ALEXANDER (S1-egz-3n'der), (Gr. 'AXIZapoposi, A-lex'an-dros, helper of men).
I. Alexander the Great, son of Philip and Olympias, king of Macedon, ruler of the greatest empire of antiquity.
(1) In Prophecy. He was denoted in the prophecies of Daniel, by a leopard with four wings, signifying his great strength, and the un usual rapidity of his conquests, Chap. vii :6; also as a one-horned he-goat, running over the earth so swiftly as not to touch it ; attacking a ram with two horns, overthrowing him, and trampling him under font, without any being able to rescue him, Chap. viii :4-7. The he-goat pre figured Alexander; the ram, Darius Codomannus, the last of the Persian kings. In the statue be held by Nebuchadnezzar, in a dream, Chap. ii ; 39, the belly of brass was the emblem of Alex ander, and the legs of iron designated his suc cessors. lie was appointed by God to destroy the Persian empire, and to substitute the Grecian monarchy.
of a different substance, as gold, silver, glass, etc In Matt. xxvi :6, 7 ; Mark xiv :3; Luke 37, we read that, Jesus being at table in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, a woman (Mary, sister of Lazarus, John xii :3) poured an alabaster box of precious ointment on his head. Mark says "she brake the box," signifying, probably, that the seal upon the box, or upon the neck of the vase or bottle, which kept the perfume from (2) Victories. Ile reduced Ivry and Gaza and treated the conquered cities with exceptionally cruel severity. Ile next set out for Jerusalem, in tending to punish the High-Priest Jaddus for refusing to submit to him.
The Lord, in a dream, commanded Jaddus to op. n the gates to the conquer, r, and, drcs.a d in his pontifical ornaments, attended by the priests, in their formalities, at the head of his people, to receive Alexander in triumph. Jaddus obeyed; and Alexander, seeing from a distance this com pany advancing, was struck with admiration, and approaching the high-priest, he saluted him first, then adored God, whose name was engraver on a thin plate of gold worn by the high-priest on his forehead. The people, in the meanwhile, sur rounded Alexander, with great acclamations.
(b) His Vision. The kings of Syria, who ac companied him, and the great officers about Alex ander, could not comprehend the meaning of his conduct. Parmenio alone ventured to ask, Why he, to whom all people prostrated themselves, had prostrated himself before the high-priest of the Jews? Alexander replied that he paid this re spect to God and not to the high-priest, "for," added he, "while I was yet in Macedonia I saw the God of the Jews, who appeared to me in the same form and dress as this high-priest, he en couraged me to march my army with expedition into Asia, promising, tinder his guidance, to render me master of the Persian empire. For this rea son, as soon as I perceived this habit, I recollected the vision, and understood that my undertaking was favored by God, and that, under his protec tion, I might expect very soon to obtain the Per sian empire, and happily to accomplish all my designs." (4) Offered Sacrifice. Having said this, Alex ander accompanied Jaddus into the city, and offered sacrifices in the temple, punctually con forming to the directions of the priests, and leav ing to the high-priest the honors and functions annexed to his dignity. Jaddus showing him the prophecies of Daniel, in which it was said that a Grecian prince should destroy the Persian em• pire, the king was confirmed in his opinion, that God had chosen him to execute that great work.
(5) Favors to the Jews. At his departure he bade the Jews ask what they would of him, but the high-priest desired only the liberty of living under his government, according to their own laws, with an exemption from tribute every sev enth year, because in that year the Jews neither tilled their grounds, nor reaped their products. Alexander readily granted this request, and as they besought him to grant the same favor to the Jews beyond the Euphrates, in Babylonia and Media, he promised that privilege as soon as he had conquered those provinces. This done, he left Jerusalem and visited other cities, being everywhere received with great testimonies of friendship and submission. The Samaritans who dwelt at Sichem, observing how kindly Alexan der had treated the Jews, resolved to say that they also were, by religion, Jews, for it was their practice, when they saw the affairs of the Jews prosper to boast that they were descended from Manasseh and Ephraim, but when they thought it their interest to say the contrary, they would not fail to affirm, and even to swear, that they had no relation to the Jews. They came, there fore. with many demonstrations of joy, to meet Alexander, entreated him to visit their temple and city, and petitioned him for an exemption from taxes every seventh year, because they also neither tilled nor reaped that year. Alexander replied that he had granted this exemption only to Jews, but at his return he would inquire into the matter and do them justice. (Joseph. Antiq. xi :S.) (6) Death. The great founder of Alexandria died in his thirty-second year (B. C. 323). The empire which he then left to be quarreled for by his generals comprised the whole dominions of Persia, with the homage and obedience of Greece superadded. But on the final settlement which took place after the battle of Ipsus (B. C. 301), Seleucus, the Greek representative of Persian ma jesty, reigned over a less extended district than the last Darius. Not only were Egypt and Cyprus severed from the eastern empire, but Palestine and Ccelesyria also fell to their ruler, placing Jeru salem for nearly a century beneath an Egyp tian monarch. On this subject, see further notice under ANTIOCHUS.
The word Alexander, as before stated, means the helper or rescuer of men, denoting military prowess. It is Homer's ordinary name for Paris, son of Priam, and was borne by two kings of Macedon before the great Alexander.
2. Alexander, surnamed Balas, from his mother Bala, a personage who figures in the his tory of the Maccabees and in Josephus (I Macc. x). He was the husband of Cleopatra, and claimed the throne of Syria.
3. Son of Simon, the Cyrenian, and brother of Rufus, men well known among the early Chris tians. He was compelled to bear the cross for our Lord (Mark xv :21).
4. One of the kindred of Annas and evidently holding some high office (Acts iv :6).
5. A Jew, or perhaps a Christian convert from Judaism, whom the mob at Ephesus, excited by Demetrius, refused to hear (Acts xix :33).
6. An Ephesian Christian, reprobated by St. Paul (I Tim. i :20).
7. A coppersmith, probably of Ephesus, who did much mischief to St. Paul (2 Tim. iv:14). He may have been the same person as the pervert mentioned above in I Tim. i