Antiquities of the Jews - Book 11

BOOK XI

Containing the Interval of Two Hundred and Fifty-Three Years and Five Months

From the First Year of Cyrus to the Death of Alexander the Great

CHAPTER 1

How Cyrus, King of Persia, Freed the Jews from Babylon, Allowed Them to Return to Their Country and Rebuild Their Temple, and Gave Them Money for the Work

In the first year of Cyrus's reign, seventy years after our people had been carried from their own land to Babylon, God showed mercy to the captives in their distress. Before Jerusalem was destroyed, God had told them through the prophet Jeremiah that after they had served Nebuchadnezzar and his descendants for seventy years, he would bring them back to the land of their fathers. They would rebuild their temple and regain their former prosperity.

God brought this about by moving Cyrus to issue a proclamation throughout Asia:

"Thus says Cyrus the king: Since Almighty God has appointed me king over the whole inhabited world, I believe that he is the God worshiped by the people of Israel. Their prophets foretold my name, and that I would build him a house in Jerusalem, in the land of Judea."

Cyrus learned of this from the book of prophecies Isaiah had left behind. Isaiah said that God had spoken to him in a secret vision: "It is my will that Cyrus, whom I have appointed king over many great nations, send my people back to their own land and build my temple."

Isaiah had made this prophecy 140 years before the temple was destroyed. When Cyrus read it, he marveled at God's power and felt a strong desire to carry out what had been written. He summoned the leading Jews in Babylon and told them they could return to their country, rebuild Jerusalem, and build God's temple. He promised to help them and to write to the rulers and governors near Judea, ordering them to provide gold and silver for the temple and animals for sacrifice.

After Cyrus made this announcement, the leaders of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, along with the Levites and priests, set out for Jerusalem. Many others stayed in Babylon because they did not want to leave their property. When the returning Jews arrived, the king's supporters helped them, giving them gold, silver, and many cattle and horses for the temple's construction.

The people fulfilled their vows to God and offered the sacrifices that had long been customary. They began rebuilding their city and restoring the practices of their ancient worship. Cyrus also returned the vessels of God that King Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple and carried to Babylon.

Cyrus entrusted the vessels to Mithridates, the treasurer, and ordered him to hand them over to Sanabassar for safekeeping until the temple was complete. Then Sanabassar was to give them to the priests and leaders of the people so they could be returned to the temple. Cyrus also sent a letter to the governors of Syria. It read:

"King Cyrus sends greetings to Sisinnes and Sathrabuzanes.

"I have permitted all the Jews in my kingdom who wish to do so to return to their own country, rebuild their city, and build God's temple in Jerusalem on its former site. I have also sent my treasurer Mithridates and Zorobabel, governor of the Jews, to lay the temple's foundations and build it 60 cubits high and as wide as before. It is to have three structures of dressed stone and one of local timber. The same instructions apply to the altar where they offer sacrifices to God.

"I order that the cost of this work be paid from my revenues. I have also sent the vessels that King Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple. I have given them to Mithridates the treasurer and Zorobabel the governor of the Jews, so they can be carried to Jerusalem and returned to God's temple. Their number is as follows: 50 gold platters and 500 silver ones; 40 gold Thericlean cups and 500 silver ones; 50 gold basins and 500 silver ones; 30 vessels for pouring drink offerings and 300 silver ones; 30 gold vials and 2,400 silver ones; and 1,000 other large vessels.

"I permit the Jews to receive the same provisions they received from their forefathers: small livestock, wine, and oil worth 205,500 drachmas, as well as 20,500 artabae of wheat flour. These expenses are to be paid from the tribute owed by Samaria.

"The priests are to offer sacrifices in Jerusalem according to the laws of Moses. When they offer them, they are to pray to God for the safety of the king and his family, and for the continued rule of Persia. Anyone who disobeys these orders or tries to prevent them from being carried out is to be crucified, and his property is to be taken into the royal treasury."

That was the substance of the letter. The number of those who returned from captivity to Jerusalem was 42,462.

CHAPTER 2

How the Cutheans and Neighboring Governors Hindered the Jews from Building the Temple After Cyrus's Death, and How Cambyses Forbade Them to Continue

The Jews had laid the temple's foundations and were eager to build it. But the neighboring nations, especially the Cutheans, opposed them. Shalmanezer, king of Assyria, had brought the Cutheans from Persia and Media and settled them in Samaria after he carried the people of Israel into captivity. The Cutheans appealed to the governors and officials responsible for these matters, asking them to stop the Jews from rebuilding their city and temple. They bribed the officials, who agreed to delay the work and let it proceed carelessly. Cyrus was occupied with other wars and knew nothing about this. When he led his army against the Massagetae, he died there.

After Cambyses, Cyrus's son, took the throne, the governors of Syria, Phoenicia, Ammon, Moab, and Samaria sent him a letter:

"To our lord Cambyses. We, your servants Rathumus the historian, Semellius the scribe, and the other judges serving in Syria and Phoenicia, send you our greetings.

"O king, you should know that the Jews who were carried away to Babylon have returned to our country. They are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city, restoring its marketplaces, raising its walls, and building the temple. Once this work is finished, they won't pay tribute or obey your commands. They will rebel against kings and choose to rule others rather than be ruled themselves.

"We thought it right to write to you, O king, while the temple work is advancing so quickly. Search the records of your fathers, and you will find that the Jews have rebelled against kings and made war on them. Their city has done the same, and for this reason it has remained in ruins until now. We also thought you should know, in case this matter has escaped your notice, that once the city is inhabited and surrounded by walls, you will lose your passage to Celesyria and Phoenicia."

Cambyses read the letter and, being a wicked man by nature, grew angry at what they had told him. He sent this reply:

"Cambyses the king to Rathumus the historian, Beeltethmus, Semellius the scribe, and the other officials living in Samaria and Phoenicia:

"I have read your letter and ordered a search of my fathers' records. They show that this city has always opposed kings, and that its people have stirred up rebellion and war. We also know that its kings were powerful and tyrannical, and demanded tribute from Celesyria and Phoenicia. I have therefore ordered that the Jews must not be allowed to rebuild the city, lest the harm they have brought upon kings grow worse."

When the letter was read, Rathumus, Semellius the scribe, and their companions quickly mounted their horses and hurried to Jerusalem with a large company. They ordered the Jews to stop building the city and the temple. The work remained halted until the second year of Darius's reign, a period of another nine years. Cambyses ruled for six years. During that time, he conquered Egypt. On his return, he died at Damascus.

CHAPTER 3

After Cambyses Died and the Magi Were Slain, Zorobabel Rose Above the Others During Darius's Reign by Solving the Questions, and Won the King's Favor for the Rebuilding of the Temple

After the Magi were slain, they had held power over the Persians for a year following Cambyses's death. Then the families known as the seven Persian families appointed Darius, the son of Hystaspes, as king. While still a private citizen, Darius had vowed to God that, if he became king, he would send all the sacred vessels in Babylon back to the temple in Jerusalem.

Around this time, Zorobabel, whom the Jews in captivity had chosen as their governor, came from Jerusalem to Darius. They had been friends for a long time. Zorobabel was also chosen, along with two others, to serve as one of the king's bodyguards. In this way, he received the position he had hoped for.

In the first year of his reign, Darius held a feast for his household and those close to him. Among his guests were the rulers of Media, the Persian nobles, the governors of India and Ethiopia, and the commanders of the armies from his 127 provinces. After they had eaten and drunk their fill, they went back to their homes and went to bed. King Darius also retired, but after sleeping for a short time, he awoke and could not fall asleep again.

He began talking with the three guards assigned to protect him. He promised that whoever spoke most wisely and truthfully about the questions he would ask would receive a reward: a purple robe, a gold cup from which to drink, a bed of gold, a chariot with gold reins, a fine linen headdress, a gold chain around his neck, and a place beside the king because of his wisdom. "He shall be called my cousin," the king said.

After promising these gifts, he asked the first guard whether wine was the strongest thing, the second whether kings were strongest, and the third whether women were strongest, or whether truth was stronger than all. Having set these questions for them to consider, he went back to bed. In the morning, he summoned his nobles, princes, and governors of Persia and Media. He sat in his usual place of judgment and told each of his three guards to give his answer before them all.

The first guard began by arguing that wine was the strongest. "When I consider the power of wine, men, I see that it surpasses everything else. It deceives the minds of those who drink it, bringing a king down to the level of an orphan who needs a guardian. It gives a slave the boldness of a free man, and makes the poor man feel like a rich one. When wine enters people, it changes and renews their spirits.

"It eases the grief of those who suffer, makes people forget their debts, and persuades them that they are the richest of all. They speak not of small matters, but of talents and other things that belong to the wealthy. Wine even makes them forget their commanders and kings, as well as their friends and companions. It turns them against those dearest to them, making them seem like strangers.

