plow and draw their Carts with Heifers and Cows as well as with Oxen see Judg. 14.18 This Heifer was to be given to Eleazar because by doing this Service that was now to be done he was to be unclean and 't was fit that he rather than Aaron should be defiled She must also be carried out of the Camp as an accursed thing figuring Christs being made a Curse and suffering without the City Heb. 13.12 And Eleazar was to sprinkle of her blood seven times turning his face towards the Tabernacle of the Congregation And her skin and her flesh her blood and her dung were all to be burnt in his sight And Eleazar was to take Cedar-wood and Hyssop and Scarlet and to cast them into the midst of the burning of the Heifer to signifie that these things should be used for a sprinkle in sprinkling the unclean with the water of separation see Levit. 14.4 And Eleazar was to wash his Clothes and bath his flesh and to be unclean unto the evening * The like is injoyned to him that burnt this Heifer v. 8. and to him that gathered up the ashes v. 10. and to him that sprinkled an unclean person with the water made of those ashes v. 21. This might intimate to them that it was not so much the water made with the ashes of this Heifer as the thing signified thereby that had vertue in it to purifie those that were spiritually unclean and consequently to shew the imperfection of the legal Priesthood because they that were imployed in preparing this water which was for the cleansing of others were themselves defiled 'T was further injoyned That the ashes of this Heifer should be gathered up by a man that was clean and laid up without the Camp in a clean place (h) As for the place where those ashes were kept when they came into the Land of Canaan it is not expressed Some hold that those ashes were dispers'd into all the Cities that those who were unclean might have wherewith to purifie and cleanse themselves because they were now conseerated to an holy use However the man that gathered them up was thereby made unclean because they were the remainders of an Heifer slain for the sins of the people And the Statute of making and reserving of these ashes for a water of separation was to bind both the Israelite and the Proselyte or Stranger that sojourned with them as long as this Dispensation lasted By this Law it was further injoyned That he that touched the dead body of a man was to be unclean seven days and he was to purifie himself with this water on the third day and on the seventh day vers 19. and then he was to be clean else not And whoever having contracted this kind of uncleanness and doth not make use of this way to purifie himself but cometh in that state into the Court of the Tabernacle he shall be cut off by the Sentence of the Judge if it be proved that he did it presumptuously because he despiseth not only the Ceremonial purifying but the thing signified thereby viz. the spiritual cleansing thorow the blood of the Messias Otherwise if he did it ignorantly he was to bring such a Sacrifice as is injoyn'd Levit. 5.3 6. Further if any man came into the Tent of a dead man it rendred him unclean yea and all that was in the Tent Every open Vessel that takes in the air of the Tent was ceremoniously unclean Or if a man touched a dead body or the bone of a dead man it rendred him unclean And thus hereby was figured the spreading and infectious nature of sin And one of the Priests that was clean was to put running water to the ashes of the burnt-Heifer and with a bunch of Hyssop tied to a Cedar-stick with a Scarlet-thread to sprinkle the person or Tent or Vessels that were unclean and then to be himself unclean until the evening because he had touched the water of separation And whatsoever any unclean person touched was to be held unclean to signifie the contagion of sin spreading from one to another Numb 19. whole Chapter SECT LXVII THe Camp now advanced to Kadesh in the Wilderness of Zin which was near to the Land of Edom in the first month of the fortieth year after their coming out of Egypt and there Miriam died and was buried four months before her Brother Aaron and eleven months before her Brother Moses She was the eldest of the three she attained to the age of 130 see Exod. 2.4 7. she was a Prophetess and by her also God guided the Israelites in their Travels see Mich. 6.4 she in all likelihood was the Girl that was set to watch what would become of Moses when he was expos'd in an Ark of Bulrushes on the River Nile see Exod. 2.4 c. Numb 20. vers 1. SECT LXVIII AT this Kadesh (i) So that in their Travels from Kadesh-barnea where the Spies came back to Moses to this Kadesh in the Desart of Zin there were about 38 years spent and most of their Fathers that were numbred at their coming out of Egypt were in this time dead the people for want of water murmur again against Moses and Aaron With the same want God had tried their Fathers in the first year after their coming out of Egypt Exod. 17.4 and they murmured then as their Children do now and they had water given them out of a Rock But these their Children were worse than their Fathers because the supply their Fathers had from God in that extremity should have been an argument and encouragement to them to rely on his Providence now and not to have distrustfully murmured or wished so desperately as they did Would God say they we had died with our Brethren whom God suddenly destroyed in the Insurrection of Corah and at other times thereby as it were slighting that fearful Judgment of being cut off in Gods firery Indignation in comparison of being pinch'd with a present want of water They highly expostulate with Moses and Aaron for bringing them into that barren Wilderness which was no place to sow seed in or plant Figg-Trees Vines or Pomegranates but a Land of Desarts a Land of Drought and where there was no water a Land thorow which no man passed and where no man dwelt see Jer. 2.6 Moses and Aaron hereupon betake themselves unto the door of the Tabernacle to intercede with God as formerly for this rebellious people And the Lord immediately signified his approach and the actual manifestation of his glorious Presence by the descending of the Cloud to the door of the Tabernacle see Ch. 14.10 and Ch. 16.19 And here He Commands Moses to take the Rod viz. Aaron's Rod which budded out of the Tabernacle * See Numb 20. v. 9. Ch. 17.10 and with that Rod in his hand to speak to the Rock before the Children of Israel and it should give forth water Moses indeed with his miraculous Rod at
deserto intermissum Non jubetur idem homo iterum circumcidi sed idem populus those that were born in their Travels thorow the Wilderness who had not been hitherto circumcised And the Reasons why it was now injoyned as we may suppose were these 1. That this might signifie to them that it was by vertue of that Covenant which God had made with their Fathers whereof Circumcision was an outward Seal that they were now put into the possession of the Land of Canaan 2ly That they might more couragiously Encounter the Canaanites having upon them this Badge of their Adoption 3ly Because on the fourteenth day of this month at even they were to eat the Passover of which none might eat that were not circumcised Exod. 12.48 4ly When they came into the Land of Canaan they were to observe all the Precepts of the Ceremonial Law Deut. 12.8 9 10. and therefore this of Circumcision among the rest 5ly Circumcision was now injoyn'd them that hereby God might make trial of their Faith and Obedience And indeed a very hard trial it was if we consider that those that were the very flower and strength of their Armies were now to be circumcised viz. all that were under forty years of age and when they lay sore how easie had it been for their Enemies to have overcome them as may appear from the slaughter Simeon and Levi made upon the Sechemites when they lay in the same condition Gen. 34.25 26. So that nothing could be more dangerous in the eye of reason than that which God now injoyn'd them But thus God was pleased to try their Faith viz. whither in confidence of his Protection they would do what he injoyn'd them though it seem'd in it self so exceeding perillous Joshua therefore in Obedience to Gods Command and for these Reasons before-mentioned renewed now this Sacrament of Circumcision and 't is probable that all that were before circumcised were imployed in this Service that it might be the sooner dispatched and so the place where this was done was upon this occasion call'd the Hill of Fore-skins because there they did cast away or bury the Fore-skins of those that were that day circumcised The Israelites thus circumcised abode in their places in the Camp till they were whole no Enemy attempting any thing against them or once offering to molest them no not so much as to scare them or put them in any fright This being done the Lord said to Joshua This day have I rolled away from you the Reproach of Egypt as if he should have said Had these Israelites continued in their Vncircumcision they would rather have seemed to be uncircumcised Egyptians than the Israel of God but now being circumcised this Reproach of Egypt is rolled away from them see 1 Sam. 17.26 Gen. 34.14 Josh Ch. 5. from 1. to 10. SECT XCVII UPon the fourteenth day of this first month in the evening the Israelites celebrated their first Passover * Which was likewise intermitted in the Wilderness saving only the second year see Numb 9.1 2. in the Land of Canaan and on the morrow after did eat both unleavened Cakes of the old Corn and parched Corn of the new even the very same day whereon the Sheaf of the first-fruits of their Harvest was offered to the Lord after the offering whereof they might lawfully eat of the new Corn and not till then And Manna ceased the very day after they began to eat of the Fruits of the Land so that after that they saw it no more By which it was evident to them that Manna came not all that time they had injoyed it from any natural Cause in the Clouds but was provided for them in an extraordinary way by the Almighty Power of God Josh Ch. 5. vers 10 11 12. SECT XCVIII JOshua now approaching nearer to Jericho possibly to observe the Country about it and to contrive how he might best assail it and perhaps retiring a little alone to pray unto the Lord for direction in this matter on a sudden he beheld a man standing over against him with his Sword drawn in his hand Joshua went to him and said Art thou for us or for our Adversaries The man said Nay but as a Captain of the Host of the Lord am I come unto thee Then Joshua fell on his face to the Earth and worshipping him said What saith my Lord to his Servant And he said Loose thy shooe from off thy foot for the place whereon thou standest his holy and Joshua did so This Captain of the Lords Host was not Gabriel or any other created Angel but Michael the Arch-Angel Jude v. 9. the great Prince of Gods people Dan. 10.21 12.1 the Angel of the Covenant Mal. 3.1 Christ the eternal Son of God who appeared here and sundry other times in the shape of a man as a foregoing Presage and pre-signification of his future Incarnation and this appeareth by Joshua's adoring him as the Lord Jehovah Ch. 6.2 and his acceptance of it which a created Angel would have refused Rev. 19.10 and by his commanding Joshua to put off his shoes because the place was holy like to that Exod. 3.5 not that the place was capable of any inherent holiness in it self but hallowed by Gods holy presence in it and in relation to that only to be so esteemed and which ceased to be so when his appearance was withdrawn from it This Captain instructs Joshua about the manner of besieging and conquering Jericho He commands him for six * Thus God loves to try the saith and patience of his people to see whither they will wait for the accomplishment of his Promises when they are not presently fulfilled days together to march his Army round about the City that the Priests should carry the Ark about it and seven Priests with Trumpets of Rams-horns should blow before it and on the seventh day to do it seven several times At the last of which when the Priests blew with a long blast all the people should give a great shout at which the Walls of Jericho should fall down and so the Israelites should enter into it and destroy it Joshua having received these Directions from the Lord acquaints the people with them who believed the Lord would work this Miracle for them as he had newly divided the waters of Jordan and therefore the Apostle says Heb. 11.30 By Faith the walls of Jericho fell down Joshua tells them That the Lord would give the City into their hands but it should be accursed or devoted †See Levit. 27.28 even it and all that was therein to the Lord except Rahab and her Family who hid the Spies that is shall be offered to divine Justice as a kind of First-fruits thereby intimating that the whole Land was his but that he was pleased to give it them He tells them All the Silver and Gold and Vessels of Brass and Iron were to be consecrated to the Lord and brought into his Treasury
Therefore says he keep your selves all of you from the accursed thing Take none of the accursed banned things to your own use lest you bring a Curse upon your selves and upon the Camp of Israel thereby Joshua having given the people these Instructions he gave order to the Army to march round about the City seven days in the manner that was prescribed the Sabbath-day being one of them and that by Command of him who is Lord of the Sabbath The armed-men marched before the Ark and the remainder of the people that were in the Rear not armed followed after and thus they did six days on the seventh day they rose early and compassed the City after the same manner seven times and at the seventh time when the Priests that blew with the Trumpets made a long blast Joshua bad them shout for the Lord had given them the City The people hereupon gave a great shout and the wall of the City fell down flat viz. all that part of it over against which the Israelites in a long train marched and so all the armed men went up every man right from the place where they were and entred in at the breach into the City And they utterly destroyed all that was in the City Men Women young and old and the Oxen and Asses and Sheep and what ever they met with excepting Rahab and her Family whom Joshua sent the two Spies unto whom she had preserved to bring them forth and to leave them without the Camp till they were cleansed from their former pollutions according to the Law Numb 31.19 and were instructed in the Israelites Religion and admitted into the Congregation and so they and their Posterity continued among the Israelites and Rahab was afterwards married to Salmon a Prince of the Tribe of Judah one of Christs Progenitors Matth. 1.5 Luke 3.32 Then they burnt the City with fire and all that was therein excepting only the Silver and Gold and Iron and Brass which were reserved to be put into the Treasury of the House of the Lord none of them offering to meddle with one jot of the Spoil save only Achan of whom more presently In the judgment of reason one would have thought it must needs be grievous to the Israelites to destroy so brave a City and so goodly Houses wherein they might so conveniently have setled themselves and the Prey and Spoil of so fair and rich a City whereby they might have so greatly inriched themselves The more remarkable therefore and commendable was their ready Obedience herein to Gods Commands And Joshua by a special Inspiration of the Holy Ghost adjured them not to go about to build that City again and pronounced a Curse upon that man that by rebuilding it should as it were endeavour to blot out the memorial of this miraculous Work of God in giving this Idolatrous City after so strange a manner into their hands Whosoever shall go about to do it says He he shall lay the Foundation thereof in his First-born and in his youngest Son shall he set up the Gates thereof that is it shall cost him the loss of his Children of the first when he begins it of the other as he goeth forward with the work and of the youngest when he finisheth it and hangeth up the Gates thereof This Curse afterwards fell upon Hiel the Bethelite who in Ahab's Reign built this City again 1 Kings 16.34 This man was very ignorant if he knew not of this Curse but if he did know of it he was very audacious and impudently profane in not regarding it But though he was in his own particular severely punish'd for thus transgressing Gods Command and neglecting this Curse yet the City being rebuilt it was afterward allowed for a fit Habitation even for good men to lodge in as Elijah and Elisha 2 Kings 2.4 18. yea our Saviour himself did honour this City with his presence and Miracles Luke 19.1 5. Josh Ch. 5. from 13. to the end Josh Ch. 6. whole Chapter SECT XCIX JOshua now sent Spies to Ai not to go into it as those sent to Jericho did but to bring him Intelligence in what posture the City and Country thereabout was The Spies return and make a Report as if the place were of no great strength and might easily be taken by a few of the Israelites and therefore there was no need to carry up the whole Host of Israel against it Let only about two or three thousand say they go up and finite it Joshua accordingly sent up about three thousand against it But the men of Ai couragiously sallying out upon them the Israelites fled presently before them which plainly shewed that God being offended with them for something amiss among them did in an extraordinary manner strike them with fear and astonishment The men of Ai chased them from their City Gates to Shebarim and killed 36 of them in the going down of the Hill so that it seems the Israelies fled at the first On-set and were slain only in flying The whole people of Israel were extreamly terrified and dismaid at this For God seemed to have withdrawn his supporting Hand from them and in such a case the most stout and valiant will soon shrink and be afraid Joshua and the Elders of Israel hereupon rent their Clothes * A Ceremony used in great Mournings see 2 Sam. 1.11 Job 2.12 Ezek. 27.30 put dust upon their Heads and fell to the earth on their faces before the Ark. Neither was it their loss so much as the apprehension of Gods displeasure that so much afflicted them God had promised that no man should stand before them Ch. 1.5 and that they should drive out the Inhabitants out of the Land Their flying therefore now before the Enemy especially in such an inglorious manner was a plain Demonstration that God was offended with them and had withdrawn his gracious presence from them And the smallest Affliction if it be looked upon as an effect of Gods anger is very dreadful Joshua lying thus prostrate before the Lord said Alas O Lord God wherefore hast thou at all brought this people over Jordan to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us I wish we had been content to have staid and dwelt on the other side Jordan * Joshua seems here a little too much transported thorow humane frailty O Lord what shall I say when Israel turneth their backs before their Enemies For the Canaanites the Inhabitants of this Land will hear of it and will inviron us round and cut off our Name and Memorial from off the Earth and what wilt thou then do to thy great Name How wilt thou preserve thy Glory when the Canaanites shall say Thou hadst not power to subdue them nor defend us against them and thou wast not able to give us this Land which thou hadst promised us See Deut. 33.27 Then the Lord spake to Joshua saying Get thee up why liest thou prostrate on thy face
Tribe some according as their number was greater or lesser and chose such Cities as they in their Wisdom thought most convenient for the Levites and the people And then dividing the Cities they had chosen into four parts one for the Priests a second for the Levites of the Family of Cohath a third for the Gershonites a fourth for the Merarites it was decided by lot in which of these the Priests should be placed and in which the three Families of the Levites The Priests who were of the Family of Cohah by the special Providence of God were seated partly in the Tribe of Judah and partly in the two neighbouring Tribes of Simeon and Benjamin that so they might be near the Temple Thirteen Cities fell to their lot and herein respect was had to future times when the Posterity of Aaron should be encreased for all present there were but a few Priests not enough to inhabit the half part of one City The Levites that were of the Family of Cohath had by lot their Cities in the Tribe of Ephraim and Dan and the half-Tribe of Manasseh viz. ten Cities * Others no doubt besides the Levites did inhabit these Cities and dwell with them The Gershonites had by lot their Cities in the Tribe of Issachar Asher and Naphtali and out of the half-Tribe of Manasseh beyond Jordan viz. thirteen Cities The Merarites had by lot their Cities in the Tribe of Reuben Gad and Zebulun viz. twelve Cities These Cities with their Suburbs the Children of Israel gave unto the Sons of Levi as God had commanded In all 48 Cities The particular Cities that fell to each division are set down Josh Ch. 21. from vers 9. to 43. Of these six were appointed for Cities of Refuge and Sanctuaries for such as had killed a man unwittingly and not of malice prepense The Cities of Refuge on this side Jordan were Kadesh in Galilee in Mount Naphtali Sechem in Mount Ephraim and Hebron in Mount Judah On the other side Jordan Bezer in the Tribe of Reuben Ramoth-Gilead in the Tribe of Gad and Golan in Bashan in the Tribe of Manasseh see Numb 35. Deut. 19.2 c. Joshua Ch. 20. whole Chapter Joshua 21. from 1. to 43. SECT CXVIII THus God gave unto the Children of Israel all the Land which he had promised to their Fathers to give them For though there remained some part of the Land out of which the Canaanites were not yet expelled yet he had given it them all and by lot had divided it among them which was a kind of actual instating them in it 2. He had put them into the possession of the greatest part of it neither had he promised them otherwise that they should possess it than by degrees see Exod. 23.29 He had actually given them the whole Land and they possessed it and dwelt therein that is in as much of it as they had subdued and was needful for their present use and by degrees they came to possess the rest and they might have enjoyed it sooner than they did had it not been for their sins And the Lord now gave them rest round about and there stood not a man of all their Enemies before them that is they were Victorious in all their Wars and none of their Enemies whom they encountred whilst Joshua was their General were able to stand before them Not any good thing that God had promised them and which he knew to be good for them failed of coming to pass Josh 21. from 43. to the end SECT CXIX THe Land being thus conquered and the Children of Israel setled in a peaceful possession of it Joshua now calls the Companies of the Reubenites Gadites and half-Tribe of Manasseh who came over Jordan to help their Brethren in this Atchievement and had left their Wives and Children so long and had stuck to their Brethren till they had seen them peaceably setled in their Inheritances and commended them for their great faithfulness and obeying of the Lord therein He therefore now permits them to return to their own possessions but first gravely and religiously exhorts them to love the Lord their God and to walk in his Ways and Commandments and to cleave to Him and to serve Him with all their Hearts and Souls and that they be very careful and watchful over themselves that they be not drawn away from doing what he had enjoyned them Then He tells them They had got very much Spoil in the War and would return to their Tents laden with Riches with Silver and Gold and Brass with Iron and very much Rayment and with much Cattel Therefore when they came home they should divide the Spoil they had gotten with their Brethren that is that they that had been engaged in the War should have one half and the rest of their Brethren that stayed behind should have the other as Moses had before ordered it in that War when they went out against the Midianites Numb 31.27 and 't is probable Joshua followed the example of Moses in this direction Then earnestly praying to the Lord to bless them he kindly dismist them They having taken their leave of Joshua and their Brethren began their March home-ward and when they came to the Fords of Jordan they thought fit before they passed the River to build a great Altar there after the pattern of that in the Tabernacle not with any intent to offer Sacrifices thereon but only that it might be in future times a Memorial that those Tribes that dwelt without Jordan were of the stock of Israel as well as those that dwelt within and had a right to come to the Tabernacle and to offer their Sacrifices on Gods Altar there as well as they and that in succeeding Generations it might be known that that Altar was built by the Tribes without Jordan when they returned that way home from helping their Brethren against the Canaanites at the first conquering of the Land The Children of Israel within Jordan hearing of this Altar which their Brethren had built on the banks of Jordan and supposing they had done it with a purpose to offer Sacrifices thereon which would have been a manifest Rebellion against Gods Law whereby all the Tribes of Israel were enjoyned to bring all their Sacrifices to that one Altar that was in the Tabernacle Deut. 12.5 6. And considering that God had enjoyned them that in case any of their Brethren of any City in Israel should fall off from the true Worship of God to the Worship of false gods and consequently to any Idolatrous Worship whatsoever they should then gather themselves together and utterly destroy the Inhabitants of that City Deut. 13.13 c. In pursuance of this Command the Israelites within Jordan unanimously gather themselves together at Shiloh with an intent if they found the matter as they supposed to make War immediately against those Tribes that had built this Altar But they thought it requisite first to send Messengers to enquire concerning what
have shewed me that my Son hath made a league with the Son of Jesse and there is none of you that is sorry for me or discovers to me that my Son hath stirred up my servant against me to lye in wait to destroy me as you see it is at this day Then Doeg the Edomite of whom before telleth unto Saul the story of David's coming to Ahimelech at Nob and what passed between them maliciously wresting all they did to the worst sense David composes the 52 Psalm on this occasion as appears by the Title and concealing all that might any way excuse them and this caused David to charge him with lying and slandering as well as with malice and mischief and to threaten against him utter ruin and destruction Psal 52.3 4 5. which Psalm was composed on this occasion I saw says Doeg the Son of Jesse coming to Ahimelech and he inquired of the Lord for him and gave him victuals and the Sword of Goliath the Philistine but he spake not a word of David's pretence wherewith Ahimelech was deceived The King hereat was greatly enraged and sent for Ahimelech and all his Fathers house viz. the Priests that dwelt at Nob being the most of those that remained of Eli's house whom God threatned to cut off Chap. 2.31 He asks him why he had conspired with David against him and had inquir'd of the Lord for him and given him bread and a sword Ahimelech acknowledges the doing of the things Saul charges him with but utterly denieth that they were done with any treacherous mind against him but rather therein to do him service for he thought David had always approved himself faithful to the King in all his undertakings for which the King had highly honoured him and made him his Son-in-law and as far as he knew he had been ever obedient to the Kings commands going out readily on all services which he appointed him though never so full of difficulty and danger and as he understood he was a person greatly honoured in the Kings family And for his inquiring of the Lord for him he says he had often done that in former times when he was to go out on the Kings service and to lead out his forces against his enemies and that which I have done says he without blame at other times I had no reason to think would be blamed now but to aid or assist one that intended and designed to rebel against my Lord and Soveraign was never in my heart far be it from me let not the King therefore impute this as a fault to me or to my fathers house for of any conspiracy against thee thy servants knew nothing at all neither less nor more We may see by this Apology that this good man was loth to declare he had been deceived by David and drawn on to do all that he did by those untruths which he had told him He would not to excuse himself of a seeming fault accuse David of one that was real and thereby incense Saul the more against him But Saul like a bloody Tyrant shut his ears against Ahimelechs just defence and told him that not only himself but all his Fathers house should die though he had not so much as any colour of a crime to lay to their charge And whereas by the Law none were to die under two or three witnesses he condemneth so many upon the bare and single and malicious testimony of one false and flattering Sycophant Neither doth he take time further to examine the cause or the reasons or testimonies which might be produc'd in excuse of Ahimelech and the Priests but in a rage and fury from a rash sentence proceeds to a present execution without any delay And thus this wretched man that could out of a seeming pity and mercy spare Agag who was by God appointed to die now sticketh not to murder and massacre a multitude of innocent persons Accordingly he commanded his guards that were about him to slay forthwith the Lords Priests But the servants of the King that attended upon him would not do it chusing rather to obey God who had forbidden murder than this wicked King Then Saul commanded Doeg that he should fall upon them Doeg accordingly taking unto himself such persons as were alike bloody-minded with himself and so fit for his purpose fell upon them and slew on that day fourscore and five persons that wore a linnen Ephod And thus that which the Lord had threatned against the house of Eli Ch. 2.31 32. was in part fulfilled for of that family these Priests were Then Doeg having as it seems Saul's Commission for it went to Nob and there destroyed men women and children and sucklings yea the very oxen asses and sheep that belonged to that City so great an abhorrence and detestation did he manifest against all that seemed favourers of David Upon the occasion of destroying of this City at this time the Tabernacle was remov'd from hence to Gibeon where it continued to the days of Solomon 2 Chron. 1.3 1 Sam. Ch. 22. from v. 5. to 20. 6ly Keilah a City in the Tribe of Judah being now on a sudden besieged by the Philistines their neighbours and David lying with his forces not far from them in the forrest of Hareth and so in a capacity to afford them some speedier succour than Saul could do who was at a greater distance it seems some of them came to him to acquaint him with their present distress namely that the Philistines now besieged their City and that they had robbed the threshing floors of the Corn that was brought unto them they being without the City and therefore they humbly crave his speedy help David was not willing rashly to engage in such an enterprize especially with so little strength as he had about him without a special commission and promise from God therefore he inquired of the Lord probably by the Prophet Gad who was come to him before as we have seen Ch. 22.5 what he should do and the Lord encouraged him to go against the Philistines and to save and rescue Keilah David's men when they understood what enterprize he was about mightily disswaded him from it speaking to him after this manner We are afraid here in the land of Judah even among our friends and acquaintance lest we should be surprized by Saul and his Troops how much more dangerous must it needs be then for us being but a few to go against such a potent enemy as the Philistines and that in the borders of their own land David to satisfie his followers inquired again of the Lord and God bad him go for he would deliver the Philistines into his hands So David and his men went to Keilah and smote the Philistines with a great slaughter and brought away their cattel either such as they had brought out of their own Country for the provision of their armies or such as they had brought with them to carry the spoils of the
fifty thousand the greatest number that came out of any one Tribe men expert in war and arm'd with all Military instruments and who could keep rank and order and were not of a divided or double heart but men of great singleness and sincerity Of Naphtali a thousand Captains and with them thirty seven thousand armed with Shield and Spear Of the Danites twenty eight thousand and six hundred expert Soldiers Of Asher forty thousand Of the Reubenites Gadites and half Tribe of Manasseh an hundred and twenty thousand furnisht with all manner of weapons and military instruments All these which are reckoned to be in all three hundred twenty two thousand two hundred twenty two being men of war who knew how to keep rank and observe Military order and discipline are said to have come with an upright heart to Hebron to make David King over all Israel and those that came not up with them yet joined in heart and affection with them therein And there they stayed with David eating and drinking and feasting three days together their brethren of Hebron making what preparations for them they could and others that were nigh unto them sending in provisions yea as far as from Issachar (a) V. 40. Usque ab Issachar c. sic Jun. Tremel Zebulon and Naphtali they brought bread and other provisions some on Asses and Camels and Mules and some drawn by Oxen and meat and meal cakes of figs and bunches of raisins wine and oyl they brought also oxen and sheep in great abundance to make the Feast for there was then great joy in Israel 2 Sam. Ch. 5. from v. 1. to 6. 1 Chron. Ch. 11. from v. 1 to 4. 1 Chron. Ch. 12. from v. 23 to the end SECT CLXXXIV DAvid having now so many of his subjects together and most of them armed he resolved to make some good use of them to the taking of Jerusalem which stood in the confines of Judah and Benjamin the men of Judah had taken that part of it which belonged unto them see Judg. 1.8 but the Children of Benjamin could not drive out the Jebusites out of their part see Judg. 1.21 no not when they had the help of their brethren the men of Judah see Josh 15.63 and therefore we read that afterwards it was a City of strangers when the Levite with his Concubine went that way Judg. 19. and so it continued to this time It was a place it seems of very great strength because the Jebusites had held it ever since Joshua had entred the land and it was even in the heart of the Country David having therefore so vast a number of his subjects that were men of war about him who on this solemn occasion had come up to him to Hebron he thought fit to take this opportunity to lead them forth against Jerusalem viz. that part of it that was held by the Jebusites resolving that the wresting of that place out of their hands should be his first enterprize after his being anointed King over all Israel and intending when he had taken it to make it the chief seat of his Kingdom Accordingly he led his Army up thither but when he had laid siege thereto the Jebusites that were within presuming upon the strength of the place in a flouting manner told him That except he could take from them their Tutelar gods that is their Idols and Images in which they put their trust though he and his people counted them and in contempt called them blind and lame gods he must not expect to come in thither And so confident they were of the power and protection of their Idols that they thought David and all Israel could never take their Fort or Castle David hereupon to encourage his Captains in the enterprize promised them that whoever with his Soldiers did first scale the walls and get into the Gutter and kill the Jebusites and destroy the lame and blind Idols they so much trusted in which his soul hated he should be chief Captain and General of his forces Joab possibly that he might recover the Kings favour whom he had highly offended by killing Abner did hereupon first scale the walls and so was made Lord General of the Kings forces see 1 Chron. 11.6 And David did the rather promise this reward to him that should take the Fort because the Jebusites had said in scorn the blind and the lame as you call them being here we need not fear that you shall ever come into this house * Some think it was used as a Proverb The blind and the lame being here he shall not come into this house that is Take heed lest your confidence prove like that of the Jebusites seeing oftentimes as it was with them that which begins in confidence ends in shame Others think that the people of Israel did thus insult over the Jebusites after they had taken the Fort Your blind and lame Idols that should have kept us out are never like to enter into this Fort again For no blind or lame or dumb Idols shall ever be tolerated in this place David having thus taken the Fort he built it round about from Millo inward that is he did at his own cost and charges build and reedifie the inside of the City from Millo and left the care of building the out-walls to Joab 1 Chron. 11.8 Millo was a deep and broad ditch that separated Mount Sion from the lower City which Solomon afterwards filled up 1 King 9.15 24. And so David dwelt in this City and it was called the City of David no less than Bethlem where he was born and he grew great and the Lord of Hosts by his especial favour was with him and blessed him And as an effect thereof at this time Hiram (b) See the like concerning Solomon 1 King 5.1 2. King of Tyre a stranger sent Ambassadours to him to congratulate his settlement in the Kingdom and upon David's request he sent him Cedar-trees and Carpenters and Masons to build him a Palace And David perceived by his own experience and the inward perswasion of Gods Spirit that it was the immediate hand of God that had establisht him King over all Israel and that God had exalted him to the Kingdom and made his Kingdom famous for the good of his Church and people And David took to him more Concubines and Wives out of Jerusalem after he was come from Hebron and this it seems he did that thereby he might multiply his friends and allies for the strengthening of him in his Kingdom But herein he shewed much humane frailty * Habuit David 8 uxores decem concubinas sed neque ex tot uxoribus libido adulterandi extincta est and weakness in making use of that as a means to establish him in his Kingdom which God had expresly forbidden to the Kings of Israel viz. the multiplying of wives See Deut. 17.7 2 Sam. Ch. 5. from 6 to 17. 1 Chron. 11. from 4 to 10.
