Maccabees
Greek Oppression
• The Persian Empire was conquered by the Greek Empire.
• The Greeks dominated Judea for about 2 centuries.
– Two centuries of terrible persecution
• Problems with Greek domination:
– Greek rules were harsh
– Jews were tortured and put to death for practicing their religion.
– The Greek style included the belief that human reason is more
important than religious faith.
– Greek language became popular- Jews did not learn Hebrew anymore
1st Maccabees
• Written by two unknown
authors around 100 B.C.
• Is a history of the revolt of
the Jews under the
domination of Greek rulers.
• It tells of the struggle of Judas
Maccabeus and his brother to
free the Jews from Greek
control
Reasons for The Maccabean Revolt
1- the problem with the Gymnasium
2. Laws implemented by Antiochus Epiphanes.
–1st he pillaged Jerusalem Mac 1:20
–2 years later, he sent a tax collector, who plundered the city
–He wrote a letter to his kingdom- “all should be one people and that all should give up their
particular customs” Mac 1:41-42.
–a violent attempt was made to suppress the Jewish religion.
•Copies of the law were destroyed,
•people were put to death for having their sons circumcised
• and the temple was profaned by the installation of the “profaning sacrilege”- an altar on which pagan
sacrifices were offered.
Mattathias
• According to 1st Maccabees, the
revolt that broke out was
inspired by fidelity to the
covenant and to resolve to die
rather than be defiled by impure
food.
• It was initiated by Mattathias,
the father of the Maccabeus,
who refused to offer pagan
sacrifice and killed a Jew who
came forward to do so.
– He then, calls on all who are
zealous for the Law to follow
him, and he retreats to the
hills.
Sacred Sabbath
• 2:29-38, tells of a group of Jews
who withdrew to the
wilderness to avoid the
persecution.
– They were attacked on the
Sabbath day.
– they refused to violate the
Sabbath by defending
themselves,
– and they were slaughtered,
calling on heaven and earth
to witness that they were
being killed unjustly.
Breaking the Law
•
When Matthathias and his friend
heard of the slaughter on the
Sabbath, they mourned for the
victims, but they resolved that they
would defend themselves on the
Sabbath
– They decided to break the Law
for the greater good of the
people.
– Not all Jews agreed with this
decision.
• The dilemma is one that
has continued to confront
Judaism down to modern
times (cf. the Arab attack
on Israel on Yom Kippur in
1973)
The Hammer
• Mattathias dies at the
end of chapter 2.
• His son Judas, called
Maccabeus, or “the
hammer,” replaces him
as leader.
JudasRecaptures Jerusalem and purifies the temple, three years to
the day after it had been defiled
And institutes the festival of Hanukkah to commemorate the
occasion.
Hanukkah aka Festival of Lights
the celebration that followed the rededication of the Temple after the
Greeks had defiled it.
Oil was gone- enough for one night- the oil miraculously lasted for eight full
days
2nd Maccabees
• Was composed in Greek
• Offers a different
perspective on the same
events.
• Different from 1 Mac.: (1)
It tells in detail of a cruel
persecution of the Jews.
• (2) It confirms belief in the
resurrection of the dead,
the intercession of the
saints, and the offering of
prayer for the dead.
• It begins with two letters to
the Jews in Egypt, urging
them to join in the
celebration of the
purification of the temple
(Hanukkah)
Different stories
• It differs from 1st Maccabees in
several respects:
– It gives a much fuller
account of the events
leading up to the
persecution
– It makes no mention of
Mattathias and focuses on
Judas Maccabee
– Much of the credit for the
success of the rebellion is
given to the deaths of the
martyrs
– The story ends before the
death of Judas
Freedom
•It was only when the king attempted to suppress the traditional forms of Jewish
worship that a revolt broke out.
•The essential conflict, then was not over broad cultural issues but over the freedom
of the Jewish people to practice their traditional religion as they saw fit.
Martyrdom
•
•
It dwells at length on the deaths of
the martyrs, those Jews who
refused to violate their religion and
suffered death instead.
A mother and her seven sonsMaccabees 7:1-42
– They refused to eat pork
• Were tortured
• The mother was forced to
watch all her sons, from the
eldest to the youngest,
endure unspeakable
torments and be put to
death, after which the
mother is also slain.
– It confirms belief in the
resurrection of the dead, the
intercession of the saints, and
the offering of prayers for the
dead.