Seder Olam Revisited : C31b- Jannai

CHRONOLOGY OF JEWISH HISTORY

Generation 31: Hebrew years 3600-3720 (160-40 BCE)

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Introduction

This 31^st chronological generation sees the history of the Hasmonean Jewish dynasty in the Land of Israel.

Hebrew Year	BCE	Event	Source
3653	-107	The Book of the Jubilees
3654	-106	Hyrcanus persecutes the Pharisees	Maccabees V, 27
3656	-104	Death of Hyrcanus after 31 years of reign; succession crisis	Maccabees V, 26:9
3657	-103	Alexander Jannai son of Hyrcanus reigns
3660	-100	Unrest in Judea between religious factions during 6 years	Dead Sea Scrolls
3670	-90	The Book of Enoch	Book of Enoch
3671	-89	Demetrius III invades Judea	Maccabees V, 29
3671	-89	"Yeshu"	Toledot Yeshu
3674	-86	Alexander Jannai besieges Antioch, capital of the Seleucid	Maccabees V, 29:16
3677	-83	Death of Antiochus X in Antioch	Maccabees V, 29:16
3680	-80	Unrest in Egypt; succession crisis
3680	-80	The Pharisee leaders return to Judea
3684	-76	Death of Alexander Jannai ; regency of Shlomtzion his widow
3684	-76	Creation of schools
3693	-67	Death of Shlomtzion ; her two sons, Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus dispute the power

Year 3653 – 107 BCE – The Book of the Jubilees

In these days, the Jewish people were divided between three main movements: the Pharisees, the Sadducees and the Hasdanim.

The Pharisees lived according to the tradition learned from the Jewish forefathers who taught the Oral Law. They derived their name from the Hebrew word פרש which means ‘separated'. This is because they separated themselves from the process of offerings made in the Temple in their days, as they considered these offerings not to be religiously 'clean' (due to the corruption of the upper society in charge of the Temple service). The Pharisees followed the Written Law and the Oral Law. The Oral Law gives an explanation of the otherwise obscure divine commandments, so this gives a second meaning to their name because Pharisees (Perushim פרושים in Hebrew) also means ‘explanations’. They also believed in the "next world" (Olam ha-Baa) and that one's actions in this present world would have retribution or punishment in the next world. With this teaching, they have been compared to the Greek Stoics who also believed in a next world.

The Sadducees derived their name from their founder, Zadok (see document C30a, year 240 BCE). They claimed to follow the Written Law alone, rejecting the Oral Law and rabbinical authority, and were mostly assimilated to the Hellenistic culture. They were found among the upper class of society. They didn't believe in any next world and therefore preferred to enjoy the present world, without worrying about any afterlife. To this extent, they can be compared to the Greek Epicureans.

The Hasdanim who lived in an aesthete way of virtues (Maccabees, Book V, 25): It is the Hebrew name for the Essenes (see document C31a, year 152 BCE).

There were in fact other minority sects. One of them was the Boethusians, who were like the Sadducees and often counted together with them. They owed their name to their founder, Boethus, who, like Zadok, had been a disciple of Antigonus of Socho but diverted from mainstream Judaism to assimilate the Greek culture.

Hyrcanus was first a Pharisee, but he later changed into a Sadducee. There were permanent disputes between the Pharisees and the Sadducees in his times. The Pharisees contested the right for Hyrcanus to be the High Priest because his mother was a captive while she conceived him. But this rule was from the Oral Law which the Sadducees rejected. This was the reason why Hyrcanus joined their movement which got him at odds with the Pharisees.

It was probably in this context, as an effort to prove the pharisaic interpretation of the Written Law to the people and to the Sadducees that the Book of the Jubilees (Sefer ha-Yovalim or Sefer ha-Yovlot in Hebrew) was written by one of the Pharisees. It is however certain that the content or traditions stated in the book were of a much earlier date, before 150 BCE. The book gives a chronology of the Bible from Adam to the Exodus, by periods of Jubilees (50 years), and it sets an important date, the date of the Exodus:

And I told you of the Sabbaths of the land on Mount Sinai, and I told you of the Jubilee years in the Sabbaths of years: but the year thereof have I not told you till you enter the land [of Canaan] which you are to possess. And the land also shall keep its Sabbaths while they dwell upon it, and they shall know the Jubilee year.

