Jonathan Apphus (Hebrew: יוֹנָתָן אַפְּפוּסYōnāṯān ʾApfūs; Ancient Greek: Ἰωνάθαν Ἀπφοῦς, Iōnáthan Apphoûs) was one of the sons of Mattathias and the leader of the Hasmonean dynasty of Judea from 161 to 143 BCE.
H J Wolf notes that all of Mattathias' sons listed in 1 Maccabees 2:2–5 had double names: John is said to have been called Gaddis; Simon, Thassi; Judas, Maccabeus; Eleazar, Avaran and Jonathan, Apphus.[1] Jewish historian Uriel Rappaport writes that "we do not have an explanation for the nicknames of Mattathias' sons".[2] Wolf suggests that the name was given to him by Mattathias and that the common explanation of the word "Apphus" relates it to the Syriacchoppus, "the dissembler". The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia's article on the Maccabees suggests the meaning is "the wary",[3] but Torrey (in the Encyclopedia Biblica article, "Maccabees") points out that we have no means of ascertaining with what guttural consonant the word began, or what Semitic consonant the Greek "s" represents, and so "both the form and meaning of the name are, therefore, still to be explained".[1]
He was survived by Jonathan and his brothers Eleazar Avaran, Johanan (John Gaddi), Judah Maccabee, and Simon Thassi. They were sworn to continue the rebellion of their father. Judah soon became their leader and the military chief of the rebellion.
Jonathan served under his brother and took active parts in the battles against the Seleucid forces. Judah fell in the Battle of Elasa (161/160 BCE) against Bacchides, a Seleucid general under Demetrius I Soter. Bacchides proceeded with crushing rigor against the Maccabean party while at the same time a famine broke out in the land. The Jewish rebels required a new leader and Jonathan was chosen.
Jonathan noticed that Bacchides was trying to entrap him. He reacted by retiring with his brothers Simon and John, and his followers to a desert region in the country east of the Jordan River. They set camp near a morass by the name of Asphar. But Bacchides followed him there and overtook them during Shabbat. Jonathan gave all the baggage into the hands of his brother John who took a small force and headed towards the friendly Nabataeans. The plan was to secure their baggage there but the "sons of Jambri of Medeba", a hostile tribe apparently, ambushed them during their journey. John and his companions were killed and their cargo was looted.[4] Subsequently, Jonathan was informed that one of the sons of Jambri was leading home a noble bride in great pomp, the Maccabean brothers proceeded to Medaba, ambushed the bridal procession, killed the entire party, to the number of 300, and seized all the treasure.[5]
Jonathan and his companions met Bacchides in battle at the River Jordan. Jonathan had encountered and had raised his hand to slay Bacchides, when the latter evaded the blow; the Jews, defeated, sought refuge by swimming through the Jordan to the eastern bank. In this battle Bacchides is reported to have lost either 1,000 or 2,000 men and he did not make another attempt to cross the river, instead returning to Jerusalem. Jonathan and his forces remained in the swamp in the country east of the Jordan.[6] Following the death of Alcimus, High Priest in Jerusalem sometime later, Bacchides left the country.[7]
Turn of fate
However Jonathan was not idle. He continued activities against the Jews influenced by the Hellenistic civilization. Two years after the departure of Bacchides from Judea, Acra felt sufficiently threatened to contact Demetrius and request the return of Bacchides to their territory.
Jonathan was now more experienced in guerrilla warfare, the primary tactic used by the Maccabean forces, and was constantly on guard to avoid direct confrontations with enemy forces even while continuing hostile operations. A frustrated Bacchides reportedly took out his anger on the Hellenists and reportedly killed fifty of their leaders out of frustration. Jonathan and Simeon thought it well to retreat farther, and accordingly fortified in the desert a place called Beth-hogla;[8] there they were besieged several days by Bacchides.
Jonathan perceived that Bacchides regretted having set out. He contacted the rival general with offers of a peace treaty and exchange of prisoners of war. Bacchides readily consented and even took an oath of nevermore making war upon Jonathan. He and his forces then vacated Judea. The victorious Jonathan now took up his residence in the old city of Michmash. From there he endeavored to clear the land of "the godless and the apostate".[9]
High Priest
Jonathan appears to have used this peaceful period to good advantage, for he was soon in possession of great power. An important external event brought the design of the Maccabeans to fruition. Demetrius I Soter's relations with Attalus II Philadelphus of Pergamon (reigned 159 - 138 BCE), Ptolemy VI of Egypt (reigned 163 - 145 BCE) and his co-ruler Cleopatra II of Egypt were deteriorating. They supported rival claimant to the throne Alexander Balas, who claimed to be the son of Antiochus IV Epiphanes and a first cousin of Demetrius, against him.
