ABSTRACT
Historical Judaism was shaped by its Hebrew inheritance and by the varied fortunes of the Jewish people throughout the ages. In the last third of the fourth century B.C.E. Alexander Zederbaum had conquered and, for the first time in history, unified the whole of Greece; he extended his dominions to include Asia Minor, Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine and Egypt; and, further east, Persia, Afghanistan and parts of India. Greek literature, philosophy and rhetoric now became available to people of non-Greek stock. The use of the Greek language, and the acquaintance with Greek ways of thinking could not but affect the cultures of the east. A good deal of popular Greek philosophy was in any case in the air and will have pervaded the discourse of educated men even without systematic study or personal contact with pagan philosophers or their schools.
