critical challenge to Jews: If God does not reward obedience and punish sin, why bother obeying God's law at all? The Greeks In the early 4th century BC, Alexander the Great invaded the Mid East and brought Greek culture with him with its emphasis on mind and body. This new culture proved to be the biggest threat to the Jewish way of life. A new economic system based on monetary exchange replaced the barter system allowing people the freedom to move about the empire. Soon there began a migration from the small villages to larger urban areas. New opportunities arose for the Jewish farmer who could now sell his products in distant markets. Jewish communities were established in other parts of the empire while Greek settlements became common in the Jewish region. Some conservative Jewish leaders became alarmed that their traditions and ideologies were being buried under this pervasive materialistic culture. Ben Sira: Lover of Wisdom Ben Sira was deeply influenced by Socrates and Greek philosophy and applied the Greek tradition of study and debate to the Bible. Ezra had given the people the Torah with its laws to live by. Ben Sira gave the people, who were eager to look for alternatives to Greek culture, the concept of studying the lives of the Bible's heroes and to search its pages for Divine wisdom that the stories revealed. Open to Interpretation The Bible contains many passages that are ambiguous and seemingly contradictory and, as a result, new beliefs arose. One of those beliefs was the concept of an afterlife where rewards and punishments were mete out. Another belief was that the Bible was inspired by God which gave rise to the concept that reading it could prophecy future events. The most pronounced prophecy was that a time of turmoil was coming where God would stand by those that kept their covenants with Him. Antiochus, the Madman The Seleucid Empire succeeded Alexander upon his death in the early 4th century BC. At first, the Seleucid emperors were content to have Greek culture slowly influence Jewish customs. But, in 185 BC Antiochus IV, derisively labeled the madman in Judea, had a different idea when he decreed that all of his subjects were to follow one common religion in order to unify the empire. That religion was not monotheism. Antiochus was able to buy off Jason, the high priest at the Jerusalem Temple.