the beginning of the world from Tisri or September so that that yeere was his first yeere and 3929. his second yeere at the which the wise men came to visit him 3930. his third yeere and so 3960. halfe passed or at Easter his two and thirtyeth and an halfe at which age hee dyed And now hee that desireth to know the yeere of the world which is now passing over us this yeere 1644. will finde it to bee 5572. yeeres just now finished since the Creation and the yeere 5573 of the worlds age now newly begunne this September at the Aequinox THE HARMONY OF THE FOVRE EVANGELISTS SECTION I. S. LVKE CHAP. I. The Preface or Epistle Dedicatory The occasion and warranty of Lukes writing the Gospel FORASMVCH as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely beleeved among us 2 Even as they delivered them unto us which from the beginning were eyewitnesses and Ministers of the Word 3 It seemed good to mee also having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first to write unto thee in order most excellent Theophilus 4 That thou mightest know the certainty of those things wherein thou hast been instructed Reason of the Order FOrasmuch as none of the Evangelists have made a Preface to their story but onely Luke this of his may serve as a generall one for all the rest And like the beautifull gate of the Temple may bee as an entrance or inlet into the glorious and royall Fabrick of the Gospels Harmony and Explanation Ver. 1. Many have taken in hand HEE condemneth not the undertakings of these men as very many Expositors hold hee doth for first hee saith they had taken in hand a declaration of those things which were most surely beleeved Secondly Hee saith they had done it even as the eye-witnesses and Ministers had delivered it Thirdly Hee maketh his own undertaking of the like nature with theirs when hee saith It seemed good to mee also But hee mentioneth these their writings as only humane Authorities undertaken without the injunction of the Holy Ghost which his divine one was to exclude So the Books of Jasher of Gad of Iddo of the warres of the Lord c. are cited by the Old Testament neither as altogether disapprooved nor yet approoved above humane In the losse of them there perished none of the Canonicall Scriptures but onely the works of men no more did there in the losse of these Vers. 2. Eyewitnesses these were the twelve Apostles Ministers these were the 70 Disciples From their Sermons and Relations many undertook to write Gospels of a godly intention and holy zeale Of which the Evangelist here speaking aimeth neither at the Gospel of Matthew nor Marke though they were written when hee thus speaketh for the first was an eyewitnesse and one of the twelve and the other it is like a Minister or one of the 70◠and so wrote not from the intelligence of others as those did of whom the Evangelist speaketh but by their owne Vers. 3. It seemed good to mee also having had perfect understanding of all things from above For so might 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bee best translated And so it signifieth John 3. 3. 31. 19. 11. James 1. 17. c. And thus taken it sheweth Lukes inspiration from heaven and standeth in opposition to the many Gospels mentioned ver 1. which were written from the mouthes and dictating of men ver 2. but his intelligence for what hee writeth was from above Most excellent Theophilus In most probability a Nobleman of Antioch and fellow Citizen with Luke converted by Paul at his Preaching there Act. 11. 26. Luke adhered to his Master and forsook him not 2 Tim. 4. 11. but Theophilus staying at Antioch after Pauls departure what hee wanted in verball instructions from the mouth of his Master when hee went away Luke doth in this his Gospel supply by writing that so hee might know the certainty of these things wherein hee had been Catechized Theophilus in Greek is the same in signification with Jedidiah in Hebrew the name of Solomon the Lords Beloved or with glorious title of Abraham the Friend of God And thus was that Prophecy most sweetly fulfilled Esai 60. 14. The sonnes of the afflicters shall come bending to thee c. when in that Town which had been the residence and bare the name of Antiochus the sharpest enemy that ever Israel groaned under the professors of the Gospel were first named Christians and such an Evangelist hath his Originall SECT II. S. JOHN CHAP. 1. The fitnesse and necessity of the second Person in the Trinity his being incarnate and his being the Redeemer rather then either of the other asserted and prooved by his being the Creator the given of the promise and substance and tenor of the types and Prophecies of the Old Testament IN the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God 2 The same was in the beginning with God 3 All things were made by him and without him was not any thing made that was made 4 In him was life and the life was the light of men 5 And the light shined in darknesse and the darknesse comprehended it not 6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John 7 The same came for a witnesse to beare witnesse of the Light that all men through him might beleeve 8 Hee was not that Light but was sent to beare witnesse of that light 9 That was the true Light which lighteth every man that commeth into the world 10 Hee was in the world and the world was made by him and the world knew him not 11 Hee came unto his own and his own received him not 12 But as many as received him to them gave hee power to become the Sons of God even to them that beleeve on his name 13 Which were born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God 14 And the word was made flesh and dwelt among us and wee beheld his glory the glory as of the onely begotten of the Father full of grace and truth Reason of the Order THe Preface being made the story is to begin and that it doth here from Christs Divinity most Divinely For whereas the other Evangelists begin their relations no further back then from the birth or conception of our Saviour or at the furthest of his forerunner John draws the Reader back to behold him in the Old Testament in the Creation of the world and in the promises to the Fathers And therefore this portion is first to bee begun withall and of it selfe will justifie its own order Especially it being considered that the person of Christ is first to bee treated of before his actions and in his person the divine nature which John
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—
