And when hee had gathered all the chiefe Priests and Scriber of the people together be demanded of them where Christ should be borne 5 They said unto him in Bethlehem of Judea For thus is it written by the Prophet 6 And thou Bethlehem in the Land of Juda art not the least among the Princes of Juda for out of thee shall come a Governour that shall rule my people Israel 7 Then Herod when he had privily called the Wisemen enquired dililigently of them what time the Starre appeared 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said Go and search diligently for the young child and when ye have found him bring me word againe that I may come and worship him also 9 When they had heard the King they departed and loe the Starre which they saw in the East went before them till it came and stood over where the young child was 10 When they saw the Starre they rejoyced with exceeding great joy 11 And when they were come into the house they saw the young child with Mary his Mother and fell downe and worshipped him and when they had opened their treasures they presented unto him gifts Gold and Frankincense and Myrrhe 12 And being warned of God in a dreame that they should not returne to Herod they departed into their owne Countrey another way 13 And when they were departed behold the Angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dreame saying Arise and take the young child and his mother and flee into Egypt and bee thou there untill I bring thee word for Herod will seeke the young child to destroy him 14 When hee arose he tooke the young child and his mother by night and departed into Egypt 15 And was there untill the death of Herod that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the Prophet saying Out of Egypt have I called my Son 16 Then Herod when he saw that hee was mocked of the Wisemen was exceeding wroth and sent forth and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem and in all the Coasts thereof from two yeeres old and under according to the time which hee had diligently inquired of the Wisemen 17 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremie the Prophet saying 18 In Rama was there a voice heard lamentation and weeping and great mourning Rahel mourning for her children and would not be comforted because they are not 19 But when Herod was dead behold an Angel of the Lord appeareth in a dreame to Joseph in Egypt 20 Saying Arise and take the young child and his mother and goe into the Land of Israel for they are dead which sought the young childs life 21 And hee arose and tooke the young child and his mother and came into the Land of Israel 22 But when hee heard that Archelaus did Reigne in Judea in the roome of his Father Herod he was afraid to goe thither notwithstanding being warned of God in a dreame hee turned aside into the parts of Galilee 23 And hee came and dwelt in a City called Nazareth that it might bee fulfilled which was spoken by the Prophets Hee shall bee called a Nazarite Reason of the Order TO confirme and prove the Order of this Section and Story requireth some labour because of an opinion ancient and current among men that crosseth the laying of it in this place It hath been generally held and beleeved almost of every one that the Wisemen came to Christ when hee was but thirteene dayes old and it is written in red Letters in the Kalendar as if it were a golden truth by the title of Epiphany at the sixth of January An opinion which if it were as true as it is common it were readily knowne where to place this Story of the Wisemens comming namely between the Circumcision of our Saviour and his Presentation in the Temple betwixt Ver. 2. and 22. of Luke 2. But upon serious and impartiall examination of this opinion these rubs and unlikelyhoods lie in the way and make it as incredible for the improbability as it seemeth venerable for its antiquity First to omit the length of their journey from their owne Countrey to Bethlehem their preparation for so long a journey before they set out and their stay at Jerusalem by the way for I cannot thinke that all that passed there while they were there was done in an instant Secondly how utterly improbable is it that after all this hubbub at Jerusalem upon the wisemens question where is the King of the Jewes And after Herods curious scrutiny and inquiry where the child should bee and after his implacable indignation upon the Wisemens deluding or mocking of him as hee did conceive that the child that hee had thus eagerly hunted after should after all this stirring and searching come to Jerusalem as it were into his very mouth and there be publikely proclaimed by Simeon Anâ—â— in the Temple to bee the very same that the Wisemen and Herod though with different intentions looked after For first it is to bee observed that it was seven and twenty dayes from the time that this opinion bringeth the wisemen to Bethlehem to the time that Joseph and Mary brought Jesus to the Temple now it is not imaginable but that in all this time Joseph that was but at so few miles distance should heare what was done at Jerusalem upon the Wisemens comming thither if so bee they told him not themselves and how Herod tooke the matter when he missed of their unexpected returne Secondly for ought that can bee found in the text to the contrary it may bee well supposed that they had their divine warning not to returne againe to Herod while they were at Bethlehem and Joseph might well be acquainted by them with it Thirdly it is not to bee doubted but they had dispatched what they did at Bethlehem in farre lesse time then seven and twenty dayes and surely of all men they will not deny this that will bring them out either of Arabia or Persia to Bethlehem in halfe the time And as little to bee doubted that Herod in the compasse of so much time saw the disappointment of his expectation of the Wisemens returne and breaketh out into choler against the poor Infants of Bethlehem Fourthly now all these things being laid together how senselesse a thing will it be to make Joseph to bring the child for whom all this businesse was under the Tyrants nose Fifthly or if Joseph did not know of all these things which is almost impossible yet how is it imaginable that Christ should have escaped the Tyrant being at Jerusalem and so publikely acknowledged and spoken of It is true indeed that he might have been sheltered by the divine power but wee see by his flight into Egypt that it was not the will of God to use that miraculous means of his preservation as yet but another Thirdly and which is the reason that hath moved mee to lay
