Judah Maccabee (or Judas Maccabeus, also spelled Machabeus, or Maccabaeus, Hebrew: יהודה המכבי, Y'hudhah HamMakabi) was a Kohen and a son of the Jewish priest Mattathias. He led the Maccabean revolt against the Seleucid Empire (167–160 BCE) and is acclaimed as one of the greatest warriors in Jewish history alongside Joshua, Gideon and David.
The Jewish feast of Hanukkah ("Dedication") commemorates the restoration of Jewish worship at the temple in Jerusalem in 165 BCE, after Judah Maccabee removed the Hellenistic statuary.
Read more about Judas Maccabeus: Life, Early Victories, After Jerusalem, Internal Conflict, Agreement With Rome, Renewed Fighting
Famous quotes containing the word judas:
“Yet I well remember
The favors of these men. Were they not mine?
Did they not sometimes cry “All hail!” to me?
So Judas did to Christ; but He, in twelve,
Found truth in all but one; I, in twelve thousand, none.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)