Jews in the Hellenistic World

D. Falk, 2002

1.       Jews in the Hellenistic World

1.1.       Alexander and the East

1.1.1.        Greek coins

http://www.amuseum.org/book/page2.html

1.1.2.        1 Maccabees 1:1-9

[1 Maccabees is a writing by a Jewish supporter of the Maccabees, ca 100 BCE. The writer describes the nature of the crisis faced by Jews in the Hellenistic period, and the revolt led by the Maccabees. The work is included among the Apocrypha]

 

After Alexander son of Philip, the Macedonian, who came from the land of Kittim, had defeated Darius, king of the Persians and the Medes, he succeeded him as king. (He had previously become king of Greece.)  2  He fought many battles, conquered strongholds, and put to death the kings of the earth.  3  He advanced to the ends of the earth, and plundered many nations. When the earth became quiet before him, he was exalted, and his heart was lifted up.  4  He gathered a very strong army and ruled over countries, nations, and princes, and they became tributary to him.  5  After this he fell sick and perceived that he was dying.  6  So he summoned his most honored officers, who had been brought up with him from youth, and divided his kingdom among them while he was still alive.  7  And after Alexander had reigned twelve years, he died.  8  Then his officers began to rule, each in his own place.  9  They all put on crowns after his death, and so did their sons after them for many years; and they caused many evils on the earth. (RSV)

1.1.3.        The Ideal City. Pausanias, Descr. of Greece 1.2.1

[The traveler Pausanias describes the city of Athens in the 2nd c. CE as an ideal city (polis)]

 

On entering the city there is a building for the preparation of the processions . . . Hard by is a temple of Demeter with images of the goddess herslf and of her daughter . . . From the gate to the Cerameicus there are porticoes, and in front of them brazen statues of such as had some title to fame, both men and women. One of the porticoes contains shrines of gods, and a gymnasium called that of Hermes. In it is the house of Pulytion, at which it is said that a mystic rite was perfomed by the most notable Athenians, parodying the Eleusinian mysteries. But in my time it was devoted to the worship of Dionysus . . .

Here is built also a sanctuary of the Mother of the gods . . .

In the Athenian market-place maong the objects not generally known is an altar to Mercy, of all divinities the most useful in the life of mortals and in the vicissitudes of fortunr, but honored by the Athenians alone among the Greeks. And they are conspicuous not only for their humanity but also for their devotion to religion.

In the gymnasium not far from the Market-place . . .

There is but one entry to the Acropolis [a fortress containing temples to Athena and other divinities] . . .

The Athenians have other law courts as well . . .

[adapted from Loeb translation]

1.1.4.        What makes a City. Pausanias, Descr. of Greece 10.4.1

“. . . if one can give the name of “city” (polis) to those who possess no government offices, no gymnasium, no theatre, no market–place, no water descending to a fountain . . .”

1.2.       Greco-Roman Attitudes to Jews

1.2.1.        Tacitus on Judaism. Tacitus, Histories 5.4–5

[Tacitus, a Roman historian writing ca. 110 CE, discusses various theories concerning the origin of the Jews, and prefers a popular story that the Jews were a race of lepers expelled from Egypt]

As I am about to relate the last days of a famous city, it seems appropriate to throw some light on its origin.

Some say that the Jews were fugitives from the island of Crete . . .  There is a famous mountain in Crete called Ida; the neighbouring tribe, the Idaei, came to be called Judaei . . .  Others assert that in the reign of Isis the overflowing population of Egypt, led by Hierosolymus and Judas, discharged itself into the neighbouring countries. Many, again, say that they were a race of Ethiopian origin, who in the time of king Cepheus were driven by fear and hatred of their neighbours to seek a new dwelling-place. Others describe them as an Assyrian horde who, not having sufficient territory, took possession of part of Egypt, and founded cities of their own in what is called the Hebrew country, lying on the borders of Syria. Others, again, assign a very distinguished origin to the Jews, alleging that they were the Solymi, a nation celebrated in the poems of Homer, who called the city which they founded Hierosolyma after their own name.

Most writers, however, agree in stating that once a disease [leprosy], which horribly disfigured the body, broke out over Egypt; that king Bocchoris, seeking a remedy, consulted the oracle of Hammon, and was bidden to cleanse his realm, and to convey into some foreign land this race detested by the gods.  . . .  After a continuous journey for six days, on the seventh they possessed themselves of a country, from which they expelled the inhabitants, and in which they founded a city and a temple.

Moses, wishing to secure for the future his authority over the nation, gave them a novel form of worship, opposed to all that is practised by other men. Things sacred with us, with them have no sanctity, while they allow what with us is forbidden. In their holy place they have consecrated an image of the animal by whose guidance they found deliverance from their long and thirsty wanderings. They slay the ram, seemingly in derision of Hammon, and they sacrifice the ox, because the Egyptians worship it as Apis. They abstain from swine’s flesh, in consideration of what they suffered when they were infected by the leprosy to which this animal is liable. By their frequent fasts they still bear witness to the long hunger of former days, and the Jewish bread, made without leaven, is retained as a memorial of their hurried seizure of corn. We are told that the rest of the seventh day was adopted, because this day brought with it a termination of their toils; after a while the charm of indolence beguilded them into giving up the seventh year also to inaction. . . .
This worship, however introduced, is upheld by its antiquity; all their other customs, which are at once perverse and disgusting, owe their strength to their very badness. The most degraded out of other races, scorning their national beliefs, brought to them their contributions and presents. This augmented the wealth of the Jews, as also did the fact, that among themselves they are inflexibly honest and ever ready to shew compassion, though they regard the rest of mankind with all the hatred of enemies. They sit apart at meals, they sleep apart, and though, as a nation, they are singularly prone to lust, they abstain from intercourse with foreign women; among themselves nothing is unlawful. Circumcision was adopted by them as a mark of difference from other men. Those who come over to their religion adopt the practice, and have this lesson first instilled into them, to despise all gods, to disown their country, and set at nought parents, children, and brethren. Still they provide for the increase of their numbers. It is a crime among them to kill any newly-born infant. They hold that the souls of all who perish in battle or by the hands of the executioner are immortal. Hence a passion for propagating their race and a contempt for death. They are wont to bury rather than to burn their dead, following in this the Egyptian cus tom; they bestow the same care on the dead, and they hold the same belief about the lower world. Quite different is their faith about things divine. The Egyptians worship many animals and images of monstrous form; the Jews have purely mental conceptions of Deity, as one in essence. They call those profane who make representations of God in human shape out of perishable materials. They believe that Being to be supreme and eternal, neither capable of representation, nor of decay. They therefore do not allow any images to stand in their cities, much less in their temples. This flattery is not paid to their kings, nor this honour to our Emperors. From the fact, however, that their priests used to chant to the music of flutes and cymbals, and to wear garlands of ivy, and that a golden vine was found in the temple, some have thought that they worshipped father Liber, the conqueror of the East, though their institutions do not by any means harmonize with the theory; for Liber established a festive and cheerful worship, while the Jewish religion is tasteless and mean. [Loeb translation]