Wherefore I have ordained for you the year-weeks and the Jubilees: there are forty-nine [passed] Jubilees from the days of Adam until this day [of the entrance to Canaan], and one week and two years, and you have forty additional years for learning the commandments of the Lord until they pass over into the land of Canaan, crossing the Jordan towards the west side. (Book of the Jubilees, 50:2-5, translated by R.H. Charles, 1913, with corrections from Albert Benhamou from the Hebrew text; to read the translation, click here)

So, this text states that, from the day of Adam until the crossing of the Jordan River into Canaan, 49 Jubilees had been completed (meaning 50 years x 49= 2450 years), in other words, it says that the entrance to Canaan happened in the 50^th Jubilee. But the setting of the Jubilee cycle is also positioned in the 50^th Jubilee, precisely two years and one week from the start of that 50^th Jubilee, so this is the Hebrew year 2452 + one week. As we know, the setting of the Jubilee cycle was announced to the Israelites in the desert after the start of a New Year from the Exodus, in the month of Tishri, heading to the first Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). In other words, if this event occurred in year 2452 + one week, on a month of Tishri, the Exodus occurred in Nisan the preceding Hebrew year 2451. But the commentators of the Book of the Jubilees have assumed that the book sets the Exodus on year 2431, 40 years before. Why? Because the translation in English misled them. Instead of understanding the Hebrew text which explains that the timing of these events (Exodus, Jubilee, Canaan) all took place in the 50^th Jubilee, they assumed that it was for that day, of the crossing of Jordan River into Canaan, that the text applied 49 Jubilees + 2 years + one week. This is wrong because the Hebrew text explicitly says the count is 49 Jubilees + 2 years + one week + 40 additional years. The word “additional” (ועוד in the Hebrew text) has simply not been correctly translated in English!

The present chronology suggests that the year of the Exodus was 2454 (see document C21a, year 2454), and the Jewish tradition (Seder Olam) considers the year to be 2448. There is indeed some uncertainty of the year of Exodus, although that year is not as important as expected, as compared to the year of the construction of the First Temple which is key to define the proper historical chronology of the kingdoms and the exiles. Yet, if we follow the Book of the Jubilees, the important detail is that the Exodus occurred after the completion of 49 Jubilees, which means after the year 2450 which is in contradiction with the Rabbinical tradition of year 2448 but matches this present chronology.

Why is this detail important? Because it sets the Exodus in the 50^th Jubilee cycle, that spans from year 2450 until year 2500. In this 50^th Jubilee, the Israelites experienced the following stages of their birth as a nation: the 10 Plagues which took place in the year preceding the Exodus and brought them a stop in the harsh labor (the Jubilee is after freeing slaves and servants from their labor, after all !), the Exodus itself which brought them physical freedom, the 40 years in the desert during which they formed as a spiritual nation (the giving of the Torah, the Written Law, and studying the commandments according to traditions of the Oral Law), and finally the conquest of Canaan until its completion (but not as complete as it should have been, due to the sinful ways into which the Israelites turned eventually). If we would follow the author of the Seder Olam, who set the date of the Exodus in year 2448, it would fall during the 49^th Jubilee, which has a very different significance. Instead, the 50^th Jubilee makes these important events inside a single cycle (the 50^th) which is unique in itself because it is comparable to a "Jubilee of Jubilees" period, in other words, inside the 50x50 calendar cycle.

However, it is to be noted that this Book of the Jubilees is not accepted by the Rabbinical view and considered to be apocryphal. 

Year 3654 – 106 BCE – Hyrcanus orders the persecution of the Pharisees

John Hyrcanus' role of High Priest led to the darkest page of his reign:

Now the Jews had been, in the time of his father and uncles, united in affection towards them [the Hasmonean dynasty], and prompt to obey them, on account of their subduing of their enemies, and the excellent feats which they performed. They also continued united in affection to Hyrcanus, until the slaughter of the Pharisees was committed by him, and the rooting out of the Jews, and the civil wars on account of religion. From hence sprung perpetual enmities, and ceaseless evils, and many murders. This was the reason why many detested Hyrcanus. (Maccabees, Book V, 27:6-8)

Hyrcanus also had some family issues to worry about: he had three sons, Aristobulus, Antigonus and Alexander. The latter hated his father who in turn had the intent to keep him out of the inheritance of the dynasty. To this effect, and to resolve the potential conflict of interest between religion and state, Hyrcanus took the decision that, after his death, the roles of ruler and High Priest will be separated again: his wife was to reign as regent, while his oldest son Aristobulus was to become High Priest.

