Onias

Onias
Onias
Name of several Jewish high priests who lived two and three centuries before Christ

Catholic Encyclopedia. . 2006.

Onias
    Onias
     Catholic_Encyclopedia Onias
    (’Onías).
    Name of several Jewish pontiffs of the third and second centuries before Christ.
    Onias I
    Son and successor of the high-priest Jaddua, who, according to Josephus (Antiq., XI, viii, 7) received Alexander the Great in Jerusalem. Succeeding his father soon after the death of Alexander (Josephus, ibid.), he held office for twenty-three years (323-300 B. C.). In I Mach., xii, 7, he is said to have received a friendly letter from Arius, ruler of the Spartans. The letter is mentioned by Josephus (Antiq., XII, iv, 10), who gives its contents with certain modifications of the form in Machabees (xii, 20-23). During Onias's pontificate Palestine was the scene of continual conflicts between the forces of Egypt and Syria, who several times alternated as masters of the country. During this period also, and because of unsettled conditions at home, many Jews left Palestine for the newly founded city of Alexandria.
    Onias II
    Son of Simon the Just. He is not mentioned in the Bible, but Josephus says (Antiq., XII, iv, 1-6) that, though a high-priest, he was a man "of little soul and a great lover of money." He refused to pay the customary tribute of twenty talents of silver to Ptolemy Euergetes, who then threatened to occupy the Jewish territory, a calamity which was averted by the tactful activity of Joseph, a nephew of Onias, who went to Ptolemy and purchased immunity from invasion.
    Onias III
    Son and successor (198 B. C.) of Simon II, and grandson of Onias II. Josephus erroneously attributes to him the correspondence with Arius of Sparta (see above, ONIAS I). He is mentioned in II Mach., xv, 12, as a good and virtuous man, modest and gentle in his manner. During his pontificate Seleucus Philopator, King of Syria, sent his minister, Heliodorus, to Jerusalem with a view to obtain possession of the alleged treasures of the Temple (II Mach., iii).
    Onias (also called Menelaus)
    Mention is made in II Mach., iv, of Menelaus, brother of Simon, who became the unjust accuser of Onias III, and later a venal usurper of the priesthood. According to Josephus, on the other hand, he originally bore the name Onias, changed for political reasons into one more characteristically Greek (Antiq., XII, v. 1).
    Onias IV
    Son of Onias III, too young to succeed his father in the priesthood, which was usurped successively by Jason and Menelaus (see above) and later by Alcimus. In the meantime Onias withdrew into Egypt, where he obtained from Ptolemy Philometor a tract of land near Heliopolis, on which (about 160 B. C.) he erected a sort of temple. Here a regular Temple worship was inaugurated in defiance of the Law, but the innovation was doubtless justified in the mind of Onias by the scandalous conditions at the home sanctuary, and by the great number of Jews resident in Egypt. The project was censured by the authorities in Jerusalem (Mishna, Menachoth xiii, 10) and it was blamed by Josephus (Bell. Jud., VII, x, 3). Nevertheless, the worship was maintained until after A. D. 70, when it was abolished by Lupus, prefect of Alexandria (Josephus, "Bell. Jud.", VII, x, 4).
    Onias (of Jerusalem)
    A pious Jew of Jerusalem in the days of the high-priest Hyrcanus, i. e. about the middle of the first century B.C. (see Mishna, Thaanith iii, 8, and Josephus Antiq., XIV, ii, 1).
    JAMES F. DRISCOLL
    Transcribed by WGKofron With thanks to Fr. John Hilkert and St. Mary's Church, Akron, Ohio

The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume VIII. — New York: Robert Appleton Company. . 1910.


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  • ONIAS — ONIAS, the name of four high priests of the Second Temple period (corresponding to the Hebrew חוֹנְיוֹ). ONIAS I lived at the end of the fourth century B.C.E. I Maccabees 12:20–23 relates that Areios, king of Sparta, sent a letter to the high… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Onias IV — (Hebrew: חוֹנִיּוֹ‎ Ḥōniyyō) is the designation given to the son of Onias III and the lawful heir of the legitimate high priests. He had reason to hope that the victory of the national party under Judas Maccabeus would place him in the office of… …   Wikipedia

  • Onias — (Hebrew: חוֹנִיּוֹ‎ Honio, also Honiyya or Honiyahu) was the name of several Jewish high priests at the time of the Second Temple, described by such sources as Josephus: Onias I, son of Jaddua and high priest in the late 4th and early 3rd century …   Wikipedia

  • Onias I — (Hebrew Honiyya or Honio ben Jaddua) was the son of the Jaddua mentioned in Nehemiah.[1] According to Josephus, this Jaddua is said to have been a contemporary of Alexander the Great.[2] I Maccabees regards Onias as a contemporary of the Spartan… …   Wikipedia

  • Onias II — (Hebrew חוֹנִיּוֹ Ḥōniyyō Honio or Honiyya ben Shimon; Greek Onias Simonides) was the son of Simon the Just. He was still a minor when his father died, so that his uncle Eleazar, and after him the latter s uncle Manasseh, officiated as high… …   Wikipedia

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  • Onías IV — Onías IV, Sumo Sacerdote nominal de Jerusalén (160 a. C.). Hijo y sucesor del depuesto Onías III, se vio suplantado por Alcimo, jefe del partido helenista. Onías tuvo que huir a Egipto, donde fue protegido por el rey Ptolomeo VI, que le …   Wikipedia Español

  • Onías I — Onías I, Sumo Sacerdote de Jerusalén (323 a. C. 300 a. C.). Hijo y sucesor de Jaddua. Recibió a Alejandro Magno cuando el rey macedonio entró en Jerusalén. Onías aparece en el libro primero de los Macabeos, donde se cita la… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Onías II — Onías II, Sumo Sacerdote de Jerusalén. Hijo del Sumo Sacerdote Simón I el Justo, alcanzó el cargo tras los pontificados de sus tíos Eleazar y Manasés. Durante su sumo sacerdocio, hacia el 200 a. C., Judea fue invadida por Antioco III… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Onīas — (hebr., d.i. der Herr ist meine Kraft), 1) O. I., Hoherpriester der Juden, Nachfolger des Jaddus, zur Zeit Alexanders des Großen, Vater des Hohenpriesters Simon. 2) O. II., Sohn des Hohenpriesters Simon des Gerechten, war erst Hohervriester,… …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

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