And now, with his irresistible army, Alexander was come to balance accounts. The days of terror when Nebuchadnezzar had come on like errand palsy with fear, and they hasten to placate the conqueror. Continuing from the Talmud: "Simon was performing the functions of High Priest during the triumphal career of Alexander. The sons of Judah found no cause to oppose this warrior, and when after his first victories over the Persian army he came to Syria on his way to Egypt, they joined with the kingdoms which paid him homage. Simon the righteous, as representative of the nation, proceeded to the sea coast to greet the conqueror attired in his priestly robes and attended by a number of priests and nobles in the full dignity of their costumes." They were then brought into his presence when, to the surprise of all, Alexander at once approached the High Priest and greeted him with great friendliness; and when his officers expressed their astonishment at this mark of condescension, he told them that in the same form and feature this same priest, clad in the same robes he now wore, had appeared to him in a dream, and promised him success in arms. Thus his reason; but Alexander, with farseeing policy, respected all religions, spared all temples. In Polybius (Bk. v. 1) we have the account of how, "when incensed against and victorious over Thebes, he ordered all the inhabitants to be sold for slaves and the city to be levelled to the ground, yet he employed the greatest care that no offence should be committed even through accident, against the temples or other consecrated places." And then Alexander was conducted through the temple by Simon. On entering he said, "Blessed be the Lord of this house." He was charmed with the beauty of the structure, and expressed a desire to have a statue of himself erected as a remembrance between the porch and the altar. Simon informed him that it was not allowable to erect any statue or image within the temple walls, but promised that as a remembrance the males born among his people that year should be called Alexander. That is the manner in which the Rabbis Alexander obtained their names. Alexander continued well disposed towards the High Priest, and through his intercessions granted the Jews religious freedom and release from all tributary burden during the sabbatic year and the Jews entered Alexander's army and assisted in his conquests." This terrible moment was thus safely got through. Both sides had reason to congratulate themselves on the outcome of the interview. It is well known that the transcendent genius of the great general-e.g. Marlborough-is shown as much in the management of men as in the fighting of his battles. It is easy to be wise after the event and it is a fair index of greatness if it can stand this test. We can now appreciate the wisdom of Alexander. It almost looks the obvious. But it astonished his own staff. Were these Jews to be cowed or conciliated? He could do with no nest of hornets in his rear to cut his retreat in case things did not go too well in Egypt. He chose the bold course, hence this little side-play; and some of these fierce fighters were no doubt a welcome addition to his forces. With them he had no quarrel; probably he respected them for their loyalty to Persia none the less that they now sought terms with himself. And could he rely upon them? Well there always has been a vein of loyalty in this people-we in England have proved it-and he relied on it. As for the Persian he had not been their conqueror but their deliverer, and this from the beginning to the end determined the relations between the two peoples. And they were now ended. The new régime started auspiciously, but, continuing from the Talmud: "This state of affairs lasted, unfortunately, only until the death of Alexander. In the quarrels amongst the generals which followed and continued for two decades, the Jewish people suffered much. The armies of Antigonus and his son Demetrius destroyed the fertile fields, gave wings to blessed peace, and filled the inhabitants of Judea with horror and dismay. It was on the Sabbath that Jerusalem was taken by storm. The mighty walls-impenetrable strongholds since the days of Nehemiah--were again breached and broken and the city laid open to her enemies. These occurrences Simon lived to see, and his trust in God as well as his love for his people were sorely tried. Yet he did not waver in his faith. He fortified the Temple, repaired its damaged places, and raised the foundations of the five courts. He enlarged the water reservoir in the Temple to provide against a scarcity during siege times and ever after that the Temple was well supplied with water-a matter of note considering the climate and the soil of Jerusalem." Later on, in the the days of their triumph, when they had thrown