Menelaus

Who is Menelaus?

Menelaus was High Priest in Jerusalem from 171 BC to about 161 BC. He was the successor of Jason, the brother of Onias III.

The sources are divided as to his origin. According to II Maccabees, he belonged to the tribe of Benjamin and was the brother of the Simeon who had denounced Onias III to Antiochus IV Epiphanes, 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 confused Simeon, the brother of Menelaus, with Simeon, the father of Onias and Jason.