Bible Dictionary
MACCABEES
MACCABEES
Name of a Jewish family (also called Hasmoneans, after their more or less mythical ancestor), who freed their homeland from the cruel yoke of the Syrians in the 2nd century BC. The account of his exploits is found in the historical book of 1 Maccabees, and its continuation in the more legendary account of 2 Maccabees.
Antiochus Epiphanes IV king of Syria was truly, according to the prophecy of Dn. 8:23, “a haughty-faced king.” Determined to exterminate Judaism definitively, he sacked the Temple of Jerusalem in 167 BC, erected a statue of Olympian Zeus in the sacred precinct and offered pigs on the altar (cf. Dan. 11:31 “the abomination”). “desolate”).
Mattathias, the first of the Maccabees, was a retired elderly priest in the town of Modin, who had the courage to raise the banner of rebellion. He killed a Syrian officer who wanted to impose the decrees of Antiochus, and fled with his five sons to the mountains of Judea.
A national resistance movement was organized in the country, and in various places pagan altars were destroyed, and the Jewish cult was reestablished. Mattathias died in 166 BC, and entrusted his sons with the undertaking of the war of liberation.
Judas, called Maccabeus (from the Hebrew “maqqaba”: “hammer”) took command. He achieved a series of victories all the more notable since the Jews had only suffered defeats for three centuries. In the year 165, on the 25th of Chisleu, he purified the Temple that had been desecrated three years earlier, and reestablished the daily sacrifice in Jerusalem.
In the time of Christ, the Feast of Dedication was still celebrated, which remembered this event (John 10:22). Judas perished in battle in 161 BC. Jonathan, his brother, succeeded him at a time when two claimants were disputing for the throne of Syria; Demetrio and Alejandro Balas.
The latter tried to gain the support of Jonathan, until then an outlaw, and proposed official recognition as “high priests of the people” and governor general of Judea. Thus was Aaron’s line set aside; He had discredited himself after having exercised this ministry for 13 centuries.
Jonathan made alliances with Sparta and Rome and strengthened the fortifications of Jerusalem. He was treacherously murdered by Trypho, a Syrian general, in 142 BC, who wanted to seize the throne. Simon, the last survivor of Mattathias’ five sons, then took power.
He obtained the recognition of Judean independence in exchange for his alliance with Demetrius II, who still had to fight against Trypho. Simon seized the citadel of Jerusalem, which the Syrians had occupied for 26 years. The port of Joppa came under Jewish control; Trade developed and a prosperous period came.
The hereditary high priesthood was officially given to the family of the Hasmoneans. Simon died tragically, murdered by his son-in-law Ptolemy in 135 BC.
Simon’s son and successor was John Hyrcanus (135-105 BC). He managed to conquer Samaria, destroying the temple erected on Mount Gerizim (cf. Jn. 4:20). He also subdued Idumea, converting its inhabitants and imposing circumcision on them; These descendants of the Edomites became the most patriotic of the Jews (cf., however, Num. 20:14-21).
John Hyrcanus stopped paying tribute to the kings of Syria, who had been losing more and more power, and began to mint coins. Because of his policy, the Pharisees (who until then had received the name Hassidim, “pious”) withdrew their support, which made him rely on the Sadducees.
These came mainly from groups close to the high priest; They belonged to the noble class, and claimed descent from the priest Zadok. They wanted to adapt to the circumstances and encouraged Hellenizing tendencies.
The last Maccabees gave the sad spectacle of the decline of a noble family. Aristobulus I (105-104 BC), ambitious and unscrupulous, assumed the title of king. He left his own mother to starve in prison and killed one of his brothers. He died of illness after a year of reign.
Alexander Jannaeus (104-78 BC) was also cruel, dissolute and dominant. There was a time when his territory encompassed more area than that of the ancient Twelve Tribes. Supported by the Sadducees and hated by the Pharisees, he had to face a bloody civil war for six years.
For the first time the Jews applied crucifixion: Alexander Jannaeus had 800 of the leading Pharisees crucified in Jerusalem. His widow Alexandra (78-69 BC) succeeded him to the throne and reigned prudently.
