The Greek Conquest
In 333BC, the Persian Empire was conquered by the Young Greek King known as Alexander the Great. As he moved through Syria and conquered Egypt, he found the city of Alexandria. This city later became very important to the Jews as it was used as a center of learning and scholarship and was where the Greek translation of the Bible was completed.
After Alexander's death in 323 BC, the Empire divided into two, becoming a kingdom under one of each of his generals. Egypt was ruled by Ptolemy and the Kingdom of Asia became ruled by Selecus. Over the next 100 years, Palestine was within Ptolemy's kingdom and was left free and so it continued it's religious traditions and community life.
But in 200 BC, the conditions changed and Antiochus who was the successor of Selecus, took over control of Israel and tried to appoint the Greek religion and culture on all kingdoms including on the Jewish people. He had conducted very cruel persecutions of Jews in 167 and 164 BC and in 167 BC, he had a temple in Jerusalem desecrated and an altar built to honour the Greek God, Olympus.
The Jews tried to resist Antiochus and remained faithful to God even under torture to the point of death. So because of this, Judas Maccabees and his family led a rebellion, with the help of the Romans, and over the 40 years, a degree of independence was achieved as the Maccabees fought for their freedom. It helped because the Romans wanted peace and so they pressured the successor of Antiochus to make peace with the Jews.
The Maccabee family became the High Priest family in Jerusalem but the Jews who remained faithful to God divided into three groups - The Pharisees, The Sadducees and the Essenes.
After Alexander's death in 323 BC, the Empire divided into two, becoming a kingdom under one of each of his generals. Egypt was ruled by Ptolemy and the Kingdom of Asia became ruled by Selecus. Over the next 100 years, Palestine was within Ptolemy's kingdom and was left free and so it continued it's religious traditions and community life.
But in 200 BC, the conditions changed and Antiochus who was the successor of Selecus, took over control of Israel and tried to appoint the Greek religion and culture on all kingdoms including on the Jewish people. He had conducted very cruel persecutions of Jews in 167 and 164 BC and in 167 BC, he had a temple in Jerusalem desecrated and an altar built to honour the Greek God, Olympus.
The Jews tried to resist Antiochus and remained faithful to God even under torture to the point of death. So because of this, Judas Maccabees and his family led a rebellion, with the help of the Romans, and over the 40 years, a degree of independence was achieved as the Maccabees fought for their freedom. It helped because the Romans wanted peace and so they pressured the successor of Antiochus to make peace with the Jews.
The Maccabee family became the High Priest family in Jerusalem but the Jews who remained faithful to God divided into three groups - The Pharisees, The Sadducees and the Essenes.