Category:Onias IV (subject)
Onias IV (2nd century BCE) was a member of the House of Zadok.
Overview
Onias IV was the son of the High Priest Onias III and thus the legitimate heir of the Zadokite dynasty.
In 175 his father was deposed by Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who replaced him with his brother (and Onias IV's uncle) Jason. The situation worsened when a new non-Zadokite High Priest Menelaus took power. Jason eventually died in exile and in 170 BCE Onias III, who since his deposition had been confined in Antioch, was assassinated by order of Menelaus. Onias IV was still a minor but was now the legitimate heir in pectore of the high priesthood according to the Zadokite succession. His coming to age in the following years brought up for discussion again the future of the Jerusalem priesthood, exactly in a moment in which with the outbreak of the Sixth Syrian War the future of Jerusalem was again at stake between Egypt and Syria.
When the party supporting "Onias (IV) got the better" (Bel I 31), Menelaus sought Antiochus IV Epiphanes's intervention, accusing his rivals of siding with the Ptolomies. Antiochus IV Epiphanes intended to secure the border with Egypt and purge Jerusalem from any Ptolemaic influence. His attempt to strengthen the philo-Seleucid party of Menelaus against the philo-Ptolemaic party of Onias IV by abolishing the Zadokite laws resulted in a dramatic showdown with the nationalistic movement of the Maccabees, who emerged as the true winners of the conflict.
Onias IV fled to Egypt, where he was welcomed by the Ptolomies and allowed to build a new Temple at Leontopolis. At Jerusalem, Menelaus had to compromise with the rebels' leader Judas Maccabeus and allow the rededication of the Temple in 164 BCE. The Mosaic Torah was no longer the law of the House of Zadok but the national law of all Jews. A Zadokite priesthood was no longer needed (or welcome) at Jerusalem.
Gabriele Boccaccini, University of Michigan
Onias IV in ancient sources
Onias IV in Scholarship
Onias IV in Fiction
Related categories
- High Priest / Zadokites (subject) / Menelaus / Jason / Onias III
- Seleucid Kings / Antiochus IV Epiphanes
External links
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