THE EFFECT OF THE MACCABEAN WAR ON FIRST CENTURY JEWISH VIEWS

OF THE MESSIAH

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A manuscript
presented to
Dr. M Burer

Dallas Theological Seminary

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In Partial Fulfillment
Of the Requirements for the Course
NT 113 OL Intro to New Testament

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By
Thomas E Hutson
November 10, 2015
Box #1780
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Introduction

The mixture of religion and politics, both thru occupation by foreign nations and

by Judea itself, influenced first century Jewish views of the Messiah. During the

preceding intertestamental period, “Judea was part theocracy, part hierocracy, with the

rule of God understood to be manifested through the Torah and the Jerusalem temple and

its priesthood.”1 And during this time period Judea was marked by ongoing occupation

and persecution, along with ongoing Hellenism, that threatened the very core of Jewish

beliefs - the separation of priesthood and kingship. The history of great warriors/kings of

the past (for example: David and Solomon) drove great expectations of a mighty

warrior/savior to not only rescue Judea from captivity and persecution, but to establish a

nation-state reconciled to God. The Maccabean War (167-164 BCE) was a climactic

revolt that provides insight into period views of the Messiah as a warrior/savior; and in

addition, it provides insight into Jewish understanding of scripture as it pertains to the

separation of priesthood and kingship.

This manuscript will provide a brief review of: (1) the Maccabean War with

particular focus on the emergence of Judas Maccabeus and his brothers as Messianic

figures; and, the corruptness of a combined priest/king; (2) the Messianic idea in Judaism

derived from intertestamental hermeneutics; and, (3) the conflict raised by the merger of

kingship and priesthood reinforced by the Dead Sea Scrolls.

1
Warren Carter, Seven Events that shaped the New Testament World (Grand
Rapids: Baker Academic, 2013), p. 67.
 3

The Maccabean War

At the end of the second century BCE, Judea had long been under the rule of the

Hellenistic Seleucid Empire; but it was not until the deliberate Hellenization and

suppression of Jewish religious practices by Antiochus IV (Epiphanes) that the Jews

found themselves on a path to war.2 The influence of Hellenism placed Judea in a

perilous state, unable to control its political and religious environment.3 At stake was the

right of the Jews to select their own religious leader – the high priest; who had been

separated from political influence and leadership.

Scripture does not support the absolute combination of religious and political

leadership. As an example, the Torah outlines a clear separation between kingship and

high priest:

The offices of high priest and king were separate when Samuel anointed
Saul king and his incompetent intrusion into the sacrificial role led to
Saul’s condemnation. (1 Samuel 13:13)

They took their stand against King Uzziah and said, “Uzziah you have no
right to offer incense to the Lord – only the consecrated priests the
descendants of Aaron, have the right to offer incense. Leave the
sanctuary, for you have acted unfaithfully! You will not receive honor
from the Lord God.” (2 Chronicles 26:18)

The realization of a union between these two high offices could only be accomplished by

the Messiah who would be the “King of kings and Lord of lords.” Politically, events

reached a breaking point with a three-way bidding for the high priesthood between Onias

2
John Grainger, The Wars of the Maccabees (Barnsley, UK: Pen and Sword,
2012).
3
Darrel L. Bock, Studying the Historical Jesus (Grand Rapids: Zondervan,
2012), p. 84.
 4

III (from a loyal Jewish family line; and the rightful heir), Jason (an ardent pro-Hellenist)

and Menelaus (a pagan who had no hereditary claim to the office).4 Menelaus murdered

Onias III; and, Antiochus IV accepted a bribe from Menelaus and placed him as high

priest amidst great outrage in Judea.

In 167 BCE, Antiochus IV issued decrees in Judea forbidding Jewish religious

practices, required sacrifices to pagan Greek gods, and ultimately he defiles the Temple.

This profound religious persecution placed Judean culture and religion at a point of

possible extinction. In defiance, a Jewish resistance emerges; and, a spark igniting a

series of revolts results when Greek troops arrive in the town of Modi’in and demand that

the Jewish inhabitants sacrifice a pig to honor the Greek gods.5 Mattathiah, the elder of

the town and member of the Jewish priestly class, refuses:

Even if all nations that live under the rule of the king obey him, and have
chose to do his commandments, departing each one from the religion of
his fathers, yet I and my sons and my brothers will live by the covenant of
our fathers…We will not obey the king’s word by turning aside from our
religion to the right hand or to the left hand (1 Maccabees 2: 19-22).

