nantly reproved the nobles for the profanation of the Sabbath for
gain, as the sin which had brought the wrath of God upon their fa-
thers. In the cities of Judah wine-presses were trodden on the
holy day, and the gates of Jerusalem were crowded with Tyrian
B.C. 536-400. NEHEMIAH'S SECOND MISSION. 221
and other merchants, who carried in the supplies of luxury for a
great city. Nehemiah had the city gates shut from dusk till the end
of the Sabbath, and guarded by his servants. His last reform dealt
with the old evil of mixed marriages, which had been carried to
such an extent that children were heard talking in a dialect half
Jewish and half in the language of Ashdod. He here records &
tou :h of that vehemence of temper which has marked many : re-
former : "and I contended with them" (the parents, not the chil-
dren), "and reviled them, and smote certain of them, and plucked
off their hair." Thus he forced them to take an oath to make no
more such marriages for their children. He deposed the high-
priest's grandson for his marriage with the daughter of Sanballat
(Neh. xiii.).
It remains to say a few words of the prophet whose book ends
the Scriptures of the Old Covenant, and who is thence called by the
Jews " the seal of the prophets." MALACHI (contracted from Ma-
lachijah, i. e., the Angel or messenger of Jehovah) closes the Canon
of the Jewish Scriptures with words rendered doubly impressive by
our entire ignorance of his personal history. Like the first prophet
of the New Covenant, whose preaching is an echo of his warnings,
he is simply " the voice of one crying in the wilderness," and preach-
ing repentance from flagrant sin as the one indispensable prelimina-
ry to the reception of the expected Messiah. In this view his proph-
ecy links the Old Covenant with the New ; and the connection is
made closer by his prediction of the coming of John the Baptist as
the Elijah of the new dispensation, and the forerunner of the An-
gel Jehovah, the messenger of the Covenant. We have but to
read the prophet's denunciation of rulers, priests, and people, to see
that he is describing present evils, and not merely predicting some
future declension. These descriptions serve to fix the date of the
prophecy. They agree so exactly with the state of things which
Nehemiah found on the occasion of his last visit to Jerusalem that
the prophecy may be safely referred either to that period or to a
second declension, which soon followed the reforms of Nehemiah.
The latter is the more probable, as Nehemiah does not mention the
prophet. In any case, the date of Malachi falls before the end of
this century (B.C. 400) ; and it is not at all impossible that Ezra,
if he was really the author of the Scripture Canon, may have lived
long enough to include in it the Book of Malachi as well as that of
Nehemiah.
View of the Lake of Antioch.
PART II.
CONNECTION OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS.
FROM THE CLOSE OP THE OLD TESTAMENT CANON TO THE
DEATH OF HEROD THE GREAT. B.C. 400 TO B.C. 4.
CHAPTER XIX.
RECOVERY OF JEWISH INDEPENDENCE.
PROM THE CLOSE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY TO THE
DEATH OF JOHN HYRCANUS. B.C. 400-106.
THE interval of four centuries, from the close of the records of
the Old Covenant to the events which heralded the birth of Jesus
Christ, may be divided into four periods : the continuance of the
Persian dominion, till B.C. 331 ; the Greek Empire in Asia, B.C.
B.C. 400-106. RECOVERY OF INDEPENDENCE. 223
331-167 ; the independence of Judaea under the Asmonaean princes,
B.C. 167-63; and the rule of the house of Herod, commencing in
B.C. 40, and extending beyond the Christian era to the destruction
of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. The last two periods also include the re-
lations of Judaa to Rome. There is little that possesses any great
intrinsic interest, except the struggle of the Maccabees for religion
and liberty against Antiochus Epiphanes ; but the whole period de-
mands our notice as a preparation for understanding the state in
which we find the Jews at the opening of the New Testament, their
moral and political condition, their views and opinions, their sects
and parties.
