mat - a - thı̄´as ( Ματταθίας , Mattathı́as ). The persons of this name in the Apocrypha are:
(1) Mattathias the father of the Maccabees. See ASMONEANS; MACCABEES .
(2) One of the 7 who stood on Ezra's right hand as he read the law (1 Esdras 9:43) = "Mattithiah" of Nehemiah 8:4 .
(3) The son - probably the youngest (compare 1 Maccabees 16:2 ) - of Simon the Maccabean, treacherously murdered along with his father and his brother Judas by his brother-in-law Ptolemy, son of Abubus in the stronghold of Dok near Jericho in the 177th Seleucid - 136-135 BC (1 Maccabees 16:14 ).
(4) Son of Absalom, one of the two "captains of the forces" who in the campaign against Demetrius in the plain of HaZor gallantly supported Judas, enabling the latter to turn an impending defeat into a great victory (1 Maccabees 11:70 ).
(5) One of the three envoys sent by Nicanor to treat with Judas in 161 BC (2 Maccabees 14:19 ). No names of envoys are given in the account of 1 Maccabees 7:27 ff.
(6) One of the sons of Asom who put away his "strange wife" (1 Esdras 9:33) = the King James Version "Matthias" = "Mattattah" of Ezra 10:33 .
In addition to these two of this name are mentioned in the New Testament:
(7) Luke 3:25 , "son of Amos."
(8) Luke 3:26 , "son of Semein."
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE) was edited by James Orr, John Nuelsen, Edgar Mullins, Morris Evans, and Melvin Grove Kyle and was published complete in 1939. This web site includes the complete text.
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