STUDY QUESTIONS

Josephus, Antiquities, Loeb Classics (Boston, 1926 ), XI:317-19; 330-33

. . .  Accordingly, he crossed the Euphrates river, passed over Taurus, the mountain in Cilicia, and awaited the enemy at Issus in Cilicia, intending to give battle there.  Then Sanaballetes, who was glad that Darius had come down, told Manasses that he would fulfil his promises as soon as Darius should return from conquering the enemy.  For not only he himself but all those in Asia were convinced that the Macedonians would not even come to grips with the Persians because of their great number.  But the event proved other than they expected, for the king did engage the Macedonians and was beaten, and lost a great part of his army, his mother and wife and children being taken captive, while he fled to Persia.  And Alexander, coming to Syria, took Damascus, became master of Sidon and besieged Tyre; from there he dispatched a letter to the high priest of the Jews, requesting him to send him assistance and supply his army with provisions and give him the gifts which they had formerly sent as tribute to Darius, thus choosing the friendship of the Macedonians, for, he said, they would not regret this course.  But the high priest replied to the bearers of the letter that he had given his oath to Darius not to take up arms against him, and said that he would never violate this oath so long as Darius remained alive.  When Alexander heard this, he was roused to anger, and while deciding not to leave Tyre, which was on the point of being taken, threatened that when he had brought it to terms he would march against the high priest of the Jews and through him teach all men what people it was to whom they must keep their oaths, and for this reason continuing the siege with greater effort, he took Tyre.  After he had settled affairs there, he advanced against the city of Gaza and besieged it together with the commander of its garrison, named Babemesis.

(4) Now Sanaballetes, believing that he had a favourable opportunity for his design, abandoned the cause of Darius and came, along with eight thousand of the people under his rule, to Alexander, whom he found beginning the siege of Tyre, and said that he was giving up to him the places under his rule and gladly accepted him as his master in place of King Darius.  As Alexander received him in friendly fashion, Sanaballetes now felt confident about his plan and addressed him on that subject, explaining that he had a son-in-law Manasses, who was the brother of Jaddus, the high priest of the Jews, and that there were many others of his countrymen with him who now wished to build a temple in the territory subject to him.  It was also an advantage to the king, he said, that the power of the Jews should be divided in two, in order that the nation might not, in the event of revolution, be of one mind and stand together and so give trouble to the kings as it had formerly given to the Assyrian rulers.  When, therefore, Alexander gave his consent, Sanaballetes brought all his energy to bear and built the temple and appointed Manasses high priest, considering this to be the greatest distinction which his daughter's descendants could have.  But Sanaballetes died after seven months had been spent on the siege of Tyre and two on that of Gaza, and Alexander, after taking Gaza, was in haste to go up to the city of Jerusalem.  When the high priest Jaddus heard this, he was in an agony of fear, not knowing how he could meet the Macedonians, whose king was angered by his former disobedience.  He therefore ordered the people to make supplication, and, offering sacrifice to God together with them, besought Him to shield the nation and deliver them from the dangers that were hanging over them.  But, when he had gone to sleep after the sacrifice, God spoke oracularly to him in his sleep, telling him to take courage and adorn the city with wreaths and open the gates and go out to meet them, and that the people should be in white garments, and he himself with the priests in the robes prescribed by law, and that they should not look to suffer any harm, for God was watching over them.  Thereupon he rose from his sleep, greatly rejoicing to himself, and announced to all the revelation that had been made to him, and, after doing all the things that he had been told to do, awaited the coming of the king.

(5) When he learned that Alexander was not far from the city, he went out with the priests and the body of citizens, and, making the reception sacred in character and different from that of other nations, met him at a certain place called Saphein.  This name, translated into the Greek tongue, means "Lookout."  For, as it happened, Jerusalem and the temple could be seen from there.  Now the Phoenicians and the Chaldaeans who followed along thought to themselves that the king in his anger would naturally permit them to plunder the city and put the high priest to a shameful death, but the reverse of this happened.  For when Alexander while still far off saw the multitude in white garments the priests at their head clothed in linen, and the high priest in a robe of hyacinth-blue and gold, wearing on his head the mitre with the golden plate on it on which was inscribed the name of God, he approached alone and prostrated himself before the Name and first greeted the high priest.  Then all the Jews together greeted Alexander with one voice and surrounded him, but the kings of Syria and the others were struck with amazement at his action and supposed that the king's mind was deranged.  And Parmenion alone went up to him and asked why indeed, when all men prostrated themselves before him, he had prostrated himself before the high priest of the Jews, whereupon he replied, " It was not before him that I prostrated myself but the God of whom he has the honour to be high priest, for it was he whom I saw in my sleep dressed as he is now, when I was at Dium in Macedonia, and, as I was considering with myself how I might become master of Asia, he urged me not to hesitate but to cross over confidently, for he himself would lead my army and give over to me the empire of the Persians.  Since, therefore, I have beheld no one else in such robes, and on seeing him now I am reminded of the vision and the exhortation, I believe that I have made this expedition under divine guidance and that I shall defeat Darius and destroy the power of the Persians and succeed in carrying out all the things which I have in mind."  After saying these things to Parmenion, he gave his hand to the high priest and, with the Jews running beside him, entered the city.  Then he went up to the temple, where he sacrificed to God under the direction of the high priest, and showed due honour to the priests and to the high priest himself.  And, when the book of Daniel was shown to him, in which he had declared that one of the Greeks would destroy the empire of the Persians, he believed himself to be the one indicated; and in his joy he dismissed the multitude for the time being, but on the following day he summoned them again and told them to ask for any gifts which they might desire.  When the high priest asked that they might observe their country's laws and in the seventh year be exempt from tribute, he granted all this.  Then they begged that he would permit the Jews in Babylon and Media also to have their own laws, and he gladly promised to do as they asked.  And, when he said to the people that if any wished to join his army while still adhering to the customs of their country, he was ready to take them, many eagerly accepted service with him.

(6) And so, having regulated these matters at Jerusalem, Alexander marched off against the neighbouring cities.  But all those peoples to whom he came received him in a friendly spirit, whereupon the Samaritans, whose chief city at that time was Shechem, which lay beside Mount Garizein and was inhabited by apostates from the Jewish nation, seeing that Alexander had so signally honoured the Jews, decided to profess themselves Jews.  For such is the nature of the Samaritans, as we have already shown somewhere above.  When the Jews are in difficulties, they deny that they have any kinship with them, thereby indeed admitting the truth, but whenever they see some splendid bit of good fortune come to them, they suddenly grasp at the connexion with them, saying that they are related to them and tracing their line back to Ephraim and Manasseh, the descendants of Joseph.  So, then, with splendour and a show of great eagerness on his behalf, they met the king when he was hardly out of Jerusalem.