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
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
give to a Stranger and a Traveller as Abraham Lot and Manoah in like Cases did The Angel bids him take the Flesh and unleavened Cakes and to lay them upon the Rock that was hard by and then to pour out the Broth upon them Which being done the Angel with the end of his Staff that was in his hand touched the Flesh and the unleavened Cakes and there arose up fire (y) Here fire comes out of a Rock as water formerly did Exod. 17.6 out of the Rock and immediately consumed them and then He presently vanished out of his sight Thus what Gideon intended for a Feast was miraculously turned by the Angel into a kind of Burnt-Offering or Sacrifice that thereby his Faith might be strengthened and that he might be assured that the Service God called him to should be accepted and that he should have good Success in it Gideon perceiving now that it was an Angel that had talked with him both by his miraculous consuming the Provisions he had brought as also by his sudden vanishing out of his sight he was sorely afraid Oh says he because I have seen an Angel of the Lord face to face in that visible form which he assumed I shall surely die In those days it seems it was a receiv'd Opinion among the Jews that if they had seen an Angel * Vetustissimus hic hominum metus ne morte aut male aliquo gravi afficerentur conspecto coelitus aliquo quod indignos se tali spectaculo crederent ut docet Callimachus Grot. it was very perillous to their lives see Judg. 13.22 and Deut. 5.24 26. The Lord seeing Gideon in so great a perplexity about this Vision the next Night comforts him and bids him not be afraid for he should not die Then he Commands him these three things First To take his Fathers young Bullock the second in order of those that were prepared and set apart to be sacrificed to Baal see vers 28. and of seven years old and to offer her in Sacrifice unto the Lord intimating possibly that the Midianites Tyranny that had lasted now seven years should have an end and together with it there should be a suppression of Baal's Worship in the Land 2ly He Commands him to throw down Baal's Altar which his Father had made for his Family and the Inhabitants of Ophrath and to cut down the Grove by it For before Gideon might go to fight against the Midianites the Enemies of God and his people he must first set on foot the Reformation of Religion and the Extirpation of Superstition and Idolatry which had provoked the Lord to Displeasure against them And he must begin at Home viz. with his own Family and Friends 3ly When he had done this He must build an Altar to the Lord in that very place upon the top of the Rock where the Lord had before ordered him to place the Provisions he had brought and given him a sign by causing fire to come out of the Rock and consume them And on this Altar he must offer the Bullock before-mentioned for a Burnt-Offering with the wood of the Grove which he should cut down Gideon having received these Commands took ten of his Servants who it seems were ready to joyn with him in this Enterprize and fearing lest those of his Fathers house or the Inhabitants of the City should hinder or interrupt him in what he had to do he took the advantage of the Night to do it in and setting so many hands at work the business was done before any of the City knew it to make Opposition or Resistance And having built an Altar to the Lord and sacrificed (z) Here Gods special Command was a sufficient warrant for what Gideon did though otherwise it was not lawful for any but a Priest to offer Sacrifice or to do it any where but in the Tabernacle the Bullock thereon as he was commanded he called it Jehovah-Shalom as if he should have said The Lord send peace which Name continued when this History was written The people of the City understanding next morning that Baal's Altar was thrown down and his Grove also cut down and the second Bullock offered upon a new Altar built on the Rock they inquired who had done these strange things It was told them That Gideon had done them They hereupon run violently to Joash requiring him to bring forth his Son that he may be put to death for casting down the Altar and Grove of Baal And this they require before they heard what he could say for himself so unreasonable are men when transported with an Idolatrous Rage Joash though it seems before he had been himself a Worshipper of Baal yet now his mind being extraordinarily changed possibly upon Gideon's acquainting him with the Vision he had seen He resolutely opposes them What says he will ye dare to plead for Baal will ye go about to save him For my part he that will plead for Baal let him be put to death and that presently without any further delay I wonder what aileth you If Baal be a god let him plead for himself and revenge the wrong that is done to him in throwing down his Altar but if he be not he is not worthy to be defended by you who is unable either to defend you or himself Having said these things in memory of that Heroick Fact done by Gideon and in honour of Him Joash that day call'd Him Jerubbaal saying Let Baal plead against him if he can Then the Midianites and the Amalekites and their Confederates came over Jordan into Canaan and pitched in the Valley of Jezreel in the Tribe of Manasseh not far from Ophrah where Gideon dwelt And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon and acting him above himself he blew a Trumpet and Abiezer that is those of his own Family gathered themselves unto Him and he sent Messengers throughout the Tribe of Manasseh Asher Zebulun and Naphtali viz. to all the Neighbouring-Tribes excepting Ephraim which occasioned afterwards a great Quarrel between them as we shall see Chap. 8. and many of those Tribes came and joyned themselves with the Forces he had got together Gideon being now shortly to engage in battel against the Midianites He desires to be further assur'd of God's Mind as to the event of the Fight for the confirmation of his own Faith and for the Encouragement of his Followers For though the Apostle Heb. 11.32 commendeth him for his Faith yet he did not attain to the strength of it all at once but by degrees as he was more and more confirm'd by God In the mean time he needed all these helps to support him against his Doubts and Faintings Gideon therefore prays unto the Lord and beseeches him that if he intended to save Israel by his hand He would please to give him this sign thereof He would put a Fleece of Wool in the Floor and if in the morning there were dew on the Fleece only and
generously resolved gave order that he and his men should pass over the River Kidron (b) Called Cedron Joh. 18.1 which lay between the City and mount Olivet which they accordingly did their Children whom they brought along with them following them And the people thereabout wofully lamented the sad condition they saw their King now in and the King and the people that were with him passed over the river 2 Sam. Ch. 15. from v. 17 to 24. 2ly Zadock who was next to the High-Priest Abiathar and whose course it seems it was at this time to attend upon the Ark came with many of the Levites to David bearing the Ark of God and when they came to the place where David and his Company stayed they set it down and Abiathar the High-Priest went in the forefront of the people that came out to David and led them up to Mount Olivet until all the Company that followed him were passed over the Brook Kidron David then spake to Zadock and Abiathar to carry back the Ark to Jerusalem for though he highly valued the Ark being the visible sign of Gods presence and at which they used to ask counsel of God in their difficulties yet because it could not be conveniently carried about with them in that flying posture they were now in and he could not enjoy it unless he had the Priests and Levites also with him to attend it and being unwilling to expose them to so much danger as he himself was like to be exposed unto he commanded them to carry it back into the City saying to them If I shall find favour in the eyes of the Lord he will bring me back again unto it and to the Tabernacle or Tent I have provided for it in which he uses in an especial manner to manifest his gracious presence But if he say I have no delight in thee nor will accept thee because of thy heinous sins behold here I am let him do to me as seemeth good unto him I wholly submit my self to his good pleasure Further he said to Zadock Art not thou a Seer and a Prophet whose duty it is to instruct the people Return thou therefore and Abiathar into the City in peace go and that with my love and good liking and take your two Sons Ahimaaz and Jonathan along with you You may do me great service there by inquiring into the counsels and observing the motions of the enemy and giving me intelligence thereof and this I desire you to do for me and I will tarry in the plain of the Wilderness till I hear from you Zadock and Abiathar accordingly carried the Ark back again to Jerusalem but did not take their Sons Ahimaaz and Jonathan along with them as David appointed but ordered them to stay at Enrogel in the borders of Judah and Benjamin not far from Jerusalem see Ch. 17.17 that lying there in obscurity they might receive intelligence from their Fathers and so acquaint David therewith as occasion required 2 Sam. Ch. 15. from 24 to 30. 3ly David now marches up to Mount Olivet weeping bitterly for his sins that had brought these troubles upon him and he went barefoot and with his head covered as was the custom of mourners among the Jews thereby testifying his deep humiliation and shame for so highly offending God And the people also that went up with him covered their heads and wept bitterly thereby testifying their simpathy with their King in his sorrows and sufferings ver 30. 4ly David upon this occasion composed the 3d. and 55. Psalm One comes now to David and acquaints him that Achitophel that great Politician had join'd himself to Absalom and the Conspirators with him whereupon David earnestly prayed unto the Lord to turn his counsel into foolishness Which petition the Lord was pleased graciously to grant as we shall see Ch. 17.14 23. v. 30. 5ly Being come to the top of the Mountain he there prayed and worshipped God and humbly implored his mercy towards him and to help him against his enemies and behold immediately Hushai the Archite * Of the Town of Archi in Ephraim his faithful friend and Counsellor and a great Politician came to him who was a man whom God had qualified with such a measure of wisdom that he was able to countermine and counterplot Achitophel Hushai came to him with his Coat rent and earth upon his head thereby testifying the deep sense he had of his great afflictions and sufferings David kindly receives him but tells him it would not be any advantage to him but rather a burden to take him along with him he being a Statesman and not a Souldier but he would do him much better service if he would go to Jerusalem and seemingly join with Absalom and say to him I will be thy servant O King as I have been thy Fathers servant and so by insinuating himself into his favour and being made acquainted with his counsels he might defeat them (a) Davids sending Hushai to dissemble with Absalom may teach us how prone men are in their extremities to pitch upon such courses as are not so good and right as they should be And says he thou wilt have Zadock and Abiathar there to assist thee with their best endeavours and what thou hearest from Absalom or his Council thou maist impart to them and they have with them their two Sons by whom thou maist send to me It seems David thought their Sons had gone back with them to the City and did not know that they were ordered by them to stay at Enrogel as we shew'd before Hushai being Davids sure friend complies with him herein and accordingly goes to Absalom at Jerusalem and insinuates himself into his favour 2 Sam. Ch. 15. from v. 32 to the end 6ly When David was a little past the top of the hill and was going on towards the Wilderness Ziba servant to Mephibosheth meets him with two Asses sadled and laden with two hundred loaves of bread and a hundred bunches of raisins and a hundred pieces of summer-fruits and a leather-sack of wine The King asked him what he meant by these He replied the Asses be for any of the Kings Houshold to ride upon and the bread and summer-fruits and wine for any of the young men that are his followers to refresh themselves with and he hoped the King would please graciously to accept his humble respect and duty though the things in themselves were of so small value The King then askt him where Mephibosheth was his Master Jonathan's Son and what the reason was seeing he had shewed him so great kindness that he did not come to him Ziba answer'd Behold he abides at Jerusalem for he said To day shall the house of Israel restore me the Kingdom of my Father A shameful lye and slander and very improbable if Mephibosheths lameneness and infirmities to rule be considered as also how the peoples hearts were at this time set upon Absalom However David being very
