Biblical Profile: Antiochus IV

Antiochus IV

Antiochus IV is the most important of all the Seleucid rulers as far as the biblical literature is concerned and is known as one of the cruelest tyrants of all time. He was an enthusiastic believer in the Olympian god Zeus and hoped to unify his territories by spreading Hellenistic culture, law, and religion. In so doing, he came into violent conflict with the Jews in Judea.

Antiochus IV, born in 215 BC with the name Mithradates, was a son of Antiochus III but was not the designated heir of the Seleucid kingdom. After the Battle of Magnesia in 190 BC, Mithradates went to Rome as a hostage to guarantee payment of his father’s debts to Rome. His brother, Seleucus IV, then began to reign in 187 BC, but Mithradates used intrigue to get himself released from bondage and when his brother was murdered, he usurped the Seleucid throne, becoming Antiochus IV. He called himself Epiphanes, which means “god manifest.” But his unstable temper led critics to use the pejorative nickname Epimanes, which means “manifestly insane.”

Antiochus’s drive for Hellenization and his need for finances created a ripe environment for him to sell the Jewish high priesthood to the highest Hellenizing bidder. He sold the office twice, first to Jason in 174 BC and then to Menalaus (who offered a higher bid) in 171 BC.

Antiochus wanted to gain control of Egypt, so in 169 BC he invaded. Meanwhile, Jason seized control of Jerusalem, attempting to take back the high priest’s office. Jason failed, but Antiochus smelled insurrection, so on his return from a successful campaign in Egypt he attacked Jerusalem, killed and enslaved thousands, and plundered the Temple. The following year, Antiochus again attacked Egypt, but this time Roman forces came to Egypt’s aid, and Antiochus was stopped outside Alexandria. There he was humiliated by the Roman legate Popilius, who famously drew a circle around him and forced him to make a decision to surrender before leaving the circle.

In 167 BC, a maddened Antiochus sent troops to massacre the male population of Jerusalem and enslave the women and children. By Antiochus’s edict, Judaism was made illegal under pain of death, and Jews were forced to participate in pagan sacrifices. He evidently thought that destroying the Jewish nation would secure his borders and strengthen his Hellenization program. Instead, it had the opposite effect: Open rebellion broke out later that same year in the village of Modein near Jerusalem. When the king’s representative came to Modein to enforce the edict banning Judaism, a Jewish priest named Mattathias killed him and then fled with his followers to the surrounding hills. This sparked the Maccabean rebellion, in which Mattathias’s sons gained control of Jerusalem and cleansed the Temple in 164 BC. They eventually achieved semi-independence for Judea.

Antiochus was already considered insane by many, but the success of the Maccabees and Antiochus’s inability to suppress the Jewish revolt drove him further into madness. He withdrew to Persia where he died in 164 BC.

Passages for Further Study

Dan 11:21-35