Several factors led to the Maccabean Revolt. Early in his reign, Antiochus IV Epiphanes was involved in a dispute over the high priesthood in Jerusalem. Onias III was the legitimate High Priest. His pro-Hellenism brother Jason traveled to the newly established Antiochus and bribed the king to be appointed as High Priest (1 Mac 1:13-15, 2 Mac 4:7-15). To please Antiochus, Jason pledged to build a gymnasium near the temple and encourage the Jews to become more “Greek.” The gymnasium was popular, even among some priests who left their duties to play in the games dedicated to Hermes.
As offensive as these things were to the orthodox Jews, for some, the Hellenization did not go far enough. For this reason, Menelaus (with the support of the Tobiad party) went to Antiochus and offered the king a larger bribe (300 more talents than Jason) for the office. Antiochus immediately declared Menelaus High Priest and sent Syrian troops to oust Jason from Jerusalem. Menelaus was not even of a priestly family and was only interested in the priesthood for political power and wealth. “Religion was to Antiochus nothing but a tool, a convenient means to an end” (Seow, Daniel, 183).
Menelaus also had some serious problems. Since most of the Jews did not support him as a high priest, he had trouble raising the money to pay Antiochus his bribe. As a result, he was forced to sell temple items to pay bribes to the king’s agent, Andronicus.
Onias III protested: Menelaus was not a legitimate high priest and had no authority to sell anything from the temple, let alone to pay bribes to a Gentile king! Andronicus was not impressed with his protest and had the true high priest killed (2 Mac 4:33-38, many would include Dan 9:26-27 here as well; For those who assume a second-century date for Daniel, this is the “cutting off of the anointed one” in Daniel 9).
2 Maccabees 4:33-35 When Onias became fully aware of these acts, he publicly exposed them, having first withdrawn to a place of sanctuary at Daphne near Antioch. 34 Therefore Menelaus, taking Andronicus aside, urged him to kill Onias. Andronicus came to Onias, and resorting to treachery, offered him sworn pledges and gave him his right hand; he persuaded him, though still suspicious, to come out from the place of sanctuary; then, with no regard for justice, he immediately put him out of the way. 35 For this reason not only Jews, but many also of other nations, were grieved and displeased at the unjust murder of the man.
Menelaus’s robbing of the temple caused riots against his priesthood. Lysimachus, Menelaus’s brother, led troops against the rioters and killed 3000 people, but he was himself killed in the battle. Menelaus was called into account by Antiochus but managed to bribe his way out of trouble.
2 Maccabees 4:43-50 Charges were brought against Menelaus about this incident. 44 When the king came to Tyre, three men sent by the senate presented the case before him. 45 But Menelaus, already as good as beaten, promised a substantial bribe to Ptolemy son of Dorymenes to win over the king. 46 Therefore Ptolemy, taking the king aside into a colonnade as if for refreshment, induced the king to change his mind. 47 Menelaus, the cause of all the trouble, he acquitted of the charges against him, while he sentenced to death those unfortunate men, who would have been freed uncondemned if they had pleaded even before Scythians. 48 And so those who had spoken for the city and the villages and the holy vessels quickly suffered the unjust penalty. 49 Therefore even the Tyrians, showing their hatred of the crime, provided magnificently for their funeral. 50 But Menelaus, because of the greed of those in power, remained in office, growing in wickedness, having become the chief plotter against his compatriots.
The situation in Judea is one of political chaos as two men vie for the office of High Priest. Their motivation is not to lead Judea in worship but to obtain wealth and power. Menelaus, in particular, is portrayed in 2 Maccabees as violent and greedy, willing to do whatever is necessary to maintain his power. These power plays from rival high priests directly led to the Maccabean Revolt.
This portion of Maccabees is a very sad reflection on religious government. It is such a painful concept to understand that when there is power to be had, power hungry people are quickly drawn to it. Jason wanted Antiochus to give him the role of high priest. So he bribed Antiochus. This is crazy because this shows Jason’s heart. Either he thinks there is no God of Israel or he thinks He has no power. Then in the comical, he who lives by the sword dies by the sword fashion (Matt 26:52), Jason gets out bribed by Menelaus. It is scary to think how much power people try to obtain in religious circles. It definitely reminds me of some of the difficult situations that that have caused people that are close to me to leave church. This is a reflection of a very modern problem. The people do not look at church and see the power of God, they see an opportunity for power for themselves.
