Antiochus IV


Antiochus IV Epiphanes

Antiochus IV, who reigned from 175-164 B.C., was a successor in the Seleucid line.

Unlike Antiochus III, he actively pushed for Hellenization, attempting to infuse Greek traditions into orthodox Judaism. He ordered all his territory to bow to Zeus, Hellenistic culture, and the Hellenistic gods. He even required the Temple in Jerusalem to build a status of Zeus, the local Jews to give sacrifice to Zeus, and outlawed circumcision. He oppressed and martyred the Jews. In 1 and 2 Maccabees, the Temple is defiled, a gymnasium is built in Jerusalem, and a Jewish woman loses 7 sons.

(Hillsdale College - Ancient Christianity)

This move met with severe opposition, inciting the Hasmonean family to revolt. Judas Maccabeus led a successful resistance, prompting the Syrian regent Lysias to guarantee the return of Jewish liberties and thereby hindering the Hellenizing movement in Judea. Despite these concessions, the influence of Antiochus IV had a lasting impact on the cultural landscape of the region.

(The Origin of the Bible: Newly Updated by F. F. Bruce, J. I. Packer, Philip W. Comfort, and Carl F. H. Henry, 2020. Old Testament and New Testament Apocrypha by R. K. Harrison, Page 80-81.)

Bible Canon

2 Maccabees 2 describes a great crisis in the history of the canon - books were lost on account of the Maccabean Revolt or the Maccabaean war of liberation from the Syrian persecutor Antiochus Epiphanes, but they were recovered. Antiochus was hostile toward Scripture in 1 Maccabees 1:56.

(The Origin of the Bible: Newly Updated by F. F. Bruce, J. I. Packer, Philip W. Comfort, and Carl F. H. Henry, 2020. The Canon of the Old Testament by R. T. Beckwith. Pages 56-60.)