shee had offered almes at whose death a sword of griefe should pierce her owne soule For among others which expected the redemptioÌ„ of Israel one whose name was Simeon dwelling in Hierusalem father vnto Gamaliel as some write and sonne vnto Hillel who was one of the twoo chiefe maisters of the Scribes and Pharyses men of great learning and right vnderstanding vntill opposing themselues against the Sadduces who were accounted heretickes among the Iewes they fell by two much precisenesse into most absurd superstitions This Hillel liued 120. yeeres and flourished not long after the Machabees he was of the tribe of Iuda and no doubt instructed his sonne Simeon how neere hee was who was to come to redeeme Israel for which cause Simeon made alwayes his prayer vnto God that hee might see his Sauiour before hee dyed which was promised vnto him and this day of the virgins purification performed for comming according vnto his custome into the Temple and seeing the mayden mother and her sonne hee tooke the childe with exceeding great ioy in his armes and as one who after a long time had obtained his hearts desire hee beganne with a voyce which was no lesse then an 100 yeere old to sing this little Hâ—mme Now lettest thou thy seruant Lord depart According to thy word in peace Because mine eyes haue seene which ioyes my hart Thy sacred health my soules release Which thou prepared hast before all peoples face A light to light the rest renowne to Iacobs race Had this beene else where the mayden mother vsed vnto such matters would either haue beene very little or nothing mooued but her sonne being at that time and in that place descryed it made her greatly amazed much more did it astonish others who could not but knowe that the three Kings came to Hierusalem to seeke such a childe and poore Ioseph among the rest maruailed not a little who was accounted by the people father of the childe and for that cause is so called in the same sacred hystorie which before had shewed how that the Maiden mother conceyued this childe by the holie Ghost without the companie of man But old Simeon draue her out of that maze by drawing her into a farre deeper muse for afterwarde taking aduauntage of his owne gray haires and her greene yeeres hee blessed her and gaue her as much cause of griefe in prose as hee had giuen of ioy before in verse and tolde her that her sonne should bee the ruine although also the raysing of manie in Israel and that he shoulde be a signe which shoulde bee contradicted alluding perchaunce vnto that which the Oracle sayde vnto Achas king of Iudah The Lorde shall giue you a signe behold a virgin shall conceiue and bring forth a sonne But in that Simeon sayde that this signe shoulde bee contradicted hee woulde insinuate eyther a troublesome life or else a scandalous death as that eyther his doctrine woulde bee little esteemed of where hee preached or that his manner of death shoulde bee such as beeing suffered by him shoulde in malicious mynded men derogate from the worthinesse which others attribute vnto him For aptlie dooth the conclusion of Simeons speech vnto the virgin folâ—ow And a sworde of griefe shall pierce thy soule and manie secrete thoughts be reuealed And no sooner had Simeon done his deuotion but a religious widow of 84. yeares and aboue a hundred yeeres old daughter vnto Phanuel of the tribe of Aser came not vnto the Temple for she was neuer from thence spending there all her life in fasting and prayer but vnto the maiden mother and hauing done her dutie vnto the yong prince shee spake of him for she had before the spirit of prophecie vnto all such as looked for the redemption of Israel And after these things were finished they returned into Galile vnto their citie Nazareth from whence they parted when they came to Bethleem These ceremonys being finished which satisfied the Iewes law a new solemnitie was also begun which should abolish the Gentiles loosenesse for as by the princes his birth the sports made in December in honour of Saturne were afterwarde turned to celebrate his natiuitie who was to bring again vnto the worlde such tymes or rather better then in which Saturne raigned and as by the effusion of his moste precious bloud the first day of the yeare had a newe consecration which was before performed with vain pastimes in honour of Ianus so now in Februarie wherein they vsed their lupercals either to purge the vnclean spirits or to please themselues with vnseemly sports both the virgin was purified because she would not haue it knowne howe litle she needed it and the yong prince was offered who doubted not afterward to make himself a most gratefull sacrifice thereby to chaunge these senselesse superstitions into a moste sacred solemnitie likely to teach them also some newe kinde of tryumph in March in which Moneth theyr priestes which song and daunce marched vp and downe in the streetes in armour But before the virgin and her spouse had disgested these sodaine ioyes which hapned vnto them in the Temple new dangers were set before them insomuch as that their owne experience might sufficiently haue taught them if they could not haue told before that mourning is alwayes at one end of myrth Ioseph his iealousie swallowed vppe his first ioy hee had in his spouse their grieuous winter iourney made him bewayle her wombes groth their gladnesse at this childes birth was checked with an inconuenient abode the shepheards