by
Damien F. Mackey
Hadrian, in fact,
called Tyre a Metropolis,
“Great City”, Mother of
other cities.
Introduction
Although the emperor
Hadrian would generally be considered to have been well out of chronological
range to be able to qualify as the prophet Ezekiel’s fallen King of Tyre
(28:1-19), here the ill-fated tyrant will be dragged back, kicking and
screaming, by some centuries, to fuse with the notorious king, Antiochus
‘Epiphanes’ (God Manifest), considered by many to be the persecuting “little
horn” of Daniel 7 – the vision of whom had so troubled the prophet (Daniel
7:15, 28).
I had already come to
the conclusion - directly in the face of text book wisdom - that Hadrian,
regarded as being one of the great Roman emperors, was, in fact, a Greek. For,
despite the chronological gap that is thought to separate Antiochus from Hadrian,
the latter is often called ‘a mirror-image’ of Antiochus.
Only some time later
did I read that, according to Rabbinic traditions, Hadrian replaces Antiochus
in the Maccabean story of the martyrdom of the mother and her seven sons.
That Hadrian was a
Greek, not a Roman, now perfectly accounts as well for his love of all things
Greek, his ‘Grecophilia’. Why, was he not known as Graeculus (Little
Greek)?
This includes his
bearded appearance.
His ‘other self’ (alter
ego), Antiochus, was a Seleucid Greek in the line of the Macedonian
general, Seleucus Nicator, a successor of Alexander the Great.
King Antiochus, who
abominated the Temple in Jerusalem, went by the epithet, ‘Epiphanes’, “God
Manifest”, which will have great relevance for this article.
But the Jews hated him
and changed the epithet to ‘Epimanes’, “Mad Man”.
Now this, our combined Seleucid
king, Antiochus-Hadrian strikingly ticks some, at least, of the prophet
Ezekiel’s main boxes concerning the fallen King of Tyre – so much so that I
must consider that he is the one about whom Ezekiel was prophesying.
King Antiochus-Hadrian
was a much travelled king, but he, as Antiochus, would be connected with
Antioch (the city of his name), rather than the more southerly Tyre.
The Bible, however,
often takes its geography with reference to Israel. Thus a king who moved about
and ruled from several major cities will typically be identified with the city
closest to Israel.
Another king of Tyre,
Hiram, for instance, probably had his main capital much further to the north of
Tyre, at Aleppo.
How the Emperor fits
Ezekiel’s matrix
Antiochus ‘Epiphanes’:
·
Was associated with the city of Tyre.
·
He, despite his bright start, became more and more corrupt and
violent.
·
He was immensely wealthy, and he built on a gargantuan scale.
·
He stood in Eden (Jerusalem), in the Temple of Yahweh;
·
Accompanied by an anointed cherub, the priest Menelaus.
·
He began to imagine himself as a god.
·
His fall was sudden and dreadful.
Let us consider these several points in
turn:
1.
Associated with Tyre
“Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre
…”
Ezekiel 28:2
“Son of man, raise a lamentation over the king of
Tyre …”.
Ezekiel 28:12
2 Maccabees 4:18-20:
Once when the king [Antiochus] was present
for the athletic games that were held every five years in the city of
Tyre, that worthless Jason sent some men there from Jerusalem, who
were also enrolled as citizens of Antioch, to take 22,500 pounds of silver to
pay for a sacrifice to the god Hercules. But even these men did not think it
was fitting to use such a large sum of money for a sacrifice, and so the
money originally intended as a sacrifice to Hercules was used for the
construction of warships.
2 Maccabees 4:44:
“When
the king [Antiochus] came to Tyre …”.
And,
regarding the emperor Hadrian’s strong associations with Tyre
https://bibliotecanatalie.com/f/following-hadrian-to-tyre?blogcategory=Ancient
….
On his way back to Ephesus, sometime between 130 and 131 CE [sic], Hadrian went
to Tyre (Tyrus or Sur in modern-day Lebanon).
Hadrian might have been in the city around January,
celebrating his 54th birthday!
