October 22, 2013 – 2 Maccabees 13

The detail of how those that individually did wrong to God are killed is here again.  We have seen in at least a couple of instances how someone is put into exile and later dies alone.  Here, the one that is described  is, how I pictured it, taken to a tall tower and thrown off.  I couldn’t tell if it was done a lot or if just for him.  The ashes, I don’t think, were others that had died, but left from when the tower was attacked or vacated.  It doesn’t sound like it was used anymore accept for a place to throw people off in a manner of execution.  And it didn’t sound like it was the Jews that put him to death, even though it says he died in a fitting way because of what he had done to the Temple.  It seemed that he died because he was scheming among the Gentiles and trying to gain power there.  Of all of these executions, it is never the Jews that actually do the deed.  Each one has the person go off and circumstances result in them being killed and usually not mourned and not properly buried.  This book is really taking great care to show the repercussions of going against God.