2 Maccabees 1 - New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)

I. Letters to the Jews in Egypt

Chapter 1

Letter 1: 124 B.C. ¹ The Jews in Jerusalem and in the land of Judea send greetings to their kindred, the Jews in Egypt, and wish them true peace! ² May God do good to you and remember his covenant with his faithful servants, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, ³ give to all of you a heart to worship him and to do his will wholeheartedly and with a willing spirit, ⁴ open your heart to his law and commandments and grant you peace, ⁵ hear your prayers, and be reconciled to you, and never forsake you in time of adversity. ⁶ Even now we are praying for you here.

⁷ In the reign of Demetrius,^[a] the one hundred and sixty-ninth year, we Jews wrote to you during the height of the distress that overtook us in those years after Jason and his followers revolted against the holy land and the kingdom,^{(A) 8} set fire to the gatehouse and shed innocent blood. But we prayed to the Lord, and our prayer was heard;^[b] we offered sacrifices and fine flour; we lighted the lamps and set out the loaves of bread.^{(B) 9} We are now reminding you to celebrate the feast of Booths in the month of Kislev.^{[c] 10} Dated in the one hundred and eighty-eighth year.^[d]

Letter 2: 164 B.C. The people of Jerusalem and Judea, the senate, and Judas send greetings and good wishes to Aristobulus, teacher of King Ptolemy and member of the family of the anointed priests, and to the Jews in Egypt. ¹¹ Since we have been saved by God from grave dangers, we give him great thanks as befits those who fought against the king;^{[e] 12 (C)}for it was God who drove out those who fought against the holy city. ¹³ When their leader arrived in Persia with his seemingly irresistible army, they were cut to pieces in the temple of the goddess Nanea^[f] through a deceitful stratagem employed by Nanea’s priests. ^{14 [g]}On the pretext of marrying the goddess, Antiochus with his Friends had come to the place to get its great treasures as a dowry. ¹⁵ When the priests of Nanea’s temple had displayed the treasures and Antiochus with a few attendants had come inside the wall of the temple precincts, the priests locked the temple as soon as he entered. ¹⁶ Then they opened a hidden trapdoor in the ceiling, and hurling stones at the leader and his companions, struck them down. They dismembered the bodies, cut off their heads and tossed them to the people outside. ¹⁷ Forever blessed be our God, who has thus punished the impious!

^{18 [h]}Since we shall be celebrating the purification of the temple on the twenty-fifth day of the month Kislev,^(D) we thought it right to inform you, that you too may celebrate the feast of Booths and of the fire that appeared when Nehemiah, the rebuilder of the temple^[i] and the altar, offered sacrifices. ¹⁹ For when our ancestors were being led into captivity in Persia,^[j] devout priests at the time took some of the fire from the altar and hid it secretly in the hollow of a dry cistern, making sure that the place would be unknown to anyone. ²⁰ Many years later, when it so pleased God, Nehemiah, commissioned by the king of Persia, sent the descendants of the priests who had hidden the fire to look for it. ²¹ When they informed us that they could not find any fire, but only a thick liquid, he ordered them to scoop some out and bring it. After the material for the sacrifices had been prepared, Nehemiah ordered the priests to sprinkle the wood and what lay on it with the liquid. ²² This was done, and when at length the sun, which had been clouded over, began to shine, a great fire blazed up, so that everyone marveled. ²³ While the sacrifice was being burned, the priests recited a prayer, and all present joined in with them. Jonathan led and the rest responded with Nehemiah.

