Who was John Hercanus? He was the of Judas Maccabees. When the
Jews were released from captivity from Babylonia they found that
the Edomites had moved into their land of Judea. John Hercanus
led the Israelites to victory over the Edomites. Hercanus
unfortunately left the Edomites stay if they would get
circumcised and follow Jewish Law. Of course this was for public
consumption only. The Edomites were as evil as ever. King Herod
the Great ordered all Jewish males killed who were two years
old. That certainly is not the action of a true convert. King
Herod was an Edomite as well as his son Herod Antipas. Here are
two pieces of evidence to substantiate the previous statements.
1. from then on they [the non-Israelite Edomites] constituted a
part of the Jewish people, Herod [King of Judea] being one of
their descendants. "EDOM (Idumea), The New Standard Jewish
Encyclopedia (Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1977)
p. 589 2. …they [the Edomites] were hereafter no other than
[non-Israelite] Jews. Flavius J