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[320]
WHEN Aristobulus was dead, his wife Salome, who, by the Greeks, was
called Alexandra, let his brethren out of prison, (for Aristobulus had
kept them in bonds, as we have said already,) and made Alexander Janneus
king, who was the superior in age and in moderation. This child happened
to be hated by his father as soon as he was born, and could never be permitted
to come into his father's sight till he died. 1
The occasion of which hatred is thus reported: when Hyrcanus chiefly loved
the two eldest of his sons, Antigonus and Aristobutus, God appeared to
him in his sleep, of whom he inquired which of his sons should be his successor.
Upon God's representing to him the countenance of Alexander, he was grieved
that he was to be the heir of all his goods, and suffered him to be brought
up in Galilee However, God did not deceive Hyrcanus; for after the death
of Aristobulus, he certainly took the kingdom; and one of his brethren,
who affected the kingdom, he slew; and the other, who chose to live a private
and quiet life, he had in esteem.
1 The reason why Hyrcanus suffered not this son of his whom he did not love to come into Judea, but ordered him to be brought up in Galilee, is suggested by Dr. Hudson, that Galilee was not esteemed so happy and well cultivated a country as Judea, Matthew 26:73; John 7:52; Acts 2:7, although another obvious reason occurs also, that he was out of his sight in Galilee than he would have been in Judea.
Flavius Josephus. The Works of Flavius Josephus. Translated by. William Whiston, A.M. Auburn and Buffalo. John E. Beardsley. 1895.
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