THE JUDÆANS IN ALEXANDRIA AND THE GOVERNMENT OF SIMON.
The Judæan Colonies in Egypt and Cyrene--Internal Affairs
of the Alexandrian Community--King Philometor favours the
Judæans--Onias and Dositheus--The Temple of Onias--Translation
of the Pentateuch into Greek--Struggle between the Judæans and
Samaritans in Alexandria--Affairs in Judæa--Independence of
Judæa--Simon's League with the Romans--Overthrow of the Acra
and of the Hellenists--Simon's Coinage--Quarrel between Simon
and the Syrian King--Invasion by Cendebæus--Assassination of
Simon.
160-135 B. C. E.
The magic land of the Nile, once the school of suffering of the
children of Israel and the cradle of Israel's religion, became at this
period the school of wisdom for the Judæan nation.
The settlement of the Judæans in Egypt was as much encouraged by the
Greek rulers of that country as it had been in former ages by the
Pharaohs. They spread over the entire district between the Lybian
desert in the north and the confines of Ethiopia in the south. They
increased as rapidly as they had done in the days of their forefathers,
and they numbered one million of souls at the expiration of a century
from their first arrival in their adopted country.
In Egypt and Cyrene the Judæans enjoyed rights similar to those of
the Greek colonists. They were so proud of this equality that they
watched over their privileges with a jealous eye. It is impossible to
say from whom they originally held them, whether from Alexander or his
successors. The Judæan colony in Egypt began to play an active part
at the time when the Egyptian and Syrian courts were hostile to each
other, when both were eager for the possession of Judæa, and each was,
therefore, anxious to secure the alliance of the Judæans. But the
Egyptian Judæans had always been faithful adherents of the Ptolemaic
royal house, and Philometor, the sixth prince of that dynasty, had
cordially received the numerous fugitives who had fled from Judæa
during the persecutions of Antiochus.
Conspicuous amongst those emigrants were several Judæans of
distinguished families, as well as the son of the high-priest Onias.
They were treated with respect by the Egyptian rulers, and were
able, at a later date, to give proof of their intelligence and their
learning. Political prudence demanded the friendliest reception of the
Judæan malcontents, in order to make sure of their undivided support in
the re-conquest of Judæa from Syria. Neither Egypt nor Syria, however,
could possibly have divined that the opposition of the Judæan patriots
to the Syrian armies would lead to the independence of Judæa.
The Judæans were principally concentrated in Alexandria, second only to
Rome in political importance and commerce, and to Athens in love of art
and knowledge. Of the five divisions or districts of Alexandria, which
were designated by the first letters of the Greek alphabet, the Judæans
occupied nearly the whole of two; the district of the Delta, lying upon
the sea-coast, had indeed become an exclusively Judæan colony, and
its commanding position determined the occupation of its inhabitants.
The cargoes of grain that Rome imported for her legions from the
rich plains of Egypt were undoubtedly laden upon Judæan ships, and
taken into the market by Judæan merchants. They carried the wealth of
Egyptian harvests to less fertile countries, as Joseph, their ancestor,
had done before them. Prosperity and refinement were the fruits of
their enterprise. But commerce was not monopolised by the Judæans, nor
was it their only pursuit. Their eagerness to learn and their aptitude
enabled them to acquire the skill of the Greeks, and to succeed in the
manufacture of delicate fabrics. Judæan artisans and skilled workmen
were leagued in a kind of guild, and when labour was required in the
Temple of Jerusalem, the Alexandrian-Judæan community supplied the
master-hands. Moreover, the Alexandrian Judæans applied themselves to
the Grecian arts of war and of statecraft. They acquired the melodious
Greek tongue, and made a profound study of Greek learning, many of them
reading and understanding Homer and Plato as easily as the books of
Moses and the writings of King Solomon.
Prosperity, worthy pursuits, and culture inspired the Alexandrian
Judæans with dignity and self-respect, and in this they may be compared
with their descendants in Spain of a much later date.
The Alexandrian community was looked upon as the centre of the Judæan
colony in Egypt, and other Judæan colonies, and even Judæa herself,
were glad to lean at times upon this firm pillar of Judaism. Houses of
prayer, bearing the name Proseuche, were established in all parts of
the city. Amongst them was the principal synagogue, distinguished by
its graceful architecture and its magnificent interior. These houses
of prayer were at the same time schools of learning, where the most
accomplished student of the Law would stand up on Sabbaths and festival
days to expound that portion of the Pentateuch that had just been read
to the congregation.
But the most brilliant ornaments of the Alexandrian-Judæan world were
the distinguished fugitives who arrived in Alexandria during the Syrian
persecutions. The most illustrious of these was Onias IV., the youngest
son of the last legitimate high-priest of the line of Joshua ben
Jozadak.
After his father had been treacherously murdered, on account of his
determined antagonism to the Hellenists and his support of Hyrcanus,
young Onias fled for safety to Egypt. There he was kindly received
by the gentle King Philometor, because he represented a party which
looked upon him as the rightful successor to the priestly dignity, and
the sixth Ptolemy, hoping ultimately to wrest Cœlesyria and Judæa from
Syrian rule, believed that he might eventually rely upon the support of
this party.
As soon as Onias, who had now reached man's estate, heard that the
wicked high-priest, Menelaus, had been slain by order of the Syrian
court, and that Prince Demetrius had escaped from Rome, and had
conquered Syria, he flattered himself that he would be allowed to
return as high-priest to Judæa. His protector, the king Philometor, had
meanwhile become an ally of Demetrius, and had probably put in a good
word for his favourite. But when Alcimus was chosen high-priest, and
was supported by an armed force, even against the Hasmonæans, Onias
gave up all hope of receiving the priestly inheritance of his father,
and took up his permanent abode in Egypt.
Onias seems to have been accompanied by a man of great distinction,
Dositheus by name, and the two men played an influential part
during the reign of Philometor. They were given the opportunity of
distinguishing themselves during the disorders arising from the rivalry
of the two royal brothers, the gentle Philometor and the violent
Euergetes, who was a monster in body and in mind, and who was called,
on account of his enormous size, "_Fat-paunch_" (Physcon), and on
account of his diabolical wickedness, "Kaker-getes."
The two brothers, with their sister Cleopatra, who was the wife of
her elder brother, claimed the throne at a period when Egypt and
Syria happened to be at war with each other. But Physcon, the younger
brother, had seized the throne for himself, supplanting the elder
one, who fled as a supplicant to Rome. The Roman Senate acknowledged
the rights of Philometor, but always greedy for an extension of
power, resolved to make use of this opportunity to weaken Egypt. It
decreed, therefore, that the north-western province of Cyrene should
be separated from the Egyptian kingdom, and placed under the rule
of Physcon. But this prince, dissatisfied with his small territory,
repeatedly conspired against Philometor, and the two brothers were
soon openly at variance. Philometor dared defy Rome, which had taken
Physcon's part; but unfortunately his soldiers were unreliable; for the
Alexandrian-Greek population, besides having the usual faults of the
Greeks, were remarkable for faithlessness and caprice. Still more did
Philometor lack commanders. In this hour of emergency he entrusted the
Judæan emigrants, Onias and Dositheus, with the command of the campaign
against his brother. The entire Jewish-Egyptian population stood by
Philometor. The ability of the two Judæan leaders enabled him to weaken
Physcon effectually. From that day Onias and Dositheus were held in
great favour by Philometor, and they remained commanders of the entire
army.
Onias was recognised by the Judæans as head, or prince of the race
(Ethnarch). He may have been unanimously elected to that office by
his countrymen, and confirmed in it out of gratitude by the king,
or Philometor may have taken the initiative, and raised him to this
dignity.
In time this office became a very important one. It was the duty of
the ethnarch to control all the affairs of the community, to exercise
the duties of a judge, and to protect the integrity of contracts. He
represented his people at court. The office of ethnarch, which Onias
was the first to hold, offered too many privileges to the Egyptian
Judæans for them to have objected to it.
As a result, they were now in the fortunate position of having a leader
of royal dignity who was able to mould them into one strong body. Their
strength was to be enhanced by a new creation amongst them. In spite
of the distinction which Onias enjoyed at the court of Philometor,
and amongst his own race, he could not forget that, on account of the
events that had taken place in Judæa, he had lost his rightful office
of high-priest.
During the uncertain state of things in his own country, when Alcimus
was raised above the rightful incumbents of the priesthood, and after
his death, when this dignity seemed extinct, Onias conceived the
idea of building a Temple in Egypt that should take the place of the
violated sanctuary in Jerusalem, and of which he would be the rightful
high-priest.
Was he prompted to such an undertaking by piety or ambition? The
innermost workings of the heart are not revealed in history. To secure
the approval of the Judæans, Onias referred to a prophecy of Isaiah
xix. 19, "On that day there will be an altar to the Lord in Egypt."
Philometor, to whom he expressed his wish, out of gratitude for his
military services, presented him with a tract of land in the region of
Heliopolis, four and a-half geographical miles north-east of Memphis,
in the land of Goshen, where the descendants of Jacob had once lived
until the exodus from Egypt. In the small town of Leontopolis, on the
ruins of a heathen temple, where animals had formerly been worshipped,
Onias built the Judæan sanctuary (154-152). Outwardly, it did not
exactly resemble the Temple of Jerusalem, for it was made of brick, and
it rose in the shape of a tower. But all the necessary appliances in
the interior were on the exact model of those in Jerusalem, except that
the seven-armed candlestick was replaced by a golden lamp hanging from
a golden chain. Priests and Levites who had fled from the persecutions
in Judæa, officiated in this Temple of Onias. The king generously
decreed that the revenues of the whole district of Heliopolis should be
devoted to the needs of the Temple and the priests. This small province
was formed into a little priestly state, and was called Onion.
Although the community looked upon the Temple of Onias as their
religious centre, visiting it during the festivals, and sacrificing
in its courts, still, unlike the Samaritans, they did not withdraw
their allegiance from the sanctuary of Jerusalem, or in any way
depreciate it; on the contrary, they venerated Jerusalem as their
sacred metropolis, and the Temple as a divine residence. But the
wonderful fulfilment of the prophetic words, that "in Egypt a temple
of the Lord should arise," was a source of great pride to them. They
called Heliopolis the "City of Justice" (Ir-hazedek), applying to it
this verse from the prophets, "Five Egyptian cities will at that day
recognise the God of Israel, and one of them will be called the City of
Heres," but they read Ir-ha-Zedek.
Had Judæa been enjoying a state of peace and prosperity, she would have
resented this innovation, and laid an interdict upon the Temple of
Onias, as she had done upon that of Gerizim, and the Egyptian-Judæan
congregation would have been excluded from the community, as had
been the case with the Samaritans. But the desolation of the Temple
in Jerusalem was so great, the dismemberment of the commonwealth so
complete, that there could have been no valid reason for preventing the
accomplishment of a design springing from the purest of intentions. The
founder of the Temple was descended from a long line of high-priests,
which had its origin in the days of David and Solomon. His forefathers
had been instrumental in rebuilding the Temple after the Babylonian
exile; he could claim Simon the Just as his ancestor, and his father
was the pious Onias III. Later, when the Hasmonæan high-priest had
restored the divine service in Jerusalem, in all its purity, the
Judæans of the mother-country looked with regret upon the Temple that
existed in a foreign land, and the uncompromisingly pious party never
could forget that its existence was in violation of the Law. But by
that time the Temple of Onias had become firmly established.
Philometor gave Onias permission to build a fortress for the protection
of the Temple, in the province of Onion, and placed the stronghold and
its garrison under his command. Onias was at the same time military
commander of the district of Heliopolis, called the Arabian province;
hence his title Arabarch. In Alexandria, Onias was the communal and
judicial head of the Jewish population resident there, while in the
province of Onion and Arabian Egypt he was commander of the Judaic
soldiery settled there.
The complete confidence that this king reposed in Onias and his
co-religionists induced him to raise the high-priest to another post
of importance. The seaports and the mouths of the Nile were of the
greatest moment for the collection of the royal revenues. The taxes
here levied on all incoming and outgoing raw materials and manufactured
goods made Egypt the richest country during the rule of the Ptolemies,
and later, under that of the Romans. Onias was entrusted with the
custody of the ports, and the Alexandrian Judæans living upon the
sea-coast had, no doubt, the privilege of selecting the officials for
the custom-houses.
At this period, Egypt was the scene of an event of the utmost
importance in the history of the world, though giving rise at the time
to views diametrically opposed to each other. The devotion of the
Judæan fugitives to the Law, for whose sake they had fled from their
homes in Palestine, may have awakened in the cultivated King Philometor
the desire to become acquainted with the time-honored Torah of Moses;
or perhaps those Judæans, who were allowed access to the person of the
king, so stimulated his interest in their laws, so shamefully reviled
by Antiochus Epiphanes, that Philometor was at last eager to read them
for himself in a translation.
It is also possible that the insulting libel on the Judæans and their
origin, written in the Greek tongue, apparently by an Egyptian priest,
Manetho, (who describes the Israelites as being a noted shepherd race
in Egypt (Hyksos), expelled as leprous under a leader called Moyses),
may have made the king anxious to learn the history of that people from
its own sources. Whatever was the nature of the inducement, it was a
matter of great importance to the Alexandrian Jews that the sublime
Pentateuch was translated into the polished Greek tongue.
We have no particulars of the way in which this work was brought
about. Apparently, with a view to lightening the task, it was divided
among five interpreters, so that each book of the Pentateuch had its
own translator. The existing translation, though through various
corruptions it has lost much of its original character, shows by its
very lack of uniformity that it could not have issued from one pen.
The Greek translation of the Torah was, so to say, another sanctuary
erected to the glory of God in a foreign land. The accomplishment
of this task filled the Alexandrian and Egyptian Judæans with
intense delight; and they thought, with no little pride, that now
the vainglorious Greeks would at last be obliged to concede that the
wisdom taught by Judaism was at once more elevating and of more ancient
date than the philosophy of Greece. Their satisfaction was doubtless
enhanced by the fact that the noble work owed in part its successful
termination to the warm sympathy of the friendly king, and that a path
was thus opened for a true appreciation of Judaism among the Greeks.
It was natural, therefore, that great rejoicings should take place
among the Egyptian Judæans on the day of presentation of the version
to the king, and that its anniversary should be observed as a holiday.
On that day it was customary for the Judæans to repair to the Island
of Pharos, where they offered up prayers of joyful thanksgiving. After
the religious ceremony they partook of a festive repast, either in
tents or under the free vault of heaven, each according to his means.
Later on this anniversary became a national holiday, in which even the
heathen Alexandrians took part.