Year 3656 – 104 BCE – Aristobulus and Antigonus

Hyrcanus died after 31 years of reign and was succeeded on the throne by his wife. But she was quickly deposed by Aristobulus with the complicity of Antigonus, and was put to prison with her preferred son, Alexander. She died there of starvation.

Aristobulus was a vain person, the first ruler since many generations to wear a crown, and minted coins with the mention of ‘king’, while only the descendants of King David were allowed to have the royal title according to Jewish tradition. In his campaigns, Aristobulus added the region of Galilee to the Hasmonean realm. In the Chronicles of Eusebius of Caesarea, an early Christian scholar of the 4th century CE, it is mentioned the following entry for the first years of the 169^th Olympiad:

Aristobulus the son of Jonathan [John Hyrcanus], the king and high priest of the Jews, was the first to wear the royal diadem, 484 years after the Babylonian exile. (Chronicles of Eusebius, translated by St. Jerome, to see text online click here)

The year of the 169^th Olympiad corresponds to 168 x 4 -776 = 104 BCE in the Latin translation made by St. Jerome. The Armenian translation (compiled before 600 CE) also placed the event 4 years earlier thus 104 BCE. The Babylonian exile should be counted from the captivity of Jehoiachin, the last king of Judah, in 597 BCE (see document C27a, year 597 BCE). But non-Jewish scholars count it from the fall of Jerusalem 10 years later in 586 BCE. So, the 484 years mentioned above from the 169^th Olympiad would correspond to 588 BCE which is very close from the actual year of 586 BCE.

But misfortune soon struck his reign. Aristobulus had a wife, Salome, who despised him. When he was sick and remained in bed in his palace, his brother Antigonus came to visit him. Salome made an evil design which resulted in the guards killing Antigonus as he entered the palace, due to orders vague enough to be wrongly understood. And Aristobulus died soon after from his ailment. Thus, after barely one year since Hyrcanus’ death, his wife and his two preferred sons had died while Alexander, the son he despised most, was called to rule. And he married Salome, the widow, owing to the Biblical law of the levirate.

Year 3657 – 103 BCE – Alexander Jannai

During his 27 years of reign, Alexander extended the Hasmonean kingdom to the south and to the north. His kingdom reached its largest extent during the Hasmonean dynasty.

The Hasmonean kingdom under Alexander Jannai (in pink, the areas he conquered)

However, he was not able to conquer Ashqelon and its region, which ended as an enclave in his kingdom. He also got himself into trouble with Ptolemy IX “Lathyros” by attempting to convince his mother Cleopatra to conspire against her own son. Ptolemy learned about it and, as he was campaigning in the Levant, took revenge by killing many Jews, between 30,000 and 50,000 according to historians (Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book 13, 12:5), and even pretended that his army boiled and ate them, thus inspiring great fear in the Jewish population. This resulted in Cleopatra marching to Judea with an army, which forced her son to embark for Cyprus. Sometime after her return to Egypt, her younger son Ptolemy X assassinated her, in 101 BCE, and seized power again in the absence of his older brother Ptolemy IX, who was in Cyprus.

Year 3660 – 100 BCE – Unrest in Judea

These internal troubles in Egypt gave free hand to Alexander Jannai to pursue his reconquest of historical Jewish land. After taking Gaza however, his kingdom suffered from internal struggles between the two main sects, the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Alexander sided with the latter as Hyrcanus had done. This situation lasted for six years until 94 BCE when the Pharisees sought to attract Demetrius III, the Seleucid king, to help them get rid of Alexander Jannai with the promise to submit to his rule:

[Deme]trius king from Greece who sought, on the counsel of those who seek smooth things [the Pharisees], to enter Jerusalem. [But God did not permit the city to be delivered] into the hands of the kings from Greece, from the time of Antiochus until the coming of the rulers of the Kittim [the Romans]. But then she shall be trampled under their feet. (Dead Sea Scrolls, Nahum Commentary, 4QpNah/4Q169, commentary of Nahum 2: 12)