Two
levels of the road that lead to the Tower of Pagan King Hiram in Tyre's center
are still visible. These were paved later in the Byzantine period.
The
Roman road at the west of Hadrian's Arch has an upper layer with remains of the
Byzantine era. It is paved with large limestone blocks.
Traces of the chariot wheels are still
visible on the road. Various Greek games and chariot racing (the Actia
Heraclia and the Olympia) took place every four years in
the nearby hippodrome of Tyre.
[Cf. 2
Maccabees 4:18: “Once when the king [Antiochus] was present
for the athletic games that were held every five years in the city
of Tyre …”].
Hadrian, in fact,
called Tyre a Metropolis, “Great City”, Mother of other cities.
2.
Potentially good king turned bad?
“You
were blameless in your ways
from the day you were created,
till unrighteousness was found in you”.
Ezekiel
28:15
https://www.quora.com/Hadrian-is-deemed-one-of-the-five-good-emperors-but-is-he-really-that-good-He-abandoned-lots-of-territories-conquered-by-Trajan-for-no-reason-and-those-territories-have-caused-trouble-for-the-Roman-empire-later-on
“Hadrian is deemed one of the five good
emperors but was he really that good?”
https://www.romanemperors.com/hadrian.htm
“Historical
accounts portray Hadrian as a complex individual, with a love for the arts and
a passion for travel. He was also known for his temper and paranoia,
particularly towards the end of his life. These complexities add to the
intrigue surrounding this multifaceted emperor”.
1
Maccabees 1:16-19:
When
Antiochus saw that his kingdom was established, he determined to become king of
the land of Egypt, in order that he might reign over both kingdoms. So he
invaded Egypt with a strong force, with chariots and elephants and cavalry and
with a large fleet. He engaged King Ptolemy of Egypt in battle, and
Ptolemy turned and fled before him, and many were wounded and fell. They
captured the fortified cities in the land of Egypt, and he plundered the land
of Egypt.
King Antiochus
actually wept over the murder of the pious Jewish High Priest, Onias:
2
Maccabees 4:36-38:
When the
king returned from the region of Cilicia, the Jews of the city, together with
the Greeks who detested the crime, went to see him about the murder of Onias. Antiochus was deeply grieved and full of pity; he wept as he
recalled the prudence and noble conduct of the deceased.
Inflamed
with anger, he immediately stripped Andronicus of his purple robe, tore off his
garments, and had him led through the whole city to the very place where he had
committed the outrage against Onias; and there he put the murderer to death.
Thus the Lord rendered him the punishment he deserved.
But it all went seriously downhill after
that.
Antiochus
Persecutes the Jews
2
Maccabees 5:11-14:
When these happenings were reported to the
king, he thought that Judea was in revolt. Raging like a wild animal, he set
out from Egypt and took Jerusalem by storm.
He ordered his soldiers to cut down without
mercy those whom they met and to slay those who took refuge in their houses.
There was a massacre of young and old, a
killing of women and children, a slaughter of young women and infants.
In the space of three days, eighty thousand
were lost, forty thousand meeting a violent death, and the same number being
sold into slavery.
2
Maccabees 7
It also
happened that seven brothers with their mother were arrested and tortured with
whips and scourges by the king to force them to eat pork in violation of God’s
law.
One of the
brothers, speaking for the others, said: “What do you expect to learn by
questioning us? We are ready to die rather than transgress the laws of our
ancestors.”
(Read in
full this inspiring chapter 7).
1
Maccabees 1:20-64:
In the year 143, after the conquest of
Egypt, Antiochus marched with a great army against the land of Israel and the
city of Jerusalem.
In his arrogance, he entered the Temple and
took away the gold altar, the lampstand with all its equipment, the table
for the bread offered to the Lord, the cups and bowls, the gold fire pans, the
curtain, and the crowns.
He also stripped all the gold from the
front of the Temple and carried off the silver and gold and everything
else of value, including all the treasures that he could find stored
there. Then he took it all to his own country. He had also murdered many
people and boasted arrogantly about it. There was great mourning
everywhere in the land of Israel.