Demetrius was now forced to recall the garrisons of Judea, except those at Jerusalem's Akra fortress and at Beth-zur; he also made a bid for the loyalty of Jonathan, whom he permitted to recruit an army and to take the hostages kept in the Akra fortress. Jonathan gladly accepted these terms and took up residence at Jerusalem in 153 BCE. He soon began fortifying the city.
Alexander Balas also contacted Jonathan with even more favorable terms. Including official appointment as High Priest in Jerusalem. Withdrawing his support from Demetrius and declaring allegiance to Alexander, Jonathan was the first member of his dynasty to achieve appointment as High Priest. The title was not merely nominal. Jonathan became the official leader of his people and the Hellenistic party could no longer attack him without severe consequences. On the Feast of Tabernacles of 153 BCE, Jonathan put on the High Priest's garments and officiated for the first time. It is unknown whom Jonathan displaced as High Priest, though some scholars suggest that this was the Teacher of Righteousness, later founder of the Essenes. In this theory, Jonathan is considered the "Wicked Priest".[10]
Jonathan had determined to side with Alexander Balas, not trusting Demetrius, who in a second letter made promises that he could hardly have kept and conceded prerogatives that were almost impossible.[11] Demetrius subsequently lost his throne and life in 150 BCE. Alexander Balas was victorious and sole ruler of the Seleucid Empire. He was given the further honor of marriage to Cleopatra Thea, daughter of his allies Ptolemy VI and Cleopatra II.
The wedding took place in Ptolemais in the presence of Ptolemy VI. Jonathan was invited but arrived after the wedding ceremony while celebrations continued. He appeared with presents for both kings, and was permitted to sit between them as their equal; Balas even clothed him with his own royal garment and otherwise accorded him high honor. He would not listen to the Hellenistic party that still accused Jonathan, but appointed Jonathan as strategos and "meridarch" (i.e., civil governor of a province; details not found in Josephus), and sent him back with honors to Jerusalem.[12]
Victory over Apollonius
Jonathan destroying the temple of Dagon, by Gustave Doré
Jonathan proved grateful. In 147 BCE, Demetrius II Nicator, a son of Demetrius I Soter, started claiming the throne against Alexander Balas. Apollonius Taos, governor of Coele-Syria was probably supporting Demetrius. But he used the opportunity to challenge Jonathan to battle, saying that the Jews might for once leave the mountains and venture out into the plain.[13]
Jonathan and Simon led a force of 10,000 men against Jaffa where the forces of Apollonius lay. Not expecting an attack this early in the hostilities, Jaffa was not prepared for a siege, and the gates were opened before the Jewish forces out of fear.
But the victory was not yet certain. Apollonius received reinforcements from Azotus and appeared in the plain in charge of 3,000 men. They were clearly outnumbered, but Apollonius, relying on his superior cavalry, forced Jonathan to engage in battle. Jonathan assaulted, captured and, burned Azotus along with the resident temple of Dagon and the surrounding villages.
In reward of his victory, Alexander Balas granted the High Priest the city of Ekron, along with its outlying territory. The people of Azotus vainly complained to King Ptolemy VI, who had come to make war upon his son-in-law Alexander Balas, that Jonathan had destroyed their city and temple. Jonathan peacefully met Ptolemy at Jaffa and accompanied him as far as the River Eleutherus. He then returned to Jerusalem, maintaining peace with the King of Egypt despite their support for different contenders for the Seleucid throne.[14]
Under Demetrius II
In 145 BCE, the Battle of Antioch resulted in the final defeat of Alexander Balas by the forces of his father-in-law, Ptolemy VI. Ptolemy himself was however among the casualties of the battle. Demetrius II Nicator remained sole ruler of the Seleucid Empire and became the second husband of Cleopatra Thea.