When people talk about ‘corruption’ in early or current forms of the church, it’s interesting to be able to look back at the almost soap-opera like drama the Jews went through with the struggle to have a righteous high priest. Between selling church items for bribes and riots that killed thousands of people, it’s easy to see the pressure that was put on the Jewish people while they were kind of forced to watch these two men fight for a position not because of religious reasons, but because of power. Not to say that we slaughter thousands of people these days, but I think we can draw similarities in motive between some people leading or preforming in the Christian church today. What’s in the motive of one’s heart?
It is crazy to see what steps Menelaus takes to try and become a high priest, not because he cares about the Jews and finding a place for them to worship but out of his own greed. We see this a lot in today’s church as well. I have seen this several times throughout my life being a pastor’s kid moving from church to church. The new change, the new set up, the new paint color makes people upset. Some that go to the church are hurt because they feel that they had no say in all of the changes. It seems there should be more important things to argue about like how do we get to share the gospel with as many people as possible instead of if we should have tables set up or just chairs. But people want power and a say and to make a change. Menelaus was willing to steal from the temple, causing a riot that killed three thousand people so that he could have a say and a power position. In a church perspective this could be the equivalent of a church split. People choose sides and become angry, focused more on themselves and how comfortable they are instead of expanding the kingdom of God. It’s a shame to see how destructive pride can be.
There is so much that happened as the Maccabean revolt was starting to happen. I think it is really sad that the people who were coming into power in Jerusalem were not wanting to help the people get closer to God, but instead, they wanted to be in power for their own selfish desires. One thing that I found very interesting about this was at the beginning with Jason building a gymnasium in an attempt to make Antiochus happy. I wonder if this was also to make the Jews be more interested in adopting a more Greek lifestyle and culture because the gymnasium and games played inside could be fun to participate in. Due to the fact that this gymnasium was dedicated to Hermes, I think that it was a very bad and evil thing to do. However, if it were not dedicated to Hermes, then the building of the gymnasium in Judea may not have as big of a deal. Another thing that I think was evil was that Menelaus sold items from the temple, especially since he was not being supported by so many people. It would be one thing if he sold things to help the Jews, but he was doing so because he wanted the power. I still do not think that it would be right for him to sell things from the temple, but if he were to, it should not be for his own selfish intentions. As interesting as the Maccabean revolt is to learn and read about, it is sad to see what the Jews had to go through.
These events truly show the corruptness of the government and church leaders during this time. Religion did not matter to them as much as power and money did. Clearly, money was the start of this civilization’s issues. 1 Timothy 6:10 says, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.” It is apparent that money has influenced their thought processes in a negative way. No wonder this was one of the factors that lead to the Maccabean Revolt. I find it interesting that some of the priests left their duties to play in the gymnasium Jason built. This shows how loosely devoted they were to their religion.
Strauss Chapter 4 says, “Pious Jew realized that Antiochus’s actions threatened their national and religious existence” (Strauss, 128). Therefore, the Jews finally saw how destructive his actions were. It makes you wonder if there were any non-Jews who also agreed his methods were destructive. “Though the desecration of the temple by Antiochus Epiphanes was one of the bleakest moments in Jewish history, out of this came one of the brightest” (Strauss, 128). On the brighter side, good did come out of the Maccabean Revolt. This is encouraging to hear for the Jews because they were finally able to get the justice they deserved.
Strauss, Mark L. Four Portraits, One Jesus: A Survey of Jesus and the Gospels, Zondervan
Academic, Grand Rapids, MI, 2020.
