as princes only wear, and a crown of gold. On this, Demetrius sent new offers to Jonathan, promising him all that had been offered by Alexander, together with extraordinary privileges to the Jewish people.

417. But the Jews, remembering the long and bitter enmity of Demetrius to their nation, and how much injury he had done them, could place no confidene in him, and therefore resolved to take sides with Alexander.

418. Jonathan now entered on the office of high priest, which had been vacant for seven years; and from this time the office became settled in the family of the Asmoneans, and so contined, until the days of Herod. From the Babylonish captivity, the office descended on the family of Jozadak, until the time of Onias the third. After his expulsion, it was occupied by Jason, his brother; then by Menelaus, an older brother; and then by Alcimus. Whether the Asmoneans were of the family of Jozadak, is no where said; but they were of the course of Joarib, which was the first class of the sons of Aaron.

419. Alexander, backed by the three king's already mentioned, and his title being acknowledged by the Romans, was in a condition to cope with Demetrius, on equal footing. Demetrius, on the other hand, was not inactive in preparing for a contest, in which his kingdom was at stake. The hostile armies met, and a decisive battle took, place, in which, although the wing commanded by Demetrius himself gained some advantage, the left wing was put to flight, and Demetrius slain in the pursuit.

420. Alexander, having now obtained the throne of Syria, sent to Ptolemy, king of Egypt, requesting his

daughter Cleopatra, in marriage. To this Ptolemy consented, and carried her to Ptolemais, where the nuptials were celebrated. To this wedding, Jonathan the high priest of the Jews, was invited, and was received with signal favor, by both the kings; especially by Alexander, who had him clothed in purple, and enrolled among the chief of his friends. And although his enemies presented accusations against him, the king would listen to none of them; but sent him back with honor, to Judea

CHAPTER XVII.

2

ONIAS OBTAINS THE FAVOR OF THE KING AND QUEEN OF EGYPT-BUILDS THERE A TEMPLE SAMILAR TO THAT OF JERUSALEM, WHERE DAILY OFFERINGS WERE MADE-CONTENTIONS BETWEEN THE JEWS AND SAMARITANS ABOUT THE PLACE OF WORSHIP HIPPARCHUS THE ASTRONOMER-WAR BETWEEN ALEXANDER THE › IMPOSTOR AND DEMETRIUS-THE FORMER, FORSAKEN BY HIS FATHER-IN-LAW, IS OVERTHROWN AND SLAIN.

421. ONIAS, who on being disappointed of the high priests' office, had fled into Egypt, became a favorite both with the king and queen; for he was a great soldier, and a great politician. By degrees, he was advanced to the highest station in the army, and also at court; and had influence to introduce another Jew of talents into the royal favor, whose name was Dositheus: these two, in fact, managed all the affairs of the kingdom.

422. Onias made use of his influence, to induce the king to permit him to erect, in Egypt, a temple, similar to that at Jerusalem, with the grant, that the office of high priest should, forever, be continued in his family. He did not find it difficult to persuade the king, that this would be good policy, since it would induce many of the Jews to settle in Egypt. But the difficulty was,

to reconcile the minds of the Jews to the idea of worshipping any where else, but at Jerusalem, which had been selected by God himself, as the site of his temple.

423. To satisfy their minds, he referred to the prophecy of Isaiah, (Is. xix. 18, 19,) where it is said, "In that day, shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the language of Canaan, and swear to the Lord of hosts: one shall be called the city of Destruction. In that day shall there be an altar to the Lord, in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof, to the Lord."

424. The place selected for this temple, was, Heliopolis, only twenty-four miles from Memphis; where, formerly, a temple had stood, which was now in ruins. Onias made it exactly according to the pattern of that at Jerusalem; although not so high, nor so costly: and furnished it with all the apparatus for worship; an altar of burnt-offerings, an altar of incense, a table of shew-bread, and other utensils and vessels, such as were used in the temple at Jerusalem; except, that instead of a candlestick with seven lamps, one large lamp was suspended in the holy place. In this temple daily sacrifices were offered, and the whole ritual service of the law performed, by priests, just as it was at Jerusalem; and countinued so to be, until after the destruction of the temple at Jerusalem, when it was shut up, and soon afterwards utterly demolished.

425. The building of this temple took place about the year 150 B. C.

There is pretty strong internal evidence, that the prophecy of Isaiah was translated into Geek, by Jews, who worshipped at this temple, and consequently, that the version was made after its erection; for the text

cited above, is here rendered, not the city of destruction, as in the Hebrew; but (Πολις Ασεδεκ κληθήσεται η Mia ToλIS,) one of the cities shall be called the city of righteousness.

426. About this time there arose a great commotion in Alexandria, between the Jews and Samaritans, respecting the place appointed by God for his worship. Ptolemy, in order to quell it, appointed a day to hear both parties, before himself and council. On this trial, the Samaritans failed entirely in their proof, and their leaders were condemned to death, for exciting so great a disturbance, without cause.

427. As soon as Alexander found himself in quiet possession of a rich kingdom, he gave himself up to luxury and vice. He surrounded himself with lewd women, and relinquished all attention to the government. The principal management of affairs was left to one Ammonius, who acted in a very cruel manner towards the people. By such a course of life, Alexander soon became odious to his subjects, and Demetrius, the son of the late king, now grown to manhood, thought this a fit opportunity to recover his crown. Accordingly, he landed in Syria, with some mercenaries from Crete, and soon gathered a considerable army, which was greatly strengthened by the revolt of Apollonius, the governor of Colo-Syria, who declared in favor of Demetrius.

428. Jonathan, who had entered into a treaty with Alexander, adhered to his interest. Apollonius, therefore, turned his forces, in the first place, against him; and drawing together a large army at Jamnia, sent a challenge to Jonathan, to meet him in battle. Jonathan marching out of Jerusalem with ten thousand men, took Joppa, in the presence of Apollonius and