Bible Timeline · 167 to 164 BC

The Maccabees and the First Hanukkah

In 167 BC the Greek king Antiochus IV outlawed Jewish worship and set up a pagan altar in the temple. A priest's family called the Maccabees fought back, and in 164 BC they cleansed and rededicated the temple. That is the first Hanukkah, the Feast of Dedication Jesus attended in John 10.

Read it in the Bible: Daniel 8:9-14 Daniel 11:31-32 John 10:22-23 Matthew 24:15 Hebrews 11:35

The Maccabean revolt was a Jewish uprising against the Greek king Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who tried to wipe out the Jewish faith. In 167 BC he banned the Sabbath and circumcision, burned copies of the Law, and set up an altar to Zeus in the temple in Jerusalem. An old priest named Mattathias and his sons, led by Judas Maccabeus, fought back against huge odds. In December 164 BC they took back the temple, cleansed it and dedicated it again. Jews still celebrate that victory as Hanukkah, which means dedication. Jesus Himself was at the temple for this feast in John 10:22.

Who Was Antiochus IV Epiphanes?

After Alexander the Great died, his empire split up. Judea ended up under the Seleucid kings of Syria around 200 BC. Antiochus IV became king in 175 BC. He called himself Epiphanes, which means God made visible. Some of his critics made a pun and called him Epimanes, which means madman.

Antiochus wanted everyone in his kingdom to be Greek in culture and religion. Some Jews in Jerusalem liked the idea and even built a Greek gymnasium there. The high priesthood was sold to the highest bidder. Then, after a humiliating retreat from Egypt when Rome ordered him out, Antiochus took his anger out on Jerusalem.

What Is the Abomination of Desolation?

In 167 BC, Antiochus outlawed Judaism. Keeping the Sabbath, circumcising a baby or owning a scroll of the Law could get you killed. In the temple, his men set up an altar to Zeus and offered sacrifices on it. The Jews called it the abomination of desolation, the horrible thing that makes the holy place empty.

Daniel had described this centuries earlier, by the traditional date.

His forces will rise up and desecrate the temple fortress. They will abolish the daily sacrifice and set up the abomination of desolation. Daniel 11:31

Daniel 8 also speaks of a little horn that would take away the daily sacrifice and throw down the sanctuary, and it gives a time.

Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to him, “How long until the fulfillment of the vision of the daily sacrifice, the rebellion that causes desolation, and the surrender of the sanctuary and of the host to be trampled?” He said to me, “It will take 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary will be properly restored.” Daniel 8:13 to 14

Two thousand three hundred evenings and mornings may mean 1,150 days, counting the evening and morning sacrifices separately, or 2,300 days. Either way, it pointed to a set time, a few years long, before the sanctuary was restored. That fits the roughly three years between the desecration and the rededication.

Many modern scholars think Daniel was written during these very years, which is why its details fit so well. The traditional view is that God revealed it to Daniel in the 500s BC. The page When Was Daniel Written? in The Owner's Manual looks at both views. Jesus later said the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel was still to come, in Matthew 24:15, so many Christians see Antiochus as a preview of a later fulfillment.

Who Were the Maccabees?

In the village of Modein, a king's officer ordered an old priest named Mattathias to offer a pagan sacrifice. He refused. When another Jew stepped up to do it, Mattathias killed him and the officer, then fled to the hills with his five sons. Those who wanted to stay faithful followed.

After Mattathias died, his son Judas took over. He was nicknamed Maccabeus, which most think means the hammer. His small guerrilla army beat Seleucid forces again and again, often against much bigger armies. Daniel 11:32 says the people who know their God will be strong and take action. The Maccabees became a picture of that. Hebrews 11:35 speaks of believers who were tortured and refused release, and many think it refers to the Jewish martyrs of this time recorded in 2 Maccabees 7.

What Happened at the First Hanukkah?

In 164 BC, Judas and his men took Jerusalem back. The temple was a wreck. Weeds grew in the courts, and the altar was defiled. They tore down the polluted altar, built a new one from uncut stones, made new holy vessels and lit the lampstand again.

1 Maccabees 4 says they rededicated the altar on the twenty fifth day of the month of Kislev, three years to the day after it had been defiled. They celebrated for eight days with songs, harps and sacrifices, and Judas decreed that the feast should be kept every year.

The famous story of one small jar of oil lasting eight days is not in 1 or 2 Maccabees. It comes from the Talmud, written centuries later. The books of Maccabees say the eight days were patterned after the Feast of Booths, which the people had missed while hiding in the hills. Either way, Jews today light a menorah for eight nights, adding one candle each night.

What Are the Books of Maccabees?

1 Maccabees is a history of the revolt, written in Hebrew around 100 BC and preserved in Greek. 2 Maccabees tells some of the same story with more focus on martyrs and miracles. Both are in the Septuagint. Catholic and Orthodox Bibles include them as Scripture. Protestant Bibles place them in the Apocrypha, valued as history but not as Scripture. They are still our best source for this period. The page on Prophecies Fulfilled in the Apocrypha on this site shows how these events line up with Daniel.

What Happened After the Revolt?

Judas died in battle in 160 BC, and his brothers Jonathan and Simon carried on. By 142 BC, under Simon, Judea was independent for the first time since the Babylonians. The family's dynasty is called the Hasmoneans. They ruled as priests and kings for about eighty years, until fighting between two brothers gave Rome an excuse to take over in 63 BC. The groups we meet in the Gospels, like the Pharisees and Sadducees, took shape during these years.

Why Did Jesus Go to the Feast of Dedication?

At that time the Feast of Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple courts in Solomon’s Colonnade. John 10:22 to 23

This is the only mention of Hanukkah in the Bible. It was winter, and people at the feast celebrating the temple's rescue asked Jesus to say plainly if He was the Christ. He told them, I and the Father are one, John 10:30. At a feast about the temple being made holy again, Jesus pointed to Himself as the one the Father had set apart and sent, John 10:36.

The Maccabees saved the temple building for a time. Jesus came as the true temple, God living among us. Christians who celebrate Christmas in the same season can remember that the Light of the world came to dedicate a new temple, His people, to God forever.

Get Nate's Highlighting Guide Free

Free. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.

Questions People Ask

What is the abomination of desolation?

In Daniel 11:31 it refers to something that defiles the temple and stops true worship. In 167 BC Antiochus IV set up an altar to Zeus in the temple, which Jews saw as its fulfillment. Jesus spoke of it as still future in Matthew 24:15.

Did Jesus celebrate Hanukkah?

John 10:22 to 23 says Jesus was in the temple courts during the Feast of Dedication in winter. That feast is Hanukkah. The Bible does not describe Him lighting candles, but He was present at the feast in Jerusalem.

Is the Hanukkah oil miracle in the Bible?

No. The story of one jar of oil lasting eight days comes from the Talmud, written centuries later. 1 and 2 Maccabees describe an eight day celebration of the temple's rededication, patterned after the Feast of Booths.

Are the books of Maccabees in the Bible?

It depends on the church. Catholic and Orthodox Bibles include 1 and 2 Maccabees as Scripture. Protestant Bibles place them in the Apocrypha, valued as history but not counted as inspired Scripture.

Sources

← The Septuagint: The Old Testament in Greek Rome Takes Jerusalem →

See the whole Bible Timeline