Texts in Conversation
2 Maccabees 7 uses language that closely echoes Isaiah 51, particularly in its call to observe the heavens and the earth. This shared language reflects the use of stock imagery drawn from earlier texts, likely intended to connect 2 Maccabees to established prophetic traditions.
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Isaiah 51:6
Hebrew Bible
5 I am ready to vindicate, I am ready to deliver, I will establish justice among the nations. The coastlands wait patiently for me; they wait in anticipation for the revelation of my power. 6 Look up at the sky. Look at the earth below. For the sky will dissipate like smoke, and the earth will wear out like clothes; its residents will die like gnats. But the deliverance I give is permanent; the vindication I provide will not disappear. 7 Listen to me, you who know what is right, you people who have my law in their heart.22 Don’t be afraid of the insults of men; don’t be discouraged because of their abuse.
Date: 7th-5th Centuries B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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2 Maccabees 7:28
Deuterocanon
27 But, leaning close to him, she spoke in their native language as follows, deriding the cruel tyrant: "My son, have pity on me. I carried you nine months in my womb, and nursed you for three years, and have reared you and brought you up to this point in your life, and have taken care of you. 28 I beg you, my child, to look at the heaven and the earth and see everything that is in them, and recognize that God did not make them out of things that existed. And in the same way the human race came into being. 29 Do not fear this butcher, but prove worthy of your brothers. Accept death, so that in God's mercy I may get you back again along with your brothers."
Date: 100-90 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... The appeal to contemplate is expounded with commands to 'observe' (the deeds of) heaven and earth. A similar command occurs at Isaiah 51:6 and at 2 Maccabees 7:28. At Isaiah 40:26 the prophet focuses attention on the heaven and the stars, and the same vocabulary occurs in Psalm without the imperative ('when I see the heavens, the work(s) of your fingers, the moon and stars that you have established ...') All of these passages except Isaiah 51:6 explicitly emphasize God's creative activity ..."
Nickelsburg, George W. E.
A Commentary on the Book of 1 Enoch Chapters 1-36, 81-108
(p. 155) Fortress Press, 2001
* 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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