Maccabees

The Maccabees (), also spelled Machabees (Hebrew: מַכַּבִּים, romanized: Makkabbīm, or מַקַבִּים, Maqabbīm; Latin: Machabaei or Maccabaei; Ancient Greek: Μακκαβαῖοι, romanized: Makkabaioi), were a group of Jewish rebel warriors who re-took control of Judea, which at the time was occupied by the Seleucid Empire. Its leaders, the Hasmoneans, founded the Hasmonean dynasty, which ruled from 167 BC (after the Maccabean Revolt) to 37 BC, being a fully independent kingdom from 104 to 63 BC. They reasserted the Jewish religion, ended the Syrian-Greek occupation of Judea, and reduced the influence of Hellenism and Hellenistic Judaism.

Etymology

The name "Maccabee" is often used as a synonym for the entire Hasmonean dynasty. But the Maccabees often and more narrowly refers to Judas Maccabeus and his four brothers. The name Maccabee was a personal epithet of Judah, and the later generations were not his direct descendants. One explanation of the name's origins is that it derives from the Aramaic maqqəḇa, "the hammer", in recognition of Judah's ferocity in battle. The traditional Jewish explanation is that Maccabee (Hebrew: מכבים Makkabi) is an acronym for the Torah verse that was the battle-cry of the Maccabees, "Mi kamocha ba'elim YHWH", "Who is like You among the heavenly powers, oh God!", as well as an acronym for "Matityahu haKohen ben Yochanan" (Matthias the priest, son of John). The correlating Torah verse Exodus 15:11, The song of Moses and the Children of Israel by the Sea, makes a reference to elim, with a mundane notion of natural forces, heavenly might, war and governmental powers. The scholar and poet Aaron Kaminka argues that the name is a corruption of Machbanai, a mighty warrior in the army of King David.

Background

In the 2nd century BC, Judea lay between the Ptolemaic Kingdom (based in Egypt) and the Seleucid Empire (based in Syria), monarchies which had formed following the death of Alexander the Great.