The Maccabean-Idumean conflict in the light of the First and Second Books of the Maccabees

This paper offers a comprehensive discussion of all the passages from the First and Second Books of the Maccabees that refer to the Maccabean-Idumean conflict. It is argued that, in contrast to widely held views, many passages in 1– 2 Maccabees speak only about Seleucid military activities conducted in Idumea, and not about a Judean-Idumean conflict. What is more, it is also suggested that the Maccabean expansion towards Idumea was neither a religiously or ethnically motivated conflict nor a Judean response to prior Idumean hostility. Quite the contrary, it resulted from a vital need to control strategic strongholds and cities guarding approaches to Judea from the south that were used by the Seleucids and would have been used by any other Judean enemies. It may in fact have been a Maccabean push towards the south that led to the hostile Idumean reactions in some regions.