Ja´son, a kinsman of St. Paul, and his host at Thessalonica, where the Jews forced his house in order to seize the Apostle. Not finding the Apostle, they dragged Jason himself and some other converts before the magistrates, who released them with an admonition (A.D. 53). Jason appears to have accompanied the Apostle to Corinth (Act 17:5-9; Rom 16:21).
A kinsman and host of Paul, at Thessalonica. His person and goods were interposed to shield the apostle from the rabble, A. D. 52, Mal 17:5-10 . He seems also to have been with him at Corinth, five years afterwards, 1Ch 16:21 .\par
Ja’son. (one who will heal). Jason, called the Thessalonian, entertained Paul and Silas, and was in consequence, attacked by the Jewish mob. Act 17:5-7; Act 17:9. (A.D. 48). He is probably the same as the Jason mentioned in Rom 16:21. It is conjectured that Jason and Secundus, Act 20:4, were the same person.
Graecized from Joshua. The Thessalonian who received Paul and Silas (Act 17:5-7; Act 17:9), whom the mob therefore, after assaulting his house, dragged before the magistrates. Jason had to give security before he was let go. In Rom 16:21 Paul sends Jason’s salutations from Corinth, calling him his "kinsman" or fellow tribesman, or fellow countryman, as the word is used Rom 9:3.
Jason (jâ’son), one who will heal. A Thessalonian, and probably a relative of Paul, whom he entertained, and in consequence received rough treatment at the Hands of the unbelieving Jews. Act 17:1-34; with Rom 16:21.
[Ja’son]
The host of Paul and Silas at Thessalonica, whose house was attacked by the Jews, and himself arrested. Act 17:5-9. Perhaps the same as the one at Rome described as a kinsman of Paul. Rom 16:21.
(JESHUA or JESUS):
By: Emil G. Hirsch, Isaac Broydé, Richard Gottheil, Samuel Krauss
1. High priest from 174 to 171 B.C.; brother of the high priest Onias III. During the absence of Onias, who had been summoned to Antioch to meet charges brought against him by the Hellenists, Jason joined hands with his brother's enemies. Through the payment of large sums he obtained from Antiochus the transfer of the high-priesthood, permission to erect at Jerusalem a gymnasium and an ephebeum, and the grant to the inhabitants of Jerusalem of the privileges and title of citizens of Antioch; for the latter favor alone he paid 150 talents.During the three years of Jason's administration the influences of Hellenism in Judea reached their climax. In his desire to pass for a Hellene Jason went so far as to send representatives to a duplication of the Olympian games celebrated in the presence of Antiochus at Tyre, and presented 300 drachmasfor a sacrifice to Hercules, to whom the games were dedicated. But notwithstanding his zeal Jason was deposed at the end of the third year, having been outbid by Menelaus, supported by the Tobiads. Jason, however, did not consider himself defeated; profiting by the absence of Antiochus Epiphanes, then engaged in a war with Egypt, and backed by the majority of the inhabitants, he rendered himself master of the city, and compelled his adversary to seek refuge in the fortress. Jason's triumph was short-lived. Antiochus, forced by the Romans to abandon his campaign against Egypt, seized the opportunity afforded by Jason's uprising to march against Jerusalem. When the city was taken Jason fled to the Ammonites, among whom he remained until his death.Bibliography: II Macc. iv. 7-26; Josephus, Ant. xii. 5; Stanley, Lectures on the History of the Jewish Church, iii. 324; Grätz, Gesch. ii. 298 et seq.; Schürer, Gesch. i. 194; Wellhausen, Israelitische und Jüdische Gesch. 2d ed., p. 235, Berlin, 1895; Büchler, Die Tobiaden und Oniaden, pp. 106 et seq., Vienna, 1899.E. G. H. I. Br.
2. Son of Eleazar; sent by Judas Maccabeus as envoy to Rome (I Macc. viii. 17; Josephus, "Ant." xii. 10, § 6). In the reference to the embassy in II Macc. iv. 11 only Jason's companion, Eupolemus, son of John (or John, son of Eupolemus), is mentioned.G. S. Kr.
JASON.—This Greek name was adopted by many Jews whose Hebrew designation was Joshua (Jesus). 1. The son of Eleazar deputed to make a treaty with the Romans, and father of Antipater who was later sent on a similar errand, unless two different persons are meant (1Ma 8:17; 1Ma 12:16; 1Ma 14:22). 2. Jason of Cyrene, an author, of whose history 2 Mac. (see 2Ma 2:23; 2Ma 2:26) is an epitome (written after b.c. 160). 3. Joshua the high priest, who ousted his brother Onias iii. from the office in b.c. 174 (2Ma 4:7 ff.), but was himself driven out three years later, and died among the Lacedæmonians at Sparta (2Ma 5:9 f.). 4. In Act 17:6 ff. a Jason was St. Paul’s host at Thessalonica, from whom the politarchs took bail for his good behaviour, thus (as it seems) preventing St. Paul’s return to Macedonia for a long time (see art. Paul the Apostle, § 8). The Jason who sends greetings from Corinth in Rom 16:21, a ‘kinsman’ of St. Paul (i.e. a Jew), is probably the same man.
A. J. Maclean.
(Hebrew: healer)
(1) Son of Eleazer, sent by Judas Machabeus to Rome to make a treaty with the Romans (1 Machabees 8). He had a son Antipater (1 Machabees 12).
(2) Jason of Cyrene, author of the history of the Jews, persecuted under Antiochus Epiphanes and Eupator. He also wrote the exploits of Judas Machabeus in five books, from which the author of 2 Machabees has taken his recital (2 Machabees 2).
