MENELAUS

MENELAUS (d. c. 162 B.C.E.), high priest in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes. Menelaus was the brother of Simeon and Lysimachus, both mentioned in II Maccabees. According to II Maccabees 3:4, Simeon and Menelaus belonged to the tribe of Benjamin, and Simeon did not therefore belong to a priestly family. This raises a difficulty and attempts have been made to amend the text, or to suggest that he belonged to a priestly family named Benjamin or Miamin (cf. I Chron. 4:24). It seems preferable to accept the reading found in some Latin manuscripts which reads "Bilgah" instead of Benjamin. Bilgah was the name of one of the priestly divisions (I Chron. 24:14) and probably Menelaus and his brothers belonged to it. The statement of Josephus (Ant., 12:238–9) that Menelaus was a brother of jason and a son of onias III, is certainly erroneous. Merelaus was one of the leaders of the Hellenists and one of the extremists among them. When sent by the high priest Jason to Antiochus Epiphanes, he intrigued against his principal, bribed Antiochus and received from him appointment as high priest (II Macc. 4:23–24). At the beginning of his tenure of office he plundered the Temple of its gold vessels (ibid., 4:32). He also instigated the murder of Onias III (ibid., 4:34). His appointment and policy aroused the opposition of the people and caused uprisings and disturbances. Jason attempted to seize the high priesthood back from him, but Menelaus succeeded in retaining power, chiefly with the assistance of the Syrians. He remained loyal to Antiochus and sent him large amounts of money. As leader of the Hellenists he must be considered responsible to a great extent for the persecution of Antiochus (see bickermann in bibl.; cf. II Macc. 13:4). It seems, however, that later, when it became clear that this policy brought no advantage to the Hellenists, he was partly responsible for the more conciliatory policy of Antiochus Epiphanes (164 B.C.E.; II Macc. 11:29). Later he lost favor in the court of the Seleucids and on the advice of Lysias was put to death (apparently in 162 B.C.E.). -BIBLIOGRAPHY: F.M. Abel, in: Miscellanea Giovanni Mercati, 1 (1946), 52–58; Rowley, in: Studia Orientalia loanni Pedersen… Dicata (Eng. 1953), 303–15; V. Tcherikover, Hellenistic Civilization and the Jews (1959), 70–74, 216–20, and index; E. Bickermann, From Ezra to the Last of the Maccabees (1962), 106f. (Uriel Rappaport)