September 28, 2013 – 2 Maccabees 5

Finally got a chance to look at the description of 2 Maccabees.  It is really a supplement to 1 Maccabees, starting before it and ending around the same time.  It goes into a more spiritual side of the victories of Judas and his brothers and also contains many supports for theological ideas that controversial to many today.  It was evidently a cliff notes version of a much bigger book that has never been discovered.

Jason sounds like a miserable character.  Corrupt in getting power, ruthless in trying to regain it, cruel and uncaring to his own people, forced into exile, dies alone and unmourned.  That is the description of a miserable character.

With the details we are getting about these men and the awful things they were doing to the Jews, I wonder if 2 Maccabees shouldn’t be first.  I think it would bring more to the stories of their battles and rebellion if we knew more about how terrible these men in charge were acting.