congratulation was soone choked with the childs circumcision the kings oblation of golde and frankensence was not perfected without mirrhe and now that they haue beene at the Temple and heard what ioy these made which did but see him who was theirs a message commeth which to shew the more hast commeth by night and vrgeth Ioseph to arise and take the childe and the childs mother and flye into Egypt for that Herod would make search after the childe to kill him The message being deliuered vnto Ioseph he lost little time but rose and tooke the childe and his mother by night and went into Egypt where they remained not onely vntill the massacre was ended but also vntill that Herod was dead Then were many Oracles vnderstood and one principall prophesie was fulfilled that the Lorde should ascend vppon a light cloude and should enter into Egypt and the Idols of Egypt should bee ouerthrowne and the heart of Egypt should languish in the middle thereof for when the sonne of God became a man he was in some sort hidden that his glorie was not seene and the flesh which hee tooke was likened vnto a light cloude either because flesh is of it selfe no more lasting then is a thin cloude which with euery little winde is dissolued or else because he was of no lesse power when he was in that cloude then he was before At his comming into Egypt some affirme that all the Idols in Egypt fell downe
with the effusion of farre more holy bloud then eyther was sprinckled in Moyses tabernacle or shed in Salomons temple for the eight day after the natiuitie according to the law of the Iews hee who was aboue all lawes was circumcised in this rocke and thereby made subiect vnto the law the parents not being commaunded by the lawe nor accustomed to carrie their infants to the temple for the receiuing of that sacrament at which time also hee had this name Iesus giuen vnto him as the Angell called him before and after that he was conceiued in his mothers wombe notwithstanding that long before many other names were assigned him by the diuine Oracle as Admirable the Counsellor God the Mightie the Father of the world to come the Prince of Peace with manie other correspondent either to his person or some propertie which is in him yet none was significant as this and whatsoeuer is obscurely contained in them is manifestly declared in this For the sinne which slew mankind being infinit in respect that the partie offended was infinitelie more excellent then the offender it required a satisfaction infinitely good which man was not able to make whose nature is within certaine limits of perfection wherefore it was necessarye either that God who is onely infinite should of his mercie satisfie himselfe or else in iustice the sinner was to haue an infinite punishment which because the offender could not in any limited time sustaine it was to be changed for a limited punishment which should endure without limit and because God his owne nature was so superexcellent that it was capable of nothing but happinesse hee was to take such a nature as wherein he might best accomplish his gratious designement and because man knewe of himselfe howe to sinne hee thought it best in the same nature to teach him also how to satisfie He chose therefore to become a man but in such sort as he would bee but one yet God and man for if there had beene two God and a man which also had not beene God condigne satisfaction could not haue beene made vnto God for the sinne for neither was a pure man able to satisfie nor God in his owne nature subiect to suffer Hauing therefore decreed to make himselfe admirable in this vnion of two so different natures without the confusion of them hee thought it an vnworthie thing for him to begin to be a man by a carnall generation as other men doe and therfore chose a virgin in whom hee was not without miracle conceiued nor of whom without as strang a miracle he was borne after that her time came to bee deliuered for shee remained as well for his honour as her owne as perfect a virgin after his birth as shee was before He was a true and faythfull counseller vnto vs enforming vs nothing but what himselfe before performed euen to the effusion of his owne most precious blood in following our cause for vs instructing vs by exhortation and his owne example that the meane for vs to win heauen was wholy to weane our selues from the world He was true God being the onely sonne of God equal vnto his father in power goodnes and authoritie from whence proceeded his mightines both in word and worke to the redeeming of mankind ransacking of hell and in the end the ouerthrowing of death which done he would make al things new and therefore rightly might hee be called the father of the world to come restoring by himselfe onely that which the whole Trinitie had before created and thereby creating a new by grace what was thorough sinne come to nought He was also a Prince of peace for the obtaining of which hee came into the world to performe a single and bloudy combat that not without cause hee was proclaimed by that name so soone as hee was borne and the eight day after to conclude all in one he was called Iesus that is a Sauiour A name neuer heard before although like sound hath beene heard as Iosue the sonne of Naue was called Iesus who brought the Israelites into the land of promise after fortie yeeres wandring in the Desart and the high Priest who returned with them from