Demetrius did not come to help at that time. And Alexander’s reaction was violent. He executed many of the Pharisee rebels and hanged them alive on trees:

Interpreted, this concerns the furious young lion [King Alexander, who executes revenge] on those who seek smooth things [the Pharisees] and hangs men alive. […] Because of a man hanged alive on tree, He proclaims: ‘Behold I am against [you, says the Lord of Hosts’]. (Dead Sea Scrolls, op. cit., ii 12a-b)

This execution to hang a man alive is punishable by God, because hanging was authorized by Jewish law but only for people put to death first:

“And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be put to death, and you hang him on a tree; his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but you shall surely bury him the same day; for he that is hanged is a reproach unto God; that you defile not your land which the Lord your God gives you for an inheritance.” (Deuteronomy, 21:22-23)

Thus, the author of Nahum Commentary insinuates that Alexander’s act was calling for a divine punishment. It is also worth noting that this passage is often translated by Christian commentators as a "crucifixion", maybe because they believe that this method of execution was common in the Holy Land in these times. But the fact is that punishment by hanging on a tree, only for extreme sinners, was not a crucifixion and was only applicable to a criminal already put to death. His corpse was then hanged as a display to set an example for would-be criminals. And the hanged corpse had to be buried before the end of the same day, so it would never be left hanging over night (probably to avoid animals eating human flesh). The crucifixion, as we know it, was a Roman punishment, not a Jewish one.

Year 3660 – 100 BCE – Simeon ben Shetach

All the Pharisees leaders fled to Egypt during the persecutions of Alexander Jannai. But Simeon ben Shetach, a leading religious figure, who had previously fled to Egypt during the reign of Hyrcanus, returned to Jerusalem. His sister Salome was married to the king Alexander Jannai. He returned to take over the duties at the Sanhedrin which had been abandoned. So, he was elected as nassi in absence of the previous nassi, Joshua ben Perachiah. In his role and being the brother of the queen, Simeon was also successful in opposing the Sadducees' practices in many religious decisions and in imposing the rule of the Law to them. He taught the following:

Be thorough in the interrogation of witnesses and be careful in your words, lest from them they learn to utter falsehood. (Talmud, Avoth, Mishna 9)

Year 3670 – 90 BCE – The Book of Enoch

For centuries, the world knew of a Jewish document that was canonical to the Ethiopian Church but not to any other Christian church.  It was the Book of Enoch, named as such because it was said to be dating from Enoch (Hanoch in Hebrew) who walked in the path of God and taking alive from this world (see document C06). The tradition about him had started in Egypt, long ago, and was found vivid among Ethiopian people. But, lately, in the 20^th century, some extracts from the Book of Enoch were also found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, written in Aramaic instead of Hebrew, which shows that the book must have circulated from Egypt or Ethiopia back into Judea at some point.

It seems that the religious group who fled to Egypt at this time came across this work and brought it to Judea when they returned to their homeland, sometime in the first century BCE, and its translation in Aramaic found its way to the community of Essenes in Qumran. The following extract is related to the corruption of mankind when the Fallen Angels (Nephilim) copulated with the women of Earth, as mentioned in the Biblical text (see document C09):

And it came to pass when the children of men had multiplied that in those days were born unto them beautiful and comely daughters. And the angels, the children of the heaven, saw and lusted after them, and said to one another: 'Come, let us choose us wives from among the children of men and beget us children.'

And Semjaza, who was their leader, said unto them: 'I fear you will not indeed agree to do this deed, and I alone shall have to pay the penalty of a great sin.' And they all answered him and said: 'Let us all swear an oath, and all bind ourselves by mutual imprecations not to abandon this plan but to do this thing.' Then they all swore together and bound themselves by mutual imprecations upon it.

