Read more
2 Maccabees is a Jewish work composed during the 2nd century BCE and preserved by the Church. Written in Hellenistic Greek and told from a Jewish-Hellenistic perspective, 2 Maccabees narrates and interprets the ups and downs of events that took place in Jerusalem prior to and during the Maccabean revolt: institutionalized Hellenization and the foundation of Jerusalem as a polis; the persecution of Jews by Antiochus Epiphanes, accompanied by famous martyrdoms; and the rebellion against Seleucid rule by Judas Maccabaeus. 2 Maccabees is an important source both for the events it describes and for the values and interests of the Judaism of the Hellenistic diaspora that it reflects - which are often quite different from those represented by its competitor, 1 Maccabees.
About the author
Daniel R. Schwartz, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.
Report
"Für das Studium des frühen Judentums wird der Kommentar von Daniel Schwartz, der aus einer reichen Quellenkenntnis schöpft und das Ergebnis lanjähriger Arbeit darstellt, künftig als Referenzwerk unverzichtbar sein. Die Reihe der ,,Commentaries on Early Jewish Literature" gewinnt mit ihm ein weiteres Aushängeschild."
Christfried Böttrich in: Orientalistische Literaturzeitung 1/2011
This is the best recent commentary on 2 Maccabees that is available at the moment. [...] Every scholar working on this document should take his [Schwartz's] views into account."
Jan Wilhelm van Henten in: Journal of Jewish Studies LXI, 2/2010
"This volume is certain to replace that by J. A. Goldstein as the standard commentary in English."
G. J. Brooke in: Book List - Society for Old Testament Study 2009
"Ein ausgezeichneter Kommentar."
Barbara Schmitz in: Biblische Notizen 2009
"[...] this undertaking by Schwartz is a great boon to students of (i) ancient Judaism, (ii) a significant episode in Jewish-Greek relations, and (iii) the Septuagint."
Frank Shaw in: BMCR 2009.05.51