1.2.2.        Strabo, Geography, Book 16.ii.34-38, 40, 46

[Strabo, a Roman writing ca. 22 BCE, shows some knowledge of Judaism, but some considerable confusion (e.g., that Moses established the Temple at Jerusalem, that Jews were vegetarians and practiced female as well as male circumcision.)]

. . .  the Egyptians were the ancestors of the present Jews. An Egyptian priest named Moses, who possessed a portion of the country called Lower Egypt, being dissatisfied with the established institutions there, left it and came to Judea with a large body of people who worshiped the Divinity. He declared and taught that the Egyptians and Africans entertained erroneous sentiments, in representing, the Divinity under the likeness of wild beasts and cattle of the field; that the Greeks also were error in making images of their gods after the human form. For God, said he, may be this one thing which encompasses us all, land and sea, which we call heaven, or the universe, or the nature of things. Who, then, of any understanding would venture to form an image of this Deity, resembling anything with which we are conversant? On the contrary, we ought not to carve any images, but to set apart some sacred ground as a shrine worthy of the Deity, and to worship Him without any similitude. He taught that those who made fortunate dreams were to be permitted to sleep in the temple, where they might dream both for themselves and others; that those who practiced temperance and justice, and none else, might expect good, or some gift or sign from the God, from time to time.

By such doctrine Moses persuaded a large body of right-minded persons to accompany him to the place where Jerusalem now stands. . . . Moses thus obtained their good opinion, and established no ordinary kind of government. All the nations around willingly united themselves to him, allured by his discourses and promises.

His successors continued for some time to observe the same conduct, doing justly, and worshipping God with sincerity. Afterwards superstitious persons were appointed to the priesthood, and then tyrants. From superstition arose abstinence from flesh, from the eating of which it is now the custom to refrain, circumcision, cliterodectomy, and other practices which the people observe. The tyrannical government produced robbery; for the rebels plundered both their own and the neighboring countries. Those also who shared in the government seized upon the property of others, and ravaged a large part of Syria and of Phoenicia. Respect, however, was paid to the Acropolis [Zion, or the Temple Mount in Jerusalem]; it was not abhorred as the seat of tyranny, but honoured and venerated as a temple. . . .Such was Moses and his successors; their beginning was good, but they degenerated.

[translation Hamilton and Falconer; from http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/roman-jews.html]

1.2.3.        Seneca on the Jews.

[Seneca was a Stoic philosopher, ca. 5 BCE–65 CE. Cited by Augustine, City of God.]

But when speaking of the Jews he [Seneca] says: “Meanwhile the customs of this accursed race have gained such influence that they are now received throughout all the world. The vanquished have given laws to their victors.” He shows his surprise as he says this, not knowing what was being wrought by the providence of God. But he adds a statement that shows what he thought of their system of sacred institutions. “The Jews, however, are aware of the origin and meaning of their rites. The greater part of the people go through a ritual not knowing why they do so.”

[Loeb translation]

1.2.4.        Juvenal on Jewish Observance. Juvenal, Satires 14.96–106

[Juvenal was a Roman satirist, ca. 60–130 CE]

Some who have had a father who reveres the Sabbath, worship nothing but the clouds, and the divinity of the heavens, and see no difference between eating swine’s flesh, from which their father abstained, and that of man; and in time they take to circumcision. Having been wont to flout the laws of Rome, they learn and practice and revere the Jewish law, and all that Moses handed down in his secret tome forbidding to point out the way to any not worshipping the same rites, and conducting none but the circumcised to the desired fountain. For all which the father was to blame, who gave up every seventh day to idleness, keeping it apart from all the concerns of life. [Loeb translation]

1.2.5.        The Blood Libel. Josephus, Against Apion 2.79–111

[The Jewish historian Josephus, writing in the late 1st c. CE, complains of accusations against the Jews, especially by Apion]

(79) . . .  while they accuse us for not worshipping the same gods whom others worship, they think themselves not guilty of impiety when they tell lies of us, and frame absurd and reproachful stories about our temple. . . .

(80) . . . Apion hath the impudence to pretend that” the Jews placed an ass’s head in their holy place;” and he affirms that this was discovered when Antiochus Epiphanes spoiled our temple, and found that ass’s head there made of gold, and worth a great deal of money . . .

(89) He [Apion] adds another Grecian fable, in order to reproach us . . . (91) Apion  . . . says that “Antiochus found in our temple a bed, and a man lying upon it . . . a Greek  . . . he was seized upon by foreigners, on a sudden, and brought to this temple, and shut up therein, and was seen by nobody, but was fattened by these curious provisions thus set before him . . . and was by them informed that it was in order to the fulfilling a law of the Jews, which they must not tell him, that he was thus fed; and that they did the same at a set time every year: that they used to catch a Greek foreigner, and fat him thus up every year, and then lead him to a certain wood, and kill him, and sacrifice with their accustomed solemnities, and taste of his entrails, and take an oath upon this sacrificing a Greek, that they would ever be at enmity with the Greeks; and that then they threw the remaining parts of the miserable wretch into a certain pit.”

