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were, by the order of Ptolemy, translated into Greek; they were sometimes raised to high dignities, both in the army and at court; and they even received permission from king Ptolemy Philometor (180) to build a Temple for themselves in Leontopolis, and to erect at the eastern boundary of the land a Jewish town, which they called Onion. They stood under a self-chosen chief (ethnarch), who was also their supreme Judge, and who was supported by a senate or kind of Sanhedrin. Yet they never gave up their connection with their mother-country. They contributed the usual imposts for the Temple and priesthood of Jerusalem, which city they still recognised as their religious capital. This constant intercourse between the Jews of Egypt and those of Palestine could not fail to exercise upon the latter also a perceptible influence. The elements of Greek culture and the works of Greek literature were imported into Palestine, where they soon. found eager readers and ardent admirers; as everywhere else, the beauty of Greek art and the refinement of Greek thought worked their spell. Therefore, while the Egyptian Jews, more deeply imbued with this foreign civilisation, developed their own peculiar philosophy (p. 572), many of their brethren in Palestine adopted, to a considerable extent, Greek notions, by which their own national faith was not immaterially tinctured. Yet a large number of Palestine Jews adhered rigidly to their traditional principles, excluded and vehemently denounced all foreign, especially Greek philosophy, and branded the study of it almost as apostasy. Thus the germs were laid of two distinct sects, which became soon arrayed against each other in hostile opposition-the severe Pharisees and the innovating Sadducees.

Ptolemy Lagi did not enjoy long the possession of Palestine; for already in the year after his victory (311) Antigonus reconquered it. Yet Ptolemy did not lose

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sight of this coveted province; and ten years later (301), he wrested it again from the hands of his enemies, after the great battle of Ipsus, when it remained united with Egypt for about a century (till 203).'

The High-priest Jaddua had been succeeded by his son Onias I. (331), in whose time the important events just related the expedition of Alexander the Great and the wars of his generals-took place. During the term of office of the next High-priest Simon (about 300) no noteworthy event occurred. But during the rule of Eleazar (from 287), the Egyptian king Ptolemy II. (Philadelphus), induced by his learned librarian Demetrius Phalereus, granted liberty to all the captive Jews in his empire; then transmitting rich presents to Jerusalem, he requested Eleazar to send able men to Alexandria to translate the sacred Books of the Jews into Greek. Seventy competent scholars went to Egypt, where they were received and treated with due honour, and are said to have accomplished their task-the Septuagint version-in seventytwo days; but it is known that the work was only completed in the course of several generations. Eleazar was followed in the pontifical dignity by Manasseh (266), Onias II. (239), and then by Simon II. (226), surnamed the Just, a man highly revered by his contemporaries, and extolled by later writers. Only to a priest of extraordinary merit this glowing description of Jesus Sirach could be applied: 'He was as the morning star in the midst of a cloud, and as the moon at its full, as the sun shining upon the Temple of the Most High, and as the rainbow giving light in the bright clouds, and as the flower of roses in the spring of the year, as lilies by the

The following Egyptian kings were masters of Judea: Ptolemy I. Lagi (from 301, after the battle of Ipsus, to 284); Ptolemy II. Philadelphus (284-246); Ptolemy III. Euergetes (246-221); Ptolemy IV. Philopator (221—204); and Ptolemy V. Epiphanes (204—181).

rivers of water, and as the branches of the frankincensetree in the time of summer; as fire and incense in the censer, and as a vessel of beaten gold set with all manner of precious stones; and as a fair olive-tree budding forth fruit, and as a cypress-tree which grows up to the clouds. When he put on the robe of honour, and was clothed with the perfection of glory, when he went up to the holy altar, he made the garment of holiness honourable.'

