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2 Maccabees states that God waits to punish nations until their sins have reached a limit, using language that echoes a tradition also found in Daniel 8, which describes a ruler emerging when rebellious acts have reached their full measure.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Daniel 8:23
Hebrew Bible
21 The male goat is the king of Greece, and the large horn between its eyes is the first king. 22 The horn that was broken and in whose place there arose four others stands for four kingdoms that will arise from his nation, though they will not have his strength. 23 Toward the end of their rule, when rebellious acts are complete, a rash and deceitful king will arise. 24 His power will be great, but it will not be by his strength alone. He will cause terrible destruction. He will be successful in what he undertakes. He will destroy powerful people and the people of the holy ones. 25 By his treachery he will succeed through deceit. He will have an arrogant attitude, and he will destroy many who are unaware of his schemes. He will rise up against the Prince of princes, yet he will be broken apart—but not by human agency.
Date: 200–101 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
2 Maccabees 6:14
Deuterocanon
12 I urge those who read this book to not be discouraged because of the calamities, but recognize that these punishments were not for the destruction, but for the chastening of our race. 13 For indeed it is a sign of great kindness that those who act impiously are not let alone for a long time, but immediately meet with retribution. 14 For in the case of the other nations, the Sovereign Lord waits patiently to punish them until they have attained to the full measure of their sins; but not with us, 15 that he may not take vengeance on us afterward, when we have come to the height of our sins. 16 Therefore he never withdraws his mercy from us; but though he chastens with calamity, he doesn’t forsake his own people.
Date: 160–63 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Daniel 8:23 ... when crimes reach their full measure. Literally, 'when crimes are complete' For the same sense, compare 9:24: 'until crime is stopped and sins brought to full measure' and also 2 Maccabees 6:14: 'The Lord waits patiently to punish the other nations until they have reached the full measure of their sins.' This concept was traditional in Israel, from Genesis 15:16 ('The iniquity of the Amorites will not have run its course until then') to Matthew 20:32 ('You fill up the measure of your fathers'). Therefore, the reading of the Syriac and Vulgate (compare LXX and Theodotian) is preferable to the reading of the Masoretic text ..."
Louis F. Hartman, The Anchor Yale Bible: Daniel (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2021), 181.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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