488 A SHORT VIEW OF SCRIPTURE HISTORY. such terror and confusion of mind, that he was carried out of the place half-dead. 21. Q. But did not Ptolemy resent this afterwards ? A. He purposed to be revenged on all the Jewish nation : When he came to Alexandria lie ordered them to sacrifice to his gods ; and if they refused, he took away their privileges, which they had enjoyed in Egypt from the time of Alexander the great : He ordered them to be enrolled among the common' peo- ple of Egypt, and to have the mark of an ivy-leaf, the badge of his god Bacchus, impressed upon them by a hot iron and those who refused, should be made slaves, or put to death. 22. Q. What did the Jews of Alexander do on this oc. casion ? A. A few of them forsook their God to gain the favour of their king : But many thousands stood firm to -their religion; and though several of them were enrolled, and brandedwith the ivy-leaf against their will, yet they shewed a great abhor- rence of all their countrymen that sacrificed to the gods of the king. 23. Q. How did Ptolemy bear with this conduct of theirs -? A. He resolved to destroy the whole nation of theJews ; and therefore first he ordered all that lived any where in Egypt to bebrought in chains to Alexandria tobe slain by his elephants. 24. Q. And were they destroyed according to the king's ap- poinment ? A. The elephants being made drank with wine and frankincense, and let loose upon them, instead of falling upon the Jews, they turned all their rage upon the spectators, and de- stroyedgreat numbers of them: 25. Q. 'What influence had this upon theking ? A. Iie durst no Langer prosecute his rage upon then, but fearing the vengeance of the God of Israel upon himself, he revoked his cruel decrees, restored their privileges, and gave leave to put to- death the Jews thathad abandoned their religion, and worship. ped idols. Note, This story is found in that which is called the third book of Maccabees, written by some ancient Jew under that title, becauseit gives an account of the persecution and deliverance of the Jews, as the first and second- book of Maccabees do ; though this was transacted long before the name of Maccabeus arose, and therefore it ought rather to have been called -the first book than the third. It is not found among our apocryphal books, because -it was never inserted in the vulgar latin version of the bible, but it is found in many of the manuscripts of the greek septuagint, and particularly that of the Alexandrian manuscript in the king's library. SECT. IV.=Of the Jewish. Affairs under Antiochus the Great, Seleneus, and Antiochus Epiphanes, Kings of Syria. 1. Question. Did the Jews afterwards it Jerusalem con- tinue under the government of the Ptolemies who were kings of
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