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—
are not to be translated as they be Ahaziah was two and forty yeeres old but Ahaziah was the Son of the two and forty yeeres as Seder Olâ—m hath acutely observed long agoe Now the reason why his reigne is thus dated differently from all others the Kings of Judah is because he in a kind was an impe of the house of Omri for Athaliah his mother was Ahabs daughter 2 King 8. 18. And she both perverted her husband Joram and brought up this her sonne Ahaziah in the Idolatry of the house of Ahab therefore is not Ahaziah fit to be reckoned by the line of the Kings of Judah but by the house of Omri and Ahab see the Evangelist Matthew setting a speciall mark upon the house of Joram at the notes on Mat. 1. 8. Sixthly there is yet one scruple more arising concerning the beginning of the reigne of this Ahaziah For the same book of Kings saith that he began to reigne in the twelfth yeere of Joram the son of Ahab 2 King 8. 25. and in the eleventh yeere of Joram the son of Ahab 2 Kings 9. 29. Answer The resolution of this doubt will bee easie to him that hath such a Chronicall Table as wee have spoken of before his eyes For there will hee see that Jehoram reigned one yeere before his Father Ahabs death For in the twentyeth yeere of Ahab which was the seventeenth of Jehoshaphat did Ahaziah the sonne of Ahab begin to reigne 1 King 22. 51. being made Viceroy when his Father went to Ramoth Gilead Hee reigning but that yeere Jehoram his sonne was Viceroy or began to rule in his stead the next yeere namely in Ahabs one and twentyeth Ahab in his two and twentyeth dyed and so Jehoram became absolute and intire King and reigned so eleven yeeres So that his reign hath a double reckoning hee reigned as Viceroy twelve yeeres but as intire King but eleven 7. Amaziah beganne to reigne in the second yeere of Joash King of Israel 2 King 14. 1. this was the eight and thirtyeth yeere of his Father Joash King of Judah three yeeres current before his death And the reason was because his Father had cast himselfe into so much misery and mischiefe through his Apostasie and murder of Zacharies 2 King 12. 17 18. 2 Chron. 24. 23 24 25. that hee was become unfit and unable to manage the Kingdome 8. Vzziah or Azariah the sonne of this Amaziah being but sixteene yeeres of age in the seven and twentyeth yeere of the reigne of Jeroboam the second 2 King 15. 1 2. it appeareth that hee was but foure yeers old at his Fathers death Therfore was the Throne empty for eleven yeeres and the rule managed by some as Protectors in the Kings minority 9. There is also an interregnum or vacancy of 22 yeers in the kingdome of Israel between Jeroboam the second and Zachariah whereof what the reason should bee is not easie to determine whether through warres from abroad which Jeroboam might have provoked against his house by the conquest of Hamath and Damascus 2 King 14. 28. or through war at home as appeareth by the end of Zachariah 2 King 15. 10. or through what else it was it is uncertain but most sure it was that the Throne was so long without a King since Jeroboam beginning to reigne in the fifteenth yeere of Amaziah and reigning forty one yeeres 1 King 14. 23. dyed in the fifteenth of Vzziah and Zachariah began not to Reigne till the eight and thirtyeth 2 King 15. 8. 10. Hoshea is said to slay Pekah in the twentyeth yeere of Jotham the Sonne of Vzziah 2 King 15. 30. whereas Jotham reigned but sixteene yeeres in all 2 King 15. 33. But the reason of this accounting is because of the wickednesse of Achaz in whose reigne this occurrence was and the Holy Ghost chuseth rather to reckon by holy Jotham in the dust then by wicked Ahaz alive For in the slaughter of Pekah the Lord avenged upon Pekah the blood-shed and misery hee had caused in Judah for hee had slaine of the men thereof 120000 in one day 2 Chron. 28. 6. Now Ahaz had caused this wrath upon the people in withdrawing them from the wayes of the Lord therefore when the Lord avengeth this injury of his people upon Pekah the time of it is computed from Jotham who was holy and upright and not from Ahaz who had caused the mischiefe 11. There is a scruple of no small difficulty about the reckoning of this twentyeth yeere of Jotham if it once bee spyed out And that is this If Pekah began to reigne in the two and fiftyeth or last yeere of Vzziah and reigned twenty yeeres as 2 King 15. 27. and if Jotham beganne to reigne in the second yeere of Pekah 2 King 15. 