The book 2 Maccabees contains 15 chapters. It is a deuterocanonical book originally written in Greek that is part of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox Christian biblical canons. It is still considered an important source on the Maccabean Revolt by Jews, Protestants, and secular historians of the period who do not necessarily hold the book as part of a scriptural canon. The chapters chronicle events in Judea from around 178–161 BCE during the Second Temple Period. Judea was at the time ruled by the Seleucid Empire, one of the Greek successor states that resulted from the conquests of Alexander the Great. 2 Maccabees was written by an unknown Egyptian Jew. The account is distinct from the book 1 Maccabees, which was written by someone in the Hasmonean kingdom that was formed after the success of the revolt. In general, 2 Maccabees has a more directly religious perspective than 1 Maccabees, frequently directly crediting prayers, miraculous interventions, and divine will for events.
The most influential chapters of the book are likely Chapter 6 and Chapter 7 which deal with the martyrdom of the woman with seven sons and Eleazar the scribe during the persecution of Judaism under King Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Chapter 7 and Chapter 12 both discuss a coming bodily resurrection of the righteous; 2 Maccabees is one of the earliest pieces of literature to advocate for this belief. Chapter 15 is also one of the earliest references to the Jewish festival of Purim. While 2 Maccabees was originally written for an audience of Hellenistic Jews, verses in its chapters have been used in some branches of Christianity as scriptural backing for indulgences, prayers for the dead, and the intercession of saints. These became controversial during the Protestant Reformation, and was one of the factors that led to Protestant denominations considering the book as non-canonical.
Like other books of the Bible, the division of the text into chapters and verses was not in its original form, and was instead added later.
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The book 2Maccabees contains 15 chapters. It is a deuterocanonical book originally written in Greek that is part of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and...
2Maccabees, also known as the Second Book ofMaccabees, Second Maccabees, and abbreviated as 2 Macc., is a deuterocanonical book which recounts the persecution...
1 Maccabees, also known as the First Book ofMaccabees, First Maccabees, and abbreviated as 1 Macc., is a deuterocanonical book which details the history...
What 2Maccabees covered in one chapter and a half, 4 Maccabees extends to a full 14 chaptersof dialogue and philosophical discussion. 4 Maccabees recasts...
epitome made by the author of2Maccabees. According to the introductory chaptersof2Maccabees, also written in Greek: The story of Judas Maccabeus and his...
3 Maccabees, also called the Third Book ofMaccabees, is a book written in Koine Greek, likely in the 1st century BC in either the late Ptolemaic period...
Watchers, as fallen angels. The Second Book of Ethiopian Maccabees contains twenty-one chapters in total. Chapters 1-5 recounts that a man named Maccabeus...
more than a summary of the events in the first four Books ofMaccabees and the relevant chapters in Flavius Josephus. Only chapter 12 is original but also...
rebellion led by the Maccabees against the Seleucid Empire and against Hellenistic influence on Jewish life. The main phase of the revolt lasted from...
chapters in the major prophets 67 chapters in the minor prophets There are 260 chapters in the New Testament. 89 chapters in the gospels 28 chapters in...
1 Maccabees, Josephus's main source for the period. 1 Maccabees introduces Mattathias and his sons in chapter2: In those days Mattathias the son of John...
established Hebrew protocanon. Moreover, with the exception of the first two books ofMaccabees, the Orthodox Tewahedo canon also contains the entire Catholic...
to obedience. Chapters 12–26, the Deuteronomic Code: Laws governing Israel's worship (chapters 12–16a), the appointment and regulation of community and...
parts: a set of six court tales in chapters 1–6, written mostly in Aramaic, and four apocalyptic visions in chapters 7–12, written mostly in Hebrew; the...
used for 2 Enoch: the more widely accepted is Popov's of 73 chapters, while De Santos Otero proposed division into 24 chapters. The best family of manuscripts...
Letter of Jeremiah (Baruch chapter 6) Canonical only for the Eastern Orthodox Church: Prayer of Manasseh 1 Esdras 2 Esdras 3 Maccabees 4 Maccabees as an...
manuscripts where these chapters are together in an appendix. The first two chaptersof2 Esdras are found only in the Latin version of the book, and are called...
The Book of Jubilees, sometimes called Lesser Genesis or Leptogenesis, is an ancient Jewish apocryphal text of 50 chapters (1341 verses), considered canonical...
Dragon, Prayer of Manasses, 1 Maccabees, 2Maccabees. The English Civil War broke out in 1642 and lasted till 1649. The Long Parliament of 1644 decreed...
form of a letter from king Nebuchadnezzar II. Chapters2–7 are in Aramaic (after the first few lines ofchapter2 in Hebrew) and are in the form of a chiasmus...
Maccabees 4:26–35), 2 Maccabees (2Maccabees 11:1–15), and Josephus's Antiquities of the Jews Book 12, Chapter 7. The main point of divergence is timing:...
sons was a Jewish martyr described in 2Maccabees 7. She and her seven sons were arrested during the persecution of Judaism initiated by King Antiochus...
explanation of Verse 13 can be found in 1 Maccabees iii 7; vi. 52; v.; 2Maccabees vi. 8 sqq., 13, 14; 1 Maccabees vii 41, 42; and 2Maccabees x v, 8 sqq...
Zeus (according to 2Maccabees 6:2), older commentators tended to follow Porphyry in seeing the "abomination" in terms of a statue of the Greek sky god...
of chapter 2 and part of verse 4 are in Hebrew. The remainder ofchapter2 and chapters 3–7 are in Aramaic and are in the form of a chiasmus, a poetic...