Part 2 of the Feast of Dedication, or Feast of Lights | Chanukah.

What about that Maccabean incident that this account is based on?

Knowing about the history of this account will help us to appreciate the significance, as well as the relevance of this celebration:

Again, according to the English version of Wikipedia:

“Maccabean Revolt

The Maccabean Revolt (Hebrew: מֶרֶד הַמַּכַּבִּים) or the Hasmonean revolt (מֶרֶד הַחַשְׁמוֹנָאִים) was a Jewish rebellion led by the Maccabees against the Seleucid Empire and against Hellenistic influence on Jewish life. The main phase of the revolt lasted from 167 to 160 BCE and ended with the Seleucids in control of Judea, but conflict between the Maccabees, Hellenized Jews, and the Seleucids continued until 134 BCE, with the Maccabees eventually attaining independence.

Maccabean Revolt

Jerusalem and Judea during the revolt

Date	167–141 BCE
Location	Judea, part of Coele-Syria in the Seleucid Empire
Result	Revolt succeeded • Rebellion fought under leadership of Judas Maccabeus from 167–160 BCE. • Festival of Hanukkahestablished in honor of the capture of Jerusalem, cleansing of the Second Temple, and rededication of the altar • Seleucid authority in major cities reestablished from 160–152 BCE • Judean autonomy from 152–141 BCE • Simon Thassi appointed High Priest in 141 BCE, start of the independent Hasmonean kingdom

Bacchides

Seleucid army

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Antiochus_IV_Epiphanes_-_Altes_Museum_-_Berlin_-_Germany_2017.jpg

Seleucid King Antiochus IV Epiphanes launched a massive campaign of repression against the Jewish religion in 168 BCE. The reason he did so is not entirely clear, but it seems to have been related to the King mistaking an internal conflict among the Jewish priesthood as a full-scale rebellion. Jewish practices were banned, Jerusalem was placed under direct Seleucid control, and the Second Temple in Jerusalem was made the site of a syncretic Pagan-Jewish cult. This repression triggered the revolt that Antiochus IV had feared, with a group of Jewish fighters led by Judas Maccabeus (Judah Maccabee) and his family rebelling in 167 BCE and seeking independence.

Wikipedia, at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mattathias gives us greater insight into this revolt:

[The accounts of 1 Maccabees and Josephus largely agree in their description of the oppressive laws the Hellenistic administration enforced on the Jewish religion, and the role Mattathias played in opposing them.[2]

In 168–167 BCE, a series of Seleucid persecutions of traditional Judaism began, spearheaded by King Antiochus IV Epiphanes and possibly High Priest Menelaus as well.

In 167 BCE, a company of Greek soldiers appeared in Modi'in with orders to enforce Antiochus' ordinances of sacrificing to the Greek gods. Mattathias, being an esteemed member of the community, was asked to serve as an example and lead the village in the sacrifice to the pagan deities, while being promised riches and the prestigious title of "Friend of the King" in return. Mattathias refused, and when another Jew stepped forward to do so, Mattathias killed both him and the government official overseeing the sacrifice, and rallied his supporters:[9][2]

Let everyone who is zealous for the law and supports the covenant come out with me!

— Mattathias, after assassinating the Greek government official, who was forcing him to sacrifice; 1 Maccabees 2:27

Upon the dramatic killing of the official and the Jew, he and his five sons fled to the wilderness of Judea where they began to build a guerilla force of followers. The area was then known as the Gophna Hills, a region near modern Jifna. He led the rebellion for one year, and before his death, he assigned different roles to two of his sons, based on their individual qualities. Simon was appointed counselor and Judah the military commander.[10][2] According to 1 Maccabees, he died in the 146th year of the Ancient Macedonian calendar, equivalent to some point between Spring 166 – Spring 165 BCE, and was buried in the tomb of his ancestors in Modiin.[11][12]]

…The rebels as a whole would come to be known as the Maccabees, and their actions would be chronicled later in the books of 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees.