The first two of these periods a space just equal to that from the
death of Elizabeth to the accession of Victoria form almost a blank
in the history of the Jews. They seem to have been content to de-
velop their internal resources and their religious institutions under
the mild government of Persia. We can not decide how far the
princes of Judah retained any remnant of their patriarchal authori-
ty ; but from the time of Nehemiah the HIGH-PRIEST became the
most important person in the state ; and the internal government
grew more and more of a hierarchy. Tradition says that there was,
from the epoch of the return, a Council of 120 members, called the
"Great Synagogue," of which Ezra was the first president (comp.
Nch. viii. 13). The high-priests from the time of Nehemiah to tho
end of the empire under Darius Codomannus were Eliashib, Joiada,
Jonathan (or Johanan), and Jaddua.
In this period only two events need be recorded. The murder
of Joshua (Jesus) in the temple by his brother, the high-priest Jona-
than (about B.C. 367), was the first of a series of like crimes, which
brought the state to anarchy. To the time of the Persian rule be-
longs also the building of the temple on Mount Gerizim for tho
schismatic worship of the Samaritans ; but the exact time and cir-
cumstances of its erection are doubtful. It was to this sanctuary,
us well as to the ancient sacrifices of the patriarchs at Shechcm, that
the Samaritan woman referred in the words "Our fathers wor-
shipped in this mountain" (John iv. 20). This net of schism brought
the hostility of the Jews and Samaritans to a climax ; and Samario
was henceforth more separated from Judasa than even " Galilee of
the Gentiles," where some scattered remnants of the Ten Tribes
preserved the knowledge of Jehovah, and came up to worship at
the new temple at Jerusalem.
JADDUA is the last high-priest mentioned in the Old Testmnent
(Neh. xii. 11, 22). During his pontificate, the Persian Empire wan
overthrown by "the great Emathian conqueror;" and the Jewish
historian Josephua tells a romantic but improbable story of an in
224 SCRIPTURE HISTORY. CHAP. XIX.
tervicw between Alexander and Jaddua at Jerusalem. At all
events, Alexander seems to have granted the Jews special privi-
leges, while he -severely chastised a rebellion of the Samaritans.
He removed a large number of Jews to his new city of Alexandria,
in Egypt. The Macedonian conquest brought Judaea, with the rest
of the Eastern world, under the influence of the Greek language and
Greek ideas ; and the contest of the old religious patriotism with
these influences formed for a long time her chief history. At fiist
the contest was maintained under favorable circumstances.
Just as the Macedonian conquest was completed, Jaddua was
succeeded by his son ONIAS I. (B.C. 330-309 or 300). In the wars
of succession, which ensued on the death of Alexander (B.C. 323),
Palestine was claimed as a part of Syria. But in B.C. 320, PTOLE-
MY, the son of Lagus, the governor of Egypt, took Jerusalem on a
Sabbath, when the Jews would make no resistance; and, after the
decisive battle of Ipsus, it was made a part of his kingdom of Egypt
(B.C. 301). There, by the title of PTOLEMY I. SOTER, he founded
the Dynasty of the Ptolemies, which lasted till the death of Cleopa-
tra in B.C. 30. Under him the Jewish population in Africa, al-
ready considerable, was strengthened by the removal of many Jews
and Samaritans to Egypt and Gyrene. Beneath the mild govern-
ment of the first five Ptolemies, Judaea enjoyed a century of high
prosperity (B.C. 300-198). To this period belongs the splendid
high-priesthood of SIMON I. THE JUST (B.C. 300-292), whose praise
is celebrated by Jesus, the son of Sirach (Ecclesiasticus 1.). The
long and tranquil rule of his brother ELEAZAR (B.C. 292-251) was
nearly contemporary with the reign of Ptolemy II. Philadelphus
/^(B.C. 285-247), who caused the Jewish Scriptures to be translated
/ into the Greek version called the SEPTUAGINT, from its 70 (or 72)
( translators. This formed a new link between Jews and Greeks.
