The Strand Study Bible

BETWEEN THE TESTAMENTS

Oxus River

BACTRIANE

• Hecatompylos

Bactra

• Mesked

• Cabul Valley

• Herat • Farah

• Taxila

Indus River

Hydaspes River

Malli •

INDIA

GADROSIA

•

Pattale

INDIAN OCEAN

Alexander then moved on to Ecbatana, where Hephaestion, his beloved friend, died of fever. Alexander went mad with grief, and declared war against a harmless people called the Cossaeans. Unhappiness, dissatisfaction, and resentment churned through the Macedonian troops as Alexander proceeded up toward Babylon. Entering Babylon, Alexander discovered that his entire empire boiled with unrest. He had been gone too long, and his one-time magical charm to make people love and follow him without question was also gone. For the first time in Alexander’s life he became paranoid, and thus suspicious of everyone. Alexander’s end was that of a man who had “so changed the world [that] nothing after him could be as it was before.” And although he had conquered the world, he was never able to conquer himself. Due to an illness and his intemperate use of wine, he died in June of 323 BC at the age of thirty-two. He would leave his empire “to the strongest.” And so it was, Alexander’s empire was divided up into four sections by four of his strongest generals and their descendants: 1. Cassander (Macedonia) (323 - ?) Antigonus II Gonatus (276 - 239 BC) Philip V (221 - 179 BC) 2. Ptolemy I Soter (Egypt) (323 - 285 BC) Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285 - 246 BC) – Under Ptolemy II the Alexandrian Jews translated their Old Testament into Greek (the common day language). This translation was later known as the Septuagint from the legend of 70 (more correctly 72, six from each of the twelve tribes of Israel) who were sent from Judea to produce the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures.

Ptolemy III Evergetes (246 - 222 BC) Ptolemy IV Philopater (222 - 203 BC) Ptolemy V Epiphanes (203 - 181 BC) Ptolemy VI Philometer (181 - 145 BC) Ptolemy VII Neos Philopater (145 - 116 BC) 3. Lysimachus (Asia) 4. Seleucus Nicator (Syria or Babylon) (312 - 281 BC) Antiochus II (281 - 226 BC) Seleucus III Ceraunus (226 - 223 BC) Antiochus III (223 - 187 BC) Seleucus IV Philopater (187 - 175 BC) Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175 - 164 BC)

Interestingly enough, it was God who prophesied Alexander’s future exploits (Dan 8:21-22). However, unlike Nebuchad- nezzar who came to the realization that it was God who raised him up to prominence (Dan 4:34-37), Alexander recog- nized only himself when it came to his fame.

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