But far different was the effect produced by the translation of the
Torah into Greek upon the pious inhabitants of Judæa. Not only was
Greece the object of their hatred, on account of the sufferings
they had endured at her hands, and the indignities she had offered
to their religion; but they feared, not unnaturally, that the Law,
translated into another language, might be exposed to disfigurement
and misapprehension. The Hebrew language, in which God had revealed
Himself upon Mount Sinai, alone appeared to them a worthy medium of
the Divine thought. Presented in a new garb, Judaism itself appeared
to the pious Judæans estranged and profaned. Consequently the day that
was celebrated as a festival by the Judæans in Egypt was considered by
their brethren in Judæa as a day of national calamity, similar to that
upon which the golden calf had been worshipped in the desert, and it is
even said that this day was numbered amongst their fasts.
Different as were the points of view from which the work was regarded,
judged by the results produced by the Greek translation, there was
reason both for the joy of the Alexandrian and the sorrow of the
Palestinean Judæans. Thanks to its Grecian garb, Judaism became known
to the Greeks, who were the civilisers of the world; and before five
centuries had elapsed, the principal nations had become acquainted with
its teachings. The Greek translation was the first apostle Judaism
sent forth to the heathen world to heal it of its perversity and
godlessness. Through its means the two opposing systems--the Judæan
and the Greek--were drawn nearer together. Owing to their subsequent
circulation through the world by means of the second apostle,
Christianity, the tenets of Judaism were fused into the thought and
language of the various nations, and at present there is no civilised
language which has not, by means of this Greek translation, taken words
and ideas from Judæan literature. Thus Judaism was introduced into the
literature of the world, and its doctrines were popularised.
On the other hand, however, it innocently led to a mistaken view of
the Judæan Law, becoming in a measure a false prophet, promulgating
errors in the name of God. The difficulty of translating from Hebrew
into Greek, a radically different language, at no time an easy task,
was greatly increased at that period by the want of exact knowledge of
Hebrew, and of the true nature of Judaism, which made it impossible for
the translator always to render correctly the sense of the original.
Moreover, the Greek text was not so carefully guarded but that, from
time to time, arbitrary emendations might have been introduced.
Added to this, the translation was probably used as a guide for the
interpreter on the Sabbaths and Holy Days, and it depended upon his
taste, learning, and discretion to make what changes he pleased. And,
in fact, the Greek text is full of additions and so-called emendations,
which later on, in the time of the conflicts between Judaism and
Christianity, became still more numerous, so that the original form
of the translation cannot always be recognised in its present altered
state. Nevertheless the Alexandrian Judæans of later generations
believed so firmly in the perfection of this translation, that by
degrees they deemed that the original could be dispensed with, and
depended entirely upon the translation. Thus they came to look upon the
mistakes which had crept into the Greek Bible either through ignorance,
inability to cope with grammatical difficulties, or arbitrary
additions, as the word of God, and things were taught in the name of
Judaism which were entirely foreign or even contrary to it. In a word,
all the victories which Judaism gained during the lapse of years over
civilised heathendom, as well as all the misconstructions which it
suffered, were the effects of this translation.
The great estimation in which this work was held by the Greek-speaking
Judæans, and in time also by the heathens, gave rise to legendary
glorifications, which were finally, about a century later, crystallised
in a story which relates that the origin of the translation was due
to the steps taken by Ptolemy Philadelphus, whose attention had
been attracted to the value of the Book of the Law by his librarian
Demetrius. Demetrius declared it worthy of a place in the Royal
Library, provided it were translated into Greek. Thereupon the king
sent his ambassadors to the high-priest Eleazar with costly presents,
requesting him to choose several wise men, equally versed in Hebrew and
in Greek, and to bid them repair to his court. The high-priest selected
seventy-two learned men, taking representatives from the twelve tribes,
six from each, and sent them to Alexandria, where they were received
with great pomp by the king. The seventy-two delegates finished the
translation of the Torah in seventy-two days, and read it aloud before
the king and all the assembled Judæans. It was from this legend, looked
upon till recently as an historical fact, that the translation received
the name of the Seventy-two, or more briefly, of the _Seventy_,
Septuagint.
A beginning having been made, it was natural that a desire should
arise to render the other literature of Judaism accessible to Greek
readers, and so, by degrees, the historical books of the Jews also
appeared in a Grecian garb. On account of the greater difficulties
they offered, the poetical and prophetical books were the last ones
to find their way to the Greek world. These translations gave birth
to a new art in the Egyptian community--that of pulpit oratory. Was
it, perhaps, customary in Judæa, when the Law was read, not only to
translate the portion into the language then in use among the people
(the Chaldæan or Aramæan), but also to explain it for the benefit of
the ignorant, and was this practice also introduced into the houses of
prayer of the Egyptian Judæans? Or was it adopted by the latter because
the Hebrew language had become foreign to them? However, whether it
was an imitation or whether it originated with the Egyptian Judæans,
this custom of translating and explaining obscure verses and portions
not easily understood created a new art. The interpreters, with the
fluency of speech derived from their work, were not satisfied with
merely rendering the original text, but expanded it, adding reflections
thereon, and drawing from it applications to contemporary events,
and notes of admonition and warning. Thus out of the explanation of
Scripture arose the sermon, which, in the Greek spirit of giving to all
things an attractive and beautiful form, came by degrees artistically
to be developed. Pulpit oratory is the child of the Alexandrian-Judæan
community. It was born in its midst, it grew up and was perfected,
becoming later a model for other nations.
The charm which the Hellenistic Judæans found in the Biblical writings,
now made accessible to them, awoke among the learned the desire to
treat of those writings themselves, to bring to light the doctrines
contained in them, or to clear up their apparent crudities and
contradictions. Thus arose a Judæo-Greek literature, which spread and
bore fruit, influencing an ever-widening circle. But little is known
of the infancy of this peculiar literature which held, as it were, two
such repellent nationalities in close embrace. That literature appears
also to verify past experience, that rhythmic and measured sentences
are more pleasing than simple prose. There are still some fragments
of these writings extant which relate, in Greek verse, the old Hebrew
history. This literary activity re-awakened in Egypt the old anger of
the Samaritans against the Judæans. These two peoples agreeing in
their adherence to the Law, in their recognition of one God, and in
their condemnation of idolatry, still retained their old hatred against
each other. Although the Samaritans, like the Jews, were forced by the
officers of Antiochus to renounce the worship of the God of Israel, yet
they did not assist the Judæans to fight their common enemy, but rather
sided with the latter against their own co-religionists.
During the religious persecutions many Samaritans appear to have
emigrated into Egypt, and to have joined the descendants of their own
tribe who had been established there since the time of Alexander. These
Egyptian Samaritans had, like the Judæans, adopted the customs and the
language of the Greeks which prevailed in Egypt, and now the enmity
which had existed between the adherents of Jerusalem and of Gerizim
was transferred to a foreign land, where they opposed each other with
that furious zeal which co-religionists in a strange country are
wont to exhibit in support of cherished traditions. The translation
of the Torah into Greek, under the patronage of the king Philometor,
appears to have cast the firebrand into their midst. How fiercely
must the anger of the Samaritans have been provoked by the omission
in the text of the Septuagint of that verse which they looked upon as
a proof of the sanctity of their Temple, "Thou shalt build an altar
in Gerizim"! The Samaritans in Alexandria desired to make a protest
against the translation, or rather against the alleged falsification,
of the text, and as some of their number were in favour at court, they
induced the mild Philometor to appoint a conference between the two
religious sects, at which the question of the superior sanctity of
the Samaritan or of the Judæan Temple should be decided. This was the
first religious dispute held before a temporal ruler. The two parties
chose the most learned men among them as their advocates. On the side
of the Judæans appeared a certain Andronicus, the son of Messalam,
whilst the Samaritans had two champions, Sabbai and Theodosius. In
what manner the religious conference was carried on, and what its
consequences were, cannot now be ascertained, the accounts that have
come down to us having assumed a legendary form; each party claimed
the victory, and both exaggerated its effects. Religious disputations
have never yet achieved any real results. The Judæan historians pretend
that an arrangement had been made to the effect that it should be the
right and the duty of the king to put to death those who were defeated
in argument--a statement for which there is no foundation. When the
Jewish advocates pointed out the long roll of high-priests from Aaron
down to their own time who had officiated in the Temple at Jerusalem,
and how that Temple had been enriched by holy gifts from the kings of
Asia,--advantages and distinctions which the Temple at Gerizim could
not boast, the Samaritans were publicly declared to be vanquished, and
according to agreement they were put to death. The Samaritan accounts,
which are of a much later date and more confused, ascribe the victory
to their side.
This controversy respecting the superior sanctity of Jerusalem or
Shechem was, it appears, carried on in Greek verse. A Samaritan poet,
Theodotus, praised the fertility of the country round Shechem, and
in order to magnify the importance of that city he related the story
of Jacob, describing how he rested there; also the ill-usage which
his daughter Dinah received from the young nobles of Shechem, and the
revenge taken upon them by her brothers, Simeon and Levi. In opposition
to Theodotus, a Judæan poet, Philo the Elder, exalted the greatness of
Jerusalem in a poem. He extolled the fertility of the Judæan capital,
and spoke of its ever-flowing subterranean waters, which were conducted
through channels from the spring of the High Priest. The poet
endeavoured to enhance the sanctity of the Temple in Jerusalem, which
stood on Mount Moriah, on the summit of which Abraham had been about to
offer up his son Isaac--an act which shed everlasting glory upon all
his descendants.
Meanwhile, the sky which, during the reign of Philometor, had shone so
brightly over the Judæans in Alexandria, became dark and threatening.
It seemed as if the parent state and its offshoot were linked together
for good or evil. Prosperous and adverse days appeared to visit the
two communities almost in the same alternation. Through the misfortune
of Jonathan, Judæa had fallen into adversity, and a new reign in Egypt
had brought trouble and sorrow to the Judæans in Alexandria. That same
Ptolemy VII. (Physcon), who had reigned many years with Philometor and
had conspired to destroy him, sought, after his death, to obtain the
crown in spite of the existence of a rightful heir. The novelty-loving,
fickle and foolish populace of Alexandria was inclined to recognise as
king the deformed and wicked Physcon. The widowed queen, Cleopatra, who
had governed during her son's minority, had likewise many adherents,
and in particular Onias was devoted to her cause. When war broke out
between Cleopatra and her hostile brother, Onias with his Judæan army
received as their share of the spoil one district or province. At last
a compromise was effected, in virtue of which Physcon was to marry
his sister, and both were to reign together. This doubly incestuous
marriage was most unhappy. No sooner had the inhuman Physcon entered
Alexandria than he put to death, not only the followers of the rightful
heir, but also the youth himself, who was slain on the very day on
which Physcon married Cleopatra. Bitter enmity between king and
queen, brother and sister, was the consequence of this cruel deed.
The sensual and barbarous monster violated his wife's daughter, and
filled Alexandria with terror and bloodshed, causing the greater part
of the inhabitants to flee from the city. Was it likely that he would
spare the Judæans who, as he well knew, were the supporters of his
hated sister and wife? Having heard that Onias was bringing an army to
her assistance, he ordered his soldiers to seize all the Judæans in
Alexandria, with their wives and their children, and to cast them bound
and naked upon a public place, to be trampled to death by elephants.
The animals were intoxicated with wine in order to irritate and excite
them against their helpless victims. But the latter were rescued from
impending death in a manner which seemed miraculous to the trembling,
unhappy Judæans. The enraged beasts rushed to the side where the king's
people were seated awaiting the cruel spectacle, and many of them were
killed, while the Judæans were unhurt. The Alexandrian Judæans kept
the day of their heaven-sent deliverance as a perpetual memorial. From
this time, indeed, Physcon appears to have left the Judæans unmolested.
Indeed, during the remainder of his reign their literary ardour
and their zeal for the acquisition of knowledge increased greatly,
and their writers appear to have applied themselves undisturbed to
their works. Physcon himself was an author, and wrote memoirs and
memorabilia, dealing with historical events and facts in natural
history. A Judæan called Judah Aristobulus is said to have been his or
his brother's master.
Whilst the Alexandrian-Judæan community was occupying a high
intellectual position, the Judæan people in their own land attained
a lofty political eminence, from which they could look proudly back
on their former abject state. What progress they had made during the
reign of Jonathan is clearly shown by the simple comparison of their
condition after his death, with that in which they found themselves at
the fall of Judas. Judas's successor at first had been able to draw
around him only a handful of faithful followers; a leader without right
or title, he possessed neither fortresses, nor means of defence or
attack, and was hard pressed by enemies at home and abroad. Jonathan's
successor, on the contrary, Simon Tharsi, the last of the heroic sons
of Mattathias, inheriting a recognised title, and being invested with
the dignity of high-priest, became at once the ruler of a powerful
people. He found strong fortresses in the land, and but one enemy
in his path, who had already been much weakened by his predecessor.
Jonathan's death, therefore, was followed by no disastrous results
to the nation, but served to inflame the whole people to avenge the
noble Hasmonæan high-priest upon his crafty murderer. Simon had simply
to step into the vacant leadership. Although approaching old age at
the time when he became the leader of his people, he still possessed
the freshness of youth and the fiery courage which marked him when
his dying father directed him to be the wise counsellor in the then
impending war against Syrian despotism. So vigorous was the Hasmonæan
race that few indeed of their members could be accused of cowardice or
weakness, and the greater number of them evinced till their last breath
the strength and courage of youth. By the side of Simon stood his four
sons, Jonathan, Judah, Mattathias, and one whose name is unknown, who
had all been moulded into warriors by the constant fighting in which
they had been engaged. Simon, following the policy of his brothers,
took advantage of the weakness of the enemy to increase the defences
and strength of his country, and to extend the dominion of Judæa; but
he achieved even more, for he delivered his people completely from
Syrian rule and raised Judæa to the rank of an independent nation.
Simon's government, which lasted almost nine years, was therefore
rightly described as glorious. The aged were allowed to enjoy their
closing days in peace, while the young rejoiced in the exercise of
their activity and strength; "they sat every one under his vine and fig
tree, with none to make them afraid."
Simon's first step was an act of independence. Without waiting, as
had been the custom hitherto, for the confirmation of the Syrian
princes, he accepted at once the office of high-priest offered him
by the people. To provide against the war which this step of his
might bring on, he hastened to provision and place in a state of
defence the fortresses of Judæa. He also opened negotiations with the
dethroned king Demetrius II., although the latter had repaid Jonathan's
assistance with base ingratitude. Simon sent him, through a solemn
embassy, a golden crown as an acknowledgment of his regal power, and
promised him aid against Tryphon on condition that the independence of
Judæa should be fully recognised by a complete release from payment of
taxes and services. The result justified his calculations. Demetrius
willingly accepted Simon's offer, hoping to assure himself of a
faithful ally, who would assist him in a possible war against Tryphon.
