DEMETRIUS. - Name of two figures in the New Testament.
I. A silversmith of Ephesus who stirred up the riot against St Paul (Acts 19:23-40).
2. A Christian of Ephesus warmly commended by St John in his letter to Gaius (3 John 12). Some have identified him with the silversmith mentioned above who was converted.
Francesco Spadafora
DEMETRIUS. - An Alexandrian chronographer, a Hellenistic Jew, living in the time of Ptolemy IV (222-205 BC). He wrote a chronicle from Moses to his own day, entitled *On the Kings [who reigned] in Judaea* (Clement of Alexandria, *Stromata*, I, 21: PG 8, 878), based on complicated combinations drawing on hints from the Bible. He is among the sources of Josephus, especially for the *Antiquities of the Jews*.
He fixes, for example, the birth date for each of the sons of Jacob. Besides this, three other fragments of D. have been preserved by Eusebius, *Praeparatio evangelica*, IX, 21: the story of Jacob from his journey to Mesopotamia until his death; 29, 1-3: the genealogy of Zipporah, wife of Moses, from Abraham and Keturah; 29, 15: the story of the bitter water (Exod 15:22 ff.): PG 21, 714-22, 738 sq., 746. Eusebius draws these from the collection of Alexander Polyhistor (80-40 BC). D. already uses the Greek version of the Pentateuch, known as the Septuagint.
Francesco Spadafora
DEMETRIUS. - Three kings of Syria of the Seleucid dynasty (v.).
D. I, SOTER. - Son of Seleucus IV; reigned from 162 to 150 BC (Seleucid era: 151-162).
A hostage of the Romans from 175 BC, in place of his uncle Antiochus IV, he escaped at the age of twenty-three, with the support of Polybius and a guard of sixteen men, reached Tripolis in Syria, seized Antioch, and had his cousin Antiochus V, then on the throne, killed along with his tutor Lysias (162 BC). He subdued Babylonia and received the title Σωτήρ (“Saviour”) for his victory over the rebel satrap Timarchus.
He intervened successfully, at least temporarily, in Cappadocia. In Judaea he supported the Hellenizers, imposing by force the high priesthood upon Alcimus. He sent Bacchides, then Nicanor, and again Bacchides against Judas Maccabaeus, who, after defeating and killing Nicanor, ended his life heroically, and against Jonathan, who succeeded his brother Judas. When D. saw himself threatened by the usurper Alexander Balas, he sought the support of the Jews, granting to Jonathan—who was the effective leader after the death of Alcimus and the withdrawal of Bacchides—the right to raise troops and free the hostages held by the Syrians. Jonathan made use of these concessions but adhered to Balas, who offered him the high priesthood, the purple, and the diadem, rightly judging the subsequent offers made by D. to be insincere. D. died fighting valiantly against Alexander Balas (150 BC). Cf. 1 Macc 9:9-10, 50; 2 Macc 14-15.
D. II, NICATOR. - Son of the preceding. He earned the title (“Victor”) by his victory over the usurper Alexander Balas. He reigned from 146 to 138 and from 130 to 125 BC (Seleucid era: 166-175; 182-187), having been held prisoner by the Parthians during the interval.
In 146 BC he confirmed Jonathan in his dignity as high priest and exempted the Jews from tribute (1 Macc 11:10-37), even though Jonathan had been loyal to Balas and had fought against Apollonius, general of D. (1 Macc 10:77-87). During the revolt of Trypho, D. was supported by the Jews, who in Antioch saved him from the mob that had risen against him (1 Macc 11:44-51). But D. failed to keep the promises he had made, and Jonathan went over to support Antiochus VI and Trypho, fighting against the generals of D. (1 Macc 11:52-74; 12:24-34). After Jonathan was treacherously killed by Trypho, Simon, the last of the Maccabaean brothers, supported D. again, and D. granted Judaea full autonomy (142 BC). Cf. 1 Macc 13:34-43; 14:38 sq. In 138 BC, D. fell into the hands of the Parthians (1 Macc 14:1-3), while his brother Antiochus VII drove out Trypho and took the throne. In 130 BC Antiochus died fighting the Parthians, and D. regained the throne. He ended assassinated (125 BC) while attempting to embark at Tyre to escape the usurper Alexander Zebina.
D. III, EUCAERUS. - One of the five sons of Antiochus VIII Grypus (d. 96 BC); he reigned over part of Syria with Damascus as his capital (c. 95-86 BC). In 88 BC, summoned by the Pharisees, he intervened against Alexander Jannaeus. But the very Jews who had come to the aid of D., a pagan, abandoned him and joined Alexander on the mountains where he had taken refuge; D., feeling deceived, returned to Damascus.