1. Hebrew Bible, Deuteronomy, 12 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE)
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2. Hebrew Bible, Numbers, 25.11-25.13 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE)
| 25.11. פִּינְחָס בֶּן־אֶלְעָזָר בֶּן־אַהֲרֹן הַכֹּהֵן הֵשִׁיב אֶת־חֲמָתִי מֵעַל בְּנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּקַנְאוֹ אֶת־קִנְאָתִי בְּתוֹכָם וְלֹא־כִלִּיתִי אֶת־בְּנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּקִנְאָתִי׃ 25.12. לָכֵן אֱמֹר הִנְנִי נֹתֵן לוֹ אֶת־בְּרִיתִי שָׁלוֹם׃ 25.13. וְהָיְתָה לּוֹ וּלְזַרְעוֹ אַחֲרָיו בְּרִית כְּהֻנַּת עוֹלָם תַּחַת אֲשֶׁר קִנֵּא לֵאלֹהָיו וַיְכַפֵּר עַל־בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל׃ | 25.11. ’Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned My wrath away from the children of Israel, in that he was very jealous for My sake among them, so that I consumed not the children of Israel in My jealousy." 25.12. Wherefore say: Behold, I give unto him My covet of peace;" 25.13. and it shall be unto him, and to his seed after him, the covet of an everlasting priesthood; because he was jealous for his God, and made atonement for the children of Israel.’" |
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3. Hebrew Bible, Isaiah, 19.18-19.19 (8th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
| 19.18. בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא יִהְיוּ חָמֵשׁ עָרִים בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם מְדַבְּרוֹת שְׂפַת כְּנַעַן וְנִשְׁבָּעוֹת לַיהוָה צְבָאוֹת עִיר הַהֶרֶס יֵאָמֵר לְאֶחָת׃ 19.19. בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא יִהְיֶה מִזְבֵּחַ לַיהוָה בְּתוֹךְ אֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם וּמַצֵּבָה אֵצֶל־גְּבוּלָהּ לַיהוָה׃ | 19.18. In that day there shall be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan, and swear to the LORD of hosts; one shall be called The city of destruction." 19.19. In that day shall there be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the LORD." |
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4. Aristotle, Athenian Constitution, 20.4 (4th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
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5. Dead Sea Scrolls, Community Rule, None (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)
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6. Septuagint, 1 Maccabees, 1.11-1.15, 1.20-1.24, 2.24-2.26, 2.54, 4.36-4.59, 5.62, 6.60-6.62, 7.5-7.6, 7.9, 10.15-10.21 (2nd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
| 1.11. In those days lawless men came forth from Israel, and misled many, saying, "Let us go and make a covet with the Gentiles round about us, for since we separated from them many evils have come upon us. 1.12. This proposal pleased them 1.13. and some of the people eagerly went to the king. He authorized them to observe the ordices of the Gentiles. 1.14. So they built a gymnasium in Jerusalem, according to Gentile custom 1.15. and removed the marks of circumcision, and abandoned the holy covet. They joined with the Gentiles and sold themselves to do evil. 1.20. After subduing Egypt, Antiochus returned in the one hundred and forty-third year. He went up against Israel and came to Jerusalem with a strong force. 1.21. He arrogantly entered the sanctuary and took the golden altar, the lampstand for the light, and all its utensils. 1.22. He took also the table for the bread of the Presence, the cups for drink offerings, the bowls, the golden censers, the curtain, the crowns, and the gold decoration on the front of the temple; he stripped it all off. 1.23. He took the silver and the gold, and the costly vessels; he took also the hidden treasures which he found. 1.24. Taking them all, he departed to his own land. He committed deeds of murder,and spoke with great arrogance. 2.24. When Mattathias saw it, be burned with zeal and his heart was stirred. He gave vent to righteous anger; he ran and killed him upon the altar. 2.25. At the same time he killed the kings officer who was forcing them to sacrifice, and he tore down the altar. 2.26. Thus he burned with zeal for the law, as Phinehas did against Zimri the son of Salu. 2.54. Phinehas our father, because he was deeply zealous, received the covet of everlasting priesthood. 4.36. Then said Judas and his brothers, "Behold, our enemies are crushed; let us go up to cleanse the sanctuary and dedicate it. 4.37. So all the army assembled and they went up to Mount Zion. 4.38. And they saw the sanctuary desolate, the altar profaned, and the gates burned. In the courts they saw bushes sprung up as in a thicket, or as on one of the mountains. They saw also the chambers of the priests in ruins. 4.39. Then they rent their clothes, and mourned with great lamentation, and sprinkled themselves with ashes. 4.40. They fell face down on the ground, and sounded the signal on the trumpets, and cried out to Heaven. 4.41. Then Judas detailed men to fight against those in the citadel until he had cleansed the sanctuary. 4.42. He chose blameless priests devoted to the law 4.43. and they cleansed the sanctuary and removed the defiled stones to an unclean place. 4.44. They deliberated what to do about the altar of burnt offering, which had been profaned. 4.45. And they thought it best to tear it down, lest it bring reproach upon them, for the Gentiles had defiled it. So they tore down the altar 4.46. and stored the stones in a convenient place on the temple hill until there should come a prophet to tell what to do with them. 4.47. Then they took unhewn stones, as the law directs, and built a new altar like the former one. 4.48. They also rebuilt the sanctuary and the interior of the temple, and consecrated the courts. 4.49. They made new holy vessels, and brought the lampstand, the altar of incense, and the table into the temple. 4.50. Then they burned incense on the altar and lighted the lamps on the lampstand, and these gave light in the temple. 4.51. They placed the bread on the table and hung up the curtains. Thus they finished all the work they had undertaken. 4.52. Early in the morning on the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month, which is the month of Chislev, in the one hundred and forty-eighth year 4.53. they rose and offered sacrifice, as the law directs, on the new altar of burnt offering which they had built. 4.54. At the very season and on the very day that the Gentiles had profaned it, it was dedicated with songs and harps and lutes and cymbals. 4.55. All the people fell on their faces and worshiped and blessed Heaven, who had prospered them. 4.56. So they celebrated the dedication of the altar for eight days, and offered burnt offerings with gladness; they offered a sacrifice of deliverance and praise. 4.57. They decorated the front of the temple with golden crowns and small shields; they restored the gates and the chambers for the priests, and furnished them with doors. 4.58. There was very great gladness among the people, and the reproach of the Gentiles was removed. 4.59. Then Judas and his brothers and all the assembly of Israel determined that every year at that season the days of dedication of the altar should be observed with gladness and joy for eight days, beginning with the twenty-fifth day of the month of Chislev. 5.62. But they did not belong to the family of those men through whom deliverance was given to Israel. 6.60. The speech pleased the king and the commanders, and he sent to the Jews an offer of peace, and they accepted it. 6.61. So the king and the commanders gave them their oath. On these conditions the Jews evacuated the stronghold. 6.62. But when the king entered Mount Zion and saw what a strong fortress the place was, he broke the oath he had sworn and gave orders to tear down the wall all around. 7.5. Then there came to him all the lawless and ungodly men of Israel; they were led by Alcimus, who wanted to be high priest. 7.6. And they brought to the king this accusation against the people: "Judas and his brothers have destroyed all your friends, and have driven us out of our land. 7.9. And he sent him, and with him the ungodly Alcimus, whom he made high priest; and he commanded him to take vengeance on the sons of Israel. 10.15. Now Alexander the king heard of all the promises which Demetrius had sent to Jonathan, and men told him of the battles that Jonathan and his brothers had fought, of the brave deeds that they had done, and of the troubles that they had endured. 10.16. So he said, "Shall we find another such man? Come now, we will make him our friend and ally. 10.17. And he wrote a letter and sent it to him, in the following words: 10.18. King Alexander to his brother Jonathan, greeting. 10.19. We have heard about you, that you are a mighty warrior and worthy to be our friend. 10.20. And so we have appointed you today to be the high priest of your nation; you are to be called the kings friend" (and he sent him a purple robe and a golden crown) "and you are to take our side and keep friendship with us. 10.21. So Jonathan put on the holy garments in the seventh month of the one hundred and sixtieth year, at the feast of tabernacles, and he recruited troops and equipped them with arms in abundance. |
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7. Septuagint, 2 Maccabees, 1.15, 3.4, 4.4-4.29, 4.33-4.38, 4.49, 5.5-5.10, 5.15-5.16, 7.26, 8.4, 10.1-10.5, 13.3-13.8, 15.12-15.14 (2nd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
| 1.15. When the priests of the temple of Nanea had set out the treasures and Antiochus had come with a few men inside the wall of the sacred precinct, they closed the temple as soon as he entered it.' 3.4. But a man named Simon, of the tribe of Benjamin, who had been made captain of the temple, had a disagreement with the high priest about the administration of the city market;' 4.4. Onias recognized that the rivalry was serious and that Apollonius, the son of Menestheus and governor of Coelesyria and Phoenicia, was intensifying the malice of Simon.' 4.5. So he betook himself to the king, not accusing his fellow citizens but having in view the welfare, both public and private, of all the people.' 4.6. For he saw that without the king's attention public affairs could not again reach a peaceful settlement, and that Simon would not stop his folly.' 4.7. When Seleucus died and Antiochus who was called Epiphanes succeeded to the kingdom, Jason the brother of Onias obtained the high priesthood by corruption,' 4.8. promising the king at an interview three hundred and sixty talents of silver and, from another source of revenue, eighty talents.' 4.9. In addition to this he promised to pay one hundred and fifty more if permission were given to establish by his authority a gymnasium and a body of youth for it, and to enrol the men of Jerusalem as citizens of Antioch.' 4.10. When the king assented and Jason came to office, he at once shifted his countrymen over to the Greek way of life.' 4.11. He set aside the existing royal concessions to the Jews, secured through John the father of Eupolemus, who went on the mission to establish friendship and alliance with the Romans; and he destroyed the lawful ways of living and introduced new customs contrary to the law.' 4.12. For with alacrity he founded a gymnasium right under the citadel, and he induced the noblest of the young men to wear the Greek hat.' 4.13. There was such an extreme of Hellenization and increase in the adoption of foreign ways because of the surpassing wickedness of Jason, who was ungodly and no high priest,' 4.14. that the priests were no longer intent upon their service at the altar. Despising the sanctuary and neglecting the sacrifices, they hastened to take part in the unlawful proceedings in the wrestling arena after the call to the discus,' 4.15. disdaining the honors prized by their fathers and putting the highest value upon Greek forms of prestige. 