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| == Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible <ref name="term_53055" /> ==
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| <p> <strong> [[Nicanor]] </strong> <strong> 1 </strong> . Son of Patroclus, a [[Syrian]] general who was engaged in the [[Jewish]] wars ( 1Ma 3:38 ). He was sent by [[Lysias]] in b.c. 166 against [[Judas]] Maccabæus, but was defeated. Five years later he was sent on the same errand by Demetrius; this time he endeavoured to win by strategy what he had failed to gain by force. Again he was compelled to fight, and was twice defeated, once at [[Capharsalama]] ( 1Ma 7:26-32 ) and again at Adasa, where he lost his life. The day of his death was ordained to be kept as a festival as ‘ <strong> Nicanor’s Day. </strong> ‘The account in 2 [[Mac]] (esp. 2Ma 14:12-30 ) differs in several details. <strong> 2. </strong> One of the ‘Seven’ ( Acts 6:5 ). </p> <p> T. A. Moxon. </p> | | Nicanor <ref name="term_6612" /> |
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| | <p> ''''' nı̄ ''''' - ''''' kā´nor ''''' , ''''' nı̄´kā ''''' - ''''' nôr ''''' ( Νικάνωρ , <i> ''''' Nikanōr ''''' </i> ): The son of [[Patroclus]] and one of the king's "chief friends" ( 2 [[Maccabees]] 8:9 ), a [[Syrian]] general under [[Antiochus]] [[Epiphanes]] and [[Demetrius]] Soter. After the defeat of [[Seron]] by Judas, Epiphanes entrusted his chancellor [[Lysias]] with the reduction of [[Judea]] ( 1 Maccabees 3:34 ff). [[Nicanor]] was one of the three generals commissioned by Lysias - the others being Ptolemy, son of Dorymenes, and [[Gorgias]] ( 1 Maccabees 3:38 ). The campaign began in 166 BC; the [[Syrians]] were defeated at [[Emmaus]] ( 1 Maccabees 3:57 ff), while Gorgias at a later stage gained a victory at [[Jamnia]] over a body of [[Jews]] who disobeyed [[Judas]] ( 1 Maccabees 5:58 ). The account given in 2 Macc differs considerably, both in omissions and in additions ( 2 Maccabees 8:9 ff). There Nicanor, not Gorgias, is the chief in command. The battle of Emmaus is not mentioned, but "the thrice-accursed Nicanor," having in overweening pride invited a thousand slavedealers to accompany him to buy the [[Jewish]] captives, was humiliated, and his host was destroyed, he himself escaping "like a fugitive slave" to [[Antioch]] ( 2 Maccabees 8:34 f). After the death of Epiphanes, [[Eupator]] and Lysias (the last two at the hands of Demetrius ( 1 Maccabees 7:2 )), Nicanor appears again under King Demetrius in the struggle between [[Alcimus]] and Judas. Alcimus, having been seated in the priesthood by Demetrius' officer Bacchides, could not hold it against Judas and the patriots. He appealed again to Demetrius, who this time selected Nicanor, now governor of [[Cyprus]] ( 2 Maccabees 12:2 ) and known for his deadly hatred of the Jews, to settle the dispute and slay Judas ( 2 Maccabees 14:12 ff; 1 Maccabees 7:26 ff). Nicanor was appointed governor of Judea on this occasion. Again 1,2 Maccabees differ. According to 1 Maccabees, Nicanor sought in vain to seize Judas by treachery. Then followed the battle of [[Capharsalama]] ("village of peace"), in which the Syrians were defeated, though [[Josephus]] ( <i> Ant. </i> , Xii , x, 5) says Judas was defeated. Nicanor retired to Jerusalem, insulted the priests and threatened the destruction of the temple unless they delivered up Judas. He then retired to Beth-horon to find Judas posted opposite him at [[Adasa]] ( 1 Maccabees 7:39 ff) 3 1/2 miles distant. Here on the 13th of the 12th month [[Adar]] (March), 161 BC, the Syrians sustained a crushing defeat, Nicanor himself being the first to fall. The Jews cut off his head and proud right hand and hanged them up beside Jerusalem. For a little while Adasa gave the land of Judah rest. The people ordained to keep this "day of great gladness" year by year - the 13th of Adar, "the day before the day of Mordecai" (Feast of Purim). 2 Maccabees mentions that Simon, Judas' brother, was worsted in a first engagement (14:17), omits the battle of Capharsalama, and represents Nicanor, struck with the manliness of the Jews, as entering into friendly relations with Judas, urging him to marry and lead a quiet life, forgetful of the king's command until Alcimus accused him to Demetrius. The latter peremptorily ordered Nicanor to bring Judas in all haste as prisoner to Antioch (14:27). The scene of the final conflict (Adasa) is given only as "in the region of Samaria" (15:1). According to this account, it was Judas who ordered the mutilation of Nicanor and in a more gruesome fashion (15:30 ff). It is <i> possible </i> that the Nicanor, the [[Cypriarch]] or governor of Cyprus of 2 Maccabees 12:2 , is a different person from Nicanor, the son of Patroclus - a view not accepted in the above account. </p> |