However in this town there was a Hellenized Jew who was willing to perform this

sacrilege and, as he was about to sacrifice the pig, Mattathiah stabs him and a Greek

official.6 Mattathiah then turns to the crowd and announces:

4
Darrel L. Bock, Studying the Historical Jesus (Grand Rapids: Zondervan,
2012), p. 87.
5
John Grainger, The Wars of the Maccabees (Barnsley, UK: Pen and Sword,
2012).
6
Ibid. The Wars of the Maccabees
 5

Follow me, all of you who are for God’s law and stand by the covenant.
(1 Maccabees 2: 27)

An on going series of revolts known collectively as the Maccabean War ensued, lasting 3

years, and concludes when Jerusalem is retaken and Jewish rule is established. As noted

by Bock, “From the wilderness, they launched a clever guerrilla campaign. It took three

years to bear fruit. During this time Mattathiah died, but his son, Judas Maccabeus, ably

assumed leadership. Their eventual victory gave birth to a period of Israeli independence

in the family line known as the Hasmoneans [or Maccabeans], the family name of

Mattathiah’s ancestor. This was the only time since the Babylonian exile that Israel had

control of her political role.”7

The death of Mattathiah and emergence of his son, Judas Maccabeus, resulted in a

dynasty known as the Maccabean Dynasty that lasted from 164 – 63 BCE. This dynasty

started off with a great ideal of establishing a nation state rededicated to the Torah and

God. As noted by the great historian Josephus, “…When Mattathiah had thus discoursed

to his sons, and had prayed to God to be their assistant, and to recover to the people their

former constitution he died a little afterward, and was buried at Modin; all the people

making great lamentation for him. Whereupon his son Judas took upon him the

administration of public affairs, in the hundred and forty sixth year; and thus, by the

ready assistance of his brethren, and of others, Judas cast their enemies out of the

country, and put those of their own country to death who had transgressed the laws, and

7
Darrel L. Bock, Studying the Historical Jesus (Grand Rapids: Zondervan,
2012), p. 90.
 6

purified the land of all the pollutions that were in it.”8 From this, Judas Maccabeus

emerged as a warrior/savior (Messianic figure) in the eyes of the Jews:

Then his son Judas, called Maccabeus, rose up in his stead. And all his
brethren helped him, and so did all they that held with his father, and they
fought with cheerfulness the battle of Israel. So he gat his people great
honor and put on a breastplate as a giant, and girt his warlike harness
about him, and he made battles protecting the host with his sword. In his
acts he was like a lion, and like a lion’s whelp roaring for his prey. For he
pursued the wicked, and sought them out, and burnt up those that vexed
his people. Wherefore the wicked shrunk for fear of him, and all the
workers of iniquity were troubled, because salvation prospered in his
hand. He grieved also many kings, and mad Jacob glad with his acts, and
his memorial is blessed forever. Moreover he went through the cities of
Judah, destroying the ungodly out of them, and turning away wrath from
Israel: So that he was renowned unto the utmost part of the earth, and he
received unto him such as were ready to perish. (1 Maccabees 3:1-9)

Judas Maccabeus is established both as king and high priest initially with great

support of all Jews, however dissention arises as corruption plaques the resultant absolute

power. Some Jews do not accept the dual role of ruler and high priest and depart to

Qumran. The great Messianic figure, Judas Maccabeus, dies in battle amongst unbelief

that the great savior of the Jews would perish:

How is the might fallen, the savior of Israel! (1 Maccabees 9:21)

Simon, a natural replacement is greatly recognized for his contributions to Judea and

assumes the dual rule of leader and priest:

8
Flavius Josephus and William Whiston, The Works of Josephus: Complete
and Unabridged (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1987).
 7

The people saw Simon’s faithfulness and the glory that he had resolved to
win for his nation, and they made him their leader and high priest, because
he had done all these things and because of the justice and loyalty that he
had maintained toward his nation. He sought in every way to exalt his
people. (1 Maccabees 14:35)

And the people began to write in their documents and contracts: “In the
first year of Simon the great high priest and commander and leader of the
Jews.” (1 Maccabees 13:42)