33. then certainly the twentyeth yeere of Pekah the yeere when Hoshea slew him was but the nineteenth yeere of Jotham and not the twentyeth Answer In this very difficulty hath the Text fixed the time of Vzziahs becomming leprous which else-where is not determined and it sheweth that it was in the last yeere of his reigne when hee assayed to offer incense in the Temple and was struck with the leprosie a disease with which the Priests who were to bee the Judges of it could not bee touched nor insected and his sonne Jotham was over the house judging the land 2 King 15. 5. till the day of his death Now that last yeere of Vzziah is counted for the first of Jotham in this reckoning that wee have in hand and although hee beganne to reigne as absolute and sole King in the second yeere of the Reigne of Pekah yet beganne hee to reigne as Viceroy in the diseasednesse of his Father the yeere before 12. It is said that Hoshea the sonne of Elah beganne to reigne in the twelfth yeere of Ahaz 2 King 17. 1. whereas hee had slaine Pekah in the fourth of Ahaz or the twentyeth of Jotham which sheweth that hee obtained not the Crown immediately upon Pekahs death but was seven or eight yeeres before hee could settle it quietly upon his head It is like that Ahaz in this time did disquiet Israel when his potent enemy Pekah was dead in revenge of that slaughter that hee had made in Judah and that hee kept Hoshea out of the Throne and for this is called the King of Israel 2 Chron. 28. 19. as well as for walking in the wayes of those Kings 13. It is said that Hezekiah began to reigne in the third yeere of Hoshea the sonne of Elah 2 King 18. 1. Now Hoshea beginning in the twelfth of Ahaz 2 King 17. 1. it is apparent that Hezekiah began in the foureteenth and so reigned two or three yeeres with his Father Ahaz who Reigned sixteen yeeres 2 King 16. 2. The reason of this was because of the wickednesse of Ahaz and because of the miseries and intanglements that his wickednesse had brought him into as 2 Chron. 28. 16 17 18. and chap. 29. 7 8 9.
out of thy Countrey c. to bee of the same time and spoken in the same place whereas there is a vast difference in the words themselves and so was there of the time and place where they were spoken Steven telleth that while Abraham was in Mesopotamia or Chaldea as ver 4. before hee dwelt in Haran God appeared to him and said unto him Get thee out of thy Country and from thy kindred but not a word of departing from his Fathers house for hee took his Father and his whole household along with him and dwelt with them a good while in Haran Gen. 11. 31. And Terah dyed in Haran ver 32. Then the Lord said unto Abram for so should Gen. 12. 1. bee translated and not Now the Lord had said And his saying was this Get thee out of thy Countrey and from thy kindred and from thy Fathers house too for that also hee now left behind him namely Nahor and all his Fathers Family but onely Lâ—t and Sarah that were fatherlesse children And this difference considered as necessarily it must it doth make this difficulty which hath cost so much canvasing so easie as a thing needeth not to bee more Sect. III. From the promise given to Abram upon his Father Terahs death to the delivery of the people of Israel out of Aegypt and to the giving of the Law were 430 yeeres Exod. 12. 40. Gal. 3. 17. This summe being joyned to that before of 2083. it maketh the world to bee in the two thousand five hundred and thirteenth yeere of her age when Israel was delivered and the Law given This space of time of 430 yeers betwixt the promise and the Law the divine wisedome and providence cast into two equall portions of 215 yeeres before the peoples going down into Aegypt and 215 yeeres of their being there The former moyety was taken up in these parcells Five and twenty yeeres betwixt the giving of the promise and the birth of Isaac compare Gen. 12. 4. with Gen. 21. 5. Sixty yeers betwixt the birth of Isaac the birth of Jacoh Gen. 25. 26 An hundred and thirty yeeres betwixt the birth of Jacob and Israels going into Aegypt Gen. 27. 9. The latter in these Ninety five yeers from their going into Aegypt to the death of Levi. Forty yeeres from the death of Levi to the birth of Moses Eighty yeeres from the birth of Moses to their delivery Sect. IV. From the comming of Israel out of Aegypt to the laying of the foundation of Solomons Temple were 480 yeeres 1 King 6. 1. and seven yeeres was it in building ver 38. So that joyne these 487 that passed from the comming out of Aegypt to the finishing of the Temple to the 2513. yeeres of which age the world was when they came out of Aegypt and it will appeare that Solomons Temple was finished exactly in the three thousandth yeâ—r of the world This summe is made up of these many parcells Israel in the wildernesse 40 yeeres Joshua ruled 17 yeeres Othniel judged 40 yeeres Judg. 3. 