25. Alexander the Great.—The second great period of the history of the Jews begins with the conquest of Asia by Alexander the Great, disciple of Aristotle, king of Macedon and captain-general of the Greeks. It ends with the destruction of Jerusalem by the armies of the Roman Empire, which was, like Alexander, at once the masterful pupil and the docile patron of Hellenism. The destruction of Jerusalem might be regarded as an event of merely domestic importance; for the Roman cosmopolitan it was only the removal of the titular metropolis of a national and an Oriental religion. But, since a derivative of that religion has come to be a power in the world at large, this event has to be regarded in a different light. The destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 concludes the period of four centuries, during which the Jews as a nation were in contact with the Greeks and exposed to the influence of Hellenism, not wholly of their own will nor yet against it. Whether the master of the provinces, in which there were Jews, be an Alexander, a Ptolemy, a Seleucid or a Roman, the force by which he rules is the force of Greek culture. These four centuries are the Greek period of Jewish history.
The ancient historians, who together cover this period, are strangely indifferent to the importance of the Jews, upon which Josephus is at pains to insist. When Alexander invaded the interior of the Eastern world, which had hitherto remained inviolable, he came as the champion of Hellenism. His death prevented the achievement of his designs; but he had broken down the barrier, he had planted the seed of the Greek’s influence in the four quarters of the Persian Empire. His successors, the Diadochi, carried on his work, but Antiochus Epiphanes was the first who deliberately took in hand to deal with the Jews. Daniel (viii. 8) describes the interval between Alexander and Antiochus thus: “The he-goat (the king of Greece) did very greatly: and when he was strong the great horn (Alexander) was broken; and instead of it came up four other ones—four kingdoms shall stand up out of his nation but not with his power. And out of one of them came forth a little horn (Antiochus Epiphanes) which waxed exceeding great towards the south (Egypt) and towards the East (Babylon) and towards the beauteous land (the land of Israel).” The insignificance of the Jewish community in Palestine was their salvation. The reforms of Nehemiah were directed towards the establishment of a religious community at Jerusalem, in which the rigour of the law should be observed. As a part of the Persian Empire the community was obscure and unimportant. But the race whose chief sanctuary it guarded and maintained was the heir of great traditions and ideals. In Egypt, moreover, in Babylon and in Persia individual Jews had responded to the influences of their environment and won the respect of the aliens whom they despised. The law which they cherished as their standard and guide kept them united and conscious of their unity. And the individuals, who acquired power or wisdom among those outside Palestine shed a reflected glory upon the nation and its Temple.
In connexion with Alexander’s march through Palestine Josephus gives a tradition of his visit to Jerusalem. In Arrian’s narrative of Alexander’s exploits, whose fame had already faded before the greater glory of Rome, there is no mention of the visit or the city or the Jews. Only Tyre and Gaza barred the way to Egypt. He took, presumably, the coast-road in order to establish and retain his command of the sea. The rest of Palestine, which is called Coele-Syria, made its submission and furnished supplies. Seven days after the capture of Gaza Alexander was at Pelusium. According to the tradition which Josephus has preserved the high priest refused to transfer his allegiance and Alexander marched against Jerusalem after the capture of Gaza. The high priest dressed in his robes went out to meet him, and at the sight Alexander remembered a dream, in which such a man had appeared to him as the appointed leader of his expedition. So the danger was averted: Alexander offered sacrifice and was shown the prophecy of Daniel, which spoke of him. It is alleged, further, that at this time certain Jews who could not refrain from intermarriage with the heathen set up a temple on Mt Gerizim and became the Samaritan schism (§ 21 above). The combination is certainly artificial and not historical. But it has a value of its own inasmuch as it illustrates the permanent tendencies which mould the history of the Jews. It is true that Alexander was subject to dreams and visited shrines in order to assure himself or his followers of victory. But it is not clear that he had such need of the Jews or such regard for the Temple of Jerusalem that he should turn aside on his way to Egypt for such a purpose.
However this may be, Alexander’s tutor had been in Asia and had met a Jew there, if his disciple Clearchus of Soli is to be trusted. “The man,” Aristotle says, “was by race a Jew out of Coele-Syria. His people are descendants of the Indian philosophers. It is reported that philosophers are called Calani among the Indians and Jews among the Syrians. The Jews take their name from their place of abode, which is called Judaea. The name of their city is very difficult; they call it Hierusaleme. This man, then, having been a guest in many homes and having come down gradually from the highlands to the sea-coast, was Hellenic not only in speech but also in soul. And as we were staying in Asia at the time, the man cast up at the same place and interviewed us and other scholars, making trial of their wisdom. But inasmuch as he had come to be at home with many cultured persons he imparted more than he got.” The date of this interview is probably determined by the fact that Aristotle visited his friend Hermias, tyrant of Atarneus, in 347-345 B.C. There is no reason to doubt the probability or even the accuracy of the narrative. Megasthenes also describes the Jews as the philosophers of Syria and couples them with the Brahmins of India. This hellenized Jew who descended from the hills to the coast is a figure typical of the period.
