Judas Maccabees Series

Revolt against the Seleucid Empire.

Born: 190 BC, Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut, Israel

Died: 160 BC, Judea

Parents: Mattathias

Dynasty: Hasmonean

Successor: Jonathan Apphus

Books: Playing Dreidel with Judah Maccabee

Siblings: Simon Thassi, Jonathan Apphus, Eleazar Avaran

Judas Maccabeus

Judas Maccabeus (died 160 BC) was the leader of a Jewish revolt against the repressive policies of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the King of Syria.

Antiochus IV Epiphanes had sent the Syrians to Judea to suppress Judaism and supplant it with Greek paganism. The third son of Mattathias, the Hasmonean priest of Modin, Judas received the added name Maccabeus, generally believed to mean "Hammerer," because of the hammer blows dealt by Judas and his small and poorly equipped guerrilla bands of Jewish patriots against the well-equipped and well-trained Syrian army. This marked the first recorded war for religious freedom.

Judas, a remarkable strategist, succeeded in employing surprise attacks, ambush, and quick mobility of his forces in defeating a succession of Syrian generals. After several years of conflict, Judas drove out his foes from Jerusalem, except for the garrison in the citadel of Acra. Judas then proceeded with a group of faithful priests to cleanse the Temple of its pagan gods and restore the Sanctuary. On the twenty-fifth of the Jewish month of Kislev, 165 BC, the golden Menorah was rekindled, and the Temple was solemnly rededicated. As the festival was called, Chanukah ("Dedication") is still celebrated each year for eight days with the kindling of lights in commemoration.

Antiochus died in 163. Judas ventured to attack the Acra citadel. Lysias, who had assumed the regency, counterattacked and defeated Judas at Bet Zecharia (162). Judas retreated to the Temple Mount but could not hold out because of an acute food shortage.

Lysias, however, needed a breather as well to deal with Philip, the regent appointed by Antiochus before his death. He, therefore, agreed to a wave of peace (162) in which the Jews received complete freedom of worship. Lysias defeated Philip, only to be overthrown by Demetrius, the true heir to the Syrian throne. Demetrius appointed Alcimus (Jakim), a Hellenist, the as high priest, a choice the Hasidim (Pietists) might have accepted since he was of priestly descent.

Alcimus's treacherous assassination of 60 priests led Judas to continue to fight for political independence to secure his people's religious liberty. Demetrius dispatched Nicanor, a trusted general, with a strong force against Judas (161). Nicanor was defeated in several encounters and died in the battle of Adassa, in which Judas scored a brilliant victory. The triumphal day, the thirteenth of Adar was ordained as an annual festival.

Judas solicited help from Rome, but a new general, Bacchides, attacked him at Elesea with a formidable force before it could come. Judas's soldiers lost courage and fled, leaving their leader with only 800 men. They were utterly routed, and Judas fell in battle (160). However, the conflict against foreign rule continued intermittently for almost three centuries.

Who was Judas Maccabeu

ANSWER Judas Maccabeus was a priest who led the Revolt against the Seleucid Empire in Israel in the second century BC. When the Old Testament closes, the people of Israel have returned from the Babylonian Exile, and the work of rebuilding has begun. Under Nehemiah, the wall of Jerusalem is rebuilt. Ezra begins to call the people back to devotion to Yahweh. The Temple has also been rebuilt, although it does not compare favorably to the splendor of Solomon's Temple (Ezra 5). In the time of Malachi, the last prophet in the Old Testament, the Temple is functioning again with sacrifices being offered. However, the people were not zealous for the Lord and offered blemished animals.

Between Malachi and the coming of John the Baptist, about 400 years pass. While there was no official prophetic word during that time, there was still a lot going on. Judas Maccabeus is from this period, sometimes called the "silent period" because there was no prophetic voice. It is also called the "Intertestamental Period" because it covers the time between the Old and New Testaments.

The Old Testament closes roughly 400 BC. Alexander the Great conquered the known civilized world and died in 323 BC. His empire is then distributed to his generals, who consolidate their territory and dynasties. Ptolemy, one of his generals, ruled in Egypt. Seleucus, another of his generals, ruled over a territory that included Syria. These generals founded dynasties that were often at war with each other. A look at a map will confirm the precarious position of Israel, located as it was between the territories of the Ptolemies and the Seleucids.

Ptolemaic rule of Israel (Palestine) was tolerant of Jewish religious practices. However, the Seleucid dynasty eventually won control of the area and began to curtail Jewish religious practices. In 175 BC, the Seleucid King Antiochus IV came to power. He chose the title Epiphanes, which means "god manifest." He began to persecute the Jews in earnest. He outlawed Jewish religious practices (including the observance of food laws) and ordered the worship of Zeus. His ultimate act of desecration was to sacrifice a pig to Zeus in the Temple in Jerusalem in 167 BC. Things were set up for Judas Maccabeus and his rebellion.