[mak-uh-beez] 
| 1. | (used with a plural verb ) the members of the Hasmonean family of Jewish leaders and rulers comprising the sons of Mattathias and their descendants and reigning in Judea from 167? to 37 b.c., esp. Judas Maccabaeus and his brothers, who defeated the Syrians under Antiochus IV in 165? and rededicated the Temple in Jerusalem. |
| 2. | (used with a singular verb) either of two books of the Apocrypha, I Maccabees or II Maccabees, that contain the history of the Maccabees. |
According to two books of the Apocrypha, a family of Jewish patriots active in the liberation of Judea from Syrian rule. The Maccabees established a line of priest-kings that lasted until the rule of Herod the Great.