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MATTATHIAS

(Gk. Mattathías)

A common name (from Heb. mattiṯyâ, “gift of Yahweh”) in the Maccabean and Roman periods.

1. A priest of the order of Jehoiarib (1 Chr. 24:7) or Joarib (1 Macc. 2:1); son of John and grandson of Simeon. Mattathias was a descendant of Asamonaeus, whence derives the name Hasmonean, the eventual name of the ruling Jewish dynasty, which descended from Mattathias. From the village of Modein, Mattathias and his sons in 166 b.c.e. initiated a revolt against Antiochus IV, who was attempting to stamp out the Jewish religion (1 Macc. 2).

2. The son of Absalom, a general officer under Jonathan (1 Macc. 11:70).

3. The third son of Simon and grandson of Mattathias 1. After the Maccabean revolt (134 b.c.e.), Ptolemy, an in-law of the ruling Hasmonean family, murdered this Mattathias, his brother Judas, and father Simon in their attempted coup (1 Macc. 16:14-16).

4. An envoy sent to Judas Maccabeus by Nicanor, the Syrian-appointed governor of Judea (2 Macc. 14:19).

5. An ancestor of Jesus, according to Luke’s genealogy (Luke 3:25; NRSV Matthat).

6. Another ancestor of Jesus, according to Luke 3:26.

J. Bradley Chance

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

MATTATHIAS

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)