Antiochus IV Epiphanes

Life

The Seleucid dynasty was a Hellenistic dynasty that ruled Syria and Mesopotamia after the death of Alexander the Great. Antiochus IV was the son of Antiochus III, a king of this dynasty. After his father was defeated by Rome and concluded a treaty in 188 BC, Antiochus spent his youth in Rome as a hostage. When his brother Seleucus IV was murdered, he ascended the throne in 175 BC.

"Epiphanes" is a title meaning "(a god) manifest." The historian Polybius reports that people of the time mockingly called him "Epimanes," meaning "the madman." He is believed to have died of illness in 164 BC during a campaign in the east.

Reign and Persecution of Judaism

He invaded Egypt but withdrew in 168 BC at the demand of a Roman envoy. In Judea he intervened in disputes over the office of high priest. In the process, men who supported Hellenization—the adoption of Greek culture and institutions—obtained the high priesthood.

According to the apocryphal book of 1 Maccabees (chapter 1), around 167 BC he prohibited circumcision and the observance of the Sabbath and ordered the books of the Law to be burned. He also set up a pagan altar in the Jerusalem temple, commonly understood to have been an altar to Zeus. In response, the priest Mattathias and his sons rose in revolt. His son Judas Maccabeus recaptured the temple in 164 BC, cleansed it, and rededicated it. The festival commemorating this event is the Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah), which is also mentioned in John 10:22. The revolt later led to the establishment of the Hasmonean dynasty.

Biblical Interpretation and the Korean Church

The books of Maccabees are not included in the Protestant canon. The Korean Common Translation Bible used by the Catholic Church includes 1 and 2 Maccabees as deuterocanonical books. Korean Protestants therefore encounter Antiochus mainly in Bible studies on the interpretation of Daniel or on the intertestamental period.

• Many commentators connect him with the "little horn" of Daniel 8, the "king of the north" of Daniel 11, and "the abomination that maketh desolate" of Daniel 11:31.
• Conservative evangelical scholars hold that Daniel, writing in the sixth century BC, foretold these events and that they were fulfilled exactly as predicted. Historical-critical scholars hold that the Book of Daniel reached its final form around the time of this persecution.
• Jesus took up the expression "the abomination of desolation" in Matthew 24:15. For this reason, many interpreters regard Antiochus as a type (a figure that foreshadows what is to come) of the Antichrist. Dispensationalist interpretation often reads Daniel 11:36 and following as a prophecy concerning a future Antichrist.
• Many commentators connect the "two thousand and three hundred days" of Daniel 8:14 with the period of the temple's desecration under Antiochus. The Seventh-day Adventist Church interprets these days as years, reading the passage as a prophecy extending to 1844.

Assessment

The books of Maccabees and ancient Jewish literature portray him as a tyrant who persecuted the faith. Christian tradition has likewise generally regarded him as the archetype of a king who opposed God. Some modern historians, however, offer a different interpretation. They argue that his policies were less a consistent program to eradicate the religion from the outset than the result of the dynasty's financial pressures combined with conflict within Jewish society between Hellenizers and traditionalists.