Jonathan owed no allegiance to the new king, and took this opportunity to lay siege to the Seleucid fortress in Jerusalem and the symbol of Seleucid control over Judea. It was heavily garrisoned by a Seleucid force, and offered asylum to Jewish Hellenists.[15] Demetrius was very angry; he appeared with an army at Ptolemais, and ordered Jonathan to come before him. Without raising the siege, Jonathan, accompanied by the elders and priests, went to the king, and pacified him with presents, so that the king not only confirmed him in his office of high priest, but gave to him the three Samaritantoparchies of Mount Ephraim, Lod, and Ramathaim-Zophim. In exchange for 300 talents of silver, the entire country was exempted from taxes, the exemption being confirmed in a letter which is preserved by I Maccabees and Josephus.[16]
Soon, however, a new claimant to the Seleucid throne appeared in the young Antiochus VI Dionysus, son of Alexander Balas and Cleopatra Thea. He was three years old at most, but general Diodotus Tryphon used him to advance his own designs for the throne. In face of this new enemy, Demetrius promised to withdraw the garrison from Jerusalem, if Jonathan, who he now called his ally, would send troops. 3,000 of Jonathan's men protected Demetrius in his capital, Antioch, against his own subjects.[17]
Support for Tryphon
As Demetrius II did not keep his promise, Jonathan thought it better to support the new king when Diodotus Tryphon and Antiochus VI seized the capital. The latter confirmed all his rights and appointed his brother Simon strategos of the seacoast, from the "Ladder of Tyre" to the frontier of Egypt. Jonathan and Simon toured the region, removing Demetrius II's garrisons; Ashkelon submitted voluntarily, while Gaza was taken by force. Jonathan defeated a force of Demetrius II which invaded from the north, in the plain of Azor, and drove them back over the Eleutherius River. Meanwhile, Simon took the strong fortress of Beth Zur and replaced Demetrius II's garrison with his own.[18]
Sources report that Jonathan sought alliances with foreign peoples at this time. He renewed the treaty with the Roman Republic, and exchanged friendly messages with Sparta and other places.[19]
Capture by Diodotus Tryphon and death
In 143 BCE, Diodotus Tryphon went with an army to Judea and invited Jonathan to Scythopolis for a friendly conference, and persuaded him to dismiss his army of 40,000 men, promising to give him Ptolemais and other fortresses. Jonathan fell into the trap; he took with him to Ptolemais 1,000 men, all of whom were slain; he himself was taken prisoner.[20]
When Tryphon was about to enter Judea at Hadid, he was confronted by a battle-ready Simon. Tryphon, avoiding an engagement, demanded one hundred talents of silver and Jonathan's two sons as hostages, in return for which he promised to liberate Jonathan. Although Simon did not trust Tryphon, he complied with the request in order that he might not be accused of the death of his brother. Tryphon did not liberate his prisoner; angry that Simon blocked his way everywhere and that he could accomplish nothing, he executed Jonathan at Baskama, in the country east of the Jordan.[21] Jonathan was buried by Simon at Modi'in. Nothing is known of his two captive sons. One of his daughters was an ancestor of Josephus.[22]
Alexander I Theopator Euergetes, surnamed Balas, was the ruler of the Seleucid Empire from 150 BC to August 145 BC. Picked from obscurity and supported by the neighboring Roman-allied Kingdom of Pergamon, Alexander landed in Phoenicia in 152 BC and started a civil war against Seleucid King Demetrius I Soter. Backed by mercenaries and factions of the Seleucid Empire unhappy with the existing government, he defeated Demetrius and took the crown in 150 BC. He married the princess Cleopatra Thea to seal an alliance with the neighboring Ptolemaic kingdom. His reign saw the steady retreat of the Seleucid Empire's eastern border, with important eastern satrapies such as Media being lost to the nascent Parthian Empire. In 147 BC, Demetrius II Nicator, the young son of Demetrius I, began a campaign to overthrow Balas, and civil war resumed. Alexander's ally, Ptolemaic king Ptolemy VI Philometor, moved troops into Coele-Syria to support Alexander, but then switched sides and threw his support behind Demetrius II. At the Battle of the Oenoparus River in Syria, he was defeated by Ptolemy VI and he died shortly afterward.
Demetrius I, surnamed Soter, reigned as king (basileus) of the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire from November 162 to June 150 BC. Demetrius grew up in Rome as a hostage, but returned to Greek Syria and overthrew his young cousin Antiochus V Eupator and regent Lysias. Demetrius took control during a turbulent time of the Empire, and spent much of his time fighting off revolts and challenges to his power from threats such as Timarchus and Alexander Balas.
Demetrius II, called Nicator, was one of the sons of Demetrius I Soter. His mother may have been Laodice V, as was the case with his brother Antiochus VII Sidetes. Demetrius ruled the Seleucid Empire for two periods, separated by a number of years of captivity in Hyrcania in Parthia, first from September 145 BC to July/August 138 BC, and again from 129 BC until his death in 125 BC. His brother Antiochus VII ruled the Seleucid Empire in the interim between his two reigns.