Upon the death of Simon, the Maccabean rule continued as the relatives of the

Maccabean brothers battled for absolute power; wars with other nations occur, and

ongoing violations of the Law continue. Corruption ensues and the Jewish people are

left in chaos and divided. And quite ironically, Judah is in need of a savior again. The

irony is well stated by Bock, “The [Maccabean] dynasty introduced a rule that would

receive mixed reviews from the nation. On the one hand, Israel was independent and its

territory expanded under military leadership of this family, but the cost both in the terms

of the need to raise money for the effort and in terms of the spiritual well being of the

country was immense. What the nation had feared in the leadership of foreigners, the

raw exercise of political power was now happening among its own leaders.”9

The violation of the Law with the dual role of ruler and high priest was

difficult for many Jews to support; and the corruption that ensued from absolute power

placed Judea in a perilous state similar to that caused by Antiochus IV. Evil indeed

returned to paradise as described by Josephus: “but after he [Judas Maccabeus] was dead,

9
Darrel L. Bock, Studying the Historical Jesus (Grand Rapids: Zondervan,
2012), p. 90.
 8

all the wicked, and those that transgressed the laws of their forefathers, sprang up again

in Judea, and grew upon them, and distressed them on every side.”10

The corruption and eventual collapse of the Maccabean Dynasty, as well as

the occupation of Judah by Rome, resulted in renewed hopes for a Jewish Messiah.

However, as in the past, the Jewish hermeneutics had not yet evolved into the recognition

that the true Messiah was not a warrior/king, but a servant/king. These period ideas are

well expressed in the Qumran Scrolls and in the pseudoepigraphal Psalms of Solomon,

both of which reveal that there existed both strong opposition to the Maccabean priest-

kings and the Roman oppressors.11 As well as, an expectation for two anointed figures:

one royal and one priestly.12

The Messianic idea in Judaism

The role of Messiah as a deliverer, savior, warrior, and unifier is revealed most

visibly thru the Psalms of Solomon, which is a pseudoepigraphal collection likely

composed in the latter half of the first century BCE.13 From this text, the psalmist cries

out to God to raise up a king, the “Son of David” who’s role will be to “destroy the

unrighteous ruler,” overthrow the unlawful nations and purge Jerusalem of sinners

(Psalms of Solomon 17: 22-45). Along these lines, intertestamental hermeneutics suggest

10
Flavius Josephus and William Whiston, The Works of Josephus: Complete
and Unabridged (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1987).
11
Mark L Strauss, The Lexham Bible Dictionary, Renewed Messianic
Expectations in the First Century BC, ed. John D Barry, et al. (Bellingham,
WA: Lexham Press 2015).
12
Ibid. The Lexham Bible Dictionary, Renewed Messianic Expectations in the
First Century BC.
13
Ibid. The Lexham Bible Dictionary, Renewed Messianic Expectations in the
First Century BC.
 9

a controversy regarding the characteristics of the Messiah – divine warrior king

(Yahweh) or royal king from the Davidic bloodline (Davidic Messiah).

Yahweh

The Messiah would be a divine warrior king, as Yahweh was the ultimate warrior.

As noted by Trost, “the essential key to security for the people of Israel was the

intervention of Yahweh, and that was tied to faithful obedience to him.”14 And, indeed

God was king because of the numerous victories over Israel’s enemies thru war; therefore

there was generally no need for foreign alliances or treaties with other countries or

gods.15 While in the book of Daniel, Yahweh is portrayed as the divine warrior, Lord of

Kings, God of Gods. The texts below are just a few in the Hebrew Old Testament (OT)

that instill a concept that the Messianic figure would be a warrior King:

“Don’t be afraid, Daniel,” he said to me, “for from the first day that you
purposed to understand and to humble yourself before God, your prayers
were heard. I have come because of your prayers. But the prince of the
kingdom of Persia opposed me for 21 days. Then Michael, one of the
chief princes, came to help me after I had been left there with the kings of
Persia. Now I have come to help you understand what will happen to your
people in the last days, for the vision refers to those days. (Daniel 10: 12-
14)

The king said to Daniel, “Your God is indeed God of the gods, Lord of
kings, and a revealer of mysteries, since you were able to reveal this
mystery.” (Daniel 2: 47)

