Life and Work
He was the son of Simon Maccabaeus and hence the nephew of Judas Maccabaeus, Jonathan Maccabaeus and their siblings, whose story is told in the deuterocanonical books of 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees, in the Talmud, and in Josephus. John was not present at a banquet at which his father and his two brothers were murdered, purportedly by his brother-in-law, Ptolemy, son of Abubus. He attained to his father's former offices, that of high priest and national leader (but not king). Josephus said that John Hyrcanus had five sons but only named three in his histories--Judah Aristobulus I, Antigonus I, and Alexander Jannai.
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Famous quotes containing the words life and/or work:
“The sweetest joys of life grow in the very jaws of its perils.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)
“Auld Nature swears, the lovely Dears
Her noblest work she classes, O:
Her prentice han’ she try’d on man,
An’ then she made the lasses, O.”
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