the second Temple rejoicing exceedingly because God had turned the heart of the King of Persia towards them In the seventh year of Darius Esther made Queen Ibid. The History of Esther Ahasuerus dies Zerxes succeds him He makes wars upon the Grecians Artaxerxes succeeds him Ezra obtains a large Patent from him to settle the Jewish Commonwealth Liberty was also granted by him for such of the Jews as would to return Ezra with a great number returns having first kept a solemn Fast to seek a blessing from the Lord. They come to Jerusalem and present the Gold and Silver they had brought with them which was laid up in the Temple Ezra mourns and fasts because many of the people had married strange wives They are moved to put away their strange wives and the children they had by them which they consent to do In the twentieth year of Artaxerxes Nehemiah his Cup-bearer hearing how things went at Jerusalem and that their walls were not built obtains a Commission from the King to be Governour of Judea and to build the walls of Jerusalem He comes thither and goes about it Sanballat and Tobiah at first scoffed at it but then grew very angry and conspired to fight the Jews and hinder the work But Nehemiah arms the people that so they might be in readiness for them Nehemiah redresses the oppressions among them viz. concerning Slaves Debtors and Mortgages Sanballat and Tobiah and their Accomplices strive now by false rumours and false Prophesies to terrifie Nehemiah from the work And some false Brethren at home seek to hinder the work also However the walls of Jerusalem in fifty two days were finished and the dedication solemnly performed Nehemiah appoints Hanani and Hananiah Governours over the City calls together the Princes makes a Collection for the rebuilding the City On the Feast of Trumpets the Law of God was by Ezra and others read and expounded to the people at which they were much affected Ezra is consulted concerning the Feast of Tabernacles They keep a solemn Fast and make a Covenant with the Lord and seal it Ezra's Prayer The matter of the Covenant and the persons that sealed it The chief heads of the people voluntarily offer to dwell in Jerusalem The rest cast lots about it Nehemiah goes back to his Master Artaxerxes He returns and governs Judea many years In the twelfth year of his Government and thirty-second of Artaxerxes he went to him again and soon after returned with a new Commission and then reformed those disorders in the State mentioned Chap. 5. and the disorders in Religion mentioned Chap. 13. The Prophet Malachi ERRATA THE most considerable faults of the Press are thus to be amended Page 14. line 11. read backward p. 16. l. 10. make the * at Pul. p. 17. l. 53. r. Rhoine p. 46. in last part of Marg. after 12. add children l. 6. r. fifth son p. 47. l. 30 r. freedom p. 57. l. 1. r. attended p. 59. l. 12. in Marg. r. Ch. 36. p. 63. l. 47. r. how violent the rage of jealousie is p. 69. in marg near bottom r. there is p. 80. l. 9. r. to any of l. 32. r. posterity p. 81. l 1. r. Gad. p. 85. l. 8. r. Ch. 12 13 14. p. 98. l. 30. r. every p. 124. l. ult r. slew p. 141. l. 36. r. vanity p. 144. marg a r. paschate p. 158. l. 5. r. fast p. 162. l. 1. r. new marg l. 12. r. hinc p. 166. l. penult r. for no man p. 170. l. penult of Sect. 41. blot out v. 30. to the end p. 171. l. 18. r. in all p. 188. l. 1. r. mutiny p. 197. l. 11. r. amicably p. 206. l. 5. r. infested p. 212. l. 10. r. alledging p. 231. l. 16. r. in a vision p. 278. l. 8. r. High-Priest p. 284. l. 23. r. at present p. 294. marg l. 4. at * r. arte susoria p. 313. l. 1. add them p. 328. l. 49. r. refuse p. 346. marg l. 7. r. damna p. 398. marg l. penult r. daemonum p. 412. marg a r. disoperiens p. 434. marg l. penult r. cogitat p. 447. marg fig. 3. r. in regard of the transcendent holiness p 448. marg l. 2. r. them p. 464. l. 12. r 1 King p. 478. l. 1. add know p. 474. near the bottom for A r. The. p. 476. l. ult for daily or weekly p. 478. l. 1. r. we do not find p. 480. l. 19. r. preserved p. 517. marg r. ob religionem p. 522. l. 16. r. fly not p. 543. l. 48. r. more p. 581. marg r. pollebat p. 598. l. 1. marg r. 26. p. 621. l. 33. after Captivity r. as some learned men conjecture though others assert the continuance of that Kingdom to have been only 254 years see pag. 605. There are some who begin these years at Jeroboam's setting up the Calves at Dan and Bethel when the Ten Tribes became Idolatrous and end them at the destruction of Jerusalem and they include the house of Israel in the house of Judah because many of them joined themselves to them and these the Prophet seems to mean by the house of Israel including also their predecessors who were dead long before p. 638. l. 29. r. This I find to be the opinion of the learned Willet and followed by Mr. Allein in his Chronology But for my part I cannot see that there were above twenty years from the laying the foundation of the Temple to the finishing of it as we have shewed pag. 650. Some learned men begin these seven weeks or 49 years at Cyrus's decree and end them when the walls of Jerusalem were finished by Nehemiah which interval of time they make 49 years But the holy Scripture having not set down expresly the number of the years of the Kings of Persia and profane Authors differing so much about them 't is a difficult thing to determine any thing certainly in this matter If any Errors have happened in the Continuation of this History the Reader is desired to mend them with his pen the Author not having had time to read those sheets over A Chronological Table of the Seven Ages of the World from the Creation to the Death of JESUS CHRIST The First Age of the World from the Creation to the Flood 1 ADam 130 Seth. born 235 Enos born 325 Cainan born 395 Mahalaleel born 0 Jared born 622 Enoch born 687 Methuselah born 874 Lamech born 1056 Noah born 1558 Noah's three Sons Japheth Shem Ham. The Ark built 1656 The Flood The Second Age from the Flood to the Promise made to Abraham in Ur of the Chaldees 1658 NOah and his Family come out of the Ark. Noah builds an Altar The Rain-Bow a Pledge of Gods Covenant Noah plants a Vineyard Arphaxad born to Shem. 1693 Salah born 1723 Eber born 1757 Peleg born 1787 Reu born Nimrod the Grandchild of Cham. The Tower of Babel The Confusion of Tongues The Assyrian or First Monarchy begun by
set a mark upon him possibly some strange trembling of his head or some frightful ghasty look which would make him a horrible Spectacle of Divine Vengeance to terrifie others from so detestable a Crime And whosoever should slay him thus marked and do unto him as he had done to his Brother more then a single Vengeance should be taken of him Gen. 4.15 (q) Seven-fold that is manifold according to the usual expression of the Scripture See Psal 12.6 79.12 Job 5.19 Prov. 26.25 The Lord having and probably in a visible Apparition thus sentenced Cain as soon as he was got out of the place where God manifested his presence He fled as a banished man from his Native Soil and the Land where his Father dwelt to a Land East of Eden which afterwards from his wandring there was call'd the Land of Nod. Sometime after his Wife bare him a Son whom he named Enoch and in process of time He and his Posterity (r) If Abraham's Posterity in less then 400 years amounted to six hundred thousand persons how many might Cain's Posterity be ere he built this City beginning to build a City in that Country He called it by his Sons Name Unto this Enoch was born Irad unto Irad Mehujael unto Mehujael Methusael and unto Mâ—thusael Lamech This Lamech being a Branch of that wicked root of Cain bringeth into the World the Abomination of Polygamy or having more Wives at once than one For He took to himself Ada and Zillah By the former he had Jabal who first invented at least among Cain's Posterity the use of Tents and taught the right ordering of the Flock and Jubal who invented Musical Instruments such as the Harp and Organ By the latter viz. Zillah He had Tubal-Cain (s) Ex quo Gentibus Dei Vulcani nomen who wrought in Brass and Iron and Naamah who they say (t) Hartman found out the way of ordering Wooll and of Carding and Weaving This Lamech presuming possibly upon the strength of his Family and priding himself in the Arts invented by his Sons especially by Tubal-Cain who was an Artificer in Brass and Iron and possibly made Swords and such Instruments of War He thought himself able to resist and oppose any that should offend Him Therefore in a boasting vanting fashion he speaks thus to his wives who seemed afraid of him lest his fierce and boisterous humour should expose him to danger Fear ye not my Wives concerning me For if any man should attempt to set upon me I would slay that man by my wounding him and though a young man I would dispatch him by my hurting him * Vide Frid. in loc pag. 36. And if Cain a Fratricid shall be avenged seven-fold surely Lamech that kills a man in his own defence shall be avenged seventy times seven-fold Gen. 4. from 1. to 25. SECT V. AFter the death of Abel Adam begat Seth in his own likeness and after his own Image (u) Yet God was still the Father and Creator of the Spirits of all Flesh Heb. 12.9 Numb 16.22 that is such as he himself now was namely sinful and not such as he was created Seth was born in the 130th Year of Adam In the Race of Seth the account of Years is carried on from the Creation to the Flood And among these as it seems principally the true worship of God was maintained which by the Race of Cain was very miserably corrupted To Seth at the age of an 105 Years a Son was born whom he called Enoch that is sorrowful intimating thereby the woful and lamentable condition the World was in at that time by reason of the corruption and wickedness that was found in the Progeny of Cain However Seth and his Off-spring did then more openly and solemnly set up and establish the Worship of God than formerly it had been Whence it came to pass that they that persisted in that way of Worship were known by the Name of the Children of God * Deut. 14.1 and they who forsook God and his sincere Worship were called the Children of Men Gen. 6.2 Gen. 4.25 26. SECT VI. ENoch being ninty years old begat Cainan Cainan when he was 70 begat Mahalaleel Mahalaleel at 65 years old had Jared born to Him Jared at 162 years old had Enoch born to him Enoch at 65 years old had Methusalah born to him Methusalah at 187 had Lamech born to him Now Adam the Father of Mankind died when he had lived nine hundred and thirty years Seth the Son of Adam died when he had lived 912 years Noah the tenth from Adam was born when his Father Lamech had lived 182. And his Father prophesied of him that he would be a man of eminent Piety and such a Son as would much comfort his Parents notwithstanding all the miseries labours troubles and sorrows which Sin had brought upon Mankind and notwithstanding the many Evils they met with in that wicked and uncomfortable time Enos the third from Adam died when he had lived 905 years Mahalaleel the fifth from Adam died when he had lived 895 years Jared the sixth from Adam died when he had lived 962 years As for Enoch the seventh from Adam He was a very holy person one that walked with God and followed not the wickedness of that Age but with great courage set himself against it and being a Prophet as we read Jude v. 14 15. He plainly told them of and set before them the day of Judgment Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his Saints to execute judgment upon all and to convince all that are ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodlily committed and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him I say this holy Person God was pleased to translate immediately into Heaven (x) Per Enochi migrationem beatam patet nimium eos falli qui in hujus mundi caeno spem universam defigunt ut aeternitatis cognitione ex animis omnino deleta And besides this instance before the Law we have a like example of the translation of Elias after the giving of the Law c. 2 Kings 2.11 not suffering him to die as other men ordinarily do when he had lived as many years as there are days in our Year viz. 365. Thus it pleased God to shew to that Age that there was a future Coelestial State of Bliss and Happiness that good men both in Soul and Body shall enjoy hereafter Gen. 5. whole Chapter SECT VII IN the 480th Year of the life of Noah the Lord seeing that the generality of the World had corrupted their ways and that the Professors of his true Worship namely the Posterity of Seth without any regard to their Profession had scandalously and promiscuously (y) Gods Law afterwards forbad such Marriages with such as were out of the Church Deut. 7.3 4. Exod. 34.16 2 Cor. 6.14 married with the Daughters of the profane Race of Cain who
