The Gate of Alexander in Hebrew Alexander Romances

However surprising it may seem, the story of the gate of Alexander in the Hebrew versions of the Romance is associated rather with certain geographical and historical facts than with the eschatological dimension and the popular association of Gog and Magog with the Unclean Nations are not a part of the narrative. This does not mean that the eschatological aspect was absent from the Jewish interpretation of the figure of Alexander. Quite the contrary: it seems a crucial part of Alexander’s role as presented especially in Hellenistic Jewish literature. But this eschatological significance of Alexander in Jewish tradition is more often suggested by Alexander’s linking with the end of prophecy2 or the beginning of the new universal kingship. The Unclean Nations episode is not so important in that aspect. It is rather used by the authors of the Hebrew Alexander Romances to stress the exotic and fanciful elements in the narrative, thus eliciting the curiosity of the reader, or to comment on Alexander’s decisions as a king and on political aspects of his rule.