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632
THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA
632

.Ajitioch

Antiochus debts, or

duvs not

TllK

m.

JEWISH

permitted only on other we, liecaiise the festiexpressiiin of spirilual joy and syiiihoHe

do other siicred.

tliin<;s

Nor

shoiilii

vals lire the of Ihe tliaiiksitivinj; we owe to (!oil. aliolish llic annual festival convocations. Nor does it follow because the rite of circumcision is an emlilem of the «,eisionof pUasiiresand passions, and of the refutation of that impious opinion acconlin;^ to which the mind considers itself able to produce by its own ]iower, that we are to annul Ihe law which has been We take heed given rejrardini; circumcision, of the laws jriven in ]daiu words in order to more clearly understand Ihose lhini;sof which the lawsarc the syndiols, and tlius we shall esca|ie blame and aceusiition from men in yeneral." M. Friedlaender goes further still and considers the Minim to have been Jewish Gnostics of anfinoniistic views. See his " l)er Vorchristlicher Jiidis<'her (Jnosticismus," pp. (17llisopinion is not shared by IJaclierC H. E. J." 123. .

.

.

EM YCLUl'KDlA

632

the wnith of Ihe people ("B. J," vii. 3, s;3). The victorious Titus was received by the Antiochians with enthusiasm, but Ihey could not induce him to expel Ihe Ji'Ws from their lity. nor even to destroy Ihe brazen tablets upon which the fraiuhises of the Jews

were

in.scribed,

Vespasian maintained a powerful ganison in Anlioch, and the city served henceforth as Ihe stronghold over Judea ("elausiriim (luoddam Jiida'ie," the expression of Ilegesi])pus. iii. 23. who is on this point independent of Jose|)hus). The Jews ill An.">.

everywhere else in Ihe Dias])ora. made converts, so that Clirislianity gained foothold

tioeh. as

many

they lamented, no less sinceri'ly than the .Tews, the death of till' upright high jiriest Onias, who was luurdeied by

there (luickly. .VChrisliaii congregation, composed of Jews and (Jentiles. was early organized (.Vets. .vi. 19). and the name "Christian " lirsl came into use iu this city (.Vcis, xi. 20). There was also a synagogue in Antiocliia Pisidie (.Vets, .xiii. 14). Anlioch now became a chief center of Christianity; but it also long retained its iniporlance for Ihe Jews, The iiiblical "Hamath" is considered by the Jeru.salem 'Pargiim (Gen, x. is. Num. xiii. 21 io be Anlioch. In the Babylonian Talmud (Sanh. 9fii'/) liie Biblical Kiblah is explained as Anlioch. or, rather. Dajiline near Anlioch. The laller is also mentioned in other connections in the .Miilmsh. the Targum, and the Talmud, both in the Haggadah and the Halakah. In the Halnkah(Git. 44//) the .Vntiochiaiis are qiioteil as a tyjie of iion-PalistiMians. In Rab- Several teachers of the l,aw lived in binic Lit- Antioeh or had occasion to be there; among othi'is was Isaac Nappaha ICet. erature. 88((). Here K. Tanl.iuma had a discussion on religion, probably with Christians (Gen. I{. Here, too, II. Aha. "the prince of Ihe citaxi.x. 4). del " (see A II. V S.

ii.-BiitAii), and K. Tanl.iuina

effected the ransom of Jewish captives taken by the l{omans(Ycb. iTvi seethe corii'et readings in Kashi) Judaism still atin the campaign of Gallus in 3.")1, In consetracted Christians to its riles in Antioeh. (|iience. the lirst synod in Antioeh (341) declared in its first canon that Easier should not be celebrated at the same time as the .Jewish Passover (JIansi, "Synopsis," i. .")!). The attachment of the Chrislian to Jewish customs may be particularly inferred from six sermons, delivered against the Ji'Ws in , tiocli (about 3(!fi-3NTl by John Chrysostom, later patriarch of Conslantinoiile. On Sabbaths and holidays. Christians, esiiecially women, visited the synagogue They also jireferred in preference to the church. to bring their disjuiti'S to .lewisli juilges and look synagogue. llieir oaths in the The Jews felt so secure in their jiosition that, in Inmestar, a small town situated between Clialeis and Antioeh. they scoffed at Jesus and the Cliristian.s. but were severely |uinislied (Socrates, " Historia Ec-

command of .Menelaus,

clesiastica, vii. Hi; conii>are

1.S99. lip. 3.S(7»'7.).

the

life

It

and teaching of

him in the uomiaus to

woil(l .se<'m, Ei.lsii. ni;.

however, that .VniYAii place

sjime ealegory with the Hellenistic auti-

whom I'aul

ANTIOCH

aud Apollos belonged.

