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Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

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HELIODORUS

There is an inscription in the temple of Apollo at Delos that indicates that Heliodorus was prominent in the court of the Seleucid king Seleucus IV Philopator, who reigned from 187 to 175 BC. In his Syrian Wars (45) Appian says that Heliodorus was a close friend of this king. According to 2 Maccabees, he is the object of divine vengeance because Seleucus IV sent him to Jerusalem to remove the temple treasury (2 Macc 3:7ff.). Heliodorus was arriving at the treasury when he was attacked and wounded by a horse with a rider wearing golden armor and two young men of surpassing strength and glorious beauty (vv 25-26). Heliodorus was deprived by this divine act of all hope of recovery (v 29). The Jewish high priest, Onias III, offered a sacrifice for the restoration of Heliodorus. When this occurred, the Syrian offered a sacrifice to the Lord, returned to his king, and gave witness of the miracles of the supreme God (v 36).