As might have been expected, the Syrian kings made repeated efforts to reconquer Palestine, but they were unsuccessful; even Antiochus III. the Great, an energetic monarch and skilful general, was signally defeated, in a great battle at Raphia, by the Egyptian king Ptolemy IV. Philopator (217). The latter, elated by his victory, and taking possession of many Syrian towns, went to Jerusalem, and wished to force his way into the Temple. In vain the Jews implored him to desist from his unholy purpose; the town was in consternation; the people and elders, the priests and the High-priest Simon, all entreated God in fervent prayer to avert the profanation; but when Ptolemy was on the point of crossing the threshold of the Sanctuary, we are told that he was suddenly paralysed, and was carried away unconscious by his servants; and when he had recovered, he departed with vehement threats, which he partially carried into effect upon his Jewish subjects in Egypt. Yet Antiochus the Great did not abandon his schemes; and when Ptolemy Philopator was succeeded by Ptolemy Epiphanes, a child only five years old, the Syrian king, believing that a favourable opportunity had arrived, undertook a new campaign, and easily conquered Palestine, Phoenicia, and Colosyria (203). Thus the Jews came under Syrian dominion. Antiochus the Great was followed by Seleucus IV. Philopator (187-176), and the High-priest Simon the Just by Onias III. (197). The latter had an inveterate enemy,

a certain Simon, a Benjamite, who went to the Syrian governor Apollonius, and told him that there were immense treasures in the Temple of Jerusalem, which he might acquire without any great difficulty. Apollonius repeated the words of Simon to his master Seleucus, who sent his treasurer Heliodorus to Jerusalem to obtain the money. The High-priest Onias, on hearing the request, replied that the gold and silver were chiefly the deposits of widows and orphans, or belonged to a private person Hyrcanus, the son of Tobias; moreover, the whole amount did not exceed 400 talents of silver and 200 talents of gold. Yet Heliodorus pressed his demand, and fixed a day when the treasures should be given up. Grief and anguish prevailed in Jerusalem, and people and priests humbled themselves in prayer and fasting. But when the Syrian officer was entering the sacred precincts with his numerous attendants, he is reported, like Ptolemy, to have suddenly been struck down. The Jews broke forth in loud praises of thanksgiving for the miracle, which had saved their Temple from pollution. Entreated by the Syrians, Onias prayed and offered up sacrifices for Heliodorus, who then, restored from his illness, returned to Syria, and thenceforth acknowledged and proclaimed the power of the God of Israel. But Onias was accused by his old enemy Simon before Apollonius of having insidiously ordered Heliodorus to be attacked and killed in the Temple. The High-priest deemed it necessary to proceed to the Syrian governor, whom he at last convinced of his innocence. Not long afterwards king Seleucus died, and he was followed by his son Antiochus IV., surnamed Epiphanes or the Illustrious (176-164), whose reign was one of the most memorable in the history of the Jews.

161. THE HOSTILITIES OF ANTIOCHUS
EPIPHANES (176-167).

[2 MACC. IV. V.; 1 MACC. I.]

Antiochus combined the love of magnificence and luxury peculiar to the Asiatic despot with the versatile activity of the Greek; but he was, above all, stubborn, reckless, and cruel. He entertained an ardent and almost fanatic enthusiasm for Greek religion, Greek art and poetry, and it was his ambition to convert his country into a second Hellas. He was determined to force Greek notions and habits upon all his subjects alike, whatever their race or creed. The Jews were the special objects of his proselytising zeal. The greater resistance they offered, the more obstinately he persevered in his plans. Treachery and disunion among the Jews themselves hastened a rebellion, which happily grew into a war of independence.

Joshua, the brother of Onias, coveted the dignity of High-priest, and in order to secure it, he offered Antiochus 440 talents, to which he promised to add the sum of 150 talents more, and requested the king's permission to establish in Jerusalem a gymnasium after the fashion of the Greeks, and a school for training young men in all bodily exercises. He obtained the royal sanction, usurped the High-priesthood under the Greek name of Jason, which he adopted to flatter Antiochus, and began at once to carry out his anti-Jewish measures. He built a gymnasium near the very mountains of Zion and Moriah, summoned the young men of the chief families to attend, and forced them to wear a hat of Hermes, the patron of the palæstra. He deprived the citizens of their old privileges and of their well-secured right of living in accordance with their national institutions.

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