Babylon after seuentie yeeres captiuitie was also called Iesus but neither these nor any other whose name sounded after the same maner although either as chiefe priests or Princes they brought their people into the holy land were other thē figures of this prince and therefore neither were their names the right name which this prince had it being giuen him by one who knew verte well the propertie of euery thing and either gaue or ratified their names giuen vnto them accordingly But the name it selfe discloseth some secret mysterie For who is not deaf and hath not his eares filled with a most sweete sound when hee heareth this holy name Iesus Who is not dumbe and hath not his mouth flowing with a most sacred sweetnes when he soundeth this holy name Iesus who is not dead and hath not all his senses furnished with a straunge delight when hee apprehendeth the name of Iesus who is not damned and hath not his soule deified◠by an infinite goodnes when hee engraueth this holy name Iesus A holy name was before but it was holy and terrible because hee whose name it was was a consuming fire A holie name is nowe but it is holie and mercifull because hee whose name it is is a most gracious redeemer insomuch as there is no other name giuen to men by which they may bee saued then the holie name of Iesus so gloryous in heauen so gratious in earth so regarded in hell that at the sounde thereof euerie knee boweth in heauen earth and hell Glorious in heauen because heauens storer gracious in earth because earthes restorer regarded in hel because hels restrainer glorious in heauen because a maintainer of maiesty gracious in earth because a mone◠of miserie regarded in hell because a maisterer of tyrannie Heauens honor earthes myrror helles terror A most sweete and soueraigne oyle flowing from the heauens aboue vnto the lower partes of the earth and refreshing all who were either oppressed with darknesse or oppugned with ouermuch daunger most nourishing a wasted light and most necessarie for a wounded limme And verie fitly did this sacred oyle flow vpon such a day as wherein no one glimse appeared of the light of nature nor any sprake was seene of the least good nurture Many feastes did the Gentiles keepe to one or other false gods honour and many sportes did they make according to each one his frailest humor For although that some seemed to tende to the exercise onely of their strength and wits yet were such most attended as made them both weake and wantons The games of Olympus were moste famous in Greece so called because they were at the foot of the mountain Olympus which was so hie that it gaue name vnto the heauens for it reached so far aboue the middle region of
of one by nature and of another by the law Hereof Ioseph is said in one petigree to bee the son of Iacob and in another petigree the son of Hely as being the naturall son of Iacob and called the son of Hely because Iacob had hâ—m by Helies wife whom Hely left a widow and without any children for Hely and Iacob were brethren of one wombe although of diuerse fathers that is to say of Mathaâ— who was father vnto Iacob and Mathat who was father vnto Hely But although it be most true that the yong prince did descend of the princes of the Iewes and that he was of the familie of Dauid yet these petigrees of Ioseph proue nothing but that the prince his mother was of the tribe of Iuda because Ioseph who in these petigrees is proued to be of that name did espouse her it being a thing vnlawful among the Iewes that any shuld match but in their own tribe but neither doth this proue that this prince was of the tribe of Iuda because notwithstanding diuerse tribes should not ioyne togither in mariage the tribe of Iuda and Leui might and therefore the the proofe that Ioseph was of the tribe of Iuda and of the family of Dauid sheweth notâ—â—ng for the yong prince but that hee did by his mother discend either of the tribe of Iuda or of the tribe of Leuy For this cause many take the seconde petigree for the petigree not of Ioseph but of the yong prince by his mothers auncesters Thus beginneth that petigree Iesus was entring into his 30. yeare who was thought to be the son of Iâ—seph who was the sonne of Hely that is to say Iesus was accounted the sonne of Ioseph but he was the sonne of Hely by Mary daughter to Hely otherwise called Heliachim or Ioacâ—im for all is one name among the Iewes and although by this account the Prince should haue but one King among his auncesters yet hee had manie absolute Princes and gouernours of the people descending from Zorobabel vnto Iamnes otherwise called Ioannes Hircanus who not brooking the miserie in which hee and his people lyued through the oppression of the Syrians at the beginning of Antiochus Epiphanes his raigne who forced them to doe manie thinges agaynst their lawes slewe himselfe for which fact all his wealth was confiâ—cate which was a cause that the familie of Dauid liued afterwarde somewhat obscurely But in these petigrees appeareth a verie intricate difficultie For if Salathiell and Zorobabel mencioned in the seconde petigree are the same which are mencioned in the first why doth not the seconde petigree name the princes auncestours from king Dauid by king Salomon as the first doth but by Nathan an other of Dauids sonnes by Bersabe king Salomon his mother Againe if Salathiel and Zorobabel mentioned in the second petigree are not the same which are