A Class-Book of New Testament History

G. F. Maclear

A Class-Book of New Testament History

EAN 8596547104773

DigiCat, 2022

Contact: [email protected]

Table of Contents

PART II. THE JEWS UNDER THE KINGS OF SYRIA.

PART III. RISE OF THE ASMONEAN DYNASTY.

PART IV. DECLINE OF THE ASMONEAN DYNASTY; INTERFERENCE OF THE ROMANS, AND RISE OF THE HERODIAN FAMILY.

PART V. RETROSPECT AND REFLECTIONS.

BOOK II. THE GOSPEL HISTORY.

PART I. THE BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD OF CHRIST.

PART II. FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE MINISTRY OF THE BAPTIST TO THE FIRST PASSOVER.

PART III. FROM THE FIRST PASSOVER TO THE ELECTION OF THE APOSTLES.

PART IV. FROM THE ELECTION OF THE APOSTLES TO THE DEATH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST.

PART V. FROM THE DEATH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST TO THE VISIT OF THE SAVIOUR TO JERUSALEM AT THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES.

PART VI. FROM THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES TO THE TRIUMPHAL ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM.

PART VII. FROM THE ARRIVAL AT BETHANY TO THE ASCENSION.

BOOK III. THE APOSTOLIC HISTORY.

PART I. THE CHURCH OF JERUSALEM.

PART II. THE CHURCH OF PALESTINE.

PART III. THE CHURCH OF THE GENTILES.

APPENDIX. CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES.

INDEX.

CHAPTER I.

HIGH-PRIESTHOOD OF JADDUA—ALEXANDER AT JERUSALEM.

B.C. 413–332.

"A FTER the death of Nehemiah, about B.C. 413, a thick curtain falls on the history of the Jews till the accession of Antiochus Epiphanes, B.C. 1752." During upwards of 230 years, a period as long, to compare it with modern history, as from the death of Queen Elizabeth to the accession of Queen Victoria, the record of events is of the scantiest description. It appears certain, however, that Nehemiah was the last of the governors sent from the court of Persia. Judæa itself was annexed to the satrapy of Cœlesyria, and the administration of affairs was entrusted to the high-priest subject to the control of the Syrian Governor. Thus the civil and spiritual functions were united in one person, and the pontifical office became an object of competition to the different members of the family of Aaron, and the cause of many violent and disgraceful contests.

As subjects, however, of the Persian kings, the Jews were pre-eminent for their loyalty and good faith. While Egypt, Phœnicia, Cyprus, and other dependencies of the Persian crown, were frequently the scenes of rebellions, which were with difficulty suppressed, the Jews remained steadfast in their allegiance to the Great King, and increased rapidly alike in wealth and population.

A single incident distinguishes the uneventful annals of this period. During the lifetime of Ezra and Nehemiah, the high-priest was Eliashib. His successor, Joiada, had two sons, the one Jonathan or Johanan (Neh. xii. 11,22), the other Joshua. Joshua stood high in the favour of Bagoses, the general of the Persian army, and obtained from him the promise of the high-priesthood. Relying on this assurance, he ventured to quarrel openly with his brother in the Temple, and fell slain by his hand within the precincts of the sanctuary itself. So flagrant a crime roused the indignation of Bagoses. Advancing to Jerusalem he demanded admittance into the Temple, and when the Jews would have prevented his entrance, declared he was less unclean than the body of the murdered man, and not only polluted the sanctuary by entering it, but also levied a fine of 50 shekels on every lamb offered in sacrifice during the next seven years.

Like his father, Johanan also had two sons, Jaddua (Neh. xii.11) and Manasseh. Jaddua succeeded to the high-priesthood, B.C.341, and distinguished himself by zealously maintaining the Mosaic institutions as restored by Ezra and Nehemiah. Manasseh, on the other hand, married the daughter of Sanballat the Horonite3, thus contracting one of those alliances, against which the Princes of the Captivity had so energetically protested. This roused the indignation of the elders in Jerusalem, and of Jaddua himself, who declared that Manasseh must put away his wife, or be no longer associated in the priesthood. This the other declined to do, and repaired to his father-in-law in Samaria, who suggested the building of a temple on Mount Gerizim, where Manasseh might continue to exercise his priestly functions. With the permission of the Persian court, this was accordingly done, and Manasseh became the first priest of the Samaritans at their rival sanctuary, being joined from time to time by those Jews who had been guilty of criminal offences in their own country, or had any cause for dissatisfaction4.

Though by these immigrations the Samaritans were more and more recalled from idolatry, the building of this temple tended in no small degree to stimulate the animosity between the two nations. The Jews affirmed that sacrifice could only be offered at Jerusalem; the Samaritans replied that on Gerizim Joshua had built his first altar, and that it was the true place of sacrifice. The controversy thus generated gradually extended, and produced that intense degree of illwill between the two peoples, to which there are several allusions in the New Testament (Lk. ix. 51–56; Jn. iv.9, viii.48).

During the high-priesthood of Jaddua, the Persian empire, to which the Jews had so long been faithful, crumbled to pieces before the armies of Alexander the Great. Victorious over the Persian forces at the Granicus, B.C.334, and again at Issus in the following year, the conqueror captured Damascus, and having taken Sidon, laid siege to Tyre, B.C.332. Thence he sent a message to the high-priest at Jerusalem, demanding the transference of his allegiance, and auxiliaries and supplies for his army. This Jaddua declared was impossible, on the ground of his oath of fidelity to the Persian monarch. Though incensed at this reply, Alexander delayed to execute his vengeance, till after the reduction of Tyre, and then set out for the Holy City. Jaddua and his people were in the utmost consternation. Sacrifices were offered, prayers were put up to God, and the Divine aid sought to appease the wrath of the invader. At length the high-priest is said to have been warned in a dream how to act. He hung the city with garlands, threw open the gates, and as soon as he was informed that Alexander drew near, clad in his pontifical robes, and followed by the priests in their ceremonial attire and the people in white garments, he went forth to meet him at Sapha, probably Mizpeh, the watch-tower, on the high ridge to the north of the city.