He wrote "to the high-priest and Friend of the King, to the elders and
the people of Judæa," as follows: "We have received the golden crown
which you have sent us, and we are ready to make a lasting treaty of
peace with you, and to write to our administrators that we remit your
taxes. What we have granted you shall remain yours. The fortresses that
you have erected shall be yours. We give you absolution for all the
offences, intentional as well as unintentional, that you have committed
against us up to this day; we release you from the crown which you owe
us, and we remit the taxes that were laid on Jerusalem. If there be
any among you anxious and fit to enter our army, they may be enlisted,
and let there be peace between us." The day on which this immunity had
been granted was considered by the Judæans so important and valued an
era, that its date, the 27th of Iyar (May), was recorded among the
half-holidays commemorative of victory.
The people looked upon these concessions of Demetrius as the
inauguration of their independence, and from that epoch the customary
manner of counting time according to the years of the reigning Syrian
king was discontinued. They now reckoned from the date of Simon's
accession to the government. All legal documents of the year 142 were
dated "In the first year of Simon, the High-Priest, Commander of the
Army and Prince of the Nation." Confident of their strength, the
people anticipated this royal prerogative for their leader, who was
not at that time entitled to it, for he had as yet been recognised
as the legitimate prince neither by Syria nor by the nation. Simon
himself does not appear to have looked upon the concessions received
as sufficient to bestow complete independence upon his country, but
dated his reign from a later year, when he obtained the right of
coining money. The joy experienced by the inhabitants of Jerusalem at
the recovery of their freedom, the loss of which they had bitterly
bewailed since the destruction of the Judæan kingdom under their last
king Zedekiah, was so great that the elders or members of the Great
Council felt impelled to communicate the all-important event to the
Judæans in Egypt. In doing so, however, they had to overcome a serious
difficulty: so to word their communication as not to offend Onias,
the founder of the Onias Temple, the descendant of the family of
high-priests which, by the acts of the Hasmonæans in Judæa, had been
completely and hopelessly supplanted. Even supposing that Onias or his
sons had entirely relinquished the prospect of ever possessing the
office of high-priest, it must have been painful to remind them, and
their followers in Egypt, that their family had been thrust aside by
the people in Judæa.
The representatives of the nation managed to pass lightly over this
difficult subject, and descanted upon the fact that, after their long
sufferings and persecutions, God had heard their prayer, and had once
more given them the power of offering sacrifices, of rekindling the
holy lights, and of placing the shew-bread in the Temple, which had
been spoiled by the enemy and polluted by the shedding of innocent
blood. This delicate statement, which carefully avoided giving any
offence to the Judæans in Egypt, appears to have produced a very
favourable impression upon them. They likewise rejoiced at the
recovered independence of Judæa, and ascribed great importance to the
year in which it was obtained.
The second noteworthy act of Simon consisted in driving out the
remaining Hellenists from their various hiding-places in the Acra
at Jerusalem, and in the fortresses of Gazara and Bethsur, and in
completely destroying any influence they may have possessed. Gazara
surrendered unconditionally. Simon allowed the Hellenists to leave the
place, and ordered their dwellings to be cleared of their idolatrous
images. The Hellenists in the Acra, however, had fortified their
position so well that Simon was obliged to lay siege to it, and to
reduce its defenders by famine. At last they were overcome, and the
victors entered the Acra to the sound of music and with solemn hymns
of praise. In commemoration of the taking of the Acra, the 23rd Iyar
(May 17) was ordered thenceforth to be kept as a day of rejoicing. The
taking of Bethsur appears to have caused little difficulty. Of the
expelled Hellenists, some, it seems, found refuge in Egypt, others
renounced their idolatrous practices, and were again received into the
community, whilst those who remained unchanged fell victims to the
religious zeal of the conquerors. It is related that the 22nd Elul
(September) was set apart among the days of victory, because it saw
the death of those idolators who had allowed the respite of three days
to elapse without returning to their faith. Thus at length disappeared
the last vestiges of that party which, during nearly forty years, had
shaken the foundations of Judaism, and which, in its apostate zeal,
had called down upon the people the calamities of civil contests and
cruel religious persecution, and brought a country to the verge of
ruin. The fortresses which Simon had taken from the Hellenists, Bethsur
and Gazara, were remodelled, so as to serve as places of defence. Of
great importance, likewise, was the capture of Joppa (Jaffa), by the
acquisition of which seaport the State received a large revenue; the
export and import duties, which the Syrian kings had introduced, now
fell to the share of Judæa.
The Acra underwent a peculiar change at the hands of the last of the
Hasmonæan brothers. The wrath of the people against this fortress was
too intense to allow of its standing intact. Apart from political
considerations, there was also a religious sentiment adverse to its
continuing unaltered. The fortress, with its lofty towers, which
the Syrians had erected to keep the city in check, overtopped the
Temple-capped mount itself, and this was not to be. According to the
prophecies of Isaiah, "in the last days the Mountain of the House of
the Lord was to be established on the top of the mountains, and be
exalted above the hills." This was literally explained to mean that
no mount or building was to overtop the Temple, and Simon, even if
unconvinced himself, was obliged to bow to that belief. On the other
hand, however, it seemed imprudent to destroy a fortress which, like
the Acra, was so conveniently situated for the accommodation of troops,
and so well fitted to serve as a storehouse for arms. Simon and his
counsellors hit upon a middle course in dealing with it. The towers
and bastions of the fortress were taken down--a work of destruction
which, it is said, it cost the people three years to accomplish; the
walls, courts and halls, on the contrary, were left standing, but the
hated name of Acra or Acrapolis was no longer used, but changed for
that of Birah (Baris), which had first been introduced by Nehemiah.
In this transformed edifice the Judæan soldiers were quartered, and
there they kept their weapons. Simon himself dwelt in the Birah in the
midst of his soldiers, while his son Johanan (John), as governor of the
sea-coast, resided at Gazara.
In spite of the favourable position in which he found himself, Simon
was obliged to remain armed and prepared for war. At present the two
pretenders to the throne, whilst they weakened each other, left him
in peace. Demetrius II. (Nicator), who had granted independence to
Judæa, was now engaged in an adventurous expedition in the east against
Persia. His brother, Antiochus Sidetes, governed in his place, and
was at strife with Diodotus Tryphon, who, having treacherously killed
Jonathan and the young Antiochus, the son of Alexander Balas, had
made himself ruler over Syria. Simon, urged by political motives to
weaken this cunning, evil-minded enemy, assisted Antiochus Sidetes, and
received from him the confirmation of the privileges granted to Judæa
by his brother in the hour of his need. In addition thereto, Antiochus
gave Simon the right of coining money, which was the especial mark of
independence.
Unfortunately, as is but too often the case, the hand that planted the
tree of liberty, also placed the gnawing worm in the noble blossom.
Wanting as he was in that far-sightedness which belonged to the genius
of the prophets of old, and guided only by present emergencies, Simon
believed that he would ensure the hard-won independence of his country
if he obtained for it the protection of that people which, never
tired of making conquests and aggrandising itself, was constantly and
everywhere the foe of liberty. In order to put an end to the ceaseless
provocations given by the petty Syrian tyrants, Simon entrusted
the welfare of his country to the mighty tyrant, Rome, in whose
close embraces the nations that sought protection were unfailingly
suffocated. Simon despatched as delegates Numenius, the son of
Antiochus, and Antipater, the son of Jason. They carried with them a
heavy golden shield and a golden chain, which, in the hope of gaining
for the Judæans the favour of being received as allies of Rome, they
were to present as a mark of homage.
The Roman Senate was not indisposed to enroll the most insignificant
nation among their allies, being well aware that in granting the favour
of their protection they had taken the first step towards reducing it
to vassalage. Rome resembles an unfaithful guardian, who takes infinite
care of the property of his ward, only to gather riches for himself.
The Roman Senate made known to their friends and vassals that they had
accepted Judæa as their ally, and the Syrian rulers were forbidden
to attack it (140). Scarcely two hundred years later, a shameless,
bloodthirsty Roman Emperor will insist upon being worshipped in the
Temple at Jerusalem, and after another thirty years will have passed,
Rome will break the strength of the Judæan nation, kill its heroes, and
hunt its sons like wild beasts. But these dire results of the Roman
alliance were unsuspected by Simon or his contemporaries, who rejoiced
at being called friends, brothers and allies of the great Roman nation.
In order to show their gratitude to their leader for the boon he had
procured for them, the Jewish people conferred upon him, with great
solemnity, supreme and permanent sovereignty over themselves.
One can hardly find, in all antiquity, a similar example of absolute
power thus bestowed upon a prince, and of a quiet, peaceful
transformation of a republic into a monarchy like that carried into
effect by the people of Judæa at that time. The deed which endorsed
this gift of the monarchy to Simon is preserved in a record, which
places strikingly before us the gratitude felt towards the Hasmonæans
by the newly-constituted nation.
On the 28th Elul (September) of the year 140, the third year of
Simon's tenure of the high-priesthood, the priests, the elders and
representatives of the nation, and all the people of Jerusalem were
assembled, probably upon the Temple Mount, and there agreed, in
recognition of the great services rendered by Simon and the Hasmonæans
to the people and the Sanctuary, to consider him and his descendants
as their leader (Nassi) and High-Priest, "until such time as a prophet
should arise." As the outward sign of his dignity, Simon was to wear a
purple mantle with a golden clasp. All public acts were to be in his
name; peace and war were to be decided upon by him; he was to have sole
power to appoint the commanders of the army and the fortresses, as
well as the managers of the Temple and all its sacred trusts. Whoever
opposed him was liable to punishment.
This decree of the people, a copy of which was deposited in the Temple
archives, was engraven on brass tablets, which were placed in a
conspicuous position in the Temple court; and besides, memorial columns
in its honor were erected on Mount Zion. In spite of their antipathy
to the customs of the neighbouring Greeks, the Judæans had learned
from them the art of immortalising their deeds in stone and metal.
Unlike the Greeks, however, they were not capricious in the honours and
favours they granted. Those to whom monuments were erected one day were
not bespattered with mud the next, but, on the contrary, lived forever
in the grateful hearts of their countrymen. Israel had now again a
prince lawfully chosen by the people, having been deprived of a ruler
for the space of nine jubilees, ever since the captivity of Zedekiah.
If the nation did not give Simon the title of king, but only that of
prince, it was not done in order to lessen his power in any way, but
that they might remain faithful to the house of David. According to the
views held at that time in Judæa, it was only a descendant of David
who could be king, he being also the expected Messiah. The deed which
gave the sovereign power to Simon contained the proviso that he should,
therefore, retain it until the appearance of the true prophet Elijah,
who was expected to be the precursor of the Messiah.
It was not until Simon had been formally recognised as ruler, that he
made use of the right to coin money granted him by Antiochus Sidetes.
This was the first time that Judæan coins were struck. On one side
was stamped the value of the coin with the inscription "Shekel of
Israel"; on the other, the words "Jerusalem the Holy" (Jerushalaim
Hakke-dosha), the date being indicated by an abbreviation. Emblems of
the high-priesthood of Israel were used as devices for the coins; upon
one side was engraven a blossoming branch (Aaron's staff); upon the
other a sort of cup, probably representing a vessel for incense. But
Simon's name or dignity, his title of prince or high-priest, did not
appear on them. The letters used in the inscriptions were old Hebrew
or Samaritan, probably because these characters were familiar to the
nations around, whilst they would have been unable to decipher the new
ones. The earliest date we find on the coins of Simon is that of the
fourth year of his reign, from which we may infer that it was not till
some years after he had assumed the regal powers (about 139) that he
commenced coining money.
Friendly as Antiochus Sidetes had shown himself towards Simon whilst
he had but little hope of defeating the usurper Tryphon, his demeanour
completely changed as soon as, by the help of the Judæans, he had
nearly attained his aim, and he became as cold as he had previously
been gracious and well disposed. To avoid the appearance of ingratitude
in his subsequent conduct, Antiochus sent back the two thousand troops,
as well as the money with which Simon had supplied him for the siege
of the town of Dora (139). The Syrian king despatched his general
Cendebæus to Simon to reproach him for having overstepped the limits
of independence granted to him, and with having taken the Syrian
possessions, Joppa, Gazara and the Acra in Jerusalem, without offering
any compensation. He therefore called upon Simon to restore those
places or to pay a thousand talents of silver. Simon replied that he
had only recovered the former inheritance of his fathers, but was ready
to give a hundred talents for Joppa and Gazara. The dispute, however,
could not be settled by friendly means, but was left to the arbitrament
of the sword.
Whilst Antiochus himself pursued Tryphon, who had escaped from the
fortress of Dora, he sent troops of infantry and cavalry under the
general Cendebæus, the Hyrcanian, to invade Judæa, and bring the
whole country again under the Syrian rule. Simon prepared for a hard
struggle. Fortunately he could assemble a considerable army, 20,000
men, and he was able to raise troops of cavalry, the want of which on
former occasions had been so disastrous to Judæa. Simon, being too
old to take an active part in the war, named as his generals his two
sons, Johanan (John) and Judah, who marched out of Gazara against the
enemy. In the meantime Cendebæus had penetrated into the country as
far as Ekron, plundering the inhabitants and carrying away captive
those who dwelt in the lowlands. On a plain situated between Ekron
(which Cendebæus fortified) and Modin, a battle was fought and gained
by the Judæans. Cendebæus and his army were defeated and pursued to
Azotus, which town, having offered resistance, was destroyed by fire.
Johanan, to whom the success of the campaign was chiefly due, received
in commemoration of his victory over the Hyrcanian, the name Hyrcanus.
This was the last war which took place in Simon's time (137-136), and
it inspired him with confidence in the capacity of his sons to uphold
the aspiring power of Judæa. Antiochus was still more embittered
against Simon by the defeat his arms had suffered, but, too weak to
attempt a new attack, he now had recourse to stratagem, and hoped by a
cunning plot to sweep from his path the whole family of the Hasmonæans,
the obstinate and successful foes of his house. To accomplish this
aim he strove to awaken the ambition and avarice of one who, being
Simon's son-in-law, might easily find opportunities for committing the
wished-for crime. This shameless man, Ptolemy ben Habub, was not held
in check either by gratitude or the ties of family affection, nor did
feelings of reverence for one grown old in deeds of heroism or the love
of his country restrain him. With his daughter's hand Simon had given
him riches, and had made him governor of Jericho and the surrounding
district, but the ambitious spirit of his son-in-law remained
unsatisfied, and he was eager to seize upon the inheritance of Judæa,
and with the help of the foreigner to rule in the kingdom. It was easy
for Ptolemy to carry out the villainous design he had conceived, for
the most vigilant and far-seeing mind could hardly have suspected so
base an act. In spite of Simon's great age it was his custom to visit
all parts of the country, in order to make himself acquainted with the
wants of the people and the manner in which the laws were administered.
