Tensions in Judea peaked in 168 when Antiochus occupied the city of
Jerusalem. Initially, his intention appeared to be to defeat Jason and defend
his quisling high priest, Menelaus. As it turned out, Antiochus was in des-
perate need of money to fund his wars against the Romans, and was looking
for an excuse to plunder the wealth of the Temple. To this end, he dismantled
the walls of the City of David, built a citadel, and began to transform
Jerusalem into a polis. He also issued a series of decrees covering all of Judea
that outlawed the observance of the Sabbath and the dietary laws, the perfor-
mance of circumcision, and the teaching of the Torah. In addition, he entered
the Temple, plundered the treasury, and offered sacrifices to Zeus. Thus,
Antiochus completed the transition to a policy of forced Hellenization in the
broadest sense – that is, including the imposition of its religious dimension at
the expense of the primacy of Judaism.
This policy, and in particular the violation of the Temple, elicited a violent
protest from two groups within Jewish society: the Hasideans and the
Hasmoneans. The Hasideans, refusing to comply with forced Hellenization,
fled to the hills and conducted a series of guerrilla attacks. When confronted
by Antiochus’s troops, they fought back. When they refused to desecrate the
Sabbath by fighting, many among them were killed, thus becoming the orig-
inal Jewish martyrs.
The resistance of the Hasideans was joined by that of the Hasmoneans, a
non-Jerusalemite priestly family from the small town of Modi’in. Led by
Mattathias and his sons, the Hasmoneans incited a broad popular revolt
against Antiochus and his policy. Owing to the “street name” of one member
of the family, the Maccabees (literally, “the hammers”; later tradition associ-
ated the name with a biblical acronym, “Mi kamocha ba-elim adonai” – who is
like thee, oh God), this conflict came to be known as the Maccabean Revolt.
By the end of 167, therefore, there were two armed conflicts taking place
in and around Jerusalem: a civil war in Jerusalem between the Oniad and
Tobiad families, and a guerrilla war led by Hasmoneans and the Hasideans
against Antiochus. These two conflicts were superimposed on a cultural war
between proponents and opponents of Hellenism. As the conflict continued,
though, the aims of the Hasmoneans and Hasideans diverged, the Hasmoneans
fighting for national liberation and political independence, and the Hasideans
waging a cultural war against any and all intrusions of Hellenistic culture.
Hellenized Jews remained largely neutral, or in some cases supported the
forces of Antiochus.
The revolt took place in two stages. During the first stage, the rebels drove
the Assyrian Greeks out of Jerusalem, liberating Jerusalem in 164. When
Judah Maccabee, the leader of the rebel forces, and his followers arrived in the
Temple, they found it defiled and devoid of usable oil. At this point, according
to the Book of Maccabees, Judah and his followers purified and rededicated the
Temple. The dedication ceremony took place on the twenty-fifth day of the
Hebrew month of Kislev. In commemoration of the dedication of Solomon’s
The challenge of Hellenism 29