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1. Now when Alexander, king of Macedon, had put an end to the
dominion of the Persians, and had settled the affairs in Judea
after the forementioned manner, he ended his life. And as his
government fell among many, Antigonus obtained Asia, Seleucus
Babylon; and of the other nations which were there, Lysimachus
governed the Hellespont, and Cassander possessed Macedonia; as
did Ptolemy the son of Lagus seize upon Egypt. And while these
princes ambitiously strove one against another, every one for his
own principality, it came to pass that there were continual wars,
and those lasting wars too; and the cities were sufferers, and
lost a great many of their inhabitants in these times of
distress, insomuch that all Syria, by the means of Ptolemy the
son of Lagus, underwent the reverse of that denomination of
Savior, which he then had. He also seized upon Jerusalem, and for
that end made use of deceit and treachery; for as he came into
the city on a sabbath day, as if he would offer sacrifices
he, without any trouble, gained the city, while the Jews did not
oppose him, for they did not suspect him to be their enemy; and
he gained it thus, because they were free from suspicion of him,
and because on that day they were at rest and quietness; and when
he had gained it, he ruled over it in a cruel manner. Nay,
Agatharchides of Cnidus, who wrote the acts of Alexander's
successors, reproaches us with superstition, as if we, by it, had
lost our liberty; where he says thus: "There is a nation called
the nation of the Jews, who inhabit a city strong and great,
named Jerusalem. These men took no care, but let it come into the
hands of Ptolemy, as not willing to take arms, and thereby they
submitted to be under a hard master, by reason of their
unseasonable superstition." This is what Agatharchides relates of
our nation. But when Ptolemy had taken a great many captives,
both from the mountainous parts of Judea, and from the places
about Jerusalem and Samaria, and the places near Mount Gerizzim,
he led them all into Egypt, and settled them there. And as he
knew that the people of Jerusalem were most faithful in the
observation of oaths and covenants; and this from the answer they
made to Alexander, when he sent an embassage to them, after he
had beaten Darius in battle; so he distributed many of them into
garrisons, and at Alexandria gave them equal privileges of
citizens with the Macedonians themselves; and required of them to
take their oaths, that they would keep their fidelity to the
posterity of those who committed these places to their care. Nay,
there were not a few other Jews who, of their own accord, went
into Egypt, as invited by the goodness of the soil, and by the
liberality of Ptolemy. However, there were disoders among their
posterity, with relation to the Samaritans, on account of their
resolution to preserve that conduct of life which was delivered
to them by their forefathers, and they thereupon contended one
with another, while those of Jerusalem said that their temple was
holy, and resolved to send their sacrifices thither; but the
Samaritans were resolved that they should be sent to Mount
Gerizzim.
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