During one of these journeys he came to the fortress of Dok, near
Jericho, where his son-in-law resided. He was accompanied by his wife
and his two younger sons, Judah and Mattathias, but the elder one,
John, had remained at his post at Gazara.
Ptolemy proffered friendly hospitality to the victims he meant to
sacrifice; he prepared a splendid banquet for them, and whilst they
were enjoying themselves at the feast, Ptolemy and his satellites fell
upon and massacred Simon and his sons (Shebat, February, 135).
As soon as the crime had been committed, the murderer sent messengers
to the Syrian king, asking for troops to assist him in his ambitious
designs. He also despatched soldiers to Gazara to assassinate John,
and to Jerusalem to take possession of the city and the Temple. But
Ptolemy was not to reap the expected reward of his treachery. A friend,
who had managed to escape from the fortress of Dok, hurried to Gazara,
and warned John of the impending danger, and as soon as the assassins
reached the city they received the due punishment of their crime.
John was likewise successful in reaching Jerusalem before Ptolemy,
and had little difficulty in persuading the people to stand by him.
The expected help from Antiochus also failed, doubtless because that
king was engaged in warlike operations elsewhere, so that Ptolemy
was obliged to shut himself up in his own fortress. Here he kept his
mother-in-law imprisoned as a hostage, and prepared to defend himself
against the attacks which would probably be made upon him.
Thus perished Simon, the last of the Hasmonæan brothers, not one of
whom had died a natural death, one and all having lost their lives in
the service of their country and their faith. Judah and Eleazar were
killed upon the field of battle, whilst John, Jonathan, and Simon, less
fortunate than their brothers, succumbed to the cruel treachery of the
enemies of their people.
END OF VOL. I.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] In Hebrew the word _Abir_ means _bull_, _mighty_, and hence _God_.
It is connected with the Egyptian _abr_ (a bull), from which _Apis_ is
derived. Conf. Jeremiah xlvi. 15.
[2] Levit. xvii. 7. The sending of the scape-goat to Azazel marked the
abomination in which this lascivious cult was held.
[3] Conf. Ezekiel xxiii. 7, 8.
[4] Micah vi. 4, mentions also Miriam, with her brothers, as a
deliverer.
[5] The situation of Sinai is not to be sought in the so-called
Sinaitic peninsula, but near the land of Edom, on the confines of which
was the desert of Paran. Neither Jebel Musa, with the adjacent peaks
of Jebel Catherine and Ras-es-Sufsafeh, nor Mount Jerbal, was the true
Sinai. See "Monatsschrift," by Fränkel-Graetz, 1878, p. 337.
[6] Joshua x. 12, 13.
[7] Deut. viii. 7-9.
[8] Deut. xxxiii. 13, 14.
[9] Amos iv. 13.
[10] Judges vi. 13.
[11] Judges iii. 8 and 10 must be read "king of _Edom_" (אדום)
instead of _Aram_ (ארם).
[12] Judges xi. 7.
[13] Genesis xlix. 16, 17.
[14] See Psalm lxxviii. 60-64; Jeremiah vii. 12.
[15] Jeremiah xv. 1; Psalms xcix. 6.
[16] I Samuel xiv. 12.
[17] I Samuel xiv. 45.
[18] I Samuel xv. 12 to 33. In the 32d verse read _mar mar hammaveth_.
[19] I Samuel xv. 28.
[20] Amos vi. 4-6.
INDEX.
Aaron, 12.
called to join Moses, 15.
Aaronides, See Priests.
Abdon, the judge, 66.
Abiathar, advises Adonijah, 152.
deposed, 168.
high priest in Jerusalem, 120.
priest of Nob, flees to David, 100.
sides with David against Absalom, 141.
Abigail, wife of David, 134.
Abijah, son of Samuel, 79-80, 107.
Abijam, son of Rehoboam, 189.
Abimelech, son of Gideon, 63.
Abir == Apis, 11.
Abishai, brother of Joab, 126.
defeats the Aramæans and Idumæans, 128.
Abner, Saul's cousin and general, 84-111.
defeats the Philistines, 108.
founder of the kingdom of the ten tribes, 108 f.
murdered by Joab and Abishai, 111.
negotiates secretly with David, 110.
Abraham and his descendants, 4-6.
Absalom, avenging Tamar, kills Amnon, his half-brother, 134.
defeated and killed by Joab, 144.
intrigues against David, 136.
rebellion of, 138.
Achish, the Philistine, and David, 100.
Achitub, grandson of Eli, at Nob, 79.
Acra, fortress of, 433, 470, 477, 495, 496 and 498.
Hellenists expelled from, 523.
in the hands of Simon and called Birah, 524.
Adarsa, battle of, 485.
Adonai Zebaoth == Lord of hosts, 130.
Adonijah, acknowledges Solomon, 154.
declared king by his friends, 151.
fourth son of David, 135.
killed by Solomon through Benaiah, 160.
Adoniram, chief superintendent of Solomon, 163, 172.
killed by the Shechemites, 182.
Agag, the Amalekite, defeated by Saul, 91.
killed by Samuel at Gilgal, 93.
Ahab, Omri's son and successor, marries Jezebel, 194.
and Elijah, 202 ff.
character of, 196.
death of, 206.
takes Naboth's vineyard, 202.
war with Benhadad II., 205.
Ahaz, king of Judah, 257.
calls Tiglath-Pileser to assist him, 258.
Ahaziah, Ahab's son, king of Israel, 206-7.
Jehoram's son, king of Judah, killed by Jehu's followers, 211.
Ahijah, of Shiloh, the prophet, 175.
rebukes Jeroboam for his idolatry, 187 f.
Ahikam, son of Shaphan, 303.
Ahishar, major-domo of Solomon, 172.
Ahithophel, David's adviser, 122.
grandfather of Bathsheba, 133.
hangs himself, 143.
intrigues against David, 138.
Ai, Israelites defeated at, 33.
taken by the Israelites, 33 f.
Akko, 3.
Alcimus == Jakim, the high priest, 482-508.
returns to Jerusalem, 487.
Alexander Balas, king of Syria, 494-6.
the Great, and the Judæans, 412-15.
's successors, struggles between, 416.
Alexandria, importance of, 504.
and the Judæans, 418, 503.
Alexandrian Judæans influence those in Jerusalem, 427.
Allegorical poems of Solomon, 158.
poetry long before Solomon, 159.
Allotment of land to the tribes, 36 f.
Almsgiving among the Judæans, 393.
Alphabet, Assyrian characters of the Hebrew, 395 f.
Phœnician, 3.
Amalekites defeated by Saul, by David, 91; 107.
Amasa, Absalom's general, 143, 146.
appointed as general by David, 148.
killed by Joab, 149.
Amasis, king of Egypt, 327.
Amaziah, the high priest at Bethel, 233, 236.
Amaziah, king of Judah, 222.
defeated and captured by Jehoash, 224.
killed by conspirators, 226.
reconquers Edom, 223.
Ammon, 9.
Ammonites, after the exile, 362, 474 ff.
defeated by Jephthah, 65.
defeated by Joab, David's general, 127.
defeated by Saul, 90.
influencing the worship of the Israelites, 55.
press Israel in the days of Samuel, 80.
Amnon, seducing Tamar, is killed by Absalom, 134.
Amon, king of Judah, 285.
Amorites, 3.
Amos of Tekoa, the prophet, 235.
Amos, iv. 13; vi. 4-6; vii. 2, 5; 49, 234, 237.
Anahita == Anaitis, Persian name of Aphrodite, 408.
Anakim, aborigines of Canaan, 2.
Anarchy in Israel after Pekah's death, 263.
Anavim == "the gentle," an order, formed by Isaiah, 254, 267.
in the exile, 337.
under Manasseh, 283, 286.
Andromachus, governor of Cœlesyria, 414.
Angelology, 403.
Animal worship among the Egyptians, 9.
Anointing David as future king, 96.
Jehu as king of Israel, 210.
Joash as king of Judah, 216.
Saul as king, 83.
Solomon as future king, 153.
Antigonus and Ptolemy, 417.
Antioch founded by Seleucus, 419.
Antiochus the Great, and Egypt, 425-34.
defeated by the Romans, 434.
reconquers Judæa, 433.
Antiochus Epiphanes, 442-77.
at Jerusalem, 451.
attacks Egypt, 450, 452.
death of, 477.
persecutes the Judæans, 453, 463.
Antiochus V., Eupator, 477-82.
Antiochus VI., son of Alexander Balas, 497.
Antiochus Sidetes, brother of Demetrius II., 525.
quarrels with Simon, 528.
Apelles, the Syrian, killed by Mattathias, 459.
Aphek, battle near, 70.
Apis, the black bull, called Abir, 9.
Apollonius, killed by Judas Maccabæus, 462.
opposed by Jonathan, 496.
persecutes the Judæans, 453-4.
Apries (Hophra), king of Egypt, defeated by Nebuchadnezzar, 313.
killed by Amasis, 327.
receives the Judæan fugitives, 324.
Araboth == meadows, 42, 45.
Aradus, 3.
Aramæa. See Damascus.
Aramæans, defeated by Joab, 126 f.
Araunah (Ornah), the Jebusite, 138.
Aretas, the Nabatæan, 447, 481.
Ark of the Covenant, 23.
at Shiloh, 41.
brought to Mount Zion by David, 119 f.
brought to the temple on Mount Moriah by Solomon, 166.
captured by the Philistines, 70.
in Philistia and Kirjath-Jearim, 71-2.
Army, organisation under David, 122.
standing, under the kings, 91.
Artaxerxes (Longimanus), 366.
Artaxerxes II., and III., Judæans under, 407.
Asa, Abijam's brother, king of Judah, 189.
defeats Zerah, the Egyptian, 190.
stops the Astarte-worship, 190.
Asaph, the singer, at Jerusalem, 120 f.
Ashdod, the Ark of Covenant at, 71-2.
Asher, and Naphtali, settlement of, 37.
20 towns of, sold to Hiram of Tyre, 164.
Ashmodai, 403.
Ashmun, a Phœnician god, 54.
Assembly, the Great, 381.
Assidæans (see Chasidim), 436.
Assyria, decadence and destruction of, 287, 296, 303.
encountering Egypt, 263.
Hezekiah conspires against, 269.
Assyrian, characters of the Hebrew alphabet, 395.
help sought by Ahaz, 258.
idolatry in Israel and in Judah, 247; 260, 269, 282.
influence over Judah, 260.
Assyrians, and Babylonians, 246.
defeat Phraortes; defeated by Cyaxares, 287.
invade Samaria, 246.
Astarte worshipped by the Israelites, 77, 175, 282.
by Maachah, mother of Rehoboam, 188.
by Omri, Ahab and Jezebel, 195 ff.
by the Phœnicians, 54.
by priests in Israel, 197.
not by Judah and Simeon, 77.
worship of, abolished by Jehu, 211 ff.
worship of, re-introduced by Jeroboam II., 233.
Athaliah, Ahab's daughter, married to Jehoram of Judah, 206.
her cruelty, 213.
killed by her captains, 216.
upholds idolatry in Jerusalem, 212.
Athenion, Ptolemy's envoy to Jerusalem, 423.
Azariah, son of Zadok, the second high priest, 167, 245.
Azariah (Uzziah), 226-46.
Baal, temple of, erected in Samaria by Jezebel, 197.
worshipped by the Israelites; Omri, Ahab and Jezebel, 75, 282; 195.
worshipped by the Phœnicians, 54.
's priests killed at the command of Elijah, 197, 204.
's worship destroyed by Jehoiada, the high priest, 217.
's worship stopped by Jehu of Israel, 212.
's worship upheld by Athaliah of Judah, 212.
Baalam and Balak, 28.
Baasha, successor to Nadab, 189.
Babylon, besieged and conquered by Cyrus, 344-50.
Babylon, fortified by Nebuchadnezzar, 329.
return of the Judæans from, 354.
under Cyrus, 350 ff.
under Evil-Merodach, Neriglissar and Nabonad, 331-42.
under Merodach-Baladan, Nabopolassar and Nebuchadnezzar, 278;
296, 303.
Babylonia, Judæans in, 363 ff.
Babylonian exile of the Judæans, 329-53.
Bacchides, the Syrian, defeats and kills Judas Maccabæus at
Eleasa, 486-7.
leaves the country, 492.
outrages the Judæans, 483-4.
pursues Jonathan and the Hasmonæans, 491.
Bagoas (Bagoses) at Jerusalem, 409.
Barak, the judge, defeats Sisera near Mount Tabor, 61.
Baruch collects Jeremiah's prophecies and compiles the histories, 336.
reads Jeremiah's scroll, 304.
Also see pp. 315, 320, 322, 323, 328.
Bashan, inhabitants of, aided by Judas Maccabæus, 474 f.
Bathsheba, 131-3, 153.
Bel's temple rebuilt by Alexander, 415.
Benaiah, David's leader of the Cherethites and Pelethites, 122, 126.
kills Adonijah and Joab, 160.
Benhadad I., of Damascus, defeats Omri, 195.
Benhadad II., fights against Ahab, 205.
killed by Hazael, 210.
Benhadad III., son of Hazael, besieges Samaria, 221.
defeated by Joash of Israel, 222.
Benjamin, settlement of, 38.
Benjamite, Saul the, 82-105.
Benjamites, faithful to Rehoboam, 182.
pretend enthusiasm for David, 147.
side with Absalom, 139.
Bethel, Mount, 45.
Bethel, annual meetings of the people under Samuel at, 78.
bull-worship at, 186, 233.
conquered by Joshua, 34.
place of worship for the Ten Tribes, 186.
Bethel, punished for its idolatrous worship, 295.
school of the prophets at, 205, 234.
Beth-horon, victories of Judas Maccabæus at, 462, 485.
Bethshan, bodies of Saul and his sons hung up at the walls of, 104.
Beth-Zachariah, Judæans slain at, 483.
Bethzur, conquered by the Hasmonæans, 498, 523.
conquered by Lysias the Syrian, 479.
fortified by Judas Maccabæus, 473.
place of refuge for the Hellenists, 494.
Birah == Acra, which see.
Book of the Wars of God, 29.
Buildings of Solomon, 162 f.
Bull-worship of Israelites at Bethel and Dan, 186, 233.
Burnt-offerings not necessary for a pure worship, 74.
Cabiri == the mighty, seven planets worshipped by Phœnicians, 54.
Call of Moses and Aaron, 15.
Canaan, at the time of the conquest, 41.
conquered by the Israelites under Joshua, 32.
original inhabitants of, 1.
population of, at Joshua's death, 50.
Canaanising the people of Israel under Ahab and Jezebel, 197.
Canaanites == Phœnicians, 2, 54.
unite against the Israelites and Gibeonites, 34.
Canaanite remnants nearly outrooted by Saul, 94.
workmen of Solomon, building the temple, 163.
