A name that comes from the Greek language. It means "best advising." In the times between the Old and New Testaments, ruling families in Palestine used this name.
Jewish priest in Alexandria (Egypt). Aristobulus taught the Egyptian ruler Ptolemy who ruled from 180 to 146 BC. The Jews of Judea sent a letter to Aristobulus (2 Maccabees 1:10).
Aristobulus I was the first king of the Maccabean (also called Hasmonean) family. See Hasmonean.
Aristobulus II was the son of Alexander Janneus (brother of Aristobulus I) and Salome Alexandra. In 67 BC, Aristobulus II defeated his older brother, Hyrcanus II, and became king. See Hasmonean.
Aristobulus III was the grandson of Hyrcanus II and brother of Mariamne, wife of Herod the Great. Herod named Aristobulus high priest at the age of 17. When his acceptance as a Hasmonean by the people threatened Herod, Herod responded by having Aristobulus III drowned in 35 BC. See Hasmonean.
The younger of the two sons of Herod the Great and Mariamne. Aristobulus and Alexander became threats to Herod after he executed their mother in 29 BC. In 12 BC, he two brothers were charged with attempting to poison their father in a trial before Caesar. The brothers were acquitted and reconciled to their father. Aristobulus' children were Herod, king of Chalcis, Herod Agrippa I of Judea, Aristobulus (see #6 below), and Herodias, wife of Herod Antipas. Later, Herod the Great ordered both Aristobulus and Alexander strangled at Sebaste in 7 BC. See Herod, Herodian Family.
The son of Aristobulus (#5 above) and Bernice. Jewish historian Josephus mentions him as part of a plot against his brother Herod Agrippa. Aristobulus opposed a plan by Petronius, the governor of Syria, to install a statue the Roman emperor Caligula in the temple in Jerusalem in AD 40.
Paul greeted the family or household of a person named Aristobulus in his letter to the Romans (Romans 16:10).