Judas Maccabeus

Judas Maccabeus
Judas Maccabeus
	An imaginary depiction of Judas Maccabeus from Guillaume Rouillé's Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum (1553)
Leader of the Maccabees
Tenure	167–160 BCE
Predecessor	Mattathias
Successor	Jonathan Apphus
Died	April 160 BCE; Elasa, Seleucid Empire
Burial	Modi'in
Dynasty	Hasmonean
Father	Mattathias

Judah Maccabee (or Judas Maccabaeus /mækəˈbiːəs/, also spelled Maccabeus; Hebrew: יהודה המכבי, romanized: Yehudah HaMakabi^[1]) was a Jewish priest (kohen) and a son of the priest Mattathias. He led the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire (167–160 BCE).

The Jewish holiday of Hanukkah ("Dedication") commemorates the restoration of Jewish worship at the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 164 BC, after Judah Maccabee removed all of the statues depicting Greek gods and goddesses and purified it.

^ The modern Hebrew spelling for Maccabaeus follows a reconstruction based on the Ancient Greek name Μακκαβαῖος (the double "kk" being rendered as the Hebrew character kaph = כ), while overlooking the more ancient spelling of this name found in the Aramaic Scroll of Antiochus, and where the name is rendered as מַקבֵּי.

[1] The modern Hebrew spelling for Maccabaeus follows a reconstruction based on the Ancient Greek name Μακκαβαῖος (the double "kk" being rendered as the Hebrew character kaph = כ), while overlooking the more ancient spelling of this name found in the Aramaic Scroll of Antiochus, and where the name is rendered as מַקבֵּי.

[1]