[Whiston’s translation, ada[ted frp, from http://www.ccel.org/j/josephus/works/apion-2.htm]

1.3.       Ptolemaic Rule over Palestine: 323-201 BCE

1.3.1.        Alexander and the Jews. Josephus, Antiquities 11.332, 336–8

[Alexander the Great brought Judea into his expanding empire in 332 BCE. There are numerous versions of a Jewish legend that Alexander the Great visited Jerusalem where he ended up showing reverence to the Jewish God at the Temple, and granting rights to the Jews (versions show up in Josephus, rabbinic literature and elsewhere). The story is complete fiction: Alexander never visited Jerusalem. But the legend reflects a common Jewish concern: that the great and powerful of the world recognize the nobility of the Jewish religion, the uniqueness of the Jewish God, and that they grant special rights to the Jews to live according to their ancestral traditions. Compare the legend of Cyrus and the Jews as told in the Bible.]

 

Alexander, when he saw the multitude at a distance, in white garments, while the priests stood clothed with fine linen, and the high priest in purple and scarlet clothing, with his mitre on his head, having the golden plate whereon the name of God was engraved, he approached by himself, and adored that name, and first saluted the high priest. The Jews also did all together, with one voice, salute Alexander, and encompass him about . . .

And when he went up into the temple, he offered sacrifice to God, according to the high priest’s direction, and magnificently treated both the high priest and the priests.  . . .  the next day he called them to him, and bid them ask what favors they pleased of him; whereupon the high priest desired that they might enjoy the laws of their forefathers, and might pay no tribute on the seventh year. He granted all they desired. And when they entreared him that he would permit the Jews in Babylon and Media to enjoy their own laws also, he willingly promised to do hereafter what they desired. And when he said to the multitude, that if any of them would enlist themselves in his army, on this condition, that they should continue under the laws of their forefathers, and live according to them, he was willing to take them with him, many were ready to accompany him in his wars.

[adapted from Whiston translation, http://www.ccel.org/j/josephus/works/]

1.3.2.        The Diadochoi. Josephus, Antiquities 12.1–3

NOW when Alexander, king of Macedon, had put an end to the dominion of the Persians, and had settled the affairs in Judea after the forementioned manner, he ended his life. And as his government fell among many, Antigonus obtained Asia, Seleucus Babylon; and of the other nations which were there, Lysimachus governed the Hellespont, and Cassander possessed Macedonia; as did Ptolemy the son of Lagus seize upon Egypt. And while these princes ambitiously strove one against another, every one for his own principality, it came to pass that there were continual wars, and those lasting wars too; and the cities were sufferers, and lost a great many of their inhabitants in these times of distress . . .

[adapted from Whiston translation, http://www.ccel.org/j/josephus/works/]

1.3.3.        Ptolemy I captures Jerusalem. Josephus, Antiquities 12.3–5

[Ptolemy I Soter, Greek ruler of Egypt 323–283 BCE]

. . .  all Syria, by the means of Ptolemy . . . .  He [Ptolemy I Soter] also seized upon Jerusalem, and for that end made use of deceit and treachery; for as he came into the city on a sabbath day, as if he would offer sacrifices he, without any trouble, gained the city, while the Jews did not oppose him, for they did not suspect him to be their enemy; and he gained it thus, because they were free from suspicion of him, and because on that day they were at rest and quietness; and when he had gained it, he ruled over it in a cruel manner.  . . .

[adapted from Whiston translation, http://www.ccel.org/j/josephus/works/]

1.3.4.        Ptolemy I and Alexandrian Jews. Josephus, Antiquities 12.7–9

But when Ptolemy had taken a great many captives, both from the mountainous parts of Judea, and from the places about Jerusalem and Samaria, and the places near Mount Gerizzim, he led them all into Egypt, and settled them there. . . .  he distributed many of them into garrisons, and at Alexandria gave them equal privileges of citizens with the Macedonians themselves; and required of them to take their oaths, that they would keep their fidelity to the posterity of those who committed these places to their care. Nay, there were not a few other Jews who, of their own accord, went into Egypt, as invited by the goodness of the soil, and by the liberality of Ptolemy. [adapted from Whiston translation, http://www.ccel.org/j/josephus/works/]

1.3.5.        Rights of Jews. Josephus, Antiquities 12:119

[Seleucus I Nicator, Greek Ruler of Babylon]

THE Jews also obtained honors from the kings of Asia when they became their auxiliaries; for Seleucus Nicator made them citizens in those cities which he built in Asia, and in the lower Syria, and in the metropolis itself, Antioch; and gave them privileges equal to those of the Macedonians and Greeks, who were the inhabitants, insomuch that these privileges continue to this very day . . . [adapted from Whiston translation, http://www.ccel.org/j/josephus/works/]

1.3.6.        Ptolemy II and Jews in Alexandria. Josephus, Antiquities 12.11

WHEN Alexander had reigned twelve years, and after him Ptolemy Soter forty years, [Ptolemy II] Philadelphus then took the kingdom of Egypt, and held it forty years within one. He procured the [Jewish] law to be translated, and set free those that were come from Jerusalem into Egypt, and were in slavery there, who were a hundred and twenty thousand. . . .

[adapted from Whiston translation, http://www.ccel.org/j/josephus/works/]

1.3.7.        Ptolemy IV Philopater. 3 Maccabees 2:25-30

2:25   When he [Ptolemy IV Philopater] arrived in Egypt, he increased in his deeds of malice . . . 27  He proposed to inflict public disgrace upon the Jewish community, and he set up a stone on the tower in the courtyard with this inscription:  28  “None of those who do not sacrifice shall enter their sanctuaries, and all Jews shall be subjected to a registration involving poll tax and to the status of slaves. Those who object to this are to be taken by force and put to death;  29  those who are registered are also to be branded on their bodies by fire with the ivy-leaf symbol of Dionysus, and they shall also be reduced to their former limited status.”  30  In order that he might not appear to be an enemy to all, he inscribed below: “But if any of them prefer to join those who have been initiated into the mysteries, they shall have equal citizenship with the Alexandrians.” [RSV]

1.4.       Council of Elders (Gerousia)

1.4.1.        The Jewish Council. Josephus, Antiquities 12.138–9

[Mentions the Jewish council of elders (gerousia) during the time of Ptolemaic rule (late 3rd c.–early 2nd c. BCE). The council was a body of leading men that represented the Jewish community to the Ptolemaic overlords]

“King Antiochus [III the Great] to Ptolemy [governor], sends greetings. Since the Jews, upon our first entrance on their country, demonstrated their friendship towards us, and when we came to their city [Jerusalem], received us in a splendid manner, and came to meet us with their senate [council or elders, or gerousia], and gave abundance of provisions to our soldiers, and to the elephants, and joined with us in ejecting the garrison of the Egyptians that were in the citadel, we have thought fit to reward them, and to retrieve the condition of their city, which hath been greatly depopulated by such accidents as have befallen its inhabitants, and to bring those that have been scattered abroad back to the city.”

