It cannot be supposed, however, that so righteous a man as John Hyrcanus adopted all the errors of a sect that afterwards denied the existence of angel or devil, and rejected the blessed doctrine of a resurrection. It is probable that at this time the Sadducees themselves had not gone further than renouncing the unwritten traditions, to which the Pharisees gave great and dangerous weight, regarding them with the same reverence which they paid to the inspired Word of God.
Hyrcanus died 107 B.C., and was succeeded in both his offices by his eldest son Aristobulus.
CONTEMPORANEOUS EVENTS. 152-107 B.C. B.C. Carthage destroyed 146 Numantia destroyed 133
The Diadem—Matricide and Fratricide—Horrors at Bethone—Reign of a Woman—Contest between Brothers—Jerusalem twice taken by the Romans.
Hitherto the history of the house of the Asmoneans has been a record of the brave deeds of noble men; but from this point it becomes little but a dark catalogue of crimes. We feel, in entering upon it, like a traveller who, after threading a majestic mountain-pass, which looks only the more sublime from the contrast of strong lights and shadows thrown over it by passing clouds, comes on a waste and howling desert, and quickens his pace instinctively, that he may the sooner reach a fairer, brighter scene beyond.
The noble sons of Mattathias seem to have shown no rivalry or emulation; each was ready to do his duty where the Lord had assigned his post; and though three brothers ruled in succession, the first-born of them was content to be the last to rise to power. Far otherwise was it with Aristobulus, the son of John Hyrcanus. Ambition was the idol that he worshipped. Not content with the authority, he must also assume the title of King. He was the first of the race of Asmoneus who put a diadem upon his head. He caused the assassination of one of his brothers, whom he suspected of aspiring to the throne, and cast three others into prison! Plunging into a yet more fearful depth of crime, on finding that his own mother, by virtue of the will of Hyrcanus, claimed a right to the sovereignty of Judea, Aristobulus overpowered her, threw her into confinement, and suffered her there to perish of hunger!