Читать книгу A History of the Jewish People in the Time of Jesus Christ - Emil Schürer - Страница 62

EWALD, History of Israel, v. 386–392.

STANLEY, Jewish Church, iii. (1877) 370, 386–388.

GRÄTZ, Geschichte der Juden, iii., 4 Aufl. pp. 123–135.

HITZIG, Geschichte des Volkes Israel, ii. pp. 475–488.

HAMBURGER, Real-Encyclop. für Bibel und Talmud, Abth. ii. pp. 430–434, art. “Janai, Alexander.”

MENKE’S Bibelatlas, Bl. iv., special map of Judea and Phönicia in the Times of Alexander Jannäus.

WHEN Aristobulus was dead, his widow Salome Alexandra released from prison the three brothers of Aristobulus, whom he had placed in confinement, and raised the eldest of them to the throne and the high-priesthood, while at the same time she gave him her hand in marriage.

Alexander Jannäus, B.C. 104–78, was, during his reign of twenty-six or twenty-seven years, almost constantly involved in foreign or in civil wars, which for the most part were provoked by his own wilfulness, and resulted by no means invariably in his favour.

First of all he took the field against the citizens of Ptolemais, besieged them, and surrounded the city. The inhabitants applied for help to the Egyptian prince Ptolemy Lathurus, who, driven from the throne by his mother Cleopatra, was then exercising rule in Cyprus. Ptolemy arrived with an army, and Alexander through fear of him raised the siege.—He sought, however, by guile to get rid of Ptolemy, for he openly concluded peace and a friendly treaty with him, but secretly called his mother to his help against him. Ptolemy was at first disposed to enter into a mutual agreement. But when he heard that Alexander had secretly summoned his mother to his aid, he broke the truce and went forth with his army against Alexander. He conquered and plundered the city of Asochis in Galilee, and thus put himself in position against Alexander at Asophon on the Jordan. Alexander had a standing army, fairly well equipped. That of Ptolemy was not nearly so well armed, but his soldiers were experienced, and had thorough confidence in the tactical skill of their general Philostephanus. The two armies now lay on either side of the river. The Egyptian troops began to cross. Alexander allowed them peacefully to accomplish this, because he hoped more completely to destroy them when once they had all come over. On both sides they fought bravely, and at first the army of Alexander gained some advantage. But then the Egyptian general managed by a clever manœuvre to cause a part of the Jewish army to retreat, and when once a part fled, the rest could no longer hold their ground. The whole Jewish army took to flight; the Egyptians pursued them, continuing the massacre without intermission, “and slew them so long that their weapons of iron were blunted, and their hands quite tired with the slaughter.”

The whole country now lay open before Ptolemy. But now Cleopatra sent an army to Palestine, in order to check in time the increasing power of her son. While this army operated in Palestine, Ptolemy succeeded in pressing forward into Egypt. But he was driven out of it again and obliged to return to Gaza, and Cleopatra took possession of the whole of Palestine. When she had the power in her hands, some of her counsellors advised her to unite the land of the Jews again with Egypt. But the representations of her Jewish general Ananias prevailed in getting their scheme set aside, and in inducing her rather to conclude a treaty with Alexander. Ptolemy could no longer maintain his position in the Jewish territory, and so he returned to Cyprus. Cleopatra also withdrew her army from Palestine, and Alexander was again ruler of the country.

He was now in a position to make preparations for other conquests. He began these on the east of the Jordan, for he took Gadara and the strong fortress of Amathus on the Jordan. The former he succeeded in taking only after a two months’ siege. Then he turned his attention to the land of the Philistines, conquered Raphia, Anthedon, and finally the city of Gaza, so celebrated in days of old. For a whole year Alexander lay before that city, and at last he obtained the mastery only through treachery, whereupon he plundered it and set it on fire.

The conquest of Gaza must have taken place in B.C. 96, for it was about the same time that Antiochus VIII. Grypos died.