another In which course some considerable scruples will arise before the Student as hee goeth along which unlesse hee see and resolve hee will never be able to make the account right and which unlesse hee frame to himself such a Chronicall table as is mentioned hee will never see nor find out Hee will by the very Table as hee goeth along see that sometimes the yeeres are reckoned compleat as Reboboams seventeen are counted 1 Kings 15. 1. Sometimes current as Ahijams three 1 Kings 15. 1 2 9. and Elahs two 1 Kings 16. 8. But this will breed no difficulty since it is ordinary in Scripture thus variously to compute and since the drawing of his Table wil every where shew him readily this variety But these things will hee find of more obscurity and challenging more serious study and consideration First it is said that Jeroboam reigned two and twenty yeeres ' 1. Kings 14. 20. and Nadab his Sonne two yeeres chap. 15. 25. yet that Nadab began to reigne in the second yeere of Asa which was in the one and twentieth yeere of Jeroboam and so Nadabs two yeeres fall within the summe of his fathers two and twenty Now the reason of this accounting is this It is said in 2 Chron. 13. 20. that the Lord stroke Jeroboam and he died that is with some ill and languishing disease that he could not administer nor rule the Kingdome therefore was hee forced to substitute his Sonne Nadab in his life time and in one and the same yeer both Father and Son died Secondly it is said that Baasha began to reigne in the third yeere of Asa 1 King 13. 28. and reigned foure and twenty yeeres ver 33. then it followeth that he died in the six and twentyeth yeere of Asa as the text reckoneth the yeeres current 1 King 16. 8. And yet in the fix and thirtieth yeere of Asa Baasha came up and made war against Judah 2 Chron. 16. 1. So that this warre will seeme to bee made by â—im nine or ten yeeres after hee is dead But the resolution of this from the originall is easie For that text in the Chronicles meaneth not that Baasha made warre against Judah in the six and thirtieth yeere of Asaes reigne but in the six and thirtieth yeere of Asaes kingdome that is six and thirty yeeres from the division of the Tribes under Rehoboam For Reâ—oboam reigned seventeen yeeres Abijam his son three yeeres and in the sixteenth yeere of Asa was this warre made thirty six yeeres in all from the first division The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 therefore should there be rendred the Kingdom and not the Reign and the thing were cleare Now the text dateth this warre not from the time of Asaes reigne but from the time of the division of the Tribes because that though they were divided hitherto in regard of their Kings yet not totally in regard of their converse and affection for some of the revolted ones affected still the house of David but Baasha to make the division sure buildeth Ramah that none might goe in or out to Asa King of Judah and this was as a second division and therefore the Text reckoneth from the first Thirdly it is said 1 King 16. 23. that in the one and thirtieth yeere of Asa King of Judah began Omri to reigne over Israel twelve yeers six yeeres reigned bee in Tirzah And yet in verse 29. it is said that In the eight and thirtyeth yeere of Asa began Ahab thâ— sonne of Omri to reigne Now how can there possibly be twelve yeeres reigne betwixt Asaes thirty first and thirty eight Answer Omri began to reigne as soon as ever he had slaine Zimri which was in the twenty seventh of Asa but he was not sole and entire King till his thirty first For Tibni his competitor and corrivall for the Crowne held him in agitation and warres till Asaes thirty first And then was he overcome and Omri acknowledged absolute King by Tibnies souldiers and so from thence forward he reigned sole King in Tirzah But yet the doubt remaineth how Omri beginning his monarchy in the thirty first of Asa and ending it in his thirty eight can bee said to have reigned but six yeeres whereas it was eight current Answer The six compleat yeeres only are reckoned for the thirty first of Asa was even ending when Tibni was conquered and the thirty eight but newly begun when Omri died Such another kind of reckoning may be observed in casting up the age of Abraham and Ismael at their Circumcision compared with the age of Abraham at Ismaels death Fourthly the beginning of the reigne of Joram the sonne of Jehoshaphat hath three dates The first in the seventeenth yeere of Jehoshaphat his father compare 2 Kings 22. 51. and 2 King 1. 17. and 2 King 3. 1. The second in the fifth yeere of Joram the son of Ahab 2 King 8 16. This was the in the two and twentyeth yeere of his father Jehoshaphat And the third at his father Jehoshaphats death 2 Chron. 21. 1. Now the resolution of this Ambiguity is thus The first time hee was made Viceroy when his father went out of the Land for the recovery of Ramoth Gilead and because Ahab the King of Israel went with him Ahaziah his Son is made Viceroy in that Kingdome also The second time hee was Viceroy again in his Father Jehoshaphats absence upon his voyage into Moah with Jehoram 2 Kings 3. and from this time doth the Text date the fixed beginning of his reign as is plain â— Kings 8. 17. 2 Chron. 21. 20. For Jehoshaphat after this â—â—me was little at home but abroad either in his own Land peraâ—bulating it to reduce the people to true Religion or in Moah to reduce that to subjection 2 Chron. 19. 20. Fifthly but a greater doubt meeteth you by farre when you come to cast up the times of his son Ahaziah For whereas Joram was thirty and two yeeres old when hee began to reigne and reigned eight yeeres in Jerusalem 2 King 6. 17. 2 Chron. 21. 20. and so died when hee was forty yeeres old and instantly the inhabitants of Jerusalem set Ahaziah upon his throne who was his youngest Son yet was this Ahaziah forty two yeeres old when hee began to reigne 2 Chron. 22. 1. and so will prove to be two yeeres older then his father Answer The booke of Chronicles in this place meaneth not that Ahaziah was so old when hee began to reigne for the book of Kings telleth plainly that he was but two and twenty 2 King 8. 26. but these two forty yeers have relation to another thing namly to the kingdom of the house of Omri and not to the age of Ahaziah For count from the beginning of the reign of Omri and you find Ahaziah to enter his reign in the two and fortieth yeer from thence as he wil readily see that shall make such a Chronicall Table as is mentioned The Originall words therefore Ben arbaguim ushethajim shanaâ—
