2nd TEMPLE HISTORY (appr 530 BCE - 70 CE) Ben Witherington III TJQ 219 (Exp. I)
In 187 Antiochus III was killed, and was succeeded by his son Seleucus IV (187-175), who was assassinated and succeeded by his brother Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175-163) whose rule became critical for the people of Israel. His policies led to Jewish revolt.
The tension at first centered around the high priesthood. The legitimate high priest for centuries had been of Zodakite lineage. When Antiochus Epiphanes became king, the high priest was Onias III. But rivalry developed between two families, the Oniads (who were a priestly family and pro-Ptolemaic) and the Tobiads (an aristocratic lay family pro-Seleucid and hellenist). Onias III's brother, Jason, an Oniad (but Tobiad ally and member of the Jewish hellenist party) bribed his way into the office of high priest and had himself appointed by Antiochus Epiphanes in 175. This brought a pro-hellenist into the high priesthood itself, but still an Oniad and Zadokite. Jason carried out many hellenist reforms in Jerusalem, which virtually became a Greek city with a gymnasium.
Three years later, in 172, Menelaus (Greek for Menahem) bribed his way to the high priesthood and Antiochus appointed him to replace Jason. Menelaus was neither Oniad, nor Zadokite, but a Tobiad and extreme pro-hellenist. The Tobiads were an aristocratic Jewish family, originally based in Amman, who had compromised their Jewish religion with Greek life. Antiochus’ finances were in bad shape and Menelaus (hellenistic sympathyser as he was) did not stand in the way of Antiochus’ confiscating funds from the Temple in Jerusalem to pay debts.
During Antiochus' invasion of Egypt in 168, the situation became worse. Antiochus was irritated by a command from Rome to return home. Hearing about opposition in Jerusalem, he sent a commander in 167 to enforce his policies. Because of resistance, the city was partly destroyed, walls torn down, people enslaved, and a military Greek citadel called the Acra was established. The cult of Zeus was introduced into the Temple “the abomination of desolation” mentioned in Daniel (Dn 9:27, 11:31, 12:1).
Loyal and pious Jews, the Hasidim, organized resistance (I Mc 1:42, 7:13; 2 Mc 16:6). In the village of Modein, northwest of Jerusalem, Mattathias of the Hasmonean * family was living with and his five sons (John, Simon, Judas, Eleazar and Jonathan).
Mattathias was asked by an officer to offer sacrifices to a pagan god. He refused, killed a fellow Jew who was trying to do so, then killed the officer. He and his sons and some of the Hasidim fled to the hills. The revolt had begun (I Mc 2:19-28). Shortly thereafter Mattathias died, and his third son, Judas called Maccabeus (the hammer), continued the revolution. This became known as the MACCABEEAN WAR.
Antiochus was preoccupied with other problems. Within a couple of years, Judas took control of Jerusalem, cleansed the Temple (1 Mc 4:36-59) and in 164 the Temple was rededicated. Since then the feast of Hanukkah or Dedication has commemorated the event (which Jesus observed in John 10:17). This was the beginning of the Hasmonean period, the dynasty that came after Mattathias’ leadership, and brought a period of Jewish independence.
Antiochus Epiphanes died in 163. At that time the Jews were divided between the Hasidim and the hellenizers who sought Syrian Seleucid interventions. This aggravated the situation of independence. But the Seleucid leaders were burdened with other problems and the Jews were granted religious liberty.
Conflict continued, now no longer simply for religious freedom but rather for political supremacy within Judaism. Practically speaking, Judas was the leader of the Jewish people. Later, in opposition to the appointment of the hellenist Alcimus to replace Menelaus as high priest, Judas once again defeated the Seleucids in a battle in which the Seleucid general was killed. The Seleucid response, however, led to a Jewish defeat and the death of Judas in 161 BCE
With the death of Judas, the Maccabean party was defeated, and the hellenist Alcimus remained high priest. Jonathan, the brother of Judas, was now chosen as leader (161-143). Another brother, John, was attacked and killed while attempting to transport their personal belongings out of the country. Later, in 160, Alcimus died. Jonathan consolidated his power. Hellenist Jews sought intervention but the Seleucid leadership made peace with Jonathan and the Maccabees remained in control. By 153 Jonathan was appointed high priest and so his party became politically and religiously supreme. Jonathan sought, however, complete liberation from the Seleucid empire and lay seige to the Syrian garrison, the Acra, still in Jerusalem. In a later battle with the Syrians, Jonathan was imprisoned and murdered. Simon, his brother, took over, the last left of the five brothers. (Eleazar had been killed in an earlier battle while Judas was still in charge.) Under Simon the goal of Jonathan was completely accomplished, the Acra defeated, and the Jewish people became completely indepen-dent in 142. In the third year of his reign, Simon's ranks were made hereditary by the people, and a new hereditary high priesthood came into existence. Simon, however, died violently, murdered along with two of his sons by a plot on the part of a power-seeking son-in-law.
