It comes to us from Apion, a Graeco-Egyptian intellectual who lived in the 1st century CE and who, shall we say, wasn't the biggest fan of the Jewish people. His writings, thankfully preserved in Josephus's undefined, give us a glimpse into the kind of anti-Jewish sentiment that was floating around back then.
So, what's this wild tale? Apion claims that during a war between the Jews and the Idumeans – that's the people who lived just south of Judea – a guy named Zabidus, an Idumean who worshipped Apollo, decided to betray his own people. Get this: Zabidus promises to deliver Apollo, the god of Dora, into Jewish hands! How? By putting together some kind of bizarre contraption: a wooden frame decked out with three rows of lamps. He then prances around, looking like a "star walking upon the earth," scaring the bejeezus out of everyone.
The story goes that while everyone's frozen in fear, Zabidus waltzes right into the Kodesh, the Holy of Holies in the Temple, and snatches the golden head of…an ass. Yes, you read that right. A golden donkey head. According to Apion, that's what the Jews were supposedly worshipping. Then, he supposedly just saunters back to Dora.
Now, Josephus, quite rightly, tears this story to shreds. "And say you so, sir!" he retorts, dripping with sarcasm. He points out the sheer geographical absurdity of it all. Apion gets his locations all jumbled up. Idumea is next to Judea, near Gaza. But there's no Dora there. There's a Dora up in Phoenicia, near Mount Carmel, but that's four days' journey away! Seriously, Apion couldn't even get his basic geography right.
Josephus then gets to the heart of the matter. If the Jews were so easily fooled into thinking Apollo was strolling around with a bunch of stars, why does Apion accuse them of not having gods in common with other nations? And come on, a golden donkey head? Really? Those who light lamps at every festival had never seen a candlestick?
It just gets worse. This Zabidus guy supposedly wandered through a country teeming with people, during wartime no less, and nobody stopped him. He finds the walls of Jerusalem unguarded. And the doors to the Beit Hamikdash, the Temple itself? Josephus reminds us they were seventy cubits high and twenty cubits broad, covered in gold, requiring twenty men to close them each day! (Interestingly, Josephus points out a copyist error in Apion, noting that the Greek text erroneously claims the doors required two hundred men to close.) They were never left open! But apparently, our lamp-bearing friend just strolled right in and out.
Josephus doesn’t know if Zabidus returned the head or if Apion himself planted it there for Antiochus to "discover," thereby creating another anti-Jewish fable.
So, what are we left with? A ridiculous story, riddled with factual errors and blatant prejudice. But it’s also a reminder of the kind of nonsense the Jewish people have had to face throughout history. It makes you wonder: What other ridiculous lies are still being told today, and how can we challenge them with truth and reason?