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Alexander Balas

Rival of Demetrius I who (ca. 153 BCE) claimed to be son of Antiochus IV... Balas attracted the support of a loose coalition of Egypt, Rome, Pergamum, Cappodocia & Judea -- all of which were interested in weakening the Seleucid dynasty. In return for Judean support he appointed Judah Maccabee's brother, Jonathan, high priest, giving legitimacy ...

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Antipater

The story of Antipater's life is virtually the story of Macedonia itself. He was an indispensable part of the glorious reigns of both Philip and Alexander and witnessed the rise of his homeland from a backwater to the greatest power in the world. He was born at the very beginning of the fourth century, probably in 398 BC Over fifteen years older th...

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Who Was Judah Maccabee Anyway?

by Rabbi Shimon Apisdorf. Close your eyes and picture Arnold Schwartzenegger: His Uzi has just jammed, he's got one arm in a sling, he's about to take on 300 bad guys all at once - and he's wearing a yarmulka. That's who Judah Maccabee was! Two thousand years ago, one family led by one man stood between the mighty Greek army and the conquest of the...

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Ptolemy I

Period of Alexander the Great - General of Alexander - Founder of the Great Library of Alexandria. Ptolemy was one of Alexander the Great's boyhood friends and became one of his most trusted generals. He played a principal part in the campaigns of Alexander in Afghanistan and India.When Alexander the Great died Ptolemy took charge of one third of a...

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Hyrcanus in the Bible Encyclopedia - ISBE

her-ka'-nus (Hurkanos): "Son of Tobias, a man of great dignity," who had a large sum of money deposited in the Temple of Jerusalem when Heliodorus was sent to confiscate it in 187 BC (2 Macc 3:11 ff). (Bible-History Online)...

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Judah Maccabee

Second leader of the Judean revolt against the Greco-Syrian empire [166 BCE]. Westerners have traditionally referred to the third son of Mattathias of Modein by the Latinate form of his name: Judas Maccabeus. A Judean priest, he assumed command of Judean resistance to Greek forces after his father's death [165 BCE]. His defeat of the Greek governor...

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Cassander (358-297 BC)

Cassander was the son of Antipater. He was a minor figure during the reign of Alexander the Great, but after the death of his father rose to be ruler and then king of Macedonia. Antipater was the regent of Macedonia during Alexander's expedition to the east. In 324 BC he had been summoned to Alexander's court at Babylon, and Craterus sent west to r...

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Johanan (John) Hyrcanus

Johanan [John] Hyrcanus (d.104 BCE) Grandson of Mattathias of Modein and chief architect of Judean dominance of Israel. The youngest and only surviving son of Simon Thassi succeeded his father as high priest in 134 BCE. He was the fourth Hasmonean to rule Jerusalem. But his tenure began with a year-long Syrian siege that forced him agree to tear do...

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Jonathan Maccabaeus

Jonathan Maccabaeus was leader of the Hasmonean Dynasty of Judea from 161 to 143 BCE. He is called also Apphus (ἈðöÃ-ῦò (Syriac, image)) = "the dissembler" or "the diplomat", in allusion to a trait prominent in him; 1 Maccabees ii. 5).Jonathan Maccabeus was one of the sons of Mattathias Maccabaeus. His father was a Kohen credited as the founding...

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Cassander King of Macedonia

Cassander (c. 355-297 B.C.) as son of Antipater did not accompany the Macedonian army on its invasion of Asia, but remained in Europe during his father's regency over Macedonia and Greece. Displeased at his father's choice of Polyperchon for his successor, he set himself to oust his rival from the regency and sought help from Antigonus in Asia Mino...

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