1. The son and successor of Jaddua, who entered on the office about the time of the death of Alexander the Great, B.C. cir. 330-309, or, according to Eusebius, 300 (Josephus, AtU. xi, 7, 7). According to Josephus he was father of Simon the Just {Ant. xii, 2, 4; comp. Ec- clus. 1, 1). See Simon.
2. The son of Simon the Just (Josephus. Ant. xii. 4, 1). He was a minor at the time of his father's death (B.C. cir. 290), and the high-priesthood was occupied in succession by his uncles Eleazar and Manasseh to his
exclusion. He entered on the office at last (B.C. cir, 240), and liis conduct threatened to precii)itate the rup- ture with Egypt which afterwards opened the way for Syrian oppression. Onias, from avarice, it is said — a vice which was likely to be increased by his long ex- clusion from power— neglected for several years to re- mit to Ptolemy Euergetes the customary annual tribute of 20 talents. The king claimed the arrears with threats of violence in case his demands were not satis- fied. Onias still refused to discharge the debt, more, as it appears, from self-will than with any prospect of successful resistance. The evil consequences of this obstinacy were, however, averted by the policy of his nephew Joseph, the son of Tobias, who visited Ptoleray, urged the imbecility of Onias, won the favor of the king, and entered into a contract for farming the trib- ute, which he carried out with success. Onias retained the high-priesthood till his death (B.C.cir. 226), when he was succeeded by his son Simon II (Josephus, Ant, xii,
3. The son of Simon II, who succeeded his father in the high-priesthood. B.C. cir. 198. In the interval which had elapsed since the government of his grand- father the Jews had transferred their allegiance to the Sj'rian monarchy (Dan. xi, 14), and for a time enjoyed tranquil prosperity. Internal dissensions furnished an occasion for the first act of oppression. Seleucus Phi- lopator was informed by Simon, governor of the Temple, of the riches contained in the sacred treasury-, and he made an attempt to seize them by force. At the prayer of Onias, according to the tradition (2 Mace, iii), the sacrilege was averted ; but the high-priest was obliged to appeal to the king himself for support against the machinations of Simon. Not long afterwards Seleucus died (B.C. 175), and Onias found himself supplanted in the favor of Antiochus Epiphanes by his brother Jason, who received the high-priesthood from the king. Ja- son, in turn, was displaced by his youngest brother Menelaus, who procured the murder of Onias (B.C. cir. 171), in anger at the reproof which he had received from him for his sacrilege (2 ISIacc. iv, 32-38). But though his righteous zeal was thus fervent, the punish- ment which Antiochus inflicted on his murderer was a tribute to his "sober and modest behavior" (2 Mace. iv, 37) after his deposition from his office. See Asdeon- icus.
It was probably during the government of Onias III that the communication between the Spartans and Jews took place (1 IMacc. xii, 19-23 ; Josephus, A nt. xii, 4, 10). See Spartans. How powerfid an impression he made upon his contemporaries is seen from the remarkable account of the dream of Judas Maccabieus before his great victory (2 ilacc. xv, 12-16).
4. The youngest brother of Onias III, who bore the same name, which he afterwards exchanged for Mene- laus (Josephus, Ant. xii. 5, 1). See INIiiNELAUS.
5. The son of Onias III, who sought a refuge in Egypt from the sedition and sacrilege which disgraced Jerusalem. The immediate occasion of his flight was the triumph of " the sons of Tobias," gained by the in- terference of Antiochus Epiphanes. Onias, to whom the high-priesthood lielonged by right, appears to have supported throughout the alliance with Egypt (Jo- sephus, War. i, 1, 1), and receiving the protection of Ptolemy Philometor, he endeavored to give a unity to the Hellenistic Jews which seemed impossible for the Jews in Palestine. With this object he founded the temple at Leontopolis, wliich occupies a position in the history of the development of Judaism of which the importance is commonly overlooked ; but the discussion of this attempt to consolidate Hellenism belongs to an- other place, though the connection of the attempt it- self with Jewish history could not be wholly overlooked (Josephus, Ant. xiii, 3; War, i, 1, 1 ; vii, 10, 2; comp. Ewald, (Jesch. iv, 405 sq. ; Herzfeld, Gesch. ii, 460 sq., 5.57 sq.).
ONIAS, CITY or REGION OF, the city in which
ONIAS, CITY OF
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ONIAS
stood the temple built by Onias, and the region of the Jewish settlements in P^gypt. Ptolemy mentions the city as the capital of the Heliopolitic Nome: 'HXtoTro- XiVr/C j'ojutig, Kai fir]Tp6no\iQ 'Oi'iov (iv, 5, § 53) ; where the reading 'H\iov is not admissible, since Heliopolis is afterwards mentioned, and its different position distinct- ly laid down (§ 54). Josephus speaks of "the region of Onias," 'Oviov x^^pa (Aiit. xiv, 8, 1 ; War, i, 9, 4; comp. vii, 10, 2), and mentions a place there situate called " the Camp of the Jews," 'lovSaiojv (STpaTontoov {Ant. xiv, 8, 2; War, 1. c). In the spurious letters given bv him in the account of the foundation of the temple of Onias, it is made to have been at Leontopolis in the Heliopolitic Nome, and called a strong place of Bubastis {Ant. xiii, 3, and 1, 2) ; and when speaking of its closing by the Romans, he says that it was in a re- gion 180 stadia from Memphis, in the Heliopolitic Nome, where Onias had founded a castle (lit. watch -post, ^poi'piov, War, vii, 10, 2-4). Leontopolis was not in the Heliopolitic Nome, but in Ptolemy's time was the capital of the Leontopolitic (iv, 5, § 51), and the men- tion of it is altogether a blunder. There is probably also a confusion as to the city Bubastis ; unless, indeed, the temple which Onias adopted and restored was one of the Egyptian goddess of that name.