Today in Biblical History
Did They Actually Tear up and Burn Copies of the Turah?
Primary: 1 Maccabees 1:56 · Related: Josephus, Antiquities 12.5
What the ancient record says
1 Maccabees reports that discovered books/Scrolls of the Turah were torn apart and burned, moving beyond controlling behavior to targeting the written material itself, attacking preservation and transmission. Josephus says if a sacred book of the laws was found, it was destroyed, a second literary witness.
We do not know how many copies were destroyed, so we never write "Antiochus destroyed all the Turah Scrolls"; we say discovered copies were deliberately destroyed.
Read it for yourself. 1 Maccabees 1:56 (context 1:54–64); Josephus, Antiquities Book 12 Ch. 5.
Evidence strength: Very strong ancient literary evidence.
Question answered: Were copies of the Turah deliberately destroyed? Yes, according to both 1 Maccabees and Josephus.