Carmel, Elijah and the priests of Baal at, 203.
range of Mount, 44.
Cendebæus, the Syrian general, 528-9.
Ceremonies observed among the Judæans, 397.
Character of Moses, 30.
Characteristics of the Prophets, 15.
Chasidim or Nazarites, 422, 436, 457, 460.
deceived and outraged by Alcimus, 483.
Chasidim, one of the three parties in Judæa, 489.
persecuted by Antiochus Epiphanes, 457.
support Mattathias, 460.
Chebel == band of associates of Samuel, 76.
Chemosh, god of the Ammonites, 55, 175.
Cherethites, 122.
Choral services at the temple, 120, 151.
Chronicles, books of, 411.
Civil war between David and Absalom, 138-145.
David and Ishbosheth, 109.
Tibni and Omri, 192.
Claims of Israel to Canaan, 4.
Cleopatra, 506, 518.
Climate of Canaan, 42.
Cœlesyria, province of, 414.
conquered by Ptolemy, 416.
Coinage of Simon, 525, 528.
Colonies of the Greeks in Palestine, 419.
of the Judæans in Egypt and Syria, 418, 503.
Commencement of Hebrew poetry, 29.
Coniah == Jeconiah, 306.
Conquest of Jericho and Ai, 33 f.
Consecration, days of, instituted by Judas Maccabæus, 472.
of the new walls of Jerusalem, 381.
of the people to Jehovah, 380.
of Solomon's temple, 166.
of the second temple, 359.
Council of seventy elders and Moses, 25.
of the seventy, 394, 472.
Court of the king, 91.
of Solomon, 161.
Covenant, between the Judæans and Jehovah, 380.
of the people against proselytes and intermarriages, 368.
Customs of the nations surrounding Israel, 53 ff.
Cuthæans. See Samaritans.
Cyaxares, king of Media, 287.
conquers Nineveh, 303.
Cyrene, Judæans settle in, 503.
Cyrus, conquers Babylon, 344-50.
defeats the Babylonians, 343.
king of Babylonia, 350.
king of Medo-Persia, 342.
permits the Judæans to return home, 351.
Damascus conquered by David, 127.
by Jeroboam II., 231 f.
by Rezon of Zobah, 177.
by Tiglath-Pileser, 259.
See Benhadad, Hazael and Rezin.
Dan, a place of worship for the ten tribes, 186.
Daniel, book of, 465 ff.
xii. 2; xi. 21-24; 405, 443.
Danites, settlement of the, 39.
Darius, successor of Cambyses, 359 f.
David, of Bethlehem, 95-155.
Absalom rebels against, 138.
alliance with Hiram, 118.
and Ishbosheth, 104-24.
and Nathan, 150.
anointed by Samuel, 96.
apparent traitor of his country, 100.
armour-bearer of Saul, 98.
boundaries of his kingdom, 129.
character of, 130.
defeats Moabites and Ammonites, 125.
defeats the Philistines, 116.
deludes Achish, 102.
desires to build the temple, 150 ff.
great works of, 154.
king of Judah, 106.
king of the whole country, 112.
laments over Absalom's death, 145.
marries Michal, 100.
meets Goliath, 95.
meets Saul and Jonathan, 97.
misfortunes of, 131 ff.
persecuted by Saul, 99.
returns to Jerusalem, 146.
Uriah and Bathsheba, 131.
's death, 155.
Death of Moses, 30.
Deborah, 61.
Decalogue, giving of the, 21.
importance and effect of the, 21-3.
Dedication of the new walls of Jerusalem, 381.
of the temple under Judas Maccabæus, 473.
Deity, how conceived among the Judæans, 402.
Deliverer, Moses the, of Israel, 15.
Deliverers, temporary, called Judges, 59 ff.
Demetrius, son of Antigonus, 417.
Demetrius I., 481-525.
appoints Alcimus as high priest, 483.
Demetrius II. and Alexander Balas, 494 ff.
Demetrius II., and Simon, 521, 525.
attempts bribing the Judæans, 495.
Demetrius the librarian, and the Septuagint, 514.
Depopulation of Judæa, 325.
Deportation of Israelites to Assyria, 260, 264-5.
of Judæans to Babylonia, 307, 325.
Desert, wanderings in the, 20.
Destruction of Jerusalem; its consequences, 315 ff.
Deuteronomy, book of, 289, 292.
viii. 7-9; xxxiii. 13-14; 47.
Diodotus Tryphon, 497, 525, 528 ff.
captures Jonathan, 499.
Dionysian festivals in Alexandria and Jerusalem, 428.
Disciples of Elijah, 200.
of Isaiah, 253.
of Samuel, 76.
Disintegration of the Judæans, 383, 434.
of the kingdom of Judah, 281.
of the tribes, 57.
Dispersion of the Jews, first, 227.
Disputation between Judæans and Samaritans in Alexandria, 516.
Disputes between Samuel and Saul, 92.
Divine service, 401.
Doag, leader of Saul's guard, 91.
Dositheus of Alexandria, 505.
Doubters among the Judæans, 429.
Earliest inhabitants of Canaan, 1 ff.
Earthquake in Uzziah's time, 229.
predicted by Amos, 236.
Ebal, Mount of, 45.
Eben-ha-Ezer, Philistines defeat the Israelites at, 70.
Israelites defeat the Philistines at, 78.
Ecclesiasticus, book of, 439-41.
Ecclus. ix. 3; xxxii. 3, 4 and 6; 429, 439.
Edomites, subdued by Amaziah of Judah, 222.
See Idumæa.
Eglon, king of Moab, killed by Ehud, 60.
Egypt and Assyria at war, 263.
emigration of Jacob to, 4.
emigration of Johanan, Jeremiah, etc., to, 323.
induces Judah to rebel against Nebuchadnezzar, 306, 309.
invaded by Antiochus Epiphanes, 450, 452.
Egypt under Apries (Hophra) and Nebuchadnezzar, 312.
under Necho, 296.
under Ptolemy I., Soter, 416. See Ptolemy.
under Shishak inimical to Israel, 176.
Egypt's aid courted by Judah under Hezekiah, 269.
alliance with Solomon, 161.
Egyptian idolatry, 9.
introduced in Judah, 300.
Egyptians, accomplishments and attainments of, 8.
and Israelites, 7.
and Persians, 407.
bright and dark sides of, 8.
early history of, 8.
Egypto-Judæan community in Alexandria, 418.
Ehud, the judge, of Benjamin, 60.
Elah, king of Israel, killed by Zimri, 192.
Elath and Eziongeber, important seaports, 170, 176.
Elders == Zekenim, in early time, 7.
and Moses, 25.
Eleasa, defeat of the Judæans at, 487.
Eleazar, brother of Judas Maccabæus, 479.
Eleazar, the high priest, and the Septuagint, 514.
Election of Saul at Mizpah, 83.
Eli, the priest at Shiloh, 69-71.
Eliakim == Jehoiakim, king of Judah, 299.
Eliakin, son of Hilkiah, Shebna's successor, 272.
Eliashib, the high priest, 362, 383.
deposed by Nehemiah, 385.
Elijah, the Tishbite, 199.
at Sarepta, 203.
meets Ahab, 202 f.
meets Ahaziah, 207.
pursued by Jezebel, 204.
's return prophesied by Malachi, 385.
Elisha, Elijah's successor, 207.
activity and work of, 217.
highly respected by Joash of Israel, 223.
his death, 228 f.
meets Jehoshaphat and Jehoram, 209.
meets Naaman, 224.
Emendations of Judges iii. 8 and 10; 60.
Emendations of I. Sam. xv. 32; 93.
Emigration of Jacob to Egypt, 4.
of Johanan, Jeremiah, etc., to Egypt, 323 f.
Emim == Anakim and Rephaim, 2.
Endor, Gideon's encampment at, 62.
Saul consults the witch at, 103.
Ephes Damim, Goliath and Philistines slain at, 97 f.
Epiphanes of Egypt, 433 ff.
Ephraim and Manasseh, settlement of, 35 f.
Ephraimites displeased with Saul's election, 83.
head the revolt against Rehoboam, 181 f.
punished by Jephthah, 65.
ruined with the other nine tribes, 265.
side with Absalom against David, 139.
Epicurus's doctrines influencing Judæans, 429.
Esarhaddon of Assyria, 284.
Ethbaal (Ithobel) of Tyre, ally of Omri, 194.
Ethbaal II., vassal of Nebuchadnezzar, 304, 306.
Ethnarch at Alexandria, office of, 507.
Evil-Merodach of Babylon, 331.
Exile, Babylonian, 329-53.
of the Israelites, 260, 264.
of the Judæans, 307, 317, 325.
prophets of the, 344-49.
Exiles, moral change of the, in Babylonia, 333-5.
number of the Judæan, 332.
obtain grants of land, 330.
treated kindly by Nebuchadnezzar, 329.
Exiled priests settle in Samaria, 390 ff.
Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, 17.
of the Judæans from Babylonia, 355.
Ezekiel, son of Buzi, the prophet, 332 ff.
xxiii. 7, 8, and xxxviii. 8; 12, 407.
Ezra enforces the observance of the law, 387-8.
guardian of the temple, 382.
insists upon dissolution of mixed marriages, 367-9.
not a man of action, 371.
reads the law to the people, 378.
visits Jerusalem, 366.
Famine in Israel under Ahab, 203.
in Judah under Uzziah, 229 f.
Feast of Dedication, 473.
of Lights, 472.
of Tabernacles, 380.
Fertility of the land of Israel, 46 ff.
Fleet of Solomon, 170 f.
Future life, doctrine of, 404.
Gad and half Manasseh, attacked by Nahash, desire a king, 80.
settles in the trans-Jordanic territory, 29 f.
Gad, the prophet, joins David, 100, 113, 138.
Galilee, land of, 45.
Gath conquered by David's troops, 117 f.
Gaza, Ptolemy defeats Demetrius at, 417.
taken by Alexander the Great, 412.
Gazara, a stronghold of the Hellenists, 523.
Gedaliah appointed governor of Judah, 319.
murdered by Ishmael, 322.
overseer of the Judæan prisoners, 315.
Gehazi, Elisha's disciple and servant, 218, 223.
Gehenna, valley of, 115.
Ge-Hinnon == Hell, 404.
Gelil Haggoyim == Galilee, 164.
Gen. xlix. 16 and 17; 66.
Geography of Jerusalem and neighbourhood, 115 f.
of Palestine or Land of Israel, 42 f.
Gerizim, 45.
Gibeah of Benjamin, taken by Jonathan, 85.
residence of Saul, 89.
Gibeon, Joshua's victory over the Canaanites at, 34.
Gibeonites or Hivites and Rizpah, 123.
in Ezra's time, 367.
massacred by Saul, 94.
submit to Joshua, 34.
Gibborim == heroic warriors, 100.
Gideon-Jerubbaal routs the Midianites, 62.
Gilboa, Mount, 44.
Saul, his sons and army slain on Mount, 103 f.
Gilead, 50.
faithful to Jehovah under Ahab, 200.
Gilead, inhabitants of, aided by Judas Maccabæus, 474.
Gileadites of Jabesh pressed by Nahash the Ammonite, 89 f.
Gilgal, annual meetings of the people under Samuel at, 78.
first centre of worship under Joshua, 40.
Saul and his army meet at, 85.
school of prophets at, 205, 234.
tribes renew their oath of allegiance to David, 146 ff.
God of Israel, the, 5, 283, 402.
of hosts, 130.
Gods of Egypt, 9.
Goliath and David, 95 ff.
Gorgias, the Syrian, defeated by Judas Maccabæus, 465.
defeats Joseph and Azariah, 476.
Goshen, land of, 7.
Government of Israel under David, 121 f.
under Saul, 90 f.
under Solomon, 162, 172.
Governors of Cœlesyria, Andromachus, Memnon and Joseph, son of
Tobias, 414, 425.
Governors of Judæa after the exile, 360 ff.
See Zerubbabel, Joshua, Nehemiah, etc.
Greece and Judæa, 413.
Greek colonies in Palestine, 419.
customs spread in Judæa, 427 f.
faction among the Judæans, 435.
games among the Judæans, 438.
translation of the Pentateuch, 510, 512.
Greeks and Macedonians, 411.
Hadad (Adad) of Idumæa, fights against Solomon, 176.
Hadadezer of Zobah, helps Hanun against David, 126.
Haggai, the prophet, 359.
Hanukkah == days of consecration, 473.
Hanun, the Ammonite, defeated by David, 127.
insults David's messengers, 126.
Haphtarah, 400.
Hasmonæans. See Maccabees.
connect themselves with the Romans and Parthians against
Syrians, 490.
leaders of the nation, 490.
one of the three parties in Judæa, 489.
Hathor, the Egyptian goddess, 9.
Havvoth Jair, 64.
Hazael of Damascus, invades Israel and Judah, 220 f.
's war against Israel, 210.
Hebrew alphabet, Assyrian characters of the, 395 f.
literature taken along into the captivity, 334 f.
poetry, commencement of, and two characteristics of, 29.
tongue cultivated by the Judæans in Babylonia, 364.
Hebron, Absalom rebels against David at, 139.
inhabited by the Idumæans, 474.
residence of David, 109.
Helam, defeat of the Aramæans at, 127.
Hell == Ge-Hinnon, 404.
Hellenism in Judæa, 435, 439, 442-71.
Hellenists, Acra occupied by the, 478, 488.
masters of the country, 488.
overthrow of, 523.
side with Alcimus, 483.
Heman, chief psalmist and musician at Gibeon, 79, 121.
Hermon, Mount, 44.
Heron, a Syrian commander, defeated by Maccabæus, 462.
Hezekiah, king of Judah, 268-80.
and Merodach-baladan, 278.
change of policy of, 272.
death of, 280.
defense against Sennacherib, 275.
early measures of, 268 f.
illness and recovery of, 276.
restores Jehovah's worship, 266-7.
rule of, 278.
unites with Egypt against Assyria, 269.
weakness of character, 268.
High-priestly office made equal to that of royalty, 219.
High-priests--
Abiathar, 120.
Alcimus, 482.
Azariah, 167, 245.
Eliashib, 362.
Hilkiah, 289, 365.
Jason, 444, 480.
Jehoiada, 213 ff.
Jehoiakim, 360.
Joiada, 386, 409.
Jonathan, 495.
Joshua, 351 ff.
Judas Maccabæus, 481.
Onias, I., II., and III., 413, 423, 437.
Onias IV., 505, 507, 522.
Onias Menelaus, 447-80.
Seraiah, 314, 365.
Simon I., and II., 420, 432.
Zachariah, 220.
Zadok, 120.
Highroads of the king, 171.
Hilkiah, high priest under Josiah, 289, 365.
Hiram of Tyre, 118.
friend of Solomon, 161-2.
receives for gold twenty Israelitish towns, 164.
supplies Solomon with cedar and cypress wood, 164.
