Anti´ochus, a name which may be interpreted he who withstands, or lasts out; and denotes military prowess, as do many other of the Greek names. It was borne by one of the generals of Philippians whose son, Seleucus, by the help of the first Ptolemy, established himself (B.C. 312) as ruler of Babylon. For eleven years more the contest in Asia continued, while Antigonus was grasping at universal supremacy. At length, in 301, he was defeated and slain in the decisive battle of Ipsus, in Phrygia. Ptolemy, son of Lagos, had meanwhile become master of southern Syria; and Seleucus was too much indebted to him to be disposed to eject him by force from this possession. In fact, the three first Ptolemies (B.C. 323-222) looked on their extra-Egyptian possessions as their sole guarantee for the safety of Egypt itself against their formidable neighbor, and succeeded in keeping the mastery, not only of Palestine and Cœle-Syria, and of many towns on that coast, but of Cyrene and other parts of Libya, of Cyprus, and other islands, with numerous maritime posts all round Asia Minor. A permanent fleet was probably kept up at Samos, so that their arms reached to the Hellespont; and for some time they ruled over Thrace. Thus Syria was divided between two great powers, the northern half falling to Seleucus and his successors, the southern to the Ptolemies; and this explains the titles 'king of the north and 'king of the south,' in Daniel 11. The line dividing them was drawn somewhat to the north of Damascus, the capital of Coele-Syria.
The first Seleucus built a prodigious number of cities with Greek institutions, not, like Alexander, from military or commercial policy, but to gratify ostentation, or his love for Greece. To people his new cities was often a difficult matter; and this led to the bestowal of premiums on those who were willing to become citizens. Hence we may account for the extraordinary privileges which the Jews enjoyed in them all, having equal rights with Macedonians. But there was still another cause which recommended the Jews to the Syrian kings. A nation thus diffused through their ill-compacted empire, formed a band most useful to gird its parts together. To win the hearts of the Jews, was to win the allegiance of a brave brotherhood, who would be devoted to their protector, and who could never make common cause with any spirit of local independence. For this reason Antiochus the Great, and doubtless his predecessors also, put peculiar trust in Jewish garrisons.
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John Kitto was an English biblical scholar of Cornish descent.Born in Plymouth, John Kitto was a sickly child, son of a Cornish stonemason. The drunkenness of his father and the poverty of his family meant that much of his childhood was spent in the workhouse. He had no more than three years of erratic and interrupted education. At the age of twelve John Kitto fell on his head from a rooftop, and became totally and permanently deaf. As a young man he suffered further tragedies, disappointments and much loneliness. His height was 4 ft 8 in, and his accident left him with an impaired sense of balance. He found consolation in browsing at bookstalls and reading any books that came his way.
From these hardships he was rescued by friends who became aware of his mental abilities and encouraged him to write topical articles for local newspapers, arranging eventually for him to work as an assistant in a local library. Here he continued to educate himself.
One of his benefactors was the Exeter dentist Anthony Norris Groves, who in 1824 offered him employment as a dental assistant. Living with the Groves family, Kitto was profoundly influenced by the practical Christian faith of his employer. In 1829 he accompanied Groves on his pioneering mission to Baghdad and served as tutor to Groves's two sons. In 1833 Kitto returned to England via Constantinople, accompanied by another member of the Groves mission, Francis William Newman. Shortly afterwards he married, and in due course had several children.
A London publisher asked Kitto to write up his travel journals for a series of articles in the Penny Magazine, a publication read at that time by a million people in Britain, reprinted in America and translated into French, German and Dutch. Other writing projects followed as readers enquired about his experiences in the East amidst people living in circumstances closely resembling those of Bible times.
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