As soon as the Grecian conqueror beheld the venerable form of the high-priest, he fell prostrate, and adored the holy Name inscribed in golden letters on the frontal of his tiara. The Phœnicians and Chaldæans in his retinue, ancient enemies of the Jewish people, were only awaiting the signal to pillage the city and put the high-priest to the torture. They could not, therefore, conceal their astonishment, while the Syrian chiefs concluded that the great conqueror had lost his senses, and Parmenio addressing him enquired why he, whom all the world worshipped, should kneel before the high-priest. It is not the high-priest, replied the other, whom I worship, but his God, who has honoured him with the priesthood. In a vision at Dios in Macedonia, I saw him arrayed precisely as he now stands, and when I was debating how I might obtain the dominion of Asia, he exhorted me to make no delay, but boldly cross over the sea, for he would conduct my army, and give me victory over the Persians.

Then taking Jaddua by the right hand, he entered the city, and repairing to the Temple, offered sacrifice to God, and paid high honours to the whole priestly body. The prophecies of Daniel5 were now read in his hearing, and overjoyed at the prediction there recorded that a Greek would overthrow the Persian Empire, he offered the Jews whatever privilege they might select. Thereupon they requested that the free enjoyment of their lives and liberties might be secured to them, as also to their brethren in Media and Babylonia, and that they might be exempted from tribute during the Sabbatical years. These privileges the conqueror willingly conceded.

This famous visit is recorded only by Josephus, and has been discredited on the ground that it is not mentioned by Arrian or Plutarch, Diodorus or Curtius. But it has been observed that, though probably incorrect in some of the details, there are several points which confirm the truth of the main facts. Thus Curtius himself relates that, after the capture of Tyre, Alexander visited some of the cities which refused to submit to him, and that he personally executed vengeance on the Samaritans6. The Jews, moreover, certainly served in the army of Alexander, and were located by him in great numbers in his new city of Alexandria; while the privileges he is said to have conferred upon them undoubtedly existed in later times, and imply some such relation between them and the great conqueror. Moreover, from policy or conviction, Alexander delighted to represent himself as chosen by destiny for the great acts which he achieved, and his visit to Gordium before the battle of Issus, and his pilgrimage to the shrine of Jupiter Ammon alike illustrate the force of religious feelings in connection with his campaigns7.

CHAPTER II.

PTOLEMY SOTER AND PTOLEMY PHILADELPHUS.

B.C. 323–247.

ON the death of Alexander, B.C. 323, the vast empire, which he had won by his arms, was divided amongst his generals, and Palestine, as a province of Syria, passed into the possession of Laomedon, while Egypt was assigned to Ptolemy Soter. Between these two war soon broke out, and Ptolemy having conquered Cyrene, cast longing eyes on the kingdom of Syria, the harbours of Phœnicia, and the iron and timber, which abounded in Palestine and amongst the lofty ridges of Libanus and Anti-Libanus. Accordingly he invaded the realms of Laomedon, defeated him in a great battle, and gained possession of all Syria and Phœnicia.

The Jews on this occasion manifested such unwillingness to violate their engagements to the Syrian king, that Ptolemy advanced against Jerusalem, and besieged it with a large army. Entering the city B.C.320, under pretence of offering sacrifice on the Sabbath-day, when the scruples of the inhabitants forbade their offering any defence, he easily succeeded in capturing it. Instead, however, of following up his victory by an indiscriminate massacre, he contented himself with transporting a great number of the inhabitants to Egypt, where he distributed them as garrisons in different places, but especially in Alexandria, and conceded to them equal privileges with the Macedonians themselves. Eight years afterwards he transported another large body of them to Libya and Cyrene, and thus by successive deportations and voluntary immigrations on the part of the people themselves, Egypt became an important centre of Jewish influence.

The king of Egypt, however, was not allowed to remain long in undisturbed possession of his prize, and found it disputed with him by Antigonus, one of the most turbulent of the successors of Alexander. Twice the coveted province fell into the hands of his rival, twice Ptolemy managed to recover it, and it was finally adjudged to his share after the decisive battle of Ipsus in Phrygia, B.C.301.

Meanwhile Jaddua had been succeeded in the high-priesthood at Jerusalem by his son OniasI., and he again by Simon the Just, the last of the men of the "Great Synagogue8, as he was called by the Jews. He superintended the repair of the sanctuary of the Temple, surrounded with brass the cistern or sea" of the principal court, fortified the city-walls, and maintained the sacred ritual with much pomp and ceremony (Eccles. i. 1–22). He is also said to have completed the Canon of the Old Testament, by adding to it the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, of Chronicles and Esther, as also the prophecies of Malachi9. He died B.C.291.

The battle of Ipsus, besides securing to Ptolemy Soter the dominion of Palestine, Phœnicia, and Cœlesyria, elevated Seleucus to the command of an Empire greater than any other held by the successors of Alexander. He assumed the title of king of Syria, and his dominion, in the words of the prophet Daniel (Dan. xi.5), was a great dominion, extending from the Euxine to the confines of Arabia, and from the Hindokush to the Mediterranean. His Eastern capital he founded on the banks of the Tigris, and called Seleucia, after his own name. For his western metropolis he selected a spot admirably situated both for military and commercial purposes10, on the left bank of the river Orontes, just where the chain of Lebanon running northwards, and the chain of Taurus running eastwards, are brought to an abrupt meeting11. Here he founded a city with much display in the year B.C.300, and called it Antioch, after the name of his father Antiochus. Convinced, like the Egyptian monarchs, of the loyalty of the Jews, he began to invite many of them to his new capital and other cities in Asia Minor, assuring them of the same privileges which they enjoyed under Ptolemy in Alexandria. This invitation was readily embraced by many of the Jews, who settled down in Antioch, were governed by their own ethnarch, and were admitted to the same advantages as the Greeks12.