fear or regard of God insomuch that a Tyrant was by a common Proverb call'd another Nimrod They went in hand to build the City of Babel and a Tower in it which they designed should reach to the Skies and should be not only a standing Monument of their prowess but should secure them from danger in case another Deluge should overwhelm the Earth And accordingly in order hereunto they fall to making of Brick and had a kind of natural pitchy slime that was plentiful in those parts for mortar And they thought to do this memorable (g) Hence the Fable took its original of the Giants fighting against the Gods and making way to Heaven by heaping Mountain upon Mountain which attempt was blasted by Jupiters Thunderbolts Omnis Fabula sundatur in Historia Verulam thing whilst they were together lest if they should be afterwards dispersed abroad upon the face of the Earth into several Colonies they might not have opportunity to do it The Lord taking notice of their Attempts and laughing at this their arrogance and folly by way of irony and derision he says Surely this people mean not to be restrained from any thing they have a mind to do I will go down therefore and confound their Language Which accordingly he did and so they could not understand one another nor go on with their Work From which confusion of Languages the place derived its name of Babel Hereupon those among them that could make shift to understand one another agreed to go and dwell together And so that great Company was forced to disperse and were scattered from thence upon the face of the Earth in several Companies and Colonies And the Language before used of all continued with Heber the Father of Peleg which did give occasion to his Posterity to be distinguished from all others by the Name of Hebrews and that Language to be called the Hebrew But notwithstanding this dispersion Nimrod it seems was a mighty man among those that adhered to him and having got Babel Erech Accad and Chalne in the Land of Shinar He was not therewith content but coveting more and larger Dominions he advanced further into the Land of Assyria and there he built Nineveh with three Cities more as we find Gen. 10.11 For out of that Land viz. of Shinar went out Nimrod into Assur or Assyria and built Nineveh And that which confirms this reading is that in Mich. 5.6 where Assyria is called the Land of Nimrod And thus Nimrod laid the Foundation of the first Monarchy (h) The begining of the first Monarchy in the year of the World 1788. In the 132 year after the Flood and 290 years before the promise made to Abraham in Ur of the Caldees namely the Assyrian Concerning which it will be requisite I speak something though briefly for the clearing of many passages that we shall afterwards meet with in this Sacred History Gen. 10. from 8. to 13. Gen. 11. from 1. to the 10. In the Year of the World 1788. juxta Bucolzerum p. 3. Nimrod began the Assyrian or first Monarchy in the 132 year after the Flood and 290 years before the Promise made to Abraham in Vr of the Caldees This Monarchy ended in Belshazzar Anno Mundi 3477. and so the continuance of it was 1689 years Of these Monarchs The first was Nimrod as we shewed before His Successors are said to be 2. Belus 3. Ninus his Son who set up his Father Belus his Statue to be worshipped which gave as 't is said the first occasion to Idolatry and Image-Worship which Image of his some say continued until Daniels time when it was destroyed by Cyrus upon the discovery of the Imposture of Bells Priests See the History of Bell. 4. Semiramis wife to Ninus who obtaining of him to have all the power of Royalty put into her hands for five days in that space of time made him away and reigned in his stead After her death she was feigned to be turned into a Dove not sure for her innocence whence it was that the Babylonians carried a Dove in their Banners 5. Ninyas As for the rest that follow from hence to Sardanapalus there is little mentioned of them in History save only their bare Names and the years that they reigned 6. Sardanapalus who giving himself up to all shameful dissolutions Two of his great Commanders viz. Belochus Governour of Babylon and Arbaces Governour of Media conspire against him and overthrow him and force him at last to burn himself in a pile of wood Upon his fall the Empire was divided into two Principalities Belochus possessed himself of Assyria and Chaldea And Arbaces of Media His Posterity that were eminent were these Cyaxares Astiages Darius The Posterity of Belochus * This is He that is said to have humbled himself at the preaching of Jonah and afterwards invaded Israel in the time of Menahem that were of note were these Phul. Tiglath-pilesax Salmanassar Senacharib Esar-haddon Merodach-Baladon who being Governour of Babylon under Esaraddon destroyed his Master and seized upon Babylon for himself and made that the Seat of the Empire whereas before from Sardanapalus his time to Esaraddon Nineveh had been the Royal Seat He is thought to be Nabulazzar or Nabopollassar 'T is like he was a famous Astronomer and in honour of him an Epocha or account of Time was instituted and observed which began on the 26th day of February A. M. 3258. Nabuchodonasar the Great who brought this Monarchy to its highest pitch Evilmerodach Belshazzar who was Conquered by Cyrus and so this Monarchy was swallowed up by the Persian SECT V. HAving shewed how Nimrod began the first Monarchy it will be requisite before we proceed any further to give a short Narration how the Earth was at first divided among the Sons of Noah and those that descended from them though it hath since in several parts of it changed its Inhabitants And the scope of this account is princially to shew from which of them the Messias was to spring and among which people in the mean time the Church of God was maintained As also to make known the Original of several Nations and the several Countries they inhabited which will serve very much to the clearing of many places in the Scripture as will appear in the Sequel Noah had three Sons Sem Japhet and Ham. De his omnibus vide Bocharti Phaleg lib. 2. The Inheritance of the Sons of Sem was the choicest of all and contained within Asia Sem had five Sons Elam Assur Arphaxad Lud Aram Gen. 10.22 Elam Of Elam descended the Elamites or Persians Neighbours to the Medes Susan the Metropolis of the Susians is by Daniel placed in the Province of Elam Dan. 8.2 Assur From Assur descended the Assyrians and from him Assyria took its name The Metropolis of which was Nineveh Arphaxad From him Arphaxitis a part of Assyria seemeth to have received its denomination Lud. From him came the Lydians in Asia the less
there and carried him away with the rest of their Prisoners The tydings of this coming to Abram the Hebrew he is the first in the Scripture so called he instantly doubtless by the special instinct of the Spirit of God armed his own Servants viz. such as had been trained up in his own Family in the use of their Arms to the number of three hundred and eighteen and took along with him his three Confederates * God moved them to join with Abram The Prosperity of Gods people makes those that observe it desirous to be in League with them Upon that ground did Abimelech and Phicol desire to enter into Covenant with Abraham Gen. 21.22 23. And the like motion for the same reason was made to Isaac his Son Gen. 26.27 28 29 c. Haner Escol and Mamre with the Forces they could make and marching speedily after Chedorlaomer he overtook him and his Army laden with the Prey and Spoil at Dan (u) Moses seems by a Prophetical inspiration and by way of Prolepsis or anticipation to call these places by the Names whereby they were afterwards known and called Hinc conjectant quidam nec levis est suspicio pentateuchum ut modo extat non esse a Mose conscriptum putantque Esdram aut alium divinum scriptorem interjectis hinc inde Clausulis opus illustrasse explicatius reddidisse Mas in the North Border of Canaan And having first with a Military Prudence and Policy divided his Men to make a shew as if he had a great Army dispersed divers ways He there fought them and defeated them and shew many of them and pursued them to Hoba on the left hand of Damascus and rescued Lot and the rest of the Prisoners out of their hands and brought them back again together with the prey they had taken Abram thus returning triumphantly is met by Melchizedec (x) See Apostolical History pag. 375. 376. King of Salem * Afterwards call'd Jerusalem who seems to be some eminent man in Canaan raised up by God in that Corrupt Nation who was both King and Priest of whose Father and Mother and Pedigree there is no mention in the Scripture neither of his Birth or Death or that he had any Successor in his Priesthood This Melchizedec in Congratulation of Abram's Victory brought forth Bread and Wine to refresh Him and his Souldiers and being a Priest of the most high God (y) Thus we see that though the Church was to be continued in the Posterity of Abram yet there is little question to be made but that as yet there were some few of other Families that were the true Servants of God as Job afterwards and his friends were among the Edomites by the authority of his office and in the Name of God he blessed Abram as the Priests in the Law did the people Numb 6.23 24 25. and he blessed the most high God in his behalf who had given him this Victory so that he offered a gratulatory Sacrifice of Praise but no expiatory Sacrifice for that required blood Numb 9.22 Abram on the other side presented Melchisedec with the Tenth part of the Spoil he had taken from the vanquished Army Which Tythes (z) So that the payment of Tythes is ancienter than the Levitical Law See Gen. 28.22 and being paid to Melchisedec a Type of Christ they may be continued as a Maintenance to Gospel-Ministers who exhibit Sacramental Bread and Wine and bless the people as Melchisedec did probably he Him gave by way of homage and thankfulness to God For what was given to Melchisedec in regard of his Office as a Priest was given to God But as a King Melchisedec had no need of them Abram was also met by the King of Sodom in the Valley of Shaveh in after-times called the Kings Dale where Absolon set up his Pillar 2 Sam. 15.28 who congratulating his Victory offered him that He should keep to himself if he pleased all the prey and spoils recovered by him that were lately taken from and belonged to his City only he desired to have those of the prisoners again that were his Subjects But Abram told him that he had sworn unto the Lord and vowed when he went forth in this War and implored Gods aid and assistance therein that none should have occasion to say that a Covetous desire of the Prey drew him into this Ingagement and therefore he would not accept any thing of His from a threed to a shoo-latchet lest he should say He had made Abram rich Thus Abram preferred the Glory of God and the honouring of his Religion before the Prey which by the right of War belonged to him and having been bountifully inriched by the Providence of God he would not have it said he was inriched by such wicked people as the Sodomites were Yet He excepted from this his general refusal wherein He said He would have nothing of His that which the young men his Souldiers had spent of the Enemies prey or taken to themselves and desired also that his three Confederates might have a share and portion in the spoils Gen. 14. whole Chapter SECT V. ABram having thus vanquished the Forces of these forementioned Kings lest he should fear they would at some time or other be revenged of him as possibly they might threaten God appears to him in a Vision or open apparition which he being awake beheld with his bodily Eyes and tells him That he would be a shield to him to defend him against his Enemies and seeing he had with so much piety refused the Reward offered him by the King of Sodom He assures him that He Himself will be his exceeding great Reward blessing him with the blessings of this life and rewarding him with the transcendent glory of his own Kingdom hereafter But notwithstanding this Abram in a bemoaning manner expresses the great perplexity of his mind that growing now in years He did not yet see the fulfilling of that Promise of giving Him a Son from whom the Messiah was to spring And therefore He cries out Lord what wilt thou give me seeing I go Childless Intimating his great and ardent desire that the Lord would please at length to remember his Promise made unto him concerning that particular And besides He saw that wanting Issue he wanted the comfort that other Parents had He saw he had not a Son to be under Himself the guide and stay of his Family but was forced at present to put his concerns into the hands of Eliezer his Steward (a) Whose Ancestors were of Damascus and for ought He saw His Estate would be injoyed by him when he was dead for want of an Heir God tells him his Servant should not be his Heir but One that should come out of his own Bowels and further assures him that his Seed how improbable soever it seem'd to him at present should be as the Stars of Heaven for multitude especially his spiritual Seed the Children of his
