The Makers and Teachers of Judaism / From the Fall of Jerusalem to the Death of Herod the Great

by Charles Foster Kent

[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XII, 1:1g-j] And when Ptolemy had taken many captives both from the mountainous parts of Judea and the places about Jerusalem and Samaria and Mount Gerizim, he led them all into Egypt and settled them there. And since he knew that the people of Jerusalem were most faithful in keeping their oaths and covenants, he distributed many of them among garrisons. At Alexandria he gave them equal privileges as citizens with the Macedonians themselves. He also required them to take oath that they would be faithful to his descendants. And not a few other Jews went into Egypt of their own accord, attracted both by the goodness of the soil and Ptolemy's generosity. However, there were disorders between their descendants and the Samaritans because of their resolve to preserve that manner of life which was transmitted to them by their forefathers. They accordingly contended with each other; those from Jerusalem said that their temple was holy and they resolved to send their sacrifices there, but the Samaritans were determined that they should be sent to Mount Gerizim.

[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XII, 2:1a] When Alexander had reigned twelve years and after him Ptolemy Soter forty years, Ptolemy Philadelphus next had the kingdom of Egypt and held it thirty-nine years.

[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XII, 2:5d, e, 4:1d-f] Now when Onias I. the high priest died, his son Simon succeeded him. When he died and left only a young son called Onias, Simon's brother Eleazer took the high priesthood. After Eleazar's death, his uncle Manasseh assumed the priesthood, and after he died, Onias II. received that honor. This Onia was lacking in sense and was a great lover of money; for that reason he did not pay the tax of twenty talents of silver for the people, which his forefathers had paid out of their own estates to the kings of Egypt. Thus he aroused the anger of King Ptolemy Euergetes, the father of Philopator. Euergetes sent an ambassador to Jerusalem and complained that Onias did not pay the taxes and threatened that if he did not receive them, he would parcel out their land and send soldiers to live upon it. When the Jews heard this message of the king they were filled with dismay, but Onias was so avaricious that nothing of this kind made him ashamed.

[Sidenote Jos. Ant. XII, 4:2a-f] There was a certain Joseph, young in years, but of great reputation among the people of Jerusalem for dignity and exact foresight. His father's name was Tobias and his mother was the sister of Onias the high priest. She informed him of the coming of Ptolemy's ambassador. Thereupon Joseph came to Jerusalem and reproved Onias for not taking thought for the security of his countrymen and for bringing the nation into dangers by not paying this money. Onias's answer was that he did not care for his authority, that he was ready, if it were possible, to lay down his high priesthood, and that he would not go to the king, for he cared nothing at all about these matters. Joseph then asked him if he would give him leave to go as ambassador on behalf of the nation. He replied that he would. So Joseph 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.

[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XII, 4:3b, 4a-c] Now it happened that at this time all the principal men and rulers of the cities of Syria and Phoenicia went up to bid for the taxes; for every year the king sold them to the most powerful men of each city. And when the day came on which the king was to let the farming of the taxes of the cities, the taxes of Coele-Syria, Phoenicia, Judea and Samaria amounted altogether to eight thousand talents. Thereupon Joseph accused the bidders of having agreed together to estimate the value of the taxes at too low a rate and he promised that he would give twice as much for them, and for those who did not pay he would send the king their entire possessions, for this privilege was sold together with the taxes. The king was pleased to hear this offer, and because it increased his revenues he said he would confirm the sale of the taxes to him.

[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XII, 4:5a-c, 3, 6a] And Joseph took with him two thousand soldiers from the king, for he desired to have assistance in order to compel those who refused in the city to pay. And when the people of Askelon refused to pay anything, he seized about twenty of their principal men and slew them, and gathered what they had and sent it all to the king and informed him what he had done. Ptolemy admired the spirit of the man, commended him for what he had done and gave him permission to do as he pleased. By these means he amassed great wealth and made vast profits by this farming of taxes. And he made use of the wealth he had thus secured in order to support his authority. This good fortune he enjoyed for twenty-two years; and he became the father of seven sons by one wife. He had also another son whose name was Hyrcanus.