in the enterprize But Amaziah was nothing mov'd with what he said for whom God intendeth to destroy he usually first hardens and God intended to punish him for his abominable Idolatry into which he had lately fallen Joash understanding this would not stay till Amaziah came to him but he enters Judah with a strong Army wisely resolving to make his Enemies Country the stage of the war So they met in a pitcht field at Bethshemesh which belongs to Judah and Judah was worsted before Israel and Amaziah himself taken prisoner and brought in Triumph * Thus in this Amaziah the Son of Joash King of Judah God did yet further revenge the death of Zachariah the Son of Jehniada who was most inhumanely and ungratefully murdered in his fathers days according to what he said at his death the Lord will look upon it and require it and withall Amaziah himself was severely punished for his Apostacy to Idolatry to Jerusalem by Joash which City as it seems standing out against him he battered down that part of the wall by the North-gate which was towards Ephraim even four hundred cubits in length and so took the City by force then he seized upon all the gold and silver and all the vessels that were found in the house of the Lord with the posterity of Obed-Edom who were porters and keepers of the treasures in the Temple 1 Chron. 26.15 as also the treasures of the Kings house And having made what spoil he thought fit in Jerusalem he set Amaziah free upon certain conditions imposed upon him and his subjects and for the surer performance of the Covenants on Judah's part he took hostages of him viz. some noble mens children whom he carried along with him to Samaria And he chose rather to go away with his present spoil than to hazard all by endeavouring to conquer the Kingdom of Judah which he was not like to hold if he did obtain the subjects thereof being so greatly addicted to the house of David Amaziah lived after this fifteen years but a very miserable life for his subjects were so disaffected to him for the Idolatry he had brought in that from that time they began to conspire against him though it broke not forth openly till by his rash unadvised and unprosperous war with Joash he had brought so many miseries upon his Kingdom The conspiracy now breaking forth he fled to Lachish and possibly there hid himself and lived in obscurity so those that had conspired against him as it seems governed the affairs of the Kingdom in his absence About twelve years after these conspirators being men of power in the Kingdom upon some new occasion were so enraged against him that they sent some to Lachish to slay him Amaziah being dead they brought him from Lachish in a Chariot drawn with horses and buried him in Jerusalem with his fathers 2 King 14. from v. 1. to 21. 2 Chron. 25. wh Ch. Tenth King of Judah UZZIAH VZZIAH or Azariah as he is called 2 King 15.1 Son of Amaziah was the next that reigned in Judah In Mat. 1.8 't is said that Vzziah succeeded Joram And Joram begat Ozias whereas there were four that reigned in Judah between Joram and Vzziah viz. Ahaziah Athaliah Joash and Amaziah Some think that these were omitted because of their evil Government and unnatural deaths each of them being slain one after another or because by the mother-side they descended from the stock of wicked Ahab whose house the Lord doomed to be rooted up Vzziah when his Father was slain was about four or five years old and there seems to have been a kind of Interregnum or vacancy in the Throne of Judah for about twelve years viz from the 15th to the 27th year of Jeroboam the second King of Israel at which time Vzziah being sixteen years of age was setled in the Throne by the general consent of the people and not till then And this possibly may be intimated to us by that unusual phrase And all the people of Judah took Vzziah being sixteen years old and made him King instead of his Father 2 King 14.21 And this might happen partly by reason of his minority and partly through the prevalency of some powerful men who perchance had had a hand in putting his Father to death or possibly the Government of the Kingdom might be carried on in his name all that time though he came not to the full exercise of his Regal power till the 27th year of Jeroboam So that the twelve years from his Fathers death which happened in the 15th year of Jeroboam see 2 King 14.23 unto the 27th of Jeroboam when he was put into full possession of the Crown are to be accounted into the number of the fifty two years he is said to have reigned and according to this account in the 26th year of his reign Jeroboam died After which it seems there was an Interregnum or vacancy in the Kingdom of Israel also for about eleven or twelve years viz. to the 38th year of Vzziah's reign After which Zachariah reigned in Israel six months Shallum one month Menahem ten years Pekahiah two years and Pekah had reigned a year or something more before he died which was in the fifty second year of his reign 2 King 15.27 so that he lived in the times of six Kings that sat on the Throne of Israel In the beginning of his reign he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord and maintained the worship of God uncorrupt as his Father had done save that the high places were not removed but the people still offered sacrifice and burnt incense on them And during the life of Zachariah Son of that Zachariah that was stoned in the Temple who was an eminent Prophet and had understanding in the visions of God that is was accustomed to see visions and had a singular understanding in ancient Prophesies and so was able to counsel and instruct Vzziah in matters that concerned the knowledg of God and his Laws and possibly was skilful to interpret the dreams and night-visions of others as Joseph and Daniel were I say during the life of this Prophet Vzziah sought the Lord and so long the Lord made him to prosper He recovered Elath a City near the Red-Sea which had been taken from the Crown of Judah by the enemies bordering upon it and repair'd and fortified it In Ahaz's time it was lost again being taken by the Syrians see 2 King 14.22 He was a great warrior he had under his command three hundred seven thousand five hundred fighting men under two thousand and six hundred Captains all which were dispos'd into Regiments and companies and registred that they might be in readiness against any urgent occasion And he furnished all these with Shields and Spears Helmets and Habergeons * Armour for Back and Brest and Bows and Slings to cast stones He was very victorious against the Philistines of whose Towns he brake down the
they think to finish this work they have begun and by sacrifices to dedicate it to God as they use to do other great buildings surely we shall hinder them from that except they can hope to finish their work in one day or a very short time And besides they will want materials for such a work except they can raise up again the burnt stones that made the former wall out of the heaps of the rubbish Tobiah being by when Sanballat thus scoffed he said Let them alone alas the walls they build are so weak that if a Fox should go upon them he would break them down Nehemiah hearing of these scorns and contempt of their enemies betook himself to God by prayer and humbly pleaded that relation that was between God and them Hear O our God says he for we are despised and turn their reproach upon their own head and let scorn and contempt fall on them and let them be carried away captive and there made a prey to their enemies And cover not their iniquity nor let it go unpnished and let not their sin be blotted out from before thee except they repent and cease to proceed on in this their impiety For in reproaching the builders of thy City imployed by thy appointment they have reproached thee so that we desire they may be punished not out of any private grudg or desire of revenge but that thy glory may be vindicated Thus prayed Nehemiah And the builders went on with the work and all the wall was joyn'd together unto the half height thereof for the people had a mind to the work and where there is a willing mind much will be done in a little time But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabians and Ammonites and Ashdodites heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up and that the breaches began to be stopped they were very angry and conspired together to come and to fight against Jerusalem and to hinder the work But Nehemiah and the Jews made their prayer unto God and set a watch day and night because of them About this time also another trouble arose to Nehemiah for the men of Judah who had the oversight of the work and such also as laboured in the work complained that there was still so much rubbish unremoved and the strength of the bearers of burdens being much decayed they thought they should never be able to go through with the work or to build the walls so as to make them a defence to the City They further added that if the Trench without the wall were not cleared of rubbish all that they had done would be to little purpose This added much to Nehemiah's grief that the workmen themselves should thus complain and mutter He understood also that their adversaries said this of them among themselves They shall not know nor see till we come in the midst of them and slay them and cause the work to cease And the Jews that dwelt among the Samaritans when they came to Jerusalem often * V. 12. Ten times that is many times told their brethren there of the contrivances of these their enemies and said to them From all places by which a man may come from thence hither and go from hence thither they will assault you therefore look to your selves Nehemiah hereupon caused the people for the present to give over their work and to arm themselves that the enemy might not surprize them and to that end he set some of them beneath behind the wall and others above in the towers and other fortifications with their swords arrows and bows in their hands And he spake unto the Nobles and Rulers and the rest of the people saying Be not afraid of them remember the Lord who is great in power and terrible to his enemies and fight for your brethren your sons and your daughters your wives and your houses But when the enemy heard that their design was made known to the Jews and that thereupon they were ready and prepared to defend themselves they laid it aside And God having thus brought their counsel to naught the Jews returned every one to his work at the wall again Yet they were careful still to be in a readiness to resist the enemy in case he should assault them And particularly Nehemiah employed only half of his servants in building the wall the other half stood always ready armed to keep off the enemy if occasion should be and those that were imploy'd in building were also arm'd with swords the Rulers being at their backs to encourage them so that they may he said as it were to have wrought in the work with one hand and to have held a weapon in the other because whilst they were busiest in building they had their weapons ready to defend themselves And he that sounded with the Trumpet kept near to Nehemiah that upon any danger he might give warning to all the people to be ready Nehemiah further said to the Nobles Rulers and rest of the people the work is large and great and we are separated upon the walls one from another in what place therefore ye shall hear the sound of the Trumpet resort thither unto us and our God will fight for us And thus they went on with the work some being in arms from morning to evening and some working at the wall Nehemiah also gave charge to all Masters that had servants and to all workmen that had labourers under them that they should all lodg in the City that so they might be in readiness and at hand both to keep their turns of watching by night and of working by day And Nehemiah though the Governour spared not himself but what he required of others he himself was ready to do And both himself his kindred servants and guard that attended him were so watchful and diligent in this time of danger that they slept in their clothes and did not put them off except when need required that they should be washed Nehem. Ch. 4. whole Chapter The Adversaries of the Jews hearing that the walls of Jerusalem were now almost finished Sanballat and Geshem sent unto Nehemiah that they might have a conference with him near to Ono a City in Benjamin pretending a willingness to be reconciled but intending to do him a mischief he suspecting their design sent them word he was about a great work which he could not leave therefore they must not expect him They sent again and again to him even no less than four times importuning him to come but he still returned the same answer Then Sanballat sent his servants to him a fifth time with an open letter possibly that they might shew it to other Jews before they came to him and so might with the contents thereof discourage them The letter spake after this manner It is reported among the Heathen and Geshem the Arabian affirmeth it that thou and the Jews think to rebell and that thou hast built the wall of Jerusalem that
could go abrest on it Nehemiah divided the people into two great companies consisting of Priests Levites Princes and people they entred upon the wall about the middle of the west-wall near the dung-gate and there the two Companies parted and each went as in procession in this order The one company had Ezra the Priest before them and other Priests followed after him sounding with their Trumpets after them came the Levites playing on sacred Musical instruments and the Singers all sounding forth Gods praises and their own joy and thankfulness After them came the Princes and Rulers and after them the people and this company went on the right hand Southward by the fountain-gate and about the City of David and all along the South-wall even unto the water-gate on the East The other company went in like manner and Nehemiah himself the last of them And they made their procession on the left hand Northwards from beyond the Tower of the Furnaces even unto the broad wall These two Companies somewhat beyond the Prison-gate met together and in order descended from the East-wall to go into the house of God and that day they offered great sacrifices and greatly rejoiced with feasting and singing for God by his gracious Providence over them gave unto them their wives and children great occasion of rejoicing so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard a great way off and the report of it went into other Nations After they had thus manifested their zeal in dedicating the wall they manifest their piety in providing for the Priests and Levites who had had so great an hand in it and accordingly some faithful Levites were appointed to take care of all such things as by the people should be brought for the Ministers of the house of God and places were appointed to lay up all offerings first fruits and tythes which were brought out of the fields viz. the portions appointed by the Law for the Priests and Levites And the people chearfully brought in the forementioned portions rejoycing that there was care taken to settle the Priests and Levites in their accustomed courses and so to provide for them that they should not be forced to go into the Country to seek maintenance but might now stay their full time and course at the house of God to perform their particular services there And both Singers and Porters kept the watch of their God that is which by Gods command they were appointed unto taking care that the worship of God should be duly performed and they kept the watch of purification taking care that themselves and the people should be kept from legal uncleanness according to the commandment of David and Solomon his Son who walked in the statutes of David his Father 1 King 3.3 For in the days of David and Asaph Jedathun and Heman with whom David consulted there were some chief Singers appointed who had a charge over the rest to see all things belonging unto the Singers duly and orderly performed and there were Songs of praise and thanksgiving composed and set unto tunes by those Singers And all Israel in the days of Zerubbabel and Nehemiah gave to the Singers and Porters such portions as were appointed for their daily maintenance And the people set apart holy things for the Levites and the Levites set apart a tenth part of them for the Priests Neh. 12. wh Ch. After these things Nehemiah appointed Hanani who first brought him word of the sad estate of Jerusalem and Hananiah the Ruler of the Palace * i e. Palatii R gii in monte Sion who was a faithful man and one that feared God above many to be Governours over the City and to order the guards and matches thereof and to take care that the Gates were carefully shut and opened in due time Then perceiving that the City was large and great yet but thinly inhabited and that though some fair houses were built before the Temple was finished Hag. 1.4 yet abundance of other houses were not built thereupon God putting it into his heart †Good motions useful and profitable for the Church arise from Gods Spirit he calls together the Nobles and Rulers and people and numbred them that had returned out of the Captivity according to their Genealogies that so it might be known what families formerly appertained to the City that out of them a number might be selected and appointed to settle themselves there again And secondly that as need required others also might be called to dwell there though their Progenitors had not been formerly inhabitants thereof And 3ly that as men were found able they might lend aid towards the rebuilding of those houses in Jerusalem that now lay in rubbish And for their better proceeding in this matter a precedent was sought of their former numbring in the days of Zerubbabel and a Register was found of it which is here set down which in many things differs from that Ezr. 2. therefore 't is thought that that in Ezra was taken and written when they were preparing to come out of Babylon and this when they were come into Judea And there is added to that Register what was given at their first return out of Babylon towards the building of the Temple c. viz. all that was given by the encouragement of Cyrus viz. both by Jews and Persians but here is only set down what was collected after the people were numbred by Nehemiah And as then there was a collection of money and other things made when they were numbred according to their Genealogies in Zerubbabels time Ezra 2.68 so was it now also only that collection was meerly for the building of the Temple and this was partly for the service of the Temple for why else were so many Priests garments given and in part also for the rebuilding of the City See v. 4. Nehem. 7. from 1 to 8. v. 70 71 72. On the first day of the seventh month which was the Feast of Trumpets Levit. 23.24 the Jews were gathered together as one man to Jerusalem and they met both men and women before the water-gate the Court of the Temple not being able to contain so great a multitude and desired Ezra to bring the Book of the Law and to read it and expound it to them See Deut. 31.11 Ezra accordingly brought it and standing upon a pulpit of wood he read therein distinctly before the people and expounded it and gave them the sense of it Ezra also blessed the Lord the great God and all the people answered Amen and Amen with lifting up their hands and they bowed their heads and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground And several other persons viz. Priests and Levites stood on his right hand and on his left to be witnesses of the truth of what he delivered and to move the people the better to entertain it And not only Ezra but others of the Priests and Levites also expounded the Law and caused the people to understand
it And because they could not all conveniently hear Ezra they divided themselves into several companies and in each of them there were Pulpits or Scaffolds erected as may be gathered from Ch. 9.4 from whence they expounded the Law unto them there being several teachers in each place that successively discharged that work And in these holy exercises and duties they continued from morning till noon viz. about five or six hours The people were exceedingly affected at the hearing of the Law expounded to them being thereby convinced of their sins and their liableness to the dreadful judgments of God for them and fell a weeping and wept very sore but Nehemiah the Tirshatha or Governour and Ezra the Priest and those Levites that instructed the people comforted and encouraged them telling them that God was merciful to the penitent and that that was a day holy to the Lord their God and therefore on that day they should rejoyce and not mourn and weep So Nehemiah dismissed them and bad them go their way and eat the fat and drink the sweet that is feast together with their peace-offerings and send portions to them for whom nothing is provided see Deut. 16.14 for this day says he is holy unto the Lord our God neither be ye sorry for the joy of the Lord is your strength that is the Lord would have you rejoyce in his goodness and manifold mercies which he has conferred on you and does still continue to you and thereby to comfort your hearts So the people were quieted understanding Gods readiness to forgive them upon their repentance and went and did as Nehemiah directed them Nehem. 8. from 1 to 13. Upon the second day of the same month Ezra was consulted by the Elders of the Families and by the Priests and Levites concerning certain doubts arising upon the reading of the Law the day before and particularly concerning the Feast of Tabernacles whereof as it seems Ezra had purposely spoken to instruct the people about it because that Feast was now at hand Whereupon Ezra shewed them that they were bound to keep that Feast on the 15th day of the seventh month abroad and in booths made of boughs of trees according to the Law Levit. 23.34 v. 40. The people yielded a ready obedience hereunto and accordingly went forth and fetcht in Olive-branches and Pine-branches and Mirtle-branches and Palm-branches and branches of thick trees and made themselves booths upon the roof of their houses and in their Courts and in the Courts of the house of God and in the streets all over the City from one end of it to another and sat under their booths to eat their meat and take their rest and there was great joy and gladness among them so that from the days of Joshua until this time the children of Israel had not kept this Feast * They kept this Feast Ezr. 3.4 1 King 8.65 and at sundry other times with so much devotion and solemnity as now they did for the Law required that only the first and last day of the Feast should be more solemn convocations Levit. 23.35 36. and great holy days whereon they might do no work and their manner it seems had been to assemble the people and on those days only to read the word and though on other days they were to offer sacrifices yet they might therein do the works of their particular callings but such was Ezra's zeal that he did now on every day of the Feast read the Book of the Law and expound it to them and as he was willing to preach so they were willing to hear every day And they kept the eighth day also as a solemn assembly according to the manner which God had enjoyned and his people from time to time had practised On that day they used to beg the pardon of all their sins and failings and to crave a blessing also from the Lord upon themselves and their families for the future Nehem. 8. from 13 to the end The Jews having been so careful according to the Law to keep the Feast of Trumpets on the first day of the month and the Feast of Tabernacles on the 15th 't is likely they omitted not to keep the tenth day which was the day of atonement whereon they were to afflict their souls very solemnly But yet having heard the Law day by day all the Feast of Tabernacles expounded to them Ch. 8.18 and finding thereby how grievously they had sinned and how far short they still were of what God required of them they resolved now to keep a solemn Fast before this great Assembly now gathered together departed to their own houses And accordingly on the 24th of this month they again assembled to keep a solemn fast and to renew their Covenant with God It seems they had not performed what they so solemnly covenanted Ezra 10.3 But by hearing the Law so plainly expounded to them they came to understand how great a sin their taking and living with strange wives was and what great judgments they were liable unto by reason thereof And being deeply priced in their hearts for the same they humbled themselves before the Lord and testified their humiliation by fasting and putting on sackcloth and earth upon their heads thereby acknowledging that they were more worthy to be under the earth than above it And they separated themselves from their strange wives and the children they had by them as also from such strangers as had mixed themselves with them and they stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers who had given them such an ill example The people stood up in their several places of meeting and being divided as it seems into eight several congregations accordingly eight Levites stood up each of them upon a Scaffold or Pulpit erected for them and the day among the Jews consisting of twelve hours or four Trihoria the first three hours were allotted for the morning sacrifice and the three last for the evening-sacrifice and the other two fourth parts were thus imploy'd one fourth-part the Priests and Levites read in the Law of God and another fourth-part prayed and praised God Thus they continued in these holy exercises from morning to evening The Priests standing upon their several Scaffolds cried unto the Lord with fervency of spirit and extention of voice And they stirred up the people to bless the Lord who liveth for ever and ever going before them in such words as these Blessed be thy glorious name O Lord which is exalted above all blessing and praise and is so high and glorious that we cannot sufficiently praise the same The eight Levites before mentioned had their several companies before whom they prayed and read and expounded the Law But 't is like Ezra did all this before the heads and Governours and other chief men of Judah and that he made the prayer following before them for all that congregation could not hear one man together at one time In this
Tent slew 4000 men and giving an alarm to the whole Army at break of the day safely retreated whereupon the King marched towards him next day and they coming to an engagement Antiochus lost several hundreds more but the Jews seeing themselves overpowered retreated The King then returned to the siege and they not being well stored with provision this being the Sabbatical year at last yielded up the Town upon composition Antiochus having herein placed a Garrison marched up to Jerusalem and there made all provision possible for the gaining of it all manner of Engines being raised for the casting of fire and stones but the besieged defended themselves bravely though provisions were very short with them and the famine prevailed so much among them that they were in danger of falling into the Kings hands but before he could finish his work news came that Philip whom his father had appointed to be Guardian being returned out of Egypt was coming with the forces that Epiphanes had left in Persia and Media to recover his right usurped by Lysias Hereupon both he and his Captains were presently perswaded by Lysias because the place was strong and provisions began to fail in the Leaguer and the affairs of the Kingdom required it to make peace with the besieged and with the whole Nation of the Jews upon such terms as they required Then returning to Ptolemais the inhabitants thereof being great enemies to the Jews stickled hard to perswade him to break the League but Lysias so well argued the matter among them that he quieted their minds and confirmed the peace so that the Investiture of the commanding power in the Hasmoneans took its rise from the time of this peace agreed on betwixt Antiochus Eupator and Maccabeus The King hasting thence towards Antioch brought along with him as a prisoner Menelaus the High Priest whom Lysias accused as an Incendiary and the cause of the war whereupon by order from the King he was let down into a Tower filled with ashes and there miserably ended his life ten years after he had first usurped the Priesthood Menelaus being thus taken out of the way the King substituted in his room one Alcimus a man every whit as bad as he Indeed he was of Aaron's progeny but not of the High Priests blood and Lysias perswaded the King to transfer that dignity into another family Onias the Son of Onias the third seeing the High Priesthood conferred on Alcimus went into Egypt and after he had well insinuated himself into the affections of Ptol. Philometor and Cleopatra his wife obtained of them leave to build a Temple to God in the jurisdiction of Heliopolis answering to that at Jerusalem and that they would constitute him High Priest there See more of this in Vsher p. 467. Antiochus coming to Antioch found Philip Master thereof but setting upon it he took it by force and taking Philip therein put him to death and so quickly quieted those stirs being reserved with Lysias his Guardian though but a little time for others more dangerous Demetrius Soter Son of Seleucus Philopator the right heir to the Kingdom now escaping from Rome quickly got the Kingdom and put to death Eupator and Lysias his Guardian Alcimus who had procured from Eupator to be made High Priest being not now receivâ—d nor owned by the people for that in the days of Epiphanes he had wilfully defiled himself came to Demetrius with other Apostates to get the Priesthood confirmed to him He accused his Countrymen especially the Hasmoneans viz. Judas and his Brethren as guilty of cutting off the Kings friends and banishing them out of the Country Hereupon Demetrius sent Bacchides the Governour of Mesopotamia his trusty friend with great forces into Judea and confirmed the High Priesthood to Alcimus whom he sent back with him All their design was being arrived there by fair speeches to get Judas and his Brethren into their hands but they gave no credit to them Many of the Scribes went out to them to seek peace expecting they should have obtained it of Alcimus who was of the seed of Aaron and had now great power in the army but having gotten them into his hands he most wickedly contrary to agreement and his oath put sixty of them to death all in one day by which perfidiousness many being terrified fled from the City Then Bacchides going from Jerusalem caused many that had fled from him and several others of the Jews to be slain and cast into a great pit and so committing the care of the Country to Alcimus for the defence of which he left him some forces he returned unto the King After his departure Alcimus striving all he could to confirm himself in the Priesthood made great havock of the people Hereupon Judas went out through the whole Country taking vengeance on such as had revolted from him and so terrified those that adhered to Alcimus that they were forced to keep themselves within their Garrisons and durst not make any more incursions into the Country Alcimus apprehending danger to himself from these proceedings goes once more to Demetrius carrying along with him a Crown of Gold to present unto him For Judas and his party increasing in power would not suffer him to come near to the holy Altar at which being enraged he eagerly accused them to the King as authors of all the commotions and disturbances in Judea further complaining that he was deprived of the Priesthood the honour as he said of his Ancestors and further affirmed that as long as Maccabeus lived the Kings affairs could not be secure This being seconded by some ill-willers to the Jews and his friends Demetrius was so inflamed that sending for Nicanor one of his chiefest Princes and a bitter enemy to the Jews made him General against Judea giving him order to destroy Judas and disperse his associates the Assideans and to settle Alcimus in the High Priesthood The Jews upon the report of Nicanors approach and the Association of several Gentiles with him cast dust upon their heads and made their Supplication to God And it so happened that after a short skirmish betwixt Simon Judas's Brother and a party of Nicanors near the Village Dessaro Nicanor understanding the Courage and Resolution of Judas and his Party in defending their Country he was unwilling to run the hazard of a Battel but sent to parle with the Jews and to make peace with them upon mutual engagements of fidelity each to other And Articles being agreed upon between them the two Captains met and the Conference proved very successful and closed in a League without the Kings Privity Nicanor after this abode a while in Jerusalem and dismissed the Companies he had collected and was so taken with Judas that he continued with him some time and loved him in his heart and lived so friendly and familiarly with him that he perswaded him to marry a Wife But when that wretched fellow Alcimus observed this Correspondence between them he addressed
affirmeth to have fixed his Seat at Babel Mizraim He was the Father of those that inhabited Egypt From Mizraim Moses deriveth seven people or Nations Ludim Anamim Lehabim Naphtuhim Pathrusim Casluhim out of whom came Philistim and Captorim Josephus says the Sons of Mizraim possessed all the Country lying between Gaza and Egypt though the Philistim only gave name to it from whom the Greeks called it Palaestina By Ludim Bochartus proveth the Ethiopians to be meant whom he will have a Colony of the Egyptians By Andmim the Nomades of Africk who inhabited about Ammonis Lehabim are thought to be the same with the Lybians bordering upon Egypt from whom this denomination might pass to those that inhabited the greater part of Africk Naphtukim he placeth in Marmaria upon the Mediterranean-Sea Parthrusim he placeth in Thebais a Province of Egypt called Pathros and by many distinguished from Egypt though peopled from it Captorim seem to be Neighbours to Casluhim from both which the Philistins seem to have descended as appeareth from Amos 9.7 Are ye not as Children of the Ethiopians unto me O Children of Israel saith the Lord have not I brought up Israel out of the Land of Egypt and the Philistins from Caphtor and the Assyrians from Kir Phut The third Son of Cham who divided Africk with his Brother Mizraim To Mizraim fell Egypt and so much of Africk as reached to the lake Tritonis which divideth Africk into two equal parts To Phut fell all from the Lake as far as the Atlantick Ocean as may be gathered from Herodotus lib. 4. Cannan The fourth son of Cham. His Posterity were Sidon his First-born and Heth. From him descended the Jebusite the Emorite the Girgasite the Hivite the Archite the Sinite the Arvadite the Zemarite and the Hamathite By Canaan was inhabited the Land which afterward bore his Name and was conquered by the Hebrews His Family was propagated as far as the Sea the Phaenicians being descended of him The Scripture calls Phaenicia the Land of Canaan Sidon was the Father of the Sidonians whose City was more ancient then Tyre and the Mother of it For the Sidonians led a Colony thither and founded Tyre two hundred and forty years before the building of Solomons Temple as Josephus reporteth Antiq. lib. 8. c. 2. The Children of Heth dwelt in the Land of Canaan about Hebron and Barsheba towards the South and from them the Anakims descended The Jebusites held Jerusalem and the Castle or Fort of Zion until Davids time The Amorites passed the Mountains of Judea and passing over Jordan made War with the Moabites And they seized upon Basan Hesbon and all the Country lying between the River Jabbek and Arnon In memory whereof one of their Poets wrote a Poem which Moses hath inserted into his Writings Numb 21.27 Wherefore they that speak in Proverbs say come into Heshbron let the City of Sihon be built and prepared The Girgasites seem to have continued about Gadara over against Galilee beyond Jordan till Christs time Matth. 8.28 And when he was come to the other side to the Countrey of the Gergesens The Hivites dwelt in Mount Hermon toward the East of the Land of Canaan from whom descended the Gibeonites living nigh to Jerusalem and the Sichemites dwelling near to Samaria more towards the West The Archites inhabited Area a City in Libanus The Sinites had a City called Sin not far from Area The Arvadites or Aradites possessed the Island Aradus on the Coast of Phaenice at the mouth of the River Eleutherus The Zemarites dwelt as 't is thought about Tinesa a notable City of Coelosyria upon the River Orontes and built Zemarajim in the Tribe of Benjamin The Hemathites were seated about Epiphania a City of Syria This was the Inheritance of the Sons of Canaan whose Border was from Sidon as thou comest to Gerar unto Gaza as thou goest unto Sodom and Gomorrah and Admah and Zeboim even unto Lasha or Lysa a City of the Arabians in the mid way between the dead and the Red-Sea Thus was the Earth as far as we can understand anciently divided and possessed after the Flood though it hath since in several parts of it changed its Inhabitants Gen. 10. whole Chapter SECT VI. THe years of mans life (i) Mans life was halfed or thereabout at the time of Flood as we may see by comparing Gen. 11.11 with Gen. 5. And again shortned about another half at the building of the Tower of Babel Ch. 10.25 11.29 And well nigh the third time between the Times of Abraham and Moses Ch. 25.7 Psal 90.10 were now cut shorter by one half then they were before as we may see Gen. 11.19 c. We shewed Sect. 4. that Sem begat Arphaxad and Arphaxad Salah and Salah Heber and Heber Peleg and unto Peleg Reu was born when he was 30 years old Gen. 11. 18 19. Serug was born to Reu when he was 32 years old Gen. 11.20 Nahor was born to Serug when he was 30 years old Gen. 11.22 Terah was born to Nahor when he was 29 years old Gen. 11.24 When Terah had lived 70 years there was born unto him Haran his eldest Son For though Abram be set first Gen. 11.26 yet that was not because he was eldest but because he was worthiest * The like we read before of Sem Ch. 5.32 Ch. 10.1 For he came not into the World till 60 years after His Brother Nahor being between him and Haran As for Haran he died at Vr of the Chaldees in his Fathers life time and presence and left three Children to wit one Son named Lot and two Daughters viz. Milchah who was afterwards married to his next Brother and her Uncle Nahor and Sarai after married to his third Brother and her Uncle Abram Gen. 11. from 26. to 30. SECT VII PEleg the sixth from Noah died 209 years after the Birth of Rue Gen. 11.19 Nahor the ninth from Noah died 119 years after the Birth of his Son Terah Gen. 10.25 Noah died when he had lived 950 years in all and 350 of them after the Flood Gen. 9.28 In the two thousand and eighth year of the World was Abram born and in the 130th year of his Father Terah's life For he was 75 years old when Terah his Father died who lived two hundred and five years Gen. 11.32 In the year of the World two thousand and eighteen Sarai who was also called Iscah the Daughter of Haran Abram's eldest Brother was born being ten years younger then Abram see Gen. 17.17 Reu the seventh from Noah died two hundred and seven years after the Birth of Serug Gen. 11.21 Serug the eighth from Noah died two hundred years after the Birth of Nahor Gen. 11.23 SECT VIII NEar about this time Chedorlaomer King of Elam or Elamais a Country in Persia with the assistance of three other petty Kings whereof one is called the King of Nations because as 't is probable his Subjects were of several Nations subdued the
both the Barley and the Wheat of what they had sown that year was gathered in and ready for their use which was not till the ninth year was well nigh come and thus the increase of the sixth year served in good part for three years Levit. 25. from 1. to 8. and from 18. to 23. 2ly Concerning the year of Jubilee which was to be celebrated every fiftieth year and proclaimed by the sound of the Trumpet or Cornet on the tenth day of the seventh month viz. the day of Expiation In this year 1. They were to proclaim liberty throughout the Land to their Brethren that had been sold to them for Servants 2ly All the Land that had been sold returned to the Owners that had sold it or to their Heirs for man might sell his Land for ever vers 23. but only for so many years as were from the sale to the year of Jubilee and then the Owners were to enter upon it again and in the mean time the Seller or his Kinsman had liberty of Redemption paying for the years to come according to the sum received at the first Contract For the Lord declares That the Land is His and they were but Strangers and Sojourners before Him 3ly During this year there was to be an intermission of sowing and reaping and gathering Grapes for all was to be left free for every one to eat what they would so that for that year no mans Interest was to be more than anothers and therefore they were to eat the increase thereof out of the Fields where any one might take what he needed no man being debarred 4ly In buying and selling of Land they were to have regard to the year of Jubilee and the price was to be proportionable more or less according to the distance or nearness of the year of Release and so they should not oppress one another And if they should object how should they live if they did neither sow nor reap for two years together to wit the 49th which was the seventh Sabbatical year nor the 50th which was the year of Jubilee what is before said concerning the seventh year the like must be conceived concerning this also namely that God would give such a blessing to the sixth year at this time that the increase thereof should serve for part of four years 5ly Whereas they had liberty at all times before the year of Jubilee to redeem their Lands yet their houses which they sold in walled Towns they might not redeem unless they did it within a year neither did such houses return to the former Owners in the year of Jubilee but if they were not redeemed within a year they were alienated for ever (k) The reason might be because upon these houses if not redeemed in so short a time much cost might be bestowed by him that bought them and therefore it was not fit they should be redeemed as Lands were And the alienating of these houses in walled Cities did not make such confusion in the Tribes as the alienating of their Lands would do because it cannot be supposed but that in Cities men of different Tribes did dwell But as to houses in Villages the case was different because the Lands could not well be us'd without such Farm-houses But houses out of walled Towns were to be accounted as the Fields of the Country and had the same priviledge either to be redeemed at any time before the Jubilee or to be free at the Jubilee as their Lands were 6ly If the Levites sold any of their houses in the Cities allotted them they had liberty to redeem them at any time or to receive them back again at the year of Jubilee but the Fields of their Suburbs appointed for the keeping of their Cattel might not be sold at all see Numb 35.4 5. least wanting that necessary help they might be forced to leave their dwellings to the great damage of the people God having dispers'd them in several Cities in every Tribe that they might watch over the Souls of the people Levit. 25. from vers 23. to 35. 3ly Concerning Compassion and Kindness to be exercised towards poor Hebrews fallen into decay or Strangers become Proselytes to both which they are commanded to lend freely and are forbidden to take usury (l) To strangers they were allowed to lend upon usury see Deut. 23.20 but not to the Israelites if poor Exod. 22.25 or increase from vers 35. to 39. 4ly The poor Hebrews were not to be compell'd to serve as bond-men nor us'd basely and hardly or to be rul'd over with rigour The ordinary time of their Service was but six years Exod. 21.2 but in case their Ears were bored they were to serve for ever (m) As their serving for ever had an end at the year of Jubilee so all other legal Ordinances which were injoyn'd as Statutes for ever had their period at the Evangelical Jubilee of which this was a Type Exod. 21.6 that is to the year of Jubilee then they and their Children were to be set free and their Wives also if they were married when they entred into this bondage Exod. 21.3 but the Israelites might have bondmen of the Heathen that were round about them or Strangers that sojourned among them and these yea though they were Proselytes were not to be set at liberty at the year of Jubilee but to abide in bondage as long as they lived Levit. 25. from vers 39. to 47. 5ly If any poor Israelite sold himself to a Stranger grown rich dwelling among them he might be redeemed at any time before the Jubilee either by himself his Brother or Kinsman deducting so much money in paying his Redemption as he has spent time in his Masters Service and in case that was not done he was to be set at liberty in the year of Jubilee And during his Service they were not to permit him to be used harshly by his Master they looking on and conniving at it For God declares That the Children of Israel were peculiarly his Servants whom He brought forth out of the Land of Egypt with an out-stretched Arm Levit. 25. from vers 47. to the end SECT XLI GOd having given these Statutes and Judgments and Laws to the people of Israel by the hand of Moses and again particularly forbidden Idolatry and commanded the keeping of his Sabbaths together with his whole instituted Worship to incourage his people to Obedience He makes first many excellent Promises to them if they will observe his Precepts as particularly 1. To give them Rain in due season and abundance of increase so that they shall have such plentiful Harvests that before they shall have threshed out their Corn the Vintage shall come and they shall have such great and rich Vintages that before they have done gathering in their fruits their Seed-time shall come 2ly He promises them peace and a secure Habitation and to remove ravenous wild Beasts and Sword away from them 3ly If any Enemies did assault