Diodotus Tryphon, nicknamed "The Magnificent" was a Greek king of the Seleucid Empire. Initially an official under King Alexander I Balas, he led a revolt against Alexander's successor Demetrius II Nicator in 144 BC. He rapidly gained control of most of Syria and the Levant. At first, he acted as regent and tutor for Alexander's infant son Antiochus VI Dionysus, but after the death of his charge in 142/141 BC, Diodotus declared himself king. He took the royal name Tryphon Autocrator and distanced himself from the Seleucid dynasty. For a period between 139 and 138, he was the sole ruler of the Seleucid empire. However, in 138 BC Demetrius II's brother Antiochus VII Sidetes invaded Syria and brought his rule to an end.
The Maccabees, also spelled Machabees, were a group of Jewish rebel warriors who took control of Judea, which at the time was part of the Seleucid Empire. They founded the Hasmonean dynasty, which ruled from 167 to 37 BCE, being a fully independent kingdom from 104 to 63 BCE. They reasserted the Jewish religion, expanded the boundaries of Judea by conquest, and reduced the influence of Hellenism and Hellenistic Judaism.
The Hasmonean dynasty was a ruling dynasty of Judea and surrounding regions during the Hellenistic times of the Second Temple period, from c. 140 BCE to 37 BCE. Between c. 140 and c. 116 BCE the dynasty ruled Judea semi-autonomously in the Seleucid Empire, and from roughly 110 BCE, with the empire disintegrating, Judea gained further autonomy and expanded into the neighboring regions of Perea, Samaria, Idumea, Galilee, and Iturea. The Hasmonean rulers took the Greek title basileus ("king") as the kingdom became a regional power for several decades. Forces of the Roman Republic intervened in the Hasmonean Civil War in 63 BCE and made it into a client state, marking the decline of Hasmonean dynasty; Herod the Great displaced the last reigning Hasmonean client-ruler in 37 BCE.
Simon Thassi was the second son of Mattathias and thus a member of the Hasmonean family.
1 Maccabees, also known as the First Book of Maccabees, First Maccabees, and abbreviated as 1 Macc., is a deuterocanonical book which details the history of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire as well as the founding and earliest history of the independent Hasmonean kingdom. It describes the promulgation of decrees forbidding traditional Jewish practices by King Antiochus IV Epiphanes and the formation of a rebellion against him by Mattathias of the Hasmonean family and his five sons. Mattathias's son Judas Maccabeus takes over the revolt and the rebels as a group are called the Maccabees; the book chronicles in detail the successes and setbacks of the rebellion. While Judas is eventually killed in battle, the Maccabees eventually achieve autonomy and then independence for Judea under the leadership of the Hasmonean family. Judas's brother Simon Thassi is declared High Priest by will of the Jewish people. The time period described is from around 170 BC to 134 BC.
Judah Maccabee was a Jewish priest (kohen) and a son of the priest Mattathias. He led the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire.
John Hyrcanus was a Hasmonean (Maccabean) leader and Jewish High Priest of Israel of the 2nd century BCE. In rabbinic literature he is often referred to as Yoḥanan Cohen Gadol, "John the High Priest".
The Battle of Elasa was fought in April 160 BCE during the Maccabean Revolt between Judean rebels led by Judas Maccabeus and an army of the Seleucid Empire under the command of Bacchides. The battle resulted in the triumph of the Greek Syrian forces, the defeat of the Maccabees, and the death of Judas Maccabeus.
The Battle of the Oenoparus took place in 145 BC on the Oenoparus river in the adjoining countryside of Antioch on the Orontes, the capital of the Seleucid Empire. It was fought between a coalition of Ptolemaic Egypt led by Ptolemy VI and Seleucids who favored the royal claim of Demetrius II Nicator against Seleucids who favored the claim of Alexander Balas. Both the Seleucid Empire and the Ptolemaic kingdom were diadochi, Greek-ruled successor states established after the conquests of Alexander the Great.
Alcimus, also called Jakeimos, Jacimus, or Joachim (Ἰάκειμος), was High Priest in Jerusalem from 162 BCE. Most propose that he died suddenly in 159 BCE, and that there was an interregnum of seven years during which there was no High Priest in Jerusalem. However, a more recent hypothesis argues that Alcimus was effectively paralized from 159 BCE, but continued in office until 152 BCE, because the High Priest could not be deposed. Alcimus was a moderate Hellenizer who favored the ruling government of the Seleucid Empire and opposed the Maccabean Revolt which was in progress at the time.
