The Hasmoneans Chapter XNUMX - Peace, Lord King

Perhaps it should not be assumed with certainty that the instigator of the rebellion, Matthias, was preparing to found a royal dynasty. However, we cannot rule out the possibility that God saw before his eyes the option of returning Ataret to its old age, literally, and renewing the lost biblical days.

This chapter will deal with the beginning of the actual monarchy of the House of Hasmoneans. As a matter of fact, as I defined the High Priesthood as a monarchy-without-a-crown and the Maccabean/Hasmonean rebellion as usurpation in terms of the removal of the incumbent priesthood guard and its replacement by a new guard, that is the Yahoriv Guard and the family is the Hasmon family, the opening shot for the establishment of a monarchy in Israel began with the placing of the priestly crown The great one by Judah the Maccabee and the continuation in the days of Jonathan and Shimon when they were won the great priesthood by the Hellenistic Goshpanka Berura.
A significant step towards the establishment of the monarchy took shape in the days of Yohanan Hyrcanus both against the background of his steps and policies, both against the background of the strengthening of Hellenization in his court and the adoption of a Hellenistic name alongside his Hebrew name, and because he was the son of Shimon, that is, he started a dynasty in terms of royal approval.

Perhaps it should not be assumed with certainty that the instigator of the rebellion, Matthias, was preparing to found a royal dynasty. However, we cannot rule out the possibility that God saw before his eyes the option of returning Ataret to its old age, literally, and renewing the lost biblical days.

Yohanan Hyrcanus ruled for 31 years and died, unlike his predecessors, in a good return. At his death he left behind five sons. In his will he ordered that the office of the High Priesthood be handed over to his eldest son Yehuda Aristobulus and the other positions and positions, that is, the state government, would be handed over to his widow. Perhaps Yohanan was worried about the concentration of authority in the hands of one person, especially when it comes to a dubious personality like Yehuda Aristobulus, who was a ruthless and ruthless persecutor, and who could single-handedly destroy the entire factory built by the Hasmoneans since the outbreak of the rebellion in 167 BC.

It is worth noting that the son's name - Aristobulus - is completely classical Greek, unlike his birth father - Hyrcanus, whose name is derived from the Greek, but was connected, however, to the name of a place or to Mother Earth (Hora in Greek), was a signal on the one hand and a proof on the other hand of how much Hellenization deepened and spread among the Mattathias family, as well as among the Jerusalem aristocracy in general.

If so, why did he entrust such a senior position to the dubious Aristobulus? Lest Hyrcanus sought to entrench and fortify the office of the high priesthood that is passed down from father to son (firstborn). And perhaps we will be prevented from doing what Matthias did at the time, who did not declare the candidate for the headship of the High Priesthood out of deliberate intention and Judas Maccabeus took this crown by force of arm.

And it is possible that the intention of hoping that the "lady" mother (almost a queen) would supervise the son, since she was prevented as a woman from serving in the high priesthood.

Aristobulus, the grandson of Matthias, bore as mentioned a Hebrew name and a Greek name beside it, which means "good head" and which means "son of good/excellent nobility". This is more - he called himself by the title "Philhellenus", we would like Greeks, to teach us about the degree of Hellenization that prevailed in the Hasmonean house. Aristobulus was greedy for power and lust for power and was not satisfied with the title of high priest and president of his fathers, but placed a royal crown on his head. It was, without a doubt, an unprecedented move and symbolized, in a similar way, beyond the character and nature of Aristobulus, a kind of gradual move, beginning with Simeon and continuing to the days of Yochanan Hyrcanus, the father of Aristobulus.
Beyond the kingship of Aristobulus in the context of historical processes, this was also a signal regarding his personal and political intentions, in terms of "I and nothing more".

The question that is asked, although without an answer, is what was the position of Hellenistic Syria on this and of Rome on this. And we don't have any scraps of information about this, neither in Ysaf ben Matthieu nor in the Hellenistic and Roman sources. It is likely that the gradual decline of the Hellenistic Seleucid kingdom from this and the friendship treaties with Rome from this clarify the course of placing the crown on Aristobulus' head, one that carries a kind of political insolence.

From then on, and perhaps following his reign, Aristobulus behaved in monstrous madness. He threw his four brothers into the prison pit, and the same fate was the lot of his mother only because she dared to disagree with his behavior and especially with the ways of his rule. She languished in prison and there she met her miserable death, deprived of food and drink.

The only one who escaped from his madness was his brother Antigonus, who was born after him. Aristobulus liked the young man and even shared him in the moves of the government, but a foolish rumor mill aroused Aristobulus' jealousy and envy and turned the affection into bad thoughts. And once, when Aristobulus and Antigonus was ill, he went up to the temple surrounded by his soldiers and in fine clothing, and this after conducting successful battles in the Galilee region and accumulating great prestige, the evil tongues deepened and penetrated the soul of the sick Aristobulus, as if his brother was undermining him, perhaps because of the military retinue that surrounded the younger brother, and perhaps even Aristobulus feared that his brother was asking for the king's life.
Aristobulus called his brother, Migdal Charshon (later Caesarea) and when the latter made his way to him, the king's bodyguards killed him.

Was such a crazy move due to the influence of the intrigues in the Hellenistic royal houses on the king's soul, or maybe not, since similar phenomena were the lot of ancient Jewish leaders in the biblical period. In any case, this sordid and despicable affair only increased the king's mental illness.

Aristobulus continued the policy of his predecessors with regard to foreign policy, when he took control of the Galilee region except for the western coastal strip, and under the influence of his father Hyrcanus - the convert of the Reds - Aristobulus forced the conversion of the Galilean Hyator tribe and in this way strengthened his hold on the Galilee. At the end of a year, between 103 and 102 B.C. The king passed away after an illness.