Seleucid Empire
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Search complete. 159 mentions across 63 episodes found for "Seleucid Empire".
Oct 10, 2026
Miguel ConnerHOST
So then you get the 2nd century takeover.
Miguel ConnerHOST
The Seleucid Empire seizes control and imposes a new state temple.
Miguel ConnerHOST
The Seleucid Empire seizes and also creates a new state cult in Judea.
Miguel ConnerHOST
The fabrication to legitimize this new religion, imperial powers retroactively invent ancient priestly categories.
Miguel ConnerHOST
Essenes, Pharisees, Sadducees to create the illusion of deep roots tracing back to Moses.
Miguel ConnerHOST
So that's another theory of yours.
Ray TaylorGUEST
Yes, it is.
Ray TaylorGUEST
And it's not just the Seleucid Empire.
Kerry AdamsNARRATOR
Then, in the latter part of the fourth century before Christ, Judea was conquered by Alexander the Great.
Kerry AdamsNARRATOR
For some hundred years after the death of Alexander, the country was a bone of contention between the kings of Egypt and the kings of Syria, that is, between the Ptolemies and the Seleucids.
Kerry AdamsNARRATOR
At the beginning of the second century before Christ, the king of Syria won a permanent victory.
Kerry AdamsNARRATOR
Under the Ptolemies and at first under the Seleucids, as well as under the Persians, the Jews enjoyed a considerable measure of independence in the management of their own affairs.
Kerry AdamsNARRATOR
Their religion in particular was left quite unmolested.
Kerry AdamsNARRATOR
But the assimilation which was not being accomplished by force was being accomplished by peaceful influences.
2 HRS 47 MINS LATER
Bill MoseleyNARRATOR
Perhaps as magnificent as the city itself was the famous Daphne, a neighboring shrine and pleasure resort well known for its gilded vice.
Bill MoseleyNARRATOR
The dominant language of Antioch from the beginning had been Greek.
Mike SchmitzHOST
I, this is new.
Jeff CavinsGUEST
Yeah.
Jeff CavinsGUEST
He, he, he left his entire kingdom, if you will, to two generals, the, the Ptolemies and the Seleucids.
Jeff CavinsGUEST
And the Ptolemies took over in this area of the, of the world, and they continued to allow this, this, uh, this doctrine of tolerance that, that, uh, Alexander had and, and then the Seleucids took over, and this is the character Antiochus Epiphanes.
Jeff CavinsGUEST
He is like a, the devil on wheels, you know? This guy-
Mike SchmitzHOST
Right, 'cause he, he's kind of like a modern or more recent, uh, Jezebel, Ahab kind of a-
Jeff CavinsGUEST
And of course, Jesus is the light of the world.
Jeff CavinsGUEST
And so this, this great holiday of Hanukkah, which our, our older brothers and sisters, the Jewish people celebrate every single year, we also celebrate with them as well in the rededicating of the temple.
CornHOST
Or there's another kingdom in the neighborhood that does the job first.
Herman PoppleberryHOST
The Ptolemaic and Seleucid dynasties are already on the doorstep.
Herman PoppleberryHOST
So even in this alternate world, Hannah's continuous Jewish state survives the Hellenistic period only by playing the two against each other.
Herman PoppleberryHOST
That's the other bookend to Seliger's trade off question because it means the state is only as continuous as his diplomacy is good.
Herman PoppleberryHOST
There are three candidate names.
Herman PoppleberryHOST
Judea, after the tribe of Judah, the political entity.
Herman PoppleberryHOST
Israel, the covenant name, the northern kingdom, the name of the people, and something dynastic like how you get Ptolemaic Egypt or Seleucid Syria, a name that shifts with whoever's on the throne.
CornHOST
Which would be the most Levantine outcome.
Tom PenningtonHOST
Well, the city has an interesting and checkered history.
Tom PenningtonHOST
It was founded in about 290 BC by Seleucus I, one of the generals of Alexander, and he was the founder as well of the Seleucid dynasty.
Tom PenningtonHOST
Later, a man named Lysimachus who ruled Pergamum, that northern city, took the city of Thyatira.
Tom PenningtonHOST
Now the city of Thyatira had no natural fortifications.
Alexiana FryGUEST
Yes.
Alexiana FryGUEST
What's hard is, again, we don't have a lot of information as to what, you know, people want to place the Book of Esther, especially the Masorette, you know, well, this obviously happened while the Ptolemies and the Seleucids, because obviously, I'm like, well, that feels like conjecture.
Alexiana FryGUEST
So what are the traumas that the author or maybe, I don't know.
Alexiana FryGUEST
I don't know.
Nahum KaplanGUEST
The ancient Israelites knew war.
Nahum KaplanGUEST
David felled Goliath, the Maccabees overthrew Seleucid rule, and Bar Kokhba led a bloody, ill-fated revolt against Rome.
Nahum KaplanGUEST
Yet Jewish military victories in antiquity were repeatedly followed by catastrophic defeats against powers possessing vastly greater manpower and resources.
Nahum KaplanGUEST
No more.
Ryan PittersonGUEST
So in Daniel chapter 11, when it's talking discussing, you know, the, the, the c- the, the quiet centuries, right? Daniel's prophesying what's all the things that are gonna happen after the Old Testament ends up until the Gospels, and this, the basically the, this division of Alexander the Great's kingdom.
Ryan PittersonGUEST
It's by the four kings, and what happened with the Seleucid Empire who, who would rule over Israel.
Ryan PittersonGUEST
And, uh, t- uh, uh, Antiochus Epiphanes was, again, a major oppressor of Israel.
Ryan PittersonGUEST
You read in the book of Maccabees that he outlawed Judaism completely.
Hank HanegraaffHOST
The little horn was Antiochus IV.
Hank HanegraaffHOST
He was the last of the Seleucid monarchs.
Hank HanegraaffHOST
He was King of the North.
Hank HanegraaffHOST
He was son of Antiochus IV and the chief villain of the Greco-Syrian Empire.
speaker_1NARRATOR
After Alexander's death, his empire was divided among his generals.
speaker_1NARRATOR
Control of Egypt remained in the hands of the Ptolemies, while Syria was ruled by the Seleucids.
speaker_1NARRATOR
The region of Israel became a battleground between these two empires, bringing various challenges to the Jewish people Under the Ptolemies, the Jewish people experienced a relatively peaceful period and some control over their religious practices.
speaker_1NARRATOR
However, with the rise of the Seleucids, especially under Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the situation changed drastically.
speaker_1NARRATOR
Antiochus IV Epiphanes, in an effort to Hellenize the region, provoked the anger of the Jews by desecrating the temple in Jerusalem and prohibiting Jewish religious practices.
speaker_1NARRATOR
His affront culminated in the Maccabean Revolt, led by the Maccabean family, notably Judas Maccabeus.
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