Third Maccabees tells a dramatic story of persecution and divine deliverance set in Ptolemaic Egypt. After the king, Ptolemy IV Philopator, is miraculously prevented from defiling the Temple in Jerusalem, he returns home in a rage and decrees the annihilation of the Jews in his kingdom. They are rounded up and herded into a hippodrome to be trampled to death by intoxicated elephants. As their doom seems certain, the faithful elder Eleazar leads the people in fervent prayer. God responds spectacularly, sending two angels who turn the enraged beasts back upon the king’s own army. Struck with terror and remorse, Ptolemy reverses his decree, honors the Jews, and funds a seven-day festival of celebration, which becomes an annual tradition.