637
JEWISH
TlIK
ANTIOCHTJS Syria.
Ill'
last i)f
llii-
uiis
XII.,
DIONTBXTS
till' _vciiiiii;i'st
8i-liuiiils
111
ciiiMi'
Kiiiir
"f
scm df (;r
pd-;. :t]j(l lljc
cniitiict
with .lews.
ill
In a caiiipiiiirn aicainst Arctas, kinir nf the Arabs, Antidclius iiiti-niU'rl to march thniiij;h .ludca, l)iit Alexander Jaiuni'us Wdiild not iicnnit it; iicvcrllwIcss Anlicirlms jitTsistcd in his piiriicisc, and took no noticcof the olistaclcs Alexander set in his way. The epi.sode hud no further results, for Antiochus died in
the campaign. kiiliii. :i
ANTIOCHUS, SCROLL OF Name
(Megillat
G.
An-
a ii-c-uilepii;iiiph. urilteii in llelilew. descrihin.ir the revolt of the .Mai-ealiees, and (h'pietinir its glorious course. Saadia (><!l'2-U4'J) was the tirst to niak(' iiii'iition of this little book. lie referreil to it as " Ketab Bene Haslinionai " (Iranslatinj; doubtless the Hebrew "8efer Bene Ilash:
lit
"), ami cited a verse from it (Ilarkavy, "Zikkariai la Hishonim," v, '}l). ISO), which leaves no doubt conceruiuir the identity of the .Meijillah with this"I!ook of the Ilasiiioueaiis " lint the niuch discussed ".'scloll of the House of the Ihismoneans," which, it isallcfred, the "Ilalakot Ge-
nionai
" Book of
"
quotes (middle of tlie eighth dolot theHasmo- century), is ])urely iiiia,i;inary for not. only does the manuscript read in this neans." "( " llalakol passfi'.'e, ".Mejxillal Ta'anit Gedolot." cd. llildesheimer, p. 111.")), but, even if the expression, "Me^'illat bet Hashiiionai," of the printed text be adopted, the passai;e would then bear the very opposite iiieaniiiii; to the one that has been deduced from it since the time of Uapoport. The passjiire should be translated: "The oldest of the [lupils of Shammai and Hillel wrote Mejiillat Het Ilaslinionai.' ]5ut, i|) to the iiresent time notliin,!; is known of the >iei:illali; and this state of incoirnizanco will last until the priest .shall appear with the
'
Thumuiim." words of the passasre orijrinate in Xeli. vii. and leave no doubt concernini; the ob.scure expression niin? HpV; since the words of Nehemiah I' rim
anil
The
last
(i.").
or the similar expression, "when Eli,jah shall appear," were used to express tin; iiha that what has disjippeiired, or lies hidden, will some time make its rcappeiVTiince (I JIucc. iv. 40; Mek., Heshallah, Wayassii', 5, ed. Weis.s,
ji.
(10).
This view also
nnllilics
speculalion that the Talmud and the .Mlilnishim drew upon a " liook of the IlasMioneans." At any rate, it may be asserted that the .Mei.rilliil Antiochus was written at u time when even the vai;iiest recol An adlection of the .Maccabeans had disappeared. ditional proof of the .siuiie fact is furnisheil by the hiniiua^re an<l subject nialler of the work itself. The scroll bcirins with a clescriplion of the greatness and power of Aiitiixlius, who was mii.'hty and victorious, and built . iioch, a city Contents on the seacoast (a misunderstandin.i; of His jrcnGen. H. xxili., bciiinnint,'). of the ilil
ScroU of iial liairias also founded Antiochus. yond . lioch, and called it
a city beafter him self. In the twenty third year of his reii;!!, Antioi-hiis iletermhieil to beirin the reliirious war iigaiiisl the Jews. To (hat end lie sent to Jerii his jrcneral Nicaiior. who ni>red furiously aRainst the pious Jews, and set up an idol in the Temple. When the hiirh priest John, sun of Malta thias. saw (his. he appeared before Nicaiior's lious<' .dmitled to Nicanor's mill demanded entrance, presence, he declared himself willing (ocomi>ly with the king's (lemaiid, and (o olTer H.sacritlcu to the idol.
