HASMONEANS

HASMONEANS

(from the Greek “Asmõinaios”, derived from the Heb. “Hashman”, “opulent”). Descendant of Hashmon or Asmon, priest of the family of Joarib and ancestor of the Maccabees (Ant 12:6, 1; cf. 1 Mac. 2:1; 1 Chron. 24:7).

The title of Hasmonean or Hasmonean is commonly used in Jewish literature to designate this family from Mattathias, the priest who raised the cry of rebellion against Antiochus the Great (1 Mac. 2:27), to Herod the Great and Aristobulus (Ant. 14:16, 4; 20:8, 11).