Ptolemy Philadelphus succeeded his father Ptolemy Soter, B.C.283. In pursuance of the policy of the previous reign, he distinguished himself by uniform kindness to the Jewish nation, ransoming many who had been sold as slaves, and inviting many to settle in Egypt. A liberal patron of literature and science, he established a famous library at Alexandria, and spared no pains in procuring books to be deposited therein. He is also represented to have caused the Hebrew Scriptures to be translated into Greek, and thus to have originated the celebrated Version called the Septuagint, from the tradition that 72 persons were engaged in the translation, which obtained a wide circulation, and was extensively read. The same monarch conferred costly presents on the Temple at Jerusalem, consisting of a table for the shewbread of marvellous workmanship, cisterns of gold, bowls, and other vessels for the public and private use of the priests13.

CHAPTER III.

PTOLEMY EUERGETES AND PTOLEMY PHILOPATOR.

B.C. 247–222.

ON the death of Philadelphus, Ptolemy Euergetes succeeded to the Egyptian throne. The new king considerably extended the privileges of the Jews, and bestowed many presents upon their Temple. During his reign an incident occurred, which illustrates in a striking manner at once the condition of Judæa at this time, and the influence of individual members of the chosen nation.

On the death of Simon the Just, his brother Eleazar became high-priest B.C.291. He was succeeded in B.C.276, not by his own son Onias, but his uncle Manasseh, the son of Jaddua. At his death, B.C.250, the son of Simon, OniasII., became high-priest, but inherited none of his father’s virtues, being distinguished for nothing but meanness, and an inordinate love of money. The older he grew, the more avaricious he became, and neglected from year to year to remit to Ptolemy Euergetes the customary tribute of 20 talents of silver. At length, about B.C.226, that king sent his commissioner Athenion to Jerusalem to demand the arrears, and threatened violence, if his claims were not satisfied. The Jews were filled with dismay at the too probable consequences of continued disobedience, but Onias still persisted in his refusal.

At length his nephew Joseph took upon him the task of appeasing the royal anger, and having ingratiated himself with Athenion persuaded him to return to Alexandria, and promised that he himself would speedily follow, and satisfy every demand. Shortly afterwards he himself set out, and on his way fell in with several men of distinction belonging to Phœnicia and Cœlesyria who were going up to the Egyptian capital to compete for the farming of the revenues, which were annually sold to the highest bidder. Not suspecting a competitor in the Jew, whose slender equipage contrasted unfavourably with their splendid cavalcade, they unwittingly revealed the amount at which the revenues had been farmed.

Thereupon Joseph resolved to outbid them, and in an audience with the king contrived by his cleverness and ready address completely to win the royal favour. When the day for the auction came, the nobles of Phœnicia and Cœlesyria bid 8000 talents for the farming of the revenues. But Joseph came forward and engaged to pay twice that sum, in addition to all the goods which should be confiscated for neglect of payment. Thereupon Ptolemy granted his request, and he became collector of the revenues from Judæa, Samaria, Cœlesyria, and Phœnicia, and was furnished with a guard of 2000 soldiers to extort payment from the refractory.

Having liquidated the arrears due from his uncle, Joseph returned to Palestine to carry out his instructions. Excited by the disappointed collectors, Askelon at first refused payment, and treated his demands with insult. But Joseph was not to be trifled with. He slew 20 of the chief inhabitants, and sent 1000 talents of their confiscated property to the king, who highly commended his determination. A similar instance of severity at Scythopolis14 put down all further opposition, and Joseph was at length universally acknowledged as the collector for the Egyptian king, and held the office upwards of 22 years. He now became the founder of a family, which vied with that of the high-priest in power and influence, and became the occasion of many serious quarrels between them.

The reign of Ptolemy Euergetes came to a sudden and tragical close. In the year B.C.222 he was assassinated by his own son PtolemyIV., who in irony was called Philopator, the lover of his father. As soon as he ascended the throne, he murdered his mother Berenice, and his brother Magas, and gave himself up to luxury and dissipation. Taking advantage of his well-known effeminacy, Antiochus the Great welcomed the offer of Theodotus, governor of Cœlesyria, to surrender that province, and after a brief campaign became master of Phœnicia, Tyre, Ptolemais, Damascus, and the greater part of Cœlesyria. Roused at length from his lethargy, the Egyptian monarch confronted his rival at Raphia, between Rhinocorura and Gaza, and defeated him with enormous loss, B.C.217, the same year that Hannibal was victorious at Thrasymene.

Meanwhile the Jews had remained steadfast in their allegiance to Ptolemy, and the conqueror visited Jerusalem, offered sacrifices according to the Jewish law, and presented rich gifts to the Temple. Attracted by the beauty of the building, and the solemnity of the service, he desired to penetrate into the Holy of Holies. SimonII., who had succeeded Onias, together with the priests, entreated him to desist from his purpose, but this only increased his determination to view the interior, and he pressed forward, amidst the dismay of the pontiff and the lamentation of the people, towards the sanctuary. Here, however, he was seized with a sudden and supernatural terror, and was carried forth half-dead. Enraged at this repulse, he retired to Alexandria, and wreaked his vengeance on the numerous Jews who had settled there. Some he is said to have put to death, others he degraded from their high positions and consigned to slavery, or reduced to the lowest class of citizens. Thirteen years afterwards, B.C.204, he died a victim to his sensual habits, and was succeeded by his son Ptolemy Epiphanes, then only five years old.