the Rabbines of Tikkun Sopherim The correction or direction of the Scribes or their peculiar and speciall disposing of the text which the Massoreth at the beginning of the booke of Numbers observeth to have been in eighteen places which are reckoned there These Scribes may be conceived to have been either Priests or Levites or both the men of that Tribe being the chiefest Students in the Scriptures and being bound by their calling to bee able to instruct the people in the same Deut. 33. 10. Mal. 2. 7. They had eight and forty Universities as it were belonging to that tribe for the education of the Clergy in the knowledge of the Law the Prophets Josh. 21. and from among the learned of those Students were some set apart for this Office which required profound Learning and skill namely to be the Copiers of the Bible when any copy was to be taken or at least to take care that all copies that should bee transcribed should be pure and without corruption Secondly these also were the publick common preachers of the people being more constant Pulpit men then any other of the Clergy taking on them not onely to bee the preservers and providers for the purity of the Text but also the most constant and common explainers and expounders of it in Sermons Therefore it is said of our Saviour that he taught as one that had authority and not as the Scribes Mat. 7. 29. where the Scribes are rather mentioned then any other order because they were the greatest and most ordinary Preachers And our Saviour himselfe in Marke 12. 25. How say the Scribes that Christ is the Sonne of David instancing in the Scribes onely whereas the Pharisees Sadduces and even all the Nation of the Jewes held the same opinion because the Scribes were the men that were oftest in the Pulpit and preached more then any other and so this Doctrine was heard more from them then others And thus was Ezra a ready Scribe in the Law of Moses Ezr. 7. 6. both for the copying and preserving pure the Text of the Scripture and also for the expounding of it by his Sermons And such a one is the Scribe that our Saviour speaketh of that is instructed to the Kingdome of Heaven that bringeth out of his treasure instructions out of the New Testament and Old Mat. 13. 52. The Chaldee Paraphrast on Jer. 6. 13. 8. 10. and in other-places in stead of The Prophet readeth the Scribe taking as it seemeth the Prophet in the same sense that Paul doth Prophecying 1 Thess. 5. 20. 1 Cor. 14. 5. c. for the Preacher and making the text speake in the same tenor that it doth here the Priests and the Scribes In the Story of our Saviours arraignment and elswhere in the New Testament there is mention of the chiefe Priests and Scribes and Elders Mat. 26. 3. Marke 15. 1. importing that the Great Councell consisted of these three sorts of men The chiefe Priests of the seed of Aaron the Scribes of the Tribe of Levi and the Elders of the people meer lay men These were all deeply and extraordinarily versed and learned in the Law but the practise of this their learning had some difference as the civill common and canon 1. The Elders judged the people and matters of debate and controversie but instructed not the people by way of preaching or ministery The chiefe Priests judged and instructed but it was more by resolving questions and doubts that were proposed to them as our Saviour asked them questions Luke 2. 46. Hag. 2. 11. Mal. 2. 7. then by common preaching Homilies or Sermons The Scribes were they that were the preachers or lecturers and taught the people from the pulpit as well as determined upon doubts and debates And to this triple division of the great and Seraphicall Doctors of the Jewes St. Paul seemeth to allude in 1 Cor. 1. 20. Where is the wise Where is the Scribe where is the questionist or disputer of this world By the first meaning the Elders of the people and by the last the chiefe Priests SS Hee demanded of them where Christ should bee borne The High Priests were rightly consulted say the Rhemists in question of their Law and Religion for whom should Herod aske but those that were most likely to give him an answer But the latter end of their note carryeth a snare with it to intrap the simple And 〈◊〉 they never so ill say they they are often forced to say the truth by priviledge of their function They think they have an undeniable ground work for this their Doctrine from the prophecying of Caiaphas Job 11. 51. as their notes plead there ascribing that his prophecying to his Priesthood and order whereas the Text ascribeth it to the yeere and season This hee spake not of himselfe but being high Priest that yeer hee prophecied where the emphasis lyeth not in the words being High Priest but in the words that yeer which was the yeer of sending down of the gifts of the Spirit in a measure and manner never known before or after Ver. 6. And thou Bethlehem in the land of Juda c. There is no small difference in this quotation of the Scribes or of the Evangelist or indeed of both from the letter of the Text of the Prophet from whom they cite it nor doth this difference rise by the Evangelists following the translation of the Lxx aâ— oft there doth for it differeth much from the letter of the lxx also but it is upon some speciall reason Which disagreement that wee may reconcile and the reason of which that wee may see the better wee will take up the verse verbatim and the differences as they come to hand one by one First then whereas Saint Matthew readeth Thou Bethlehem in the land of Juda the Hebrew hath it onely Thou 〈…〉 without any mention of the land of Juda at all and so the Chaldee and so the Lxx but only with the addition of one word Thou Bethlehem the house of Ephrata art the least c. Answ. First There are that give this generall answer to all the differences in this quotation that the Scribes and the Evangelist tye not themselves to the very words of the Prophet but only think it enough to render his sense And this answer might bee very well entertained and give good satisfaction especially siâ—â—e that in allegations from the Old Testament it is usuall with the New so to do but that the difference between the Text and the quotation is so great that it is not only diverse but even contrary Some therefore Secondly conceive that the Scribes could alledge the Text no better without the book and that the Evangelist hath set it downe in their owne words for the just shame of those great Doctors that were no better versed in the Scripture then to alledge a place in words so very farre different from the Text. But hee that hath been any whit versed in the writings