prophecies of Daniel were pointed out to him, which foretold that "the king of Grecia (b)" should conquer Persia. Before he left Jerusalem he granted the Jews the same free enjoyment of their laws and their religion, and exemption from tribute every sabbatical year, which they had been allowed by the kings of Persia; and when he built Alexandria he placed a great number of Jews there, and granted them many favours and immunities. Whether any Jews settled in Europe, so early as while the nation was subject to the Macedonian empire, is not known, but it is believed that they began to hellenize about this time. The Greek tongue became more common among them, and Grecian manners and opinions were soon introduced.

At the death of Alexander, in the division of 323. his empire among his generals, Judæa fell to the share of Laomedon (c). But Ptolemy Soter, son of Lagus, king of Egypt, soon after made himself

(b) Daniel, c. 8. v. 20. &c.

(c) Laomedon, one of Alexander's captains, had Syria, Phoenicia, and Judæa, assigned to him in the first partition, after the death of Alexander; but Ptolemy Soter very soon took possession of these territories. As both Laomedon and Antigonus continued masters of those countries, which were allotted to them, only a short time, the Macedonian empire is generally considered as divided

himself master of it by a stratagem; he entered Jerusalem on a sabbath day, under pretence of offering sacrifice, and took possession of the city without resistance from the Jews, who did not on this occasion dare to transgress their law by fighting on a sabbath day. Ptolemy carried many thousands captive into Egypt, both Jews and Samaritans, and settled them there; he afterwards treated them with kindness, on account of their acknowledged fidelity to their engagements, particularly in their conduct towards Darius, king of Persia; and he granted them equal privileges with the Macedonians themselves, at Alexandria. Ptolemy Philadelphus is said to have given the Jews, who were captives in Egypt, their liberty, to the number of 120,000. He commanded the Jewish Scriptures to be translated into the Greek language, which translation is called the Septuagint (a). After the Jewish nation had been tributary to the kings of Egypt for about an hundred years, it became subject to the kings of Syria. They divided the land, which now began to be called Palestine, into five provinces, three of which were on the west

side

into four parts, the Macedonian, the Asiatic, the Syrian, and Egyptian, of which Cassander, Lysimachus, Seleucus, and Ptolemy Soter were respectively kings.

(a) Vide Note, p. 13 of this Work.

side of the Jordan, namely, Galilee, Samaria, and Judæa (d), and two on the east side, namely, Trachonitis and Peræa: but they suffered them to be governed by their own laws, under the high priest and council of the nation. Seleucus Nicanor gave them the right of citizens in the cities which he built in Asia Minor and ColeSyria, and even in Antioch his capital, with privileges which they continued to enjoy under the Romans. Antiochus the Great granted considerable favours and immunities to the city of Jerusalem; and to secure Lydia and Phrygia, he established colonies of Jews in those provinces. In the series of wars which took place between the kings of Syria and Egypt, Judæa, being situated between those two countries, was in a greater or less degree, affected by all the revolutions which they experienced, and was frequently the scene of bloody and destructive battles. The evils, to which the Jews were exposed from these foreign powers, were considerably aggravated by the corruption and misconduct of their own high priests, and other persons of distinction among them. To this corruption and niisconduct, and to the increasing wickedness of the people, their sufferings ought indeed to be attributed, according

to

(d) But the whole country was frequently called Judæa after this time.

to the express declarations of God by the mouth of his prophets. It is certain that about this time a considerable part of the nation was become much attached to Grecian manners and customs, though they continued perfectly free from the sin of idolatry. Near Jerusalem, places were appropriated to gymnastic exercises; and the people were led by Jason, who had obtained the high priesthood from Antiochus Epiphanes by the most dishonourable means, to neglect the temple worship, and the observance of the law, in a far greater degree than at any period since their return from the captivity. It pleased God to punish them for this defection, by the hand of the very person whom they particularly sought to please. Antiochus Epiphanes, irritated at having been prevented by the Jews from entering the holy place when he visited the temple, soon after made a popular commotion the pre170. tence for the exercise of tyranny; he took the city, plundered the temple, and slew or enslaved great numbers of the inhabitants, with every circumstance of profanation and of cruelty which can be conceived. For three years and a half, the time predicted by Daniel (e), "the daily sacrifice was taken away," the temple defiled, and partly destroyed, the observance of the law

(e) Vide Prideaux, part 2. book 3.

prohibited

prohibited under the most severe penalties, every copy burnt which the agents of the tyrant could procure, and the people required to sacrifice to idols, under pain of the most agonizing death. Numerous as were the apostates, (for the previous corruption of manners had but ill prepared the nation for such a trial) a remnant continued faithful; and the complicated miseries, which the people endured under this cruel yoke, excited a general impatience. At length the moment of deliverance arrived; Mattathias, a priest, 167. eminent for his piety and resolution, and the father of five sons, equally zealous for their religion, encouraged the people, by his example and exhortations, "to stand up for the Law;" and having soon collected an army of six thousand men, he eagerly undertook to free Judæa from the oppression and persecution of the Syrians, and to restore the worship of the God of Israel; but being very old when he engaged in this important and arduous work, he did not live to see its completion. At his death his son Judas Maccabæus, succeeded to the 166. command of the army; and having defeated the Syrians in several engagements, he drove them out of Judæa, and established his own authority 163. in the country. His first care was to repair and purify the temple for the restoration of divine worship;