The royal and priestly offices had been declared hereditary for Simon, and so his third and surviving son succeeded him. With Simon, the rule of the Maccabees ended, and with his son John Hyrcanus I (135-104), the Hasmonean dynasty proper began. The Syrian empire became increasingly weak; Judea was able to maintain its independence.
Hyrcanus I left five sons, and was succeeded by his eldest, Aristobulus, who ruled for a year (104-103), and who had put his mother in prison to prevent the rule from passing to her. Aristobulus' rule no longer reflected Maccabean spirit; Greek culture became favored. When Aristobulus died, his brothers whom he had also imprisoned were released. The eldest was Alexander Jannaeus (103-76). His rule was marked by war, expansion, and alienation from a growing and popular party, the Pharisees. Upon his death, his wife, Alexandra Salome, ruled (76-67) with their eldest son, Hyrcanus, as high priest, years during which she overcame the Hasmonean estrangement from the Pharisees. Upon her death her sons Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II contended for the throne. The end result was the Roman occupation by Pompey in 63 BCE. Aristobulus II was taken prisoner. Hyrcanus II was recognized as high priest but not king.
The seventy year interlude of Jewish independence had ended. From approximately 142 BCE until 63 CE there had been a fairly independent Hasmonean Jewish state. Such independence would not exist again until the twentieth century.
The Roman Period (63 BCE-324 CE)
63 BCE Capture of Jerusalem by Pompey
49 BCE Crossing of the Rubicon by Julius Caesar
48 BCE Death of Pompey
44 BCE Assassination of Julius Caesar
42 BCE Defeat of Brutus and Cassius by Antonius and Octavian
37-4 BCE Reign of Herod the Great in Palestine
27 BCE-14 CE Reign of Augustus (Octavian) as Emperor of Rome
6 CE Beginning of the Rule of Roman Procurators in Judea
70 CE Destruction of Jerusalem and the Second Temple by Titus
132-135 CE Second Jewish Revolt of Bar Cochba
The traditional date for the founding of the Roman Republic was 510 BCE, about the same time as the beginning of post-exilic and Second Tempe Judaism. By the middle of the third century, while the Prolemies were in control of Palestine, Rome was in control of all of Italy and emerging as a world power. In 146 BCE Rome finally destroyed Carthage and thus controlled the western Mediterranean including Spain. Rome expanded toward the east. Macedonia had become a Roman province in the mid second century, (c.148 BCE), Greece became a Roman protectorate after 146, supervised from Macedonia. In 133 Pergamum came under Roman control and Rome had a foothold in Asia. By 62 BCE Pompey had helped to stabilize the eastern frontiers of Rome. In 63 he had taken control of Jerusalem.
Pompey in the East and Julius Caesar in the West were the rivals as Palestine came under Rome's dominion, and they were the contenders for power in Rome’s First Civil War which brought the Republic to a close. In 49 BCE Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon and became dictator. Pompey was defeated. After Pompey's death in 48 BCE Hyrcanus II and an old friend, [Herod] Antipater, (who was half Jewish and from Idumea or southern Palestine) befriended Julius Caesar, who in turn treated them well, establishing Hyrcanus II as ethnarch with some political authority and Antipater as procurator of Judea. Antipater had two of his Idumean sons, Phasael and Herod, appointed to positions, the former over Jerusalem and the latter over Galilee. In 43 BCE Antipater was poisoned. On March 15, 44 BCE, Caesar had been assassinated. Mark Antony moved against the conspirators and Brutus fled to Macedonia and Cassius to Syria. Both were defeated in 42 BCE at Philippi by Antony and Octavian, and Antony became ruler in the East and Octavian, Caesar's adoptive nephew, in the West. Antony was won over by Herod, Phasael, and Hyrcanus. A Parthian invasion led to Phasael's and Hyrcanus imprisonment. Herod escaped, made his way to Rome, won the favor of Octavian, and was declared by the Roman senate to be king of Judea. With Rome's support, he established himself within three years in Palestine.
Herod sought the favor of Rome, first of Antony and then of Octavian, and knew enough to rely upon it. He began his rule with many enemies. The Pharisees and the people only tolerated him, since he was only half Jewish and was a friend of the Romans. In 32 BCE war broke out between Antony and Octavian, and in 31 BCE, Antony was defeated at Actium off the west coast of Greece. Having returned to Alexandria, both Antony and Cleopatra committed suicide. Herod had consistently sought the approval of Antony, and now had to regain the confidence of Octavian. Herod built palaces and fortresses, new cities with theatres and racetracks. In Jerusalem he had built for himself a lavish fortified palace (c. 24 BCE ) and a theatre, as well as having rebuilt the fortress north of the Temple which he named the Antonia in honor of Antony. The old site of Samaria was built up as a Roman city and named Sebaste.
In 22 BCE he began a new city on the coast which took twelve years to build and which he named Caesarea. He named two new fortresses after himself, the Herodia, and he restored and improved others, e.g., Machaerus east of the Dead Sea and Masada on the western shore, which he furnished with luxurious palaces. He also began to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem since the Temple constructed under Zerubbabel (appr 520 BCE) and rededicated by the Macchaees, no longer was in harmony with the new magnificent buildings of his Herodian Jerusalem. To support his projects and campaigns, Herod imposed heavy taxes.