Meanwhile, since his disastrous defeat at Raphia, Antiochus had been gradually strengthening his position in Upper Asia, where he had won his title of the Great by his successes against the Parthians and Bactrians, as also on the banks of the Indus. Having thus re-established the supremacy of the Seleucidæ he returned to Western Asia, to find his old rival dead, and the Egyptian throne in the possession of a child. He instantly embraced the opportunity of attacking the Egyptian dominions, and in concert with PhilipIII. of Macedon resolved to avenge the defeat at Raphia. In the campaigns that ensued the Jews suffered severely, and became in turn the prey of each of the contending parties15. In B.C.203, Antiochus succeeded in taking Jerusalem. In B.C.199 it was retaken by Scopas, the general of the Egyptian forces. Next year Antiochus reappeared in the field, and at the foot of Mount Panium16, near the sources of the Jordan, gained a decisive victory over Scopas, capturing that general himself and the remnant of his forces, which had fled for refuge to Sidon.

Wearied of the struggle, and remembering the indignities offered to their sanctuary by Philopator, the Jews now threw off their subjection to Egypt, welcomed the conqueror as their deliverer, and furnished supplies for his army. Antiochus in his turn treated his new subjects with liberality and kindness. He not only guaranteed to them perfect freedom and protection in the exercise of their religion, but promised to restore their city to its ancient splendour, forbade the intrusion of strangers in their Temple, and contributed largely towards the regular celebration of its services. At the same time, imitating the examples of Alexander and Seleucus, he issued orders to Zeuxis, the general of his forces, to remove 2000 Jewish families from Babylon into Lydia and Phrygia, where they were to be permitted to use their own laws, to have lands assigned them, and to be exempted from all tribute for ten years17.

PART II.

THE JEWS UNDER THE KINGS OF SYRIA.

Table of Contents

CHAPTER I.

ANTIOCHUS THE GREAT—SELEUCUS PHILOPATOR.

B.C. 198–175.

THE battle of Mount Panium marks an era in the history of the Jews. For a century since the battle of Ipsus they had been steadfast in their allegiance to the Egyptian throne. They now transferred it from the descendants of the Ptolemies to those of Seleucus Nicator, and their connection with the Syrian kings begins.

Antiochus, who had bestowed upon them so many privileges, did not long enjoy the fruits of his victory. His chief ally in the late campaign had been Philip of Macedon, who, at the conclusion of the third war against Carthage, found himself attacked by the forces of the great Republic of the West now commencing its conquest of the world. Deserted by his friend Antiochus, whose aid he might reasonably have expected, he was forced after three campaigns to sue for peace, and the Romans became supreme in Macedonia and Greece, B.C.197.

Five years afterwards Antiochus found his turn was come to feel the weight of the same all-conquering arms. In the year B.C.192 he crossed over into Greece on the invitation of the Ætolians, and under the expectation of a general rising of the Greeks ventured on a campaign with Rome, entrenching himself at Thermopylæ18. But in the following year the consul M.Acilius Glabrio attacked him in his entrenchments, and speedily put his whole army to flight. Thereupon the Syrian king hastened back to Asia, and employed himself in collecting a vast host from all parts of his dominions, wherewith to prosecute the campaign, which his friend Hannibal truly warned him was close at hand. In B.C.190 the Romans, under Scipio Africanus and his brother Scipio Asiaticus, crossed the Hellespont, and Antiochus confronted them in the neighbourhood of Magnesia19, at the foot of Mount Sipylus. His motley hosts, though aided by numerous elephants and the Macedonian phalanx, were utterly unable to resist the terrible Roman legions. Defeated with a loss of 50,000 men, the haughty Syrian was constrained to sue for peace. The conditions exacted by the conquerors were the death-blow of the Syrian empire. Antiochus was forced to cede all his dominions in Asia Minor west of Mount Taurus; to surrender all his ships of war, and retain no more than 10 merchant vessels; to keep no elephants; to raise no mercenaries in any of the countries allied with Rome; to pay down 2500 Euboic talents at once, and 12,000 more by instalments of 1000 a year; and to deliver up Hannibal and other enemies of Rome who had taken refuge in his dominions.

Beaten, baffled, and disgraced, the Syrian monarch returned to his capital. The hard conditions of peace were approved by the senate B.C.188, and to raise the heavy tribute, which threatened to exhaust all the resources of his empire, he resolved to plunder the temples throughout his dominions. The first attack it was agreed should be made on that of Elymais, situated at the meeting-point of the caravan routes which connected Media with Persia and Susiana. But the guards of the temple, aided by the hardy mountaineers of the district, made a vigorous defence of their shrine, and Antiochus was slain, B.C. 18720 (Dan. xi.19).

On the news of his death, his son Seleucus ascended the throne, and assumed the title of Philopator. During the early period of his reign, the new king carefully abstained from giving any offence to the Jewish nation, guaranteed to them the free exercise of their religion, and even contributed to the expenses of the Temple services (2 Macc. iii. 2,3).

Before long, however, his attention was directed to the riches deposited in the sanctuary at Jerusalem. At this time that city presented an appearance of much external prosperity. The high-priest OniasIII, who succeeded Simon B.C.195, was held in high respect, and ruled the people with firmness and vigour (2 Macc. iii.1). But an untoward cause of intestine dissension soon arose, and led to the interference of the Syrian king.

