2 Maccabees

Your brothers, the Jews in Jerusalem and in the land of Judea, send to their brothers, the Jews all through Egypt, their wish for health and peace:

1The brethren, the Jews that be at Jerusalem and in the land of Judea, wish unto the brethren, the Jews that are throughout Egypt health and peace:

NoteThis is the opening of a Greek letter, in the standard form of sender, recipient, greeting. Second Maccabees begins with two such letters sent from Jews in Judea to the large Jewish community in Egypt, most of it in Alexandria; the first runs to verse 9, the second from verse 10 to 2:18. The book's own narrative does not start until chapter 3. "Brethren" here means fellow Jews, not relatives.

2May God be kind to you, and remember the agreement he made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, his faithful servants.

2God be gracious unto you, and remember his covenant that he made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, his faithful servants;

NoteA covenant is a binding agreement. The one named here is the promise God made to Abraham and passed to his son Isaac and grandson Jacob, the ancestors of Israel.

3May he give you all a heart to serve him and to do what he wants, with strong courage and a willing mind.

3And give you all an heart to serve him, and to do his will, with a good courage and a willing mind;

4May he open your hearts to his law and his commands, and give you peace.

4And open your hearts in his law and commandments, and send you peace,

5May he hear your prayers, be at peace with you, and never leave you in a time of trouble.

5And hear your prayers, and be at one with you, and never forsake you in time of trouble.

Note"Be at one with you" is 1611 English for be reconciled to you, that is, restore good relations after a breach.

6And right now, here where we are, we are praying for you.

6And now we be here praying for you.

7In the reign of Demetrius, in the hundred and sixty-ninth year, we the Jews wrote to you during the worst of the trouble that came on us in those years, from the time that Jason and the men with him turned against the holy land and the kingdom,

7What time as Demetrius reigned, in the hundred threescore and ninth year, we the Jews wrote unto you in the extremity of trouble that came upon us in those years, from the time that Jason and his company revolted from the holy land and kingdom,

NoteDates in this book are counted from the start of the Seleucid kingdom in 312 or 311 BC, so the hundred and sixty-ninth year is roughly 143 to 142 BC, in the reign of Demetrius II, the Greek king ruling Syria and, in name, Judea. Jason was the brother of the high priest Onias III; he bought the high priesthood from King Antiochus IV around 175 BC and promoted Greek customs in Jerusalem. His armed attempt to seize the city back is told in chapter 5.

8and set the temple gateway on fire, and killed innocent people. Then we prayed to the Lord, and we were heard. We offered sacrifices and fine flour, we lit the lamps, and we set out the loaves of bread.

8And burned the porch, and shed innocent blood: then we prayed unto the Lord, and were heard; we offered also sacrifices and fine flour, and lighted the lamps, and set forth the loaves.

Note"The porch" is the gateway of the temple. The four acts listed after the prayer are the ordinary temple worship starting up again: animal sacrifices, the grain offering of fine flour, the lamps of the sanctuary lampstand, and the twelve loaves of the bread of the Presence, set out fresh on a table inside the sanctuary each week.

9And now, be sure that you keep the feast of tabernacles in the month Casleu.

9And now see that ye keep the feast of tabernacles in the month Casleu.

NoteThe feast of tabernacles, Sukkot, was a weeklong autumn harvest festival in the seventh month, Tishri, during which people lived in leafy booths. Casleu, or Chislev, is the ninth month, falling in late November and December, so this is not the ordinary date. The eight day festival meant here is the rededication of the temple, later called Hanukkah, which 2 Maccabees 10:6 says was kept in the style of tabernacles because the fighters had spent that earlier festival hiding in the hills.

10In the hundred and eighty-eighth year, the people in Jerusalem and in Judea, and the council, and Judas, sent greetings and good health to Aristobulus, who was the teacher of King Ptolemeus and came from the family of the anointed priests, and to the Jews in Egypt:

10In the hundred fourscore and eighth year, the people that were at Jerusalem and in Judea, and the council, and Judas, sent greeting and health unto Aristobulus, king Ptolemeus’ master, who was of the stock of the anointed priests, and to the Jews that were in Egypt:

NoteThe hundred and eighty-eighth year is about 124 BC. The "council" is the gerousia, the senate of elders that governed Jerusalem alongside the high priest. Judas is Judas Maccabeus, who died in 160 BC, so his name and this date do not fit together; the difficulty has never been resolved. Ptolemeus is Ptolemy, the Greek dynasty ruling Egypt; Aristobulus was a Jewish philosopher at that court. "Of the stock of the anointed priests" means descended from the priestly families, whose high priests were installed by being anointed with oil.