Dion differing from Josephus and Eusebius from them both For whereas Josephus hath related that the sacking of Jerusalem by Socius and the death of Antigonus were under the Consulship of M. Agrippa and Canidius or Caninius Gallus which was Anno urbis conditae 717. Dion in his Romane History lib. 49. hath placed the crucifying of Antigonus and the making of Herod King by Antony under the Consulship of Claudius and Norbanus which was Anno V. C. 716. or a yeer before And Eusebius hath still laid Herods beginning a yeere or two after Baronius hath found out a date different from all these namely that Herods yeeres of his Reigne are to bee begun from the time that hee received his Crowne from the hands of Augustus after his Victory of Antony at the battell at Actium Caesar being then in Rhodes of which story Josephus maketh mention Antiq. lib. 15. cap. 10. Augustus being then a third time Consull and Valerius Messalla Corvinus his partner By which account 't will follow that our Saviour was borne in the nine and twentieth yeere of Herods Reigne and that Herod lived till hee was about nine yeeres old Which opinion though it best suiteth to the salving of other passages of Josephus in Chronologie about this time yet it seemeth to bee something too corrasive an application and a remedy very harsh upon these respects First Because by this account of his both about the wisemens comming and Herods death hee will have Christ to bee nine yeers in Egypt or thereabout or according to our reckoning seven yeers or little under Now in his banishment from his owne Country the meanes of his Parents and of his owne subsistence in a foraine Land for so long a time is so hard to imagine that it will breed another and no lesse a scruple then that in hand Secondly the transition of S. Luke from his presenting in the Temple to his comming into Nazareth will seem a great deale the more harsh if eight or nine yeeres are to bee taken in betweene especially with such as Baronius himselfe who will have nothing to come betweene at all Thirdly by this opinion must our Saviour bee nineteen yeers old and more at the death of Augustus and then how could hee bee but beginning to bee thirty in the fifteenth of Tiberius Luk 3. For suppose with the Cardinall that hee was nine yeers old at the death of Herod then was hee nineteen at the banishment of Archelaus who reigned ten yeers as appeareth by Josephus Antiq. lib. 17. cap. 15. After Archelaus was removed from his kingdome the same Josephus nameth Cyrenius and Coponius as rulers and disposers of Judea for a season And after Coponius Marcus Ambibuchus was Ruler and after him Annius Rufus and then dyed Augustus Now lay all these together and it will follow that our Saviour could not bee lesse then above twenty yeeres old at the death of Augustus whereas it is most plaine by the Gospel that hee was but about fifteene Let us therefore take these parcels backward and as they confute the opinion under question so doe they helpe to settle and resolve the question in hand For grant that Coponius Ambibuchus and Rufus ruled their single yeeres apeece after the exile of Archelaus as it is most like they did and more then yeeres a peece they could not doe all things well laid together and take before them the ten yeeres current of Archelaus and we have thirteene yeeres backward o sour Saviours fifteene at the death of Augustus and this doth bring us to his two yeeres of age or thereabout which was the time when the Wisemen came to him So that since Archelaus began to reigne when Christ was not very much above two yeeres old for that hee was something above it may bee some moneths the time that Archelaus wanted of ten yeeres reigne compleat will allow and that hee could not be more then such a space above the premises well ponderated will conclude it will readily and plainly follow that our Saviours birth was in the five and thirtieth yeer of Herod and this murder of the children of Bethlehem in his seven and thirtieth but a moneth or two or such a space before his death Now whereas some sticke not to say that he was strucke with the wound of death that very night that the children were slaine and dyed not many dayes or houres after in that we cannot be so punctuall but that he lived not many moneths after is more then probable by the collections and computations mentioned well weighed and laid together SS Wisemen That is Sorcerers or Magicians and so might it not unfitly bee translated For first though Magus and Magia admit of a gentle construction and be often taken not onely in an harmlesse but in a laudable sense in prophane Authors yet are they never so in Scripture and by the Idiom and propriety of that must the word bee expounded and not by Forain and Heathen language and acceptation It is true indeed that among the Persians the Magi have beene renowned for men of excellent wisdome and skill in naturall and in other things and that none were admitted to reigne among them unlesse he were well versed in the learning of the Magi and that Plato Tullie Philo Plinie and others doe extoll Magia or Magick to be the very height and perfection of Philosophy But the Scripture who is ever the sure Expositor of it selfe doth never take the word but in the worse sense for the Devillish and damnable practice and practicers of sorcery and unlawfull arts as Act. 8. 9. Simon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Act. 13. 8. Elymas 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And the Babylonian 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Wizzards are so called by the Greeke of Daniel whosoever translated it whether the Lxx or Theodotion or who else soever Dan. 1. 20. 2. 2. c. Now it is against sense and reason to refuse the sense of Scripture for a Scripture word and to fetch the interpretation of it from Persia Plato Pliny and I know not whence 2. It doth the more set forth the lustre and glory of the birth of Christ and the power of himselfe and kingdome by supposing that these men that had beene hitherto devoted to the arts service and converse of the Devill should now forsake them and him and their owne delight and their old profession and dedicate themselves travailes and gifts to a child unknowne farre off and but poorely borne 3. Nor is this opinion but newly minted but it carrieth with it the passeport and priviledge of antiquity For Ignatius Martyr in his Epistle to the Ephesians speaking concerning the Wisemens Starre saith thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Then the wisdome of this World grew foolish Sorcery a toy and Magicke a derision personating the men in both their contrary professions and devotednesse Devillish and divine to Satan and Christ. So likewise Just in Martyr in his Dialogue with Trypho speaking of these same