The rebellion started as a guerrilla movement in the Judean countryside, raiding towns and terrorizing Greek officials far from direct Seleucid control, but it eventually developed a proper army capable of attacking the fortified Seleucid cities. In 164 BCE, the Maccabees captured Jerusalem, a significant early victory. “…(The Seleucids eventually relented and unbanned Judaism, but the more radical Maccabees, not content with merely reestablishing Jewish practices under Seleucid rule, continued to fight, pushing for a more direct break with the Seleucids. Judas Maccabeus died in 160 BCE at the Battle of Elasa against the Greek general Bacchides, and the Seleucids reestablished direct control for a time, but remnants of the Maccabees under Judas's brother Jonathan Apphus continued to resist from the countryside. Eventually, internal division among the Seleucids and problems elsewhere in their empire would give the Maccabees their chance for proper independence. In 141 BCE, Simon Thassi succeeded in expelling the Greeks from their citadel in Jerusalem. An alliance with the Roman Republic helped guarantee their independence. Simon would go on to establish an independent Hasmonean state, which his line, the Hasmonean dynasty, governed.”

“Simon was assassinated in 134 BCE at the fortress of Dok near Jericho by his son-in-law Ptolemy ben Abubus. His third son, John Hyrcanus, escaped and succeeded him, continuing the Hasmonean dynastyand expanding Judea's borders.”

The subsequent cleansing of the temple and rededication of the altar on 25 Kislev (25th day of the 9th month, to approximately, the 2nd day of the 10th Hebrew month) is the source of the festival of Hanukkah…”

Originally instituted as a feast "like the days of the festival of Sukkot" (2 Maccabees 10:9),[10] it does not entail the corresponding obligations and is therefore a relatively minor holiday in strictly religious terms. Nevertheless, Hanukkah has attained major cultural significance in the Western world and elsewhere, especially among secular Jews, as it often falls during the Christmas and holiday season.[11] Among American Jews, this chronological proximity also contributed to the seasonal gift-giving practice.”

** Please note: This gift-giving, was not an original practice of the Maccabeans.

According to Search Assistant: “The original Maccabeans did not practice gift-giving as part of the Hanukkah celebration; this custom developed later, particularly in response to cultural influences like Christmas.

Initially, Hanukkah focused on the rededication of the Temple and the miracle of the oil, rather than on exchanging gifts.”**

The following is a lengthy account of Biblical history!

It sets the stage for the revolts and reasons for the “Feast of Dedication” as Revealed in the “Hidden Books” of the Bible, which were apart of the original Bible!

Mainstream religions took it upon themselves to eliminate it!

Perhaps, because these scriptures helped to identify the true descendants of Abraham.

The following are recorded in the Original Version: Ethiopian Bible in English, in the section: Additional Books

(Unique to Ethiopian Canon)

Historical Books.

***Please take note, the style of English usage in the Ethiopian Bible is slightly different than what American English uses:***

Meqabyan 1 Chapter 1:1-28:

