The walls of Jerusalem were not yet rebuilt. When Nehemiah, cup-bearer to the king of Persia, heard of this he begged leave to go to Judea. The king made him governor of Judea, and he got the walls of the city built in fifty-two days, even though the Samaritans tried to hinder him. (Book of Nehemiah.) 47. The Maccabees Alexander the Great, king of Macedonia, took Palestine, formerly belonging to the king of Persia, as well as all the other kingdoms of the latter. When Alexander died his great empire was divided, and the Jews came first under Egypt and after that under Syria and were oppressed in every way. At last the Syrian king, Antiochus Epiphanes, sought to compel them to live as the heathens. Many renounced their faith and sacrificed to the gods. But many also continued firmly in the faith and chose rather to die than to turn from the law of the Lord. Seven brothers were successively scourged and tormented to death. The mother stood by and looked on and admonished them not to turn from the Lord. At last the mother also was killed. (2 Macc. 7.) At this time there lived in Judea a priest by the name of Mattathias. He would not sacrifice to the idols, but fled with his sons to the mountains, and those who feared God gathered about him. When he died his son Judas Maccabaeus[2] became the leader. He was brave as a young lion; he defeated the Syrians, took Jerusalem and purged the temple.--The Maccabees ruled over the country for 103 years. Then the powerful Romans, whose home country was Italy, came and conquered the country. The Roman emperor Augustus made Herod king of Judea. Herod who is called the Great, was an Edomite. He was very suspicious and cruel and killed a great many innocent people, even his own wife and three of his sons. He wished to flatter the people, and decorated the temple magnificently; but the people turned their hearts from him.--During his reign the fulness of time had come, and our Savior Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem, as the prophet Micah had foretold. ----- Footnote 2: Maccabaeus means: The man with the hammer. ----- 48. Jonah