2 Maccabees 14: What the Passage Says

The Chapter in a Sentence

Demetrius the son of Seleucus takes control of the country, and Alcimus, a former high priest, comes to him and accuses Judas Maccabeus and his followers of keeping the war going. Demetrius sends Nicanor to kill Judas, but Nicanor makes an agreement with Judas instead and grows fond of him; after Alcimus reports this, the king orders Judas sent to Antioch as a prisoner. Nicanor turns harsh, Judas withdraws, and Nicanor swears at the temple that he will tear it down if the priests do not hand Judas over. The chapter ends with the elder Razis, sought by Nicanor's soldiers, taking his own life rather than being captured.

Claim by Claim

1. 14:1
   • Three years later, news reached Judas and those with him.
   • The news was that Demetrius the son of Seleucus had sailed in by the harbor of Tripolis.
   • Demetrius came with a strong force and a fleet.
2. 14:2
   • Demetrius had taken control of the country.
   • Demetrius had killed Antiochus.
   • Demetrius had killed Lysias, who was Antiochus's guardian.
3. 14:3
   • A certain Alcimus had previously been high priest.
   • Alcimus had willingly defiled himself in the times when the Jews kept themselves unmixed with the Gentiles.
   • Alcimus realized there was no deliverance for him by any means whatever.
   • Alcimus realized he had no further access to the holy altar.
4. 14:4
   • Alcimus came to king Demetrius in the hundred and fifty-first year.
   • Alcimus presented Demetrius with a crown of gold.
   • Alcimus presented Demetrius with a palm.
   • Alcimus also presented some of the customary festal branches of the temple.
   • On that day Alcimus said nothing further.
5. 14:5
   • Alcimus got an opportunity that served his own folly.
   • Demetrius summoned Alcimus into his council.
   • Alcimus was asked what disposition and purpose the Jews held to.
   • Alcimus answered the question.
6. 14:6
   • Alcimus said that those Jews called Assideans keep up war.
   • Alcimus said that they are seditious.
   • Alcimus said that Judas Maccabeus is their leader.
   • Alcimus said that they do not let the kingdom attain tranquillity.
7. 14:7
   • Alcimus said he had been stripped of his ancestral honor.
   • Alcimus said that by that honor he meant the high priesthood.
   • Alcimus said that he had now come there.
8. 14:8
   • Alcimus said he came first out of genuine concern for the things that belong to the king.
   • Alcimus said he came secondly out of regard for his own fellow citizens.
   • Alcimus said the whole Jewish nation is in no small misfortune.
   • Alcimus said that misfortune comes through the recklessness of those he had just named.
9. 14:9
   • Alcimus called on the king, who knew each of these things, to take thought for the country.
   • Alcimus asked the king to take thought for their nation, which is beset on every side.
   • Alcimus appealed to the ready kindness the king shows to all.
10. 14:10
    • Alcimus said that as long as Judas survives, it is impossible for the state to attain peace.
11. 14:11
    • When Alcimus had said these things, the king's other friends at once inflamed Demetrius further against Judas.
    • Those friends were maliciously disposed toward Judas.
12. 14:12
    • Demetrius immediately appointed Nicanor, who had been master of the elephants.
    • Demetrius made Nicanor governor over Judea.
    • Demetrius sent Nicanor out.
13. 14:13
    • Demetrius gave Nicanor written orders.
    • Nicanor was ordered to kill Judas himself.
    • Nicanor was ordered to scatter those who were with Judas.
    • Nicanor was ordered to install Alcimus as high priest of the greatest temple.
14. 14:14
    • Gentiles connected with Judea joined Nicanor in flocks.
    • Those Gentiles are described as having fled from Judas, or as having driven Judas into exile.
    • They supposed the misfortunes and calamities of the Jews would be their own prosperity.
15. 14:15
    • The Jews heard of Nicanor's advance.
    • The Jews heard of the attack of the Gentiles.
    • The Jews sprinkled earth on themselves.
    • The Jews made supplication to him who had established his own people forever.
    • They prayed to him who always upholds his own portion with a manifestation of his presence.
16. 14:16
    • At the command of their leader they set out from there at once.
    • They engaged the enemy at a village called Dessau.
17. 14:17
    • Simon, the brother of Judas, had engaged Nicanor.
    • Simon suffered a setback.
    • The setback came through the sudden silence of the adversaries.
18. 14:18
    • Nicanor heard of the bravery of those with Judas.
    • Nicanor heard of their courage in the struggles for their country.
    • Nicanor shrank from settling the matter by bloodshed.
19. 14:19
    • Nicanor sent Posidonius, Theodotus, and Mattathias.
    • They were sent to give and receive pledges of peace.
20. 14:20
    • There was lengthy consideration of these proposals.
    • The leader communicated the proposals to the troops.
    • It appeared that they were all of one mind.
    • They consented to the covenants.
21. 14:21
    • They appointed a day on which to come together privately.
    • Seats were set out for each of them.
22. 14:22
    • Judas stationed armed men ready at strategic places.
    • He did this in case the enemy should suddenly commit treachery.
