Both these places
were named after the Greek Kings of Syria, who were by turns called
Seleucus and Antiochus.
It would have seemed natural for Palestine to have belonged to Syria,
but the Greek King of Egypt, whose name was Ptolemy Lagos, contrived
to secure it. He entered Jerusalem on the Sabbath-day, when the Jews
thought it wrong to fight, and so he gained the city without a blow;
but this was no great misfortune to them, for the first Ptolemies were
milder masters than the Seleucidae, and did not oppress their subjects.
Ptolemy, however, brought a colony of Jews and Samaritans to live in
Lybia and Cyrene, parts of Egypt, and so fulfilled Isaiah's prophecy,
that five cities in Egypt should speak the language of Canaan. They were
treated with much favour, for he saw that they were the most trustworthy
of all his people. Indeed, the Greeks respected them much; and one of
Ptolemy's soldiers tells this story: he says that while travelling in a
large company by the Red Sea, he fell in with a very brave strong Jew,
called Masollam. Presently the whole company came to a halt. Masollam
asked why; and a soothsayer, pointing to a bird, told him that if the
bird stopped, it would be lucky for them to stop; if it flew on, they
might go on; if it went back, so must they.
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