and the Babylonian Power and People and so was composed of three This is the same with the Breast and Arms of Silver in the foregoing Dream The next thing in the Vision is a Panther or Leopard with four Wings and Heads which signifies the Greek Empire with the principal Kingdoms or Satrapies which after Alexander's Death arose out of that Monarchy viz. those of Seleucus King of Syria Antigonus King of the Lesser Asia Cassander King of Greece and Ptolomy King of Egypt The four Wings also signify the Swiftness of Alexander's Conquests and also the speedy Division of his Empire into four Kingdoms This is the same with the Brazen Belly in the preceding Dream Lastly there appears a Beast with ten Horns which is the Roman Empire though I know some interpret this Fourth Beast of the Asiatick Monarchy called by Historians the Regnum Seleudarum or those several lesser Kingdoms which set up upon the breaking of Alexander's Monarchy The ten Horns are ten Kings as is plain from the express Words in the 24th Verse and these say they are Seleucus Nicanor Antiochus Soter Antiochus Theos another Seleucus Ptolomaeus Euergetes a third Seleucus Antiochus Ptolomaeus Philopator Seleucus Philopator Antiochus Epiphanes And the little Horn mentioned ver 8. is say they the last of these ten Others are of opinion that the little Horn that came up among the ten Horns is the Mahometan or Turkish Empire which grew out of the Roman Monarchy or those Territories which were possessed by the Romans and the three Horns it hath seized on are three Parts of the Monarchy viz. Asia Egypt Greece But to unprejudiced Minds it will rather appear that this part of the Vision which speaks of the Fourth Beast and the Little Horn belongs to the Roman Empire for this Vision is but an enlarging on the Dream of the four Metals before spoken of And yet I will grant that this Prophetick Vision may be taken with some Latitude as many of the Prophecies of the Old and New Testament as I shall shew afterwards are to be taken and so Antiochus Epiphanes and Mahomet the one the Scourge of the Jewish Church the other of the Christian may not be excluded here but after a Prophetick manner implied yet so as the Roman Empire and what was to happen in the World in those Dominions are chiefly and principally here meant This is the Beast with ten Horns which are the ten Members or Kingdoms belonging heretofore to the Roman Empire viz. Asia Africa Syria Egypt Italy Spain Greece Gallia Germany Britain This Fourth Beast is the same with the Legs of Iron and Clay spoken of before It is easy and obvious to apply the Character of this last Beast to the Roman Empire It was dreadful and terrible and strong exceedingly it had great Iron Teeth it devoured and brake in pieces and stamped the Residue with the Feet of it and it was diverse from all the Beasts that were before it as you read in ver 7. And again ver 23. The fourth Beast shall be the fourth Kingdom upon Earth which shall be diverse from all Kingdoms and shall devour the whole Earth and shall tread it down and break it in pieces This is a most Graphical Delineation of the Secular Power of Rome and of the Slaughter and Ravage it hath made on the Earth It is farther added that there came up among the Horns another little Horn ver 8. that is a Power distinct from those ten Powers or Kingdoms before mentioned Here then perhaps is meant the Church or Hierarchy of Rome distinct from the Secular Power or ten Kings This is Popery in the most proper Sense the Ecclesiastical and Spiritual Dominion of Rome as it is distinguish'd from the Civil or Temporal one and it is the same with the False Prophet in Rev. 19. 20. How naturally the Character of this Horn is appliable to this Purpose may be seen in the following verâ—es The eighth Chapter reacheth not so far but yet contains a very notable Prophecy couched in the Vision of a Ram and a He-Goat The Ram with two Horns is as is afterwards interpreted in express Words the Kingdom of Media and Persia The He-Goat is the Greek Empire the notable Horn between his Eyes is Alexander the Great the first Greek Monarch as you find it expresly expounded in ver 21. The rough Goat is the King or Kingdom of Greece and the great Horn that is between his Eyes is the first King It is said he touched not the Ground i. e. he went on swiftly for in twelve Years he did all his Work and in three Battels he vanquish'd Darius and succeeded in his Monarchy Thus he smote the Ram and brake his two Horns and cast him to the Ground ver 7. It was above two hundred Years before this was accomplished that Daniel here foretold and therefore it is a very considerable Prophecy and a very remarkable Proof of the Authority of this Book Hence it was that when Alexander the Great was on his march towards Ierusalem to destroy it Iaddus the High Priest went out to meet him with the Book of Daniel in his Hand which he opened and shewed to that great Monarch and let him see this Place wherein his mighty Atchievements and Glory were foretold Which very thing diverted him from doing that Harm to the Jews which he intended and also made him confident in his Enterprizes against Persia the Conquest of which this Prophecy foretold When this great Horn was broken â—our other notable ones came up in its stead v. 8. that is on the Death of Alexander there sprang up these four Kingdoms namely Macedonia Asia Syria Egypt These stood up but not in his Power ver 22. i. e. Alexander's they were much weaker and feebler being divided Out of one of these Horns came forth a little one ver 9. who is afterwards called a King of fierce Countenance ver 23. This is Antiochus Epiphanes who came out of the Syrian Horn by him the daily Sacrifice was taken away and the Place of the Sanctuary was cast down ver 11. He destroyed wonderfully and prospered and practised and destroyed the mighty and the holy People ver 24. This and much more which you read in this Chapter can agree to no Person so well as to that Antiochus who plagued and embarass'd all Syria and miserably shock'd the Holy Land and with unspeakable Rage and Fury persecuted the People of it and deprived them of their Sacrifices and defiled their Altars and spoiled their Temple the celebrated Place of their Worship and cruelly and barbarously put many to death that refused to violate the Law of Moses At last it is said he shall be broken without Hands which plainly signifies the sudden and unexpected Catastrophe of him and his Army which the Jewish History will particularly inform you of I will not particularly insist on the eleventh Chapter of the same Prophet in the beginning of which it is
diving into some future Transactions which depend wholly on Natural Agents In the next place those Spirits have had long Experience of things and are thereby grown very sagacious and cunning and on that account are able to guess of things that are to come for by observing what hath a long time happened in such and such Circumstances they may not unsuccessfully sometimes conjecture what will be for the future Moreover those Nimble Intelligences travelling up and down the World ranging and flying about and visiting the remotest Regions of the Earth and that with unspeakable Expedition must needs inform themselves concerning the diverse Occurrences abroad and make very great Discoveries as to what shall be afterwards from the Consults and Actions which they behold in the World The Devil appearing in Samuel's Shape told King Saul he should be with him the day following for he might partly know the Event of the Battel by what he knew concerning the Enemies Strength and the Anger of God against that forsaken Prince c. Diodorus the Sicilian relates that the Chaldean Priests foretold the Death of Alexander the Great and the dividing of the Empire among his Captains which they might venture to do and it seems their Prediction succeeded by the Information they had from those Daemons they convers'd with who 't is likely not only saw the debauched Life of that King but the great Mischief which it did to his Body and from thence the probability of his being dispatched by a violent Fever of which we read he died and they were not ignorant of the Ambition and Contentions of his Captains nay perhaps they were conscious to some Cabals which promoted those Events and then 't is not to be wondred that they could foretel them But there was another way too of foreknowing these things for they might be found predicted in Daniel's Prophecies of which we have spoken which the Chaldean Priests had without doubt some knowledg of There they found it written in express words chap. 8. 8. The great Horn which as the preceding Verses will inform you is meant of Alexander the Great was broken i. e. in plain terms he died and for it came up four notable ones i. e. his four chief Commanders succeeded him in the Empire And this you will find repeated almost in the same words in chap. 11. 4. that there might be no mistake about the Prophecy But truly I am enclined to think that there is yet another Account to be given of this Passage in Diodorus for as I shall hereafter make it more evident there are a great many References in the Pagan Historians to what is recorded in the Old Testament though they are generally done with some Obscurity or Mistake And I take this to be of that nature for the Historian refers here not only to the Book of Daniel which questionless was very famous in those days and particularly to those Prophetick Words before cited but to Daniel himself He was that Chaldean Priest for though he was an Hebrew by Birth yet Chaldea was the Country he lived in and he was in high esteem with the Chaldean Kings But when the Historian speaks in the Plural of Chaldean Priests it is a pardonable Oversight and such as is frequent in Writers And he calls them Priests because among the Chaldeans their Priests were the most knowing Men and the Magi and these were Terms convertible sometimes Or to call Daniel a Priest instead of a Prophet is a Mistake both easy and excusable wherefore notwithstanding this small Slip there is reason to believe that the Historian refers to the Prophet Daniel who once and again in very intelligible though Prophetick Terms foretels the Death of that Great Monarch and the Division of his Kingdoms amongst his Captains I might add likewise that Evil Spirits are considerable Actors in the Affairs on Earth and therefore 't is no wonder that they are able to foretel what they themselves are designing to bring to pass They could easily inform Spurina of Iulius Caesar's Fate when they had been present at the Consults of the Senate and were Instigators to take away his Life St. Austin speaks of one that knew and could tell the Thoughts of Men as when one thought of a Verse in Virgil or the like But Luther said well the Devil had before possessed his Thoughts with that Verse and then it was not difficult to foretel what he did