"Then, after they sober up and sleep off the wine, they wake without remembering anything they did while drunk. These are the signs of wine's power. By them, I know that wine is the strongest and most unconquerable of all things."

When the first guard had finished presenting his case for the strength of wine, the next guard spoke. He argued that a king was stronger and more powerful than anything else that seemed to have strength or wisdom.

He began this way: "Men govern all things. They make the earth and sea serve their needs, and kings rule over these men and have authority over them. A king rules over the strongest and most powerful creature, so he must be considered unbeatable in power and strength.

"When kings command their subjects to go to war and face danger, their orders are obeyed. They send men against their enemies, and their authority is so great that the men follow them. Kings command people to level mountains and tear down walls and towers. They even command people to kill and to be killed, and their subjects obey so they won't disobey the king. When they win a war, they bring their spoils to the king.

"Those who aren't soldiers work the land and plow it. After enduring all the labor and hardship of farming, they harvest their crops and pay tribute to the king. Whatever the king says or commands must be done at once. Meanwhile, he enjoys every kind of food and pleasure and sleeps in peace.

"His guards keep watch and remain at their posts out of fear. No one dares leave him, even while he sleeps, or go off to attend to personal matters. Each guard sees protecting the king as his only duty and gives himself entirely to it. How could anyone deny that the king is stronger than all others, when such a great multitude obeys his commands?"

When this guard had finished, the third, who was Zorobabel, began to speak about women and truth.

"Wine is strong, and so is the king, whom everyone obeys. But women have greater power than either. A woman gave birth to the king. Women also bear and raise those who plant the vines and make the wine. There is nothing we receive that does not come to us through women. They weave our clothes, and they care for our households and keep them in order. We cannot live apart from them.

"When we have gathered a great deal of gold, silver, or any other precious thing, and then see a beautiful woman, we leave it all behind and stare at her face with our mouths open. We are willing to give up what we own to enjoy her beauty and make her ours. For women, we leave our fathers and mothers and the land that feeds us. We often forget our dearest friends, and we are even willing to lay down our lives for them.

"Here is the clearest proof of women's power. Don't we labor and endure great hardship on land and sea? Yet when we gain something through our efforts, don't we bring it to the women and give it to them as to our mistresses?

"I once saw the king, who rules over so many people, struck on the face by Apame, the daughter of Rabsases Themasius, his concubine. She took his diadem from him and placed it on her own head, while he patiently endured it. When she smiled, he smiled; when she became angry, he grew sad. Whenever she showed displeasure toward him, he tried to win her back by humbling himself before her."

The princes and governors looked at one another as Zorobabel continued to speak about truth.

"I have shown how powerful women are, but both women and the king himself are weaker than truth. The earth may be vast, the heavens high, and the sun swift in its course, yet all these things move according to the will of God, who is true and righteous. For this reason, we should regard truth as the strongest of all things. Nothing unjust can prevail against it.

"Everything else that has strength is mortal and short-lived, but truth is immortal and eternal. It doesn't give us beauty that fades with time or riches that fortune can take away. It gives us just rules and laws. It separates justice from injustice and rebukes what is wrong."

When Zorobabel finished speaking about truth, the crowd cried aloud that he had spoken with the greatest wisdom, and that truth alone had an unchanging strength that would never grow old.

The king told him to ask for something in addition to the rewards already promised. Because of his wisdom and good judgment, which surpassed that of the others, the king would grant his request. "You shall sit beside me," he said, "and be called my cousin."

Zorobabel then reminded the king of the vow he had made if he ever gained the throne. The vow was to rebuild Jerusalem, build God's temple there, and return the sacred vessels that Nebuchadnezzar had taken to Babylon. "This is the request I ask to make," he said, "because I have been judged wise and understanding."

The king was pleased with Zorobabel's request. He rose and kissed him, then wrote to the governors and provincial rulers, ordering them to escort Zorobabel and those traveling with him as they went to rebuild the temple.

He also sent letters to the rulers of Syria and Phoenicia, telling them to cut down cedar trees in Lebanon and carry them to Jerusalem, and to help rebuild the city. He declared that all captives who returned to Judea would be free. He forbade his deputies and governors from imposing royal taxes on the Jews, and allowed them to claim any land they could occupy without paying tribute.

He ordered the Idumeans, Samaritans, and people of Celesyria to return the villages they had taken from the Jews. He also directed that fifty talents be given toward the temple's construction. The Jews could offer their appointed sacrifices, and the king would pay for whatever the high priest and priests needed, including the sacred garments they wore in worship. He also ordered that the musical instruments used by the Levites to sing hymns to God be given to them.

The king further commanded that land be allotted to those who guarded the city and temple, along with a set amount of money each year for their support. He also sent the sacred vessels. Everything Cyrus had intended to do for Jerusalem's restoration, Darius ordered to be carried out as well.

After receiving these grants from the king, Zorobabel left the palace and looked up to heaven. He thanked God for giving him wisdom and granting him victory in Darius's presence. "Lord," he said, "I would not have received these blessings if you had not shown me favor."

After thanking God for his good fortune and praying for the same favor in the days ahead, Zorobabel went to Babylon. There he told his people what the king had granted them. When they heard the news, they too gave thanks to God for returning their ancestors' land to them.

They celebrated with food and drink for seven days, holding a festival for the rebuilding and restoration of their country. Then they chose leaders from their ancestral tribes to go up to Jerusalem with their wives, children, and livestock. They traveled there joyfully under the protection of those Darius had sent with them, singing and playing pipes and cymbals. The rest of the Jewish people also went with them in celebration.

The people traveled in a set number from each family. I don't think it is necessary to list every family by name, since that would distract readers from the course of events and make the story harder to follow.

The number of those who went up from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, all older than twelve, was four hundred and sixty-two myriads and eight thousand. There were seventy-four Levites. The women and children together numbered forty thousand seven hundred and forty-two. In addition, there were one hundred and twenty-eight Levite singers, one hundred and ten gatekeepers, and three hundred and ninety-two sacred ministers.

There were also six hundred and sixty-two people who claimed to be Israelites but could not prove their family lines. About five hundred and twenty-five people were removed from the rank and honor of the priesthood because they had married women whose ancestry they could not establish, and whose names did not appear in the records of the Levites and priests.

The number of servants who accompanied those returning to Jerusalem was seven thousand three hundred and thirty-seven. There were two hundred and forty-five male and female singers, four hundred and thirty-five camels, and five thousand five hundred and twenty-five animals used for carrying loads.

Zorobabel, son of Salathiel, of David's line and the tribe of Judah, and Jeshua, son of Josedek the high priest, led the whole company. Mordecai and Serebeus were also distinguished leaders among them. They contributed one hundred pounds of gold and five thousand pounds of silver.

In this way, the priests, Levites, and part of the Jewish people who had been in Babylon came and settled in Jerusalem. The rest returned to their own towns.

CHAPTER 4

How the Temple Was Built While the Cuthites Tried in Vain to Stop the Work

In the seventh month after the people had left Babylon, Jeshua the high priest and Zorobabel the governor sent messengers throughout the country. They gathered everyone in Jerusalem, and the people came willingly. Jeshua then rebuilt the altar on the site where it had stood before, so they could offer the sacrifices required by the laws of Moses. Their actions displeased the neighboring nations, all of whom were hostile toward them.

At that time, the people also celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles, as Moses had commanded. They offered the daily sacrifices, the offerings for the Sabbaths and holy festivals, and the sacrifices promised by those who had made vows. These offerings began on the first day of the seventh month.

The people also began building the temple. They paid the masons and carpenters well and supplied everything needed to support the workers. The Sidonians willingly brought cedar trees from Lebanon. They tied the trees together into rafts and brought them to the port of Joppa. Cyrus had first ordered this work, and Darius now renewed the command.

In the second year after their return to Jerusalem, the Jews began building the temple in earnest. On the first day of the second month, they laid its foundations. They appointed Levites who were at least twenty years old to oversee the work. Jeshua, his sons and brothers, and Codmiel, the brother of Judas son of Aminadab, served with Codmiel's sons. The workers labored so diligently that the temple was finished sooner than anyone expected.

When the building was complete, the priests stood in their customary robes with their trumpets, while the Levites and the sons of Asaph sang hymns to God. David had first appointed them to praise God in this way.

The priests, Levites, and older family members remembered how much larger and more splendid the former temple had been. They saw that the new one, built with their limited means, was far less grand. They also thought about how much their own fortunes had declined. Overwhelmed with grief, they wept and lamented. Most of the people, however, were satisfied with what they had. They were glad to be allowed to build a temple and did not dwell on how it compared with the old one. The cries of the older men and priests, who grieved over the new temple's shortcomings, drowned out the trumpets and the people's joyful shouts.

