Publication of 2 Maccabees

Second Maccabees is a Jewish book written in Greek that is included in the Catholic and Orthodox Bibles as a deuterocanonical book but not in the Jewish or most Protestant canons. It is presented as a summary of a longer history by Jason of Cyrene, and it covers the revolt of the Jews against the Seleucid king Antiochus IV, who tried to suppress Jewish religious practice. It tells of the martyrdom of faithful Jews, including a mother and her seven sons, and of the military victories of Judas Maccabeus and the purification of the Temple in Jerusalem, remembered in the festival of Hanukkah. The book is also an important early source for belief in the resurrection of the dead and for prayers on behalf of the dead.

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