“Alexander of Macedon son of Philip . . . defeated Darius king of the Persians and Medes, whom he succeeded as ruler, as first of Helias. He undertook many campaigns, gained possession of many fortresses . . . So he advanced to the ends of the earth, plundering nation after nation; the earth grew silent before him, and his ambitious heart swelled with pride. He assembled very powerful forces and subdued provinces, nations and princes, and they became his tributaries . . . Alexander had reigned twelve years when he died”—1 Maccabees 1:1-7 NJB

The uninspired apocryphal book of 1 Maccabees, written in the late 100’s BCE, records some fairly accurate historical information about Alexander the Great. About one fourth of the content of the inspired Bible canon of 66 books is prophecy, that is, history written in advance. Many of these prophesies have already been fulfilled, so today we are able to analyze and study them in the light of recorded history to see how accurate the predictions are. The 100% accuracy of Bible predictions make it unique among all works, and is one of the many ways that the Bible is proven to be “the word of God” (1 Thessalonians 2:13). 

“I am God and there is no other; I am God and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come”—Isaiah 46:8,9 NIV

The Bible books of Daniel and Ezekiel accurately predicted some of the main actions of the famous military and political leader Alexander the Great 200 years in advance. There are several predictions about him in the book of Daniel, but skeptics and critics, including a numbers of Bible “scholars,” deny the possibility of predictive prophecy, and the result is that they claim the book of Daniel was written during the 160’s BCE, long after Alexander the great’s time.  They claim that the four kingdoms of Daniel are Babylon, Assyria, Media, Persia, and Greece.  A very popular article on this website, “When Was the Book of Daniel Written?” factually documents how we know that Daniel was written in the 530’s BCE. Ezekiel’s prophecy, written about 570 BCE, contains one reference to actions by Alexander the Great.

“Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze will rule over the whole earth”—Daniel 2:39 NIV

This dream of Nebuchanezzar, interpreted by Daniel, was in Nebuchanezzar’s 2nd year (Daniel 2:1), about 604 BCE, and about 270 years before the “third kingdom” of ‘bronze,’ Greece, under Alexander the Great, rose to rule the then known world.

“There before me was another beast, one that looked like a leopard. And on its back it had four wings like those of a bird. This beast had four heads, and it was given authority to rule”—Daniel 7:6 NIV

This prophetic vision was given to Daniel in about 556 BCE (Daniel 7:1). Daniel predicted that the “leopard” kingdom, Greece, would evolve into four (“four heads”). The leopard was known for its speed and agility (Habakkuk 1:18). The four wings and heads indicate the worldwide lightning thrusts of the fierce nation of Greece under Alexander the Great, whose kingdom split into “four” parts after his death, Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt, and Macedonia, following extended internal struggles among his generals. Some interpreters  and critics claim that Greece, rather than Rome is the fourth kingdom of the four in Daniel. This would make Persia the third kingdom, rather than the fourth. However, no fourfold division of the Persian kingdom existed at any time during its history. which is compelling evidence against the idea that the third kingdom was Persia.

“In the third year of King Belshazzar, I, Daniel, had a vision . . . there was before me a ram with two horns . . . and the horns were long. One of the horns was longer than the other but grew up later. I watched the ram as it charged toward the west and the north and the south. No animal could stand against it, and none could rescue from its power. It did as it pleased and became great”—Daniel 8:1-4 NIV

This prophetic vision given to Daniel by God is dated to about 551 BCE (Daniel 8:1). The two horns represented the kings of Media and Persia, with longer horn representing the growing dominance of Persia in the Medo-Persian Empire. Medo-Persia became the world power in 539 BCE.

” . . . suddenly a goat with a prominent horn between its eyes came from the west, crossing the whole earth without touching the ground. It came toward the two-horned ram I had seen standing by the canal and charged it in great rage. I saw it attack the ram furiously, striking the ram and shattering its two horns. The ram was powerless to stand against it; the goat knocked it to the grounding trampled on it, and none could rescue the ram from its power. The goat became very great, but at the height of its power the large horn was broken off, and in its place four prominent horns grew up toward the four winds of heaven”—Daniel 8:5-8 NIV

The symbolism clearly depicts the rise of the Greek Empire under Alexander the Great. The goat represents Greece and the “prominent horn,” Alexander the Great. Since Greece wasn’t even a world power when the prophecy was given makes the prophecy all the more astounding. Alexander’s speedy conquests and military prowess are predicted by the goat’s rapid movement. The “shattering” of both horns of the ram symbolizes his conquering both parts of the Medo-Persian Empire. Alexander the Great died suddenly at the age of 32 years 8 months at the height of his power. Then his kingdom was spilt into four parts under four of his generals. 