Joseph, the collector of the revenues of Phœnicia and Cœlesyria, had left behind him an illegitimate son, named Hyrcanus. Between this son and his legitimate brothers a serious quarrel arose respecting their father’s property. Onias espoused the cause of Hyrcanus, and on his death secured his property in the treasury of the Temple, the custody of which was now held by one Simon, who is supposed by some to have been a son of Joseph (2 Macc. iii.4). Filled with spite against the high-priest he gave information to Apollonius the governor of Phœnicia and Cœlesyria respecting the amount of treasure contained in the Temple, and represented that it might without difficulty be applied to the king’s use (2 Macc. iii. 4–6). The governor reported this to Seleucus, and the Syrian king, straitened for means to pay the Roman tribute, directed his treasurer Heliodorus not only to penetrate into the Temple, but plunder it of its funds.

Heliodorus arrived at Jerusalem, communicated his instructions, and demanded the surrender of the money. In vain the high-priest expostulated on the insult which would be offered to the national sanctuary, and declared that one half the treasures belonged to God, and the other to widows and orphans, who had placed it there for security. Heliodorus declared that his orders must be carried out, demolished the outer gates, and was on the point of entering the sanctuary, when, like Ptolemy Philopator, he too was struck with a panic terror, which prostrated him speechless on the ground, so that he had to be carried away insensible by his retinue (2 Macc. iii. 26–30). Restored, however, by the prayers of Onias, he gradually recovered, and returning to Antioch related all that had occurred, and declared to his Syrian lord that nothing would induce him to venture again on such an errand.

On the death of Antiochus the Great, it had been agreed between the senate of Rome and Seleucus that he should send his son Demetrius to take the place, as a hostage, of his brother Antiochus, who was to be allowed to come back to Syria. Shortly after his return from Jerusalem, Demetrius departed for this purpose, and Heliodorus, in the absence of the two persons nearest in succession to the throne, poisoned his master and usurped the crown. News of this reached Antiochus as he was visiting Athens on his way to the Syrian capital. He instantly invoked the aid of Eumenes king of Pergamus, at this time master of the greater part of the territories in Asia Minor wrested by the Romans from his father, and having quickly crushed the usurper, ascended the Syrian throne, and assumed the title of Epiphanes, or the Illustrious, while his nephew Demetrius remained a hostage at Rome21, B.C.175.

CHAPTER II.

REIGN OF ANTIOCHUS EPIPHANES.

B.C. 175–170.

THE long-continued subjection of the Jews to Grecian monarchs had by this time exerted a very considerable influence on their habits and mode of life. Familiar not only with the language but the literature and philosophy of Greece, many had acquired a strong taste for Grecian studies, preferred the Grecian religion to their own, adopted Grecian manners, and practised Grecian arts. Amongst this Hellenizing party none was more active than Joshua the brother of the high-priest, who even assumed the Grecian name of Jason.

On the accession of Epiphanes he made his appearance among the princes who flocked to Antioch to assure the new monarch of their allegiance, and by his insinuating manners rapidly rose into high favour. Knowing the depressed condition of the Syrian exchequer, in consequence of the annual tribute to Rome, he offered the king the tempting bribe of 440 talents of silver to secure the deposition of his elder brother, and his own appointment to the high-priesthood. Successful in this he caused Onias to be summoned to Antioch, and kept there as a prisoner at large, and then returning to Jerusalem devoted himself to the work of introducing Grecian customs among the people.

By a second bribe of 150 talents he obtained permission from his patron to establish at Jerusalem a gymnasium for athletic exercises, and with such success that even the priests despised the Temple and neglected the sacrifices to take part in the games (2 Macc. iv.14). He next procured a license to establish an academy in which the Jewish youth might be brought up in the Grecian fashion, and was empowered to confer the citizenship of Antioch on many of his fellow-countrymen, who eagerly coveted the empty honour (2 Macc. iv.9). Not content with this, in the year B.C.174 he went so far as to send a deputation with 300 drachmas of silver to Tyre, towards the celebration of the games in honour of the tutelary deity, Hercules. But even his own partisans shrunk from such open idolatry, and in place of bestowing the money on the games, preferred to offer it towards the building of a fleet (2 Macc. iv.20).

For three years the high-priest continued his work of corrupting the manners of his people, and then found the means he had used to acquire his ill-gotten dignity turned against himself. Having occasion to send his brother OniasIV., who had assumed the name of Menelaus, to the Syrian court, his envoy embraced the opportunity of offering Antiochus 300 talents a year more than his brother had paid for the office of high-priest, and succeeded in supplanting him in the royal favour (2 Macc. iv.24). Escorted by a body of Syrian troops, he then expelled Jason, who fled into the country of the Ammonites, and assuming the position and title of high-priest, proved even more wicked than his predecessor.

For some time, however, he delayed to make the stipulated payment to Antiochus, and when Sostratus, the commander of the Acra, had made several ineffectual demands for it, they were both summoned to the Syrian capital. At the time of their arrival Epiphanes was absent in Cilicia, and had left Andronicus in charge of affairs. Finding that in some way the money must be procured, Menelaus sent instructions to his brother Lysimachus to abstract some of the golden vessels of the Temple, and having secretly sold them at Tyre, obtained sufficient money to liquidate the debt and bribe over Andronicus to espouse his cause. The sacrilegious sale, however, transpired, and came to the ears of the venerable OniasIII., the legitimate high-priest, who severely reproved the usurper for his conduct. Enraged at this reproof, Menelaus prevailed on the king’s deputy to seize the aged priest and put him to death (2 Macc. iv. 27–35). This atrocious deed roused the utmost indignation amongst the Jews at Antioch, and the Syrian king stripped Andronicus of the purple, and ordered him to be executed on the very spot, where the venerable priest, whose sober and modest behaviour (2 Macc. iv.37) he always respected, had been murdered.

