Timothy ( el, Τιμόθεος ''Timótheos'') was an
Ammonite general of the mid 2nd century BCE of the
Seleucid Empire. He fought during the
Maccabee campaigns of 163 BC
During the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire, there were a series of campaigns in 163 BC in regions outlying Judea - Ammon, Gilead, Galilee, Idumea, and Judea's coastal plain, a wider region usually referred to as either Palestine or ...
against the Jews of
Ammon
Ammon ( Ammonite: 𐤏𐤌𐤍 ''ʻAmān''; he, עַמּוֹן ''ʻAmmōn''; ar, عمّون, ʻAmmūn) was an ancient Semitic-speaking nation occupying the east of the Jordan River, between the torrent valleys of Arnon and Jabbok, in ...
and
Gilead
Gilead or Gilad (; he, גִּלְעָד ''Gīləʿāḏ'', ar, جلعاد, Ǧalʻād, Jalaad) is the ancient, historic, biblical name of the mountainous northern part of the region of Transjordan.''Easton's Bible Dictionary'Galeed''/ref> ...
, and eventually the Maccabee rebel army themselves. He was eventually defeated by
Judas Maccabeus at
Dathema in Gilead.
No Greek records of Timothy remain, so all that is known of him are hostile accounts from the Jewish books of
1 Maccabees
The First Book of Maccabees, also known as First Maccabees (written in shorthand as 1 Maccabees or 1 Macc.), is a book written in Hebrew by an anonymousRappaport, U., ''47. 1 Maccabees'' in Barton, J. and Muddiman, J. (2001)The Oxford Bible Comme ...
and
2 Maccabees
2 Maccabees, el, Μακκαβαίων Β´, translit=Makkabaíōn 2 also known as the Second Book of Maccabees, Second Maccabees, and abbreviated as 2 Macc., is a deuterocanonical book which recounts the persecution of Jews under King Antiochus I ...
. He appears briefly in Josephus's ''
Antiquities of the Jews'', but
Josephus
Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for '' The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly ...
does not add any details on him not already in 1 Maccabees. According to these sources, Timothy hired mercenaries, both Arabs and Asian horsemen, and used those forces in a local struggle with the Jews of Ammon and Gilead. Judas Maccabeus's intervention drove him off and saved the besieged Jews, and according to 2 Maccabees, Timothy died, although the timing of when and how is somewhat unclear due to 2 Maccabees seemingly describing the events out-of-order.
References
{{reflist
2nd-century BC people
Seleucid people in the books of the Maccabees