Who was Mattathias in the Hanukkah story?
Quick Answer
A Jewish priest remembered in 1 Maccabees for resisting coerced idolatrous worship.
Key Scriptures
1 Maccabees 2:15-28
Detailed Biblical Study
A Jewish priest remembered in 1 Maccabees for resisting coerced idolatrous worship. Read 1 Maccabees 2:15-28 in context. This answer is framed by the Hanukkah Teaching. Distinguish explicit Torah commandments, Second Temple history, later traditions, and the speaker’s interpretations before teaching this as doctrine.
Related Teaching
Hanukkah – Should/Can Christians Celebrate This Holiday?
Hanukkah, the Feast of Dedication, remembers the recovery and rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem after the persecution of the Seleucid ruler Antiochus IV. The speaker explains that Hanukkah is not one of Yehovah’s commanded appointed times in Leviticus 23, yet argues that disciples of Yeshua may commemorate its history. He particularly highlights the courage of Mattathias and Judah Maccabeus to resist enforced idolatry and maintain faithfulness to Yehovah.