Commander of the revolt
Judah Maccabee
Son of Mattathias, he retook Jerusalem and restored the Temple cult, defeated Nicanor in 161 BCE and died in battle. His nickname, 'the Hammer', gives the Maccabees their name.
What the sources say
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4 statements
When Mattathias died, his son Judah assumed leadership. Judah's nickname, 'the Maccabee' or 'the Hammer', is the source of the names Maccabees and Maccabean Revolt.
Judah, a skilled guerrilla commander, recaptured Jerusalem and reinstated worship at the Temple, an event commemorated at Hanukkah. He was helped by Antiochus's preoccupation with the eastern part of his kingdom and by Roman support. The book's timeline dates the purification and rededication of the Temple to 164 BCE.
In 161 BCE Judah defeated Nicanor, the Seleucid general who had vowed to tear down the Temple. The narrative of 2 Maccabees closes with this victory.
Judah fell in battle; the struggle continued under his brothers, first Jonathan and, after Jonathan's death, Simon.