Upon her death, her two sons disputed power: her firstborn, the weak Hyrcanus II, had been appointed king and high priest; the youngest, Aristobulus II, unleashed a civil war to put himself in his place.
The Idumean leader Antipater was induced to intervene, and in the course of this struggle both brothers resorted to the arbitration of Pompey and the Roman power. Arriving before Jerusalem in the year 63 BC, Pompey took sides with Hyrcanus II.
He seized the city after a three-month siege, then massacred 12,000 Jews, also daring to penetrate the Temple to the Holy of Holies. According to Tacitus, he was astonished to find nothing behind the veil: neither statue nor any object of worship (“vacam sedem, inania arcana”: an empty sanctuary, absence of mysteries).
Hyrcanus II, maintained in his position as high priest, had to change his title of king to that of “ethnarch”, and content himself with governing the small territory of Judea.
Galilee and Samaria became distinct provinces: Jewish independence had ended, and Pompey brought to Rome, in his triumphal procession, Aristobulus II, king of the Jews. Hyrcanus II (63-40 BC) was only a toy in the hands of Antipater, whom Rome had appointed as procurator.
A son of Aristobulus, Antigonus (40-37 BC) managed to prevail for a certain time with the help of a Parthian army, but the Roman senate had appointed Herod (the Great), son of Antipater, who had married, as king of Judea. with Mariamne, granddaughter of Aristobulus II. After two years of efforts, Herod managed to seize Jerusalem in the year 37 BC, and had Antigonus beheaded.
The last three survivors of the Maccabees also died victims of Herod’s pathological distrust, including his own wife Mariamne. Thus this illustrious family, which had rendered notable services to the Jewish cause, and which was lost mainly due to its discord, met its end.
BETHEL
is the name of a Canaanite city in the ancient region of Samaria, located in the center of the land of Canaan, northwest of Ai on the road to Shechem, 30 kilometers south of Shiloh and about 16 kilometers north of Jerusalem.
Bethel is the second most mentioned city in the Bible. Some identify it with the Palestinian village of Beitin and others with the Israeli settlement of Beit El.
Bethel was the place where Abraham built his altar when he first arrived in Canaan (Genesis 12:8; Genesis 13:3). And at Bethel Jacob saw a vision of a ladder whose top touched heaven and the angels ascended and descended (Genesis 28:10-19).
For this reason Jacob was afraid, and said, “How terrible is this place! It is nothing other than the house of God, and the gate of heaven »and he called Bethel the place that was known as «Light» (Genesis 35-15).
Bethel was also a sanctuary in the days of the prophet Samuel, who judged the people there (1 Samuel 7:16; 1 Samuel 10:3). And it was the place where Deborah, the nurse of Rebekah, Isaac’s wife, was buried.
Bethel was the birthplace of Hiel, who sought to rebuild the city of Jericho (1 Kings 16:34).
When Bethel did not yet belong to the people of Israel, Joshua had to battle against the king of Bethel and other kings and defeated them (Joshua 12-16).
When the people of Israel had taken possession of the promised land, in the division by tribes it was assigned to the Tribe of Benjamin (Joshua 18-22), but in later times it belonged to the Tribe of Judah (2 Chronicles 13:19).
It was one of the places where the Ark of the Covenant remained, a symbol of the presence of God.
In Bethel the prophet Samuel judged the people.
Then the prophet Elisha went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up the road, some boys came out of the city and mocked him, and said to him: “Go up, bald man; Come up, bald! When he looked back and saw them, he cursed them in the name of the Lord. Then two bears came out of the forest and tore to pieces forty-two boys” (2 Kings 2:23).
After the division of the kingdom of Israel, Jeroboam I, king of Israel, had a golden calf raised at Bethel (1 Kings 21:29) which was destroyed by Josiah, king of Judah, many years later (2 Kings 23:15). .
Bethel was also a place where some of the Babylonian exiles who returned to Israel in 537 BC gathered. (Ezra 2:28).
The prophet Hosea, a century before Jeremiah, refers to Bethel by another name: “Bet-Aven” (Hosea 4:15; Hosea 5:8; Hosea 10:5-8), which means ‘House of Iniquity’, ‘House of Nothingness’, ‘House of Vanity’, ‘House of Nullity’, that is, of idols.