The Samaritans, who were still enemies of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, heard the trumpets and hurried to find out what had caused the commotion. When they learned that the people who had returned from captivity in Babylon were rebuilding their temple, they went to Zorobabel, Jeshua, and the family leaders. They asked to join the work and become partners in building the temple.

"We worship their God and pray to him," they said. "We want to share in their religious life. We have done so ever since Shalmanezer, king of Assyria, moved us from Cuthah and Media to this land."

Zorobabel, Jeshua the high priest, and the leaders of the Israelite families answered that they could not allow the Samaritans to join them. Cyrus had first authorized the Jews to build the temple, and Darius had confirmed that right. The Samaritans could come and worship there if they wished, they said, but that was all they could offer them. The temple was open to them in the same way it was open to anyone else who wished to worship God there.

The Cuthites, as the Samaritans were also called, were angered by this answer. They persuaded the peoples of Syria to ask the governors, as they had done in the days of Cyrus and later under Cambyses, to stop the temple's construction and delay the Jews' efforts.

At that time, Sisinnes, governor of Syria and Phoenicia, came to Jerusalem with Sathrabuzanes and several others. They asked the Jewish leaders who had authorized them to build the temple in that manner, since it looked more like a fortress than a place of worship. They also asked why the Jews were building covered walkways and strong walls around the city.

Zorobabel and Jeshua the high priest answered that they served Almighty God. Their temple had been built by a king who had lived in great prosperity and surpassed all others in virtue. It had stood for a long time, but their ancestors had sinned against God. As a result, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon and the Chaldeans, had captured their city, destroyed and plundered the temple, burned it, and carried the people away to Babylon.

After Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus became king of Babylon and Persia. Cyrus ordered the Jews to rebuild the temple and entrusted Zorobabel and Mithridates the treasurer with the gifts, vessels, and other goods Nebuchadnezzar had taken from it. He ordered that these items be brought to Jerusalem and returned to their temple once it was rebuilt. Cyrus had also ordered them to begin the work quickly and sent Sanabassar to Jerusalem to oversee the construction. Sanabassar received Cyrus's letter, went to Jerusalem, and laid the temple's foundations at once.

"Although construction began then," they said, "the temple is still unfinished because our enemies have acted against us. If you think it right, write to Darius about this matter. He can consult the royal records and confirm that we have told you the truth."

After Zorobabel and the high priest had answered, Sisinnes and his companions decided not to stop the work until they had informed King Darius. They wrote to him at once.

The Jews were afraid that the king might change his mind about allowing Jerusalem and the temple to be rebuilt. At that time, two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, were among them. The prophets encouraged the people to remain confident and not to fear opposition from the Persians, for God had foretold what would happen. Trusting their words, the Jews continued the work with great energy and did not miss a single day.

The Samaritans sent Darius a letter accusing the Jews of fortifying the city and building a temple that looked more like a fortress than a place of worship. They claimed that the Jews' actions threatened the king's interests. They also showed Darius a letter from Cambyses that forbade the Jews to build the temple.

After reading the Samaritans' letter and the report from Sisinnes and his companions, Darius ordered a search of the royal records. A document was found at Ecbatana, in a tower in Media. It read:

"Cyrus, king, in the first year of his reign, ordered the temple in Jerusalem to be rebuilt. It was to be sixty cubits high and sixty cubits wide, with three courses of dressed stone and one course of timber from the country. The cost was to be paid from the royal treasury.

"He also ordered that the vessels Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple and carried to Babylon be returned to the people of Jerusalem. Sanabassar, governor and chief official of Syria and Phoenicia, and his associates, were to oversee these matters. They were not to interfere with the site, but were to allow the servants of God, the Jews and their leaders, to build the temple.

"They were also to help with the work. From the taxes collected in their provinces, they were to provide the Jews with whatever was needed for the sacrifices: bulls, rams, lambs, goats, fine flour, oil, wine, and anything else the priests requested. The Jews were to pray for the king and the Persians.

"Anyone who disobeyed these orders was to be seized and crucified, and his property confiscated for the king. I also pray to God that anyone who tries to prevent the temple's construction will be struck dead, so that his wickedness may be stopped."

After Darius found Cyrus's document in the royal records, he sent a reply to Sisinnes and his companions:

"King Darius sends greetings to Sisinnes the governor and Sathrabuzanes. I found a copy of this letter among the records of Cyrus and have sent it to you. I order you to carry out everything it says. Farewell."

When Sisinnes and his companions learned the king's decision, they followed his orders from then on. They supported the sacred work and helped the Jewish elders and the leaders of the Sanhedrin. With Haggai and Zechariah's encouragement, and in keeping with God's command and the orders of Cyrus and Darius, the temple was completed with great care. Its construction took seven years.

In the ninth year of Darius's reign, on the twenty-third day of the twelfth month, which the Jews called Adar and the Macedonians called Dystrus, the priests, Levites, and the rest of the Israelites offered sacrifices. They celebrated the restoration of their former prosperity after the captivity and the completion of the temple. They offered one hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and twelve male goats, one for each tribe of Israel. The goats were offered for the sins of each tribe.

The priests and Levites also assigned gatekeepers to each gate, as the law of Moses required. The Jews built covered walkways around the inner temple.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread was near. It fell in the first month, called Xanthicus by the Macedonians and Nisan by the Jews. People came from the villages to the city and celebrated the feast after purifying themselves, along with their wives and children, according to their national law.

On the fourteenth day of that month, they offered the sacrifice called the Passover. They celebrated for seven days, spared no expense, and offered burnt offerings and sacrifices of thanksgiving to God. They gave thanks because God had returned them to their ancestors' land and restored their laws, and because he had moved the Persian king to favor them. They offered abundant sacrifices and worshiped God with great ceremony.

The people lived in Jerusalem under a form of government led by the high priests. It was aristocratic, though it also had elements of oligarchy. This continued until the descendants of the Hasmoneans established a monarchy. Before the captivity and the fall of their government, the Jews had been ruled by kings, beginning with Saul and David, for five hundred and thirty-two years, six months, and ten days. Before the kings, they had been governed by leaders called judges and monarchs. They continued under that form of government for more than five hundred years after the deaths of Moses and Joshua, their commander.

This is my account of the Jews who were taken into captivity and later freed in the time of Cyrus and Darius.

The Samaritans remained hostile and envious toward the Jews, and caused them much trouble. They relied on their wealth and claimed to be related to the Persians because they had come from there. They refused to pay the money the king had ordered them to provide from their taxes for the Jewish sacrifices. The governors favored the Samaritans and helped them do this. The Samaritans also harmed the Jews themselves, or used others to do so, whenever they could.

The Jews decided to send an embassy to King Darius on behalf of the people of Jerusalem and to accuse the Samaritans. Zorobabel and four other leaders went as ambassadors. After hearing their complaints, Darius gave them a letter for the governors and council of Samaria. It read:

"King Darius to Tanganas and Sambabas, governors of the Samaritans, and to Sadraces, Bobelo, and the rest of your officials in Samaria:

"Zorobabel, Ananias, and Mordecai, the Jewish ambassadors, complain that you are obstructing the temple's construction and refusing to provide the funds I ordered for their sacrifices.

"I therefore order you, when you receive this letter, to provide whatever is needed for the sacrifices from the royal treasury and the taxes collected in Samaria, as the priest requests. The Jews must not be forced to stop their daily sacrifices or their prayers for me and the Persians."

This was the message of the king's letter.

CHAPTER 5

How Xerxes, the Son of Darius, Favored the Jews, and the Affairs of Esdras and Nehemiah

When Darius died, his son Xerxes became king. He inherited his father's kingdom and his devotion to God. In matters of worship, he followed his father's example, and he showed great kindness to the Jews.

At that time, Joacim, the son of Jeshua, was high priest. A righteous man named Esdras also lived in Babylon, where he was held in great regard by the people. He was the chief priest of the Jews, skilled in the laws of Moses, and well known to King Xerxes. Esdras planned to go to Jerusalem with some of the Jews living in Babylon. He asked the king to give him a letter for the governors of Syria, so they would know who he was. The king sent them this letter:

"Xerxes, King of Kings, to Esdras the priest, reader of the divine law, greetings.

"I believe that the love I bear for mankind calls me to allow any Jews in my kingdom who wish to go to Jerusalem to do so, along with the priests and Levites. I have given the order for this. Let everyone who wishes to go, as I and my seven counselors have approved, so that they may examine the affairs of Judea and see whether they agree with the law of God.