And this sheweth the zeale of Hezekiah in the work of Reformation the more in that hee assayed and perfected it so much in the very time of his wicked Father 14. But yet there ariseth another doubt in the computation of the times of Hezekiah parallel with the times of Hoshea For whereas hee beganne to reigne in the third yeere of Hoshea as is cleere before then the seventh yeere of Hoshea should bee counted his fifth yeere and yet it is called but his fourth 2 King 18. 9. Answer The beginning of Hezekiahs reigne is of a double date Hee beganne indeed to bee Viceroy and to beare the rule in the third of Hoshea which was the fourteenth yeere of his Father Ahaz but the time of that yeere was but short that hee was in the royalty and hee did but little or nothing of note that yeere but the next yeere which was the fifteenth of Ahaz and the fourth of Hoshea on the very first day of the yeere or the first of Nisan hee beganne the Reformation and stirred bravely in the restoring of Religion 2 Chron. 29. 3. and therefore that is owned as the most remarkable and renowned beginning of his dominion And so the seventh of Hoshea and his fourth yeere fall in together In his sixth yeer the ten Tribes are captived 2 King 18. 10. And so the parallelling of the two Kingdomes of Judah and Israel in their Chronicall Annals is at an end and now the times of the kingdome of Judah lye in an easie and continued Chronicle to the captivity in Babel without any great scruple Onely about those turbulent times of Jehoachaz and Jehoiakim there is a little difficulty For there passed some yeeres between the death of Josiah and the Reign of Jehoiakim in troubles and distempers though the Text hath mentioned the three moneths onely of Jehoachaz The grosse summe of 390. between the division and the burning of the Temple keepeth all right and sheweth how much space this was when all the other particulars are taken up as the 480 between the delivery out of Aegypt and building of Solomons Temple do by the time of the rule of Joshua though the Text expressely hath not determined it So that now adde these 390 yeeres mentioned by Ezekiel which was the exact space between the falling away of the ten Tribes and the destruction of Jerusalem to the 3030 yeeres of which age the world was when the ten Tribes fell away and wee finde that Jerusalem was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians in the yeere of the world 3420. Sect. VII From the burning of the Temple by Nebuzaradan 2 King 25. Jer. 52. to the return from Babel 2 Chro. 36. 22. Ezra 1. 1. were fifty yeeres It hath been no small controversie among the learned that have handled the current of these times that wee are about where to begin the seventy yeeres of the captivity in Babel so renowned in Scripture Jer. 25. 11 12. and 29. 10. 2 Chron. 36. 21. Zech. 1. 12. For since there were three captivities of Hierusalem by the Babylonian namely in the third yeere of Jehoiakim 2 Chron. 36. 6. Dan. 1. 1. In the yeere of Jehoiachin 2 Chron. 36. 9 10. and in the eleventh of Zedekiah 2 King 25. 2 3. Jer. 52. 4 5. it may very well bee questioned where those seventy yeeres of captivity did beginne and where those 390 yeeres from the falling away of the ten Tribes should terminate To omit varieties of opinions and reasons that fix these periods some here some there these reasons do plainly and sufficiently demonstrate that the seventy yeeres of Judahs captivity in Babel did begin from the third yeere of Jehoiakim First Because Daniel that measured out the whole space of that captivity and that giveth account of the state of the people that time beginneth from thence Dan. 1. Secondly Because it is most proper to beginne the seventy yeeres captivity by Babel from the very first time that any captivity by Babel began Thirdly It is prophecyed by Jeremy chap. 25. 11. that not onl the Jews but also all Nations round about them should serve the King of Babel 70 yeeres So that those seventy yeeres are to bee counted the time and space of the absolute Monarchy of Babel and they are to beginne from the beginning of Nebuchadnezzar the first Monarch Now the beginning of his Monarchy is easie to settle viz. in the third of Jehoiakim from these Texts Jer. 32. 1. and 52. 12. It is true indeed that in Jer. 25. 1. the fourth of Jehoiakim is called his first and so it might bee very well for the first of Nebuchadnezzar might take up part of two yeeres of his Reigne as any one yeere of the King takes up much time of two Lord Majors hee entring his yeere in the Spring and they in Autumne Thus doe the seventy yeeres beginne from the beginning of Nebuchadnezzar but the 390 that wee have been so long upon doe not there end but they end at his nineteenth or at the eleventh of Zedekiah when the City and Temple was utterly ruined and the captivity entirely consummate as the chaine of the yeere drawn out to the length doe really fix it and as the very intent and stile of the Prophet doth the like who in that summe doth comprehend the whole time of the peoples being in their own Land after the râ—volt under Jeroboam So that nineteen yeeres compleat out of the seventy must wee take into that sum and so there are but fifty yeeres of that captivity to the time of their delivery under Cyrus remaining which summe being added to the age of the world at the burning of the Temple 3420. doth make the world to bee 3470 yeeres old at the first of Cyrus when the captivity did return Sect. VIII From the return of the Jewes out of Babel to the death of Christ 490 yeeres This is so plain in Dan. 9. in the seventy weekes or seventy time seven yeeres there mentioned from the Commandement going forth from Cyrus to restore and build Hierusalem to the cutting off of the Messias that it needeth as little to confirme it as to tell that seventy times seven is foure hundred and ninety For if the Angel speak not of a fixed and certaine time in this summe hee nameth this summe to no purpose in the world but hee doth so cleerely fix the time the two termini of its extent and some particular linkes of it as it passed that nothing can bee more cleere evident and perspicuous Now adde these 490 yeeres which reach to the death of Christ to the age of the world 3470. at the time when they began and it resulteth that our Saviour dyed in the yeere of the world 3960. Out of which subduct the two and thirty yeeres of our Saviours life and it appeareth that hee was borne in the yeere of the world 3928. that yeere being then but newly begunne stilo veteri or according to the account used from
