The Book of 1 Maccabees

A sober, largely reliable history of the Jewish revolt against Antiochus IV and the Seleucid empire: the desecration of the Temple, the rising led by Mattathias and his sons, the recapture and rededication that Hanukkah commemorates, and the dynasty that followed.

Testament

Old (16 chapters)

Type

Deuterocanon

Date

Late second century BC, after the events it describes.

Fighting for the right to keep the law

The revolt begins over enforced apostasy, not taxes. The book is one of the earliest sustained accounts of a religious liberty conflict.

God offstage

Unlike almost every other biblical history, this one rarely reports God acting directly. Events unfold through human decisions and their consequences, which gives it an unusually modern texture.

Key verses (KJV)

“For the victory of battle standeth not in the multitude of an host; but strength cometh from heaven.” — 1 Maccabees 3:19 (KJV)

“Moreover Judas and his brethren with the whole congregation of Israel ordained, that the days of the dedication of the altar should be kept in their season from year to year by the space of eight days, from the five and twentieth day of the month Casleu, with mirth and gladness.” — 1 Maccabees 4:59 (KJV)

How to read 1 Maccabees

Read it as history, in order. Chapters 1-4 cover the desecration and the rededication and are the part most readers want.

Read 1 Maccabees on your iPhone

Read the full book of 1 Maccabees in Quiethaven — choose your translation, read offline, and pick up where you left off. Pair it with a daily verse and a prayer timer.

More Old Testament books

• The Book of 2 Maccabees
• The Book of Tobit
• The Book of Judith
• The Book of Wisdom of Solomon
• The Book of Sirach (Ecclesiasticus)

Frequently asked questions

What is the Book of 1 Maccabees about?

1 Maccabees is a book of Deuterocanon, running to 16 chapters. Its main threads: Fighting for the right to keep the law; God offstage.

Who wrote the Book of 1 Maccabees?

Anonymous, writing in Hebrew from within the Hasmonean court tradition. Sympathetic to the family, and historians treat it as a serious source even where it is partisan.

Where does 1 Maccabees come in the Bible?

1 Maccabees is one of the seven deuterocanonical books — part of the Catholic and Orthodox Old Testament, and printed in the Apocrypha of some Protestant Bibles rather than in the canon. That is why a Protestant Bible has 66 books and a Catholic one 73.