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ONIAS

(Gk. Onias)

A recurrent name in a priestly family prominent in Palestine during the Hellenistic period from the rule of the Ptolemies into the Maccabean period. Of Zadokite lineage, this family of hereditary high priests is frequently referred to as the Oniads.

1. Onias I, the son of Jaddua who served in the priesthood with his brother Manasses during the early reign of Alexander the Great (Josephus Ant. 11.8.7). Onias I ascended to the high priesthood sometime after the death of both his father and Alexander the Great. Some suggest that Onias I was the Onias mentioned as a correspondent with Arius, a Spartan king (1 Macc. 12:7, 19-20), while others see Onias II or Onias III (Ant. 12.4.10) as the more likely candidate. Onias I was the father of Simon I.

2. Onias II. Son of Simon I and grandson of Onias I, he did not become high priest immediately following his father’s early death. According to Josephus (Ant. 12.4), both his uncle Eleazar and his great uncle Manasses preceded his priestly tenure. Onias II served as high priest during the Ptolemaic rule over ancient Palestine and found himself, at least periodically, in opposition to the secular rulers. Josephus notes his conflict with Ptolemy III Euergetes over taxes and characterizes Onias II as avaricious. Others see Onias as politically supporting the Seleucids over against the Ptolemies. Whether Onias’ motivation was personal or political, this conflict was a critical element in the long-term struggle between the Oniads and the Tobiads, a wealthy family related to the Oniads by the marriage of Onias’ sister to the head of the Tobiads. Eventually Onias’ nephew Joseph Tobiad gained control of the tax collection system as well as considerable political power.

Onias was succeeded by his son, Simon II (the Just), around the time that the Seleucids finally took Palestine from the Ptolemies.

3. Onias III. Son of Simon II and grandson of Onias II, he served as high priest during the reign of Seleucus IV Philopator. Onias III is noted in 2 Maccabees for his piety and his “hatred of wickedness” (2 Macc. 3:1). He continued what his predecessors had begun in his political opposition to the Tobiad family. Simon, the Tobiad overseer of the temple, was a particular adversary. Eventually, Simon denounced Onias to the Seleucid overlords as pro-Ptolemaic and as one who mishandled finances. In an attempt to quiet mounting tension, Seleucus sent one of his chief ministers, Heliodorus, to the temple. Heliodorus mysteriously fell deathly ill and was restored to life upon Onias’ prayers and sacrifices to God. Heliodorus returned to Seleucus and Onias survived a round of scrutiny; however, he continued to face Simon’s accusations so that he eventually made a personal trip to Antioch to defend himself directly before the Seleucid king. Upon his arrival (175 b.c.e.), Onias found that Heliodorus had murdered Seleucus and Seleucus’ brother, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, was king. Meanwhile, in Onias’ absence, his brother Jason purchased the position of high priest from the financially strapped Antiochus. Onias did not return to Palestine. Some think he remained exiled, voluntarily or involuntarily, in Antioch. Others think he fled to Egypt and established a Jewish temple in Leontopolis. Some associate Onias III with the Teacher of Righteousness mentioned in the Dead Sea Scrolls.

4. Onias Menelaus, usually referred to as Menelaus. The brother of Simon, the overseer of the temple, Onias Menelaus was allied with Jason, the brother of Onias III, before usurping him as high priest in 172. Under Menelaus’ tenure, a series of events occurred that precipitated the Maccabean Revolt.

5. Onias IV, son of Onias III. Some report Onias IV as the priest who fled to Egypt and received funds from the rulers of Egypt to build a Jewish temple at Leontopolis, to run a military colony, and to serve as a Ptolemaic general. Josephus offers conflicting accounts in Antiquities and Jewish War.

Alice Hunt Hudiburg

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ONIAS

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)