himself Thus you see how far and in what manner Devils and wicked Men by their Means may foreknow Futurities But now if we consider the things foretold in the Old and New Testament we cannot apply any thing of all this to them for the foreknowing that K. Iosias Cyrus and Alexander should appear in the World so many Years afterwards the predicting of the Succession of the three Great Monarchies for one of them was past the erecting of the Kingdom of Christ the wonderful Propagation of the Gospel the Conversion of Jews and Gentiles and the like could not possibly be from the sagacious Insight into the Nature of things which the Evil Spirits may attain to nor from their Observation and Experience which are only of things past or present nor from any Acquaintance with the Affairs of the World as being Actors in them for some of these Events which we have mentioned out of the Sacred Writings had no dependance on Common and Natural Causes and therefore could not be penetrated into by the most subtile Enquirers into Nature as we suppose Evil Angels to be and besides they were at so vast a distance in respect of Time that it is impossible to imagine that these Spiritual Agents could have any Part then to act in them No Man of Sense can prevail with himself to credit any such thing but on the contrary he must be forc'd to acknowledg that it is wholly against the Nature of those Events to be foreseen and discover'd by any Diabolick Skill so long a time before they actually happened Wherefore I conclude that the foreknowing and consequently the foretelling of them was by parâ—icular Revelation from God He was pleased by â—ecret Inspiration to inform his Servants and to give them a discovery of those things which no â—reated Understanding could discern Lastly This may suffice in answer to those who suppose that some Persons who converse with Diabolick Spirits may have some Foresight of future Contingencies this I say may suffice that the Case we speak of is far different here can be nothing of the Devil because these Prophecies and all the other Writings to the Old and New Testament tend to the promoting of Holiness and Godliness and the destroying the Works of the Devil Their main Design is to weaken and even demolish Satan's Kingdom and to set up that of Christ Jesus both in the Consciences and Lives of Men. It is ridiculous therefore to say that these Prophecies are from the Devil No Man of ordinary Sâ—nsâ— can digest such a
of God whereas the Prophet who speaks this intimates in the whole Chapter afterwards that the Church shall flourish and that it shall be impossible for its Enemies to do it harm So that in Nah. 3. 14. Draw thee Waters for the Siege fortify thy strong Holds is said in way of Derision to Niniveh whose unavoidable Ruine is foretold in that Chapter And besides many such Sarcasms in the Old Teâ—â—ament there are several in the New as that of our Blessed Lord to his drowzy Disciples Sleep on â—ow and take your Rest Matth. 26. 45. This is a downright Irony because Christ here intends a different thing nay contrary to what he saith His meaning is not that they should sleep when both he and they were in so great Danger but his Intention rather was that they should watch and pray as you read ver 41. By this way of speaking he corrects them for their unseasonable Drowsiness that they could not watch at such a time as that when he had just before foretold them that he was to be betrayed That is another clear Text Full well 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fairly as Sir Nort. Knatchbull renders it ye reject the Commandment of God saith our Saviour to the Pharisees Mark 7. 9. Ye do very well and laudably in preferring the Traditions and Constitutions of Men before the express Commands of God This is a commendable piece of Religion indeed Is it not Do you think that this will be acceptable to God There is another Passage of our Saviour which seems to me to be perfectly Ironical though Commentators generally carry the Sense another way But now saith Christ he that hath a Purse let him take it and likewise his Scrip and be that hath no Sword let him sell his Garment and buy one Luke 22. 36. Which is thought by Expositors to be a plain and direct Exhortation to the Apostles to furnish themselves with Money Provision and Swords But this cannot be meant here because 1. Christ had declared against Fighting for he tells Pilate Iohn 18. 36. that if his Kingdom were of this World then would his Servants i. e. his Apostles and Disciples fight that he should not be delivered to the Iews Swords then were to no purpose 2. When they brought two Swords to him his Answer is observable It is enough If he had meant real Swords he would not have said that two of them were enough for those could serve but two Men They should all of them be appointed with that sort of Weapons and have stood on their Guard When therefore he saith It is enough he doth as good as say I do not mean Carnal Weapons You mistake me as you have often done and dream of a Temporal Kingdom of the Messias 3. It is evident that Christ meant not Swords in the usual Signification of the Word because afterwards he sharply blamed Peter for making use of this Weapon Matth. 26. 52. It appears that he had no Commission from our Saviour to draw his Sword I cannot therefore subscribe to those who interpret these Words of our Lord in the direct and obvious Sense But if we understand them to be spoken â—ronically they are very intelligible and are consistent with what Christ saith at other times And let no Man wonder that our Blessed Master uses this sort of Stile here for I have shewed you before in two undeniable Instances that he made use of it yea even when he was approaching to Death as when he said to his Apostles Sleep on and take your Rest. And so he speaks after the same manner here upbraiding his Apostles who he knew were afraid of Suffering and had so often been talking of Christ's Kingdom on Earth and of the Prosperous Times that were to accompany it He now in a Sarcastick way chastises their fond and groundless Conceit and bids them go and buy Swords and lay in Provisions If you are for a Temporal Reign saith he then sight for it You are specially well skill'd in your Weapons without doubt you are excellent Sword-men This I take to be the Sense of the Words and truly a Man might gather it from that one Passage before mentioned It is enough said our Saviour to them when they brought him a couple of Swords This it self is an Ironick Quip it is as if he had said This is brave Armour indeed Now you are well appointed surely You are like to defend me and your selves against all that come against us Two Swords amongst you all are a very great Armory This plainly shews what our Saviour's meaning was when he bid them buy Swords he handsomly check'd them for their Cowardice and Fear of Suffering But yet I will not deny that something more may be included and comprized in these Words he bids them make the best Provision they can against the Calamitous Times that were coming he exhorts them to be provided with Spiritual Weapons Faith and Patience and thâ— Sword of the Spirit yea with the Whole Armour of God This higher and spiritual meaning may be contained in what Christ here uttereth But if you take the Words as they sound and in the more direct and literal Tendency of them I do not see that they can be interpreted in a better way than I have offered And as our Blessed Saviour himself so the Apostle St. Paul sometimes uses this Figure which I am now speaking of I am enclined to think that those Words in Acts 23. 5. I wist not that he was the High Priest are to be taken in this Sense He makes use of an Irony and is to be understood as if he had said Is this the High Priest Alas I did not know that this was that Reverend Gentleman I should have shewed my self more civil to him if I had been acquainted that this was that Worshipful Man that Gay Pontiff to whom you pay so great Veneration But who would take this Person to be the High Priest the Great Leading Officer of the Church who is to be an Example of Mildness and Gentleness to all Men His furious way of speaking and acting towards me doth not discover him to be one of that High Character and Order He doth not shew himself to be a Spiritual Man Surely this cannot be He This Behaviour speaks him to be another Person So it is spoken in a jtering way Nor is this Sense of the Words as â—â—me may think too light and jocular for the Apostle though he was before the Sanhedrim the most Grave and Solemn Council of that Nation For in several of the Instances before mentioned we see this way of speaking hath been made use of before very Great and Venerable Persons and in Causes that were exceeding Serious and Weighty And whereas the Apostle immediately adds For it is written Thou shalt not speak Evil of the Ruler of thy People which may make it seem incredible that St. Paul spoke in a Sarcastick way which is speaking one thing and meaning another
was their rightful Governour They had no Authority to depose him and to choose a King in his room and therefore Samuel might be look'd upon as their True and Lawful Governour as long as he lived Yet this time of his Rule is made here a part of Saul's Reign because he was forced at last to anoint him King and because he suffered his own Government to be swallowed of his Hence it is that the forty Years assigned to him by St. Paul do include Samuel's Judicature that is Samuel and Saul reigned forty Years together This also will salve many Chronological Differences that the Kings of Israel did often make their Sons Kings in their own Reign to settle them in the Kingdom before their Death and so the time of the Reign is sometimes set down as it respects the Father only sometimes as it respects the Son and sometimes as it includes both Iehoram is said to have reigned eight years in Ierusalem 2 Kings 8. 17. but by Collection out of the Text it is clear that either seven of those eight Years or at least four are to be reckoned in the Life of his Father Iehosaphat for Iehoram reign'd as Vice-roy in his Father's time or he reigned with his Father and so his Father's Years and his are reckoned too But when upon the Death of his Father he came to reign alone then 't is said Jehoram his Son reigned in his stead 2 Chron. 21. 1. So Iotham reigned Sixteen Years 2 Kings 15. 33. yet mention was made before of his twentieth year ver 30. which we reconcile thus Iotham reigned alone sixteen Years only but with his Father Vzziah who was a Leper and therefore unfit for the sole Government four Years before which makes twenty Thus we take away that seeming Repugnancy between 2 Kings 24. 8. Jehoiachin was eighteen Years old when he began to reign and 2 Chron. 36. 