The book 2 Maccabees contains 15 chapters. It is a deuterocanonical book originally written in Greek that is part of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox Christian biblical canons. It is still considered an important source on the Maccabean Revolt by Jews, Protestants, and secular historians of the period who do not necessarily hold the book as part of a scriptural canon. The chapters chronicle events in Judea from around 178–161 BCE during the Second Temple Period. Judea was at the time ruled by the Seleucid Empire, one of the Greek successor states that resulted from the conquests of Alexander the Great. 2 Maccabees was written by an unknown Egyptian Jew. The account is distinct from the book 1 Maccabees, which was written by someone in the Hasmonean kingdom that was formed after the success of the revolt. In general, 2 Maccabees has a more directly religious perspective than 1 Maccabees, frequently directly crediting prayers, miraculous interventions, and divine will for events.
The most influential chapters of the book are likely Chapter 6 and Chapter 7 which deal with the martyrdom of the woman with seven sons and Eleazar the scribe during the persecution of Judaism under King Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Chapter 7 and Chapter 12 both discuss a coming bodily resurrection of the righteous; 2 Maccabees is one of the earliest pieces of literature to advocate for this belief. Chapter 15 is also one of the earliest references to the Jewish festival of Purim. While 2 Maccabees was originally written for an audience of Hellenistic Jews, verses in its chapters have been used in some branches of Christianity as scriptural backing for indulgences, prayers for the dead, and the intercession of saints. These became controversial during the Protestant Reformation, and was one of the factors that led to Protestant denominations considering the book as non-canonical.
Like other books of the Bible, the division of the text into chapters and verses was not in its original form, and was instead added later.
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