Alcimus (from Ancient Greek: Ἄλκιμος Alkimos, "valiant" or Hebrew אליקום Elyaqum, "God will rise"), also called Jakeimos, Jacimus, or Joachim (Ἰάκειμος), was High Priest of Israel for three years from 162–159 BCE.
He was a moderate Hellenizer who favored the ruling government of the Seleucid Empire (Greek Syria) and opposed the Maccabean Revolt which was in progress at the time.
Alcimus is described as a leader of the Hellenizing faction of Hellenistic Judaism that favored more enthusiastic adoption of Greek practices and less adherence to Jewish law.
When Bacchides and his army returned to Antioch, the rebel forces under Judas Maccabeus (Judah Maccabee) remained active in the countryside, where they attacked Greek-friendly Jews.
Alcimus's position as high priest was reinforced and strong garrisons were left in Jerusalem and the other cities of Judea to maintain Seleucid rule.
[8] An ossuary discovered in a burial cave by Eleazar Sukenik in the Gophna region has an inscription in Greek that reads "Salōmē, wife (daughter?)
[9] By the time of Alcimus's reign as High Priest, the Maccabees had radicalized into seeking a starker break from Seleucid political control.
Alcimus's coalition building, however he managed it, would go on to cause problems for the Maccabees, who would suffer military disaster in 160 BCE and be forced to retreat to the countryside seemingly in defeat.
[10] The book of 1 Maccabees quotes Psalm 79 after describing the death of the Hasideans: "The flesh of your faithful ones and their blood / they poured out all around Jerusalem, / and there was no one to bury them."
However, Benjamin Scolnic (citing Jonathan A. Goldstein) argues a more direct translation would be as a continuation of "he" (Alcimus) both seizing the Hasideans and writing the verse.
However, a full-scale revival of the syncretic cult Menelaus established does not appear to have taken place; whether that was due to Alcimus's death, or that the wall incident had nothing to do with such a plan, is not clear.
One theory of Alcimus's successor is that it was the Righteous Teacher, a mysterious figure described in the Qumran Habakkuk Commentary, one of the Dead Sea Scrolls discovered in 1947.
The truth of the Righteous Teacher's identity is unclear as firm dates are not provided, but this scenario is consistent with the known antagonism of the Qumran community to the Hasmonean dynasty.