The History of Judaism

The Maccabees texts tell of a rebellion that occurred in the Seleucid realm. This rebellion was led by hardcore old-fashioned Jews, harkening back to what they saw as a pure, uncorrupted Judaism. All around them were Hellenophile Jews who were assimilating horrible Greek practices like wearing hats with brims on them and eating pigs. In this text we see Greek-speaking Jews of the Eastern Mediterranean coining a word in Greek, to insist on their cultural difference from the Greeks.