4.16. For this reason heavy disaster overtook them, and those whose ways of living they admired and wished to imitate completely became their enemies and punished them.' 4.17. For it is no light thing to show irreverence to the divine laws -- a fact which later events will make clear. 4.18. When the quadrennial games were being held at Tyre and the king was present,' 4.19. the vile Jason sent envoys, chosen as being Antiochian citizens from Jerusalem, to carry three hundred silver drachmas for the sacrifice to Hercules. Those who carried the money, however, thought best not to use it for sacrifice, because that was inappropriate, but to expend it for another purpose.' 4.20. So this money was intended by the sender for the sacrifice to Hercules, but by the decision of its carriers it was applied to the construction of triremes.' 4.21. When Apollonius the son of Menestheus was sent to Egypt for the coronation of Philometor as king, Antiochus learned that Philometor had become hostile to his government, and he took measures for his own security. Therefore upon arriving at Joppa he proceeded to Jerusalem.' 4.22. He was welcomed magnificently by Jason and the city, and ushered in with a blaze of torches and with shouts. Then he marched into Phoenicia.' 4.23. After a period of three years Jason sent Menelaus, the brother of the previously mentioned Simon, to carry the money to the king and to complete the records of essential business.' 4.24. But he, when presented to the king, extolled him with an air of authority, and secured the high priesthood for himself, outbidding Jason by three hundred talents of silver.' 4.25. After receiving the king's orders he returned, possessing no qualification for the high priesthood, but having the hot temper of a cruel tyrant and the rage of a savage wild beast.' 4.26. So Jason, who after supplanting his own brother was supplanted by another man, was driven as a fugitive into the land of Ammon.' 4.27. And Menelaus held the office, but he did not pay regularly any of the money promised to the king.' 4.28. When Sostratus the captain of the citadel kept requesting payment, for the collection of the revenue was his responsibility, the two of them were summoned by the king on account of this issue.' 4.29. Menelaus left his own brother Lysimachus as deputy in the high priesthood, while Sostratus left Crates, the commander of the Cyprian troops.' 4.33. When Onias became fully aware of these acts he publicly exposed them, having first withdrawn to a place of sanctuary at Daphne near Antioch.' 4.34. Therefore Menelaus, taking Andronicus aside, urged him to kill Onias. Andronicus came to Onias, and resorting to treachery offered him sworn pledges and gave him his right hand, and in spite of his suspicion persuaded Onias to come out from the place of sanctuary; then, with no regard for justice, he immediately put him out of the way.' 4.35. For this reason not only Jews, but many also of other nations, were grieved and displeased at the unjust murder of the man.' 4.36. When the king returned from the region of Cilicia, the Jews in the city appealed to him with regard to the unreasonable murder of Onias, and the Greeks shared their hatred of the crime.' 4.37. Therefore Antiochus was grieved at heart and filled with pity, and wept because of the moderation and good conduct of the deceased;' 4.38. and inflamed with anger, he immediately stripped off the purple robe from Andronicus, tore off his garments, and led him about the whole city to that very place where he had committed the outrage against Onias, and there he dispatched the bloodthirsty fellow. The Lord thus repaid him with the punishment he deserved.' 4.49. Therefore even the Tyrians, showing their hatred of the crime, provided magnificently for their funeral.' 5.5. When a false rumor arose that Antiochus was dead, Jason took no less than a thousand men and suddenly made an assault upon the city. When the troops upon the wall had been forced back and at last the city was being taken, Menelaus took refuge in the citadel.' 5.6. But Jason kept relentlessly slaughtering his fellow citizens, not realizing that success at the cost of one's kindred is the greatest misfortune, but imagining that he was setting up trophies of victory over enemies and not over fellow countrymen.' 5.7. He did not gain control of the government, however; and in the end got only disgrace from his conspiracy, and fled again into the country of the Ammonites.' 5.8. Finally he met a miserable end. Accused before Aretas the ruler of the Arabs, fleeing from city to city, pursued by all men, hated as a rebel against the laws, and abhorred as the executioner of his country and his fellow citizens, he was cast ashore in Egypt;' 5.9. and he who had driven many from their own country into exile died in exile, having embarked to go to the Lacedaemonians in hope of finding protection because of their kinship.' 5.10. He who had cast out many to lie unburied had no one to mourn for him; he had no funeral of any sort and no place in the tomb of his fathers. 5.15. Not content with this, Antiochus dared to enter the most holy temple in all the world, guided by Menelaus, who had become a traitor both to the laws and to his country.' 5.16. He took the holy vessels with his polluted hands, and swept away with profane hands the votive offerings which other kings had made to enhance the glory and honor of the place.' 7.26. After much urging on his part, she undertook to persuade her son.' 8.4. and to remember also the lawless destruction of the innocent babies and the blasphemies committed against his name, and to show his hatred of evil.' 10.1. Now Maccabeus and his followers, the Lord leading them on, recovered the temple and the city;' 10.2. and they tore down the altars which had been built in the public square by the foreigners, and also destroyed the sacred precincts.' 10.3. They purified the sanctuary, and made another altar of sacrifice; then, striking fire out of flint, they offered sacrifices, after a lapse of two years, and they burned incense and lighted lamps and set out the bread of the Presence.' 10.4. And when they had done this, they fell prostrate and besought the Lord that they might never again fall into such misfortunes, but that, if they should ever sin, they might be disciplined by him with forbearance and not be handed over to blasphemous and barbarous nations.' 10.5. It happened that on the same day on which the sanctuary had been profaned by the foreigners, the purification of the sanctuary took place, that is, on the twenty-fifth day of the same month, which was Chislev.' 13.3. Menelaus also joined them and with utter hypocrisy urged Antiochus on, not for the sake of his country's welfare, but because he thought that he would be established in office.' 13.4. But the King of kings aroused the anger of Antiochus against the scoundrel; and when Lysias informed him that this man was to blame for all the trouble, he ordered them to take him to Beroea and to put him to death by the method which is the custom in that place.' 13.5. For there is a tower in that place, fifty cubits high, full of ashes, and it has a rim running around it which on all sides inclines precipitously into the ashes.' 13.6. There they all push to destruction any man guilty of sacrilege or notorious for other crimes. 13.7. By such a fate it came about that Menelaus the lawbreaker died, without even burial in the earth.' 13.8. And this was eminently just; because he had committed many sins against the altar whose fire and ashes were holy, he met his death in ashes.' 15.12. What he saw was this: Onias, who had been high priest, a noble and good man, of modest bearing and gentle manner, one who spoke fittingly and had been trained from childhood in all that belongs to excellence, was praying with outstretched hands for the whole body of the Jews.' 15.13. Then likewise a man appeared, distinguished by his gray hair and dignity, and of marvelous majesty and authority.' 15.14. And Onias spoke, saying, 'This is a man who loves the brethren and prays much for the people and the holy city, Jeremiah, the prophet of God.' |
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8. Septuagint, Ecclesiasticus (Siracides), 50.1 (2nd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
| 50.1. The leader of his brethren and the pride of his people was Simon the high priest, son of Onias,who in his life repaired the house,and in his time fortified the temple. 50.1. like an olive tree putting forth its fruit,and like a cypress towering in the clouds. |
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9. Diodorus Siculus, Historical Library, 30.7.2, 40.3.3-40.3.5 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
| 30.7.2. Andronicus, who assassinated the son of Seleucus and who was in turn put to death, willingly lent himself to an impious and terrible crimes, only to share the same fate as his victim. |
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10. Philo of Alexandria, On Flight And Finding, 184 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE)
| 184. and twelve is the perfect number, of which the circle of the zodiac in the heaven is a witness, studded as it is with such numbers of brilliant constellations. The periodical revolution of the sun is another witness, for he accomplishes his circle in twelve months, and men also reckon the hours of the day and of the night as equal in number to the months of the year |
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11. Josephus Flavius, Jewish Antiquities, 11.297-11.311, 11.321-11.324, 11.347, 12.43-12.44, 12.156-12.158, 12.224-12.225, 12.238-12.241, 12.244, 12.382-12.389, 12.413, 13.58, 13.62-13.73, 13.285, 13.287, 13.351-13.355, 14.9, 14.131, 15.24-15.34, 15.41, 19.298, 20.224-20.251 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 11.297. 1. When Eliashib the high priest was dead, his son Judas succeeded in the high priesthood; and when he was dead, his son John took that dignity; on whose account it was also that Bagoses, the general of another Artaxerxes’s army, polluted the temple, and imposed tributes on the Jews, that out of the public stock, before they offered the daily sacrifices, they should pay for every lamb fifty shekels. 11.298. Now Jesus was the brother of John, and was a friend of Bagoses, who had promised to procure him the high priesthood. 11.299. In confidence of whose support, Jesus quarreled with John in the temple, and so provoked his brother, that in his anger his brother slew him. Now it was a horrible thing for John, when he was high priest, to perpetrate so great a crime, and so much the more horrible, that there never was so cruel and impious a thing done, neither by the Greeks nor Barbarians. 11.301. And as he was aiming to go into the temple, they forbade him so to do; but he said to them, “Am not I purer than he that was slain in the temple?” And when he had said these words, he went into the temple. Accordingly, Bagoses made use of this pretense, and punished the Jews seven years for the murder of Jesus. 11.302. 2. Now when John had departed this life, his son Jaddua succeeded in the high priesthood. He had a brother, whose name was Manasseh. Now there was one Sanballat, who was sent by Darius, the last king [of Persia], into Samaria. He was a Cutheam by birth; of which stock were the Samaritans also. 11.303. This man knew that the city Jerusalem was a famous city, and that their kings had given a great deal of trouble to the Assyrians, and the people of Celesyria; so that he willingly gave his daughter, whose name was Nicaso, in marriage to Manasseh, as thinking this alliance by marriage would be a pledge and security that the nation of the Jews should continue their good-will to him. 11.304. 1. About this time it was that Philip, king of Macedon, was treacherously assaulted and slain at Egae by Pausanias, the son of Cerastes, who was derived from the family of Oreste 11.305. and his son Alexander succeeded him in the kingdom; who, passing over the Hellespont, overcame the generals of Darius’s army in a battle fought at Granicum. So he marched over Lydia, and subdued Ionia, and overran Caria, and fell upon the places of Pamphylia, as has been related elsewhere. 