Historical record
Event and evidence
First and Second Maccabees independently preserve the sanctuary crisis, cessation of sacrifice, and cultic profanation.
- Date or range
- 167 BCE
- Geography
- Jerusalem Temple
- Event class
- Second Temple crisis
- Confidence
- Strongly Supported
Textual relationship
Relevant prophecy texts
- Daniel 8:11–14
- Daniel 9:27
- Daniel 11:31
- Daniel 12:11
Concepts later connected with this event
- Abomination of Desolation
- Cessation of regular sacrifice
Historical fact and fulfillment are different claims
The event can be historically established while its relationship to prophecy remains interpretive, disputed, typological, or tradition-specific.
Reception history
Who connected it to prophecy?
- Jewish historical readings
- historical-critical scholarship
- Christian preterist and typological readings
Assessment
Arguments and objections
Reasons the event matters
- The event matches the sanctuary, sacrifice, desolation, and Maccabean chronology in Daniel.
Limits and objections
- The Synoptic warning applies Danielic language to a later horizon.
Evidence trail
Sources and report provenance
- Primary text1
- Ancient history2
Coverage describes source types present; it is not a truth score or certainty percentage.
Historical record citation notes (3)
- Ancient historyFirst Maccabees
Locator: Daniel 8:11–14; Daniel 9:27; Daniel 11:31
Narrates Antiochus IV, Temple desecration, revolt, and rededication. Relevant locator for this record: Daniel 8:11–14; Daniel 9:27; Daniel 11:31.
- Ancient historySecond Maccabees
Locator: Daniel 8:11–14; Daniel 9:27; Daniel 11:31
Provides a second ancient narrative of Antiochus IV, sanctuary desecration, persecution, revolt, and rededication. Relevant locator for this record: Daniel 8:11–14; Daniel 9:27; Daniel 11:31.
- Primary textDaniel
Locator: Daniel 8:11–14; Daniel 9:27; Daniel 11:31
Supplies kingdom, Son of Man, seventy-weeks, desecration, distress, and resurrection material. Relevant locator for this record: Daniel 8:11–14; Daniel 9:27; Daniel 11:31.
Primary and secondary sources (3)
- Ancient history2
- Primary text1
Coverage identifies source families present; it is not a truth score or certainty percentage.
First Maccabees
ancient historical sourceCoverage class: Ancient history
Relevant text: 1 Maccabees 1–4
Publication date: late second or early first century BCE
What it supports: Narrates Antiochus IV, Temple desecration, revolt, and rededication.
Limitations: It is a partisan ancient narrative and must be compared with other evidence.
Consult the source or publisher before reproducing protected text, images, or apparatus content.
Second Maccabees
ancient historical sourceCoverage class: Ancient history
Relevant text: 2 Maccabees 4–10
Publication date: late second or early first century BCE
What it supports: Provides a second ancient narrative of Antiochus IV, sanctuary desecration, persecution, revolt, and rededication.
Limitations: Its theological and rhetorical aims require comparison with First Maccabees and external evidence.
Consult the source or publisher before reproducing protected text, images, or apparatus content.
Daniel
primary textCoverage class: Primary text
Relevant text: Daniel 2; 7–12
What it supports: Supplies kingdom, Son of Man, seventy-weeks, desecration, distress, and resurrection material.
Limitations: Dating, historical referents, and future extensions are heavily disputed.
Consult the source or publisher before reproducing protected text, images, or apparatus content.
Comparative evidence
Fulfillment matrices containing this event
Abomination of Desolation candidates
Compares historical, future, and symbolic proposals without allowing the word 'abomination' to substitute for evidence.
Open matrix →Great Tribulation historical horizons
Compares the principal historical and eschatological horizons proposed for the unparalleled distress language.
Open matrix →Related records
Continue the evidence trail
Abomination of Desolation candidates
Compares historical, future, and symbolic proposals without allowing the word 'abomination' to substitute for evidence.
Open record →Temple rededication
The Jerusalem sanctuary was purified and rededicated after the Maccabean recovery, forming the historical background of Hanukkah.
Open record →