And they were in all two hundred who descended in the days of Jared on the summit of Mount Hermon, and they called it Mount Hermon, because they had sworn and bound themselves by mutual imprecations upon it. And these are the names of their leaders: Samlazaz, their leader, Araklba, Rameel, Kokablel, Tamlel, Ramlel, Danel, Ezeqeel, Baraqijal, Asael, Armaros, Batarel, Ananel, Zaqiel, Samsapeel, Satarel, Turel, Jomjael, Sariel. These are their chiefs of tens. (Robert Henry Charles, Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament in English, the Book of Enoch, Chapter 6)

Year 3671 – 89 BCE – Demetrius III’s campaign against Judea

Previously called for help by the Pharisees, and seeing a weaken Hasmonean kingdom, Demetrius III decided to intervene in the Judean affairs with the goal to take control of the land and attach it to his realm. Alexander Jannai opposed resistance but was defeated in 89 BCE and he fled with some of his followers to a hiding place in the mountains.

But Demetrius could not come into Jerusalem, because the Jewish rebels who had called for his help finally rebelled against him, preferring being ruled by a bad Jewish king than by a pagan Seleucid foreigner. They went to find Alexander and asked him to be their leader again. With this change of allegiance, Demetrius saw his position becoming precarious, so he decided to retreat to Damascus, his home city, where he died soon after in 88 BCE at the hand of his main enemy, the Parthians.

Year 3671 – 89 BCE – Yeshu 

According to the Talmud, Jesus (called Yeshu) was a young man who was a student of the nassi Joshua ben Perachiah until it was discovered, because of the student's misbehavior, that he was a mamzer which means he was not "clean" in the point of view of Rabbinical laws. This word is usually translated as “bastard” but it really simply means a religiously illegitimate child (Deuteronomy 23:2 and Talmud Yebamoth 49a). The story is found in Toledot Yeshu, an apocryphal book written some time before the Talmud which probably used it as a source. It starts as follows:

In the [Hebrew] year 3671 in the days of King Jannaeus [Alexander Jannai], a great misfortune befell Israel when there arose a certain disreputable man of the tribe of Judah, whose name was Joseph Pandera. He lived at Bethlehem, in Judah. Near his house dwelt a widow and her lovely and chaste daughter named Miriam. Miriam was betrothed to Yohanan, of the royal house of David, a man learned in the Torah and God-fearing. At the close of a certain Sabbath, Joseph Pandera, attractive and like a warrior in appearance, having gazed lustfully upon Miriam, knocked upon the door of her room and betrayed her by pretending that he was her betrothed husband, Yohanan. Even so, she was amazed at this improper conduct and submitted only against her will. (Toledot Yeshu, to see translation on line, click here)

The theory that Yeshu was a mamzer child is also hinted in the New Testament when Jesus was confronted by fellow Jews who taunted him as an "illegitimate" child, unlike them. This also points to a contradiction to the claim that he came from Davidic lineage, as expected for the Messiah of the Jews:

“Abraham is our father,” they [the Jews] answered. “If you were Abraham’s children,” said Jesus, “then you would do what Abraham did. As it is, you are looking for a way to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things. You are doing the works of your own father.”

“We are not illegitimate children,” they protested. “The only Father we have is God himself.” (Gospel of John, 8:39-41)

The early Christian theologist, Origen of Alexandria, confirmed the existence of this tradition about Jesus' origin in a book he wrote around 250 CE. At that time, the Talmud was not compiled yet, but this tradition was known or accessible to scholars from the Toledot Yeshu:

But let us now return to where the Jew is introduced, speaking of the mother of Jesus, and saying that "when she was pregnant, she was turned out of doors by the carpenter to whom she had been betrothed, as having been guilty of adultery, and that she bore a child to a certain soldier named Panthera." (Origen, "Contra Celsum", Book I, chapter 32, to read the text online, click here)

Origen didn't mention his source but clearly knew about the rumor that the father of Jesus had been a so-called Panthera or Pandera.

Some say that Panthera was in fact a nickname for a soldier-like Hellenistic Jew (not a Roman soldier, as some later sources mentioned) from the Greek word parthenon, which is the same word as the Parthenon temple in Athens. In Greek, a parthenon means the part of house which is used for an unmarried woman's apartment. This is because parthenon is derived from the Greek word parthenos which means a virgin maiden. The similarity of the names and their significance may not be a mere coincidence. Origen was later declared anathema by the Church in 553 CE.

The Toledot Yeshu only became openly known to the Church in 1514 CE and this was the cause of persecutions against the Jews and their books to be burned.

