# Antiochus IV suppresses Jewish practices

Between the Testaments · Draft · BSB

Content revision: 56708cfa98d9fdca · No editorial review date recorded

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Date: c. 167 BC · Suppression and temple desecration

First Maccabees reports the suppression of sacrifices, Sabbath observance and circumcision under Antiochus IV, along with desecration of the sanctuary. Some comply; others resist at the cost of their lives.

Second Maccabees also describes coercion and suffering. These accounts should not be flattened into a claim that every Hellenistic ruler pursued the same policy or that all Jewish people responded alike.

## Historical sources and canon context

Historical background with external readings. First and Second Maccabees are Scripture in Catholic and many Orthodox traditions, but are outside the Jewish and most Protestant canons and this app’s bundled 66-book Bible.

[1 Maccabees 1:41–64](https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1maccabees/1)

Narrates decrees, desecration and resistance; its chronological notes support the conventional 167 BC setting.

[2 Maccabees 6:1–11](https://bible.usccb.org/bible/2maccabees/6)

An overlapping account of suppression, not a sequel to First Maccabees.

## Primary Scripture

No primary biblical passage is assigned to this historical-background event. Consult its external sources.

## Related Scripture

These Bible readings are connected by theme or later setting; they are not direct accounts of this historical stop.

[Deuteronomy 6:4–9 · teaching](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy%206%3A4%E2%80%939&version=BSB)

The call to covenant loyalty helps frame the practices at stake; it does not date this persecution.

## Location evidence

Jerusalem identifies the city and temple setting. Judea’s shading is illustrative and does not map the reach of each decree or each act of resistance.

Event map marker: Identified site; \[longitude, latitude\] = \[35.234167, 31.776667\]. This is a teaching marker, not an exact event venue.

Jerusalem: Identified site. Coordinates \[longitude, latitude\]: \[35.234167, 31.776667\]. Classification source: editorial.

[OpenBible.info: Jerusalem (CC BY 4.0)](https://www.openbible.info/geo/ancient/a15257a/jerusalem)

Judea: Approximate region. Coordinates \[longitude, latitude\]: \[35.05, 31.65\]. Classification source: editorial.

Illustrative regional extent: \[\[34.65,31.25\],\[35.5,32\]\]; not a measured confidence interval.

[IAA: historical timeline; extent is an editorial illustration](https://www.deadseascrolls.org.il/learn-about-the-scrolls/historical-timeline?locale=en_US)

[OpenBible.info: Jerusalem (CC BY 4.0)](https://www.openbible.info/geo/ancient/a15257a/jerusalem)

## For the class

Which practices sustain a community’s identity when those practices become dangerous?

## Interpretation and reuse

Narrative order is a reading arrangement, not a proven chronology. Dates retain their stated uncertainty. An identified locality does not establish the exact venue or prove an event. Region extents and routes are illustrative, not surveyed boundaries or ancient roads. Draft material has not completed editorial review.

Record source: editorial (content/authored/between-testaments.json)

Place coordinates from OpenBible.info Bible Geocoding Data, CC BY 4.0.

Teaching stops, summaries and regional extents are original editorial content of this atlas.

Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain. https://berean.bible/licensing.htm

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