DID YOU KNOW?
The answer
Antiochus IV, a Greek Seleucid king who outlawed Jewish practice and defiled the Temple around 167 BCE. Judas Maccabeus's forces retook Jerusalem and rededicated the Temple in 164 BCE — the root of Hanukkah. Antiochus himself died that same year while campaigning in the east; the revolt won back the Temple, but the war against his successors went on for years.
Why it’s interesting
This crisis is widely seen as the setting behind the Book of Daniel's visions. It also shaped ideas about martyrdom and resurrection that echo into the New Testament.
Scholarly consensus
You can know the Bible.
Not just the stories, but the history, authorship, and scholarship behind it.