Led by the Lord, Maccabeus recovers the temple and the city, pulls down the heathen altars, builds another altar, strikes fire from stones and offers sacrifice after two years. The cleansing falls on the twenty-fifth day of Casleu, the very day of the profanation, and is kept for eight days with branches and palms, and ordained for every year. Under Antiochus Eupator, Ptolemeus Macron, who had dealt justly with the Jews, poisons himself. Judas storms the strongholds of the Idumeans and slays the men who let the besieged go for money. Against Timotheus, five riders from heaven shield Judas, and the fortress of Gawra falls on the fifth day.
2 Maccabees 10 - Summary
Summary
Read 2 Maccabees Chapter 10 Summary
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Characters in This Chapter
Jeremiah
Prophet remembered for hiding the tabernacle and the ark, who appears in Judas's dream praying for the people and giving him a golden sword
Nehemiah
Leader who, in the opening letter, rekindles the hidden altar fire and founds a library of the sacred books
Judas Maccabeus
Hero of the book, who cleanses the Temple, prays for the fallen and defeats Nicanor after his dream of Jeremiah
Antiochus IV Epiphanes
King who plunders the Temple and persecutes the faithful, then dies of a plague after his flight from Persepolis
Joseph of Arimathea
The One Who Buried Jesus
Places in This Chapter
Jerusalem
View on MapHoly city at the centre of the story: plundered by Antiochus, freed by Judas, and the place where Nicanor's head is hung up
The Temple
View on MapSanctuary defended against Heliodorus, profaned and dedicated to Jupiter, cleansed on the twenty-fifth of Casleu, then threatened by Nicanor
Egypt
View on MapHome of the Jews to whom the opening letters are written, and the land of Antiochus's campaigns
Antioch (Syria)
View on MapSeleucid capital, near which Onias is murdered at Daphne, and to which Nicanor flees after his first defeat
Persia
View on MapLand where the priests hid the altar fire at the exile, and from which Antiochus returns in disgrace before his death
Mount Nebo
View on MapThe mountain from which Moses saw the heritage of God, where Jeremiah is said to have hidden the tabernacle and the ark in a cave
Cyprus
View on MapCyprus is a large island in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. It was the home of Barnabas and an early destination for Christian missionaries. Paul and Barnabas began their first missionary journey here. The proconsul Sergius Paulus became a believer when Paul blinded the sorcerer Elymas.
Position in Book
Letters to the Jews of EgyptChapters 1-2
Heliodorus and the Temple TreasuryChapters 3
Corrupt High Priests and the Sack of JerusalemChapters 4-5
Persecution and the MartyrsChapters 6-7
Judas's Rising and the Tyrant's EndChapters 8-9
The Temple Cleansed and the Wars under EupatorChapters 10-13
The temple is purified on the twenty-fifth of Casleu; Judas fights Timotheus, Lysias and Gorgias, prays for the dead, and makes peace with Antiochus Eupator.
Nicanor, Razis and the Last VictoryChapters 14-15