and it was given to Aaron and his Sons And 't is like that it was either decided by lot who among them should pay this Redemption-Money and who not or it was paid in common by them all The Levites being thus numbred and their Places and Order how they should pitch about the Tabernacle being prescribed now the time when they should enter upon their Office is appointed At the age of 25 years they were to enter as Novices and Subservients in some inferiour Offices and Ministrations of the Tabernacle Ch. 8.24 but they were not to enter into a full execution of their Office till the age of 30 and then they were to continue in it till 50 and though after 50 they were to be exempted from the harder and most laborious Services of the Tabernacle such as removing and carrying the holy things thereof yet still they were to be assistant to their Brethren as Overseers to see that the Work was done and besides they were still to be imployed in teaching and instructing the people And in their several Cities as being well experienced in the judicial Laws they Were to judge of matters brought before them See Numb 8. from 23. to the end The time of their entring upon their Office being thus ordered in the next place to prevent confusion and ambition among them each Family of the Levites hath its particular Service (c) V 3. All that enter into the Host i. e. qui ingrediuntur in coetum vel turmam mimistrantium in Tabernaculo nempe ut operentur in eo appointed 1. The Charge of the Sons of Gershon were 1. The ten Curtains of fine twined Linnen blue purple and scarlet 2ly The eleven Curtains of Goats hair that were laid over them 3ly The covering of Ram-skins died red 4ly The covering of Badgers-skins which lay over all and the Hangings for the door of the Tabernacle and for the Courts Ch. 3.25 26. and Ch. 4.25 26. 2. The Charge of the Sons of Kohath was the Ark (d) V. 6. Shall put in the staves thereof viz. into the Cases or Coverings prepared for them that so the Levites might not touch so much as the Staves of the Ark uncovered For the Staves were not to be taken out of the Rings of the Ark Exod. 25 15. and the Table of Shew-bread (e) V. 7. And the continual bread shall be thereon intellige cum ad quietem terrae promissionis pervenerint In deserto enim sicut non fiebant Sacrificia in Festis aut Sabbatis ut clare dicitur Acts 7.42 Amos 5.25 ita nec offerebantur panes quod erat genus quoddam Oblationis aut Sacrificij nec thus aut vinum quod adjungi solebat illa enim omnia deerant in deserto ut conqueruntur Numb 21.5 Nam multis annis manserunt in locis prorsus inhabitatis ab omnibus gentibus seperati Jansen and the golded Candlestick and the Altars and all the most holy things When the Tabernacle was to be taken down and removed the Priests only were to do it and wrap up the most holy things in coverings of blue or scarlet and to put coverings of Badgers-skins over them which are called the Clothes of Service Exod. 31.10 and then to deliver them to the Kohathites to bear them on their Shoulders (f) The Ark indeed was sometimes carried by the Priests see Deut. 31.9 so when they passed over Jordan Josh 3.6 and compassed the Walls of Jerico Josh 6.6 but ordinarily this Service was performed by the Levites see Deut. 31.25 especially till the number of the Priests was more increased who might not otherwise touch them upon pain of death So that though their Office was most honourable because they had the charge of the most holy things yet it was also perillous and burdensome Ch. 3.31 Ch. 4.15 3. The Charge of the Sons of Merari were the boards of the Tabernacle the Bars the Pillars the Scockets Pins Cords and Vessels thereof and the Pillars of the Court c. Ch. 3.36 37. Ch. 4.31 32. Eleazar the eldest Son of Aaron was to be Chief over the chief of the Levites viz. the Kohathites that had the Charge of the most holy things and his Brother Ithamar over the Gershonites and Merarites To the inspection and care also of Eleazar was committed the Oil for the Lights the sweet Incense the daily Meat-offering and the anointing Oil and the over-sight of the Tabernacle and to appoint the Kohathites every one to his several burden And Moses and Aaron are charged that all the holy things of the Sanctuary should be so covered that the Kohathites might neither see nor touch what they should not which if they should do they would be in danger of being cut off and to die for it (g) Uzzah though a Levite for such a transgression was smitten dead 2 Sam. 6.6 7. For the holy fire that was always to be kept alive upon the Altar 't is like when the Tabernacle was removed 't was put into some Pot or Vessel and so preserv'd still with supply of wood Numb Ch. 3. whole Chapter Numb Ch. 4. whole Chapter SECT XLV THe Levites thus set apart were with all due Solemnity consecrated to God and his Service But lest they should think themselves equal to the Priests they are neither Consecrated at the same time nor with the same Ceremonies The Consecration of the Priests took up seven days see Exod. 29.35 Levit. 8.33 but this of the Levites was done in one day The manner of it was thus 1. Moses was to take the Levites and to cleanse them which was to be done by sprinkling the water of purifying upon them which was made with the ashes of the red Heifer (h) Therefore directions for making this water were given before this time though not mentioned by Moses till the 19. Ch. of this Book mentioned Ch. 19. and then to shave off all their hair which was another sign of Purification see Levit. 14.8 9. Numb 6.9 and to wash their Clothes By which Rites was signified what great holiness and purity God requires in those that are to be imployed in Sacred Functions 2ly The whole Congregation being there assembled and the Levites being brought before the Lord some of the chief (i) Non omnes sed omnium nomine Principes vel sorte primo-geniti in quorum loco erant Levitae of the Children of Israel in the Name of the rest were to put their hands (k) Which Rite was observ'd in the Ordination of Officers both in the Old T. and the N. Numb 27.23 Act. 6.6 13.3 and in Benedictions Gen. 48.17 upon them thereby testifying that they did now freely offer them to the Lord to be wholly set apart for his Service 3ly Then Aaron was to present them * V. 11. And Aaron shall wave the Levites before the Lord Hac elevatione significabatur eos totius orbis Domino offerri a populo in munus ut scil loco
comes now to set out their portion which they should have as a reward of their Service And first He tells Aaron that for the sake of his Office to which he was anointed and because He and his Sons were separated from worldly Imployments to attend upon holy things therefore they should have a part in every Meat-Offering Sin-Offering Trespass-Offering and in the Court * See Levit. 6.16.26 Lev. 7.6 Ezek. 42 13 14. of the Tabernacle or Tents round about it called here the most holy place comparatively in respect to the Camp of Israel and the great Court for the people which was without the Priests Court they might eat of them 2ly They should have the Heave-Offerings and Wave-Offerings that is the right Shoulder and wave-breast of the Peace-Offerings with all other Gifts that were heaved and waved no part thereof being burnt upon the Altar And of these the Priests Daughters might eat whilst they remained in their Fathers house but being married to strangers they might not eat of the holy things see Levit. 22.12 13. Neither might any unclean person eat thereof 3ly They should have the first-fruits Some of the first-fruits of the Land were brought to the Lord at their three great Feasts as a sheaf of their Barley at the Feast of the Passover Levit. 23.10 And two loaves of their new-Wheat at the Feast of Pentecost vers 17. And the first of their Wine and Oil at the Feast of Tabernacles But these were brought in the name of all the Inhabitants of the Land in general Besides these particular men were of their own Corn and Fruits to bring the first-fruits unto the Lord as is enjoyned Exod. 22.29 23.19 concerning which there is no other direction given but that they should be of the first and of the best the quantity being left to the liberty and discretion of the Owner to bring according as he had found the blessing of God upon his Grounds 4ly They should have all things devoted that is all votive and freewill-Offerings see Levit. 27.28 except such things as were devoted as a Sacrifice unto God 5ly The first-born of men and beasts The first-born * The first-born of men before they were redeemed were to be presented before the Lord in the Temple Exod. 13.12 Levit. 2.22 And that could not be done before the Mother was purified which required forty days time Levit. 12.4 The first-born of the Tribe of Levi were free from this Redemption of men they were to permit to be redeem'd at a month old (d) V. 16. Secundum aestimationem seu ordinationem tuam Refero ad illud post mensem q. d. Constitues diem quando velles eum redimi Hic dies Communi usu erat 40 a partu ut eadem opera mater purificaretur filius redimeretur Bonfrerius for five Shekels see Levit. 27.6 and the firstlings of unclean Beasts they were to permit to be redeemed after eight days at a lower price but the firstlings of Cows Sheep and Goats were not to be redeemed they must be sacrific'd and their blood sprinkled and their fat burnt on the Altar that they may be a sweet savour to the Lord but their flesh should go to the Priests God tells them He had allotted them these things for their Maintenance (e) The Hebrew Doctors write of 24 Gifts which God bestowed on the Priests with the order and use of them See Ainsworth pag. 113. for ever that is whilst this Dispensation lasted by a perpetual and unchangeable Covenant called a Covenant of Salt because firm and incorruptible Salt having a vertue to preserve any thing from corruption God further tells Aaron That when the Land shall be divided by Lot there shall be no lot for the Levites They should have no Inheritance in it He himself would be their part and portion Indeed they had Cities (f) Concerning the 35 Cities and Suburbs of the Levites and 13 Cities and Suburbs of the Priests See Richardson pag. 32. and Suburbs but they were given them by the other Tribes The Lord further tells Aaron That He had given the Levites all the Tenths or Tythes of the Children of Israel (g) V. 24. Which they offered as an Heave-offering that is an Oblation to the Lord and a sign of their homage and subjection and thankfulness to him for his blessings as a reward of their Service Levit. 27.30 And straitly charges that no Israelite that is not of that Tribe presume to come nigh to the Tabernacle to do any part of the Service belonging to the Levites lest they die for it And He tells him That the Levites should bear the punishment of their own Iniquity if they should transgress yea and of the peoples too if by their not watching over the holy things they suffered the people to transgress about them He further injoyns that the Levites shall offer as an Oblation to the Lord and pay a tenth of all the Tythes they receive unto the Priests and this the Lord would accept at their hands no less than if having Lands as others had they should pay Tythe of the increase of them as the rest of the people did to them and hereby they should testifie their homage and thankfulness to God And they were to offer and separate out of the Tythes paid to them for the hallowed part to be paid to the Priests that which was of all the best And the Priests might eat of these Tythes indifferently in any place And He further declares That if the Levites do heave or separate a tenth part of the best of their Tythes for the Priests use they shall not expose themselves to punishment which they would else do if they neglected it In conclusion here is added a general warning that both Priests and Levites should take heed of polluting or profaning the holy things or suffering them to be profaned by others which might be done many ways that so they might prevent wrath from falling on themselves and others Ch. 18. whole Chapter SECT LXVI THe Lord having appointed the Priests and Levites to do the Service of the Tabernacle and to watch over the people that they might not trangress about any of the holy things He here appoints a water of separation to be made that so if any of the people had contracted any legal uncleanness by the sprinkling of this water upon them they might be cleansed and so might come freely again to the Service of God in the Tabernacle without fear of those Plagues which otherwise their pollutions might bring upon them For the making of this water a red Heifer was to be provided and that by the common charge of all the Children of Israel because it was to be for the common good of them all and for the cleansing of any one among them that was by any accident legally unclean It must be an Heifer without spot and upon which never came yoke For they used in those times to
afforded us viz. Meat and Drink for our money as we passed thorow the out-skirts of their Country But Sihon would not let us pass for the Lord hardned * God cannot be the Author of Sin or the rebellion of the heart but he may being debtor to no man withhold his grace He may leave men to themselves He may permit Satan to work effectually in them See Sect. 59. of Ch. 3. on Exod. 4.21 his Spirit and made his heart obstinate that he might deliver him into our hands as appeareth by the event For Sihon coming out against us with his people to fight us the Lord delivered him into our hands and we smote him and all his Host and we took all his Cities and utterly destroyed Men Women and Children see Deut. 20.14 15 16. as God had commanded us Only we took the Cattel and the Spoil of the Cities to our selves for a Prey But the Land which was on the out-side of the River Jabbock which belonged to the Ammonites Josh 12.2 and those Cities of the Ammonites that lay in that mountainous Country beyond Jabbock and what-ever else was in the possession of the Ammonites did we not at all meddle with or with any thing else that God had forbidden us 5. He reminds them how after they had conquered Sihon they conquered Og Chap. III the Giant King of Bashan the other King of the Amorites When we marched up towards Bashan then says he Og the King thereof with his Army came out against us at Edrei And the Lord commanded us not to be afraid of him though he was a Giant of such a formidable stature And accordingly the Lord delivered him and his people and his Land into our hand and we took all his Cities even threescore Cities all the Region of Argob a Province in Bashan we took all those Cities which were fenced with high walls gates and bars and many unwalled Towns also And we destroyed Men Women and Children as we had before done unto King Sihon and his Subjects but the Cattel and the Spoil of the Cities we took as a Prey to our selves So we took at this time from those two Kings of the Amorites the Land that was on this side Jordan from the River Arnon to Mount Hermon called by the Sidonians Sirion (c) And Ch. 4.48 Sion and by the Amorites Shenir and all the Cities of the Plain and all Gilead And says He there now remained of that Gigantick Race in the Kingdom of Bashan but this Og only whose Bedstead * The Cubit of a man being usually a foot and an half according to this measure his Bedstead was four yards and an half long and two yards broad was of Iron and nine Cubits according to the Cubit of an ordinary man was the length thereof and four Cubits the breadth thereof and it was now kept in Rabbah (d) Possibly this Bedstead was taken in some War between the Ammonites and this King and so kept in Rabbah as a glorious Trophy of their Victory the chief City of the Ammonites from 1. to 12. 6. He shews how he distributed those Countries taken from the two Kings to Reuben Gad and the half Tribe of Manasseh see Numb 32.19 enjoyning them nevertheless to go over Jordan before their Brethren armed and to fight for them and help them against the Canaanites till God had given them that Land quietly to possess and then they should return to their own Possessions on this side Jordan again And says He I appointed in this new Conquest three Cities of Refuge viz. Bezer in the lot of the Reubenites and Ramoth-Gilead in the lot of the Gadites and Golan in Bashan in the lot of the Manaesites from 12 to 21. and Ch. 4. from 14. to 44. 7. He further tells them how he encouraged Joshua who was to be his Successor from what he had seen the Lord do to those two Kings of the Amorites and that consequently he should not fear the other Kings he was to fight with for the Lord would fight for Israel Then he tells them how earnestly he besought the Lord to permit him to go into Canaan I prayed says he O Lord God thou hast begun to shew thy Servant thy greatness and thy mighty hand For what God is there in Heaven or Earth that can do according to thy Works and according to thy Might I pray thee let me go over and see the good Land that is beyond Jordan and that goodly Mountain Lebanon But the Lord was wroth with me for your sakes Your murmurings made me sometimes too rash in speaking and sometimes too slow in believing in the Lord which provoked Him against me so that He would not grant my Request but said to me Let it suffice thee speak no more to me of this matter Get thee up to the top of Pisgah and lift up thine eyes West-ward and North-ward East-ward and Southward and behold it with thine eyes for thou shalt not go over this Jordan But give Joshua in Charge what I Command thee and encourage and strengthen him For he shall go over before this people and shall cause them to inherit the Land which thou shalt only see with thine eyes Ch. 3. from 21. to the end 8. From all these Experiences of Gods signal Goodness to them He comes now to exhort them to keep and obey the Statutes and Commandments of the Lord and to teach their Children also to observe them and especially to take heed of Idolatry which was a very provoking sin And that he might excite them the more to the observance of these Precepts he bespeaks them in this wise Hearken O Israel unto the Statutes and Judgments which I am now to teach you and be careful to practise them that ye may live and go in and possess the Land which the Lord God of your Fathers hath given you You shall not add * Improbatur hic 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cultus proprio arbitrio excogitatus Confer Deut. 12.8 32. Numb 15.39 40. Prov. 30.5 6. Gal. 3.10 to the words which I command you neither shall you diminish ought from it but you must keep close to the Commandments of the Lord which I from Him command you Your eyes have seen the Judgments of God executed upon those that committed Idolatry with Baal-Peor unto which many of Israel declined by the counsel of Balaam But you that did cleave unto the Lord and kept your selves from that Transgression were saved from that destruction Behold I set before you the Statutes †Some by Statutes understand Ornances of divine Worship and by Judgments Laws that concern their duty towards men and the punishment of Transgressors and Judgments which God hath commanded Chap. IV me to give you and which you are to observe in the Land which you are going to possess And carefully to observe them will be a great evidence of your wisdom and understanding in the sight of the Nations that shall
the men of War from Gilgal till they were come so near Ai that they might the following night go up to it Then he sent from thence that night thirty thousand of his choicest men with a Charge that taking the advantage of the night they should lay an Ambush of five thousand in the West part of the City between Bethel and Ai and the other 25 thousand should stay somewhere near them that they might assist them in case the Inhabitants of the City should discover them and come out with all their Power against them Joshua lodged that night with the rest of the Army and early next morning before it was day he went up after this thirty thousand and joyning as it is probable with the 25 thousand pitched on the North-side of Ai but in a place where the men of Ai could not yet discover them there being a Valley between them and the City vers 10 11. Having thus set the Ambush on the West-side and the body of the Army on the North-side of the City Joshua early in the morning * Visitavit v. 10. visited his Army to fee if they were all ready and in good array and then went presently himself into the midst of the Valley with a small party with him purposing that as soon as it was day to shew themselves to the men of Ai that they might thereupon be the more encouraged to sally out against them The King of Ai hearing of this small Party in the Valley He gave Order that all the Garrison-Souldiers should be presently got ready at such a time and accordingly they all met and together with their King sallied forth and set upon the Israelites Joshua and the rest that were with him designedly fled before them towards the body of their Army left on the Hill beyond the Plain to draw them off from the City It being once noised that the Israelites fled all that could bear Arms in Ai were instantly called to pursue after them there was not a Souldier left in Ai or Bethel for it seems the Inhabitants of that Town being near Ai had joyned with them but all ran eagerly after the Israelites leaving the City open Joshua with his Party being retir'd to the body of the Army he turned his face and stretched his Spear towards Ai upon which Signal his Souldiers as 't is probable gave a mighty Shout which the Ambush of 5000 men hearing knew thereby it was time for them to run and take the City which accordingly they did and presently set some one or more houses therein on fire that by the smoke ascending the Israelites might perceive the City was taken the men of Ai that pursued Joshua looking back and seeing the smoke of their City ascending were quite disheartned Then Joshua and his Army fell upon them and the five thousand that had entred the City issued out upon their backs so that they were hemm'd in behind and before and so the Israelites made a vast Slaughter of them and spared none they could lay their hands on save only their King whom they took alive and brought to Joshua Then the Israelites went up to Ai and smote it with the edge of the Sword so that all that fell that day both in the Field and in the City were about twelve thousand For Joshua drew not his hand back but with his Spear stretched forth led them on in the Chase and Slaughter of their Enemies till they were destroyed The Cattel and Spoil of the City the Israelites took to themselves as God had commanded But Joshua burnt the City and made it an heap and a desolation for a very long time * V. 28. By this word for ever here as in many other places of Scripture a long time only is signified though afterwards in the days of Nehemiah it was rebuilt and inhabited by the Benjamites as we find Neh. 11.31 and then it was not called Ai but Aijah above a thousand years after it was demolished Joshua hanged the King of Ai upon a Tree till eventide and when the Sun was set he commanded him to be taken down †See Deut. 21.23 and to be cast at the entrance of the Gate of the City and that a great heap of Stones should be raised over Him Josh 8. from 1. to 30. SECT CI. MOses having before his death charged the Israelites that when they came into the Land of Canaan they should buid a Monument of great Stones and write the Law thereon and at the same time should build an Altar of whole stones and offer Sacrifices thereon and that on Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal where this was to be done the people should in a solemn manner give their consent to certain Blessings and Curses that should be read in their hearing Therefore Joshua after the taking of Ai finding the way to these Mountains clear and open by reason of the terrour wherewith the Enemy was now stricken took this time to go up with the people thither to perform this Service which upon the first opportunity he knew they were bound to perform And accordingly going thither He built there this Monument and writ the Law thereon and built the Altar and offered Sacrifices thereon and the people of Israel according to Gods Command having assembled themselves together with their Women little Ones and Strangers half of them stood over against Mount Gerizim and half of them over against Mount Ebal that is not upon the top of these Mountains but upon their ascent near unto the bottom that they might be the nearer one to another and both of them to the Ark which was placed in the Valley between them and might the more conveniently hear the Blessings and Cursings pronounced by the Priests at Joshua's appointment These things being done accordingly the people gave their assent unto the Blessings and Cursings and performed all things according to Moses's direction given Deut. 11.29 and Deut. 27. from 2. to 9. Josh Ch. 8. from 30. to the end SECT CII THe Kings of Canaan affrighted at this great Success of the Israelites now at last begin to combine together and to make War against them But the Inhabitants of Gibeon * Afterwards allotted to Benjamin which was a great and strong City having other Neighbouring-Towns under its Government hearing of the Israelites taking Jericho and Ai and what they did to them yet their hearts were not so hardned as the hearts of the other Canaanites were to fight against Israel but they were willing to submit to them and to sue to them for Conditions of Peace which plainly shews that it was of God and not of themselves that these Gibeonites were thus wise and careful to provide for their own safety They concluded there was no resisting such a people for whom God himself fought and therefore they determined to try if they could by any means make Peace with them And whence could this be but from God who taught
two Cities of this Name One fell to the lot of the Ephraimities and the other to the Benjamites So that it seems there were an upper and nether Beth-horon which were afterwards rebuilt beautified and fortified by Sherah a famous woman of the stock of Ephraim 1 Chron. 7.24 and smote them unto Azehah and Makkedah And as they fled some towards the upper and some towards the nether Beth-horon the Lord cast down great and prodigious Hail-stones upon them which destroyed more of them than the Israelites had killed with the Sword This storm of Hail was miraculous not only in regard of the exceeding greatness of the stones but in that they fell only on the Canaanites and not on the Israelites who pursued after them Joshua being now with his Army in the heat of pursuit and execution of their Enemies and fearing he should want day-light to finish his Work His spirit was excited humbly to beg of God that the Sun and Moon might stand still in the Heavens and give them light till they had done their work The Lord was pleased by some special instinct of his Spirit to assure him that his Request was granted whereupon in the presence of his Souldiers and for their future Encouragement looking up to Heaven He said Sun stand thou still upon Gibeon and thou Moon in the Valley of Ajalon †This was a Plain into which men descended from Beth-horon v. 11. and in respect of the small distance between it and Gibeon it is by the Prophet who alludeth to this story call'd the Valley of Gibeon Isa 28.21 And accordingly the Sun and Moon stood still and the whole frame of the Heavens by the space of almost an whole day till they had avenged themselves on their Enemies So that both these great Lights beginning and ending their standing still together the Astronomical Account was no way confounded by this stay even as in Musick the Harmony is not in any sort broken if all the Voices rest at the same time and then begin again every man in his own part going on until the end of the Lesson as Laurentius Codomannus observes This is written in the Book of Jasher * Fuit hic liber quasi Sanctorum Catalogus de Heroum Sanctorum gestis-scriptâ—s metrico versu Bonfrerius which seems to be some continued Chronicle of the memorable Acts of Gods Worthies in those times which Book is since lost though 't is mentioned again 2 Sam. 1.18 see also Numb 21.14 And there was no day like this either before it or after it wherein God at the prayer of a man made the Sun and Moon to stand still and made the day twice as long as it should have been Indeed in Hezekiah's time the day was miraculously lengthened by the Suns going backward 2 Kings 20.11 and Isaiah the Prophet cried unto the Lord and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward by which it had gone down in the Dial of Ahaz and yet it was not lengthened so much by far then as it was now to wit not above two hours and an half Neither was that done in such a manner as this was viz. upon Joshua's prayer to God first desiring it and then commanding in his Name that it should be done see Hab. 3.11 Joshua having the day thus miraculously lengthened out for him and following the Chase those five Kings fled to a Cave in the Country belonging to Makkedah and there hid themselves Joshua being informed thereof commanded that the entrance into the Cave should be rammed up with great stones and a Guard set upon it but that the rest of the Army should pursue after their Enemies and smite the hindmost of them and not suffer them to get into their fenced Cities lest they should put them to a new trouble For says he God fights for us and hath delivered these our Enemies into our hands therefore let us not by sloth and negligence lose this opportunity of destroying them which he now affordeth us Accordingly Joshua and his Souldiers made that day a great Slaughter of their Enemies so that only a few of them escaped which got into their fenced Cities For though he at present destroyed the Enemy in the Field yet it seems he did not take their fenced Cities till some time after though they are related in this Chapter as taken presently because the Writer of this Book did resolve to give as it were one short Draught of the War Now those whom Joshua had sent forth to pursue the Enemy returned to him in peace that is sound and safe to Makkedah where his Camp was at present And now the Canaanites were very quiet and durst not offer the Israelites the least Disturbance no not so much as a Dog barked against them to allude to that proverbial Speech Exod. 11.7 Then Joshua caused the five Kings to be brought out of the Cave to him and He called for his Captains and chief Commanders and bad them put their feet upon their Necks not in a proud insulting manner but to teach them that they were to shew no mercy to this people and to intimate to them that thus they should tread all their Enemies under their feet Then Joshua commanded that these five Kings should be slain and hanged * Quia Regum stagitia plurimis exemplo nocent ideo acerbiore supplicio merito debebant Expiari Masius on five Trees where they hung till evening and then they took them down and cast them into the Cave where they had been hid and laid great stones in the Caves mouth which remained when this History was written See Josh 8.29 and Psal 91.13 and Psal 149.8 110.1 Joshua 10. from 1. to 27. SECT CIV JOshua like a prudent General pursueth his Victory while the Canaanites were under so great a terrour and consternation upon the defeat of the five Kings and their Armies And therefore now He resolves to set upon their Cities And first He took Makkedah (c) A City in the uttermost Confines of the Tribe of Judah towards the West see Ch. 15.41 and destroyed all the people therein Men Women and Children reserving the Cattel to themselves for a Prey see Ch. 11.14 And he did unto the King thereof as he had done unto the King of Jericho that is He hanged †Hoc non indicat Scriptura ex caeterorum tamen Regum exemplo colligunt eum suspensum fuisse Bonfrerius him From Makkedah he marched the whole Army that was with him to Libnah (d) A City situate in the Tribe of Judah Ch. 15.42 and given to the Priests Ch. 21.13 and the Lord delivered that City also into his hands and he put all to the Sword he found therein and did unto their King as he did unto the King of Makkedah From Libnah he marched to Lachish (e) A strong City in the Confines of Judah restor'd Ch. 15.39 whose King was one of those that made War against Gibeon and besieged it
pleased But this He speaks as taking it for granted that his Daughter would be guided by him that he that took it should have his Daughter Achsah to wife Hereupon Othniel the Son of Kenaz younger Brother to Caleb took it It was surely by some special instinct and direction of Gods Spirit that Caleb gave unto Othniel this occasion of innobling his Valour and Vertue in the sight of the people He intending afterwards to raise him up after Caleb's death to be their Judge and Deliverer see Judges 3.9 Othniel thus obtaining Achsah for his wife Caleb gave with her a good Dowry of Land 'T is true Caleb had Sons see 1 Chron. 4.13 and they might not give away any part of their Inheritance from their Sons to their Daughters see Numb 27.8 9. therefore the Land which Caleb now gave his Daughter was given her only as a Dowry for term of life or till the year of Jubilee But it seems she was not content with the portion her Father now gave her and therefore moved her Husband as they were riding away from her Father's house to make suit to her Father for another Field to be added to what he had already given her But when she perceived that he was loth to do it or perswaded her rather to do it her self she went back and alighting off from her Asse addressed her self to make that Request to her Father who ask'd her What she would have She answered Give me I pray thee a Blessing that is another Gift or Boon with thy fatherly blessing upon it Gen. 33.11 Thou hast given me a Southland give me also I pray thee Springs of Water intimating that the portion he had given her was dry and not well watered the Southern-parts of Judah's portion being dry and barren or at least the Southern parts of Caleb's portion were such And therefore she desires him to give her Springs of Water that is some portion of Land that was well watered Hereupon out of his great love to her He gave her some Springs or watered Grounds on each side of the Land he had before given her both above it and below it But though Caleb thus cleared his particular portion yet the Children of Judah though they took some part * The Northern and greatest part of the City of Jerusalem was in Benjamin's lot but the Southern wherein was the Fort Sion was in Judah's lot of the City of Jerusalem and burnt it Judg. 1.8 yet the Fort of Sion which was the chief strength of the City was not then taken by them but the Jebusites forced the Israelites to let them there dwell with them for a long time after and there they were when this story was written (r) Whereby it appears that this story was not written by Ezra seeing he lived many years after David and were not cast out till David's time 2 Sam. 5.6 7. Had the Children of Judah done their endeavour and not been wanting to themselves they might have cast them out sooner but failing in their duty and growing slothful and faint-hearted by these and their other sins they provoked God to withdraw his gracious assistance from them and so then indeed they could not drive them out according to that Judg. 2.20 21. because this people has transgressed my Covenant therefore I will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the Nations which Joshua left when he died And it was not only thus with the Children of Judah but the Ephraimites also did not drive out the Canaanites out of Gezer a City in their Tribe Josh 16.10 but suffered them to live there only paying them some Tribute expresly against God's Command Deut. 7.2 and there they continued till Solomons time when Pharaoh King of Egypt expelled them out and gave the City for a Present to his Daughter Solomon's wife 1 Kings 9.16 And thus it was also with the Manassites Ch. 17.12 13. who could not for the same Reasons drive out the Canaanites out of their lot but they would dwell with them yet they afterwards made them Tributary and with that they contented themselves through Sloth Cowardize and Covetousness as their Brethren the Ephraimites had done Josh Ch. 14. from 6. to the end Josh Ch. 10. vers 21 22. Josh Ch. 15. from vers 13. to 20. Josh Ch. 1. from vers 9. to 16. SECT CXI THe Israelites having drawn these three lots before-mentioned which fell upon Judah Ephraim and half the Tribe of Manasseh they drew no more at this time It seems the other seven Tribes that were yet to have their lots perceiving what a large circuit of Land was given to Judah they began to apprehend that there would not be left an equal share for them and therefore pretending there could not be any equal division made till the remote parts of the Land which were yet in the Enemies possession were better known to them they desired some stay of the Work till they had further prevailed and might know the Land they were to divide better then yet they could do SECT CXII THis Year being the seventh from the first wherein they began to till the Ground in Canaan was the first Sabbatical year which was kept among them they being by Joshua who was a Type of Christ now brought into this place of Rest which was a Type and Figure of that eternal Sabbath and Rest which the true Jesus was to bring the people of God into Heb. 4.9 And from hence also the Year of Jubilee which happened every fiftieth year is to be reckoned see Levit. 25. from 8. to 14. SECT CXIII UPon the fifteenth day of the seventh month the Israelites kept the Feast of Tabernacles in Booths made of boughs of Trees according to the Law Levit. 23.39 40. and much more solemnly than was afterwards used in the times of the Judges or Kings see Neh. 8.17 SECT CXIV HItherto both Camp and Tabernacle had remained at Gilgal Now by God's appointment they remove to Shiloth a City in the South of Ephraim's lot This was the Place that God chose to place his Name there Deut. 12.5 and from 8. to 12. Jer. 7.12 that is his Tabernacle where he would be worshipped and have his Name solemnly called upon And therefore marching to Shiloh there they fixed the Tabernacle of the Congregation after the Land thereabout was wholly subdued to them and the Canaanites that dwelt further off were so stricken with terrour from the Lord that they durst not molest them At Shiloth the Tabernacle and Ark of the Covenant continued 328 years till the death of Eli 1 Sam. 1.3 9 24. Joshua Ch. 18. vers 1. SECT CXV THere remained now among the Israelites seven Tribes which had not yet received their Inheritance and as it seems being weary of the War which had lasted long and being full of Spoil and wanting nothing they did not press to have their Inheritances allotted to them which negligence Joshua reproves them for shewing them there was no
was given to Phineas his Son with whom 't is probable his Father lived For though the Priests had their Cities by lot in other Tribes namely Judah Simeon and Benjamin see Ch. 21.4 yet that the High Priest might be near to Joshua the Governour who dwelt in Mount Ephraim and that he might enquire of the Lord for him upon any special occasion and that he might be near to the Tabernacle which at this time was in Shiloh 't is like Eleazar (y) Donarunt forsan hunc locum honorarium Eleazaro ut Joshuae contiguus habitaret qui tamen est a Filio cognominatus in posterum Anonym in loc here lived and was now here buried Josh Ch. 24. whole Chapter SECT CXXII WE are now come to the Book of Judges The Book of Iudges which comprehends an History of the Common-wealth of Israel from the death of Joshua to the days of Eli containing the space of 299 years during which time they lived under the Government of certain Judges whom God successively and extraordinarily raised up and endowed with a Spirit of Wisdom and Courage to Rule over them as His Deputies and Vicegerents There are twelve of these mentioned in this Book viz. 1. Othniel whose Government from the death of Joshua is reckoned to be 40 years 2. Ehud 80 3. Deborath 40 4. Gideon 40 5. Abimelech 3 6. Thola 23 7. Jair 22 8. Jephtha 6 9. Ibzan 7 10. Elon 10 11. Abdon 8 12. Sampson 20 299 Within which space of time we are to comprehend the Six Oppressions of the Israelites mentioned in this Book and not to reckon them apart but as included within the years of the Judges and the Rest of the Land viz. Under Cushan 8 years Eglon 18 Jabin 20 Midian 7 Ammonites 18 Philistines 20 To the twelve Judges before-mentioned Eli and Samuel succeeded whose Acts are not here set down but in the First Book of Samuel Now there being 480 to be reckoned from the coming of the Israelites out of Egypt to the building of Solomon's Temple 1 Kings 6.1 we may compute them thus 40 years spent in the Wilderness 17 in Joshua's Government 299 in the times of the twelve Judges 40 in Eli's time 40 in Samuel and Saul's 40 in David's 4 in Solomon's in the Fourth Year of whose Reign the Foundation of the Temple was laid 480 As to the Pen-man of this Book of Judges 't is very uncertain who it was But it seems to be gathered by some Prophet of God out of the Publick Records and Registers that were kept of their Affairs Some think Samuel was the Compiler of it SECT CXXIII JOshua being now dead and having a little before his death encouraged the people to expel the Canaanites that remained out of the Land though they had no man at present chosen of God and set over them to Command them in chief as Moses and Joshua did and finding that it was fit for them to go on with the War they assembled together as it seems at Shiloh to consult about this matter And because the success of their first Attempts would be of great consequence either to encourage or dishearten their Enemies they thought fit that Phineas the High Priest should enquire of the Lord for them by Vrim and Thummim which of their Tribes should first begin and set upon the Canaanites that still remained among them and the Lord appointed that the Tribe of Judah the Royal Tribe and the strongest and most populous of them all should begin the War and first clear his portion of the Enemy Caleb the Son of Jephunneh is chosen General for the Tribe and the Simeonites who had their lot within theirs being invited to joyn with them they readily agreed to it the Tribe of Judah promising to assist them afterwards in clearing their lot In this Expedition they took the City of Bezek * Bezek a City in the Tribe of Judah not far from Jerusalem and after they had taken it in the pursuit when the King thereof with many of his people fled to save his life they killed ten thousand men They also took their King Adonibezek and cut off his Thumbs and his great Toes having as it seems when they took the City found some of those poor Captive Kings that had been thus inhumanely used by him or else had heard of the Tyranny he had exercised upon them in that kind and therefore thought fit according to the Law of Retaliation Exod. 21.24 to serve him after the same manner Adonibezek could not but acknowledge the justice of God upon him herein For says He threescore and ten Kings (z) Reguli diversarum urbium Ante Ninum teste Justino quisque Rex terminis civitatis suae contentus erat Petty Kings of particular Cities not that he had so many at once under this base slavery but in the whole course of his life some after others 't is like he did it in a base sporting cruelty or else thereby to unfit them for War unde homines viles defides Italis Gallis Poltroni vocantur id est pollice trunci having their Thumbs and great Toes cut off gathered their meat under my Table as I have done to them so God hath requited me Then the men of Judah carried this great Tyrant and shewed him before Jerusalem to strike the greater terrour into the Jebusites and there they killed him and then sacked and burnt that City viz. that part of it which was in their Tribe For though the former King of it had been slain in the Field Josh 10. yet was not the City taken nor it nor any other City fired in Joshua's time but only Jericho Ai and Hazor and therefore the eighth verse should be read And the Children of Judah warred against Jerusalem and took it and smote it c. not as if it had been taken before Judges 1. from 1. to 9. * For these Verses from v. 9. to 16. see Sect. 108. because the Author of this History was here to relate the memorable Exploits that were done by the men of Judah therefore together with those noble Acts which they did after the death of Joshua He repeats also those which were done by them whilst Joshua lived under the command of Caleb both against Hebron and Debir that He might set forth the glory of this Tribe more fully SECT CXXIV JEthro's Family call'd Kenites that had come up with Joshua and Israel into the Land of Canaan and dwelt in their Tents which was ever their way of living about Jericho the City of Palm-Trees among the people of the Tribe of Judah and Judah having now cleared his portion in so good a measure that they began to spread into new Plantations These Kenites went along with them and setled themselves with them in the South upon the Coasts of the Amalekites and so in Saul's time were mingled among them see 1 Sam. 15.6 These Kenites were the root of the Rechabites of whom more is
