Maccabean Revolt

Background

After the death of Alexander the Great, Judea came under the rule of the Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt. From about 200 BC it was ruled by the Seleucid dynasty of Syria. During this period, Jerusalem was divided between a faction that sought to embrace Greek culture (Hellenism) and a faction that sought to preserve the traditions of the Law.

Under Antiochus IV Epiphanes (reigned 175–164 BC), Jason obtained the office of high priest by paying the king. He built a Greek-style gymnasium in Jerusalem. Menelaus later seized the high priesthood by the same means.

In 167 BC Antiochus IV prohibited Jewish practices such as circumcision, observance of the Sabbath, and the dietary laws. He also had pagan sacrifices offered on the altar of the Jerusalem temple. First Maccabees 1 records this as the setting up of "the abomination of desolation" in the temple. It is commonly associated with "the abomination that maketh desolate" in Daniel 11:31.

Course of the Revolt

• 167 BC: In the village of Modein, the priest Mattathias killed a Jew who was about to offer a pagan sacrifice in the presence of a royal official, and he killed the official as well. He then fled to the hills with his five sons. A group of pious Jews devoted to the Law (the Hasideans) joined him.
• 166 BC: Mattathias died, and his third son, Judas, became leader. His epithet "Maccabeus" is commonly interpreted as "the hammer," though its meaning is uncertain. Using guerrilla tactics, Judas defeated Seleucid forces in a series of engagements.
• 164 BC: Judas recaptured Jerusalem and purified the temple. The temple was rededicated on the 25th of Kislev, and the event was celebrated for eight days. Antiochus IV died the same year, and the Seleucids subsequently rescinded the religious prohibitions.
• 160 BC: Judas was killed at the Battle of Elasa. His brother Jonathan succeeded him and became high priest in 152 BC.
• 142–140 BC: After Jonathan was murdered, his older brother Simon secured de facto independence. A popular assembly then recognized his right to hold the offices of high priest and ruler on a hereditary basis.

Outcomes and Influence

• Feast of Dedication: A Jewish festival (Hanukkah) arose to commemorate the rededication of the temple. John 10:22 records that Jesus was in Jerusalem at "the feast of the dedication." The story that the lamp oil burned for eight days does not appear in the books of Maccabees but in later rabbinic literature.
• Hasmonean dynasty: This dynasty was founded by Simon's descendants. It lost its independence when the Roman general Pompey captured Jerusalem in 63 BC, and it effectively came to an end when Herod took control of Jerusalem in 37 BC. That a family descended neither from the house of David nor from the traditional high-priestly line held both the kingship and the high priesthood was controversial even at the time. Jewish sects of the New Testament era, such as the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes, are thought to have formed or risen to prominence during this period.
• Martyrdom and belief in the resurrection: Second Maccabees 7 tells of a mother and her seven sons who were martyred in hope of the resurrection. Many interpreters connect this account with Hebrews 11:35.

Sources and the Question of Canon

The principal sources are 1 and 2 Maccabees and Josephus's Antiquities of the Jews. First and Second Maccabees are included in the Septuagint.

• The Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church accept these books as part of the canon. The Catholic Church calls them "deuterocanonical."
• Protestantism classifies these books as apocryphal. They are respected as historical sources but are not used as a basis for doctrine.

For this reason, the books are absent from the Korean Revised Version (New Revised Edition), but they appear in editions of the Korean Common Translation that include the Apocrypha. The prayer for the dead in 2 Maccabees 12 is cited as one of the grounds for the Catholic doctrine of purgatory. The Reformers, by contrast, did not recognize the canonicity of this book.

Assessment

Jewish tradition remembers the revolt as a victory that preserved religious freedom.

Views diverge on the interpretation of the Book of Daniel.

• Conservative Protestants and evangelicals hold that events Daniel foretold in the sixth century BC were fulfilled in Antiochus IV. Some interpreters also regard Antiochus as a type of the Antichrist. "The abomination of desolation" spoken of by Jesus in Matthew 24:15 is also discussed in this connection.
• A majority of historical-critical scholars hold that the Book of Daniel reached its final form in the second century BC, around the time of the revolt.

Historians regard the revolt as both resistance against a foreign power and a civil war within the Jewish community between Hellenizers and traditionalists. Scholars differ in their explanations of why Antiochus IV banned the Jewish religion.