Mattathias

Mattathias was a priest of the line of Joiarib who lived at Modein during the reign of Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Seleucid policy had increasingly interfered with traditional Jewish worship, and royal officials eventually came to Modein to compel sacrifice according to the king's decree. Mattathias was invited to set an example by complying but publicly refused. When another Jewish man came forward to sacrifice, Mattathias killed him and the royal official and destroyed the altar. He then called on those zealous for the Law to follow him and fled with his sons into the countryside. The resistance movement grew as other faithful Jews joined them. Mattathias and his followers attacked pagan altars, opposed collaborators, and restored practices such as circumcision. A crisis arose when some Jewish fugitives refused to defend themselves on the Sabbath and were slaughtered; Mattathias and his supporters concluded that defensive fighting on the Sabbath was necessary for survival. Near the end of his life Mattathias exhorted his sons to remain faithful, naming Simon for counsel and Judas for military leadership. He died around 166 BC and was buried at Modein.