Tobiah and his son Johanan were related by marriage to Judaean secular and priestly families, and active intrigues resulted, in which nobles and prophets took their part.
Even members of the priestly families had intermarried with Tobiah and Sanballat; the former had his own chamber in the precincts of the Temple, the daughter of the latter was the wife of a son of Joiada the son of the high priest Eliashib.
Tobiah was cast out, the offending priest expelled, and a general purging followed, in which all the foreign element was removed.
For Joseph, the son of Tobiah and nephew of Onias, went to court and secured the taxes of Palestine, when they were put up to auction.
The people were presumably out of sympathy with hellenizers, whether they belonged to the house of Onias or that of Tobiah.