[adapted from Whiston translation, http://www.ccel.org/j/josephus/works/]

1.5.       Temple and Priesthood

1.5.1.        No Image in Temple. Josephus, Against Apion 1.195–99

[Josephus cites a description of the Jerusalem Temple by Hecateus of Abders, ca. 360–290 BCE]

“There is no image, nor statue, nore votive offering therein; nothing at all is planted, there, neither a grove nor anything of that sort. The priests abide therein both nights and days, performing certain purification rites, and drinking not the least drop of wine while they are in the temple.”

[adapted from Whiston translation, http://www.ccel.org/j/josephus/works/]

1.5.2.        The Temple Service. Letter of Aristeas 92–99

[The Letter of Aristeas dates from the 2nd c. BCE and belongs to the Pseudepigrapha]

92 The ministration of the priests is in every way unsurpassed both for its physical endurance and for its orderly and silent service. For they all work spontaneously, though it entails much painful exertion, and each one has a special task allotted to him. The service is carried on without interruption – some provide the wood, others the oil, others the fine wheat flour, others the spices; others 93 again bring the pieces of flesh for the burnt offering, exhibiting a wonderful degree of strength. For they take up with both hands the limbs of a calf, each of them weighing more than two talents, and throw them with each hand in a wonderful way on to the high place of the altar and never miss placing them on the proper spot.  . . .  The most complete silence reigns so that one might imagine that there was not a single person present, though there are actually seven hundred men engaged in the work, besides the vast number of those who are occupied in bringing up the sacrifices. Everything is carried out with 96 reverence and in a way worthy of the great God.

We were greatly astonished, when we saw Eleazar [the High Priest] engaged in the ministration, at the mode of his dress, and the majesty of his appearance, which was revealed in the robe which he wore and the precious stones upon his person. There were golden bells upon the garment which reached down to his feet, giving forth a peculiar kind of melody, and on both sides of them there were pomegranates 97 with variegated flowers of a wonderful hue. He was girded with a girdle of conspicuous beauty, woven in the most beautiful colours. On his breast he wore the oracle of God, as it is called, on which twelve stones, of different kinds, were inset, fastened together with gold, containing the names of the leaders of the tribes, according to their original order, each one flashing forth in an indescribable way 98 its own particular colour. On his head he wore a tiara, as it is called, and upon this in the middle of his forehead an inimitable turban, the royal diadem full of glory with the name of God inscribed in sacred letters on a plate of gold . . . having been judged worthy to wear these emblems in the 99 ministrations. Their appearance created such awe and confusion of mind as to make one feel that one had come into the presence of a man who belonged to a different world. I am convinced that any one who takes part in the spectacle which I have described will be filled with astonishment and indescribable wonder and be profoundly affected in his mind at the thought of the sanctity which is attached to each detail of the service. (Translation R. H. Charles, from http://www.ccel.org/c/charles/otpseudepig/aristeas.htm)

1.5.3.        Tithes and Offerings. Tobit 1:6–8

[A Jewish writing of the 4th or 3rd c. BCE, belonging to the Apocrypha]

But I alone went often to Jerusalem for the feasts, as it is ordained for all Israel by an everlasting decree. Taking the first fruits and the tithes of my produce and the first shearings, I would give these to the priests, the sons of Aaron, at the altar.  7  Of all my produce I would give a tenth to the sons of Levi who ministered at Jerusalem; a second tenth I would sell, and I would go and spend the proceeds each year at Jerusalem;  8  the third tenth I would give to those to whom it was my duty, as Deborah my father’s mother had commanded me, for I was left an orphan by my father. [RSV]

1.5.4.        The High Priest. Ben Sira 50

[Ben Sira is a Jewish writing ca 180 BCE, belongs to the Apocrypha. This is a eulogy of the high priest Simon, and shows the high status and power held by the high priest. It describes his majestic appearance at the sacrificial service on the Day of Atonement]

The leader of his brethren and the pride of his people

was Simon the high priest, son of Onias,

who in his life repaired the house,

and in his time fortified the temple.

2 He laid the foundations for the high double walls,

the high retaining walls for the temple enclosure.

3 In his days a cistern for water was quarried out,

a reservoir like the sea in circumference.

4 He considered how to save his people from ruin,

and fortified the city to withstand a seige.

5 How glorious he was when the people gathered round him

as he came out of the inner sanctuary!

6 Like the morning star among the clouds,

like the moon when it is full;

7 like the sun shining upon the temple of the Most High,

and like the rainbow gleaming in glorious clouds;

8 like roses in the days of the first fruits,

like lilies by a spring of water,

like a green shoot on Lebanon on a summer day;

9 like fire and incense in the censer,

like a vessel of hammered gold

adorned with all kinds of precious stones;

10 like an olive tree putting forth its fruit,

and like a cypress towering in the clouds.

11 When he put on his glorious robe

and clothed himself with superb perfection

and went up to the holy altar,

he made the court of the sanctuary glorious.

12 And when he received the portions from the

hands of the priests,

as he stood by the hearth of the altar

with a garland of brethren around him,

he was like a young cedar on Lebanon;

and they surrounded him like the trunks of palm trees,

13 all the sons of Aaron in their splendor

with the Lord’s offering in their hands,

before the whole congregation of Israel.