| == Smith's Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_74116" /> ==
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| <p> '''Nica'nor.''' ''(Conqueror).'' </p> <p> 1. Son of Patroclus, 2 [[Maccabees]] 8:9, a general, who was engaged in the Jewish wars, under [[Antiochus]] [[Epiphanes]] and [[Demetrius]] I. 1 Maccabees 3:38; 1 Maccabees 4; 1 Maccabees 7:26; 1 Maccabees 7:49. (B.C. 160). </p> <p> 2. One of the first seven deacons. Acts 6:5. </p> | | == References == |
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| == Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament <ref name="term_56720" /> ==
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| <p> The name is Greek, but was probably prevalent in Syria, as we find one of the generals of Antiochus Epiphanes called by it ( 2 Maccabees 8:9). It is more than likely, therefore, that he was a [[Hellenist]] Jew of Syria. He is mentioned as one of the Seven in Acts 6:5, a man of repute among the brethren, but we hear and know no more of him. </p> <p> W. A. Spooner. </p>
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| == Fausset's Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_36806" /> ==
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| <p> One of the seven ordained for ministration of alms. "of honest report, full of the [[Holy]] Spirit and wisdom," but also preachers of the gospel ( Acts 6:1-10; Acts 8:5). </p>
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| == Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary <ref name="term_48287" /> ==
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| <p> One of the seven first deacons in the church of Christ after the descent of the Holy Ghost. ( Acts 6:5) The name is taken from the Greek, and means to conquer. </p>
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| == American Tract Society Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_16773" /> ==
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| <p> One of the first seven deacons, who were chosen and appointed at [[Jerusalem]] soon after the Pentecostal descent of the Holy Ghost, Acts 6:1-6 . </p>
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| == Morrish Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_67853" /> ==
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| <p> One of the seven chosen to look after the poor saints at Jerusalem. Acts 6:5 . </p>
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| == Easton's Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_32817" /> ==
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| Acts 6:1-6
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| == Holman Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_42779" /> ==
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| Acts 6:5
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| == Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature <ref name="term_52809" /> ==
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| <p> ( '''''Νικάνωρ''''' '', Victor'' ) '','' the name of two or three men in [[Scripture]] history. </p> <p> '''1.''' The "son of Patroclus" ( 1 Maccabees 8:9), a general under Antiochus, Epiphanes, and Demetrius I, who took a prominent part in the wars waged by the [[Syrians]] against the Jews, to whom he "bore a deadly hate." Under Antiochus he had been master of the royal elephants ( '''''Ἐλεφαντάρχης''''' ) '','' but he was appointed governor of [[Judea]] by Demetrius ( 2 Maccabees 14:12), whose trusted friend he was, and who had accompanied him when he escaped from Rome (Polyb. 