26. The Ptolemies.—After the death of Alexander Palestine fell in the end to Ptolemy (301 B.C.) and remained an Egyptian province until 198 B.C. For a century the Jews in Palestine and in Alexandria had no history—or none that Josephus knew. But two individuals exemplify the different attitudes which the nation adopted towards its new environment and its wider opportunities, Joseph the tax-farmer and Jesus the sage.
The wisdom of Jesus ben Sira (Sirach) is contained in the book commonly called Ecclesiasticus (q.v.). At a time when men were attracted by the wisdom and science of the Greeks, he taught that all wisdom came from Yahweh who had chosen Israel to receive it in trust. He discouraged inquiries into the nature and purpose of things: it was enough for him that Yahweh had created and ruled the universe. If a man had leisure to be wise—and this is not for many—he should study the Scriptures which had come down, and so become a scribe. For the scribe, as for the man at the plough-tail, the Law was the rule of life. All, however much or little preoccupied with worldly business, must fear God, from whom come good things and evil, life, death, poverty and riches. It was not for men to meddle with secrets which are beyond human intelligence. Enough that the individual did his duty in the state of life in which he was set and left behind him a good name at his death. The race survives—“the days of Israel are unnumbered.” Every member of the congregation of Israel must labour, as God has appointed, at some handicraft or profession to provide for his home. It is his sacred duty and his private interest to beget children and to train them to take his place. The scholar is apt to pity the smith, the potter, the carpenter and the farmer: with better reason he is apt to condemn the trader who becomes absorbed in greed of gain and so deserts the way of righteousness and fair dealing. As a teacher Jesus gave his own services freely. For the soldier he had no commendation. There were physicians who understood the use of herbs, and must be rewarded when their help was invited. But, whatever means each head of a family adopted to get a livelihood, he must pay the priest’s dues. The centre of the life of Israel was the Temple, over which the high priest presided and which was inhabited by Yahweh, the God of Israel. The scribe could train the individual in morals and in manners; but the high priest was the ruler of the nation.
As ruler of the nation the high priest paid its tribute to Egypt, its overlord. But Josephus reports of one Onias that for avarice he withheld it. The sequel shows how a Jew might rise to power in the civil service of the Egyptian Empire and yet remain a hero to some of the Jews—provided that he did not intermarry with a Gentile. 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. As tax-farmer he oppressed the non-Jewish cities and so won the admiration of Josephus.
But while such men went out into the world and brought back wealth of one kind or another to Palestine, other Jews were content to make their homes in foreign parts. At Alexandria in particular Alexander provided for a Jewish colony which soon became Hellenic enough in speech to require a translation of the Law. It is probable that, as in Palestine an Aramaic paraphrase of the Hebrew text was found to be necessary, so in Alexandria the Septuagint grew up gradually, as need arose. The legendary tradition which even Philo accepts gives it a formal nativity, a royal patron and inspired authors. From the text which Philo uses, it is probable that the translation had been transmitted in writing; and his legend probably fixes the date of the commencement of the undertaking for the reign of Ptolemy Lagus.
The apology for the necessary defects of a translation put forward by the translator of Ecclesiasticus in his Prologue shows that the work was carried on beyond the limits of the Law. Apparently it was in progress at the time of his coming to Egypt in the reign of Ptolemy Euergetes I. or II. He seems to regard this body of literature as the answer to the charge that the Jews had contributed nothing useful for human life. Once translated into Greek, the Scriptures became a bond of union for the Jews of the dispersion and were at least capable of being used as an instrument for the conversion of the world to Judaism. So far as the latter function is concerned Philo confesses that the Law in his day shared the obscurity of the people, and seems to imply that the proselytes adopted little more than the monotheistic principle and the observance of the Sabbath. According to Juvenal the sons of such proselytes were apt to go farther and to substitute the Jewish Law for the Roman—
| Romanas autem soliti contemnere leges; Judaicum ediscunt et servant ac metuunt ius Tradidit arcano quodcunque volumine Moyses. |