There were a lot of things happening leading up to the Maccabean Revolt. There was a huge hunger for power so much that people were willing to kill and do whatever it takes to maintain that power. People were more focused on having power than they were on anything else. Strauss mentions that under Antiochus IV, Israel would face its greatest threat to survival yet, Strauss also mentions that Antiochus IV got the nickname “Epiphanes” which means Madman. (Strauss, 127) After the gymnasium was built there was even more of a divide between people. I feel like one thing started happening after another everything went downhill. I think that the power struggle is something that we see in today’s world people get caught up in worldly things and place that before their relationship with God. Ecclesiastes 5:10 says “Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless.” I think this is something that we as Christians need to understand as much as it seems like money can fix all of your problems. You will never be satisfied with what you have unless you have a relationship with God. When it comes to money I feel like it doesn’t matter if you have one hundred dollars or a thousand you are always going to want more. I think the same was happening but instead of money, it was power. The more power someone had was never enough so they had to take and take because they were never satisfied.
It is unsettling how easy it seemed to bribe their way into powerful and important positions. Both attempts to bribe their way into power and wealth failed and succeeded in one way or another. Jason, who first took to bribery proposed something what while popular among some people and even some priest, did not please the Jews or the Hellenization. Therefore, his goal wasn’t completely successful and, in the end, resulted in his demise.
Menelaus, coming up with a larger bribe, became the High Priest, but was unable to uphold his promise without robbing the Temple. This action was the beginning of his demise and disfavor among the public, and also resulted in the death of his brother and 3000 people.
Both Jason and Menelaus did not seek to better or build religion in Judea, they sought to seek their own status and power. Both seemingly achieved this without much resistance in the beginning that shouldn’t have been considered and resulted in many deaths, upheaval, and anger.
Throughout this blogpost, what stood out to me was the evil that is in the world and the things people are willing to do to gain fame and fortune.
In reading P. Long’s blog post about the start of the Maccabean Revolt, we can first learn that there were several different things that led to the revolt. The first major thing that led to the Revolt, was how Antiochus IV Epiphanes was part of a dispute regarding the high priesthood in Jerusalem. It was during this time that Onias III was the actual High Priest, and his brother Jason traveled to this recently founded Antiochus and bribed the king to be the High Priest. It is really interesting to see the fact that Jason went to the king and bribed him to be appointed High Priest. In 1 Maccabees, we see what it was they were told to do; “and some of the people eagerly went to the king, who authorized them to observe the ordinance of the Gentiles. So they built a gymnasium in Jerusalem, according to Gentile custom, and removed marks of circumcision, and abandoned the hole covenant. They joined with the Gentiles and sold themselves to do evil” (1 Maccabees 1:13-15). It was in an attempt to please Antiochus, that Jason built a gymnasium close to the temple and was encouraging the Jews to become more “Greek”. Through reading this blog, we can see that the people were hungry to have power. They were so hungry that they were willing to do whatever they were told in order to please those in charge in hopes to get a role of power themselves. We see this in play through reading about Jason, someone who offended many of Jews, by doing what he was hold so that he could get a role of High Priest. We see that everyone was willing to do whatever they needed in order to please the king.
The Maccabean revolt was a result of greedy men in the pursuit of power. To get their way they used tactics that stoop to levels that call for action. By Antiochus using religion to progress his Hellenistic ideologies onto the Jewish people he made a mockery of the sacred Jewish traditions held by the priests. “Antiochus immediately declared Menelaus High Priest and sent Syrian troops with him in order to oust Jason from Jerusalem. Menelaus was not even of a priestly family and was only interested in the priesthood for political power and wealth” (Long,2017). The motive of using religion for political gain brings this situation to a boiling point. In this situation it was in the face of the Jewish people. However, the same problem occurs today, and many people never realize it. I have seen this in American politics to persuade a vote and in more extreme instances around the world. This tactic goes back millenniums, in this instance the result is a swing in the pendulum and results in an era of peace for the Jewish people. “On Chislev (November-December) 25, 164 BC, exactly three years after the desecration by Antiochus Epiphanes, Judas cleansed the temple and reinitiated Jewish sacrifices. This victory became commemorated in the Jewish festival of Hanukkah, meaning “dedication” (also called the Festival of Lights)” (Strauss, 2020). This blog gives the reader a clear set up to what led to the revolt. What is established after the revolt contradicts the destruction intended by Antiochus. As I reflect the history of Israel up to today, I am reminded of God’s eternal plan for His people regardless of the intended destruction of those who are against the people of Israel. “Now I don’t want you, my brothers, to start imagining things, and I must therefore share with you my knowledge of God’s secret plan. It is this, that the partial insensibility which has come to Israel is only to last until the full number of the Gentiles has been called in. Once this has happened, all Israel will be saved, as the scripture says: ‘The deliverer will come out of Zion, and he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob, for this is my covenant with them, when I take away their sins” (Romans 11:25-27 ESV).
