“In those days, certain renegades came out from Israel. They misled many, saying.
‘Let us go and make a covenant with the gentiles around us.
Since we separated from them,
Many disasters have come upon us.’
This proposal pleased them. Some of the people eagerly went to the king. He authorized them to observe the ordinances of the gentiles. Thus they built a gymnasium in Jerusalem, according to gentile custom. They removed the marks of circumcision. They abandoned the holy covenant. They joined with the gentiles and sold themselves to do evil.”
During this time, around 175 BCE, there was a movement in Jerusalem to assimilate into the Hellenistic Greek culture that was all around them. This movement was led by the so-called Jewish renegades, the lawless ones, or non-followers or compromisers of the Law of Moses. This will be the Jewish group that opposes the Maccabees. These renegades began to follow the Greek, gentile or pagan practices. They built a Greek gymnasium in Jerusalem which was a center for politics, culture, and sports. They tried to cover up their circumcision. They abandoned the Mosaic covenant, as they made a new covenant with the Greek gentiles to increase business with the Syrians.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 