Mattathias ben Johanan was a Kohen who helped spark the Maccabean Revolt against the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire. Mattathias's story is related in the deuterocanonical book of 1 Maccabees and in the writings of Josephus. Mattathias is accorded a central role in the story of Hanukkah and, as a result, is named in the Al HaNissim prayer Jews add to the Birkat Hamazon and the Amidah during the festival's eight days.
Bacchides was a Syrian-Greek general and governor (strategos) and friend and advisor (philoi) of King Demetrius I Soter of the Seleucid Empire. The Seleucid Empire was one of the Greek successor states (diadochi) founded after the conquests of Alexander the Great, and was centered in Syria and Babylonia in the Hellenistic era.
Nicanor was a Syrian-Greek general (strategos) that served the Seleucid Empire during the reigns of kings Antiochus IV Epiphanes and Demetrius I Soter. He served during the Maccabean Revolt in Judea, then part of the Seleucid Empire, and served for a time as governor in Jerusalem. Relations between the government and the Jewish rebels eventually turned sufficiently hostile that he threatened the priests at the Second Temple and led an army to find and defeat Judas Maccabeus's followers, but he and his army were defeated at the Battle of Adasa. Nicanor was killed, his corpse was desecrated, his head and right hand hung for public display back in Jerusalem, and a new festival was declared to celebrate his defeat.
Onias IV was the son of Onias III and the heir of the Zadokite line of High Priests of Israel. He built a new Jewish temple at Leontopolis in Ptolemaic Egypt where he reigned as a rival High Priest to the hierarchy in Jerusalem. While he never gained leadership in Judea, he still held influence in Egypt; the territory most heavily populated by Jews was called the Land of Onias in reference to his influence.
The Maccabean Revolt was a Jewish rebellion led by the Maccabees against the Seleucid Empire and against Hellenistic influence on Jewish life. The main phase of the revolt lasted from 167 to 160 BCE and ended with the Seleucids in control of Judea, but conflict between the Maccabees, Hellenized Jews, and the Seleucids continued until 134 BCE, with the Maccabees eventually attaining independence.
The Seleucid Dynastic Wars were a series of wars of succession that were fought between competing branches of the Seleucid royal household for control of the Seleucid Empire. Beginning as a by-product of several succession crises that arose from the reigns of Seleucus IV Philopator and his brother Antiochus IV Epiphanes in the 170s and 160s, the wars typified the final years of the empire and were an important cause of its decline as a major power in the Near East and Hellenistic world. The last war ended with the collapse of the kingdom and its annexation by the Roman Republic in 63 BC.
The Second Temple period in Jewish history began with the end of the Babylonian captivity and the Persian conquest of the Babylonian Empire in 539 BCE. A new temple to replace the destroyed Solomon's Temple was built by the returnees, and the Second Temple was finished around 516 BCE. The Persians were largely tolerant of Judaism. Persian rule lasted for two centuries, but came to an end with the conquests of Macedonia under Alexander the Great in 332 BCE. Judea and the Eastern Mediterranean region came under Greek influence during the resulting Hellenistic period; Hellenistic Judaism blended both Greek and Jewish traditions. Judea was ruled in this period first by the Ptolemaic Kingdom and then by the Seleucid Empire, Greek states formed after the breakup of Alexander's Macedonian empire. The Maccabean Revolt of 167–142 BCE was initially a fight for Judean autonomy against a suppression of traditional Judaism by Seleucid King Antiochus IV, and later sought outright independence from Greek rule. The revolt's success brought about the formation of an independent Hasmonean kingdom of Judea, named for the family which had led the Jewish resistance.
↑ ("Bet Ḥoglah" for Βηθαλαγά in Josephus; I Macc. has Βαιδβασὶ, perhaps = Bet Bosem or Bet Bassim ["spice-house"], near Jericho or Beth-basi (Βαιθβασί - 1 Maccabees 9:62, 64) meaning "house of marshes." Per https://www.biblicaltraining.org/library/bethbasi "According to G. A. Smith there is a Wady el-Bassah East of Tekoa in the wilderness of Judea. The name means "marsh," which Dr. Smith thinks impossible, and really 'an echo of an ancient name.'" - See more at: http://www.biblicalcyclopedia.com/B/bethbasi.html )
↑ I Macc. ix. 55-73; Josephus, l.c. xiii. 1, §§ 5-6). The chief source, the First Book of the Maccabees, says that with this "the sword ceased in Israel"; and in fact nothing is reported for the five following years (158 - 153 BCE
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