11. â—hud judged 80 yeeres Judg. 3. 30. Deborah c. 40 yeeres Judg. 5. 31. Gideon 40 yeeres Judg. 8. 28. Abimelech 3 yeeres Judg. 9. 22. Tolah 23 yeeres Judg. 10. 2. Jair 22 yeeres Judg. 10. 3. Jephtah 6 yeeres Judg. 12. 7. Ibsan 7 yeeres Judg. 12. 9. Elon Judged 10 yeeres Judg. 12. 11. Abdon 8 yeeres Judg. 12. 14 Sampson 20 yeeres Jud. 15. 20. 16. 31. Eli 40 yeeres 1 Sam. 4. 18. Samuel Saul 40 yeeres Acts 13. 21. David 40 yeeres 1 Kings 2. 11. Solomon 4 yeeres 1 Kings 6. 1. Totall 480. Now among all these parcels there is no number that hath not a text to warrant it but onely the date of the Government of Joshua which yet cannot bee doubted of to have been seventeen yeeres seeing that so many yeeres onely are not specified by expresse Text of all the 480 mentioned 1 King 6. 1. And here also may the reader observe that the yeers that are mentioned in the book of Judges for yeeres of Israels oppression as Judg. 3. 8. 14. c. are not to bee taken for a space of time distinct from the time of the Judges but included in the summe of their times Now it thus falling out as it is more then apparent that Solomons Temple was finished and perfected in the yeere of the world 3000 this belike hath helped to strengthen that Opinion that hath beene taken up by some That as the World was six dayes in creating so shall it bee six thousand yeeres in continuance and then shall come the everlasting Sabbath And indeed the observation could not but please those that were pleased with this opinion for when they found that the first three thousand yeeres of the World did end in the perfecting of the earthly Temple it would make them to conclude the bolder that the other three thousand should conclude in the consummation of the spirituall Sect. V. From the finishing of Solomons Temple to the falling away of the ten Tribes were 30 yeeres For Solomon reigned 40 yeeres 1 King 11. 42. and in the eleventh yeere of his reigne was the Temple finished 1 King 6. 38. And so count from that yeere to the expiration of his reigne and the beginning of his son Rehoboam and it will appeare easily that the falling away of the ten Tribes was 30 yeeres after the Temple was finished and in the yeare of the world 3030. Sect. VI. From the falling away of the ten Tribes under Jeroboam to the captivity of Judah into Babylon were 390. These are thus reckoned in a grosse summe by Ezekiel chap. 4 5. I have laid upon thee the yeeres of their iniquitie according to the number of dayes three hundred and ninety dayes So shalt thou beare the iniquity of the house of Israel vers 6. And when thou hast accomplished them lie againe on thy right side and thou shalt beare the iniquity of the house of Judah forty dayes I have appointed thee each day for a yeere Now these are not to be taken for two different and distinct sums as if it were 390 yeeres from the falling away of the ten Tribes to the captiving of the ten Tribes and 40 yeeres from thence to the captiving of Judah for it was but 200 yeeres and a little above an halfe between the two first periods and above an hundred yeeres between the two last but the forty yeeres are to bee reputed and counted within the 390 as the last yeeres of them and marked out so singularly because of Judahs rebellion in and under so cleare and powerfull preaching of Jeremy who-prophefied so long a time among them Now for the casting of these 390 yeeres into parcels as the Books of Kings and Chronicles have done them the surest and clearest way is to make a Chronicall table of the collaterall Kingdomes of Judah and Israel while they last together from yeare to yeare as they will offer themselves to parallel one
and industry may bee brought to passe For in many passages and dislocations the Text hath shewed the proper place of such dislocated parcels and the proper way and manner to joine them where they should bee joyned so plainely and in all places it hath hinted this so surely though sometimes more obscurely that serious study and mature deliberation may certainly fix and settle them Divers great and learned Pens have laboured in this worke both Ancient and Moderne both Romish and Protestant but hardly any if any at all in our owne mother Tongue so fully and largely as a Worke of this nature doth require this hath incited me though the unfittest of all others for a taske of so much Learning Judgement and Seriousnesse to attempt this worke and if possibly my dimnesse might to give some light and facility to the History of the Gospel and if my poorenesse could some contribution towards the building of Sion The Method that I prescribed to my self in this undertaking