1 Maccabees,[note 1] also known as the First Book of Maccabees, First Maccabees, and abbreviated as 1 Macc., is a deuterocanonical book which details the history of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire as well as the founding and earliest history of the independent Hasmonean kingdom. It describes the promulgation of decrees forbidding traditional Jewish practices by King Antiochus IV Epiphanes and the formation of a rebellion against him by Mattathias of the Hasmonean family and his five sons. Mattathias's son Judas Maccabeus (Judah Maccabee) takes over the revolt and the rebels as a group are called the Maccabees; the book chronicles in detail the successes and setbacks of the rebellion. While Judas is eventually killed in battle, the Maccabees eventually achieve autonomy and then independence for Judea under the leadership of the Hasmonean family. Judas's brother Simon Thassi is declared High Priest by will of the Jewish people. The time period described is from around 170 BC to 134 BC.
The author is anonymous, but he probably wrote in the newly independent Hasmonean kingdom after the success of the Maccabean Revolt in the late 2nd century BC. 1 Maccabees was probably written in Hebrew originally. However, this original Hebrew has been lost, and the work only survives in translation in Koine Greek contained in the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Jewish scriptures. The Septuagint was preserved by early Christians as the basis for the Christian Old Testament. It became part of the deuterocanon in early Christianity. The book is held as canonical scripture today in the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox churches (except for the Orthodox Tewahedo). The book is not part of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) and is not considered canonical by Protestant denominations nor in any of the major branches of Judaism. Some Protestants include the book as biblical apocrypha, material useful for background and edification but that is not canonical. Rabbinic Judaism generally disapproved of the rule of the Hasmonean dynasty, but the book is openly pro-Hasmonean, one of several factors for a lack of enthusiasm for the book within later Judaism.
1 Maccabees is best known for its account of the recapture of Jerusalem in the year 164 BC and rededication of the Second Temple: the origin behind the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah.[1]
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^Gilad, E., The Revolt of the Maccabees: The True Story Behind Hanukkah, published 27 December 2019, accessed 9 December 2020
1Maccabees, also known as the First Book of Maccabees, First Maccabees, and abbreviated as 1 Macc., is a deuterocanonical book which details the history...
The Maccabees (/ˈmækəbiːz/), also spelled Machabees (Hebrew: מַכַּבִּים, Makkabbīm or מַקַבִּים, Maqabbīm; Latin: Machabaei or Maccabaei; Ancient Greek:...
2 Maccabees, also known as the Second Book of Maccabees, Second Maccabees, and abbreviated as 2 Macc., is a deuterocanonical book which recounts the persecution...
The Books of the Maccabees or the Sefer HaMakabim (the Book of the Maccabees) recount the history of the Maccabees, the leaders of the Jewish rebellion...
transliterated as Makabian or Mäqabeyan), also referred to as Ethiopian Maccabees and Ethiopic Maccabees, are three books found only in the Ethiopian Orthodox Old Testament...
Maccabean Revolt (Hebrew: מרד החשמונאים) was a Jewish rebellion led by the Maccabees against the Seleucid Empire and against Hellenistic influence on Jewish...
3 Maccabees, also called the Third Book of Maccabees, is a book written in Koine Greek, likely in the 1st century BC in either the late Ptolemaic period...
4 Maccabees, also called the Fourth Book of Maccabees and possibly originally known as On the Sovereignty of Reason, is a book written in Koine Greek...
The book 2 Maccabees contains 15 chapters. It is a deuterocanonical book originally written in Greek that is part of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and...
Verse 13 can be found in 1Maccabees iii 7; vi. 52; v.; 2 Maccabees vi. 8 sqq., 13, 14; 1Maccabees vii 41, 42; and 2 Maccabees x v, 8 sqq. Maccabeus was...
transition. The Maccabees were able to capture Jerusalem soon after. The Battle of Beth Zur is recorded in the books of 1Maccabees (1Maccabees 4:26–35), 2...
of the East are: Tobit Judith Baruch Sirach (or Ecclesiasticus) 1Maccabees 2 Maccabees Wisdom Additions to Esther: Fulfillment of Mordecai's Dream (Esther...
Esther Some of the Books of the Maccabees: 1Maccabees (only included in the Catholic and Orthodox canons) 2 Maccabees (only included in the Catholic and...
contains similarities to the vocabulary in the Book of Daniel and II Maccabees, and it is presumed that the authors came either from Lower Egypt or Palestine...
army during the Maccabean Revolt of 167 to 141 BCE. According to 1Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, and the first book of The Jewish War by historian Josephus (37 – c...
additions to Esther, 1Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, 3 Maccabees, 1 Esdras, i.e. all of the Deuterocanonical books plus 3 Maccabees and 1 Esdras. Some editions...
Edition place First and Second Maccabees after Malachi; other Catholic translations place them after Esther. 1Maccabees is hypothesized by most scholars...
Wikisource has original text related to this article: 1Maccabees Hanukkah (/ˈhɑːnəkə/; חֲנֻכָּה Ḥănukkā listen) is a Jewish festival commemorating the...
but it appears to be largely paraphrasing 1Maccabees, Josephus's main source for the period. 1Maccabees introduces Mattathias and his sons in chapter...
Hebrew protocanon. Moreover, with the exception of the first two books of Maccabees, the Orthodox Tewahedo canon also contains the entire Catholic deuterocanon...
Maccabees (1Maccabees 3:38–4:25), 2 Maccabees (2 Maccabees 8:8–8:36), and Josephus's Antiquities of the Jews Book 12. In general, the account in 1 Maccabees...
in 1 Maccabees1:10, when Antiochus IV is introduced as "son of King Antiochus [Antiochus III]". Antiochus III is mentioned later in 1Maccabees 8, which...
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