11.306. 2. But the elders of Jerusalem being very uneasy that the brother of Jaddua the high priest, though married to a foreigner, should be a partner with him in the high priesthood, quarreled with him; 11.307. for they esteemed this man’s marriage a step to such as should be desirous of transgressing about the marriage of [strange] wives, and that this would be the beginning of a mutual society with foreigners 11.308. although the offense of some about marriages, and their having married wives that were not of their own country, had been an occasion of their former captivity, and of the miseries they then underwent; so they commanded Manasseh to divorce his wife, or not to approach the altar 11.309. the high priest himself joining with the people in their indignation against his brother, and driving him away from the altar. Whereupon Manasseh came to his father-in-law, Sanballat, and told him, that although he loved his daughter Nicaso, yet was he not willing to be deprived of his sacerdotal dignity on her account, which was the principal dignity in their nation, and always continued in the same family. 11.311. and he promised that he would do this with the approbation of Darius the king. Manasseh was elevated with these promises, and staid with Sanballat, upon a supposal that he should gain a high priesthood, as bestowed on him by Darius, for it happened that Sanballat was then in years. 11.321. 4. But Sanballat thought he had now gotten a proper opportunity to make his attempt, so he renounced Darius, and taking with him seven thousand of his own subjects, he came to Alexander; and finding him beginning the siege of Tyre, he said to him, that he delivered up to him these men, who came out of places under his dominion, and did gladly accept of him for his lord instead of Darius. 11.322. So when Alexander had received him kindly, Sanballat thereupon took courage, and spake to him about his present affair. He told him that he had a son-in-law, Manasseh, who was brother to the high priest Jaddua; and that there were many others of his own nation, now with him, that were desirous to have a temple in the places subject to him; 11.323. that it would be for the king’s advantage to have the strength of the Jews divided into two parts, lest when the nation is of one mind, and united, upon any attempt for innovation, it prove troublesome to kings, as it had formerly proved to the kings of Assyria. 11.324. Whereupon Alexander gave Sanballat leave so to do, who used the utmost diligence, and built the temple, and made Manasseh the priest, and deemed it a great reward that his daughter’s children should have that dignity; 11.347. he fled away to the Shechemites, and said that he was accused unjustly. About this time it was that Jaddua the high priest died, and Onias his son took the high priesthood. This was the state of the affairs of the people of Jerusalem at this time. 12.43. When Onias the high priest was dead, his son Simon became his successor. He was called Simon the Just because of both his piety towards God, and his kind disposition to those of his own nation. 12.43. o being not able to fly, but encompassed round about with enemies, he stood still, and he and those that were with him fought; and when he had slain a great many of those that came against him, he at last was himself wounded, and fell and gave up the ghost, and died in a way like to his former famous actions. 12.44. When he was dead, and had left a young son, who was called Onias, Simon’s brother Eleazar, of whom we are speaking, took the high priesthood; and he it was to whom Ptolemy wrote, and that in the manner following: 12.156. Now at this time the Samaritans were in a flourishing condition, and much distressed the Jews, cutting off parts of their land, and carrying off slaves. This happened when Onias was high priest; 12.157. for after Eleazar’s death, his uncle Manasseh took the priesthood, and after he had ended his life, Onias received that dignity. He was the son of Simon, who was called The Just: 12.158. which Simon was the brother of Eleazar, as I said before. This Onias was one of a little soul, and a great lover of money; and for that reason, because he did not pay that tax of twenty talents of silver, which his forefathers paid to these things out of their own estates, he provoked king Ptolemy Euergetes to anger, who was the father of Philopater. 12.224. And [now] Hyrcanus’s father, Joseph, died. He was a good man, and of great magimity; and brought the Jews out of a state of poverty and meanness, to one that was more splendid. He retained the farm of the taxes of Syria, and Phoenicia, and Samaria twenty-two years. His uncle also, Onias, died [about this time], and left the high priesthood to his son Simeon. 12.225. And when he was dead, Onias his son succeeded him in that dignity. To him it was that Areus, king of the Lacedemonians, sent an embassage, with an epistle; the copy whereof here follows: 12.238. But this Jesus, who was the brother of Onias, was deprived of the high priesthood by the king, who was angry with him, and gave it to his younger brother, whose name also was Onias; for Simon had these three sons, to each of which the priesthood came, as we have already informed the reader. 12.239. This Jesus changed his name to Jason, but Onias was called Menelaus. Now as the former high priest, Jesus, raised a sedition against Menelaus, who was ordained after him, the multitude were divided between them both. And the sons of Tobias took the part of Menelaus 12.241. Wherefore they desired his permission to build them a Gymnasium at Jerusalem. And when he had given them leave, they also hid the circumcision of their genitals, that even when they were naked they might appear to be Greeks. Accordingly, they left off all the customs that belonged to their own country, and imitated the practices of the other nations. 12.244. But he was driven not only from Alexandria, but out of all Egypt, by the declaration of the Romans, who charged him to let that country alone; according as I have elsewhere formerly declared. 12.382. 7. Accordingly the king sent to Judas, and to those that were besieged with them, and promised to give them peace, and to permit them to make use of, and live according to, the laws of their fathers; and they gladly received his proposals; and when they had gained security upon oath for their performance, they went out of the temple. 12.383. But when Antiochus came into it, and saw how strong the place was, he broke his oaths, and ordered his army that was there to pluck down the walls to the ground; and when he had so done, he returned to Antioch. He also carried with him Onias the high priest, who was also called Menelaus; 12.384. for Lysias advised the king to slay Menelaus, if he would have the Jews be quiet, and cause him no further disturbance, for that this man was the origin of all the mischief the Jews had done them, by persuading his father to compel the Jews to leave the religion of their fathers. 12.385. So the king sent Menelaus to Berea, a city of Syria, and there had him put to death, when he had been high priest ten years. He had been a wicked and an impious man; and, in order to get the government to himself, had compelled his nation to transgress their own laws. After the death of Menelaus, Alcimus, who was also called Jacimus, was made high priest. 12.386. But when king Antiochus found that Philip had already possessed himself of the government, he made war against him, and subdued him, and took him, and slew him. 12.387. Now as to Onias, the son of the high priest, who, as we before informed you, was left a child when his father died, when he saw that the king had slain his uncle Menelaus, and given the high priesthood to Alcimus, who was not of the high priest stock, but was induced by Lysias to translate that dignity from his family to another house, he fled to Ptolemy, king of Egypt; 12.388. and when he found he was in great esteem with him, and with his wife Cleopatra, he desired and obtained a place in the Nomus of Heliopolis, wherein he built a temple like to that at Jerusalem; of which therefore we shall hereafter give an account, in a place more proper for it. 12.389. 1. About the same time Demetrius, the son of Seleucus, fled away from Rome, and took Tripoli, a city of Syria, and set the diadem on his own head. He also gathered certain mercenary soldiers together, and entered into his kingdom, and was joyfully received by all, who delivered themselves up to him. 12.413. 6. But now as the high priest Alcimus, was resolving to pull down the wall of the sanctuary, which had been there of old time, and had been built by the holy prophets, he was smitten suddenly by God, and fell down. This stroke made him fall down speechless upon the ground; and undergoing torments for many days, he at length died, when he had been high priest four years. 13.58. 4. This was what Demetrius promised and granted to the Jews by this letter. But king Alexander raised a great army of mercenary soldiers, and of those that deserted to him out of Syria, and made an expedition against Demetrius. 13.62. 1. But then the son of Onias the high priest, who was of the same name with his father, and who fled to king Ptolemy, who was called Philometor, lived now at Alexandria, as we have said already. When this Onias saw that Judea was oppressed by the Macedonians and their kings 13.63. out of a desire to purchase to himself a memorial and eternal fame he resolved to send to king Ptolemy and queen Cleopatra, to ask leave of them that he might build a temple in Egypt like to that at Jerusalem, and might ordain Levites and priests out of their own stock. 13.64. The chief reason why he was desirous so to do, was, that he relied upon the prophet Isaiah, who lived above six hundred years before, and foretold that there certainly was to be a temple built to Almighty God in Egypt by a man that was a Jew. Onias was elevated with this prediction, and wrote the following epistle to Ptolemy and Cleopatra: 13.65. “Having done many and great things for you in the affairs of the war, by the assistance of God, and that in Celesyria and Phoenicia, I came at length with the Jews to Leontopolis, and to other places of your nation 13.66. where I found that the greatest part of your people had temples in an improper manner, and that on this account they bare ill-will one against another, which happens to the Egyptians by reason of the multitude of their temples, and the difference of opinions about divine worship. Now I found a very fit place in a castle that hath its name from the country Diana; this place is full of materials of several sorts, and replenished with sacred animals; 13.67. I desire therefore that you will grant me leave to purge this holy place, which belongs to no master, and is fallen down, and to build there a temple to Almighty God, after the pattern of that in Jerusalem, and of the same dimensions, that may be for the benefit of thyself, and thy wife and children, that those Jews which dwell in Egypt may have a place whither they may come and meet together in mutual harmony one with another, and he subservient to thy advantages; 13.68. for the prophet Isaiah foretold that, ‘there should be an altar in Egypt to the Lord God;’” and many other such things did he prophesy relating to that place. 13.69. 2. And this was what Onias wrote to king Ptolemy. Now any one may observe his piety, and that of his sister and wife Cleopatra, by that epistle which they wrote in answer to it; for they laid the blame and the transgression of the law upon the head of Onias. And this was their reply: 13.71. But since thou sayest that Isaiah the prophet foretold this long ago, we give thee leave to do it, if it may be done according to your law, and so that we may not appear to have at all offended God herein.” 