Courage Fortitude and Zeal for the Execution of his Office And indeed the people at that time needed a wise and able Judge to reduce them to their former Government overthrown by Abimelech and to abolish Idolatry which much prevailed in his licentious Reign and to restore God's pure Worship which 't is like had been much corrupted Though there is no mention made of Enemies that invaded the Land during his Government yet there might be some such Invasions and Oppressions though not so vexatious as the former He dwelt in Shamir a Town bordering on Mount Ephraim that so he might be near the Tabernacle at Shiloh and there was buried having judged Israel three and twenty years Judg. 10. vers 1 2. SECT CXLIII AFter Tola arose Jair dwelling in Gilead in the Tribe of Manasseh Jair the Seventh Judge beyond Jordan and judged Israel twenty two years It seemed he was a man of great Quality before he was raised to be Judge for he had thirty Sons to wit by several Wives that rode on Asse-Colts which was a token of Dignity and Authority He was descended it seems of that Jair who having taken the Cities of Argob called them after his own Name Havoth-Jair that is the Villages of Jair Numb 33.41 Deut. 3.14 Those Villages were at first only twenty three 1 Chron. 2.22 but this Jair coming to inherit these Towns which his Ancestor had taken from the Amorites divided them among his Sons and they were increased either by themselves their Father or Grandfather to thirty and the old Name continued to them In this time it seems the Israelites were horribly corrupt and their Apostacy and Idolatry was far worse than that of their fore-Fathers * Israelitae admodum proni erant in Idolatriam cujus causae erant 1. Quia finitimas gentes◠Idolatricas florere videbant se autem inopia premi 2. Multitudo Idololatrarum collata cum ipsorum paucitate 3. Cultus Dei severior erat tristior Non in eo Theatra Saltationes Comaediae vel Tragaediae qua omnia erant in cultibus Idolorum immo etiam saepe turpia libidinosa P. Martyr For now they worshipped all the Idols of the Nations round about them Baalim and Ashtaroth the Idols of Syria Zidon Moab Ammon and the Philistines and so wholly gave themselves up to the Worship of false gods that at length they quite laid aside the Worship of the true God in the Tabernacle And therefore the Text says They forsook the Lord and served him not 'T is like Jair did what he could to restrain them from this abominable Idolatry but was over-born by them So that about the beginning of the fifth year of his Government the Lord being extremely angry with them sold them into the hands of the Ammonites who oppressed (c) The years of the Oppressions are not to be reckones apart from the years of the Judges see in Chap. 3.11 them sorely on the other side of Jordan and into the hands of the Philistines who invaded those Tribes that were within Jordan so that they were invaded both on East and West on the West by the Philistines on the East by the Children of Ammon The fifth Oppression by the Ammonites The Ammonites having oppressed the two Tribes and half without Jordan for eighteen years and Jair dying they proceeded further and passed over Jordan and oppressed the Israelites within Jordan also Judg. Ch. 10. from vers 3. to 10. SECT CXLIV THe Children of Israel being now sorely distressed they cry unto the Lord and acknowledge their Sin and the Lord either by some Prophet or by the High Priest who inquired for them returned them this Answer Have I not delivered you from the Egyptians AmoritEs the Children of Ammon the Philistines the Zidonians (d) Divers of these Deliverances we do not find mentioned before So that this people had received from the Lord many more Favours and Blessings than are here recorded Amalekites and the Maonites * Possibly hereby are meant the Canaanites that inhabited the Wilderness of Maon 1 Sam. 23.24 and yet ye have forsaken me and followed other gods Go and cry unto the gods ye have chosen let them deliver you in the time of your Tribulation I will deliver you no more This Threatning was not absolute but conditional though the condition be not expressed but is thus to be understood viz. except ye truly repent and forsake your Idolatry and amend that which has been so much amiss among you They answered O Lord we humbly acknowledge that we have hainously sinned against thee and do thou punish us hereafter as thou pleasest if we do not continue in thy true and pure Worship utterly renouncing all false gods only make trial of us this once by delivering us out of the hands of our Enemies Then they putting away their strange gods and setting upon a real Reformation the Lord was touched with Compassion towards them and his Soul †This is spoken of God after the manner of men and by way of comparison only affirmed of him was grieved for the miseries they suffered About this time the Children of Ammon gathered themselves together and incamped in the Land of Gilead which now it seems they claimed as belonging unto them see Ch. 11. vers 13. The Children of Israel gathered what Forces they could together to oppose them and encamped at Mizpeh in Mount Gilead in the Tribe of Manasseh beyond Jordan Then they begun to consider who should be their Leader in this Expedition against Ammon and they declared That who-ever being able and fit would undertake it he should be the Head or Judge over all the Inhabitants of Gilead But there were none there present willing to undertake it the Service being very dangerous therefore they resolved to send to Jephtah being a skilful Commander and of known Valour Jephtah was a Gileadite his Fathers name being Gilead and probably he was born in the City of Gilead His Mother was an Harlot It seems in process of time his Brethren that his Father had by his lawful Wife being grown up did by the help and decree of the Magistrates of Gilead see vers 17. bar him of any share of the Inheritance of his Father and denied him any portion for a Livelihood among them Jephtah being thus used betook himself into the Land of Tob a Country lying along Mount Gilead not far from the Ammonites at the entrance of Arabia the Desart and a Company of idle Fellows that had no Means or took no Course for a Livelihood listed themselves under him as their Captain and with them he us'd to Inrode Prey upon and Spoil the Ammonites And he grew to a great Fame for these Exploits and was held a mighty man of Valour Upon this account the Elders of Gilead now came and intreated him to be their Captain-General against the Ammonites For though the Law forbad that any Bastards should be admitted to any Place of
they knew that Idolatry and many other gross sins were at this time rife among them as we may learn from the Psalmists words Psal 78.58 speaking of these very times yet they were so blind and stupid that because they were the seed of Abraham they wondered that God should take part with the uncircumcised Philistines against them not being sensible of their own great wickedness which had provoked him to bring that calamity upon them And vainly they thought to mend the matter by fetching the Ark of God the sign of his presence to be among them For not repenting of their sins whereby they had forfeited their interest in God nor seeking to make their peace with him as they ought to have done their confidence in the Ark was vain and groundless However without consulting with God or advising with Samuel they resolve to fetch it into the Camp by which in former times their Ancestors had prevailed against their enemies as at the taking of Jericho Josh 6.4 5. and they hoped it would now help them also And thus they trusted more in the visible presence of the Ark than the gracious presence and assistance of God which they could not rationally hope for whilst they continued impenitent and unreform'd The Ark being sent for the two Sons of Eli Hophni and Phinehas came along with it either to carry it as Numb 4.15 or to attend it And when it came into the Camp all Israel shouted with a great shout so that the earth rang again with the rebound or Eccho of their shout The Philistines understanding this were sore affraid for they said God is come into the Camp thinking it seems the Ark to be some representation of the God of the Israelites and having the same opinion of it that they had of their own Idols at least they conceived some Divine power went along with it which was the reason they were so afraid And they said Wo unto us there hath not been such a thing heretofore that is in former conflicts which we have had with them they used not to bring their Ark into the Camp and by this unwonted shout of theirs we may perceive how much greater their hope and confidence now is than it hath been formerly Wo unto us who shall deliver us out of the hands of these mighty Gods Thus they speak of the true God after their Idolatrous manner who worshipped many Gods or Idols They further said These are the Gods that smote the Egyptians with all the Plagues which fell upon Pharoah and his people in Egypt and at last drowned them in the Red-Sea which joined to the desert or wilderness of Etham Exod. 13.20 upon which many of their dead carcasses were cast up and hereupon they name this as the consummation of all the former Plagues Therefore they encouraged one another saying Let us be strong and quit our selves like men and fight valiantly that we be not servants unto the Hebrews as they have been unto us Judg. 13.1 Accordingly the Armies encountring each other the Philistines fought stoutly and the Israelites were discomfited and there fell thirty thousand Footmen for they had no Horse and the rest were miserably scattered so that they fled to their own houses or dwellings See Ch. 13.2 1 King 12.16 And the Ark of God was taken (a) The Ark being in the Tabernacle at Shiloh it was now taken thence and never came into it again It was carried now to Ebenezer a place ominous now but a monument of Gods help soon after into the Camp Ch. 5.1 that it might save them out of the hands of their enemies as we read the Philistines themselves in the days of David brought their Images into their Camp 2 Sam. 5.21 1 Chron. 14.12 The Ark being taken there by the Philistines they carried it about to Ashdod into the house of Dagon thence to Gath thence to Ekron and after they had kept it seven months they sent it to Bethshemesh a City in the Tribe of Judah and it was fetcht thence to Kirjathjearim a City likewise of Judah It was there placed in the house of Abinadab a Levite 1 Sam. 7.1 it abode there twenty years till the time of the Repentance and Reformation wrought by the Ministry of Samuel 1 Sam. 7.2 And after in the days of Saul it seems to be fetched thence to Gilgal 1 Sam. 10.8 and after to Gibeah of Benjamin compare 1 Sam. 13.9 and Ch. 14.2 18. so that it seems it was fetched into extraordinary assemblies upon extraordinary occasions both in War and Peace But being returned to Kirjath-jearim to the house of Abinadab it was fetched thence by David 1 Chron. 13.5 Sixty-seven years after it was first brought thither It was brought by him to the house of Obed-Edom a Levâ—te 2 Sam. 6.10 the Ark was there three months and then fetched thence by David with great solemnity into the Tent which he prepared for it in Jerusalem 1 Chron. 1.5 and thence seems to be carried into Joab's Camp before Rabbah 2 Sam. 11.11 and began to be carried with David in his flight from Absalom 2 Sam. 15.24 And being returned to David's Tent prepared for it at Jerusalem Solomon as soon as he had built the Temple brought it thence with great Solemnity and placed it in the Holy Oracle 2 Chron. 5.2 about 112 years after it first left Shiloh What became of it at the destruction of the Temple by Nebuchadnezzar is uncertain and the two Sons of Eli Hophni and Phinehas were slain according to the Prediction Ch. 2.34 and a man of Benjamin ran from the Army and came to Shiloh the same day with his Clothes rent and with earth upon his head see Josh 7.6 2 Sam. 1.2 to signifie the sad news he brought and Eli sat upon a seat by the way-side near the Gate of the Tabernacle watching and earnestly expecting news from the Camp and the success of the fight For his heart trembled for the Ark of God lest that should fall into the hands of the Uncircumcised Philistines and be profaned by them and lest the Israelites should be deprived of the comfort of it (b) Ante adventum arcae tantum 4 millia occiduntur post adventum ejus 30 millia Tantum abest ut improbi ex praesentia arcae adjuventur ut potius in majus exitium devolvantur Mendoz. And when the man had told his sad story in Shiloh all the City cried out with most bitter and loud lamentation Eli who was ninety-eight years old and blind hearing this dreadful out-cry inquires what the matter was whereupon they brought the messenger to him that came out of the Army who told him that Israel was fled before the Philistines and that there had been a great slaughter among the people that his two Sons Hophni and Phinehas were slain and lastly that the Ark of God was taken no sooner did the Messenger make mention of the loss of the Ark but old Eli's heart died within him and being
thousand and the men of Judah (a) Where by the way we may observe the humble submission of the Tribe of Judah to the Government of Saul notwithstanding they had the promise of the Kingly Scepter because they saw it thus determined by the pleasure of God thirty thousand having got this great Army together Saul and Samuel sent away the messengers that came from Jabesh-Gilead to inform the Inhabitants thereof that on the morrow by that time the Sun was well up they might expect them to come for their help The messengers returning to the City with this news the Inhabitants thereof were wonderfully revived at it and sent to Nahash who besieged them that on the morrow they would come out to him meaning and understanding thereby if no help came for them in the mean time But this they concealed (b) Sic non tam ipsi decipiebant suos hostâ—s quam permittebant ut ipsi deciperentur that nothing might be presently attempted against them and to make their enemies the more secure that Saul might have the greater advantage against them Saul dividing his Army into three parts and marching as it seems all night by the morning-watch he came upon the enemy and surprized them unawares and slew a vast number of them and so scattered the rest that there were very few of them left together And thus he raised the siege of Jabesh and freed the Inhabitants thereof from that horrid cruelty intended against them (a) How thankful the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead were afterwards to Saul for this great benefit we may see Ch. 31.11 12 13. The Israelites were so transported with joy for this victory and so taken with the prudence and brave conduct of Saul in the obtaining of it that some of them came to Samuel and said Where are the men that said Saul shall not reign over us bring them forth that we may put them to death But Saul said There shall not a man be put to death this day on my account I shall never consent that a day of so much joy and triumph and wherein God has so eminently shewed himself gracious unto us shall be stained with severity against those that slighted me or with the least sorrow or mourning among the people And here we see again what a difference there was betwixt Saul in his first Government and what he was afterwards when the Spirit of the Lord had departed from him Now none more humble and gentle than he not a man shall be put to death for him but afterwards in his dealing with David and the Priests of the Lord he was another man even blood-thirsty cruel and implacable beyond measure But to go on Samuel upon this victory spake to the people after this manner Come says he let us go to Gilgal and renew the Kingdom there that is let us by a general consent confirm Saul's Election and settle and invest him in the Kingdom Accordingly the people went to Gilgal and there they made Saul King before the Lord * V. 15. that is in a solemn manner as in Gods presence and possibly before the Ark the sign of his presence which by Samuel's appointment might be brought hither at this time that they might consult with God as occasion served in this weighty business and also it may be that it might grace the action that is they anointed him publickly as before Samuel had done privately and performed all other Solemnities requisite for his Inauguration sacrificing Sacrifices of Peace-offerings and Thanksgiving before the Lord and rejoicing and praising him for their late victory and for their new King by whose conduct under God they had obtained it and praying to the Lord for him and craving his blessing upon his Government 1 Sam. Ch. 11. whole Chapter SECT CLXIII THE Children of Israel being at this time wonderfully transported with joy for their new King and possibly flattering themselves that God was well pleased with them for asking a King seeing he had given them one by whom they had obtained so great a victory Samuel thought fit to take this occasion to make them sensible of their mistake and that they had grievously sinned in asking a King whereby they rejected God from reigning over them as their Soveraign and himself as his Deputy and Vicegerent Behold says he I have hearkened to your voice and have according to your desire the Lord also permitting it set a King over you And now you have a King setled among you to govern you and go before you as your General to war And as for my self I have very great cause to be well pleased being old and gray-headed that the burden of the Government is taken off from my shoulders And as for my Sons behold they are with you now not as rulers but as private men they are before you to give account to you and your King of their former behaviour and carriage and to make satisfaction (a) q. d. Filios meos habetis in potestate vestra Si quid dignum severo supplicio commiseâ—int non substraham eòs legitimae satisfactioni Si enim quid perperam in sua gubernatione commiserint id me praeceptore non didicerunt neque talia excusabo for any thing they have done amiss whilst they were in place of Government And as for my self I may truly say that I have endeavoured faithfully and in the uprightness of my heart to perform the duties of my place in the sight of you all both in the service of the Sanctuary in my younger days when I was a Levite and in my riper age by administring justice since I was called to be a Judg. And seeing the Government is transferred from me to another you need not now fear to speak your minds of me and therefore if you can justly accuse me of any evil speak it freely and witness it against me before the Lord and before his anointed whose Ox * A rare precedent for such to look upon as are in any publick place or office I pray you or whose Asse have I wrongfully taken away whom have I defrauded or whom have I oppressed of whom have I received bribes to blind mine eyes †See Deut. 16.19 and to cause me to wrest judgment If any such injurious dealing can be proved against me here I am ready to make restitution and to give satisfaction The people answered Thou hast not defrauded or oppressed us at all neither hast thou taken ought of any mans hand to pervert justice Well then says he let the Lord be witness and let his anointed here present be witness that you acknowledg and declare that you have not found any injustice or injurious dealing in me They answered let them be witnesses Possibly he desired thus to justifie and clear himself as to the whole course of his Government as Moses likewise had done Numb 16.15 both that he might be an example to their new King and make him the
and so would not go home to his own house but lay in the Court among the Kings houshold-servants And thus the Lord counterplotted David and would not suffer him to smother his sin as he earnestly endeavoured to have done David seeing that none of these devices would do resolves now upon a worse project than any of the former he writes a Letter to Joab and sends it by Vriah himself commanding him to set Vriah in the forefront of the hottest battel and to retire from him that he might be smitten and die Behold here the fearful progress of sin from one degree to another David whose conscience was once so tender that it smote him for cutting off the lap of Sauls garment being now left to himself groweth to such an hardness in sin that he scrupleth not to murder a faithful innocent and valiant subject and together with him divers others of his good subjects and draweth Joab also to partake with him in the same wickedness so great cause have we daily and earnestly to pray unto God not to lead us into temptation or not to leave us unto the power of it Joab having received these orders not regarding as it seems whither they were just or unjust right or wrong but resolving to please his Prince upon whose favour he depended whither he pleased God or no he sets himself to put them in execution and perhaps he hoped thereby to recover the Kings favour to the full height which had been much lessened and abated towards him since he had killed Abner and possibly he thought that David would be the more propitious to him when himself was become guilty in the like kind Observing therefore in what part of the City the stoutest Soldiers of the enemy manned the walls he assigned Vriah with a commanded party to that quarter and the City sallying out upon them several of them were slain and Vriah among the rest Then Joab sent a messenger to David to inform him how things went and put words into his mouth and instructed him what he should say if he found the King displeased at the loss of his men he tells him that possibly the King would be angry that they approached so near the walls of the City seeing they could not but think the enemy would shoot upon them from thence and would say what did they not remember how Abimelech the Son of Jerubbesheth (a) Call'd Jerubbaal Judg. 7.1 but here Jerubbesheth because the Hebrews detestation of Idols did expunge the word Baal out of their names and put Bosheth or Besheth in the room of it signifying an infamous thing as the Idol was Hos 9.10 compare 1 Chron. 8.33 with 2 Sam. 2.8 and 1 Chron. 8.34 with 2 Sam. 4.4 where Eshbaal and Meribaal in the one place are called Ishbosheth and Mephibosheth in the other or Gideon was slain Judg. 9.53 by venturing too near to the wall of Thebez He bids him that if the King expressed himself to him after this manner then he should forthwith say thy servant Vriah the Hittite is slain among the rest The messenger coming to David told him it seems only that the men of Rabbah had sallied out upon them and at first prevailed against them but they soon forced them to retreat and pursuing them too hotly even to the Gate of the City and the shooters shooting from the wall upon them they slew some of the Kings servants and among the rest his servant Vriah The King hearing this expressed no such displeasure at the loss of his men as Joab imagined he would do seeing Vriah whose death he mainly designed was taken off but bad the messenger tell Joab that he must not be over much troubled at this loss for the sword devoureth one as well as another therefore he must be content and bear with patience such accidents and take care to strengthen his siege for the future against the City that he might take it The King further bad the Messenger in his name to comfort and encourage Joab that he might go on chearfully with the war When Bathsheba heard that her husband Vriah was dead she put her self into mourning * The time of ordinary as Josephus writes lasted but seven days see Gen. 50.10 but their more solemn mournings lasted thirty days Deut. 34.8 for him the better to conceal her sin but whether she were inwardly grieved or no (a) Lacrymas non sponte cadentes effudit gemitusque expressit pectore laeto Lucan be sure she had cause enough of heart-bleeding and heart-breaking mourning if she considered that by her sin she had occasioned her husbands untimely death But when the time of her mourning (b) Tempus luctus quod Romanis mulieribus erat annus vel decem menses intra quod tempus nubere eis non licebat Haebreis in lege non erat constitutum was over which undoubtedly was as short as conveniently might be David sent for her and made her his wife that she might be thought to be with child by him after they were married but their adultery could not be so concealed for she soon was brought to bed of a Son and the thing that David had done highly displeased the Lord and he soon found the bitter effects of it 2 Sam. Ch. 11. whole Chapter SECT CXCIII IOab resolutely pursuing the siege of Rabbah at last he took that part of the City which was called the Royal City wherein the Kings Palace stood and the City of waters because it was invironed with waters both for safety and delight and knowing that the other part could not long stand out he sent to David to intreat him to come thither with some new forces that so he might have the honour of taking it and the glory and renown of this great enterprize For he knew that Kings were apt to be jealous and did not love that their subjects should eclipse their glory David accordingly went thither and took the City and with it their King Hanun and putting his Crown of State the weight whereof was a talent of Gold (c) A Crown of State and too weighty to be worn adorned with precious jewels upon his head and then taking it off they set it upon Davids to shew that the Royal dignity of that Nation was removed from him and conferred on David and then Hanun as 't is probable was either instantly deposed or put to death and his Brother made Governour of Rabbah under David whence it was that he shewed such respect to David when he fled from Absalom David was never so severe and cruel as at this time when he lay under the guilt of Adultery and murder Ch. 17.27 28. David having thus taken the City he brought forth the spoil of it in great abundance and took so many of the people as he thought fit to make exemplary and such of their Elders and Rulers as had been the chief ringleaders in all their vile and wicked actings and inflicted most severe
manner and in the sight only of a few who did it hastily to prevent Adonijah from making himself King and therefore this second anointing was done more publickly and more solemnly in the sight of the Princes and Rulers and in a great Assembly of the people And they anointed him unto the Lord that is devoted him solemnly unto the Lord and to be the Ruler of his people under him Then they anointed Zadok to be High-Priest instead of Abiathar who had joined with Adonijah and this was the rather done as we may suppose because the High-Priesthood was now translated into another Family For Abiathar was of the race of Eli and descended from Ithamar second Son of Aaron and Zadok was descended from Phineas who was descended from Eleazar his eldest Son and so the High-Priesthood reverted from the family of Ithamar to that of Eleazar as was foretold by God it should come to pass 1 Sam. 2.33 35. After this Solomon sat on the Throne of the Lord viz. on that Throne to which God had by his especial Providence advanced him and the disposal of which the Lord in a more peculiar manner challenged to himself See Deut. 17.15 And Solomon after this was very prosperous and all Israel obeyed him and all the Princes and mighty men and all the rest of David's Sons submitted themselves unto him And the Lord magnified him exceedingly in the sight of all Israel and bestowed on him such royal majesty and greatness as no King of Israel either before him or after him ever had 1 Chron. Ch. 28. whole Chapter 1 Chron. Ch. 29. from v. 1 to 26. SECT CCXII. NOW the days of David's departure out of this life drew nigh therefore calling for his Son Solomon he said to him I am going the way that all men living upon the earth must go Be thou therefore couragious and though thou be young in years yet shew thy self a man in understanding and keep the charge of the Lord thy God to wit the commandments which he hath given in charge to be kept and walk in his ways and keep his statutes his judgments and testimonies whereby he testifies what he would have done and observed according as they are written and prescribed in the Laws given by Moses that so thou maist prosper in all that thou dost and in all businesses thou settest thy self unto And so the Lord may be pleased to confirm his word which he spake unto me saying If thy children take heed to their way to walk before me in truth and sincerity with all their heart and all their soul there shall not fail thee a man on the Throne of Israel that is there shall not fail a man of thy posterity to sit upon thy Throne (a) Notandum duo fuisse Davidi promissa Primum absolutè nempe Messiam ex ipso oriturum licet filii ejus mali fuerint Secundum conditionale scil regnum in ejus familia conservandum si posteri se sancte gerant P. Martyr I have now only three things more to give thee in charge before I die The first is concerning Joab thou knowest how insolently he carried himself towards me and how treacherously he slew those two great Capteins Abner and Amasa after I had engaged my faith to them both that they should be safe which wicked practice of his was enough to make the people think that I had secretly an hand in it though I can truly say my soul abhorred it Nay he shed the blood of war in peace that is when there was peace made with these two great men he slew them as if they had been in open hostility against me And he put the blood of war upon his girdle that is He put up his sword all bloody into its scabbard that hung at his girdle and the very shoos on his feet were stained with their blood so impudently he carried out those base murders therefore I charge thee wisely to observe him He is of a turbulent spirit and in all likelihood thou wilt have at one time or other just occasion against him And though he hath been General of my Army almost all my reign yet let not his hoary head go down to the grave in peace but when thou findest just occasion against him cut him off by the sword of justice and so let the blood of Abner and Amasa be revenged upon him 2ly I would have thee to shew kindness to the Sons of Barzillai the Gileadite for they came and brought provisions for me and my followers when I was forced to fly from thy brother Absalom and therefore let them be of the number of those that eat at thy Table 2 Sam. 17.28 29. 3ly Thou hast with thee Shimei the Benjamite who reviled me and cursed me with a bitter curse when I was in great distress flying towards Mahanaim and called me a bloody man and did in effect say I had been the cause of the death of Saul and all his Sons and charged me with crimes I never was guilty of yet afterwards he met me at Jordan and humbled himself and acknowledged his fault and I sware to him by the Lord that I would not put him to death But though I for my time pardoned him yet if he shall attempt any thing against thee after my decease hold him not guiltless Thou art a wise man and knowest what thou oughtest to do unto him and if he trespass again and thou findest any other just occasion against him bring down his hoary head to the grave with blood and cut him off by the sword of justice * See 2 Sam. 19.23 David having thus instructed his Son in a short time after departed this life and slept with his fathers that is died as his fathers and predecessors had done before him having reigned in Hebron seven years and six months and thirty three years in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years in all and having made his Son Solomon King in his stead about half a year before his death He died in a good old age full of days riches and honour he died in the seventieth year of his age no King in Israel or Judah after him attaining to his age †Only Uzziah and Manasseh came very nigh it He was buried in his own City of Zion viz. in that part of Jerusalem where he had built a Palace for himself 2 Sam. 1.2 and kept his Court and which he had taken out of the hands of the Jebusites and had built and enlarged and from thence was called after his name the city of David His Sepulcher it seems was made of such durable materials and so well kept and repair'd time after time by his posterity that it was strangely preserved notwithstanding Jerusalem was so often sackt and burnt for it continued unto the Apostles times as the Apostle Peter tells us Act. 2.24 Men and Brethren let me freely speak to you of the Patriarch David that he is both dead and buried and his
diligence in seeking him and in so doing suffereth injuries and losses for his sake Notwithstanding she chargeth the daughters of Jerusalem to tell him that she is sick of love From v. 2 to the 9. They ask her What was her beloved more than another beloved And 't is like they askt this question not as being totally ignorant of him and his excellencies but to give her occasion to set him forth the more unto them which she does very emphatically from v. the 10 to the end Ch. 6. The Spouse's speech so full of affection and admiration of the Bridegroom wrought so much on the daughters of Jerusalem that they ask solicitously whither he was gone that they may join with her in seeking him She tells them where he is and declares her peculiar interest in him v. 2 3. The Church having confessed her fault and sought to make up the breach between Christ and her he thereupon readily receives her and again highly praises and commends her Ch. 7. Christ here continues his praising of her running over every grace and ornament in her under new similitudes and exemplifications from 1 to 10. The Spouse thereupon renews the profession of her love to him and rejoices in his love to her inviting him to her Assemblies to see how they prospered and she promiseth to devote her best fruits wholly to him by whom alone she had brought them forth and by whose blessing she flourished with all sorts of them both new and old From v. 10 to the end Ch. 8. The Church expresseth her ardent desires after Christ v. 1 2 3. and charges others they should not disturb nor displease him v. 4. At v. 5. the Bridegroom seems to admire at the rising of a new Church in a place where there had been no Assembly or Congregation of believers before and coming up from the wilderness and leaning on her beloved that is depending on him by faith whereupon he said I raised thee up under the apple-tree that is when thou wast fallen under the tree of forbidden fruit I by my free grace and the operation of my Spirit rais'd thee up and brought thee to a glorious condition though thy mother had brought thee forth in a sinful state The 6th 7th vers seem to be the words of the Spouse In the 8th 9th verses she expresses her care and solicitude for the uncalled Gentiles At the 10th vers the Gentiles are brought in speaking for themselves Ver. 11 12 13. seem to be the last speech of Christ to and of his Spouse in this Song wherein he magnifies the price the precious fruitfulness and worth of his Church by comparing her to a Vineyard the best of Vineyards even Solomon's in Baalhamon a very fruitful place and he shews that that Vineyard is far short of his Ver. 14. is the Churches last speech and prayer wherein she expresses her longing and earnest expectation of Christ's second coming And so much of the Song of Solomon SECT VIII SOlomon now built a Navy of Ships in Ezion-Geber which is beside Eloth which were havens on that part of the Red-Sea which coasteth on the land of Edom. And because the Tyrians that were Hiram's subjects were always held the most expert Sea-men Hiram * 2 Chro. 8.15 Hiram sent him by the hands of his servants ships read guided for him i. e. by the hands of his servants ships to Ophir sent Solomon many of them to man his new built Ships and go along with and assist his servants in their intended voyage And it seems he built some Ships there himself that joined with the Navy of Solomon and thence they sailed to Ophir which is thought to be in the East-Indies for thither they might most easily sail from Ezion-Geber and fetched from thence four hundred and Twenty Talents of Gold In 2 Chron. 8.18 't is said that 450 Talents of Gold were brought from thence It seems the overplus viz. thirty Talents were expended for the charges of the Fleet and wages of the men or else it was the Adventure of Private persons and only 400 and 20 Talents came clear to the King So that Solomon had at Sea a Navy that went to Tarshish which possibly was then taken in as large an extent an India is now to which the Navy of Hiram joined and once in three years they came home bringing Gold and Silver Ivory or Elephants-tooth and Apes and Peacocks or Monkies and Parrats which they brought 't is like for rarities sake And this Navy also brought from Ophir a great quantity of precious stones and Almug-trees which it seems were better than those Solomon had from Lebanon And the King made of the Almug-trees pillars for the house of the Lord viz. pillars in the rails on each side of the stairs whereby they ascended up to the house of the Lord and 2 Chron. 9.10 't is said He made Terrasses to the house of the Lord and to the Kings house of the Algum-trees †Some think that the Almug-trees here mentioned much differed from the Algum-trees mentioned 2 Chron. 9.10 for these grew in Lebanon the Almug in India that is supporters on each side of the Gallery that led from the Kings Palace to the Temple He made also of this wood Harps and Psalteries for the Singers of the Temple 1 King 9. from 26 to the end 1 King 10. v. 11 12. 2 Chron. 9.10 11 21. SECT IX SOlomon now repaired * 2 Chron. 32.5 In a time of danger Hezekiah repair'd it see Judg. 9.6 Millo †Aedificium hoc erat civitatis Sion quod David quidem incepit sed Solomon absolvit Munster which seems to be the Town-house in the City of David wherein the people had their solemn Assemblies or else some tower or fortress belonging to the City He built also Hazor in the Tribe of Naphtali which was the chief City in former times of the Canaanites Josh 11.1 10. and Megiddo a City belonging to Manasseh Josh 17.11 and Gezer which Pharaoh had taken and given to his daughter See Sect. 5. And Beth-horn the upper and nether that were fenced with walls gates and bars 2 Chron. 8.5 And Baalath in Dan Josh 19.44 And Tadmor in a dry and sandy place in the Coast of Syria though belonging to the land of Israel And he built Cities of store for Ammunition and provisions of all sorts and Cities for his Chariots and Horsemen and whatsoever he design'd to build in Jerusalem or in the Forrest of Lebanon and in any part of his Dominions he prosperously finished 1 King from v. 15 to 20. SECT X. SOlomon understanding that Hamath a City in the Dominions of the King of Zobah Syria which his Father David had formerly taken had now revolted from him he sent his forces against it and took it 2 Chron. 8.3 SECT XI SOlomon still continues constant in his Religion offering the daily sacrifice and sacrificing on the Sabbaths and New Moons and constantly observing
Souldiers into Samaria than there are handfuls of dust in that City Ahab hearing of this proud speech of his bad them say to him Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he may do that putteth it off intimating thereby that the issue of war was uncertain and 't was a foolish thing to triumph before the battel was ended Benhadad and the petty Kings that were with him were drinking themselves up to drunkenness in his Pavilion when this was told them from Ahab whereupon in a rage he charged those of his Commanders that were about him to attack the City presently and to place their Engines against it to batter it down to the ground It seems there was at this very time a true Prophet of the Lords secretly lurking in Samaria and being sent of the Lord to Ahab he went confidently to him though he knew he had cut off many of the Lords Prophets before Ch. 18.4 and said unto him Thus saith the Lord Hast thou seen from the towers of Samaria all this vast host and great multitude of the enemy I will deliver them into thy hand this day and thou shalt know that I am the Lord that give victory and not Baal Ahab greedily asks him by whom this deliverance should be wrought he tells him he should not by his experienced Captains or old Souldiers prevail over the Syrians but by a forlorn of the young men that waited on the Princes of the Provinces Ahab then asks him who shall order the battel He tells him he himself should do it Whereupon Ahab numbred the young men before mentioned and found them 232 then he numbred all the rest that were fit to bear arms in Samaria and found them to be seven thousand And at noon they marched out first the young men as the forlorn and then the body of the Army followed Benhadad understanding that there was a party come out of the City he gives this insolent order that if they came out to sue for conditions of peace they should take them prisoners and bring them to him though it was against the Law of Arms and if they came out as Souldiers he commands his men thinking it scorn to fight with them to take them all alive that so he might put them to cruel deaths or imprison them or deal with them as he saw cause The forlorn and the army of the Israelites now approaching the enemies Camp fell upon them and slew every man his man that is as many of the enemies as they themselves were in number viz. 7232 whereupon a panick fear seising upon the rest of the Syrians they fled and Benhadad himself made shift to escape with his Horsemen to his own Country Ahab with such Troops of Horse as he had pursued them and smote many of their Horses and Chariots and slew them with a very great slaughter Shortly after this the Prophet that had foretold this victory to Ahab having by Divine revelation knowledg of the enemies intentions and designs he came to him again and said Go strengthen thy self and be not secure and careless as if thou wert free from all danger for at the return of the year when the time is seasonable the King of Syria will come up against thee again Accordingly the servants of the King of Syria were forward to engage their Master to another encounter telling him that the gods of the Israelites were Gods of the hills possibly they thought so because the Israelites did use to worship God and sacrifice to him on hills and high places They reflect not at all on the true cause of their overthrow viz. their own sensuality pride and insolence but assign this only for the cause of it viz. the Gods of the Israelites were Gods of the hills and this battel being fought in an hilly Country they were worsted but say they let us fight with them in the plain and then surely we shall be stronger than they Further they desired the King that if he intended to make a new invasion into the Israelites Country that he would please to dismiss those petty Kings he had in his Army before who were fitter to drink than fight and to put valiant Captains and experienced Souldiers into their rooms and to provide such an Army both of Horse Foot and Chariots as he had before and then say they we will fight them in the plain and doubt not but we shall prevail against them Benhadad hearkened to their counsel and accordingly at the return of the year he mustered a great Army and marched with them to Aphek in the Tribe of Asher and he intended if he could to fight with the Israelites thereabout not only because it was a plain Country but because this was one of those Cities which his Father had formerly taken away from the Israelites and hither they might fly as to a place of retreat if the battel should go against them Upon this second invasion the children of Israel put themselves into the best array they could to resist the Syrians and all the Israelites that were appointed came to their general Rendezvous and they divided their forces into two bodies and they were but like two little flocks of kids before the Syrians that filled the Country Then the Prophet before mentioned came again to Ahab and said to him Thus saith the Lord because the Syrians have said the Lord is God of the hills but not of the vallies therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thy hands and though you by reason of your great wickedness deserve not this favour at my hands yet to confute this blasphemy of the Syrians even in the vallies I will overthrow them and thereby give you a plain evidence and demonstration that I am the only true God So the two Armies faced one the other for seven days and on the seventh day the battel was joined and the Israelites slew of them an hundred thousand footmen in one day so that they slew now many more than every one his man and the rest fled to Aphek and Benhadad himself among them who was fain to hide himself in an inner chamber in a private house in the City The Israelites drawing up their forces now to Aphek and the Syrians as it seems placing themselves round about upon the wall of the City to defend it the wall either by an earthquake or some immediate hand of God fell upon twenty seven thousand of them and killed them Benhadad being now in a deadly fear of being taken his servants that were about him gave him this advice The Kings of Israel say they as we have heard are merciful Kings * It seems their merciful dealing with those they had taken in battel had got them this good report Let us therefore put sackcloth on our loins and ropes on our necks and go out to the King of Israel peradventure he will be perswaded to save thy life Benhadad consenting hereunto in this abject posture they
who will seek thee out to slay thee as a false Prophet and a deceiver of thy King and to revenge the blood of the King and the overthrow of the Army upon thee Ahab hearing these things look'd upon them as meer dreams and enthusiastical fancies and so regarded them not Thus God judicially blinds those whom he intends to destroy And being in a rage he orders them to carry back Michaiah to Amon the Governour and to Joash the Son of Omri who it seems had some place of authority in the City and to command them in his name to put him again into prison and to feed him with the bread of affliction and the water of affliction see Deut. 16.3 until he came again in peace Micaiah replys If thou return at all in peace the Lord hath not spoken by me and all you that are here present take notice and observe what I say and whither I am a true Prophet or no. 'T is strange that Jehoshaphat should see this holy Prophet Micaiah thus injuriously used by a proud Priest of Baal and afterwards sent away to prison and yet speak never a word in his behalf we may see from hence how dangerous a snare even to good men ill company is But 't is much more strange that after the Prophet had told them so plainly what would be the event of this expedition that he should yet join with Ahab therein It seems having joined himself lately in affinity with him and engaged his word to him he was loth to shrink from it notwithstanding the threatnings of the Prophet and so he and Ahab went up to fight against Ramoth-Gilead Ahab being as 't is like something inwardly troubled at the threatnings of Micaiah though he seemed outwardly to slight them and having heard of the King of Syria's charge to his Captains concerning himself v. 31. viz. That they should fight neither with small nor great save only with the King of Israel that is that they should observe especially where he was and to bend their main force against him as the chief cause of the war he told Jehoshaphat that he himself would go into the battel disguised as an ordinary Commander but advis'd him to put on his Royal Robes or such kind of Armour as was fit for the General of the field that he might appear like himself This being accordingly done when the battel was joined the Syrians seeing Jehoshaphat they thought he had been the King of Israel and accordingly leaving all others assaulted the party where he was and compassed them about Hereupon Jehoshaphat cried unto the Lord for succour who helped him in that great strait and moved the Syrians to depart from him for it seems they gathered from some circumstance or other that he was not the King of Israel and so not the man they aimed at Thus the Lord was pleased by bringing Jehoshaphat into so great danger to let him see his folly in joining with Ahab notwithstanding the Prophets fair warning to the contrary But the battel going on against that party in which Ahab was a Syrian drew a bow at a venture and the arrow being directed by God hit Ahab and entred between the joints of his harness and wounded him sorely He being thus wounded spake to the driver of his chariot to carry him out of the host The battel growing fiercer and fiercer it seems they had not time to dress his wound but only stayed him up in his chariot in which he went out to fight against the Syrians and towards the evening he died and his blood ran out of his wound into the midst of the chariot And thus at last the vengeance of God fell upon him for his Idolatry and persecuting the Prophets of the Lord and for the murder of Naboth When the Commanders of the Army had notice of the Kings death they had no heart to continue the fight any longer and so made Proclamation about Sun-setting that every man should depart to his own Country and to his own City And so the word of the Prophet was fulfilled which he spake v. 17. I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills as sheep that have not a shepherd and the Lord said These have no master let them return every man to his house in peace Thus died Ahab and was brought to Samaria and was there buried And they washed his Chariot in the Pool of Samaria and possibly his bloody Armour might be washed in Jezreel where his chief Armory was and where Naboth was killed and the dogs licked up his blood according to the word of the Lord which he spake by Elijah Ch. 21.19 And the rest of the Acts of Ahab and the Ivory house which he made * See Amos 3.15 and the Cities of defence which he built are written in the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel that is in those large records and Chronicles which were written for the use of those times but were no part of Canonical Scripture and differed from the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah and Israel which we now have So Ahab slept with his fathers having reigned 22 years in Israel and Ahaziah his Son reigned in his stead 1 King 22. from 1 to 41. As soon as Ahab was dead all the land of Moab fell away from the Israelites David had subdued them and made them tributary to him see 2 Sam. 8.2 but when the Ten Tribes revolted from the house of David the Moabites as it seems revolted also from the Kingdom of Judah and rather chose to be vassals to the Kings of Israel upon part of whose Kingdom their land bordered and so they continued to the days of Ahab But now taking advantage from the late discomfiture of the Israelites by the Syrians at Ramoth-Gilead and the death of Ahab Mesha the present King of Moab refused any longer to pay the tribute of an hundred thousand lambs and an hundred thousand rams with their wool which before he paid to the Kings of Israel 2 King 1.1 and Ch. 3.4.5 2 Chron. 18. from 3 to the end WE are now come to the second Book of the Kings The Second Book of the KINGS which is a continuation of the History of the Kings of Israel from Ahab and of the Kings of Judah from Jehoshaphat till Israel was destroyed by the Assyrians and Judah captivated by the Babylonians The time and order of their reigns we may see in this ensuing Table Kings of Judah Jehoram 8. years Ahaziah 1. Athaliah 6. Joash 40. Amaziah 29. Vzziah 52. Jotham 16. Ahaz 16. Hezekiah 29. Manasseh 55. Amon 2. Josiah 31. Jehoahaz or Shallum 3 Months Eliakim or Jehoiakim 11. Jehoiakin 3 Month. and then carried captive to Babylon Mattaniah alias Zedekiah * The History of Ahaziah is partly in the last Ch. of the first Book of Kings and partly in 2 King 1. And some think the 2d Book of Kings should begin with the beginning of his reign 11. Kings of Israel Ahaziah †So