9. He was eight Years old when he began to reign that is he was eight Years old when he began to reign with his Father but he was eighteen when he began to reign by himself It was common both with the Kings of Iudah and Israel to take their Sons into Partnership with them in the Throne This is the way of resolving other Places of the like Nature in the Books of Kings and Chronicles Sometimes the Sons are made Kings with their Fathers and the Years of their Joint Reign are put together At other times they are spoken of as ruling separately and hence it comes to pass that the Years vary We are concern'd then to take notice that in the foresaid Books the Reigns of some Kings are mentioned twice first as they were Contemporary and Sharers with some others and then as they ruled alone We may sometimes solve the Doubts about the different Account which is given us of the Duration of some Kings Reigns by Interregnums or Vacancy of Kingly Government for few or more Years which was not unusual Thus of King Ahaziah who succeeded Iehoram in the Throne it is recorded 2 Kings 8. 26. that he was two and twenty Years old when he began to reign but in 2 Chron. 22. 2. it is said he was forty and two Years old when he began to reign If this latter Account be true then besides that it is a contradicting of the former it will follow hence that the Son was two Years older than the Father for of Iehoram who was his Father it is said in 2 Chron. 21. 20. Thirty and two Years old was he when he began to reign and he reign'd in Jerusalem eight Years whence it appears that he was forty Years old when he died but of his Son who succeeded him in the Throne it is said He was two and forty Years old when he began to reign 2 Chron. 22. 1. This is thought to be so great a Difficulty that Malvenda and others cry out it is not to be solved But why I pray Because say they according to this Relation the Father died at forty and the Son who immediately succeeded him was above forty so then Iehoram begat his Son two Years before himself was born which to assert is as ridiculous as the thing is impossible But those who talk after this manner make Difficulties and then complain there is no possibility of answering them They affirm that Ahaziah immediately succeeded Iehoram whereas they find not this asserted in the History There might be an Interruption of the Royal Government Ahaziah might be kept from the actual Possession of the Throne a long time So then it is truly said He was two and twenty Years old when he began to reign if you reckon from his Father's Death for then a King's Heir is said to begin his Reign But if you compute from the time when he was peaceably settled in the Kingdom he was two and forty Years old when he began to reign for by that time he got securely to the Throne twenty Years were expired and after this he reigned but one Year as we read in the same Place Thus besides that it might have been said that Ahaziah reigned with his Father twenty two Years the Difficulty is answer'd by supposing an Interregnum for several Years which was very frequent in those Days and there is Reason Sometimes to grant this Vacancy to have been although it be not expresly mention'd in the Place for many things of this kind are omitted in the Sacred History and are left to be inferr'd from the Reasonableness of the thing it self and from the Circumstances which attend it Again there are those who avoid some Scruples in Chronology by holding that the Years of Bad Kings are sometimes omitted as if they had not reigned at all So some have interpreted that Place 1 Sam. 13. 1. which speaks of the two Years Reign of Saul not but that he reign'd many more which are not there reckon'd because of his evil Government Thus Solomon they say reigned many more Years than are set down for the time of his sinful and idolatrous Reign is suppressed Lastly it hath been observed in order to the taking away those Doubts which arise about the different Assignation of Time in the Old Testament that the Scripture gives us the Computation of the Times of the Iewish Republick or Kingdom but altogether omits the Spaces of Servitude Oppression Captivity and Anarchy excepting only the time of the Egyptian Bondage which is reckoned by Moses The Author of Seder Olam and Other Jewish Writers and the Learned Broughton from them give an Account of some Chronological Disputes by adhering to this Expedient With whom agrees Dr. Lightfoot who hath admirably performed this Task adding several things of his own Observation whereby the Differences in Chronology are fully reconciled The Result then of what we have said is this that if in some Places of Scripture the Years seem not to be rightly set down we may recur to the foregoing Resolutions and satisfy our selves with them
the singing Women spake of Josiah in their Lamentations to this Day and made 〈◊〉 Ordinance in Israel and behold they are written iâ— the Lamentations even those which this Prophet composed Which is also confirmed by the Jewish Historian who voucheth this Poem to be a Fuâ—â—ral Elegy on that Pious King To which St. Ierom adds that this Prophet laments the Loss of Iosias as the beginning of those Galamities which afterwards ensued and accordingly he proceeds to â—ewail the Miserable State of the Iews and particularly the Destruction of Ierusalem which was not then come to pass but is prophetically foretold it being not unusual with the Prophets to speak of things to come as if they were already past Unless we should say as some have that part of this Mournful Song was endited after the taking and sacking of Ierusalem and the carrying the People Captive and is a Passionate Bewailing of the Destruction of the Temple and the Horrid Consequences of it In which also the Holy Man humbly confesseth the Sins of the People and acknowledgeth the Divine Justice in all that beâ—el them to which he adjoineth a Serious Exhortation to Repentance and comforts them with Hopes of a Restoration So that the whole is an Exact Pattern of Devotion in times of Great and National Calamities and Publick Sufferings and instructs us how to demean our selves in such deplorable Circumstances Ezekiel was carried captive into Babylon with those that went thither in the second Captivity which was in the 8th Year of Nebuchadnezzar Reign about ten Years before the time of the last Captivity He prophesied here at the same time that Ieremiah did in Iudaea and afterwards in Egypt Many of the same things he foretold more especially the Destruction of the Temple and the fatal Issue of those that revolted from Babylon to Egypt and at last the Happy Return of the Jewâ— into their own Land He distinctly foretels the Plagues which should certainly be inâ—â—icted on Other Nations who were profes'd Enemies of the Church as the Edomites Moabites Ammonites Egyptians Tyrians and lastly the Assyrians and Babylonians In figurative and mystical Expressions he predicts the Messias and the flourishing Estate of his Kingdom i. e. the Christian Church Because the Prophet begins with Visions and Types and ends with the Measuring of the Mystical Temple therefore by reason of these Abstrusities and Mysteries the Beginning and End of this Book were forbid to be read by the Jews before they came to thirty Years of Age. But the greatest â—art of this Prophecy is plain and easily intelligible it having reference chiefly to the Manners of that degenerate Age wherein the Prophet observes and severely animadverts upon the General Corruption which had invaded them in those Days and which merited the severest Judgments that Heaven could send down upon them He exâ—ibits a Particular Catalogue of the Notorious Enormâ—ties which their Kings their Priests their Prophets their People were infamous for he labours to bring them to a Sense of these scandalous Practices and to make them heartily Relent for them â—inally like a Trne Watchman as he is stiled he â—â—â—â—hfully warneth them of their Imminent Danger and admonisheth them to prevent it if possible by abandoning their Evil Ways This is the Inspired Man that penn'd this Book and this is the â—ook which contains so many worthy and excellent â—â—ings in it Another of the Four Great Prophâ—ts is Daniel who was of the Progeny of the Kings of Iudah 〈◊〉 was contemporary with Ezekiol and was a Capâ—â—â—e in Babylon at the same time that he was There he prophesied and there he wrote and â—his Book is the Result of both the six first Chapâ—â—â—s of which are an History of the Kings of Babyâ—â—â— and of what beâ—el some of the Captive Jews under them Here we have Nebuchadnezzar's Râ—markable Dreams interpreted we have a Relatioâ— of the singular Courage of the three Hebrew Yoâ—â—â— Men that refused to fall down to his Image with the miraculous Deliverance of them out of the Flames Here is unfolded Belshazzar's Fatal Dooâ— contain'd in the Mystical Hand-writing on the Wall with his Death that soon follow'd upon it and the Succession of Darius to the Throne and the Translation of the Monarchy to the Medes It was under this Prince that our Noble Prophet was advanced to his greatest Height of Honour 〈◊〉 whereas he had been a great Courtier and Favosrrite in Nebuchadnezzar's time and in the close of Belshazzar's Reign was made the Third Ruler in the Kingdom now he is made the First being set 〈◊〉 all the Presidents and Princes of the Realm This made him envied and hated but he was hated and persecuted much more for his Religion by the Great Men of the Kingdom and even by a Decree of the King 's own signing committed to the Den of Lions there to be devoured of them But the Hand of Omnipotence immediately interposed and he came out thence safe and his Adversaries and Accusers were sent thither in his room who fared not after the same rate that he did After this he lived in great Esteem Honour and Prosperity not only in this King's Reign but under Cyrus 〈◊〉 Monarch of the Persian Race But as our Authoâ— in the former Part of this Book relates things pasâ— as an Historian so in the six last Chapters he is alâ— together Prophetical foretelling what shall befal thâ— Church in general and particularly the Iews yeâ—â— his Visions and Prophecies reach to future Eventâ— wherein even those that are out of the Church arâ— concerned What can be more valuable than hâ—â— Dream or Vision of the Four Secular Monarchies of the World and of the Fifth which was to be Spiritual viz. that of the Messias What is more famous and celebrated than his Discovery by the Angel Gabriel's Information of the Seventy Weeks viz. of Years i. e. 490 Years upon the expiring of which the Messias's Kingdom was to be set up What plain and signal Prophecies doth this Book afford concerning that Renowned Conqueror Alexander the Great and his subduing the Persian Empire as also concerning the Fierce Wars among his Great Captains and Commanders who succeeded him particularly how clearly and plainly are the Actions of Antiochus the Great and Antiochus Epiphanes his Son described by our Prophet long before these Persons were in being And many other Notable Occurrences relating to the most publick and famed Transactions on the Stage of the World are prophetically fore-signified and revealed by this Divine Seer insomuch that we may justly stile this Book the Apocalypse of the Old Testament to which that Other of the New so often refers and even borrows many things of great Moment Lastly we may particularly note concerning this Book that a great Part of it is written in the Chaldean Tongue viz. from the fourth Verse of the Second Chapter to the End of the Seventh the Reason of â—hich may be this because Daniel was now by his â—â—ng Abode
