I Maccabees

9.9

An old Jewish religious book that tells the story of the revolt led by Judas Maccabeus

proper noun
/aɪ ˌmækəˈbiːz/

Literature

: Primera de Macabeos

The story of Judas Maccabaeus's leadership is chronicled in I Maccabees.

Examples

In the book I Maccabees, the story of the Jewish revolt is vividly detailed.
The story of Judas Maccabaeus's leadership is chronicled in I Maccabees.
Many Christian and Jewish traditions recognize I Maccabees as an important historical document.
Students in religious studies often analyze I Maccabees for its historical context and narrative style.
Many scholars study I Maccabees for its historical insights.
Many Christian and Jewish traditions recognize I Maccabees as an important historical document.
Students in religious studies often analyze I Maccabees for its historical context and narrative style.

Synonyms

1 Maccabees

vsI Maccabees

1 9.9

A Jewish book that tells the story of Judas Maccabeus and the revolt against Greek rulers

is identical in content but written with a Roman numeral

Surface Forms

I Maccabees main

Morphology

I + Maccabees

This is a proper-name book title where 'I' is a Roman numeral meaning 'First' and 'Maccabees' is a historical/biblical name; a B1 learner who only knows the surface words (and likely interprets 'I' as the pronoun) would not be able to derive that it denotes the First Book of the Maccabees about a Jewish revolt. Understanding requires knowledge of biblical/book-naming conventions and specific historical context rather than compositional word meaning, so the expression is non-compositional for learners.

Etymology

I Maccabees is the title of the 'first' book about the Maccabees. The name comes from their leader Maccabeus, a name that may come from a word meaning 'hammer' because he fought strongly, so the title simply marks this as the first book that tells the Maccabees' story.