The Hammer: A Story of the Maccabean TimesChurch, Alfred John
History
The Hammer: A Story of the Maccabean Times
Church, Alfred John
Jewish fiction; Jews -- History -- To 70 A.D. -- Fiction; Maccabees -- Fiction
It may, then, be easily imagined that no little sensation was produced
when this venerable personage appeared before Antiochus, and, in the
presence of the Court, accused Menelaüs, whom he had steadfastly refused
to acknowledge as high priest, of having embezzled much of the treasure of
the Temple at Jerusalem. That Oniah, whose veracity and good faith were
beyond all question, should make such a charge was _primâ facie_ evidence
of its truth. As he was known to have many friends in Jerusalem, it was
more than probable that evidence would be forthcoming. The King did not
hesitate a moment in acting upon this probability. Of course, he did not
look at the matter in at all the same light as that in which it was
regarded by the devout Oniah. To the dispossessed high priest the robbery
of the sacred vessels was a monstrous sacrilege, an offence of the deepest
dye, not only against his country but against his God. Antiochus felt that
it was he who had been wronged. The treasures of the Jerusalem Temple were
_his_ treasures. He might be content to leave them, at all events for the
present, where they were; but they must be ready to his hand whenever the
occasion should arise, and any one who presumed to appropriate them was a
traitor and a villain. Hence the urgent summons to Menelaüs and to
Sostratus, who, as Governor, could hardly fail, thought Antiochus, to have
been cognizant of the whole proceeding.
Almost immediately after the despatch of the summons came the trouble with
Tarsus. The King started to chastise in person his rebellious subjects,
and left, as we have said, Andronicus in general charge of affairs, and
with a special commission to hear the accusation which Oniah was bringing
against Menelaüs. The choice was an unlucky one. Antiochus was sincerely
anxious that justice should be done in the matter; but to get justice done
in any particular case when it is not the rule of the administration is
exceedingly difficult. Andronicus, to put the facts quite simply, was an
unprincipled villain, ready to sell his decisions, when he could do so
with impunity, to the highest bidder. He was an old acquaintance and
confederate of Sostratus, and Menelaüs, who had established friendly
relations with the Governor during their journey from Jerusalem to
Antioch, soon received a hint as to how he should proceed. The hearing of
the case had been appointed for the sixth day after his arrival. Before
that date one of the sacred vessels which he had taken the precaution of
bringing with him, had been exchanged for five hundred gold pieces, and
the gold pieces had found their way into the pocket of Andronicus.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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