At this time the thoughts of Antiochus were fixed on the reduction of Egypt. In B.C.171 he led his forces through Palestine and defeated the Egyptians before Pelusium. In the following year he led a second expedition, and taking advantage of the occupation of the Romans with the war against Perseus, the last king of Macedonia, evaded the condition of the late treaty22, which restricted his fleet to 10 ships, and attacked Egypt by sea and land. Again he was successful, and reduced the whole country with the exception of Alexandria.

While he was before the walls of this city, a report reached Palestine that he was dead. On this Jason, taking advantage of the unpopularity of Menelaus, placed himself at the head of 1000 men, seized Jerusalem, and, while his brother secured himself in the castle of Zion, put great numbers of the Jews to death (2 Macc. v. 5,6).

The first intelligence of these events received by Antiochus represented that all Judæa was in a state of rebellion, and that the Jews were rejoicing in his supposed death. Enraged at these tidings he instantly made preparations for marching upon Jerusalem, whence Jason, hearing of his approach, fled into the country of the Ammonites. The city was taken by storm, and the late proceedings being considered as a revolt, it was resolved to inflict a proportionate punishment. Accordingly for three days Antiochus surrendered the capital to the fury and license of his soldiers, and during this period 40,000 of the inhabitants were slain, and an equal number sold into captivity. Under the guidance of the impious Menelaus, he then entered the Sanctuary, seized all the sacred vessels, and searching even the subterranean vaults, carried off treasure to the amount of 1800 talents of gold. He next ordered a great sow to be sacrificed on the brazen altar of burnt-offering, a portion of the flesh to be boiled, and the liquor poured over every part of the Temple; and having thus drained the capital of its treasure, drenched the streets with blood, and profaned its Sanctuary, handed it over once more to the administration of Menelaus, supported by Philip, a Phrygian, and for manners more barbarous than he that set him there (2 Macc. v. 15–23; 1 Macc. i. 20–28).

CHAPTER III.

PERSECUTION OF THE JEWS UNDER EPIPHANES.

B.C. 169–167.

HIS exchequer recruited by this valuable plunder, Antiochus in the following year, B.C. 169, led a third expedition into Egypt, and once more laid siege to Alexandria. But his late proceedings at Jerusalem had raised against him fiercer enemies even than the Egyptians. The Jews, who formed a full half of the population, stung to the quick by the indignities offered to their fellow-countrymen and the desecration of the national Temple, assisted the Alexandrians with the fiercest zeal in repelling his attacks, and once more forced the king to raise the siege.

Undaunted, however, by this second repulse, he reappeared before the walls the next year, B.C.168, and having a still larger force at his command, determined to reduce the city to subjection. But he was now confronted with a power it was impossible to resist. Having defeated Perseus at the decisive battle of Pydna, and reduced Macedonia to the condition of a Roman province, the Romans had at length found themselves able to listen to the repeated entreaties of the Ptolemies for assistance.

Accordingly Antiochus, on invading Egypt for the fourth time, found at Eleusis, about 4 miles from Alexandria, Caius Popilius Lænas, Caius Decimius, and Caius Hostilius, ambassadors from Rome, who commanded him to abstain from all hostilities against the Ptolemies, or prepare for war against the haughty republic of the West. During his long residence at Rome23, Antiochus had made the acquaintance of Popilius, and seeing him at the head of the embassy, stretched forth his arms to embrace him. But the Roman sternly repelled the salute, and handed to him the written orders of his government. The Syrian monarch requested time to refer the matter to his council, but Popilius drew a circle on the sand with his staff round the king, and declared that he should not leave it, till he had given him an answer, which he could report to the senate. Confounded at this determined conduct, Antiochus was obliged to yield, and having, after a brief struggle, consented to bow to the senate’s decree, was rewarded with the ambassador’s hand24.

Accordingly the command was given to desist from any attack upon Alexandria, and the Syrian mercenaries prepared to evacuate the land of the Ptolemies. But the rage and disappointment of Antiochus knew no bounds. The imperious commands of the haughty Romans roused him to positive phrenzy. His private life had long since procured for him the title of Epimanes, the madman, instead of Epiphanes, "the illustrious25. Uniting the quick and versatile character of a Greek with the splendid voluptuousness of an Asiatic26," he thought nothing of debasing the royal dignity by mingling with the revels of his meanest subjects. He would scour the streets, visit the lowest places and the commonest baths, or, like Peter of Russia, converse with the artizans in their shops respecting their various trades. Sometimes he would mingle with some drunken revellers, and amuse them by singing or playing on his flute. At other times he would array himself in a white robe like the candidates for office at Rome, and in this guise go about the streets of Antioch, saluting the citizens, taking them by the hand, and supplicating their votes for some Roman office, of which in all probability they had never heard the name. Having in this way obtained a sufficient number of votes he would, with all the solemnity of a tribune or an ædile, take his seat in the market-place after the Roman fashion, and deliver judgment with all the gravity of a Roman magistrate. Immoderately fond of wine, he became under its influence a madman, and when thwarted in any design his fury knew no bounds. At the same time he was bigoted and intolerant to an extent almost incredible. His favourite deity was Zeus Olympius, and in his honour he was in the habit of celebrating games at Daphne, which exceeded in splendour anything that his predecessors had ever attempted, and erected a magnificent temple, at which he offered the most sumptuous and extravagant sacrifices.

Such was the man, now goaded into even more than usual fury by the disappointments of his designs on Egypt, who was forced to bow before the power of Rome. As he returned to his own dominions, Jerusalem unfortunately lay in his way. Accordingly, he detached Apollonius, one of his generals, with a division of 22,000 men, and ordered him to wreak that vengeance on the city which he could not inflict on Egypt. As he was the chief collector of the tribute throughout Judæa, Apollonius found no difficulty in effecting his way into the capital, and no suspicions were entertained of his designs. He then waited till the first sabbath after his arrival, when he knew no resistance was to be dreaded, and suddenly let loose his soldiers on the unresisting multitude, instructing them to slay all the men they met, to make slaves of the women and children, plunder the houses, and throw down the city walls (2 Macc. v. 24–26).

