Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 13.djvu/440

 424 ISRAEL Pharisees (i.e., the party of the scribes) as against the Sadducees (i.e., the Hasmoncean party). 1 Bebellion On one occasion, when Alexander Jannseus had returned f She to Jerusalem at the feast of tabernacles, and was stand- ItefoeeB. | n g - n j^g p r i es tly vestments before the altar to sacrifice, he was pelted by the assembled crowd of worshippers with citrons from the green branches they carried. By the cruelty with which he punished this insult he excited the populace to the highest pitch, and, when he lost his army in the disaster of Gadara, rebollion broke out. The Pharisees summoned the Syrian king Demetrius Eucaeras ; Jannseus was worsted and fled into the desert. But, as he wandered in helplessness there, the patriotism of the people and sympathy for the heir of the Maccabees suddenly awoke; nature proved itself stronger than that consistency which in the cause of the Divine honour had not shrunk from treason. The insurgents for the most part went over to the side of the fugitive king ; the others he ultimately overpowered after a struggle which lasted through several years, Demetrius having withdrawn his intervention. The vengeance which he took on the Pharisees was a bloody one ; their only escape was by voluntary exile. Thence forward he had peace so far as they were concerned. His last years were occupied with the reacquisition of the con quests which he had been compelled to yield to the Arabs during the civil war. He died in the field at the siege of Ragaba in Persea (79). Salome. Under Queen Salome, his widow, matters were as if they had been specially arranged for the satisfaction of the Pharisees. The high-priesthood passed to Salome s son Hyrcanus IT. ; she herself was only queen. In the management of external affairs her authority was absolute (Ant., xiii. 16, 6) ; in home policy she permitted the scribes to wield a paramount influence. The common assertion indeed that the synedrium was at that time practically composed of scribes is inconsistent with the known facts of the case ; the synedrium at that time was a political and not a scholastic authority. 2 In its origin it was the municipal council of Jerusalem (so also the councils of provincial towns are called synedria, Mark. xiii. 9), but its authority extended over the entire Jewish community ; alongside of the elders of the city the ruling priests were those who had the greatest number of seats and votes. John Hyrcanus appears to have been the first to introduce some scribes into its composition ; it is possible that Salome may have increased their number, but even so this high court was far from being changed into a college of scribes like that at Jamnia. If the domination of the Pharisees at this time is spoken of, the expression cannot be under- 1 stood as meaning that they already held all the public offices, but only at most that the holders of those offices found it necessary to administer and to judge in their spirit and according to their fundamental principles. Jpsurrec- The party of the Sadducees (consisting of the old tkn of Hasmonaean officers and officials, who were of priestly family indeed, but attached only slight importance to their priestly functions) at length lost all patience. Led by Aristobulus, the second son of Jannseus, the leaders of the party came to the palace, and begged the queen to dismiss them from the court and to send them into the provinces. ineefls. 1 K&amp;gt;1&quot;1Q means &quot;separated,&quot; and refers perhaps to the attitude of isolation taken by the zealots for the law during the interval between 162 and 105. ^pHY (2o58oKaTos) conies from pHV (2a55ou/c, LXX.), the ancestor of the higher priesthood of Jerusalem (1 Kings ii. 35 ; 1 Sam. ii. 35 ; Ezek. xliv. 15), and designates the governing nobility. The original character of the opposition, as it appeared under Jannseus, changed entirely with the lapse of time, on account of the Sadducees gradual loss of political power, till they fell at last to the condition of a sort of &quot; fronde.&quot; 2 Kuenen, &quot; Over de Samenstelling van het Sanhedrin,&quot; in Proceed ings of Royal Net.hcrl. Acini., 1866. There they were successful in securing possession of several fortresses 3 in preparation for insurrection, a favourable opportunity for which they were watching. Such an opportunity occurred, it seemed to Aristobulus, as his mother lay on her death-bed. The commandants of the fortresses were at his orders, and by their assistance an army also, with which he accordingly advanced upon Jerusalem, and, on the death of Salome, made himself master of the situation (69). Hyrcanus was compelled to resign office. With this event the good understanding between the civil government and the Pharisees came to an end ; the old antagonisms became active once more, and now began to operate for the advantage of a third party, the Idumaean Antipater, Hyrcanus s confidential friend. Anti- After the latter, aided by Antipater, had at length with P ater - great difficulty got himself into a position for asserting his rights against Aristobulus, the Pharisees could not do other wise than rank themselves upon his side, and the masses joined them against the usurper. With the help of the Nabatsean monarch the effort to restore the elder brother to the supreme authority would doubtless have succeeded had not the Romans procured relief for Aristobulus, besieged as he was in Jerusalem (65), though without thereby recognizing his claims. Pompey continued to Pompc delay a decision on the controversy in 64 also when the rival claimants presented themselves before him at Damascus ; he wished first to have the Nabat;eans dis posed of, and to have free access to them through Judaea. This hesitation roused the suspicions of Aristobulus ; still he did not venture to take decisive action upon them. He closed the passes (to Mount Ephraim) against the Romans, but afterwards gave them up ; he prepared Jerusalem for war, and then went in person to the Roman camp at Jericho, where he promised to open the gates of the city and also to pay a sum of money. But the Roman ambas sadors found the gates barred, and had to return empty- handed. Aristobulus thereupon was arrested, and siege was laid to Jerusalem. The party of Hyrcanus, as soon as it had gained the upper hand, surrendered the town ; but the supporters of Aristobulus took their stand in the temple, and defended it obstinately. In June 63 the place was carried by storm ; Pompey personally inspected the Holy of Holies, but otherwise spared the religious feelings of the Jews. But he caused the chief promoters of the war to be executed, and carried Aristobulus and his family into captivity. He abolished the kingship, but restored the high-priestly dignity to Hyrcanus. The territory was materially reduced in area, and made tributary to the Romans ; the city was occupied by a Roman garrison. 14. Henceforward Roman intervention forms a constant Romai disturbing factor iu Jewish history. The struggle between intervi the Pharisees and the Sadducees continued indeed to be tlon&amp;lt; carried on, but only because the momentum of their old feud was not yet exhausted. The Pharisees in a sense had been victorious. While the two brothers were pleading their rival claims before Pompey, ambassadors from the Pharisees had made their appearance in Damascus to petition for the abolition of the kingship ; this object had now to some extent been gained. Less ambiguous than the victory of the Pharisees was the fall of the Sadduceep, who in losing the sovereignty of the Jewish state lost all real importance. But the intervention of the foreign element exercised its most powerful influence upon the temper of the lower classes. Though in times of peace the masses still continued to accept the guidance of the rabbins, their patriotism instantly burst into flame as soon as a pretender to the throne, belonging to the family of 3 Alexandrium, Corese (whence, according to Tuch, Ish-Karioth, Iscariot), and similar citadels which were at that time of great import ance for Palestine and Syria.