The BibleGospel Companion
Battle · Between the Testaments168 BC

The Maccabees rise; the temple is cleansed

Dated from the sources quoted below

True span4004 BC – AD 100
Beginnings · 4004 BC – 1996 BC · 12 eventsBeginnings4004 BC – 1996 BCThe Patriarchs · 1996 BC – 1635 BC · 34 eventsPatriarchs1996 BC – 1635 BCEgypt and the Exodus · 1635 BC – 1451 BC · 19 eventsExodus1635 BC – 1451 BCConquest and Settlement · 1451 BC – 1400 BC · 7 eventsConquest1451 BC – 1400 BCThe Judges · 1405 BC – 1095 BC · 13 eventsJudges1405 BC – 1095 BCThe United Kingdom · 1095 BC – 975 BC · 38 eventsUnited Kgdm1095 BC – 975 BCIsrael and Judah · 933 BC – 721 BC · 27 eventsIsrael & Judah933 BC – 721 BCJudah Alone · 721 BC – 586 BC · 22 eventsJudah alone721 BC – 586 BCThe Exile · 586 BC – 538 BC · 7 eventsExile586 BC – 538 BCReturn and Restoration · 538 BC – 400 BC · 13 eventsReturn538 BC – 400 BCBetween the Testaments · 400 BC – 4 BC · 8 eventsBetween400 BC – 4 BCThe Life of Jesus · 6 BC – AD 33 · 42 eventsJesus6 BC – AD 33The Apostles and the Early Church · AD 30 – AD 100 · 29 eventsThe ChurchAD 30 – AD 100331 BC — Alexander ends the Persian empire at Arbela323 BC — Alexander dies and his empire is divided280 BC — The Hebrew Scriptures are translated into Greek203 BC — Antiochus the Great takes Jerusalem and annexes Judea168 BC — Antiochus Epiphanes desecrates the temple168 BC — The Maccabees rise; the temple is cleansed56 BC — Rome takes Jerusalem under Pompey37 BC — Herod the Great is made king of Judea
the events of this period, each at its year — this one outlinedplaced only by its order in the narrativethe whole thread →

Told in

John 10:22–23It was the Feast of the Dedication at Jerusalem.Daniel 11:32–35He will corrupt those who do wickedly against the covenant by flatteries; but the people who know their God will be strong and take action.
Opening words from the World English Bible (public domain); the passage list is in-house

Who and where

Jerusalem ›
Names and references: STEPBible, Tyndale House Cambridge · CC BY 4.0 · coordinates: OpenBible.info Bible Geocoding · CC BY 4.0

How we know the date

The Feast of the Dedication that Jesus keeps in John 10:22 remembers the cleansing of the temple after this revolt. ISBE's Old Testament chronology (1915) gives 168 BC.

Written in-house from the sources below · every year is a quotation

The sources, word for word

“The period of the Maccabees, which ended in 39 BC with the removal of Antigonus by the Romans in favor of Herod, began 168 BC with Judas.”

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915) · CHRONOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT · gives 168 BC

Sources