Hiram, the artist, building the temple, 165.
Historical books, from Genesis to the end of Judah, compiled by
Baruch, 336.
Hittites == Hivites, 3.
Hollow Syria == Cœlesyria, 414.
Holy City, 114 ff.
Land, 1, 41.
Hosea, Beeri's son, the prophet, 240.
Hosea II., contemporary of Isaiah, 251.
chapter ii. 4-6; 241.
's speeches against idolatry, 240 f.
Hoshea, son of Elah, kills Pekah of Israel, 260, 263.
king of Samaria, 263.
prisoner of Shalmaneser, 264.
Huldah, the prophetess, 286, 293.
Human sacrifices under Ahab, 260 f.
Humane spirit of the Decalogue, 23.
Hushai of Erech, David's friend, 141 f.
Hymn of Moses, 293.
Hyrcanus, 429, 431, 437, 444.
Idolaters severely treated by David, 131.
Idolatry abolished by Jehu of Israel, 211 ff.
abolished by Josiah, 294.
among the Persians, 408.
Assyrian, in Israel, 247.
Assyrian, in Judah, 260, 269, 282 ff.
Egyptian, in Judah, 300, 306.
introduced by Antiochus Epiphanes, 455.
introduced by Jehoram of Judah, 209.
Idolatry introduced by Jeroboam I. and II., 186, 233.
Israelites influenced by, 57.
of the nations surrounding Israel, 54 ff.
of the Phœnicians in Israel under Omri and Ahab, 195 ff.
of the wealthy exiles, 340.
permitted by Solomon, 175.
to be spurned, 41.
Idumæans, assisted by Egypt, defeat Judah, 226 f.
defeated by Abishai, 128.
defeated by Uzziah (Azariah), 230.
fight the Israelites, 27.
intercourse of the Israelites with, 55.
kill fugitive Judæans, 318.
make settlements in Southern Judæa, 325.
remain enemies of Judæa, 435, 474.
subdued by Amaziah, 222.
Impurity, laws concerning purity and, 401.
Indian trade of Solomon, 169.
renewed by Uzziah (Azariah), 130.
Inhabitants of Canaan, original, 1.
Intermarriages between Israelites and their neighbours, 56.
between Judæans and their neighbours, 361.
dissolved and forbidden by Ezra, 367-9, 386.
practised again, 383.
Internal affairs of the Alexandrian community, 504.
conflicts in Judæa after the death of Maccabæus, 491.
government of Israel under David, 121, 154.
government of Israel under Saul, 90.
government of Israel under Solomon, 162, 172.
Ipsus, battle at, 417.
"Iron sea" of Solomon's temple, 165.
Isaiah, Amoz's son, of Jerusalem, 251-4.
disciples of, 253.
's efforts to restrain Hezekiah from war with Assyria, 270.
immediate and permanent effect of the speeches of, 252-3.
opposes Ahaz's seeking Assyrian help, 258.
predicts Jerusalem's deliverance, 272.
sons of, 251, 258-9.
Isaiah, the Babylonian, 344 ff.
Isaiah i. 11-14, 253;
ii. 2-4, 243;
vi. and vii., 252, 258;
viii. 5-8, 259;
x. 5-xi. 10, 272;
xxii. 1-14, 16-25, 271;
xxviii. 1-4, 266;
xxix. 13, 253;
xl. 345;
xlii. 1-4, 347;
liii. 3-7, 344;
lv. 12, 355;
lvi. 7, 347;
lxiv. 9, 325;
lxvi. 1, 5, 348, 349.
Ishbosheth and David, 106-124.
Ishmael, son of Nehemiah, 317, 321.
flees to Egypt, 323.
murders Gedaliah, 322.
Isolation of the tribes, 36.
Israel == Jacob, 7.
Israel and Judah, kingdoms of, 182 ff.
at Goshen, 7.
claim of, to Canaan, 4.
distinctions of the land of, 42.
end of kingdom of, 265.
remnant of == kingdom of Judah, 266.
Israel under Eli and Samuel, 68-81.
under the judges, 60-67.
" King David and Ishbosheth, 106-24.
under David, 125-55.
" Saul, 82-105.
" Solomon, 156-78.
" Ahab, 196-206.
" Ahaziah, 206.
" Ba'asha, 189-91.
" Elah, 191.
" Hoshea, 263.
" Jehoahaz, 221.
" Jehoash, 221 f.
" Jehoram, 207.
" Jehu, 211.
" Jeroboam I., 182-9.
" Jeroboam II., 225-43.
" Menahem, 244-7.
" Nadab, 189.
" Omri, 192-6.
" Pekah, 248.
" Pekahiah, 248.
" Shallum, 244.
" Tibni, 192.
" Zechariah, 243.
" Zimri, 192.
Israelites and Egyptians, 7.
and the neighbouring nations, 53.
crossing the Jordan, 29.
exodus of, from Egypt, 17.
influenced by their pagan surroundings, 51 f.
Israelites, occupying the land of Canaan, 32 ff.
victorious over Canaanites, 27.
wandering in the desert, 26 f.
Isis, 9.
Issachar, settlement of tribe of, 37.
Ittai, the Hittite, David's general, 137, 141, 144.
Jabesh-Gilead, besieged by Nahash, 89.
Jabesh-Gileadites, rescue Saul's body, 104.
Jabin, defeated by Joshua near Lake Merom, 37.
Jabin, the Canaanite king, 61.
Jacob == Israel, 7.
Jael slays Sisera, 61.
Jakim. See Alcimus.
Jason appointed high priest by Antiochus Epiphanes, 444, 451.
son of a high priest, 435, 439.
Jebus, changed to Jerusalem, 114.
Jebusites, 3.
between Ephraim and Judah, 76 f.
made subject to David, 113.
Jeconiah == Jehoiachin, 306.
Jeduthun, choir-leader in Gibeon, 121.
Jehoahaz, King of Israel, 221.
Jehoahaz, King of Judah, 298.
Jehoash, King of Israel, 221.
defeats Amaziah of Judah, 224.
defeats Benhadad III. of Damascus, 222.
Jehoiachin == Jeconiah == Coniah, 306.
favored by Evil-Merodach, 331.
taken to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, 307.
Jehoiada, the high priest, 214.
Jehoiakim, the high priest, son of Joshua, 360.
Jehoiakim, King of Judah, 299-306.
introduces Egyptian idolatry, 300.
persecutes the prophets, 301.
rebellion and death of, 306.
submits to Nebuchadnezzar, 306.
throws Jeremiah's scroll into the fire, 305.
Jehoram, Ahaziah's brother, King of Israel, 207.
at war with Hazael of Damascus, 210.
at war with Mesa of Moab, 208.
killed by Jehu, 211.
Jehoram, King of Judah and husband of Athaliah, 206.
Jehoshaphat of Judah, allied with Ahab of Israel, 206.
Jehu appointed successor to Ahab's house, 204.
captain of Jehoram of Israel, 210.
king of Israel, 211.
loses part of Israel, 220 f.
Jephthah, the Gileadite, defeats the Ammonites, 64.
punishes the haughty Ephraimites, 65.
Jeremiah of Anathoth, the prophet, 289-329.
assists Gedaliah and encourages the people, 319.
emigrates to Egypt, 324.
imprisoned by his enemies, 312.
imprisoned by Ishmael, 322.
imprisoned by Chaldæan soldiers, 314.
warns Zedekiah against rebellion, 310.
Jeremiah's counsel disregarded by Johanan, 323.
lamentations, 316.
last days, 327.
prophecies collected by Baruch, 304.
scroll read by Baruch, 304.
Jeremiah, book of, vii., vii. 12, 302, 71;
xv. 1, 72;
xxiii. 29, 291;
xxix. 4-8, 310;
xxxi. 17-18, 266;
xlvi. 15, 11.
Jericho conquered, 33.
fortified by Ahab, 201.
school of prophets in, 205, 234.
Jeroboam I., the Ephraimite, 174.
aided by Shishak, 184.
and Ahijah, the prophet, 175.
flees to Egypt, 176.
introduces idolatry, 186.
king of the Ten Tribes, 180 ff.
resides at Shechem, 180.
Jeroboam II., King of Israel, 225-43.
Jerubbaal-Gideon routs the Midianites, 62.
Jerusalem attacked by Antiochus Epiphanes, 451.
attacked and captured by Sanballat, 371.
besieged by Lysias, the Syrian general, 479.
captured by Nebuchadnezzar, 307, 311.
captured by Ptolemy I., 416.
captured by Scopas, the Ætolian, 432.
captured by Shishak of Egypt, 184.
Jerusalem, centre of religious life, 119.
David's final residence, 114.
fortified by Azariah, 231.
fortified by David, 118.
fortified by Hezekiah, 270.
fortified by Nehemiah, 373.
new walls of, consecrated, 381.
ransacked by Jehoash of Israel, 225.
re-populated, 377.
return of Judæans to, 354.
return of Judas Maccabæus, 471.
visited by Ezra, 366 ff.
visited by Nehemiah, 373, 385.
Jerusalem's walls rebuilt by Simon the Just, 421.
Jeshurun, Israel's new name, 22.
Jesus Sirach, son of Eleazar, 421, 439.
Jezebel, character of, 197.
death of, 211.
Ethbaal's daughter, married to Ahab, 194.
pursues Elijah, 201.
Jezreel, Hosea's son, 240.
Jezreel, plain of, 44.
Saul and his army slain at, 103.
town of, Ahab's summer residence, 201 f.
Joash of Judah, early years of, 213.
killed by two nobles of Judah, 221.
proclaimed king by Jehoiada, 215.
Job, book of, 341.
Joab, son of Zeruiah, 100-160.
commander of the Gibborim, 100.
David's general, 109.
defeats and kills Absalom, 144.
defeats the Aramæans and Ammonites, 126.
defeats Sheba and the northern tribes, 149.
favours Adonijah, 152.
killed by Solomon through Benaiah, 160.
kills Amaza, 149.
kills Abner, 111.
Joel, Samuel's son, 80.
Joel, son of Pethuel, the prophet, 230, 237 ff.
book of, chapter iii. 1-2; 239.
Johanan, son of Joiada, the high priest, 409.
Johanan, son of Kareah, 318, 321, 322.
emigrates to Egypt, 324.
Johanan, son of Mattathias, 489.
Johanan, son of Simon, called Hyrcanus, 529.
Joiada, a high priest, 386, 409.
Jokthel, name given to Petra by Amaziah of Judah, 223.
Jonadab, son of Rechab, a Nazarite, 200.
and Jehu exterminate Baal's worship, 212.
Jonah, son of Ammittai, 225.
Jonathan, eldest son of Saul, 84-103.
and David, 97 ff.
and his sword-bearer attack the Philistines at Gibeah, 87.
attacks Gibeah of Benjamin, 85.
killed by the Philistines, 103.
his remains brought to the family tomb at Zelah, 124.
Jonathan, brother of Judas Maccabæus, 459, 475, 489, 493.
allies himself with Alexander Balas, 496.
and Tryphon, 498, 501.
appointed high priest, 494.
buried at Modin, 501.
leader of the nation, 490 ff.
Jordan, Israelites crossing the, 29.
only large river in Palestine, 46.
Josê, son of Joezer, of Zereda, 436.
Josê, son of Johanan of Jerusalem, 436.
Joseph, son of Tobias, 423-31.
ambassador to Alexandria, 425.
Joshua, son of Nun, successor of Moses, 32.
death of, 52.
defeats Jabin near Lake Merom, 37.
defeats the Canaanites at Gibeon, 34.
less active in old age, 50.
Joshua, book of, x. 12 and 13, 35.
Joshua, the high priest, son of Jehozedek, 351.
successful against Zerubbabel, 359.
Joshua, the high priest, son of Joiada, 409.
Joshua (Jesus), Sirach sings Simon's praises, 421-2.
Josiah, King of Judah, 286-97.
defeated by Necho, 297.
Passover of, 295.
reformation of Judah under, 288.
repairing the temple, 288.
Jotham and his parable, 63.
Jotham and Isaiah, the prophets, 251.
Jotham, friendship with Pekah, 249.
king of Judah, 246.
regent of Judah, 246.
Jubilee year, 393.
Judæa accounted a province of Cœlesyria, 413-4.
added to the Lagido-Egyptian kingdom, 418.
and Greece, 413.
depopulated, 325.
independent under Simon, 519.
invaded by the Syrians under Cendebæus, 528.
part of the province of Greece, 413.
under Jonathan, 501.
under the rule of the Seleucidæ, 432.
Judæa, new community in, 354.
spread of Greek customs in, 427.
three parties in, 489.
Judæan colonies in Egypt, Syria and Cyrene, 418, 503.
exiles, number of the, 332.
sect of Samaritans, 392.
Judæans adapt Hellenism, 435.
and Alexander the Great, 412-15.
and Samaritans, 389, 392.
and Samaritans in Alexandria, 515.
and Samaritans persecuted by Ptolemy Physcon, 519.
at discord after Nehemiah's departure, 383-4.
banished to the Caspian sea, 408.
become doubters and sceptics, 429.
deported to Babylonia, 307.
in Alexandria, 503 ff.
in Babylonia. See Exile.
in Babylonia begin the religious reformation, 363.
in Egypt, 326.
in the Sopheric age, 389 ff.
intermarry with neighbouring people, 361.
of Galilee ill-treated by their neighbours, 474.
permitted by Cyrus to return home, 351.
persecuted by Antiochus Epiphanes, 452, 464.
remaining in Babylonia support their returning brethren, 354.
return from other countries, 356.
revolt against the Ptolemies, 423.
under Artaxerxes II. and III., 407.
under the Maccabees, 442 ff.
under the Ptolemies, 420.
Judah, tribe of, 38 f.
and Benjamin the last to invite David to return, 146.
and Simeon assist their brethren under Samuel, 76.
elects David as king, 107.
religion in, 188.
Simeon and Benjamin faithful to Rehoboam, 182.
starts the revolt against David in favor of Absalom, 139.
Judah, kingdom of.
and Egyptian idolatry, 300.
end of, 298-316.
subject to Egypt, 298.
under Abijam, 189.
" Ahaz, 257-66.
" Amaziah, 222.
" Ahaziah, 211.
" Amon, 285.
" Asa, 189.
" Athaliah, 213.
" Azariah (Uzziah), 226-48.
" David, 109.
" Hezekiah, 266-80.
" Jehoahaz, 298.
" Jehoiachin, 306-8.
" Jehoiakim, 299-306.
" Jehoram, 209.
" Jehoshaphat, 206 ff.
" Joash, 216.
" Josiah, 286-97.
" Jotham, 248-56.
" Manasseh, 281-5.
" Mattaniah-Zedekiah, 308-15.
" Rehoboam, 179-89.