Rulers and leaders
groaned in sorrow.
Young men and young women grew weak.
The beauty of our women faded.
Every bridegroom sang a funeral song,
and every bride sat mourning in her room.
All our people were clothed with shame,
and our land trembled for them.
Two years later Antiochus sent a large army
from Mysia against the towns of Judea. When the soldiers entered
Jerusalem, their commander spoke to the people, offering them terms of
peace and completely deceiving them. Then he suddenly launched a fierce attack
on the city, dealing it a major blow and killing many of the people. He
plundered the city, set it on fire, and tore down its buildings and
walls. He and his army took the women and children as prisoners and seized
the cattle.
Then Antiochus and his forces built high
walls and strong towers in the area north of the Temple, turning it into a
fort. They brought in a group of traitorous Jews and installed them
there. They also brought in arms and supplies and stored in the fort all
the loot that they had taken in Jerusalem. This fort became a great threat to
the city.
The fort was a threat
to the Temple,
a constant, evil menace for Israel.
Innocent people were murdered around the altar;
the Holy Place was defiled by murderers.
The people of
Jerusalem fled in fear,
and the city became a colony of foreigners.
Jerusalem was foreign to its own people,
who had been forced to abandon the city.
Her Temple was as empty as a wilderness;
her festivals were turned into days of mourning,
her Sabbath joy into shame.
Her honor became an object of ridicule.
Her shame was as great as her former glory,
and her pride was turned into deepest mourning.
Antiochus now issued a decree that all
nations in his empire should abandon their own customs and become one people.
All the Gentiles and even many of the Israelites submitted to this decree. They
adopted the official pagan religion, offered sacrifices to idols, and no longer
observed the Sabbath.
The king also sent messengers with a decree
to Jerusalem and all the towns of Judea, ordering the people to follow customs
that were foreign to the country.
He ordered them not to offer burnt
offerings, grain offerings, or wine offerings in the Temple, and commanded them
to treat Sabbaths and festivals as ordinary work days. They were even
ordered to defile the Temple and the holy things in it. They
were commanded to build pagan altars, temples, and shrines, and to sacrifice
pigs and other unclean animals there. They were forbidden to circumcise
their sons and were required to make themselves ritually unclean in every way
they could, so that they would forget the Law which the Lord had given
through Moses and would disobey all its commands. The penalty for
disobeying the king's decree was death.
The king not only issued the same decree
throughout his whole empire, but he also appointed officials to supervise the
people and commanded each town in Judea to offer pagan sacrifices.
Many of the Jews were ready to forsake the
Law and to obey these officials. They defiled the land with their
evil, and their conduct forced all true Israelites to hide wherever they
could.
On the fifteenth day of the month of Kislev
in the year 145, King Antiochus set up The Awful Horror on the altar of
the Temple, and pagan altars were built in the towns throughout
Judea. Pagan sacrifices were offered in front of houses and in the
streets. Any books of the Law which were found were torn up and
burned, and anyone who was caught with a copy of the sacred books or who
obeyed the Law was put to death by order of the king. Month after month
these wicked people used their power against the Israelites caught in the
towns.
On the twenty-fifth of the month, these
same evil people offered sacrifices on the pagan altar erected on top of the
altar in the Temple. Mothers who had allowed their babies to be
circumcised were put to death in accordance with the king's decree. Their
babies were hung around their necks, and their families and those who had
circumcised them were put to death. But many people in Israel firmly
resisted the king's decree and refused to eat food that was ritually
unclean. They preferred to die rather than break the holy covenant and eat
unclean food—and many did die. In his anger God made Israel suffer
terribly.
3.
Antiochus accumulated immense wealth
By your wisdom and
understanding
you have gained wealth for yourself
and amassed gold and silver
in your treasuries.
By your great skill in trading
you have increased your wealth,
and because of your wealth
your heart has grown proud.