by his Horns in a Thicket which he took as sent by God to supply the room and place of Isaac and accordingly offered him up for a Burnt-Offering instead of his Son (a) The main thing hereby signifi'd was this That God the Father would in the fulness of time give his only begotten Son to be a Sacrifice for the sins of Men. And till that time came he would accept of Rams and Lambs and such like Sacrifices which should prefigure and typifie this death of his Son And Abraham called the Name of that place Jehovah-jireh that is the Lord will see or provide And thence came afterwards that Speech to be used proverbially In the Mountain of the Lord it shall be seen that is in due time God will provide help for his Children though they be for the present brought into great straits and difficulties and He will help them in such a manner that they shall plainly see his Hand therein After this the Angel of the Covenant called to Abraham a second time and said By my self have I sworn because thou hast done this thing for I accept of thy Will for the Deed I will greatly bless and multiply thy Seed even as the Stars of Heaven and as the Sand upon the Sea-shore and they shall possess the Gates of their Enemies that is shall subdue them and bring both their strength and policy under their Command the Gates of Cities being the places of greatest strength and places commonly of Consultation where the Magistrates used to meet see Deut. 32.15 Math. 16.18 and in thy Seed shall all the Nations of the Earth he blessed Then Abraham and Isaac and the Servants returned to Beersheba where Abraham dwelt a good while after Gen. 22. from 1. to 20. SECT XIII AFter this Sarah (b) As Abraham is Registred for the Father of the Faithful Rom. 4.11 So is Sarah for the Mother of them 1 Pet. 2.3 upon some occasion as it seems went to Kirjath-arba afterwards called Hebron (c) A City afterwards allotted to the Tribe of Judah not far from the Okefield of Mamre where Abraham had formerly lived being 127 years of Age and there she fell sick and died She is the only Woman whose full and intire Age is recorded in Scripture Abraham hearing of it came thither to weep and mourn for her and having sat sometime as 't is like on the Earth in token of the great sorrow and affliction he was under by reason of her death he at length rose up and took order to have her honourably interr'd Accordingly he applies himself to the Governors and Elders of the Hittites the Inhabitants of Hebron of the Progeny of Cham Gen. 10.6 15. and told them that he being a Stranger among them did humbly desire this favour of them that he might be permitted to buy of them a small piece of ground Namely so much as would make a burying-place that he might bury his dead out of his sight For though he had now liv'd 62 years in Canaan yet he never went about to purchase a foot of Land in it before The Children of Heth answer That he was a mighty Prince among them and he might freely make use of any of their Sepulchres even the choicest (d) Faviliis erant sua singulis distincta seorsim Sepulchreta Ita mortem in vita meditati sunt Ethnici simile quid est Math. 27.60 Anonym in loc of them upon this occasion (e) Abraham would not by any bounty of theirs injoy one foot of that Land which God had given him intire for his possession but the time of possession according to the grant and promise being not yet come without any distrust of Gods promise or renunciation of his own Right he buys a parcel of the Land for his own present necessity But Abraham being willing rather to pay for a piece of Ground that might be his own Propriety than to hold any in Common with the Heathens though it were but by burying his dead among them he humbly bowed himself to them as acknowledging their kindness and requested them that they would intercede with Ephron a chief person among them who sat at that time in their Assembly though Abraham knew it not that he might purchase of him the Cave of Machpelah for a burying-place and he was willing to give him as much money for it as it was worth Ephron being there present (f) V. 10. sic redde And Ephron sat among the Children of Heth. told Abraham in the audience of the Inhabitants of the City that he did freely give him that Cave and the Field belonging to it Abraham bowing himself again in token of thankfulness told him (g) The like striving in kindness is between David and Araunah 2 Sam. 24 21 c. That if he were that Ephron of whom he had before spoken he would willingly pay him for it and did not desire to have it on any other Termes Ephron told him the Land was worth about 400 Shekels (h) The common Shekel was about 1 s. 3 d. of our money amounting to about 25 l. of our money and that was but a trifle between them two Abraham however resolved to pay him a just value for it and accordingly paid him by weight not by tale as is now usual the 400 Shekels and so the Field with the Trees growing thereon and the Cave was made sure to Abraham by payment of the money the Inhabitants of the City being Witnesses without Deeds or Writings which were not then as afterwards in use See Jer. 32.9 10. Abraham having thus bought this Field and Cave he therein buried (i) Afterwards he himself was buried there and Isaac and Rebecca Jacob and Leah Gen. 25.9 Ch. 49.31 50.13 They testifying thereby their Faith in Gods Promises for the Inheritance of this Land and of the heavenly Canaan figured thereby This made Joseph also give charge to have his bones carried thither the body of his beloved Sarah Gen. 23. whole Chapter SECT XIV ABraham being now 140 years old and the Lord having blessed him in all things he began to think of providing a fit Wife for Isaac his Son who was at this time 40 years of age And understanding that his second Brother Nahor whom he had left at Haran in Mesopotamia when he first came into Canaan had by Milchah his Wife eighth Sons whereof one was Bethuel Father of Rebecca and four by Reumah his Concubine I say hearing these tyding of his Brother and of his numerous Off-spring he had a mind to send his chief Servant and Steward supposed to be Eliezer who had the Charge of all his Concerns to his Kindred there to seek a Wife among them for his Son Therefore calling him to him and acquainting him with the business he required him to swear (k) A practice used by Masters of Families in taking an Oath of any of their houshold in token of homage subjection and faithfulness
and returning And in this Vision Jacob saw Jehovah standing on the top of this Ladder and saying to him I am the God of Abraham thy Father and the God of Isaac the Land whereon thou liest to thee will I give it and to thy Seed and thy Seed shall be as the dust of the Earth and shall spread and multiply exceedingly East West North and South and in thy Seed shall all the Nations of the Earth be blessed Thus he renews the promise to him and states it in him which was formerly made to Abraham and Isaac Ch. 12.3 22.18 Acts 3.25 Further the Lord says to him I am with thee and will keep thee in all places whether thou goest and will bring thee again into this Land For I will not leave thee until I have done all that which I have spoken to thee of Jacob awaking and considering the glorious Vision he had seen cried out Assuredly God is in this place in a more peculiar manner though I did not apprehend or imagine to have met with such a glorious manifestation and Revelation of Himself to me here and being struck with a Reverend aw and fear of the Majesty of God who had thus appeared to him he cries out How dreadful is this place This is none other but the House of God the very Gate of Heaven As if he should have said This seemeth to be a place where God manifests himself in a more especial manner to the Children of Men and whence they may by praying unto him and worshipping of him as by a Gate ascend up into Heaven and Converse with him above And upon this account he thinks this a fit place for the building an House to God as we may see vers 22. Rising up therefore early in the Morning he takes the stone which he had laid under his head and set it up as a Pillar (h) This in likelihood being af erwards demolished he erects about 30 years after a new Pillar of stone upon another Apparition in the same place Ch. 35.14 15. This Pillar was a religious Sign and Monument as Altars were Esay 19.19 There were also Pillars for civil use as Rachels Pillar on her Grave Ch. 35.20 And Absolon's Pillar 2 Sam. 18.18 The Pillar Galeed Gen. 31.45 47 52. But when the Law was given by Moses Pillars for religious use were forbidden Levit. 26.1 Deut. 16.22 And the Pillars of Idolaters commanded to be broken down Deut. 12.3 Ch. 7.5 and as a memorial of that Vision and then poured out a little of the oil upon it which he had taken with him for his provision by the way as an Oblation and Offering of thanksgiving to God having no other Sacrifice at hand And he did the same thing afterwards at the same place again about 30 years after see Ch. 35.14 and called the Name of the place Bethel that is the House of God whereas the City near to it was before called Luz Then Jacob made a Vow unto the Lord That if he would please to be with him and to keep him in the way wherein he was now to go and to give him Food and Raiment 1 Tim. 6.8 and bring him back again to his Fathers house in peace it should be a new and strong Obligation and Ingagement upon him to worship and serve the Lord faithfully all his days and that stone or pillar now erected by him should be Gods House (i) See the performance of this Ch. 35.7 viz. that place should be consecrated to his Worship and Service for him and his to worship him in and that he would give the tenth (k) Thus we see Tythes paid by Abraham and Jacob before the Law of Moses Decimas non sacerdoti pendendas sed in usus pios aras holocausta c. Levit 27.30 Numb 18.24 Anonym in loc of all that he should have to God that is for the maintenance of the true Worship of God and for pious and charitable Vses Gen. 27. whole Chapter Gen. 28. from 1. to 6. and from 10. to the end SECT XXIV ESau understanding that his Father Isaac had blessed Jacob and that he had sent him away into Mesopotamia there to take a Wife of his own Kindred expresly forbidding him to marry any of the Daughters of the Canaanites and that Jacob had express'd his readiness to obey his Father and Mother therein He to pacifie his Fathers mind who was much offended with him for taking for his first Wives the Daughters of the Hitties see Sect. 21. went to the Ishmaelites Ishmael himself being now dead and took another Wife viz. Mahalatha the Daughter of Ishmael the Son of Abraham And it seems he did this either to please his Father by matching into his Kindred or else to strengthen himself by this new alliance with the Israelites against his Brother Jacob. Gen. 28. from 6. to 10. SECT XXV JAcob being now comforted and strengthened by the late heavenly Vision went on chearfully in his Journey and at length came near to Haran in Mesopotamia where at a Well in the Fields which was guarded by a great stone he saw a great many Flocks of Sheep which were brought thither to be watered as soon as the Shepherds should have rolled away the stone Jacob asks them civilly Whence they were They answered They belonged to Haran He inquires if they knew Laban the Son of Bethuel and Grand-Child of Nahor They tell him They knew him very well He inquires of his Health They tell him he was in very good health And one of his Daughters viz. Rachel was hard by coming with his Sheep to be watered Jacob tells them it was yet too soon in the day as He apprehended to gather the Flocks together in order to their folding therefore he advises them to water the Sheep and to go and feed them again They tell him They might not their custom or agreement among themselves being otherwise or could not water the Sheep till all the Flocks were come together and all the Shepherds joined their strength to remove the Stone But Jacob seeing Rachel coming with her Fathers Flock he being strong with the help of these Shepherds there present rolled away the Stone and watered her Sheep Then saluting her he acquainted her that he was Son to Rebecca her Father's Sister and wept for joy that he had so soon and so opportunely met his Cosin Rachel She running and acquainting her Father therewith he presently came forth to Jacob and imbraced and kissed him and brought him to his house Then Jacob related to him the state and condition of his Father and Mother and what was the reason and occasion of his Journey and his coming so privately else Laban might have wondred to see him come so unfurnished he having seen Abraham's Servant Eliezer come so richly provided when he fetched thence Rebecca Laban replies That he was satisfied that he was his Nephew his very bone and flesh and whatever was the occasion of his Journey he