1.”There were one man whose name are Tseerutsaydan and who love sin - him would boast in him horses abundance and him troops firmness beneath him authority. 2. Him had many priests who serve him idols whom him worship and to whom him now and sacrifice by night and by daylight. 3. But in him heart dullness it would seem to him that them give him firmness and Power. 4. and in him heart it would seem to him that them give him authority in all him Rule. 5. and again in formation time it would seem to him that him all the desired authority also. 6. and him would sacrifice to them day and night. 7. Him appointed priests who serve idols. 8. While them ate from that defouled sacrifice - them would tell him pretendim that the idols eat night and day. 9. Again them would make other persons diligent like unto them - that them might sacrifice and eat. and again them would make other persons diligent that they might sacrifice - and like sacrifice like unto them. 10. But him would trustin him idols that don’t profit nor benefit. 11. By him timeframe bein small - and in him heart dullness - it would seem to him that them Created him - that them feed him and them crown him ~ it would seem to him that them Created him - to Satan have deafened him reasonin lest him know him Creator Who Created him bringin from not livin - or lest him with him kindreds know him Creator Who Created him bringin from not livin toward livin- that them might go toward Gehannem of fire forever - it bein judged on them with him who call them gods without them bein gods. 12. As -them aren’t never well whenever - it are due that him might call them dead ones. 13. As Satan authority that mislead them will lodge in that idol image - and as him will tell them reasonin accord - and as him will reveal to them like unto them loved - him will judge on the idols wherein them believed and wherein ‘Adam childran trust - whose reasonin were like unto ashes. 14. And them will marvel on the time them sight up that him fulfilled what them thought to them - and them will do him accord to him reachin up til them sacrifice them daughter childran and them male childran birthed from them nature - up til them spill them daughter childran and male childran blood that were clean. 15. Them didn’t sadden them - to Satan have savoured him sacrifice to them to fulfill them evil accord - that him might lower them toward Gehannem like unto him - where there are no exits up til Eternity - where him will raceive tribulation. 16. But that Tseerutsaydan were arrogant ~ him had fifty idols worked in male pattern and twenty worked in daughter pattern. 17. and him would boast in those idols that have no benefit ~ him would totally glorify them while him sacrificed sacrifice mornin and evenin. 18. and him would command persons that them might sacrifice to the idols - and him would eat from that defouled sacrifice - and him would command other persons that them might eat from the sacrifice ~ him would especially provoke to evil. 19. Him had five houses worked to him beaten work idols that were iron and brass and lead. 20. and him ornamented them silver and gold ~ him veiled curtains around the houses to them and planted a tent to them. 21. Him appointed keepers to them there ~ him would Continually sacrifice forty to him idols ~ ten fattened oxen - ten sterile cows - ten fattened sheep ewes - ten barren goats - with birds that have wings. 22. But it would seem to him that the idols ate ~ him would present to them fifty feeqen of grapes and fifty dishes of wheat kneaded with oil. 23. and him told him priests: - “Take and give them ~ make mi creators eat what mi slaughtered to them - and make them drink the grape mi presented to them ~ as to if it aren’t enough to them - mi will add to them.” 24. and him would command all that them might eat and drink from that defouled sacrifice. 25. But in him evil malice him would send him troops who visit in all the kingdom - that as it were there were one who neither sacrifice nor bow - them might separate and know and bring him - and might punish him by fire and sword before him - that them might  plunder him money and might burn him house in fire - that them might destroy all him money him had on him. 26. “To them are kind and great ones - and to them have Created we in them charity - and mi will show punishmant and tribulation to him unless him worshipped mi creators and sacrificed sacrifice to mi creators. 27. and mi will show him punishmant and tribulation - to them have Created Earth and Heaven and sea that were wide and moon and Sun and stars and rains and winds and all that live in this world to be food and to be satiety to wi. 28. But persons who worship them shall be punished in firm tribulation - and them won’t be nice to them.

*Needless to say, this is just one of the ruthless and wicked kings deserving of destruction by ABBA YAH, YA’OH ALA’AYM! Tseerutsaydan, as well as King Antiochus IV Epiphanes are historically written about in the pages of the Maccabeans:

“Antiochus IV is remembered as a major villain and persecutor in the Jewish traditions associated with Hanukkah, including the Books of the Maccabees and the "Scroll of Antiochus".[42] Rabbinical sources refer to him as הרשע harasha ("the wicked"). The Jewish Encyclopediaconcluded that "[s]ince Jewish and heathen sources agree in their characterization of him, their portrayal is evidently correct", summarizing this portrayal as one of a cruel and vainglorious ruler who tried to force on all the peoples of his realm a Hellenic culture, "the true essence of which he can scarcely be said to have appreciated".[43] Josephus writing in Antiquities of the Jews describes Antiochus IV desecrating the Second Jewish Temple and renaming it "The Temple of Jupiter Hellenius." Antiochus IV is also described by Josephus as executing anyone performing Jewish practices or in possession of Jewish texts in addition to circumcised males.[44]”

*As noted above in regards to Chapter 1; The following is quoted from the Original Ethiopian Bible in English - by Edward Jones:

In the 1st Book of Maccabees, Chapter 2:1-28:

1. “There were one man birthed from the tribe of Binyam whose name are called Meqabees 2. him had three childran who were handsome and totally warriors ~ them had bein iloved alongside all persons in that Midyam and Miedon country that are Tseerutsaydan Rule. 3. and like unto the king commanded them on the time him found them: - “Don’t you bow to Tseerutsaydan creators? How about don’t you sacrifice? 4. But if you refuse - we will seize and take you toward the king - and we will destroy all your money like unto the king commanded.” 5. These youths who were handsome replied to him sayin - “As to Him to Whom I bow - there are 1 Father Creator who Created Earth and Heaven and what are within she - and the sea - moon and Sun and clouds and stars ~ Him are the True Creator Whom I worship and in Whom I believe.” 6. and these the king youths are four - and them servants who carry shield and spear are a hundred. 7. and on the time them loved that them might seize these hola ones - them escaped from them hands and there are none who touched them ~ as those youths are totally warriors in Power - them went seizin shields and them spears. 8. and there were from them one who strangle and kill panther - and at that time him would strangle it like unto a chicken. 9. and there were one from them who kill lion with one rock or strikin at one time with a stick. 10. and there were one from them who kill a hundred persons - strikin in formation time with one sword - and them name and them hunt were thus ~ it were called in all Babilon and Mo’ab countries. 11. and them were warriors in Power - and them had a thing bein iloved and attractiveness. 12. and again them features attractiveness were wondrous - however because them reasonin attractiveness that surpass all. 13. and on the time them frightened the troops - there are none who could able to seize them - but them who were warriors escaped proceedin toward a lofty mountain. 14. and those troops  returned toward the city and shut the fortress gate ~ them terrorized the people sayin - “Unless you brought those warriors the Maqabyans- we will burn your city with fire - and we will send toward the king and destroy your country.” and at that time the country persons - rich and poor ones and daughters and males - a child whose father and mother dead on him and old daughters - everyone proceeded and shouted together - and them straightened them necks toward the mountain and shouted toward them sayin - “Don’t destroy I - and don’t destroy I country on us.” 16. At that time them wept together - and them feared - arisin from YAH | JAH. 17. Returnin them faces Eastward and stretchin forth from their hands them begged toward YAH | JAH together - “Master | Lord - should I refuse these men who demolished Your | Thy Command and Your | Thy TORAH | LAW? 18. Yet him believed in silver and gold and in the stone and wood that person hands worked - but I don’t love that I might hear that criminal word - who didn’t believe Your THORAH | Thy LAW” them said. 19. “When You | Thou are the Creator Who save and Who kill - him make him like unto them Created him also ~ as to him - him are who spill a person blood and who eat a person flesh. 20. But I don’t love that I might sight up that criminal face nor hear him word” them said. 21. “However if You | Thou commanded I - I will go toward him ~ because I believe in You | Thee - I - I will pass and give I bodies to the death - and on the time said ‘Sacrifice to mi creators’ - I won’t hear that criminal word, 22. But I believed You | Thee - I - Master | Lord Who examine kidneys and reasonins - I Fathers Creator - ‘Abraham | Abriham and | Yis’haq | Ya’oh-tsakhak | Isaac | Yitschaq |  Ya’oh-ghakab | Jacob | Ya`aqov and Ya’iqob who did Your | Thy Accord and lived firmed up in Your THORAH | Thy LAW. 23. You | Thou examine a person reasonin and help the sinner and the righteous one - and there be none hidden from You | Thee - I - and him who took refuge are revealed alongside You | Thee - I. 24. But I have no other Creator apart from You | Thee - I. 25. That I might give I bodies to death because Your | Thy glorified Name - however be Power and Firmness and a Shelter to I in this Work that I are ruled to You | Thee - I. 26. and on the time Ya’ohsharal | Isra’iel entered toward Gibts country You | Thou heard Ya’iqob | Ya’oh-ghakab | Jacob | Ya`aqov plea - and now glorified ALA’AYM | God - I beg You | Thee - I. 27. and on the time the two men whose features were quite handsome were sight up to them standin before them - on the time fire swords that frighten like unto lightnin alit and cut them necks and killed them - at that time them arose bein well like unto formerly. 28. Them features attractiveness became totally handsome and then shone more than Sun - and them became more handsome than formerly.”