13.72. 3. So Onias took the place, and built a temple, and an altar to God, like indeed to that in Jerusalem, but smaller and poorer. I do not think it proper for me now to describe its dimensions or its vessels, which have been already described in my seventh book of the Wars of the Jews. 13.73. However, Onias found other Jews like to himself, together with priests and Levites, that there performed divine service. But we have said enough about this temple. 13.285. for Cleopatra the queen was at variance with her son Ptolemy, who was called Lathyrus, and appointed for her generals Chelcias and Aias, the sons of that Onias who built the temple in the prefecture of Heliopolis, like to that at Jerusalem, as we have elsewhere related. 13.287. “Now the greater part, both those that came to Cyprus with us, and those that were sent afterward thither, revolted to Ptolemy immediately; only those that were called Onias’s party, being Jews, continued faithful, because their countrymen Chelcias and Aias were in chief favor with the queen.” These are the words of Strabo. 13.351. but Ptolemy went out of Syria, and made haste unto Egypt, supposing that he should find it destitute of an army, and soon take it, though he failed of his hopes. At this time Chelcias, one of Cleopatra’s generals, happened to die in Celesyria, as he was in pursuit of Ptolemy. 13.352. 2. When Cleopatra heard of her son’s attempt, and that his Egyptian expedition did not succeed according to his expectations, she sent thither part of her army, and drove him out of that country; so when he was returned out of Egypt again, he abode during the winter at Gaza 13.353. in which time Cleopatra took the garrison that was in Ptolemais by siege, as well as the city; and when Alexander came to her, he gave her presents, and such marks of respect as were but proper, since under the miseries he endured by Ptolemy he had no other refuge but her. Now there were some of her friends who persuaded her to seize Alexander, and to overrun and take possession of the country, and not to sit still and see such a multitude of brave Jews subject to one man. 13.354. But Aias’s counsel was contrary to theirs, who said that “she would do an unjust action if she deprived a man that was her ally of that authority which belonged to him, and this a man who is related to us; for,” said he, “I would not have thee ignorant of this, that what injustice thou dost to him will make all us that are Jews to be thy enemies.” 13.355. This desire of Aias Cleopatra complied with, and did no injury to Alexander, but made a league of mutual assistance with him at Scythopolis, a city of Celesyria. 14.9. It is true that Nicolatls of Damascus says, that Antipater was of the stock of the principal Jews who came out of Babylon into Judea; but that assertion of his was to gratify Herod, who was his son, and who, by certain revolutions of fortune, came afterward to be king of the Jews, whose history we shall give you in its proper place hereafter. 14.9. which fortresses Gabinius demolished. But when Alexander’s mother, who was of the side of the Romans, as having her husband and other children at Rome, came to him, he granted her whatsoever she asked; 14.131. But it happened that the Egyptian Jews, who dwelt in the country called Onion, would not let Antipater and Mithridates, with their soldiers, pass to Caesar; but Antipater persuaded them to come over with their party, because he was of the same people with them, and that chiefly by showing them the epistles of Hyrcanus the high priest, wherein he exhorted them to cultivate friendship with Caesar, and to supply his army with money, and all sorts of provisions which they wanted; 15.24. This Alexandra was much disturbed, and took this indignity offered to her son exceeding ill, that while he was alive, any one else should be sent for to have the dignity of the high priesthood conferred upon him. Accordingly, she wrote to Cleopatra (a musician assisting her in taking care to have her letters carried) to desire her intercession with Antony, in order to gain the high priesthood for her son. 15.24. 7. But when she was once dead, the king’s affections for her were kindled in a more outrageous manner than before, whose old passion for her we have already described; for his love to her was not of a calm nature, nor such as we usually meet with among other husbands; for at its commencement it was of an enthusiastic kind, nor was it by their long cohabitation and free conversation together brought under his power to manage; 15.25. 6. But as Antony was slow in granting this request, his friend Dellius came into Judea upon some affairs; and when he saw Aristobulus, he stood in admiration at the tallness and handsomeness of the child, and no less at Mariamne, the king’s wife, and was open in his commendations of Alexandra, as the mother of most beautiful children. 15.25. These words were not by them at all taken in good part; and as they had been in former times faithful [to Herod], they resolved to continue so more than ever, both because they hated Alexandra, and because they thought it a sort of impiety to despair of Herod’s recovery while he was yet alive, for they had been his old friends; and one of them, whose name was Achiabus, was his cousin-german. 15.26. And when she came to discourse with him, he persuaded her to get pictures drawn of them both, and to send them to Antony, for that when he saw them, he would deny her nothing that she should ask. 15.26. However, Salome chose to follow not the law of her country, but the law of her authority, and so renounced her wedlock; and told her brother Herod, that she left her husband out of her good-will to him, because she perceived that he, with Antipater, and Lysimachus, and Dositheus, were raising a sedition against him; as an evidence whereof, she alleged the case of the sons of Babas, that they had been by him preserved alive already for the interval of twelve years; 15.27. Accordingly, Alexandra was elevated with these words of his, and sent the pictures to Antony. Dellius also talked extravagantly, and said that these children seemed not derived from men, but from some god or other. His design in doing so was to entice Antony into lewd pleasures with them 15.27. for there were very great rewards for victory proposed, not only to those that performed their exercises naked, but to those that played the musicians also, and were called Thymelici; and he spared no pains to induce all persons, the most famous for such exercises, to come to this contest for victory. 15.28. who was ashamed to send for the damsel, as being the wife of Herod, and avoided it, because of the reproaches he should have from Cleopatra on that account; but he sent, in the most decent manner he could, for the young man; but added this withal, unless he thought it hard upon him so to do. 15.28. 3. When therefore Herod had thus got clear of the multitude, and had dissipated the vehemency of passion under which they had been, the greatest part of the people were disposed to change their conduct, and not to be displeased at him any longer; 15.29. When this letter was brought to Herod, he did not think it safe for him to send one so handsome as was Aristobulus, in the prime of his life, for he was sixteen years of age, and of so noble a family, and particularly not to Antony, the principal man among the Romans, and one that would abuse him in his amours, and besides, one that openly indulged himself in such pleasures as his power allowed him without control. 15.29. This execution was seen by many of the citizens, yet would not one of them discover the doers of it, till upon Herod’s making a strict scrutiny after them, by bitter and severe tortures, certain women that were tortured confessed what they had seen done; the authors of which fact were so terribly punished by the king, that their entire families were destroyed for this their rash attempt; 15.31. 7. When Herod had thus excused himself to Antony, he resolved that he would not entirely permit the child or Alexandra to be treated dishonorably; but his wife Mariamne lay vehemently at him to restore the high priesthood to her brother; and he judged it was for his advantage so to do, because if he once had that dignity, he could not go out of the country. So he called his friends together, and told them that Alexandra 15.31. He also took care that they might not be hurt by the dangers of winter, since they were in great want of clothing also, by reason of the utter destruction and consumption of their sheep and goats, till they had no wool to make use of, nor any thing else to cover themselves withal. 15.32. privately conspired against his royal authority, and endeavored, by the means of Cleopatra, so to bring it about, that he might be deprived of the government, and that by Antony’s means this youth might have the management of public affairs in his stead; 15.32. There was one Simon, a citizen of Jerusalem, the son of one Boethus, a citizen of Alexandria, and a priest of great note there; this man had a daughter, who was esteemed the most beautiful woman of that time; 15.33. and that this procedure of hers was unjust, since she would at the same time deprive her daughter of the dignity she now had, and would bring disturbances upon the kingdom, for which he had taken a great deal of pains, and had gotten it with extraordinary hazards; 15.33. The apology which he made to the Jews for these things was this: That all was done, not out of his own inclinations, but by the commands and injunctions of others, in order to please Caesar and the Romans, as though he had not the Jewish customs so much in his eye as he had the honor of those Romans, while yet he had himself entirely in view all the while, and indeed was very ambitious to leave great monuments of his government to posterity; whence it was that he was so zealous in building such fine cities, and spent such vast sums of money upon them. 15.34. that yet, while he well remembered her wicked practices, he would not leave off doing what was right himself, but would even now give the youth the high priesthood; and that he formerly set up Aelus, because Aristobulus was then so very young a child. 15.34. nay, the very subterranean vaults and cellars had no less of architecture bestowed on them than had the buildings above ground. Some of these vaults carried things at even distances to the haven and to the sea; but one of them ran obliquely, and bound all the rest together, that both the rain and the filth of the citizens were together carried off with ease, and the sea itself, upon the flux of the tide from without, came into the city, and washed it all clean. 15.41. 5. Now in the western quarters of the enclosure of the temple there were four gates; the first led to the king’s palace, and went to a passage over the intermediate valley; two more led to the suburbs of the city; and the last led to the other city, where the road descended down into the valley by a great number of steps, and thence up again by the ascent for the city lay over against the temple in the manner of a theater, and was encompassed with a deep valley along the entire south quarter; 15.41. It was Antiochus Epiphanes who first brake that law, and deprived Jesus, and made his brother Onias high priest in his stead. Aristobulus was the second that did so, and took that dignity from his brother [Hyrcanus]; and this Herod was the third, who took that high office away [from Arianflus], and gave it to this young man, Aristobulus, in his stead. 19.298. Simon, therefore, had the [high] priesthood with his brethren, and with his father, in like manner as the sons of Simon, the son of Onias, who were three, had it formerly under the government of the Macedonians, as we have related in a former book. 20.224. 