Maccabees - Origin of Name

Origin of Name

The name Maccabee is often used as a synonym for the entire Hasmonean Dynasty, but the Maccabees proper were Judah Maccabee and his four brothers. The name Maccabee was a personal epithet of Judah, and the later generations were not his direct descendants. One explanation of the name's origins is that it derives from the Aramaic "makkaba", "the hammer", in recognition of Judah's ferocity in battle. The traditional Jewish explanation is that Maccabee is an acronym for the Torah verse that was the battle-cry of the Maccabees, "Mi chamocha ba'elim YHWH", "Who is like You among the mighty, O Lord!", as well as an acronym for "Matityahu Kohen ben Yochanan. The scholar and poet Aaron Kaminka argues that the name is a corruption of Machbanai, a leading commando in the army of King David.