12-02-2011, 05:55 AM
Quote:Could you please clarify, Jona? 19.3% of what? On income?Yes; it's mentioned in Josephus somewhere, and you have to take the sabbat-year into account. I will check.
Quote:Well, I was primarily refering to religious oppression.Was there? I am serious. What real evidence is there? There's of course 1 and 2 Maccabees, but they were written to prove that the Hasmonaeans, who had no claim to the high priesthood (they did not belong to the Zadokites), were right to revolt and seize power in Jerusalem. Daniel only mentions that there will be "an abomination of desolation" - a reference to something terrible, of course, but was it a persecution?
I am not saying that nothing happened. But if Antiochus IV merely visited Jerusalem, seized some money (as was his right), and entered the shrine, we have explained a lot. Many Jews must have experienced it as an outright disaster, but I am not so sure whether this says very much about Seleucid policy. What I am claiming is that there is much room for doubt.
Quote:I didn't know they imposed 360 talents as an annual tax rate.Somewhere in 1 or 2 Maccabees.