1. And now I think it proper and agreeable to this history to give an account of our high priests; how they began, who those are which are capable of that dignity, and how many of them there had been at the end of the war. 20.225. In the first place, therefore, history informs us that Aaron, the brother of Moses, officiated to God as a high priest, and that, after his death, his sons succeeded him immediately; and that this dignity hath been continued down from them all to their posterity. 20.226. Whence it is a custom of our country, that no one should take the high priesthood of God but he who is of the blood of Aaron, while every one that is of another stock, though he were a king, can never obtain that high priesthood. 20.227. Accordingly, the number of all the high priests from Aaron, of whom we have spoken already, as of the first of them, until Phanas, who was made high priest during the war by the seditious, was eighty-three; 20.228. of whom thirteen officiated as high priests in the wilderness, from the days of Moses, while the tabernacle was standing, until the people came into Judea, when king Solomon erected the temple to God; 20.229. for at the first they held the high priesthood till the end of their life, although afterward they had successors while they were alive. Now these thirteen, who were the descendants of two of the sons of Aaron, received this dignity by succession, one after another; for their form of government was an aristocracy, and after that a monarchy, and in the third place the government was regal. 20.231. After those thirteen high priests, eighteen took the high priesthood at Jerusalem, one in succession to another, from the days of king Solomon, until Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, made an expedition against that city, and burnt the temple, and removed our nation into Babylon, and then took Josadek, the high priest, captive; 20.232. the times of these high priests were four hundred and sixty-six years, six months, and ten days, while the Jews were still under the regal government. 20.233. But after the term of seventy years’ captivity under the Babylonians, Cyrus, king of Persia, sent the Jews from Babylon to their own land again, and gave them leave to rebuild their temple; 20.234. at which time Jesus, the son of Josadek, took the high priesthood over the captives when they were returned home. Now he and his posterity, who were in all fifteen, until king Antiochus Eupator, were under a democratical government for four hundred and fourteen years; 20.235. and then the forementioned Antiochus, and Lysias the general of his army, deprived Onias, who was also called Menelaus, of the high priesthood, and slew him at Berea; and driving away the son [of Onias the third], put Jacimus into the place of the high priest, one that was indeed of the stock of Aaron, but not of the family of Onias. 20.236. On which account Onias, who was the nephew of Onias that was dead, and bore the same name with his father, came into Egypt, and got into the friendship of Ptolemy Philometor, and Cleopatra his wife, and persuaded them to make him the high priest of that temple which he built to God in the prefecture of Heliopolis, and this in imitation of that at Jerusalem; 20.237. but as for that temple which was built in Egypt, we have spoken of it frequently already. Now when Jacimus had retained the priesthood three years, he died, and there was no one that succeeded him, but the city continued seven years without a high priest. 20.238. But then the posterity of the sons of Asamoneus, who had the government of the nation conferred upon them, when they had beaten the Macedonians in war, appointed Jonathan to be their high priest, who ruled over them seven years. 20.239. And when he had been slain by the treacherous contrivance of Trypho, as we have related some where, Simon his brother took the high priesthood; 20.241. whose brother Alexander was his heir; which Judas died of a sore distemper, after he had kept the priesthood, together with the royal authority; for this Judas was the first that put on his head a diadem for one year. 20.242. And when Alexander had been both king and high priest twenty-seven years, he departed this life, and permitted his wife Alexandra to appoint him that should be high priest; so she gave the high priesthood to Hyrcanus, but retained the kingdom herself nine years, and then departed this life. The like duration [and no longer] did her son Hyrcanus enjoy the high priesthood; 20.243. for after her death his brother Aristobulus fought against him, and beat him, and deprived him of his principality; and he did himself both reign, and perform the office of high priest to God. 20.244. But when he had reigned three years, and as many months, Pompey came upon him, and not only took the city of Jerusalem by force, but put him and his children in bonds, and sent them to Rome. He also restored the high priesthood to Hyrcanus, and made him governor of the nation, but forbade him to wear a diadem. 20.245. This Hyrcanus ruled, besides his first nine years, twenty-four years more, when Barzapharnes and Pacorus, the generals of the Parthians, passed over Euphrates, and fought with Hyrcanus, and took him alive, and made Antigonus, the son of Aristobulus, king; 20.246. and when he had reigned three years and three months, Sosius and Herod besieged him, and took him, when Antony had him brought to Antioch, and slain there. 20.247. Herod was then made king by the Romans, but did no longer appoint high priests out of the family of Asamoneus; but made certain men to be so that were of no eminent families, but barely of those that were priests, excepting that he gave that dignity to Aristobulus; 20.248. for when he had made this Aristobulus, the grandson of that Hyrcanus who was then taken by the Parthians, and had taken his sister Mariarmne to wife, he thereby aimed to win the good-will of the people, who had a kind remembrance of Hyrcanus [his grandfather]. Yet did he afterward, out of his fear lest they should all bend their inclinations to Aristobulus, put him to death, and that by contriving how to have him suffocated as he was swimming at Jericho, as we have already related that matter; 20.249. but after this man he never intrusted the priesthood to the posterity of the sons of Asamoneus. Archelaus also, Herod’s son, did like his father in the appointment of the high priests, as did the Romans also, who took the government over the Jews into their hands afterward. 20.251. Some of these were the political governors of the people under the reign of Herod, and under the reign of Archelaus his son, although, after their death, the government became an aristocracy, and the high priests were intrusted with a dominion over the nation. And thus much may suffice to be said concerning our high priests. |
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12. Josephus Flavius, Jewish War, 1.31-1.34, 1.90, 7.420-7.436 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.31. Now these caves were in the precipices of craggy mountains, and could not be come at from any side, since they had only some winding pathways, very narrow, by which they got up to them; but the rock that lay on their front had beneath it valleys of a vast depth, and of an almost perpendicular declivity; insomuch that the king was doubtful for a long time what to do, by reason of a kind of impossibility there was of attacking the place. Yet did he at length make use of a contrivance that was subject to the utmost hazard; 1.31. 1. At the same time that Antiochus, who was called Epiphanes, had a quarrel with the sixth Ptolemy about his right to the whole country of Syria, a great sedition fell among the men of power in Judea, and they had a contention about obtaining the government; while each of those that were of dignity could not endure to be subject to their equals. However, Onias, one of the high priests, got the better, and cast the sons of Tobias out of the city; 1.32. 7. Hereupon Herod was very angry at him, and was going to fight against Macheras as his enemy; but he restrained his indignation, and marched to Antony to accuse Macheras of mal-administration. But Macheras was made sensible of his offenses, and followed after the king immediately, and earnestly begged and obtained that he would be reconciled to him. 1.32. who fled to Antiochus, and besought him to make use of them for his leaders, and to make an expedition into Judea. The king being thereto disposed beforehand, complied with them, and came upon the Jews with a great army, and took their city by force, and slew a great multitude of those that favored Ptolemy, and sent out his soldiers to plunder them without mercy. He also spoiled the temple, and put a stop to the constant practice of offering a daily sacrifice of expiation for three years and six months. 1.33. But Onias, the high priest, fled to Ptolemy, and received a place from him in the Nomus of Heliopolis, where he built a city resembling Jerusalem, and a temple that was like its temple, concerning which we shall speak more in its proper place hereafter. 1.33. He also made an immediate and continual attack upon the fortress. Yet was he forced, by a most terrible storm, to pitch his camp in the neighboring villages before he could take it. But when, after a few days’ time, the second legion, that came from Antony, joined themselves to him, the enemy were affrighted at his power, and left their fortifications in the nighttime. 1.34. 2. Now Antiochus was not satisfied either with his unexpected taking the city, or with its pillage, or with the great slaughter he had made there; but being overcome with his violent passions, and remembering what he had suffered during the siege, he compelled the Jews to dissolve the laws of their country, and to keep their infants uncircumcised, and to sacrifice swine’s flesh upon the altar; 1.34. 7. Now when at the evening Herod had already dismissed his friends to refresh themselves after their fatigue, and when he was gone himself, while he was still hot in his armor, like a common soldier, to bathe himself, and had but one servant that attended him, and before he was gotten into the bath, one of the enemies met him in the face with a sword in his hand, and then a second, and then a third, and after that more of them; 7.421. who having in suspicion the restless temper of the Jews for innovation, and being afraid lest they should get together again, and persuade some others to join with them, gave orders to Lupus to demolish that Jewish temple which was in the region called Onion 7.422. and was in Egypt, which was built and had its denomination from the occasion following: 7.423. Onias, the son of Simon, one of the Jewish high priests, fled from Antiochus the king of Syria, when he made war with the Jews, and came to Alexandria; and as Ptolemy received him very kindly, on account of his hatred to Antiochus, he assured him, that if he would comply with his proposal, he would bring all the Jews to his assistance; 7.424. and when the king agreed to do it so far as he was able, he desired him to give him leave to build a temple somewhere in Egypt, and to worship God according to the customs of his own country; 7.425. for that the Jews would then be so much readier to fight against Antiochus who had laid waste the temple at Jerusalem, and that they would then come to him with greater goodwill; and that, by granting them liberty of conscience, very many of them would come over to him. 7.426. 3. So Ptolemy complied with his proposals, and gave him a place one hundred and eighty furlongs distant from Memphis. That Nomos was called the Nomos of Heliopoli 7.427. where Onias built a fortress and a temple, not like to that at Jerusalem, but such as resembled a tower. He built it of large stones to the height of sixty cubits; 7.428. he made the structure of the altar in imitation of that in our own country, and in like manner adorned with gifts, excepting the make of the candlestick 7.429. for he did not make a candlestick, but had a [single] lamp hammered out of a piece of gold, which illuminated the place with its rays, and which he hung by a chain of gold; 7.431. Yet did not Onias do this out of a sober disposition, but he had a mind to contend with the Jews at Jerusalem, and could not forget the indignation he had for being banished thence. Accordingly, he thought that by building this temple he should draw away a great number from them to himself. 7.432. There had been also a certain ancient prediction made by [a prophet] whose name was Isaiah, about six hundred years before, that this temple should be built by a man that was a Jew in Egypt. And this is the history of the building of that temple. 7.433. 4. And now Lupus, the governor of Alexandria, upon the receipt of Caesar’s letter, came to the temple, and carried out of it some of the donations dedicated thereto, and shut up the temple itself. 7.434. And as Lupus died a little afterward, Paulinus succeeded him. This man left none of those donations there, and threatened the priests severely if they did not bring them all out; nor did he permit any who were desirous of worshipping God there so much as to come near the whole sacred place; 7.435. but when he had shut up the gates, he made it entirely inaccessible, insomuch that there remained no longer the least footsteps of any Divine worship that had been in that place. 7.436. Now the duration of the time from the building of this temple till it was shut up again was three hundred and forty-three years. |
