When Alexander the Great came with his army to conquer Jerusalem in 332 B.C., instead of slaughtering the leaders of the Jews because of their sworn loyalty to his enemy, Darius the Persian, this extraordinary man of war, a pagan, approached the Jewish high priest Jaddua with tremendous respect and adored the Name of God that was written in gold on the high priest’s miter. When his soldiers, bewildered at their commander’s unexpected performance, asked why he humbled himself so, he explained that he had seen in a dream a glorious personage clothed in the very same garments and wearing the same miter as Jaddua and that this divine figure promised to conduct his armies safely throughout his expeditions. Then, together with the high priest, Alexander devoutly adored the True God in the Holy Temple. After this, the priests showed their guest those passages in the Book of the prophet Daniel wherein he speaks of the destruction of the Persians at the hands of one of the Greeks (Daniel VII:6; VIII:3-8, 20-22, and XI:3). The young Alexander supposed that he was the person referred to by the prophet and indeed he was.
