Onias IV

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Onias IV (Hebrew: חוֹנִיּוֹ Ḥōniyyō) was the son of Onias III and the heir of the legitimate Zadokite high priests and the builder of the Jewish temple at Leontopolis prior to 164 BCE, being inspired by the prophecy of Isaiah.[1] He had reason to hope that the victory of the national party under Judas Maccabeus would place him in the office of his fathers; but being disappointed in his expectations by the election of Alcimus, he went to Egypt to seek aid against the tyranny of the Seleucids at the court of the Ptolemies, their political enemies. About 154 BCE, with the permission of Ptolemy VI Philometor, he built at Leontopolis a temple which, though comparatively small, was modelled on that of Jerusalem, and was called by the name of its founder. Onias doubtless expected that after the desecration of the Second Temple by the Syrians the Egyptian temple would be regarded as the only legitimate one. But the traditional teachings of Judaism, as contained in the Mishnah, concede no legitimacy to the temple of Onias;[2] in fact, even for the Egyptian Jews the latter did not possess the same importance as did the Temple of Jerusalem.

Onias IV, who enjoyed the favour of the Egyptian court, succeeded in elevating Egyptian Judaism to a position of dignity and importance. A large number of able-bodied Judeans had accompanied Onias to Egypt, and these strangers, who were there called Κάτοικοι ("inhabitants"), received, on condition of performing military service and preserving the internal peace of the country, tracts of land of their own, on which they lived with their families[3] The district inhabited by them lay between Memphis and Pelusium, and was long called the "land of Onias."[4] The first-born sons of the colonists inherited their fathers' privileges and duties; but both and Ananias ben Onias, the sons of Onias, performed military service and acted as generals under Cleopatra III (who reigned from 117 to 101 BCE).[5] Even Ptolemy Physcon (who reigned from 146 BCE to 117 BCE) had to fight against Onias, who was faithful to his benefactor.[6] This suggests that candidates for the office of high priest occupied a prominent military position. In the course of time the family of Onias lost its prestige, and the later Alabarchs belonged to another family, not entitled to the rank of high priest. A family of "Oniades," in the sense of "Tobiades," as the term is used by Büchler, existed neither in Judea nor in Egypt, and the designation "Oniades" is, therefore, misleading.

Patrilineal ancestry[]

Patrilineal descent
  1. Abraham
  2. Isaac
  3. Jacob
  4. Levi
  5. Kehath
  6. Amram
  7. Aaron
  8. Eleazar
  9. Phinehas
  10. Abishua
  11. Bukki
  12. Uzzi
  14. Meraioth
  15. Amariah
  17. Zadok
  18. Ahimaaz
  19. Azariah
  20. Yohanan
  21. Azariah II
  22. Amariah
  23. Ahitub
  24. Zadok II
  25. Shallum
  26. Hilkiah
  27. Azariah
  28. Seraiah
  29. Jehozadak
  30. Joshua the High Priest
  31. Joiakim
  32. Eliashib
  33. Joiada
  34. Johanan
  35. Jaddua
  36. Onias I
  37. Simon I
  38. Onias II
  39. Simon II
  40. Onias III

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Wardle, Timothy Scott. (2008). "Continuity and Discontinuity: The Temple and Early Christian Identity." Ph.D. dissertation (Religion). Durham, NC: Duke University. p. 182fn, p. 198 and pp. 206-207. Duke University website Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  2. ^ Menahot chapter 13, mishna 10 - "The priests who served in the house of Onias may not serve in the Temple in Jerusalem, and it needs not be said [if they served] a different thing [i.e. pagan idols]"
  3. ^ "Ant." xi. 8, § 6; see Paul Meyer in "Philologus," 1897, lvi. 193
  4. ^ "Ant." xiv. 8, § 1; "B. J." i. 9, § 4)
  5. ^ "Ant." xiii. 10, § 4
  6. ^ (Josephus, "Contra Apion" ii. 5

http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/11710-onias

Resources[]

  • H. P. Chajes, Beiträge zur Nordsemitischen Onomatologie, p. 23, Vienna, 1900 (on the name);
  • Herzfeld, Gesch. des Volkes Jisrael, i. 185-189, 201-206;
  • Heinrich Grätz, Gesch. 2d ed., ii. 236;
  • Emil Schürer, Gesch. 3d ed., i. 182, 194-196; iii. 97-100;
  • Niese, in Hermes, xxxv. 509;
  • Wellhausen, I. J. G. 4th ed., p. 248, Berlin, 1901;
  • Willrich, Juden und Griechen vor der Makkabäischen Erhebung, pp. 77, 109, Göttingen, 1895;
  • Adolf Büchler, Die Tobiaden und die Oniaden, pp. 166, 240, 275, 353, Vienna, 1899;
  • J. P. Mahaffy, The Empire of the Ptolemies, pp. 217, 353, London, 1895;
  • Gelzer, Sextus Julius Africanus, ii. 170-176, Leipsic, 1885;
  • Isaac Hirsch Weiss, Dor, i. 130 (on the halakic view of the temple of Onias).

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

Retrieved from ""