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The Maccabees (Hebrew: מכבים or מקבים, Makabim) were a Jewish national liberation movement that fought for and won independence from Antiochus IV Epiphanes of the Hellenistic Seleucid dynasty, who was succeeded by his infant son Antiochus V Eupator. The Maccabees founded the Hasmonean royal dynasty and established Jewish independence in the Land of Israel for about one hundred years, from 164 BC to 63 BC.

Revolt

In 167 BC, after Antiochus issued decrees in Judea forbidding Jewish religious practice, a rural Jewish priest from Modiin, Mattathias the Hasmonean, sparked the revolt against the Seleucid empire by refusing to worship the Greek gods. Mattathias together with his five sons fled to the wilderness of Judea after he slew a Hellenistic Jew who stepped forward to offer a sacrifice to an idol in Mattathias' place. After Mattathias' death about one year later, his son Judah Maccabee led an army of Jewish dissidents to victory over the Seleucid dynasty.

The revolt itself involved many individual battles, in which the Maccabean forces gained infamy among the Syrian army for their use of guerrilla tactics. After the victory, the Maccabees entered Jerusalem in triumph and ritually cleansed the Temple, reestablishing traditional Jewish worship there and installing Jonathan Maccabee as High Priest. A large Syrian army was sent to quash the revolt, but returned to Syria on the death of Antiochus IV. Its commander Lysias, preoccupied with internal Syrian affairs, agreed to a political compromise that provided religious freedom.

Following the re-dedication of the temple, the supporters of the Maccabees were divided over the question of whether to continue fighting. When the revolt began under the leadership of Mattathias, it was seen as a war for religious freedom to end the oppression of the Seleucids. However, as Maccabees realized how successful they had been many wanted to continue the revolt as a war of national self-determination. This conflict led to the exacerbation of the divide between the Pharisees and Sadducees under later Hasmonean monarchs such as Alexander Jannaeus.

Those who sought the continuation of the war of national identity were led by Judah Maccabee. On his death in battle in 160 BC, Judah was succeeded as army commander by his younger brother, Jonathan, who was already High Priest. Jonathan made treaties with various foreign states, causing further dissent among those who desired religious freedom over political power. On Jonathan's death in 142 BC, Simon Maccabee, the last remaining son of Mattathias, took power. That same year, Demetrius II, king of Syria, granted the Jews complete political independence and Simon, great high priest and commander of the Jews, went on to found the Hasmonean dynasty. Jewish autonomy lasted until 63 BC, when the Roman general Pompey captured Jerusalem and subjected Judea to Roman rule, while the Hasmonean dynasty itself ended in 37 BC when the Idumean Herod the Great became de-facto king of Jerusalem.

Every year Jews celebrate Hanukkah in commemoration of Judah Maccabee's victory over the Seleucids and subsequent miracles.

Mention in Deuterocanon

The story of the Maccabees can be found in the Catholic and Orthodox Bibles in the deuterocanonical books of 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees. Books of 3 Maccabees and 4 Maccabees are not directly related to the Maccabees.

Origin of name

The name Maccabee is sometimes seen used as synonym for the entire Hasmonean Dynasty, but the Maccabees proper were Judah Maccabee and his four brothers. The name Maccabee was a personal epithet of Judah, and the later generations were not his descendants. Although there is no definitive explanation of what the term means, one suggestion is that the name derives from the Aramaic maqqaba, "the hammer", in recognition of his ferocity in battle. It is also possible that the name Maccabee is an acronym for the Torah verse "Mi kamocha ba'elim YHWH", "Who is like unto thee among the mighty, O Lord!"

Christianity's view of the Maccabees

Although they were not said to be of the family of the Maccabees, seven Jewish brothers and their mother, described as martyred for their faith in 2 and 4 Maccabees, have been known in Christianity as the "Holy Maccabean Martyrs" or "Holy Maccabees", from the titles of the books where their martydom is described.

The Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates the Holy Maccabean Martyrs on 1 August, the first day of the Dormition Fast.

The Roman Catholic Church includes them in its official list of saints, commemorating them on 1 August. From Pope John XXIII's revision of the liturgical calendar in 1960 to that of Pope Paul VI in 1969, this date was dedicated to them. Previously, they were commemorated within the feast of St. Peter ad Vincula on the same date (see General Roman Calendar as in 1954). Since 1969, when the obligatory memorial of Saint Alphonsus Liguori was assigned to 1 August, the revised rubrics do not allow the Maccabees to be celebrated on that day, and their feast was therefore removed from the General Roman Calendar.

References

1. From the Maccabees to the Mishnah Second Edition. Cohen, Shaye J.D. Westminster John Knox Press, 2006.
2. Latin: Maccabaeus, Greek: Makkabaios, from Hebrew maqqeb et, hammer (Oxford English Dictionary).
3. Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "The Machabees" . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
4. Exodus 15:11
5. Calendarium Romanum (Libreria Editrice Vatican, 1969), p. 132

See also

• Judah Maccabeus
• Jonathan Maccabaeus
• Simon Maccabeus
• My Glorious Brothers, novel by Howard Fast
• Alexander Jannaeus
• John Hyrcanus
• Aristobulus
• Salome Alexandra
• Hyrcanus II
• Aristobulus II

• Hasmoneans
• Jewish army units
• Wars involving Israel