Jason with Antiochus by a promise of 300 talents in addition to the tribute which Jason
had paid. Accordingly, Menelaus was appointed High-Priest. In the expressive language
of the time: 'he came, bringing nothing worthy of the High-Priesthood, but having the
fury of a cruel tyrant and the rage of a savage beast' (2 Macc. iv. 25). In the conflict for
the Pontificate, which now ensued, Menelaus conquered by the help of the Syrians. A
terrible pe riod of internal misrule and external troubles followed. Menelaus and his
associates cast off every restraint, and even plundered the Temple of some of its precious
vessels. Antiochus, who had regarded the resistance to his nominee as rebellion against
himself, took fearful vengeance by slaughter of the inhabitants of Jerusalem and pillage
of the Temple. But this was not all. When checked in his advance against Egypt, by the
peremptory mandate of Rome, Antiochus made up for his disappointment by an
expedition against Judĉa, of which the avowed object was to crush the people and to
sweep away Judaism. The horrors which now ensued are equally recorded in the Books
of the Maccabees, by Josephus, and in Jewish tradition. 12 All sacrifices, the service of the
Temp le, and the observance of the Sabbath and of feast-days were prohibited; the Temple
at Jerusalem was dedicated to Jupiter Olympius; the Holy Scriptures were searched for
and destroyed; the Jews forced to take part in heathen rites; a small heathen altar wa s
reared on the great altar of burnt -offering - in short, every insult was heaped on the
religion of the Jews, and its every trace was to be swept away. The date of the final
profanation of the Temple was the 25th Chislev (corresponding to our December) - the
same on which, after its purification by Judas Maccabee,13 its services were restored, the
same on which the Christian Church celebrates the dedication of a better Temple, that of
the Holy Ghost in the Incarnation of Jesus Christ.
12. Besides Talmudic and Midrashic notices, we here refer to that most interesting and
ancient Megillath Taanith, or 'Rolls of Fasts,' of which a translation is given in Appendix
V. The passages bearing on this period are collected in Derenbourg , Hist. de la Palestine,
pp. 59 -63, although his reference to that on the 28th of Adar is at least open to
controversy.
13. The designation 'Maccabee' was originally given to Judas (1 Macc. ii. 4, 66; iii. 1; v.
24, 34). The name was, like that of Charles Martel, probably derived from βθµ, or in
Chaldee )βθµ, a hammer. Comp. Josippon ben Gorion, iii, 9. 7 (ed. Breithaupt , p. 200) -
only that he writes the name with a κ, and not a θ.
But the relentless persecution, which searched for its victims in every part of the land,
also called fort h a deliverer in the person of Mattathias. The story of the glorious rising
and final deliverance of the country under the Maccabees or Asmonĉans, as they are
always called in Jewish writings,14 is sufficiently known. Only the briefest outline of it
can he re be attempted. Mattathias died before it came to any actual engagement with the
Syrians, but victory after victory attended the arms of his son, Judas the Maccabee, till at
last the Temple could be purified and its services restored, exactly three years after its
desecration (25 Chislev, 165 b.c.). The rule of the Jewish hero lasted other five years,
which can scarcely be described as equally successful with the beginning of his
administration. The first two years were occupied in fortifying strong positions and
chastising those hostile heathen border-tribes which harassed Judĉa. Towards the close
of the year 164 Antiochus Epiphanes died. But his successor, or rather Lysias, who
administered the kingdom during his minority, was not content to surrender Palestine