What induced Antiochus Epiphanes to attempt to eradicate Judaism? Some speculate
that he had his own political motives. However, he initially had good relations
with the Jews who had helped him take Jerusalem from his rival, the Egyptian
Ptolemy. The chronicler of that era, Josephus Flavius mentions that Antiochus
initially granted Jews the right to keep their laws. (Josephus Flavius,
Antiquities, Book XII, chapter 3:3) He had also decreed that the Temple of
Jerusalem continue to be respected by all as a Jewish institution under Jewish
auspices. Furthermore, the attempt to eradicate an existing nation by outlawing
their religious practices was unprecedented.
One might presume that all of Antiochus' predecessors who had ruled over the Land of Israel for over one hundred and fifty years since the conquest of Alexander the Great, had themselves imagined forcing Hellenism and idolatry, the universal creeds of the time, upon the Jews. All other nations readily accepted Hellenism, so naturally the question arose, what about the Jews? The Jews for the most part were left alone to practice their faith and live their way of life. The Greeks, initially on favorable terms with the Jews, had also understood that they were steadfast in their beliefs, and there was a futility of attempting to force them to accept other creeds and practices.
However, as Antiochus Epiphanes ruled, the numbers of Jews who had embraced Hellenism were increasing. Those Jews known as, 'Mityavnim,' sought to popularize Hellenism among the Jews. The book of Maccabees quotes the Hellenists who proclaimed,"let us go out and make a covenant with the heathen around us." (Maccabees 1:11)
As two brothers, both Mityavnim, and heirs to the position of the High Priesthood vied for that position, one of the brothers, Menelaus, went to the Emperor, and told him that the Mityavmin were "desirous to leave the laws of their country, and the Jewish way of living according to them, to follow the king's laws, and the Grecian way of living." (Josephus Flavius, Antiquities, book 12, Chapter 5:1) He then proposed the construction of a Greek style stadium in Jerusalem, to which the emperor consented.
When Antiochus eventually issued his infamous decrees outlawing Jewish practices, the Jewish Hellenists readily consented. "They (the Mityavnim) profaned the Sabbath and sacrificed to heathen altars." (Maccabees 1:43)
One might presume that all of Antiochus' predecessors who had ruled over the Land of Israel for over one hundred and fifty years since the conquest of Alexander the Great, had themselves imagined forcing Hellenism and idolatry, the universal creeds of the time, upon the Jews. All other nations readily accepted Hellenism, so naturally the question arose, what about the Jews? The Jews for the most part were left alone to practice their faith and live their way of life. The Greeks, initially on favorable terms with the Jews, had also understood that they were steadfast in their beliefs, and there was a futility of attempting to force them to accept other creeds and practices.
However, as Antiochus Epiphanes ruled, the numbers of Jews who had embraced Hellenism were increasing. Those Jews known as, 'Mityavnim,' sought to popularize Hellenism among the Jews. The book of Maccabees quotes the Hellenists who proclaimed,"let us go out and make a covenant with the heathen around us." (Maccabees 1:11)
As two brothers, both Mityavnim, and heirs to the position of the High Priesthood vied for that position, one of the brothers, Menelaus, went to the Emperor, and told him that the Mityavmin were "desirous to leave the laws of their country, and the Jewish way of living according to them, to follow the king's laws, and the Grecian way of living." (Josephus Flavius, Antiquities, book 12, Chapter 5:1) He then proposed the construction of a Greek style stadium in Jerusalem, to which the emperor consented.
When Antiochus eventually issued his infamous decrees outlawing Jewish practices, the Jewish Hellenists readily consented. "They (the Mityavnim) profaned the Sabbath and sacrificed to heathen altars." (Maccabees 1:43)
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