Bible Dictionaries
Onias

1910 New Catholic Dictionary

(Hebrew: strength of the Lord)

Name of four Jewish High Priests of the 3and 2centuries B.C. Three are mentioned in the Bible:

• Onias I (321-310), mentioned in 1Machabees 12, as having received a friendly letter from Arius, the Spartan ruler, who claimed kinship and suggested an alliance.
• Onias III (199-175); in 2Machabees the beginnings of his pontificate are highly praised (2Machabees 3). During his rule Heliodorus made his ill-fatedexpedition to Jerusalem to seize the alleged treasures of the Temple.
• Onias IV was too young to succeed his father in the priesthood which fell into unworthy hands. He fled into Egypt where he built, near Heliopolis, a new temple for the use of the many Jews in Egypt (160 B.C.).