Spying in the Bible 23 - 404 BC to 52 BC

The Time Between Times

The period of time between the Old and New Testaments was one in history of rampant imperialism, where espionage flourished. A book called Arthashastra, written by Kautilya Vishnugupta was most likely written in the fourth century BC, although it may have been written later. It is an ancient Indian manual on politics and military strategy, including espionage tactics and is considered to be an Indian equivalent of the Chinese book, the Art of War, written earlier. It is also well documented and known that the Greek and Roman empires had extensive spy networks during this time.

In c. 333 BC, the Macedonian general, Alexander the Great, defeated the Persians at Issus, and was then proclaimed Pharaoh a year later when he conquered Egypt. At that time he also took over Judah from Persians. Upon Alexander’s death in c. 323 BC, his empire was divided between his generals, or satraps, who ruled their own regions. They were referred to as the Diadochi, which means successors. One of Alexander’s generals, Ptolemy I ruled Israel and Egypt, as did his descendants until c. 198 BC. At that time, Antiochus and the Seleucids, took over Judaea. The Seleucids were the Greek-Macedconian’s who were from the lands of the eastern conquests of Alexander the Great. The Second Punic War, also referred to as the Hannibalic War by the Romans, lasted from c. 218 BC to c. 202 BC.

Antiochus’ descendant, Antiochus IV Epiphanes (born Mithridates) then ruled from c. 175 BC to c. 164 BC. Shortly after Antiochus IV Epiphanes’ reign began, a priest named Jason bribed him to become the high priest of the Jews. Jason shortly built a Greek-style city in honor of the king and named it Antioch, after him. This began the Hellenization of the Jews. A few years later, Jason sent a priest named Menelaus to Babylon on business for him, at which time Menelaus purchases high priesthood for an even higher price, sending Jason into exile. Menelaus was a non-Levite, so many Jews did not recognize his authority. His authority was further damaged when he robbed the temple treasure to pay for his bribe. Antiochus then forced Syrian law on Jews and outlawed circumcision. In c. 167 BC he ordered pigs to be sacrificed to Zues at the Jerusalem temple, but Mattathias, a faithful priest, refused to sacrifice to false gods and started a revolt by taking the faithful with him to hide in the hills.

When Mattathias died, he named his son Judas Maccabeus as the military leader of the resistance, beginning the Maccabean Revolt. Judas many times sent spies to the enemy camps and had spies that tell him when and where armies would be, allowing him to fight his guerilla warfare style. Knowledge of the enemy’s movements through espionage allowed the revolt to be successful. A third Jewish party called the Hasideans opposed both the Hellenization of the Jews as well as the revolt at first, but eventually supported to the revolt. The Books of the Maccabees describe the revolt.

Some scholars view this period as a Jewish revolt against the Greeks, but others interpret it as purely a civil war between Hellenized and orthodox forms of Judaism. A large Greek army eventually showed up to put a stop to the revolt/civil war, but left before long Antiochus died of disease in c. 164 BC. His commander Lysias then helped Antiochus’ nine year old son Antiochus V Eupator rule as king. The young king, under the suggestion of Lysias, compromised with all parties by restoring religious freedom. Judas, as leader of the revolt, became both the local ruler and ethnarch as well as the high priest. This victory is celebrated in the Jewish Festival of Light, also known as Hanukkah, and was the beginning of the Hasmonian dynasty in Judah. While he was recognized as a legitimate high priest, some Jews did not recognize him as a legitimate ruler, because he was not a descendant of David. During the Hasmonian dynasty, Israel’s local government was an ecclesiocracy, because the head of state (ethnarch or local king) was also the head of the church (high priest).

The smallest of the Jewish political parties was a group of mostly dissident priests who later became the Essenes. They were apolitical, believed in strict predestination, and abeyance of the law. They were likely were the ones who wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls and were against both Syrian and Hasmonian rules. Another political party, which would become the Saducees, was mostly made up of the upper class, both socially and economically. They were comprised of the conservatives in the priesthood, aristocratic monarchists, and were also for more military action. They rejected the resurrection of the dead and believed strictly in free will and personal freedom. The third major political party, which Judas shared his views with, were the extremely anti-Hellenistic, separatist political party who wanted to keep fighting. They later became the Pharisees, who believed in a destiny, but with free will. They also believed in strict abeyance of the law, were more democratic, and had the support of the general public. As part of their struggle against Hellenistic civilization, the Pharisees established what was probably the world’s first national education and literacy program. This program was based around meeting houses and led to Rabbinical Judaism.

After he purified the temple, Judas made a treaty with Rome and continued fighting the Hellenized Jews until he died in battle four years later, at which time his brother Jonathan took over. Jonathan also employed the use of spies to great success (1 Maccabees 12:24-26).

Now Jonathan heard that the commanders of Demetrius had returned, with a larger force than before, to wage war against him. So he marched away from Jerusalem and met them in the region of Hamath, for he gave them no opportunity to invade his own country. He sent spies to their camp, and they returned and reported to him that the enemy was being drawn up in formation to fall upon the Jews by night.

Jonathan was shortly assassinated and his brother Simon, last of the Macabees, took over. Simon was murdered by his son-in-law along with his two oldest sons. His third son John Hyrcanus I then took over in c. 135 BC. During his reign, Hyrcaus had a disagreement with the Pharisees and then began backing the Saducees. Ten years into his reign, Hyrcanus subjugated Edom and forcibly converted the population to Judaism, which is the only known case of forced conversion to Judaism.

Hyrcanus’ son, Aristobulus I, who was also a Saducee, was the first to call himself King in c. 104 BC. He only ruled for one year before dying of disease, but during that time, he renamed the Jewish council the Sanhedrin, which is a Greek word, and gave them full legal judicial authority. His younger brother Alexander Jannaeus, also a Sadducee, then ruled until his death in c. 76 BC. Alexander Jannaeus’ widow Alexandra Salome, who was a Pharisee and the sister of a prominent Pharisee, appointed herslef ethnarch and ruler, while appointing her son John Hyrcanus II (also a Pharisee, like his mother) as high priest. Together, the Pharisee influence grew with the populous as well as within the Sanhedrin during that time. During their reign, was when the Romans fought the slave war with Spartacus between c. 73 BC and c. 71 BC. Salome died in c. 67 BC, and Hyrcanus II took over as king in addition to being high priest.

Hyrcanus’ II younger brother was named Aristobulus II and was a Sadducee, like their father had been. He rebelled against his brother’s rule and took the throne only three months into his brother’s reign as king. A civil war then raged on between their supporters for nearly four years, until c. 63 BC, the Roman general Pompey conquered Syria and intervened in the Hasmonean civil war. During this time, he made all of Israel a Roman client state and backed Hyrcanus II along with his party of the Pharisees. Aristobulus II closed the gates of Jerusalem to the Romans, but Hyrcanus II had spies inside the city that opened the gates to let Pompey’s army in. Hyrcanus II was then reinstated as high priest and local king with his general Antipater named as Rome’s representative. Antipater was one of the descendants of the forcibly converted Edomites. Rome then separated the “Promised Land” into Judaea (south), Samaria and Galilee (far north), with Edom being renamed Idumea.