2 Maccabees
2 Maccabees is a deuterocanonical book of the Bible which focuses on the Jews' revolt against Antiochus IV and concludes with the defeat of the Syrian general Nicanor in 161 B.C.E. by Judas Maccabeus, the hero of the work. It differs from 1 Maccabees in that it starts at an earlier point in the history of this struggle and concludes before the death of Judas, while 2 Maccabees goes on to tell the story of Judas' demise, as well as the reigns of his successors Jonathan and Simon, concluding with the accession of Simon's son, John Hycanus.
2 Maccabees was written in Greek, probably in Alexandria, Egypt in the late second century B.C.E. and is an avowedly abridged account of a longer work by a certain Jason. It also differs from 1 Maccabees in by including several miraculous account in contrast to 1 Maccabees' more straightforward history and adding material from the Pharisaic tradition, notably regarding the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, including a prayer for the dead and a vision in which the prophet Jeremiah speaks to Judas Maccabeus to urge him to action.
Catholics and Orthodox consider the work to be canonical and part of the Bible, while Protestants and Jews do not. Some Protestants include 2 Maccabees as part of the Apocrypha, useful for reading in the church. Article VI of the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England defines it as useful but not the basis of doctrine and not necessary for salvation.
Author
The author of 2 Maccabees is not identified, but admits to be abridging a five-volume work by Jason of Cyrene. This longer work is not preserved. The author, a skilled an self-conscious narrator, apparent wrote in Greek for a diasporan Jewish audience, as there is no internal or external evidence of an earlier Hebrew version. A few sections of the book, such as the preface, epilogue, and various reflections given by the writer in the first person are generally assumed to come from the author, not from Jason.
The beginning of the book includes two letters supposedly sent by Jews in Jerusalem to Jews of the diaspora in Egypt concerning the two recently-instituted Maccabean holidays: the feast day set up to celebrate the purification of the temple (Hanukkah) and the feast to celebrate the defeat of Nicanor by Judas Maccabeaus. The date of the second letter is 124 B.C.E. Some commentators hold that these letters were a later addition, while others consider them to have been inserted by the author as the the basis for the work: namely to urge the Alexandrian Jews to adopted the Maccabean festivals. Catholic scholars tend toward a dating in the last years of the second century B.C.E., while the consensus among Jewish scholars places it in the second half of the first century B.C.E., due in part to its Pharisaic outlook.
Contents
Unlike 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees does not attempt to provide a complete account of the events of the period, instead covering only the period from the high priest Onias III and King Seleucus IV (180 B.C.E.) to the defeat of Nicanor in 161.
In general, the chronology of the book coheres with that of 1 Maccabees, and it has some historical value in supplementing 1 Maccabees, principally in providing a few apparently authentic historical documents. The author seems primarily interested in providing a theological interpretation of the events; in this book God's interventions direct the course of events, punishing the wicked and restoring the Temple to his people. It's possible that some events appear to be presented out of strict chronological order in order to make theological points. Some of the numbers cited for sizes of armies may also appear exaggerated, though not all of the manuscripts of this book agree.
The Greek style of the writer is very educated, and he seems well-informed about Greek customs. The action follows a very simple plan: after the death of Antiochus Epiphanes, the Feast of the Dedication of the Temple is instituted. The newly-dedicated Temple is threatened by Nicanor, and after his death, the festivities for the dedication are concluded.
Doctrine
2 Maccabees is notable for several points of advanced doctrine deriving from Pharisaic Judaism.
Doctrinal issues that are raised in 2 Maccabees include:
- Prayer for the dead and sacrificial offerings, both to free the dead from sin[1][2]
- Merits of the martyrs
- Intercession of the saints (15:11-17) (at least as seen from a Christian viewpoint) [1]
- Resurrection from the dead
In particular, the long descriptions of the martyrdoms of Eleazer and of a mother with her seven sons (2 Macc 6:18–7:42) caught the imagination of medieval Christians. Several churches are dedicated to the "Maccabeean martyrs," and they are among the very few pre-Christian figures to appear on the Catholic calendar of saints' days. The book is considered the first model of the medieval stories of the martyrs.
Canonicity
Roman Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox regard 2 Maccabees as canonical. Jews and Protestants do not. 2 Maccabees, along with 1 and 3 Maccabees, appeared in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible completed in the 1st century B.C.E.[3] In Jamnia c 90, Palestinian rabbis endorsed a narrower canon, excluding deuterocanonical works such as 2 Maccabees. This had little immediate impact on Christians, however, since most Christians did not know Hebrew and were familiar with the Hebrew Bible through the Greek Septuagint text of Hellenistic Jews, which included 2 Maccabees and other deuterocanonical works. When the texts were translated into Latin in the early fifth century by Jerome, he noticed that they were absent in the Hebrew but, not wanting to remove them from the canon entirely, coined the term deuterocanon (Greek second canon) for them. In the early 1520s, Martin Luther found much of the contents of the deuterocanon, particularly 2 Maccabees, doctrinally disagreeable and removed them on the pretext that they were absent from the Masoretic text, along with the Epistle of James. [3]
2 Maccabees was condemned in Protestant circles.[3] Many have suggested that this is the primary reason for its rejection—and following from that, the rejection of all the deuterocanonical books—by reformers such as Martin Luther, who said: "I am so great an enemy to the second book of the Maccabees, and to Esther, that I wish they had not come to us at all."[4]
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- ↑ (A)nd they turned to prayer, beseeching that the sin which had been committed might be wholly blotted out. And the noble Judas exhorted the people to keep themselves free from sin, for they had seen with their own eyes what had happened because of the sin of those who had fallen. He 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. For 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. But 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, that they might be delivered from their sin. (2 Macc 12:42-45)
- ↑ 12:44 For 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.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Harris, Stephen L., Understanding the Bible. Palo Alto: Mayfield. 1985. Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "Harris" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid<ref>tag; name "Harris" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Luther, Martin [1566] (1893). "Of God's Word: XXIV", The Table-Talk of Martin Luther, trans. William Hazlitt, Philadelphia: Lutheran Publication Society. LCC BR332.T4. Retrieved 2006-03-25.
External links
- The Book of 2 Maccabees Full text (also available in Arabic)
- 2 Maccabees Translation with hyperlinks
- World Wide Study Bible: 2 Maccabees
- Jewish Encyclopedia: II Maccabees
| Preceded by: 1 Maccabees |
Books of the Bible |
Succeeded by: Job in the Roman Catholic OT 3 Maccabees in the Eastern OT |
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