Shortly after this, the old rivalry between Western Asia and
Egypt was revived by their Greek kings, the Seleucida? of Syria and
the Ptolemies, whose long wars for the possession of Phoenicia,
Ccele-Syria, and Palestine, had been prophesied by Daniel (xi.,
xii.). The Syrian kingdom reached its climax under ANTIOCHUS
III. THE GREAT; and he was marching to invade Egypt, when he
suffered a great defeat from Ptolemy IV. Philopator, at Raphia,
near Gaza, the very battle-field where Sargon had routed the forces
of Egypt and Ethiopia five centuries before (B.C. 718). From tho
field of his victory Ptolemy went to Jerusalem, and dared to enter
the Holy of Holies, whence he is said to have been driven out by
a supernatural terror. He avenged his repulse by a persecution
of the Jews at Alexandria, which alienated the whole nation from
figypf^ and prepared them to see a deliverer in the rival king.
B.C. 400-106. EGYPT AND SYRIA. 225
Within another twenty years the change of masters came. The
infancy of Ptolemy V. Epiphanes gave Antiochus the opportunity
of recovering Ccele-Syria and Palestine (B.C. 198), which were for-
mally added to his dominions by his treaty with Rome (B.C. 188).
From this time the Greek party among the Jews grew stronger and
stronger, headed by Joshua, the brother of the high-priest ONIAS
III., who assumed the Greek name of JASON. On the arrival of
ANTIOCHUS IV. EpiPiiANKS 1 from Rome, to take possession of his
kingdom, he was met at Antioch by Onias and Jason (B.C. 175).
The latter obtained his brother's deposition and his own appoint-
ment as high-priest ; and forthwith began the open introduction of
Greek customs at Jerusalem, and among them the exercises of the
palaestra. Three years later Jason was supplanted by Menelaus
(B.C. 172), who, while exasperating the Jews by new sacrileges, led
the king to believe them rebels.
Just at this time Antiochus made a fresh attack on the young
king Ptolemy VI. Philometor. During his second campaign in
Egypt (B.C. 170) a report was spread of his death ; and Jason, at-
tacking Jerusalem at the head of 1000 Ammonites, drove out Men-
elaus. Fleeing to Antiochus, in Egypt, Menelaus represented Je-
rusalem as in open revolt. The king returned in fury, stormed
and sacked the city, profaned, polluted, and pillaged the temple.
Two years later he came again to Jerusalem, still more infuriated
by his forced withdrawal from Egypt at the order of the Roman?
(B.C. 168). But this time he assumed the show of friendship till
the Sabbath came, and a frightful massacre was made of the unre-
sisting people. Then followed one of the severest persecutions re-
corded in the history of religion, under the specious authority of an
edict for uniformity of worship throughout the king's dominions;
for Antiochus was a fanatical supporter of the Greek religion.
The details are to be read in the two "Books of Maccabees,"
which alone among the historical books of the APOCRYPHA possess
real value. The favorite test of conformity was the eating of
swine's flesh ; and the heroic endurance of the venerable ELEAZAR,
and of the widow and her seven sons, who " hnd trial of cruel
moukings and scourgings," makes this one of the brightest pages in
the annals of Jewish or Christian martyrology (2 Mace, vi., vii. ;
comp. Heb. xi. 35, 36, the writer of which evidently had these mar-
tyrs in his mind).
This " fiery trial " served to purify the nation from the taint of
Hellenism, a corruption, of which, as of the more ancient idolatries,
the nobles were the leaders. Excepting a few striking cases of
1 The conduct of Antiochus caused this epithet, which signifies "IilustrU
BUS," to bo commonly changed into the nickname of Epimane*, "the Mad."
