the sheer number of the Jews. Ptolemy then attempts to have the Jews killed by crushing by elephant and orders 500 elephants to be intoxicated in order to enrage them. However, the execution is repeatedly thwarted. God first causes Ptolemy to oversleep, then causes him to miraculously forget his anger against the Jews. Ptolemy finally attempts to lead the elephants and his own army into the hippodrome to destroy the Jews personally, but after an impassioned prayer by Eleazar, God sends two angels who prevent this. Ptolemy abruptly forgets his anger with the Jews and honors them with various immunities and a banquet, with several dates being established as commemorative festivals. The Jews request and receive permission to return home and to kill all the Jews who chose to abandon their faith in order to be spared. The book includes a letter, ostensibly by Ptolemy, to this effect. Finally, the Jews return home. Authorship and date The author of this book was likely an Alexandrian Jew who wrote in Greek as part of Hellenistic Judaism. The precise date of authorship is unknown, but the widest plausible range keeping with the text is considered to be between 100 BC and 70 AD. Moses Hadas argues that the work was likely written late in the 1st century BC, perhaps around 25–24 BC. This is because the story attacks the idea of a census (laographia) and its attached poll tax, and the Romans conducted such a census in Roman Egypt in 24 BC. Additionally, publishing a story where a Ptolemaic king acted rashly and was thwarted while the Ptolemies still ruled would be very bold, suggesting a publication date after the Roman absorption of Egypt in 30 BC. The work could then function as an esoteric criticism of Roman policies without naming them directly. One theory, advanced by Heinrich Ewald and , holds that the book was written as a polemic against Emperor Caligula, thus dating from around AD 40. This theory has been rejected by more recent authors, because Ptolemy in the book does not claim divine honors as Caligula did. The author does not appear to have knowledge of Roman activities of the later 1st century that caused opposition from Jews such as desecration of sanctuaries. It remains possible the book could have been written earlier in the later Ptolemaic period, possibly with minor updates in the Roman period to explain