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Polyglot Bible: 2 Macabees: 2 Macabees 8

Book of ActsGreek New TestamentPolyglot Bible

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This is a passage from 2 Maccabees, a deuterocanonical/apocryphal book of the Hebrew Bible found in Catholic and Orthodox Christian canons, presented here in parallel English (Apocrypha translation) and Greek (Septuagint). The text narrates Judas Maccabeus's guerrilla campaign against Seleucid forces, focusing on his defeat of Nicanor, a commander sent to enslave the Jewish population to pay Rome's tribute. Maccabeus rallies a force of six thousand, delivers a speech contrasting the enemy's reliance on weapons against Israel's trust in divine power, citing precedents like the destruction of Sennacherib's army, then leads his outnumbered force to kill over nine thousand enemies. A notably distinctive feature is the text's explicit theological framework: military victories are interpreted entirely as divine interventions, and the narrative pauses to record acts of piety — sabbath observance halting pursuit, spoils shared with widows, orphans, and the elderly, and communal prayer for reconciliation with God. The passage ends with Nicanor's humiliation and his own reported admission that the Jews were invincible because God fought for them, inverting the premise of his campaign.

Polyglot Bible: 2 Macabees: 2 Macabees 8

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