Reasons why the Apocryphal Writings are not received into the Canon of the Bible with an Answer to the Objections made by the Romanists SEcondly I proceed to the External Testimonies of the Truth of the Scriptures which being added to those Arguments which proved them to be True in Themselves will exceedingly corroborate our Belief of the Divine Authority of those Books And here I might mention the Testimony given to them by God in the wonderful Preservation of them through all Ages since they were first written In all the Changes of Affairs and the Overthrow of so many Cities and Kingdoms that Incomparable Treasure hath not been lost The Books of the Old Testament were kept untouched and inviolable at the sacking and burning of Ierusalem and all the time of the Captivity in Babylon and of the Dispersion of the Jews And ever since that time the Scriptures have been Unaltered in Words and Sense notwithstanding the frequent Endeavours of Satan's busy Agents to corrupt them yea utterly to destroy them And next to God's Providence in preserving these Books thrô all Times and Ages we might add the marvellous Success which hath attended the Holy Faith and Doctrine contained in these Writings They have prevail'd against the Power of Men and Devils and to this very day they are maintained and upheld maugre the Attempts of both of them to root them out of the World But I wave this intending not to insist upon Divine but Humane Testimony in this place By External Testimony then I mean here no other than this that Scripture is attested by Vniversal Tradition and this Tradition is both of Jews and Christians And what would a Man desire more in a humane way for attesting the Truth of these Writings From the joint Attestation of these Witnesses I shall make it appear that these Books which we now have are the true Copies of the first Originals that the same Books and Authors are faithfully delivered down to us which were first of all delivered to the Jews and to the Primitive Christians and that there is nothing in these Writings as we now have them that is falsified or corrupted First to begin with the Books of the Old Testament the Names of which are as follow Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy Ioshuâ— Iudges Ruth the 1st and 2d Books of Samuel thâ— 1st and 2d Books of Kings tho 1st and 2d Books 〈◊〉 Chronicles Ezra Nehemiah Esther Iob the Psalmâ— Proverbs Ecclesiastes the Song of Solomon the foâ—â— Greater Prophets and the twelve Lesser These and none but these were admitted into the Canâ— of the Holy Scriptures by the antient Church oâ— the Iews whose Testimony is very Authenticâ— here yea indeed we cannot have a better They acquaint us that these were the Only Writingâ— that were universally agreed by them to be extraordinarily Inspired and they further tell us that these Books which were writ by different Persons and at diverse Times were first compiled and collected into One Body or Volume by Ezra and the Assembly of Doctors for that purpose and consequently that the Canon of Sacred Scripture of the Old Testament as it is at this time was not constituted till Ezra's days by the Great Synagogue as they call it Upon his Return from the Captivity he undertook this good Work he gathered together all those dispersed Books before named and after he had reviewed them he publickly owned and solemnly vouched the Authority of every one of them that the Church for the future might not doubt of their being Authentick and True But some add here by way of Objection that this holy Man caused these Books to be written over in a New Character because the Jews had lost their knowledg of the former one as well as of the Tongue and consequently the Bible is not the same that it was at first Eusebius and Ierom are alledged for this especially the latter who seems to say that the Samaritan Character was the Old Hebrew Character in which the Bible was first writ and that it was first changed by Ezrd after the Return from Babylon he writing â—he Sacred Volume over in Assyrian or Chaldee Letters and neglecting the Old Hebrew ones which were the same that the Samaritan are And the reason of this was they say because the Jews were best acquainted with this Character at that time And some Modern Writers are gain'd over to this Opinion who talk much of the Change of the Character and endeavour to perswade us that the first and old Letters of the Hebrew Text were Samaritan but that those which we now have are Assyrian and of quite another sort But upon an impartial Enquiry I find little or no Foundation for this Opinion It rather seems to me to be an Invention and Dream of those who design to disparage the Hebrew Bible They would perswade us that the Authority of the Original is impaired because we have it not now as it was at the beginning for the Old Bible was in Samaritan Letters these being the first and antientest Hebrew Characters This is like the Story of the Hebrew Points being invented five hundred Years after Christ of which afterwards which tends to the same End namely to discredit the Hebrew Text which we now have and wholly to take away its Authority for if the Letters were changed it is probable some Words and consequently the Sense of some Places are altered But that this is groundless and that the Hebrew Bible is written in the same Characters now that it was at first you will find very largely and convincingly proved by the famous Buxtorf from the Authâ—rity of the Talmud especially the Gemara 〈◊〉 the Cabala from the Suffrage of the most Notâ— Rabbins of old and of the Learned Modern Jeâ—â— as Aben Ezra R. Solomon R. Ben Maimon â— who without doubt are very competent Judges 〈◊〉 this Case To these may be added several of 〈◊〉 Christian Perswasion as Picus Mirandula F. Iuniâ— Skikkard Postellus with those three Eminent Persons of our own Countrey Nic. Fuller Broughtâ—â— Lightfoot If you consult these they will satisfyâ— you that the Hebrew Letters which we have now in the Bible were the Primitive ones the very same that were of old But to give you my Thoughts impartially in this Point I do believâ— from what I find asserted by Writers on both sides that there were two sorts of Characters used by the Jews as there were two sorts of Cubits and Shekels the Sacred and Common and I gather that the Samaritan Letter was of the latter sort that which was commonly used and even sometimes in transcribing the Bible but the Sacred Character in use among the Jews was this which we now have and in which the Bible is at this day This is the true Original Hebrew Letter and was used from the beginning by them This I think may reconcile the Disputes among Writers for so far as I can perceive the Quarrels arise from this that there is
Christ into Heaven as it is expounded by that infallible Interpreter Ephes. 4. 8. Wherefore he saith When he ascended up on high he led Captivity captive and gave Gifts unto Men which refers to the abovesaid Psalm but is applied to Christ's Ascension by the Apostle here The 45th Psalm is originally a Song of Loves an Epithalamium on the Nuptials of King Solomon and the King of Egypt's Daughter but in a remote and mystical Sense it is meant of the Majesty and Glory of Christ's Kingdom and the admirable Benefits which accrue to the Church in the Times of the Gospel And many other Psalms might be produced wherein the double Sense before-mentioned is clearly to be discerned To proceed Though the whole Book of Canticles be in its literal Capacity no other than Solomon's Wedding-song yet it is to be look'd upon in the more sublime Acception of it as a Dialogue between Christ and his Church setting forth all those divine Amours which are mutually experienc'd by them And that this Part of Holy Scripture called the Song of Solomon is of a higher Strain than the bare Letter imports and that it contains great Mysteries and Abstrusities in it may be gathered from that extraordinary Reverence which the Jews paid to this Book For Origen tells us that this as well as the Beginning of Genesis was not permitted to be read by them till they had attain'd to some Maturity of Years I come next to the Evangelical Prophet Isaiah who hath many things concerning Christ and his spiritual Kingdom or Church but it is to be acknowledged that some of them in the first and literal Sense may and ought to be interpreted otherwise Yea the learned Grotius and Hammond are of the Opinion that that famous Prophecy in Isa. 7. 14. Behold a Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son and shall call â—is Name Immanuel hath a double Sense The Words literally and primarily respect a strange and wonderful Birth in those very Days Secondarily and mystically they are spoken of the Messias who was to be born miraculously of a Virgin Whether this Opinion be true or no we are certain that there is a mystical Meaning to be added to the literal or rather as I said before it might be more expressive to say a secondary Meaning is added to the primary one in sundry Passages which we meet with not only in this Prophet but in Ieremiaâ— and Ezekiel Concerning the former of these the Jewish Historian hath these Words Ieremiah saith he in his Book foretold the Captivity which the Israelites were to undergo in Babylon which was just then approaching and also the Slaughter and Destruction which we of this Age have seen There was a twofold Sense according to this learned Writer in some of this Prophet's Predictions Yea there was a double literal or historical Sense which was the thing that I asserted before Whence you see I had reason to make the Distinction of a first and a second Meaning of Scripture rather than of a literal and a mystical though I bring the mystical Meaning when there is such an one under the second As to the latter of these Prophets when we find him relating strange things acted in Visions and Dreams which are things only imaginary and represented to the Fancy we must not think them true in a strict literal Sense for they are only or most commonly done in Appearance and many times will not admit of a real Performance as they are related and described But we are to look upon them as Enigmatical Representations and to fix only a mystical Sense upon them that is to understand them as signiâ—icative of some greater and higher thing than they represent in themselves Which may be one Reason why among the Jews those that had not arrived to some considerable Age were not allowed to read the Beginning and End of the Prophecy of Ezekiel in which Parts chiefly those more mystical Visions are inserted I might pass to the other Prophets and mention some Places in which we must needs acknowledg a secondary Meaning as in that of Daniel chap. 9. 