But there is a long interval between the time of Nehemiah, when Malachi wrote his prophecy, and the appearance of John the Baptist. It is necessary to inquire into the history of this intermediate period, rightly to understand the state of things in Palestine at the time to which the Gospels relate. Information as to this the reader should seek elsewhere. For the events connecting Nehemiah's day and the time of Antiochus Epiphanes the student is dependent mainly on accounts furnished by Josephus, which relate to isolated facts. The Jewish historian wrote without the control, salutary or not, of rabbinical authority. Then, for the Maccabean period the histories in the Apocrypha avail, not always trustworthy. When they are silent, recourse must be had to Josephus. His works also familiarize us with the Herodian period, in which opens the New Testament, or series of books in Greek, received by us from early Christians as generally acknowledged by them to be part of the written word of God and the basis and guide of Christian faith and life.