Not a sequel but a second telling with fireworks. 2 Maccabees retells part of the same revolt from a different angle — condensed from a five-volume history by one Jason of Cyrene — and swaps the chronicle voice for theology: sky visions, angel cavalry, and the martyrdom of a mother and her seven sons, one of the most retold scenes in Jewish and Christian history. This is where the resurrection of the dead and prayers for the dead burn brightest, and it is the other source of the Hanukkah story: the temple's cleansing. The author's two letters, including a festival-greeting note dated around 124 BC, open the book.

This book is also available in the Revised Version (1895) — modern spelling.