14
Travis D. Trost, Who should be King in Israel ? A study of Roman Imperial
Politics, the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Fourth Gospel (New York: Peter
Lang Publishing, 2010), p. 67.
15
Ibid. Who should be King in Israel ? A study of Roman Imperial Politics,
the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Fourth Gospel. p. 67.
 10

Davidic Messiah

The alternative view is that the Messiah would be a royal king from the bloodline

of David, a Davidic paradigm or dynasty.16 The OT scriptures reveal a clear basis for the

expectation that the Messiah would be from the bloodline of David:

Ever since the day I ordered judges to be over My people Israel. I will
give you rest from all your enemies. “The Lord declares to you. The
Lord Himself will make a house for you. When your time comes and you
rest with your fathers, I will raise up after you your descendant, who will
come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He will build a
house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom
forever. I will be a father to him, and he will be a son to Me. When he
does wrong, I will discipline him with a human rod and with blows from
others. But My faithful love will never leave him as I removed it from
Saul; I removed him from your way. Your house and kingdom will
endure before Me forever; and your throne will be established forever.”
(2 Samuel 7: 11-16)

Likewise, the hope of a Davidic king is outlined in Zechariah:

“Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the house of David
and the residents of Jerusalem, and they will look at Me whom they
pierced.” (Zechariah 12:10)

And, as mentioned previously, the synoptic tradition and the pseudoepigraphal Psalms of

Solomon placed great emphasis on royal and Davidic expectations of the Messiah.17

16
Travis D. Trost, Who should be King in Israel ? A study of Roman Imperial
Politics, the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Fourth Gospel (New York: Peter
Lang Publishing, 2010), p. 67.
 11

Surprisingly, the OT scripture that describes what we now acknowledge as

attributes of the true Messiah are not acknowledge by first century Jews. The current

dogma suggest the blame lies in the intertestamental hermeneutics of that period, which

because of the many factors discussed above, resulted in the Jewish religious leaders

searching for a warrior Messiah and not for the true servant Messiah we now recognize

as Jesus Christ:

(1). The Messiah will come from Judah

The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between
his feet, until tribute comes to him; and the obedience of the people is his.
(Genesis 49:10)

(2). The Messiah will come from Bethlehem.

Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are small among the clans of Judah; One will
come from you to be ruler over Israel for Me. His origin is from antiquity,
from eternity. (Micah 5:2)

(3). The Messiah will be from the house of David.

Isaiah said, “Listen, house of David! It is not enough for you to try the
patience of men? Will you also try the patience of my God? Therefore,
the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive, have a
son, and name him Immanuel. By the time he learns to reject what is bad
and choose what is good, he will be eating butter and honey. For before
the boy knows to reject what is bad, and choose what is good, the land of
the two kings you dread will be abandoned. The Lord will bring on to you,
your people, and the house of your father, such a time as has never been
since Ephraim separated from Judah –the king of Assyria is coming.”
(Isaiah 7:13-17)

17
Travis D. Trost, Who should be King in Israel ? A study of Roman Imperial
Politics, the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Fourth Gospel (New York: Peter
Lang Publishing, 2010), p. 74.
 12

(4). The Messiah will save Judah.

“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will raise up to David a
righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and
right in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in
safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The Lord Our
Righteousness.” (Jeremiah 23: 5-6)

(5). The Messiah is for peace not war.

For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his
shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)

(6). The Messiah will heal the sick.

Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf
unstopped. Then the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute
will sing for joy, for water will gush in the wilderness, and streams in the
desert. (Isaiah 35: 5-6)

(7). The Messiah will be rejected.

He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering who knew what
sickness was. He was like someone people turned away from; He was
despised, and we didn’t value Him. (Isaiah 53:3)

(8). The Messiah will release the oppressed.

The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me;
he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the
brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the
prisoners. (Isaiah 61:1)

(9). The Messiah will be the commander of the people.

See, I have made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander of
the peoples. (Isaiah 55:4)
 13

The Maccabean War produced several Messianic figures none of whom fulfill

all of these attributes. Although they did rescue Judea, they did not ultimately save

Judea. In fact, if anything, these Messianic figures were false Messiahs that perpetuated

a belief in a warrior Messiah. This effectively resulted in the blindness of Judea to the

true Messiah and clearly shaped first century Jewish views of the Messiah.

