Maccabeus

Maccabeus is the Latinized surname of the Hasmonean family, derived from a Hebrew word associated with strength, often linked to the notion of a hammer. The name is most commonly associated with Judas Maccabeus, the leader of the Jewish revolt against the Seleucid Empire in the 2nd century BCE. The Hasmonean lineage, descended from the priest Mattathias, arose in response to the desecration of the Temple by Antiochus IV Epiphanes and the imposition of Hellenizing measures.

Judas Maccabeus led the revolt from about 167 to 160 BCE, organizing a guerrilla campaign against Seleucid forces and reclaiming Jewish religious life in Jerusalem. In 164 BCE he reconquered the city, rededicated the Temple, and established a degree of political autonomy for Judea that endured for a time. His leadership helped solidify the Maccabees as defenders of Jewish religious and national autonomy, and his successes are credited with enabling continued resistance and consolidation in the region.

Judas died in 160 BCE during a campaign against Seleucid forces at Elasa. His death did not end the revolt; his brothers and successors, notably Jonathan and Simon, continued the struggle and eventually established the Hasmonean dynasty, ruling Judea as an autonomous or semi-independent state for about a century.

In biblical and later literature, Maccabeus and the Maccabees refer to this family. Accounts of Judas’s campaigns are chiefly found in 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees. The rededication of the Temple is commemorated by the Jewish festival of Hanukkah.