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The book at a glance
2 Maccabees is not a sequel to 1 Maccabees but a second, independent account of part of the same story, from the high priest Onias III, about 180 BC, to Judas Maccabeus's victory over Nicanor in 161 BC. After two letters to the Jews of Egypt (1:1–2:18), the author says he is condensing into a single book the five volumes of a certain Jason of Cyrene (2:23). He wrote in Greek, probably late in the second century before Christ, and he writes as a preacher: he wants his readers to see God's hand in the history, to honor the temple and to take heart from the martyrs. It is one of the deuterocanonical books, received in the Church's canon and confirmed by the Council of Trent.
2 Maccabees is history, not prediction. Its forward-looking content is chiefly promise: the faith of the martyrs that God will raise the dead, and the practice of praying for the dead in view of the resurrection, both of which the Church teaches from these pages. It also holds images that Revelation takes up again: the hidden ark, armies of horsemen from heaven, and a prophet who prays for his people after his death. Each card below names which.
Key to the labels
How a passage stands
Fulfilled Accomplished in history, above all in Christ.
Unfolding Being worked out now in the life of the Church.
Future Clearly still to come at Christ's return.
Mystery Its meaning or moment is not yet settled.
What kind of passage it is
Prophecy God's word through a prophet, or Christ, about what will come.
Promise A pledge God makes, kept over generations.
Type A person or event that foreshadows Christ or the Church.
Image A picture Scripture returns to and completes at the end.
Apocalypse A vision unveiling history from heaven's side, in symbols.
More on the labels
| Passage | Subject | Standing |
|---|
| 2:4–8 | Jeremiah hides the ark | Mystery |
| 5:2–4; 10:29–30 | Horsemen from heaven | Future |
| 7 | The seven brothers and their mother | Fulfilled Future |
| 12:38–46 | Prayer for the dead | Unfolding Future |
| 15:12–16 | Jeremiah prays for the people | Unfolding |
The passages
“The place is to remain unknown until God gathers his people together again and shows them mercy.” (2:7)
- Reading
- The second letter at the head of the book cites old records: “the prophet, in virtue of an oracle,” had the tent and the ark brought with him to the mountain from which Moses had seen the promised land. “When Jeremiah arrived there, he found a chamber in a cave in which he put the tent, the ark, and the altar of incense” (2:5), and sealed the entrance. Some who followed could not find the way again, and Jeremiah rebuked them. “Then the Lord will disclose these things, and the glory of the Lord and the cloud will be seen” (2:8), as in the days of Moses and Solomon.
- Revelation
- “Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant could be seen in the temple” (Revelation 11:19). At once John sees “a great sign,” the woman clothed with the sun (12:1). The Church calls Mary the ark of the covenant, the place where the glory of the Lord dwells (CCC 2676). See Revelation 12.
- Why mystery
- This is a tradition the book cites from earlier writings, not an event the Book of Jeremiah narrates. Where the earthly ark lies is unknown, and claims to have found it are not part of the faith. See the fuller card on Prophecy in Jeremiah.
“In the midst of the fierce battle, there appeared to the enemy five majestic men from the heavens riding on golden-bridled horses, leading the Jews.” (10:29)
- Reading
- Before Antiochus's second invasion of Egypt, “all over the city, for nearly forty days, there appeared horsemen” in the sky, clothed in gold, in squadrons and charges, armed with shields and spears (5:2–3). No one knew what it meant: “Therefore all prayed that this vision might be a good omen” (5:4). Later, in Judas's battle against Timothy, five riders from heaven surround Maccabeus and shield him (10:30). The Jewish historian Josephus reports a similar sign of armies in the clouds before the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70 (Jewish War 6.5.3).
- Future
- The Catechism recalls that Christ could have been saved by angels from the hands of his enemies, as Israel had been, citing this passage (CCC 333; compare Matthew 26:53). He chose not to be. At the end Revelation shows the riders again: “Then I saw the heavens opened, and there was a white horse,” and “the armies of heaven followed him, mounted on white horses and wearing clean white linen” (Revelation 19:11, 14). The hosts of heaven fight for God's people still; their last charge follows the Word of God.
- See also
- 2 Kings 6:17, where Elisha's servant sees the mountain full of horses and chariots of fire.
“It is my choice to die at the hands of mortals with the hope that God will restore me to life” (7:14)
- Reading
- Seven brothers and their mother are arrested and ordered to eat pork. One after another they are tortured and die, and each speaks of the resurrection. The second says that “the King of the universe will raise us up to live again forever” (7:9). The third holds out his hands: “It was from Heaven that I received these,” and “from him I hope to receive them again” (7:11). The fourth speaks the words above. “Most admirable and worthy of everlasting remembrance was the mother” (7:20), who tells them that the Creator, “in his mercy, will give you back both breath and life” (7:23). To the youngest she says, look at heaven and earth: “God did not make them out of existing things” (7:28); so she asks him to accept death, “so that in the time of mercy I may receive you again with your brothers” (7:29).