14 Finishing the service at the altars,

and arranging the offering to the Most High, the Almighty,

15 he reached out his hand to the cup

and poured a libation of the blood of the grape;

he poured it out at the foot of the altar,

a pleasing odor to the Most High, the King of all.

16 Then the sons of Aaron shouted,

they sounded the trumpets of hammered work,

they made a great noise to be heard

for remembrance before the Most High.

17 Then all the people together made haste

and fell to the ground upon their faces

to worship their Lord,

the Almighty, God Most High.

18 And the singers praised him with their voices

in sweet and full-toned melody.

19 And the people besought the Lord Most High

in prayer before him who is merciful,

till the order of worship of the Lord was ended;

so they completed his service.

20 Then Simon came down, and lifted up his hands

over the whole congregation of the sons of Israel,

to pronounce the blessing of the Lord with his lips,

and to glory in his name;

21 and they bowed down in worship a second time,

to receive the blessing from the Most High.

22 And now bless the God of all,

who in every way does great things;

who exalts our days from birth,

and deals with us according to his mercy.

23 May he give us gladness of heart,

and grant that peace may be in our days in Israel,

as in the days of old.

24 May he entrust to us his mercy!

And let him deliver us in our days!

25 With two nations my soul is vexed,

and the third is no nation:

26 Those who live on Mount Seir, and the Philistines,

and the foolish people that dwell in Shechem.

27 Instruction in understanding and knowledge

I have written in this book,

Jesus the son of Sirach, son of Eleazar, of Jerusalem,

who out of his heart poured forth wisdom.

28 Blessed is he who concerns himself with these things,

and he who lays them to heart will become wise.

29 For if he does them, he will be strong for all things,

for the light of the Lord is his path. (RSV)

1.5.5.        High Priesthood. Josephus, Antiquities 12.157–9

[Josephus describes the rise to influence of Joseph Tobias, which became a very wealthy and powerful family through tax-farming. He takes advantage of the laxity of the high priest Onias]

This happened when Onias was high priest; for after Eleazar’s death, his uncle Manasseh took the priesthood, and after he had ended his life, Onias received that dignity. He was the son of Simon, who was called The Just: which Simon was the brother of Eleazar, as I said before. This Onias was one of a little soul, and a great lover of money; and for that reason, because he did not pay that tax of twenty talents of silver, which his forefathers paid to these things out of their own estates, he provoked king Ptolemy Euergetes to anger, who was the father of Philopater. Euergetes sent an ambassador to Jerusalem, and complained that Onias did not pay his taxes, and threatened, that if he did not receive them, he would seize upon their land, and send soldiers to live upon it. When the Jews heard this message of the king, they were confounded; but so sordidly covetous was Onias, that nothing of things nature made him ashamed.

[adapted from Whiston translation, http://www.ccel.org/j/josephus/works/]

1.6.       Tax Farming

1.6.1.        The Tobiads. Josephus, Antiquities 12.157–236

[Josephus describes the rise to influence of Joseph Tobias, who became a very wealthy and powerful through tax-farming. He takes advantage of the laxity of the high priest Onias]

This happened when Onias was high priest; for after Eleazar’s death, his uncle Manasseh took the priesthood, and after he had ended his life, Onias received that dignity. He was the son of Simon, who was called The Just: which Simon was the brother of Eleazar, as I said before. This Onias was one of a little soul, and a great lover of money; and for that reason, because he did not pay that tax of twenty talents of silver, which his forefathers paid to these things out of their own estates, he provoked king Ptolemy Euergetes to anger, who was the father of Philopater. Euergetes sent an ambassador to Jerusalem, and complained that Onias did not pay his taxes, and threatened, that if he did not receive them, he would seize upon their land, and send soldiers to live upon it. When the Jews heard this message of the king, they were confounded; but so sordidly covetous was Onias, that nothing of things nature made him ashamed.

There was now one Joseph, young in age, but of great reputation among the people of Jerusalem, for gravity, prudence, and justice. His father’s name was Tobias; and his mother was the sister of Onias the high priest, who informed him of the coming of the ambassador; for he was then sojourning at a village named Phicol, where he was born. Hereupon he came to the city [Jerusalem], and reproved Onias for not taking care of the preservation of his countrymen, but bringing the nation into dangers, by not paying this money. For which preservation of them, he told him he had received the authority over them, and had been made high priest; but that, in case he was so great a lover of money, as to endure to see his country in danger on that account, and his countrymen suffer the greatest damages, he advised him to go to the king, and petition him to remit either the whole or a part of the sum demanded. Onias’s answer was this: That he did not care for his authority, and that he was ready, if the thing were practicable, to lay down his high priesthood; and that he would not go to the king, because he troubled not himself at all about such matters. Joseph then asked him if he would not give him leave to go ambassador on behalf of the nation. He replied, that he would give him leave. Upon which Joseph went up into the temple, and called the multitude together to a congregation, and exhorted them not to be disturbed nor aftrighted, because of his uncle Onias’s carelessness, but desired them to be at rest, and not terrify themselves with fear about it; for he promised them that he would be their ambassador to the king, and persuade him that they had done him no wrong. And when the multitude heard this, they returned thanks to Joseph. So he went down from the temple, and treated Ptolemy’s ambassador in a hospitable manner. He also presented him with rich gifts, and feasted him magnificently for many days, and then sent him to the king before him, and told him that he would soon follow him; for he was now more willing to go to the king, by the encouragement of the ambassador, who earnestly persuaded him to come into Egypt, and promised him that he would take care that he should obtain every thing that he desired of Ptolemy; for he was highly pleased with his frank and liberal temper, and with the gravity of his deportment.  . . .

And when the day came on which the king was to let the taxes of the cities to farm, and those that were the principal men of dignity in their several countries were to bid for them, the sum of the taxes together, of Celesyria, and Phoenicia, and Judea, with Samaria, [as they were bidden for,] came to eight thousand talents. Hereupon Joseph accused the bidders, as having agreed together to estimate the value of the taxes at too low a rate; and he promised that he would himself give twice as much for them: but for those who did not pay, he would send the king home their whole substance; for this privilege was sold together with the taxes themselves. The king was pleased to hear that offer; and because it augmented his revenues, he said he would confirm the sale of the taxes to him.