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13. Josephus Flavius, Against Apion, 2.49-2.55, 2.193 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 2.49. and as for Ptolemy Philometor and his wife Cleopatra, they committed their whole kingdom to Jews, when Onias and Dositheus, both Jews, whose names are laughed at by Apion, were the generals of their whole army; but certainly instead of reproaching them, he ought to admire their actions, and return them thanks for saving Alexandria, whose citizen he pretends to be; 2.51. Yes, do I venture to say, and that he did rightly and very justly in so doing; for that Ptolemy who was called Physco, upon the death of his brother Philometor, came from Cyrene, and would have ejected Cleopatra as well as her sons out of their kingdom 2.52. that he might obtain it for himself unjustly. For this cause then it was that Onias undertook a war against him on Cleopatra’s account; nor would he desert that trust the royal family had reposed in him in their distress. 2.53. Accordingly, God gave a remarkable attestation to his righteous procedure; for when Ptolemy Physco had the presumption to fight against Onias’s army, and had caught all the Jews that were in the city [Alexandria], with their children and wives, and exposed them naked and in bonds to his elephants, that they might be trodden upon and destroyed, and when he had made those elephants drunk for that purpose, the event proved contrary to his preparations; 2.54. for these elephants left the Jews who were exposed to them, and fell violently upon Physco’s friends, and slew a great number of them; nay, after this, Ptolemy saw a terrible ghost, which prohibited his hurting those men; 2.55. his very concubine, whom he loved so well (some call her Ithaca, and others Irene), making supplication to him, that he would not perpetrate so great a wickedness. So he complied with her request, and repented of what he either had already done, or was about to do; whence it is well known that the Alexandrian Jews do with good reason celebrate this day, on the account that they had thereon been vouchsafed such an evident deliverance from God. 2.193. 24. There ought also to be but one temple for one God; for likeness is the constant foundation of agreement. This temple ought to be common to all men, because he is the common God of all men. His priests are to be continually about his worship, over whom he that is the first by his birth is to be their ruler perpetually. |
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14. New Testament, John, 19.25 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 19.25. But there were standing by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. |
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15. Babylonian Talmud, Hulin, None (3rd cent. CE - 6th cent. CE)
| 24b. (דברי הימים ב ה, יג) ויהי כאחד למחצצרים ולמשוררים להשמיע קול אחד:,עד שיזקין עד כמה אמר רבי אלעא אמר ר' חנינא עד שירתת,תנן התם בעל קרי שטבל ולא הטיל מים לכשיטיל טמא ר' יוסי אומר בחולה ובזקן טמא בילד ובבריא טהור,ילד עד כמה אמר רבי אלעא אמר רבי חנינא כל שעומד על רגלו אחת וחולץ מנעלו ונועל מנעלו אמרו עליו על רבי חנינא שהיה בן שמונים שנה והיה עומד על רגלו אחת וחולץ מנעלו ונועל מנעלו אמר רבי חנינא חמין ושמן שסכתני אמי בילדותי הן עמדו לי בעת זקנותי,ת"ר נתמלא זקנו ראוי ליעשות שליח ציבור ולירד לפני התיבה ולישא את כפיו מאימתי כשר לעבודה משיביא שתי שערות רבי אומר אומר אני עד שיהא בן עשרים,א"ר חסדא מ"ט דרבי דכתיב (עזרא ג, ח) ויעמידו [את] הלוים מבן עשרים שנה ומעלה לנצח על מלאכת בית ה' ואידך לנצח שאני,והא האי קרא בלוים כתיב כדר' יהושע בן לוי דאמר רבי יהושע בן לוי בעשרים וארבעה מקומות נקראו כהנים לוים וזה אחד מהן (יחזקאל מד, טו) והכהנים הלוים בני צדוק,ת"ר (ויקרא כא, יז) איש מזרעך לדורותם מכאן אמר רבי אלעזר קטן פסול לעבודה ואפי' תם מאימתי כשר לעבודה משיביא שתי שערות אבל אחיו הכהנים אין מניחין אותו לעבוד עד שיהא בן כ',איכא דאמרי הא רבי היא ואפי' פסול דרבנן לית ליה ואיכא דאמרי רבי אית ליה פסול מדרבנן והא רבנן היא ולכתחלה הוא דלא אבל דיעבד עבודתו כשרה:, big strongמתני׳ /strong /big טהור בכלי חרש טמא בכל הכלים טהור בכל הכלים טמא בכלי חרש:, big strongגמ׳ /strong /big ת"ר אויר כלי חרש טמא וגבו טהור אויר כל הכלים טהור וגבן טמא נמצא טהור בכלי חרש טמא בכל הכלים טהור בכל הכלים טמא בכלי חרש,מנהני מילי דת"ר תוכו ואע"פ שלא נגע,אתה אומר אע"פ שלא נגע או אינו אלא אם כן נגע רבי יונתן בן אבטולמוס אומר נאמר (ויקרא יא, לג) תוכו לטמא ונאמר תוכו ליטמא מה תוכו האמור לטמא אע"פ שלא נגע אף תוכו האמור ליטמא אע"פ שלא נגע,והתם מנלן אמר רבי יונתן התורה העידה על כלי חרס | 24b. b“It came to pass, when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard”(II Chronicles 5:13). This indicates that the Levites must be capable of singing in one voice, and one who is unable to do so is unfit for service.,The ibaraitateaches that the priest is eligible for service buntil he ages.The Gemara asks: bUntil when,i.e., what is the definition of aging in this context? bRabbi Ela saysthat bRabbi Ḥanina says: Untilhis hands and feet begin to btremble. /b, bWe learnedin a mishna bthere( iMikvaot8:4): With regard to bone who experienced a seminal emission whothen bimmersedin a ritual bath band did not urinatebefore immersing, bwhen he urinates he is ritually impure,because residue of the semen remain in his body and was discharged with the urine, rendering him impure. bRabbi Yosei says: Inthe case of ban illperson band an elderlyperson, he is britually impure; inthe case of ba youngperson band a healthyperson, he is britually pure,as the semen was presumably discharged in its entirety at the outset., bUntil whenis one considered ba youngperson? bRabbi Ela saysthat bRabbi Ḥanina says: Anyone whois able to bstand on one of his legs and remove his shoe or put on his shoeis considered young. bThey said about Rabbi Ḥanina that he was eighty years old and would stand on one of his legs and remove his shoe or put on his shoe. Rabbi Ḥanina says:The bhot water and oil that my mother smeared on me in my youth benefited me in my old age. /b, bThe Sages taught:If bone’s beardis bfullygrown, bhe is fit to be appointed an emissary of the communityfor various matters, band to descend before the arkas a prayer leader, band to lift his handsfor the Priestly Benediction. bFrom whenis a priest bfit forTemple bservice?It is bfromthe time he reaches puberty and bgrows twopubic bhairs. RabbiYehuda HaNasi bsays: I saythat he is not fit for Temple service buntil he is twentyyears of bage. /b, bRav Ḥisda said: What is the reasonfor the opinion bof RabbiYehuda HaNasi? The reason is bas it is written: “And appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to oversee of the work of the House of the Lord”(Ezra 3:8). bAndwhat does bthe other itannahold? He holds that bto oversee is differentand requires an older priest.,The Gemara asks: bButwhat proof can be cited from this verse with regard to priests; bisn’t that verse written with regard to Levites?The Gemara answers: It is understood bin accordance withthe statement bof Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, as Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi says: In twenty-four placesin the Bible the bpriests are called Levites. And this is one of thoseverses: b“And the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok”(Ezekiel 44:15). The verse in Ezra is another one of the verses., bThe Sages taughtin a ibaraitawith regard to the verse: b“Any man of your descendants throughout their generationsthat has a blemish shall not approach to offer the bread of his God” (Leviticus 21:17); bfrom here Rabbi Elazar says: A minorpriest is bunfit forTemple bservice, evenif he is bunblemished,as he is not a man. bFrom whenis bhe fit for service? Fromthe time he reaches puberty and bgrows twopubic bhairs. But his brethren the priests do not allow him to perform the service until he is twentyyears of bage. /b, bThere arethose bwho say: This isthe opinion of bRabbiYehuda HaNasi, band he isof the opinion that there is bno disqualificationfor one between puberty and twenty years of age beven by rabbinic law.The other priests simply do not allow priests of that age to perform the Temple service iab initio /i. bAnd there arethose bwho say: RabbiYehuda HaNasi bis ofthe opinion that there is bdisqualification by rabbinic lawin that case, band thisstatement in the ibaraita bisthe opinion of bthe Rabbis, andthey hold that bit is iab initiothatone may bnotperform the service, bbut after the fact, his service is valid. /b, strongMISHNA: /strong That which is britually pure in an earthenware vesselis britually impure in all theother types of bvessels;that which is britually pure in all theother types of bvesselsis britually impure in an earthenware vessel. /b, strongGEMARA: /strong bThe Sages taughtin a ibaraitaexplaining the mishna: If a primary source of ritual impurity fell into the bairspace of an earthenware vesselthe vessel is britually impure, andif it fell on bits outer side,the vessel is britually pure.If a primary source of ritual impurity fell into the bairspace of all theother types of bvessels,the vessels are britually pure, andif it fell on btheir outer side,they are britually impure. It is foundthat that which is britually pure in an earthenware vesselis britually impure in all theother bvessels,and that which is britually pure in all theother bvesselsis britually impure in an earthenware vessel. /b,The Gemara asks: bFrom where are these mattersderived? It is bas the Sages taughtin a ibaraitabased on the verse: “And every earthenware vessel into which [ itokho /i] any of them falls, whatever is in it [ itokho /i] shall be impure, and it you shall break” (Leviticus 11:33); if an impure item fell b“in it [ itokho /i],” and evenin a case bwherethe impure item bdid not come into contactwith the vessel, the vessel becomes impure.,The ibaraitacontinues: bDo you saythat it is impure beven ifthe impure item bdid not come into contactwith the vessel, borperhaps bit isimpure bonly if it did come into contactwith the vessel? bRabbi Yonatan ben Avtolemos says: iTokhois statedwith regard bto transmitting impurityto food in its airspace, as it is stated: “Whatever is in it [ itokho /i] shall be impure,” band itokhois statedwith regard bto becoming impure,as it is stated: “Into which [ itokho /i] any of them falls”; bjust asin the case of itokhothat is statedwith regard bto transmitting impurityto food in its airspace, the food is impure beven ifthe impure item bdid not come into contactwith the vessel, bso too,in the case of itokhothat is statedwith regard btothe vessel bbecoming impure,the vessel is impure beven ifthe impure item bdid not come into contactwith it.,The Gemara asks: bAnd there,with regard to rendering food impure in its airspace, bfrom where do wederive that the food becomes impure even if it did not come into contact with the impure vessel? bRabbi Yonatan said: The Torah testified about an earthenware vessel /b |