had speciall warrant and warrant they had none till the Angell dismisse them into Egypt This is not a groping of their thoughts onely by surmisall as was theirs of Herods mentioned before but there is plaine and evident demonstration for it in the text for when Joseph in Egypt was commanded by an Angel after the death of Herod to returne to the Land of Israel it is said Hee was afraid to goe into Judea when hee heard that Archelaus reigned in stead of Herod Now what should hee doe in Judea Or why should he rather thinke of going thither then into his owne Countrey Galilee But that hee thought of returning to Bethlehem againe from whence he had come supposing that the education of the Messias had beene confined thither as well as his birth But being warned and warranted by an Angel in a dreame hee then departed into Nazareth verse 22. By which words it is apparent not onely that he durst not goe to his owne home till hee had divine commission but also that hee had never been in Nazareth since Christ was borne till this his comming out of Egypt otherwise he would have addressed his thoughts thither and not to Judea And by this are wee to expound the text of Luke alledged when they had performed all things according to the Law they departed to their owne City Nazareth namely that he speaketh briefly in what hee saw Matthew had handled at large before and not so much intending to shew Christs quicke departure into Galilee after his presentation in the Temple as to draw you to looke for him in Galilee at the next story following which fell out very many yeeres after And that such briefe transitions are no strange thing in Scripture might be shewed at large but more especially in the Evangelist S. Luke that we have in hand as to spare more in Chap. 4. 14. He bringeth our Saviour as it were from the Pinnacle of the Temple into Galilee as if his journey thither had beene the first thing hee did whereas hee returned with the Devil into the Wildernesse againe and from thence came to John at Jordan before hee set for Galilee And Act. 9. 18 19. c. where under these few words Saul was converted and baptized preached in Damascus a good season was laid in wait for and escaped over the wall and went to Jerusalem hee hath comprehended a story of him of three yeeres and hath omitted his journey from Damascus into Arabia and to Damascus againe before he set for Jerusalem as Paul himselfe hath parcelled it out Gal. 1. Object 6. But why should the Wiseman stay so long after they had seene the Starre as not to come to Jerusalem and to Christ of two yeeres after Answ. So did Moses lie within a daies journey or little more of his wife and children Exod. 18. c. a whole twelve moneth together within a few daies and yet they came not at all together not for the distance of the places where they were but because of the divine disposall of the Lord for a speciall reason And so was it with these men It was not the distance of their Countrey from Judea were it either Arabia or Persia nay had it ben the utmost Judia that kept them away so long for they might have travelled it in halfe the time buâ— it was the divine dispensation of the Lord that detained them backe for so long a time partly that Christs stay in Bethlehem may leave no excuse behind if they would not know him but chiefely that the childe and Mother might gather some competent strength against their flight which God foresaw would follow upon the wisemens comming Harmony and Explanation Ver. 1. In the daies of Herod the King THis Herod was the Son of Antipater an Edomite or of the seed of Esau as was said before although Nicolas Damascen for which Josephus correcteth him averre that hee was of the race of the chief of the Jews that came up out of Babylon His Father Antipater growing into acquaintance and favour with Julius Caesar had the government of Judea committed to him And hee againe substituteth his sonne Phasaelus in the rule of Jerusalem and of the Country thereabout and his other Son Herod who is here spoken of in the ruling of Galilee Herod by his prowesse and policy indear'd himselfe to the succeeding Rulers of the Romane State but more especially by observance and promises to Antonius and by his meanes to Augustus whilest they two kept correspondency in the swaying of the Empire These two by the consent of the Senate make him King of Judea a man composed as if they were his foure elements of fawning policy cruelty and unconscionablenesse Of whose life and actions Josephus Egesippus and others have discoursed at large and it is not seasonable to insist upon them here This onely is not impertinent to inquire after what yeare it was of the reigne of Herod when this story of the Wisemens comming to Bethlehem and the butchery upon the children there fell out that it may bee seene how long our Saviour was in Egypt before his returne upon the tyrants death and how soon it was that the Lord overtook this and the other cruelties of the tyrant with deserved vengeance Josephus Antiq. lib. 14. cap. 26. hath placed the beginning of Herods reigne under the hundreth eighty and fourth Olympiad and under the Consulship of C. Domitius Calvinus II. and C. Asinius Pollio and hath summed the length of it to foure and thirty yeeres from the death of Antigonus his competitor and seven and thirty from the Romans first declaring of him King Antiq. lib. 17. cap. 10. And with this reckoning of the yeers of his reigne agreeth Egesippus de Excid Jerosol lib. 1. cap. 45. and so doth Eusebius in his Chronicle for the latter summe of seven and thirty but differeth farre from the beginning of his reigne placing it under the last yeere of Olympiad 186. eight yeeres at least after the time prefixed by Josephus And reason hee hath indeed to differ from his beginning For if Herod began his Reigne in the Consulship of the men fore-named and reigned but thirty and seven yeeres from thence it will result in the conclusion that hee dyed the yeere before our Saviour was borne as may bee easily cast by the Catalogue or number of Consuls from Cn. Domitius and Asinius Pollio which was after the building of the City Anno 71. to Cornelius Lentulus and Valerius Messalinus under whom our Saviour was borne which was Anno urbis 751. So that this account of yeeres that Josephus hath given though it bee true for the number yet can it not bee so from that beginning from whence hee hath dated them What shall we say then by beginning the thirty seven yeeres of his Reigne from the time that hee was King intire and sans corrivall in the kingdome by the death of Antigonus the last sparke of the Asmonean fire Why herein also I find
