From 420 to 332, Judea continued subject to Persia, paying a yearly
tribute, and being governed by the high priest, under the Satrap of
Syria. In 332 B. C., Alexander the Great, then engaged in the conquest
of the Persian Empire, visited Jerusalem, and showed respect to the high
priest and the sacred rites of the Temple. In 330 the Persian Empire
fell under the arms of Alexander, who died at Babylon in 323 B. C. Judea
was taken possession of by Alexander’s general, Ptolemy Lagus, and from
300 to 202 B. C. was governed by the dynasty of the Ptolemies, ruling
Egypt, Petra and southern Syria. The government was administered by the
high priests under the Ptolemies, whose capital was at the new city of
Alexandria in Egypt. Now the Jews began to spread themselves over the
world, the Greek language became common in Judea, and the Septuagint (or
Greek version of the Hebrew Scriptures) was written during this and the
following century.
In 202 B. C., Antiochus the Great, king of Syria (including in its
empire Asia Minor, Mesopotamia, Babylonia, etc.), conquered Judea from
Ptolemy V. Antiochus Epiphanes, one of the sons and successors of the
great Antiochus, drove the Jews to rebellion by persecution and
profanation of their Temple and religion.