Hyrcanus

HYRCANUS hûr kā’ nəs. Hyrcanus is a name derived from Hyrcania, a region S of the Caspian Sea to which many Jews had been transported. A man of that name is mentioned in 2 Maccabees 3:11. He was the son of Tobias, a prominent man who had deposited a large sum of money in the Temple. Heliodorus, an official of the Syrian ruler Seleucus IV, came to Jerusalem to confiscate the money. According to 2 Maccabees 3:24-29, Heliodorus was overwhelmed as the result of seeing an apparition, and the treasure was saved for the Temple. For John Hyrcanus, and Hyrcanus II, see Hasmoneans.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915)

"Son of Tobias, a man of great dignity," who had a large sum of money deposited in the Temple of Jerusalem when Heliodorus was sent to confiscate it in 187 BC (2 Macc 3:11 ff). Opinions differ as to the identity of this Hyrcanus. with the grandson of Tobias whose birth and history are related at considerable length by Josephus (Ant., XII, iv, 6 ff), or with another of the same name mentioned in Ant, XIII, viii, 4.

See Asmoneans; Maccabaeus.