2 Maccabees: Encyclopedia - 2 Maccabees

2 Maccabees

2 Maccabees is a deuterocanonical book of the Bible which focuses on the Jews' revolt against Antiochus and concludes with the defeat of the Syrian general Nicanor in 161 BC by Judas Maccabeus, the hero of the work. Catholics and Orthodox consider the work to be canonical and part of the Bible. Protestants and Jews, while not considering it to be Scripture, consider it useful as a historical supplement to 1 Maccabees, but reject most of the doctrinal innovations present in the work. Some Protestants include 2 Maccabees as part of the Apocrypha, useful for reading in the church.

2 Maccabees - Author

The author of 2 Maccabees is not identified, but he claims to be abridging a 5-volume work by Jason of Cyrene. This longer work is not preserved, and it is uncertain how much of the present text of 2 Maccabees is simply copied from that work. The author wrote in Greek, apparently, as there is no particular evidence of an earlier Hebrew version. A few sections of the book, such as the Preface, Epilogue, and some reflections on morality are generally assumed to come from the author, not from Jason. Jason's work was apparently written sometime around 160 BC and most likely ended with the defeat of Nicanor, as does the abridgement available to us.

The beginning of the book includes two letters sent by Jews in Jerusalem to Jews of the Diaspora in Egypt concerning the feast day set up to celebrate the purification of the temple (See Hanukkah) and the feast to celebrate the defeat of Nicanor. If the author of the book inserted these letters, the book would have to have been written after 124 BC, the date of the second letter. Some commentators hold that these letters were a later addition, while others consider them the basis for the work. Catholic scholars tend toward a dating in the last years of the second century BC, while the consensus among Jewish scholars place it in the second half of the first century BC.

It appears to be written for the benefit of the diaspora Jews in Egypt, primarily to inform them about the restoration of the temple and to encourage them to make the yearly pilgrimage to Jerusalem. It is written not from the point of view of a professional historian, but rather of a religious teacher, who draws his lessons out of history.

2 Maccabees - Doctrine

2 Maccabees is notable for several points of advanced doctrine deriving from Pharisaic Judaism. 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 so hate II Maccabees and Esther that I wish that they didn't exist."

Doctrinal issues that are raised in 2 Maccabees include:

• Resurrection of the dead
• Prayer for the dead to free them from sin (See Purgatory.)
• Merits of the martyrs
• Intercession of the saints

Particularly the offering of prayers for the dead is not found in other contemporary Jewish sources as even the "Kaddish," a prayer Jews say when a relative or family member dies, is used to proclaim the glory of God.

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. Hebrews 11:35 quotes II Maccabees 6-7.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "2 Maccabees", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki