ONIAS ō nī’ əs (̓Ονίας). The name of three persons who were high priests in the Maccabean period, and of a fourth who, though not becoming high priest, was the builder of the temple of Leontopolis.

1. Onias I was high priest from c. 320-290 b.c. and a contemporary of the Spartan King Arius (309-265 b.c.). This king at one time, according to 1 Maccabees 12:1-23, sent a letter to Onias embodying a declaration of alliance and friendship, and stating, among other things, that the Spartans and Jews were brethren. This Onias had a son, Simon I, called “the Just” by Josephus (Antiq. XI. viii. 7; XII. iv. 1) who succeeded him in office.

2. Onias II, son of Simon I, assumed the high priesthood after Eleazar and Manasseh. For several years he failed to remit to Ptolemy III Euergetes the annual tribute of twenty talents. At last Ptolemy, the king of Egypt, threatened to take military action. The impending disaster was averted by Onias’ nephew Joseph, who, having friendly relations with the Egyp. court, managed to conciliate Ptolemy (Jos., Antiq. XII. iv. 1ff.). His son Simon II assumed the high priestly office after the death of his father.

3. Onias III, son of Simon II, ranks as the most important of the high priests bearing this name. Having assumed office c. 198 b.c., he was high priest mainly during the reign of the Syrian King Seleucus IV (187-175 b.c.). He was noted for his piety and hatred of wickedness and commanded the respect of Seleucus to such a degree that the king from his own revenues defrayed all the expenses connected with the service of the sacrifices (2 Macc 3:1-3). A dispute between him and a man named Simon, a captain of the Temple, led to a break between Onias and the king. Simon, via Apollonius of Tarsus, governor of Coelesyria and Tarsus, informed the king of the existence of a Temple treasury, apparently greatly exaggerating the amount. Seleucus commissioned Heliodorus to confiscate this treasury. With the strong backing of his people Onias refused to yield. According to the account in 2 Maccabees 3:8, Heliodorus was supernaturally repulsed. After the assassination of Seleucus to whom Onias had gone to plead his cause, Antiochus Epiphanes deposed him and put his brother Jason in his place. Onias later was murdered (2 Macc 4:33ff.).

Bibliography S. Tedesche and S. Zeitlin, The Second Book of Maccabees (1954), 1-15; V. Tcherikover, Hellenistic Civilization and the Jews (1959).

4. Onias IV. Son of Onias III and his rightful successor. Because of the dreadful circumstances in Jerusalem he fled to Egypt where he was welcomed by Ptolemy Philometor. The latter gave him an unused temple in Leontopolis in the Egyp. Delta. Onias proceeded to rebuild this into a rival temple of the one at Jerusalem and as a religious center of Hellenic Judaism (Jos., Antiq. XII. ix. 7; XIII. iii, 1. 2. 3; XX. x. 1).

Bibliography S. A. Hirsch, “The Temple of Onias,” Jews’ College Jubilee Volume (1925), 39-80.