HarperCollins Study Bible

by Harold W. Attridge

  2.16–18 The call to observe Hanukkah (see 1.18, 36) as the purification of the temple alludes to Ex 19.6; Deut 30.3–5.

  2.19–32 The body of 2 Maccabees is the digest of the five-volume work by Jason of Cyrene. Here the condenser explains his goals and procedures.

  2.19–22 The summary of contents omits Seleucus IV (ch. 3) and Demetrius I (chs. 14–15). It contains the first extant use of the word Judaism (see 8.1; 14.38) and refers to appearances or epiphanies (see 3.24–26; 10.29–30; 11.8; 12.22; 15.27), which figure prominently in the main narrative.

  2.23 Cyrene, a city in Cyrenaica (modern Libya) that had Jewish settlers from Egypt. Jason was undoubtedly Jewish and may have settled in Judea.

  2.24–28 Although relying on Jason for exact details, the writer wants to make the story pleasurable, memorable, and profitable (v. 25).

  2.29 The author compares Jason to a builder and himself to a painter-decorator (see v. 25). See 15.38–39.

  2 MACCABEES 3

  Arrival of Heliodorus in Jerusalem

  1While the holy city was inhabited in un-broken peace and the laws were strictly observed because of the piety of the high priest Onias and his hatred of wickedness, 2it came about that the kings themselves honored the place and glorified the temple with the finest presents, 3even to the extent that King Seleucus of Asia defrayed from his own revenues all the expenses connected with the service of the sacrifices.

  4But a man named Simon, of the tribe of Benjamin, who had been made captain of the temple, had a disagreement with the high priest about the administration of the city market. 5Since he could not prevail over Onias, he went to Apollonius of Tarsus,a who at that time was governor of Coelesyria and Phoenicia, 6and reported to him that the treasury in Jerusalem was full of untold sums of money, so that the amount of the funds could not be reckoned, and that they did not belong to the account of the sacrifices, but that it was possible for them to fall under the control of the king. 7When Apollonius met the king, he told him of the money about which he had been informed. The kingb chose Heliodorus, who was in charge of his affairs, and sent him with commands to effect the removal of the reported wealth. 8Heliodorus at once set out on his journey, ostensibly to make a tour of inspection of the cities of Coelesyria and Phoenicia, but in fact to carry out the king’s purpose.

  9When he had arrived at Jerusalem and had been kindly welcomed by the high priest ofc the city, he told about the disclosure that had been made and stated why he had come, and he inquired whether this really was the situation. 10The high priest explained that there were some deposits belonging to widows and orphans, 11and also some money of Hyrcanus son of Tobias, a man of very prominent position, and that it totaled in all four hundred talents of silver and two hundred of gold. To such an extent the impious Simon had misrepresented the facts. 12And he said that it was utterly impossible that wrong should be done to those people who had trusted in the holiness of the place and in the sanctity and inviolability of the temple that is honored throughout the whole world.

  Heliodorus Plans to Rob the Temple

  13But Heliodorus, because of the orders he had from the king, said that this money must in any case be confiscated for the king’s treasury. 14So he set a day and went in to direct the inspection of these funds.

  There was no little distress throughout the whole city. 15The priests prostrated themselves before the altar in their priestly vestments and called toward heaven upon him who had given the law about deposits, that he should keep them safe for those who had deposited them. 16To see the appearance of the high priest was to be wounded at heart, for his face and the change in his color disclosed the anguish of his soul. 17For terror and bodily trembling had come over the man, which plainly showed to those who looked at him the pain lodged in his heart. 18People also hurried out of their houses in crowds to make a general supplication because the holy place was about to be brought into dishonor. 19Women, girded with sackcloth under their breasts, thronged the streets. Some of the young women who were kept indoors ran together to the gates, and some to the walls, while others peered out of the windows. 20And holding up their hands to heaven, they all made supplication. 21There was something pitiable in the prostration of the whole populace and the anxiety of the high priest in his great anguish.

