Chapter Eleven Aspects of Jewish Society The Priesthood and other Classes

The Hellenistic and the H asmonaean periods In the period of Hellenistic rule over Syria and Palestine, in the third and second centuries B.C.E., Jewish society continued to be organized along the lines established after the return from Babylon under the Persian empire. At the beginning of the Persian period, two families were predominant, the house of led by Zerubbabel son of ShaltieP and the high priestly house descended from , led by the high priest Joshua son of Y ehozadak. With the disappearance of Zerubbabel, the high priestly dynasty remained in almost exclusive control of J udaea. This meant a further enhancement of the position of the priests, who formed the upper classes of society, 2 which then produced all the figures who were active and influential in public life, apart from Nehemiah. When the Hellenistic kings took over, an out• side observer, Hecataeus, could regard Jewish society as a theocracy, where the priests were in charge. 3 Among such priests were and Onias III, both of whom were high priests, and several members of the of Hakkoz and Bilgah. A striking exception was the prominence of the 'sons of Tobias', an ancient, distinguished family of non-priestly origin, which already held an important position in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah.4 The Tobiads co-operated closely with non-Jewish elements in Palestine. Their position was based on their extensive landed property and their

1 On the fate of the Davidic dynasty after the exile see J. Liver, The House of David from the Fall of the Kingdom of Judah (1959; in Hebrew), pp. 68-104; R. Kittel, Geschichte des Volkes Israel III, 2 (1929), pp. 465-8. · 1 See E. J. Bickerman, in The Jews. Their History, Culture and Religion, ed. by L. Finkelstein, vol. I (1949), p. 74· 3 See Hecataeus, in: Diodorus Siculus XL, 3, 4; for some remarks on Jewish society on the basis of Hecataeus cf. V. Tcherikover, Hellenistic Civilization and the jews (1959), pp. II9-12o. 'On the Tobiads see B. Mazar, in IE] (1957), pp. 137-145; 229-38; 0. Ploger, in ZDPV (1955), pp. 70-81; C. C. McCown, in The Biblical Archeologist xx (1957), pp. 63-76; Tcherikover, op. cit., pp. 126-142; M. Stern, in Tarbiz (1963), pp. 35-47 (in Hebrew); there is no warrant for the assumption of S. Schechter, Studies in , Second Series (1908), p. 65, that the Tobiads were priests. ASPECTS OF JEWISH SOCIETY: THE PRIESTHOOD AND OTHER CLASSES

influence in and Gilead.1 Tobias' son Joseph was at the head of a military colony in Transjordan and was a well-known figure at the royal court of Alexandria under Ptolemy Philadelphus (283- 246 B.C.E.), maintaining important contacts with Ptolemy and his finance minister. Following family tradition, he was active in Western Palestine and Judaea as well as in Transjordan. It seems that he had more influence in Jerusalem than his predecessors, 2 competing succes• fully with the high priest Onias II. A public assembly in the Temple authorized him to represent Judaea at the royal court of Ptolemy III (Euergetes).3 His connections with the latter gained him the post of tax-collector for Syria and Phoenicia, which were ruled at the time by the Ptolemies. It would appear that other Jews of the upper classes were involved in his largescale financial activities. Like Joseph,_ these too maintained close connections with the Gentiles of the upper classes of Syria and Phoenicia. In contrast with the official leaders since Ezra and Nehemiah whose viewpoint was strictly Jewish, people like Joseph were Palestinian or Syrian in outlook like Tobiah the Ammonite or Eliashiv the High Priest in the Persian period. Joseph felt no less at home in Samaria than in Judaea or Gilead. Tendencies that appeared to be on the wane before his time, were strengthened once again under the Hellenistic ascendancy which such men as Joseph represented in Judaea. Their activities brought a flow of capital into Judaea and so furthered a significant change in the traditional mode of life in Jerusalem. The rise of the Tobiads, so closely associated with the priestly upper class, aroused strong opposition among wide circles of the population. This was particularly evident among the country folk who constituted the majority of the population. These reacted strongly against the alien atmosphere, that had come to predominate in Jerusalem. Class tension between rich and poor grew as a result of economic and social changes. The ~~nsions in Jerusalem society at the time are clearly reflected in the writing of Ben Sira. Ben Sira himself apparently belonged to the priestly class, 4 and took its predominance for granted. His book, written before the persecution of Antiochus, described the Jerusalem of the time in this process of social transformation. As a

1 See CP] no. 1 on the cleruchy in Birtha of Ammanitis under Tobiah. 8 Joseph's mother was the sister of the high priest Onias. See Jos. Ant. xn, 160. 3 Ant. xn, 164-5- 4 He probably belonged to the priestly division of Hakkoz; see below pp. 59o-1; cf. M. Z. Segal, The Complete Ben Sira (2nd ed., 1962), p. I, n. 3·