him and paying him the duty and respect she owed him because the Custom (n) Non tam menses simulat ac ventriculi dolores of women was upon her Levit. 15.19 he did not disturbe Her but searching in other places found none Then Jacob's anger was kindled and he could not but express his great resentment of Laban's injurious dealing with him and accordingly ask'd him What Trespasses he had been guilty of that he had so hotly pursued after him Thou hast says he searched all my stuff and what hast thou found of thine I have served thee 20 years and that with great diligence and faithfulness I have carefully kept thy Cattel thy Ews and She-goats have rarely cast their young Thy Rams I have preserved That which was torn of wild Beasts I brought it not in account to thee but made it good my self though strict justice would not oblige me to it See Exod. 22.10 11 13. How painful my Service hath been is not unknown to thee In the day the drought consumed me and in the night the frâ—st and my sleep departed from mine eyes And in this manner have I served thee 14 years for thy two Daughters and six years for such a portion of thy Flock as by Providence should fall to my share according to the Conditions agreed on between us and yet these terms hast thou very injuriously changed several times And truly except God even the God of Abraham and the God whom my Father Isaac serves with so much fear and reverence as the only God who is to be feared and worshipped had been with me and had extraordinarily blessed me thou hadst sent me away empty But the Lord hath taken notice of thy hard dealing with me notwithstanding all my faithfulness and diligence and painful labour in thy Service and accordingly did yesternight rebuke thee for thy evil intendment towards me Laban being something melted with these words said Well these Women thy Wives are my Daughters and their Children they have born unto thee I account them as my Children my self being their remote Parent and thy Cattel thou hadst all from me He takes no notice of what Jacob had deserved of him or of what God had so wonderfully given him and all that thou hast is mine (o) Thus He boasts But yet notwithstanding it were a foolish thing for me to go about to hurt thee or thy Wives or Children for in so doing I should but hurt my self (p) But he was not of this mind when he first went out to pursue Jacob and therefore Jacob may thank God for all who had thus bridled if not altered him Therefore let us make a Covenant one with another and raise an heap of stones on this Mountain to be a Monument thereof that I shall not pass over this place to hurt thee nor thou to hurt me If either of us do so he shall forfeit his fidelity and be liable to divine Vengeance for his perjury Jacob readily agreed hereto and immediately spake to his own Company and to Laban's also to joyn in gathering an heap of stones which might serve as a Memorial hereof And this heap of stones Jacob in the Hebrew * Neque annis viginti mutavit vel religionem Jacob vel dialectum Tongue called Galeed (q) By a littâ—e change afterwards was framed the word Gilead and Laban in the Syrian Tongue call'd it Jegar-Sahadutha both signifying an heap of Witnesses that is an heap to be a witness and to be a memorial of this Covenant here made And Jacob also called it Mizpah (r) q. d. Deus intutatur that is a Watch-Tower whereupon Laban said The Lord watch between me and thee that we may keep this Covenant inviolable and that when we are absent one from another neither of us may design any hurt to each other And Laban further said If thou shalt afflict my Daughters or take other Wives besides my Daughters then God who knoweth and rewardeth Wickedness especially Treachery punish thee as thou deservest Thus He who had been a very unkind Father whilst his Daughters were with him now pretends great tenderness of affection to them and conditions with Jacob against that whereunto his own covetousness had forced him before Then they sware the Covenant agreed on between them Laban sware by the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor and the God of Terah ther Father Thus he intermixeth the God of Abraham the only true God with the Idols which Terah Nahor and Abraham himself before God called Him had served in Chaldea Jos 24.2 But Jacob sware only by the fear of his Father Isaac that is the only true God whom his Father Isaac feared and worshipped Then Jacob killed Beasts and provided a Feast such being usual at the making of Covenants see Gen. 26.30 and invited Laban and his Company to eat with him who tarried all night upon the Place Early in the morning Laban (s) Thus God over-rules the hearts of wicked men so ch 33.4 So he turned Balaam's Curse into a Blessing Numb 23.11 Deut. 23.5 so the minds of the Barbarians towards Paul Acts 28.4 took an affectionate farewel of Jacob kissing his Sons and Daughters and blessed them wishing to them all happiness and prosperity and so departed to his own place Gen. 31. whole Chapter SECT XXIX JAcob being sent away by Laban in peace continued his Journey towards Canaan and as he went on he had a Vision of an Army of holy Angels appearing in Humane shape that met him to encourage him against his future fears and dangers whereupon he called the name of the place Mahanaim that is two Hosts intimating how two Hosts there met viz. one of the holy Angels the other of his own Company and Followers And here afterwards was a City built called by that Name And being to pass thorow the Country that was at present inhabited by his Brother Esau (t) Called here the Land of Seir not from Esau but from Seir an Horite ch 14.6 and ch 36.20 21. which Horites Esau drave thence Deus 2.22 And there now Esau dwelt and through which Country Jacob must pass Est Idumaea una orientalis de qua hoc loco agitur alia australis Has Regiones non simul sed vicissim Idumaei habitarunt Tandem orientalem deseruerunt australem occuparunt ante exitum Israelitarum ex Aegyto nam ingressis Israelitis in terram promissam non ibi erant Idumaei sed Sihon Og c. His adde quod Job erat Idumaeus de stirpe Esau habitavit in terra Hus quae erat trans Jordanem non procul a monte Galaad Ergo tum ibi habitarunt Idumaei indeque postea migrarunt Tantum difficultas esse potest ex Thren 4.21 Edom quae habitas in terrâ Hus. Sed verisimile est Idumaeos mutata habitatione nomina priorum locorum multis locis indidisse Bochart though he and his Posterity afterwards removed to the
should be so dishonoured and abused and upon that account they had done what they did Gen. 34. whole Chapter SECT XXXII JAcob being now perplexed with fear by reason of that which his Sons had done to the Shechemites and perhaps thinking to remove to some other place the Lord appeared to him whither by Vision or Dream is uncertain and appointed him to go to Bethel which was distant from Shechem Southward about 30 English miles and to build there an Altar unto God who appeared to him when he fled from the face of his Brother Esau (q) Ch. 27.43 thereby calling to his remembrance the gracious Promises which God had there made to him and the Vow which he had there made to God and possibly he had delayed to perform it Ch. 28.22 And this Stone which I have set up for a Pillar shall be Gods House c. Then Jacob being quickned by the late danger he was in as likewise by the Lords appearing to him and commanding him to go to Bethel to perform the Vow he had there made He spake to those of his own proper Family and as 't is like to those who appertain'd to him and were of his Retinue and pitched their Tents with him to put away the strange Gods * This He did in performance of that most material part of his Vow Gen. 28.21 Then shall the Lord be my God that were among them that is the Idols which other Nations worshipped but might not be indured among them that worshipped the true God Whether hereby he meant Laban's Gods or Teraphim stolen by Rachel and possibly not before this time known to him or any other brought by some of his Retinue when they came from Laban and Mesopotamia whom he perceived too much addicted to the Superstitions of that Country or some of the Shechemites Idols possibly of Gold or Silver which they had lately plundered and secretly kept is uncertain He commands them also to purifie or wash themselves and to change their Garments putting on others or washing those they had on which external Rite or Ceremony was afterwards injoyned by the Law in divers Cases as we may see Levit. 15.13 Numb 31.23 and imported a change of Mind and Manners and a cleansing themselves from all filthiness both of Flesh and Spirit which he intimates to them they stood in need of more especially not only by reason of their defilement by Idolatry but in regard of their late base murder committed on the Shechemites And having exhorted them to prepare and sanctifie themselves for that solemn Worship of God which he was to set up and exercise with his Family at Bethel he now incourages them to go up with him thither where he intended to perform his Vow formerly made in that place Ch. 28.17 and to build an Altar to God where before he had only erected a Pillar about 27 years ago Jacob's Family yielded a ready compliance to this his Injunction and brought to him such Idols as they had among them and the Ear-Ornaments (r) Insignia haec erant alicujus superstitionis dicata scil alicui fictitio numini vide Exod. 32.2 or Rings which probably they had plundered from the Shechemites who had worn them in honour of their Idols see Hosea 2.13 And Jacob buried them under an Oak by Shechem from the knowledge of his Family and People that they might never be found or used again Then he and his Company marched towards Bethel formerly called Luz Ch. 12 8. and the terrour of the Lord was upon the Cities that were round about them that they did not pursue after them nor destroy them as they might have done And he built there an Altar to sacrifice thereon where God appeared to him when he fled from the face of his Brother Esau Jacob being now not far from his Father Isaac's House whom in all likelihood he had often visited before this having been seven years at least in Canaan since his return from Laban and had frequent intercourse with him I say being near his Fathers House as it seems Deborah (s) Haec foemina annum saltem pertigit 162. Rebeccas Nurse see Ch. 24.59 came from Isaac's House to visit him and there died and with great mourning was buried under an Oak God now appeared to Jacob again after he was come from Padan-Aram and this is the Seventh time that he had revealed himself to him in an especial manner and confirms the Name Israel to him a second time see Gen. 32.28 And God said unto him I am God Almighty see Ch. 17.1 Be fruitful (t) God doth here ratifie his Father Isaac's blessing which he gave him when he fled into Mesopotamia Ch. 28.3 4. and multiply A Nation yea many Nations shall spring from thee yea even Kings shall come out of thy Loins The Land which I promised to Abraham and Isaac to thee will I give it and to thy Posterity and not to Esau Then the Lord ascended up to Heaven vanishing out of his sight And Jacob set up a Pillar in this Place where the Lord had talked with him as a perpetual Memorial of Gods goodness to him The former which he set up there near thirty years before being in all likelihood demolished and he poured a Drink-Offering and Oil thereon see Gen. 28.18 So that these were in use for Consecration before the Ceremonial Law of Moses And he a second time called the Name of the Place Bethel or the House of God Jacob stayed not long here but travailed from hence to Ephrath or Bethlehem-Ephrata Mich. 5.2 where our Saviour afterwards was born His beloved Rachel when they had almost reached the Place fell in travail and having exceeding hard labour though the Midwife comforted her that she should have another Son which she accordingly brought forth (u) Joseph was now about 13 years of age when Benjamin was born but immediately after finding her self dying and her Soul departing from her Body she called the Name of her Son Benoni that is the Son of my sorrow And thus she died by bearing a Child who before quarrelled with her Husband and said Give me Children or else I die But Jacob would not suffer such a Name to be given to his Son that might continually renew his sorrow for the loss of his dear Wife and therefore called him Benjamin that is the Son of my right hand intimating that he should be his beloved Son tenderly regarded by him and always as it were at his right hand Jacob had now 12 Sons all which are said to born to him in Padan-Aram that is all besides Benjamin by a Synechdoche Afterwards when the 12 Tribes were accounted and setled Ephrahim and Manasseh the Sons of Joseph were put in and Joseph and Levi in a sort left out that is Levi was left out as to having any Land by lot in Canaan They are called the 12 Patriarchs Acts 7.8 and the 12 Tribes Acts 26.7 Their Names were ingraven on 12
Raiment When he came into the Kings Presence Pharaoh told him he had dreamed a Dream which much troubled his spirit and he could meet with no man among all his Magicians and Wise-men that could Interpret it and he had heard of him that he could understand a Dream and interpret it Joseph humbly answered That he durst not assume so much wisdom to himself (s) Non mihi tribuo a Deo expectandum est see Dan. 2.30 but doubted not but God who is the Revealer of Secrets would give to Pharaoh such an Answer as should quiet his troubled mind concerning his Dream Then Pharaoh told him both his Dreams viz. That of the Kine and that of the Ears of Corn. Joseph making as 't is probable a little Pause told him Both his Dreams signifi'd one and the same thing and that God did thereby intend to shew and declare unto him what he was about to do The seven fat Kine and seven good Ears signifi'd seven years of wonderful and incredible plenty and the seven lean Kine and seven lank Ears signifi'd seven years that should succeed them of very sore and extreme Famine in so much that the plenty of the former years should be forgotten and it should consume many both men and beasts in the Land And for that the Dream was doubled it was to assure Pharaoh that the thing was firmly decreed of God (t) Quod firmissimum sit coeleste decretum Vatab. and that he would certainly and shortly bring it to pass Then by the guidance and direction of the Spirit of God he humbly advises Pharaoh to look out a wise and discreet man and to set him over the Land of Egypt and to appoint faithful Officers under him who in the seven years of plenty should take up a fifth part of the Fruits of the Land and of all manner of Provision the Ground afforded which might serve for Food (u) 'T is like that other great Men and private persons in the Land did resolve to be Buyers and Storers in the years of Plenty and all little enough as appeared afterwards which they should lay up in Granaries at the Kings Charge and sell it again afterwards to his Subjects in the time of Dearth at a reasonable price that so the Land perish not throw Famine What Joseph said was highly pleasing and