"They may also carry with them the gifts that my friends and I have promised, along with all the silver and gold found in the land of the Babylonians and dedicated to God. Let these be taken to Jerusalem and offered to God in sacrifice. You and your companions may also make as many vessels of silver and gold as you wish. Set apart the holy vessels given to you, and any others you choose to make, and pay the cost from the royal treasury.

"I have also written to the treasurers of Syria and Phoenicia, ordering them to provide for the needs of Esdras, the priest and reader of God's law. So that God will not be angry with me or my children, I grant all that is needed for sacrifices to God according to the law, up to one hundred cors of wheat.

"Do not impose any unfair tax or tribute on the priests, Levites, sacred singers, gatekeepers, temple servants, or temple scribes.

"Esdras, appoint judges according to the wisdom God has given you. Choose those who know the law, and let them judge throughout Syria and Phoenicia. Teach those who do not know it. If any of your people break the law of God or the king, punish them as people who knew the law and chose to despise it, not as people who acted in ignorance. They may be punished by death or by a fine.

"Farewell."

When Esdras received the letter, he rejoiced and worshiped God. He said that God had moved the king to show him such favor, and he gave thanks to God for it. He read the letter to the Jews in Babylon, kept the original, and sent copies to the Jews living in Media.

When the Jews heard how devoted the king was to God and how kindly he had treated Esdras, they were pleased. Many gathered their possessions and came to Babylon, eager to go to Jerusalem. Most of the people of Israel, however, remained in that country. For this reason, only two tribes are now in Asia and Europe, subject to the Romans, while the ten tribes remain beyond the Euphrates to this day. They are an immense multitude, too numerous to count.

Many priests, Levites, gatekeepers, singers, and temple servants came to Esdras. He gathered the Jews who were in captivity beyond the Euphrates and stayed there with them for three days. He then called a fast, so they could pray to God to protect them on the journey from enemies and other dangers. Esdras had told the king that God would protect them, so he had not asked for horsemen to escort them.

After they finished praying, they left the Euphrates on the twelfth day of the first month, in the seventh year of Xerxes' reign. They reached Jerusalem in the fifth month of that same year. Esdras gave the sacred gifts to the treasurers, who belonged to the priestly family. The gifts included six hundred and fifty talents of silver, one hundred talents' worth of silver vessels, twenty talents' worth of gold vessels, and twelve talents by weight of bronze vessels, which were more precious than gold. These gifts came from the king and his counselors, as well as from the Israelites who had remained in Babylon.

After delivering the gifts to the priests, Esdras offered sacrifices to God for the safety of the whole people: twelve bulls, ninety rams, seventy-two lambs, and twelve male goats for the forgiveness of sins. He also delivered the king's letter to the royal officials and the governors of Coele-Syria and Phoenicia. Since they were bound to obey the king's command, they honored the Jewish people and helped them with all their needs.

Esdras carried out these matters successfully because God judged him worthy of success on account of his goodness and righteousness. Some time later, people came to him with a complaint against certain members of the community, including priests and Levites. They had broken the law of their people by marrying foreign wives, and had brought disorder into the priestly families. The complainants urged Esdras to uphold the law, warning that God might otherwise turn his anger against the whole people and bring them into misery again.

Grieving, Esdras tore his garment, pulled out hair from his head and beard, and threw himself on the ground. The offense had spread even among the leading men of the people. He feared that if he ordered them to send away their wives and the children born to them, they would refuse to listen, so he remained there on the ground.

The more honorable members of the community hurried to him. They wept and shared his grief over what had happened. Esdras rose, stretched out his hands toward heaven, and said that he was ashamed to look up because of the people's sins. They had forgotten the suffering their fathers had brought upon themselves through their wickedness. He begged God, who had saved a remnant from their calamity and captivity, brought them back to Jerusalem and their own land, and moved the Persian kings to show them mercy, to forgive the sins they had now committed. They deserved death, he said, but he asked God in his mercy to spare them from the punishment they had earned.

When Esdras finished praying, the people who had come to him, along with their wives and children, continued to mourn. Then Jechonias, one of the leading men in Jerusalem, admitted that they had sinned by marrying foreign wives. He urged Esdras to make them all swear to send away their wives and the children born to them, and to punish anyone who refused to obey the law.

Esdras accepted his advice. He made the leaders of the priests, the Levites, and the Israelites swear that they would send away their wives and children. After receiving their oaths, he hurried from the temple to the chamber of Johanan, the son of Eliasib. He had eaten nothing because of his grief, and he stayed there that day.

A proclamation then ordered all the exiles to gather in Jerusalem. Anyone who failed to come within two or three days would be expelled from the community, and the elders would assign his property to the temple. The people of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin assembled within three days, on the twentieth day of the ninth month, called Tebeth by the Hebrews and Apelleius by the Macedonians.

They sat in the upper room of the temple with the elders. The cold made them uneasy. Esdras stood and charged them with sin for marrying women from other nations. He told them they could now please God and help themselves by sending those wives away. The people all cried out that they would do so.

They also pointed out that the crowd was large, the season was winter, and the matter could not be settled in a day or two. They proposed that the rulers and the men who had married foreign wives come before the elders at an appointed time. The elders from each district would be present to count those who had done so. The people agreed to this plan.

The inquiry began on the first day of the tenth month and continued until the first day of the following month. Many men were found among the descendants of Jeshua the high priest, the priests, Levites, and Israelites. They valued obedience to the law above their natural affection, and immediately sent away their wives and the children born to them. To seek God's favor, they offered sacrifices and slaughtered rams. I do not think it necessary to list the names of these men.

In this way, Esdras corrected the wrongdoing caused by these marriages and restored the community to purity. It remained so afterward.

In the seventh month, the people gathered for the Feast of Tabernacles. They went to the open part of the temple, near the eastern gate, and asked Esdras to read them the laws of Moses. He stood among them and read from morning until noon.

As they listened, they learned how to live righteously, both then and in the years to come. They also regretted their past offenses and wept, thinking that if they had kept the law, they would not have suffered the miseries that had come upon them.

When Esdras saw their sorrow, he told them to go home and stop weeping. It was a festival, he said, and they were not allowed to mourn on that day. Instead, he urged them to feast and do what was proper for a day of joy. Their regret and sorrow for their former sins should guard them against repeating them.

At Esdras' urging, they began to celebrate. They spent eight days feasting in their tabernacles, then returned to their homes, singing hymns to God and thanking Esdras for correcting the corruption that had entered their community.

After earning the people's respect through his work, Esdras died at an advanced age and was buried with great honor in Jerusalem. Around the same time, Joacim the high priest died, and his son Eliasib succeeded him.

One of the Jews who had been carried into captivity served as cupbearer to King Xerxes. His name was Nehemiah. As he walked near Susa, the capital of Persia, he heard some travelers speaking Hebrew as they entered the city after a long journey. He went over and asked where they had come from.

They said they were from Judea. Nehemiah asked how the people were faring and what condition Jerusalem was in. They told him that things were bad. The city's walls lay in ruins, and neighboring nations were doing great harm to the Jews. By day, their enemies raided and plundered the countryside. At night, they attacked them, and many people had been carried off, both from the countryside and from Jerusalem itself. The roads were often covered with the bodies of the dead.

Nehemiah wept for the suffering of his people. Looking up to heaven, he cried, "How long, O Lord, will you overlook our people as they endure such misery and become prey to everyone?"

As he stood at the gate lamenting, someone told him that the king was about to sit down to supper. Nehemiah hurried to serve him as cupbearer, without taking time to compose himself. After the meal, the king was in better spirits than usual. He looked at Nehemiah, saw that he was sad, and asked him why.

Nehemiah prayed that God would grant him favor and help him speak persuasively. Then he said, "How could I appear otherwise, O king, when I hear that the walls of Jerusalem, where my ancestors are buried, have been thrown down and its gates burned? Please grant me leave to go and rebuild the walls and finish the temple."

The king signaled that he would grant Nehemiah's request. He told him to carry a letter to the governors, who were to honor him and provide whatever help he needed. "Put away your sorrow," the king said, "and return cheerfully to your duties."

Nehemiah worshiped God and thanked the king for his promise. The king's words lifted his spirits, and his face was no longer clouded with sorrow. The next day, the king called for him and gave him a letter for Adeus, the governor of Syria, Phoenicia, and Samaria. It ordered Adeus to honor Nehemiah and supply whatever he needed for the rebuilding.

Nehemiah went to Babylon and took with him many of his countrymen, who followed him willingly. He arrived in Jerusalem in the twenty-fifth year of Xerxes' reign. After showing the letters to the governors, he delivered them to Adeus and the other officials.

He gathered all the people in Jerusalem, stood among them in the temple, and addressed them:

"Jews, you know that God has always remembered our fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Because they were righteous, he has never stopped caring for you. He has also helped me gain the king's authority to rebuild our wall and finish what remains of the temple.