[adapted from Whiston translation, http://www.ccel.org/j/josephus/works/]

1.6.2.        Tobias’s Gift of Slaves. Zenon papyrus

[Zenon papyrus no. 4 in CPJ 1:125-6, 257 BCE. A letter from Tobias, the wealthy and prominent Jewish supporter of Hellenism in Palestine, descendant of Nehemiah’s arch-enemy by the same name, and loyalist to the Ptolemaic rulers in Egypt, to Apollonios, finance minister of king Ptolemy II, 257 BCE.]

 

Tobias to Apollonios greeting. If you and all your affairs are flourishing, and everything else is as you wish it, many thanks to the gods! I too have been well, and have thought of you at all times, as was right.

I have sent to you Aineias bringing a eunuch and four boys, house-slaves and of good stock, two of whom are uncircumcised. I append descriptions of the boys for your information.

Goodbye. Year 29, Xandikos 10.

Haimos: About 10, dark skin, curly hair, black eyes, rather big jaws with moles on the right jaw, uncircumcised.

Atikos: about 8, light skin, curly hair, nose somewhat flat, black eyes, scar below the right eye, uncircumcised.

Audomos: about 10, black eyes, curly hair, nos flat, protruding lips, scar near the right eyebrow, circumcised.

Okaimos: about 7, round face, nose flat, grey eyes, fiery complexion, long straight hair, scar on forehead above the right eyebrow, circumcised.

 

[translation from CPJ 1:125-6]

[Note: that they were circumcised does not necessarily mean that the last two boys were Jewish]

1.7.       Seleucid Rule over Palestine: 201-152 BCE

1.7.1.        Coins of the Seleucids:

http://www.amuseum.org/book/page4.html

1.7.2.        Antiochus III. Josephus, Antiquities 12:129–130

[Antiochus III the Great, Greek ruler of Syria/Babylon, 223–187 BCE]

Now it happened that in the reign of Antiochus the Great, who ruled over all Asia, that the Jews, as well as the inhabitants of Coelesyria, suffered greatly, and their land was sorely harassed; for while he was at war with Ptolemy Philopater, and with his son, who was called Epiphanes, it fell out that these nations were equally sufferers, both when he was beaten, and when he beat the others: so that they were very like to a ship in a storm, which is tossed by the waves on both sides; and just thus were they in their situation in the middle between Antiochus’s prosperity and its change to adversity. But at length, when Antiochus had beaten Ptolemy, he seized upon Judea . . . [adapted from Whiston translation, http://www.ccel.org/j/josephus/works/]

1.7.3.        Edict of Antiochus III. Josephus, Antiquities 12:138–146

[Josephus cites a letter from King Antiochus III (223–187 BCE) concerning the Jews, ca. 198 BCE]

King Antiochus [III] to Ptolemy, greeting. “Since the Jews, upon our first entrance on their country, demonstrated their friendship towards us, and when we came to their city [Jerusalem], received us in a splendid manner, and came to meet us with their senate, and gave abundance of provisions to our soldiers, and to the elephants, and joined with us in ejecting the garrison of the Egyptians that were in the citadel, we have thought fit to reward them, and to retrieve the condition of their city, which hath been greatly depopulated by such accidents as have befallen its inhabitants, and to bring those that have been scattered abroad back to the city. And, in the first place, we have determined, on account of their piety towards God, to bestow on them, as a pension, for their sacrifices of animals that are fit for sacrifice, for wine, and oil, and frankincense, the value of twenty thousand pieces of silver, and [six] sacred artabrae of fine flour, with one thousand four hundred and sixty medimni of wheat, and three hundred and seventy-five medimni of salt. And these payments I would have fully paid them, as I have sent orders to you. I would also have the work about the temple finished, and the cloisters, and if there be any thing else that ought to be rebuilt. And for the materials of wood, let it be brought them out of Judea itself and out of the other countries, and out of Libanus tax free; and the same I would have observed as to those other materials which will be necessary, in order to render the temple more glorious; and let all of that nation live according to the laws of their own country; and let the senate [council of elders, or gerousia], and the priests, and the scribes of the temple, and the sacred singers, be discharged from poll-money and the crown tax and other taxes also. And that the city may the sooner recover its inhabitants, I grant a discharge from taxes for three years to its present inhabitants, and to such as shall come to it, until the month Hyperheretus. We also discharge them for the future from a third part of their taxes, that the losses they have sustained may be repaired. And all those citizens that have been carried away, and are become slaves, we grant them and their children their freedom, and give order that their substance be restored to them.”

 

And these were the contents of this epistle. He also published a decree through all his kingdom in honor of the temple, which contained what follows: “It shall be lawful for no foreigner to come within the limits of the temple round about; which thing is forbidden also to the Jews, unless to those who, according to their own custom, have purified themselves. Nor let any flesh of horses, or of mules, or of asses, he brought into the city, whether they be wild or tame; nor that of leopards, or foxes, or hares; and, in general, that of any animal which is forbidden for the Jews to eat. Nor let their skins be brought into it; nor let any such animal be bred up in the city. Let them only be permitted to use the sacrifices derived from their forefathers, with which they have been obliged to make acceptable atonements to God. And he that transgresseth any of these orders, let him pay to the priests three thousand drachmae of silver.”

[adapted from Whiston translation, http://www.ccel.org/j/josephus/works/]

1.7.4.        Hellenization of Jerusalem. 2 Maccabees 3-6

[The Jewish people were divided into pro-Hellenistic and anti-Hellenistic factions. Fighting broke out among the priestly classes over the prize of the high priesthood, a position of great wealth and power. Previously the high priesthood had been a hereditary office; now hopeful candidates bribed for it]

(RSV) 3:1  While the holy city was inhabited in unbroken peace and the laws were very well observed because of the piety of the high priest Onias and his hatred of wickedness,  2  it came about that the kings themselves honored the place and glorified the temple with the finest presents,  3  so that even Seleucus, the king of Asia, defrayed from his own revenues all the expenses connected with the service of the sacrifices.  4  But a man named Simon, of the tribe of Benjamin, who had been made captain of the temple, had a disagreement with the high priest about the administration of the city market;  5  and when he could not prevail over Onias he went to Apollonius of Tarsus, who at that time was governor of Coelesyria and Phoenicia.  6  He reported to him that the treasury in Jerusalem was full of untold sums of money, so that the amount of the funds could not be reckoned, and that they did not belong to the account of the sacrifices, but that it was possible for them to fall under the control of the king.  7  When Apollonius met the king, he told him of the money about which he had been informed. The king chose Heliodorus, who was in charge of his affairs, and sent him with commands to effect the removal of the aforesaid money. . .