acceptable to Pharaoh and all his Court. And he said to his Servants Where can we find such another man as this is (x) Thus God wrought upon and disposed the Heart of Pharaoh for the executing his own Counsel a man of such Wisdom and Prudence and Sagacity which I perceive God by his Spirit (y) It is the same Spirit that maketh holy that maketh wise hath bestowed on him in an extraordinary manner Then turning to Joseph he said Forasmuch as I see that God hath indowed thee with extraordinary Gifts I know no man so wise and discreet as thou art Therefore thou shalt be over my House yea I set thee over all the Land of Egypt and according to thy word and direction shall all my People be governed only in the Throne I will be greater than thou Then Pharaoh took off his Ring from his Hand and put it upon Joseph's and arrayed him in Silk and fine Linnen and put a Gold Chain about his Neck and appointed him to ride in the second Chariot to His own and they cryed before him Bow the Knee (z) Mira Aulicorum modestia qui Juveni succumbant Inquilino and so he was made Ruler (a) As Dreams before were the occasion of his Bondage so now they are of his Exaltation under Pharaoh over all the Land of Egypt (b) He continued in his Government and Honour 80 years Thus Joseph was made the second Man in the Kingdom as Daniel was the third Man upon something a like occasion Dan. 5.29 Further the King said I am Pharoah and as sure as I am King so sure without thy advise and authority not the least thing shall be done in matter of Government no man shall do any thing or go any whither without thy Order and Pharaoh gave him a new Name and called him Zaphnath paaneah that is a Revealer of Secrets see Dan. 1.7 And he gave him to Wife Asenah the Daughter of Potipherah Priest of On * Called also Aven Ezek. 30.17 and Heliopolis the City of the Sun now probably Damiata and so matched him into an honourable Family As for Joseph's marrying with this Egyptian Woman it must be considered it was an extraordinary Case there being no other in the Land of Egypt to marry with neither could he go elsewhere to seek a Wife without deserting that great Office whereto for the benefit of the Church God had advanc'd him And besides he might possibly by some special instinct or revelation from God be moved to accept Pharaoh's favour therein as the like might be in Hesters marrying with Ahasuerus and possibly by Joseph's wise and pious Instructions his Wife might soon become a Proselyte to her Husbands Religion as his Steward in all likelihood was of whom we read Ch. 43.23 And we see the Children of this marriage were afterwards by Jacob accounted as the Fathers of two Tribes in Israel Ch. 48.16 Joseph being now instaled by Pharaoh in his Government over all the Land of Egypt at the 30th year of his age thirteen years after he was sold by his Brethren Ch. 37.2 He now went forth from the face of Pharaoh and went thorow the Land in pursuance of the Kings Command to appoint Officers every where and to prepare Store-houses to lay up Corn conveniently in And the seven years of plenty beginning the Earth brought forth wonderfully even by handfuls that is they had instead of one grain as it were as many as would fill the hand During these seven years Joseph gathered together very carefully the fifth part of all the Fruits of the Earth and bestowed them in convenient Granaries in the several Cities and Places fit for receipt of them And the quantity of Corn that was gathered was so immense that it was even like the Sand of the Sea not to be counted or numbred Joseph had two Sons by his Lady the Daughter of Potipherah before the years of Famine began the first-born he called Manasseh that is making to forget for says he God hath made me now forget all the Troubles and Hardships I have undergone here in Egypt and all the Injuries I received from my Fathers House which I do not now think of by way of Offence but as a merciful Dispensation to me seeing they have been the means of my Advancement And he called His second Son Ephraim viz. fruitful For says he God hath made me fruitful even in this very Land where I have been before much oppressed (c) That Joseph neither in the 13 years of his Affliction nor in the 8 years of his Exaltation should ever send to his Father may
them again He was Joseph their Brother whom they had sold into Egypt He bids them not disquiet or be vex'd at themselves for what was done but look up to the Providence of God who had turn'd their Sin to so much good For says he God did send me hither before you that I might be a means in this sore Famine to preserve your lives and that you may be sav'd in this general Calamity and to preserve your Posterity that they may remain after you For there are five years more of the Famine to come wherein there shall be neither Ploughing nor Sowing Earing nor Harvest Therefore it was not you that sent me hither but God and He hath made me a Father to Pharaoh that is His Principal Councellour of State and I have the Supream guidance and direction of all his Affairs and by my Advice Pharaoh yields himself to be guided as a Son does by his Fathers having made me Ruler over all his House and over all the Land of Egypt under Himself Go up therefore to my Father and tell him That Joseph his Son is yet alive and that God hath made him Lord of all Egypt and tell him That I desire him to come down speedily to me both He and his Children and his Childrens Children with their Flocks and Herds and all that they have and they shall live in that fruitful part of Egypt call'd Goshen a Province abounding with Pastures and so most commodious for them that deal in Cattel (t) On that City whence he married and where he most resided was near to Goshen And so they shall be near me (u) This he says presuming on Pharaoh's consent and there I will maintain and nourish them that they perish not in the five succeding years of Famine A do not doubt but I will really perform what I say to you for the eyes of you all do see that it is my own mouth that speaketh these things to you in your own Language and not by an Interpreter And you shall go and tell my Father of all this Glory and Splendor you have seen Me to be in that He may hasten down to me Then He fell upon his Brother Benjamin's Neck and kiss'd him and wept (x) See Ch. 33.4 of Esau and Jacob and Ch. 46.29 Joseph's meeting with his Father Jacob over him and Benjamin wept upon his Neck through the exuberance of joy that they should see one another after so long an absence Then He kiss'd all the rest of his Brethren and wept upon them transported with the affection that so flowed in Him When his Brethren had a little recover'd themselves from their amazing astonishment and fear and were satisfi'd that This was indeed their Brother Joseph and that He had a cordial and hearty affection for them they began to chear up and to speak somewhat more freely and familiarly with him of all things that He ask'd them The News of this interview and meeting quickly spread it self in Pharaoh's Court see vers 2. and Pharaoh and his Courtiers were highly pleas'd with it his Nobles not envying but heartily honouring Joseph Then Pharaoh call'd for Joseph and commanded him to order his Brethren to lade their Beasts with Corn and to make hast home to their Father and to invite Him from Himself to come down speedily with his Family into Egypt and He would give them of the good things of the Land and they should eat of the fat of it Pharaoh further said unto Him Seeing thou hast full Authority and Commission from Me to do it Say to thy Brethren Take ye Waggons out of the Land of Egypt for your Father your Wives and your Children and come and dwell here And let it not be grievous to you to leave some of your Houshold-stuff or lumber behind you which you may not be able to put off in this time of dearth to the full value and worth for the best and most fruitful part of the Land should be yours Ch. 47.6 And Joseph's Brethren did as He had order'd them and He gave them Waggons as Pharaoh had commanded and Provisions for their Journey Then he gave to them all Changes of Raiment (y) Robes or upper Garments which they us'd in those hot Countries oft to change probably two a piece such as were us'd to be given for Honour or Reward see 2 Kings 5.23 Judg. 14.12 but unto his Brother Benjamin he gave 300 pieces of silver and five Changes of Raiment (z) These with other Gifts he gives them not only to shew his love but that they might confirm the truth of his Message and make both their Wives and others more willing to come down into Egypt And to his Father he sent a noble Present viz. Ten Asses laden with the good things of Egypt and ten She-Asses laden with Corn and such Provisions as would keep for his Fathers use in the Journey Then kindly dismissing his Brethen he gave them this solemn Charge See that ye fall not out by the way viz. about your selling of me or any thing else They return with all this Furniture to Canaan and when they came to their Father they tell him in a great transport of joy Our Brother Joseph is alive and Governour of all the Land of Egypt Jacob hearing them mention his Son Joseph who he thought had been dead above 20 years before with the sudden astonishing News of his being alive his heart fainted and he was ready to swoon away For he could not believe it to be true it seemed to him so incredible But when they had related matters more particularly to Him and the words Joseph Himself had spoken to them and when He saw the Waggons that were sent by Joseph to conveigh him into Egypt His spirits began to revive and He said It is enough abundantly enough for me that my Son Joseph is yet alive I will go down and see him before I die Ch. 45. whole Chapter SECT XLIII JAcob being at this time in the 130 year of his Age and having prepar'd himself for this great Journey He with his whole Family now set forth for Egypt And coming to Beersheba which was the South-border of the Land of Canaan Ch. 21.31 he there offers Sacrifices to God whom his Father Isaac did solemnly adore and worship thereby testifying his stedfast Faith in the Promises of God and his thankfulness for all his Mercies and particularly for the good tydings of his dear Son Joseph's being alive humbly praying unto the Lord for Counsel and Direction for his Blessing and Protection in this his Journey The Lord was pleased to answer him and to speak to him in the Visions of the Night viz. by some kind of Dream And calling him twice by his name Jacob (a) Here Jacob is mentioned twice for Israel once Therefore the name Jacob was but comparatively sorbidden to make him mind it the more He says I am God the God of thy Fathers fear (b)
those that profess themselves his people to carry themselves as those that serve a holy God with all possible care fear and reverence or else He will manifest his Holiness and Justice in punishing of them see Ezek. 28.22 And He having given them holy Laws as a means of their Sanctification He expects they should walk answerably thereunto and to the great Mercies He had vouchsafed to them Levit. 22. from 17. to the end 11ly Laws concerning the holy days and festival times to be observed by them 1. The weekly Sabbath which was to be observ'd in all their dwelling see Acts 15.21 Levit. 23. from 1. to 4. 2ly The Passover to be kept on the 14th day of the first month at Even or between the two Evenings that is between our Three a Clock in the Afternoon and Sun-set At the latter of these which was the beginning of the fifteenth day the Feast of unleavened bread began and continued seven days The first day of which and the last were to be holy Convocations and they were to do no servile (f) On the rest they might work unless the Sabbath fell on any of them work therein What the Sacrifices were that were to be offered on each of these seven days see Numb 28. from 18. to 26. On the second day of this Feast they were to bring a Sheaf of the First-fruits of their Barley-Harvest which is first ripe (g) See Exod. 9.31 32. Ruth 2.23 Their Wheat-Harvest was at Pentecost in that Country being ready about the end of our March or beginning of our April to the Priest who was to wave it before the Lord and then and not before they might reap their Harvest and dress of the Corn of it for themselves And an He-Lamb was appointed peculiarly to accompany this Sheaf besides the daily Sacrifice and those appointed for every one of the seven days and the Meat-Offering was to be double to the usual proportion in all other Sacrifices of Lambs * See Numb 15.4 perhaps because this was a gratulatory Sacrifice for the Fruits of the Earth And this is injoyn'd to be always observed by them as long as the Levitical Worship was to last From vers 4. to 15. 3ly The Feast of Weeks or Pentecost For from this second day they were to number seven compleat Sabbaths or Weeks which made 49 days then on the morrow after the seventh Sabbath or Week which was the 50th day reckoning the day on which they began their account inclusively they were to keep the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost and to offer a new Meat-Offering unto the Lord viz. two wave-Loaves of two tenth deals of fine Flower to be made in some of their Habitations of the new-wheat of their Land and to be offered as the First-fruits of their Wheat-Harvest which were to be waved by the Priest together with the Peace-Offerings And these Loaves were to be baked with leaven For though the Meat-Offerings which were in part to be burnt upon the Altar were always to be without leaven see Levit. 