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The Hasmonean dynasty (/ h æ z m ə ˈ n iː ən /; Hebrew: חַשְׁמוֹנָאִים Ḥašmōnāʾīm; Greek: Ασμοναϊκή δυναστεία) was a ruling dynasty of Judea and surrounding regions during the Hellenistic times of the Second Temple period (part of classical antiquity), from c. 140 BCE to 37 BCE.
Hasmonean dynasty, dynasty of ancient Judaea, descendants of the Maccabee family. The name derived (according to Flavius Josephus, in The Antiquities of the Jews) from the name of their ancestor Hasmoneus (Hasmon), or Asamonaios. In 143 (or 142) bce Simon Maccabeus, son of Mattathias (and brother.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
The Hasmoneans were a rural priestly family whose members later arose to occupy the office of the High Priest and later styled themselves as kings. In both cases, they acted as usurpers...
- Jonathan Maccabee
- Simon
- A Major Historical Mistake
- Simon’s Other Historical Mistakes
- John Hyrcanus
- Origin of The Sadducees
- Their Party Platform
- The Turning of John Hyrcanus
- The Beginning of A Century of Internal Conflict
Five years after the miracle of Chanukah the only two surviving Maccabees were Jonathan and Simon. Jonathan was appointed High Priest, but he did not assume the mantle of kingship. Even though the Greeks were defeated militarily they now tried to undermine the Jewish government through assassination plots and pitting Jew-vs.-Jew. Jonathan was invit...
Simon was a great and righteous person, loved both by the people and the rabbis. He set for himself the task of rebuilding the Jewish State, reinvigorating the Jewish people, throwing the Greeks and Greek ideas out of the country and destroying all of the idols. The Sanhedrin was led by two people: Rabbi Joshua ben Perachiah and Nitai Ha’Arbeli. As...
Simon was not only the king, but, after his brother Jonathan’s death, the High Priest as well. This dual role signified a major historical change, and not a positive one. The leading rabbis told him, in a nice way, that a king of Israel had to come from the tribe of Judah, as the verse says, “The staff shall not depart from Judah…” (Genesis49:10)....
He made other mistakes. His second historical mistake was to make an alliance with Rome, the up-and-coming empire. The Romans wanted a counter-balance against the Greeks to provide them a base for their legions in the Middle East. Indeed, they deployed the Tenth Legion to Israel, which would be infamous for its anti-Semitism and cruelty, and was th...
Simon was assassinated by a son-in-law who was bribed by the Syrian Greek leaders. His oldest son, John Hyrcanus, a fierce warrior, immediately rushed to Jerusalem and installed himself in his father’s place as both the High Priest and King. Then he rallied the Sanhedrin and the people to his side, rescued his mother who had been held for ransom an...
One of the great Torah leaders in the early days of the Second Temple was Antigonus of Sokho. He was wont to say, “Do not be like servants who serve God on the condition of receiving reward. Rather, be like servants who serve God without expecting reward” (Avos1:3). Antigonus had two followers named Zadok and Boethus who interpreted his words as me...
It was one thing to have those ideas, but it was another thing to initiate a whole movement based on those ideas and call it “Judaism.” Their followers became known as the Sadducees (after Zadok) or the Boethusians (after Boethus). The three planks of their party platform were: 1. No life hereafter; no reward and punishment 2. There is no such thin...
During the reign of John Hyrcanus the Sadducees began to become strong. And he helped strengthen them. He believed that he was so great and his faith so strong that he was above influence. He was dead wrong. The Sadducees worked on him for years. They told him that the Torah sages were out to get him; that they did not think he should be king; that...
This was the beginning of the conflict between the Sadducees and Pharisees. The Pharisees were the Torah sages, the traditional Jews. The Hebrew word for Pharisee, Perushim, means to separate, because they separated themselves from the Hellenists and all outside influences. They attempted to remain in a pristine, unique state of Judaism. Later, the...
1. Numeral preceding name = order of succession. Judah. Click on highlighted name for biographical sketch. Sources: Into His Own. Encyclopedia of Jewish and Israeli history, politics and culture, with biographies, statistics, articles and documents on topics from anti-Semitism to Zionism.
The family name of the Hasmonean dynasty originates with the ancestor of the house, ΑΣαμωναῖος (Josephus, "Ant." xii. 6, § 1; xiv. 16, § 4; xvi. 7, § 1) = or (Middot i. 6; Targ. Yer. to I Sam. ii. 4), who, according to Wellhausen ("Pharisäer und Sadducäer," note 94), is said to have been the grandfather of Mattathias.
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He was succeeded by his son John Hyrcanus, who established the Hasmonean dynasty. (The term first introduced in Talmud may have been Mattathias’ family name, from his grandfather, Simon Hasmonai, or a designation meaning prince, possibly related to the position of priesthood.)