Ezekiel 28:4-5
Daniel 11:38-39, 42-43:
[The king] will honor a god of fortresses;
a god unknown to his ancestors he will honor with gold and silver, with
precious stones and costly gifts. He will attack the
mightiest fortresses with the help of a foreign god and will greatly honor
those who acknowledge him. He will make them rulers over many people and will
distribute the land at a price.
…
He will extend his power over many
countries; Egypt will not escape. He will gain control of the treasures of
gold and silver and all the riches of Egypt, with the Libyans and
Cushites in submission.
https://learn.hopechannel.com/au/read/hadrian-saviour-of-the-empire
“Hadrian was keen to inform rulers of
cities, kingdoms and empires beyond the Empire of Rome’s economic credentials
too. Once, when the king of Parthia sent Hadrian a gift of gold-embroidered
cloaks, Hadrian made light of this by sending 300 criminals into the arena to
fight to the death wearing similar gold-embroidered cloaks.
Not surprisingly, the rulers of the
kingdoms outside the Roman Empire rushed to Hadrian’s court in order to become
friends and to sample Rome’s wealth for themselves, including those as far away
as the Caspian Sea, and Bactria in present-day Pakistan”.
The king’s wisdom in
trading and financial dealing was, however, of an earthly kind, which Ezekiel
mockingly measures against the true, infused wisdom of Daniel (28:3-4): “… you are indeed wiser than Daniel; no
secret is hidden from you;
by your wisdom and your understanding you have made wealth for yourself and
amassed gold and silver in your treasuries”.
This is the kind
of wisdom that the Apostle James will call “demonic” (James 3:13-18):
Who is wise
and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by
deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor
bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or
deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is
earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where you have envy and selfish
ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
But the
wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then
peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit,
impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of
righteousness.
The prophet Ezekiel is,
in chapters 26-28, marvellously recalling the history of Tyre, from its halçyon
early days (under Hiram) through its spectacular growth in wealth and power,
based on canny trading wisdom, to its crashing fall under Alexander’s regime,
all the while paralleling against this the rise and fall of one of its great
rulers.
And brilliantly
underlying this literal history of Tyre and its rulers is an allegorical theme
of the rise and fall of Adam. All of that can make it quite complex to
interpret.
Later the Edenic
serpent will enter the scene as well, as a fallen cherub.
4. Stood in Eden
(Jerusalem), in the Temple of Yahweh
“You were in Eden, the
garden of God …”.
Ezekiel 28:13
Daniel
11:29-32:
Then
he will turn back and vent his fury against the holy covenant. He will
return and show favor to those who forsake the holy covenant.
His
armed forces will rise up to desecrate the temple fortress and will abolish the
daily sacrifice. Then they will set up the abomination that causes
desolation. With flattery he will corrupt those who have violated the
covenant, but the people who know their God will firmly resist him.
2 Maccabees 5:16-17:
[Antiochus] laid his impure hands on the
sacred vessels and swept up with profane hands the votive offerings made by
other kings for the advancement, the glory, and the honor of the place.
Antiochus became puffed up in spirit, not
realizing that it was because of the sins of the city’s inhabitants that the
Sovereign Lord was angry for a little while: hence the disregard of the place.
5. Accompanied by an
anointed cherub
“With an anointed cherub as
guardian I placed you …”.
Ezekiel 28:14
2
Maccabees 4:50:
But
Menelaus, thanks to the greed of those in power, remained in office, where he
grew in wickedness, scheming greatly against his fellow citizens.
2
Maccabees 5:15:
Not
satisfied with this, the king dared to enter the holiest temple in the world;
Menelaus, that traitor both to the laws and to his country, served as guide [to
the king].
2
Maccabees 4:23-29:
Menelaus as High Priest
Three
years later Jason sent Menelaus, brother of the aforementioned Simon, to
deliver the money to the king, and to complete negotiations on urgent matters.
But
after his introduction to the king, he flattered him with such an air of
authority that he secured the high priesthood for himself, outbidding Jason by
three hundred talents of silver.
