2 Maccabees

I. Letters to Egypt and the Summarizer's Foreword (1:1-2:32)

A. A Letter to Alexandria for Hanukkah in 124 B.C. (1:1-9)
B. A Letter to Aristobulus Concerning Hanukkah (1:10-2:l8)
C. Foreword by the Summarizer of Jason's Work (2:19-32)

II. Under Seleucus IV Philopator (187-175 B.C.): Wonders in the Temple: The Case of Heliodorus (3:1-40)

III. Under Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175-164 B.C.): Desecration and Purification of the Temple (4:1-10:8)

A. The Wicked High Priests: Simon, Jason, Menelaus (4:1-5:27)

B. The Martyrology (6:1-7:42)

  1. The Persecution by Antiochus Epiphanes (6:1-17)
  2. Eleazar the Martyr (6:18-31)
  3. The Martyrdom of Seven Brothers and Their Mother (7:1-42)

C. Judas' Victories and Purification of the Temple (8:1-10:8)

  1. Judas Overcomes Nicanor and Gorgias (8:1-36)
  2. The Last Words and Death of Antiochus IV Epiphanes (9:1-29)
  3. The Purification of the Temple (lO:1-8)

IV. Under Antiochus V Eupator (164-162 B.C.) and Demetrius I Soter (161-150 B.C.): The Subsequent Campaigns of Judas Maccabaeus (10:9-15:36)

A. The Reign of Antiochus V Eupator (10:9-13:26)

  1. The Tragic Suicide of Ptolemy Macron (10:9-13)
  2. Judas Defeats Gorgias in Idumaea (10:14-23)
  3. Judas Defeats Timotheus at Gezer (10:24-38)
  4. Judas Defeats Lysias at Beth-Zur (11:1-38)
  5. Judas' Expeditions into the Surrounding Regions (12:1-45)
  6. Lysias Invades Judaea a Second Time (13:1-17)
  7. Antiochus V Eupator Negotiates with Judas (13:18-26)

B. The Reign of Demetrius I Soter (14:1-15:36)

  1. The Contrivances of Alcimus (14:1-14)
  2. The Intrigue: Judas, Nicanor, and Alcimus (14:15-46)
  3. Judas Defeats Nicanor (15:1-36)

V. The Afterword of the Summarizer (15:37-39)