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"Matityahu" redirects here. For the Israeli settlement, see Matityahu, West Bank.
Mattathias (Matitiyahu or Matisyahu ben Yochanan HaCohen in Hebrew
Hebrew language

Hebrew is a Semitic languages of the Afro-Asiatic languages. Modern Hebrew is spoken by more than seven million people in Israel and Classical Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jews communities around the world....
) was a Jew
Jew

A Jew is a member of the Jewish people, an ethnoreligious group that traces its ancestry to the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East....
ish priest
Kohen

A kohen is a Jew who is a direct male descendant of the Bible Aaron, brother of Moses, with a separate status in Judaism. Another term for the descendants of Aaron are the Aaronites or Aaronids....
 whose role in the Jewish revolt against the Syrian Greeks
Seleucid Empire

The Seleucid Empire /s?'lus?d/ was a Hellenistic empire, i.e. a successor state of Alexander the Great's empire. The Seleucid Empire was centered in the near East and at the height of its power included central Anatolia, the Levant, Mesopotamia, Persia, today's Turkmenistan, Pamir Mountains and parts of Pakistan....
 is related in the Books of the Maccabees
Books of the Maccabees

The Books of the Maccabees are books concerned with the Maccabees, the leaders of the Jews rebellion against the Seleucid dynasty, or related subjects....
. Mattathias is accorded a central role in the story of Chanukah and, as a result, is named in the Al Hanissim
Amidah

The Amidah , also called the Shmona Esre , is the central prayer of the Siddur. As Judaism's prayer par excellence, the Amidah is often designated simply as tfila in Rabbinic literature....
 prayer Jews add to Grace after meals
Birkat Hamazon

Birkat Hamazon, , known in English as the Grace After Meals, , is a set of Hebrew language blessings that Halakha prescribes following a meal that includes bread or matzoh made from one or all of wheat, barley, rye, oats, spelt....
 and the Amidah
Amidah

The Amidah , also called the Shmona Esre , is the central prayer of the Siddur. As Judaism's prayer par excellence, the Amidah is often designated simply as tfila in Rabbinic literature....
 during the festival's eight days.

father of Judah and the other Maccabee leaders
Maccabees

The Maccabees were a Jewish national liberation movement that fought for and won independence from Antiochus IV Epiphanes of the Hellenistic Seleucid dynasty, who was succeeded by his infant son Antiochus V Eupator....
, Mattathias was from a rural priestly family from Modi'in
Modi'in

Modi'in is a city in the Center District of Israel. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics in 2005 the city had a total population of 68,000....
.






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"Matityahu" redirects here. For the Israeli settlement, see Matityahu, West Bank.
Mattathias (Matitiyahu or Matisyahu ben Yochanan HaCohen in Hebrew
Hebrew language

Hebrew is a Semitic languages of the Afro-Asiatic languages. Modern Hebrew is spoken by more than seven million people in Israel and Classical Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jews communities around the world....
) was a Jew
Jew

A Jew is a member of the Jewish people, an ethnoreligious group that traces its ancestry to the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East....
ish priest
Kohen

A kohen is a Jew who is a direct male descendant of the Bible Aaron, brother of Moses, with a separate status in Judaism. Another term for the descendants of Aaron are the Aaronites or Aaronids....
 whose role in the Jewish revolt against the Syrian Greeks
Seleucid Empire

The Seleucid Empire /s?'lus?d/ was a Hellenistic empire, i.e. a successor state of Alexander the Great's empire. The Seleucid Empire was centered in the near East and at the height of its power included central Anatolia, the Levant, Mesopotamia, Persia, today's Turkmenistan, Pamir Mountains and parts of Pakistan....
 is related in the Books of the Maccabees
Books of the Maccabees

The Books of the Maccabees are books concerned with the Maccabees, the leaders of the Jews rebellion against the Seleucid dynasty, or related subjects....
. Mattathias is accorded a central role in the story of Chanukah and, as a result, is named in the Al Hanissim
Amidah

The Amidah , also called the Shmona Esre , is the central prayer of the Siddur. As Judaism's prayer par excellence, the Amidah is often designated simply as tfila in Rabbinic literature....
 prayer Jews add to Grace after meals
Birkat Hamazon

Birkat Hamazon, , known in English as the Grace After Meals, , is a set of Hebrew language blessings that Halakha prescribes following a meal that includes bread or matzoh made from one or all of wheat, barley, rye, oats, spelt....
 and the Amidah
Amidah

The Amidah , also called the Shmona Esre , is the central prayer of the Siddur. As Judaism's prayer par excellence, the Amidah is often designated simply as tfila in Rabbinic literature....
 during the festival's eight days.

History

The father of Judah and the other Maccabee leaders
Maccabees

The Maccabees were a Jewish national liberation movement that fought for and won independence from Antiochus IV Epiphanes of the Hellenistic Seleucid dynasty, who was succeeded by his infant son Antiochus V Eupator....
, Mattathias was from a rural priestly family from Modi'in
Modi'in

Modi'in is a city in the Center District of Israel. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics in 2005 the city had a total population of 68,000....
. Like all fit priests, he served in the Temple in Jerusalem
Jerusalem

Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and its List of Israeli cities in both population and area, with a population of 747,600 residents over an area of if Positions on Jerusalem East Jerusalem is included....
. He was a son of Yohannan, grandson of Simeon, the Hasmonean, and great-grandson of Asmon or Hasmonaeus, a Levite
Levite

In Jewish tradition, a Levite is a member of the tribes of Israel of Levi. When Joshua led the Israelites into the land of Canaan, the Levites were the only Israelite tribe who received cities but no tribal land "because the Lord the God of Israel himself is their possession"....
 of the lineage of Joarib for being the 5th grandson of Idaiah, son of Joarib and grandson of Jachin, in turn a descendant of Phinehas
Phinehas

Phinehas, Pinhas, or Pinchas may refer to:...
, 3rd High Priest of Israel, according to Mattathias' own words in I Maccabees.

