accursed Nicanor, as in 8.34. 4–5: Sovereign in heaven … sovereign also, on earth, see 3.22–23n. 8–9: Cf. v. 22 and 8.19. 9: The law and the prophets, the Torah (Pentateuch) and the prophetic books were now regarded as scripture (see Prologue to Sirach). 10: Violation of oaths, 11.27–32; 14.18–29. 12–16: Judas receives the support of both priest (Onias III) and prophet (Jeremiah) to defend the Jews on the Sabbath; compare the treatment of the sabbath question in 1 Macc 2.39–41. 12: On Onias's qualities, see 4.37n. Was praying, as a priest invoking God's blessing upon a congregation; see Lev 9.22 and Sir 50.20. 20: Elephants … cavalry, cf. 1 Macc 6.34–38. 22: Camp of Sennacherib, see 8.19n.; cf. 1 Macc 7.41–42. 23: Good angel, as at 11.6. 24: Might of your arm, Ex 15.16. 27: Fighting with their hands and praying, Ps 149.6. 29: Shouting and tumult, words that usually bespeak fear; see 3.30; 10.30; 11.25; 12.37; 13.16. Indeed, some fear is expected among those who witness divine intervention, even on their behalf; cf. Ex 14.30–31; Ps 52.6; Mk 4.41; Lk 1.65. Language of their ancestors, i.e., Hebrew; Judean Jews spoke Aramaic, but formal prayer, using the language of scripture, was typically in Hebrew. 30–36: Disposition of Nicanor's corpse; cf. 1 Macc 7.47–49. 31: The citadel, still held by a Syrian garrison and Jewish supporters, near the Temple (1 Macc 6.18). 32: See 14.33. 34: Who has kept his own place undefiled, answering, verbatim, the prayer of 14.36. 35: 1 Sam 31.9; Jdt 14.1; 1 Macc 7.47. 36: Decreed by public vote, as at 10.8. Compare 1 Macc 7.48–49. Adar, February/March. Aramaic, the contemporary vernacular, as opposed to Hebrew, “the language of their ancestors” (12.37; 15.29; cf. 7.8,21,27). Mordecai's day, the festival of Purim, celebrated on the fourteenth day of Adar (Esth 9.21). There is evidence for the celebration of Nicanor's Day even centuries later.

15.37–39: Conclusion. 37: So I will here end, by using the first person, as in 2.23–32 and 6.2, the author reintroduces himself and thus announces the conclusion of his work, clearly explaining that it is the restoration of Jerusalem that ends his story by closing the circle that began with the idyllic Jerusalem of 3.1–3. The fact that the city was under Seleucid rule in ch 3 and now it was in the possession of the Hebrews does not interest the Diaspora author. For the history of Jerusalem, and the revolt, from this point on, see 1 Macc, beginning with ch 8. 39: Harmful to drink wine alone, in the Greco-Roman world it was usual to drink wine mixed with water; only barbarians, notoriously the Scythians (see 4.47n.), drank it undiluted. As at 2.29, the author emphasizes that his job was only to beautify Jason of Cyrene's work, making it more palatable and enjoyable.

^a 143 b.c.

^b 124 b.c.

^a Cn: Gk as those who array themselves against a king

^b Gk lacks the goddess

^a Gk nephthai

^a Gk he

^a Gk Apollonius son of Tharseas

^b Gk He

^a Other ancient authorities read and

^a Gk and

^b Vg Compare verse 21: Meaning of Gk uncertain

^c Or by a petition

^a Gk he

^b Gk lacks true

^c Meaning of Gk uncertain

^a Gk he

^b Gk He

^c Or in each city

^a Gk they

^b Other ancient authorities read the people

^a Cn: Gk Imprisoned

^b Gk he

^a Or worse than the others did in his malice toward the Jewish citizens

^b Gk he

^c Other ancient authorities read Antiochian

^d Or Geron an Athenian

^a Gk they

^b Cn: Gk suggestion of the Ptolemies (or of Ptolemy)

^a Other ancient authorities read was dragged

^b Meaning of Gk uncertain

^c Gk he

^d Gk they

^e Gk slaves

^a Gk at him

^b Lat: Other ancient authorities lack Therefore

^c Gk he

^d Or have borne the burden of your education

^e Or God made them out of things that did not exist

^f The Gk here for you is plural

^a The Gk here for you is singular

^b Gk slaves

^c Cn: Gk fallen

^d Gk he

^e Gk one of the first

^a Gk they

^b Gk lacks Jews

^c Gk lacks Galatians

^d Meaning of Gk uncertain

^a Gk slaves

^b Gk their arms

^c Meaning of Gk uncertain

^d Gk they were defeated

^a Or not think thoughts proper only to God

^a Cn: Meaning of Gk uncertain

^a Meaning of Gk uncertain

^b Gk he

^a Meaning of Gk uncertain

^b 164 b.c.

^a 164 b.c.

^b Gk to them

^c Gk they

^a Gk two hundred forty stadia

^b Gk nine stadia

^c Gk them

^d Meaning of Gk uncertain

^e Gk two stadia

^f Gk seven hundred fifty stadia

^a Gk he

^b Meaning of Gk uncertain

^c Gk they

^d Gk six hundred stadia

^a 163 b.c.

^b Or the worst of the things that had been done

^a Meaning of Gk uncertain

^b Or faltered

^c Other ancient authorities read of mixing

^a 161 b.c.

^b Gk of the Friends

^c Gk greatest

^d Meaning of Gk uncertain

^e Gk they

^f Gk he

^g Other ancient authorities read slowly

^h Gk They

^a Gk he

^b Gk greatest

^c Meaning of Gk uncertain

^a Meaning of Gk uncertain

^a Meaning of Gk uncertain

^a Or to remain in camp

^b Gk for brothers

^c Gk animals

^d Gk he

^e Gk He