Book Of First Maccabees

The book begins with Alexander, an ancient Greece king. Alexander life became a tale of the elision of knowledge and understanding with power. In the middle ages, Alexander became a legendary figure whose desire to subjugate the entire world. He did not even came close but did manage to conquere the Persian Empire, Anatolia, Syria, Phoenicia, Judea, Gaza, Egypt, Bactrian and Mesopotamia. However, Alexander's empire grew to fast. He could not manage both Europe and Asia. As a result, other empires took over, starting with the romans.

* Most of Antioch’s discussion regarding Pontius Pilate revolved around him being a “ruthless prefect” in his treatment of the Jews. Even so, Antioch seemed somewhat upset with the way the people forced Pilate into sentencing Jesus to death for the sake of his on position and reputation.

Alexander the Great was a very strong leader and a fierce warrior. He was known for conquering many civilizations and leading his army to many victories. When he died, his family (who did not have good relations) took over Macadonia. They split the civilization into four separate areas and one family member and a general would rule each sector. The four

The documents, “Life of Alexander” by Plutarch, and the account of the Jewish rebellion in Maccabees provide different perspectives on life in the Hellenistic world. Plutarch’s account presents a more positive view of the world after Alexander’s conquests, one where cultural exchange was encouraged and conquered peoples and their nations were benefited from their integration into the Greek empire. He begins with listing specific examples of how Alexander taught other cultures more civilized ways of life, such as how he “taught the Arachosians to till the soil”(Plutarch, 434). Plutarch’s position is that these civilizations are better off with Greek influence now being present in their culture. He notes that “Those who were vanquished by Alexander are happier than those who escaped his hand”(Plutarch, 434). This was because Alexander rejected the ideas of previous Greek leaders and did not treat non-Greeks are lesser subjects and encouraged the mixing of culture and people. (Come

Of the classical civilizations of Greece and Rome came the leaders Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar. They are still inspiring the world today because of their legacy that they left behind, that include how they each obtain their power, how they ruled over their people, and success and failures of each. Alexander the Great was the son of King Philip II who obtained his power over the kingdom of Macadamia when his father was assassinated in 336 B.C. He would later go on to complete his father’s dreaming of invading and controlling the Persian Empire. He did not stop there, however, Alexander the Great would take control over most of the Middle East. While Alexander inherited his power, another famous

He took Batis and tied his feet to a chariot and dragged him to death. He had all the men killed, and the women and children sold as slaves. He made an example out of this city to make others like it forget about trying to resist him.(Scholastics Scope,

He killed men and kidnapped women for honor. He found his honor in Ismarus when (he), “I stormed that place and killed the men who fought. Plunder we took, and we enslaved the women, to

The hebrews were people who were forced out of their homeland in mesopotamian basin. The hebrews focused on the commandments of their god no matter what. The ten commandments was the centerpiece of the Torah and it was literally an instruction manual. The way the Torah is written is different from the code of Hammurabi. Because hebrew and mesopotamian laws are different they did not contain the same thing. The code of hammurabi was consisted of a list of punishments if you did not comply. Being that the hebrews knew how it felt to be alienated their laws were made for all humans and they didn't care if you were rich or poor, everyone was held to the same standards. “You will not cheat the poor among you of their rights of law” (Exodus 23:6,

Their engagements stand more comparable near those of the pagans. They stood worshiping and sacrificing to various deities and did not stay factual to the truth that was revealed by their birthright to the covenant. The covenant’s promise conveyed punishment for the Hebrews disobedience, carrying Hebrew oppression, which brought the Hebrews to their knees to Yahweh pleading for help. God mercifully answered the Hebrew’s request by raising a “judge”, or “redeemer”, to make things right again. This oppression by foreigners existed by what method God showed their requirement to stay faithful to the covenant.

Although his attitudes towards this conquered people varied widely depending upon which he thought would be the most effective. For example in Egypt, he made a great deal of respecting the local religion and cultural values. He even took a tour through the exotic land and sacrificed to local divinities to please the Egyptian people.

The Ten Commandments were what all other laws were based off of and were to be taken with much seriousness. Disobeying the Ten Commandments was punishable by death not matter who they were. When a person was found breaking rules of the Bible they would either be hanged or put in prison. Since every person in the community agreed with these punishments, no one

Around 200BC, Judae was in control by Antiochus III, king of Syria, who allowed all his people to freely practice their Jewish faith. Later when his son Antiochus IV came into power; however, all were forced to drop their original beliefs and worship the Greek God’s instead. Antiochus IV then ordered Syrian soldiers to kill thousands of Jews, sacrifice pigs and destroy Jewish temples to build an altar for Greek God Zeus. To retaliate, Jewish priest Mattahios created a large rebellion. When he passed away, his son, Judah, led the Jewish brigade to victory two years later. They successfully pushed Syrians out of Jerusalem and celebrated by cleansing the temples, rebuilding the altars and lighting menorahs for the first time ever. Menorahs were

In the Old Testament, the Israelites were seen as people who failed to listen to God’s commandments. Despite knowing beforehand that they would be punished for their disobedience, they still continued to commit sin. God tried to deter their misbehavior by promising them many blessings, but it worked to no avail. Due to the insubordination of the Israelites, He made sure that the promises He made to them would be withheld and that they would face consequences.

The Egyptians had harsh punishments for breaking the law. The laws were based on common sense view of right and wrong. It depended on which crime the criminal did to figure out which punishment they would receive. Not only would it disgrace them, but it would disgrace their whole family.

Take for consideration the disobedience displayed by Adam and Eve of “Paradise Lost”, written by John Milton, which reads, “For dust thou art, and shalt to dust return” (10.119). This quote indicates that Adam and Eve are destined to die after the deliberate act of disobedience. Eve allowed temptation and modest curiosity to lead her to the zeal and envy of God’s power. The penalty for such disobedience results in god striking Adam and Even with the sanction of death. Within this allusion the biblical situation provides ration to the punishment of being disobedient and the consequences of such