Year 3674 – 86 BCE – Alexander Jannai besieges Antioch

Then Alexander marched onto Antioch, the Seleucid capital, and participated in its siege for three years. It was the result of an alliance with the Armenians who came from the north. According to the Book V of the Maccabees, which is not always accurate for historical details, the king in Antioch was Demetrius, although Demetrius’ seat was in Damascus, and he had already died in his war against the Parthians. But the king in Antioch was Antiochus X. After three years of siege, in 83 BCE, he made an exit with his forces to unlock the city. But he was killed in battle. Then Alexander returned to Judea as a hero:

He returned to Jerusalem to his citizens, who magnified him, honoring and praising him for having defeated his enemies. And the Jews agreed to submit to him, and his heart was at rest, and he sent his armies against all his enemies, whom he put to flight, and gained the victory over them. He also gained possession of the mountains of Sarah [Seir], and the country of Ammon, and Moab, and the country of the Philistines, and all the parts which were in the hands of the Arabians who fought with him, even to the bounds of the desert. And the affairs of his kingdom were ruled alright; and he placed his people and his country in a state of safety. (Maccabees, Book V, 29:17-20)

Coinage of Alexander Jannai (source Wikipedia)

The king of Armenia, Alexander's ally, was Tigranes II, so-called “the Great”. After their victory, he took over the Syrian part of the Seleucid kingdom, while the Parthians already had control over the eastern and southern parts.

The Armenian kingdom under Tigranes II the Great (source Kingdom of Armenia)

Year 3680 – 80 BCE – Unrest in Egypt

Egypt was going through trouble again in these days. After that Ptolemy X had assassinated his mother and seized power from his older brother Ptolemy IX “Lathyros”, in 107 BCE, he reigned for nearly 20 years until he died in battle. His older brother Ptolemy IX reigned again from 88 BCE. But he made himself infamous in the eyes of the Ptolemaic nation when he stole the sarcophagus of Alexander the Great for its gold for the purpose of issuing coinage. This act outraged the people of Alexandria who murdered him in 81 BCE. Then, a period of political instability started in Egypt.

Coinage of Ptolemy IX

Year 3680 – 80 BCE – Simeon ben Shetach recalls the Pharisees

Sometime before Alexander Yannai’s death, Simeon ben Shetach was authorized to recall the Pharisees from their exile in Egypt, among them was also his predecessor as nassi, Joshua ben Perachiah. Joshua was eventually elected back to his lost role, and Simeon became av beth din, his second. The religious authority of the Sanhedrin was then restored.

The event that triggered this change of policy from Alexander was told as follows. During a session when the king was called to court for a hearing against him because he was asked to return a property he had confiscated for his personal use, the Sadducees would not pass a religious judgment against him. This was seen as a clear injustice. Simeon, in anger, called for divine judgment and the Sadducees dropped dead. Afraid, Alexander pleaded for Simeon to form a Sanhedrin as he wished and to be called for judgment.

When Joshua ben Perachiah died, Simeon ben Shetach took back the role of nassi, and Judah ben Tabbai was chosen as av beth din.

Year 3684 – 76 BCE – Death of Alexander Jannai - Regency of Salome

Alexander was ill for the last three years of his life. By fear of the Pharisees, he had advised his wife to conceal his death, until she would be able to secure her regency for their young sons to be king. He died after a reign of 27 years. The Pharisees however made no opposition to his last wish when they learned about his death and respected his will to see his sons rule after him, and to have his wife Salome Alexandra (called Shlomtzion, which means Peace of Sion, in Hebrew) as regent in the meantime.

Salome was the sister of Simeon ben Shetach so had nothing to fear from the Pharisees. She restored all their rights, freed the ones who were still in prison, and recalled the ones who were in exile. As of her brother, Simeon, he restored the Pharisees in the Sanhedrin and the religious rulings that had been discarded by the Sadducees since the great persecution of John Hyrcanus.

When her two sons Hyrcanus and Aristobulus grew up, Salome made Hyrcanus high priest and Aristobulus commander of the army (Maccabees, Book V, 31:6-7). As the army was composed of many Sadducees, they had more influence over Aristobulus while, in his role of high priest, Hyrcanus was guided by the Pharisees. On the account that the Pharisees sought revenge against the Sadducees for what they had done against during the previous reigns, the Sadducees complained to Queen Salome and threatened to restart a civil war. They told her:

“Nor will we endure to be killed by the Pharisees, like sheep. Therefore, either restrain their malice from us, or allow us to go out from the city [Jerusalem] into some of the towns of Judah." And she said to them, “Do this, that their annoyance to you may be prevented."

