10 March 2013

Continuing the Apocryphal killings: God killed Andronichus (that sacrilegious wretch)

Now that the SAB book is out and the pre-orders have been shipped, it's time to get back to the Apocryphal killings.

As you might recall, the last killing was Antiochus, whom, according to 1 and 2 Machabees, God killed in three different ways (with an incurable bowel disease, by smashing him with stones and dismembering him, and by scaring him to death). .

The next story is about a man named Andronicus.

Andronicus was an official of King Antiochus who got involved in a dispute between two rivals for the Jewish high priesthood. One claimant was Onias, God's favorite; the other was Menelaus, a cruel tyrant and savage beast, who stole gold out of the temple and gave it to Andronicus.
Menelaus ... having the mind of a cruel tyrant, and the rage of a savage beast ... having stolen certain vessels of gold out of the temple, gave them to Andronicus. 2 Machabees 4:23-32
Menelaus asked Andronicus to kill Onias.
Menelaus coming to Andronicus, desired him to kill Onias. 4:34a
Which he did.
And he [Andronicus] went to Onias ... and immediately slew him. 4:34b
When King Antiochus (who according to 1 Machabees 1:16 was already dead) heard about Onias's death, he was "moved to pity" and "shed tears, remembering the sobriety and modesty of the deceased."
Antiochus therefore was grieved in his mind for Onias, and being moved to pity, shed tears, remembering the sobriety and modesty of the deceased. 4.37 
So God inspired Antiochus to kill Andronicus (the sacrilegious wretch) as his deserved punishment.
And being inflamed to anger, he [Antiochus] commanded Andronicus to be stripped of his purple, and to be led about through all the city: and that in the same place wherein he had committed the impiety against Onias, the sacrilegious wretch should be put to death, the Lord repaying him his deserved punishment. 4:38

No comments: