R. W. Moss. ALEMA (^i- 'AXd/nois A, 'AX^mo's »), 1 Mac 5».— A citj' in Gilead. The site is unknown.
ALEMETH (n^'-y). — 1. A son of Becher the Benjamite ( 1 Cli 7*, AV Alameth). 2. A descendant of Saul (1 Ch 8» 9").
ALEPH (K).— First letter of Heb. Alphabet. See Alphabet, Psalms, and A.
ALEXANDER ("AWfoi-Jpoj).— The name occurs fi^•e times in NT, and apparently belongs to as m.any distinct persons.
1. Mk 15^. A son of SiMON of Cyrene, and brother of RUFUS (see these names). A. and Rufus are eWdently expected to be familiar names to the readers. Very possibly they were Christian Jews.
2. Ac 4". ' Annas the high priest teas there, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest' (RV). Of this A nothing further is known. The sug-
festion of Baronius, Pearson, and Lightfoot, that e was the well-linown Alal)arch (on lliis tiile see Schiirer, HJP II. ii. 2Su) of Alexandria and brother of Philo (Jos. Ant. xvill. viii. 1, cf. Xix. v. 1), * scarcely needs serious discussion ' (Edersheim). PhUo was of liigh and wealthy birth (Jos. XX. v. 2), but Jerome's statement (</« Viris Illustr. xi.) that he was ' de genere sacerdotiun ' ia unsupported by any evidence.
3. Ac 19^. 'And some of the multitude in- structed A., the Jews putting him forward. And A. beckoned with the band, and would have made a defence unto the people. But when they per- ceived that he was a Jew' . . . etc. etc. (RVm). The Jews were a natural and usual object of the religious animosity (cf . Up6<rv\oi v.", and Ko 2--), which on this occasion they had done nothing to provoke. A. is put forward by his co-religionists to clear them of complicity with St. Paul, but the en- raged mob will give no Jew a hearing. The absence of any nj suggests (cf . v.') that A. was well known at Ephesus ; he may even have been one of the ipyarai or Trx,''tTat of v.^, and thus identifiable with No. 5 ; but this, although it is stated (by Ewald, apiid Nosgen, inloc.) that Jews were sometimes engaged in forbidden trades, lacks evidence.
i. 1 Ti l»9-»>. Mentioned with Hymen AEUS (cf. 2 Ti 2") as one of tlie unconscientious teachers who had 'made shipwreck concerning the faith.' St. Paul ' delivered them unto Satan ' (cf. 1 Co 5', and see Satan). There is no strong reason to identify this A. with No. 3.
3. 2 Ti 4". Tliis A. (1) was a smith (xoX«i5s). The word originally meant a worker in copper ; but as other metals came to be more commonlj' worked, it became applicable (Lid. and S. s.v.) to workers in any metal, esp. iron (Gn 4^ LXX, see also Trades). This makes possible, but by no means proves, the identity of A. with No. 3, if the latter could be shown to be one of the craftsmen of Demet- rius. (2) A. had 'done' (ivcSeliaro) St. Paul many evils ; in particular he had greatly witlistood (\la.v avTiarri, ci. Ac 13') his words. (3) Timothy is cautioned against a like experience. "This last point locates A. mth Timothy at Ephesus, and makes it probable that (2) also refers to something tliat had taken place when St. Paul was last there (1 Ti 1'). If (2) refers to heretical teaching, our present A. might be identified with No. i. But (2) is equally compatible with Jewish hostility ; and if so, we might combine (1) and (2) with the object of identi- fying him with No. 3. In any case No. 3 is the only possible link between 3 and 1. For specimens of the many possible conjectures on the wtiole sub- ject, see the comm. in Ivc. and Holtzmann, Pastor- albriefe, p. 255 so. If, with many critics, we regard the Epistles to Timothy as non-Pauline, we miglit follow the last-named writer in regarding Ac 19^ as the basis of the notice in 2 Ti ; but in reality the two passages have nothing in common except the name ; the malicious personal antagonisn which is so prominent here is unhinted at there.
A. ROBEUTSON.
ALEXANDER TIL ('AX^fai-Jpos, 'defender of men '), known as the Great, was the son of Philip n., king of Macedonia, and of Olympias, a Molossian princess, and was bom at Pella, B.C. 356. He succeeded his father in B.C. 336, and two years later set out on his eastern expedition. The battles of the Granicus (B.C. 334) and of Issus (B.C. 333) made him master of S.W. Asia. Egypt was next subtiued, and Alexandria founded in B.C. 331. The di.scon- tent of his army thwarted his designs upon India, and in B.C. 323 he died at Babylon.
For Alexander's connexion «-ith the Jews, the principal authority is Jo.s. Ant. IX. viii. 3-6. The story runs tliat, whilst he was besieging Tyro, A. sent orders to the Jews to transfer their allegiance
ALEXANDKK
ALEXANDRIA
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to him, ami to su]iiily liiiu with provisions and auxiliaries. The hi'Mi priest refused on tlie trroiiml of Ilia oath of lidelity to Uarius. A. destroyeil Tyre, took Uaza (B.C. 332) after a two nimrlis' siej^e (I)iodor. xvii. 8; Arriau, ii. 'Jli, '27), and marched against tleru.s. The hii,'h priest Jaddua (Neh 12"), or Simon the Ju.st [Yorna 60), was tauj^ht in a dream what to do, and led out the priests and the people to meet him. At Sapha ("icy ' he watched ' ; known also as Scopus, Jos. Wars, V. ii. 3, an eminence near Jerus. whence city and temple were all visible) the priest and the king met. A. bowed before the divine name on the priest's tiara, and to the protestations of Parmenio replied that in a dream at Diuui he had seen such a figure as Jaddua's, and had been promised success and guidance on the way. Escorted by the priests, he entered Jerus., sacri- ficed in the temide under the direction of the high priest, and, when shown the Book of Dan., inter- preted of himself such passages as 8-' and 11'. Before leaving the city he guaranteed to the Jews in all his dominions protection in the usages of their fathers, and immunity from taxation in their sabbatical years. How much of this story is legend- ary, it is impossible to decide. It is found in the Talmud as well as in Josephus. The silence of the cla-ssiial historians (Arrian, Curtius, Plutarch, and the Epitomists) is inconclusive, as they are gener- ally silent concerning matters relating to the Jews. The position and the suspected attitude of Jerus. make a visit on the part of A. probable in view of his conlemi>latcd expedition against Egypt. And though imagination has clearly been at work with the details of the narrative, the balance of proba- bility is in favour of its substantial historicity.