some glimpse whereof thou maist see in this present Parcell was 1. To lay the Text of the Evangelists in that order which the nature and progresse of the Story doth necessarily require 2. To give a Reason of this Order why the Text is so laid more largely or more briefly according as the plainness or difficulty of the connexion doth call for it 3. To give some account of the difficulties in the language of the Originall as any came to hand either being naturally so in the Greek it selfe or being made difficulties when they were not so by the curiosity misconstruction or self-end-seeking of some Expositors 4. And lastly to cleare and open the sense and meaning of the Text all along as it went especially where it was of more abstrusenesse and obscurity These two last things did I assay and goe on withall a great way in the worke with much largenesse and copiousnesse both concerning the language and the manner For for the first I did not onely poise the Greek in the ballance of its owne Country and of the Septuagint but I also examined translations in divers languages produced their sense and shewed cause of adhering to or refusing of their sense as I conceived cause And for the second I alledged the various Expositions and interpretations of Commentators both ancient and moderne and others that spake to such and such places occasionally I examined their Expositions and gave the Reader reason to refuse or imbrace them as cause required When seeing the Worke in this way likely to rise to vaâ—â—nes of bulke it selfe and of trouble to the Reader I chose to abridg this first part for a tryall and therein having expressed only those things which were most materiall for the understanding of the Text where it is lesse plain for where â—t is plaâ—ne enough why should I spend time and labour about it And spoken mine owne thoughts upon it and omitted unlesse it be for a tast of what I had done the glosses and thoughts of others I now waâ—te for the direction and advice of my learned and loving Friends and Readers whether to exhibite the other parts that are to follow by Gods good blessing and assistance in that large and voluminous method that at the first I prescribed to my selfe or in that succisenesse that this present parcell holdeth out I have partly chosen and have partly been constrained to tender this work to publike view by peeces whereof onely this and this but a small one neither appeares at this time I have chosen so to do partly that I might give the world my thâ—ughts upon the Evangelists as the Lord giveth time for who would deferre to doe any thing of such a worke till he have done all since our lives are so short and uncertaine and the worke so long and difficult And partly that I might be in an annuall tribute to that great name and to that glory of mine own Country yea of this our Nation our Renowned Lord Generall to whom this undertaking was devoted from the very first thought of such an undertaking And I have been constrained thus to doe partly because of mine other occasions many an lurgent which deny me opportunity to follow that businesse as such a bulk would require and partly because of the straits of the times which have straitned our Presses that they Print but rarely any thing voluminoâ— Every yeer by Gods permission and good assistance shall yeeld its piece till all be finished if the Lord spare life health and liberty thereunto Divers things were fitting to have been premised to a work of this nature but because 〈…〉 should all be set before this small piece that we now exhibâ—â—â—◠〈◊〉 â—reface or Prolegomena would be larger then the Book it self therefore have I reserved to every piece that shall come forth it s own share and portion And the things that I have thought upon and hewed out unto this purpose are these 1. To fix the certain yeere of our Saviours birth as a thing very fit to bee looked after and to shew the certaing ounds whereupon to goe that our fixing upon such a yeare may be warranted and without wavering This have I premisâ—d to this first part wherein comes the Story and Treatâ— se of our Saviours birth 2. To give account of all the dislocations of texts and Stories in the Old Testament which are exceeding many to shew where is their proper place and order and to give the reason of their dislocation And this being so copious and frequent in the Old Testament the like will be thought the lesse strange and uncouth in the New 3. To make a Chor graphicall description of the Land of Canaan and those adjoyning places that we have occasion to looke upon as â—e read the Gospel a thing of no small necessity for the cleerer understanding of the Story 4. To make a Topographicall description of Jerusalem and of the Fabrick of the Temple which will facilitate divers passages in the Gospel which are of no small obscurity 5. To give some account and Story of the State and Customes of the Jewes in these times when the Gospel began and was first preached aâ—ong them out of theâ—r own and other Writers which things the Evangelists mention not and yet which conduce not a little to the understanding oâ— the Evangelists These as things very necessary for the matter in hand shall waite severally upon the severall parts that shall follow as the Lord shall please to vouchsaâ—e ability time health and safety From my Chamber in 〈◊〉 Octob. 