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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.
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 ...
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 ...
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 1 Maccabees provides the lineage of Mattathias, stating that he was a son of John (Johanan) and grandson of Simeon, a priest from the order of Joarib. [3] Josephus adds the name of Asamonaius to this lineage in both his accounts, and though later rabbinic sources mention Hasmonai as a specific person, [ 6 ] "Asmonaius" or ...
Simon's third son John Hyrcanus succeeded him as high priest and ruler of Judea but was unable to capture Ptolemy, initially because the latter held John's mother hostage, and subsequently because his army disbanded in observance of the custom at the time of resting every seventh year.
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 ]