02.23. New directions

New directions

After its defeat by Babylon at the Battle of Carchemish in 605 BC, Egypt never regained its former power.¹ Subsequently, it was defeated by Persia but, not wanting to be subservient, repeatedly rebelled. Finally, its last native ruler was removed. With Alexander the Great’s conquest in 332 BC, Egypt came under Greek rule. Alexander built a grand city as a Mediterranean port for Egypt and named it after himself, Alexandria. It was the greatest Greek city of the time, the capital of Egypt during the Greek and Roman periods, and a busy centre of commercial and manufacturing activity. The population of Alexandria was a mixture of Greek, Egyptian, Jewish and Roman. The city became a centre of learning, not just for Greek philosophers but also for Jewish Bible scholars, seventy of whom prepared the first Greek translation of the Old Testament. This is known as the Septuagint and was widely used in New Testament times along with the Hebrew Scriptures. A feature of the Alexandrian scholars was that they were eloquent speakers whose interpretations were detailed, earnest, and well stocked with Old Testament references to the Messiah.²

Most Jewish scholars, however, did not know that the Messiah was Jesus, and that as a baby he had lived for a time with his parents in Egypt.³ The Jewish scholars in Palestine, among whom were some from Alexandria,⁴ were even less enlightened. In the end they killed Jesus and, soon after, his outspoken follower, Stephen. When the Emperor Constantine christianized the empire in AD 313, Egypt became a nominally Christian country. But in AD 641, after the rise of Muhammad, it fell under Muslim rule. It has remained Muslim ever since.

1. 2 Kings 24:7; Jeremiah 46:2 2. Acts 18:24-28 3. Matthew 2:13-15; Matthew 2:19-21

4. Acts 6:9

Alexandria