“And Mattithyahu cried throughout the city with a loud voice, saying: Whosoever is zealous of the Torah, and maintains the covenant, let him follow me.” Makkabiym Ri'shon (1 Maccabees) 2:27 | את Cepher Publishing Group.

“Then Mattithyahu and his friends went round about and pulled down the altars: And what children soever they found within the coast of Yashar'el uncircumcised, those they circumcised valiantly. They pursued also after the proud men, and the work prospered in their hand. So they recovered the Torah out of the hand of the other nations, and out of the hand of kings, neither suffered they the sinner to triumph. Now when the time drew near that Mattithyahu should die, he said unto his sons, Now has pride and rebuke gotten strength, and the time of destruction, and the wrath of indignation: Makkabiym Ri'shon (1 Maccabees) 2:45-49 | את Cepher Publishing Group.

***Have you noticed, The Original Ethiopian Bible, gives the account of the wicked ruler, “Tseerutsaydan”;

whereas the Cepher Publishing Group’s translation, gives the account of the wicked king, Antiochus IV Epiphanes! Both dealt ruthlessly, and treacherously with our ancestors, the nation of Ya’ohsharal! Both intrinsically linked to the Feast of Dedication, commonly known today as “Chanukah”, or the Feast of Lights.

****Who was Tseertsaydan?

1st Book of Maccabees Chapter 1:1 identifies him as:

“In the Ethiopian Bible (specifically the books of Meqabyan, or Ethiopian Maccabees), Tseerutsaydan (or Tseerutsedan) is the name of a wicked king who made war against Israel and attempted to force the people to worship his idols. 

According to the narrative found in the Meqabyan books, which are part of the broader Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church's biblical canon, the sequence of events regarding Tseerutsaydan is: 

• A man named Maccabeus initially wages war against Israel as a form of divine punishment for their sins. He later repents and is instructed in God's law.

• After Maccabeus's death, his children are attacked by King Tseerutsaydan.

• Chapters 6-8 and 12-13 of the Second Book of Ethiopian Maccabees recount the story of the Maccabean brothers who refuse to worship the idols set up by King Tseerutsaydan. 

The Books of Meqabyan (1-4) are accepted as canonical by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, a major distinction from the Bibles used in most Western Christian traditions.”

Christianity in Ethiopia is the country's largest religion with members making up 68% of the population.[3]

Christianity in Ethiopia

Total population

62,600,000 (2020)[1]

Regions with significant populations

Tigray (96.1%), Gambela (90.3%), Addis Ababa (83%), Amhara (82.7%), SNNP(77.8%), Oromia (48.7%), Benishangul-Gumuz (46.5%)[2]

Religions

Ethiopian Orthodoxy (43.5%), P'ent'ay(Protestantism) (18.6%), Catholic(0.7%)

An Ethiopian Orthodox priest in Abba Pentalewon Monastery in Axum

Christianity in Ethiopia dates back to the ancient Kingdom of Aksum, when the King Ezana first adopted the faith in the 4th century AD. This makes Ethiopia one of the first regions in the world to officially adopt Christianity.[4][5]

Various Christian denominations are now followed in the country. Of these, the largest and oldest is the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, an Oriental Orthodox church centered in Ethiopia. The Orthodox Tewahedo Church was part of the Coptic Orthodox Church until 1959 when it was granted its own patriarch by the Coptic Orthodox Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of All Africa Cyril VI.

