Heliodorus came, however, to the temple, and was pressing
on to the treasury, when suddenly a horse, with a terrible rider,
appeared in armour like gold, and cast the spoiler to the ground, while
two young men, of marvellous beauty, scourged him on either side, so
that when the heavenly champions had vanished, he lay as one dead. Onias
prayed for him, and he was restored; the same beings who had struck
him down coming to reveal to him that his life was granted at the
intercession of the High Priest. When he returned to his master, and
was consulted as to who might be a fit man to send to Jerusalem, he
answered, "If thou hast any enemy or traitor, send him thither, and
thou shalt receive him well scourged." So little impression did such a
revelation of glory make on that hard selfish heart! The man who had
been smitten by a visible angel could jest about it, and soon went on to
greater crime. He poisoned his master in the hope of becoming king, as
Seleucus's son was a hostage at Rome, that is, he had been given as
a pledge that the tribute should be paid; but Seleucus's brother,
Antiochus, who was on his way home from captivity at Rome, flattered the
adjoining kings into helping him, drove Heliodorus away, and became king
in 178.
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