the cause of all our misery seeing he hath perswaded me to hold out the City thus long assuring me of help from God but I see none comes And thus being transported with rage against Elisha he sent a messenger immediately to cut off his head The Prophet was at this time in his lodging and some grave and Religious persons of the City were with him who possibly came to him for counsel and comfort in that their great extremity He understanding by Revelation from God the Kings bloody purpose against him even as he knew the King of Syria's secret plots and Gehazi's secret practices he says to the Elders that were with him behold this wicked Joram shews himself the true Son of wicked Ahab who was the murderer of Naboth for he hath sent a man to cut off my head though I have deserved no such usage from him I tell you his Messenger is coming to kill me but when he comes shut the door and hold him fast and prevent him from executing his bloody purpose and behold the sound of his Masters feet is behind him that is I perceive the King himself follows hard after him And while he was speaking the messenger came who being stopt at the door immediately the King himself came thither also who as it seems having his heart toucht with remorse for the rash and cruel order he had given when he came to the Messenger now detain'd at the door he gave him a countermand So quickly can God change the cruel minds of men Then Elisha discoursing with him and perswading him to have patience a little longer and to wait upon the Lord for deliverance he said This great evil and calamity that is upon us is certainly from the Lord and we have waited long for help but none comes and I despair that any will come and therefore why should I wait upon the Lord any longer I had better surrender the City than that my self and my subjects in it should perish by famine The Lord then reveals to Elisha the deliverance he intended to give them the very next day and that there should be then great plenty in the City Whereupon he said to the King I do assure thee from the Lord that about this time to morrow a measure * That is about a peck and a pottâ—e of fine flower shall be sold for a shekel and two measures of barley for a shekel (a) A shekel is 2 s. 6 d. of our money in the gate of Samaria A great Officer of State a Lord on whose hand the King leaned hearing the Prophet say this answered If the Lord should make windows in heaven and rain corn down upon us there could hardly be such a plenty as thou speakest of Well says Elisha seeing thou art so unbelieving †Infidelity deprives men of the benefit of Gods promises which others enjoy thou shalt see this plenty with thine eyes but shalt not eat of it It so happened that there were at that time four leprous men that dwelt at the entrance of the Gate who being almost famished said one to another Why sit we here until we die If we say we will venture to go into the City alas the famine is there and there we shall certainly die and if we continue here we shall die also for our provisions are all done What shall we then do and what course shall we take Come lâ—t us go to the host of the Syrians in a desperate case we must take a desperate course Possibly they may shew us mercy and give us some relief But if they should kill us we shall but die which we are sure to do if we stay here and 't is better to be slain by the enemy than to perish by hunger Hereupon agreeing to take that course that very night in the twilight they went to the Camp of the Syrians and when they came to the outermost part of it to their great astonishment they found no man there for the Lord had a little before terrified the Syrians with an hideous noise which he made them to hear of the ratling of chariots and neighing of horses See the like 2 Sam. 5.24 the shouting of souldiers and the sounding of Trumpets as if some great host had been upon them This noise they heard but neither the City nor the Lepers heard any thing of it It seems the Syrians when they first heard this noise being in a great consternation said the King of Israel hath hired the Kings of the Hittites (b) Hereby they might mean such Hittites and Canâ—anites as remain'd in the land or else some other people that dwelt in Islands See Jer. 2.10 and the Kings of the Egyptians and Ethiopians to come upon us And so being dreadfully affrighted they arose and fled in the twilight a little before the Lepers came and being so terrified they left their horses and asses not daring to stay to saddle them and left their Tents and their Camp as it was and fled for their lives The Lepers thus coming to their empty Tents they ventured to go into one of them where finding good provisions they fell to eat and drink and refresh themselves being almost starved and finding also silver and gold and raiment there they took it as spoil and carried it out and hid it that it might not be taken from them then going into another Tent and finding the like there they carried it out and hid it also Thus at first they thought only of providing for themselves But then better bethinking themselves they said one to another We do not do well thus only to provide for our selves this is a day of good tidings we see the enemy are all fled we do not do well to conceal this gladsome news from our brethren of the City If we tarry till morning light till they themselves perceive the enemy to be fled possibly they will inflict some severe punishment on us for concealing the matter so long now therefore let us go and acquaint the King and the City therewith So they came to the Gate of the City and call'd to the Porter and Watchmen and told them that they being sorely distressed ventured to go out to the Camp of the Syrians to seek some relief and when they came thither they found no man there but they found many horses and asses tyed and the Tents furnished with provisions as they used to be when the Camp lay there The Porter of the Gate immediately ran and call'd up the Porters of the Kings Palace and acquainting them with what the Lepers had said they acquainted the King with it The King immediately suspected that the Syrians had only drawn off themselves in policy They says he know that we are almost starved and therefore they have withdrawn themselves and hid themselves in the field that when we come out they may surprize us and so enter the City This shews that he little regarded or believed what the
Joram to fly drew a bow with his full strength and smote him in the back between his shoulders and the arrow went out at his heart and he sank down in his Chariot and died Jehu â—hen call'd to Bidkar his Captain to take and cast his body in the field of Naboth the Jezreelite for remember says he when thou and I being Commanders under his Father and following him as his attendants at that time when he took possession of Naboths vineyard * Which was the day after his death heard this dreadful judgment (c) The Lord laid this burden on him v. 25. Onus Vocat Prophetiam gravem onerosam denounced against him by Elijah from the Lord Surely I have seen the blood of Naboth and the blood of his Sons who it seems were put to death with him that none of them might afterwards challenge the inheritance †Filii ejus contra legem Deut. 24. una interfecti erant licet nulla hujus caedis mentio facta est 1 Reg. 21.13 Sic multa a sacâ—is historicis omissa videmus que ab aliis per occasionem dicta sunt Sanctius and I will requite thee in this plat now therefore cast him into that portion of ground according to the word of the Lord that the dogs may lick his blood see 1 King 21.19 When Ahaziah King of Judah saw this he fled but they pursuing him first wounded him and afterwards killed him in Megiddo as may be seen more fully in his life Then Jehu march'd into Jezreel and Jezebel hearing of his coming painted her face and tired her head thinking possibly by her Majestick bravery to daunt him and looking out of the window when Jehu entred the Gate of her Palace she cried out Had Zimri peace who slew his Master see 1 King 16.10 as if she should have said Remember what he did and fear the like event Jehu looking up to the window askt who is there on my side who Two or three Eunuchs (a) Such were Chamberlains of Queens and Princesses for the most part in those times attendants on the Queen looking out he call'd to them to throw her down which they God so working upon their hearts and possibly fearing Jehu immediately did And he and his followers trod her under their horses feet and so pash'd her to pieces that some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall and on the horses Jehu having done this great work and having taken much pains in this expedition from Ramoth to Jezreel and seeing all was quiet in the City and that none oppos'd him he went now to refresh himself After a little time he bad some about him to go look after the body of that cursed woman Jezebel and to take it up and bury it for says he she was a Kings daughter viz. the King of Zidon's This order 't is like he gave on the sudden not remembring the Prophecy of Elijah nor what the Prophet that anointed him said unto him ver 10. but they bringing him back word that the dogs had eaten all but her scull and feet and the palms of her hands then he said this is the word of the Lord which he spake by Elijah saying Near * â— Reg. 21.23 In pro juxta In eo territorio in quo injuste damnatus est Naboth the portion of Naboth in Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel and so much of her body as is left by the dogs shall be as dung upon the face of the field and shall lye and rot in the open air so that none shall be able to say of it this is Jezebel 2 King 8.28 29. 2 King 9. wh Ch. JEHV being thus come to the Crown The 10th King of Israel JEHU and having already executed his Commission on Jehoram Ahaziah and Jezebel he now proceeds on to root out the house of Ahab It seems Ahab had many Sons born to him of several wives and many grand-children in all about seventy who were bred up under several great men and some of them Rulers in Jezreel who upon these distractions fled with them to Samaria a well fortified City to secure them there Jehu understanding this wrote a Letter to those who had the tuition of these children and to the Elders of Samaria which spake after this manner Seeing your Masters Sons are with you and there are with you chariots and horses and you are in a fenced City and have arms look out therefore the best and meetest of your Masters Sons and set him on his Fathers Throne and fight for your Masters house This he wrote in an Ironical way but gave them thereby an intimation that if they stood out against him or offered to oppose him he doubted not but he should easily subdue them And indeed the Lord having appointed him to destroy the whole stock of Ahab did in order thereÌ„unto put such a fear into the hearts of these Rulers that they said among themselves Behold two Kings could not stand before him how then shall we be able to deal with him Hereupon he that was chief over all those that appertained to Ahabs house and the chief Magistrate of Samaria and the Senators of the City and the Governours of the Kings childreâ— returned this tame answer to Jehu we are thy servants and will do whatever thou commandest us they interpose no such condition as this if the thing be honest and just or the like so slavish does fear make men we will make no King nor set up any to oppose thee thou maist do what thou pleasest as for us we are ready to obey thee in every thing Jehu then wrote another Letter wherein he told them that if they were his servants in reality and would be obedient to him as they professed then he required them forthwith to cut off the heads of those seventy Sons and Grandchildren of Ahab and to bring them to him to Jezreel the next day This was indeed a very severe command and 't is strange they did not utterly refuse to obey it but they â—â—garding more their own safety then either humanity or the charge and trust committed to them without any more ado complied with it and cutting off the heads of these young Princes put them in baskets and sent them to Jezreel and followed after them themselves When they were come thither a messenger acquainted Jehu that these Rulers of Samaria had brought the heads of the Kings Sons unto him according to his command It being as it seems late Jehu ordered that they should be laid in two heaps at the entring of the Gate till the morning certainly a most sad and ruful spectacle it was to see so many young Princes heads lying on heaps together but this seems so ordered by Providence that all the people might see the dreadful judgment of God upon the house of Ahab for his cruelty and Idolatry and might be deterred from going on in it In the morning Jehu went out
there whereupon the dead man as soon as he touched the bones of Elisha revived and stood upon his feet By this miracle God gave testimony to the sanctity and holiness of Elisha that the people might be induced to believe what he had Prophesied concerning their smiting the Syrians and hereby also he confirmed to them the hope of a resurrection and a future life after this But to proceed though Hazael oppressed Israel all the days that Jehoahaz reigned alone as we shewed before yet it pleased the Lord to make Joash very successful against the Syrians so that in the days of Benhadad Son of Hazael he did according to Elisha's Prophesie obtain three notable victories over them and recovered out of their hands the Cities his Father had lost For the Lord was gracious unto the Israelites and had compassion on them because of his Covenant * This Covenant is often set down as the ground of Gods doing good to Israel Psa 105.8 with Abraham Isaac and Jacob and would not destroy them as yet nor cast them out of his favour nor out of the land which he had chosen for his habitation though he did it afterwards they persisting in their Idolatry and other sins Joash also conquered Amaziah King of Judah and took him prisoner and brake down four hundred cubits of the wall of Jerusalem even from the Gate of Ephraim to the corner-gate And having gotten from him all the Treasure both of the Temple and of the Kings house returned to Samaria as is more fully related in the life of Amaziah Joash now died and was buried in Samaria and Jeroboam his Son reigned in his stead 2 King 13. from 10 to the end 2 King 14. from 8 to the 17. JEroboam the second the third of the race of Jehu reigned forty one years to wit fourteen years and upwards with Amaziah The 13th King of Israel JEROBOAM the second and twenty seven in the days of Vzziah he did evil in the sight of the Lord and followed the Idolatry of Jeroboam the first the Son of Nebat 2 King 14.23 24. In his days those three eminent Prophets Jonah Hosea and Amos Prophesied God sending to Israel extraordinary Prophets and more in number than he did to the Kingdom of Judah intending by them to supply the defect and want of the ordinary Priests and Levites Jonah The Prophesie of JONAH was of Gath-Hepher a Town in the Tribe of Zebulun in Galilee of the Gentiles Isa 9.1 which confutes that of the Pharisees to Nicodemus Joh. 7.52 who said that out of Galilee arose no Prophet This Prophet when the Syrians sorely oppressed Israel foretold that Jeroboam Joash's Son should deliver Israel out of their hands and avenge the wrongs they had done them We read not indeed before of any such Prophesie but hence it is certain that there was such an one and it might be in the days of Jehoahaz when in his trouble he prayed unto the Lord and the Lord heard him Ch. 13.3 4. Jeroboam accordingly recovered all the land of the two Tribes and half beyond Jordan taken by the Syrians even from Hamath a City near Damascus which was the Northern entrance into Canaan to the Sea of the Plain or Dead-Sea in the South and also so far prevailed against them that he recovered from them Damascus and Hamath which formerly belonged to Judah and joined them to his own Kingdom see 2 Sam. 8.6 2 Chron. 8.3 for the Lord saw the affliction of Israel which in the days of Jehoahaz not long before this was very bitter for at that time none were safe whether shut up in a place of defence or left abroad neither could the King of Israel or any of his Princes help them against their enemies nor could they get any foreign succour And the Lord had not as yet determin'd to blot out the name of Israel from under heaven nor utterly to destroy them from being a Kingdom though afterwards he did so determine they going on in their sins and therefore for the present he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam 2 King 14. from 25 to 29. The Israelites continuing as it seems impenitent under the preaching of Jonah the Lord sent him to Nineveh the Metropolis and chief City of the Assyrian Empire to cry against it for its great wickedness But being afraid to go he fled to Joppa and there taking ship intended to go to Tarshish in Cilicia the clean contrary way but he was followed with a tempest and being thrown overboard was swallowed up by a Whale he continued in the Whales belly three days and three nights which was a resemblance of Christs lying in the grave and to that end thrice alluded unto and alledged by our Saviour himself Mat. 12.40 Ch. 16.4 Luk. 11.29 * Not that the correspondence is in all points exact and absolute either for the space of three whole days or three whole nights but this of Jonas was the fittest and nearest shadow of Christs lying in the grave that the Scripture did afford Being miraculously kept alive in the Whales belly he prayeth earnestly to the Lord to have pity upon him and so the Whale vomited him out upon the dry land Being sent a second time to Nineveh he obeys and going thither He cried Forty days and Nineveh shall be destroyed This threatning implied a condition viz. if they did not repent in that time †Intelligenda est haec comminatio rebus sic manentibus Deum autem miserturum si resipiscerent And they repenting God spared the City for that time and justified his sparing of them against the angry Prophets repining at it And this is the sum of the History of Jonab but there is no Prophesie of his left either against Israel or Judah Another eminent Prophet whom the Lord raised up at that time was HOSEA The Prophesie of HOSEA he Prophesied very many years some think about seventy in the days of four Kings of Judah viz. from Vzziah to Hezekiah and of seven Kings of Israel viz. from this Jeroboam the second to Hoshea He threatens the ruin and desolation of this Kingdom of Israel though it was now in its highest flourish under Jeroboam the most prosperous and victorious King that ever reigned over the Ten Tribes which ruin he himself lived to see continuing in his Prophetick function to the reign of Hezekiah in the sixth year of whose reign the Kingdom of Israel came to its final end He is sent principally to Israel yet hath a word of Prophesie to Judah also This Prophet delivers his Prophesie 1. In types and figurative representations in his three first Chapters 2. In plain and express terms in which he charges them with their heinous Idolatry and other horrible iniquities against both Tables whereof all conditions among them were guilty He threatens judgments exhorts them to repent promises mercies to the penitent All these are intermix'd and gone over and over again in the
out of his sight that is out of that land where he manifested the evidences of his gracious presence 'T is further added that when the Lord had rent Israel from the house of David they made Jeroboam the Son of Nebat King and Jeroboam drave Israel from following the Lord and made them sin a great sin And the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did they departed not from them until the Lord removed them out of his sight as he had threatned by all his servants the Prophets And for these reasons was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria where they remained as exiles when this History was written 2 King 17. from 7 to the 24. 2 King 18.10 11 12. This was the end of the Kingdom of Israel when it had stood severed from the Kingdom of Judah by the space of two hundred fifty four years Their many great and crying sins highly provoked the Lord against them especially their notorious idolatry their contempt of the Lords Prophets and their contumacy and bold persisting in their wicked ways For after the great blow they received by Tiglath-Pilesâ—r 2 King 15.29 they were so far from any amendment that they used in the pride of their hearts that Proverb Isa 9. v. 10. The bricks are fallen down but we will build with hewn stones the sycamores are cut down but we will change them into cedars intimating thereby that they would build their towns that were spoiled better than they were before For these sins therefore the Lord was provoked to reject and cast them off and to suffer them to be led away captive Tobit or Tobias the elder saith of himself that he at this time with Anna his wife and his Countrymen the Naphtalites was carried away into the land of Assyria and there made purveyor or provider of corn and other victuals for Salmanasser's houshold and also that he was carried into Media and there placed in a principal City called Ruges c. Tobit Ch. 1. Salmanasser having thus carried away the Israelites captives he planted Colonies there of five Nations of his own people taking them out of Babylon Cutha Ava Emath and Sepharvaim and placed them in the Cities of Samaria in the room of the Israelites And these were they that after this time were called Cuthaeans by a Synecdoche because the major part of them came out of Cutha a Country in Persia many of these at their first coming thither not fearing the Lord nor worshipping the true God of Israel were devoured by Lions therefore a Jewish Priest was at the request of the rest of them sent out of Assyria to teach them the manner how the God of Israel would be worshipped But this being as it seems one of Jeroboam's Priests and making his residence at Bethel he taught them not the pure worship of God nor to serve him as they ought in his Temple at Jerusalem but in their own Country after the way of Jeroboam Neither were these people brought to worship the true God alone but every City had also a several Idol of their own which they worshipped according to the custom of the Nations from which they were descended and from whence they had been transported So though they feared the Lord that is acknowledged the God of Israel to be the true God yet they served their own gods also after the manner of the Nations from whence they came * Ex ritu Gentium illarum unde ipsos deportaverant vel è quibus deportati fuerant Pisc And as for the Israelites that were carried away captive into Assyria they were nothing amended by their captivity but 't is said of them 2 King 17.34 That unto this day they do after their former manners they fear not the Lord neither do they after their statutes or after their ordinances appointed and enjoin'd them by God or after the Law and Commandments which the Lord commanded the children of Jacob whom he named Israel to observe with whom he made a Covenant and charged them saying Ye shall not fear other gods nor bow your selves to them nor serve them nor sacrifice to them But the Lord who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and a stretched out arm him shall ye fear and him shall ye worship and to him shall ye do sacrifice And the statutes and the ordinances and the law and the commandments which he wrote for you ye shall observe to do for evermore * Viz. as long as that dispensation shall last and ye shall not fear other gods And the Covenant that I have made with you ye shall not forget neither shall ye fear other gods but the Lord your God shall ye fear and he shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies Howbeit they did not hearken but they did after their former manner But as for those Nations whom the King of Assyria brought out of other Countries and placed in Samaria they went on in their mungrel way of Religion they and their children from generation to generation After these first Colonies there were other Colonies brought thither by Esarhaddon King of Assyria who was also called Asnapper the Great Ezra 4.2.10 Son of Sennacherib and Grandchild to Salmanasser This seems to be the last of the Assyrian Kings and the person that carried Manasseh prisoner to Babylon which was then under the Assyrian Empire 2 Chron. 33.11 So that the Prophesie of Isaiah seems now to be fulfilled Chap. 7.8 The head of Syria is Damascus and the head of Damascus is Rezin and within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken that it be not a people For though the greatest part of the Israelites were carried away by Salmanasser some years before and their Kingdom utterly abolished yet among them that were left there remained some shew of a Government But now by reason of the great multitude of forreigners which came to dwell there the small remainder of the Ephramites were accounted as nothing yet they were not utterly extinct in their own Country as appears from 2 Chron. 34.6 7. v. 33. Chap. 35.18 2 King 23.19 20. 2 King 17. from 24 to the end These Samaritans before mentioned were succeeded by a second sort of Heretical Samaritans in the time of the Government of Nehemiah in whose time one of the Sons of Ioiada the Son of Eliashib the High Priest married the daughter of Sanballat the Horonite and therefore he chased him from him Neh. 13.28 This Priest thus driven away from Ierusalem went with other Iews that had made the like mungrel marriages to the Samaritans their wives kindred who there as the Iewish Writers relate assisted them in building an Anti-Temple on mount Gerizim where a medly Nation devised a Miscellaneous worship of God rejecting all the Scriptures save the five Books of Moses and maintaining many abominable superstitions So that between these Samaritans and the Iews there grew
and his Priests with sounding Trumpets * See Numb 10.9 to cry an alarm against you Consider O children of Israel what ye do fight ye not against the Lord God of your Fathers and assure your selves that if you persist ye shall not prosper Thus Abijah spake to Jeroboam and the Israelites but they were so far from being mov'd with any thing he said that Jeroboam in the mean time drew an Ambushment behind the Camp of Judah so that the main Battalia of the Israelites faced them and an Ambushment was secretly laid behind them to fall upon their reer When the fight began the Army of Abijah beheld and lo the battle was both before them and behind them Then they cried unto the Lord for help and trusted in him and the Priests sounded with their Trumpets to strengthen their faith in the Lords promise Numb 10.9 So the men of Judah giving a great shout and falling on the Lord smote Jeroboam and all his Army with such a dreadful fear that they fled before Abijah and Judah and were discomfited and Abijah and his Soldiers slew them with a great slaughter and cut off no less than five hundred thousand of them so that they slew more than every one his man Thus the children of Judah prevailed at this time because they trusted and relyed on the Lord God of their Fathers Abijah pursuing his victory took from Jeroboam several of his Cities viz. Bethel where one of his Golden Calves was set up Jeshanah and Ephraim with the Towns belonging to them Neither did Jeroboam recover strength again in the days of Abijah Abijah now waxed mighty He married fourteen Wives partly before he was King and partly after and begat twenty two Sons and sixteen Daughters And the rest of the Acts of Abijah and his ways and his sayings are they not written in the History of the Prophet Iddo see Ch. 12.15 So Abijah having reigned three years slept with his Fathers and they buried him in the City of David And Asa his Son reigned in his stead 1 King 15. from 1 to 9. 2 Chron. 13. wh Ch. The third King of Judah ASA IN the 20th year of Jeroboam Asa began to reign over Judah and he reigned 41 years He began his reign in the time of the first King of Israel and continued to the reign of the eighth In which time the Kingdom of Israel was in three several families viz. Jeroboam's Baasha's and Omri's 'T is probable that he was very young when he came to the Crown and that hereupon Maachah his Grandmother the wife of Rehoboam his mother possibly being dead was made Queen Regent during his minority But when he came to some ripeness of years he shewed that his heart was upright before the Lord and that he was an enemy to the Idolatry that was in the land and desired to maintain the true worship of God a thing the more to be wondred at he having such a Father and such a Grandmother His Grandmother it seems had out of her zeal to Idolatry set up some new abominable Idol in a Grove He though young took courage and assuming the Government into his own hands deposed her from being Queen Regent and destroyed her Idol and burnt it by the Brook Kidron and stampt it to powder out of indignation and cast the dust thereof into the Brook He did that which was right in the sight of the Lord and reformed those things that were out of order in matters of Religion and removed all the Idols that his Fathers had made yet the high places where the people worshipped the true God of Israel were not removed the people being very loth to be tyed to one place for the offering of their Sacrifices but the high places that were dedicated to the worship of strange gods he took away He took away also all the Sodomites out of the land which he could discover see Ch. 14.24 but some it seems remained till his Son Jehoshaphat came to the Crown and then he removed them 1 King 22.46 During this time of peace which the Lord had given them he exhorted his subjects to assist him in fortifying several Cities in his Kingdom and to make about them Walls Towers Gates and Bars while yet the land was quiet before them For says he we have sought the Lord and he hath given us rest on every side therefore let us make a good improvement of this mercy by preparing in time of peace for war 2 Ch. 14.6 7. After this he brought into the Lords house the things that his Father after his famous victory over Jeroboam had dedicated adding something more of his own free gift viz. silver and gold and vessels for the services of the Temple For ten years he enjoyed peace during which time Jeroboam died and Nadab his Son succeeded him Nadab two years after was slain by Baasha who reigned in his stead When those ten years were expired some enemy or other made war against him but who it was is not expressed And afterwards about the fourteenth year of his reign Zerah the Ethiopian with a vast Army of the Arabians as it seems and Philistines joining with him invaded the Kingdom of Judah with an host according to common fame of a thousand thousand and with a thousand †Supple mille 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ut patet ex Cap. 16.8 and three hundred Chariots and Horsemen proportionable Ch. 16.8 * See Ch. 16.8 Asa met them with an Army of five hundred and eight thousand levied out of Judah and Benjamin all mighty men of valour And at Mareshah a City in Judah they set their armies in battle-array to fight Then Asa cried unto the Lord his God and prayed saying It is nothing with thee to help whither with many or them that have no power Help us O Lord our God for we rest on thee and in thy name we go out against this great multitude O Lord thou art our God let not man prevail against thee So the Lord smote the Ethiopians with such a dreadful fear that they fled before Asa and the men of Judah and so many of them were slain and the rest routed that they could not rally or make head again So the men of Judah pursued them to Gerar a City of the Philistines and spoiled it and the Cities round about it and carried away very much spoil from them for a great terrour from the Lord fell upon them so that they durst not resist And the men of Judah fell also upon the Tents of the Arabians who had joined with these Ethiopians and took from them abundance of sheep and camels and so laden with spoils marched back to Jerurusalem Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Azariah the Son of Oded and he went out to meet Asa and his Army at their return and lest they should be too much puffed up with this great victory he said unto Asa and his Soldiers You see by experience that the
Lord is with you while ye be with him and that while you walk in his ways he will not fail to bless you If ye seek him he will be found of you but if ye forsake him he will forsake you You may see a clear instance of this in the Kingdom of Israel who for above thirty years last past namely since their revolt under Jeroboam have lived without the publick pure worship of God not having his Priests to instruct them nor regarding his Law to direct them but if they would repent and return to God undoubtedly he would be ready to receive them into his favour again For in former times viz. the times of the Judges when the Israelites were in great trouble and under sore oppressions so that there was no peace to him that went out or came in but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of those Countries and Nation was destroyed of Nation and City of City God vexing them with sore adversity yet even then when they did seek to the Lord and turn'd unto him he had mercy upon them and did afford them help and deliverance And so if the ten Tribes that have thus forsaken the Lord would turn to him he would surely have mercy upon them But whatever they do let me advise thee O King and thy subjects to go on courageously with the work of reformation begun by you and assure your selves that God will still be with you to bless you whilst you are for him When Asa heard these words together with the Prophesie of Oded the Father of this Azariah which it seems he declared unto him at this time and added it to his own exhortation Asa took courage and made a more diligent search throughout all his Kingdom and put away the remaining Idols that were found among them and that not only out of the land of Judah and Benjamin but out of the Cities which either his Father Abijam or he himself had taken about Mount Ephraim See 2 Chron. 13.19 17.2 And he renewed and repaired the Altar of the Lord that Solomon had built in the Priests Court which now by continual use was something decayed and he summoned all Judah and Benjamin and such of the ten Tribes as were within his Dominions for they fell to him out of Israel in abundance when they saw that the Lord so eminently blessed him and on the third month in the fifteenth year of his reign which was the 35th * For Rehoboam reigned 17 years Abijah 3 Asa 15 at this present since the Kingdom of Judah and Israel were divided 2 Chron. 15.19 he and his people offered unto the Lord of the spoils they had gotten seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep and entred into a Covenant to seek the Lord God of their Fathers with all their heart and all their soul and that whosoever should worship any false Gods either publickly or privately should be put to death according to the Law Deut. 17.2 c. And they sware unto the Lord with a loud voice and with shouting and with Trumpets and Cornets sounding And all Judah rejoiced at the Oath for they had sworn with all their heart and sought the Lord with their whole soul and he was found of them and heard their prayers and granted their desires accepted what they did and prospered their endeavours and he gave them rest round about There had been no war betwixt Israel and Judah in Asa's time till the 15th year of his reign * 2 Chron. 15.19 for There was no more war read there had been no war viz. betwixt Israel and Judah till the 15th year of Asa Bellum enim non fuerat usque ad annum trigessimum quintum regni Asae Tremel But now about the sixteenth year of Asa and 36th since the division of the Kingdoms Baasha King of Israel perceiving how potent Asa began to be and how fast the Israelites revolted to him and how they had all entred into a Covenant to serve the Lord he began to arm against them in the fourteenth year of his reign and from this time there was war between Baasha and Asa all their days 1 King 15.16 And Baasha having gotten Ramah which was one of the Cities of Benjamin from the King of Judah fearing the greatness of Asa and the revolt of the Israelites to him he resolved to fortifie it and put a Garrison into it that he might keep his own people from flying to him Asa to divert him from building and fortifying of Ramah takes out the silver and gold that were in the Treasures of the Temple and the Kings house and sent them to Benhadad King of Syria to hire him to break his League with Baasha King of Israel He represents to him that there was a League between Benhadad and him as there had been between their Fathers he desir'd him therefore to break the League he had with the King of Israel and to invade his Country that he might depart from him for he was come down to his very borders Doubtless for Asa to be so much afraid of the Israelites and to rob the Temple and therewith to hire an Infidel to break his Covenant with them and to make war upon them and that soon after God had given him so great a victory over that vast host of the Ethiopians Lubims Arabians and Philistines and had manifested so great a readiness to help him was a great sin Benhadad accordingly having received this present not regarding his faith or league made with the Israelites forthwith invaded and took many of their Cities Baasha upon this left off fortifying Ramah and went against Benhadad to defend his own Country †And afterwards when he had secured his own land he went and dwelt at Tirzah In the mean time Asa by Proclamation gathered together all that were able in Judah to go up to Ramah to demolish it and the men of Judah and Benjamin went up thither and fetched away the timber and stones that Baasha had provided to build and fortifie it with and Asa built therewith Geba and Mizpah * See Jer. 41.9 where we read of a pit that Asa had in Mizpah that continued unto the Captivity two Cities in the Tribe of Benjamin Hanani the Seer father of the Prophet Jehu 1 King 16. came hereupon to Asa and said to him Thou hast done ill to distrust the Lord and to relye on the King of Syria to deliver thee from Baasha For hadst thou suffered Benhadad to continue firm to his league with Baasha they both would have invaded thy land and thou shouldst have overcome them both as thou didst the great Army of the Ethiopians whereas now by making an agreement with Benhadad thou hast cut off that advantage from thy self and so his host is escaped out of thy hands Thou maist remember how God gave thee victory over that vast Army of the Ethiopians because thou didst relye on him For the eyes of the Lord
the house of Ahab and compelled the people of Judah thereunto by force persecuting such as refused A Letter whilst he was going on in these abominable ways comes to him from Elijah who before his translation saw by the spirit of Prophesie what great wickedness this Jehoram would commit and what punishments the Lord would inflict upon him for it This Letter was written by Elijah * Probabile est Eliam hoc Scriptum commisisse Elisaeo quia certo aliud ei commisit post mortem peragendum nempe ut Hazaeli indicaret ipsum futurum Regem Syriae whilst he lived upon the earth neither need that seem strange seeing Isaiah wrote before hand concerning Cyrus Isa 45.1 and the Prophet that was sent to Jeroboam prophesied of Josiah many years before he was born 1 King 13.2 Elijah having written it committed it either to Elisha or some other of the Prophets and by them it was now sent to Jehoram whose insolent cruelty was such that he would hardly endure the reproof of a living Prophet In that Letter Elijah speaks thus to him Thus saith the Lord God of David thy Father because thou hast not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat †To degenerate from the example of pious Ancestors is a great provocation thy Father nor the ways of Asa thy Grandfather but hast walked in the ways of the Kings of Israel and hast made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to go a whoring and commit spiritual fornication like the house of Ahab and hast also slain thy brethren of thy Fathers house which were better than thy self behold with a great plague will the Lord smite thee and will punish thee in thy people and thy children and thy wives and all thy goods and thou shalt have great sickness by a disease of thy bowels who hast had no bowels towards thy own brethren and thou shalt day by day without intermission be tormented with it till thy bowels fall out This was the threatning of Elijah the Prophet against him and we shall now see how it was fulfilled 1. The Edomites who from Davids time had ever been in subjection to the Kingdom of Judah see 2 Sam. 8.14 and had been Tributaries thereunto and had been governed by a Viceroy set over them by them 1 King 22.47 now fell off and revolted from him and made a King over themselves Jehoram to reduce them went over to Zair a City in Idumea and took with him all the Chariots and Horsemen and Souldiers he could provide and he arose by night that he might come upon them suddenly and unexpectedly but the Edomites were so numerous and so well prepared that they compassed his army round about However his Souldiers so manfully stood to it that they put the Edomites to flight and slew many of them and thereupon the Captains of the Edomites Chariots and many of their Souldiers fled to their own houses But though Joram overthrew them at this time yet they retiring into places of advantage persisted resolutely in their revolt and so he was forced to return again into his own land without conquering of them And thus according to the Prophesie of Isaac Gen. 27.40 By thy sword thou shalt live and serve thy Brother and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck They for ever after shook off his yoke 2. Whilst he was endeavouring to reduce the Edomites Libnah a great City within Judah one of the Royal Cities of Canaan Josh 10.29 30. and given to the Priests Josh 21.13 now rebelled against him possibly because he had made such innovations in Religion and forced the people to Idolatry and had forsaken the Lord God of his Fathers The revolt of this City was a matter of great moment it being a Frontier City and one of those which the King of Assyria set upon when he came with his huge host to have taken Jerusalem 2 Chron. 32.9 It is much indeed that one City alone should venture upon such an attempt but perhaps the Kings absence whilst he was in Edom and the discontent of the people yea perhaps some correspondence they might have with the Philistines who soon after invaded the land gave them hope of some abettors and how they sped in the conclusion the Scripture no where expresses 3ly God stirred up against him the spirit of the Philistines and Arabians who bordered upon the Ethiopians and had been Tributaries to the Kings of Judah and they ran through the land so far as to come up to Jerusalem and plundered and carried away all the substance they found in the Kings house and carried away all his sons * Here we ought to take notice of the righteous judgment of God against him He slew all his Brethren and all his Sons were slain by the Philistines and Arabians excepting his youngest Ahaziah and he was slain afterwards by Jehu 2 Chron. 22.9 And all the Sons of Ahaziah were slain by their Grandmother Athaliah excepting Joash who was hid from her and afterwards Crowned King And Joash himself was at last slain by his own servants but the youngest call'd Ahaziah †And herein appeared the Divine Providence for the accomplishment of the promise to David whom it seems they could not find and all his wives they could lay their hands on but it seems they unhappily mist Athaliah who remained to usurp the Crown and to be a scourge to the Nation afterwards 4ly After all this the Lord smote him in his bowels with an incurable disease his malady was very tormenting and after two years continuance a long time for a man to lye under such a sharp disease his torment was so great that at last it forced out his very guts and bowels from him and so he died under the heavy hand of God The great sins he had committed against God the great wrongs he had done to his subjects and the great judgments he had brought upon the land turned the hearts of his people from him so that they shewed him little respect when he was dead making no burning for him like the burning made for his Father See 2 Chron. 16.14 And so he departed without being desired or lamented Howbeit they buried him in the City of David but obscurely not in the Sepulchers of his Ancestors the Kings of Judah and without the lamentations and solemnities that had been used at the Funerals of other Kings He reigned eight years four in his Fathers life time and four after which though a short reign in its self yet seem'd undoubtedly long to the poor people that were so ill treated by him All the time of this Kings reign another King of the same name reigned in Israel to wit Joram the Son of Ahab his wives brother 2 King 8. v. from 16 to 25. 2 Chron. 21. wh Ch. The sixth that reign'd in Judah was AHAZIAH AHAZIAH call'd Jehoahaz 2 Chron. 21.17 and Azariah 2 Chron.
