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2 Maccabees 4:7-9
New Catholic Bible
2 Maccabees 4:7-9
New Catholic Bible
Hellenism in Jerusalem.[a] 7 When Seleucus[b] died and Antiochus, who was called Epiphanes, succeeded him on the throne, Jason, the brother of Onias, obtained the high priesthood by corrupt means. 8 [c]In a petition he promised the king three hundred and sixty talents of silver, with eighty talents from another source of revenue. 9 In addition, he committed himself to a payment of a further one hundred and fifty talents if he was given the authority to establish a gymnasium and a youth club to be affiliated with it, and to enroll the people of Jerusalem as Antiochians.
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- 2 Maccabees 4:7 Joshua, who writes his name according to the Greek, Jason, gathers around him the partisans of Hellenism and encourages and favors pagan ways, in particular, games with nude athletes. The author describes some aspects of these new ways of life: the gymnasium, center of physical as well as cultural education, ensures the athletic and military formation of youth; those who are most outstanding also wear the Greek hat, the wide-brimmed hat of Hermes, the pagan god of athletic events.
- 2 Maccabees 4:7 Seleucus IV Philopator was killed in 175 B.C. by his minister Heliodorus, the same person who had been sent to confiscate the goods of the temple. Antiochus IV, Seleucus’s younger brother, heard of it while he was in Athens and returned to his country. With the aid of the Romans, he eliminated Heliodorus and took control of the government, trampling on the rights of his brother Demetrius, who was then being held at Rome as a hostage in the wake of the Battle of Magnesia in which Antiochus III the Great had been defeated by the Romans (see 1 Mac 7:1).
- 2 Maccabees 4:8 Jason promised an increased tribute; the usual amount seems to have been around 300 talents. He expected to recover the sum from the usual entries of his little administrative region (Judea) and from eventual taxes that he could impose once he became high priest. Antiochians: honorary citizens of Antioch, a Hellenistic city of the Seleucid Kingdom that had a corporation of such people who enjoyed political and commercial privileges.