  The Lord Protects His Temple

  22While they were calling upon the Almighty Lord that he would keep what had been entrusted safe and secure for those who had entrusted it, 23Heliodorus went on with what had been decided. 24But when he arrived at the treasury with his bodyguard, then and there the Sovereign of spirits and of all authority caused so great a manifestation that all who had been so bold as to accompany him were astounded by the power of God, and became faint with terror. 25For there appeared to them a magnificently caparisoned horse, with a rider of frightening mien; it rushed furiously at Heliodorus and struck at him with its front hoofs. Its rider was seen to have armor and weapons of gold. 26Two young men also appeared to him, remarkably strong, gloriously beautiful and splendidly dressed, who stood on either side of him and flogged him continuously, inflicting many blows on him. 27When he suddenly fell to the ground and deep darkness came over him, his men took him up, put him on a stretcher, 28and carried him away—this man who had just entered the aforesaid treasury with a great retinue and all his bodyguard but was now unable to help himself. They recognized clearly the sovereign power of God.

  Onias Prays for Heliodorus

  29While he lay prostrate, speechless because of the divine intervention and deprived of any hope of recovery, 30they praised the Lord who had acted marvelously for his own place. And the temple, which a little while before was full of fear and disturbance, was filled with joy and gladness, now that the Almighty Lord had appeared.

  31Some of Heliodorus’s friends quickly begged Onias to call upon the Most High to grant life to one who was lying quite at his last breath. 32So the high priest, fearing that the king might get the notion that some foul play had been perpetrated by the Jews with regard to Heliodorus, offered sacrifice for the man’s recovery. 33While the high priest was making an atonement, the same young men appeared again to Heliodorus dressed in the same clothing, and they stood and said, “Be very grateful to the high priest Onias, since for his sake the Lord has granted you your life. 34And see that you, who have been flogged by heaven, report to all people the majestic power of God.” Having said this they vanished.

  The Conversion of Heliodorus

  35Then Heliodorus offered sacrifice to the Lord and made very great vows to the Savior of his life, and having bidden Onias farewell, he marched off with his forces to the king. 36He bore testimony to all concerning the deeds of the supreme God, which he had seen with his own eyes. 37When the king asked Heliodorus what sort of person would be suitable to send on another mission to Jerusalem, he replied, 38“If you have any enemy or plotter against your government, send him there, for you will get him back thoroughly flogged, if he survives at all; for there is certainly some power of God about the place. 39For he who has his dwelling in heaven watches over that place himself and brings it aid, and he strikes and destroys those who come to do it injury.” 40This was the outcome of the episode of Heliodorus and the protection of the treasury.

  next chapter

  * * *

  a Gk Apollonius son of Tharseas

  b Gk He

  c Other ancient authorities read and

  3.1–12 The first crisis involving the sanctity and inviolability of the temple in Jerusalem (v. 12) arises from rivalry between pro-Seleucid (Simon) and pro-Ptolemaic (Hyrcanus) factions among the Jews.

  3.1 Onias III, the Jewish high priest until 175 BCE.

  3.2 The place, frequent name for the temple in 2 Maccabees.

  3.3 Seleucus IV Philopator (187–175 BCE), successor of Antiochus III and predecessor of Antiochus IV.

  3.4 Simon was more likely from the priestly clan of Bilgah (Neh 12.5, 18; 1 Chr 24.14) than from the tribe of Benjamin. His brothers were Menelaus (4.23) an
d Lysimachus (4.29).

  3.5 Apollonius is called son of Menestheus in 4.4, 21, and so the reading son of Tharseas (see text note a on 2 Maccabees) is emended to Tarsus. His territory included Judea and all the area from the Euphrates to the Mediterranean except for Seleucis (the area of Greek cities in north Syria).

  3.6 The temple treasury accepted money from private depositors (see vv. 10–11), a common practice in antiquity.

  3.7 Heliodorus was raised with Seleucus IV and was involved in the plot that resulted in the king’s death in 175 BCE.

  3.11 Hyrcanus, son of Joseph and grandson of Tobias, was part of the Jewish family of Tobiads, known to be sympathetic to the Ptolemies.

  3.13–21 Heliodorus’s threat to the temple’s security and sanctity elicits a highly emotional response from the people of Jerusalem.

  3.15 The law about deposits. See Ex 22.7–13. Nothing is said about the gentile Heliodorus profaning the temple.

  3.19 Sackcloth, a coarse material made from goats’ hair worn as a sign of mourning (Esth 4.1; Neh 9.1; Jon 3.6).

  3.22–28 The Lord defends the temple miraculously by striking down Heliodorus.