and thirty years he died He was about ten or eleven years old at Solomons death and lived in the reigns of eight Kings of Judah It was a great blessing to that Kingdom that he lived so long And they buried him in the City of David among the Kings which was an high honour to him because he had done good in Israel both towards God in restoring his worship and towards his house in causing it to be repaired Now after the death of Jehoiada that wise godly and zealous Governour several of the Princes of Judah who as it seems had concealed their impious mind and hollow heartedness in Religion before came now to Joash and making a low obeisance to him and presenting unto him a flattering address they petitioned him as appears by what follows that they might have leave to set up the Idolatry of Baal again in the land and to worship God in the high places after the manner of their fathers because it was burdensome to go up from all parts to the Temple The King being prevailed upon by their flatteries * Multorum Principum aures nihil accipiunt nisi jucundum lâ—surum Tacitus granted their request and so they left the Temple the house of the God of their Fathers and served Idols in Groves and thereby brought the wrath of the Lord upon Judah and Jerusalem by this their great trespass For shortly after Hazael King of Syria see 2 King 12.17 invaded the land and took Gath (a) This City David recovered from the Philistines 1 Chr. 18.1 and the Kings of Judah held it to this time It was one of the Cities Rehoboam fortified 2 Chr. 11.8 and was preparing to go against Jerusalem So formidable to Joash was this approach of Hazael that he was forc'd to purchase his peace with him by making him a present of all the hallowed things and of all the gold that was found in the Treasuries of the Temple and in his own house (b) 2 Chron. 24.27 The greatness of the burdens laid upon him may hereby be meant which are mentioned in some Civil Records Sundry Prophets and extraordinary messengers God sent to them one after another to reclaim the King and his people from those evil ways and to bring them again to the Lord. And these Prophets (c) So the Lord dealt with the Ten Tribes 2 King 17.13 and with the men of Judah after this 2 Chron. 36.15 16. did faithfully declare their sin to them even to their very faces and foretold them of the judgments God would bring upon them if they did not repent however they would not hearken to them but by an obstinacy in sin pull'd down vengeance on their own heads At length Zachariah the Son of Jehoiada was by the Spirit of God stirred up to admonish them of their wickedness who accordingly did it with great boldness and courage and standing up in an high place in the Court of the Temple and speaking to the King his Nobles and people he told them Thus saith the Lord why do ye so transgress the commandments of the Lord that ye cannot prosper because ye have forsaken the Lord he hath forsaken you and given you over into the hands of the Syrians Hereupon these Idolatrous Princes and the people that were like them being enraged immediately consulted together to destroy him and probably complained grievously to the King of him representing him as the manner of such persons is as a man highly disaffected to the Kings person and government and an enemy to the State And having by this means inflam'd the King against him they askt him if they should presently stone him which he agreeing to and commanding they furiously rushed into the Priests Court whither Zachariah had betaken himself and with most daring impiety stoned him between the Temple and the Altar * See Mat. 23.35 But before he expired he said The Lord will look upon it and require it that is he will severely avenge my blood upon you Thus Joash remembred not the kindness which Jehoiada the Father of Zachariah had done for him who had nourished him in the Temple in his infancy and with extream hazard to himself set him upon the Throne and instructed him in the ways of God and had been his most faithful counsellor and a means of procuring many blessings to him and yet notwithstanding all this he now cruelly consents to the murdering of his Son and that only for giving him faithful counsel But though Joash was thus abominably ungrateful yet the Lord would not let it so pass For before that year was expired the Syrians invaded the land again and executed the judgment of God upon them with great severity For though they came only with a small company of men intending possibly to pillage rather than to perform any great action and Joash went out against them with a very great army yet this small band of the Syrians overthrew that great host of Judah because they had forsaken the Lord God of their fathers The Syrians being highly encouraged with this victory they went up against Jerusalem and destroyed all the Princes of the people on whom they could lay their hands who had been the great instruments to draw away their King from the worship of the true God to Idolatry and they sent the spoil of them to the King of Damascus And when they departed they left Joash in sore diseases perhaps by reason of some wounds he had received in the fight which advantage two of his own servants laying hold upon slew him in his bed and thereby avenged the blood of the Son * V. 25. For the blood of the Sons of Jehoiada i. e. one of his Sons the Plural numâ—er for the Singular of Jehoiada the Priest he was slain in the beginning of the fortieth year of his reign And they buried him in the City of David but not in the Sepulchres of the Kings He reigned twenty two years with Jehu the rest in the time of Jehoahaz Jehu's Son and Jehoash his Grandchild and Amaziah his Son succeeded him 1 King 11. wh Ch. 2 King 12. wh Ch. 2 Chron. 23. wh Ch. 2 Chron. 24. wh Ch. The 9th King of Judah AMAZIAH AMAZIAH the Son of Joash was twenty five years old when he began to reign and reigned twenty nine years †T is said that in the second year of Joash King of Israel he began to reign that is in the second year of Joaâ—h after he began to reign alone his father Jehoahaz being dead For Joa h began to reign three years before hâ—s father died and that was the 37th year of Joash King of Judah the father of Amaziah who reigned forty years compleat In the beginning of his reign he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord viz. that which was for the substance of it good and approved of God yet not with an upright heart like David but according to what Joash his
did but in the good only Howbeit the people did yet very corruptly and by their Priests who too much complied with them therein offered sacrifice and burnt incense on the high places which had Jotham removed he might have prevented the people's corrupting themselves in that thing and therefore his not doing it is noted as a blemish of his government About this time namely in the year wherein Vzziah died the Prophet Isaiah saw that glorious vision of the Lord sitting on his throne and compassed about with his holy Angels singing Holy holy holy Lord God of Sabbath And he foresaw the people of the Jews from this time forward growing more and more obdurate and blind every day than other resisting the counsel of the Prophets and so obstructing the means God afforded them for their conversion and healing Isa 6. Jotham was a great builder he built or renewed and repaired the high-gate of the house of the Lord which was as it seems the Gate whereby they went into the Kings Palace 2 Chron. 23.20 And on the wall of Ophel * Ophel was a Tower on the outside of the City and was the place where in those times the Nethinims dwelt Nehem. 3.26 he built much He built also divers Cities in the hills of Judah and in the Forrests he built Castles and Towers to prevent incursions of enemies He subdued the Ammonites and forced them to pay him tribute by the space of three years viz. an hundred talents of silver and of wheat and barley ten thousand measures of each So he became mighty because he ordered his counsels and actions as in the sight of the Lord and so as he might please him The Prophet MICAH In his days the Prophet Micah began to Prophesie and under him and his two next successors he executed his Prophetick function together with Isaiah and Hosea He prophesied a great while as appears Jer. 26.18 He is very like the Prophet Isaiah both in matter and loftiness of stile He prophesied both against Judah and Israel He declareth Gods wrath against them he laments their condition and foretells their destruction and captivities by the Assyrians and Babylonians for the manifold sins that all sorts had committed viz. Princes Prophets and people Ch. 1.2 3. Then he comforteth those that repent with promises of temporal blessings and deliverances from their enemies but chiefly with promises and predictions of Christ foretelling the place of his nativity and the manifold blessings of his Kingdom Ch. 4. 5. In the next place he expostulates with all sorts for their so ill requiting Gods great kindness and mercy to them and provoking him so highly by their manifold sins Ch. 6. Then he complains of the paucity and scarceness of good men and he endeth his Prophesie with consolations to the Church exhorting her to expect Gods time to plead her cause to the shame of her insulting enemies and her own marvellous comfort Ch. 7. Towards the latter end of Jotham's reign Rezin King of Syria and Pekah King of Israel began to conspire against Judah but they did not invade the land till his Sons days the Lord therein shewing mercy to him in taking him away before those heavy calamities fell upon Judah He was buried in the City of David and Ahaz his Son reigned in his stead 2 King 15. from 32 to the end 2 Chron. 27. whole Chapter The 12th that reigned in Judah AHAZ AHAZ succeeded his father Jotham in the very end of the seventeenth year of Pekah He was twenty * Object If he was only 20 years old when he began to reign and reigned only 16 years then how could his Son Hezekiah be 25 when he began to reign 2 King 18.2 for then he must be born when Ahaz was but 11 years old Ans Ahaz was 20 years old when he was first designed King in his Fathers life time it being the manner of Kings in those troublesome times to set up their Sons in the Throne with themselves in their life time that they might hold it the more sure after their death But when he began to reign by himself alone after his fathers death from which the 16 years of his reign must be reckoned he might be 24 or 25 and so his Son Hezekiah might well be 25 at his death years old when he began to reign and reigned sixteen years He did not that which was right in the sight of the Lord his God like David his Father The Lord was his God as to outward profession and David was his Father by lineal descent but he would neither faithfully serve God nor imitate David Soon after his Father was dead Rezin King of Syria and Pekah King of Israel confederated together and conspired against him intending with their joint forces to go up and besiege Jerusalem and to depose him and to make the Son of Tabeal probably some eminent Syrian King in his stead The King and people of Judah were exceedingly startled at these tidings as apprehending a sudden and final destruction of their Kingdom God hereupon sends the Prophet Isaiah to Ahaz to comfort him and bids him take his Son Shear-jashub along with him whose name intimated that though the Jews should be brought low yet a remnant of them at least should return to their former condition again and should encrease and enjoy the happiness of being a people and a Commonwealth of themselves It seems the names of Isaiahs Sons (a) The Sons of Isaiah were for signs and for wonders C. 8. 18. by reason of the signification of their names which presignified the goodness of God to the Jews were imposed upon them by a spirit of Prophesie and so they were for signs and significations of the goodness of God which he intended to the Jews see Isa 8.18 And thus Isaiah brought his Son Shear-jashub to Ahaz to confirm him and his people with this sign that they should not utterly be destroyed by these two confederate Kings Therefore he advises him to take heed of distrusting God and to be quiet and not to be afraid of those two Tails or ends of smoking fire-brands viz. Rezin and Pekah whom he so calls because they should soon be extinct and their attempts vanish into smoke though they thought to have burnt up all before them For within the compass of 65 years reckoning from the Earthquake in the 22 year of Vzziah's reign * See more hereof in the life of Uzziah the Kingdom of Syria shall be swallowed up by the Assyrian and Ephraim shall be broken †This was brought to pass by Salmanassar 2 King 17.6 that it be not a people But Ahaz seems still incredulous and believed not the Prophets words Isaiah therefore tells him if he doubted of the truth of what he had said to him in Gods name he might freely ask a sign of the Lord to be shewn him either in the heaven or in the earth for the confirmation of his faith But he
seemeth to have been missing ever since the beginning of Manasseh's reign who possibly at first endeavoured to burn all the Books of the Law and so this Book was hid in some secret place of the Temple by some faithful Priest that it might be preserved for future times Hilkiah having found it he sent it by Shaphan the Scribe unto the King who having heard it read all over to him was exceedingly affected therewith and rent his clothes and more especially as 't is likely at those dreadful threatnings against Idolatry which are written in Levit. 26. Deut. 28. Hereupon he immediately sent to (b) Miriam and Deborah and Anna were all Prophetesses Thus the Lord is pleas'd to endue some women with the spirit of Prophesie to shew that he is not tyed to any sex Huldah a famous Prophetess who dwelt in Ierusalem in the suburbs or second part and desired her to ask counsel of the Lord for him Ieremy possibly being not then at Ierusalem but at Anathoth For Iosiah hearing those curses in the Law denounced against Idolatry and knowing how much some of his Predecessors had been guilty thereof he much seared lest the judgments threatned in that Book might fall upon him and his people and desired to know whither there might be any means to pacifie Gods wrath and prevent those judgments Huldah returned this answer Thus saith the Lord Behold I will bring evil upon this place and upon the inhabitants thereof even all the curses written in the Book which the King of Judah hath read because they have forsaken me and burnt incense to other gods and have provoked me to anger with the works of their hands viz. their idols and altars therefore my wrath shall be kindled against this place and shall not be quenched intimating the utter extirpation of the Jews out of that good land but to the King of Judah who sent you say to him Thus saith the Lord as touching the words and threatnings which thou hast heard read out of the Book because thy heart was tender and soon moved at the hearing of my threatnings and thou hast humbled thy self before me when thou heardest what I spake against this place and the inhabitants thereof that they should become a desolation and a curse that is have the curses written in this Book executed upon it and hast rent thy clothes and wept before me Behold I will gather thee unto thy pious ancestors in heaven before these dreadful calamities shall fall upon this place and people and thou shalt be gathered unto thy grave in peace This answer of Huldahs being brought to the King his heart was so affected with it that to prevent if it were possible this judgment threatned he called together the Elders of Judah and Jerusalem together with the Priests and Prophets viz. Jeremy Baruck Zephany and Vriah and the people both small and great and caused one of the Levites to read in their ears all the words of the Book of the Covenant * The Law is called a Cove an t because obedâ—ence was therein requir'd on the peoples part and a blessing thereupon promised on Gods part so called because it contained the Covenant that God made with the people of Israel See 1 King 8.9 And the King stood by the Pillar on the Brasen Scaffold or on some Throne erected by a pillar in the Temple for him to stand upon at that time and there solemnly made a Covenant before the Lord in his own name and the name of the people to walk after the Lord that is to observe what he prescrib'd unto them and to keep his commandments testimonies and statutes with all their heart and with all their soul and to perform the words of the Covenant written in that Book and he caused all that were present to give their consent to it and the inhabitants of Jerusalem were the most forward to engage themselves to walk according to the Covenant of the Lord God of their Fathers and did accordingly so walk Then the King commanded Hilkiah the High Priest and the Priests that were next unto him and the Levites to bring forth out of the Temple * Josiah did begin to purge Judah and Jerusalem of Idols in the twelfth year of his reign six years before the Book of the Law was found but upon hearing those dreadful threatnings in the Law against Idolatry he now proceeded further and perfected that reformation which was then begun Therefore the Penman of the Sacred History of the Chronicles relating the Reformation that Josiah wrought in the twelfth year of his reign adds also what was done afterwards when the Book of the Law was found and speaking how he suppressed Idolatry upon the hearing of the Law read to him he joins many things of the same nature that were done in the twelfth year of his reign that all his zealous acts in rooting out Idolatry might he related together all the vessels that were made for Baal and used in his worship or in the Idolatrous worship of the Groves or of the Host of Heaven and he burnt them in the field by which the river Kidron did run and carried the ashes of them to Bethel therewith to defile the prime seat of Jeroboams Idolatry These things had been us'd by Manasseh and Amon but were set aside as it seems in some by-place of the Temple in Josiah's time and seeing still they remained there this good King's zeal would not permit them to be there any longer And he put down the Idolatrous Priests or Chemarim whom the Kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in high places in the Cities of Judah and in places round about Jerusalem He put down those also who burnt incense to Baal or to the Sun Moon and the Planets and host of heaven and he brought out the Image whereon a grove was engraven which it seems was hung up in the Temple and stampt it to powder and cast the dust thereof upon the graves of those that had worshipped Idols and sacrificed unto them 2 Chron. 34.4 And he brake down the Tents of the Sodomites that were in the grove by the house of the Lord and where the women wove hangings for those filthy tents so that in that grove they not only worshipped Idols but as it seems defiled themselves also with all manner of abominable uncleanness And he brought all the Priests that were the Sons of Aaron and had served the true God in high places out of the Cities where they had exercised that false worship and would not suffer them to live there and he defiled the high places even from Geba the North border of the Kingdom of Judah to Beersheba the South-border and beat down their Altars and burned dead mens bones on them v. 14. to make them unclean and brake down the high places that were erected at the entring of the Gates by Joshua the Governour of the City whither it seems many of the people used to
of their forefather Ionadab they were wont to dwell came into Ierusalem and by their obedience in refusing to drink wine God condemneth the disobedience of the Iews Ier. 35. wh Ch. Nebuchadnezzar having brought his forces before Ierusalem in a short time takes it and Iehoiakim prisoner whom he bound in chains intending at first as it should seem to carry him to Babylon but was afterwards intreated upon his submission and promises of subjection to leave him as his vassal and so Iehoiakim became his servant and tributary three years to wit the fifth sixth and seventh years of his reign From which entring of the King and people of the Iews into subjection to Nebuchadnezzar The beginning of the seventy years Captivity according to the Learned Usher some think the seventy years of the Captivity are to be reckoned which were foretold by the Prophet Ieremy Chap. 25.11 And this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment and these Nations shall serve the King of Babylon seventy years Ver. 12. And it shall come to pass when seventy years are accomplished that I will punish the King of Babylon and that Nation saith the Lord for their iniquity and the land of the Chaldeans and will make it perpetual desolations And Chap. 29.10 Thus saith the Lord after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you and perform my good word towards you in causing you to return to this place 2 Chron. 36.6 2 King 24.1 Nebuchadnezzar carried away at this time part * Some were left and carried away in Jehoiakim's time 2 King 24.13 and some in Zedekiah's Jer. 52.17 c. of the vessels and furniture of the Lords house and gave command to Ashpenaz the Overseer of the Eunuchs or Pages that he should carry from thence some of the choicest boys both for beauty and wit that he could find and such as were of the Royal blood and of the noblest families as had been expresly foretold by the Prophet Isa 39.7 And of thy Sons that shall issue from thee which thou shalt beget shall they take away and they shall be Eunuchs in the palace of the King of Babylon which being by his care educated for three years in the language and sciences of the Chaldeans might be fit afterwards to wait upon him in his Palace Among whom of the Tribe of Judah were Daniel whom the overseer of the Eunuchs call'd Belteshazzar and Hananiah whom he call'd Shadrach Mishael whom he call'd Meshach and Ananiah whom he call'd Abednego every one of them having his name changed at his discretion These with several others Nebuchadnezzar carried away at this time Dan. 1. from 1 to 8. 1 Chron. 36.7 In the ninth month of the fifth year of Jehoiakim there was a solemn fast proclaimed to all the people at Ierusalem in remembrance as it seems of the taking of the City a year before in the same month at which time Baruc standing at the Gate of the house of the Lord read out of a roll or book all the words of the Lord which he had taken from the mouth of Jeremy the Prophet in the audience of all the people who were then assembled out of all the Cities of Judah whereof the Princes being advertis'd called Baruc unto them and caused him to read to them the same book but when they heard the contents thereof they advised him and Jeremy to hide themselves out of the way for fear of the Kings displeasure But the King himself having heard some inkling of it would needs have the roll or book read unto him and having heard some part of it he was so inrag'd at it that he cut the roll through with a pen-knife and then threw it into the fire and burnt it Jer. 36. from 9 to 26. The King having thus burnt the Book he gave order for the apprehending of Baruc the writer and Jeremy the Prophet but God hid them and denounced a heavy judgment against that impious King for it And God commands Ieremy to take another roll and Baruc wrote therein from the mouth of the Prophet all the words of the Book which Jehoiakim had burnt adding many like things thereunto Jer. 36. from v. 26 to the end Nebuchadnezzar pursuing the victory he had gotten over the Egyptians took from them all that they possessed between Egypt and Euphrates so that from thence forward Necho was fain to keep himself within his own bounds in Egypt 2 King 24.7 While these things were doing Nabopolassar the father of Nebuchadnezzar dies which news coming to Nebuchadnezzar he made no delay but after he had given order for the bringing away of the captives as well Jews as others he posted with a small company the nearest way through the desert and came to Babylon before them and being received there as sole Lord of all his fathers large Dominions he afterwards disposed of the captives when they were brought thither here and there as he thought fit And the Sacred vessels and other furniture of the Temple which he had taken away from Jerusalem he disposed into the Temple †By the Divine Providence they were there reserved to be carried back again to Jerusalem See Ezra 1.7 8 c. But Nebuchadnezzar intended service of his Idol and Belshazzar his Grandchild most profanely abused them Dan. 5.2 of his god Belus Dan. 1.2 2 Chron. 36.7 Daniel and his three fellow Nobles being brought to Babylon refuse the Court-diet provided for them and content themselves with pulse and water and yet were found to look better than those that did eat of the Kings fare And when afterwards at the time appointed they were brought to attend the King they appeared in all matters of knowledg wisdom and sciences to excell all the Magicians and Astronomers that were in the Kingdom And Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams Dan. 1. from 8 to the end Nebuchadnezzar in the second * See Richardson on Dan. 2.1 Anno secundo cum vixi tanquam consiliarius in regno Nebuchadnessaris non autem cum vixi in regno Cyrl cujus mentio proxime praecessit v. ult cap. praeced year after the three years of Daniels education were past and he brought to stand before the King which falls in with the fifth year of his reign dreamt his dream of the great image made of divers metals and forgetting the particulars of his dream though in the general it much affected him he would needs know of his Magicians and Astronomers both what his dream was and what it meant And when they could not satisfie him in so unreasonable a demand he like a great Tyrant commanded them all to be put to death But Daniel when he saw the execution preparing and understood the cause thereof humbly moved the King to forbear a while and joining in prayer with his fellows unto God obtained both to have the dream it self and the interpretation thereof revealed to him And accordingly he declared to the King
done the Prophet humbly prays unto God expressing a great admiration of his Majesty and works and representeth unto him the great conflict he had in his spirit for this thing Whereupon God assureth him he will indeed first punish his people for their great sins but afterwards perform his promise of their return and moreover will bestow on his Church the grace of the new Covenant He will give them one heart and one way that they may fear him all their days for the good of themselves and their children after them Jer. 32. During his imprisonment the Prophet hath another promise made to him of their return from their captivity also of the blessed joyful and quiet state they should be in under Christ the branch of righteousness whose name is The Lord our Righteousness whose Priesthood and Kingdom should be continued and his seed be blessed Jer. Ch. 23. Ch. 32. Ch. 33. Zedekiah being now besieged in Jerusalem Pharaoh Hophra King of Egypt came with an army to relieve him The Babylonians thereupon raise their siege and go out to meet the Egyptians Jeremy upon the raising of the siege being set at liberty Zedekiah sent messengers to him to desire him to pray for them and to intercede with the Lord for their deliverance from their enemies But the Prophet returned him answer that those succours out of Egypt should return into Egypt again and that the Chaldeans should return to Jerusalem and take the City and burn it with fire Jer. Ch. 37. from 1 to 11. The men of Jerusalem seeing the siege raised presently took back their Hebrew servants again whom they had formerly set at liberty according to the Law and made them serve as before contrary to their Covenant for which as for an impious act Jeremy reproves them and to requite them according to their doings he from the Lord proclaims a liberty to the Sword Pestilence and Famine to destroy them telling them withal that the Chaldeans should come again to the siege and should take their City and utterly demolish it Jer. 34. from 11 to the end Whilst the Chaldeans who had raised their siege were gone to encounter the Egyptian army Jeremy intended to go out of the City to save himself knowing the City would be taken But Irijah a Captain took him and brought him before the Princes and charged him that he intended to go to the Chaldeans They being highly enraged at him smote him and put him into the dungeon that was in the prison in the house of Jonathan the Scribe and there he lay many days Jer. Ch. 37. from 11 to 17. Nebuchadnezzar at his going out against the Egyptian army took eight hundred thirty two men which had fled out of Jerusalem to him for safety and sent them all away to Babylon Jer. Ch. 52. v. 29. In the tenth year of the Captivity of Jeconiah on the twelfth day of the tenth month Ezekiel uttered his Prophesie against Pharaoh and all Egypt declaring that he should prove but a staff of reed to the house of Israel and that Pharaoh should have an overthrow given him in the desert of Lybia and that Egypt should be miserably wasted by the Babylonians and that that desolation should last forty years Ezek. 29. from 1 to 17. Nebuchadnezzar having routed the Egyptian army returned and laid siege again to Jerusalem The Prophet Jeremy having remained in the dungeon many days the King sent and took him out and askt him privately whither he had any word of Prophesie from the Lord he tells him he had and it was this that he must be delivered up into the hands of the King of Babylon Moreover Jeremy said unto the King Wherein have I offended against thee or against thy servants or against this people that ye have put me in prison where are now your Prophets which prophesied unto you saying the King of Babylon shall not come against you nor against this land Therefore hear now I pray thee O my Lord the King let my supplication be accepted before thee that thou cause me not to return to the house of Jonathan the Scribe lest I die there Then Zedekiah the King commanded that they should commit Jeremiah unto the Court of the prison and that they should give him daily a piece of bread out of the Bakers street until all the bread of the City were spent and so Jeremiah remained in the Court of the Prison Jer. 37. from 16 to the end The siege continuing Zedekiah sent again to Jeremy but he returning the same answer viz. that both King and people must fall into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar and that they that would stay in the City should perish either by famine sword or pestilence but they that would go out should have their lives saved The Princes were so exceedingly enraged against him for this answer that they desired of the King that he might be put to death looking upon him as a person that weakned the hands and hearts of the people and the King leaving it to them they cast Jeremy into Malchias dungeon which was in the Court of the prison into which being let down by cords his feet sank in the mire when he came to the ground from which lothsome dungeon he was delivered by the intercession and help of Ebedmelech one of the Kings Eunuchs and put again into the Court of the prison Jer. 21. whole Chapter Jer. 38. from 1 to 14. Zedekiah sends for Jeremy once more and in the principal entry of the Lords house privately consults him The Prophet expressing his fear that the King would kill him or give him into the hands of those men that sought his life if he dealt faithfully with him The King thereupon sware to him saying as the Lord liveth who made us this soul no such thing shall happen to thee whereupon he counselled the King by yielding himself to save his life The King having commanded the Prophet to conceal what passed between them from the Princes he departed and Jeremy continued in the Court of the prison to the day the City was taken Jer. 38. from 14 to the end Jeremy remaining thus in the Court of the prison he assures Ebedmelech who had been so kind to him from the Lord that he should be free from all danger and harm in that approaching calamity because he had put his trust in the Lord. Jer. 39. from 15 to the end In the eleventh year of the Captivity of Jeconiah the first month God by Ezekiel foretels the calamity of the City of Tyre which much rejoiced at the miseries the Jews were fallen into by the Babylonians that she also should fall by the same hand And he foretels also that the like misery should befall the Sidonians their neighbours to the glory of God and comfort of the Church At that time it seems the fame of Daniel's wisdom was grown so great even in foreign Nations that they used to say by way of Proverb As wise as Daniel
And therefore God upbraiding the King of Tyre with his pride and arrogancy Behold saith he thou art wiser than Daniel no secret can be hid from thee therefore I will bring strangers upon thee the terrible of the Nations and they shall bring thee down c. Ezek. Ch. 26. Ch. 27. Ch. 28. In the same year also in the third month God revealed his will to Ezekiel of sending Nebuchadnezzar against Pharoah to the ruin of the Egyptians In the same month also God declared that the Egyptians could no more avoid his decree and determination than the Assyrians had done before Ezek. Ch. 30. Ch. 31. In the eleventh year of Zedekiah the ninth day of the fourth month when the famine grew extream in the City and the pestilence as 't is like very hot Jerusalem was broken up and the Caldeans entred it Ezek. 4. from 9 to the end Lament 4.10 2 King 25.2 3 4. Jer. 52.5 6 7. Jer. 39.2 3. The City being taken Zedekiah and all the men of war fled away by night by the way of the Gate between two walls which was by the Kings garden being it seems a secret way provided on purpose for escape in such a time of danger but the Caldeans pursuing after them took Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho and brought him prisoner to Riblah where Nebuchadnezzar lay where having judgment passed upon him for his perjury and having seen his children first slain before his eyes to his extream torment together with the Nobles of Judah he had then his own eyes put out and being clogged with chains and fetters he was carried away from thence to Babylon so the Prophesies before utter'd concerning him were fulfilled viz. that with his eyes he should see the King of Babylon and speak with him mouth to mouth Jer. 32.4 34.3 But Babylon he should not see though he should die there For so the Prophet Ezekiel foretold Ch. 12.13 My net also will I spread upon him and he shall be taken in my snare and I will bring him to Babylon to the land of the Caldeans yet shall he not see it though he shall die there 2 King 25. from 4 to 8. Jer. 39. from 4 to 8. Jer. 52. from 7 to 12. Upon the seventh day of the fifth month Nebuzaradan Captain of the Guard sent by Nebuchadnezzar made his entry into the City and on the tenth day he set fire on the Temple and on the Kings Palace and upon all the Noblemens houses in Jerusalem and burnt all down to the ground and brake down the walls of Jerusalem round about In remembrance of which dismal calamity the Fast of the fifth month was ordained to be kept Zach. 7.3 v. 5. Zach. 8.19 Thus was the glorious Temple destroyed in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzars reign and four hundred twenty four years three months and eight days after that Solomon laid the first stone thereof 2 King 25.8 9 10. Jer. 52.12 13 14. Jer. 39.8 In the same fifth month the walls of Jerusalem being broken down all that were left in the City and all that had before fled over to Nebuchadnezzar and all the common people of the City with all the treasure of the King and his Nobles and furniture of the Temple did Nebuzaradan carry away to Babylon and thus was Judah for their sins removed out of her own land four hundred sixty eight years after David began to reign over it From the division of the Ten Tribes from the Tribe of Judah three hundred eighty eight years and from the destruction of the Kingdom of Israel one hundred thirty four years If any shall enquire why the Lord gave up this his own people into the hands of their enemies you may find 2 Chron. 36. from v. 12 to 20. that the high provocations both of King and people were the cause thereof Zedekiah did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord his God and humbled not himself before Jeremiah the Prophet speaking to him from the mouth of the Lord and he also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar who had made him swear by God but he stiffned his neck and hardned his heart from turning unto the Lord God of Israel Moreover all the chief of the Priests and the people transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen and polluted the house of the Lord which he had hallowed in Jerusalem And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers rising up betimes (a) That is continually and carefully sendding them a Metaphor taken from careful housholders who with the soonest seek to redress mischiefs causing their servants for that end to rise betimes and sending because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place but they mocked the messengers of God and despised his words and misused his Prophets until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people and there was no remedy * After that there remain'd nothing but expectation of judgment Therefore he brought upon them the King of the Caldees who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their Sanctuary (b) That is the Temple whither 't is like many of them fled for refuge and had no compassion upon young man or maiden old man or him that stooped for age he gave them all into his hand And all the vessels of the house of God great and small and the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the King and of his Princes all these he brought to Babylon And they burnt the house of God and brake down the walls of Jerusalem and burnt all the Palaces thereof with fire and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof Jer. 39.9 Jer. 52.15 2 King 25. from 11 to 18. 2 Chron. 36. from 14 to 22. The Scripture saith that they that were carried away captive to Babylon in the eleventh year of Zedekiah were to continue seventy years in their captivity 2 Chron. 36.20 21. And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the Kingdom of Persia To fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremy until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths for as long as she lay desolate she kept Sabbath to fulfill threescore and ten years Where by those words until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths we are to understand that so long as the people were kept out of it the land rested there being none to plow or dig it up and so it continued for the most part till the expiration of seventy years as Jeremy had Prophesied Jer. 25.11 And this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment and these Nations shall serve the King of Babylon seventy years And Chap. 29.10 Thus saith the Lord after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you and perform my good word towards you in causing you to return to
into subjection all Countries far and near Whereupon Cyrus was by his Fatheâ— Cambyses and the Council of the Kingdom made General of the Persian forces and sent away into Media with thirty thousand Souldiers and one thousand Commanders and when he came thither he was by his Uncle Cyaxares who had sent for him made General of the Median forces also and the management of the war against the Babylonians wholly committed to him Cyaxares and Cyrus march against the Babylonian King and against Croesus and the rest of the Confederates and gain'd a great victory over them The King of Babylon fell in the battel Croesus with those of his people that were left brake up his Camp by night and fled Cyrus having made a league with the Hircanians who had fallen over to him from the Babylonians using their help and guidance in the way pursued the enemy that was fled overtook them and fought them and again overthrew them The Hircanians fell upon the Companies of the Cappadocians and Arabians and slew both their Kings Cyrus sparing the lives of such as were either taken by force or had yielded to mercy divided the spoil of the field among his Souldiers Herod Lib. 3 4. Belshazzar Grandchild to Nebuchadnezzar by his son Evilmerodach succeeds in the Kingdom In the first year of this Kings reign Daniel had the vision shew'd him of the four Beasts signifying the four Monarchies of the World and of Gods delivering over all power and Soveraignty to the Son of Man Dan. 7. whole Chapter In the third year of Belshazzar Daniel had the vision of the Ram and He-goat foreshewing the destruction of the Persian Monarchy by Alexander and that he being dead and his horn broken four horns should arise instead thereof denoting four Kingdoms and that out of one of them a little horn should come forth viz. Antiochus Epiphanes which should prevail to take away the daily Sacrifice and bring much misery upon the people of God This was shew'd to Daniel then living at Susa in the Province of Elam upon the bank of the river Vlai which was then in the hands of the King of Babylon under whom Daniel lived And the Angel Gabriel comforted Daniel and interpreted the vision to him by the command of Christ Dan. 8. whole Chapter In the year of the world three thousand four hundred sixty five Cyrus and Belshazzar those two great Lords of the world fought a pitched battel near Babylon and the Caldeans being worsted retired to the City where Cyrus besieged them with a vast army When he had viewed the wall he concluded there was no storming of it and therefore resolved that the best way was to pine and starve them out at which the besieged scoffed as thinking themselves utterly out of danger But Cyrus taking notice how the river ran through the City caused deep ditches to be made which by draining rendred it fordable and taking advantage of a solemn Feast which they kept entred by night and surprized them whilst they were banqueting and reveling and in their cups And so vastly big was the City that when the skirts of it were surprized and taken they who dwelt in the heart of the City heard not of it to which that of Jeremiah seemeth to have reference Jer. 51.31 that post upon post and messenger upon messenger should run to tell the King of Babylon that all the skirts of the City were possessed by the enemies Belshazzar was at this time as it seemeth feasting with his Nobles and had caused to be brought forth the vessels of silver and gold which his Grandfather * For that he was his Sons Son may be gathered out of Jer. 27.7 And all Nations shall serve him and his Son and his Sons Son until the very time of his land come and then many Nations and great Kings shall serve themselves of him Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the Temple at Jerusalem that he his nobles his wives and concubines might drink in them But God suddenly sent a hand to write upon the wall where the King and his Nobles sat drinking Mene Mene Tekel Vpharsin Hereby evidently declaring that sudden destruction should fall upon him But his Wizards of Caldea could not read the writing hereupon his Queen advised him to send for Daniel who came and both read the writing as also gave the interpretation thereof and for his pains was presently proclaimed the third man in the Kingdom Presently after this in this very night was Belshazzar slain by the Souldiers of Gobrias and Gadales who having been formerly injured by him had revolted to Cyrus And so the Babylonish Kingdom came to an end as had been sundry times foretoâ—â— by Isaiah Chap. 13. Chap. 14. Chap. 21. Chap. 34. Chap. 46. Chap. 47. By Habakkuk Chap. 2. and by Jeremy Chap. 25. Ch. 50 51. Dan. 5. from 1 to 31. The Babylonish Empire being now translated to the Medes and Persians Darius the Mede Son of Ahashuerus otherwise called Cyaxares the Son of Astyages took upon him the Kingdom which was delivered to him by Cyrus the Conquerour And the Angel in this first year of his reign is said to have confirmed and strengthened him in his Kingdom After which he reigned two years Dan. 5.31 Dan. 9.1 Dan. 11.1 Cyrus having set all things in order at Babylon went into Media and married the only daughter and heir of Darius and for dowry had the whole Kingdom of Media given him with her and the marriage finished he returned with her to Babylon Darius now set over the Kingdom a hundred and twenty Princes or Governours and over all the Governours he made three Overseers the principal of which was Daniel whereupon the rest of the Governours being stirred up by a spirit of envy against him moved the King to make a decree that for thirty days space no petition should be made to any God or man but to himself alone which decree when Daniel had broken by making his prayer to God three times a day he was cast into the Lions den and thence delivered without any hurt at all done to him and then Darius having caused those malicious plotters to be cast into the same Lions den published that memorable decree through all his dominions that every man therein should reverence and stand in awe of Daniels God Dan. 6. whole Chapter Towards the end of the first year of the reign of Darius over the Babylonish Empire the seventy years of the captivity of the Jews drew towards a period and this was the last of those years of their calamty specified by Jeremy Chap. 25.12 And it shall come to pass when seventy years are accomplished that I will punish the King of Babylon and that Nation saith the Lord for their iniquity c. And Chap. 29.10 c. For thus saith the Lord that after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you and perform my good word towards you in causing you to return to
their due rests and returns the 118 and 136 Psalms Giving thanks unto the Lord because he is good and his mercy indureth for ever towards Israel And all the people shouting with a great shout they laid the foundation of the Temple but the old men who had seen the former Temple standing wept with a loud voice thinking this fabrick would not answer the former but the younger sort greatly rejoyced in hope that a new Temple would be erected And the mourning of the one sort and the rejoycing of the other was so loud that the noise of both might be heard a great way off Ezra 3. from 8 to the end The Cutheans the old enemies of the Jews who had heretofore been planted in Samaria by Esarhaddon now cunningly offered to joyn with them in the building of the Temple pretending that they served and sacrificed to the same God that they did though 't is plain that they served also their Idols as we may see 2 King 17.33 But Zerubbabel and the rest of the fathers answered them that they had nothing to do to build an house for God with them for they were not of the stock of Israel neither did they purely and only worship the true God but worshipped Idols also And therefore they tell them that they would build it themselves as Cyrus had commanded them The Cutheans being refused set themselves to oppose the Jews all they could in the work and first by threats and false rumours endeavoured to discourage the people from proceeding therein and afterwards by means of some great men in the Emperours Court whom it seems they bribed they did hinder the Jews from going on and undoubtedly obstructed their having those moneys out of the Kings revenue which Cyrus had commanded should be given them for the building of the Temple Ch. 6.4 Cyrus himself it seems was at this time much engaged in forreign wars and had left his Son Cambyses to govern the Kingdom in his absence and by this means it happened that the forementioned Courtiers so far prevailed with Cambyses as to hinder that work which Cyrus himself had commanded to be done And thus the work was hindred till the reign of Darius Histaspis and this gave occasion as it should seem to that three weeks mourning of the Prophet Daniel in the third year of Cyrus mentioned Dan. 10.2 After which upon the 24th day of the first month the vision of the Kings of Persia of Alexander the Great and his Successors and their Kingdoms was shewed and revealed unto him as he stood upon the bank of Hiddekel or the river Tigris all which things are contained in the three last Chapters of Daniel which as may be collected out of the close thereof was the last vision that ever he had and that but a little before his death Ezra Ch. 4. from 1 to 6. Dan. Ch. 10. whole Chapter Ch. 11. whole Chapter Ch. 12. whole Chapter The people of Egypt carried away formerly by Nebuchadnezzar after forty years continuing there were now sent back again by Cyrus into their own Country and so were restored to their own Kingdom in the latter end of Amasis's days Jer. 46. from 24 to 27. Ezek. 29. from 8 to 17. Cyrus being now seventy years of age dies having lived since he was first made General of the Median and Persian Armies full thirty years and after the taking of Babylon nine years and after his full Monarchy seven years He left his Kingdom to his Eldest son Cambyses who is known in the Scripture by the name of Ahasuerus and probably also was called Artaxerxes Ezra 4.7 for his valour in war In the beginning of his reign the Samaritans who had hitherto sought secretly to undermine the Jews and hinder them in their work of building the Temple now openly framed a direct information in writing (a) Not only this Letter but all the History following to v. 19. of Ch. 6. is all in the Chaldee Tongue against them and presented it to the King they wrote their Letter in the Syrian or Caldee-tongue and the messenger whom they sent delivered his message in that language also The Letter was composed by Rehum the Chancellor and written by Shimshai the Scribe in the name of themselves and others mentioned v. 7 8 9 10. The contents of this Letter were these They represent to the King that the Jews who were returned from their captivity were now about building the evil and rebellious (b) Sempes insimulata rebellionis est Ecclesia confer Mat. 22.17 City Jerusalem so they maliciously call it and had begun to set up the walls thereof which was utterly false see Nehem. 1.3 and had joyned the foundations together They insinuate that if this City be built and the walls finished it will be a receptacle of rebels who will neither pay toll tribute nor custom to the King and so the revenue of the Crown will be diminished and they themselves being the Kings officers having maintenance from his Royal Palace they thought it was not fit for them to see the King dishonoured and injur'd without informing him thereof as became such honest and conscientious men as they were Further they desire that search may be made into the records of his Predecessors and there he would find that this City had been a rebellious City and hurtful unto Kings and Provinces as it was in the days of Jehoiakim and Zedekiah 2 King 24.1 20. who rebell'd against Nebuchadnezzar and so brought deserved destruction upon themselves Lastly they itimate to him and strive to put such a jealousie into his head that if he permitted that City to be built again and the walls finished the Jews would not only for themselves withdraw their subjection from him but would bring the Nations round about them to be in subjection unto them and so the King would lose all his Dominions on that side the river Euphrates The King having receiv'd their Letter return'd them this answer That their Letter had been plainly read before him and he had caused the records to be searched and found indeed that that City of old time as in the instance of Jehoiakim and Zedekiah before mentioned had made insurrection against Kings and had been guilty of rebellion and of revolting He found also mighty Kings had reigned over Jerusalem such as David and Solomon who had ruled over all Countries on that side the river and that toll and tribute and custom had been paid to them Upon which considerations and lest any further danger should accrue to the Crown he required them to command the Jews in his name to give over the building of their City till he gave further order about it These Samaritans having received this Letter not only the Kings command but their own malicious disposition against the Jews made them hasten with it to Jerusalem that they might acquaint the Jews therewith and not contented to shew them the Kings Letter and Authority it seems they came with armed