men◠and how they were qualified and affected before they came to Christ hee saith they were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 captived or led away as a prey by the Devill to all evill actions And so Theophylact the mouth of Chrysastome They were saith he adversaries or enemies to God and devoted to Devils in a more speciall manner And to this sense doth the Gospel of Matthew in Hebrew render the word whosoever translated it But to spare more those fathers confesse their opinion to bee the same with these and those neither meane ones nor a few which hold some of them that these Magi had obtained their knowledge concerning the King of the Jewes from Sibylla Erythraea and others from Balaam to whom they hold that they stood in relation not onely of Nation and kindred but also of the same profession and art of Wizardy and Magick SS From the East This doth something confirm the foregoing opinion of their being Magicians if it need any more confirmation For that the East was infamous for Sorceries auguries and incantations is apparent by Esa. 2. 6. as it is understood by the Lxx by R. Solomon David Kimchi and even approved by the context it selfe But what Countrey of the east this was whence these men came is as hard to determine as it was what manner of men they were Divers have asserted that they were of Chaldea minding it seemeth rather the strictest and worst sense of both the words Chaldeus and Magus which signifie both one and the same ungodly profession then the letter of text and of other Scriptures For it plainly telleth that these came from the East and all the Prophets that have spoken of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans have fetched those destroyers from the North as Jer. 1. Others therefore doe hold them for Persians and that chiefly because the word Magus is thought to be originally a Persian word But first as was said before the Scripture word is to bee interpreted according to the Scripture Idiom and so it confineth them to Persia no more then to any other Countrey Secondly if it should be averred that the Persian Magi grew renowned from a family of that name or from some Ancestor that was called Mag or Mago rather then from any relation that the word hath to the depth of Learning or any notation for a great Scholar I suppose it would bee hard to prove the contrary especially since in Babylonia there was Rab. Mag or the great Mag and in Carthage Mago two noblemen or Princes and yet for ought we know no great Scholars neither of the very same name More probable therefore and plausible is their opinion though it leave the Reader in a Bivium of irresolution that holdeth these men either for Arabians or Mesopotamians about Haran but their resolution the best of all that bring them from Arabia and of this mind is Justin Martyr very confidently in so much that hee applieth a Prophecy thereto namely Esa. 8. 4. about the breaking of the strength of Damascus For first Arabia is full Eastward from Judea and the inhabitants thereof are constantly called men of the East as Gen. 25. 6. Judg. 6. 3. Job 1. 3. Secondly the gifts or presents that the wisemen offered Christ were native commodities of the Land of Arabia as gold of Sheba Psal. 72. 15. Frankincense from Seba or Saba as in the verse Sua Thura Sabaei and myrrhe from thereabouts as appeareth in stories and it is more probable to thinke that they would bring the choice commodities of their owne countrey as Jacob sent to Joseph then of another Thirdly to conceive these men for Arabians doth very well sort and harmonize with some considerable things in Scripture As 1. the first Proselyte to the Jewish Church that wee find mentioned in Scripture was Jethro an Arabian and of the seed of Abraham And so if wee hold these first Proselytes to Christ it suiteth very fitly 2. It agreeth also with that Prophetick Psalme mentioned before namely Psal. 71. 3. With the rule and dominion and homage that David and Solomon types of Christ had over and from that Countrey For 4. much of Arabia was the Land of Canaan as well as Judea for the heedfull eye that shall but seriously looke upon the Nations that planted there at the first will find that the whole Countrey was inhabited by the two Sons of Ham Cush and Canaan and in after time that the seed of Abraham dispossessed them and dwelt in their steads not by any usurpation or injustice but upon the promise made to Abraham of Canaans Land and upon just title by his victory over the foure Kings which having but lately subdued those lands were subdued by him and with the conquest the right and challenge to that land fell to Abraham And hence it was that David and Solomon dilated their dominion over these Countreys even to Euphrates and then was the promise to Abraham Isaac and Jaco◠concerning their children possessing the Land of Canaan fulfilled to the utmost extent Now it is more likely to bring these first fruits of the Gentiles to doe homage to the King of the Jewes from a Country which did as much to David and Solomon who were types of him then from a forain Nation and to conceive that they were of the seed of Abraham rather then of another race Vers. 2. Saying Where is hee that is borne King of the Jewes for wee have seen his Starre in the East c. The exposition of this Verse will bee made up by the resolution and answer of these three question 1. What was this Starre that the Wisemen saw 2. Where it was that they saw it And 3. how upon the sight of it they could conclude that it did relate to a King of the Jews To omit the various guesses and furnises that are made for the satisfaction of the first Quaere it seemeth to me that this Star which these Magicians saw at the birth of Christ was nothing else but that glorious and miraculous light that shone about the Bethlehem Shepheards when the Angel came upon them with the tydings of the birth of a Saviour Lu. 2. 9. And that these Wizzards being that night abroad belike at their study of Astrology beheld it at distance and to them it seemed being so farre off like a new and uncouth and a wondrous Starre And the words in the East doe meane the place of the men and not of the Starre and are to receive this construction wee being in the East have seene his Starre Not it in the East part of Heaven but they being in the East part of the Earth And their beholding it to bee in the Land of Judea might the more readily bring them to thinke it betokened the birth of the King of the Jewes And thus are the three questions resolved together if the ground-worke whereupon all is built bee but firme and solid viz that the light or the glory of the Lord
