What is the definition of (In The Apocrypha) Maccabees?

The '(in the apocrypha) Maccabees' refers to a bunch of ancient Jewish texts that, let's face it, are kind of like the apocryphal version of the Maccabees saga. Imagine if the original Maccabees story, which is basically just a family saga with some rebellious Jewish boys against the Seleucid Empire, got spiced up with some extra gossip about the occult practices of the Maccabees (those guys were like the anti-vaxxers of old, but for religion). They're not officially part of the Jewish canon, so you can't just throw them in a Bible like you'd throw a slice of pizza into it.

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Now, here's an edgy example sentence using that pesky 'apocrypha' term: "I decided to research the (in the apocrypha) Maccabees, only to find out they're more interested in divination than the actual liberation of Jerusalem from those Greek philosophers."