24  But when he arrived at the treasury with his bodyguard, then and there the Sovereign of spirits and of all authority caused so great a manifestation that all who had been so bold as to accompany him were astounded by the power of God, and became faint with terror. . . .

4:1  The previously mentioned Simon, who had informed about the money against his own country, slandered Onias, saying that it was he who had incited Heliodorus and had been the real cause of the misfortune.  2  He dared to designate as a plotter against the government the man who was the benefactor of the city, the protector of his fellow countrymen, and a zealot for the laws.  3  When his hatred progressed to such a degree that even murders were committed by one of Simon’s approved agents,  4  Onias recognized that the rivalry was serious and that Apollonius, the son of Menestheus and governor of Coelesyria and Phoenicia, was intensifying the malice of Simon.  5  So he betook himself to the king, not accusing his fellow citizens but having in view the welfare, both public and private, of all the people.  6  For he saw that without the king’s attention public affairs could not again reach a peaceful settlement, and that Simon would not stop his folly.

7 When Seleucus [IV] died [175 BCE] and Antiochus [IV] who was called Epiphanes succeeded to the kingdom, Jason the brother of Onias [III] obtained the high priesthood by corruption, 8 promising the king at an interview three hundred and sixty talents of silver and, from another source of revenue, eighty talents. 9 In addition to this he promised to pay one hundred and fifty more if permission were given to establish by his authority a gymnasium and a body of youth for it, and to enrol the men of Jerusalem as citizens of Antioch. 10 When the king assented and Jason came to office, he at once shifted his countrymen over to the Greek way of life. 11 He set aside the existing royal concessions to the Jews, secured through John the father of Eupolemus, who went on the mission to establish friendship and alliance with the Romans; and he destroyed the lawful ways of living and introduced new customs contrary to the law. 12 For with alacrity he founded a gymnasium right under the citadel, and he induced the noblest of the young men to wear the Greek hat. 13 There was such an extreme of Hellenization and increase in the adoption of foreign ways because of the surpassing wickedness of Jason, who was ungodly and no high priest, 14 that the priests were no longer intent upon their service at the altar. Despising the sanctuary and neglecting the sacrifices, they hastened to take part in the unlawful proceedings in the wrestling arena after the call to the discus, 15 disdaining the honors prized by their fathers and putting the highest value upon Greek forms of prestige. 16 For this reason heavy disaster overtook them, and those whose ways of living they admired and wished to imitate completely became their enemies and punished them. 17 For it is no light thing to show irreverence to the divine laws — a fact which later events will make clear. . .

23 After a period of three years Jason sent Menelaus, the brother of the previously mentioned Simon, to carry the money to the king and to complete the records of essential business. 24 But he, when presented to the king, extolled him with an air of authority, and secured the high priesthood for himself, outbidding Jason by three hundred talents of silver. 25 After receiving the king’s orders he returned, possessing no qualification for the high priesthood, but having the hot temper of a cruel tyrant and the rage of a savage wild beast. 26 So Jason, who after supplanting his own brother was supplanted by another man, was driven as a fugitive into the land of Ammon. 27 And Menelaus held the office, but he did not pay regularly any of the money promised to the king. . . .

5:11 When news of what had happened reached the king, he took it to mean that Judea was in revolt. So, raging inwardly, he left Egypt and took the city by storm. 12 And he commanded his soldiers to cut down relentlessly every one they met and to slay those who went into the houses. 13 Then there was killing of young and old, destruction of boys, women, and children, and slaughter of virgins and infants. 14 Within the total of three days eighty thousand were destroyed, forty thousand in hand-to-hand fighting; and as many were sold into slavery as were slain.

15 Not content with this, Antiochus dared to enter the most holy temple in all the world, guided by Menelaus, who had become a traitor both to the laws and to his country. 16 He took the holy vessels with his polluted hands, and swept away with profane hands the votive offerings which other kings had made to enhance the glory and honor of the place. 17 Antiochus was elated in spirit, and did not perceive that the Lord was angered for a little while because of the sins of those who dwelt in the city, and that therefore he was disregarding the holy place. 18 But if it had not happened that they were involved in many sins, this man would have been scourged and turned back from his rash act as soon as he came forward, just as Heliodorus was, whom Seleucus the king sent to inspect the treasury. 19 But the Lord did not choose the nation for the sake of the holy place, but the place for the sake of the nation. 20 Therefore the place itself shared in the misfortunes that befell the nation and afterward participated in its benefits; and what was forsaken in the wrath of the Almighty was restored again in all its glory when the great Lord became reconciled. . .

6:1 Not long after this, the king sent an Athenian senator to compel the Jews to forsake the laws of their fathers and cease to live by the laws of God, 2 and also to pollute the temple in Jerusalem and call it the temple of Olympian Zeus, and to call the one in Gerizim the temple of Zeus the Friend of Strangers, as did the people who dwelt in that place.

3 Harsh and utterly grievous was the onslaught of evil. 4 For the temple was filled with debauchery and reveling by the Gentiles, who dallied with harlots and had intercourse with women within the sacred precincts, and besides brought in things for sacrifice that were unfit. 5 The altar was covered with abominable offerings which were forbidden by the laws. 6 A man could neither keep the sabbath, nor observe the feasts of his fathers, nor so much as confess himself to be a Jew. [RSV]

1.7.5.        Antiochus IV Epiphanes. 1 Maccabees 1:1-64

(RSV) After Alexander son of Philip, the Macedonian, who came from the land of Kittim, had defeated Darius, king of the Persians and the Medes, he succeeded him as king. (He had previously become king of Greece.) 2 He fought many battles, conquered strongholds, and put to death the kings of the earth. 3 He advanced to the ends of the earth, and plundered many nations. When the earth became quiet before him, he was exalted, and his heart was lifted up. 4 He gathered a very strong army and ruled over countries, nations, and princes, and they became tributary to him.

