Simon II (high priest)

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Simon II , the son of Onias II, was a Jewish high priest who was in office in Jerusalem at the time of the Second Temple (from about 196 BC).

The deuterocanonical author Jesus Sirach dedicated a poem of praise to Simon II ( Sir 50: 1–21  LUT ). He praised "his deeds, temple renovation, rule and shiny appearance in the high priestly robes and at the sacrificial service in front of the temple community and in the midst of the Aaronite priests."

“Simeon, the son of Onias, was the high priest who in his life repaired a house and in his day fortified a temple; and by him was built from the ground up on the level of the forecourt, a high retaining wall of the perimeter wall of the sanctuary; in his day a basin for water was carved out of the rock, a cistern like the circumference of the sea; who took care of his people because of the fall and who fortified the city during the siege. "

- Jesus Sirach : 50 : 1-4

After the victory of the Seleucids Antiochus III. The proseleucid policy of Onias II and his successor Simon II paid off over the general of the still childish Ptolemy V at Paneas (200 or 198 BC): Antiochus III, who was preparing for a battle against Rome, needed rest in the newly acquired areas. Flavius ​​Josephus reports that he pledged the reconstruction of Jerusalem and granted various privileges to the Jerusalem priestly aristocracy. Simon II now acted with part of the Tobiad family against Hyrcanus , a Jerusalem supporter of the Ptolemies. Apparently he was able to force him to withdraw to his possessions in the East Bank.

The basin that Simon II had carved out is identified with the southern basin of the sheep oak near Jerusalem.

Simon II had two sons Onias III. and Joshua, who followed him in the high priesthood. Onias III. was 174 BC Deposed Epiphanes by Antiochus IV , although it is unclear whether he was murdered or was able to flee to Egypt. Joshua added his name to Jason.

literature

  • Otto Mulder: Simon the High Priest in Sirach 50: An Exegetical Study of the Significance of Simon the High Priest As Climax to the Praise of the Fathers in Ben Sira's Concept of the History of Israel. Brill, Leiden 2003.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jan Christian Gertz (Ed.): Basic information Old Testament . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 6th revised and expanded edition Göttingen 2019, p. 610.
  2. ↑ Oliver Gussmann: The understanding of priests by Flavius ​​Josephus , Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 2008, p. 46.
  3. ^ Septuagint German . The Greek Old Testament in German translation. German Bible Society, Stuttgart 2009, ISBN 978-3-438-05122-6 , pp. 1160 .
  4. ↑ Jan Christian Gertz (Ed.): Basic information Old Testament . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 6th revised and expanded edition Göttingen 2019, p. 181.
  5. ↑ Jan Christian Gertz (Ed.): Basic Information Old Testament , Göttingen 2019, p. 182.
  6. ↑ Jan Christian Gertz (Ed.): Basic Information Old Testament , Göttingen 2019, p. 183.
  7. ↑ Max Küchler : Jerusalem. A handbook and study guide to the Holy City. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2007, p. 318.
  8. ↑ Jan Christian Gertz (Ed.): Basic Information Old Testament , Göttingen 2019, p. 183 f.