[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XII, 3:3a, b] Now in the reign of Antiochus the Great, who ruled over all Asia, the Jews, as well as the inhabitants of Coele-Syria, suffered greatly, and their land was sorely harassed, for while Antiochus was at war with Ptolemy Philopator and his son Ptolemy, who was called Epiphanes, these nations suffered equally both when he was defeated and when he was victorious. So they were like a ship in the storm which is tossed by the waves on both sides.

[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XII, 3:3c-e] But at length when Antiochus had beaten Ptolemy he seized Judea. And when Philopator was dead, his son sent out against the inhabitants of Coele-Syria a great army under Scopas, general of his forces, and took many of their cities and especially our people, who, when he attacked them, went over to him. But soon afterwards Antiochus overcame Scopas in a battle fought at the fountains of the Jordan and destroyed a great part of his army. And afterwards, when Antiochus subdued those cities of Coele-Syria which Scopas had captured, and Samaria among them, the Jews of their own accord went over to him and received him into Jerusalem and gave plentiful provisions to all his army and readily assisted him when he besieged the garrison which was in the citadel at Jerusalem.

I. Josephus's Histories. The Greek period began with Alexander's conquest of Palestine in 332 and extended to the Maccabean uprising in 168 B.C. For the external history of this period the writings of the historian Josephus are the chief sources. This famous Jewish writer was born in 37 A.D., and apparently lived till about the close of the reign of Domitian in 96. According to his own testimony he was the son of a priest named Mattathiah. Until he was sixteen he studied under the Jewish rabbis. He then spent three years with the Jewish sect known as the Essenes. At the age of nineteen he joined the party of the Pharisees. His point of view in general is that of this dominant popular party. He was able to read Latin, but wrote his histories in Greek. At the age of twenty-six he went to Rome where he spent three years. Returning to Palestine at the beginning of the great rebellion against Rome, he was appointed revolutionary governor of the important province of Galilee. The appointment was unfortunate, for he proved both incompetent and unreliable. In 67 A.D. he and his followers were shut up by Vespasian in the Galilean city, Jotapata. During the siege he vainly tried to desert to the enemy. At the fall of the city he was captured, but his life was spared by Vespasian. In time he ingratiated himself with Titus and also incurred the hostility of his countrymen by trying to persuade them to lay down their arms. He spent the latter part of his life in Rome, devoting himself to study and writing. As a result of his long residence at Rome under the patronage of the Roman emperors, he was powerfully influenced by the Greek and Roman philosophical schools.

Josephus was the great apologist of his race. His chief aims in writing his histories were: (1) to excuse his own acts in connection with the great rebellion; (2) to show why the overwhelming calamity had overtaken his race; and (3) to answer the attack of their Gentile foes by tracing the remarkable history of his people, and by presenting in attractive form their beliefs, institutions, and laws. Of his two great historical works the one entitled The Jewish War was issued probably between 75 and 79 A.D. It opens with the beginnings of the Maccabean struggle, and traces the history, with increasing detail, to the destruction of Jerusalem and the suppression of the Jewish revolt at Gyrene, two or three years before the book was written. His second great work was issued in 93 A.D. under the title of The Antiquities of the Jews. In twenty books it traces Israel's history from the earliest beginnings to the opening years of the Jewish war (68 A.D.). The first half of this extensive history is based on the author's free paraphrase of the Greek version of the Old Testament. For the latter half he draws largely from the apocryphal book of I Maccabees and from the writings of contemporary Greek and Jewish historians. Chief among these are Polybius, Nicolaus of Damascus, and Strabo. At certain points, where earlier sources fail him, he employs popular romances and late traditions. The result is that the different parts of his history are of widely varying values. All must be carefully tested by the canons of historical criticism. After due allowance has been made for his apologetic purpose and his well-known tendencies, a large and valuable body of historical facts remain with which it is possible at many otherwise obscure points to reconstruct the course of Israel's history.