Josippon

During the festival of Sukkoth, the king went to the altar according to the custom of priests, whereupon the Pharisees—the sages—began to play with ethrogim and with palm branches and to hit each other with ethrogim and palm branches in joy and glad-heartedness, for it was a law of the Jews to sport with citrus fruits and dates. One of the Pharisees dared to throw an ethrog and strike the king. The king's troops got angry and said to the Pharisees: "Why do you disgrace the king by throwing ethrogim and palm branches at him?" They said: "This is no disgrace, for it is a law unto us to do so." The exchange led to curses, and they reproached the king, saying: "Son of the defiled woman, the priesthood does not befit you, for your mother was defiled." The king got very angry, and his ire blazed within him, and he put forth his hand over the altar and said: "Sword!" The king's troops drew their swords and killed six thousand Pharisees dead in the courtyard of the Temple. The king commanded, and they built the wall of acacia wood between the altar and the rest of the Temple. From that day hence, the people were prevented from coming to the Temple, so the people stood in the courtyard of the Temple, and only the priests entered the Temple, as the law commands.

After these events, Alexander gathered all his army and marched against Desert Rock; he smote the Arab people and captured the fortified cities of Arav. From there, he marched against Madaba and captured it and smote Moab and subjugated it to his rule. Then Ḥamat rebelled at that time, and the king went against Ḥamat, destroying it, and he also killed Theodorus, who was in Ḥamat. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

War broke out between Alexander and the Pharisees, and the fighting dragged on for six years. In those years, Alexander killed fifty thousand Jews who supported the Pharisees. Alexander summoned all the people and said to them: "Purify your hearts and cast the hatred from your midst and do not hate me, and I will do justice just as you tell me." The Jews called out to the king: "If you would die, perhaps then we would cleanse our hearts, for you are a man of death and a sentence of death is upon you."

They rebelled against King Alexander and went to King Demetrius of Makedon, called Eucaerus, and brought him to battle against Alexander; Demetrius came and encamped at Shekhem. Now Demetrius had a force of forty thousand Makedonian warriors and three thousand cavalry.

When Alexander saw that the Jews rebelled against him, he hired six thousand troops of Makedonian warriors, and taking twenty thousand Jewish warriors, who were with him, went to confront Demetrius, while from every Jewish force they gathered to aid Demetrius. Demetrius sent men to persuade the troops that were with Alexander to return to him, but he failed; Alexander in turn sent men to entice the Jews who were with Demetrius to return, but he too failed.

Fighting broke out and Alexander's troops fell in the battle, and Alexander remained alone, for all his troops fell on that day. But they killed many of Demetrius's troops, for they fought to the death and did not retreat, and so all died. Then Alexander, alone and deserted, took flight to the mountains. About six thousand valiant warriors of Israel rallied to him, while many Jews who had been with Demetrius's army fell in with him to help him, but Alexander feared to fight further with Demetrius. Demetrius, however, fled from Alexander, for he saw that a great horde of Jews fell in with him to aid him.

There was another battle between Alexander and the Jews who supported the Pharisees, and he slew many of them in the fighting. The survivors fled to Beth Shemesh; he captured the city and, seizing eight hundred leading Pharisees, took them to Jerusalem. While sitting at a drinking feast in a lofty place with his wives and concubines, he commanded that they crucify eight hundred Pharisees; for this reason, the Jews called Alexander Thrakidas. And Alexander ruled mightily over the Jews.

After this, he gathered his army, marched, and encamped against Dim (Dion) and captured it. From there, he departed to Ḥasmon (Essemon) and captured it with a mighty hand. He marched from there and besieged Gaulana (Gaulam) and Seleucia (Seleucus) and captured them, and he captured also Gamla and the hill of Antiochia, the great city, where he killed Demetrius. He returned and entered Jerusalem three full years after he left for war; the Jews received him with honor and paid him great respect, praising him for his valor after the manner of the Greeks.

At that time, the Jews invaded the land of Aram and ruled over it and all the territory of Edom and all of Moab and Amon and all the land of Paleshet (Philistia) and all of Arav (Arabia) unto Desert Rock. Now these are the names of the cities that King Alexander did not destroy after he captured them; those of the seacoast were Straton's Tower, Apollonia, Ashdod, 'Aza (Gaza), Antidones, Raphis (Raphia), Rhinocora, and Hebron, Marasha (Marisa), Sitopoli (Scythopolis) of Aram, Gadera, Gaulan, Seleucia, Gabala of Moab, Ḥeshbon, Madaba, Baḥoron, Megan, Onzora (Ein Zora), Cilicus, Aulon, and Pellan. These are the cities that he did not destroy, for they entered a covenant with him, circumcising the flesh of their foreskins, and dwelt in their cities, but the king destroyed the rest of Aram's cities.

At that time, King Alexander became sick, and his sickness was "fourth fever" (quartanus typus); and even though the fever dragged on for three years, he did not desist from war. He led an army against Rigba (Ragaba) of Gerisin (Gerasa) and besieged it for many days, for the king's wife and his concubines had joined the army.

When the day of his death arrived, Queen Alexandra, King Alexander's wife, approached him and said: "You know the hatred between you and the Pharisees; your sons are small, and I am a woman. Who will come to my assistance?" Alexandra wept before the king, and the king said to her: "Come and I will give you an advice; follow it, and all will be well for you and your sons after me. When I die, hide my body from all the army until you have captured this city, and when you shall have captured this city, anoint my body with spices, lest the corpse putrefy, and carry me to Jerusalem as if I were a sick man; do not reveal the secret save to the eunuchs loyal to you. Now, when you have arrived in Jerusalem, summon the Pharisees, my enemies, and reveal the secret to them, hand over my corpse into their hands, and say unto them: 'Behold, your enemy Alexander is dead, and here is his body. Do unto it what you deem fit; if you prefer to cast it to the dogs, then cast it; do unto it whatever you deem proper.' If you speak thus to them, they will honor me greatly and will bury me with respect, for I know their nature: they will not bear a grudge of hatred against me, since they are merciful; they will help you to rule the kingdom, for the people listen to them, since they have power over the people who do their will. Do everything they command you to do and follow their advice; turn neither to the right nor to the left, and you shall rule until the boys grow up."

The queen did so and, capturing the city, went to Jerusalem and summoned the Pharisees, saying to them all that Alexander, her husband, had commanded. The Pharisees summoned the people, and they buried the king with honor; they spoke to the people, and they crowned Alexandra, Alexander's wife, as queen over all Judah. The days that King Alexander ruled over all Yehudah were twenty-seven years, and he died and was gathered to his people. The rest of his words and his mighty deeds are written in the book of Joseph ben Gurion and in the book of the kings of Roma. And the king lay with his ancestors, and his wife Alexandra succeeded him.