As we see throughout various sections of scripture and in examples in the Bible, pride and greed can lead to and cause a lot of damage. The Maccabean revolt led to a lot of damage and destruction due to greed, pride, and self-centered thinking. As a High Priest it seems as though the focus and motivation behind the leadership should consist of growing and furthering the religious teachings. Those involved seemed to have set that focus aside for the sake of their own personal gain. Beyond all that, those that were not directly involved in the conflict and the ‘battle’ for High Priest were affected by the actions that took place. Strauss mentions that “Pious Jews realized that Antiochus’s actions threatened their national and religious existence” (Strauss, 2020). From that, it continued to spread throughout and carried into other parts of Judea. It goes to show us that the actions of those who are in the highest position trickle down and can be a direct influence on the actions of others. In this case the fight for power in the high priest position was the direct root of the Maccabean Revolt. It is a good reminder of the damage that can be caused when we get too caught up with ourselves and our focus shifts from being a leader to others, to finding out how we can increase our own personal gain.
In this blog post it was interesting to see the worldview of Antiochus and his thoughts about religion. He believes that religion is just a convenient way to have hope for death it seems like. His thought process was also shown through Hellenization. His attempt at spreading these Greek ideas angered the Jews rightfully so. I feel like this would be the main reason for a revolt. Oppressing people physically is one thing, but having our ideas and core beliefs destroyed or attempted to be destroyed is not fair at all. It seems Antiochus just wanted his ideas to be everyones, and to have maximum control over the people he ruled. Menelaus seems to have a similar worldview. All he wanted was political power, and he went to great ends to attempt to get it, including selling off things of the temple that did not belong to him. This corruption reminds me of our own country today. There is a lot that the public probably does not know about it terms of the behind the scenes in high up politics. The attempt to get more control and power can be a great factor in someone today running for president. With the election coming up this year too, we can observe a lot of people opposing candidates and trying to suppress ideas of voters with different mindsets. The last paragraph of this post hits the nail on the head. It doesn’t seem that we have two people who desire to lead our country well, but rather 2 people who desire more power and wealth.
This brother tussle is reality TV drama at its best (Can we get a show like TMZ?). In a strange sense, it reminds me of Cain and Abel fighting over their birthright. Onias III was the legitimate priest, but his brother Jason (Why does Onias get the cool name? No wonder he is jealous of his brother) decided it would be a good idea to try and take over the priesthood by using bribery. Jason wanted this public role to sway Jews to a more Hellenistic lifestyle in accordance with their ruler. Next comes in Menelaus, who bribes Antiochus with a larger bribe than Jason, and had Jason outed from Jerusalem. Menelaus ended up as the high priest due to his promise of a larger bribe. The sole reason behind Menelaus was so he gained more respect, power, and money. It is a sad reminder of the fallen nature of man that allows greed to turn into apathy towards fellow man. Apparently, Menelaus did not have the funds to provide this bribe and began to sell temple items to Andronicus, the king’s agent. This provoked Onias III to protest the placement of Menelaus as high priest. One might say that Onias III was the whistleblower to the corrupt system that allowed bribery for the high priest position. Menelaus persuaded Andronicus to kill Onias III, which Andronicus did. This led Jews and other nations to protest as they understood the death of Onias III was unjust and undeserved. To me, it seems like this whole situation was blown out of proportion. If they would have just honored the legitimate priest this would not have happened.
“brother tussle”?? TMZ = “The Maccabees Zone”?