His orders were executed with relentless severity; the streets of the city and the courts of the Temple ran with blood; the houses were pillaged; the dwellings near Mount Zion demolished; and with the materials thus obtained the fortifications of that citadel were strengthened, and occupied with a Syrian garrison (1 Macc. i.33). This fortress overlooked the Temple, and the Jews could no longer steal into the city, and offer sacrifice in the accustomed place. The daily sacrifice therefore ceased in the month of Sivan, B.C.167; Jerusalem became deserted; her inhabitants fled; her sanctuary was laid waste like a wilderness; her feasts were turned into mourning; her sabbaths into reproach; her honour into contempt (1 Macc. i.39).

But the persecution did not end here. Like Nebuchadnezzar before him, Antiochus resolved on obtaining a uniformity of worship throughout his dominions. A decree therefore was issued from the Syrian capital enjoining his subjects to worship the gods of the king, and none other. Some of the Jews now fled from the land, or concealed themselves in caves or mountains. Others, long secretly attached to Grecian customs, consented to conform, sacrificed unto idols, and profaned the Sabbath (1 Macc. i.43).

Before long a royal commissioner, named Athenæus, arrived with instructions to enforce a general compliance to the royal edict. He re-consecrated the Temple in honour of Zeus Olympius; erected on the brazen altar of burnt-offering another in honour of that god; offered swine’s flesh upon it; and introduced the heathen ritual with all its lascivious accompaniments. Having thus set up the abomination of desolation upon the altar (1 Macc. i.54; comp. Dan. xi.31), he made the observance of any portion of the law of Moses a capital offence. Circumcision, the keeping of the Sabbath, the reading of the Law, were strictly forbidden. Every copy of the sacred books that could be found was seized and defaced, torn to pieces or burnt. Groves were at the same time consecrated, heathen altars set up in every city, and every month, on the birthday of the king, the people were ordered to offer sacrifice and eat swine’s flesh. Moreover, in place of the Feast of Tabernacles, they were compelled to observe the licentious festival of the Bacchanalia, to join in the procession, and to appear crowned with the ivy wreaths sacred to the god of wine (2 Macc. vi. 3–7).

Proceedings equally tyrannical were enacted in other parts of the land. The Samaritans, on the occasion of the visit of Alexander the Great, had claimed relationship with the Jews. They now wrote to Antiochus, stating that they were Zidonians, and offering to dedicate their temple on Mount Gerizim to Zeus Xenios, the Defender of Strangers. With this proposal the Syrian monarch complied, and the temple was dedicated accordingly. Meanwhile all who refused to yield to the orders of the persecutor suffered the most fearful tortures. Two women, who had dared to circumcise their children, were led round the streets of Jerusalem with their babes hanging round their necks, and were cast down the battlements into the deep valley below the city-walls. Eleazar, an aged man, and one of the principal of the scribes, for refusing to eat swine’s flesh was beaten to death, while a mother and her seven sons for the same offence were executed after enduring the most revolting and horrible tortures (1 Macc. i.61; 2 Macc. vi. vii.).

PART III.

RISE OF THE ASMONEAN DYNASTY.

Table of Contents

CHAPTER I.

MATTATHIAS AND JUDAS MACCABÆUS.

B.C. 167–165.

NEVER did the fortunes of the Chosen People look so dark and troubled as now; never did the nation itself, never did the religion of Jehovah appear so near to total extermination. But it was at this very time, when the gradual prevalence of Grecian manners, Grecian idolatry, and Grecian corruption threatened to eradicate all real attachment to the Law of Moses, that God interposed in behalf of His people, and through the genius, bravery, and heroic devotion of one noble-minded family, raised them from their prostrate misery to a height of power, which recalled the glory and the splendour even of the reign of David.

At Modin27, a town situated on an eminence on the road between Jerusalem and Joppa, there lived a priest, named Mattathias, of the line of Joiarib, the first of the 24 courses (1 Chron. xxiv.7). The son of Jochanon, the son of Simon, the son of Asamonæus or Chasmon, from whom the family took its name, he could boast of noble blood. At this time he was advanced in years, but his sons were in the prime of life, and were five in number, Johanan, Simon, Judas, Eleazar, and Jonathan.

The sad declension of the nation and the ruthless persecution of Antiochus had already roused his keenest indignation, when a royal commissioner, Apelles, arrived at Modin, charged to carry out the edict against the Jewish religion, and to require the people to offer idolatrous sacrifice. Knowing his influence in the place, the commissioner used his utmost efforts to induce Mattathias to conform to heathen customs. But it was in vain. The aged priest not only declared his resolution to live and die in the faith of his fathers, but when an apostate Jew approached the altar which Apelles had erected to offer sacrifice, struck him down, and then, aided by his sons and the men of the town, rushed upon the commissioner himself, slew him and his retinue, and tore down the altar (1 Macc. ii. 15–29). The first blow thus struck, he called upon all such of his fellow-townsmen as were zealous for the Law of Moses to follow him, and, unfurling the banner of the national Faith, fled to the dark and rugged mountains of Judæa, where he was soon joined by many who feared God, and hated idolatry.

Tidings of these events quickly reached the ears of the Phrygian governor at Jerusalem, and he dispatched a large force, which attacked the patriots on the Sabbath-day, when they were unlikely to offer any resistance, and slew upwards of 1000, with their wives, children, and cattle (1 Macc. ii. 31–38). This untoward incident awoke the little army of Mattathias to the conviction that they would be rooted out of the earth (1 Macc. ii.40), if they persisted in their resolve not to act in self-defence on the Sabbath-day. With the sanction, therefore, of their brave leader, they determined to break through this overscrupulous observance, and though they would not attack, they henceforth considered it lawful to defend themselves on this day.