P
226 SCRIPTURE HISTORY. CHAP. XIX.
apostasy, the priests were steadfast ; and once more, as before Sinai,
the house of LEVI came to the rescue, and not only quelled idola-
try and persecution, but established the independence of Judaea
under the MACCAB^KAN or ASMON^EAN princes. 1 An aged priest,
named MATTATHIAS, the son of Simeon (or Simon), son of Johan-
an (John), son of Chasmon, of the course of Joarib (the first of
David's twenty-four courses), and of the house of Eleazar, Aaron's
elder- son, had escaped from Jerusalem at the beginning of the per-
secution. He took up his abode at his own city of Modin 3 (proba-
bly on the edge of the great maritime plain of Philistia), with his
five sons, John, Simon, Judas, Eleazar, and Jonathan, besides oth-
er kindred. When the king's officers came to Modin to enforce the
edict, Mattathias slew the first man who approached the heathen
altar, and then the royal commissioner himself; and, inviting all
who were for the covenant to follow him, he fled with his sons to
the mountains. Thence they issued forth, breaking down the hea-
then altars, and killing many idol-worshippers, with other acts of
reformation. But Mattathias soon died, having with his last breath
handed on the command to his third son, Judas. 4
If his deeds had been done in any other country than the Holy
Land, or in any other than God's own cause, historians would have
placed JUDAS MACCABEUS in the foremost rank of the heroes and
martyrs of patriotism and freedom. Our space only permits a
notice of the most marked features of his glorious career. After
two victories, he was called to meet the half of all the levy of Syria,
which Antiochus intrusted to Lysias, his lieutenant west of the Eu-
phrates, with orders to extirpate the whole Jewish nation. Against
40,000 infantry and 7000 cavalry, Judas could only collect 6000
men at Mizpeh, like the little band of Saul in olden times. And,
like Gideon, he weeded this small number to one-half, " who had
neither armor nor swords to their minds," but who gained two vic-
tories over the two Syrian generals, and took their camp. Besides
a It may be well to explain these names at once. Waccabee was originally
the surname of Judas, the third son of Mattathias. Its most probable ety-
mology is from Maccabafi, a hammer, like Charles Martel, Asmoncean (01
rather Chasmoncean) is the proper name of the family, from Chasmon, the
great-grandfather of Mattathias.
8 Modin appears to have been on the edge of the highlands overlooking
the great maritime plain of Philistia ; so lofty and so near the coast that
the details of the splendid tomb which Simon erected over his father and
brothers were visible from the sea (see 1 Mace. xiiL 27-30).
4 At the beginning of the war, a great disaster caused the Maccabees to
lay aside the nice scruple of not defending themselves on the Sabbath ; thus
combining true "mercy" to their followers with the lawful " sacrifice" of
their enemies. .
B.C. 400-106. THE MACCABEES. 227
great treasure, they found merchants who had come to buy the
expected Jewish prisoners, but who were themselves now sold for
slaves. Would that all slave-dealers since then had been served
so ! This first year was crowned with a fifth victory beyond the
Jordan, in which 20,000 Syrians fell, followed by the capture of
many strongholds of Gilead (B.C. 167).
Next year, Lysias marched with a great army to the fortress of
Beth-sura (" the house of the rock"}, which commands the road to
Jerusalem from the south. His utter defeat gave the patriots pos
session of the capital, except the fort called the " Syrian Tower;' 1
and his retreat to Antioch allowed an interval of rest for purifying
the house of God. The memory of its new consecration on the 25th
of Chisleu (Dec. B.C. 166) was, and is still, perpetuated by the
"Feast of Dedication," which St. John speaks of as kept in the
winter (John x. 22).
While Judas, with his brothers Simon and Jonathan, repelled the
attacks of the old enemies of Judah Edom, Ammon, and other sur-
rounding nations and overran Philistia and Samaria, Antiochus
Epiphanes died in torment on his return from the East to crush
the rebellion (B.C. 164). His young son Antiochus V. Eupator a
mere tool in the hands of Lysias marched with that general to re-
lieve the Syrian garrison at Jerusalem ; and their capture of Beth-
sura was attended by the first loss among the sons of Mattathias.