"You know how hostile our neighboring nations are. When they learn that we are serious about rebuilding, they will attack us and find many ways to obstruct our work. So first, put your trust in God, who will help us stand against their hatred. Then keep working day and night. Do not pause or lose time. Work with all your strength while we have this special chance."

After speaking, Nehemiah ordered the leaders to measure the wall and divide the work among the people according to their villages and towns, assigning each person as much as he could manage. He promised that he and his servants would help with the work, then dismissed the assembly.

The Jews prepared to begin. From the day they returned from Babylon, they had been called Jews, a name taken from the tribe of Judah, which was the first to settle in those places. In time, both the people and the country came to be known by that name.

When the Ammonites, Moabites, Samaritans, and other people living in Coele-Syria heard that the rebuilding was moving quickly, they were angered. They set traps for the Jews and tried to stop the work. They killed many Jews and looked for ways to kill Nehemiah, even hiring foreigners to attack him. They frightened the people and spread rumors that many nations were preparing to invade. These threats wore the Jews down, and they nearly abandoned the work.

But Nehemiah would not be turned aside. He placed guards around himself and continued working without tiring. He paid no attention to hardship because he was determined to finish the project. He took care to protect himself, not because he feared death, but because he believed the walls would never be rebuilt if he died.

Nehemiah ordered the builders to keep their positions and wear armor while they worked. The masons carried swords, as did the men who brought the building materials. He kept their shields close at hand and stationed trumpeters at intervals of five hundred feet. If enemies appeared, the trumpeters were to warn the people, so they could arm themselves before the enemy attacked.

Nehemiah also walked around the city at night. He never let hardship discourage him, whether it came from the work or from lack of food and sleep. He used these things only as necessity required, not for comfort. He endured this strain for two years and four months. The wall was completed in the ninth month of the twenty-eighth year of Xerxes' reign.

When the wall was finished, Nehemiah and the people offered sacrifices to God and celebrated for eight days. The people of Syria were angry when they heard the wall had been completed.

Nehemiah saw that Jerusalem had few residents. He urged the priests and Levites to leave the countryside and settle in the city, and he built houses for them at his own expense. He also ordered those who worked the land to bring a portion of their produce to Jerusalem. This would provide for the priests and Levites so they could remain there and continue the worship of God. They willingly followed Nehemiah's orders, and Jerusalem became more populated than it had been before.

Nehemiah did many other commendable things. He lived to an advanced age and then died. He was a good and righteous man who wanted his people to prosper. The walls of Jerusalem remain a lasting memorial to him. All these events took place during the reign of Xerxes.

CHAPTER 6

Esther, Mordecai, and Haman: How the Entire Jewish Nation Was in Danger of Perishing During the Reign of Artaxerxes

After Xerxes died, the kingdom passed to his son Cyrus, whom the Greeks called Artaxerxes. Once he had taken control of the Persian Empire, the entire Jewish people, along with their wives and children, faced the danger of being destroyed. I will explain how this came about shortly. First, it is proper to tell something about the king and how he came to marry a Jewish woman of royal descent, who, as the story goes, saved our nation.

After Artaxerxes took the throne, he appointed governors over the 127 provinces that stretched from India to Ethiopia. In the third year of his reign, he held a lavish feast for his friends, the Persian people, and their governors. A king would hold such a feast to display his wealth, and this one lasted 180 days. Afterward, he gave another feast at Susa for other nations and their ambassadors. That feast lasted seven days.

The feast was arranged in this way: A tent was set up on pillars of gold and silver, and linen and purple curtains were hung around it. The tent was large enough to hold many thousands of guests. The cups used by the servants were made of gold and decorated with precious stones, both to make them useful and to please the eye. The king also ordered his servants not to force the guests to drink by continually bringing them wine, as the Persians were accustomed to do. Instead, each guest was to drink as much or as little as he wished.

The king sent messengers throughout the country and ordered the people to stop working and celebrate for many days because of his reign. Queen Vashti also gathered her guests and held a feast in the palace.

The king wanted to show Vashti, who was more beautiful than any other woman, to the people feasting with him. He sent servants to order her to come to his feast. But Persian law forbade wives from appearing before strangers, so she refused to go. The king sent eunuchs to her several times, but she still would not come.

At last the king became so angry that he ended the feast, rose from his seat, and called the seven men who were responsible for interpreting the laws. He accused his wife of insulting him, saying that although he had summoned her to the feast many times, she had refused to obey even once. He ordered the men to tell him what the law allowed him to do to her.

One of them, Memucan, said Vashti had insulted not only the king but all the Persians. If their wives learned that the queen had treated her husband with contempt, he said, they might all begin to disrespect their own husbands. He urged the king to punish Vashti severely and to make the decision about her known throughout the nations. The king agreed to remove her and give her place to another woman.

The king had loved Vashti, so he did not take the separation well. Yet the law did not allow him to reconcile with her, and he was troubled because he could not do what he wanted.

When his friends saw how unhappy he was, they advised him to put his wife and his love for her out of his mind. They urged him to send men throughout the inhabited world to find beautiful young women, then marry the one he liked best. A new wife, they said, would cool his passion for Vashti and draw his affection away from her.

The king accepted their advice and ordered certain men to choose the most beautiful young women in his kingdom. A great number were gathered, and among them was a young woman in Babylon whose parents had both died. She had been raised by her uncle Mordecai, a leading man among the Jews and a member of the tribe of Benjamin.

Her name was Esther, and she was the most beautiful of all the young women. Her grace and beauty drew every eye toward her. She was placed in the care of one of the eunuchs, who provided her with large amounts of perfume and costly oils to anoint her body. The young women, 400 in all, were prepared in this way for six months.

When the eunuch decided that they had been sufficiently prepared and were ready to go to the king, he sent one of them to him each day. After the king had spent the night with a young woman, she was sent back to the eunuch.

When Esther came before the king, he was pleased with her and fell in love with her. He married her and made her his lawful wife. In the twelfth month of the seventh year of his reign, the month called Adar, he held a wedding feast for her. He also sent messengers, as they were called, throughout every nation and ordered the people to celebrate his marriage. For a whole month, he hosted the Persians, the Medes, and the leading men of the nations.

Esther was brought to the royal palace, and the king placed a crown on her head. She did not tell him what nation she came from. Her uncle moved from Babylon to Susa and settled there. He spent his days near the palace, asking how Esther was, for he loved her as if she were his own daughter.

The king had made a law that no one from among his subjects could approach him unless he had been summoned. When he sat on his throne, men stood around him with axes in their hands, ready to punish anyone who came near without permission.

The king held a golden scepter, which he extended when he chose to spare someone who had approached him uninvited. Anyone who touched it was safe. I have already said enough about this custom.

Some time later, two eunuchs, Bigthan and Teresh, plotted against the king. Barnabazus, a servant of one of the eunuchs who was Jewish by birth, learned of their conspiracy and told the queen's uncle. Through Esther, Mordecai informed the king about the plot.

The king investigated and discovered the truth. He had the eunuchs hanged on a cross. But he gave Mordecai no reward for saving his life. He only ordered the scribes to enter Mordecai's name in the royal records and told him to remain at the palace as one of the king's close friends.

There was a man named Haman, the son of Amedatha, who was an Amalekite by birth and often came before the king. Artaxerxes had ordered the foreigners and Persians to honor Haman, and they worshipped him. But Mordecai was wise and faithful to the laws of his own people, so he would not worship Haman.

When Haman noticed this, he asked where Mordecai came from. After learning that he was a Jew, Haman was furious. He said to himself, "The Persians, who are free men, worship me, but this man, who is no better than a slave, refuses to do so."

Haman thought it was too small a matter to ask the king to punish Mordecai alone. Instead, he decided to destroy the whole Jewish nation. He was already an enemy of the Jews because their ancestors had destroyed the Amalekites, his own people.

Haman went to the king and accused the Jews, saying, "There is a wicked people scattered throughout your kingdom. They keep themselves apart from others and do not follow the same worship or laws. They are at odds with your people and with everyone else, both in their customs and in their behavior. If you wish to benefit your subjects, order them all to be destroyed. Do not spare a single one, or keep any of them as slaves or captives."

To keep the king from losing the taxes paid by the Jews, Haman promised to give him 40,000 talents from his own wealth whenever the king wished. He said he would gladly pay the money so the kingdom could be rid of such a threat.

When Haman made this request, the king excused him from paying the money and gave him authority over the Jews, allowing him to do as he pleased. Haman had gained what he wanted. He immediately sent a decree in the king's name to every nation. It read:

"Artaxerxes, the great king, sends this letter to the rulers of the 127 provinces from India to Ethiopia.

