The Hammer, and after

Okay, so last time, I had the land of Judah in dire straights. There’s been a revolution/civil war/insurrection in the country. Antiochus has marched in and occupied the capital, has desecrated the Temple, and is trying to forcefully Hellenize everything. He’s put a statue of Zeus in the Temple and even...yikes!...sacrificed pigs there. The times are dark, indeed.

But, just then, way out in the hinterland, a hero appears. Or rather a whole family of them. Specifically, in the city of Modiin (maybe it was more like a village), there was a clan of rural priests--the Hasmoneans. They were certainly small timers. They seemed to have had no connections to the Temple, or to the elite priestly clan of the Zadokites. They may have been Levites...certainly, they would have claimed to be...but we don’t know for sure.

Anyway, the leader of the family was Mattathias.(1) He was a fiery, activist priest, who was appalled by Antiochus and his pigs. Supposedly, Mattathias killed a Jew in his village for attempting to sacrifice to a pagan god...and, as well, assassinated the government official who had been sent to the village to oversee the sacrifice.

Mattathias and his sons then fled into the mountains. There, he died, and one of the sons, Judas, emerged as, first, the natural chief of his clan, and second, a revolutionary leader as other dissident Jews joined them. Moreover, Judas proved a brilliant military commander, and was given the name “Maccabeus,” from which we get (of course) the Maccabees.(2) We really don’t know what Maccabeus meant, but one interpretation is that it is from the Aramaic word meaning “hammer.” It is as good an explanation as any, so let’s stay with it.

About the image: and here is the Hammer himself. This is the painting “The Triumph of Judas,” a.k.a., “Judas Maccabeus finds the hidden treasure of the heathen and prays for the souls of the slain sinners (2 Maccabees 12:43-45),” by the Flemish artist, Peter Paul Rubens (1577 – 1640). Rubens was, of course, one of the greatest artists of the Flemish Baroque. For more on Rubens, see “Peter Paul Rubens,” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Paul_Rubens

The Revolt spread. There were defeats and victories. Jerusalem was retaken in 164 BCE--and that forms the basis of Hanukkah. But then there were battles between the Maccabees and Hellenizing Jews, and between the Maccabees and Traditionalists who thought that the Maccabees weren’t traditionalist enough, and then the Seleucids came back and attempted a reconquest, and then Judas Maccabeus was killed in a battle with the Seleucids in 160 BC...and, well, you get the point. (3) It was basically chaos.

Everything finally more or less stabilized around 134 BC when John Hyrcanus I (who was Judas Maccabeus’s nephew) came to power and managed to consolidate Hasmonean rule of Judah.(4) In this, he was greatly aided by the fact the the Seleucid empire was in a state of chronic civil war.

John, it seems, was a competent ruler. He gave his people (at long last) something like peace. He extended his rule to include territories that were not technically part of Judah, creating a modest but respectable empire. Also interesting, he never called himself “king.” He was High Priest (a title he had inherited from Jonathan Apphus, the brother of Judas Maccabeus), but he never claimed royal rank. He was always an “ethnarch” -- i.e., “ruler of the people,” say, like a governor-general -- though he was a king in all but name.

But, there is something interesting going on here. As I say, he had the title High Priest. While that was accepted by the people of Israel, it was odd. John was not a Zadokite, which meant he was not, supposedly, qualified to hold the office.

And it gets better. The Hasmoneans got the title “High Priest” because a Seleucid king, Alexander Balas, gave it to Jonathan Apphus as a bribe for his support in one of the interminable Seleucid civil wars--in other words, he got it from a foreigner, and an enemy foreigner at that. That did not sit well with a lot of the Traditionalists.

Then...in 104 BCE, John’s son, Aristobulus I, did the unthinkable. He took the title “King.” Or, more precisely, basileus -- the *Greek* word for king. This was waaaaay out of line. He used a Greek title and seemed to be developing a Hellenistic kingdom. Moreover, by this time, there was a strong distaste in Jewish culture for kings in general (only God is the King of Israel). Or, if there absolutely has to be one, then he should be from the House of David. And, most particularly, he should NOT be High Priest and King at the same time.

The people were not pleased.

Alas, the Hasmoneans no longer cared particularly what the people wanted. And they were about to prove it...in a uniquely bloody way.

Now, more than ever, the people needed...

An Angel.

Footnotes:

1. Mattathias, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mattathias

2. Judas Maccabeus, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judas_Maccabeus

3. Maccabean Revolt, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maccabean_Revolt

4. John Hyrcanus I, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hyrcanus

Copyright©2026 Michael Jay Tucker

***

Care to help out?

I provide these blog postings for free. That’s fine and I’m happy to do so. But, long ago and far away, I was told that if you give away your material, that means you don’t really think it has any value.

So, to get beyond that, I’ve decided to make it possible for you to leave me a “tip” for my posts.

If you like what I write or the videos I produce, and feel you could make a small contribution to support my efforts, please go here:

https://michaeljaytucker.gumroad.com/l/lzumj

That will take you to a Gumroad page where you’ll have the option of leaving me a few pence by way of encouragement.

Again, I don’t mind if you don’t. I just want to provide you with the option so that I won’t feel quite so much like I’m just tossing my works into the wind.

Either way, thanks hugely for dropping by the blog :-)

~mjt

#StampOutEnnui #MichaelJayTucker #MarthaTucker #MarthaAndMichaelChronicles #StompEnnuiLikeItWasABug #explosive_cargo #Xcargo #StampOutEnnui #MichaelJayTucker #MarthaTucker #MarthaAndMichaelChronicles #StompEnnuiLikeItWasABug #explosive_cargo #Xcargo #Saint_Michael #Michael_The_Archangel #Angels #The_Bible #Bible #Biblical_Archaeology #Book_of_Daniel #Angelology #Apocalyptic_Literature #Ancient_Religion #Ancient_Israel #Israelite_Religion #Religion #Church_History #Religious_History #Folk_Religion #Popular_Religion #Archangel #Archangels #Christianity #Judaism #Jewish_History #Theology #Resheph #Hasmoneans #Maccabees