11Since God has brought us safely through great dangers, we thank him greatly, as men who have stood in battle against a king.

11Insomuch as God hath delivered us from great perils, we thank him highly, as having been in battle against a king.

NoteThe Greek is awkward. It seems to mean: as men who have been drawn up in battle line against a king and come through it.

12For he drove out those who fought inside the holy city.

12For he cast them out that fought within the holy city.

13For when the leader had come into Persia, and with him the army that seemed impossible to beat, they were killed in the temple of Nanea by the trickery of Nanea's priests.

13For when the leader was come into Persia, and the army with him that seemed invincible, they were slain in the temple of Nanea by the deceit of Nanea’s priests.

Note"The leader" is Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the Seleucid king. Nanea was a goddess worshiped in Persia and Elam, whom Greeks identified with Artemis. Temples served as treasuries, and kings short of cash raided them. This account of how Antiochus died does not agree with the one in chapter 9 of this book, or with the account in 1 Maccabees 6; the book preserves all of them without harmonizing them.

14For Antiochus came to that place, acting as though he meant to marry her, and his friends came with him, so that they could take money as a dowry.

14For Antiochus, as though he would marry her, came into the place, and his friends that were with him, to receive money in name of a dowry.

NoteA dowry was the money or property a bride's family handed over at a marriage. Claiming to marry the goddess was a legal pretext for walking off with her temple's treasure.

15When the priests of Nanea had set the money out, and he had gone with a small group inside the walls of the temple grounds, they locked the temple as soon as Antiochus was inside.

15Which when the priests of Nanea had set forth, and he was entered with a small company into the compass of the temple, they shut the temple as soon as Antiochus was come in:

Note"The compass of the temple" is the walled sacred enclosure surrounding the temple building, not the building itself.

16They opened a hidden door in the paneled ceiling and threw down stones like thunderbolts. They struck down the leader, cut the men to pieces, cut off their heads, and threw them out to the people standing outside.

16And opening a privy door of the roof, they threw stones like thunderbolts, and struck down the captain, hewed them in pieces, smote off their heads and cast them to those that were without.

Note"Privy" in 1611 English means secret or hidden. The door was in the coffered ceiling above the chamber, so the priests dropped the stones from overhead onto the men trapped below.

17Blessed be our God in everything, who has handed over those who had no regard for him.

17Blessed be our God in all things, who hath delivered up the ungodly.

18So, since we now plan to keep the purification of the temple on the twenty-fifth day of the month Casleu, we thought we should let you know, so that you may keep it too, as the feast of tabernacles and of the fire. That fire was given to us when Neemias offered sacrifice, after he had built the temple and the altar.

18Therefore whereas we are now purposed to keep the purification of the temple upon the five and twentieth day of the month Casleu, we thought it necessary to certify you thereof, that ye also might keep it, as the feast of the tabernacles, and of the fire, which was given us when Neemias offered sacrifice, after that he had builded the temple and the altar.

NoteThe purification of the temple on the twenty-fifth of Casleu is the rededication of 164 BC, after Antiochus IV had defiled the sanctuary; the eight day festival that grew from it is Hanukkah. Neemias is Nehemiah, the Judean governor under Persian rule in the fifth century BC. The story told here, that Nehemiah built the temple and altar and that a miraculous fire attended his sacrifice, is not in the book of Nehemiah, where the temple already stands.

19For when our ancestors were being led away into Persia, the devoted priests of that time secretly took some of the fire from the altar and hid it in the hollow of a dry well, where they made sure it was safe, so that no one knew the place.

19For when our fathers were led into Persia, the priests that were then devout took the fire of the altar privily, and hid it in an hollow place of a pit without water, where they kept it sure, so that the place was unknown to all men.

Note"Led into Persia" means the deportation to Babylon in 587 BC; the writer uses Persia loosely for the eastern empire that later held the same territory. The fire mattered because the law required the fire on the altar to burn continuously and never go out (Leviticus 6:12 to 13), so a fire kindled fresh after the exile would not be the same fire.

20Now after many years, when it pleased God, Neemias, who had been sent by the king of Persia, sent the descendants of the priests who had hidden the fire to look for it. But when they told us they had found no fire, only thick water,

20Now after many years, when it pleased God, Neemias, being sent from the king of Persia, did send of the posterity of those priests that had hid it to the fire: but when they told us they found no fire, but thick water;

Note"Thick water" is naphtha, petroleum seeping up to the surface. It looks like dirty water and burns, which is the point of the whole story.