concerning the Fast appointed to be kept upon the day of the destruction of the City and Temple of Jerusalem God answered them that those Fasts of the fifth and seventh Months which they had observed for 70 years space were no way pleasing to him he had not commanded them He puts them in mind of their obstinacy and impenitence and going on in their sins which he had forbidden them which had brought that terrible desolation and all their calamities upon them Zach. 7. whole Chapter In the eight Chapter God tells them that he would restore Jerusalem and put an end to all their former miseries and that he would change their Fasts as well that of the fourth Month on the ninth day whereof the City was taken as that of the fifth Month upon the tenth whereof the Temple was burned and that of the seventh Month whereon the remnant of the people upon the murder of Gedaliah were scattered among the Nations and that of the tenth month upon the tenth day whereof the City in the reign of Zedekiah began to be besieged by Nebuchadnezzar into mirth and would give joy and gladness and â—â—berty unto his people Instead of those Fasts he enjoins the more necessary and substantial duties of Religion urging them from the approach of such times wherein ceremonies should cease and wherein the Gentiles should be converted to make up a glorious Church with the Jews Zach 8. whole Chapter The Prophet now encourages them to go on in the work first by Prophesying of the calamities that would come on the enemies bordering about them Particularly 1 on the land of Hadrack * So call'd from the name of some of their Idols or Syria whereof Damascus was the chief City 2 On Hamath a Country lying to the North betwixt Judea and Syria 3 On Tyre and Zidon whose prudence strength and riches should not preserve them 4 On Askelon and the Philistines who should be affrighted destroyed and made desolate and strangers should possess their Cities whereby their pride should be stained and their cruelty repaid and that in the midst of all these calamities the Church should increase and be protected Secondly He prophesieth for their encouragement of the coming of the Messiah who is described from his Kingly office and his properties of justice power to save and lowliness which he manifests by riding on an ass and the foal of an ass He further prophesies of the Kingdom of the Messiah He shews that their deliverance out of Babylon had been by vertue of his blood typified by that which was sprinkled on the people Exod. 24.8 That he will be the deliverer of his Church and people and they may hope for a rich recompence of their sufferings from him He promises also that he will strengthen them against their enemies and will be their General and will appear for them in fight and will give them victory and satiate them with spoils which victory shall tend to Gods glory and their honour for they shall be preserved by God as his own flock and as his Crown and he will give them cause to glorifie him for this as also for the fruitfulness of their land Chap. 9. In the next place he shews them that they are to seek to God in all their necessities and not to Idols He then prosecutes his former Prophesie concerning Israels restitution and victories and that he will recollect them and joyn them with Judah He shews them that he can easily do it v. 8. and make them increase as formerly that he will preserve them in their scattering as seed in the ground till the time of their conversion and restitution doth come That he will remove difficulties and impediments out of the way and that by these promises the truly godly among them shall be encouraged and strengthned to persevere in faith and obedience Zach. 10. whole Chapter He utters now a Prophesie of the desolation of the land and destruction of the City and people of the Jews by the Romans for their horrid ingratitude in rejecting Christ who was appointed of the Father to be the shepherd of that people and executed that charge so as might reclaim them but they would not be reclaimed wherefore he threatens to break his two staves viz. beauty and bands and so to deprive them of the benefit of his Government and care especially because of their crucifying the Lord of life and selling him for thirty pieces of silver He also threatens to give them up to wicked Rulers in Church and State for their destruction Zach. 11. whole Chapter In the next place he Prophesies that God will destroy the enemies of the Christian Church to whom she shall be a cup of trembling a burdensome stone and as a torch of fire in a sheaf that he will defend his people and increase their strength in straits lastly that he will pour upon the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and supplication so that they shall mourn exceedingly for their piercing and crucifying Christ yea they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his only Son and this mourning shall be very vehement and sincere as when the people lamented the death of their good King Josiah and general throughout all ranks and families and that not only in a publick way but also by private humiliations in their private houses and habitations Zach. 12. whole Chapter In the first part of the next Chapter he declares that there is a fountain opened for sinners in the blood of Christ and that remission of sins is obtainable for the penitent by faith in his blood He prophesies also that they shall be delivered from Idolatry and false Prophets some of whom shall be convinc'd of the evil of their way and shall quit it betaking themselves to their callings again and shall acknowledg the equity of the severity used against them from v. 1 to 7. In the second part there is a Prophesie of the suffering and death of Christ the shepherd shall be smitten and of the scattering of the visible Church and of his care of his own v. 7. that the greater part of them shall be cut off and but a few preserved who being purg'd by afflictions shall increase in holiness and in the sense of Gods favour towards them Zach. 13. whole Chapter Lastly he prophesies again of the destruction of Jerusalem with a promise nevertheless that the Lord would save and preserve a remnant that the instruments of this destruction should not go unpunished nor the Church perish by this stroke but thereby the way of Salvation should be made clear to the Gentiles and a free and large passage opened for them to come into the Church of Christ with whom the converted Jews should joyn He Prophesies also that the state and condition of the Church under the Gospel should be unsetled and mixed of variety of dispensations the light shall not be clear nor dark yet so as in the end
purple and the inhabitants of Shushan not only Jews but many others also greatly rejoyced at this change of affairs The Jews had now light and gladness joy and honour most men having them in high esteem and account And in all the Provinces and Cities where this new decree came they greatly rejoiced and feasted together and kept a good day And many of the people of the land became Proselytes and embraced the Jewish Religion seeing the wonders God had done for his people and God struck the hearts of the Heathen with such a fear of the Jews that they durst not execute Hamans Edict against them Esther Chap. 8. In the next place we come to describe the full deliverance of the Jews and the destruction of their enemies and how they exprest their thankfulness for so great a mercy The 13th day of the month Adar being come the enemies of the Jews hoped to have had power over them but it turned quite contrary through the gracious Providence of God and the assistance which the Rulers of Provinces afforded the Jews through the dread they had of Mordecai the new and great favourite and through the fear that seized on the hearts of such as bore them ill will For the Jews in all the Provinces gathered themselves together to resist those that sought their hurt and none of them could stand before them In Shushan some of Hamans faction combined together to revenge his death being possibly put on by his ten Sons but they being suddenly daunted the Jews slew of them five hundred and among them Hamans ten Sons but on the spoil though the King permitted it they laid not their hands to shew that what they did was not out of covetousness but for their own defence The number of those that were slain in Shushan by the Jews was that day brought to the King and he acquaints the Queen with it himself knowing it would be acceptable news to her And says he if they have slain so many in Shushan what have they done in the rest of my dominions Thou seest what I have done for thee and yet I am ready to do more therefore tell me what thou dost further desire of me Esther replied If it please the King let it be granted to the Jews which are in Shushan to do to morrow also according to what thy decree allows them to do this day For though 500 were slain in the City yet she understood as it seems that many had escaped who bare a deadly hatred to the Jews and might seek an opportunity another time to be revenged on them for the death of Haman and his Sons therefore to prevent that mischief she desires leave for the Jews to destroy such of their enemies as had escaped She further desires that the bodies of Hamans ten Sons that had been newly slain by the Jews might be hanged on the same Gallows that Haman himself was hanged for their greater reproach and for terror to others The King consented to both her desires and so Hamans ten Sons were accordingly hanged on the same Gallows and the Jews in Shushan gathered themselves together on the 14th day of Adar and slew 300 more of their enemies in that City but on the prey they laid not their hands The Jews also in the other Provinces gathered themselves together on the 13th day of Adar and slew their enemies that assaulted them and then rested and kept a day of feasting and rejoycing on the 14th day whereas those at Shushan slew their enemies both on the 13th and 14th days and so kept not their day of feasting till the 15th day And Mordecai wrote * V. 20. And Mordecai wrote these things c. It may possibly be extended to the whole Book of Esther of which Mordecai in probability was the Penman unto the Jews scattered abroad in all the Provinces and gave them an account concerning the two days which the Jews at Shushan had spent in destroying their enemies and shewed them that that was the reason of their keeping the 15th day as a day of feasting So that though for this time the Jews in the Country kept the 14th day and those at Shushan the 15th day yet in succeeding time year after year Mordecai orders them all to keep both days shewing them that they ought to rejoyce in one anothers welfare and to keep both days as days wherein the Lord gave them rest from their enemies and to remember that month above all months wherein their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into gladness and that they should constantly observe them year after year as days of feasting and rejoycing and of sending portions one to another and gifts to the poor and that they should keep those feasts in remembrance of Purim or the lots that were cast for their destruction and fell in that month and how God turned those lots or divinations to contrary issues and made them vain The Jews accordingly as well for the words of Mordecai's letter as also for what they had seen of those things with their own eyes and what had been related to them by others as of Hamans casting lots c. they ordained it for a law and engaged for themselves and their children and such proselytes as should joyn themselves to them that they would keep those two days yearly according to the writing they had received from Mordecai which was registred And lest they should not hold on in their yearly observing this feast Queen Esther and Mordecai wrote a second letter to enjoyn the continuance of this anniversary feast and authoritatively to press upon them the observance of it And in thesâ— letters he enjoyned them to live peaceably among themselves and with others also and to hold fast to the truth Those days therefore were first enjoyned and afterwards the observance of them confirmed by Esther and Mordecai as the Jews had formerly decreed for themselves and for their seed the matter of the fastings and their cry that is to keep certain days of publick humiliation with fasting and prayer in remembrance of the desolation of Jerusalem and burning of the Temple of which fasts the Prophet Zachary speaks Ch. 7.5 Esther Chap. 9. Ahashuerus now laid a tribute upon all parts both Continent and Islands that were under his dominion which is here set down as an evidence of the good offices that Mordecai did for the Jews for whom he got an exemption as it seems from this tribute so that he sought the weal of his people neither did his greatness though advanced to be the next man to Ahashuerus make him forget them but he was always ready to speak to the King for them and to do whatever might be for their peace and welfare Esther Ch. 10. Ahashuerus having reigned thirty six years dies and leaves the Empire to his Son Zerxes the fourth King of Persia after Cyrus who trusting in his riches as they were indeed exceeding great stirred up his own subjects
some of the Rulers of the people some pious and prudent men be appointed to sit daily here in Jerusalem for the hearing of this business and to take cognizance who they are that have married strange wives viz. such as have not imbraced the faith of Israel or that since their marriage have relapsed to Idolatry and let those that are found guilty herein in every City be brought hither in their turns to appear before these Elders and let the chief men in every City testifie against them if they have found them guilty and so let the business be dispatched first with one City and then with another until at length all the strange wives be put away that so the fierce wrath of our God may be turned from us Hereupon four men being chosen viz. two Priests and two Levites to set forward this business the children of the captivity agreed that the forementioned course should be taken And Ezra with certain chief of the Fathers were chosen and set apart to that great work and began it on the first day of the tenth month and made an end of it on the first day of the first month and so were three whole months about it And upon examination even among the Sons of the Priests who should have known and practised better things there were found some who had taken strange wives yea some of the Sons of Joshua the good high Priest who assisted Zerubbabel were guilty in this matter and divers of their brethren in that function also They being found guilty offered a ram of the flock for their transgression and gave their hands that they would put away their Idolatrous wives And 't is like many others whose names are there recorded did the same though it be not here expressed And some of the Levites who ministred to the Priests and some of the Singers and Porters were also guilty herein and put away their Idolatrous wives yea though they had children by them Ezra Ch. 10. from 6 to the end We are now come to the Book of Nehemiah As in the Book of Ezra we had a relation of the building of the Temple by Zerubbabel and of reforming Religion by Ezra so in this we have a relation of the building of the City and the walls thereof and setling the Commonwealth and redressing many disorders by Nehemiah who came to Jerusalem thirteen years after Ezra's first coming thither In the 20th year of Artaxerxes in the ninth month answering to part of our November and part of our December Hanani and some other Jews came to Nehemiah who was one of the Kings Cup-bearers being then at Shushan the Winter-mansion of the Persian Monarchs and acquainted him that those that were left of the Captivity in the Province of Judah were under great affliction and reproach and that their neighbours round about them did exceedingly despise and wrong them and that which encouraged them the more in those insolences was because the walls of Jerusalem were broken down and the gates thereof burnt with fire by Nebuchadnezzar and so they continued still So that the Jews were disabled to defend themselves against their enemies Nehemiah was so affected herewith that he sat down and wept and mourned certain days and fasted and prayed prostrating himself before the God of heaven with his face towards the Temple the place of Gods presence see 1 King 8.44 and he said O Lord God of Heaven the great and terrible God that keepeth Covenant and mercy for them that love thee and keep thy Commandments let thine ears be attentive to the prayer of thy servant which I make before thee day and night for the children of Israel and wherein I confess and humbly bewail our sins which we have committed against thee Both I and my Fathers have sin'd against thee and dealt very corruptly and have not kept either the moral ceremonial or judicial laws which thou gavest us Yet remember I pray thee the word thou spakest by thy servant Moses Deut. 4.25 saying if you transgress I will scatter you abroad among the Nations but if ye turn unto me and keep my Commandments and do them though you were scattered to the remotest parts of the earth yet thence will I gather you and bring you to the place that I have chosen to put my name there Now O Lord we are thy people whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power and by thy strong hand Therefore I beseech thee let thine ear be attentive to the prayer of me thy servant and to the prayer of thy servants that desire to fear thy name and prosper me and grant me favour and mercy in the sight of the King to whom I intend to address my self that he may grant the request that I shall make to him Nehem. Chap. 1. About four months after when the time came that Nehemiah in his course was to attend upon the King and to minister to him as his Cup-bearer both King and Queen took notice of his sorrowful and dejected looks The King asked him the reason of it Nehemiah replied Let the King live for ever * That is very long an usual salutation given to Kings See 1 King 1.1.31 Dan. 6.21 There is reason my countenance should be sad when the City the place of my fathers sepulchres where my ancestors lived and died lyeth waste and the gates thereof being formerly consumed with fire are not repaired The King asked him what he desired of him Nehemiah lifting up his heart to God in a fervent Ejaculation (b) The Ejaculation of the heart may be as fervent and as prevalent as a solemn prayer uttered with the mouth witness that of Moses Exod. 14.15 to which God made this answer Why criest thou unto me yet no words of prayer were then uttered by Moses This frequently and heartily used argueth an heavenly mind and 't is one way whereby we may pray always or con inually that is at all times and in all places and on all occasions that he would please to direct him rightly to order his petition to the King and incline the Kings heart to grant it said If it please the King and thy servant hath found favour in thy sight I pray thee that thou wouldst send me to Jerusalem the City of my Fathers sepulchers that I may build it The King said how long wilt thou be absent and when wilt thou return Nehemiah set him a time which it's like was not long and at that time did accordingly return but from this time forward it seems he continued Governour of Judea under the King for the space of twelve years or more during which time 't is probable he often went into Persia to wait upon the King The King graciously granting his request he then humbly besought him that he might have letters to the Governours beyond the river to conduct him (c) This Ezra would not desire when he went to Jerusalem because he had occasionally spoken to the King of
thou maist set thy self up as their King according to the report that goes of thee And thou hast appointed Prophets to preach thee up at Jerusalem and to tell the people that there is now a King in Judah of their own Nation so that they shall not be in bondage any longer to forreign Princes And this will accordingly be reported to the King of Persia and so is like to bring great mischief on all us on this side the river therefore let us meet and take counsel together how we may prevent this great evil Nehemiah returned Sanballat this answer That there was nothing true of what he reported 't was all a fiction of his own head Thus the enemie sought to make them afraid by such reports as these but Nehemiah prayed to the Lord to disappoint their plots and to strengthen his own and his Countryment hands in the work The enemies of the Jews seeing their former plots did not take now betake themselves to a new stratagem viz. to hire false Prophets to terrifie Nehemiah with apprehensions of eminent danger to his own person Accordingly they hired Shemaiah and other false Prophets to assist them in their design Shemaiah was a Priest of the course of Delaiah 1 Chron. 24.18 and pretended to be a Prophet though he was a false one It seems he shut up himself thereby to signifie to Nehemiah that there was such danger approaching as there would be no safety in being abroad Accordingly he sends to Nehemiah to come to him who being come he perswades him to hide himself with him within the Temple and to shut up the doors for he tells him his enemies will seek to slay him yea that very night they would come to slay him Nehemiah replies Should such a man as I flee who am called of God to do what I do and being at present the chief Magistrate and Governour of this City am to take care for the defence of the people and to give them all possible encourageragement both by word and deed What good man is there that being in the place that I am would flee into the Temple to save his life Assure thy self I will not do it But for all his pretended Prophesies Nehemiah perceived the Lord had not sent him both by the nature of the advice he gave him which tended to terrifie him from the work God had called him unto as also from the event for the enemy did not come that night to seize him as Shemaiah prophesied he saw therefore that the enemy hired this false Prophet to make him afraid and to desist from his work and so sin against God in omitting his duty and that they might have matter for an evil report against him and so might reproach him Whereupon he humbly desires the Lord to think upon Tobiah and Sanballat and to deal with them answerably to these their evil works and so likewise with the Prophetess Noadiah who also was hired as it seems to prophesie to Nehemiah after the same manner and with the rest of the false Prophets who had conspired with Shemaiah to put him in fear But all that the enemies could do could not hinder the work for the whole work was finished on the 25th day of the month Elul agreeing with part of our August which shews that they began the work in the height of Summer when the days were at the longest and the season every way most fit for building and so all was dispatched in 52 days which was not full two months and this great dispatch need not seem incredible if we consider that the walls and towers of Jerusalem were not wholly demolished but only in many places broken down 2ly That there was a vast multitude of people that round about the City in several places at one time were employed in the work and did with all earnestness follow it 3ly And above all Gods more than ordinary blessing accompanying them and helping of them in the work I say if we consider all these things we need not wonder that it was finished to the astonishment of the enemy before they dreamed it could have been done see v. 16. so that they were forced to confess that there was more than an ordinary hand of God in it When Nehemiah had overcome all these difficulties he met with one more and that was this At that time some of the Nobles of Judah who possibly had married strange wives and so were something infected with the customs of the Heathen held correspondence with Tobiah and had bound themselves by oath to prosecute his designs he having married the daughter of Sheconiah some great man among the Jews and Johanan his Son having married the daughter of Meshullam * See the mischiefs of forbidden marriages and the hypocrisie of some who made a fair shew before men who had helped to build the wall Chap. 3.4 These men told Nehemiah fair stories of Tobiah and sent back what he said to Tobiah whereupon Tobiah sent threatning letters to him but he was not terrified by any thing that he wrote nor discouraged in his work Nehem. Ch. 6. whole Chapter See Deut. 20.5 Psal 30. the Title The wall being now finished Nehemiah and the Jews resolved to make a solemn dedication of it to the Lord praying unto him that he would please to make it a means of safety to his holy Temple and to the City and the inhabitants thereof Now because the Priests and Levites were to have a chief hand therein he first sets down their Genealogies that it might the better appear that they were true Priests and Levites And here are two pedigrees set down one of such as came up with Zerubbabel to Jerusalem and the other of such as were in the days of Joakim * The prime Priests that were then heads of Families are now set down in number only twenty from v. 12. to 21. yet the number of the courses of the Priests appointed by David was to be 24. See 1 Chron. 24. from 7 to 18. that the number of Priests was now but few that place Ezra â— 15 doth import the Son of Joshua The Priests and Levites being by their distinct orders set down in the former part of the Chapter the dedication it self is now related which was after this manner First they assembled all the Levites together from their several habitations to celebrate this dedication with gladness and thanksgivings and singing with Cymbals Psalteries and Harps and the Priests and Levites being called to this holy service first purified themselves by washing their clothes Exod. 19.10 and their flesh Numb 19.7 and by sprinkling themselves with that purifying water mentioned Numb 19.9 and by all other means both of moral and legal purifying Then they purified the people by such rites as they purified themselves by and purified the gates and the wall recommending them to Gods custody and protection with solemn prayer Then the wall being thick and broad so that many
found some treading wine-presses on the Sabbath-day and bringing in sheaves and wine and grapes and figs and all manner of burdens into Jerusalem on that day and he testified his dispeasure against them as also against those that sold victuals on the Sabbath-days He understood also that some of Tyre brought fish and other wares to sell on the Sabbath-days and that in Jerusalem it self he chides the Nobles and Rulers of Judah for permitting these things and suffering the Sabbath to be so prophaned Did not your fathers says he do thus and did not God for these sins * See Jer. 17.27 among others bring the captivity upon us And for you to return to the same sins for which such judgments have been executed is the way to incense God the more against you and to pull down the heaviest judgments upon you Therefore to redress this great evil on the evening before the Sabbath when it began to be dark at which time the Sabbath began †Levit. 23.32 he commanded the gates to be shut and that they should not be opened that is set wide open that all might have egress and regress as on other days till the Sabbath was ended and set some of his servants at the Gate that there should be no burden brought in on the Sabbath-day So the Merchants and sellers of all kind of wares lodged once or twice without Jerusalem and he testified against them and asked them why they lodged about the wall so that the Jews that dwelt about the wall might be tempted to buy of them on the Sabbath-day He tells them that if they did so again he would lay hands on them and cast them into prison Hereupon from thence forward they came no more on the Sabbath-day Further he commanded the Levites that they should sanctifie themselves and keep the gates of the house of God that no unclean persons might enter into them in that great concourse of people that resorted to them on the Sabbath-days He desires the Lord also to remember him concerning this and to spare him according to the greatness of his mercy He saw also some that had married wives of Ashdod of Ammon and of Moab and their children spake half in the speech of Ashdod and could not speak in the Jews language but according to the language of those people so that they had a mixture of the manners as well as of the language of their heathen mothers And he contended and highly expostulated with them and reviled them and caused some of them that were most obstinate to be beaten according to the Law Deuteron 25.2 and commanded those that were to beat them to pluck off their hair and made them sware * So they had sworn before Ch. 10.29 30. by God that they should not for the future make interchangeable marriages with them He asks them whither Solomon did not sin by these things yet among many Nations there was no King like him who was beloved of his God and God made him King over all Israel nevertheless even him did outlandish women seduce and cause to sin Is it fit therefore says he that we should yield to you in this matter and suffer you to do the like even to marry strange wives you being more liable to be seduced than wise Solomon was He found also that one of the Grand-children of Joiada whose name was Manasses as Josephus reports and brother to Jaddua the high Priest had married the daughter of Sanballat and was not willing to put her away whereupon he caused him to be excommunicated and banished from among them * But that he might not turn away his wife which either he must do or be turned out of his Priesthood his Father-in-law Sanballat undertook to build a Temple on Mount Gerizzim hard by the City Sichem wherein Manasses should be the chief Priest which he accordingly did and many other Priests and Israelites that had married strange wives resorted to him and hereupon there grew a deadly feud between the Samaritans and Jews which lasted to our Saviours times See Job 4 20. Hereupon he desires the Lord to remember those men and to punish them who had defiled the Priesthood by such unlawful marriages and that more special and strict Covenant that God had made with Aaron and his seed together with the Levites concerning their holy function see Levit. 21.6 7. and Numb 25.12 13. Thus Nehemiah cleansed all Priests and Levites from all strangers that is forced them to put away their strange wives and such children as they had by them or else forced them to leave the Temple and the land Further he appointed such courses of the Priests and Levites as David had formerly appointed 1 Chron. 23.24 c. and ordered that every one should do the work of his own place and function and took care about the wood-offering and the first-fruits of which before Chap. 10.34 35. He closes the whole Book with this Prayer Remember me O my God for good Nehem. Ch. 13. whole Chapter The Prophet MALACHI the last of all the Prophets seems to have been Contemporary with Nehemiah The Prophesie of MALACHI For he no where exhorts the people to the building of the Temple as Haggai and Zachary had done He reproves those disorders that Nehemiah in the last Chapter of his Book saith he found in his absence to be crept in among the Jews as particularly marriage with strange women Chap. 2. 11. with-holding Tythes Chap. 3. 8. and corruptions in the worship of God Chap. 1. 13. and Chap. 2. 8. His Prophesie is call'd The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by the hand of Malachi Who ever he was his Prophesie is authentick and the authority thereof notably confirm'd by being so often alledged in the New Testament as in Mat. 11.10 Mark 1.2 Luk. 1.16 17. The occasion and scope of it was this The Jews being newly return'd from Captivity did for a while heartily serve God they built the Altar laid the foundation of the Temple but then for a good while the work ceased partly through the opposition of the Samaritans and partly through their own sluggishness till Haggai and Zachary stirring them up and Darius encouraging them they finished it and set up the worship of God therein aright but after relapsed to corruption and hypocrisie in Gods worship and to loosness in their lives by mixt marriages adultery divorces polygamies and other enormities Hereupon God raised up this Prophet who by his Ministry endeavours to reclaim them and to reform those corruptions In this his Prophetick Sermon he proceeds much in the way of Dialogue In it we may observe two parts 1. A Reproof 2. The effect of it In his Reproof we may take notice of these particulars 1. He aggravates the ungrateful wickedness of the Jews from Gods singular love in electing them in Jacob to be his people and making a Covenant with them when he rejected the Edomites in
he sent with them ten Bedsteads with silver feet and rich furniture thereunto belonging a cup of thirty talents ten vests of scarlet and a Crown richly wrought and about one hundred pieces of very fine linnen and by his letters desired him that if any of those Interpreters had at any time a desire to come and visit him he would not hinder them for he much desired to converse with such kind of men and had rather spend his money upon them than any other way Antiochus Theos third King of Syria gave the Jews living in Ionia equal rights and priviledges with the Gentiles and suffered them to enjoy their own Religion He made sundry times war upon Ptol. Philadelphus and fought with him with all the forces he could raise out of the Oriental parts Wherefore Ptolemy desirous to put an end to this bloody war gave him his daughter Berenice to wife while his former wife Laodice was yet living by whom he had Seleucus Callinicus and Antiochus Hierax with an huge portion which gives light to Dan. 11. v. 5 6. But afterwards he put her away and took Laodice again and she was at last slain by the procurement of Seleucus Callinicus who succeeded his father in the Kingdom which was the Original of many wars between the Kings of Syria and Egypt Manasses Eleazar's Uncle Brother to Onias the first and S on of Jaddus succeeded in the Priesthood at Jerusalem Ptol. Euergetes Son to Ptol. Philadelphus marches into Syria to revenge his Sisters death and over-runs and conquers all before him and then came down to Jerusalem and there offered many sacrifices of thanksgiving unto God and dedicated to him many gifts in acknowledgment of so great a victory and then returned into Egypt carrying with him many rich spoils and Images of their gods which Cambyses heretofore had taken out of Egypt at his being there being called back by a sedition of his own people See Dan. 11.6 7 8 9. Ptol. Euergetes followed his father Philadelphus's steps in promoting learning and the magnificence of the Library begun by him at Alexandria He sent for Eratosthenes Cyrenaeus from Athens and made him keeper of it He took great care to get into his Library the works of ancient writers where ever they could be procured He borrowed from Athens the works of Sophocles Euripides and Aeschylus only to transcribe and left them fifteen Talents in pawn and then caused them to be written out very fair in parchment and then retaining the Originals he sent the Transcripts back desiring them to keep his pawn of fifteen Talents and to suffer the Originals to remain with him Onias the second son of Simon the Just after that Eleazar had executed the office of High Priest because he was then but a child when his father died and after him also Manasses because when he came to age he proved but a half-witted man yet at last came to be High Priest among the Jews in which office he carried himself very unworthily and basely and by his covetousness drew the anger of Ptol. Euergetes upon him for he refused to pay the tribute of twenty Talents of silver which his Predecessors ever used to pay out of their own store for the ease of their people Hereupon Pt. Euergetes in a great rage sent to him that if he did not speedily send him his arrears of tribute he would forthwith give away all his land amongst his Souldiers and plant new Colonies of his own there Josephus the son of Tobias a young man of singular prudence and virtue being advertised by his mother who was the sister of this Onias and daughter of Simon the Just of the coming of these messengers he presently came to Jerusalem and undertook to go in an Embassie to Euergetes about this matter and being come thither he so far insinuated himself into the good liking and favour of the King and Cleopatra the Queen that he not only diverted this storm which threatned his Country but also obtained a company of 2000 Souldiers to levy the tributes and other dues belonging to the King out of Coelosyria Phoenicia Samaria and Judea In which office he continued by the space of twenty two years and in that time doubled the Kings Revenues and brought them from 8 to 16 thousand Talents by the year and brought into the Kings Exchequer all the goods of Felons and other Confiscations which formerly the Exchequer-men swallowed up and shared among themselves Joseph 16. Ch. 3.4 After the decease of Onias the second his son Simon the second succeeded in the Priesthood About the year of the world 3787 when the second Carthaginian war began between Annibal and the Romans the Roman name began to be famous in the world and their power look'd upon as formidable as any of the Kings either of Egypt Syria or Macedon Ptol. Philopator overthrew Antiochus Magnus King of Syria in a great fight near Raphia a City in Syria and so got Raphia and those places round about The Jews sending some of their Sanedrin to render him their service and to congratulate him after so great a victory he promised to go thither and to honour their City with his presence When he came he admired the beauty of their Temple and would fain have gone into the Sanctum Sanctorum whereinto it was not lawful for any to go save the High Priest only The Jews vehemently opposing him therein the King was more earnest and bent upon it whereupon all the Temple was filled with cryings and howlings and the City with tumult Then Simon the High Priest kneeling down between the Temple and the Altar humbly sought help from God in that time of trouble Whereupon the King fell into such an horrour of mind that he was unable to speak and so was carried half dead out of the Temple 2 Mac. Ch. 1. 2. Ptol. Philopator being returned into Egypt fell into all manner of loose living and debauchery and sought by all means to turn the Jews of Alexandria from the worship of the true God and some of those that would not turn he caused to be slain and some he marked with hot irons on their faces and some with the sign of an Ivy-leaf because that was the badg of Bacchus Hereupon many abandoned their Religion in compliance to the King's will Others bought their peace and saved their lives and escaped their marking with hot irons for their money But they who continued constant in the Religion of their forefathers continued also constant in their allegiance to the King but would not converse in any kind with those of their own Nation who had apostatized from their Religion whereupon their enemies presently made this construction of it that they opposed the King in his power and Government and sought to turn away his subjects from their obedience Upon this Philopator growing angry with the Jews not only in Alexandria but even throughout all Egypt sent out orders to have them all gathered together into one
time to be quiet and to make no disturbance But Aristobulus being high spirited resented his usage and thought it intolerable for him to be treated so much beneath the Majesty of a King wherefore he betook himself in some discontent to Judea to take care of his own affairs Pompey being offended with his carriage took the Army he had provided against the Nabathaeans and other supplies out of Syria and the Legions which were at his command and followed him Hircanus very much intreating him so to do Having entred Judea and hearing that Aristobulus was fled into Alexandria a goodly Castle he sent to him to come to him Aristobulus being perswaded by many of his friends not to commence War against the Romans came unto Pompey After he had debated his Title touching the Kingdom Pompey permitted him to go back to the Castle again And thus he did two or three times always flattering Pompey as if he would obey him in all things but in the mean time he privately provided for War fearing lest Pompey should give the Principality to his Brother At last Pompey commanded him to deliver up into his hands the Castles and Garrisons which he held Aristobulus in a discontent withdrew to Jerusalem and there prepared for War But Pompey immediately followed him not thinking it fit to give him time to prepare himself His first nights quarters were at Jerico and next morning he marched towards Jerusalem Aristobulus thinking with himself what he had done came out to meet him and promised him money and that he would yield both himself and the City up to him only he desired that laying aside all hostility whatever he did he would do it in a peaceable manner Pompey pardoned him and sent Gabinius with some Soldiers to receive the money but he was fain to return without any For Aristobulus's Soldiers would not stand to what he had promised Hereat Pompey grew very angry and committing Aristobulus into custody marched in person against the City The Citizens within were divided among themselves some being for Hircanus others for Aristobulus The former were for the delivering up the City to Pompey the other being wholly against it seized upon the Temple and cutting down the Bridge by which they go into the City stood upon their defence whereupon the other party let the Romans into the City and delivered to them also the Kings Palace the custody of both which Pompey gave to his Lieutenant Piso Pompey first offered to the besieged Conditions of Peace which being refused he prepared to give a general assault and was assisted by Hircanus in all things needful Pompey's Soldiers with great labour and difficulty filled up that vast trench or valley wherewith the Temple was begirt and then with Engines brought from Tyre battered the Wall taking advantage of the Superstition of the Jews who thought it sinful to hinder the works of their enemies or do any thing on the Sabbath-day but defend themselves The greatest Tower being battered down and with the fall thereof breaking down a great piece of the wall the Romans break in Cornelius Faustus the Son of Sylla first entring the breach and then made slaughter of twelve thousand Jews The Priests during the siege performing the daily Sacrifice not intermitting it in their greatest extremities no not then when they saw their enemies rushing in with their drawn swords upon them so that many were slain whilst they were offering sacrifice and burning Incense in the Temple preferring the performance of their duty before the saving of their lives Some were taken Captive among whom was Absolon the Vncle and Father-in-law of Aristobulus Pompey with many followers entred the Temple and looked on those things which it was unlawful for any but the High-Priest to behold And tho' there were in the Temple the Table and Candlesticks with the Lamps and all Vessels for sacrifice and the Censers of Gold and one huge heap of spices and in the Treasury about 2000 Talents yet he medled not with any thing but next day commanded them who had the charge of the Temple to purifie and cleanse it and to offer their solemn sacrifices to God The Temple was taken as Josephus tells us in the third month and on the Fast day which was usually kept in memory of Jehoiakims burning the Roll about 62 years before the birth of Christ Pompey restored the Priest-hood to Hircanus because among other Services he had done him during the siege he had kept the Country from joyning with Aristobulus And with the Priest-hood he invested him also with the Principality yet forbad him to wear a Crown Then putting to death the chief Authors of the late War he made the Jews tributary to the people of Rome And the Cities which the Jews held in Coelosyria he took away and subjected them to a Governour of their ownâ— and the Dominion of the Jews he reduced within its ancient bounds Thus Aristobulus and his Brother were the cause of losing their Countries Liberty to the Romans who within a short time exacted above ten thousand Talents of it Pompey having broken down the walls of Jerusalem in many Places left Syria to the Government of Scaurus and with two Legions hasted to Rome leading Aristobulus along with him captive with his two Sons and as many Daughters One of his Sons namely Alexander escaped in the way and returned into Judea where he got together a considerable power and awed his Vncle Hircanus who was unable to resist him being then imployed in repairing the walls of Jerusalem which Pompey had thrown down Within a while Gabinius was sent from Rome to govern Syria He undertook the War against Alexander who had now got together 10000 Foot and 1500 Horse and had strongly fortified Alexandria and Hircanium and Machaeron Gabinius overthrew him near Jerusalem killing and taking about 6000 of his men He then besieged him in the Castle of Alexandria whither he had fled But leaving here sufficient strength for carrying on the siege he went and visited the Country causing divers Cities to be re-edifyed and then returning and more powerfully re-inforcing the Siege Alexander yielded himself and the Castles which he held All which Gabinius by the advice of the Mother of Alexander levelled with the ground lest they should be an occasion of new Troubles For she being sollicitous for her Husband and Children that were carried captive to Rome used all obsequiousness towards Gabinius Gabinius then went to Jerusalem and established Hircanus in the Priesthood but Cantonized the Country into five parts which he ordered to be Governed in an Aristocratical way One division was to be governed by a Committee or Assembly at Jerusalem another at Jadara a third at Amathus a fourth at Jerico a fifth at Saphora a Town of Samaria The Jews very gladly imbraced this Form of Government But Aristobulus not long after with his Son Antigonus escaping from Rome and coming into Judea ministred occasion of new troubles For coming into his