" Zedekiah-Mattaniah, 308-15.
Judaism loses its national meaning, 392.
Judas Maccabæus, 461-87.
accused by Alcimus before Demetrius II., 482.
appointed his father's successor, 461.
at war with the Idumæans, 474.
at war with the Syrians under Lysias, 478.
defeats Apollonius and Heron, 462.
defeats Gorgias the Syrian, 468.
defeats Lysias the Syrian, 469.
defeats Nicanor twice, 484-5.
falls in a battle against Bacchides, 487.
makes overtures to Rome, 485.
punishes Timotheus and the Ammonites, 475.
returns to Jerusalem, 471.
Judges appointed by Moses, 26.
name of the temporary deliverers of Israel, 59-67.
Book of, iii. 8 and 10, 60;
vi. 13, 58;
xi. 7, 65.
importance of the, 68.
Justice administered among the Judæans, 394.
supreme court of, 394.
Kanna == religious zeal, 199.
Kedeshim and Kedeshoth, 54, 198, 283.
Kehillah, a Levitical guild, 76.
Kenites, allies of the Israelites, 38.
Kikkar == meadows, 45.
King desired by the tribes, 80.
Kingdom of Israel not an offspring of affection, 81.
See Israel.
Kingdom of Judah. See Judah.
Kings, First book of the, viii. 27, 348;
xviii. 21;
xxi. 19, 203.
Second book of the, ix. 25, 203.
Kirjath-Jearim, ark of covenant at, 72, 119.
Lachish, Sennacherib's encampment at, 273.
Lake Merom, victory of Joshua near, 37.
Lake of the Harp, or lake of Galilee, 42.
Lamentations of Jeremiah, 316, 319.
Law of Moses and its influence, 385.
authority of, among the Judæans, 393.
interpreted by Jesus Sirach, 440.
maligned by Menelaus, 449.
regularly read at Jerusalem, 395.
strict observance of, 387, 397.
translated into Greek, 510.
See Pentateuch and Septuagint.
Law books among the Judæans of Babylonia, 364.
of Judah, 292.
strictly adhered to by the Samaritans, 392.
taught and enforced by Ezra-Nehemiah, 365, 378.
Laws concerning purity and impurity, 401.
Lebanon, Mount, 44.
Leontopolis the site of the temple of Onias, 508.
Levites, and Egyptians, 8.
assist Samuel, 76.
destitute forsake the temple, 382.
emigrate to Judah from Israel, 187.
explain the law, 379.
help to consecrate the walls, 381.
how to be supported, 382.
leave Jerusalem for want of support, 372, 377.
live in Shiloh, 69.
rebuke the people for idolatry, 58.
receive no lands in Canaan, 40.
re-instated by Judas Maccabæus, 473.
return to Jerusalem, 386.
scatter over the country after
Shiloh's destruction, 72.
side with David against Absalom, 141.
true to God, 12.
Leviticus, xvii. 7, 11.
Licentiousness to be spurned, 41.
Lysias the Syrian, 463-82.
besieges Jerusalem, 479.
censured by the Romans, 481 f.
defeated by Judas Maccabæus, 469.
general of Antiochus Epiphanes, 463, 476.
guardian of Antiochus V., 477.
invades Judæa victoriously, 478.
makes a truce with the Judæans, 480.
put to death by Demetrius II., 482.
Lysimachus, 437, 448-9.
Maachah, Rehoboam's mother, worships Astarte, 188.
Maccabæus. See Judas Maccabæus.
Maccabees, the, 458-531.
First book of, i. 26-28, 452.
Macedonia, Alexander of, 412.
Philip of, 411.
Macedonian kingdom dissolved, 416.
Macedonians, influence of, 411.
Machpelah, 4.
Mahanaim, residence of Ishbosheth, 108.
welcomes the fugitive David, 144.
Malachi, the last of the prophets, 384.
Malcom or Milcom, god of the Ammonites, 55, 128.
Manasseh, settlement of the tribe of, 35.
Manasseh, king of Judah, 281-5.
Manasseh appointed high priest of the temple at Gerizim, 390.
banished from Judah by Nehemiah, 386.
marries Sanballat's daughter, 383.
Manetho's libels on the Judæans, 510.
Marriage, mixed. See Intermarriages.
Martyrs executed by Antiochus Epiphanes, 456.
Mashal or allegorical poems, 158.
Mattaniah (Zedekiah), King of Judah, 308.
Mattathias and his five sons, 459.
Medes, 287, 303.
Media conquered by Cyrus, 342.
Megiddo, battle at, 297.
Memnon, governor of Cœlesyria, 414.
Menahem, son of Gadi, King of Israel, 244-8.
Menelaus. See Onias Menelaus.
Meonenim == cloud-seers among the Philistines, 55.
Mephibosheth, Jonathan's son becomes lame for life, 104.
spared by David, 123.
Merodach-Baladan of Babylonia, 278.
Merom, battle at Lake, 37.
Mesa of Moab, defeated by Jehoram, 209.
Messengers of God, 403.
Micah II., contemporary of Isaiah, 251, 261, 273.
Book of, chapter vi. 4, 12.
Michaiah, the prophet, inimical to Ahab, 205.
Michal, Saul's second daughter, 100-120.
married to David, 100.
rebukes him for dancing in front of the ark, 120.
returned to David, 110.
Michmash, Jonathan's headquarters, 494.
Saul defeats the Philistines at, 87.
Midianite maidens beguile the Israelites, 28.
Midianites ravaging Palestine are defeated by Gideon and 300
warriors, 62.
Midrash, the, 396.
'Millo' == border, 118.
site of Solomon's palace, 168.
Miriam, 12.
Mixed language of the Samaritans, 391.
Mixed marriages. See Intermarriages.
Mizpah, annual meetings of the people under Samuel at, 78.
Mizpah, centre of importance and a holy place, 321.
Gedaliah's capital, 319.
Judas Maccabæus assembles the army at, 467.
Saul elected at, 83.
Mnevis, the white bull, 9.
Moabites, after the exile, 362.
defeated and subdued by David, 125.
defeated by Jehoram and Jehoshaphat, 209.
influencing the worship of the Israelites, 56.
made tributaries by Omri, 194.
routed by the Israelites under Ehud, 60.
Moabitess, Ruth the, 370.
Modin, residence of Mattathias, 459, 469.
Moloch, Ahab sacrifices his son to, 260.
sacrifices to, 283, 300.
Monotheism, 5, 402.
Moriah, Mount, 115.
a sacred place, 138.
site of Solomon's Temple, 162.
Moses, 12-31.
and his councillors, 25.
called as deliverer, 15.
characteristic of, 30.
death of, 30.
grave of, not known, 31.
the great leader, 17.
song of, 293.
Mount Gerizim, temple on, 390. Sinai, 20.
Mountains of Palestine, 44-45.
Mourners of Zion in the exile, 337.
Murder to be spurned, 41.
Mylitta, worship of, introduced in Israel, 247, 282.
Mythology of the nations surrounding Israel, 53.
Naaman, the Syrian, 224.
Nabatæans receive Jonathan and his followers, 498.
Nabonad, King of Babylonia, 342.
at war with Cyrus, 343.
persecutes the Judæans, 342.
Nabopolassar of Babylon, 296, 303.
Naboth's vineyard, 201.
Nadab succeeds Jeroboam, 189.
Nahash, King of Ammonites, 80.
besieges Jabesh-Gilead, 89.
defeated by Saul, 90.
supports David against Saul, 100.
Naphtali, settlement of the tribe of, 37.
Nathan, house of, 249.
Nathan, the prophet, 113.
and David, 132, 150.
sides with Solomon against Adonijah, 153.
National decay, 317.
Nature in Palestine, poetry of, 48.
Nazarite order instituted by Elijah, 200, 422.
Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, 303-331.
and Jehoiachin, 306.
and Jehoiakim, 305-6.
and Zedekiah, 308.
appoints Gedaliah Governor of Judah, 319.
defeats Hophra, King of Egypt, 312.
subdues Judah and conquers Jerusalem, 307, 310 ff.
treats the exiles kindly, 329.
Nebuzaradan destroys Jerusalem, 315, 319, 325.
Nechalim == winter streams, 46.
Necho, son of Psammetich of Egypt, 296.
defeats Josiah at Megiddo, 297.
deposes at Riblah Jehoahaz, and appoints Eliakim king of Judah, 299.
Negeb == the arid land, 48.
Nehemiah, Artaxerxes' cup-bearer, 372.
and the great assembly, 381.
examines the genealogies to repopulate Jerusalem, 378.
fortifies Jerusalem, 374-5.
has Ezra read the law to the people, 378.
intrigued against by Sanballat, 375.
man of vigorous action, 373.
protests against enslaving the poor, 376.
returns to Artaxerxes, 383.
Nehemiah's arrival in Jerusalem, 373.
memoirs, 387-8.
second visit to Jerusalem, 385.
Neighbouring nations and the Israelites, 53-9.
Neriglissar, King of Babylon, 331-42.
Nicanor, general of Demetrius II., defeated by Maccabæus, 484.
Nob, place of worship during Samuel's time, 79.
Nob, priests of, murdered by Saul, 100.
Number of the Judæans in the exile, 332.
Number of the returning Judæans, 352.
Numbers, Book of, xi. 29, 239.
Obadiah, Ahab's palace-superintendent, 201.
the prophet, 326.
Officers appointed by Nehemiah, 382.
Olam-ha-ba == the next world, 405.
Olives, Mount of, 45.
Olympian games in Judæa, 445.
Omri, King of Israel, 192.
allied with Ethbaal of Tyre, 194.
built Samaria, 193.
Onias I., the high priest, 413.
Onias II., the high priest, 423.
Onias III., the high priest, 437.
murdered, 448.
Onias IV. in Alexandria, 505.
temple of, 508.
the first Ethnarch, 507, 522.
Onias Menelaus, 437, 447, 454, 506.
appointed high priest, 447.
combats Jason, 451.
hellenises the Judæans, 454.
maligns the law of Moses, 449.
sacrificed by Lysias, 480.
Onion in Egypt, Province of, 508, 510.
Ophir, Land of, 171.
Ophrah, Gideon's native place, 62.
Opposition of the Israelites against Moses, 15.
Opposition of Pharaoh against Moses, 16.
Original inhabitants of Canaan, 1.
Ornah, the Jebusite, 138.
Osiris, 9.
Othniel, the first warrior judge, 60.
Palace of Solomon, 168.
Palestine, Origin of the name of, 55.
Paradise == Eden, 404.
Parallelism in Hebrew poetry, 29.
Parties, the three, in Judæa at the death of Judas Maccabæus, 489.
Passage of the Israelites through the Red Sea, 18.
through the Jordan, 32.
Passover festival among the Judæans, 398.
of Josiah, 295.
Patriarchs, the, 4.
Pecht, Egyptian goddess, 9.
Pekah, the last king of Israel, 248.
Pekah, murdered by Hoshea, son of Elah, 260.
submits to Tiglath-Pileser, 260.
Pekahiah, King of Israel, murdered by Pekah, 248.
Pelethites, 122.
Pelusium besieged by Sennacherib, 276.
Penitential psalms, 337 f.
Pentapolis of the Philistines, 54 f.
Pentateuch. See Law-Book.
Perizzites, 3.
Perpetual fire, an emblem of God's presence, 24.
Persecution of the Judæans by Artaxerxes, 408.
Persecution of the prophets under Manasseh, 284.
Persian doctrines influence Hebrew religion, 403.
religion and Hebrew monotheism, 402.
Persians and Judæans, 407.
conquered by Alexander the Great, 412.
Pestilence in Israel under David, 138.
Petra, capital of the Idumæans, 222.
Pharaoh, opposition of Moses against, 16.
Philip of Macedon, 432.
of Macedonia, 411.
regent of Syria, 480.
Philistines, 54 ff.
and Goliath defeated in the valley of Tamarinths, 95-7.
and Samson, 66.
arouse Judah and Simeon, 77.
at war with David, 115.
capture the ark of the covenant, 71-2.
defeat Saul and his army on Gilboah, 103-4.
defeat the Israelites at Aphek, 70.
defeated by Azariah, 230.
defeated by David at Mount Baal Perazim, 116.
defeated by Saul at Michmash, 88-9.
oppress Israel greatly, 66, 80, 84.
remain enemies of the Judæans, 435, 467.
Philo, the elder, 517.
Philometor of Egypt, 504.
Philopator of Egypt, 429-32.
Phineas puts an end to the profligacy of the people, 29.
Phœnicia, natural wealth and resources of, 3.
Phœnicians--Canaanites, 2.
defeated by Shalmaneser, 263 f.
customs and mythology of, 54.
influencing the Israelites, 53 f.
Phraortes (Fravartch), King of Media, 287.
Pious, community of the, 436.
and worldly among the exiles, 339, 349.
Plain of Sharon, or the low country, 45.
Poetic, allegories (mashal) of Solomon, 158.
talents of David, 96.
Poetry, beginning of Hebrew, 29.
of Nature in Palestine, 48 f.
of the Exile, 340.
Polygamy indulged in by David, 161.
Saul, 95.
Solomon, 161.
Popillius Lænas, Roman deputy, 453.
Praise-songs in divine worship, 78.
Prayers prescribed among the Judæans, 398.
Priests == Aaronides.
expelled from Jerusalem take charge of the temple on Mount
Gerizim, 390.
faithless to their promises, 383-4.
idolatrous, under Manasseh, 283.
in Israel, 25.
leave Jerusalem for want of support, 372.
neglected by Samuel, 79.
of Baal and Astarte in Israel, 107, 204.
provided for by Nehemiah, 382.
re-instated by Judas Maccabæus, 473.
under Ahab, 261.
under Josiah, 294.
Priesthood reorganized by Solomon, 167.
Promises of God to David, 150 f.
Promises of God to the Patriarchs, 4 ff.
Prophecy re-awakened at Samuel's time, 73.
Prophets, characteristics of the, 15.
followers of Isaiah, 253.
helping Samuel, 76.
in Bethel, Gilgal and Jericho, 205, 234.
of the Exile, 344.
persecuted by Jehoiakim, 300.
persecuted by Manasseh, 284.
trained by Elijah, 200.
Prophets under Josiah, 286, 288 f.
Prophets, Books of the, read in the temple, 400.
Prophetess Deborah, 61.
Huldah, 286.
Prophetic spirit of God, its meaning, 14.
writings, authoritative collection of, 400.
Proselytes in Ezra's opinion, 367.
made in the exile, 338, 352, 356.
Prosperity under Gideon, 63.
Jeroboam II., 231.
Solomon, 172.
Proverbs, book of, 340.
Psalmists, 120, 279.
Penitential, 337.
in the exile, 340.