In Amos 7: 12-13 the priest Amaziah tells the prophet Amos that he flee to Judah and no longer prophesy in Bethel because it is the king’s sanctuary, and the head of the kingdom.
The prophet Jeremiah states that “the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel” (Jeremiah 48:13), because of their idolatry and, specifically, the worship of the golden calf.
PUTEOLI
(lat.: “small fountains”).
Two days after arriving in Rhegium, the ship carrying Paul arrived at Puteoli, which was then an important maritime city.
The apostle found Christians there, and enjoyed their hospitality (Acts 28:13).
It was located on the northern coast of the Gulf of Naples, near the site of present-day Pouzzoles.
The entire surrounding region is volcanic, and the Solfatare crater rises behind the city.
PUT
Name of a nation related to the Egyptians and neighbors of their country (Gen. 10:6).
Put is mentioned with Egypt and other African countries, especially Libya (Nah. 3:9) and Lud (Ez. 27:10; Is. 66:19 in the LXX. Put appears between Cush and Lud in Jer. 46:9; Ez. 30:5).
In the LXX he is translated as Libyans in Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Josephus also identifies it with Libya (Ant. 1:6, 2), but in Nah. 3.9 is distinguished from the Libyans.
Current opinion is divided between Somalia, Eastern Arabia and Southern Arabia (Perfume Coast).
PURPLE
A coloring substance that is extracted from various species of mollusks. The ancient Tyrians used two types of them: the “Murex trunculus”, from which the bluish purple was extracted, and the “Murex brandaris”, which gave the red.
The ink of its coloring matter varies in color depending on the region in which it is fished.
Piles of murex shells, artificially opened, have been discovered in Minet el-Beida, port of ancient Ugarit (Ras Shamra), which gives evidence of the great antiquity of the use of this purple dye (see UGARIT).
Due to its high price, only the rich and magistrates wore purple (Est. 8:15, cf. the exaltation of Mordecai, v. 2, Pr. 31:22; Dan. 5:7; 1 Mac. 10 :20, 62, 64; 2 Mac. 4:38; cf. v 31; Luke 16:19; Rev. 17:4).
The rulers adorned themselves in purple, even those of Midian (Judg. 8:26). Jesus was mocked with a purple robe (Mark 15:17).
Great use had been made of purple-dyed fabrics for the Tabernacle (Ex. 25:4; 26:1, 31, 36) and for the high priest’s vestments (Ex. 28:5, 6, 15, 33; 39: 29). The Jews gave symbolic value to purple (Wars 5:5, 4).
PURIM
(Heb., plural of “luck”).
Haman cast lots to determine a day of good omen for the destruction of the Jews.
As Haman’s designs were undone, the liberation of the Jews was marked by an annual festival (Est. 3:7; 9:24-32) on the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar.
This festival is not mentioned by name in the NT, although there are exegetes who assume that it is the one referred to in Jn. 5:1.
This festival continues to be celebrated within Judaism: the book of Esther is read, and curses are pronounced on Haman and his wife, blessings are pronounced on Mordecai and the eunuch Harbonah (Est. 1:10; 7: 9).
PURIFICATION, PURITY
In the Mosaic Law four ways to purify oneself from contamination were indicated:
(a) Purification of contamination contracted by touching a dead person (Num. 19; cf. Num. 5:2, 3),
(b) Purification from impurity due to bodily emissions (Lev. 15; cf. Num. 5:2, 3).
(c) Purification of the woman in labor (Lev. 12:1-8; Luke 2:21-24).
(d) Purification of the leper (Lev. 14).
To this, the scribes and Pharisees added many other purifications, such as washing hands before eating, washing vessels and dishes, showing great zeal in these things, while inside they were full of extortion and iniquity (Mark 7: 2-8).
In Christianity the necessary purification extends:
to the heart (Acts 15:9; James 4:8),
to the soul (1 Pet. 1:22), and
to the conscience through the blood of Christ (Heb. 9:14).
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BETHEL
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