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Menelaus was High Priest in Jerusalem
List of High Priests of Israel

This page gives one list of the Kohen Gadols of Ancient Israel up to the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 Common Era. Because of a lack a historic data, this list is incomplete and there may be gaps....
 from 171 BC to about 161 BC. He was the successor of Jason
Jason (high priest)

Jason of the Onias family, brother to Onias III, was a Kohen Gadol in the Temple in Jerusalem.Jason became high priest after the accession of Antiochus Epiphanes to the throne of the Seleucid Empire....
, the brother of Onias III
Onias III

Onias III was a Kohen Gadol, the son of Simon II. He is described as a pious man who, unlike the Hellenizers, fought for Judaism. Seleucus Philopator defrayed all the expenses connected with the sanctuary and was friendly to the Jews....
.

The sources are divided as to his origin. According to II Maccabees, he belonged to the tribe of Benjamin
Tribe of Benjamin

According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Benjamin was one of the twelve Israelites.Following the completion of the conquest of Canaan by the Israelite tribes after about 1200 BCE, Joshua allocated the land among the twelve tribes....
 and was the brother of the Simeon who had denounced Onias III to Antiochus IV Epiphanes
Antiochus IV Epiphanes

Antiochus IV Epiphanes ruled the Seleucid Empire from 175 BC until his death in 164 BC. He was a son of King Antiochus III the Great and the brother of Seleucus IV Philopator....
, and revealed to the Syrians the existence of the treasure of the Temple; according to Flavius Josephus, Menelaus was the brother of Onias III and Jason, his two predecessors as High Priest, and also bore the name Onias.






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Menelaus was High Priest in Jerusalem
List of High Priests of Israel

This page gives one list of the Kohen Gadols of Ancient Israel up to the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 Common Era. Because of a lack a historic data, this list is incomplete and there may be gaps....
 from 171 BC to about 161 BC. He was the successor of Jason
Jason (high priest)

Jason of the Onias family, brother to Onias III, was a Kohen Gadol in the Temple in Jerusalem.Jason became high priest after the accession of Antiochus Epiphanes to the throne of the Seleucid Empire....
, the brother of Onias III
Onias III

Onias III was a Kohen Gadol, the son of Simon II. He is described as a pious man who, unlike the Hellenizers, fought for Judaism. Seleucus Philopator defrayed all the expenses connected with the sanctuary and was friendly to the Jews....
.

The sources are divided as to his origin. According to II Maccabees, he belonged to the tribe of Benjamin
Tribe of Benjamin

According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Benjamin was one of the twelve Israelites.Following the completion of the conquest of Canaan by the Israelite tribes after about 1200 BCE, Joshua allocated the land among the twelve tribes....
 and was the brother of the Simeon who had denounced Onias III to Antiochus IV Epiphanes
Antiochus IV Epiphanes

Antiochus IV Epiphanes ruled the Seleucid Empire from 175 BC until his death in 164 BC. He was a son of King Antiochus III the Great and the brother of Seleucus IV Philopator....
, and revealed to the Syrians the existence of the treasure of the Temple; according to Flavius Josephus, Menelaus was the brother of Onias III and Jason, his two predecessors as High Priest, and also bore the name Onias. It is possible that Josephus confounded Simeon, the brother of Menelaus, with Simeon, the father of Onias and Jason.

Hellenizing tendencies


Although during the three years of his pontificate Jason had given many proofs of his attachment to the Hellenistic party (by building a gymnasium in Jerusalem and by introducing many Greek customs) the zealous Hellenists of the stamp of the Tobiads
Tobiads

The Tobiads were a Jewish faction at the beginning of the Maccabean period. They were phil-Hellene, in other words supporters of the Hellenistic tendencies in Judaism in the early years of the second century BCE....
 plotted his overthrow, suspecting him of partiality to traditional Judaism. At their head stood Menelaus. Having been sent to Antiochus to pay the annual tribute, he took the opportunity to outbid Jason and secure for himself the office of high priest. An officer named Sostrates was sent by Antiochus with a troop of Cyprian soldiers to subdue any opposition that might be attempted by the followers of the deposed high priest Jason and to collect at the same time the sum Menelaus had promised.

Menelaus' first act was to seize the sacred vessels in the Temple stores in order to meet the obligations he had incurred. This act came to the ears of the deposed high priest Onias III, who publicly accused Menelaus of robbing the Temple. The latter, afraid of the consequences of this accusation, induced the king's lieutenant Andronicus, who had had his share of the plunder, to get rid of Onias before a formal complaint had been lodged with the king. Accordingly Onias was decoyed from the sanctuary at Daphne
Daphne

According to Greek mythology, Apollo chased the nymph Daphne , daughter either of Peneus and Creusa in Thessaly, or of Ladon River in Arcadia. The pursuit of a local nymph by an Twelve Olympians, part of the archaic adjustment of religious cult in Greece, was given an arch anecdotal turn in Ovid's Metamorphoses, where the god's infatuati...
, in which he had sought refuge, and murdered. Menelaus continued to plunder the treasures of the Temple until violence ensued, in which his brother Lysimachus met his death. He then brought before the king an accusation against the people of Jerusalem, that they were partizans of the Egyptians and persecuted him only because he was opposed to their party intrigues. This accusation caused the execution of several Jews who, although they proved beyond any doubt that Menelaus and Lysimachus had desecrated the Temple, were sentenced to death.

Conflict with Jason


Meanwhile Jason had not abandoned his claims to the high-priesthood, and while (170) Antiochus was waging war against Egypt he succeeded in making himself master of Jerusalem and in forcing Menelaus to seek refuge in the citadel. Antiochus regarded this proceeding as an affront upon his majesty, and, having been compelled by the Romans to leave Egypt, he marched against Jerusalem, massacred the inhabitants, and plundered the Temple; in this he is said to have been assisted by Menelaus.

According to II Maccabees, it was Menelaus who persuaded Antiochus to Hellenize the Jewish worship, and thereby brought about the uprising of the Judeans under the guidance of the Maccabees
Maccabees

The Maccabees were a Jewish national liberation movement that fought for and won independence from Antiochus IV Epiphanes of the Hellenistic Seleucid dynasty, who was succeeded by his infant son Antiochus V Eupator....
. During the first years of the restoration of the Jewish worship Menelaus still remained (though only nominally) high priest. He is said to have been put to death by Antiochus V Eupator when the latter made definite concessions to the Jews, the reason assigned being that Menelaus, by his evil counsel, was indirectly responsible for the Jewish rebellion.

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