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Mattathias
Sign in to saveMattathias ben Johanan (, Mattīṯyāhū haKōhēn ben Yōḥānān; died 166–165 BCE) was a Kohen (Jewish priest) who helped spark the Maccabean Revolt against the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire. Mattathias's story is related in the deuterocanonical book of 1 Maccabees and in the writings of Josephus. Mattathias is accorded a central role in the story of Hanukkah and, as a result, is named in the Al HaNissim prayer Jews add to the Birkat Hamazon (grace after meals) and the Amidah during the festival's eight days.
OverviewAI-generated
Mattathias was a male kohen born in 200 BCE and died in 166 BCE. He held citizenship in the Seleucid Empire. His children included Judah Maccabee, Simon Thassi, Jonathan Apphus, and John Gaddi. He is described in sources such as The Nuttall Encyclopædia and the Jewish Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron.
A quote attributed to him states, "Whosoever is zealous of the law, and maintaineth the covenant, let him follow me!" The subject is referenced by 132 other encyclopedia articles.
Synthesized by Vinony from 17 facts across 6 sources: Wikidata, Open Library, Crossref, Wikiquote, MusicBrainz, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Key facts
- Monarch.name
- Mattathias
- Monarch.image
- Mattathias medal.svg
- Monarch.caption
- An imaginary depiction of Mattathias from Guillaume Rouillé's Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum (1553)
- Monarch.succession
- Leader of the Maccabees
- Monarch.reign
- 167-166 BCE
- Monarch.predecessor
- Revolt Started
- Monarch.successor
- Judas Maccabeus
- Monarch.dynasty
- Hasmonean
- Monarch.issue
- Judas Maccabeus Eleazar AvaranSimon Thassi John Gaddi Jonathan Apphus
- Monarch.father
- John, son of Simeon
- Monarch.birth_place
- Judea
- Monarch.death_date
- 166 BCE
- Monarch.religion
- Judaism
- Monarch.burial_place
- Modi'in
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- Seleucid Empire
- Child
- Judah Maccabee
- Occupation
- kohen
- Image
- Mattathias medal.svg
Show 4 more facts
- Commons category
- Mattathias
- date of death
- 0166-01-01
- date of birth
- 0200-00-00
- described by source
- Jewish Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron
Sources (1)
via Wikidata · CC0
~6 min read
Encyclopedic overview
9 sectionsContents
- History
- First Stage of the Rebellion
- Contribution to Religious Law
- Context
- In literature and liturgy
- See also
- References
- Sources
- External links
Mattathias ben Johanan (, Mattīṯyāhū haKōhēn ben Yōḥānān; died 166–165 BCE) was a Kohen (Jewish priest) who helped spark the Maccabean Revolt against the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire. Mattathias's story is related in the deuterocanonical book of 1 Maccabees and in the writings of Josephus. Mattathias is accorded a central role in the story of Hanukkah and, as a result, is named in the Al HaNissim prayer Jews add to the Birkat Hamazon (grace after meals) and the Amidah during the festival's eight days.
==History== thumb|Mattathias appealing to Jewish refugees (illustration by Gustave Doré from the 1866 La Sainte Bible)
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Mattathias” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.