away from the family’s alliance with the Ptolemies. Hyrcanus, a leading
member of the Tobiads, remained allied with the Ptolemies; after the Seleucid
conquest of Judea, he relocated to neighboring Ammon, where he established
an independent princedom.
The feud between the Oniads and the Tobiads heated up during the 190s,
when the high priest Onias III fought with the Tobiad captain of the temple,
Simon. The latter, more Hellenized than his rival, wanted to eliminate certain
ritual restrictions. When Onias refused, Simon appealed to the governor of
Syria, who sided with him. He forced Onias to flee to Egypt and gave the high
priesthood to the Tobiads. Tensions within the priesthood were still running
high when, in 175, Antiochus IV Epiphanes came to the Seleucid throne.
Antiochus IV, commonly known for his role in the story of Hanukkah,
spent much of his childhood in Rome as a prisoner of war. This was one factor
that led him to abandon the Seleucid policy of minimal interference toward a
policy of forced Hellenization. The more Hellenized elements within Jewish
society, and especially within the Tobiad and Oniad families, looked to capi-
talize from this shift in policy. In 172, the deposed Onias III’s brother Jason
appeared before Antiochus IV, ostensibly to appeal on behalf of his brother;
instead he cut a deal for himself. He offered the king more tax revenue and a
substantial personal bribe, and offered to increase his bribe if the king would
build a gymnasium and ephebia (military training college) in Jerusalem,
thereby transforming Jerusalem into a Greek polis. Jason was appointed high
priest and served until 172. In 171, the deposed Simon’s brother Menelaus
gave the king a tribute that was 300 gold coins larger than Jason’s, leading
the king to appoint Menelaus high priest and force Jason to flee. In 169,
Jason returned with an army and forced Menelaus to flee temporarily; soon
after, Meneleus returned and defeated Jason. Altogether Menelaus would
serve as high priest for nine years, from 171 to 162.
By appointing Menelaus as high priest, Antiochus undermined the
integrity of the high priesthood, and fundamentally altered the Seleucid pol-
icy of non-interference in internal Jewish affairs. Menelaus’s Oniad and
Tobiad predecessors had been culturally Hellenized but had the proper lin-
eage for the office of high priest. Jason, though appointed illicitly by a
foreign king, was at least of priestly lineage. Menelaus had no legitimate
claim to the high priesthood. In retrospect, this blatant disregard for priestly
lineage anticipated the beginning of the end of the priesthood as a legitimate
form of religious leadership. The priesthood would survive for more than a
century, but, from this point on, its legitimacy was steadily on the wane.
The corruption of the priesthood galvanized Jewish opposition to
Hellenism with the emergence of a group of Jewish pietists, the Hasideans.
These Jews strenuously opposed what they regarded as the excessive
Hellenistic influence in the Land of Israel, especially in Jerusalem and among
the ranks of the priesthood. As the Hellenistic presence increased under
Antiochus IV, the Hasideans grew ever more restless.
28 The challenge of Hellenism