2.11 yet these of the First-fruits which were wholly for the Priests food were allowed to be leavened They were also to offer with the Bread seven Lambs of the first year and one young Bullock and two Rams for a Burnt-Offering and one Kid for a Sin-Offering and two Lambs of the first year for a Peace-Offering To these in this Feast were to be added other Oblations as we may see Numb 28.27 And whereas ordinarily the Priest had but the right shoulder and breast of the Peace-Offering * Levit. 7.31 32 33. here he was to have all because this was offered in general for the whole Congreation and no man in such a common concernment having right to challenge a singular portion to himself all was assigned to the Priest This Feast was to be kept as an holy Convocation and no servile work to be done thereon partly by way of thankfulness for the Fruits of the Earth and partly in remembrance of the giving of the Law * See Sect. 13. of Ch. 4. at this time of the year at Mount Sinah Levit. 23. from vers 15. to 22. 4ly The Feast of Trumpets on the first day of the seventh month so call'd because solemniz'd with blowing of Trumpets by way of rejoycing as 't is thought thorow all the Cities of Israel see Psal 81.3 It was to be a Sabbath or an holy day and solemn Feast unto the Lord Numb 29.1 and they were to do no servile work thereon and it was to be a Memorial to them that this was the first day of their new Year as to civil affairs * For Ecclesiastical matters God appointed the month Nisan or Abib which answereth to part of our March and part of our April to be the first month of the year and that in remembrance of their coming then out of Egypt Exod. 12.2 The seventh month from thence was called Tizri and began about the middle of our September and had been formerly the first month of their year yea and so continued still for civil affairs See Sect. 1. of Ch. 1. Therefore the Year of Jubilee began still at this month and was on the tenth day thereof viz. on the day of Expiation proclaimed Chap. 25.9 The first day of every month which was their new Moon they kept as an holy day a day of special Solemnity and thereon the Priests did blow with their Silver Trumpets over their Sacrifices see Numb 10.10 But the first day of this seventh month was kept as a far more solemn Festival the reason thereof was because this was the beginning of their new Year as to civil affairs And it was also to put them in mind of the special holiness of this month For as the Seventh day of every week was a Sabbath and every seventh Year a Sabbatical Year so God would have the seventh month of every Year to be holy to Himself in some singular manner above the rest of the months What the Sacrifices appointed for this Feast were see Numb 29. from 1. to 7. Levit. 23. from vers 23. to 26. 5ly The day of atonement on the tenth day of this seventh month on which day they were to afflict their Souls by fasting and abstinence from all fleshly delights as also by the inward duties of Humiliation and Contrition and that under the severe penalty of being cut off in case of presumptuous neglect The Solemnity began on the Evening or foregoing the tenth day Levit. 23.32 but the tenth day to the evening was chiefly allotted for this Service on which there was to be offered to the Lord just as much as on the first day see Numb 29. from 7. to the 12. on this day was the Jubilee to be proclaimed Levit. 25.9 Levit. 23. from vers 26. to 33. 6ly The Feast of Tabernacles which began on the fifteenth day of this month and lasted seven days On this day it seems they made their Booths
their eleventh station at Rephidim by Mount Sinai struck the Rock in Horeb as God commanded Him and water came forth And he named the place Massah or Meribah But here at this their 33th station 38 years after with Aaron's budded Rod having his spirit provoked by these rebellious people He smites the Rock twice without any such Command or Commission from God to smite it at all And he and Aaron likewise as it seems speak unadvisedly with their lips * See Psal 106.33 uttering words of passion and distrust possibly to this purpose Hear now ye Rebels must we fetch you water out of this Rock Never imagine that God will work such a Miracle for such a rebellious Crew as ye are However the Rock gave forth water abundantly God was very angry with Moses and Aaron that they had thus distrusted him and had not sanctified * V. 12. Ut sanctificaretis me alloquendo Petram Et miraculum cum fiducia praedicendo Ita mortem His interminatur ut populus intelligeret sibi non parciturum Deum qui viris tantis non pepercerit Porro haec Feri allegoria uti non Moses Hebraeos sed Joshua perduxit in Palestinam ita non Lex in caelum nos verum Christus evehit Demum hinc palam est quo spiritu haec Moses scripserit qui vitia net celet sua nec suorum Vide Cap. 12.1 Anonym in loc Publice peccarunt ideoque severius cum iis egit Deus quam alibi cum Moses infidelitatem proderet Numb 11.22 23. quia tum primum peccavit him inwardly in their hearts by trusting in Him 1 Pet. 3.15 nor glorified him outwardly by ascribing to him the glory of his truth and power before the Children of Israel and therefore He tells them They shall not bring that people into Canaan see Deut. 3.25 26. And as the former place at Rephidim was called Massah and Meribah viz. a place of Strife and Contention because the people there strove with the Lord that is contended with Moses his Servant which he accounts as contending with Himself so shall this also be called And thus the Lord was sanctified in them or among them that is among the Israelites by giving them water and thereby manifesting his Almighty Power Faithfulness and his Goodness and Compassion towards them notwithstanding their great Provocations Numb 20. from 1. to 14. SECT LXIX MOses now by Gods direction sends Messengers to the King of Edom to desire Him that He would please to permit them who were His own flesh and blood as being descended from Jacob Brother to Esau to pass thorow his Country that being the nearest and most convenient way into Canaan And they amiably desire this because God had charged them that they should not meddle with the Sons of Esau or their possession Deut. 2.4 5. He tells him He cannot but have heard of their sore and long Troubles and Oppressions which they suffered in Egypt and how upon their crying unto the Lord he sent his Angel viz. his own eternal Son the Angel or Mediator of the Covenant of Grace see Exod. 3.2 and Mal. 3.1 who conducted them in the way by a Cloud and Pillar of fire He tells him They would not turn aside into their Fields or Vineyards to do them any damage and would drink only of their Rivers that were common and not meddle with their Wells digged for their private use which were very precious in those hot and dry Countries without paying for it But the King of Edom would not consent to it so they were forc'd to fetch a compass thorow the Wilderness which lay about the Land of Edom. Notwithstanding as they went along their Coasts in the out-skirts of their Country the Edomites afforded them Victuals for their money Deut. 2.29 though they did not come forth to meet them with bread and water as men use to do who wish success and prosperity to those to whom they bring it see Deut. 23.3 4. Numb 20. from vers 14. to 22. SECT LXX FRom Kadesh the Camp removes to mount Hor. * A hill in Mosera Deut. 10.6 or whos 's other top was called Moscra From this Mount Hor the people that were driven out of this Country by Esau were called Horims Deut. 2.12 and Esau is called the Horite Gen. 36.20 Here God tells Moses That Aaron should be gathered unto his people that is his godly fore-Fathers that died before him see Gen. 25.8 Heb. 12.23 He commands him to bring Aaron and Eleazar his Son up to the top of Mount Hor. And they accordingly went up in the sight of all the Congregation Here Aaron being attired in all his glorious Vestments Moses strips him of them and puts them upon Eleazar his Son to shew that God had appointed him to succeed in his Fathers Office and that the High Priests eldest Son (k) Eleazar's Sons did succeed him to the time of the Judges Then the High Priesthood was translated to the Posterity of Ithamar the other Son of Aaron for Eli was of the stock of Ithamar or the next Heir of their Family unless rendred uncapable by some blemish was still to succed in that Office Thus on the first day of the fifth month in the fortieth year after their coming out of Egypt Aaron being an 123 years old (l) See Numb 33.38 died seven months and seven days before Moses and was there buried and the whole Congregation mourned for him 30 days * So long they mourned for Moses Deut. 34.8 Numb 20. from vers 22. to the end SECT LXXI AT this time King Arad the Canaanite whose Country lay in the South of Canaan understanding by the Spies he had sent forth to observe the course of the Israelites V. 1. By the way of the Spies it might be a way so called and well known by that name at that time that they were turned back again from the Red-Sea and marched directly upon the South of Canaan not knowing of Moses's purpose to compass the Land of Edom he immediately marched forth with his Army as far as Mount Hor in the edge of the Desart where the Israelites now lay and there fought with them and took some of them Prisoners The Israelites intending to renew the battel and again once more to encounter Arad and his Army they call'd upon the Lord for help and vowed unto Him that if he would please to deliver these Enemies into their hands they would utterly destroy and burn their Cities and that nothing of their Goods should be reserved for their own private use The Lord was pleased to hear their prayer so that in the second battel they vanquish'd and overcame them But how could the Israelites being so far off in the Wilderness destroy their Cities lying in Canaan Numb 33.40 into which they came not till after Moses's death It seems the performance of this Vow was long after made viz. when they were come unto the Land For the King of
their Gods also He had executed Judgment causing possibly some such notable accident to befal the Egyptian Idols as did the Philistines Dagon which fell down before the Ark see Exod. 12.12 Their second Station was Succoth their third Etham where the Lord began first to go before them by day in a Pillar of Cloud and by night in a Pillar of fire From Etham they turned unto Pihahiroth a narrow passage between two ledges of Mountains into which being entred Pharaoh overtook them with a great Army and thought they could not have escap'd him but God divided the Red-Sea which the Israelites passing thorow the Egyptians assayed to follow them and there were miserably drowned The Israelites having past thorow the Sea went three days journey in the Wilderness of Etham without any water and pitched in Marah Here they found the Waters very bitter insomuch that they began to murmur against Moses but God sweetened the Waters by the casting in of a Tree Exod. 15.23 From Marah they came to Elim where were twelve Fountains of Water From Elim they encamped by the Red-Sea †See Sect. 8. of this Book and from thence removed to the Wilderness of Sin so called from Sin a City in Egypt over against which this Wilderness lay Hither they came just a month after their departure from Rameses Here they murmur grievously for want of Food and God gave them Quails for one meal and Manna from Heaven which was continued till they came into Canaan From Sin they came to Dophkah and from thence to Alush and from thence to Rhepidim * See Sect. 10. of this Book where wanting water again they were ready to stone Moses but water was fetched for them miraculously out of a Rock in Horeb. Here they had a Victory over the Amalekites who set upon them From Rephidim they came to the Wilderness of Sinai Hither they came at the beginning of the third month Exod. 19.1 and stayed till the second day of the second month of the second year Numb 10.11 12. Here the Law was given and the Tabernacle framed and the people punished for making and worshipping a golden Calf and Nadab and Abihu smitten dead for offering strange fire Here the people were first numbred and then ordered as to their Encampings about the Tabernacle and in their Journeys towards the Land of Canaan From Sinai they marched by Taberah signifying a burning because there the fire of God till quenched by Moses's prayer consumed the hindermost in the Camp for their murmuring and so they came to Kibroth-Hattavah Here the people fell a lusting for Flesh again And God now gave them Quails for a whole month together in great abundance whereon they surfeited and died miserably with the flesh between their teeth Then they came to Hazeroth Here Aaron and Miriam murmured against Moses and she was smitten with Leprosie Numb 12. Then they came to Rithmath in the Wilderness of Paran near Kadesh-barnea whence Spies were sent to search the Land Upon the evil report of ten of them the people horribly murmur God was very wroth with them for it and appoints Moses to return again to the Red-Sea and declares That not one of that Generation save Caleb and Joshua should enter into Canaan Then they came to Rimmon-Parez and from thence to Libnah call'd Laban Deut. 1.1 and then to Rissah