Definition of: Maccabees

(mak′ə·bēz)
A family of Jewish patriots who, beginning in the reign of Antiochus IV (175–164 B.C.), led a revolt against Syrian religious oppression, which resulted in the deliverance and freedom of Judea; also, four books written in Hebrew and translated into Greek, treating of Jewish oppression and persecution from 222 to 135 B.C. The first two books are regarded as canonical by Roman Catholics, but all as apocryphal by Protestants. [<LL Machabaei, plural of Machabaeus <Gk. Makkabaios, prob. <Aramaic maggābā a hammer]