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16. Babylonian Talmud, Menachot, None (3rd cent. CE - 6th cent. CE)
| 109b. as by slaughtering the idolatrous offering intentionally bhe became a servant of idol worship. /b, bRav Naḥman said: From where do I saythat even a priest who intentionally slaughters an idolatrous offering is nevertheless fit to serve in the Temple if he repents? bAs it is taughtin a ibaraita /i: With regard to ba priest who servedin bidol worship and repented, his offeringin the Temple bis an aroma pleasingto the Lord and is acceptable.,Rav Naḥman clarifies: bIn whatmanner did he serve in idol worship? bIf we saythat he served in idol worship bunwittingly, whatdoes the ibaraitamean when it says: bAnd repented? He is already repentant,as he never intended to sin in the first place. bRather,it is bobviousthat the ibaraitais referring to a case bof intentionalidol worship. bAnd ifthe ibaraitais referring bto sprinklingthe blood of an idolatrous offering, bwhen he repents, what of it? Hasn’t he performedidolatrous bservice,thereby disqualifying himself from serving in the Temple in any event? bRather, is it notreferring btothe bslaughterof an idolatrous offering? Evidently, even if the priest slaughtered it intentionally, once he repents he is fit to serve in the Temple., bAndas for bRav Sheshet, hecould have bsaid to youthat bactuallythe ibaraitais referring bto unwittingslaughter. bAnd thisis what the ibaraita bis saying: Ifthe priest bis repentant from the outset, as when he servedin idol worship bhe served unwittingly,then bhis offering is an aroma pleasingto the Lord and is acceptable. bBut if not,i.e., he slaughtered an idolatrous offering intentionally, bhissubsequent bofferingin the Temple is bnot an aroma pleasingto the Lord.,§ The Gemara lists other similar disagreements between Rav Naḥman and Rav Sheshet. In a case where a priest bbowed toan object of bidol worship, Rav Naḥman says:If he subsequently repents and serves in the Temple, bhis offering is an aroma pleasingto the Lord. bAnd Rav Sheshet says: His offering is not an aroma pleasingto the Lord. In a case where a priest backnowledgesan object of bidol worshipas a divinity, bRav Naḥman says:If he subsequently repents and serves in the Temple, bhis offering is an aroma pleasingto the Lord. bAnd Rav Sheshet says: His offering is not an aroma pleasingto the Lord.,Having listed four similar disputes between Rav Naḥman and Rav Sheshet, namely, with regard to a priest who unwittingly sprinkled the blood of an idolatrous offering, a priest who intentionally slaughtered an idolatrous offering, a priest who bowed to an idol, and a priest who acknowledged an idol as a divinity, the Gemara explains: bAndit was bnecessaryto teach the dispute with regard to all four cases. bAs, hadthe Sages btaught usonly bthis firstcase, where a priest sprinkles the blood of an idolatrous offering unwittingly, one might have thought that only bin thatcase bRav Sheshet saysthat the priest’s subsequent service in the Temple is disqualified, bbecause he performed a service foridolatry that is considered a sacrificial rite in the Temple. bButin a case where the priest merely performed bslaughter, since he did not perform a service foridolatry that is a sacrificial rite in the Temple, there is room to bsaythat Rav Sheshet bconcedes tothe opinion of bRav Naḥman. /b, bAnd hadthe Sages btaught usonly the dispute with regard to a priest intentionally performing bslaughterfor an idolatrous offering, one might have thought that Rav Sheshet says that the priest’s subsequent service in the Temple is disqualified bbecause he performeda sacrificial brite foridolatry. bButif he merely bbowedto the idol, bsince he did not performa sacrificial brite foridolatry, there is room to bsaythat Rav Sheshet does bnotdisqualify the priest’s subsequent service in the Temple. Therefore, it was bnecessaryto teach this case as well., bAnd hadthe Sages btaught usonly the case of a priest bbowingto an idol, one might have thought that in this case Rav Sheshet says that the priest’s subsequent service in the Temple is disqualified bbecause he performed an action foridolatry. bButif he only backnowledgedthe idol as a divinity, bwhich is mere speech,there is room to bsaythat Rav Sheshet does bnotdisqualify the priest’s subsequent service in the Temple. The Gemara concludes: Therefore, it was bnecessaryto teach this case as well.,§ The mishna teaches: bAnd needless to say,if priests served for bsomething else,a euphemism for idolatry, they are disqualified from service in the Temple. The Gemara comments: bFromthe fact bthat it says: Needless to say,if they served for bsomething else, by inference, the temple of Onias is nota temple of bidol worship,but rather a temple devoted to the worship of God., bIt is taughtin a ibaraita blike the one who saysthat bthe temple of Onias is nota temple of bidol worship. As it is taught:During bthe year in which Shimon HaTzaddik died, he said tohis associates: bThis year, he will die,euphemistically referring to himself. bThey said to him: From where do you know? /b,Shimon HaTzaddik bsaid to them:In previous years, bevery Yom Kippur,upon entering the Holy of Holies, I had a prophetic vision in which bI would be met by an old manwho was bdressed in white, andhis head was bwrapped in white, and he would enterthe Holy of Holies bwith me, and he would leave with me.But bthis year, I was met by an old manwho was bdressed in black, andhis head was bwrapped in black, and he enteredthe Holy of Holies bwith me, but he did not leave with me.Shimon HaTzaddik understood this to be a sign that his death was impending.,Indeed, bafter the pilgrimage festivalof iSukkot /i, bhe was ill for seven days and died. And his fellow priests refrained from reciting thePriestly bBenediction with theineffable bnameof God., bAt the time of his death, he said tothe Sages: bOnias, my son, will serveas High Priest bin my stead. Shimi,Onias’ bbrother, became jealousof him, basShimi bwas two and a half years older thanOnias. Shimi bsaid toOnias treacherously: bCome and I will teach you the order of the serviceof the High Priest. Shimi bdressedOnias bin a tunic [ ibe’unkeli /i] and girded him with a ribbon [ ibetziltzul /i]as a belt, i.e., not in the vestments of the High Priest, and bstood him next to the altar.Shimi bsaid to his fellow priests: Look what thisman bvowed and fulfilled for his beloved,that he had said to her: bOn the day that I serve in the High Priesthood I will wear your tunic and gird your ribbon. /b, bThe fellow priests ofOnias bwanted to kill himbecause he had disgraced the Temple service with his garments. Onias branaway bfrom them and they ran after him. He went to Alexandria in Egypt and built an altar there, and sacrificedofferings bupon it for the sake of idol worship. When the Sages heard of the matter they said: If thisperson, Shimi, bwho did not enterthe position of High Priest, acted with bsuchjealousy, ball the more sowill bone who entersa prestigious position rebel if that position is taken away from him. This is bthe statement of Rabbi Meir.According to Rabbi Meir, the temple of Onias was built for idol worship., bRabbi Yehuda said to him:The bincident was not like this. Rather, Onias did not acceptthe position of High Priest bbecause his brother Shimi was two and a half years older than him,so Shimi was appointed as High Priest. bAnd even so,even though Onias himself offered the position to Shimi, bOnias was jealous of his brother Shimi.Onias bsaid toShimi: bCome and I will teach you the order of the serviceof the High Priest. bAndOnias bdressedShimi bin a tunic and girded him in a ribbon and stood him next to the altar.Onias bsaid to his fellow priests: Look what thisman, Shimi, bvowed and fulfilled for his beloved,that he had said to her: bOn the day that I serve in the High Priesthood I will wear your tunic and gird your ribbon. /b, bHis fellow priests wanted to killShimi. Shimi then btold them the entire incident,that he had been tricked by his brother Onias, so the priests bwanted to kill Onias.Onias branaway bfrom them, and they ran after him.Onias bran to the palace of the king, and they ran after him. Anyone who saw him would say: This is him, this is him,and he was not able to escape unnoticed. Onias bwent to Alexandria in Egypt and built an altar there, and sacrificedofferings bupon it for the sake of Heaven. As it is stated: “In that day shall there be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at its border, to the Lord”(Isaiah 19:19). According to Rabbi Yehuda, the temple of Onias was dedicated to the worship of God., bAnd when the Sages heard of the matter they said: If this one,Onias, bwho fled fromthe position of High Priest and offered it to his brother, still was overcome with bsuchjealousy to the point where he tried to have Shimi killed, ball the more sowill bone who wants to entera prestigious position be jealous of the one who already has that position.,§ As a corollary to the statement of the Sages with regard to one who is jealous and wants the position of another, bit is taughtin a ibaraitathat bRabbi Yehoshua ben Peraḥya said: Initially,in response to banyone who would sayto me: bAscend tothe position of iNasi /i, bI would tie him up and place him in front of a lionout of anger for his suggestion. bNowthat I have become the iNasi /i, in response to banyone who tells me to leavethe position, bIwould bthrow a kettle [ ikumkum /i] of boilingwater bat himout of anger at his suggestion.,It is human nature that after one ascends to a prestigious position he does not wish to lose it. bAsevidence of this principle, bSaulinitially bfled fromthe kingship, as he did not wish to be king, as stated in the verse: “When they sought him he could not be found…Behold he has hidden himself among the baggage” (I Samuel 10:21–22). bBut when he ascendedto the kingship bhe tried to kill David,who he thought was trying to usurp his authority (see I Samuel, chapters 18–27).,§ bMar Kashisha, son of Rav Ḥisda, said to Abaye: What does Rabbi Meir do with this verse of Rabbi Yehuda?Since Rabbi Meir holds that the temple of Onias was dedicated to idol worship, how does he explain the verse in Isaiah?,Abaye answered Mar Kashisha and said that Rabbi Meir uses this verse bfor that which is taughtin a ibaraita /i: bAfter the downfall of Sennacherib,the king of Assyria who besieged Jerusalem (see II Kings, chapters 18–19), King bHezekiah emergedfrom Jerusalem band found thegentile bprincesSennacherib had brought with him from his other conquests, bsitting in carriages [ ibikronot /i] of gold. He made them vow that they would not worship idols,and they fulfilled their vow, bas it is statedin Isaiah’s prophecy about Egypt: b“In that day there shall be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan /b |
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17. Babylonian Talmud, Arakhin, None (6th cent. CE - missingth cent. CE)
