Section CIII.  The Jewish State during the Last Century of Persian Rule.  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

Section CIV.  The Jews under Their Greek Rulers.  GENERAL QUESTIONS:  1.  Describe the character of the Jewish historian, Josephus. 2.  The extent of his histories. 3.  Their historical value. 4.  Alexander’s Asiatic conquests. 5.  His attitude toward the Jews. 6.  The Jews in Alexandria. 7.  The general character of the rule of the Ptolemies. 8.  Their policy in the treatment of the Jews. 9.  Fortunes of the Jews of Palestine during the first century of Greek rule. 10.  The Seleucid kingdom with its capital at Antioch. 11.  The subjugation of Palestine by the Seleucids.

SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH:  1.  Josephus’s rank as a historian.  Hastings, D.B., extra Vol., 461-73. 2.  Alexander the Great.  Mahaffy, The Story of Alexander’s Empire, 1-11; Hogarth, Philip and Alexander of Macedon; Wheeler, Alexander the Great. 3.  Character of the Ptolemaic rulers.  Bevan, Jerusalem under the High Priests, 21-30; Mahaffy, The Ptolemaic Dynasty, Vol.  IV of Petrie’s Hist. of Egypt.

Section CV.  The Wise and Their Teachings.  GENERAL QUESTIONS:  1.  Describe the literary structure of the book of Proverbs. 2.  The evidence that it is the work of many different wise men. 3.  The probable date of the different collections. 4.  The references to the wise in the pre-exilic literature. 5.  The influence of the Babylonian exile upon their activity. 6.  The reasons why they attained their greatest prominence in the Greek period. 7.  The character of the wise. 8.  Their aims. 9.  Their methods. 10.  Their important social and moral teachings.

SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH:  1.  The book of Proverbs.  McFadyen, Introd. to O.T., 256-63; Driver, L.  O.T., 392-407; Toy, Proverbs, Introd. 2.  The sages of Egypt and Greece.  The Wisdom of Ptah-hotep, in the Wisdom of the East Series; Symonds, Studies of the Greek Poets, I, 161-273; Jebb, Classical Greek Poetry. 3.  The social teachings of the book of Proverbs. St. O. T., VI, in loco; Kent, The Wise Men of Ancient Israel and Their Proverbs, 100-14, 158-75; Root, The Profit of the Many, 17-126.