Affairs of Government Antipater made his Son Phasaelus Captain of Jerusalem and the Country adjacent and committed Galilee to the Custody of his second Son Herod being then about 25 years of Age. Herod at the very first gave evidence of what Spirit and heigth of courage he was For there being at that time one Hezekias a notable Thief who with a great company of followers used to infest the Country of Syria he took him and put him to death with many others of that Rout which thing much endeared him to the Syrians and thereby he became known to Sextus Cesar the President and Kinsman to the Dictator Phasaelus his Brother was hereby much stirred up to Emulation and carryed himself very obligingly and honourably towards those of his Jurisdiction so that their Father was honoured by the people as a King and yet preserved his fidelity intire to Hircanus But divers of the Nobles and chief men of the Jewish Nation understanding how he flourished both upon his own account and that of his Sons inwardly fretted at it and the rather because he made use of Hircanus for his own ends as they conceived having contracted friendship with the Roman Generals and perswaded him to send money to them yet got to himself the credit of the President But especially the forward and bold disposition of Herod affrighted them whom they looked upon as a young and growing Tyrant They make their Addresses to Hircanus complaining to him bitterly against Antipater as one who carried away all the profit of the Kingdom They further complained of that bold act of Herods in putting to death Hezekias with many others without any Commission received from Hircanus in contempt of the Laws by which no man is to suffer tho' he were never so wicked till he had a legal Tryal and were condemned by the Sentence of the Judge Hircanus being at last wrought upon by these complaints summoned Herod to Jerusalem to give an account of these his actions before the Council Herod having settled the affairs of Galilee appeared at Jerusalem but with a Guard as his Father had advised him by Letter yet a moderate one lest he should affright Hircanus When he appeared before the Sanhedrin in his Royal Robes and with his Guard no body had the courage to say any thing to him or accuse him till one of the Council called Sameas a just man and yet no hot-spirited man as the Jewish Proverb shews Be thou humble as Hillel and not angry as Sameas rising up inveighed against him for the manner of his Appearance not suitable to the condition of a person summoned to answer for his faults and blamed both Hircanus and the Council for their too great Indulgence which he feared they would afterwards pay dearly for And the event proved his words true that very Council and Hircanus himself being afterwards put to death by Herod when he was King The Council being inflamed with Sameas's words had certainly now condemned him had not Hircanus foreseeing it put off the business till the next day and in the mean time privately advised Herod to shift for himself Herod thereupon retired to Damascus and visited Sextus Cesar who loved him as his own Son and then gave out That he would no more appear though he were cited at which they at Jerusalem fretted and perswaded Hircanus That all these things tended to his ruine Herod having purchased of Sextus Cesar the Government of Coelosyria disdaining now that he had been commanded to come and plead his cause at Jerusalem marches towards the City with an Army and if his Father and Brother had not met him and otherwise perswaded him he had made mischief enough Having therefore made a shew of his power he retreated About this time Caelicius Bassus in favour of Pompey made away Sextus Cesar and got his Army to submit to him but divers of Cesars party came to revenge his Kinsmans death and a War ensued about Epamea whither Antipater mindful of the Benefits he had received from Cesar sent his Sons with aid to assist Cesars Captains The War being drawn out in length Statius Marcus was sent to succeed Sextus and in the mean time Julius Cesar was stab'd in the Senate-house which as it bred trouble and disturbance to the whole Roman Empire so neither did Judea escape without its share thereof A Civil War insuing the chief Captains on both sides ran up and down to provide themselves for it Cassius one of them that slew Cesar came into Syria where raising the Seige before Apamea he drew both Marcus and Bassus to his Party and then taking upon him the Power of a General and Title of Proconsul he reduced to his obedience all the Cities of Syria and levied men and exacted grievous Contributions But especially he afflicted Judea levying a Tax of above 700 Talents upon it Antipater seeing the Commonwealth in trouble and fearing Cassius's Threats appointed his two Sons to gather part of the money and Malichus a Jew that was an enemy of his to gather another part and some others another part But Herod bringing first of all an 100 Talents which were imposed upon Galilee which belonged to his Government became thereby much in Cassius's favour But under the other Governours divers Cities were set to Sale to make up the Sum. And the Tax as it should seem came in so slowly that Cassius was exceedingly enraged and was about to put Malichus one of the Collectors to death had not Hircanus by sending to him a 100 Talents of his own money by Antipater appeased his fury But Antipater was ill requited by Malichus for this For as soon as Cassius left Judea Malichus practiced to take away Antipaters life thinking that he being removed out of the way they should better provide for the security of Hircanus's Government Antipater having an inckling of it passed over Jordan and gathered an Army intending to revenge the Treachery but Malichus being a crafty Dissembler so denyed the matter with Oaths to his two Sons that they reconciled him to their Father who by his Intercession saved him out of the Hands of Marcus President of Syria who understanding that Malichus attempted some Innovations in Judea had resolved to put him to death But Antipater preserved him to his own Destruction Cassius and Marcus having gathered an Army made Herod for his good services Governour of Coelosyria and gave him forces both of Horse and Foot and also Ships at Sea and promised to make him King of Judea if they got the better against Anthony and young Cesar Antipater not long after being feasted by Hircanus at Jerusalem Malichus corrupting the Kings Butler poisoned Antipater and gathering a Band of Soldiers seized on the Government of the City Antipaters Sons having notice of their Fathers death Herod would have revenged it out of hand and that by open force but Phasaelus thought it better to circumvent the Murderer in some more private way lest they should seem the beginners
had spies that mingled themselves in all companies yea he would sometimes go himself disguised among the people to hear what they said of him and his Government The disaffected to him he took a course to punish and the rest he bound unto him by an oath which he exacted of them After this in the eighteenth year of his reign taking down at least for the most part the old Temple at Jerusalem as Josephus reports Lib. 14. Ch. 14. he built another much more stately and magnificent having provided very great white stones * See Mark 13.1 whereof some were 25 cubits long twelve broad and eight in height and other materials for the work in the space of two years He began to build it forty six years before the first Passover of the Ministry of Christ see Job 2.20 where we may read the words forty and six years reckoning to this time hath this Temple been built The building the Temple under Zerubbabel began in the first year of the Monarchy of Cyrus and was after twenty years time finished in the sixth year of Darius the Son of Histaspis But this magnificent building of Herod's was finished in nine years and an half The inward Temple containing the Holy and Holy of Holies was finished in a year and an half In all which time it 's reported that it never rained in the day-time but only in the nights Then in the eight years following the Porches the Ranges and the rest of the building about the Temple were all finished He celebrated the Dedication of the Temple on his own birth-day sacrificing three hundred Oxen to the great joy of the people These things done Herod sets sail for Italy to salute Caesar and see his Sons and passing by Greece was not only present but made Judg at the Olympick Exercises and bestowing some Annual revenue upon them that they might be the more splendid for this bounty he is declared perpetual Judg of those Exercises Coming to Rome Caesar courteously received him and deliver'd to him his Sons well educated and instructed in all the Liberal Arts and Sciences Being returned home with his Sons Alexander and Aristobulus they being grown to mans estate he provided them wives for Alexander Bernice the daughter of Salome for Aristobulus Glaphira the daughter of Archelaus King of the Cappadocians These young men gained the love and affection of the people exceedingly but Salome and her followers feared they would sometime or other revenge their Mothers death and therefore she and Pheroras Herod's Brother practic'd against them infusing into their father suspition of them as if they were not well affected towards him but exclaimed greatly against the Authors of their Mothers death Herod troubled hereat called to Court Antipater his eldest Son begotten by him when he was a private man whom he had banished the City in favour of these two Sons only giving him liberty to come thither on Festival days that setting him up against them he might make them more careful of their behaviour But they were thereby the more incensed and Antipater making use of his time got more and more into his Fathers affections and at his intreaty brought to Court also his mother Doris whom being a woman of mean parentage Herod put away when he married Mariamne Herod hearing that Agrippa Caesar's great friend and Son-in-law having married Julia his daughter was come into Asia he went to him and invited him into Judea and entertained him magnificently in all the Cities and Castles he had newly built shewing him his buildings and presenting him and his friends with all the delights he could Then conducting him to Jerusalem all the Citizens met him in their best habit with joyful acclamations Agrippa having sacrificed an Hecatomb to God feasted the people and the winter drawing on he made hast to sail to Ionia As soon as it was spring Herod hearing that Agrippa was going with an Army to Bosphorus made hast to go to him he overtook him at Sinope a City in Pontus bringing some Auxiliaries with him for his service Agrippa embraced him with singular affection and made him partaker of his Counsels And afterwards in their return Agrippa was ready to gratifie Herod in any thing and at his intreaty relieved the necessities of many that made use of his Intercession He procured for the Iews that dwelt in Jonia a â—onfirmation of the priviledges formerly granted them which the Grecians would not suffer them to enjoy and that none should molest them for living after their Countries Laws Then with mutual embraces they took their leaves each of other Herod in few days arrived at Caesarea and thence came to Jerusalem where calling the people together he gave them an account of his journey and how he had procured liberty for the Ionian Jews and to ingratiate himself the more with them he declared he was willing to remit unto them the fourth part of their Tribute The people exceedingly pleased herewith wished all happiness to the King Agrippa after ten years Government in Asia being now to return to Rome Herod went again to salute him and take leave of him and taking of all his Sons only Antipater with him he delivered him to Agrippa to be brought to Caesar that he might by his means obtain the Emperour's favour Antipater accordingly was much honoured at Rome being commended to several friends and great persons by his Fathers Letters From thence he was not wanting by his Letters to whet his Fathers displeasure against his Brothers the Sons of Mariamne and seemed very sollicitous of his Fathers safety though aiming at the succession thereby Herod being by these artifices exceedingly incensed against his two Sons Alexander and Aristobulus sailed with them to Rome to accuse them before Caesar and carried with him Nicholas Damascene in the same Ship with whom he studied Philosophy Augustus being gone to Aquileia thither Herod went to him and the young men being there accused before Caesar of an intention to poyson their Father they so cleared themselves and by their tears and other evidences so manifested their innocency that Caesar reconciled them to their Father Then after thanks returned to the Emperour they departed and Antipater with them feigning himself glad that they were received again into favour Herod having given three hundred Talents to Caesar and been very liberal as his custom was in all places to the people of Rome Caesar bestowed on him half the profits of the Mines of Cyprus and gave him liberty to make which of his Sons he pleased his Successor or if he would to distribute his Kingdom among them all which Herod presently would have done but Cesar would not allow that he should part with the Government during his life In Herods absence the Inhabitants of Trachonitis a considerable part of his Kingdom rebelled but were reduced again to obedience by his Captains But some of them leaving their Country fled into Arabia Nabataea where they were entertained by Syllaeus the
and give them most injuriously to his servants and favourites Sixthly he will take the tenth of their seed and of their Vineyards either that which of right belonged to the Levites or another tenth after theirs is paid and give it to his Officers and Courtiers Seventhly he will take their men-servants and and maid-servants and their goodliest young men their asses and put them to his work Eighthly he will take the tenth of their sheep as a tribute to himself and they will he forc'd to be his servants and vassals not living like free-born Israelites but in a servile and slavish condition and then they will cry out in that day by reason of the grievous oppressions they are under but the Lord will not regard their cryes or prayers because by their own obstinate wilfulness they brought these evils upon themselves Samuel having received these words from the Lord faithfully represented them unto the people but they notwithstanding like desperate resolute fellows cried out they would have a King that they might be like other Nations they would have a pompous and royal Monarchy among them instead of the mean Government of Judges which made so little noise or shew in the world they would have a King that should rule over them with Royal Authority in time of peace and should command their Armies as Generalissimo in time of war and they had now more especial need of such a King seeing Nahash King of the Ammonites was coming against them Samuel hearing these words of the people he spread them before the Lord in prayer humbly desiring directions from him what he should do in this great and weighty business The Lord answered him saying Hearken unto their voice and make them a King as if he should have said seeing no reasons nor warnings will prevail with them let them have their desire though it will be to their cost So Samuel having commission from God to make them a King he dismissed the Assembly for the present to their own homes that he might gain thereby some time to consider of the manner and means how this weighty business might be best effected 1 Sam. 8. from 4 to the end SECT CLX THE people of Israel being so earnest for a King King Saul and seeming to themselves so undone without one the Lord now resolves to give them one but he gave him in his anger and took him away in his wrath Hos 13.11 The History of this King we come now to set forth There was a man of the Tribe of Benjamin (a) The Tribe of Benjamin thorough the desolation they brought upon themselves Judg. 26.46 was now become the least and most obscure Tribe yet yields to Israel her first King and in the victories of this King Jacob's Prophesie was was in part fulfilled Gen. 49.27 Benjamin shall ravine like a wolf c. And this shews that the Kingdom was not to be setled upon the Posterity of this first King but on one of the Tribe of Judah whose name was Kish a man of great authority and power and as it seems of great estate and substance among them (b) Nulla hic mentio patriae Saulis quae erat Gibeah forte quia infamis erat propter illud stuprum Jud. 19. who had a Son whose name was Saul a goodly and comely person taller by the head and shoulders than any of the people a man fit to make a Prince and to be honoured of his Subjects when he was set over them It happened at this time that some of the Asses of Kish were gone astray of which 't is like he had an excellent breed and such as were of great value (c) Asini in Syria sunt praestantiores Europaeis unde filii Principum iis vehebantur Jud. 10.4 12.14 Hebraei enim equis vix utebantur idque ex Dei monitu Deut. 17.16 non ergo mirum si ad asinas quaerendas Saul a parente destinetur Quemadmodum viri Principes venatoriam nunc exercent ita olim exercere poterant Pastoritiam in that Country where persons of the greatest rank and condition used to ride upon them see Judg. 10.4 12.14 Kish bids his Son Saul to take a servant with him and to go and seek for them Saul in obedience to his Fathers command went in quest of them through the Mountainous Country of Ephraim and through Shalisha a plain Country in the Tribe of Benjamin and through the land belonging to the City called Salim Joh. 3.23 but he found them not and when they were come to the land of Zuph namely the Counrry where Ramah Samuel's City was situate which thereupon was called Ramahthaim-Zophim Ch. 1. 1. Saul said to his servant come let us return lest my Father leave caring for the Asses and take thought for us The servant replied Sir there is in this City of Ramah a venerable person highly esteemed for his supernatural and wonderful knowledg of secret (d) God gave the gift of Prophesie to his Servants to be employed in directing them in weightier matters than such as these But perhaps he did permit them to exercise it in these also that he might keep his people from seeking to Witches or to the Oracles of the Heathens 2 King 1.3 God would not have his people think that he had less care of them as to their private concerns than the Idols of the Heathen had who being consulted with did by the Ministry of Satan speaking in their Oracles return them Answers though oftentimes very frivilous and ambiguous v. 9. Credo hunc versum ab Esdra huic loco insertum qui Prophetico spiritu afflatus erat things insomuch that all that he foretelleth surely cometh to pass now let us go to him peradventure he can shew us the way we should walk in for the finding out the Asses we seek after But Saul reply'd If we go to him what shall we present him with as a civil and honourary gratuity to testifie our respect and thankefulness to him See 1 King 14.2 3. 2 King 4.42 For our provisions that we brought with us in our Wallet are spent and we have nothing left that is fit or worthy to be presented unto him The servant said he had the fourth part of a shekel which makes about seven pence half-penny of our money see Gen. 23.15 a small present indeed to be presented to a Prophet or Seer who by special revelation is acquainted with the mind and will of God and foresees things to come and from God reveals them to the people However says he let us present it as a token of our respect and thankefulness to him Saul agrees hereunto so they went to Ramah where Samuel dwelt as they drew near to the City they met some young maidens going out to draw water and enquiring of them for the Seer they told them he was newly returned to the City having been out upon some occasion and there was a sacrifice (e) It was lawful
for Prophets immediately inspired to offer Sacrifices especially Peace-offerings upon Altars erected in other places besides the Tabernacle especially at this time when the Ark was separated from it to be that day in the high place (f) Fuit haec domus quaedam in qua haec Sacrificia fieri solebant boni viri illuc confluxerunt pransuri cum Samuele that is a Peace-offering or Sacrifice of Thanksgiving after which was to follow a Feast to be made of the remainders of the Sacrifice at which the Seer would be present It seems Samuel had purposely appointed this Feast and invited guests unto it God having revealed to him by the secret inspiration of his Spirit see v. 15. that he would send that day to him the man who he intended should be their King and that he should anoint him to be Captain over his people and to save them out of the hands of the Philistines (g) The Israelites had not in all Sauls time a full deliverance from the Philistines but he gave them many defeats and so blunted their strength that they could not keep the Israelites under as they formerly did therefore he may be said in some degree to have saved them though their deliverance was not compleat but reserved till Davids reign and therefore Samuel was willing to express his respects to him by providing for him some honourable entertainment though the rest of the guests knew not so much The maidens further tell them that if they made hast they might possibly meet with him before he went up to the high place for besure the people would not eat before he came for he used to bless (a) Solebant Hebraei epulas a precibus inchoare precibus claudere juxta Deut. 8.10 vide Mat. 14.19 26.30 Luc. 9.16 24.30 Act. 27.35 He that blessed the Table did also divide and distribute the meat by prayer and thanksgiving the flesh that was offered whereof the Feast was to be made and afterwards they did eat that were bidden Saul and his servant going accordingly to the City Samuel met them just as he was going up to the high-place As soon as he set his eyes on Saul the Lord by secret inspiration told him that was the man of whom he had before given him intimation that he should reign over his people Then Saul drew near to Samuel being within the Gate and in the midst of the City v. 14. and as it seems not knowing him asked him where the Seers house was Samuel answered that he himself was the Seer and was now going up to a Feast that was to be kept at the high-place therefore he desired him to favour him so far as to go up thither with him and to eat with them and if he pleased to stay with him that night and on the morrow he would be ready to tell him any thing that was in his mind to ask of him And says he lest thou shouldest be unwilling to stay by reason of the occasion thou camest out upon I tell thee that as for thy Fathers Asses that were lost three days ago they are found again therefore trouble not thy self any more about them thou hast greater matters and of greater concernment to mind as I shall shew thee before we part thou art not ignorant that it is the general desire of Israel to have a King to reign over them and this royal dignity is like to be placed by Gods special Providence on thee and thy fathers house Saul was exceedingly surprized at these words and as one astonished at the strangeness of them replied Alas what am I Am not I a Benjamite (b) When this Tribe kept faithful to the house of David in the days of Jeroboam as well as the house of Judah the Scripture speaks but of one Tribe that did cleave to the house of David 1 King 11.32 Benjamin not being mentioned because of their paucity but comprehended under the men of Judah and of that small Tribe which not many years ago was almost utterly destroyed Judg. 20. and are not my family the fewest in number of all the ten families in my Tribe wherefore then dost thou mention such a thing to me However when they were come to the high-place where the Feast was to be kept Samuel took Saul and his servant and bringing them into the Parlour made them sit down in the chiefest place among those that were bidden who probably were the Elders and chief of the City and in number about thirty and Samuel having given order to the Cook to provide one special extraordinary Mess that should be set by and reserv'd as for some extraordinary guest and not sent up till he sent for it he now accordingly calls for it that it might be set before Saul and the Cook took up the Shoulder which was accounted a chief Joint with some other meat that was laid upon it or some sawce to make it more acceptable and grateful and set it before Saul and Samuel said Take this dish that is provided for thee set it before thee and eat of it for I gave charge that this portion of meat should be reserved for thee when I said unto the Cook I have invited some to eat with me make ready for them So that Saul might see hereby that God had revealed his coming to Samuel before hand Saul accordingly did eat with Samuel that day And when they were come down from the high-place into the City the next morning Samuel communed with Saul about this great matter upon the roof of his house which being flat as the manner of their houses was it was a fit place for them to be private in After which Saul and his servant departing Samuel accompanied them some part of the way and as they were going out of the City Samuel desired Saul to send his servant before that he might not hear what they said nor see what they did but that he himself would stay with him and he would then declare to him what he had in commission from God further to say and do unto him Samuel thought good to use such secresie in this matter that it might not be thought when Saul was chosen King that there had been any plotting or contrivance between Samuel and him about it and that it might not be suspected to be Samuel's choice but plainly the Lords Samuel and Saul being now alone Samuel as God had commanded him * See Ch. 15.1 took a viol of oyl and poured it upon his head (c) It had bin a constant custom among other Nations to anoint their Kings whence it is that Cyrus King of Persia was call'd the Lords Anointed Isa 45.1 It is thought that Saul was anointed with ordinary oyl as was also Jehu 2 King 9 1 6. which Samuel brought with him in a Viol from his own house though David and Solomon and other Kings that succeeded them were anointed with the holy oyl of the Sanctuary
back to Jerusalem with these men of Judah Shimei the Benjamite join'd himself who had before so unsufferably cursed and reviled David bringing with him a thousand Benjamites so that it seems he was a potent man in his own Tribe He took this opportunity of coming to reconcile himself to the King and obtain his pardon hoping to speed the better because the men of Judah also now came to make their peace with him Ziba also the treacherous servant of Mephibosheth who had so falsely accused his Master was very forward to come with his fifteen sons and twenty servants to meet the King hoping thereby to keep himself in the Kings favour though his falseness to his Master should be discovered All these went over Jordan to meet the King and to conduct him back And there went a Ferry-boat to bring over some of the chief of the Kings houshold as his wives and children and whom he pleased and to be imployed as he should appoint The rest passed over the fords on horses or as they could Shimei now coming before the King fell down on his face before him and said Let not my Lord impute iniquity unto me neither do thou remember what thy servant did perversely on the day that my Lord the King went out of Jerusalem neither let the King take it to his heart or regard it for thy servant doth acknowledg that he hath heinously sin'd against thee But I am come the first and before any others of the house of Joseph * The Scripture is wont ordinarily to divide the 12 Tribes into Judah and Israel Judah having Benjamin adjoin'd to it and Ephraim comprehending the other Ten Tribes which are all called by its name because it was the chief of them See Isa 7.2 Psal 80.1 Zach. 10.6 viz. of the Ten Tribes to meet my Lord the King And therefore as I have given a good example to others so if I obtain pardon others will be encouraged by my example to come in likewise to submit to the King Abishai standing by and hearing what he said What says he shall not Shimei be put to death who cursed the Lords anointed to his face If thou spare him spare all The King replied What have I to do with you ye Sons of Zerviah why should you advise me to that which is so prejudicial to me as if you were my very adversaries seeing God hath given me so signal a victory over my enemies and hath made this day a day of rejoicing to me I will not damp nor stain the joy of it by sheding any mans blood I am this day restored to my Kingdom again and as it were new-created King and what better becomes a King especially on the day of his Inauguration than clemency and mercy It will not be wisdom in me to discourage those that are willing to submit to me nor to endanger my yet unsetled State by exercising severity on them who stooped and acknowledged their faults Therefore as for Shimei I do here swear unto him before you all and pass my royal word that he shall not die (a) This must be understood in reference to his former faults if he committed any new offence this Oath did not bind to secure him from punishment therefore David 1 King 2.8 9. gave order to his Son Solomon to watch and observe him well that if his malice and wickedness did break forth any other way he should proceed against him in a way of justice Non morieris i. e. hodie vel jam vel manu mea meo jussu non propter hanc causam Nec praecepit Solomoni ut propter eum puniret eum sed solum dicit noli pati eum esse impunitum sed eo modo quo juste poteris Id ergo committit prudentiae Solomonis Among others that met the King Mephibosheth the Grandson of Saul was one who had neither washed his feet as in publick mournings they used not to do nor trimmed his beard nor wash'd his linnen from the day the King departed from the City to that day but had behaved himself as a true mourner for the Kings long absence and sore afflictions The King asks him why he came not to him sooner he answers My Lord O King my servant deceived me for I said I would have the asses sadled that I might ride to the King and behold he went away secretly with them leaving me behind a poor lame man unable to help my self And besides this he hath also horribly slandered me to the King and hath thereby as I understand gotten a grant of my lands I do protest I never spake those words he hath accused me of but my Lord the King is wise even as an Angel of God to discern between truth and falshood therefore let him do unto me what seemeth good in his eyes for I acknowledg all my fathers house were but as dead men before my Lord the King we were all in thy power thou mightest have put us all to death if thou hadst so pleased for the attempt made upon thy Royal dignity by Ishbosheth and therefore what cause have I to complain if that which was freely given me by thee be now taken from me David tells him he was full of weighty business at that time and therefore he would not have him for the present trouble him any further about that matter I have said says he and my sentence shall stand Thou and Ziba divide the land It may seem strange that so wise and just a King as David was should pass so unjust a sentence against Mephibosheth the Son of his dear friend Jonathan with whom he had made a solemn Covenant to be kind to him and his seed after him and the poor pitiful plight and condition Mephibosheth was now in might have induc'd David to think that he was far from aspiring to the Crown Besides Ziba did not offer now to justifie to his masters face what he had before accused him of But it seems David was loth to displease Ziba who had lately brought him relief in his distress and was not willing to take back from him all that he had given him especially at such a time as this when he so much desired to endear himself to all his subjects and therefore he appointed Mephibosheth and him to divide the land between them But notwithstanding the hardness of this sentence honest Mephibosheth was so far from being displeased at it that he said Nay let him take all seeing my Lord the King is come to his house in peace Besides these Barzillai the Gileadite a man of eighty years of age who had supplied the King with Provisions while he was at Mahanaim see Ch. 17.27 being a very rich man came from Rogelim the City where he lived to conduct the King over Jordan The King received him very kindly and invited him to go along with him to Jerusalem where he would entertain him as his friend Barzillai told him he was at
that time fourscore years old and therefore 't was time for him to think of dying and not of enjoying the pleasures of the Court I cannot now says he taste what I eat or what I drink neither can I hear the voice of singing men or singing women wherefore then should I go to be a burden to my Lord the King Besides let not the King think of recompencing me for the poor kindness I did him in lately sending him in some supplies seeing what I did was no more than my duty obliged me to I will therefore wait upon the King over Jordan and then I pray thee let thy servant return back again to his own house that there I may retire my self and prepare for my latter end for I desire to die in my own City and to be buried with my Fathers but as for my Son Chimham I am very willing he should go over with my Lord the King let him therefore I pray thee be taken into thy favour and employ him as thou thinkest fit David readily entertained the motion and promises Barzillai to do for his Son whatsoever he should desire of him So the King and the people passing over Jordan Barzillai there took leave of him and at their parting the King kissed him and blessed him and retained so great a sense of his kindness to him that afterwards he commanded his Son Solomon to take an especial care of his Sons and to let them be of the number of those that did eat at his Table 1 King 2.7 2 Sam. Ch. 19. from v. 9 to 40. 17. The King being now come over Jordan the generality of the Tribe of Judah and some few of the ten Tribes viz. as many as in that hast could come together conducted him to Jerusalem the rest of the Israelites that as it seems could not get ready to come so soon came to the King and exprest themselves greatly discontented that they had not in hand in bringing him back as well as the Tribe of Judah Why say they have the children of Judah stollen thee away and carried thee home as it were by stealth without calling us or expecting our company and so have endeavoured as it were to ingross thee to themselves and to appropriate to themselves the intire glory of this action The men of Judah hearing this answered that the King was of their Tribe and near a kin to them wherefore then say they be ye angry for this matter We have not put the King to any expense we have born our own charges neither have we received nor do we expect any reward from him for this service The men of Israel replied that they being Ten Tribes had more right to the King than Judah who with Benjamin join'd to them were but two and they being the greatest part of his subjects had most interest in him And therefore say they why did you thus despise us as not to think us worthy to be sent unto or advised with about bringing back the King the men of Judah presuming upon the dignity of their Tribe gave them a rough and stout answer and their words were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel This contention the King heard and 't is like was troubled at but not setting himself speedily to compose it being loth to displease either party it brake out into a great inconvenience soon after for seeing Judah challenged so great a part in the King and the King did not contradict it Israel being impatient of such a disparagement resolv'd as it seems they would have no interest in him at all 2 Sam. Ch. 19. from v. 40 to the end 18. The King being now come to Jerusalem he shut up the ten Concubines that had been defiled by Absalom in an house of custody where he provided for them but went not in unto them and so they remained shut up unto the day of their death in a state of widdowhood but though David was come to his Royal City yet his troubles were not yet at an end For as bones new set are easily put out again if great care be not taken so people that have broken out into sedition and are newly quieted are very apt to break out again if they be not charily handled and thus it was with the Israelites at this time for upon this quarrel between them and the men of Judah Sheba a Benjamite by descent but of the hill-country of Ephraim by residence and possibly of the house of Saul having this opportunity out of hatred to David and hope to reduce the Crown back again to that Tribe and Family he blew a Trumpet to assemble the Israelites together who being met he spake to them after this manner You all see my Brethren that we have no part in David nor portion in the Son of Jesse see 1 King 12.16 Alass we are counted pitiful people not worthy to be regarded the men of Judah they are the only brave men they it seems have a King but we have none at least they desire to have him wholly to themselves and for my part let them take him and let us chuse another for our selves who will own us for his subjects let us all now return to our own houses and Tribes and there advise and consider what is fit for us to do in this case The men of Israel readily embraced this motion and leaving David followed Sheba but the men of Judah unanimously followed the King and conducted him from Jordan to Jerusalem David was much startled at this unexpected defection of the Israelites from him and therefore resolves to raise an Army speedily to reduce them in order hereunto he makes Amasa his General being inwardly offended with Joab for slaying Absalom and commands him to assemble the people of Judah within three days and then to come to him and receive further orders This was a short time for so great a work but David thought Expedition absolutely necessary lest Sheba by their delaying should so encrease his numbers and grow so strong that it would be difficult to suppress him But the time being so short and many of the people as 't is like being addicted to their old General Joab who had been successful were loth to engage under this new who had been unprosperous or whatever else the cause was Amasa could not accomplish it within the time limited David being impatient of this delay appoints Abishai to take his own guard viz. the Cherethites and Pelethites and his other servants and attendants who were valiant and faithful men and with them to pursue after Sheba with all speed for says he if this Sheba be not suddenly suppressed he will raise a more dangerous rebellion against me than Absalom did and will with his forces get into fenced Cities and then it may be difficult to deal with him Abishai immediately marched out with that party to seek Sheba with whom some that were formerly under Joab's command joined themselves and as it seems
familiarity with the Greeks succeded him He changed his Principality into a Kingdom setting a Diadem upon his head and was the first that did so after the return from the Captivity in Babylon His second Brother Antigonus he loved exceedingly in so much that he made him his Partner in the Kingdom but shut up the other three in Prison and with them his Mother who contended with him for the Principality and he proceeded to that height of Cruelty that he famished her to death in Prison Aristobulus now marched with his Army into Itrurea and layed a great part of it to Judea forcing the Inhabitants under penalty of Banishment to admit of Circumcision and other Jewish Ceremonies Not long after he caused his beloved Brother to be made away though against his will For Antigonus returning from the Wars in Triumph at the Feast of Tabernacles it so happened that Aristobulus was then sick and kept his Bed in the Tower that was afterwards called Antony's Tower Antigonus marched up with his Soldiers to the Temple intending to offer sacrifice for his sick Brother This was presently interpreted to Aristobulus as the effect of a bad intention toward him and a sufficient sign of his affecting the Kingdom and it was represented as if Antigonus would presently come down and kill him Aristobulus to provide for his own security and yet to shun suspicion commanded some of his Guard to stand in an obscure place where his Brother was to come and if he came armed then to kill him but if unarmed then not to meddle with him and that he might do so he sent one under hand to him to desire him not to come with his arms But Solome the Queen and the rest of Antigonus's back friends perswaded the Messenger to tell him that the King had a mind to see him as he then was in his Warriors habit So Antigonus thinking nothing but coming armed to see his Brother was there immediately slain upon the place After it was done Aristobulus was smitten with a great remorse for it tho' he knew nothing of the altering the purport of his Message and his distemper increasing at last he vomited blood which being carried out by one of his Attendants he chanced to spill some of it in that very place where Antigonus was slain Aristobulus having notice given him of this accident acknowledged the just Judgment of God therein and immediately gave up the Ghost in extream anguish both of body and mind having reigned only one year After his decease his Wife Solome whom the Grecians call Alexandria released his Brothers whom he had kept Prisoners a long time and made Alexander Jannaeus the eldest of them King in his room He as soon as he was possessed of the Kingdom put one of his Brothers to death upon the discovery of some treasonable design against him But he loved the other exceedingly who affected to live a retired life He was called Absolon and was taken Prisoner at Jerusalem by Pompey many years after Alexander Jannaeus having setled his affairs at home went and besieged Ptolemais which with Gaza only of the Sea-Towns remained unconquered besides the Tower of Straton since called Caesarea and Dora which Zoilus the Tyrant had got into his hands At this time the two Brothers Antiochus Gryphus and Cizicenus were eagerly destroying one another in Syria so that the Ptolemaians had little hope of Relief from them only Zoilus who gaped after the City himself gave them a little Relief There being no hope of any Relief but from Cyprus whither Ptol. Lathurus had been driven by his Mother Cleopatra they sent to him desiring his aid against Alexander giving him hopes that he should not only save them but with them the Inhabitants of Gaza on his side and that Zoilus the Sidonians and others would assist him also He being puft up with these Promises made what haste he could to their assistance and Zoilus and the Gazaeans joyning with him the Siege was raised before Ptolemais and Alexander departed home attempting afterwards by Policy to overturn the design of Ptolemy For openly professing himself his Friend and Ally he promised him 300 Talents to take off Zoilus the Tyrant and so lay his Territories to his own Dominions which Lathurus consented to do but then he privily sent to Cleopatra his Mother exciting her against him which Lathurus understanding tho' before he embraced his friendship yet now he utterly renounced the League he had made with him And laying a Siege with part of his Army against Ptolemais which City it seems had shut their Gates against him he march'd away himself with the residue of his forces against Judea Alexander Jannaeus marches out to meet him with fifty thousand men Ptolemais coming unawares on the Sabbath-day on Asychis a City in Galilee storm'd it and took it and carried away with him about 10000 Prisoners Next he fell upon Zephoris not far distant from thence but having lost many men before it he drew off to encounter Alexander They engage near Jordan and Ptolemy's Soldiers rout the Jews and in the pursuit slay many thousands of them Josephus says 30000. Ptolemy ranging up and down the Country fell at last into some Villages which being full of Women and Children he commanded his Soldiers to kill them promiscuously and cutting off their Limbs to cast them into Caldrons that so a report might be spread abroad that his army eat mans flesh which would strike Terror and Discouragement into their Enemies Cleopatra hearing how her Sons power increased held it small Policy to let him go on as he did therefore she came against him with Forces both by Land and by Sea over which she placed as chief Commanders under her self Chelcias and Ananias both Jews and Sons of that Onias who built the Temple in the Seigniory of Alexandria Her Son Lathurus imagining she had drained the Garrisons of Egypt to make up this great army hasted thither hoping to have surpriz'd that Kingdom in her absence but she left it so well provided that his attempts proved ineffectual Cleopatra with her Army now lays siege to Ptolemais and takes it Thither comes to her Alexander Jannaeus with Presents in his hands where he was received as a person distressed by her adversary and one only who had no other Refuge but her self to betake himself unto Some that were about her advised her to seize his Country immediately into her own hands and not to suffer so many good Jews to be at the pleasure and command of one man But Ananias advised the contrary accounting it a great wickedness to dispossess a man received into Friendship of his Estate And if the Queen should do so she would by offering injury to Alexander in a short time lose the affections of the whole Nation of the Jews The Queen being perswaded by Ananias entred into a League with Alexander at Scythopolis a City in Coelosyria Alexander being now freed from fear both of Mother and Son Ptolemy
being gone to Cyprus and his Mother to Egypt he fell upon Gaza for calling in Lathurus to their help against him In the mean time Apollodorus their General broke out into his Camp by night with a very strong party and as long as night lasted had the better of it but as soon as it was day the Jews uniting themselves charged the Gazaeans so stoutly that they slew a thousand of them The City held out a good while but was at last taken by the treachery of Lysimacus Brother to Apollodorus whom out of envy for being in so much favour with the people he murdered and then getting a party about him delivered up the place Alexander at first marched in very calmly and peaceably but after a while let loose his Soldiers to fall upon the Citizens without controul who sold their Lives as dear as they could destroying many of the Soldiers He cut the Throats of many Senators who were met in Apollo's Temple and after he had sack'd the City he returned to Jerusalem Alexander was hated by his own Subjects and being injuriously used by them on the Feast of Tabernacles he is reported to have slain six thousand of them having furnished himself with Guards hired out of Pisidia and Cilicia for the purpose He overthrew the Arabians and imposed Tribute upon the Moabites and Gileadites He was troubled with intestine Broils from his own Subjects stirred up principally by the Pharisees who had been provoked by his Father Hircanus which Broils continued six years during which time they fought often but he usually had the better of it 'T is said that in that time he destroyed no less than fifty thousand of them It troubled him thus to destroy the strength of his own Kindom therefore he endeavoured to compose matters with them and asked them Wherewith he should appease them They answered If he would kill himself for scarce could they pardon him tho' he were dead At last they called in Demetrius Encaerus son of Antiochus Gryphus made King of Syria by Ptol. Lathurus to their assistance and by the help of his Army overthrew Alexander But many of them being touched with compassion towards their King after this defeat about 6000 of them went over to him which so discouraged Demetrius that he thereupon retired into his own Country The Pharisees being thus left by Demetrius forthwith waged War with Alexander by themselves but still had the worst of it and many of them being taken by him were nailed to Crosses and their Wives and their Children slain before their faces During these stirs he lost all that he had got in the Arabian and Moabitish Regions Yet afterwards gathering together his forces he wan divers Towns and reduced under his power the valley called Antiochus's Valley and the Fort Gamala and outed Demetrius Lord of those places and then returned home and was joyfully received by his Subjects for the good success he had had in that Expedition At this time the Jews possessed many Cities in Syria Idumaea Phoenicia and other Countries a Catalogue of which Josephus hath left us among which Pella a Town of Moab being one they destroyed it because the Inhabitants refused to receive the Jewish Rites Anna a Prophtess Daughter of Phanuel her Husband being dead went not out of the Temple but served God day and night for 84 years together until she saw Christ in the Temple Alexander towards his latter end giving himself to intemperate courses contracted a quartan Ague which held him three years Yet for all this he followed on his Wars and laid siege to Ragala Castle beyond Jordan but being at last overcome by the force of his disease he died there before the Walls of that place in the 27th year of his reign about 76 years before the birth of Christ Alexander a little before his death when he saw he must die advised his Wife to keep close his death till the place should be gained and then going victoriously to Jerusalem to send for the chief of the Pharisees whom both he and his Father had grievously offended and to express kindness to them and give them the disposal of his Corps and to assure them that she would not act any thing in State matters but by their advice This advice she punctually followed and thereby so gained the love of the Pharisees that they cryed up Alexander for a good King among the people and bewailed his death and provided a more stately and sumptuous funeral for him than they had made for any King before him Alexander left two Sons Hircanus and Aristobulus but to his Wife he left the management of the Kingdom Hircanus was of a dull and heavy temper Tho' therefore she made him High-Priest yet she kept the Government in her own hands tho' indeed all things were ordered at the will and pleasure of the Pharisees whom the people were commanded to obey and against whom whatever Ordinances were made by Hircanus were now abolish'd The Queen kept in pay a great number of Foreigners and so increased her Power that she became formidable to the neighbouring Princes and took Hostages of them yet no great matters were done by her abroad but sufficient stirs happened at home For the Pharisees knowing no moderation in the prosecution of their ambitious and envious designs procured the Queen to put to death many of those who had counselled her Husband to deal so cruelly with their adherents Hereupon those of them who were most obnoxious being backed by Aristobulus made their Address to the Queen beseeching her that either they might be all slain there or else that they might be dispersed severally into Castles where they might pass the remainder of their lives in some security from the Treachery of their Enemies The Queen not well knowing what to do in this Exigent resolved at last to intrust them with the command of all the Castles excepting Hircania Alexandrium and Machaerus After this Alexandra falling grievous sick Aristobulus judged that now or never was the time for him to do some thing for the setting up of himself Whereupon departing privately by night with only one Servant to attend him he went to those Castles which his Fathers Friends had the command of and in a short time got them into his power The news of this being brought to the Queen she and the Pharisees were exceedingly troubled at it knowing that if he had got the Kingdom into his hands he would call them to a strict account for the hard usage of his Friends Hircanus the High Priest and the Elders of the Jews having secured Aristobulus's Wife and Children in the Castle at Jerusalem make their Address to the Queen desiring her speedy direction what they should do in these State Emergencies She told them They might do what in their Judgments they thought fit and most conducing to the publick good and might imploy the Arms and Treasure of the Kingdom as they saw occasion But for her part she was in