As he lay dying, Antiochus made to a vow to the Lord that Jerusalem would now be free and Jews would have citizenship status. He would restore the temple that he had sacked; he would provide the finances to cover the costs. In addition, he himself would become a Jew. None of that accomplished an end to his sufferings. He gave up hope and wrote a letter to the Jews, wishing them well and naming his son as successor.
The author of Maccabees sums up, "So the murderer and blasphemer, having endured the more intense suffering, such as he had inflicted on others, came to the end of his life by a more pitiable fate among the mountains in a strange land" (v. 28).
At what point could Antiochus have changed the outcome?
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