1. 1644. PROLEGOM I. The age of the world aâ—â—nâ— Saviourâ— birth fixd the account proved the chiefest difficulties in the Scripture Chronicle resolved IN the Stories of times the times of the stories do challenge speciall notice and observation and of all other that of our Saviours birth being the fulnesse of time may best as best worthy make such a challenge A time to which all the holy ones that went before it
assembly and that yeere as it may bee conceived the Sabbath day Now in the weeke of the Feast so great was the company of the Congregation and so many the multitude of the Sacrifices that no single course was able to undergoe the service but then as also at the other two great Feastivals all the courses served indifferently and so had they done at the Temples dedication 2 Chron. 5. 11. and on the next Sabbath the course of Jehojarib or the first began They changed every weeke comming in on the Sabbath and on the next going out 2 King 11. 7. 2 Chron. 23. 4. So that by the time of the passeover they were just gone about and from thence they began their second round againe In the eight course of which second round for so was the course of Abia 1 Chron. 24. 10. Zacharias heareth the glad tydings of the birth of Christs forerunner just about the same time of the yeere that Sarab did of the fixed time of the birth of Isaac toward the middle of Summer Gen. 18. But that the Reader may have a full and perfect view of the revolution of these courses and because he will have frequent occasion in his reading of the Evangelists to have his eye upon the passing of the yeere of the Jews let it not bee tedious to interpose a Kalendar or Almanack of it here at the very entrance with an account of the courses of the Priests used every weeke at the Temple the Lessons out of the Law and the Prophets used every Sabbath in the Synagogues and their Festivals great and lesser as they lighted in their seasons that whensoever hereafter in his Progresse in this sacred History of the Gospell he shall have occasion to looke after any of these they may be here ready before his eyes The Jewes reckoned their yeare by Lunary moneths as is more then apparent by the words that signified a moneth amongst them as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and by severall Stories in the Scripture and in this their reckoning saith Rabbi Solomon one moneth was full and another wanting that is one consisting of thirty dayes and another onely of nine and twenty This computation made their yeeres to fall eleven dayes short of the yeer of the Sun And this the holy Ghost seemeth to hint and to hit upon when in reckoning the time of Noahs being in his Arke he bringeth him in on the seventeenth day of the second moneth Gen. 7. 11. and bringeth him out on the seven and twentieth day of the same moneth on the next yeere Gen. 8. 14. and yet intendeth him there but an exact and compleat yeere of the Sun but reckoned onely by Lunary moneths Now these eleven dayes which the yeere of the Sunne out-stretched the yeere of the Moone on every third yeere made up a moneth of three and thirty dayes which the Jewes laid after the moneth Adar or the last moneth and called it Veadar or Adar over againe But not to insist upon any curious inquiry into their embolimism or intercalation nor how the twelve Stewards of Solomon and the foure and twenty course of the Priests made out their Service those in the Court and these in the Temple on that additionall moneth of the leape yeere which is not a discourse for the present purpose we will take up the yeere in its common and ordinary course and circle and suppose A the Dominicall or Sabbath day Letter and trace the courses of the Priests and the lessons of the Law and Prophets according thereunto Now these lessons of the law and Prophets began their round one Sabbath before the courses of the Priests the first Parashah or Section of Genesis being read at the Feast of Tabernacles and