Psalms xxiv., 353.
lxxviii. 60-64, 71.
cii., 344.
cvii. 7 and 30, 355.
cxxii. 3-5, 121.
cxxvi., 352.
Ptolemies defeat Antiochus the Great, 426.
Judæans under the, 420.
Ptolemy I., Soter, King of Egypt, 416.
II. and the rebellious Judæans, 423.
V., Philometor, 437, 504, 506.
VI., Philopator, 425-32.
VII., Physcon, 450, 452, 506, 518.
Philadelphus and the Septuagint, 514.
Ptolemy ben Habub, kills his father-in-law, Simon, at Dok, near
Jericho, 530.
Pul of Assyria invades Samaria, 246.
Pulpit oratory, origin of, 514.
Purification laws, 401.
Pydna, battle of, 453.
Rabbath-Ammon conquered by David-Joab, 128.
conquered by Judas Maccabæus, 474.
Rab-shakeh, Sennacherib's official sent to Hezekiah, 274.
Ramah, conquered and fortified by Baasha, 191.
Samuel in, 75.
Ramoth-Gilead, conquered by Benhadad II., 205.
Razim == royal couriers, 91.
Red Sea, passage of the, 18.
Rebuilding of the temple, 356-9.
Regicides in Israel, 189, 192, 211, 243, 244, 245.
Rehoboam succeeds his father Solomon, 179.
ten tribes secede at Shechem from, 180.
treaty with Tabrimon of Damascus, 183.
Relapse into idolatry shortly after giving the decalogue, 23.
Religion in the kingdom of Judah, 188.
in the kingdom of the ten tribes, 185.
Religious reformation of the Judæans in Babylonia, 363.
revival in Jerusalem under Joash, 217.
schools among the Judæans, 396.
Repetition, a characteristic of Hebrew poetry, 29.
Rephaim, aborigines of Canaan, 2.
Repopulation of Jerusalem, 377.
Resurrection from the dead, 404.
Retribution, doctrine of, 404.
Return from the exile under Zerubbabel, 351.
Reuben settles in the trans-Jordanic territory (Gilead), 29.
Reuel, Moses' father-in-law, 14.
Revelation on Mount Sinai, 20.
Revelations to Samuel, 74.
Rezin of Damascus, 248, 257.
slain by Tiglath-Pileser, 259.
Rezon of Zobah, 177.
Riblah, encampment of Nebuchadnezzar at, 313.
Riblah, Necho at, 299.
Rizpah and the Gibeonites, 110.
coveted by Abner, 110.
Saul's concubine, 95.
Romans and Antiochus Epiphanes, 443 ff.
and Judas Maccabæus, 485.
and Perseus at Pydna, 453.
and the Judæans, 526.
defeat Antiochus the Great, 434.
support Simon, 525.
support the Hasmonæans, 490.
Ruth, book of, written against Ezra's decision on the illegality
of intermarriages, 370, 411.
Sabbath, strict observance of, under Nehemiah, 386.
later observance of, 397.
Sabbatical year, 393.
Sabia (Sheba), Queen of, visits Solomon, 173.
Sacrifices among the Israelites, 24, 57.
among the Judæans, 401.
human, in Judah under Ahab, 261.
Sacrilege by Antiochus Epiphanes, 451.
Antiochus the Great and his son, 434.
Onias Menelaus, 448.
Salt sea or sea of the deep basin, 43.
Samael, the demon, 403.
Samaria, built, 193.
besieged by Benhadad III., 221 f.
capital of Cœlesyria, 414.
taken by Shalmaneser, 263 f.
Samaria, Land of == kingdom of the ten tribes, 193 ff.
after Pekah's death, 262.
colonised by Esarhaddon, 285.
invaded by Pul of Assyria, 246.
Samaritans, 285, 355.
enemies of the Judæans, 389, 410, 467.
in Alexandria oppose the Judæans, 515.
intermarry with the Judæans, 361.
interrupt the rebuilding of the temple, 357.
kill Andromachus, 414.
retain the Old Hebrew characters of the alphabet, 396.
temple of, on Mount Gerizim, 390.
Samson fights the Philistines, 66.
Samuel, Elkanah's son, 72.
anoints David, 96.
anoints Saul, 82, 90.
at discord with Saul, 92.
kills Agag at Gilgal, 93.
the second Moses, 72.
unites all the tribes, 77.
Samuel, First Book of, xiv. 12 and 45, 87, 89;
xv. 12-33, 93, 94;
xvii. 47, 130.
Sanballat attacks Jerusalem, 371.
hostile towards Judæa, 369.
intrigues against Nehemiah, 375.
leader of the Samaritans, 362.
marries his daughter to Manasseh, 383, 386, 389.
Sanctuary and temple, less important after the exile, 379.
at Jerusalem, 120 f.
at Shiloh, 41, 57.
contents of, 24.
re-opened by Hezekiah, 268.
Sarepta, Elijah at, 203.
Satan, 403.
Saul abandoned by God, 93.
at discord with Samuel, 92.
defeated by the Philistines, 103.
defeats the Amalekites, 91 f.
defeats the Ammonites, 88 f.
fights the Philistines, 85.
first king in Israel, 82-105.
kills himself, 104.
meets David, 97.
persecutes David, 99 f.
Saul's character and position, 83.
election as king confirmed, 90.
jealousy and madness, 98 f.
remains brought to Zelah, 124.
severity, 88 f.
Schools of the prophets, 205, 234.
and the Sopherim, 396.
Scopas, routed by the Syrians, 433.
takes Jerusalem, 432.
Scythians, the, 287.
Secession of the ten tribes from the house of David, 181 ff.
Seleucidæ, era of the, 417 ff.
ruling Judæa, 432.
Seleucus, 417.
II. and Hyrcanus, 438.
Sennacherib's army destroyed, 277.
war against Egypt, 273.
war against Hezekiah, 270.
Sennacherib murdered by his sons, 280.
Septuagint, the, 512 ff.
Seraiah, the high priest, 314, 365.
Service, divine. See Worship.
Settlement of the Judæans in Egypt, 503.
of the tribes in Canaan, 35 ff.
Seventy, Council of the, 394.
elders of Moses, 25 f.
Seyag == the fence around the law, 397.
Shallum, husband of Huldah, 293.
Shallum, King of Israel, 244.
Shallum, King of Judah, 298.
Shalmaneser takes Samaria and Tyre, 263 f.
Shamgar, 60.
Shaphan under Josiah, family of, 292.
Sharon, plain of, 45.
Shealtiel, King Jehoiachin's son, 342.
Sheba the Benjamite rebels against David, 148.
killed at Abel, 150.
Sheba, Queen of, visits Solomon, 173.
Shebna, Hezekiah's sochen, 268-71.
Shechariah suggests the people's covenant against proselytes and
intermarriages, 368.
Shechem, 4, 36.
capital of Jeroboam, 180.
Shechemites' feud with Abimelech, 63.
Shefelah == low country, 45.
Shemaiah, the prophet, prevents a civil war between Judæans and
Benjamites, 184.
Shiloh (Salem), ark of the covenant at, 41, 57.
at the time of the Judges, 69.
destroyed by the Philistines, 71.
Shimei executed by Solomon, 160 f.
of Bahurim reviles David, 142.
pretends enthusiasm for the returning king, 147.
Shir-ha-shirim == song of songs, 431.
Shishak of Egypt inimical to Israel, 176.
assists Jeroboam against Rehoboam, 184.
Shobi, Hanun's brother, assists David against Absalom, 144.
becomes king of the Ammonites, 129.
Shofetim == judges, 59.
Sidon, 3.
Sihon slain by the Israelites at Jahaz, 27-29.
Simeon and Judah assist the other tribes under Samuel, 76.
tribe of, merged in the tribe of Judah, 39.
Simon I. the Just and his descendants, 420.
improvements of, 421.
's children, 423.
Simon II., the high priest, 432.
Simon, the Benjamite, 437 f.
Simon, brother of Judas Maccabæus, 459, 461, 475, 489, 498.
and Demetrius II., 521.
at the head of the nation, 500-31.
becomes high priest, 521.
defeats the Syrians, 493.
expels the Hellenists, 523.
killed by his son-in-law, 530.
quarrels with the Syrian king, 528.
Simon's coinage, 525, 528.
league with the Romans, 525.
sons defeat Cendebæus, 529.
Sinai, Mount, 20.
Sirach, Jesus, 439.
Sisera defeated by Barak and slain by Jael, 61.
Sochen == superintendent of the palace, 249, 268.
Solomon, 133-77.
Solomon, and queen of Sheba, 173-4.
anointed king during David's lifetime, 153.
author of allegorical poems, 158.
causes the murder of Adonijah and Joab, 160.
David's successor, 153.
discontent of tribes against, 174.
king over Israel, 156-78.
Solomon's buildings, 162.
children, 177.
choice of wisdom, 158.
court, 161.
death, 177.
fleet, 170.
greatness, 156.
temple, 162.
weaknesses, 157.
Song of Deborah, 61.
Moses, 293.
Song of songs, 430 f.
Songs of praise, an element in worships, 78, 120.
Songs of praise by David, 120 f.
Songs of war, the earliest Hebrew poetry, 29.
Songs of the prophets, 200, 205, 234, 253.
Sopheric age, the, 389 ff.
regulations, 395.
Sopherim and schools, 396.
Spirit, prophetic, and its meaning, 14.
Successors of Alexander the Great, 416.
Supreme Council of the Judæans, 394.
Symmetry in Hebrew poetry, 29.
Synagogues, 401.
Syrians. See Seleucidæ.
Tabernacles, Feast of, 380.
Tabor, Mount, 44.
Talmide Chachamim, 396.
Tamar seduced by her half-brother Amnon, 134.
Tax-collector, Joseph appointed as, 425.
Tekoa, Amos of, 235.
Tekoah, wise woman of, 136.
Temple at Jerusalem planned by David, 150.
built by Solomon, 162 ff.
cleansed and repaired by Josiah, 288, 294.
consecrated (1007 B. C.), 166.
defiled by Antiochus Epiphanes 451, 454. See also Sacrilege.
Temple rebuilt after the exile, 356-9.
re-consecrated by Judas Maccabæus, 471.
repaired by Joash, 218.
thrown into the background after the exile, 379.
Temple of Baal in Samaria, 197.
Temple of Onias in Egypt, 508.
Temple of the Samaritans on Gerizim, 390.
Temple-mount fortified by Judas Maccabæus, 473.
Temple-worship restored, 382.
Ten tribes, beginning of the kingdom of the, 181.
end of the kingdom of the, 265.
See also Israel.
Theodotus, a Samaritan poet, 517.
Throne-chamber of Solomon, 168-9.
Tibni and Omri, civil war between, 192.
Tiglath-Pileser of Assyria, 258.
assists Ahaz against Rezin and Pekah, 259.
Timotheus, leader of the Ammonites, 474.
Tirhakah, king of Egypt, and Sennacherib, 276.
Tirzah, capital of the kingdom of the ten tribes, 189.
Tithes for the Priests and Levites, 382.
Tobiades, 432, 435.
Tobiah expelled by Nehemiah, 385.
hostile towards Judæa, 369, 375.
leader of the Ammonites, 362.
returns to Jerusalem, 383.
Tobias, son-in-law of Simon the Just, 423.
Torah == Law, which see
Transjordanic territory allotted to Reuben and Gad, 29.
Tribal union, 7.
Tribes, allotment of land to the, 36 ff.
discontented under Solomon, 174.
disintegration of, 37 f.
isolation of the, in Canaan, 36.
the ten, secede from Rehoboam, 181.
united by Samuel, 72.
Tryphon. See Diodotus.
Tyre == Zor, 3, 80.
besieged by Nebuchadnezzar, 306.
captured by Shalmaneser, 64.
founded by the Sidonians, 80.
in Jeroboam's II. time, 232.
taken by Alexander the Great, 412.
Tyrus, residence of Hyrcanus, 437.
Union of all the tribes under Samuel, 77.
Israel and Judah under David, 112.
Uriah, the Hittite, 131.
Uriah, the prophet, 301.
Uzziah. See Azariah.
Wanderings of the Israelites in the desert, 20.
War-songs, the earliest Hebrew poetry, 29.
Wives of Solomon, 161.
Worldly among the exiles, 339 f., 349.
Worship among the early Israelites, 5 f.
among the Egyptians, 9.
among the Judæans, 399.
at the temple, restored by Nehemiah, 382.
centre of, at Shiloh, 41, 57.
centre of, later at Jerusalem, 120.
improved under Samuel, 78.
of Baal and Astarte by the Phœnicians, 54 f.
of Dagon by the Philistines, 55.
under David, 151 f.
Xerxes, successor of Darius, 361.
Zachariah, the high priest, stoned, 220.
Zachariah, the post-exilic prophet, 359.
Zadok, high priest in Gibeon, 120.
appointed chief high priest, 152 ff.
sides with David against Absalom, 141.
Zadok's descendants sole incumbents of the high-priesthood, 160.
deprived by Manasseh of their right and income, 284.
Zebaoth, Adonai, 130 f.
Zebulon, settlement of, 37.
Zechariah, son of Berechia, contemporary of Isaiah, 254, 259.
Zechariah, son of Jeroboam II., King of Israel, 343.
Zedekiah-Mattaniah, King of Judah, 308.
Zedekiah-Mattaniah, captured by Chaldæan soldiers, 314.
deprived of his eyesight and led to Babylon, 315.
rebels against Nebuchadnezzar, 310.
Zekenim == elders, 7.
Zephaniah the prophet, 286.
Zerubbabel, grandson of Jehoiachim, returns to Jerusalem, 351.
governor of the province of Judæa, 352.
resigns the leadership in favor of Joshua, 360.
Ziklag assigned to David by Achish, 101.
burned by the Amalekites, 106.
Zimri of Israel, 192.
Zion, Mount, 45.
captured by David, 114 f.
Jebus (Jerusalem) situated on, 113 f.
mourners of, in the exile, 337.
Zipporah, wife of Moses, 14.
Zoar and its vicinity, 43.
Zor == Tyre, 3, 80.
Transcriber's Notes:
Punctuation and spelling were made consistent when a predominant
preference was found in this book; otherwise they were not changed.
Simple typographical errors were corrected.
Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained.
Inconsistent use of small-caps and Proper caps in names unchanged.
Text uses both 'tables' and 'tablets'.
Text uses both 'Bethzur' and 'Bethsur'.
Text uses both 'Kedeshôth' and 'Kedeshoth'.
Main text uses 'mashal' but Index uses 'maschal'. Index has been
changed to match the main text.
The Index was not checked for correct page references.
Not all reading devices will display the Hebrew words in this text.
Page 536: Index uses 'Beth-horon' but it is not hyphenated in the main
text.
Page 543: Entry for 'Joshua, book of' refers to page 35. The reference
is to footnote 6, which has been moved to the end of this eText.