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Show grekcb: now overlord HELLENISM the word cornea from Hellas, meaning Greece began to make itself felt in every walk of Jewish life, especially in the many Jewish settlements outside out-side of Palestine. Unfortunately, it was not the Hellenism of classic Greece, the Hellenism that flowered flow-ered in the genius of Socrates, Plato, Pla-to, Sophocles, and Phidias. Rather Rath-er it was the Hellenism debased and sullied through long handling by Macedonians and other lesser tribes. But debased as it was, it nevertheless never-theless proved attractive. Even the priests in Jerusalem began to take to it. Indeed, they were attracted to it even more than the plain people. peo-ple. The story goes that they actually ac-tually left the sacrifices unburnt on the altars in the Temple, and hurried hur-ried off to the arenas to watch the Greek athletes there. Greek manners man-ners and vices became the great fashion of the day, for the more a Jew aped them the better seemed his chance of growing in power and station. Of course, this change did not come about overnight, but took three or four generations. After Alexander died, his empire was divided di-vided into three kingdoms; and Palestine, being the bridge between be-tween two of them, naturally became be-came the scene of constant warfare. war-fare. First it belonged to the Ptolemies, Ptole-mies, who ruled over Egypt; but before long the Seleucids, who ruled over Syria and Mesopotamia, tried to annex it. The attempt failed, but it was nevertheless repeated re-peated several times, for Syria greatly coveted the "bridge." So for fully a century the little land was torn this way and that. Armies Ar-mies tramped up and down its highways continually, and there was war and confusion without rest. But finally the bloody contest con-test was brought to end when, in the year 198 B. C., the Syrians drove the Egyptian army back to the Nile country and formally annexed an-nexed Palestine. Hellenism had been seeping steadily into Palestine during all that troublous century. Indeed, had nothing occurred to stem the tide, it might have so flooded the land that Jewish life and thought would in time have been drowned out completely. But one day there arose in Syria a king named An-tiochus An-tiochus Epiphanes, who by his headstrong impatience spoiled everything. ev-erything. It is difficult to understand under-stand just what was wrong with this king. He seems to have been learned and markedly clever but also at moments quite insane. ' He took great delight in poking fun at the whole matter of religion, and yet at the same time he tried to build a religion around himself. That is why he called himself Theos Epiphanes, which means "The Evident God." Judea at the time was seething with unrest because the corrupt, Hellenized priests were at last being be-ing brought to book by a few of the pious Jews. It looked somewhat some-what like a political uprising to Antiochus, and on his way home from a campaign in Egypt he stopped in the middle of the "bridge" to attend to the trouble. He looted the Temple and then simply sim-ply ordered Judaism to cease. Just that! Evidently he thought it would be quite easy for him to stamp out this obscure and, as he thought, very odd little religion. His orders were that never more . should the Sabbath, or the rite of circumcision, or the difference between be-tween "clean" and "unclean" food, be observed. Any person found with a Hebrew book in his possession posses-sion was immediately to be put to ' death. Henceforth if there was to be any sacrificing it must be of swine's flesh, and to Antiochus or . Zeus as god. For a while starkest horror swept the land as the army ol ; Antiochus began to put those or-, or-, ders into effect. There were looting and murder, i wailing and shaYne, as the minions t of the Syrian tyrant tried to carry - out his orders. An then, like the ! breaking out of a mad fire, the t nation blazed into rebellion. |