Alexander, name of seven men.—(1) Alexander the Great, King of Macedon, 336–323 b.c. He is mentioned in I Mach., i, 1–10; vi, 2. He is also supposed to be spoken of in Dan., ii, 39; vii, 6; viii, 5–7; xi, 3, 4.—(2) Alexander Balas, eleventh King of Syria, 150–145 b.c. His struggle for the throne, his promises to Jonathan, his pro-Jewish policy may be learned from I Mach., x, 1–89. He was vanquished by his father-in-law, Ptolemy Philometor of Egypt, and Syria thus passed into the hands of Demetrius II (I Mach., xi, 1–19).—(3) Alexander, a son of Simon of Cyrene mentioned by St. Mark (xv, 21) who carried the Cross after Jesus.—(4) Alexander, who was a member of the court that tried Peter and John (Acts, iv, 6); some identify him with Alexander Lysimachus the brother of Philo and friend of Claudius before he ascended the throne.—(5) Alexander, a Jew or a Jewish Christian (Acts, xix, 33, 34), who attempted to defend St. Paul in his Ephesian difficulty; some identify him with the son of Simon of Cyrene.—(6) Alexander, an Ephesian Christian who apostatized (I Tim., i, 20), and who together with Hymeneus was dellvered up to Satan by the Apostles.—(7) Alexander, a coppersmith of Ephesus (II Tim., iv, 14, 15), who did much evil to St. Paul; some identify him with the Alexander mentioned under the preceding number.
Hagen, Lexicon Biblicum (Paris, 1905); Vigouroux and Jacquier in Vig. Dict. de la Bible (Paris, 1895); Hast., Robertson and Moss in Dict. of the Bible (New York, 1903).