Ancient capital of Syria, situated in the ncMihiiii ]iarl of that country, fifty-seven miles west of .Vlippo, on the left bank of the river Orontes. about lifleen miles above its mouth. Anlioch was founded in 300 n.o. by Seleueus Nicator {.Josephus. "Ap." ii. 4), who named it after his father, or. according to others, after his son (see Gen. K. ^ 'i'A: "Anlioch is called after Antiochus"). According to "Midr. Tehillim" (i.. !<). and "Seder 'Olani Zutta." Antiochus was the foinider. but'this is incorrect (Hapoport. Erek Millin." p. 148). From " Jlegillat Antiochus" it is evident that the Jews considered Antiochus Ei)i]>haneslhefounder(" Rev. Et. Juives," .Vnlioch, aslhechief city of Syria, was the x... '.ilS). seat of the Unman governor, wlio.se jurisdiction exlarge number of Jews tended over Palestine also. resided in Autioch from ilsfoundalion(.Iosephus, " H. J," vii, 3, §3), and received from SeleuEarly ens Xieatorall the ri,ghts of citizenship

A

Settlement (Jnse]dms, " AnI." xii, 3, t; 1). privileges well' inscribed upon of Jews.

Their tablets

of brassand carefully guarded, 'I'lieir the title of archon; and the

communal head bore

Syrian kings succeeding Antiochus Epiphanes gave many votive olferings to the Synagogue. When the heathen inhabitants of Antioeh besieged Demetrius Nicator in the royal palace, they were put to flight

by the Maecabean Jonathan creilit

(ih.

of the .Vntiocliians be

it

.iii.

.'5,

t;

3).

To

the

said, that

in Daphne, a beautiful suburb of Antioeh (II Slacc, iv. 33; somewhat differently. " Ant." .xii. 5, g 1). JIark Antony commanded the Antioehians to return to the .Jews everything of which they had deprived them (" Ant," xiv. 12, g 6). "When war broke out in fid. and Greeks and .Tews were everywhere engaged in bl ly strife, the .Vntioehians did no harm to their Jewish fellow-citi/eiis ("B. J." ii, 18. s; .')), Perhaps they considered themselves under obligations to Ihe Jews, because Herod the Great had adorned their city with a street twenty stadia in length and jtaved with marble ("B. J." i. 21. S 11). After the fall of .Terusalem and the siibiugation of the Jews, however, bitter hatred arose between the .iitiochians and the Jews. The chief of the .Jewish community, a certain Antiochus, became the accuser of his own brethren, and the legate Casennius Petus was hardly able to protect them against

1

(

,

"Codi'X Theodosianus,"

The Antiochians revenged the wrong of Inmestar by depriving Ihe Jews of llieir synagogue xvi. 8, 18).

Thi' emperor TlK'odosius II. restored Ihe to them; but on Ihe jiroteslalions of the fanatical monk Simeon Styliles, be ceased to defend the cause of the Jews (Evagrius, "Hist. Ecel."i, 13), During llie reign of Ihe emiieror Zeno, in brawls between the factions of the blue and Ihe green, many Jews were murdered by the greens (Malalas."Cliron. Pasch." Bonn. p. 389). AVlien Persia threaleiied the Eastern Eni]iire. the emperor Phocas vainly endeavored to force the Jews to be baptized, and Ihose of Anlioch were driven to ri'bellion, in Ihe course of which many Christians were killed and Ihe patriarch Anaslasius was eoiulemned to a shameful death (filO). The newly ajipoinled gnveriKir. Bonosiis. suppressed the rebellion only by dint of great efforts. He (423).

synagogue