siilem
He
expressed (he wish, however, (ha( all l>reseDt should leave the house; since he feared that if the Jews heard of his deed he would be stoned. When left alone with Nicanor, John thrust into the general's heart (he dagger that he had concealed under his garments. After this .lohn waged a victorious war against the Greeks; and. as a memorial of his great deed, he erected a column with the inscription, ".Maccabee, Antiochus now .sent his the Slayi;r of the .Mighty general Hagris (a distorted form of the name liac-
L.
tiochus)
Antiochus, Scroll of
"
Kulin. licitrflor zur Gcmhichtc ihr Silcitit wq.: Srliiircr, tiisrhiihlr. 1, lill.
BlBi.ii«;it,riiY
Antiochus VII.
i;.N(V(l,(il'i;i)IA
cliides),
who
at tirst killed a
number
of
Jews
for ob-
serving their religions precepts; hut he wasat length compelled by the tivesousof Mattatliias to tice. He boarded a vessel, and set .sjul for Antiixh. When, lor the second time, he moved with a mighty host against the Jews, he was not much more successful. The live sons of Mattatliias ojiposeil him valiantly,
and aUhough Judas and Ek'a/.ar lost their lives, (lie Jews were (riumpliant. Their success was in uo small measuredue to the aged .Mattatliias, who, after the fall of Judas, himself undertook the guidance of the battle This tliir<l battle was also the last for Hagris was burned by the Jews, and .Antiochus. after a revolt of his subjects, lied to Asia Minor and
drowned himself. The Jews hen purilied thcTemiile They were fortunate enough to tind clean oil, which was needed for the holy lights, and although the (|uantity seemed siillicient for one day only, it la.sted miraculously I
during eight days. For this reason the Jlaecabees instil uted the eight-day Ilanukkali feast. This outline of the subject-matter of the Scroll sulliccs to ilelcrmino its historic value. That . tiocli is mentioned as a coast city; that John, with the surname " .Mac<-al)ee," is called a high luiest and that Ihe reign of Antiochus is .sjiid to have lasted twenty-three years, all go to prove that the Megillah Since no is a spurious work of fairly recent times. Fali'stinian ever lalled .Vnlioch a coast city, the statement concerning its jiosil ion shows also that (he
work is a liabylonian jiioiluct. The ililerminalion of the exact date of the
Scroll the above-mentioned pa.s,sa,ge in the "llalakol Gedolot" really refers to a "Hook of the Hasmoneans." the finly possible period could have been from the middle of the eighth to the middle of the ninth century; for, as has been sai<l, the " Halakot Gedolot " does not presup))o.sea book that existed contemporaneously with itself. Till' sources drawn upon by the author of the .Megillah were unhistoric. with the one exception of Ihe Kirsl Hook of the .Maccabees diroliably the Syriac version), of w liich pasSources. sages were copied letter for letter (st'e " Megillat . tioclius."eil. Jellinek. vcrse'iit; 1 Mace, Till' idea of the high ]>rie.st John was deiii. •!(>). rived from the Talmud, in which, however. John llyrcaniis is always called Snj ;ri3 |2nV; and Ihe writer of the Megillah confusis him wiih John, son of Ihe Hasmonean .Mattatliias, mentioned in the The inirach' of the cruse liook of the .Maccabees. of oil likewi.se sprang from the Talmud, which itself drew it from the Megillat Ta'anit. The w lio'ly legendary characler of (he Scroll did iio( [ireveiil i( from being held as of consei|Uenee a( ci'r(ain periods; in fad. (his leireiidary chanu'(er may have conlribuled to its appreciation. In Saadia'slime it miisl have biin greatly esleinieil ollierwise he would not have allribuled its authorship to Ihe live sons of Mallalhias (/.c. p. l.">0); and Nissini b. Jacob, at llie iMginning of theelevenlh century, invi'.s(s it with almost canonical dignity (introdueis
more
ililliculi.
If
(ion
(I)
"Sefer .Ma'a.sio(,"ed. Warsaw,
ji. .'»).
OurinR