"I have ruled many nations and gained dominion over the inhabited world, as I desired. Yet I have not used my power to act arrogantly or cruelly toward my subjects. I have treated them with gentleness and kindness, cared for their peace and good order, and sought to secure those blessings for the future.

"Haman has informed me about a troublesome people mixed in among all mankind. Because of his wisdom and justice, Haman is first in my esteem and rank, second only to me. He has been faithful and loyal to me. This people rejects our laws, refuses to submit to kings, lives differently from others, hates monarchy, and threatens the peace of our kingdom.

"I therefore order that all the people Haman has identified, whom he calls our enemies, be destroyed, along with their wives and children. Spare none of them, and let no one place pity for them above obedience to this decree. This order is to be carried out on the fourteenth day of the twelfth month of this year. Once all those who oppose us have been destroyed in a single day, we will be able to live in peace for the rest of our lives."

When the decree reached the cities and countryside, everyone prepared for the destruction of the Jews on the appointed day. The people of Susa were especially eager to carry it out. Meanwhile, the king and Haman feasted and drank together, while the city was thrown into confusion.

When Mordecai heard what had happened, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, sprinkled ashes on his head, and walked through the city crying out, "A people who have harmed no one is about to be destroyed."

He went as far as the king's palace and stood outside, since he was not allowed to enter in mourning clothes. The Jews in the other cities where the decree had been announced did the same. They mourned and lamented the disaster that had been declared against them.

When some people told the queen that Mordecai was standing outside the court in mourning clothes, she was distressed. She sent servants to bring him other clothes, but he refused to take off his sackcloth. The cause of his grief had not gone away.

Esther called for the eunuch Acratheus, who was there, and sent him to Mordecai to find out what had happened and why he would not change his clothes. Mordecai told the eunuch about the decree sent throughout the kingdom and about the money Haman had promised in exchange for the destruction of the Jews. He also gave him a copy of the proclamation issued at Susa to take to Esther.

Mordecai urged her to speak to the king about the decree. He told her not to think it beneath her dignity to put on humble clothes for the sake of her people and to plead for the Jews, who were in danger. Haman, whose rank was second only to the king's, had accused them and turned the king against them.

When Esther learned this, she sent word back to Mordecai that she had not been summoned by the king. Anyone who went to him without being called was to be put to death, unless the king chose to spare that person by holding out his golden scepter. Whoever touched the scepter would be forgiven and would live.

When the eunuch brought this answer to Mordecai, Mordecai told him to say that Esther must think not only of her own safety but of the safety of her people. If she failed to act now, he said, help would surely come to the Jews from God by some other means, but she and her father's family would be destroyed.

Esther sent the same eunuch back to Mordecai with instructions to gather the Jews in Susa and call them together. They were to fast and eat nothing on her behalf. She and her maids would do the same. Then she promised to go before the king, even though it was against the law. If she had to die for it, she would accept that fate.

Mordecai did as Esther had ordered and called the people to fast. He prayed with them, asking God not to abandon his nation at the moment when it was about to be destroyed. God had often protected them and forgiven them when they sinned, Mordecai said, so he asked him to save them once more from the disaster that had been decreed.

Though not every Jew had done wrong, the whole people were to be killed in shame. Mordecai said he was the reason Haman was angry. "I refused to worship him," he said, "and could not give him the honor I have always given you, Lord. Because of this, he has planned harm against people who have not broken your laws."

The people prayed for the same thing. They asked God to save them and free the Israelites throughout the world from the calamity that was coming. They could see the danger before them and expected it to arrive at any moment.

Esther also prayed to God according to the custom of her people. She threw herself down on the ground, put on mourning clothes, and went without food, drink, and every luxury for three days. She asked God to have mercy on her, make her words persuasive to the king, and make her more beautiful than before. She hoped her words and beauty would turn the king from anger, if he was angry that she had come without being summoned. She also prayed for comfort for her people, who were in the greatest danger, and asked God to stir the king's hatred against the enemies of the Jews and those who had plotted their destruction, if they were held in contempt by him.

After praying for three days, Esther took off her mourning clothes, changed her dress, and adorned herself as a queen should. She took two maids with her. One supported her as she leaned gently on her, while the other followed behind and lifted the long train of her dress from the ground with her fingertips.

Esther went to the king with a blush on her face and a pleasing manner, but she was afraid. When she stood before him, he was seated on his throne in royal clothing woven with gold and precious stones. To Esther, he looked even more frightening than usual, especially when he looked at her sternly, his face burning with anger. Her limbs failed her from fear, and she collapsed in a faint.

The king changed his mind, as I believe by God's will, and became concerned that fear might bring some great harm upon his wife. He leaped from his throne, caught her in his arms, and helped her recover. He embraced her, spoke kindly to her, and urged her to be of good courage. She had no reason to fear that she had come without being summoned, he said. The law was for his subjects, but she was a queen, just as he was a king, and she was safe.

As he spoke, he placed the scepter in her hand and touched her neck with it, as the law required. This freed her from fear. When she had recovered, she said, "My lord, I cannot easily tell you what has happened all at once. As soon as I saw how great, handsome, and frightening you seemed, my spirit left me, and I felt as if I had no life in me."

She could barely speak, and her voice was weak. The king was greatly troubled and urged her to take heart and hope for better things. If she wished, he said, he was ready to give her half his kingdom.

Esther asked him to come to a banquet with his friend Haman, explaining that she had prepared supper for him. The king agreed. While they were drinking, he asked Esther to tell him what she wanted, promising that she would receive it even if she asked for half his kingdom. But Esther delayed making her request until the next day, if the king and Haman would return for another banquet.

The king promised to come, and Haman left in high spirits. He alone had been honored by dining with the king and Esther, and he had been invited back the next day. No one else, he thought, had received such an honor. But when he saw Mordecai in the court, he was displeased because Mordecai showed him no respect.

Haman went home and called for his wife Zeresh and his friends. When they arrived, he told them about the honor he had received from the king and the queen. He had dined with them alone that day, he said, and had been invited back for the next. "Yet I cannot enjoy it while I see Mordecai the Jew in the court."

Zeresh advised him to order a gallows 50 cubits high to be built. In the morning, he could ask the king to have Mordecai hanged on it. Haman approved her advice and ordered his servants to prepare the gallows in the court. They did so.

But God scorned Haman's wicked hopes. Knowing what would happen, God took away the king's sleep that night. The king did not want to waste the hours he spent awake, so he decided to use the time for the good of his kingdom. He ordered the scribe to bring the records of earlier kings and the accounts of his own deeds.

As the scribe read, one account described a man who had been given a province for handling an important matter well. Another told of someone who had received a gift for his loyalty. Then the scribe came to the account of Bigthan and Teresh, the eunuchs who had plotted against the king and whose conspiracy Mordecai had exposed. The scribe was about to move on to another account, but the king stopped him and asked whether it said that Mordecai had received a reward.

When the scribe said that no reward had been recorded, the king told him to stop reading. He asked those assigned to keep the time what hour it was. They told him that daybreak had already come. The king ordered them to find out whether any of his friends had arrived and was standing outside the court.

Haman happened to be there. He had come earlier than usual to ask the king to put Mordecai to death. When the servants told the king that Haman was outside, he ordered them to bring him in.

The king said, "I know that you are my closest friend. Tell me how I should honor a man I greatly love, in a way that suits my royal position."

Haman thought the king must mean him, since he believed he was the king's favorite. So he gave what he considered the best advice. "If you truly want to honor the man you love, let him ride a horse wearing the same robe you wear, with a gold chain around his neck. Have one of your close friends walk ahead of him and proclaim throughout the city, 'This is how the king honors the man he wishes to honor.'"

Haman thought the king would give him this reward. But the king liked his advice and said, "Then go at once. Take the horse, robe, and gold chain, and find Mordecai the Jew. Dress him in these things, lead his horse through the city, and make the proclamation. You are my close friend, and you have given me good advice. Now carry out what you have suggested. This will be his reward for saving my life."

Haman was stunned by this unexpected order and did not know what to do. Still, he went out, took the horse, the purple robe, and the gold chain, and found Mordecai outside the court in sackcloth. Haman told him to take off his sackcloth and put on the purple robe.

Mordecai did not know what was happening and thought Haman was mocking him. "You wretch, the lowest of men," he said. "Are you making fun of our troubles?"

When Mordecai learned that the king was honoring him for exposing the eunuchs' plot and saving the king's life, he put on the purple robe the king wore and placed the gold chain around his neck. Then he mounted the horse and rode through the city, while Haman walked ahead and proclaimed, "This is the reward the king gives to anyone he loves and considers worthy of honor."

After the procession, Mordecai returned to the king. Haman went home in shame and told his wife and friends what had happened, weeping as he spoke. They told him he would never be able to take revenge on Mordecai because God was with him.

