Anakalypsis / Unveiling the Word
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⚙ Annotations & References ▾
Events 1 ▾
The Hasmonean Dynasty 140–63 BC 41
Empires 1 ▾
Hasmonean Kingdom c. 140-37 BC 29
Manuscript witnesses 2 ▾
Codex Sinaiticus Aleph c. AD 330-360 Codex Vaticanus B c. AD 300-325
What is 1 Maccabees 14 about?

With Demetrius taken captive in the East, Simon's rule brings peace, and the chapter breaks into a song of the land at rest, every man beneath his vine and fig tree, the young clothed in glory, the sanctuary honored, and the roads made safe. Simon renews the alliances with Rome and Sparta, and a great decree honoring him and his house is inscribed on bronze tablets and set up in the temple, confirming him leader and high priest forever until a trustworthy prophet should arise. Presenting the settled golden age of Simon's reign, the chapter shows the reward of the long struggle for freedom and true worship.

Historical backdrop

Alexander's empire had shattered into the kingdoms of his generals, and Judea lay under the Seleucids who ruled the East from Antioch. When Antiochus the Fourth outlawed the Law, forced Greek ways on Jerusalem, and raised an altar to Zeus on the altar of the LORD, a priest's family in the hills rose in revolt. The war that followed pitted farmers and their sons against the Seleucid phalanx and its armored war elephants, and it ended with the temple cleansed and rededicated, a rising Jewish state, and envoys sent to a distant new power named Rome. This is the world between the Testaments, the fight that set the stage on which the Gospels open.

The Church Fathers on 1 Maccabees 14
Deuterocanon (Catholic & Orthodox) · Accepted as canonical Scripture by the Catholic and Orthodox traditions and included in the original 1611 KJV (between the Old and New Testaments). Not in the Protestant 66-book canon. Read with the same care you bring to other Scripture, conscious that Protestants and Catholics weigh its authority differently.

1 Maccabees 14

1 Maccabees Chapter 14
14
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What is 1 Maccabees 14 about?

With Demetrius taken captive in the East, Simon's rule brings peace, and the chapter breaks into a song of the land at rest, every man beneath his vine and fig tree, the young clothed in glory, the sanctuary honored, and the roads made safe. Simon renews the alliances with Rome and Sparta, and a great decree honoring him and his house is inscribed on bronze tablets and set up in the temple, confirming him leader and high priest forever until a trustworthy prophet should arise. Presenting the settled golden age of Simon's reign, the chapter shows the reward of the long struggle for freedom and true worship.