(3) Brother of the high-priest Onias III and son of Simon II. He had insatiable ambition. He bought the High-priesthood for a great sum of silver (2 Machabees 4). Forgetting completely his calling, he sought to introduce Greek customs among the Jews. Three years later Jason was forced to flee, and took refuge with the Ammonites. During the second expedition of Antiochus into Egypt, hearing a rumor that the king had died, Jason at the head of the Ammonites besieged Jerusalem, and slew his countrymen without mercy (2 Machabees 5). He was pursued from city to city, an object of contempt and hatred, and he ended his miserable life at Sparta, unlamented and unburied.
A Greek name adopted by many Jews whose Hebrew designation was Joshua (Jesus). In the Old Testament, it is applied to three or four persons connected with the period of the Machabees. I. JASON, THE SON OF ELEAZARIn 161 B.C., he was sent to Rome by Judas Machabeus to secure an alliance offensive and defensive (1 Maccabees 8:17 sqq.). II. JASONThe father of the Antipater who was one of the ambassadors sent by Jonathan, in 144 B.C. to renew the former treaty with the Roman (1 Maccabees 14:22). This Jason is perhaps to be identified with Jason, the son of Eleazar. III. JASON OF CYRENEA Jewish historian who lived in the second century B.C., and whose work is made know to us by the Second Book of Machabees, which professes to be its direct "Epitome" (2 Maccabees 2:24, 27, 32). Jason’s work, divided into five books, dealt, apparently in great detail, with the history of the Machabees and the wars of the Jews against Antiochus Epiphanes, and his son Eupator (2 Maccabees 2:20 sqq.). In the "Epitome" five parts may still be distinguished, corresponding probably to the five books of Jason, and ending respectively with iii, 40; vii, 42; x, 9; xiii, 26; xv, 37. Jason composed his work in Greek, not long after 160 B.C., at which date the Second Book of the Machabees closes its narrative. He was thus contemporary with the events which he chronicled. IV. JASON, THE HIGH-PRIESTThis unworthy son of Simon the Just purchased at great price from Antiochus Epiphanes the deposition of his brother Onias III from the high-priesthood. During the three years of his own pontificate, he did all in his power to corrupt the faith and morals of the youth of Jerusalem (2 Maccabees 4:7-17). On the occasion of the games celebrated at Tyre, in honour of Hercules, he sent a Jewish deputation with a large sum of money which he intended to be spent on pagan sacrifices; at the request of his envoys, however, it was devoted to building galleys. He was finally supplanted by Menelaus, his own envoy to Antichus, took refuge among the Ammonites (2 Maccabees 4:23-26), captured Jerusalem next year, but had to soon flee again among the Ammonites, wandered in different places, and ultimately died miserably at Sparta.-----------------------------------FRANCIS E. GIGOT Transcribed by Christine J. Murray The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume VIIICopyright © 1910 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat, October 1, 1910. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., CensorImprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York
(1) Son of Eleazar, sent (161 bc) by Judas Maccabeus with other deputies to Rome “to make a league of amity and confederacy” (1 Macc 8:17; Josephus, Ant, XII, x, 6), and perhaps to be identified with (2).
(2) The father of Antipater who went as ambassador of Jonathan to Rome in 144 bc (1 Macc 12:16; 14:22; Ant, XIII, v, 8).
(3) Jason of Cyrene, a Jewish historian, who is known only from what is told of him in 2 Macc 2:19-23. 2 Macc is in fact simply an abridgment in one book of the 5 books written by Jason on the Jewish wars of liberation. He must have written after 162 bc, as his books include the wars under Antiochus Eupator.
(4) Jason the high priest, second son of Simon II and brother of Onias III. The change of name from Jesus (Josephus, Ant, XII, v) was part of the Hellenizing policy favored by Antiochus Epiphanes from whom he purchased the high-priesthood by a large bribe, thus excluding his elder brother from the office (2 Macc 4:7-26). He did everything in his power to introduce Greek customs and Greek life among the Jews. He established a gymnasium in Jerusalem, so that even the priests neglected the altars and the sacrifices, and hastened to be partakers of the “unlawful allowance” in the palaestra. The writer of 2 Macc calls him “that ungodly wretch” and “vile” Jason. He even sent deputies from Jerusalem to Tyre to take part in the worship of Hercules; but what he sent for sacrifices, the deputies expended on the “equipment of galleys.” After 3 years of this Hellenizing work he was supplanted in 172 bc in the favor of Antiochus by Menelaus who gave a large bribe for the high priest’s office. Jason took refuge with the Ammonites; on hearing that Antiochus was dead he tried with some success to drive out Menelaus, but ultimately failed (2 Macc 5:5ff). He took refuge with the Ammonites again, and then with Aretas, the Arabian, and finally with the Lacedaemonians, where he hoped for protection “as being connected by race,” and there “perished-miserably in a strange land.”
(5) A name mentioned in Act 17:5-9 and in Rom 16:21. See following article.
(ἸÜóùí)
Jason is a Greek name, often adopted by Jews of the Dispersion, sometimes as not unlike the names Joseph or Joshua.
1. In Act_17:5 ff., the host of St. Paul and Silas at Thessalonica, who was seized with other converts and dragged before the politarchs. These authorities bound over Jason and his friends in security that there should be no further disturbance and perhaps that St. Paul should leave the city and not return (see Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen, 1895, p. 230f.).
2. In Rom_16:21, a person whose greetings St. Paul sends to his readers with greetings from Timothy, Lucius, and Sosipater, all of whom he describes as his ‘kinsmen,’ i.e. fellow-Jews or perhaps members of the same tribe. It is quite probable that 1 and 2 are the same man.
T. B. Allworthy.
(Romans 16)
- A second Jewish Christian in Romans 16 (the first was Lucius). This Jason was Paul’s host during his troublesome stay in Thessalonica (Acts 17:5). This may be the same man, now in Corinth.