Maccabean Revolt, 167–160 BCE

Seleucid intervention in Judaean religious and political life intensified under Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Measures associated with the suppression of Jewish observance and the rededication of the Jerusalem temple provoked armed resistance led by the priest Mattathias and his sons.

Judah Maccabee became the revolt’s most prominent commander. His forces won important victories and recovered Jerusalem, where the temple was rededicated in 164 BCE, an event remembered in Hanukkah. Fighting and dynastic consolidation continued beyond that moment.

Judah’s Wife views the revolt through a woman whose desire for safety collides with persecution and war. The context supports the novel’s emphasis on the cost borne by households when political power attempts to compel religious conformity.