of the Jewes will find their Rabbines or Doctors to bee too nimble textualists to misse in a Text of so great use and import especially if hee shall but consider to what an height of learning they were now come by the tutorage and paines of the two great Doctors of the Chaire Shammai and Hillel who had filled all the nation with learned men the like had not been before Thirdly Whereas some talke of a Syriacke Edition which the Jewes used at that time more then the Hebrew and which had this Text of Micah as the Evangelist hath cited it and that hee cited it according to that Edition which was most in use here are two things presumed upon which it is impossible ever to make good For who ever read in any Jew of a Syrian Edition of the Prophets besides the Chaldee Paraphrast who wee are sure readeth not thus or what Christian ever saw such an Edition that hee could tell that it did so read For this particular therefore in hand it is to bee answered that the Scribes or the Evangelist or both did thus differently quote the Prophet neither through forgetfulnesse nor through the misleading of an erroneous Edition but purposely and upon a rationall intent For first though Ephratah had been the surname of Bethlehem in ancient times as Gen. 35. 19. Ruth 4. 11. and in the times of the Prophâ—t Micah yet it is no wonder if that title of it were now out of use and especially out of the knowledge of this irreligious King For the seventy yeers captivity and the alterations of the State did alter the face of the Country and might easily blot out of use and remembrance such an additionall title of a Town as this Secondly This surname of the Town was taken up in memoriall of a woman as appeareth 1 Chron. 2. 19. and when the discourse concerning Christ and where hee should bee born was in hand and agitation it was more pregnant to bring his birth-place to have reference to Juda from whom Herod though hee were ignorant in other particulars concerning his birth knew hee should descend then to a woman and a title which it is like that hee had never heard of before So that this that in the Scribes might at the first seem to bee a mis-allegation of the Prophet through some mistake being pressely looked upon with respect had to the times when the Prophecy was given and when it is now cited and to the severall persons to whom it will shew to bee so quoted upon very sound wisdome and profound reason these words in the Land of Juda being used by them for necessary illustration in stead of the word Ephrata not as proposing it for the purer Text of the Prophet but as more sutable by way of Exposition for the capacity and apprehension of Herod In Micahs time the name Ephratah was common but in after times it may bee it was disused Howsoever Micah prophecyed to the Jewes to whom this title Ephratah was familiar and it is like had the Scribes spoken to Jews too they would have retained that title but to Herod who was not so punctually acquainted with it it was not proper to bring a phrase that hee could not understand or that was uncouth to him therefore they explaine it by one that was familiar both to him and the whole Nation Bethlehem in the Land of Juda. SS Art not the least This clause is farre further from Micahs Text then the other for whereas here is a very strong and Emphaticall negation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Prophet there is none at all either in the Hebrew in the Lxx. or in the Chaldee Paraphrast And indeed the Text and the quotation are one cleane contrary to another in Micah Though thou bee little but in Matthew Thou art not the least Towards the reconciling of which difference it will bee necessary in the first place to take a serious survey of the Prophets Text and then upon the true interpretation of it to lay this allegation to it and to see how they do agree The words in the Hebrew whereupon the main doubt ariseth are but these two 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which our English rendreth Though thâ—u bee little The Septuagint Thou art the least to bee among the thousands but using a differing word to signifie the least from that used here Some bookes saith Nobilius and the other Scholiast upon the Lxx. read Art not the least as Hierome Tertullian and Cyprian but this their reading I suspect rather to bee taken from this quotation of the Gospel then found by them in the Text of Micah The vulgar Latine Thou art little among the thousand c. The Italian of Brucioli and the French Being little to bee or to bee accounted And much to the same tenour with our English Aben Ezra and David Kimchi Rabbi Solomon sheweth his construction of it in this glosse It were fit that thou shouldest bee the least among the families of Juda because of the profanenesse of Ruth the Moabitesse that was in thee yet out of thee shall come c. Jansenius saith a reconciliation might bee made between the Prophet and the Evangelist by reading the Prophets Text by way of interrogation And thou Bethlehem art thou the least which answereth in sense to thou art not But to all these interpretations alledged this one thing may bee opposed that the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cannot properly agree with the word Bethlehem according to the Syntaxe of Substantive and Adjective because they are of two different genders as the Grammarian will easily observe and cannot but confesse For Bethlehem is of the feminine gender as are all the names of Cities and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of another as it plainly appeareth by its termination To construe them therefore together as Substantive and Adjective as it is unwarrantable by the Grammar so doth it make a sense utterly irreconciliable with this of the Evangelist To which might bee added also that these words being thus conjoyned and construed together do make but an harsh sense and construction among themselves amounting to this Thou Bethlehem in being little out of thee shall come a Ruler Their Interpretation therefore is rather to bee imbraced that take 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Newter Gender as it pleadeth it selfe to bee by its very termination the Masculine and Newter in the Hebrew being indifferently taken the one for the other and do read it thus And thou Bethlehem Ephrata it is a small thing to bee among the Princes of Juda out of thee shall come a Ruler c. As meaning this That it is the least of thine honour that thou art reckoned among the Princes of Juda as equall with them for thou hast a dignity above this and above them all in that out of thee shall come a Ruler which shall feed my people And to this sense and tenour should I interpret the Chaldee Paraphrase though I know indeed that