He
returned with the royal commission, but with nothing that made him worthy of
the high priesthood; he had the temper of a cruel tyrant and the rage of a wild
beast.
So
Jason, who had cheated his own brother and now saw himself cheated by another
man, was driven out as a fugitive to the country of the Ammonites.
But
Menelaus, who obtained the office, paid nothing of the money he had promised to
the king, in spite of the demand of Sostratus, the
commandant of the citadel, whose duty it was to collect the taxes. For this
reason, both were summoned before the king.
Menelaus
left his brother Lysimachus as his deputy in the high priesthood, while
Sostratus left Crates, commander of the Cypriots.
….
2
Maccabees 4:32-35:
Murder of Onias
Menelaus,
for his part, thinking this a good opportunity, stole some gold vessels from
the temple and presented them to Andronicus; he had already sold other vessels
in Tyre and in the neighboring cities.
When
Onias had clear evidence, he accused Menelaus publicly, after withdrawing to
the inviolable sanctuary at Daphne, near Antioch.
Thereupon
Menelaus approached Andronicus privately and urged him to seize Onias. So
Andronicus went to Onias, treacherously reassuring him by offering his right
hand in oath, and persuaded him, in spite of his suspicions, to leave the
sanctuary. Then, with no regard for justice, he immediately put him to death.
As a result, not only the Jews, but many
people of other nations as well, were indignant and angry over the unjust
murder of the man.
…
2
Maccabees 4:39-5o:
More Outrages
Many
acts of sacrilege had been committed by Lysimachus in the city* with the connivance of Menelaus. When word spread, the
people assembled in protest against Lysimachus, because a large number of gold
vessels had been stolen.
As
the crowds, now thoroughly enraged, began to riot, Lysimachus launched an
unjustified attack against them with about three thousand armed men under the
leadership of a certain Auranus, a man as advanced in folly as he was in years.
Seeing
Lysimachus’ attack, people picked up stones, pieces of wood or handfuls of the
ashes lying there and threw them in wild confusion at Lysimachus and his men.
As
a result, they wounded many of them and even killed a few, while they put all
to flight. The temple robber himself they killed near the treasury.
Charges about this affair were brought
against Menelaus.
When
the king came to Tyre, three men sent by the senate pleaded the case before
him.
But
Menelaus, seeing himself on the losing side, promised Ptolemy, son of
Dorymenes, a substantial sum of money if he would win the king over.
So
Ptolemy took the king aside into a colonnade, as if to get some fresh air, and
persuaded him to change his mind.
Menelaus,
who was the cause of all the trouble, the king acquitted of the charges, while
he condemned to death those poor men who would have been declared innocent even
if they had pleaded their case before Scythians.
Thus,
those who had prosecuted the case on behalf of the city, the people, and the
sacred vessels, quickly suffered unjust punishment.
For
this reason, even Tyrians, detesting the crime, provided sumptuously for their
burial.
But
Menelaus, thanks to the greed of those in power, remained in office, where he
grew in wickedness, scheming greatly against his fellow citizens.
6. Imagining himself as a
god
“Because your heart is proud,
and you have said, ‘I am a god,
I sit in the seat of the gods,
in the heart of the seas,’
yet you are but a man, and no god,
though you make your heart like the heart of a god”
Ezekiel 28:2
“Because you make your heart
like the heart of a god,
therefore, behold, I will bring foreigners upon you,
the most ruthless of the nations;
and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom
and defile your splendor”.
Ezekiel 28:6-7
2 Maccabees 5:17-21:
Antiochus became puffed up in spirit, not realizing
that it was because of the sins of the city’s inhabitants that the Sovereign
Lord was angry for a little while: hence the disregard of the place.
If they had not become entangled in so many sins,
this man, like that Heliodorus sent by King Seleucus to inspect the treasury,
would have been flogged and turned back from his presumptuous act as soon as he
approached.
The Lord, however, had not chosen the nation for
the sake of the place, but the place for the sake of the nation.
