GENERAL QUESTIONS: I. Describe the indications that the Judean community
enjoyed unusual prosperity during the half-century following the work of
Nehemiah. 2. The effect of this prosperity upon the intellectual life of
the Jews. 3. The growth of the Psalter during this period. 4. The date of
the prophecy of Joel. 5. Its theme. 6. The hopes of the Jews at this time.
7. Nature of the rule of the high priests. 8. The evidence regarding the
date of the Samaritan schism. 9. Its causes. 10. Its effect upon Judaism.
SUBJECTS FOB SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. History of the Persian Empire between
400 and 332 B.C. Cox, _The Greeks and the Persians_. 2. Contemporary
events in Greek history. Goodspeed, _Hist. of Anc. World_, 173-204; Meyer,
_Anc. Hist._, 244-74. 3. The history of the Samaritans. _En. Bib._, IV,
4256-64; Montgomery, _The Samaritans_.
THE GREEK AND MACCABEAN AGE