by the next Feast of Tabernacles or the next yeere all the Law was read over be the yeere Leape yeere or no For if it were the ordinary yeere the Sections in the latter end of Deuteronomy were made fewer and longer but if the Intercalary or Bissextile then were they broke into more according to the number of the Sabbaths of that yeere that by the Feast of Tabernacles Deuteronomy might bee finished and Genesis might be begun on againe Whether these Lessons or Sections of the Law were appointed and set out by Moses or by Ezra or by some other and how the like in the Prophets came to bee paralleled with them or to be read instead of them when the persecution of Antiorhus forbad the reading of the Law is not a time and place to dispute here onely if the Reader shall observe the Harmony betweene the two portions that were read at one time he will see that the choice of them was of more then ordinary and common discretion And sometimes the taking notice of the portions themselves will help to cleare and satisfie some obscurities which otherwise it were not possible to cleare and satisfie as some examples will bee given in their places TISRI or ETHANIM 1 King 8. 2. 2 Chron. 5. 3. MARHESHUAN 1 A Delaiah the three and twentieth course Feast of Trumpets Lessons 1 C  2 B  2 D  3 C Deut. chap. 26. from ver 1. to chap. 29. ver 10. 3 E  4 D  4 F  5 E Isa. chap. 60. from ver 1. to the end of the chapter 5 G  6 F  6 A Harim The third course beginneth 7 G  7 B Lessons 8 A Maaziah the foure and twentieth course Lessons 8 C Gen. chap. 18. 1. to chap. 23. 1. 2 King 4. from the beginning of the chapter to ver 38. 9 B Deut. chap. 29. ver 10. to cha 31 9 D  10 C 1. when there were more weeks in the yeers otherwise to the end of the book Isa. chap 61. 10. to chap. 63. 10. The tenth day of this moneth was the solemn and mysterious Feast of expiation Lev. 16. 29. 10 E  11 D  11 F  12 E  12 G  13 F  13 A Seorim The fourth course beginneth 14 G  14 B Lessons 15 A The Feast of Tabernacles All the Priests are present serve The Law is begun to be read 15 C Gen. chap. 23. 1. to chap. 25. 19. 16 B  16 D 1 King chap. 1. from ver 1. to ver 32. 17 C Lessons 17 E  18 D Gen. chap. 1. 1. to chap. 6. ver 9. Isa. chap. 42. ver 5. to ver 11. of chap. 43. 18 F  19 E  19 G  20 F  20 A Malchijah The fifth course beginneth 21 G  21 B Lessons 22 A Jehoiarib The first course beginneth 22 C Gen. chap. 25. 19. to chap. 28. 10 Malachi chap. 1. from the beginning to ver 8. of chap. 2. 23 B Lessons 23 D  24 C Gen chap 6. from ver 9. to chap. 12. ver 1. 24 E  25 D Isa. 54. 1. to ver 5. of chap. 55. 25 F  26 E  26 G
it is generally construed another way Chizgner havetha leithmannaah And thou Bethlehem Ephratah art within a little to bee superiour or perfect among the thovsands of Judah c. As let the learned in the language judge whether the words in the Chaldee will not beare that sense especially the sense of the first word Chizgner being looked into in the Chaldee in Psal. 2. 12. and 73. 2. Hos. 1. 4. and in other places The Text of the Prophet then being rendred in this interpretation this allegation of the Evangelist will bee found not to have any contrariety to it at all but to speake though not in the very same words yet to the very same ten or and purpose For while the one saith It is a small thing that thou art among the Princes of Judah and the other Thou art not the least amng them they both fall into the same sense or at least into no disagreement of sense at all For if it were to bee reputed a small honour to Bethlehem to bee reckoned in equality with the other Princes of Judah in comparison of a greater honour that shee was to have in the birth of the Messias it must readily follow what this quotation of the Evangelist inferreth namely that shee was not the least among them And thus doth the Evangelist expresse the Prophets mind though he tie not his expression to his very words alledging his Text to its cleerest sense and to the easier apprehension of the hearer It is a just exception indeed thaâ— Jansenius taketh at this interpretation because that the Scripture useth not to expresse this sense It is a small thing by the word Tsagnir but by Megnat as Esa. 7. 13. Gen. 30. 15. and in other places But as it is true that it often useth Megnat for that expression so it is most true that 〈◊〉 useth not that word alone but others also As Tikton in 2 Sam. 7. 19. and Nakel in Esa. 49. 