IV. Historical and Eelifjious Character. — As the avowed design of the book is religio-didactic and parre- netie, the aim of the writer was not to recount a series of dry facts in chronological order, but rather to select such events from the period on which he treats, and ar- range, embellish, and comment upon them in such a manner as should most strikingly set forth to his Egyp- tian brethren the marvellous interposition of God to preserve the only legitimate and theocratic sanctuary in Jenisalem. Hence the desire to point out the signal punishment of the wicked according to the principle in eo (jenere qiiisque punitur, in quo peccavit (v, 9, 10; ix, 5, 6; xiii, 8; xv, 32, 33); the moral reflections (v, 17- 20; vi, 12-lG; ix, 8-10; xii, 43-45); the colored de- scriptions (iii, 14-23; v, 11-20); the exaggerated ac- count of the martyrdom of the seven brothers and their mother, which king Antiochus, for the sake of effect, is made to witness in Jerusalem (vi, 18-vii, 42) ; the enor- mous numbers of the enemv slain by a handful of Jews (viii, 24, 30; x, 23, 31; xf, 11; xii, 16,- 19, 23, 26, 28; XV, 27) ; the numerous and strange miracles (iii, 25-27 ; V, 2, 3 ; X, 29-31 ; xi, «-10 ; xv, i2, etc.) ; the historical and chronological inaccuracies, e. g. making Antiochus witness the death of the Jewish martyrs (vii, 3) ; the
death of Antiochus (ch. ix) ; the representing of the sacri- fices as having been renewed after two years' interruption (2 Mace. X, 3, comp. with 1 Mace, iv, 52, 54 ; i, 54, 59) ; the description of the different battles which the Jews fought between the purification of the Temple and the death of Antiochus (2 Mace, viii, 30; x, 15-38; xii, 2- 43, comp. with 1 Mace, v) ; the campaign of Lysias (2 Maec. xi, 12, comp. with 1 Mace, iv, 26-32) ; etc. But apart from these embellishments, traditional stories, in- versions of events, etc., which, in accordance with an- cient usage, the author adopted in order to carrj' out his design, and in spite of the fact that the two letters with which the book begins are now generalh' given up as spurious, the best critics accept the groundwork of the facts as true. Grimm, whose elaborate, thorough, and impartial comment on this book is unparalleled, has shown that there is no ground to question the historical import of the most important section (chap, iv-vi, 10), which is not only most consistent in itself, but fits most appropriately the space of 1 Mace, i, 10-64 ; or the truth- fulness of ch. iii, when stripped of the miracidous. He says that its truthfulness, within the specified limits, is supported by the fact that, 1. Notwithstanding the many differences, it agrees in not a few portions with 1 Mac- cabees, though both these books are perfectly indepen- dent of each other; and, 2. In four events which it re- cords anterior to 1 Maccabees, it agrees with Joseplius, who is entirely independent of it, viz. the account of the Temple at Gerizim (vi, 2, comp. with Josephus, yln^ xii, 5, 5) ; the execution of Menelaus at Bercea (xiii, 3- 8, comp. with Josephus, A nf. xii, 9, 7) ; the landing of Demetrius at Tripolis (xiv, 1) ; and of the priestlj'' in- trigues (ch. iv) winch were the cause of the protracted series of struggles between the Jews and the Syrian monarchs.
The religious character of the book is one of its most important and interesting features. God is throughout recognised as ordaining even the most minute affairs of his people ; the calamities which befel them are looked upon by the Jews as a temporary visitation for their sins (iv, 1 6, 17 ; V, 17-20 ; vi, 12-17'; vii, 32, 33 ; xii, 40) ; and the sufferings which come upon the righteous in this common visitation are regarded as atoning for the sins of the rest of the people, and staying the anger of God (vii, 38). The book, moreover, shows that the in- terposition of angels for the salvation of the people (x, 29, etc. ; xiii, 2, etc.), and supernatiu-al manifestations (iii, 25; v, 2, etc.; xiii, 2, etc.), which play a very im- portant part in the N. T., were of no common occurrence. What is, however, most striking, is, that not only did the Jews then believe m the surviving of the soul after the death of the body, in the resurrection of the dead, and in their reunion with those near and dear to them (vii. 6, 9, 11, 14, 23, 29, 36), but that God does not irrev- ocably seal the eternal doom of man immediately after his departure, and that the decision of our heavenly Father may be influenced by the prayers and sacrifices of the surviving friends of the departed (xii, 43-45). This passage also shows that the offering of sacrifices for the dead must have been common in those days, in- asmuch as it is spoken of in very commendable terms. The striking distinction between the religious senti- ments of this book and those of the former goes far to justify Geiger's conclusion that "the two books of Maccabees are party productions ; the autlior of the first was a Sadducec, and a friend of the Maccab;eaii dynasty, while the author or epitomator of the second was a Pharisee, who looked upon the Maccabees with suspi- cion" {Urschrifl, p. 200). Still the second book, like the first, contains no hopes about the coming of a Mes- siah.