Third leader of the Judean revolt against
the Greco-Syrian empire (166
BCE). Jonathan was the youngest
son of Mattathias
of Modein & chief lieutenant of
his elder brother, Judah
Maccabee. He reorganized Judean resistance to Syrian forces after his
brother's death (160
BCE). He not only eluded capture by the Syrian general
who garrisoned Judea,
but shrewdly bargained with rival claimants to the Syrian throne. He
was awarded the Judean high-priesthood by Alexander Balas
(152 BCE)
& later rewarded with full control of Judean territory after he
defeated Demetrius II
(147 BCE). After Balas' death
(145 BCE),
Jonathan gained a foothold in Samaria
by allying himself with Demetrius. When Demetrius was overthrown,
Jonathan courted more gentile allies & tried to take control of
more territory. He invaded southern Galilee,
but was captured & killed by treachery at Ptolemaïs
[Akko]. Despite spectacular external political gains, Jonathan's
policies created religious discord among conservative Jews, many of
whom viewed his claim to the high-priesthood illegitimate. He left
no male heirs, but the Jewish historian Josephus
claimed descent from an unnamed daughter.
He was succeeded by his older
brother Simon, whose descendents became the Hasmonean
dynasty of Judean rulers.
References:
1
Maccabees
2:5;
9:19,28 -73;
10:7-21,59-66,74-89;
11:3-7,20-74;
12:1-7,24-50.
Josephus,
Antiquities
12.266,
332-353,
432;
13.5-57,
83-105,
121-212,
228.
_____, War
1.48-49.
Other resources on
line:
Perspective on the
World of Jesus 