Herod lacked any strong interest in Judaism itself. He tended to promote Graeco-Roman culture, and yet remained conscious of the popularity of the Pharisees and other Jewish nationals. His many fortresses, new ones, restored ones, improved ones, were likely placed to protect him not only from foreign foe but also from domestic conspiracy and resentment over his increasing despotism. He decidedly had the favor of Rome and Augustus, who expanded territory and allowed him the title of king, a title that no one within the Roman Empire could use without the approval of emperor and senate. The title was granted only to individuals and was not hereditary. Usually lesser titles, like tetrarch, were given.
The last years of Herod's rule were filled with family problems, jealousy, and plots. He changed his will several times, and in his final will named Archelaus king, Archelaus being the older son of a Samaritan wife, Malthace; and he named his son Antipas tetrarch of Galilee and Perea; and Philip, the son of a different wife tetrarch of northeastern territories.
Herod died, hated in his own home, in 4 BCE, of an illness which had plagued him the last few years of his life. During his reign Jesus of Nazareth had been born. This Herod, called the Great, must be distinguished from his son, Antipas, known as Herod Antipas, who ruled as tetrarch in Galilee, the Herod who ruled during most of the lifetime of Jesus. Both Antipas and Archelaus plotted against each other and pleaded for their causes in Rome, but Augustus decided in favor of the final will of Herod, except that the title of king was not given. Archelaus was made ethnarch the other two tetrarchs. Judea, Samaria, and Idumea fell under the rule of Archelaus; Galilee and Perea under Antipas; Batanea, Trachonitis, Auranitis, Gaulanitis, and Paneas under Philip.
Jesus grew up and preached around Capernaum within the territory of Herod Antipas, but also passed to places like the Caesarea and Bethsaida in the tetrarchy of Philip, and when he went to Jerusalem was within still another political district.
Philip was tetrarch from 4 BCE until 34 CE. The people in Philip's territory were predominantly non-Jewish. They were Syrian and Greek. Philip himself, unlike the others, seems to have been a respected ruler. He rebuilt Paneas (today Banyas) at the source of the Jordan, north of the Lake of Galilee, and named it Caesarea Philippi, not to be confused with Herod the Great's famous Caesarea on the Mediterranean. Philip also rebuilt Bethsaida.
Herod Antipas was tetrarch from 4 BCE until 39 CE (frequently called simply Herod despite the resulting confusion with his father). His districts were broken into two, Perea and Galilee. Young Herod Antipas took after his father, ambitious and clever. Jesus called him "that fox" (Lk 13:32). Like his father and like the other Herods, Antipas was a builder. His most splendid project was a new capital at one of the more beautiful places in Galilee, on the western side of the lake, which he named Tiberias for it had been built during the reign of Tiberius.
Archelaus was ethnarch from 4 BCE until 6 CE. Of all Herod the Great's sons, Archelaus seems to have been the worst. His rule extended to Judea, Samaria, and Idumea. He too was a builder. His reign was so corrupt that a Jewish and Samaritan deputation to Rome accomplished his dismissal and banishment to Gaul in 6 CE Antipas and Philip may have been a part of the delegation. After that, his territory was placed directly under Roman rule with a Roman governor of its own.
Thus in the adult days of Jesus, Galilee was under Herod Antipas and Judea under more direct Roman governance.
Roman Procurators
The ordinary title for a Roman ruler of the equestrian rank was that of procurator, which also indicated one of his major responsibilities, finances. In extreme situations the Roman procurators in Judea were subordinate to the governor of Syria. The procurator of Judea did not reside in Jerusalem but at Caesarea Maritima (Herod the Great's Caesarea). On special occasions, such as the major Jewish feasts when special surveillance was necessary, the procurator left Caesarea and resided at Herod's palace on the west side in Jerusalem. From 26-36 CE the procurator was Pontius Pilate. In addition to the financial administration, the procurator also commanded the troops and had judicial authority.
Within administrative, financial, military, and judicial limits, the Jews were self-governing. After Archelaus, during the period of the procurators, the Jewish aristocratic Sanhedrin was also a governing body. The procurator was overseer, but in many affairs the Jews were left to themselves. The high priest was president of the Sanhedrin, but the high priest was appointed by the Romans (at least until 41 CE). The Sanhedrin and the procurator both governed. Jewish courts made decisions according to Jewish law, even in criminal matters.
* The word Hasmonean is derived from Asamoneus, the father of Mattathias according to Josephus. The name Maccabees usually refers to Mattathlas and his sons, and Hasmoneans to their descendants from 135-63 BCE(72yrs), beginning with John Hyrcanus 1, son of Simon. The Maccabean and Hasmonean rulers were:
Judas Maccabeus 164-161
Jonathan 161-143/ 142
Simon 143/ 142-135/ 134
John Hyrcanus I 135/134-104
Aristobulus I 104 103
Alexander Jannaeus 103-76
(Queen) Alexandra 76-67
Aristobulus II 67-63
In 63 BCE Pompey took Jerusalem.
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