After reading through this blog, the thing that stood out to me the most about what caused the Maccabean Revolt is that the high priest that was chosen had no ounce of care for actually being in charge of leading the people of Judea in spirituality. It is shocking to me as well that the king Antiochus did not ask the Jews first who they wanted to be the high priest, or make sure that he was not banking on the support of the people to pay off the bribe to him. I feel as though the bloodshed would have not occurred if it was not for the corruption of the most sacred position to the Jews. This reminds of what happens all throughout the Old Testament, the Jews have their commandments, and somehow overtime greedy, or power driven people take leadership with the group causing a stray from what God wants them to actually do. This leads into some kind of self inflicted punishment, or from God himself. The lead up to the Maccabean Revolt proves to be no different with Menelaus only wanting to be the high priest, so that he may only take care of his greedy wants such as power and influence. Furthermore, this is what I have gotten from reading this blog post, and my thoughts on the subject matter.
Going into this post, I did not know a lot about the history surrounding the Maccabean revolt, aside from the fact that the victory of the Maccabees resulted in the formation of Hanukkah. I never realized how sad and chaotic of a time it must have been for the Jews, and how many things were happening during that time. There was all of this chaos surrounding who would serve as high priest, and they did not even have a choice in the matter. Reading this history shows that corruption can take root everywhere, even within Christian governments. As Strauss states in “Four Portraits, One Jesus”, The desecration of the temple was the point where the Jews realized that his actions were threatening their religious existence, and something had to be done about it. That event was one of the main events that ultimately led to the revolt This situation shows how easy it can be for things like money and power to corrupt leadership. Instead of prioritizing leading the people, they prioritized their greed and hunger for power. I never realized that leaders were buying their way into power even back then. It is pretty crazy to think about how similar this is to modern society. It is easy to see this same abuse of power in today’s government and in churches. Jason and Menelaus put themselves and their desires at the center instead of God’s, and that pride lead to a war that resulted in numerous deaths.
Corruption, wealth, and power isn’t anything new in history. We have seen many corrupt leaders throughout time that only focus on power and wealth. In their eyes that is what makes a successful person. For Jason this remains true. He was so desperate for power and wealth that he was willing to bribe his way to the top. However, Menelaus showed up and he was willing to bride, steal, and kill to get to the top. People in these political situations are desperate to get to the top and they will go to great lengths to get there.
Not to get too political, but this reminds me a lot of what we see today in politics. Maybe not to the lengths of murder or stealing but in other ways. I see ads all the time of politicians insulting and dragging another politician through the mud. The ads are posted everywhere for everyone to see. They are trying to make themselves look better by insulting the other. That need or want for political gain is what they see as successful similarly to how Jason and Menelaus saw being the High Priest as successful. They do not care who they step on to get there as long as they get there.
It is a very interesting yet common dynamic of corruption and money that we see occurring here in Judea. First, we have a corrupt higher power, seen in Antiochus IV, who could care less about the Jewish people’s religion and simply desired to gain more wealth to finance his plans to conquer Egypt and carry out his personal agenda (deSilva). We then see that this higher power is followed by corrupt leaders, such as Jason and Menelaus, who are willing to feed into the higher power in order to gain their own personal wealth and power. So, not only is the Seleucid king allowing for power in Judea to be bought by any person willing to bring him more money, but those who have gained the power from Antiochus have completely disregarded the true right to the High Priest position, and the Law all together. It seems pretty natural that a reaction from fervent Jewish followers of God would react in a way that instills the need for a proper reaction that can result in some change. This is no different when we discover an injustice or ill use of rules today. This is also true for the Christian response to the ill view of Scripture, for the extremes to our response to such a thing often mimic the violent and the passive responses the Jewish people took.