While Haman and the others were still talking, Esther's eunuchs hurried him away to the banquet. One of them, Sabuchadas, noticed the gallows in Haman's house and asked one of his servants why it had been made. He learned that it was meant for the queen's uncle, because Haman planned to ask the king to have Mordecai punished. Sabuchadas kept this information to himself for the moment.

When the king and Haman were at the banquet, the king asked the queen what gift she wanted. He promised she could have anything she asked for.

Esther spoke of the danger facing her people. "My people and I have been condemned to destruction," she said. "That is why I am making this request. I would not have troubled you if we had only been sold into harsh slavery, for even that would have been bearable. But I ask you to save us from destruction."

The king asked who was responsible for their misery. Esther openly accused Haman and proved that he had plotted against her people.

The king was shaken. He rushed from the banquet into the gardens. Haman began pleading with Esther to forgive him, because he could see that he was in great danger. He had fallen onto the queen's bed as he begged her. When the king returned and saw him there, he became even angrier.

"You wretch, the lowest of men," he said. "Are you trying to force my wife?"

Haman was so shocked that he could not speak. Then the eunuch Sabuchadas came in and accused him. He told the king that Haman had prepared a gallows for Mordecai. One of Haman's servants had told him this when he asked what the gallows was for. Sabuchadas also said it was 50 cubits high.

When the king heard this, he decided that Haman should suffer the very punishment he had planned for Mordecai. He immediately ordered Haman to be hanged on the gallows.

Here I cannot help but admire God and his wisdom and justice. God punished Haman's wickedness and arranged for him to receive the very punishment he had prepared for someone else. This also teaches us that anyone who plans harm against another may unknowingly be preparing it for himself.

Haman had abused the honor the king gave him, and he was put to death in this way. The king gave Haman's property to the queen. He also called for Mordecai, since Esther had told him that she was related to him, and gave Mordecai the ring he had once given to Haman.

The queen gave Haman's property to Mordecai as well. Then she asked the king to spare the Jews from death and showed him the letter that Haman, the son of Ammedatha, had sent throughout the kingdom. If her people were destroyed, she said, she could not bear to go on living.

The king promised not to do anything that would displease her or oppose her wishes. He told her to write whatever she wished about the Jews in the king's name, seal it with his seal, and send it throughout the kingdom. No one would dare oppose a letter secured by the royal seal.

The king ordered the royal scribes to be summoned. They were to write to the nations, the lieutenants, and the governors of the 127 provinces from India to Ethiopia on behalf of the Jews. The letter read:

"The great king Artaxerxes sends greetings to our rulers and faithful subjects.

"Many people, after receiving great benefits and honors from others, have harmed those beneath them and even attacked their own benefactors. They seem to want to remove gratitude from among men. They misuse the good fortune they never expected and turn it against those who gave it to them, thinking they can hide from God and escape his punishment.

"Some people, after their friends have entrusted them with authority, use their own private hatred to deceive those in power. They persuade them to turn against people who have done them no harm, putting innocent lives in danger through accusations and lies. This is not known only from old stories or things we have heard from others. We have seen such shameless conduct with our own eyes. Therefore, we must no longer accept slander, false accusations, or the advice of others without question. Each person must judge what he knows to be true, punish those who deserve it, and show favor to the innocent.

"Such was the case with Haman, the son of Ammedatha. He was an Amalekite by birth and not of Persian blood. We welcomed him as a guest and treated him with the kindness we show to all people. We called him our father, and everyone honored him as the highest-ranking man after us. But he could not bear his good fortune or govern his great prosperity with sound judgment. He plotted against me and my life, even though I gave him his authority. He tried to kill Mordecai, my benefactor and savior, and to destroy Esther, my wife and partner in the kingdom. In this way, he hoped to take my faithful friends from me and hand the government over to others.

"But I learned that these Jews, whom this wicked man had condemned to death, were not evil people. They live in a good and upright way and worship the God who has preserved the kingdom for me and my ancestors. I therefore release them from the punishment ordered in Haman's earlier letter. If you refuse to carry out that earlier decree, you will do well. I also order that the Jews be given every honor.

"I have hanged the man who plotted these things against them, along with his family, before the gates of Susa. God, who sees all things, has sent this punishment upon him.

"I command you to publish a copy of this letter throughout my kingdom. The Jews must be allowed to follow their own laws in peace, and you must assist them. On the same day set for their destruction, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, called Adar, they are to defend themselves against unjust violence. God has made that day a day of salvation for them instead of destruction. Let it be a good day for those who wish us well and a reminder of the punishment of those who plotted against us.

"Every city and nation that disobeys anything in this letter will be destroyed by fire and sword. Publish this letter throughout the kingdom under our rule. Let all the Jews prepare for the appointed day so they can defend themselves against their enemies."

The horsemen carrying the letters set out quickly along their assigned routes. Mordecai put on the royal robe, the golden crown, and the chain, then went out in a public procession. When the Jews in Susa saw him honored by the king, they felt that his good fortune belonged to them as well. Joy and hope filled the Jews in the cities and countryside when the king's letters were announced.

Many people from other nations even circumcised themselves, afraid of the Jews and hoping to secure their own safety. On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, called Adar by the Hebrews and Dystrus by the Macedonians, the king's messengers told the Jews that the day set for their destruction was now the day on which they could destroy their enemies.

The governors, rulers, kings, and scribes of the provinces now treated the Jews with respect. Their fear of Mordecai made them act with care.

When the royal decree reached the whole kingdom, the Jews in Susa killed 500 of their enemies. The king told Esther how many had been killed in the city. Since he did not know exactly what had happened in the provinces, he asked whether she wanted anything more done. He would do as she requested.

Esther asked that the Jews be allowed to deal with their remaining enemies in the same way the next day. She also asked that Haman's ten sons be hanged on the gallows. The king allowed the Jews to do this because he did not wish to deny Esther's request.

The Jews gathered again on the fourteenth day of the month Dystrus and killed about 300 more of their enemies. They took none of their possessions. Throughout the countryside and in the other cities, the Jews killed 75,000 of their enemies on the thirteenth day. The next day they celebrated.

The Jews of Susa gathered and feasted on the fourteenth day and the day after. That is why Jews throughout the world still keep these days as a festival and send portions of food to one another.

Mordecai also wrote to the Jews throughout the kingdom of Artaxerxes, telling them to observe these days as festivals and pass the custom down to future generations, so it would never be forgotten. Since Haman had planned to destroy them on those days, the Jews did right to celebrate their escape, punish their enemies, and give thanks to God. For this reason, Jews still keep these days and call them Purim.

Mordecai became a great and honored man in the king's service and helped him govern the people. He lived with the queen, and through them the Jews' fortunes improved beyond what they could have hoped. This was the state of the Jews during the reign of Artaxerxes.

CHAPTER 7

How John Killed His Brother Jesus in the Temple; How Bagoses Mistreated the Jews; and What Sanballat Did

When Eliashib the high priest died, his son Judas succeeded him. After Judas died, his son John became high priest. During John's time, Bagoses, the general of the army of another Artaxerxes, defiled the temple and imposed a tax on the Jews. Before they offered the daily sacrifices, they had to pay fifty shekels from the public treasury for each lamb.

Jesus was John's brother and a friend of Bagoses, who had promised to help him become high priest. Trusting in Bagoses's support, Jesus quarreled with John in the temple. He angered his brother so much that John killed him in a fit of rage.

It was a terrible crime for John, the high priest, to commit such an act. It was all the more shocking because neither Greeks nor barbarians had ever done anything so cruel and wicked. But God did not leave the crime unpunished. The people were enslaved because of it, and the Persians defiled the temple.

When Bagoses, the general of Artaxerxes's army, learned that John, the Jewish high priest, had killed his own brother Jesus in the temple, he came upon the Jews at once and angrily said, "Have you dared to commit murder in your temple?" When he tried to enter the temple, they stopped him. But he replied, "Am I not purer than the man who was killed in the temple?" After saying this, he went inside. Bagoses used this as his excuse to punish the Jews for seven years over Jesus's murder.

After John died, his son Jaddua succeeded him as high priest. Jaddua had a brother named Manasseh. At that time, a man named Sanballat had been sent to Samaria by Darius, the last king of Persia. He was a Cuthean by birth, as were the Samaritans.

Sanballat knew that Jerusalem was a famous city, and that its kings had caused great trouble for the Assyrians and the people of Celesyria. So he willingly gave his daughter Nicaso in marriage to Manasseh, believing that this family alliance would secure the Jews' continued goodwill toward him.