| 13b. המבוקרים בלשכת הטלאים ארבעה ימים קודם שחיטה ומני בן בג בג היא דתניא בן בג בג אומר מנין לתמיד שטעון ביקור ארבעה ימים קודם שחיטה,ת"ל (במדבר כח, ב) תשמרו להקריב לי במועדו ולהלן הוא אומר (שמות יב, ו) והיה לכם למשמרת עד ארבעה עשר יום לחדש (הראשון) מה להלן טעון ביקור ארבעה ימים קודם שחיטה אף כאן טעון ביקור ארבעה ימים קודם שחיטה,דיקא נמי דקתני כדי לשבת ולא קתני לשבת שמע מינה:,משתי חצוצרות ומוסיפין וכו': ועד כמה אמר רב הונא ואמרי לה אמר רב זבדי אמר רב הונא עד מאה ועשרים שנאמר (דברי הימים ב ה, יב) ועמהם כהנים למאה ועשרים מחצרים בחצוצרות:,מתשעה כנורות וכו' וצלצל לבד: מנא הני מילי אמר רב אסי דאמר קרא (דברי הימים א טז, ה) ואסף במצלתים (להשמיע) מצלתים תרי הוו כיון דחדא עבידתא עבדי וחד גברא עביד בהו קרי להו חד:, big strongמתני׳ /strong /big אין פוחתין משנים עשר לוים עומדין על הדוכן ומוסיפין עד עולם אין הקטן נכנס לעזרה לעבודה אלא בשעה שהלוים אומרים בשיר ולא היו אומרים בנבל ובכנור אלא בפה כדי ליתן תבל בנעימה,רבי אליעזר בן יעקב אומר אין עולין למנין ואין עולין לדוכן אלא בארץ היו עומדין וראשיהן בין רגלי הלוים וצערי הלוים היו נקראין:, big strongגמ׳ /strong /big הני כנגד מי אמר רב פפא כנגד תשעה כנורות [ושני] נבלים וצלצל אחד שנאמר {דברי הימים א כה } הוא (ובניו ואחיו) שנים עשר:,אין הקטן נכנס לעזרה לעבודה אלא בשעה שהלוים כו': מנא הני מילי אמר רבי יוחנן דאמר קרא (עזרא ג, ט) ויעמוד ישוע בניו ואחיו קדמיאל ובניו בני יהודה כאחד לנצח על [עשה] המלאכה (ה' עבודת בית ה') [בבית האלהים] וגו':,לא היו אומרים לא בנבל ולא בכנור אלא בפה כו': למימרא דנבל לחוד וכנור לחוד לימא מתני' דלא כרבי יהודה דתניא רבי יהודה אומר כנור של מקדש של שבעת נימין היה שנאמר (תהלים טז, יא) שובע שמחות [את] פניך אל תיקרי שובע אלא שבע,ושל ימות המשיח שמונה שנאמר (תהלים יב, א) למנצח על השמינית על נימא שמינית,של עולם הבא עשר שנאמר (תהלים צב, ד) עלי עשור ועלי נבל עלי הגיון בכנור,ואומר (תהלים לג, ב) הודו לה' בכנור בנבל עשור זמרו לו שירו לו שיר חדש,אפילו תימא רבי יהודה לעולם הבא איידי דנפישי נימין דידיה נפיש קליה כי נבל קרי ליה נבל:,רבי אליעזר בן יעקב אומר אין עולין מן המנין כו': תנא וסועדי הלוים היו נקראין ותנא דידן כיון דהני קטין קלייהו והני עב קלייהו הני מקטטי והני לא מקטטי קרי להו צערי:, br br big strongהדרן עלך אין נערכין: /strong /big br br,מתני׳ big strongיש /strong /big בערכין להקל ולהחמיר ובשדה אחוזה להקל ולהחמיר ובשור המועד שהמית העבד להקל ולהחמיר באונס ובמפתה ובמוציא שם רע להקל ולהחמיר,יש בערכין להקל ולהחמיר כיצד אחד שהעריך את הנאה שבישראל ואת הכעור שבישראל נותן חמשים סלע ואם אמר הרי דמיו עלי נותן את שוויו:, big strongגמ׳ /strong /big יש בערכין להקל וכו' ולהחמיר כיצד אחד שהעריך כו': בישראל אין בעובד כוכבים לא,לימא מתני' דלא כר"מ דתנן עובד כוכבים ר"מ אומר נערך אבל לא מעריך,אפי' תימא ר"מ הוא הדין דאפילו עובד כוכבים נמי אלא | 13b. bthathave been binspected in the Chamber of the Lambsfor bfour days priorto the time of their bslaughter.The reserve of six lambs ensured that each lamb would be available for inspection for three days prior to the day of its sacrifice, for a total of four. bAnd whoseopinion is this? bIt isthe opinion of bben Bag Bag, as it is taughtin a ibaraitathat bben Bag Bag says: From whereis it derived that bthe daily offering requires examination four days prior toits bslaughter? /b, bThe verse stateswith regard to the daily offering: “My food that is presented unto Me for offerings made by fire, of a pleasing aroma unto Me, bshall you safeguard to offer unto Me in its due season”(Numbers 28:2); band it states there,with regard to the Paschal offering: “In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb… band it shall be for you as a safeguard until the fourteenth day ofthis bmonth”(Exodus 12:3–6), i.e., bthe firstmonth. Since the word “safeguard” appears in both verses, it is derived that bjust asin the verse bthere,the Paschal offering brequires examination four days prior toits bslaughter, so too here,the daily offering brequires examination four days prior toits bslaughter. /b,The Gemara notes: The language of the mishna bis also precise,according to the explanation that the mishna is referring to Shabbat and Rosh HaShana merely as a mnemonic device, bas it teachesthat the six lambs are bsufficient for Shabbatand the two Festival days of Rosh HaShana, band it does not teachthat the six lambs are bforuse on bShabbatand the two days of Rosh HaShana. The Gemara concludes: bLearn fromthe language of the mishna that this explanation is correct.,§ The mishna teaches that one plays no fewer bthan two trumpets, and one may addto that number. The Gemara asks: bUntil how manytrumpets may these additions be made? The Gemara answers that bRav Huna says, and some say Rav Zavdi saysthat bRav Huna says:They may play bup to 120trumpets, bas it is stated: “And with them one hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets”(II Chronicles 5:12).,The mishna teaches that one plays no fewer bthan nine harpsand one may add up to an infinite number, band the cymbalwas played baloneand none may be added to it. The Gemara asks: bFrom where is this matterderived? bRav Asi says thatit is as bthe verse states: “And Asaph with the cymbals, sounding aloud”(I Chronicles 16:5), which indicates that only one Levite played the cymbals. The Gemara asks: The word bcymbalsis in the plural, indicating that bthere were two;why, then, does the mishna say that there is only one cymbal? The Gemara answers: bSincetwo cymbals bperform one act and one person plays themby banging them together, the mishna bcalls them oneinstrument., strongMISHNA: /strong In the Temple, there are bno fewer than twelve Levites standing on the platformadjacent to the altar and singing, band one may addLevites on the platform bup to an infinitenumber. bA minorLevite may benter the Temple courtyard for service only at a time when the Levites are engaging in song,so that he may accompany them. bAndminors bwould not engage inplaying ba lyre and inplaying ba harp; rather,they would engage binsinging with bthe mouth, in order to provide flavor to the musicwith their pure, high voices., bRabbi Eliezer ben Ya’akov says:Minors bare not tallied in theminimum btotalof twelve Levites, band they do not ascend to the platform; rather, they would stand on the ground and their headswould reach to bbetween the legs of the Levites, and they were called cadets [ itzoarei /i] of the Levites. /b, strongGEMARA: /strong The mishna states that a minimum of twelve Levites would stand on the platform and sing. The Gemara asks: bTo whatdoes bthisnumber bcorrespond? Rav Pappa says:It bcorresponds tothe minimum number of instruments that were played: bNine harps and two lyres and one cymbal.This number is also alluded to in the Bible, bas it is stated:“Instructed in singing unto the Lord… bhe and his brethren and sons were twelve”(I Chronicles 25:7–9).,§ The mishna teaches: bA minorLevite may benter the Temple courtyard for service only at a time when the Levitesare engaging in song. The Gemara asks: bFrom where is this matterderived? bRabbi Yoḥa says: As the verse states: “Then stood Jeshua with his sons and his brethren, and Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together, to make music for the workmen in the House of God”(Ezra 3:9). This verse shows that in making music it is preferable to have one’s sons, i.e., minors, as accompaniment.,The mishna teaches: The minors bwould not engage inplaying ba lyre and inplaying ba harp; rather, insinging with bthe mouthin order to provide flavor to the music with their pure, high voices. The Gemara notes: bThat is to say that a lyre and a harp aretwo bdistinctinstruments. bLet us say that the mishna is not in accordance withthe opinion of bRabbi Yehuda, as it is taughtin a ibaraitathat bRabbi Yehuda says: The harpused bin the Temple wasan instrument bof seven strings, as it is stated: “In your presence is fullness [ isova /i] of joy,in your right hand sweetness for evermore” (Psalms 16:11). bDo not readthe word as “ bfullness [ isova /i]” butas bseven [ isheva /i].This indicates that the “sweet harp” (see Psalms 81:3) played in the presence of God, i.e., in the Temple, has seven strings.,Rabbi Yehuda continues: bAndthe harp that will be played bin the days of the Messiahwill have beightstrings, bas it is stated: “For the Leader, on the eighth:A Psalm of David” (Psalms 12:1). This indicates that the psalms that will be recited in the time of the Messiah, son of David, will be played bon the eighth stringthat will be added to the harp.,And the harp that will be played bin the World-to-Comewill have btenstrings, bas it is stated:“A Psalm, a song. For the Shabbat… bWith an instrument of ten strings and with the lyre, with a solemn sound upon the harp”(Psalms 92:1–4). This indicates that in the World-to-Come, which is comparable to Shabbat, songs of praise to God will be played on a ten-stringed instrument, identified here as both a lyre and a harp., bAndsimilarly, another verse bstates: “Give thanks unto the Lord with the harp; sing praises unto Him with the lyre of ten strings. Sing unto Him a new song”(Psalms 33:2–3), which is referring to the new song that will be sung only in the World-to-Come. This proof in support of Rabbi Yehuda’s claim that the harp used in the World-to-Come will have ten strings is from a verse that is referring to a ten-stringed lyre, which shows that according to Rabbi Yehuda, the lyre and harp are the same instrument. Therefore, his opinion apparently contradicts the mishna.,The Gemara answers: bYoumay beven saythe mishna is in accordance with the opinion of bRabbi Yehuda,as even he agrees that the harp and lyre are essentially two different instruments. But bin the World-to-Come, since the stringsof the harp bwill be increased, its sound will be increased likethat of bthe lyre,and therefore bhe callsthe harp ba lyre. /b,The mishna teaches that bRabbi Eliezer ben Ya’akov says:The minors bare not tallied in theminimum btotalof twelve Levites…and they were called cadets [ itzoarei /i] of the Levites. The Sages btaughtin a ibaraita /i: bAnd they were called the helpers [ isoadei /i] of the Levites.The Gemara asks: bAnd the itannaof ourmishna, why is he referring to them as itzoarei /i? The Gemara answers: bSince theseminors had bhigh voices and thoseadults had bdeep voices,and btheseminors would bsing in a high voice [ imekateti /i], and thoseadults could bnot sing insuch ba high voice, they were called itzoarei /i,as they caused the adult Levites anguish [ itza’ar /i] due to the fact that they could not produce the same pleasant sounds as the minors.,, strongMISHNA: /strong bThere are ihalakhot bwith regard to valuations that are lenient andothers bthat are stringent; andthere are ihalakhot bwith regard to an ancestral field that are lenient andothers bthat are stringent; andthere are ihalakhot bwith regard to a forewarned ox that killeda Canaanite bslave that are lenient andothers bthat are stringent;and there are ihalakhot bwith regard to a rapist, and a seducer, and a defamer that are lenient andothers bthat are stringent. /b, bThere are ihalakhot bwith regard to valuations that are lenient andothers bthat are stringent; how so? Bothin the case of one bwho tooka vow of bvaluationto donate the fixed value bof themost battractive among the Jewish people andin the case of one who took a vow of valuation to donate the fixed value of bthemost bunsightly among the Jewish people, he givesthe fixed payment of bfifty isela /i,shekels, to the Temple treasury (see Leviticus 27:3). bAnd ifone bsaid: Itis incumbent bupon meto donate the bassessmentof another to the Temple treasury, bhe gives the pricefor that person if sold as a slave, a sum that can be more or less than fifty shekels., strongGEMARA: /strong The mishna states: bThere are ihalakhot bwith regard to valuations that are lenient andothers bthat are stringent; how so? Bothin the case of one bwho tooka vow of bvaluationto donate the fixed value of the most attractive among the Jewish people bandin the case of one who took a vow of valuation to donate the fixed value of the most unsightly among the Jewish people, he gives the fixed payment of fifty iselato the Temple treasury. The Gemara infers from this that if the vow of valuation referred bto a Jew, yes,he pays the fixed value; but if one took a vow of valuation to donate the fixed value bof gentiles,he does bnotpay the fixed value.,The Gemara asks: If so, blet us say that the mishna is not in accordance withthe opinion of bRabbi Meir, as we learnedin a mishna (5b): With regard to ba gentile, Rabbi Meir says: He is valuatedin a case where a Jew says: It is incumbent upon me to donate the fixed value of this gentile; bbuta gentile bdoes not takea vow of bvaluationto donate his fixed value or the value of others.,The Gemara answers: bYoucan beven saythat the mishna is in accordance with the opinion of bRabbi Meir,as it can be claimed that bthe same is true,i.e. bthat evenif one took a vow of valuation to donate the fixed value of ba gentile,he balsopays the fixed amount. bBut /b |
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