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2 Maccabees 4:23-25
New Catholic Bible
2 Maccabees 4:23-25
New Catholic Bible
23 Jason Supplanted by Menelaus. Three years later,[a] Jason sent Menelaus, the brother of the previously mentioned Simon, to deliver money to the king and to complete the negotiations on some important matters. 24 But when Menelaus was presented to the king, he flattered him with an air of authority and thereby secured the high priesthood for himself, outbidding Jason by three hundred talents of silver.[b] 25 He returned with the royal appointment, despite the fact that he possessed no qualification that made him worthy of the high priesthood. He had the temper of a cruel tyrant and the rage of a savage beast.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 2 Maccabees 4:23 Three years later: not after the last event narrated (which represents an insertion) but three years after the naming of Jason as high priest. The Simon spoken of is the one who had provoked the intervention of Heliodorus to confiscate the treasury of the temple (see vv. 1, 4; 3:14).
- 2 Maccabees 4:24 Taking account of verse 8, the conclusion is that Menelaus obligated himself to send 740 talents.