21he ordered them to draw some of it up and bring it. When the sacrifices had been laid on the altar, Neemias ordered the priests to sprinkle the wood and the things laid on it with the water.

21Then commanded he them to draw it up, and to bring it; and when the sacrifices were laid on, Neemias commanded the priests to sprinkle the wood and the things laid thereupon with the water.

22When this was done, and the time came that the sun shone out, which before had been hidden by the cloud, a great fire blazed up, so that every man was amazed.

22When this was done, and the time came that the sun shone, which afore was hid in the cloud, there was a great fire kindled, so that every man marvelled.

23And the priests said a prayer while the sacrifice was burning up: I mean both the priests and everyone else. Jonathan began it, and the rest answered him, as Neemias did.

23And the priests made a prayer whilst the sacrifice was consuming, I say, both the priests, and all the rest, Jonathan beginning, and the rest answering thereunto, as Neemias did.

NoteJonathan is otherwise unidentified. He leads the prayer line by line and the assembly answers him, the normal way a congregation prayed together.

24The prayer went like this: O Lord, Lord God, Maker of all things, you who are awesome and strong, and just, and merciful, and the only King, and kind,

24And the prayer was after this manner; O Lord, Lord God, Creator of all things, who art fearful and strong, and righteous, and merciful, and the only and gracious King,

25the only one who gives all things, the only just one, all-powerful and lasting forever, you who rescue Israel from every trouble, who chose our ancestors and set them apart as holy:

25The only giver of all things, the only just, almighty, and everlasting, thou that deliverest Israel from all trouble, and didst choose the fathers, and sanctify them:

NoteTo sanctify is to set apart for God's exclusive use, not to make morally better.

26accept this sacrifice for your whole people Israel, and guard what is your own share, and set it apart as holy.

26Receive the sacrifice for thy whole people Israel, and preserve thine own portion, and sanctify it.

Note"Thine own portion" pictures Israel as the share of land or property allotted to God, the way each family in Israel held its own allotment.

27Bring together those of us who are scattered, set free those who are in slavery among the nations, look on those who are looked down on and hated, and let the nations know that you are our God.

27Gather those together that are scattered from us, deliver them that serve among the heathen, look upon them that are despised and abhorred, and let the heathen know that thou art our God.

Note"The heathen" translates a Greek word simply meaning the nations, that is, all the non-Jewish peoples. It carries no sense of savagery.

28Punish those who crush us and who wrong us out of pride.

28Punish them that oppress us, and with pride do us wrong.

29Plant your people again in your holy place, just as Moses said.

29Plant thy people again in thy holy place, as Moses hath spoken.

NoteThe reference is to the promise in Deuteronomy 30:1 to 5 that God would gather his scattered people back into their land.

30And the priests sang songs of thanks.

30And the priests sung psalms of thanksgiving.

31Now when the sacrifice had burned up, Neemias ordered that the water left over be poured on the large stones.

31Now when the sacrifice was consumed, Neemias commanded the water that was left to be poured on the great stones.

32When this was done, a flame blazed up, but it was used up by the light that shone from the altar.

32When this was done, there was kindled a flame: but it was consumed by the light that shined from the altar.

33So when this matter became known, word was brought to the king of Persia that in the place where the priests who were led away had hidden the fire, water had appeared, and that Neemias had purified the sacrifices with it.

33So when this matter was known, it was told the king of Persia, that in the place, where the priests that were led away had hid the fire, there appeared water, and that Neemias had purified the sacrifices therewith.

34Then the king fenced the place in and made it holy, after he had looked into the matter.

34Then the king, inclosing the place, made it holy, after he had tried the matter.

NoteEnclosing the place means fencing it off so that no ordinary person could use it, which is what marking ground as sacred amounted to in practice.

35And the king took many gifts, and gave some of them to those he wanted to please.

35And the king took many gifts, and bestowed thereof on those whom he would gratify.

NoteThe Greek of this verse is damaged or unclear, and translations split. The King James has the king collecting gifts and handing them on to his favorites; others have him exchanging expensive gifts for portions of the naphtha itself, which he then gave away.

36And Neemias called this thing Naphthar, which means a cleansing, but many people call it Nephi.

36And Neemias called this thing Naphthar, which is as much as to say, a cleansing: but many men call it Nephi.

NoteNaphthar and Nephi are attempts to spell a foreign word in Greek letters; the substance is naphtha, still called that today. The writer links the name to a word meaning cleansing, a play on sound rather than a strict translation, and notes that the common pronunciation differed from the one he prefers.