The Hasmonean Revolt

The Rise of Antiochus and the Hellenization of Jerusalem

When Antiochus III died in 187 BCE and his son Seleucus IV replaced him, the political and religious climate in Judaea under Seleucid rule became increasingly unstable. In 175 BCE, after Seleucus IV was murdered by his chief minister Heliodoros, he was succeeded by his brother Antiochus IV Epiphanes (r. 175–164 BCE), under whose rule circumstances in Judea worsened. This period was marked by infighting and competition over the office of the high priesthood. 

Josephus offers a glimpse into the corruption of those competing for the high priesthood during the reign of Antiochus IV (r. 175–164 BCE), showing the lengths to which rival priests would go to secure power—even stealing from the Temple treasury to pay the bribe for the privilege of this high office. The new king replaced the pious high priest Onias III with Onias’ brother Jason, who was granted permission to establish Antioch, a Greek-style city (polis), at or near Jerusalem, only to depose him shortly thereafter and install Menelaus. Both Jason and Menelaus supported the increasing Hellenization of Jerusalem, to a lesser and greater extent, respectively.

Antiochus’ Campaigns against Egypt and Rumors of His Death

The campaign of Antiochus IV against Egypt in 170/169 BCE was ultimately turned back by the Romans, and on his return to Antioch, Antiochus entered Jerusalem without battle, killing many and taking spoils. Antiochus renewed his campaign in Egypt in 168 BCE and was once again frustrated. While he was there, however, rumors of his death began to spread. Jason, the deposed high priest, saw this as an opportunity to gather soldiers and raid Jerusalem in an effort to reclaim his position from Menelaus. But Antiochus was not dead. On his way back from Egypt, Antiochus entered Jerusalem a second time and looted the Temple, forbade sacrifices, took captives, and planted a garrison in the city. 

Imperial interference in the cultural affairs of an occupied ethnos, as in the case of the Jews, was unusual, yet for reasons that remain unclear, Antiochus IV enacted various decrees that attempted to destabilize the constitution of the Judean ethnos. Judean ancestral practices were made punishable by death, and Jews were forced to participate in the worship of idols and eat pork—grave offenses within their religious system. He made the Temple altar a pagan one and sacrificed a pig on it—an enormous offense to the Judean population. Josephus describes Antiochus endeavoring to suppress the ancestral practices of Judeans on pain of death and to compel pagan worship. And while some Jews were ready to give up ancestral traditions and hoped to become Greek citizens, others resisted the decrees of Antiochus. Still others sought a middle position, adopting elements of Hellenistic culture while remaining committed to their Jewish practices. The language Josephus uses reveals his support for those Judeans who resist the oppressors.

Josephus’ account offers no explanation for Antiochus’ efforts to suppress Jewish practices. By contrast, 2 Maccabees suggests that Antiochus interprets Menelaus’ raid on the Temple and the fighting that ensues as open rebellion. The violence of Jason’s attack on the city serves as a pretense for Antiochus once again to raid the Temple treasuries himself and to impose laws prohibiting Jewish worship. These events set the stage for the rebellion of Mattathias and his sons.

The Uprising of Mattathias and His Sons 

In the midst of these upheavals, a man named Mattathias emerged as a leader of Jewish resistance efforts against Antiochus’ efforts at enforced Hellenization. According to both the author of 1 Maccabees and Josephus, Mattathias and his five sons, a priestly family, defy Antiochus’ orders regarding Jewish practices and organize Judean resistance. 

Zeal for the Torah, martyrdom, and an appeal to the heroic actions and faith of biblical figures are among the prominent themes in 1 Maccabees. Mattathias’ execution of a Jew for performing improper sacrifice is compared to the zeal shown by Phinehas when he impaled Zimri for his transgression in Numbers 25. Both accounts of Mattathias’ rebellion recount that many Jews were killed because they were unwilling to violate the Sabbath and that it was Mattathias who taught his followers to fight on the Sabbath so as not to be easy prey for their enemies. Likewise, in both texts the decision to defend themselves on the Sabbath directly contributes to more people joining Mattathias’ movement.

After Judah’s military victories, and three years to the day after the defilement of the Temple, Judah rededicated it. Josephus’ account of the rededication of the Temple likely supports his belief in divine providence, often revealed in prophecy. This passage provides one account of the historical etiology for the Jewish Festival of Lights, Hanukkah. According to this account, the holiday is a celebration of the Jews’ restored freedom to worship after a hiatus of the ritual service of the Temple cult and repression of their traditional ritual practices. 

After the death of Mattathias, his son Judah Maccabee (“the hammer”) assumes leadership of the revolt. Over the next few years, the Jewish forces enjoyed several victories, despite their small numbers and inferior arms. The family comes to be known as the Hasmoneans, named after their putative ancestor Asamoneus. In the end the Hasmonean monarchy—Mattathias’ descendants—would also become quite Hellenized.

Glimpses of the Romans 

Foreshadowing what is to come, the Romans appear in texts about this period as well. Having driven Antiochus IV back from his campaign in Egypt, they reappear a few years later when Judah Maccabee seeks Roman friendship in the hopes of scaring off Judea’s Seleucid occupiers.

The Historical Sources 

Much of what we know of this period derives from the apocryphal books of 1 and 2 Maccabees, which despite their titles do not join together to make up a continuous historical work. The author of 1 Maccabees is unknown, but he wrote his dynastic history from the perspective of a Hasmonean partisan, likely during the reign of John Hyrcanus I (r. 135/134–104 BCE) in Jerusalem. Though originally composed in Hebrew, the work is extant only in its Greek translation. Second Maccabees is an epitome of a larger work written in Greek by Jason of Cyrene. Josephus uses 1 Maccabees as his main source, with the exception of his use of 2 Maccabees in the puzzling account of the period of Jason and Menelaus, which is related but not identical to the account in 2 Maccabees.

The apocryphal book 2 Maccabees provides an approving account of those who accepted martyrdom rather than violate their ancestral traditions. It is perhaps ironic, in this regard, that the author adapts specifically Greek terms for honor, bravery, and nobility to his depiction of Jewish resistance. The author sees this persecution as God’s punishment for sin, but he assures the reader that swift punishment is merciful and that God never abandons his nation.

Read next: The Rise and Decline of the Hasmonean Dynasty