- Fulfilled
- The Catechism teaches that God revealed the resurrection of the dead to his people progressively, and quotes the brothers' words as a witness of that hope (CCC 992, citing 7:9 and 7:14). It also points to the mother's words as Scripture's witness to creation out of nothing, a truth full of hope: the God who made all things from nothing can give life back to the dead (CCC 297). Most commentators hear these martyrs in the Letter to the Hebrews: “Some were tortured and would not accept deliverance, in order to obtain a better resurrection” (Hebrews 11:35). Christ's Resurrection is the answer to their faith, “the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20). The Church reads part of this chapter at Sunday Mass on the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, with the Gospel on the resurrection (Luke 20:27–38).
- Future
- The brothers' hope is still ahead of them and of us: the resurrection of the body on the last day. Revelation sees the souls under the altar, “the souls of those who had been slaughtered” for the word of God, told to rest a little longer (Revelation 6:9–11). See The Lamb's Victory, chapter 6.
“Thus he made atonement for the dead that they might be absolved from their sin.” (12:46)
- Reading
- After a battle, Judas's men come to bury the fallen and find under their tunics amulets of the idols of Jamnia, which the Law forbade. “Turning to supplication, they prayed that the sinful deed might be fully blotted out” (12:42). Judas takes up a collection and sends it to Jerusalem for a sin offering, because he “had the resurrection in mind” (12:43): “for if he were not expecting the fallen to rise again, it would have been superfluous and foolish to pray for the dead” (12:44). The author concludes that “it was a holy and pious thought” (12:45). The Church offers this passage among the readings for Masses for the dead.
- Unfolding
- The Church has from the beginning honored the memory of the dead and offered prayers for them, citing this passage (CCC 958). The Catechism grounds her teaching on purification after death in this practice of prayer for the dead, quoting verse 46, and commends above all the Eucharistic sacrifice, almsgiving and works of penance on their behalf (CCC 1032). Every Mass offered for the dead, every November, continues what Judas began.
- Future
- The prayer looks to the resurrection. It makes sense only because the dead will rise, and it is answered when all are gathered: “He will wipe every tear from their eyes” (Revelation 21:4).
“This is a man who loves his fellow Jews and fervently prays for the people and the holy city—the prophet of God, Jeremiah.” (15:14)
- Reading
- Before the last battle with Nicanor, Judas tells his men a dream. He saw Onias, the former high priest, long dead, “praying with outstretched arms for the whole Jewish community” (15:12). Then another figure appears, of great dignity, and Onias names him as Jeremiah, dead for four centuries. “Stretching out his right hand, Jeremiah presented a gold sword to Judas” (15:15), saying: “Accept this holy sword as a gift from God; with it you shall shatter your adversaries” (15:16). The book calls it a dream worthy of belief (15:11).
- Unfolding
- Here, in the Old Testament, the righteous dead are shown praying for the living. Catholic tradition has long pointed to this scene in speaking of the intercession of the saints. The Catechism teaches that those who are in heaven do not cease to intercede for us with the Father, through Christ the one mediator (CCC 956). Revelation shows the same prayer rising in heaven: “the smoke of the incense along with the prayers of the holy ones went up before God from the hand of the angel” (Revelation 8:4).
2 Maccabees and Revelation
The last of the historical books shares with the last book of the Bible its martyrs, its hidden ark and its heavenly armies.
| 2 Maccabees | Revelation |
|---|
| The ark hidden until God gathers his people (2:7) | The ark of his covenant seen in heaven (11:19) |
| Horsemen from heaven fight for Judas (10:29–30) | The armies of heaven on white horses (19:14) |
| Martyrs who die hoping to be raised (7:9, 14) | The souls under the altar (6:9–11) |
| Prayer for the dead in view of the resurrection (12:43–46) | The dead raised and judged (20:12–13) |
| Jeremiah and Onias pray for the people (15:12–14) | The prayers of the holy ones rise before God (8:4) |
Still to come on this pageFurther passages to add: Heliodorus struck down in the temple by a heavenly rider (3:24–30), the martyrdom of the old scribe Eleazar (6:18–31), the death of Antiochus (9; compare
Daniel 11:45 and
Acts 12:23), the purification of the temple (10:1–8; compare
1 Maccabees 4), and the death of Razis, who calls on the Lord of life to give back his body (14:37–46).
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