Religion in Ethiopia (2020)[6]

Christianity (Ethiopian Orthodoxy, Pentay, Catholicism) (59.0%)Islam (34.4%)Traditional faiths (6.40%)Others (0.70%)

Religion in Ethiopia with breakdown of Christian denominations (2007)[7]

Ethiopian Orthodoxy (43.5%)Pentay (Protestantism) (18.6%)Catholicism (0.70%)Islam (33.9%)Traditional faiths (2.60%)Others (0.20%)The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church is one of the largest and oldest Christian churches in Africa; only surpassed in age by the Church of the East, the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Syriac Orthodox Church, the Greek Orthodox Church, and the * Coptic Church of Egypt…It has a membership of 32 to 36 million,[8][9][10][11] the majority of whom live in Ethiopia,[12] and is thus the largest of all Oriental Orthodox churches. Next in size are the various Protestantcongregations who include 13.7 million Ethiopians. The largest Protestant group is the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus, with about 5 million members. Catholicism has been present in Ethiopia since the nineteenth century, and numbers over 530,000 believers as of the 2007 census. In total, Christians make up about 63% of the total population of the country.[13]”

*{Embedded in the information on the Coptic Church of Egypt is this information concerning the Ethiopian Orthodox Church:

“In 1959, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church was granted autocephaly.

(Autocephaly (/ɔːtəˈsɛfəli/; from Greek αὐτοκεφαλία(autokephalia) 'self-headed')[1] is the status of a hierarchical Christian church whose head bishop does not report to any higher-ranking bishop.)

This was extended to the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church in 1998 following the successful Eritrean War of Independence from Ethiopia.

Since the 2011 Egyptian revolution, Coptic Christians have suffered increased religious discrimination and violence.[15]”}*

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_Ethiopia#:~:text=Various%20Christian%20denominations%20are%20now,of%20All%20Africa%20Cyril%20VI.&text=The%20Ethiopian%20Orthodox%20Tewahedo%20Church%20is%20one%20of%20the%20largest,total%20population%20of%20the%20country.

Judaism, Christianity, and the Solomonic Dynasty

“The Kebra Nagast is considered Holy Scripture in Ethiopia and is available in print.

13th century Solomonic dynasty hand cross

The Solomonic Dynasty’s legendary origins come from an Ethiopian account called the Kebre Negast. According to the story, Queen Makeda, who took the Ethiopian throne in the 10th century, B.C., traveled to Jerusalem to learn to be a good ruler from King Solomon, who was famous worldwide for his wisdom and capabilities as a ruler. King Solomon agreed to take Makeda as his student and taught her how to be a good queen. Queen Makeda was so impressed with Solomon that she converted to Judaism and provided Solomon with many gifts. Before Makeda returned home, the two had a son together. Solomon had a dream in which God said that his and Makeda’s son would be the head of a new order. In response, he sent Makeda home but told her to send their son back to Jerusalem when he came of age to be taught Jewish lore and law. Makeda did as she was told and sent Menilek I, their son, to Jerusalem to be taught by Solomon, who offered to make him the prince of Jerusalem. However, Menilek declined and instead returned to Ethiopia, anointed by his father and God to be the king of Ethiopia.

The Kebre Negast exemplifies the importance of Judaism, and subsequently, of Christianity to the Ethiopian people, serving as a source of Ethiopian national pride and providing a justification for the idea of Ethiopians as a chosen people of God. More importantly to the Solomonic Dynasty however, it provided the grounds for the “restored Solomonic” Empire, so named because of its renewed fervor for the connection of King Solomon to Ethiopian royalty, which began under Emperor Yekuno Amlak (r. 1270-1285) and was ruled and justified by Christianity until the late twentieth century.

By the time that Amda Siyon (r. 1314-1344) took the throne in 1314, Sabradin of Ifat led a united Muslim front made up of people angered by Christian rule, destroying churches in Ethiopia and forcing Christians to convert to Islam. Siyon responded with a savage attack that resulted in the defeat of Yifat. Furthermore, Siyon's victory caused the frontier of Christian power in Africa to expand past the Awash Valley.