27. For the overspreading of Abominations or with the Wing or Army of Abominations he shall make it desolate which was meant without doubt of Antiochus's desolating Armies which were so abominable to the Jews and who as we read set up the Abomination of Desolation upon the Altar But yet our Saviour himself the best Expositor of the Place le ts us know that this was meant also in a prophetical and secondary way of the Roman Armies that sat down before Ierusalem and after a long Siege made their way into the City and Temple and so might be said to stand in the holy Place When ye shall see the Abomination of Desolation saith he spoken of by Daniel the Prophet stand in the holy Place then c. It is manifest therefore that Daniel spoke of both these destroying Armies His Words are to be taken in a twofold Sense a primary and secondary one In the former they speak of what happen'd to the Jews when Antiochus's Army invaded them In the latter they speak of what befel them when Titus Vespasian came against them and destroyed their City and Nation This is the double Sense and therefore you may observe what our Saviour inserts Whoso readeth let him understand As much as to say when you read that Passage in the Prophet Daniel you are to understand something more than ordinary in it you must take notice of a hidden Sense in those Words they speak not only of what was to come to pass in Antiochus's but in Vespasian's Reign which was about 250 Years after The abominable desolating Armies of both are here meant You see then here is a double literal Sense and that was the Reason why I chose rather the Division of the Scripture-Sense into primary and secondary and of this latter into historical and mystical than that received one of literal and mystical because both the Sense sometimes may be literal This ought to be carefully observed by all those who are desirous to attain to a right Understanding of the Holy Scriptures And it is the want of attending to this that hath often hindred Mens due Apprehensions of several Texts We see here in the Instance before us that the Letter of this Text in Daniel may be applied both to the Syrian and the Roman Armies I might produce those Words in the Prophecy of Hosea Out of Egypt have I called my Son ch 11. 1. Which are to be understood not only of the Patriarchs of old God's Children or Sons being brought by God out of Egypt but of Christ the Son of God call'd out thence after the Death of Herod Matth. 2. 15. This Place of Hosea must be understood of both Hither may be referred some other Places of the Old Testament made use of in the New where it is said This was done that it might be fulfilled which was
have studied to impair the Truth and Authority of the Holy Scriptures and particularly of Moses's Writings have exposed this Place as disagreeing with the rest of the Sacred Story concerning the first Rise and Propagation of the World But this is a very shallow and vain Attempt and grounded chiefly on Prejudice and Ill-will against the Inspired Volume of Scripture I have made it clear that there is no Absurdity or any thing that looks like it in the words above-mentioned and I defy that Man who pretends to give any Satisfactory Answer to the Particulars which I have offered in defence of them Again 't is said That none save Caleb and Joshua should come into the Land of Canaan Numb 14. 30. and yet we read that Eleazar and others entred into that Land Ios. 14. 1. Chap. 22. 13. This is objected by some as a Passage in Scripture derogatory to the Truth of it But if we will read the Holy Book with the same Candour and Ingenuity wherewith we read other Authors we shall not be offended at this or the like Passages For nothing is more common in the most serious and considerate Writers than to speak things by way of Restriction and Limitation as those words are spoken and yet to leave them to be understood with some Latitude which shall afterwards be express'd and explain'd when they speak of the same Matter So here we read that none but Caleb and Ioshua entred into the Land of Promise this being spoken of the Chief Leaders that had that Privilege and Honour but then if we consult other places where this thing is more particularly related we shall find that a Larger meaning was not excluded We cannot think that the Tribe of Levi were denied entrance into that blessed Land because 't is evident from the History that they murmured not and 't is as evident that 't was threatned to the Murmurers only that they should not see the Land which God swore unto their Fathers Numb 14. 22 23. therefore Eleazar and Phineas being Priests are excepted Again it cannot be meant of those that at that time were gone to spy the Land of Canaan for they were none of the Murmurers and therefore that Threatning before cited doth not reach them and consequently those words are consistent with what we read in other places relating to this matter But That in 1 Sam. 16. 22 23. is cried out against as an unanswerable Repugnancy to Chap. 17. 55. for in the former we are told that David came to Court and stood before King Saul i. e. waited continually upon him and play'd upon the Hart before him and was greatly beloved of him and became his Aymour-bearer and yet in the latter we read that Saul did not know David but ask'd who he was Whose Son is this Youth These seem to be very repugnant to one another but there is really no such thing all is clear and obvious for in Chap. 17. 15. it is said David went and returned from Saul to feed his Father's Sheep at Bethlehem He stay'd not long at Court either because he liked not that manner of Life or because Saul was weary of him David then having been absent from Saul a considerable time and following a Country-Life and now appearing perhaps in his Shepherd's Weeds it is no wonder that Saul did not well know him This I think is sufficient of it self and clears the Text of all Contradiction though I know there are other Solutions used by the Learned as that of our English Rabbi Saul saith he asked whose Son David was not that he was ignorant who he was but he only enquired who that was that had such a Son The question is not of David's Person but Parentage So Lightfoot Others are more Curious in their Objections as thus Whereas the Diameter in respect of the Circumference is as seven to two and twenty this is not observ'd in 2 Chron. 4. 2. speaking of the brazen Laver and by consequence the Geometry of Scripture is faulty In answer to these men who are such Well-willers to the Mathematicks I say first That the Proportion of a Diameter to its Circle is not exactly as seven to two and twenty therefore these Gentlemen are not exact themselves Secondly I say this that the Scripture oftentimes speaks after the Vulgar manner as I have shew'd elsewhere and it is likely it doth so here and then we must not expect Accuracy of Words or Things The Bible was not calculated for them only that can square a Circle or that understand all the Mysteries of Algebra Thirdly If this doth not satisfy I answer that the Circumference of the brazen Sea was not exactly Round but it may be towards an Oval Figure which makes some alteration as to the Proportion of the Diameter It was ten Cubits from brim to brim and a Line of thirty Cubits did compass it round about saith the Text but if it had been quite orbicular the Circumference must have been one and thirty Cubits Or perhaps in this place as in several others a round Number is express'd and the remainder being so small and inconsiderable is omitted But further 't is Objected that this Molten Sea or Laver is said to contain 2000 Baths 1 Kings 7. 26. but in 1 Chron. 4. 5. we read that it received and held 3000 Baths therefore some infer that one of these places is faulty and ought to be corrected I answer there is no need of it because both these are consistent The Laver was of that vast dimension that it could hold 3000 Baths of Water but it generally and usually contain'd but 2000. In a Synagogue of the Jews at Amsterdam there is one of these Lavers and thence we may solve the seeming difficulty they fill it up to the Neck but not higher but if they would fill it higher it would contain much more The Neck is large and of another figure and is capable of receiving a third part more Another Place which they alledg cannot they will tell you be answer'd any of these ways for it plainly Contradicts another place of Scripture It is said of Asa 2 Chron. 14. 5. he took away the high Places but in 1 Kings 15. 14. it is expresly recorded that the high Places were not removed by him I answer first there were two sorts of high Places namely some where they worship'd Idols and False Gods others where they worship'd the True God The former were taken away as is intimated to us when 't is said he took away the high Places and Images i. e. the high Places where those Images were adored but the latter were not taken away the Reformation which he had set on foot had not gone so far Besides 't is observable that he took away the high Places out of all the Cities of Judah which signifies to us that he removed them out of all the Chief Places of his Kingdom though he had not time to effect it in some other less considerable places
