Purgatory and Prayers for the Dead in 2 Maccabees 12

If you try to tell professing Bible-believing Christians about the King James Apocrypha, you'll no doubt run into the objection that, "But the Apocrypha teaches heresies like purgatory and prayers for the dead!" Rhodes (14) lists "purgatory and the redemption of souls after death" as being taught in 2 Maccabees 12:42, 46. Speaking of 2 Maccabees 12:43-45, Catholic Answers (in an article with a Nihil Obstat and an Imprimatur from the Bishop of San Diego) boasts:

This verse [sic] so clearly illustrates the existence of purgatory that, at the time of the Reformation, Protestants had to cut the books of the Maccabees out of their Bibles in order to avoid accepting the doctrine.

("What is Purgatory?")

But in reality, examining the relevant passage in the A.V. 1611 reveals not only a stunning lack of any teaching on purgatory but also fails to support prayers for the dead as a godly practice.

42 Betook themselves unto prayer, and besought him that the sin committed might wholly be put out of remembrance. Besides, that noble Judas exhorted the people to keep themselves from sin, forsomuch as they saw before their eyes the things that came to pass for the sins of those that were slain.

43 And when he had made a gathering throughout the company to the sum of two thousand drachms of silver, he sent it to Jerusalem to offer a sin offering, doing therein very well and honestly, in that he was mindful of the resurrection:

44 For if he had not hoped that they that were slain should have risen again, it had been superfluous and vain to pray for the dead.

45 And also in that he perceived that there was great favour laid up for those that died godly, it was an holy and good thought. Whereupon he made a reconcilation for the dead, that they might be delivered from sin.

2 Maccabees 12:42-45 A.V. 1611 (PCE 1900)

In context, there were some Jews who were slain in battle fighting against Gentile oppression and who were discovered to have had images of idols in their coats (something forbidden by the second commandment in Exodus 20:4-5). As a result, Judas prays for them to be forgiven, with Old Testament animal sacrifices sent to Jerusalem. Where do you find any mention here of the Roman doctrine of purgatory or of immortal souls separated from their bodies suffering a purging fire to eventually make them holy enough for heaven? Nowhere. What is instead repeated as the motive for Judas making prayers for the dead is so that they might have a good "resurrection."

Furthermore, reading each verse carefully reveals that even the act of praying for the dead itself is not approved of or commended, but rather the thought behind it. The scripture says that Judas did "very well and honestly, in that he was mindful of the resurrection." So it isn't that he did very well and honestly in praying for the dead or offering sacrifice for them, but only "in that he was mindful of the resurrection." The following verses repeat that, "in that he perceived that there was great favour laid up for those that died godly, it was an holy and good thought." It isn't said that prayers for the dead were a holy and good thought, but simply the thought that those who died godly would have great favor in their resurrection. Judas is not being commended for this act of praying for the dead but merely for believing in the doctrine of the resurrection that motivated his actions. Whether his prayers and attempts were answered or not is not addressed in the passage, but it is in the New Testament.

So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.

Romans 14:12 A.V. 1611 (PCE 1900)

Since everyone will give an account of himself to God, then Judas' prayers for the dead were ultimately in vain and profitless. Those who died in battle with their idols will have to answer to God for it themselves. Judas' prayers for the dead are only to be commended "in that he was mindful of the resurrection...that there was great favour laid up for those that died godly," as the text itself says.

While the King James text of the Apocrypha certainly doesn't endorse prayers or offerings to the dead, in the corrupt Douay-Rheims Roman Catholic text of 2 Maccabees, an extra verse is added to endorse these prayers.

It is therefore a holy, and healthful cogitation to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins.

2 Maccabees 12:46 Douay-Rheims Bible (1610)

There is no 2 Maccabees 12:46 in the King James Bible; it ends in verse 45. This extra verse is only found in the Latin Vulgate but is missing in the Greek manuscripts of the book (The Second Tome 930), which is followed by the A.V. 1611.

In conclusion, the King James Apocrypha teaches neither any purgatory nor does it approve of prayers for the dead in 2 Maccabees 12. The Protestants and Romanists who think 2 Maccabees 12 teaches these things are gravely mistaken. The King James Bible is always right, including the Apocrypha.

Works Cited

Rhodes, Ron. The 10 Most Important Things You Can Say to a Catholic, Eugene: Harvest House Publishers, 2002.

The Second Tome of the Holie Bible: Faithfully Translated into English, Out of the Authentical Latin, John Cousturier, 1635, https://archive.org/details/1610A.d.DouayOldTestament1582A.d.RheimsNewTestament_176/page/n1027/mode/2up?view=theater Accessed on 6 Nov. 2022.

“What is Purgatory?” Catholic Answers, https://www.catholic.com/tract/purgatory. Accessed on 6 Nov. 2022.