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Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

IntroIndex©

DIOSCORINTHIUS*

Problematic word occurring once in 2 Maccabees 11:21. “Dioscorinthius” formed part of the date in a letter written by Lysias, a Syrian official, to the Jewish people during the Maccabean revolts around 164 BC. Most scholars believe the word indicates the name of a month.

Part of the name may have referred to the Macedonian month Dios, but the significance of the rest is unknown. The early Jewish historian Josephus identified Dioscorinthius with the Jewish period “Marcheshvan” (November-December), but that gives no help in determining the precise meaning. Dioscorinthius has also been connected with Dioscurus, the third month of the Cretan calendar, but again the significance of that connection is unclear. Equally doubtful is the suggestion that Dioscorinthius was a short month inserted into the Jewish calendar to balance the lunar and solar years.