mencioned in the first petigree how came they which are reckoned in the second petigree to be princes of the people and their posterity vntill Iamnes slue himselfe A sacred history affirmeth that Zorobabel who is saide to descend from Iechonias the last king of the Iewes by Salathiel did carrie the people home out of Babylon where they had beene captiues And other hystories of authoritie continue this gouernment by Mosullam or Misciola Zorobabels sonne and such as are reckoned in the seconde petigree to bee the prince his ancesters The difficultie will bee easilie solued if we may say that Salathiel and Zorobabel mencioned in the one petigree were the same which are mentioned in the other and that Salathiel was not sonne vnto Iechonias but vnto Neri And this is agreeable vnto the Oracle which said that Iechonias should be barren and one who should neither prosper nor haue anie ofspring which shoulde sit in the throne of Dauid or haue any authoritie euer after in Iudah Which shoulde not haue beene true if hee shoulde haue children to succede him and to say that a man is barren or that the sonne dooth not succeed his father when the sonne hath not that pompe and maiestie which his father had is to say that most men are barren and few sons succeed their fathers so we may say that neither Salomons sonne did succeed him from whom ten tribes fell and followed Ieroboam nor Ioachas succeed his father Iosias because that Pharaoh king of Egypt within three moneths after tooke him sent him into Egypt where he died prisoner nor Ioachim brother to Ioachas who after that he had for a space paide to Pharaoh a yeerly tâ—ibute of a 100. talents of siluer and one of gold paide tribute for the space of three yeeres to Nabuchodonosâ—r king of Chaldea and rebelling against him was taken and slaine and throwne out of Hierusalem and lay vnburied according to the Oracle which sayd that hee should haue no other then the buriall of an Asse Nor his sonne Iechonias who was within three moneths after caried prisoner into Chaldea least perchance he should by some meanes haue reuenged his fathers death yet notwithstanding is this Iechonias sayde to haue sitten in the throne of Dauid and Zorobabel and his children hauing authoritie in Iudah as Kinges although for some cause they woulde not bee called Kings it is euident the Oracle being of infallible truth that Salathiel father to Zorobabel was not naturall sonne to Ieconias but to Neri and accounted the sonne of Ieconias as descending of Ieconias his wife who was left to Neri the next of kinne to Ieconias and to raise seed to Ieconias who according to the Oracle was barren Some woulde seeme to solue this difficultie by saying that Salathiel was the naturall sonne of Ieconias and adopted by Neri after Ieconias his death but why then were the princes his auncestors reckoned from King Dauid by Nathan the other beeing both a more true and more honourable petigree By this pedigree also is shewed how the prince was high priest for Onias the high priest hauing one onely daughter and one sonne hee gaue his daughter in marriage vnto Tobias otherwise called Mathathias Siloa who was grandfather vnto Iamnes the last prince which the Iewes had immediately before the Machabees and one of the yong prince his anncestors but his sonne Onias some call him Ananias and say that hee was not his sonne but his brother fledde from Hierusalem into Egypt where by Philomater the King of Egypt his lycense hee built in Hieropolis a Temple like vnto the temple in Hierusalem and there ended his life in scisme Onias the Father hadde also twoo brethren who after they hadde brought him out of the high-priesthood were themselues as they bribed Antiochus Epiphanes the King of Siria nowe one of them high priest nowe another and in the ende both shutte out and slaine Some doe say that those three brethren were sonnes to Simon who was high Priest and sonne vnto that Onias which fled into Egypt but whosoeuer they were all perished and oue succeeded them in that dignitie whose name
Antipas who claimed the kingdom by his fathers will which was made when hee was in health and would haue disprooued his Fathers last will because it was made when hee was in great extremitie of sicknes and knew not what hee did but Nicholas of Damascus Archelaus his orator knowing before whom he pleaded answered that it was a sufficient argument that Herod knew what he did because he left his will in all things to Caesars wisedome and after he had laid the blame of al the murders and misdemeaners of Archelaus vppon them which aunswered him as being rebellious and sactious people against their prince Archelaus came to Caesar and vpon his knees offered himselfe vnto him whome Caesar took vp and promised that he would doe nothing against Herods last will onely he would haue him refraine the name of a king for a while which he doubted not but that hee would quicklie deserue The cause of this strife betwixt these two brethren for the kingdome was Herods their fathers rashnes who in his life time appointed now one then an other almost all his sonnes for kinges first hee ment that the kingdome should descend from him vnto his sonnes Alexander Aristobulus whome he had by Mariamnes grandchild to Hircanus ' the last king of the Iewes but his eldest son Antipater whom he had by Doris a base woman being prouoked oftentimes by the contemptuous speeches of the princes for