Judas Maccabeus
? – 161 BCE Judean rebel commander, Hasmonean leader
Leader of the Jewish revolt against the Seleucid king Antiochus IV whose rededication of the Temple is remembered as Hanukkah.
- Religion
- Judaism
- Affiliations
- Maccabees, Hasmonean family
Judas Maccabeus was a Judean commander who led the revolt that broke out after the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes banned Jewish practice and desecrated the Temple in Jerusalem in the 160s BCE. Son of the priest Mattathias, he won a series of guerrilla victories, recaptured Jerusalem, and rededicated the Temple, an event commemorated in the festival of Hanukkah. He is documented in the books of Maccabees and by the later historian Josephus, and is generally treated as a historical figure. He was killed in battle around 160 BCE, but the movement he led carried on and his family established the independent Hasmonean kingdom.
In the timeline
- 168 BCE Antiochus Desecrates the Temple the leader who rose against the desecration
- 167 BCE – 164 BCE The Maccabean Revolt commander of the revolt
- 165 BCE The Maccabean Revolt and Rededication the leader who rededicated the Temple
- 140 BCE The Hasmonean Kingdom founding figure of the movement behind the dynasty