Head and Ringleader of those Miscreants that built Babel or Babylon which baffles the common Account of Pagan Historians who tell us that Semiramis Ninus's Queen was the first Founder of that City unless we understand by it that she finish'd the Work He it was that with the Remains of the Babylonian Crew set up here the First Empire which began soon after the Flood viz. about 130 Years This is the Date of the First Monarchy in the World and Babel was the Place where it commenced It is expresly said The beginning of his Kingdom was Babel Gen. 10. 10. This was the first Step to the Universal Empire of the Chaldeans or Assyrians which afterwards spread it self to vast and almost unlimited Dimensions This is he that by the Pagan Writers is call'd Belus and said to be the Father of Ninus as Eusebius Ierom and other of the Learnedest among the Antients agree for this is observable and I have proved from several Instances in another Place that oftentimes the same Persons have not the same Names in Prophane History that are given them in the Sacred one Some read Gen. 10. 11. thus He went out of the Land into Assyria and thence gather that though Nimrod was first seated at Babylon and reign'd in Chaldea yet from thence he pierced into Assyria where he built Nineveh the Head City of the Assyrian Monarchy But this is unquestionable that the Empire was translated into Assyria and thence there is a Distinction between the Land of Assyria and the Land of Nimrod Mic. 5. 6. The Sacred Writings also acquaint us that as this Monarchy began at Babylon and Chaldea and was translated into Assyria so at last it returned to Babylon again the Assyrian Dynasties being swallow'd up of those of Chaldea So the Assyrians laid the Foundation for the Chaldeans they set up the Towers thereof they raised up the Palaces thereof Isa. 23. 13. And this Relapse or Reduction of the Assyrian Government to the Babylonians is again foretold in Ezek. 31. 11 12 c. I have deliver'd him into the Hand of the mighty One of the Heathens he shall surely deal with him King Nebuchadnezzar is that El gojim that God of the Nations for so 't is in the Hebrew who made them all bow down to him and worshi him and he more especially made the Assyrians truckle to his Greatness and Soveraignty This is very carefully to be heeded because it gives Light to the whole History both Sacred and Prophane which relates the Affairs of those Kingdoms The want of attending to this is the reason why several that have writ of these things have egregiously blundred confounding one part of the Empire with another making no difference between Babylonians and Assyrians and thereby rendring all a mere Babel a Confusion But we are directed by what the Sacred History suggests to distinguish between the two neighbouring Dynasties of Assyria and Chaldea which alternately made up the First Monarchy Sometimes the Babylonian Princes bore sway and were Heads of the Empire at other times those of the Assyrian Race climb'd to this Honour Babylon and Nineveh were the two Royal Seats belonging to each when the Chaldean Kings prevail'd then the former was their Place of residence when the Assyrian Monarchs bare Rule the latter was the Place where they kept their Court. The brief Scheme of the Successions is this At first all Assyria was subject to Babylon or Chaldea next the Babylonian Power gave way to the Assyrian after this the Assyrians lost the Monarchy it coming again to the Chaldeans yet so that the Empire was then divided for the Medes had a Part though the greatest Share went to the Babylonians Where by the way we may observe that that which is call'd and reputed the First Monarchy may as well be said to be the Third it may be counted Two at least And thence it will follow that that which is vulgarly call'd the 2d Monarchy was the 3d or 4th for before the Persian Monarchy there was the Babylonian Assyrian and Median Here if the Reader would pardon the Digression it might be further prov'd that the common Division of the Monarchies into four and no more is imperfect and groundless for there were several other Entire Dynasties or Kingdoms in the time of the Assyrian Monarchs there were the Kingdoms of the Old Germans Egyptians Argives Athenians Lacedemonians Tyrians Romans Jews So the Greek Monarchy which is reckon'd the Third was divided into four Kingdoms Likewise with the Roman Emperours were contemporary the Greek Emperours in the East Besides if we should come down lower it would appear that Mabomet's Dove hath been as wonderful in the World as the Roman Eagle the Turkish Monarchy hath grasped more than the Roman and might challenge to be numbred among the most Celebrated Monarchies For these reasons I am apt to be of Bodinus's Mind that we ought to reckon more Monarchies than Four But I will not now contend especially because it is likely the Interpretation of those Dreams and Visions in Daniel concerning the Four Beasts and the Four Metals gave the first Occasion to this number of Four Monarchies and no more To return then to our former Matter viz. The Difference which the Old Testament directs us to take notice of between the Assyrian and Chaldean Empires which some have so shuffled together that they cannot distinctly be discern'd These Inspired Writings let us know that the First Captivity of the Jews was under the former the Second under the latter that the Kings of Assyria were those properly who reign'd in Nineve and that strictly speaking the Kings of Babylon were those that resided at Babylon though 't is true by reason of the Vicissitude of the Government of the Assyrians and Chaldeans these are sometimes call'd the Kings of Assyria and the King of Babylon and of Assyria is the same It is from the Scripture-Records that we are informed that Nebuchadnezzar in the eighth Year of his Reign transported Iehoiakin the King and other of the Jews to Babylon and that in his eighteenth Year he utterly destroyed Ierusalem and carried away Captive Zedekiah and the greatest Part of the Jews from which time are to be numbred the Seventy Years of the Babylonian Captivity This was Nebuchadnezzar the Great he who brought that Monarchy to its highest Pitch insomuch that some have reckon'd him the First Absolute Monarch Many other remarkable Passages relating to the whole Series of this Government and those that presided in it from first to last are set down in the Holy Writ Several of the very individual Persons who were the Chief Monarchs of this first and antientest Empire are here particularly mention'd with the considerable Actions and Events appertaining to them as Pul 2 Kings 15. 19. Tiglath-Pileser 1 Chron. 5. 26. Salmanassar 2 Kings 17. 3. Hos. 10. 14. Senacherib 2 Kings 18. 3. Esarhaddon 2 Kings 19. 37. Merodach-Baladan 2 Kings 20. 20. Isa. 39. 1. Nebuchadnezzar
a Consequent of them the many Disappointments and Crosses he met with the various Judgments and Plagues which were inflicted on him and his People by God The Books of the Kings are the History of the Kingdoms of Israel and Iudah under the Reigns of their several Kings The first contains the latter Part of the Life of David and his Death the Glory and Prosperity of that Nation under Solomon who succeeded him his erecting and consecrating of the Temple at Ierusalem his scandalous Defection from the true Religion the sudden Decay of the Jewish Nation after his Death when it was divided into two Kingdoms under Rehoboam who reign'd over the two Tribes of Iudah and Benjamin and under Ieroboam who was King over the other ten Tribes that revolted from the House of David The rest of it is spent in relating the Acts of four Kings of Iudah and eight of Israel The second Book which is a Continuation of the History of the Kings is a Relation of the Memorable Acts of sixteen Kings of Iudah and twelve of Israel and the End of both Kingdoms by the carrying of the Ten Tribes Captive into Assyria by Salmanasser and the other two into Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar the just Rewards of that People's Idolatry and Impenitency after so many Favours shew'd to them This and the former Book together comprehend the History of about four hundred Years The Chronicles or Iournals according to the Hebrew are the filling up of those Parts of the History which are omitted in the Books of the Kings And though we know not which of these Histories viz. of the Kings or the Chronicles I speak as to the main Body of the Books not one particular Passage as that in the Close of the Second Book of Chronicles where mention is made of the Deliverance of the Iews by Cyrus which might be added afterwards were written first for the Book of Kings refers to the Book of Chronicles and this again sends the Reader to that yet this we see that this of the Chronicles is more full and ample sometimes than that of the Kings what was left out or not so fully set down in the one is supplied in the other And thence these Books are call'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. Remains Supplements Additions by the Greek Interpreters The first Book of Chronicles relates the Rise and Propagation of the People of Israel from Adam which is the entire Subject of the first Nine Chapters which consist wholly of Genealogies and then afterwards most punctually and accurately gives an Account of the Reign of David The second Book as faithfully sets down the Progress and End of the Kingdom of Iudah even to the Year of their return from the Captivity in Babylon These Books of Chronicles together with those of the Kings and Samuel make up the Best and Choicest History in the World Here we are abundantly furnish'd with such Useful Notices Truths and Maxims as these all confirmed by Noted and Illustrious Examples and such Instances as are Certain and Unquestionable Crowned Heads are encircled with Cares and seldom find rest and repose though their Lives are more Splendid yet they are not less Calamitous than those of the Common People Good Kings are rare and the Number of them is inconsiderable in comparison of those that are Bad. The best Kings have their Faults and some of them of a very scandalous Nature There is little Piety in Princes Courts and as little Integrity and Honesty The People are easily induced to follow the Examples of their Governours and Religion and Manners too often vary according to the Wills of Superiours Good Kings are the greatest Blessing and Wicked Ones are the greatest Curse to a Nation Princes mistake their Measures when they either disobey God or oppress their People Tyrannical Princes procure their own Ruine The Sins and Vices of Rulers prove fatal to their Subjects Publick Enormities are punish'd with Publick and National Calamities Kings may be known by the Ministers they choose and make use of Those Counsels that are founded in Religion are most successful Evil Counsellours contrive their own Destruction Wars are the Effect and Consequence of fighting against God The Success of Arms depends upon the Divine Blessing The Church is never more shock'd than under Bad Princes Religion and Reformation are never effectually promoted unless the Great Ones have a Hand in them Divisions and Rents about Religion have immediate influence on Secular Affairs and when the Church is divided the State is so too The Revolutions in both are by the particular Disposal of the Wise Over-ruler of the World True Religion and Godliness are attended with Earthly Rewards and Blessings and the contrary bring down the greatest Plagues even in this World The worst Times afford some of the Best and most Holy Religious and Zealous Men. Whatever Changes and Revolutions happen in the Kingdoms of the Earth the Church of God remains secure Though there are great and frequent Defections yet there never is a total Extinction of it In a Word the Church is impregnable this Rock is immoveable And many other Propositions and Maxims of the like Nature which are of great Service in the Life of Man are to be deduced from these Excellent Histories Ezra is a Continuation of the aforesaid Book of Chronicles and compriseth the History of the Jews from the time that Cyrus made the Edict for their Return until the twentieth Year of Artaxerxes Longimanus which was about a hundred Years For the Jews return from Babylon was at two several Times viz. first in the Days of Cyrus the first Perâ—â—an Monarch under the Conduct of Zerubbabel their Captain and Ieshua their High Priest Here are recorded the Number of those that returned Cyrus's Proclamation for the rebuilding of the Temple the Laying of the Foundations of it the Retarding of the Work under the Reign of two of the Kings of Persia at last the Finishing of the Temple in Darius's Reign The second Return of the Jews was in the Reign of Artaxerxes under the Conduct of Ezra a Priest who had been a Courtier in the Persian Court and was sent into Iudea by Artaxerxes in the seventh Year of his Reign which was above eighty Years after the first Return in Cyrus's Time to expedite the Building of Ierusalem This Pious Reformer observing the Peoples 〈◊〉 with Strangers and Inâ—idels and their joining themselves to them in Marriage proclaim'd a â—olemn Fast and Pray'd and Mourn'd and Lamented their gross Miscarriages and with great Earnestness and Zeal exhorted them to Reformation and Amendment of their Ways that they might thereby avert God's Wrath and conciliate his Favour and Pardon This is that Ezra who was the Penman of this Book and who was also a Restorer of the Sacred Books of the Old Testament and collected and methodized them into certain Order and reviewed the Copies and amended all Errata's that were contracted in the time of the Captivity Nehemiah who