whose mothers loue his mother was reiected deuised how he might both take reuenge vpon thē and aduance himselfe whereof first hee wrought meanes by the discredite of the princes to come a little into his Fathers fauour which when hee had gotten so farre as his Father put him before the two princes in the right of the kingdome hee vsed matters in that sort that Herod hauing by his sleight and his friends put Mariamnes to death now also by his false suggestions murdered his two sonnes which he had by her then was Antipater honoured as a king by all for Herod gaue ouer vnto him the gouernement of the countrie in such manner as he kept vnto himselfe little more then the bare title of a king which Antipater also thought was too much yet first he stirred vp his father what he coulde against Archelaus and Philip two other of his brethren thē sought meanes to poison his Father which being perceiued by Herod hee presently chaunged his former will by which hee had giuen the kingdome to Antipater and being offended with Archelaus and Philip by Antipaters meanes hee made Antipas his successor in this kingdom but before hee dyed hauing manifest proofe of Antipaters treasons against him he repented too late his cruelty which now he mistrusted was without cause against Mariamnes her children and accounting all which proceeded from Antipater to haue beene false accusations to further himselfe in the kingdome he chaunged his will and deuided the countrie into foure partes made foure Tetrarches ouer it but the chiefest part he left to Archclaus whome he set downe in his last wil for his successor if Caesar shold think him meet and not aboue fiue dayes before his death caused Antipater to be executed and buried obscurely for as he had many causes for which hee thought hee might worthily haue put him to death before so would he not vpon any of them execute him without Caesars consent to whome hee had signified by letters what Antipater had attempted and wrought against him and how that in his treasons he had vsed the helpe of Acme who attended vpon Iulia the Empresse to which letters Caesar aunswered that Acme being found guiltie at Rome was executed as she had deserued and that Antipater was now at his Fathers discretion to order him as hee would which was no small comfort vnto him in the extremitie of his sicknes wherefore hee determined that Antipater should die which intention vpon this occasion was put in execution When Herod beeing in an extreame fitte of his sicknesse would haue slaine himselfe and was hindered by Achiabus who was his nephew Achiabus notwithstanding hee had preuented the stroake gaue so great a skritch that all in the pallace thought Herod had beene dead And Antipater who was not farre off although a prisoner hearing those newes dealt with his keeper to lette him goe at libertie as not doubting to gette the kingbome within a shorte time and to the end he might perswade the more easily hee promised great gifts both then and for afterward But this keeper either for feare of Herod or for little loue to Antipater went presently to Herod and declared his sonnes attempt for which Herod in his rage commaunded him presently to bee slaine so that now remained the other twoo willes which Herod made to bee tryed which of them were of force but Caesar decided the controuersie and the two brerhren vppon this conclusion returned from Rome to Palestina where Archelaus as well before as after his voyage did so little degenerate from his father that gladde were they who were out of his dominion which was the cause why Ioseph auoyded his owne countrey and went directly to Nazareth with his charge from whence euerie yeare for deuotion sake they went to Hierusalem to the Temple especially at the feast of Easter for many feasts did the Iewes obserue and no one passed them without great solemnitie Some of them might not bee celebrated but in Hierusalem some againe might bee obserued els where wheresoeuer the Iewes dwelt Their Sabaoth they did celebrate euerie seuenth day a daye solemne from the beginning of the world sanctified by God himselfe and called the sabaoth because then hee ceased from creating the world and the complements thereof wherefore the Iewes alwayes except when they were in Egypt and all theyr auncestors kept the seuenth day holy in remembrance that after sixe dayes in which all things were created God rested the seuenth day which although perchance when they were in Egypt they minded not and in time forgot it being so long in bondage where they could not vse that honour vnto God vpon that day as theyr fathers had taught them yet were they assured that was the day when they were in the wildernesse by the myracle which chaunced so oft vnto them that in the end they did by theyr murmur seeme to contemne it for when they wanted victuall in the desart God sent down vnto them like raine a food which because they knewe not else what to call it they called it Manna which woord was in euerie mans mouth when they first saw it and signifieth what is this it fell sixe dayes and the seuenth nothing fell but vppon the sixt day it fell in greater aboundance then any other day that the people might gather sufficientlye to serue them the same day and the next Vpon this which they called sabaoth it was not lawfull for them to doe anye worke no not to prouide or dresse any meate for their sustenaunce for confirmation of which they did see