Before long, they were joined by the Assideans, the zealots for the Law (1 Macc. ii.42), and by numbers flying from the persecution still going on throughout the country, and prepared to conduct the war of independence with prudence and discretion. For a time, therefore, they laid hid in their mountain fastnesses, and, as opportunity offered, poured down upon the towns, destroyed the heathen altars, enforced circumcision, punished all apostates who fell into their hands, recovered many copies of the Law from the possession of their enemies, and re-established public worship.

But the hardships of the campaign did not suit the advanced age of Mattathias. Sinking under the weight of years, he called together his followers, exhorted them in noble words to constancy and devotion, and bequeathed the command of his little army to Judas, the third and most valiant of all his sons, associating with him Simon, his second son, as chief counsellor (1 Macc. ii. 49–69). Having given them this prudent advice, he died, and was buried in the sepulchre of his fathers at Modin, amidst the universal lamentations of the people, B.C. 16628.

Though Judas was young in years, he lacked neither energy nor prudence, and succeeding to the designs of his aged father, first unfolded the banner of the Maccabees. This name is of uncertain meaning. Some derive it from the concluding letters of a sentence in Exod. xv.11, Mi Camo Car Baalim Jehovah, i.e., Who is like unto Thee among the gods, O Jehovah? Others, again, derive it from the banner of the tribe of Dan, which is said to have contained the three last letters of the names of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Others, with more probability, understand it to have been a personal appellation of Judas himself, meaning the Hammerer, like Martel, the surname of the famous Carlovingian chief, Charles.

Whatever was the precise meaning of the name, the new leader girt his warlike harness about him (1 Macc. iii.3), rallied his forces, and bent all his energies to the task of uniting in a compact body all who were zealous for the national faith. "By night attacks, by sudden surprises (2 Macc. viii. 6,7), he taught his people how to fight and conquer. Alert of foot and quick of brain; yesterday in the mountains, to-day in the plain; now marching on a post, now storming a castle; in a few months of service he changed his rabble of zealots into an army of solid troops, capable of meeting and repelling the royal hosts commanded by generals trained in the Macedonian school of arms29."

At length Apollonius, who had recently signalized himself by plundering Jerusalem and massacring its inhabitants, deemed it time to interfere. At the head of a large army, mostly composed of Samaritans and apostate Jews, he marched against the patriot chief, but was totally defeated and slain (1 Macc. iii. 10–12). Tidings of this disaster roused Seron, the deputy-governor of Cœlesyria, and he went forth at the head of a still larger force, determined to have his revenge. Judas did not decline the combat, which took place at Beth-horon, famous as the scene of Joshua’s victory over the southern Canaanites30, and resulted in the complete defeat of the Syrian general, whose troops were driven in confusion down the rocky pass to the western lowlands (1 Macc. iii.24).

These two disasters moved the indignation of Antiochus beyond measure. He was himself, however, unable to take the field, for his exchequer being exhausted by his prodigal munificence (1 Macc. iii.29), and his eastern provinces, Armenia and Persia, refusing to pay any further tribute, he deemed it expedient to lead an expedition thither in hopes of recruiting his treasury. Accordingly he entrusted the government of all that portion of his empire, which lay between the Euphrates and the borders of Egypt, to Lysias, one of his nobles and of the blood royal, and gave him the command of half his army, with instructions utterly to destroy and root out the strength of Israel and the remnant of Jerusalem (1 Macc. iii.35).

CHAPTER II.

BATTLE OF EMMAUS—RE-DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE.

B.C. 165.

ON the departure of Antiochus, the regent, who entered zealously into all his plans, began to concert measures with Ptolemy Macron, the governor of Cœlesyria, and diligently collecting his forces, early the next year dispatched 40,000 troops into Judæa, under the command of Gorgias and Nicanor, two generals of tried ability.

While the Syrian troops, who were shortly joined by 7000 cavalry, encamped at Emmaus, about a mile to the north-east of Modin, Judas had assembled his little army of 6000 devoted followers at Mizpeh, the Watchtower, over against Jerusalem (1 Macc. iii.46), where Samuel, in one of the darkest periods of his nation’s history, had erected the Stone of Eben-ezer, the rock of help, after the Lord had given victory to the people31. Here the Maccabæan chieftain kept a solemn fast, laid open the book of the Law, wherein the heathen had sought to paint the likeness of their images (1 Macc. iii.48), and made a public confession of the national sins. In strict conformity with the command of Moses (Deut. xx. 5–8), he then bade all, who in the course of the year had built a house, or betrothed a wife, or had planted a vineyard, or were fearful, to return every man to his home. Half of his little army obeyed the invitation, and with barely 3000 men, who had neither armour nor swords to their minds (1 Macc. iv.6), he was left to confront the vast hosts of the enemy.

So certain did the Syrians deem themselves of a victory in the approaching encounter, that Nicanor had proclaimed beforehand in all the cities and sea-ports round about (1 Macc. iii.41) a sale of Jewish captives, at the rate of 90 for a talent. This proclamation attracted numbers of slave-merchants to his camp, who with their servants made every preparation to carry off their anticipated booty. Hearing through his scouts of the reduction of the forces of Judas, he now dispatched Gorgias with 5000 infantry and 1000 cavalry, to surprise him by night, and cut off his retreat into the mountains. But equally well served by his spies, the Jewish warrior was no sooner made aware of his intention, than he instantly conceived the daring design of attacking the camp of Nicanor, in the absence of his brother commander, and sallying forth early in the evening, fell upon it with the utmost fierceness at midnight.

Fully believing in the certain success of Gorgias, Nicanor had made no provision against such an attack, and was roused from