Key Verse Spotlight
2 Maccabees 8:26 - Meaning and Application
Understand how this verse speaks to what you're facing and how to apply it today
Translation: World English Bible — Catholic Edition
" for it was the day before the Sabbath, and for this reason they made no effort to chase them far. "
2 Maccabees 8:26
Verse in Context
Understanding the surrounding verses prevents misinterpretation:
24 Since the Almighty fought on their side, they killed more than nine thousand of the enemy, and wounded and disabled most of Nicanor’s army, and compelled them all to flee.
25 They took the money of those who had come there to buy them as slaves. After they had pursued them for some distance, they returned, being constrained by the time of the day;
26 for it was the day before the Sabbath, and for this reason they made no effort to chase them far.
27 When they had gathered the weapons of the enemy together, and had stripped off their spoils, they kept the Sabbath, greatly blessing and thanking the Lord who had saved them to this day, because he had begun to show mercy to them.
28 After the Sabbath, when they had given some of the spoils to the maimed, and to the widows and orphans, they distributed the rest among themselves and their children.
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2 Maccabees 8:1
"But Judas, who is also called Maccabaeus, and those who were with him, making their way secretly into the villages, called together their kindred. Enlisting those who had continued in the Jews’ religion, they gathered together about six thousand."
2 Maccabees 8:2
"They called upon the Lord to look at the people who were oppressed by all, and to have compassion on the sanctuary that had been profaned by the ungodly men,"
2 Maccabees 8:3
"and to have pity on the city that was suffering ruin and ready to be leveled to the ground, and to listen to the blood that cried out to him,"
2 Maccabees 8:4
"and to remember the lawless destruction of the innocent infants, and concerning the blasphemies that had been committed against his name, and to show his hatred of wickedness."
2 Maccabees 8:5
"When Maccabaeus had trained his men for service, the heathen at once found him irresistible, for the wrath of the Lord was turned into mercy."
2 Maccabees 8:6
"Coming without warning, he set fire to cities and villages. And in winning back the most important positions, putting to flight no small number of the enemies,"
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