    • They held a suitable conference.
23. 14:23
    • Nicanor stayed in Jerusalem.
    • Nicanor did nothing out of place.
    • Nicanor dismissed the crowds that had gathered to him in flocks.
24. 14:24
    • Nicanor kept Judas continually in his presence.
    • Nicanor was attached to the man from his heart.
25. 14:25
    • Nicanor urged Judas to marry and beget children.
    • Judas married.
    • Judas settled down quietly.
    • Judas took part in ordinary life.
26. 14:26
    • Alcimus perceived the goodwill between Nicanor and Judas.
    • Alcimus took note of the covenants that had been made.
    • Alcimus came to Demetrius.
    • Alcimus said Nicanor was disloyal to the government's interests.
    • Alcimus said Nicanor had appointed Judas, a plotter against the kingdom, as his successor.
    • Judas is called a plotter against Demetrius's kingdom.
27. 14:27
    • The king became enraged.
    • The king was provoked by the slanders of that most wicked man.
    • The king wrote to Nicanor.
    • The king said he was displeased at the covenants.
    • The king ordered Nicanor to send Maccabeus as a prisoner to Antioch quickly.
28. 14:28
    • This message came to Nicanor.
    • Nicanor was thrown into confusion.
    • Nicanor took it hard that he should annul what had been agreed.
    • Judas had done no wrong.
29. 14:29
    • There was no acting against the king.
    • Nicanor watched for a suitable moment to carry the order out by stratagem.
30. 14:30
    • Maccabeus saw that Nicanor was behaving more harshly toward him.
    • Maccabeus saw that Nicanor met him more roughly than was his custom.
    • Maccabeus concluded that this harshness did not come of anything good.
    • Maccabeus gathered together not a few of his men.
    • Maccabeus withdrew and hid himself from Nicanor.
31. 14:31
    • Nicanor recognized that he had been nobly outmaneuvered by Judas.
    • Nicanor came to the great and holy temple.
    • The priests were offering the customary sacrifices at the time.
    • Nicanor commanded them to hand the man over.
32. 14:32
    • The priests declared on oath that they did not know where the man he sought was.
33. 14:33
    • Nicanor stretched out his right hand toward the sanctuary.
    • Nicanor swore an oath.
    • He swore that if they did not deliver Judas to him as a prisoner, he would level this shrine of God to the ground.
    • He swore he would tear down the altar.
    • He swore he would erect there a conspicuous temple to Dionysus.
34. 14:34
    • Having said this, Nicanor departed.
    • The priests stretched out their hands toward heaven.
    • The priests called upon him who always fights for their nation.
    • The priests spoke the following words.
35. 14:35
    • The priests addressed the Lord of all things.
    • They said that he has need of nothing.
    • They said he had been pleased that a temple of his dwelling should be among them.
36. 14:36
    • The priests addressed him as holy Lord of all holiness.
    • They asked him to keep this house undefiled forever.
    • They said this house had lately been cleansed.
    • They asked him to stop every unrighteous mouth.
37. 14:37
    • A certain Razis, one of the elders of Jerusalem, was denounced to Nicanor.
    • Razis was a lover of his countrymen.
    • Razis was very well spoken of.
    • Razis was called a father of the Jews because of his goodwill.
38. 14:38
    • In earlier times, when the Jews kept themselves unmixed with the Gentiles, Razis had been charged with Judaism.
    • Razis had risked body and life for Judaism with all earnestness.
39. 14:39
    • Nicanor wanted to make plain the hostility he bore toward the Jews.
    • Nicanor sent more than five hundred soldiers to arrest Razis.
40. 14:40
    • Nicanor thought that by arresting Razis he would inflict a disaster on the Jews.
41. 14:41
    • The troops were on the point of capturing the tower.
    • They were forcing the door of the courtyard.
    • They were ordering that fire be brought and the doors set alight.
    • Razis was about to be caught on every side.
    • Razis fell on his own sword.
42. 14:42
    • Razis chose to die nobly rather than fall into the hands of the wicked.
    • Razis chose death rather than be outraged in a way unworthy of his noble birth.
43. 14:43
    • Razis missed his stroke because of the haste of the struggle.
    • The crowds were rushing inside the doorways.
    • Razis ran bravely up onto the wall.
    • Razis threw himself down manfully among the crowds.
44. 14:44
    • The crowds quickly drew back.
    • A space opened up.
    • Razis fell into the middle of the empty space.
45. 14:45
    • Razis was still breathing.
    • Razis was inflamed with anger.
    • Razis got up.
    • His blood was gushing out in streams.
    • His wounds were severe.
    • Razis ran through the crowds.
    • Razis stood on a steep rock.
46. 14:46
    • Razis was by now completely drained of blood.
    • Razis pulled out his own entrails.
    • Razis took them in both hands.
    • Razis flung them at the crowds.
    • Razis called on the one who is master of life and spirit to give these back to him again.
    • Razis died in this manner.

Words Worth Explaining

Every language note in this chapter, gathered. These explain what a word meant, never what it means for the reader.

