CliAPThR XIX. 489 Egypt? Answer. When Ptolemy Philopator was dead, and Ptolemy Epiphanes came to the crown, the Jews having being greatly persecuted by the Ptolemies, Submitted themselves to Antiochus the great, king of Syria ; and when he came to Jeru- salem in a solemn procession, they went to meet him, and re- ceived' him gladly. 2.' Q. How did Antiochus reward them ? A. He granted them many privileges, as he had done to their countrymen who were settled in Babylonia and Mesopotamia, having always found the men of that nation faithful to him. 3. Q. What confidence did he put in them on this account ? A. He transported several of them from Babylonia to the lesser Asia to keep his forts and garrisons, and gave them good settle- ments there ; whence sprmtg a great part of the Jews that were found in that country in the apostles' times. 4. Q. What remarkable event fell out in the days of Se- leucus Philopator, son and successor to Antiochus the great ? A. Simon a Benjamite, being made governor of the temple, some differences arose between him and Onias the third, the high-priest, an excellent man, concerning some disorders in the city; and when Simon could not obtain his will, he informed Apollonius the governor of the province under Seleucus, that great treasures were hid in the temple ; whereupon Heliodorus the treasurer was sent to seize them, 5. Q. How did the hand of God appear against Heliodorus in his attempt to enter the temple ? A. Thepriests and the peo- ple made great outcries and supplications to God, upon which Heliodorus is reported to have seen a vision of a horse with a terrible rider upon him, who smote Heliodorus with his fore-feet, and two young men appeased who. scourged him sorely ; upon which Heliodorus fell suddenly to the ground in darkness and confusion ; but being restored by the prayers of Onias, he acknowledged the power of God; and pr from the city. Read this story more at large ; 2 Mac. chap. iii. I confess it seems to have something a little fabulous in the air of it, as also other stories in that book. 6. Q. How came so good a man as Onias to be turned out of the priesthood? A. When Antiochus Epiphanes succeeded his brother Seleucus in the kingdom of Syria, Jason bribed him with a large sum of money to turn out his own brother Onias, banish him to,Antioch, and confer the priesthood on himself; not that he affected it as it was a religious office,, but as it' included the power of civil government ; 2 Mac. iv. 7. 7. Q. 'What did this wicked Jason do when he was high- priest? A. He erected a place of exercise at Jerusalem, for training up youth according to the fashion of the Greeks, and made as many of them as he could forsake the religiouscustoms and usages of their forefathers, and conform themselves in VOL. v. 'I t
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