ELEAZAR AVARAN, the fourth of the Maccabjean brothers, was
crushed by an elephant, beneath which he had crept and kill-
ed it. A peace was now made, but shamefully violated by the
king, who was no sooner admitted into Jerusalem than he pulled
down the wall lately built by Judas. He himself was presently
overthrown by Demetrius I. Soter (B.C. 162), who followed the sub-
tler policy of attacking the Jews through their own divisions, Hel-
lenism once more lifted its head under a usurping high-priest,
Joakim, or by his Greek name ALCIMUS, who had been installed by
Antiochus Eupator, while the rightful successor, ONIAS IV., built
another temple in Egypt. But the people rejected the apostate ;
and a great army sent to his help under Nicanor was utterly de-
feated by Judas at Adasa, near Joshua's old battle-field of Beth-
horon, on the 13th of Adar (end of February, B.C. 161). But in
the same year this "Marathon" of the Maccabaian War was fol-
lowed by its " Thermopylae " at Eleasa, a place probably in the high-
lands above Ashdod. Jealousies had again sprung up among the
zealots called "Assidasans " against the Maccabees ; and, to oppose
a fresh Syrian army of 20,000 foot and 2000 horse under Bacchides,
Judas had only 3000 men, whom fear and disaffection thinned down
ir> 800. " If our time be come, let us die manfully with our breth-
228 SCRIPTURE HISTORY. CHAP. XIX.
ren, and let us not stain onr honor," said Judas before his last
fight. Victorious over the wing opposed to him, he was over-
whelmed by the numbers that assailed his rear as he pursued the
fugitives to Azotus, and his death dispersed his followers. His
brothers, Jonathan and Simon, buried him at Modin, amidst the
lamentations of all the people, as they cried, " How is the valiant
man fallen that delivered Israel !" (I Mace. ix.).
While the Syrian general Bacchides and the apostate high-priest
AJcimus were hunting down the patriots, JONATHAN (surnamed
APPHCS, " the Wary"), the youngest of the Maccabaean brethren,
held out in the wilderness of Tekoah, and took vengeance on some
Arabs who had treacherously slain his eldest brother JOHN (Johan-
an). The other surviving brother, SIMON, was invaluable as a coun-
sellor. The ensuing events are mixed up with the intricate vicis-
situdes of the Syrian kings and usurpers, whose interest sometimes
prompted peace and sometimes war with the Maccabees. It must
suffice to say that Jonathan was installed in the high-priesthood at
the Feast of Tabernacles, B.C. 153, thus beginning the line of As-
mona'an priest-princes ; and that, ten years later, he was treacher-
ously put to death by Tryphon, a usurper of the Syrian crown
(B.C. 143).
Now at length the internal disorders of Syria enabled the sec-
ond, and the last, survivor, of the Maccabajan brethren to complete
the work ; and the independence of Juda?a was recognized by the
king, Demetrius Nicator. Simon broke the last and heaviest link
of the Syrian fetters by the reduction, through famine, of their tow-
er in Jerusalem. The date of the levelling and purification of the
site (the 23d of the 2d month =May, B.C. 142) was regarded as the
Epoch of Jewish Freedom, and was kept as an annual festival. Si-
mon was made hereditary high-priest ; and the historian of the
Maccabees dwells fondly on the peace which Judaea enjoyed under
Simon. "Then did they till their ground in peace, and the eartli
gave her increase, and the trees of the field their fruit. The an-
cient men sat in all the streets, communing together of good things,
and the young men put on glorious and warlike apparel. He pro-
viJed victuals for the cities, and set in them all manner of muni-
tion, so that his honorable name was renowned unto the end of the
world. He made peace in the land, and Israel rejoiced with great
joy. . . . He beautified the sanctuary, and multiplied the ves-
sels of the temple " (I Mace. xiii. 43-53). While his internal gov-
ernment was just and firm, he opened up a commerce with Europe
through the port of Joppa, and renewed the treaties which Judas
and Jonathan had made with Rome and Lacedaemon for aid against
Syria. The letters in favor of the Jews, addressed by the Roman
B.C. 400-106. EPOCH OF JEWISH FREEDOM. 229
Senate to the states and islands of Greece, and Asia Minor, and to
the great potentates of Asia, including even the Parthian Arsaces,
are a striking evidence of the wide diffusion of the Jewish race.