14:1

Demetrius I was the son of Seleucus IV and had been held in Rome as a hostage for years while the throne passed to his young cousin Antiochus V. He escaped and landed at Tripolis, a port on the Phoenician coast in what is now Lebanon, to claim the kingdom.

14:2

Antiochus V came to the throne as a boy, and Lysias, a senior officer, ruled in his name as his guardian. Demetrius had both of them killed on taking power, in about 162 BC.

14:3

The Greek text says Alcimus polluted himself in the times when there was *no* mingling with the Gentiles; that is, he adopted Greek ways during the very years when other Jews were refusing to. The KJV translators read the sentence the other way around. "Defiled" is ritual language: a priest who had taken part in Gentile worship or eaten forbidden food was disqualified from serving at the altar, which is why he had "no more access" to it. Gentiles are simply non-Jews.

14:4

Dates in this book are counted from the start of the Seleucid kingdom in 312/311 BC, so the one hundred fifty-first year is about 161 BC. A gold crown and a palm branch were the standard gifts a subject city or official presented to a Hellenistic king as a token of loyalty. The olive branches were carried in temple festivals, so bringing them signaled that Alcimus spoke for the temple.

14:6

"Assideans" is the Greek spelling of the Hebrew Hasidim, "the loyal" or "the devout," a group that had joined the Maccabean revolt in defense of the Jewish law. Alcimus is naming an organized party, not a crowd.

14:7

The high priesthood was a hereditary office held within one priestly family, and under Seleucid rule it also made its holder the head of the Jewish nation in its dealings with the king. That is why Alcimus calls it his ancestors' honor and why he is appealing to the king to get it back: by this period the king appointed the high priest.

14:11

"The king's friends" was a formal rank at a Hellenistic court, an official title for members of the royal council, not a description of personal friendship.

14:12

War elephants were the Seleucid army's heaviest and most prestigious arm, so "master of the elephants" marks Nicanor as a senior commander. Judea was a district of the Seleucid kingdom, and a governor held both civil and military authority over it.

14:13

The great temple was God's house in Jerusalem. It was the one place where Jews brought their gifts to God.

14:15

Throwing dirt or ashes on the head was a recognized public gesture of grief and desperation. Where the KJV says God "helpeth his portion," the word translated "portion" means an allotted inheritance or share: Israel is spoken of as the plot of ground God took for himself.

14:16

The place name is uncertain. Greek manuscripts read Dessau, Lessau, or Adasa, and the site has not been identified.

14:17

The KJV "discomfited" means checked or thrown back in battle, not embarrassed. The Greek of this verse is obscure and translators divide over what exactly went wrong for Simon.

14:19

The Greek says he sent them to give and receive pledges, the formal exchange of guarantees that opened negotiations between armies.

14:20

The terms were the promises each side made to the other. Here they promised to stop fighting.

14:21

The KJV "stools" means chairs of state set out for a formal conference between the two leaders. Some Greek manuscripts also have a chariot coming forward from each army.

14:26

The Greek word behind "successor" was a court title meaning designated deputy or heir to an office. The accusation is that Nicanor had given that rank to Judas, who in the king's eyes was a rebel.

14:27

Antioch, on the Orontes river in northern Syria, was the Seleucid capital, roughly three hundred miles north of Jerusalem.

14:31

The "usual sacrifices" were the offerings made every morning and evening in the temple. Nicanor is interrupting them and demanding that the priests hand a man over from the sanctuary itself.

14:32

To swear means to make a very strong promise. People asked God to listen while they said it.

14:33

Stretching out the right hand toward the temple was the gesture that accompanied a formal oath. Bacchus is the Roman name for the Greek god Dionysus; under Antiochus IV, Jews had been forced to march in Dionysus processions wearing ivy wreaths, so the threat names a specific humiliation already within living memory.

14:36

"Lately cleansed" refers to the purification and rededication of the temple after its desecration under Antiochus IV, about three years before this, the event later commemorated at Hanukkah. The closing phrase "stop every unrighteous mouth" is absent from some Greek manuscripts.

14:37

The elders of Jerusalem formed the gerousia, the council that ran the city's internal affairs. "A father of the Jews" was an honorific title, not a family relationship.

14:38

The KJV "accused of Judaism" uses one of the earliest recorded appearances of that word, Greek Ioudaismos. Under Antiochus IV, keeping the Jewish law had been made a crime punishable by death, so this was a criminal charge and not a description.

14:41

The "multitude" here is the five hundred soldiers sent to arrest him. The tower was a fortified private house with a walled courtyard, the kind a wealthy man in the countryside might live in.

14:42

"Abused" in the KJV means shamefully mistreated: torture and public degradation of a prisoner. Dying nobly rather than falling into enemy hands is standard Greek vocabulary for an honorable death, and the author tells the scene in those terms.

14:46

"Bowels" means the intestines. The prayer that God give them back to him uses the language of bodily restoration found elsewhere in this book, where the mother and her sons expect their torn bodies to be returned to them.