A cause of the Maccabean Revolt was the corruption of the High Priest role. With Hellenism rising, some Jewish people saw opportunities for more power and money. A position that was always sacred and holy for Jewish people became nothing more than a money grab. The change in the values of the temple seem to be caused by the Hellenistic views that Jason magnified in Jerusalem. DeSilva points out that Jason had a lot of support in his promotion of Greek institutions such as gymnasiums (deSilva, 2 Maccabees, Section: Structure, Context and Textual Transmission). The rise of Hellenism was not something that everyone disagreed with, and many Jewish people were ok with adapting to the Greek way of life. While Jason was not a good high priest and does not seem like he had the desires of the Lord first in his heart, it seems like the Maccabean Revolt would not have happened if he had stayed the high priest. Instead, it was Menelaus’s bribe to become the high priest without being qualified that seemed to make the Jewish people push against Hellenism. Menelaus also raids the temple and allows Antiochus to do the same to punish the Jewish people (deSilva). It is after this that Judas leaves Jerusalem and when he comes back, leads his campaigns against Antiochus (deSilva). Menelaus saw the position of high priest as access to more power and money and did not care about anything else. The importance of the role of high priest was lost and Judas Maccabees decided it was his opportunity to begin the revolt.
The Maccabean Revolt, as recounted in both 1 and 2 Maccabees, was driven by political, religious, and cultural factors, which ultimately led to the Jews’ struggle against Seleucid rule. The desecration of the Jerusalem Temple by Antiochus IV in 167 BCE and his efforts to impose Hellenistic practices on the Jewish population were critical moments that ignited the revolt. deSilva notes in Introduction to the Apocrypha, the Seleucid empire’s interference with Jewish religious practices, particularly the forced worship of Greek gods, was seen as a direct affront to Jewish identity (deSilva 11-12). The violation of sacred traditions such as the Sabbath, circumcision, and the Temple’s sanctity marked a breaking point.The books of Maccabees highlight God’s intervention through figures like Judas Maccabeus, who leads the Jewish people, inspired by divine guidance. This emphasis on divine favor resonates with the themes found in the book of Daniel, which deSilva discusses as part of the apocalyptic literature that shaped the Jewish worldview of the time. In Daniel 6 and 1-2 Maccabees, there is a recurring motif of faithful resistance to oppressive rulers, with God as the ultimate arbiter of justice (deSilva). The legitimacy of the Hasmonean dynasty, which is discussed in 1 Maccabees and the Legitimacy of the Hasmoneans, reflects the political and religious complications of the period. The Hasmoneans, through figures like Simon the Hasmonean, were able to establish themselves as political and religious leaders, although their rise to power was controversial, as they were not directly descended from the Davidic line (deSilva, Simon the Hasmonean Messiah?). This tension reflects broader questions about the role of leadership in Jewish history during this turbulent period.
After reading this blog post, there are a few takeaways I have. Relating to the Maccabean revolt, it seems to be common throughout history that there seems to be not much thought in the highest positions. Being the high priest, your first priority would be to value spiritual growth, and we see that the stem of this revolution is due to the lack of importance in priorities within that position. This could be due to the corporate leadership at the time, and that’s where my next takeaway is. There seems to be no sense of human value in this time period; it seems like there is a lack of democracy which I’m sure wasn’t a thing at this time but i would think there should have been some sort of vote casted to get a new high priest instead of having 3000 people dying. But this could be said throughout history in any major war.
The Maccabean Revolt is a combination of effort of so many things. However, as made clear by P. Long above, political chaos striving from greed and power plays are what get the ball rolling. The sheer lengths that Menelaus is willing to go to not only obtain his position of wealth and power, but also to keep it. He moves strategically and with only selfish motivation. There is no heart for Judea in these moves, or care for the people in which they are in authority over. “Apparently, religion was to Antiochus nothing but a tool, a convenient means to an end” (Seow, Daniel, 183). We go from using money to bribe your way into position, to stealing from the temples to pay the debt in which he found himself in to get where he was. Selling temple items to pay his bribes is one thing, but then it escalates to murder of the true high priest! Alluded to in Daniel “Apparently, religion was to Antiochus nothing but a tool, a convenient means to an end” (Seow, Daniel, 183). Not only does he have the true high priest murdered to secure his position but then sends his brother Lysimachus to kill those who oppose him in a total of well over 3000 people. This which ultimately kills his own brother, weasels his way out through bribery yet again. As P. Long states, “These power-plats from rival high priests directly led to the Maccabean Revolt.”