King Antiochus IV Epiphanes Defiles the Temple

With Antiochus IV taking the throne, gradual, deliberate, and later forceful steps to Hellenize the Jews were put into place, strategically "gutting" the essence of Jewish religious practice, leaving only a shell of pretense that would easily accommodate Greek ideologies. One of his first actions was to take control of the Temple by undermining the office of the High Priest. Next was destroying the Jewish Calendar. Jewish appointed times including the Sabbath, holy festivals, and the sanctification of the New Moon are part of the Jewish responsibility to sanctify time. Prohibiting the Jews from this observance would severely impede them from practicing Judaism. The prohibition of keeping kosher and the study of Torah followed and finally, he forbade circumcision, the physical sign of the Jewish covenant with G-d.

1 Maccabees 1:45-50

‍“He (Antiochus IV) ordered them not to offer burnt offerings, grain offerings, or wine offerings in the Temple, and commanded them to treat Sabbaths and festivals as ordinary workdays. They were even ordered to defile the Temple and the holy things in it. They were commanded to build pagan altars, temples, and shrines, and to sacrifice pigs and other unclean animals there. They were forbidden to circumcise their sons…”

1 Maccabees 1:60-61

‍“Mothers who had allowed their babies to be circumcised were put to death in accordance with the king's decree. Their babies were hung around their necks…”