No sooner was peace secured with those outside of the nation than conflicts arose within. The incurable dissension of parties which had already cast its shadows over the reign of Hyrcanus, became productive of strife and turmoil during Alexander’s reign, especially in matters of internal government. The rabbinical legends tell of disputes between the king and the chiefs of the schools of the Pharisees which were of a very harmless kind, childish wranglings rather than serious contendings. But their tales are so utterly worthless from a historical point of view, that they can find a place here only as evidence of the peculiar lusts and equally peculiar morals of Talmudic Judaism. The hero of these tales is Simon ben Shetach, the celebrated Pharisee, reputed to be a brother of Alexander’s wife Salome. Of his doings at court the following are told. There came once 300 Nazarites to Jerusalem in order to present there the prescribed sacrifices. Simon found ways and means to relieve them of the one-half of their burden. But with the other half he could not do so, and therefore he petitioned the king that he should bear the cost, pretending that he himself would bear the expense of the other half. The king agreed to this. But when he discovered that Simon had deceived him he was exceedingly angry, and Simon was obliged to go into hiding in order to escape his wrath. Some time thereafter Parthian ambassadors arrived at the king’s court and wished to see the distinguished rabbis. The king turned to the queen, who knew Simon’s place of concealment, and urged her to induce her brothers to bring him forth. The queen obtained from him a promise that no injury would be done the high priest, and then urged him to come. No sooner was the agreement come to than Simon entered in and seated himself between the king and the queen, whereupon the following conversation took place between him and the king. The king: “Wherefore didst thou flee?” Simon: “Because I heard that my lord and king was angry with me.” The king: “And why didst thou deceive me ?” Simon: “I did not deceive thee. Thou didst give thy gold, and I my wisdom.” The king: “But why didst thou not tell this to me ?” Simon: “If I had told thee, thou wouldest not have given it me.” The king: “Wherefore hast thou taken thy place between the king and the queen?” Simon: “Because it is written in the book of Sirach, Exalt wisdom, and it will exalt thee among princes” (Sirach 11:1).—Thereupon the king ordered to set wine before him, and called upon him to invoke the blessing at table. Simon began: “Thanks be unto God for the nourishment which Jannai and his companions have enjoyed.” “Thou dost ever continue stiff-necked,” said the king; “I have never before in any grace at table heard the name of Jannai.” “Could I say,” retorted Simon, “we thank Thee for that which we have eaten, when I as yet have received nothing?” The king then gave orders that they should set food before Simon; and when he had partaken of it, he said: “Thanks be unto God for that which we have eaten.”

The real conflicts between Alexander on the one hand, and the Pharisees and those of the people who sympathized with them on the other, were of an entirely different and wholly tragic character. The deeper foundations of this strife lay in the general course of development taken by the internal affairs of the nation since the establishment of the Asmonean dynasty. Among the people the Pharisees gained power and influence more and more. The policy of the Asmoneans separated them always farther and farther from the popular movements, and brought them at last into direct antagonism with the nationalist party. It could only be with deep-seated resentment that pious Jews could look on and see a wild warrior like Alexander Jannäus discharging the duties of high priest in the holy place, certainly not with the conscientious and painstaking observance of the ordinances regarded by the Pharisees as divine. Even while he was discharging his priestly office it is said that for the first time they broke out in open rebellion. During the Feast of Tabernacles, when every one taking part in it was required to carry a palm branch (לוּלָב φοίνιξ) and a citron fruit (אֶתְרוֹג κίτριον) as a festal emblem, Alexander was once, as he stood beside the altar about to offer sacrifice, pelted by the assembled people with the citrons. At the same time they insulted him by calling out that he was the son of a prisoner of war, and was unworthy of the office of sacrificing priest. Alexander was not the man to bear this quietly. He called in the aid of his mercenaries, and 600 Jews were massacred. The bitterness of feeling created thereby among the people was so great, that only a favourable opportunity was waited for in order to break off the hated yoke.

By his love of war Alexander was soon again involved in further complications. He went forth against the Arab tribes which dwelt east of the Jordan, and of these he made the Moabites and Gileadites tributary. But Amathus, which had once previously been conquered but never very securely held, was now utterly destroyed. He then began hostilities against the Arabian king Obedas; but during the conflict with him in the neighbourhood of Gadara, Alexander fell into an ambuscade, in which he was so sore pressed that he narrowly escaped with his bare life. He went as a fugitive to Jerusalem. But there a poor reception awaited him. The Pharisees took advantage of the moment of Alexander’s political weakness to break down his power and influence at home. There was a general rebellion against him, and Alexander had for six full years to fight against his own people with mercenary troops. No less than 50,000 Jews are said to have perished during this period in these civil conflicts. When Alexander’s power had been established he held out the hand of peace. But the Pharisees wished to turn the state of affairs to account so as to secure a victory to their party. When therefore Alexander inquired what they wanted from him, and under what conditions they would agree to maintain the peace and yield obedience, they said that they wanted only his death. At the same time they called to their aid Demetrius III. Eucärus, a son of Antiochus Grypos, and at that time governor of a portion of Syria,—somewhere about B.C. 88.

