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2 Maccabees 1:1-2
New Catholic Bible
2 Maccabees 1:1-2
New Catholic Bible
Letters to the Jews in Egypt[a]
Chapter 1
The First Letter (124 B.C.)[b]
1 The Jews in Jerusalem and those in the land of Judea send greetings to their Jewish kindred in Egypt and extend to them their best wishes for peace. 2 May God grant you prosperity and continue to remember his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, his faithful servants.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 2 Maccabees 1:1 In the second century B.C., numerous Jews resided in Egypt where they formed characteristic communities. Greatly attached to Judaism, they maintained relations with Jerusalem. Two letters invite them to celebrate the Feast of the Dedication of the temple in Jerusalem. This is the reason why these letters are found at the beginning of the Second Book of Maccabees, wholly composed to exalt the temple and make the meaning of this feast comprehensible.
- 2 Maccabees 1:1 In 124 B.C., the Jews in Egypt were harassed by the authorities. The community of Jerusalem urged them to remain faithful, reminding them of the difficulties that they had experienced: trials at the time of Demetrius II (king of Syria, 145–139 B.C. and 129–125 B.C.) in 143 B.C. and apostasy of the high priest and persecutions between 174–164 B.C. From that time, the Feast of the Dedication (also called “Feast of Booths of December” because of its similarity with the Feast of Booths of October) was instituted by the leader of the Jewish resistance precisely when he had purified the temple of Jerusalem.