²⁴ The prayer was as follows: “Lord, Lord God, creator of all things, awesome and strong, just and merciful, the only king and benefactor, ²⁵ who alone are gracious, just, almighty, and eternal, Israel’s savior from all evil, who chose our ancestors and sanctified them: ²⁶ accept this sacrifice on behalf of all your people Israel and guard and sanctify your portion. ²⁷ Gather together our scattered people, free those who are slaves among the Gentiles, look kindly on those who are despised and detested, and let the Gentiles know that you are our God. ²⁸ Punish those who lord it over us and in their arrogance oppress us. ²⁹ Plant your people in your holy place, as Moses said.”^(E)

³⁰ Then the priests sang hymns. ³¹ After the sacrifice was consumed, Nehemiah ordered the rest of the liquid to be poured upon large stones. ³² As soon as this was done, a flame blazed up, but its light was lost in the brilliance coming from the altar. ³³ When the event became known and the king of the Persians was told that, in the very place where the exiled priests had hidden the fire, a liquid was found with which Nehemiah and his people had burned the sacrifices, ³⁴ the king, after verifying the fact, fenced the place off and declared it sacred. ³⁵ To those whom the king favored, he distributed many benefits he received. ³⁶ Nehemiah and his companions called the liquid nephthar, meaning purification, but most people named it naphtha.^[k](F)

Footnotes

1. 1:7 Demetrius: Demetrius II, king of Syria (145–139, 129–125 B.C.). The one hundred and sixty-ninth year: i.e., of the Seleucid era, 143 B.C. Regarding the dates in 1 and 2 Maccabees, see note on 1 Mc 1:10. On the troubles caused by Jason and his revolt against the kingdom, i.e., the rule of the legitimate high priest, see 2 Mc 4:7–22.
2. 1:8 Our prayer was heard: in the victory of the Maccabees.
3. 1:9 Feast of Booths in the month of Kislev: really the feast of the Dedication of the Temple, Hanukkah (2 Mc 10:1–8), celebrated on the twenty-fifth of Kislev (Nov.–Dec.). Its solemnity resembles that of the actual feast of Booths (Lv 23:33–43), celebrated on the fifteenth of Tishri (Sept.–Oct.); cf. 2 Mc 1:18.
4. 1:10 The one hundred and eighty-eighth year: 124 B.C. The date pertains to the preceding, not the following letter. Senate: the council of Jewish elders of Jerusalem; cf. 1 Mc 12:6. King Ptolemy: Ptolemy VI Philometor, ruler of Egypt from 180 to 145 B.C.; he is mentioned also in 1 Mc 1:18; 10:51–59.
5. 1:11–12 The king: Antiochus IV of Syria, the bitter persecutor of the Jews, who, as leader of the Syrian army that invaded Persia, perished there in 164 B.C.
6. 1:13 Nanea: an oriental goddess comparable to Artemis of the Greeks.
7. 1:14–17 Differing accounts of the death of Antiochus IV are found in 2 Mc 9:1–29 and in 1 Mc 6:1–16 (see also Dn 11:40–45). The writer of this letter had probably heard a distorted rumor of the king’s death. This and other indications suggest that the letter was written very soon after Antiochus IV died, perhaps in 164 B.C.
8. 1:18–36 This legendary account of Nehemiah’s miraculous fire is incorporated in the letter because of its connection with the Temple and its rededication. Booths: see note on v. 9.
9. 1:18 Nehemiah, the rebuilder of the temple: he rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem, but the Temple had been rebuilt by Zerubbabel almost a century before.
10. 1:19 Persia: actually Babylonia, which later became part of the Persian empire.
11. 1:36 By a play on words, the Greek term naphtha (petroleum) is assimilated to some Semitic word, perhaps nephthar, meaning “loosened.”

Cross references

1. 1:7 : 2 Mc 4:7–20.
2. 1:8 : 1 Mc 4:50–51.
3. 1:12–17 : 2 Mc 9:1–29; 1 Mc 6:1–13; Dn 11:40–45.
4. 1:18 : 2 Mc 6:7; 10:5; 1 Mc 1:59; 4:59.
5. 1:29 : 2 Mc 2:18; Ex 15:17; Dt 30:3–5.
6. 1:36 : 2 Mc 2:18; 10:3; 14:36.