CHAPTER 8

Concerning Sanballat and Manasseh, the Temple Built on Mount Gerizim, and Alexander's Entry into Jerusalem and the Benefits He Granted the Jews

Around this time, Philip, king of Macedon, was treacherously attacked and killed at Egae by Pausanias, son of Cerastes, who belonged to the family of Oreste. Philip's son Alexander succeeded him as king. Alexander crossed the Hellespont and defeated the generals of Darius's army in a battle at Granicum. He then marched through Lydia, conquered Ionia, overran Caria, and attacked the cities of Pamphylia, as I have related elsewhere.

The elders of Jerusalem were troubled because Manasseh, the brother of Jaddua the high priest, had married a foreign woman and shared in the high priesthood. They quarreled with him because they feared his marriage would encourage others to marry foreign wives and form ties with other nations. They remembered that some people had married women from other countries before, and that this had helped bring about their former captivity and the hardships they endured. So they ordered Manasseh to divorce his wife or stop serving at the altar. Jaddua himself joined the people in their anger and drove his brother away from the altar.

Manasseh went to his father-in-law, Sanballat, and told him that although he loved his daughter Nicaso, he did not want to lose his priestly office because of her. That office was the highest honor in their nation and had always remained within the same family. Sanballat promised not only to preserve Manasseh's priestly rank, but also to make him high priest and governor over all the lands Sanballat ruled, if he would keep his daughter as his wife. He also promised to build Manasseh a temple like the one in Jerusalem on Mount Gerizim, the highest mountain in Samaria. Sanballat said he would do this with the approval of King Darius.

Encouraged by these promises, Manasseh stayed with Sanballat, believing that Darius would grant him the high priesthood. Sanballat was already an old man. Meanwhile, Jerusalem was in turmoil because many priests and Levites had entered into similar marriages. They all joined Manasseh, and Sanballat gave them money, farmland, and homes, doing everything he could to please his son-in-law.

Around this time, Darius learned that Alexander had crossed the Hellespont, defeated his commanders at Granicum, and continued advancing. Darius gathered a large army of cavalry and infantry, determined to meet the Macedonians before they could attack and conquer all of Asia. He crossed the Euphrates and the Cilician mountain called Taurus, then waited for the enemy at Issus in Cilicia.

Sanballat was glad to hear that Darius had taken the field. He told Manasseh that he would soon fulfill his promises, as soon as Darius returned after defeating his enemies. Sanballat, like the rest of Asia, believed the Macedonians would never dare fight the Persians, whose forces were so numerous. But events turned out differently. Darius met the Macedonians in battle and was defeated, losing much of his army. His mother, wife, and children were taken captive, and he fled into Persia.

Alexander then entered Syria and captured Damascus. After taking Sidon, he laid siege to Tyre. During the siege, he sent a letter to the Jewish high priest, asking him to provide troops and supplies for the army. Alexander also asked him to send the gifts he had once sent to Darius and to choose friendship with the Macedonians, assuring him he would never regret it.

The high priest answered that he had sworn an oath to Darius not to take up arms against him. He said he would not break that oath while Darius was still alive. Alexander was angry at this reply. He decided to finish the siege of Tyre first, but threatened that once he had taken the city, he would march against the high priest and teach everyone whom they must obey in keeping their oaths. After a difficult siege, Alexander captured Tyre and settled its affairs. He then went to Gaza and besieged both the city and its governor, whose name was Babemeses.

Sanballat saw this as the right moment to make his move. He abandoned Darius and brought seven thousand of his subjects to Alexander. When he found the king beginning the siege of Tyre, Sanballat told him that he was handing over these men, who came from lands under his rule, and that he gladly accepted Alexander as his lord in place of Darius.

Alexander received him warmly, and Sanballat grew confident enough to speak about his own plans. He told Alexander that his son-in-law Manasseh was the brother of Jaddua the high priest, and that many people of their nation who were with him wanted a temple built in the lands under his rule. It would benefit the king, Sanballat said, to divide the strength of the Jews, so that a united nation could not cause trouble for kings by attempting a revolt, as it had once done under the kings of Assyria.

Alexander gave Sanballat permission to build the temple. Sanballat set to work at once, built it, and made Manasseh its priest. He considered it a great reward that his daughter's children would hold this office. But after the siege of Tyre had lasted seven months, and the siege of Gaza two months, Sanballat died.

After taking Gaza, Alexander hurried toward Jerusalem. When Jaddua the high priest heard of his approach, he was terrified and did not know how to meet the Macedonians, since the king was angry with him for refusing his earlier request. Jaddua ordered the people to pray and join him in offering sacrifices to God. He asked God to protect the nation and save them from the dangers they faced.

After Jaddua had offered the sacrifice, God warned him in a dream to take courage, decorate the city, and open its gates. The people were to wear white garments, while Jaddua and the priests were to meet the king in their priestly robes. He was not to fear any harm, the dream assured him, because God's providence would prevent it. Jaddua awoke full of joy and told everyone about the warning he had received. He followed the dream's instructions and waited for the king's arrival.

When Jaddua learned that Alexander was near the city, he went out to meet him in a procession of priests and a crowd of citizens. The procession was impressive and unlike those of other nations. It reached a place called Sapha, a name that means "prospect" in Greek, because from there one could see both Jerusalem and the Temple.

The Phoenicians and Chaldeans who followed Alexander expected to plunder the city and torture the high priest to death, as they believed the king's anger had promised. But the opposite happened. When Alexander saw the people in the distance, dressed in white, and the priests in fine linen, with the high priest wearing purple and scarlet robes and a mitre bearing a golden plate engraved with God's name, he went forward alone and bowed before the name. He greeted the high priest first.

The Jews all greeted Alexander together and surrounded him. The kings of Syria and the others were astonished by what he had done and thought he had lost his senses. Only Parmenio approached him and asked why he bowed to the Jewish high priest when everyone else bowed to him.

"I did not bow to him," Alexander replied, "but to the God who honored him with the high priesthood. When I was at Dios in Macedonia, I saw this very man in a dream, wearing these same robes. As I considered how I might gain control of Asia, he urged me not to delay, but to cross the sea boldly. He promised to guide my army and give me power over the Persians. I have seen no one else dressed like this man. Now that I see him wearing these robes, I remember the vision and what he said to me in my dream. I believe God is guiding my army, and that I will defeat Darius, destroy Persian power, and succeed in all that I have planned."

After speaking with Parmenio, Alexander gave the high priest his right hand. The priests walked beside him as he entered the city. He went up to the Temple and offered sacrifices to God as the high priest instructed. He treated the high priest and the priests with great honor.

The Book of Daniel was then shown to Alexander. It said that a Greek would destroy the Persian Empire, and Alexander believed the prophecy referred to him. Pleased by what he had seen, he dismissed the people for the day. The next day, he called them together and invited them to ask for whatever favor they wished. The high priest asked that the Jews be allowed to live according to the laws of their ancestors and pay no tribute during the seventh year. Alexander granted these requests.

The high priest also asked Alexander to let the Jews in Babylon and Media live according to their own laws. Alexander willingly promised to do so later. He then told the people that he would welcome any of them who wanted to join his army, provided they could continue to follow the laws of their ancestors. Many agreed to accompany him in his campaigns.

After settling matters in Jerusalem, Alexander led his army through the neighboring cities. The people in the places he visited welcomed him warmly. The Samaritans, whose capital was then Shechem, a city near Mount Gerizim inhabited by people who had separated from the Jewish nation, saw the honor Alexander had shown the Jews and decided to claim that they were Jews too.

The Samaritans, as I have explained elsewhere, denied their kinship with the Jews when the Jews were in trouble, but admitted it when the Jews prospered. They then claimed to belong to the same people and traced their ancestry to Joseph's descendants, Ephraim and Manasseh. So they approached Alexander with great ceremony and eagerness, meeting him a short distance from Jerusalem.

Alexander praised them, and the people of Shechem came forward with the troops Sanballat had sent him. They asked Alexander to visit their city and honor their temple as well. He promised to do so when he returned. They also asked him to excuse them from paying tribute in the seventh year, since they only sowed their crops that year. Alexander asked who they were to make such a request. They answered that they were Hebrews, though they were called Sidonians, and lived at Shechem.

Alexander asked again whether they were Jews. When they said they were not, he replied, "I granted that privilege to the Jews. When I return, and have heard more from you about this matter, I will do what I think proper." He then took leave of the people of Shechem. He ordered Sanballat's troops to follow him into Egypt, where he intended to grant them land. A short time later, in Thebais, he gave them land and assigned them to guard the country.

After Alexander's death, his successors divided his kingdom, but the Temple on Mount Gerizim remained. If anyone in Jerusalem was accused of eating forbidden food, breaking the Sabbath, or committing a similar offense, he fled to the people of Shechem and claimed he had been falsely accused.

Around this time, Jaddua the high priest died, and his son Onias succeeded him as high priest. Such was the state of affairs among the people of Jerusalem at that time.