Maccabees

American  

[mak-uh-beez] / ˈmæk əˌbiz /

noun

1. (used with a plural verb) the members of the Hasmonean family of Jewish leaders and rulers comprising the sons of Mattathias and their descendants and reigning in Judea from 167? to 37 b.c., especially Judas Maccabaeus and his brothers, who defeated the Syrians under Antiochus IV in 165? and rededicated the Temple in Jerusalem.

2. (used with a singular verb) either of two books of the Apocrypha, I Maccabees or II Maccabees, that contain the history of the Maccabees.

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Maccabees British  

/ ˈmækəˌbiːz /

noun

1. a Jewish family of patriots who freed Judaea from Seleucid oppression (168–142 _bc )

2. any of four books of Jewish history, including the last two of the Apocrypha

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Maccabees Cultural  

1. According to two books of the Apocrypha, a family of Jewish patriots active in the liberation of Judea from Syrian rule. The Maccabees established a line of priest-kings that lasted until the rule of Herod the Great.

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Example Sentences

Being at home is a ritual, as religious, in its way, as remembering the Maccabees’ inextinguishable lamp or the exodus from Egypt.

From The Wall Street Journal

The festival celebrates the victory of the Jewish Maccabees against the Greek-led Seleucid Empire, which sought to eradicate Judaism.

From The Wall Street Journal

White is the guitarist with The Maccabees and 86TVs.

From BBC

In 2 Maccabees, Judas Maccabeus offers prayers for the dead—meaningful only if the soul can be aided after death—but Protestants typically consider the book extracanonical.

From The Wall Street Journal

Hanukkah, also known as Judaism’s festival of lights, marks the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem in the 2nd century B.C., after a small group of Jewish fighters known as the Maccabees liberated it from occupying Syrian forces.

From Seattle Times