1 Maccabees 6:7
New Catholic Bible
7 that they had pulled down the Abomination he had built upon the altar in Jerusalem, and that they had surrounded the sanctuary with high walls as they had done in the past and had fortified his city of Beth-zur.
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1 Maccabees 6:7 in all English translations
2 Maccabees 4:23-40
New Catholic Bible
23 Jason Supplanted by Menelaus. Three years later, Jason sent Menelaus, the brother of the previously mentioned Simon, to deliver money to the king and to complete the negotiations on some important matters. 24 But when Menelaus was presented to the king, he flattered him with an air of authority and thereby secured the high priesthood for himself, outbidding Jason by three hundred talents of silver. 25 He returned with the royal appointment, despite the fact that he possessed no qualification that made him worthy of the high priesthood. He had the temper of a cruel tyrant and the rage of a savage beast. 26 Then Jason, who had supplanted his own brother, was now himself supplanted by another man and driven out as a fugitive into the land of the Ammonites.
27 Although Menelaus continued to hold the office of high priest, he failed to make any payments of the money he had promised to the king, despite the insistent demands for payment by Sostratus, the captain of the citadel, 28 who had the responsibility for the collection of revenues. As a result, both men were summoned to appear before the king. 29 Menelaus left his own brother Lysimachus as his deputy in the high priesthood, while Sostratus designated Crates, the commander of the Cypriots, to act in his place.
30 Murder of the Saintly Onias. While these events were taking place, the people of Tarsus and Mallus rose in revolt because their cities had been given as a present to Antiochis, the king’s concubine. 31 Therefore, the king hurriedly departed to resolve the problem, leaving Andronicus, one of his ministers, to act as his deputy. 32 Menelaus, believing that he had been presented with a favorable opportunity, stole some of the gold vessels from the temple and gave them to Andronicus. Some other vessels he had already previously sold to Tyre and the neighboring cities.
33 When Onias received irrefutable evidence of these facts, he publicly denounced him, after having first withdrawn to a place of sanctuary at Daphne, near Antioch. 34 Thereupon, Menelaus approached Andronicus privately and urged him to arrange for the death of Onias. Andronicus came to Onias and treacherously offered him sworn pledges with right hands joined. Despite his suspicions, Onias was persuaded to leave the place of sanctuary, whereupon Andronicus, without any regard for justice, immediately put him to death.
35 The unjust murder of this man resulted in an outpouring of grief and outrage not only among the Jews but among people from many other nations as well. 36 When the king returned from the region of Cilicia, the Jews of the city protested to him about the indefensible killing of Onias, and in this they were joined by Greeks who shared their anger about this criminal act. 37 Antiochus was deeply grieved and filled with pity, and he wept as he recalled the prudence and exemplary conduct of the dead man. 38 Inflamed with anger, he immediately stripped Andronicus of his purple robe, tore off his other garments, and then paraded him throughout the city to that very place where he had committed the outrageous deed against Onias. At that spot he put the murderer to death, and thus the Lord repaid him with the punishment he deserved.
39 Disorders at Jerusalem. Lysimachus, with the connivance of Menelaus, had committed many sacrilegious thefts in the city. When this became common knowledge, and the people heard that many gold vessels had already been disposed of, they rose up in protest against him. 40 When the crowds became even more enraged and menacing, Lysimachus armed about three thousand men and launched an unjustified attack. The troops were commanded by Auranus, a man advanced in years and no less in folly.
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Footnotes
- 2 Maccabees 4:23 Three years later: not after the last event narrated (which represents an insertion) but three years after the naming of Jason as high priest. The Simon spoken of is the one who had provoked the intervention of Heliodorus to confiscate the treasury of the temple (see vv. 1, 4; 3:14).
- 2 Maccabees 4:24 Taking account of verse 8, the conclusion is that Menelaus obligated himself to send 740 talents.
- 2 Maccabees 4:29 The mercenaries who formed the garrison of Jerusalem were Cypriots.
- 2 Maccabees 4:30 This vile murder of 171 B.C. is an important date in the Jewish history of the second century.
- 2 Maccabees 4:30 The Seleucids gifted cities or provinces to members of their family as personal fiefs.
- 2 Maccabees 4:33 Daphne: located some five miles from Antioch, had a place of sanctuary dedicated to Apollo and Artemis.
- 2 Maccabees 4:36 In Antioch, from its very foundation, there existed a Jewish colony with special rights and privileges.
2 Maccabees 14:3
New Catholic Bible
3 Now a man named Alcimus, a former high priest who had willfully incurred defilement at the time of the revolt, realized that there was no possible way that his safety could be assured or that he could again have access to the holy altar.
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2 Maccabees 14:3 in all English translations