3:21; Josephus, ''Ant.'' 12:10, 4). Nicanor, being one of the generals chosen by Lysias when he invaded Judaea, B.C. 166' ( 1 Maccabees 3:38), by the sale of Jewish captives at ninety for a talent, brought multitudes of slave-merchants to his camp ( 1 Maccabees 3:41; 2 Maccabees 8:10-11; Josephus, Ant. 12:7, 3 and 4). He was, however, most signally disappointed in his expectations, for, in common with his companions in arms, he suffered a disgraceful defeat from Judas Maccabaeus, and was compelled to escape in the disguise of a slave to Antioch, where he declared that the [[Jews]] had God for their "defender," and that they were "invulnerable" ( '''''Ἄτρωτοι''''' ) '','' "because they followed the laws appointed by him." Four years later, entrusted with a large army by Demetrius, he had orders "not to spare" the nation of the Jews. According to 2 Maccabees 14, he at first made peace with Judas Maccabaeus, "whom he loved from his heart;" but, accused by [[Alcimus]] to Demetrius, he was compelled to break all his engagements with the Maccabean chief, and ordered to send him prisoner to Antioch. According to 1 Maccabees 7:26-32, and Josephus, Ant. 12:10, 4, Nicanor attempted, at first, by pretense of friendship, to get Judas into his hands. </p> <p> Raphall unites both accounts, regarding the treachery of Nicanor as subsequent to the angry orders he received from Demetrius. Judas, however, discovered the treachery in time, and escaped. Open hostilities immediately commenced, when Nicanct was defeated with the loss of 5000 men, and took refuge in the fortress "which was in the city of David" ( 1 Maccabees 7:31-32; Josephus, Ant. 12:10, 4). Josephus, indeed, as the text now stands, represents Judas as sustaining a defeat, and fleeing to the "citadel which was in Jerusalem." But there is evidently an error in the text here, as it contradicts the context, which shows that the citadel at Jerusalem was then in the hands of the Syrians. Nicanor, on coming down from the citadel, and meeting the priests, blasphemed God, and threatened to destroy their temple unless they delivered up Judas, a thing they could not do, even if they were disposed. [[Departing]] from Jerusalem, and joined by a fresh army out of Syria, he encamped at Beth-horon. Judas also pitched his camp at the village of Adasa, thirty furlongs off At length they joined battle, when, Nicanor having fallen among the first, the Syrians were beaten, routed, and slaughtered in their flight. [[Finding]] Nicanor on the battle-field, the Jews cut off his head and his right arm, which he "had stretched out so proudly," and hung them up at Jerusalem. His tongue also they cut out and minced, and threw to the birds. The day of the victory, [[Adar]] 13, being that before "Mardochaeus' day," they set apart as a season of annual solemnity (B.C. 161) ( 1 Maccabees 7:43-49; 2 Maccabees 15:26-36; Josephus, Ant. 12:10, 5; see also Raphall's Post. Bib. Hist. of the Jews, ch. 4 and 6; Jahn's Heb. Commonwealth, '''''§''''' 96, 97, 98). (See [[Maccabee]]). </p> <p> '''2.''' A Nicanor is mentioned in 2 Maccabees 12:2, as "governor of Cyprus" ( '''''Κυπριάρχης''''' ) in the time of Antiochus V Eupator, and yet as interfering with the Jews in Palestine. But as the above Nicanor mentioned by [[Polybius]] cannot be meant, this must either be another person, or some confusion has befallen the author here (see Grimm, ad loc.). In 4 Maccabees 3:20, Nicanor is given as a surname of Seleucus, meaning apparently [[Seleucus]] I Nicator. </p> <p> '''3.''' One of the first seven deacons appointed by the Church at Jerusalem along with [[Stephen]] ( Acts 6:5), A.D. 29. [[Dorotheus]] makes him to have been one of the seventy disciples of our Lord, and according to the Pseudo-Hippolytus he "died at the time of the martyrdom of Stephen"' (p. 953, ed. Migne). </p>
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| ==References == | |
| <references> | | <references> |
| | | <ref name="term_6612"> [https://bibleportal.com/encyclopedia/international-standard-bible-encyclopedia/nicanor+(1) Nicanor from International Standard Bible Encyclopedia]</ref> |
| <ref name="term_53055"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/hastings-dictionary-of-the-bible/nicanor Nicanor from Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible]</ref> | |
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| <ref name="term_74116"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/smith-s-bible-dictionary/nicanor Nicanor from Smith's Bible Dictionary]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_56720"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/hastings-dictionary-of-the-new-testament/nicanor Nicanor from Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_36806"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/fausset-s-bible-dictionary/nicanor Nicanor from Fausset's Bible Dictionary]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_48287"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/hawker-s-poor-man-s-concordance-and-dictionary/nicanor Nicanor from Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_16773"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/american-tract-society-bible-dictionary/nicanor