lying for Jesus

[Minimalist]

I'm sorry but you're wrong.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasmonean_dynasty

The Hasmonean dynasty[2] (Hebrew: חשמונאים‎, r Ḥashmona'im; Audio) was the ruling dynasty of Judea and surrounding regions during classical antiquity. Between c. 140 BC and c. 116 BC, the dynasty ruled semi-autonomously from the Seleucids in the region of Judea. From 110 BC, with the Seleucid empire disintegrating, the dynasty became fully independent, expanded into the neighbouring regions of Galilee, Iturea, Perea, Idumea and Samaria, and took the title "basileus". Some modern scholars refer to this period as an independent kingdom of Israel.[3] In 63 BC, the kingdom was conquered by the Roman Republic, broken up and set up as a Roman client state. The Kingdom had survived for 103 years before yielding to the Herodian Dynasty in 37 BC. Even then, Herod the Great tried to bolster the legitimacy of his reign by marrying a Hasmonean princess, Mariamne, and planning to drown the last male Hasmonean heir at his Jericho palace.

Prior to this there were two short-lived attempts at independence when Hezekiah revolted against Assyria and later when a king who the OT calls "Josiah" (but who is not archaeologically attested) tried to expand into areas vacated by the withdrawing Assyrians.

Both attempts were quickly crushed.

That leaves the Hasmoneans as the only time in the entire first millennium when an actual kingdom existed and became something of a regional power.

Oddly..or perhaps not...

the so-called Davidic Empire (which no one at the time seemed to know about)



covered pretty much the same area as the actual Hasmonean "empire."



Coincidence? I doubt it.