5 After this he fell sick and perceived that he was dying. 6 So he summoned his most honored officers, who had been brought up with him from youth, and divided his kingdom among them while he was still alive. 7 And after Alexander had reigned twelve years, he died.

8 Then his officers began to rule, each in his own place. 9 They all put on crowns after his death, and so did their sons after them for many years; and they caused many evils on the earth.

10 From them came forth a sinful root, Antiochus Epiphanes, son of Antiochus the king; he had been a hostage in Rome. He began to reign in the one hundred and thirty-seventh year of the kingdom of the Greeks.

11 In those days lawless men came forth from Israel, and misled many, saying, “Let us go and make a covenant with the Gentiles round about us, for since we separated from them many evils have come upon us.” 12 This proposal pleased them, 13 and some of the people eagerly went to the king. He authorized them to observe the ordinances of the Gentiles. 14 So they built a gymnasium in Jerusalem, according to Gentile custom, 15 and removed the marks of circumcision, and abandoned the holy covenant. They joined with the Gentiles and sold themselves to do evil.

16 When Antiochus saw that his kingdom was established, he determined to become king of the land of Egypt, that he might reign over both kingdoms. 17 So he invaded Egypt with a strong force, with chariots and elephants and cavalry and with a large fleet. 18 He engaged Ptolemy king of Egypt in battle, and Ptolemy turned and fled before him, and many were wounded and fell. 19 And they captured the fortified cities in the land of Egypt, and he plundered the land of Egypt.

20 After subduing Egypt, Antiochus returned in the one hundred and forty-third year. He went up against Israel and came to Jerusalem with a strong force. 21 He arrogantly entered the sanctuary and took the golden altar, the lampstand for the light, and all its utensils. 22 He took also the table for the bread of the Presence, the cups for drink offerings, the bowls, the golden censers, the curtain, the crowns, and the gold decoration on the front of the temple; he stripped it all off. 23 He took the silver and the gold, and the costly vessels; he took also the hidden treasures which he found. 24 Taking them all, he departed to his own land.

He committed deeds of murder,

and spoke with great arrogance.

25 Israel mourned deeply in every community,

26 rulers and elders groaned,

maidens and young men became faint,

the beauty of women faded.

27 Every bridegroom took up the lament;

she who sat in the bridal chamber was mourning.

28 Even the land shook for its inhabitants,

and all the house of Jacob was clothed with shame.

29 Two years later the king sent to the cities of Judah a chief collector of tribute, and he came to Jerusalem with a large force. 30 Deceitfully he spoke peaceable words to them, and they believed him; but he suddenly fell upon the city, dealt it a severe blow, and destroyed many people of Israel. 31 He plundered the city, burned it with fire, and tore down its houses and its surrounding walls. 32 And they took captive the women and children, and seized the cattle. 33 Then they fortified the city of David with a great strong wall and strong towers, and it became their citadel. 34 And they stationed there a sinful people, lawless men. These strengthened their position; 35 they stored up arms and food, and collecting the spoils of Jerusalem they stored them there, and became a great snare.

36 It became an ambush against the sanctuary,

an evil adversary of Israel continually.

37 On every side of the sanctuary they shed innocent blood;

they even defiled the sanctuary.

38 Because of them the residents of Jerusalem fled;

she became a dwelling of strangers;

she became strange to her offspring,

and her children forsook her.

39 Her sanctuary became desolate as a desert;

her feasts were turned into mourning,

her sabbaths into a reproach,

her honor into contempt.

40 Her dishonor now grew as great as her glory;

her exaltation was turned into mourning.

41 Then the king wrote to his whole kingdom that all should be one people, 42 and that each should give up his customs. 43 All the Gentiles accepted the command of the king. Many even from Israel gladly adopted his religion; they sacrificed to idols and profaned the sabbath. 44 And the king sent letters by messengers to Jerusalem and the cities of Judah; he directed them to follow customs strange to the land, 45 to forbid burnt offerings and sacrifices and drink offerings in the sanctuary, to profane sabbaths and feasts, 46 to defile the sanctuary and the priests, 47 to build altars and sacred precincts and shrines for idols, to sacrifice swine and unclean animals, 48 and to leave their sons uncircumcised. They were to make themselves abominable by everything unclean and profane, 49 so that they should forget the law and change all the ordinances. 50 “And whoever does not obey the command of the king shall die.”

51 In such words he wrote to his whole kingdom. And he appointed inspectors over all the people and commanded the cities of Judah to offer sacrifice, city by city. 52 Many of the people, every one who forsook the law, joined them, and they did evil in the land; 53 they drove Israel into hiding in every place of refuge they had.

54 Now on the fifteenth day of Chislev, in the one hundred and forty-fifth year, they erected a desolating sacrilege upon the altar of burnt offering. They also built altars in the surrounding cities of Judah, 55 and burned incense at the doors of the houses and in the streets. 56 The books of the law which they found they tore to pieces and burned with fire. 57 Where the book of the covenant was found in the possession of any one, or if any one adhered to the law, the decree of the king condemned him to death. 58 They kept using violence against Israel, against those found month after month in the cities. 59 And on the twenty-fifth day of the month they offered sacrifice on the altar which was upon the altar of burnt offering. 60 According to the decree, they put to death the women who had their children circumcised, 61 and their families and those who circumcised them; and they hung the infants from their mothers necks.

62 But many in Israel stood firm and were resolved in their hearts not to eat unclean food. 63 They chose to die rather than to be defiled by food or to profane the holy covenant; and they did die. 64 And very great wrath came upon Israel. [RSV]

1.7.6.        Jerusalem as Polis (pictures)

[Jewish modernizers favored embracing Hellenistic culture, and set about transforming Jerusalem into a Greek polis]

http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~dfalk/courses/ejud/jerusalem_hell.htm