many Nations but to his seed of the promise of the Land of Canaan I will give to thee and to thy seed all the Land of Canaan therefore thou and thy seed after thee shall keepe my Covenant Gen. 17 8 9. And such a different end may bee observed in the administration of baptisme to Christ himselfe and the administring of it unto Christians The text alledged sealeth the lease of the Land of Canaan to the seed of Abraham with the seale of Circumcision and confineth that Ceremony onely to that Land and onely to their continuance there And upon this inference I will give thy seed the Land of Canaan therefore shall they keepe my Covenant it was that Joshua as soone as ever they had set foot upon that Land was commanded to circumcise them Josh. 5. And from hence it will follow first that that Land must bee considered dilated as farre as Circumcision went with the seed of Abraham in Ishmaelites Midianites Edomites and others Secondly hence they will be found to erect circumcision againe in the Church of Christ that hold the called Jewes shall have a temporall kingdome againe in the Land of Canaan And thirdly hence it may bee resolved why that Sacrament was deferred so long and not given to the World before Adam Enoch Noah Eber c. were not circumcised because to them a fixed and setled place for the Church to reside together was not designed but when such a one is designed to Abraham then circumcision is given also The Land of Canaan was bequeathed to Sem by his father Noah the occasion was because Cham and his Sonne Canaan derided Noahs nakednesse as hee lay asleepe in the midst of his Tent when therefore that Land is to bee setled upon the right heires of Sem to which God 〈◊〉 the Prophetick spirit of Noah intended it a seale and an assuraâ—â—e thereof is given in that member which had beene derided by 〈◊〉 to his losse of that Land and to his perpetuall slavery This was a maine reason why Males alone were circumcised and why in that member because a male alone and that member in him was so derided Other reasons of the institution of the Ceremony and onely for masculines and in that part might concurre for instruction such as are given by Lumbard Aquinas Biel Lyra and others but that they were not of the nature or essence of the Sacrament and that this forementioâ—ed was the vigor and spirit of it may bee concluded by these two things First that Circumcision concerned not the children of Israel only but the whole seed of Abraham For those children of his by his Concubines that lived in Arabia as Ismaelites Dedanites Medanites Midianites Shuhites Amalekites and the rest were circumcised as well as Israel in Palestina Those Countreys whither Abraham had sent them to inhabite were once in the possession of Canaanites till he obtained them by conquest of the foure Kings Gen. 14. and thither he sendeth them with the seale of Circumcision upon them which gave them interest in the Land there as well as Isaac had elsewhere Abraham taught his children and his household after him to keepe the way of the Lord Gen. 18. 19. which though this off-spring of his in Arabia did not long in other things yet in circumcision it did So that from hence may result the observation of another end and reason of the institution of this Ceremony namely for distinction not of Israel from other Nations as Lyranus would have it but of the seed of Abraham from all other people Secondly howsoever all the Israelites dwelling before the comming of our Saviour out of the Land of Canaan as both of the Babylonian and Grecian dispersion used Circumcision in Heathens Lands and used it lawfully yet it was because their claime and interest to the Land of Canaan did still continue nay this was one reason why it held up some store of yeers after Christ his comming ascension but when Jerusalem was destroyed and their lease of that Land of promise either expired or forfeited or both then did this seale of it fall and come to ruine also and might not lawfully be used ever after and when they must for ever relinquish the Land they must for ever also relinquish this seale or Ceremony that had assured it This well conâ—idered will cause us also to observe First that the interest of Israel in the holy Land began to shake when baptisme came to shoulder out Circumcision Secondly that John most properly preached much of the Kingdome of Heaven for their earthly one began to cease when baptisme began to extinguish Circumcision As Circumcision it selfe had relation to the inâ—eritance of the Land of the Canaanites so the fixed time for the administration of it namely the eight day seemeth also to have some aim and respect to the same thing For seven nations were in that Land which the Children of Abraham were to subdue and dwell in their stead Canaanites Hittites Hivites Perizzites Girgashites Amorites and Jebusites Deut. 7. 1. Josh. 3. 10. In correspondency to this number of seven Nations that were to bee subdued Jericho the first field fought in that Land is compassed seven dayes and seven times the seventh day And in like answerablenesse every child of Abrahamâ— for seven dayâ—â— was like the children of those seven Nations but on the eight day he was to receive circumcision the pledge of that interest and claime that he had in that Land which those seven Nations had usurped This then was the ground-worke and Originall of that Sacrament that every Sonne of Abraham might beare in his body the seale of the inheritance of the Land of promise and the badge of distinction from all other people and that this visible signe might make him strive after the invisible grace which it sealed the inheritance of heaven aâ—d walking as the peculiar of the Lord From which appropriated and restrictive ends of the Rite the necessity of the changing of it at the comming of Christ doth plainely appeare for when there was to bee no more distinction betwixt the children of Abraham and other people and no one land more peculiarized then another but of every Land and Nation he that feareth God and worketh righteousnes is accepted of him that badge of appropriation aâ—d seale of singularity must either cleane come to nothing or become unnecessary Now that baptisme did succeed in the stead thereof some reasons may be given As first because the Sacraments of the New Testament were to bee gentle and easie in stead of the smart and burdensome ones of the Law Secondly because God would comply with men even in their owne common custome of washing children when they are newly born Ezek. 16. 4. 9. and turne the common to a sacred use thereby to catch and winne them the more But thirdly this one maine reason may serve for all namely the neere correspondency that is between the Sacrament and the thing signified and the