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Bible Dictionaries
Antiochus
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
or ANTIOCHUS . A name borne by a number of the kings of Syria subsequent to the period of Alexander the Great.
1. Antiochus I . (b.c. 280 261) was the son of Seleucus Nikator, the chiliarch under Perdiccas who was regent immediately after the death of Alexander. On the murder of his father he came into possession of practically the entire region of Asia Minor as far east as the provinces beyond Mesopotamia. The most important fact of his reign was his defeat of the Celts, who, after devastating Macedonia and Thrace, swarmed into Asia Minor and established a kingdom which was subsequently known as Galatia. The date and place of the victory are unknown, but it won him the name of Soter (‘Saviour’). His capital was Antioch in Syria, but he was never able to bring his vast empire into complete subjection. He was a friend of literature and art, and it is possible that under him the beginning was made for the Greek translation of the Pentateuch.
2. Antiochus II ., Theos (b.c. 261 246). Son of the foregoing, essentially a warrior, carrying on interminable struggles both with the free Greek cities of his own territory, to which he finally gave something like democratic rights, and with Ptolemy Philadelphus of Egypt. Under him, however, the Jews of Asia Minor gained many civic rights.
3. Antiochus III ., the Great . He ascended the throne when only 15 years of age, and he reigned from b.c. 223 to 187. Along with Antiochus I. and Antiochus II. he may be referred to in the early portions of Daniel 11:1-45 . His reign, like that of most of his contemporaries, was one of constant war, particularly with Egypt. In the course of these wars he gained possession of Palestine through the battle of Banias (b.c. 198), and established the Syrian administration over Judæa, although for a time he ruled the province jointly with Ptolemy Epiphanes of Egypt. Like Antiochus I., he was a great colonizer, and induced 2000 Jewish families to go from Mesopotamia into Lydia and Phrygia, thus laying the foundation for the influential Jewish Dispersion in those regions. So warlike a monarch could not fail to come into conflict sooner or later with Rome. He was defeated in the battle of Magnesia in b.c. 190, and three years later was killed, according to some authorities, while plundering a temple at Elymais.
4. Antiochus IV ., Epiphanes (‘the Illustrious’; also nicknamed Epimanes , ‘the Madman’). The son of the preceding, who had been sent as a hostage to Rome. In b.c. 175 he seized the Syrian throne, and began a series of conquests which bade fair to rival his father’s. While in Egypt, however, he was ordered by the Romans to leave that country, and thus found himself forced to limit his energies to Syria. In the course of his conflict with Egypt he had become suspicious of Judæa, and determined to force that country into complete subjection to his will. His motives were probably more political than religious, but as a part of his programme he undertook to compel the Jews to worship heathen gods as well as, if not in place of, Jehovah. His plans were first put into active operation probably towards the end of b.c. 170, when he returned from Egypt, although the chronology at this point is very obscure and it may have been a couple of years later. He plundered the Temple of some of its treasures, including the seven-branch candlestick, the altar of incense, and the table of shewbread. He also placed a garrison in the citadel of Jerusalem, and set about the complete Hellenizing of Judæa. Circumcision and the observance of the Sabbath were forbidden under penalty of death. Pagan sacrifices were ordered in every town in Judæa, and every month a search was made to discover whether any Jew possessed a copy of the Law or had circumcised his children. In December 168 b.c. a pagan altar, probably to Olympian Zeus, was erected on the altar of burnt-offering, and the entire Jewish worship seemed threatened with extinction. This probability was increased by the apostasy of the high priest.
This excess of zeal on the part of Antiochus led to the reaction, which, under the Chasidim and Mattathias, the founder of the Maccabæan house, ultimately brought about the release of Judæa from Syrian control. The events of this period of persecution are related in detail, though with a large element of legend, in 2 Maccabees, and reference is to be found to them also in Daniel 11:21-45 . Antiochus finally died on an expedition against the Parthians in b.c. 164. (For an account of the struggle of Mattathias and Judas against Antiochus, see Maccabees).
5. Antiochus V ., Eupator . Son of the preceding; began to reign at the death of his father, when a mere boy of 9 (or 12) years. He was left by his father under the control of Lysias, his chief representative in Palestine, and with him was present at the victory of Beth-zacharias, b.c. 163, when Judas Maccabæus was defeated ( 1Ma 6:32-47 ). The complete conquest of Judæa was prevented by the rise of the pretender Philip, who, however, was conquered. In the midst of their success, both young Antiochus and Lysias were assassinated by Demetrius I. (b.c. 162). Their death reacted favourably on the circumstances surrounding the rising Maccabæan house.
6. Antiochus VI ., Son of Alexander Balas. Trypho, one of the generals of Alexander Balas, at first championed the cause of this boy after his father had been killed in Arabia. After a few months, however, he caused the assassination of Antiochus by the physicians of the court, and reigned in his stead ( 1Ma 13:31 f.).
7. Antiochus VII ., Sidetes (b.c. 138 128), the last of the energetic Syrian monarchs, came to the throne during the imprisonment of Demetrius II. After defeating Trypho, he undertook to establish his sovereignty over the Jews. Simon partially won his favour by presents and by furnishing auxiliary troops, but at last refused to meet his excessive demands for permitting such independence as Judæa had come to enjoy under the weak predecessor of Antiochus. Thereupon Antiochus sent his generals into Judæa, but they were defeated by the sons of Simon ( 1Ma 15:1-41; 1Ma 16:1-24 ). He himself came during the first year of John Hyrcanus (135 134), and after devastating Judæa shut up Hyrcanus in Jerusalem. He was about to capture the city through starvation when he unexpectedly made terms with Hyrcanus, probably because of the interference of the Romans. These terms laid very heavy demands upon the Jews, and included the destruction of the fortifications of the city. Until b.c. 129 128 Judæa was again subject to the Syrian State, but at the end of that year Antiochus was killed in a campaign against the Parthians, and Hyrcanus was enabled to reassert his independence. See Maccabees.
Shailer Mathews.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Antiochus'. Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdb/a/antiochus.html. 1909.