off the Syrian Greek yoke, we are to find continuation of this same work by another Simon. In Ecclesiasticus (chapter 50) we read: "Simon, the High Priest, the son of Onias, who in his life repaired the house again, and in his days fortified the Temple: And by him was built from the foundation the double height, the high fortress of the wall about the Temple: In his days the cistern to receive water, being in compass as the sea was covered with plates of brass: He took care of the Temple that it should not fall and fortified the city against besieging." Of course the Talmud was written some four hundred or more years after the events it tells of, and it is doubtful if they had as authentic sources of information as ourselves. The spade had not then begun its marvellous work. And even in studying a modern period of history-say of Elizabeth-one ever finds that until one gets down to the original authority itself, an old writer, though centuries nearer the time, is no more an authority than a later student. So the Talmud, dating from a most uncritical age, is probably as unreliable. Still, it gives a traditional picture well in accord with what we might expect. Judea was again. to become the cockpit of the East, and war with all its horrors was to overwhelm the country and mould the character of its people. Will they succumb, as ultimately did the Greek, or rise triumphant over the temptations that are to dog their steps? That is the question time has to answer. 30. Here let us glance at a few of the more important dates relating to this period. B.C. 323. Death of Alexander, followed by the partition of his empire and the perpetual warfare of his generals. 320. Ptolemy (I.) Soter storms Jerusalem and takes 100,000 Jews as slaves to Alexandria. 312. Antigonus wrests country from Egypt. 302. Ptolemy again successful, regains the land. 300. Antioch founded as capital of Syrian Greek kingdom. 285-277. Septuagint translation made in Alexandria by Ptolemy (II.) Philadelphus. 250. About now Hellenism makes great headway amongst the Jews. 246. Ptolemy (III.) Euergetes invades Syria, seizes immense booty. 219. Antiochus the Great, king of the Syrian Greeks, etc., makes war on Egypt, and overruns Palestine and Coele-Syria. 217. Is defeated by Ptolemy (IV.) Philopater at Raphia. 216. Ptolemy massacres Jews in Alexandria. (Battle of Cannæ.) 203. Antiochus renews war with Egypt in 200. Jewish colony founded in China. 199. Ptolemy regains the country. 198. Antiochus, finally successful, annexes CoeleSyria, etc., and ends the Egyptian-Greek overlordship of the Jews. Scanning these dates we see how exactly pre-exile history is to be repeated. Probably some allowance must be made for the likely fact that the Jews had now outside financial and mercantile interests, previously unknown; but otherwise, as regards Judea itself, there would seem to be little to distinguish the two periods. It is again to be a story of war, conquest, slaughter and slavery, and for things which in no way concerned them. Unfortunately for their world, with the death of Alexander his empire became divided up amongst his generals. Ptolemy, his reputed half-brother, took Egypt, which, with Cyprus and the south coast of Asia Minor, mostly formed one kingdom. To Seleucus fell Syria and the Persian empire generally, so far as it centred round Babylon. The other generals appropriated the rest of the empire, and all of them made themselves kings and established dynasties which lasted until finally ended by the Romans. But meanwhile, by their intolerable jealousies and their interminable wars with one another, they made life altogether wretched wherever their malign influence was felt. And as before, in the quarrels between Ptolemy and Seleucus, sorely against their will, the people of Palestine became implicated. It made no difference to them that it was two Greek generals fighting for supremacy instead of the kings of Egypt and Assyria. Once again they were between the hammer and the anvil, and with reason they dreaded both. As before, the one key to their vacillating politics was anxiety to throw in their lot with the conqueror to be. Unfortunately they now backed the wrong side, fought against Egypt, and were beaten and sorely treated in consequence by Ptolemy. This was B.C. 320, when Ptolemy captured Jerusalem, sacked it, laid waste the adjoining country, and took some 100,000 Jews as slaves into Alexandria. And again this was to have remarkable consequences. Exactly as the Babylonish captivity saved their identity as a race, so this Alexandrian slavery was to give their race a new, definite, and happier turn. Exactly as the Babylonian captivity had proved the one potent factor in the recovery of their ancient sacred books, so this Alexandrian captivity is to have as striking an influence |