ABSTRACT
. “The year 162 B. c. marks the proper end of the religious war of the Jews. Thereafter conflict was primarily not concerning religion, but government.” Such is the text which the strife of parties, the appeals for foreign support, the intervention of heathen rulers, and the constant unrest within the borders of Judea must now help us to interpret. The removal of the Syrian army left the two great parties, the Hellenistic and the National, face to face, with all their old differences intensified and with vital questions to settle. The first of these questions was regarding the high-priesthood. When the king set out for Antioch, Lysias persuaded him to take with him Menelaus the high-priest. He thus aimed to provide against future disturbances among the Jews, for this Menelaus had been the originator of all the mischief which had required armies for its undoing. Antiochus V., thoroughly distrusting the man, sent him into exile, and soon after caused him to be put to death (Ant. xii. 9, 7). Alcimus, a man of Aaronic descent, but a leader in the Hellenistic party, was appointed to his place. With Judas at the head of affairs in Jerusalem, he soon found that he had a title without an office, and retired to Antioch to await further developments. Judas himself, while making no claim to the high priesthood, was, if we may trust Josephus (Ant. xii. 11, 2), at this time performing its duties, and he would have no such polluted hands as those of Alcimus ministering at the altar.
