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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.
[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 ...
Archaeological evidence supports the claim in 2 Maccabees he died before the cleansing of the Temple, while 1 Maccabees moves his death later to hide the fact that Lysias abandoned his campaign in Judea not due to the efforts of the Maccabees at the Battle of Beth Zur, but rather to respond to political turmoil resulting from Antiochus's death ...
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 account of the Maccabees described in these sacred texts are not those of the advent of the Hasmonean dynasty of Judea, nor are they an account of the "Five Holy Maccabean Martyrs", nor the "woman with seven sons", who were also referred to as 'Maccabees' and are revered in Orthodox Christianity as the "Holy Maccabean Martyrs". [4]
The non-Jewish Idumeans, Samaritans, and Greek residents of coastal towns would go on to cause quite a bit of trouble for the Maccabees as the Maccabean Revolt proceeded, forcing Judas and his army to protect Jews in the outlying areas and escort them to Judea as refugees during the campaigns of 163 BC. [2]
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 ]
Antonio Ciseri's Martyrdom of the Seven Maccabees (1863), depicting the woman with her dead sons.. The woman with seven sons was a Jewish martyr described in 2 Maccabees 7.She and her seven sons were arrested during the persecution of Judaism initiated by King Antiochus IV Epiphanes.