After the establishment of the Seleucidse in the king- dom of Syria, Antiochus Epiphanes invaded Egypt sev- eral times. During his first expedition, B.C. 171, the renegade Menelaus (q. v.) procured the death of the regular high-priest Onias III (q. v.) (2 Mace, iv, 27 sq.); during his second campaign, on retiring for winter-quar- ters to Palestine, Antiochus slew certain other persons, B.C. 170; and, finally, he pillaged and desecrated the Temple, and subdued and plundered .Jerusalem, June, B.C. 168. He also ordered the discontinuance of the daily sacrifice. In December of the same year he caused an altar for sacrifice to Jupiter Olympius to be placed on the altar of Jehovah in the Temple (vii, 2, 5). This was "the abomination that maketh desolate." At the same time, he devoted the temple on Mount Gerizim, in allusion to the foreign origin of its worshippers, to Ju-
piter Sfi'iof. The Temple at Jerusalem became so desolate that it was overgrown with vegetation (1 jNIacc. iv, 38; 2 Mace, vi, 4). Three j-ears after this profana- tion (Dec. 25, B.C. 165) Judas Maccabajus, having de- feated the Syrian armies in Palestine, cleansed the Temple, and again commenced sacrificing to Jehovah upon the altar there. He repaired the building, fur- nished new utensils, and erected fortifications against future attacks (1 Mace, iv, 43-60; vi, 7; xiii, 53; 2 Mace, i, 18; X, 3). Forty-five days after cleansing the sanctuary, Antiochus died. Thus were fulfilled the pre- dictions of Daniel: from "the casting down some of the liost and stars," i. e. slaying some of the pious and influential Jews by Antiochus, especially from the death of Onias, B.C. 171, to the cleansing of the sanctuary, B.C. 165, was six years (of 360 days each) and 140 days, or 2300 days (Dan. viii, 8-14); from the reduction of Jerusalem, B.C. 168, to the cleansing of the sanctuary, B.C. 165, was three years and a half, i. e. " a time, times, and a half," or 1290 days (vii, 25; xii, 7, 11); and froiti the reduction of Jerusalem, B.C. 168, to the death of Antiochus, which occurred early in B.C. 164, forty-five days after the purification of the Temple, 1335 days. As to the 140 days, we have no certain date in histo- ry to reckon them ; but if the years are correct, we may well suppose the days to be so (ver. 12; Josephus, A nt. xii, 7, 6 ; War, pref. 7 ; i, 1, 1 ; 1 Mace, i, 46, 47 ; iv, 38-61; 2 Mace, v, 11-27; vi, 1-9). See Antiochus. Alexander JannsBus, about B.C. 106, separated the court of the priests from the external court bj'^ a wooden rail- ing (Josephus, Ant. xviii, 5). During the contentions among the later Maccabees, Pompey attacked the Tem- ple from the north side, caused a great massacre in its courts, but abstained from plundering the treasury-, al- though he even entered the holv of holies, B.C. 63 {ibid. xiv, 4). Herod the Great, with the assistance of Roman troops, stormed the Temple, B.C. 37 ; on which occasion some of the surrounding halls were destroyed or dam- aged. See Palestine.
3. The Third Temple. — Herod, wishing to ingratiate himself with the Cluirch-and-Sfate party, and being fond of architectural display, undertook not merely to repair the second Temple, but to raise a perfectly new structure. As, however, the Temple of Zerubbabel was not actually destroyed, but only removed after the prep- arations for the new Temple w^ere completed, there has arisen some debate whetlier the Temple of Herod could properlj- be called tlie third Temple. The reason why the Temple of Zerubbabel was not at once taken down in order to make room for the more splendid structure of Herod is explained by Josephus as follows (^Ant. xv, 11, 2): "The Jews were afraid that Herod would pull down the whole edifice and not be able to carry his in- tentions as to its rebuilding into effect; and this danger appeared to them to be very great, and the vastness of the undertaking to be such as could hardly be accom- plished. But while they were in this disposition the king encouraged them, and told them he would not pull down their Temple till all things were gotten ready for building it up entirely. As Herod promised them this beforehand, so he did not break his word with them, but got ready a thousand wagons that were to bring stones for this building, and chose out ten thousand of the most skilful workmen, and bought a thousand sacer- dotal garments for as many of the priests, and had some of them taught the arts of stone-cutters, and others of carpenters, and then began to build; but this not till everything was well prepared for the work." The work was actually commenced in the nineteenth year of the reign of Herod — that is, the beginning of B.C. 21. Priests and Levites finished the Temple itself in one year and a half. The out-buildings and courts required eight years. However, some building operations were con- stantly in progress under the successors of Herod, and it is in reference to this we are informed that the Tem- ple was finished only under Albinos, the last procurator but one, not long before the commencement of the Jew-
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ish war in which the Temple was aj^ain destroyed. It is in reference also to these protracted builiiin.i,' opera- tions that the Jews said to Jesus, " Forty and six years was this Teuiple in building" (John ii, 20). See Hek-