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The descendants of Mattathias. The Maccabees (/ ˈ m æ k ə b iː z /), also spelled Machabees (Hebrew: מַכַּבִּים, Makkabbīm or מַקַבִּים, Maqabbīm; Latin: Machabaei or Maccabaei; Ancient Greek: Μακκαβαῖοι, Makkabaioi), were a group of Jewish rebel warriors who took control of Judea, which at the time was part of the Seleucid Empire.
The Maccabees under Judas Maccabeus (Judah Maccabee) attacked south of Judea to Idumea, occupied by the Edomites and referred to archaically as the "descendants of Esau" in an attempt to make the text more befitting of the deeds of the heroes of Hebrew Bible scripture. Judas's forces would later return toward the end of 163 BC.
[75] 2 Maccabees also represents an attempt to take the cause of the Maccabees outside Judea, as it encourages Egyptian Jews and other diaspora Jews to celebrate the cleansing of the temple (Hanukkah) and revere Judas Maccabeus. [75] [69] In general, 2 Maccabees portrays the prospects of peace and cooperation more positively than 1 Maccabees ...
Lysias skirted Judea as he had done in his first campaign, entering it from the south and besieging Beth-Zur. Judah raised the siege of the Acra and went to meet Lysias. In the Battle of Beth-zechariah, south of Bethlehem, the Seleucids achieved their first major victory over the Maccabees, and Judah was forced to withdraw to Jerusalem. Beth ...
In autumn 164 BC, Regent Lysias launched an expedition to Judea to defeat the Maccabean rebellion. The Maccabees under Judas Maccabeus fought the Greeks at the Battle of Beth Zur. Whether from losses in the battle or from news of the death of King Antiochus IV reaching Judea, Lysias left Judea and negotiated a compromise.
The new king of the Seleucid Empire which ruled Judea at the time, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, apparently started to auction off the position of High Priest to the highest bidder: whoever offered the most yearly tribute from the Temple in Jerusalem to the Seleucid government in Antioch could have it. It is unknown to what extent such corruption was ...
1 Maccabees is the most extensive source of information on events in Judea from 175 to 135 BC. It has traditionally been considered highly trustworthy, although it is to some extent the "official" version of history according to the Hasmoneans and from the Maccabean point of view. [ 57 ]
The Battle of Elasa is recorded in the book of 1 Maccabees (1 Maccabees 9:1–22) and in Josephus's Antiquities of the Jews Book 12, Chapter 11. The account in 1 Maccabees is high quality, giving detailed topographic information that makes following the movements of the armies possible, although also focuses on Judas's personal actions rather than the army as a whole.