  3.24–25 Other miraculous manifestations of horse and rider occur in 5.2–3; 10.29; 11.8.

  3.26 Two young men, angelic figures.

  3.28 Who recognized God’s power—Heliodorus and his retinue or the Jewish bystanders? See also v. 30.

  3.29–34 Lest the miraculous intervention be misinterpreted by Seleucus IV, the high priest Onias III prays for the healing of Heliodorus.

  3.30 As in many biblical texts, there is no sharp line between the action of the Almighty Lord and the angelic figures.

  3.33 The ability of Onias III to make atonement for a gentile sinner like Heliodorus places him with Moses (Ex 8.28–29) and Job (Job 42.7–10).

  3.35–40 As a result of the miraculous intervention Heliodorus recognizes the power of Israel’s God to defend the temple.

  3.35–36 Without becoming a Jew, Heliodorus offered sacrifice and acknowledged Israel’s God as supreme.

  3.38 The power of God about the place (the temple) is a major theme in 2 Maccabees.

  2 MACCABEES 4

  Simon Accuses Onias

  1The previously mentioned Simon, who had informed about the money againsta his own country, slandered Onias, saying that it was he who had incited Heliodorus and had been the real cause of the misfortune. 2He dared to designate as a plotter against the government the man who was the benefactor of the city, the protector of his compatriots, and a zealot for the laws. 3When his hatred progressed to such a degree that even murders were committed by one of Simon’s approved agents, 4Onias recognized that the rivalry was serious and that Apollonius son of Menestheus,b and governor of Coelesyria and Phoenicia, was intensifying the malice of Simon. 5So he appealed to the king, not accusing his compatriots but having in view the welfare, both public and private, of all the people. 6For he saw that without the king’s attention public affairs could not again reach a peaceful settlement, and that Simon would not stop his folly.

  Jason’s Reforms

  7When Seleucus died and Antiochus, who was called Epiphanes, succeeded to the kingdom, Jason the brother of Onias obtained the high priesthood by corruption, 8promising the king at an interviewc three hundred sixty talents of silver, and from another source of revenue eighty talents. 9In addition to this he promised to pay one hundred fifty more if permission were given to establish by his authority a gymnasium and a body of youth for it, and to enroll the people of Jerusalem as citizens of Antioch. 10When the king assented and Jasond came to office, he at once shifted his compatriots over to the Greek way of life.

  11He set aside the existing royal concessions to the Jews, secured through John the father of Eupolemus, who went on the mission to establish friendship and alliance with the Romans; and he destroyed the lawful ways of living and introduced new customs contrary to the law. 12He took delight in establishing a gymnasium right under the citadel, and he induced the noblest of the young men to wear the Greek hat. 13There was such an extreme of Hellenization and increase in the adoption of foreign ways because of the surpassing wickedness of Jason, who was ungodly and no truee high priest, 14that the priests were no longer intent upon their service at the altar. Despising the sanctuary and neglecting the sacrifices, they hurried to take part in the unlawful proceedings in the wrestling arena after the signal for the discus-throwing, 15disdaining the honors prized by their ancestors and putting the highest value upon Greek forms of prestige. 16For this reason heavy disaster overtook them, and those whose ways of living they admired and wished to imitate completely became their enemies and punished them. 17It is no light thing to show irreverence to the divine laws—a fact that later events will make clear.

  Jason Introduces Greek Customs

  18When the quadrennial games were being held at Tyre and the king was present, 19the vile Jason sent envoys, chosen as being Antiochian citizens from Jerusalem, to carry three hundred silver drachmas for the sacrifice to Hercules. Those who carried the money, however, thought best not to use it for sacrifice, because that was inappropriate, but to expend it for another purpose. 20So this money was intended by the sender for the sacrifice to Hercules, but by the decision of its carriers it was applied to the construction of triremes.

  21When Apollonius son of Menestheus was sent to Egypt for the coronationf of Philometor as king, Antiochus learned that Philometorg had become hostile to his government, and he took measures for his own security. Therefore upon arriving at Joppa he proceeded to Jerusalem. 22He was welcomed magnificently by Jason and the city, and ushered in with a blaze of torches and with shouts. Then he marched his army into Phoenicia.