And the Sadducees went forth of the city; and their chiefs departed with the men of war who adhered to them; and went with their cattle to those of the towns of Judah which they had selected and dwelt in them; and they were joined by those who were devoted to virtue [i.e. the Hasdanim]. (Maccabees, Book V, 31:8-12)

They established themselves, along with the Hasdanim (the Essenes), outside the main cities of Judea, in “cities of refuge” as instructed by the Law.

Year 3684 – 76 BCE – The creation of schools

Simeon ben Shetah was also the religious leader who was first to establish schools for children. Before him, the tradition was that children should be educated by their fathers but, with the religious knowledge having been lower for some time, it was considered sensible to leave the education to knowledgeable teachers. The decision to create public schools could only be afforded with political backing. So, this policy happened once Salome, Simeon's sister, became regent. The first model of school was like a modern-day yeshiva, dedicated to the study of the Scriptures.

This was an important move for Jewish life and allowed religious leaders to educate many students on Jewish laws and raise disciples for the new generation. Education is in fact especially important in Jewish life, and schools became officially open to every child in every region of the country over the years that followed:

R. Joshua ben Gamala came and ordained that teachers of young children should be appointed in each district and each town and that children should enter school at the age of six or seven. (Talmud, Baba Batra, 21a)

So, in Jewish life, schools were open from the age of six and were free to every child. It took about 2000 years for the Western world to adopt such a model in the form of primary schools, also starting from about the age of six. This long-lasting Jewish tradition goes even further in setting the suitable number of pupils per class:

Raba further said: The number of pupils to be assigned to each teacher is twenty-five. If there are fifty, we appoint two teachers. If there are forty, we appoint an assistant, at the expense of the town. (Talmud, Baba Batra, 21a)

Year 3693 – 67 BCE – Death of Salome Alexandra

Shortly before Salome died of illness at the age of 73, after 9 years of reign, gave the powers to Hyrcanus, her eldest son. But her younger son Aristobulus went to the Sadducees to exhort them to join him in a war to rid the country of his brother Hyrcanus and of the Pharisees.

This civil war quickly led to the victory of Aristobulus who besieged Jerusalem where Hyrcanus and his followers took refuge. One episode of this siege was recounted in the Talmud:

Our Rabbis taught: When the members of the Hasmonean house were contending with one another, Hyrcanus was within and Aristobulus without [the city wall]. [Those who were within] used to let down to the other party every day a basket of denarii [coins], and [in return] cattle were sent up for the regular sacrifices [of the Temple].

There was, however, an old man [among the besieger; some say it was Antipater, father of future King Herod] who had some knowledge in Greek Wisdom [Sophism] and who said to them: ‘As long as the other party [are allowed to] continue to perform the service of the sacrifices, they will not be delivered into your hands.’ On the next day when the basket of denarii was let down, a swine was sent up. When the swine reached the center of the wall it stuck its claws into the wall, and the Land of Israel quaked over a distance of four hundred parasangs by four hundred parasangs. (Talmud, Baba Kama, 82b)

To avoid utter destruction of the Holy City, it was agreed to give the kingship to Aristobulus while Hyrcanus would solely focus on the priesthood. Peace was thus restored. But it only lasted for a short while.

Later, Antipater, an Idumean Jew who had converted to Judaism in the reign of Hyrcanus, conspired against Aristobulus to restore, as he claimed, the kingship to the rightful and pious older brother, Hyrcanus. Aristobulus' followers believed that Hyrcanus was behind this conspiration, but that was not the truth.

After a while, Antipater however succeeded in convincing Hyrcanus to join the conspiration and he also made alliance with Aretas, the king of the Nabateans in Petra, to gather his army against Aristobulus. When war started, most of the Jewish army joined Hyrcanus, as the legitimate contender, and Aristobulus retreated to Jerusalem and prepared for an expected siege. 

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Albert Benhamou

Private Tour Guide in Israel

Tammuz 5785 - July 2025