After the Seleucid persecutions began, Mattathias returned to Modi'in. In 167 BC, when asked by a Seleucid Greek
Seleucid Empire

The Seleucid Empire /s?'lus?d/ was a Hellenistic empire, i.e. a successor state of Alexander the Great's empire. The Seleucid Empire was centered in the near East and at the height of its power included central Anatolia, the Levant, Mesopotamia, Persia, today's Turkmenistan, Pamir Mountains and parts of Pakistan....
 government representative under King Antiochus IV to offer sacrifice to the Greek gods, he not only refused to do so, but slew with his own hand the Jew who had stepped forward to do so. He then attacked the government official that required the act.

Everyone who has zeal for the law and maintains the testament, let him follow me! (Mattathias, after killing the government official, 1st Maccabees 2:27.)


Upon the edict for his arrest, he took refuge in the wilderness of Judea
Judea

Judea or Jud?a is the name given to the mountainous southern part of the historic Land of Israel , an area now divided between Israel and the West Bank ....
 with his five sons, and called upon all Jews to follow him. Many responded to his call.

Context

This was the first step in the war of the Maccabees against the Seleucid Greeks
Maccabean Revolt

The Maccabean Revolt was a Jewish revolt against Seleucidic and Syrian rulers, taking place in the second century BCE....
, the result of which was Jewish independence, which had not been enjoyed for 400 years. The events of the war of the Maccabees form the basis for the holiday of Hanukkah
Hanukkah

File:PikiWiki Israel 146 Hanukka ?????.JpgHanukkah , also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE....
, which is celebrated by Jews on the 25th of Kislev (on the Hebrew calendar
Hebrew calendar

The Hebrew calendar or Jewish calendar is a lunisolar calendar used by Jews, now predominantly for religious purposes. It is used to reckon the Jewish New Year and dates for Jewish holidays, and also to determine appropriate Torah reading of Torah portions, Yahrzeits , and daily Psalm reading, among many ceremonial uses....
, corresponding to Mid-November to Late-December on the Gregorian Calendar
Gregorian calendar

The Gregorian calendar is the internationally accepted civil calendar. It was first proposed by the Calabrian doctor Aloysius Lilius, and decreed by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom it was named, on 24 February 1582 by the papal bull Inter gravissimas....
).

In literature and liturgy

The story of the Maccabees can be found in the deuterocanonical books
Deuterocanonical books

"Deuterocanonical books" is a term used since the sixteenth century in the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Christianity to describe certain books and passages of the Christian Old Testament that are not part of the Jewish Bible....
 of 1 Maccabees
1 Maccabees

1 Maccabees is a deuterocanonical books book written by a Jewish author after the restoration of an independent Jewish kingdom, probably about 100 BC....
 and 2 Maccabees
2 Maccabees

2 Maccabees is a deuterocanonical books book of the Bible which focuses on the Jews' revolt against Antiochus IV Epiphanes and concludes with the defeat of the Syrian general Nicanor in 161 BC by Judas Maccabeus, the hero of the work....
, in Josephus
Josephus

Josephus , also known as Yosef Ben Matityahu and, after he became a Roman citizenship, as Titus Flavius Josephus, was a first-century Jewish historian and apologist of priestly and royal ancestry who survived and recorded the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70....
, and in Talmud
Talmud

The Talmud is a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Halakha, Jewish ethics, customs, and history. It is a central text of mainstream Judaism....
ic references (Shabbat 21b, Shabbat 23a - related to the candles).

The "Al Hanisim" prayer, added into the Amidah
Amidah

The Amidah , also called the Shmona Esre , is the central prayer of the Siddur. As Judaism's prayer par excellence, the Amidah is often designated simply as tfila in Rabbinic literature....
 and Grace after meals on Chanukah, refers to the story of the Maccabees and to Mattathias by name.

See also

  • Jewish leadership
    Jewish leadership

    Jewish leadership has evolved over time. Since the Siege of Jerusalem in Jerusalem in 70 CE, there has been no single body that has a leadership position over the entire Jewish diaspora....
  • Judas Maccabaeus
  • Simon Maccabaeus
    Simon Maccabaeus

    Simon Maccabaeus was a son of Mattathias Maccabaeus and thus a member of the Hasmonean family.He took part in the Jewish revolt against the Seleucid Empire led by his brothers, Judas Maccabaeus and Jonathan Maccabaeus....
  • Jonathan Maccabaeus
    Jonathan Maccabaeus

    Jonathan Maccabaeus was leader of the Hasmonean Dynasty of Judea from 161 to 143 BCE. He is called also Apphus = "the Dissembling" or "the Diplomacy", in allusion to a trait prominent in him; 1 Maccabees ii....
  • Maccabees
    Maccabees

    The Maccabees were a Jewish national liberation movement that fought for and won independence from Antiochus IV Epiphanes of the Hellenistic Seleucid dynasty, who was succeeded by his infant son Antiochus V Eupator....
  • Hasmonean
    Hasmonean

    The Hasmoneans were the ruling dynasty of the Hasmonean Kingdom of Israel , an independent Jewish state. The Hasmonean dynasty was established under the leadership of Simon Maccabaeus, two decades after his brother Judas Maccabeus defeated the Seleucid army during the Maccabean Revolt in 165 BCE....


External links

  • entry in historical sourcebook by Mahlon H. Smith