Bible Dictionary
Lysias
Lysias was a royal official who governed southern Syria and opposed the Maccabean revolt. The name also belongs to Claudius Lysias, the Roman tribune who protected Paul.
Definition
Lysias was a royal official of the Seleucid kingdom who governed southern Syria and was entrusted with the guardianship of Antiochus Epiphanes’ son. After Antiochus’ death, Lysias acted as regent during the child’s minority. The name also belongs to Claudius Lysias, a Roman tribune mentioned in Acts.
Biblical Usage
The first Lysias appears in the Maccabean accounts as an opponent of Judas Maccabeus and the Jewish revolt. Claudius Lysias is identified with the Roman officer who rescued Paul from the Jerusalem mob and sent him under guard to Felix.
Historical Background
Lysias fought the Maccabean forces, suffered defeats, and later fell with his ward Antiochus into the hands of Demetrius Soter, who put them both to death. Claudius Lysias was a tribune of the Roman cohort.
Scripture References
1Macc 3:32
2Macc 11:1
2Macc 10:11
1Macc 6:17
1Macc 7:2-4
2Macc 14:2
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Smith's Bible Dictionary
(dissolving), a nobleman of the blood-royal, 1Macc 3:32; 2Macc 11:1, who was entrusted he Antiochus Epiphanes (cir. B.C. 166) with the government of southern Syria and the guardianship of his son Antiochus Eupator. 1Macc 3:32; 2Macc. 10:11. After the death of Antiochus Epiphanes, B.C. 184, Lysias assumed the government as guardian of his son, who was pet a child. 1Macc 6:17. In B.C. 164 he, together with his ward, fell into the hands of Demetrius Soter, who put them both to death. 1Macc 7:2-4; 2Macc 14:2.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>lis'-i-as (Lusias):</p><p>(1) "A noble man, and one of the blood royal" whom Antiochus Epiphanes (circa 166 BC) left with the government of Southern Syria and the guardianship of his son, while he went in person into Persia to collect the revenues which were. not coming in satisfactorily (1 Macc 3:32; 2 Macc 10:11). According to Josephus (Ant., XII, vii, 2), the instructions of Lysias were' "to conquer Judea, enslave its inhabitants, utterly destroy Jerusalem and abolish the whole nation." Lysias, accordingly, armed against Judas Maccabeus a large force under Ptolemy, son of Dorymenes, Nicanor and Gorgias. Of this force Judas defeated the two divisions under Nicanor and Gorgias near Emmaus (166 BC), and in the following year Lysias himself at Bethsura (1 Macc 4), after which he proceeded to the purification of the temple. In the narration of these campaigns there are considerable differences between the writers of 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees which scholars have not found easy to explain. Antiochus died at Babylon on his Persian expedition (164 BC), and Lysias assumed the office of regent during the minority of his son, who was yet a child (1 Macc 6:17). He collected another army at Antioch, and after the recapture of Bethsura was besieging Jerusalem when he learned of the approach of Philip to whom Antiochus, on his deathbed, had entrusted the guardianship of the prince (1 Macc 6:15; 2 Macc 13). He defeated Philip in 163 BC and was supported at Rome, but in the following year he fell with his ward Antiochus into the hands of Demetrius I (Soter), who put both of them to death (1 Macc 7:1-23).</p><p>(2) See CLAUDIUS LYSIAS (Ac 23:26).</p><p>J. Hutchison</p>