The Maccabees
THE BOOKS OF THE MACCABEES WERE NOT INCLUDED IN THE KING JAMES VERSION OF OUR BIBLE, although they are in the Common Bible and in some other translations. Their time span was in between the Old Testament and the New, toward the end of that time span, and they describe the work of one family who fought to maintain a place for Israel in that old land until the birth of the Christ Child which they were looking forward to with much anticipation.
To understand these events which happened you will need to know who the people of the story are, just as you do when you read the rest of your Bible. The leader of this famous family was Mattathias who was (as the old book 1813 confirms) a Priest of Israel from the direct lineage of AARON. This was as you know an inherited Priesthood, thus his sons would also be Priests of Israel after the death of their father.
Mattathias had five sons who were:—
1. John, surnamed Gaddi
2. Simon, called Thassi
3. Judas, called Maccabeus
4. Eleazar, called Avaran
5. Jonathan, called Apphus
In his time span then, Mattathias seeing the conditions in old Jerusalem moved his family to the city of Modine, to remove them from the temptations which had now taken over this old Hebrew city.