With the constitution of the Hellenistic Empire by Alexander the Great, and then its dismantling, Palestine became a buffer zone between the Ptolemaic and Seleucid monarchies. Ptolemy and Seleucus, Alexander’s longstanding Greek generals, took control of Egypt and Syria respectively, while Palestine rotated between the two. A process of hellenisation was engaged: Greek became the official language of the administration in Palestine, and the use of a Greek name together with a Semitic name became common, at least among the elite; cities were founded or reorganized on the lines of the Greek state or polis, but although the elite class embraced Hellenisation, the people were more reserved.

During the second century BCE, a social and political crisis gave rise to an expansionist movement issuing from Judaea, the only region of Palestine where the majority of the population was Jewish. The cities along the coast and in the interior (Gaza, Samaria and the north of Transjordan) fell provisionally under the dominance of the Maccabee and then the Hasmonean dynasties. Judaism was imposed as the sole religion of the kingdom. During the reign of the Maccabees, the “purification” of territory was effected by deportations, massacres and forced conversions (children had to be circumcised). The Kingdom of Judaea under the Hasmoneans was more open-minded in religious matters and accorded with the hellenisation of the region, as indicated by the use of Greek certificates, names, and the Greek language. Greek remained the official administrative language; Aramaic, the language in daily use; Hebrew the religious language, reserved for the study of holy texts and religious services.