6. and why not Tsagnir then as well here SS Among the Princes of Juda. In Micah it is among the thousands of Juda and so is it translated by the Lxx the Chaldee the Vnlgar and uninamously by all other Translators so that here is yet another difficulty and difference in this allegation the Evangelist still swerving from the Text he citeth By the thousands of Juda 〈…〉 understandeth the families and Dav. Kimchi the Cities The word is once used in the very propriety of that sense in which the Prophet taketh it here Judg. 6. 15. My thousand saith Gedeon is poore in Manasseh which St. Austin and R. Esaiah expound that he was Captaine of a thousand Levi Gershom that his father was Captain but the Chaldee and other Rabbines understand it of the thousand in which his amily was numbred and inrolled Howsoever it is understood it is apparent by this and other places laid unto it that the severall Tribes of the children of Israel were divided into their severall thousands and that these thousands were inrolled to this or that City to which they had relation by habitation or by inheritance Villages that were not so populous were reduced into hundreds but Cities into one or more thousands according as they were in bignesse and multitude Amos 5. 3. The City that went out by a thousand shall leave an hundred and that which went out by an hundred shall leave ten The Villages were justly reputed of an inferiour ranke but the Cities that afforded their thousands were accounted Princes and so may the Prophet bee understood and so the Evangelist reconciled to him Now the reason of their difference in words though they both redound to the same sense may be given these First because the question in agitation was about the birth of a King and the place where now in answer to such a Quaere it was fitter to speake of Princes then thousands for where should a King bee looked for but among Princes Secondly the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 used by the Prophet doth signifie both thousands and Princes indifferently and so David Kimchi upon that place in the booke of Judges cited even now alledgeth There are saith he that interpret Aâ—phi which our English readeth my thousand as it were my Father even as the word Alluph whose signification is a Prince or Lord. The Evangelist therefore finding the word in the Prophet of this indifferency useth it in that sense which best suited with the present occasion both in regard of the question proposed as also thirdly in regard of the manner of Christs comming For it was both the expectation of the Jews and the feare of Herod that hee would come with a conquering and victorious temporall Sword and restore them to a pompous Earthly State and expell him out of his Kingdome Now for the Evangelist to have directed in this quotation to looke for Christ among the thousands of Juda had backed these Opinions for the terme soundeth of Warre and it had been a direction where likelier to find an earthly Warrier then the Prince of Peace among the thousands or among the Militia And therefore hee qualifieth the terme to the best satisfaction of Herod and the People Among the Princes There is that saith it might be construed In Princes and not among them and the meaning to bee this Thou Bethlehem art not the hast in the Princes of Juda that is in breeding or bringing them forth but this relisheth more of wit then solidity and agreeth better with the Latine then with the Greeke Originall SS For out of thee shall â—ome a Governour The Chaldee readeth it in the Prophet Out of thee shall come Messias and so is it expounded by Rabbi Solomon and David Kimchi And therefore that is most true which is inferred by Lyranus that those Catholikes that interpret it of Ezekiah do more judaize then the lews themselves Some Jews indeed saith Theephylact doe apply this to Zorobabel but as he answereth it is like that Zorobabel was born in Babel and not in Bethlehem And St. Matthew hath plainly taught both Jewes and Gentiles to understand it in another sense But here again doth he differ from the Letter of the Prophet but commeth so neere the sense that the difference is as no difference at all Vers. 7. Herod privily called the Wisemen Privily For had the Jewes heard of his pretences they had so long been acquainted with his policy tyranny and ambition they could readily have descried his mischievousnesse and spoiled his bloody contrivall by better information given to the wisemen SS Enquired diligently of them the time when the Star appeared Had they taken their journey instantly upon the Starres appearing Herod could easily have computed the time by the length of their journey but by this his enquiry it is apparent that they had told him of its appearance at some good space before which in ver 16. is plainly resolved to be two yeeres by the Wisemens owne acknowledgement and resolution Vers. 11. Gold and