true and proper import of it I cannot find the certain meaning of it saith Avâ—narius though I have consulted all the Comments of the Rabbies The Chaldee Paraphrast renders it perpetuò semper and so several Rabbins expound it but can assign no sufficient reason for it Some take it for a Musical Note of no signiâ—icancy in it self but a meer made Word to direct the Masters of Musick in singing or playing But then there is some difference among those of this Opinion For some of the Hebrew Writers think it denotes the Elevation of the Voice and that where-ever this Word is in the Psalms the Choristers were put in mind to lift up their Voices Others of them believe it is a Note to signify a Pause a Resting or Breathing for a time And accordingly some of the Jewish Doctors say that they were admonish'd by this Word to begin another Sentence or Period But another Classis of Interpreters look upon this Word not as a Note of Musick but of Observation or Remark and are perswaded that it is affix'd to some Sentences that are very Notable and more especially worthy of our consideration In my mind R. Kimâ—hi is in the right who joins this and the former Expositions of the Word togethere telling us that Selah is both a Musical Note and a Note of Emphasis in the Sense whereby we are bid to observe something more than usually remarkable It is derived from sal or salal exaltavit and denotes the elevating of the Voice in singing and at the same time the lifting up of the Heart the serious considering and meditating upon the thing that is spoken It is an Argument to me that this was of use in Musick and Singing because it is rendred 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by the Greek Interpreters and which is more considerable because we meet with it in the Psalms only and in Haâ—akkuk chap. 3. v. 3 9 13. which Chapter is a kind of Psalm or Canticle as you 'l see in the Title of it And that it is also a Mark of Observation and Meditation may be gather'd from its being join'd in Psal. 9. 16. with Higgaion which signifies Meditation for the Word is from Hagah meditatus fuit And though in some Places Selah seems to be used where there is â—o Emphatick Word or Sense yet we ought to consider that this must be referr'd and applied not only to the immediately preceding Word or Verse but to the whole Set of Verses or Periods about which it is placed If we thus apply it we shall see that it is used to good purpose viz. to point out to us something very Observable and Notable It calls upon us to revolve in our Minds with great Seriousness the Matter that is before us and to give Glory to God and to this purpose it may be observ'd that Selah in Psal. 46. 11. is rendred by the Seventy Interpreters 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But it is the Excellent and Noble Matter which most of all commends these Divine Poems Some of them are Historical giving an Account of God's wonderful Dispensations in the foregoing Ages of the World especially towards the Iewish People in their first Election out of the rest of the World their Condition in Egypt in the Wilderness in Câ—naan with a Rehearsal of the particular Mercies and Judgments shew'd towards them Other Psalms are Didactick fraught with most wholesom and useful Doctrine with most solid and necessary Instruction What is there saith Basil the Great that we are not taught here Are we not instructed here concerning all Moral Vertues the Magnificence of Fortitude the Exactness of Justice the Gravity of Temperance the Perfection of Prudence Are we not iâ—form'd hence concerning the manner of Repentance the measure of Patience and whatever other good and vertuous things we can name Here is the Treasure of compleat Theology here is the common Store-house of all good Documents Other Psalms are Prophetical foreshewing the great and astonishing things which have happen'd since in the World as the Coming of the Messias in the Flesh his Sufferings Death Resurrection Ascension and most of the considerable Circumstances appertaining to these the Rejection of the Jewish Nation the Conversion of the Gentiles the Wonderful Propagation of the Gospel and the Success of Christ's Kingdom upon Earth Again some of these Psalms are Petitory begging with the highest Zeal and Devotion those things which are the proper Object of our Prayers and thereby teaching us what we ought to implore of Heaven and in what manner we should put up our Addresses Others are Eucharistical wherein the Psalmist discovers the Grateful Resentments of his Mind by an open Recognition of the Divine Bounty to him and by sending up continual Praises unto the Author of all those Favours and Blessings daily heaped upon him at the same time teaching us to pay the like Tribute of Devotion to the same Bountiful Hand and to take all Occasions as he doth of testifying our Thankful Sense of the Divine Goodness Of this sort more especially is the 113th Psalm with the five following ones which are call'd by the Jews the Great Hallelujah or rather as Buxtorf saith the Great Hymn which they used at their three Chief Feasts especially at the Passover This it is probable is meant by the Hymn Mat. 26. 30. which Christ with his Apoâ—tles sung after their eating of the Paschal Lamb. Some are Hortatory with singular Earnestness inviting the World to acknowledg and obey the Lord of Heaven and Earth pathetically calling upon wicked Men to abandon their sinful Ways and to repent and turn unto God with a more special Love and Tenderness beseeching the Servants of the most High to fear and reverence his Name to trust at all times in him and to be obedient unto his holy Laws and Statutes Others are Consolatory administring Peace and Joy to all that are upright in Heart and Life breathing nothing but Heavenly Solace and Satisfaction to distressed Minds such as never came from any Mouth but what was Inspired Some of them are Penitential besides those Seven which are usually stiled so wherein the Holy Man with infinite Sorrow and Remorse of Soul declares his Abhorrence of his former Sins and his firm Resolves and Purposes of relinquishing them for the future Lastly some of the Psalms are of a Mixt Nature comprehending several of the foremention'd Heads in them so that there is no Book of Devotion extant in the World that is made up of such Variety of Matter as this is and therefore is not only the more delightful and entertaining but is also the more useful and advantageous the more sutable to the various Conditions and Occasions of Mankind the more fitted for the several Purposes of the Devout the more serviceable to all the great Ends of Religion and Godliness For this and many other Reasons I may conclude that there is not such another Excellent Collection of Devotions under Heaven
St. Ierom Ambrose Hilary Cyril Let us then forget his Faults when we study his Books wherein it is certain there are no Errata's he being an Interpreter of the Holy Ghost unto us and when he utter'd these things being a Friend and Favourite of God But suppose we knew certainly which we do not and cannot but have sufficient ground for the contrary that he was at last cast off yet I do not see how this doth necessarily invalidate his Writings God might if he pleas'd make use of a Bad Man to pen some Part of the Bible as he thought fit to call Iudas to the Apostleship and to be an Eminent Preacher of the Gospel Therefore though we should grant that Solomon was an Apostate yet this is no direct Argument against the Validity and Authority of his Writings But there being such great Probability not to say Reasons on the other side we need not fly to this Answer but on good ground perswade our selves that Solomon who was once 〈◊〉 with Sacred Wisdom never loâ—t it wholly and consequently that we ought not to be prejudiced against what he hath writ by reason of his gross Fallings and Miscarriages Next we are to speak of the Books of the Prophets Of those who propheâ—â—ed after the Diviâ—ion of the ten Tribes from the other two but before the Captivity of either Isaiah is the first and most eminent He was of the Blood Royal his Father Amoz being Brother to Azariah King of Iudâ—â— He was an old Prophet having been in that Employment under four Kings of Iudah as he tells us himself and all this time which was about threescore Years he faithfully discharged the Part of a True Prophet in an impartial reproving of the Vices and Disorders of the Age he lived in 〈◊〉 a free and open displaying the Judgments of God which were impendent on that Nation yet not forgetting to threaten and denounce Vengeance on those Foreign and Strange People who were instrumental in inâ—â—â—cting these Judgments and who for their crying Enormities deserv'd to be destroy'd viz. Aslyrians Egyptians Ethiopians Moabites Edomites Tyrians Arabians in a most Pathetick Exhortation to Repentance and in setting before them the Promises of Mercy and Dâ—liverance This last especially he is most famous for clearly foretelling the Deliverance of the Jews from their Captivity in Babylon by the Hand of Cyrus King of Persia and this he expresly mention'd an hundred Years before it came to pass But his Predictions concerning the Messias are the most remarkable of all He in plain Terms â—oretels not only the Coming of Christ in the Flesh but all the Great and Memorable Passages which belonged to him He speaks as clearly and distinctly of these as if our Saviour