Gerizim

June 9, 2015

The introduction of the Greek god Zeus in the Temple (2 Macc 6:1-6:2)

“Not long after this, King Antiochus sent an Athenian senator to compel the Jews to forsake the laws of their ancestors. He wanted them to no longer live by the laws of God. He was also to pollute the temple in Jerusalem. He was to call it the temple of the Olympian Zeus. He also was to call the temple in Gerizim the temple of Zeus, the Friend of Strangers, as did the people who lived in that place.”

King Antiochus IV sent an Athenian elder senator to compel the Jews to give up the laws of their ancestors and their God. He wanted to pollute the Temple in Jerusalem by calling it the Temple of the Olympian Zeus. He was putting in an altar and statue of Zeus in the Temple. This was a strong enforcement procedure. In 1 Maccabeus, it was more like a unification of worship in the Seleucid Empire, while here it is specific to Samaria and Jerusalem. The temple at Mount Gerizim of the Samaritans had the added title Zeus, Friend of Strangers.

June 9, 2015

The governors of King Antiochus IV (2 Macc 5:21-5:23)

“King Antiochus carried off eighteen hundred talents from the temple. He hurried away to Antioch, thinking in his arrogance that he could sail on the land and walk on the sea. His mind was elated. He left governors to oppress the people. At Jerusalem, he left Philip, by birth a Phrygian and in character more barbarous than the man who appointed him. At Gerizim, he left Andronicus. Besides these, he left Menelaus, who lorded it over his compatriots worse than the others did.”

King Antiochus IV was very happy with his haul of loot. He thought that he could walk on water or fly in the air. He appointed governors to further suppress the Israelites. In Jerusalem he had the brutal Philip and the friendly high priest Menelaus to carry out his orders. Apparently, the king thought that Samaria was still part of Israel. Andronicus was the governor at Gerizim, a sacred site for the Samaritans. Samaria had played a role as the city of a governor in the Persian Empire.