The vision is interpreted by the angel “Gabriel” (Daniel 8:16) for us:

“The two-horned ram that you saw represents the kings of Media and Persia. The shaggy goat is the king of Greece, and the large horn between its eyes is the first king. The four horns that replaced the one that was broken off represent four kingdoms that will emerge from his nation but will not have the same power”—Daniel 8:20,21 NIV

The two-horned ram is clearly explained to be the Medo-Persian Empire and the “shaggy goat” is specifically said to be the Greek Empire with its “large horn” representing “the first king,” Alexander the Great. Josephus reports that Alexander that Jewish priests showed him Daniel’s prophecies about him when he entered Jerusalem:

“When the book of Daniel was showed him, wherein Daniel declared that one of Greeks should destroy the empire of the Persians, he supposed he was the person intended”—Antiquities of the Jews, Book XI, chapter VIII, paragraph 3

Recorded history tells us that Alexander showed great favor to the Jews, apparently because he believed that he was the foretold Greek who would destroy the Persian Empire.

“Three more kings will arise in Persia, and then a fourth . . . will stir up everyone against the kingdom of Greece. Then a mighty king will arise, who will rule with great power and do as he pleases. After he has arisen, his empire will be broken up and parceled out to the four winds of heaven. It will not go to his descendants, nor will it have the power he exercised, because his empire will be uprooted and given to others”—Daniel 11:2-4 NIV

This strikingly accurate prophecy was given in the year 536 BCE (Daniel 10:1), 200 years before Alexander’s arrival on the world scene. He is accurately predicted to be “the mighty king who will rule with great power and do as he pleases,” which he did by conquering much of the known world in thirteen years, from 336 to 323 BCE, from Greece to India, and from the far north to Egypt in the south. He promoted and relished being worshipped as a god. After his sudden death on June 10, 323 BCE, “his descendants” and his brother were too incompetent to rule, so Alexander’s empire was “given to others” in that several of his generals divided his empire, and by 301 BCE it was split into “four” parts. 

“For the Lord Yahweh says this, “I shall bring Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, king of kings down on Tyre . . . Your wealth will be seized, your merchandise looted, your walls rased, your luxurious houses shattered, your stones, your timbers, your very dust, thrown into the sea . . . I will reduce you to a naked rock, and make you into a drying-ground for fishing nets, never to be rebuilt; for I, Yahweh, have spoken–declares the Lord Yahweh”—Ezekiel 26:7,12,14 NJB 

This prophecy above was given to Ezekiel about 587-585 BCE (Ezekiel 26:1).. There were two parts to the city of Tyre. One was the mainland par, andt that was reduced to rubble by Nebuchadnezzar, just as predicted by Ezekiel.  The other part was on a rocky island, just off the coast, which Nebuchadnezzar besieged for 13 years, from 585 to 572 BCE, but could not conquer it, because he did not have a navy. However, “your stones, your timbers, your very dust . . . thrown into the sea” was fulfilled in 332 BCE when the island city of Tyre refused to surrender to Alexander the Great.

“I will scrape away her rubble and make her a bare rock”—Ezekiel 26:4 NIV

Exactly as the Bible accurately predicted, Alexander had his navy hold off the Tyrian navy, while his soldiers tore down the buildings on the mainland, and take the “rubble” from the mainland city and ‘throw it into the sea’ to build a 200-300 yard wide causeway from the mainland to the island city. Tyre was literally scraped bare like a rock. Today the famous causeway is an isthmus as a result of encroaching sand. 

“Do not trust every spirit but test the spirit to see whether they belong to God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world”—1 John 4:1 NAB

The Bible prophecies quoted above from Daniel and Ezekiel that predicted Alexander the Great have been ‘tested’ and proven to be “true” (Romans 3:4)!