Therefore, the place itself, having shared in the
nation’s misfortunes, afterward participated in their good fortune; and what
the Almighty had forsaken in wrath was restored in all its glory, once the
great Sovereign Lord became reconciled.
Antiochus
carried off eighteen hundred talents from the Temple and hurried back to
Antioch, thinking in his arrogance that he could make the land navigable and
the sea passable on foot, so carried away was he with pride.
Daniel 11:36-37:
The King Who Exalts Himself
The
king will do as he pleases. He will exalt and magnify himself above every
god and will say unheard-of things against the God of gods. He will
be successful until the time of wrath is completed, for what has been
determined must take place. He will show no regard for the gods of his
ancestors or for the one desired by women, nor will he regard any god, but will
exalt himself above them all.
On
this theme of emperor deification I recommend Barbara Burrell’s insightful
article:
Temples of Hadrian, not Zeus
(17) Temples of Hadrian, not Zeus
THE EMPEROR HADRIAN was notably generous toward the
cities of his Empire, and in return, they gave him the highest honors of which
they were capable, including temples to his worship.
I consider here three cities of the province Asia:
Kyzikos, Smyrna, and Ephesos, each of which Hadrian allowed to build such a
temple and to take the title neokoros, "temple warden."
Recent studies, however, have assumed that wherever
Hadrian was worshipped, it was along with,
or in the guise of, Zeus Olympios, as he possibly was in
Athens. In this paper I argue that the
primary sources on Kyzikos, Smyrna, or Ephesos show that
Hadrian was worshipped in
those places neither with nor as Zeus.
7. A
disgusting, horrific, sudden death
“Your heart became proud
on account of your beauty,
and you corrupted your wisdom
because of your splendor.
So I threw you to the earth;
I made a spectacle of you before kings.
By your many sins and dishonest trade
you have desecrated your sanctuaries.
So I made a fire come out from you,
and it consumed you,
and I reduced you to ashes on the ground
in the sight of all who were watching.
All the nations who knew you
are appalled at you;
you have come to a horrible end
and will be no more”.
Ezekiel 28:17-19
Daniel 11:45:
He will pitch his royal tents between the seas
at the beautiful holy mountain. Yet he will come to his end, and no
one will help him.
2 Maccabees 9:1-29:
The Lord Punishes Antiochus
About this time Antiochus was retreating in disorder from
Persia, where he had entered the city of Persepolis and had attempted to
rob a temple and take control of the city. The people took up arms and attacked
Antiochus, forcing his army to retreat in disgrace. When he
reached Ecbatana, he was told what had happened to the forces of Nicanor and
Timothy. He became furious and decided to make the Jews pay for the defeat
he had suffered. So he ordered his chariot driver not to stop until they
reached Jerusalem. With great arrogance he said,
I will turn Jerusalem into a graveyard full of Jews.
But he did not know that he was heading straight for
God's judgment. In fact, as soon as he had said these words,
the all-seeing Lord, the God of Israel, struck him down with an invisible but
fatal blow. He was seized with sharp intestinal pains for which there was no
relief— a fitting punishment for the man who had tortured others in so
many terrible ways! But this in no way caused him to give up his pride.
Instead he became more arrogant than ever, and breathing out fiery threats
against the Jews, he gave orders to drive even faster. As a result he fell out
of his chariot with such a thud that it made every bone in his body
ache. His arrogant pride made him think he had the superhuman strength to
make ocean waves obey him and to weigh high mountains on a pair of scales. But
suddenly he fell flat on the ground and had to be carried off on a stretcher, a
clear sign to everyone of God's power. Even the eyes of this godless man
were crawling with worms and he lived in terrible pain and agony. The stink was
so bad that his entire army was sickened, and no one was able to come
close enough to carry him around. Yet only a short while before, he thought he
could take hold of the stars. ….
Judith 16:17
‘Woe to the nations that rise
up against my kindred! the Lord Almighty will take vengeance of them in the day
of judgment, in putting fire and worms in their flesh; and they shall feel
them, and weep for ever’.
