2 Maccabees 1:11-17
New Catholic Bible
13 When their leader marched into Persia with a force that was apparently invincible, they were decimated in the temple of the goddess Nanea[b] as the result of a deceitful scheme engineered by the priests of Nanea. 14 [c]On the pretext of intending to marry the goddess, Antiochus had come to the place together with his Friends, with the purpose of securing its many treasures as a dowry. 15 When the priests of Nanea had placed the treasures on display, Antiochus with a few attendants arrived at the temple precincts. As soon as he entered the temple, the priests locked him inside. 16 After opening a secret trap door in the ceiling, they hurled stones at the leader and his companions and struck them down. Then they dismembered their bodies and cut off their heads, throwing them to the people outside.
17 Blessed in all respects be our God who has delivered the godless to death.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 2 Maccabees 1:11 The king: Antiochus IV Epiphanes of Syria, the persecutor of the Jews. He perished in 164 B.C. while leading a Persian invasion.
- 2 Maccabees 1:13 Nanea: an oriental goddess who is similar to the Greek goddess Artemis.
- 2 Maccabees 1:14 The death of Antiochus IV is depicted in a different way in 2 Mac 9:1-29 and in still another way in 1 Mac 6:1-16. The writer of this letter seems to have written it immediately after hearing a rumor of the king’s death—hence in 164 B.C.