had blessed the World with his Presence at that very time when he wrote his Prophecy He seems to speak saith St. Ierom rather of things past than to come and he may be call'd an Evangelist rather than â— Prophet Which is the Reason without doubt of the so frequent Citations which are made of this Book in the New Testament for you may observe that Christ himself his Evangelists and Apostles have quoted about threescore Places out of it Iâ— reading of this Book then we read the Gospel it self we antedate the New Testament by the Writings of this Evangelical Prophet I have intimated before that he is the most Eloquent of all the Prophets He was the Hebrew Demosthenes as Grotius rightly stiles him the Purity of Hebraism is to be seen in him as in the other that of Atticism He useth many Schemes and Figures but none is more remarkable than that for which that Athenian Orator was so applauded saith Quintilian his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his Excellent Art of adding Gravity Force and Vehemence to what he saith he continually Exaggerates and Amplifies the Matter which he undertakes He had above other Prophets an Advantage of improving his Stile by reason of his Noble Descent and conversing with Men of great Parts and Elocution But the maiâ— thing wherein he excels the rest of the Prophets is this that he saith more of our Lord Christ than all of them put together This is his Pecâ—liar Excellency that he makes so early a Discovery of the Advent of our Blessed Lord and of the Great Mysteries of the Gospel Ieremiah was another Antient Prophet he beginning to prophesy in the thirteenth Year of King Iosiah and continuing in that sacred Employment till the last Year of King Zedekiah He saw the Captivity of the Kingdom of Samaria and after that the total Destruction of the Kingdom of Iudah and of the Temple Part of this famous Prophecy yea most of it was after the Captivity of Israel and before that of Iudah from chap. 1. to ch 44. and part of it was in the time of the latter Captivity this Prophet being not carried captive with the other Jews but remaining in Iudea and afterwards carried into Egypt from chap. 44 to the end In the whole are comprized many things of great Worth and Moment for here wefind this Divine Prophet laying open the Sins of the Kingdom of Iudah with an unparallell'd Freedom and Boldness and reminding them of the Severe Judgments which had befallen the ten Tribes for the very same Offences and Miscarriages Here this Weeping Prophet this Iewish Heraclitus most passionately laments the miserable Condition which they were plunging themselves into and withal directs them how to prevent it namely by a speedy reforming of their Lives But at last he more peremptorily proclaims God's Wrath and Vengeance against them foreseeing and foretelling the Grievous Calamities which were approaching particularly the Seventy Years Captivity in Chaldaea which began as some think with the carrying away of those of Iudah He also disswades them from breaking Faith with the Chaldeans after they were conquered by them and sheweth how unsuccessful thâ—y should be in their revolting from them to the Egyptians But even then he foretels their happy Return and Deliverance and likewise the Just Recompence which Babylon Moab the Philistines and other Enemies of the Church should meet with in due time Here are also several Intimations concerning Christ the Blessed Messias and Redeemer and concerning his Kingdom and Government in the times of the Gospel Here are many Remarkable Visions and Types wherein are represented things of the highest Nature And lastly here are sundry Historical Passages of considerable Moment which relate to those times So that the whole Book is of Inestimable Worth and such as is not to be found any where but in the Sacred Volume His Lamentations which are in Hebrew Verse and are so contrived that in the four first Chapters every Verse excepting one begins with a Hebrew Letter in the Alphabetick Order were written on the Death of that Religious Prince Iosiah which appears from what is recorded in a Chron. 35. 25. Jeremiah lamented for Josiah and all the singing Men and
in that Country become as 't were a Chaldean and moreover he thought fit to write â— the Chaldean Language because he relates those â—â—ings here which are proper to the Kings of Babyâ—â—â— and the Affairs of that Place which could not 〈◊〉 better express'd than in this Tongue The Twelve Lesser Prophets so call'd because â—heir Writings are of a Smaller Bulk are accounted by the Jews as One Book and accordingly St. Stephen quoting a Passage out of Amos saith It is written in the Book of the Prophets Amos 7. 42. The First of these Holy Seers was Hosea who flourished in the Kingdom of Israel in the Days of Vzziah Iotham Ahaz and Hezekiah Kings of Iudah and of Iaroboam King of Israel so that he was Contemporary with Isaiah as appears from the first Verses of both Prophecies He directs his Prophecy wholly against the Kingdom of Israel which consisted of the Ten Tribes but is by him peculiarly stiled sometimes Ioseph sometimes Ephraim at other times Samaria Bethel Iacob and Israel as on the other hand the Kingdom of Iudah is call'd by him Benjamin and sometimes Ierusalem His main Design and Business through the whole Book is to set forth the gross Idolatry and other flagitious Practices of that degenerate People and to denounce the Judgments of God against them and particularly to foretel their Captivity in Assyria and withal to excite them to a due Apprehension of this Severity of God towards them and thereby to beget an unfeigned Remorse and Penitence in them that they may obtain the Pardon of their Sins and partake of the Divine Mercy and Favour All which is done with a most ravishing Ardency Affection and Zeal As to the Stilâ— indeed it may be observ'd that as Ezekiel was the Obscurest of the Greater Prophets so Hosea is of these Minour ones but this Obscurity and Difficulty are countervailed by that Rich Treasure which are hid under them and which will prove an Ample Reward to those who search into it and acquaint themselves with the transcendent Excellency both of the Stile and Matter of this Writer Ioel prophesied in the Kingdom of Iudah before the time of the Captivity though the particular Time is not as in most of the other Prophets mentioned But 't is probable he prophesied at the same time with Hosea who is set immediately before him So St. Ierom Theodoret Augustine and other Fathers think He foretelleth the coming up of a Northern Army viz. from Babylon which is North of Iudea Though some interpret it of an Army of Locusts and Caterpillars and other such mischievous and devouring Insects mentioned ch 1. v. 4 c. and consequently the Prophet predicteth the horrid Devastation Dearth and Famine in Iudea which should be caused by them I am for joining both these Interpretations together for I see it is the usual way of the Holy Ghost in the Scriptures especially the Prophetick ones to express two different Things and Occurrences by the same Words Here is then a double Army spoken of viz. that of the Chaldeans which in a short time afterwards invaded Iudea and laid it waste and also that of Noxious Vermin which was to be sent as a just Penalty and Infliction for their Abuse of the Fruits of the Earth and the great Plenty which they had enjoy'd Whereupon he most warmly stirs them up to Repentance and to that Purpose enjoineth a Fast and urgeth them to a strict Observance of it from the Hopes of Mâ—rcy and Forgiveness and the Removal of all those Iudgments which they labour under yea from the Expectation or rather the Assurance of a Blessing upon the whole Church This is briefly but most admirably set forth by this Man of God And as it refers to that direful Judgment of Famine and Destroying the Fruits of the Earth it may be made use of as a Seasonable Form and Rule of Devotion and Behaviour in the time of such a Calamity Amos who in his Youth had been a Herdsman in Tekoa a little Country-Town a Mile and a half off of Ierusalem is now sent to the Kine of Bashan the People of Samaria the Kingdom of Israel to reduce them to Repentance and Reformation of Life To which end he boldly remonstrates against the Crying Sins which were visible among them but especially against Idolatry Oppression Wantonness and Incorrigibleness He spares not those of Iudah but frankly reproves them for their Carnal Security Sensuality Injustice Confident Boasting And he scares both of them with frequent Threatnings and Menaces and is not afraid to tell them that their persisting in their Sins will end at last in the Ruine of the Kingdoms of Iudah and Israel which he confirms and illustrates by the Visions of a Plumb-line and of a Basket of Summer-Fruit It is further observable in this Prophecy that as it begins with Denuntiations of Judgment and Destruction against the Syrians the Philistines the Tyrians and other Enemies of the Church so it concludes with comfortable Promises of restoring the Tabernacle of David and erecting the Kingdom of Christ. He prophesied in the Days of Vzziah King of Iudah and Ieroboam the Son of Ioash to distinguish him from the other of that Name who was Son of Nebat so that he flourish'd at the same time with Hosea and Ioel. But there is some Difference as to the time for 't is added two Years before the Earthquake v. 1. that is towards the latter End of King Vzziah's Reign Obadiah's Prophecy is contain'd in one single Chapter and is partly a Divine Invective against the merciless Edomites who mocked and derided the Captive Israelites as they passed to Babylon and who with other Enemies their Confederates invaded and wronged these poor Strangers and made a great Ravage and divided the Spoil among them and it is partly a Prediction of the Deliverance and Salvation of Israel and of the Victory and Triumph of the whole Church over all her Enemies Some think this Obadiah was he that was King Ahab's Steward who hid the Prophets then 't is certain he was before these Other Prophets But there is no Foundation for this We may rather adhere to St. Ierom's Opinion who goes upon this Rule that when the time of the Prophecy is not mention'd it is to be referr'd to the same time that the preceding Prophecy was writ in Ionah's Prophecy was directed to the Ninevites as Obadiah's to the Edomites and relates how that Prophet being commanded by God to go to Nineveh but disobediently travelling another way was discover'd by a sudden Tempest arising and was cast into the Sea and swallowed by a Whale which after it had lodged him three Nights and three Days in its Belly disgorged him upon the dry Land Whereupon being made sensible of his past Danger and of his Miraculous Deliverance from it he betook himself to that Journey and Embassy which were first appointed him and arriving at that Great City the Metropolis of all Assyria he according to