Nicanor from American Tract Society Bible Dictionary]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_67853"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/morrish-bible-dictionary/nicanor Nicanor from Morrish Bible Dictionary]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_32817"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/easton-s-bible-dictionary/nicanor Nicanor from Easton's Bible Dictionary]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_42779"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/holman-bible-dictionary/nicanor Nicanor from Holman Bible Dictionary]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_52809"> [https://bibleportal.com/encyclopedia/cyclopedia-of-biblical-theological-and-ecclesiastical-literature/nicanor Nicanor from Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature]</ref>
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| </references> | | </references> |
Nicanor [1]
nı̄ - kā´nor , nı̄´kā - nôr ( Νικάνωρ , Nikanōr ): The son of Patroclus and one of the king's "chief friends" ( 2 Maccabees 8:9 ), a Syrian general under Antiochus Epiphanes and Demetrius Soter. After the defeat of Seron by Judas, Epiphanes entrusted his chancellor Lysias with the reduction of Judea ( 1 Maccabees 3:34 ff). Nicanor was one of the three generals commissioned by Lysias - the others being Ptolemy, son of Dorymenes, and Gorgias ( 1 Maccabees 3:38 ). The campaign began in 166 BC; the Syrians were defeated at Emmaus ( 1 Maccabees 3:57 ff), while Gorgias at a later stage gained a victory at Jamnia over a body of Jews who disobeyed Judas ( 1 Maccabees 5:58 ). The account given in 2 Macc differs considerably, both in omissions and in additions ( 2 Maccabees 8:9 ff). There Nicanor, not Gorgias, is the chief in command. The battle of Emmaus is not mentioned, but "the thrice-accursed Nicanor," having in overweening pride invited a thousand slavedealers to accompany him to buy the Jewish captives, was humiliated, and his host was destroyed, he himself escaping "like a fugitive slave" to Antioch ( 2 Maccabees 8:34 f). After the death of Epiphanes, Eupator and Lysias (the last two at the hands of Demetrius ( 1 Maccabees 7:2 )), Nicanor appears again under King Demetrius in the struggle between Alcimus and Judas. Alcimus, having been seated in the priesthood by Demetrius' officer Bacchides, could not hold it against Judas and the patriots. He appealed again to Demetrius, who this time selected Nicanor, now governor of Cyprus ( 2 Maccabees 12:2 ) and known for his deadly hatred of the Jews, to settle the dispute and slay Judas ( 2 Maccabees 14:12 ff; 1 Maccabees 7:26 ff). Nicanor was appointed governor of Judea on this occasion. Again 1,2 Maccabees differ. According to 1 Maccabees, Nicanor sought in vain to seize Judas by treachery. Then followed the battle of Capharsalama ("village of peace"), in which the Syrians were defeated, though Josephus ( Ant. , Xii , x, 5) says Judas was defeated. Nicanor retired to Jerusalem, insulted the priests and threatened the destruction of the temple unless they delivered up Judas. He then retired to Beth-horon to find Judas posted opposite him at Adasa ( 1 Maccabees 7:39 ff) 3 1/2 miles distant. Here on the 13th of the 12th month Adar (March), 161 BC, the Syrians sustained a crushing defeat, Nicanor himself being the first to fall. The Jews cut off his head and proud right hand and hanged them up beside Jerusalem. For a little while Adasa gave the land of Judah rest. The people ordained to keep this "day of great gladness" year by year - the 13th of Adar, "the day before the day of Mordecai" (Feast of Purim). 2 Maccabees mentions that Simon, Judas' brother, was worsted in a first engagement (14:17), omits the battle of Capharsalama, and represents Nicanor, struck with the manliness of the Jews, as entering into friendly relations with Judas, urging him to marry and lead a quiet life, forgetful of the king's command until Alcimus accused him to Demetrius. The latter peremptorily ordered Nicanor to bring Judas in all haste as prisoner to Antioch (14:27). The scene of the final conflict (Adasa) is given only as "in the region of Samaria" (15:1). According to this account, it was Judas who ordered the mutilation of Nicanor and in a more gruesome fashion (15:30 ff). It is possible that the Nicanor, the Cypriarch or governor of Cyprus of 2 Maccabees 12:2 , is a different person from Nicanor, the son of Patroclus - a view not accepted in the above account.
References