  Menelaus Becomes High Priest

  23After a period of three years Jason sent Menelaus, the brother of the previously mentioned Simon, to carry the money to the king and to complete the records of essential business. 24But he, when presented to the king, extolled him with an air of authority, and secured the high priesthood for himself, outbidding Jason by three hundred talents of silver. 25After receiving the king’s orders he returned, possessing no qualification for the high priesthood, but having the hot temper of a cruel tyrant and the rage of a savage wild beast. 26So Jason, who after supplanting his own brother was supplanted by another man, was driven as a fugitive into the land of Ammon. 27Although Menelaus continued to hold the office, he did not pay regularly any of the money promised to the king. 28When Sostratus the captain of the citadel kept requesting payment—for the collection of the revenue was his responsibility—the two of them were summoned by the king on account of this issue. 29Menelaus left his own brother Lysimachus as deputy in the high priesthood, while Sostratus left Crates, the commander of the Cyprian troops.

  The Murder of Onias

  30While such was the state of affairs, it happened that the people of Tarsus and of Mallus revolted because their cities had been given as a present to Antiochis, the king’s concubine. 31So the king went hurriedly to settle the trouble, leaving Andronicus, a man of high rank, to act as his deputy. 32But Menelaus, thinking he had obtained a suitable opportunity, stole some of the gold vessels of the temple and gave them to Andronicus; other vessels, as it happened, he had sold to Tyre and the neighboring cities. 33When Onias became fully aware of these acts, he publicly exposed them, having first withdrawn to a place of sanctuary at Daphne near Antioch. 34Therefore Menelaus, taking Andronicus aside, urged him to kill Onias. Andronicush came to Onias, and resorting to treachery, offered him sworn pledges and gave him his right hand; he persuaded him, though still suspicious, to come out from the place of sanctuary; then, with no regard for justice, he immediately put him out of the way.

  Andronicus Is Punished

  35For this reason not only Jews, but many also of other nations, were grieved and displeased at the unjust murder of the man. 36When the king returned from the region of Cilicia, the Jews in the cityi appealed to him with regard to the unreasonable murder of Onias, and the Gree
ks shared their hatred of the crime. 37Therefore Antiochus was grieved at heart and filled with pity, and wept because of the moderation and good conduct of the deceased. 38Inflamed with anger, he immediately stripped off the purple robe from Andronicus, tore off his clothes, and led him around the whole city to that very place where he had committed the outrage against Onias, and there he dispatched the bloodthirsty fellow. The Lord thus repaid him with the punishment he deserved.

  Unpopularity of Lysimachus and Menelaus

  39When many acts of sacrilege had been committed in the city by Lysimachus with the connivance of Menelaus, and when report of them had spread abroad, the populace gathered against Lysimachus, because many of the gold vessels had already been stolen. 40Since the crowds were becoming aroused and filled with anger, Lysimachus armed about three thousand men and launched an unjust attack, under the leadership of a certain Auranus, a man advanced in years and no less advanced in folly. 41But when the Jewsj became aware that Lysimachus was attacking them, some picked up stones, some blocks of wood, and others took handfuls of the ashes that were lying around, and threw them in wild confusion at Lysimachus and his men. 42As a result, they wounded many of them, and killed some, and put all the rest to flight; the temple robber himself they killed close by the treasury.

  43Charges were brought against Menelaus about this incident. 44When the king came to Tyre, three men sent by the senate presented the case before him. 45But Menelaus, already as good as beaten, promised a substantial bribe to Ptolemy son of Dorymenes to win over the king. 46Therefore Ptolemy, taking the king aside into a colonnade as if for refreshment, induced the king to change his mind. 47Menelaus, the cause of all the trouble, he acquitted of the charges against him, while he sentenced to death those unfortunate men, who would have been freed uncondemned if they had pleaded even before Scythians. 48And so those who had spoken for the city and the villagesk and the holy vessels quickly suffered the unjust penalty. 49Therefore even the Tyrians, showing their hatred of the crime, provided magnificently for their funeral. 50But Menelaus, because of the greed of those in power, remained in office, growing in wickedness, having become the chief plotter against his compatriots.