Evidence from the Dead Sea Scrolls

New evidence from the Dead Sea Scrolls supports the hypothesis that conflict

existed before and during the Maccabean dynasty specifically around the merger of

kingship and priesthood. As previously outlined, both the Canon and Apocrypha

support this hypothesis. With the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1946 AD and the

dating and origin of these new texts to the Qumran community that arose from Judea

during the Maccabean dynasty, it is clear that there was controversy surrounding both

the expectations of a Messiah, and the views regarding the dual roles of king and high

priest.

Dead Sea Scrolls and Messianic expectation

According to Collins, “The Dead Sea Scrolls make clear that the typical Jewish

expectation around the turn of the era was that God would raise up a warrior Messiah

who would slay the wicked (especially the Romans) and drive them out of the land of

Israel. This expectation, he states, is echoed in the New Testament (NT) where the

disciples ask Jesus, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?”
 14

(Acts 1:6). The hope of national independence was fundamental to Jewish messianic

expectations around the turn of the era.”18

Dead Sea Scrolls and kingship

It appears that one of the primary reasons the authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls left

Jerusalem was to escape the ongoing violation of the Law as outlined in the Torah.

According to Collins, “The descendants of the Maccabees, the Hasmoneans, were

simultaneously kings and high priests. The people who wrote the Scrolls insisted that the

two offices should be separate, and believed that they would again be separate in the end-

time. But it is important to note that atonement was also a messianic task, even if it was

supposed to be performed by a person different from the King Messiah. To put the matter

another way, the messiahs were supposed to fix what was wrong in Israel. One such

problem was improper governance by a king who was not from the line of David, or

worse, by the Romans. But an even more profound problem was the sin of Israel itself.

Indeed, the reason the community that preserved the Scrolls went out into the wilderness

was to atone for the land (IQS 8:6). There could be no messianic age without

atonement.”19

Taken in total, the Dead Sea Scrolls provide significant primary source

documentation that validates the history of the Maccabees as outlined in the Apocrypha.

They also help confirm current views of the civil unrest that occurred during the

18
John J. Collins, The Scepter and the Star: Messianism in light of the Dead
Sea Scrolls (Grand Rapids: William B Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2012).
19
Ibid. The Scepter and the Star: Messianism in light of the Dead Sea Scrolls
 15

intertestamental period particularly in regards to the merger of king and high priest.

Finally, they further clarify first century Jewish views on the Messiah. Is the Messiah a

warrior Messiah, a servant Messiah, or an atoning Messiah? These questions appear to

perplex the authors of the Scrolls. If anything, these preconceptions of the Messiah

influenced the ability of first century Jews to recognize the true Messiah, Jesus the Christ.

Conclusion

Confusion regarding the separation of kingship from high priesthood resulted in

tension before, during and after the Maccabean War. Primary source documentation

contained within the apocryphal texts, Maccabees 1-3 as well as recently discovered

Dead Sea Scroll documents and historical texts from Flavius Josephus support these

claims. The Maccabean dynasty produced several messianic figures based upon belief in

a warrior Messiah over a Davidic Messiah. This concept of a Messiah who would save

the Jews from foreign occupation persisted thru the history of Judah. While, the

prophetic scripture of the OT describes attributes of the true Messiah, Jesus Christ, first

century hermeneutics did not make connections that would ultimately allow identification

of a servant Messiah. In total, the Maccabean War and the events that resulted in it, and

occurred because of it, clearly influenced first century Jewish views of the Messiah.
 16

Bibliography  

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Baker Academic, 2002.

Carter, Warren. Seven Events that shaped the New Testament World [Kindle
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Collins, John J. The Scepter and the Star: Messianism in light of the Dead Sea
Scrolls. 2nd Edition. Grand Rapids , Michigan: William B Eerdmans
Publishing Co. , 2010.

Grainger, John. The Wars of the Maccabees. Barnsley: Pen and Sword, 2012.

Heim , K M. Kings and Kingship. Edited by Bill T Arnold and HGM

Williamson. Downer's Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2005.

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Menahem, Stern. "The Hasmonean Revolt and its place in the history of
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106.

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Dictionary (Revised and Updated), edited by Mark Allan Powell. New
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