The Yafit defeat allowed Alexandria to send Abuna Yaqob, to Ethiopia in 1337 to be its metropolitan. Yakob reinvigorated the Ethiopian Church, which had been without a leader for almost 70 years, by ordaining new clergy and consecrating long-standing churches that had been built during the power void. Furthermore, Yaqob deployed a corps of monks into the newly obtained lands. These monks were often killed or injured by the conquered people, but, through hard work, faith, and promises that local elites could keep their positions through conversion, the new territories were converted to Christianity.”

According to Ecclesiastes Chapter4:12:

“A three-fold cord cannot be quickly broken.”

“And if one prevails against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” Qoheleth (Ecclesiastes) 4:12 | את Cepher Publishing Group.

Here’s the whole chapter so that we have the complete picture in its proper setting:

“So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter. Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive. Yea, better is he than both of them את who have not yet been, who has not seen the evil work that is done under the sun. Again, I considered all travail, and every right work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbor. This is also vanity and vexation of the ruach. The fool folds his hands together and eats his own flesh. Better is a handful with quietness, than both the hands full with travail and vexation of the ruach. Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun. There is one alone, and there is not a second; yea, he has neither child nor brother: yet is there no end of all his labor; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither says he: For whom do I labor, and bereave my soul of good? This is also vanity, yea, it is a sore travail. Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falls; for he has not another to help him up. Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone? And if one prevailed on against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken. Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished. For out of prison he comes to reign; whereas also he that is born in his kingdom becomes poor. I considered all the living which walk under the sun, with the second child that shall stand up in his stead. There is no end of all the people, even of all that have been before them: they also that come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and vexation of the spirit | ruach.” Qoheleth (Ecclesiastes) 4:1-16 | את Cepher Publishing Group.

*These are the References of the Ethiopian Religious Organizations some that were cited here:

1. "Religious Composition by Country, 2010-2050". Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project. 2015-04-02.

2. "2007 Ethiopian census, first draft" (PDF). Ethiopian Central Statistical Agency. p. 17. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 June 2012. Retrieved 6 May 2009.

3. The ARDA website, retrieved 2023-08-03

4. "Ethiopia". CIA World Factbook. December 2, 2022.

5. Kahsay, Semhal (May 26, 2020). "The Largest Religions in Ethiopia". YEG Daily.

6. World Religion Database 2020 at the ARDA website, retrieved 2023-08-03

7. 2007 Ethiopian census, first draft, Ethiopian Central Statistical Agency (accessed 6 May 2009)

8. "Orthodox Christianity in the 21st Century". Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project. 8 November 2017. “Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church has an estimated 36 million adherents, nearly 14% of the world's total Orthodox population.”

9. Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Population Census Commission (4 June 2012). "Summary and Statistical Report of the 2007 Population and Housing Census Results" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF)on 4 June 2012. “Orthodox 32,138,126”

10. "Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church | church, Ethiopia". Encyclopedia Britannica. “In the early 21st century the church claimed more than 30 million adherents in Ethiopia.”

11. "Ethiopia: An outlier in the Orthodox Christian world". Pew Research Center.

12. Berhanu Abegaz, "Ethiopia: A Model Nation of Minorities"(accessed 6 April 2006)

13. Numbers for all groups except the Mekane Yesus are taken from the 2007 Ethiopian census, Table 3.3 Population by Religion, Sex, and Five Year Age Groups: 2007Archived November 13, 2012, at the Wayback Machine

14. Hammerschmidt, Ernst (1965). "Jewish Elements in the Cult of the Ethiopian Church". Journal of Ethiopian Studies. 1 (2): 1–12. JSTOR 41965723.

15. "Christianity in Ethiopia". EthiopiaFamine.com. Archived from the original on 2010-03-29. Retrieved 2010-01-26.

16. Hansberry, William Leo. Pillars in Ethiopian History; the William Leo Hansberry African History Notebook. Washington: Howard University Press, 1974.

17. Taddesse Tamrat, Church and State in Ethiopia (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972), pp. 23-25

18. Johnstone, Patrick; Miller, Duane Alexander (2015). "Believers in Christ from a Muslim Background: A Global Census". IJRR. 11: 14. Retrieved 20 November 2015.

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