The betrayal came from within. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle preserved by Moses Gaster in 1899, a man named Simeon from the tribe of Benjamin—described as "very wicked and rebellious"—went to King Seleucus of Macedonia and slandered his own people. He told the king about the vast treasures heaped inside the Temple at Jerusalem: endless quantities of gold, precious stones, and riches that would be better off in the royal treasury.
Seleucus dispatched Heliodorus, the captain of his army, to Jerusalem with a military force. When Heliodorus arrived, the high priest Honiah (Onias) met him and explained that the Temple treasury held deposits entrusted by widows and orphans—sacred funds that could not be touched. Heliodorus ignored him and entered the Temple by force.
What happened next terrified everyone who witnessed it. As Heliodorus reached for the treasury, a great horse appeared before him bearing a fearsome rider in golden armor. The horse struck Heliodorus with its front hooves. Then two young men of extraordinary beauty appeared and beat him relentlessly from both sides until he collapsed, unable to speak or move. His soldiers carried him out on a stretcher, his power completely broken.
The high priest Honiah prayed for Heliodorus, and the two angelic figures appeared again, telling the fallen captain: "Thank the priest Honiah, for it is on his account that God has spared your life." When Heliodorus returned to Seleucus and was asked about Jerusalem, he gave an astonishing report: "If you have any enemies who seek your life, send them to Jerusalem and let them enter the Temple, where they will surely be killed, for the great God reigns in that place." From that day forward, Seleucus sent no more armies to Jerusalem. Instead, he sent gifts to the Temple every year until his death.
LXXXVI. (1) When Seleucus reigned over Macedonia, a
very wicked, rebellious man of our own people, Simeon of
the tribe of Benjamin, went to Seleucus, and, slandering
the Jews, informed him of the riches contained in the
temple at Jerusalem, saying that the treasures were
heaped up in the treasury in endless quantities, and an
abundance of gold and precious stones, and that it would
be preferable to have it all placed in the treasury of
Seleucus. The king thereupon sent for Eliodorus, the
captain of his host, and bade him go to Jerusalem with his
armies. On his arrival, Honiah the priest said to him,
' Why has my lord come to his servants ?' ' Because of
the vast amount of gold and precious stones which, the
king has been informed, is contained in the treasury of
your temple.' ' The only gold in the treasury,' said the
priest, ' is that which King Seleucus and other kings
presented to us, for the maintenance of orphans, widows
and the poor. For this, we pray to God to grant long life
to the king and his sons.'
(2) Eliodorus, however, would not listen to the priest,
but placed guards round the temple until the following day,
when the city was in great uproar through the lamenta-
tion and cries of the people. The priests also called upon
their God, and the old men and women and princes covered
themselves with ashes and afflicted their souls with fasting.
258 [LXXXVI. 3
They withheld food from even the young, and milk from
the sucklings. They cried to God to guard the treasury
and the riches deposited therein. Even the young virgins
spread out their hands through the windows of their
houses, and besought the Lord for protection. And as to
Honiah the priest, he afflicted his soul (by fasting), and
having stripped himself of his garments of honour, clothed
himself in sackcloth and ashes, for he was grief-stricken,
and, from his appearance, one could imagine the sorrow
that was in his heart.
(3) On the next day the enemy came with all his hosts
and went into the temple shouting, but the Lord caused
a strong and mighty sound of thunder to be heard, to-
gether with an earthquake, and a tempest that overthrew
mountains and shattered rocks. On hearing this, all his
troops took to flight, and hid themselves wherever they
could, so that he (Eliodorus) remained alone, and, lifting
up his eyes, he saw an awe-inspiring man clothed in gold,
decked with precious stones, and girt with implements of
war. He was riding a splendid horse, that was plunging
and rearing, trotting and galloping in the temple. Helio-
dorus immediately ran away, but the horse felled him to
the ground, standing over him. The man then commanded
his two young servants, clothed in white linen, with staves
in their hands, to smite Eliodorus very severely; and the
two young men at his bidding stood one on each side of
him, and beat him mercilessly until he became insensible
and hovered between life and death.
(4) Young priests came then, and lifting him on their
shoulders, carried him into his tent and placed him in his
bed, where he lay motionless and dumb. He could neither
speak nor partake of any food. When the elders of Macedon
saw him in this state, they came to Honiah the priest, and,
crying, entreated him in the following manner, ' 0 my lord,
we beseech thee, pray for thy servant Eliodorus and all
his servants who have come with him, that we may live and
not die, for we know that there is no other God except
yours, since all the gods of the nations are vanity and
emptiness, whilst yours is the God that created the world,
and in whose hand is the soul of every living being.'
(5) The priest, then praying to God, offered up burnt-
offerings and sacrifices, and the two young men that smote
Eliodorus by the temple appeared to him and said, 'Arise,
go to Honiah the priest, and bow down to his feet, since for
his sake the Lord has had mercy upon thee.' Eliodorus
accordingly arose, and, going to the priest, prostrated him-
self, and blessing the Lord and the priest, gave much gold
and silver to the treasury of the house of the Lord. Then
hastening to Macedonia, he went to Seleucus the king, who
asked, 'What of Jerusalem?' And Eliodorus replied, 'If
thou hast any enemies that seek thy life, send them at once
to Jerusalem, and let them go into the temple, where they
will surely be killed, for the great God reigns in that place,
and destroys all the enemies of Jerusalem and Judah.' He
then told the king all that he had witnessed. And Seleucus
no more sent his army to Jerusalem to do evil, but, on the
contrary, every year until his death he sent a present to the
temple, and the kings of the land loved to send their
offerings to honour the temple at Jerusalem.