A lasting memorial of Simon's services and of the gratitude of, his
country was inscribed on tablets of brass and. set up in Mount Ziou
(1 Mace. x : v. 1-49 ; xv. 15-24). His prosperity was crowned by
the victory of his two sons, Judas and John, in the last attack made
by Syria against Judaea under Antiochus VII. Sidetes. But, as if
the roll of the martyred Maccabees must not want its last name,
Simon was treacherously murdered, with his eldest and third sons,
Judas and Mattathias, by his own son-in-law, Ptolemy, at Jericho
(B.C. 135). Thus, in exactly one generation of thirty-three years
from the uprising of Mattathias, all his five sons had fallen in re-
storing the religion and freedom of their country.
It remained for JOHN HYRCANUS^ the second son of Simon, to
complete the work just when it seemed all undone. Having been
accepted as leader at Jerusalem, he marched against Jericho ; but
the cruelties inflicted \>y Ptolemy on his mother and brothers upon
the city walls caused John to retire, and Ptolemy escaped beyond
the Jordan. Jerusalem, however, was soon forced to capitulate to
the Syrians, and Judaea became once more tributary (B.C. 133).
But the death of Antiochus in Parthia enabled John to cast off the
yoke; and the restored king, Demetrius Nicator, finally confirmed
bis former grant of Jewish independence (u.c. 128). The state ac-
quired its full extent by the conquest of the land beyond the Jordan
and of the old foes in Idumaea and Samaria ; and the schismatic
temple on Mt. Gerizim was pulled down (u.c. 109). John built at
Jerusalem the Tower of Baris, which afterwards became famous un-
der the name of Antonia. But the close of his government saw
the rupture of the religious unity of the nation by the rise of the
opposing sects of the PHARISEES and SADDUCEES ; and a personal
quarrel with the former led John to join the latter sect.
John Hyrcanus died exactly sixty years, or the space of two com*
plete generations, after his grandfather Matthias (u.c. 106). As he
began a new generation of the Maccabasan house, so was he the first
to escape the violent end to which his father and uncles had suc-
cumbed. His death marks the transition from the theocratic com-
monwealth, under the Maccabacn leaders, to the Asmona;an king-
dom, which was established by his son Judas or Aristobulus, whose
Greek name is but too significant of the Helenizing character of tho
new era.
8 of Arch of Bridge of Temple.
CHAPTER XX.
THE NEW KINGDOM OF JDD^EA.
THE ASMON^ANS AND HEROD. B.C. 106-B.C. 4.
JOHN HTRCANUS had called himself Prince of Israel; for the
Maccabees loved to recognize the unity of the nation. But, from
the time when the parts of its territory were re-united, the Greek
and Roman name of JUD^A begins to prevail. In its wider sense,
that name denotes the whole land which we more frequently call
PALESTINE, and which is divided into the four parts of Judica in the
south, Samaria in the centre, Galilee in the north, and Perce,a be-
yond the Jordan. These names, already long used, are now required
constantly in the narrative ; and we have to speak of the kingdom
founded on the death of Hyrcanus as the kingdom of Jndasa. But
far greater than any change of name is the sudden transition from
the patriotism of the Maccabees to the scenes of murderous ambi-
tion and religious discord on which we have no need to dwell at
length.
ARISTOBULUS I. (B.C. 106-5), the eldest son of John Hyrcanus,
seized the high-priesthood, as well as* the civil government, which
had been left to his mother, whom he imprisoned and starved to
death. He then assumed the diadem, and so founded the Asmo-
najan kingdom, which lasted for seventy years of perpetual confu-
sion and crime. He conquered the district of Ituraea (afterwards
B.C. 106-B.C. 4. ASMON^EAN KINGDOM. 231