Demetrius arrived with an army. The Jewish national party united themselves with him at Shechem. Alexander was completely beaten, lost all his mercenary troops, and was obliged to flee to the mountains. But now it seemed as if among many of the Jews who now attached themselves to Demetrius, the national feeling had again wakened up. They would rather, in a free Jewish state, be subject to an Asmonean prince than be incorporated into the empire of a Seleucid ruler. Six thousand Jews went over to Alexander, and Demetrius was in consequence under the necessity of withdrawing again into his own land. The rest of the Jews who still continued in revolt had no other object than to get rid of Alexander. But they were by him defeated in many battles, and many of them were slain. The leaders of the rebellion at last fled to Bethome or Besemelis, where they were besieged by Alexander. After the overthrow of the city, Alexander carried them as prisoners to Jerusalem, and there within the city, at least according to the account of Josephus, while he along with his mistresses gave himself up to debauchery, he had somewhere about 800 of the prisoners crucified in his own presence, and while they were yet alive caused their wives and children to be slain before their eyes. His opponents in Jerusalem were by these atrocities so paralysed with terror, that they fled during the night to the number of 8000, and during his lifetime kept away from the land of Judea.

From this time forward Alexander, throughout his whole reign, enjoyed peace at home. It was not so in the matter of his relations with those outside.

The empire of the Seleucidae then, indeed, lay in its death-throes. Its last convulsions, however, were the occasion of again putting Judea into commotion. Antiochus XII., the youngest of the five sons of Antiochus Grypos, was at this time at war with his brother Philip and the king of the Arabians. When once he resolved to take his way to Arabia through Judea, Alexander Jannäus endeavoured to prevent that by constructing a great wall and trench from Joppa to Capharsaba, and fortifying Joppa with a wooden tower. But Antiochus laid everything low with fire, and made his way through it all.

When Antiochus met his death in battle against the king of the Arabians, and that monarch, whose name was Aretas, extended his rule to Damascus, he became from this time forth the most powerful and the most dangerous neighbour of the Jews. On the south and the east Palestine was bounded by districts which lay under the dominion of the Arabs. Very soon Alexander Jannäus also began to have experience of their power. He was obliged by an attack of Aretas to retreat to Adida, within the boundaries of Judea, where he suffered a rather serious defeat, and could only by making concessions purchase the withdrawal of the Arabian king.

More fortunate were the results of the campaigns which Alexander Jannäus during the next three years, B.C. 84–81, carried on in the country east of the Jordan, in order to extend his power in that direction. He conquered Pella, Dium, Gerasa, then advanced again northward and took Gaulana, Seleucia, and at last the strong fortress of Gamala. When, after these exploits, he returned to Jerusalem, he was then received by the people in peace.

Not long after this, as the result of a drunken debauch, he became sick, and this sickness continued throughout the last three years of his life, B.C. 81–78. He did not, however, abandon his military expeditions until at last, amid the tumult of war, during the siege of the fortress Ragaba he succumbed to his sickness and excrtions in B.C. 78. His body was brought to Jerusalem, where he was buried with great pomp.

Of the coins issued by him, those are of special interest which bear the inscription in two languages—

יהונתן המלךְ || ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ.

They were known even to the earlier numismatists; but first de Saulcy stated the correct and now generally accepted view regarding them, that the Hebrew inscription supplies us with the Hebrew name of Alexander. Jannai is therefore a contraction for Jonathan, not, as was formerly supposed, for Jochanan. But if undoubtedly Alexander’s name was Jonathan, then the coins of the high priest are to be ascribed to him which bear the inscription

יהונתן הכהן הגדל וחבר היהדים (or ינתן).

These high-priestly coins are of the same type as the coins of John Hyrcanus and Aristobulus. The bilingual royal coins are a novelty introduced by Alexander.

By the conquests of Alexander the boundaries of the Jewish state had now been extended far beyond the limits reached by John Hyrcanus. In the south, the Idumeans had been subdued and judaized. In the north, Alexander’s dominion reached as far as Seleucia on the Lake Merom. The sea-coast, on which Joppa had been the first conquest of the Maccabees, was all now completely under Jewish rule. With the single exception of Ascalon, which had been able to maintain its independence, all the coast towns were conquered by Alexander, from the borders of Egypt as far as Carmel. But also the country east of the Jordan, from the Lake Merom to the Dead Sea, was wholly under his sway; among them a number of the more important towns, which had previously been centres of Greek culture, such as Hippos, Gadara, Pella, Dium, and others.

This work of conquest, however, proved at the same time a work of destruction. It did not lead, as once the conquests of Alexander the Great had done, to the furtherance, but to the extinction of Greek culture. For in this respect Alexander Jannäus was still always a Jew, who subjected the conquered territories, as far as they went, to Jewish modes of thought and manners. If the cities in question would not consent to this, they were laid waste. Such was the fate that befell the great and hitherto prosperous coast towns, and the Hellenistic cities on the east of the Jordan. The Romans, Pompey and Gabinius, were the first to rebuild again those ruins, and reawaken in them a new prosperity.