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Polyglot Bible: 2 Macabees: 2 Macabees 5

Book of ActsGreek New TestamentPolyglot Bible

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This is a passage from 2 Maccabees chapter 5, a deuterocanonical Jewish historical-theological text presented here in three parallel versions: an English translation (in the tradition of the King James Apocrypha), the Greek Septuagint original, and the Latin Vulgate. The passage narrates the catastrophic events surrounding Antiochus IV Epiphanes' second Egyptian campaign, beginning with an ominous celestial vision of phantom armies over Jerusalem. It then recounts the failed coup by the deposed high priest Jason, followed by Antiochus' violent retribution against Jerusalem — an assault that reportedly killed 80,000 people, looted the Temple treasury, and installed brutal governors to suppress the Jewish population. The text closes with the general Apollonius treacherously massacring Jews on the Sabbath, and Judas Maccabeus withdrawing into the wilderness with a small band to survive on herbs, avoiding ritual defilement. A distinctive theological thread runs throughout: the author insists that God permitted the desecration not because the Temple lacked sanctity but because the people's sins temporarily suspended divine protection, framing the catastrophe as discipline rather than abandonment — a claim that sets this text apart from purely military historiography and situates it within the tradition of covenantal theodicy.

Polyglot Bible: 2 Macabees: 2 Macabees 5

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