then to Kehelatha thence to Mount Shapher thence to Haradah and pitched in Makheloth signifying Assemblies so called as some think because of the mutinous Assemblies of Corah Dathan and Abiram in that place Thence to Tahath and pitched at Tarah thence to Mithcah and pitched at Hashmonah and encamped at Maseroth and then came to Bene-Jaakan and incamped at Hor-gidgad from thence to Jothathah a Land of Rivers of waters Deut. 10.7 Here the Rock Rephidim-water as it seems stopped its course * See Dr. Fuller's Pisgah-sight God suspending Miracles when he affords means and as 't is probable the Israelites drank of the water of the Country till they came to Kadesh Then they encamped at Ebronah from thence they marched to Eziongaber a place by the Red-Sea where was a Harbour for Ships in Edom's Land 1 Kings 9.26 From thence to Kadesh in the Wilderness of Zin Here Miriam died The people in this place wanting water murmur again and had water again given them out of a Rock Here God was very angry with Moses and Aaron for their unbelief and here they had the Sentence of Death passed on them though reprieved for a time and rendred uncapable of entring into Canaan They came hither in the beginning of the 40th year and hence they sent to crave a passage thorow Edoms Land but it was denied them God Commands them not to force it but to find another way From Kadesh they removed to Mount Hor in the edge of the Land of Edom where Aaron died Then they came to Zalmonah so called possibly of Zolom an Image For this is thought to be the place where the Israelites for murmuring again for want of water and loathing Manna were stung with fiery Serpents and the brasen Serpent was by God's direction erected for their Cure and help As for their five following Stages viz. Punon Oboth Jie-abarim and Dibon-Gad so called because it was repaired and possessed by the Tribe of Gad Ch. 32.34 and Almon-Diblathaim we find no memorable accident happening at them Thence they came to the Mountains of Abarim and then to the Plains of Moab And here God commanded Moses to charge the Israelites to drive out the Inhabitants of the Land viz. by destroying them Deut. 7.22 23. and to destroy their Pictures and molten Images and High Places and to divide their Land by lot among themselves But if they did not take care to drive them out then he declares The Canaanites should be pricks in their Eyes and thorns in their Sides and a continual Vexation to them and He would bring that destruction on them for their Disobedience which he thought to bring on the Canaanites viz. root them out of the Land Numb 33. whole Chapter SECT LXXXIX THe Lord now by Moses declareth unto Israel the Bounds (a) V. 3. The Wilderness of Zin lay at the very East-end of the South-border in the corner whereof it joyned with the East-border right against the South-end of the Salt-Sea that is the Lake of Sodom called also the Dead-Sea see Gen. 14.3 V. 7. This was not that Mount Hor where Aaron died which was South-wâ—rd in the edge of Edoms Land Ch. 33.37 38. but another Mountain on the North-side of Canaan by some supposed to be Libanus and by other Mount Hermon and Limits of the Land of Canaan lying within Jordan which he intended to give them that they might be assured they should possess it and might know how far they were to proceed in their Conquests and where to stay and according to these Bounds and Limits might make a division of the Land among the nine
Necromancer who by raising the dead did consult with them about secret things see 1 Sam. 28.7 These Nations whose Land thou art going to possess hearkned to these but thou shalt be upright and sincere before the Lord and devote thy self intirely to him who will not suffer thee to imitate them in these abominations And he shews them they should have no need to seek to such Enchanters and Diviners because God would still raise up Prophets from among themselves of their own Brethren to reveal his Will to them and at last about 1400 years after this would send them the great Prophet (c) Per hunc Prophetam aliqui intelligunt Joshuam alij omnes Prophetas Mosen secutos Hic locus aliquo modo ad omnes Prophetas referri potest maximè tamen imprimis ad Christum referri debet the Messias see Acts 3.22 7.37 Joh. 1.45 Joh. 5.46 And though the Prophets sent to Israel were not equal to Moses Deut. 34.10 yet they were like him being men sent from God as he was and raised up from among their Brethren as he was And so Christ was an High Priest taken from among men Heb. 5.1 and like unto Moses yet above him As Moses brought them the Law from God so Christ the Gospel out of the bosome of the Father Joh. 6.40 And he shews how faithful these Prophets would be that he should send to them to deliver what ever he gave them in Charge and nothing else but what he should put into their mouths And this was most eminently verified in Christ Joh. 15.15 All things that I have heard of my Father have I made known unto you He further shews That God will severely punish those that will not hear his Prophets speaking to them in his Name And this was principally to be fulfilled upon the Jews who would not hearken to the words of Christ for which God destroyed their City and Sanctuary as was prophesied Dan. 9.26 And further lest false Prophets should arise and come to them in the Lords Name he gives them a Rule how they should discover them If any of them should predict or foretel any strange and miraculous thing (d) Referendum ad ea quae per naturam fieri non possunt ut virgam in colubrum converteâ—e Talia enim si praedicantur in Dei nomine non permittet ea fieri Deus ne tentationem inferat insuperabilem that should come to pass as a proof that they were truly sent of God if these things did not accordingly come to pass they might be sure they were false Prophets And they might know them also by this if they strove to turn them from the true God and his Law But in other Predictions as in foretelling some Judgment that should befal men that which they foretold might not come to pass and yet they that foretold these things might be the true Prophets of God for all that For thus it was with Jonah who prophesied Forty days and Nineveh shall be destroyed Jon. 3.4 And so Isaiah Who told Hezekiah that he should die of his sickness 2 Kings 20.1 For in all such Predictions the people might know that those things were conditionally foretold though the condition were not always expressed and therefore that in case they repented God would not inflict the evil denounced against them But as for false Prophets that prophesied presumptuously fathering their own Phantasies and wild Conceits on the true God they should not need to fear them nor their Predictions nor fear to put them to death when they found them upon clear proof so to be Having before assigned them three Cities of Refuge in the Land without Jordan Chap. XIX which they had already vanquished Deut. 4.41 now he gives direction that when they had possessed themselves of the Land of Canaan within Jordan they should there also set apart three Cities of Refuge more and they should take care that from all parts of the Country round about these Cities there should be a direct plain broad fair High-way or Cawsey leading to these Cities setting up marks whereby the way might be known leading thither to the end that the Man-slayer might not be hindred in his flying thither And because the Land within Jordan was much more long than broad it was to be divided into three equal parts and the Cities of Refuge which were afterwards Kadesh Shechem and Hebron were to be in three places equally distant and so commodious for men to fly unto The persons that were to injoy the Priviledge of those Cities were only such as killed a man unwittingly * By the rule of proportion we may probably conceive that the like Priviledge was afforded to him that killed a man in his own defence when he had no quarrel with him but only sought to secure his own life by Chancemedly as we call it and not out of malice or on purpose And they were to appoint these Cities of Refuge in the three several divisions of the Land lest if the person that had killed a man unwittingly had too far to fly ere he could come to one of them the Avenger that is one of the Kinsmen of the dead while his heart was hot might pursue him and overtake him before he could get thither and so slay him though he had not deserved death inasmuch as he hated him not in times past And though they were at first commanded to set apart only three Cities of Refuge within Jordan yet he commands them that if afterwards the Lord should inlarge their Coast viz. by giving them the Land from the River of Egypt to the great River Euphrates (e) Conditionally promised to them Gen. 15.18 if they continued in obedience to God The Jews by their disobedience and breach of Covenant with God never got possession of the utmost bounds of those Lands conditionally promised them then they should separate three Cities of Refuge more in those Quarters that innocent blood might not be shed in the Land which the Lord would give them for an Inheritance and so blood be upon them But on the other side if any man did hate his Neighbour and lie in wait for him and rise up against him and smite him mortally so that he died and then fled unto any of these Cities in such a case the Elders of the City or place where the slayer dwelleth and unto which he belongeth should send and fetch him thence viz. from the City of Refuge yea or from the Altar of the Lord Exod. 21.14 and deliver him into the hands of the Avenger of blood that he might slay him In such case they must not pity him upon any pretence whatsoever and so they should put away the guilt of innocent blood from among them that it might go well with them from 1. to 14. And to prevent occasions of quarrelling and blood-shed in the next place he charges them that no man should remove his Neighbours Land-mark
by a Synecdoche for the whole City of Jerusalem and therewith for the Temple founded on Mount Moriah called the City of God in a more especial manner was in the Tribe of Judah yet the Northern part with Mount Moriah where the Temple stood was in the Tribe of Benjamin and being set upon that Hill it was conspicuously eminent as the Head placed above and between the shoulders and in that sense God may be said to dwell between his shoulders 5ly He comes now to Joseph whose two Sons Ephraim and Manasseh were Heads of two Tribes of whom he saith Blessed of the Lord be his Land and let it be blessed with the most excellent things of Heaven that is with Rains and Dews that fall from Heaven and let it be blessed with the deep that coucheth beneath that is with springs arising from the deep let it be blessed with precious Fruits brought forth by the heat and influence of the Sun and the kindly moistures of the Night and the influence of the Moon Let it be blessed with the chief things of the ancient Mountains and with the precious things of the lasting Hills that is with the choicest Trees and Fruits and Herbs that grow on Hills such as are Vines Olives Cedars Pines Cypress and other useful Trees and with Mines of Gold and Silver and other metals which are usually found in Hills †See Gen. 49.26 and Mountains And let the Posterity of Joseph be blessed not only with the good things of the Earth and with plenty of them but with the good-will of Him that dwelt in the Bush In the Bush God appeared to Moses as the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob and the good-will of God thus manifested viz. as a God in Covenant with them was that which alone could make them truly happy see Psal 106.4 Let this blessing says he come on the head of Joseph that is on his Posterity whose Father was separated from his Brethren and advanced by the Lord to an high and singular degree of Honour above them His glory shall be like the firstling of his Bullock that is of a fair young Bullock in his best strength and his horns like the horns of Vnicorns that is his Power shall be great and irresistible wherewith he shall Conquer far remote Nations Now these horns of his he shews are the ten thousands of Ephraim and the thousands of Manasseh 6ly He comes to Zebulun of whom he says Rejoyce Zebulun in thy going out and Issachar in thy Tents Here he blesses two Tribes together Of Zebulun he Prophesies That they shall be happy in their going forth to Trade and in their merchandising by Ships agreeable to what Jacob prophesied of them Gen. 49.13 Zebulun shall dwell at the harbour of the Sea he shall be for an Haven of Ships And of Issachar he Prophesies That they should be happy in their Tents that is in their quiet life at home and in their Husbandry and Tillage and breeding and feeding of Cattel Both their ways of living should yield them matter of rejoycing in the goodness and bounty of God to them Issachar shoul be happy in their Husbandry Zebulun in following their Merchandise They should suck of the abundance of the Seas that is of the Riches and Wealth brought over the Seas and of the Treasures hid in the sand that is brought from such Cities as were seated upon the Sea-shore in sandy-ground They shall call the people unto the Mountain there they shall offer Sacrifices of Righteousness herein he Prophesies of their religious thankfulness to God for his great blessings to them They should duly go to Mount Sion to worship the Lord and should invite their Brethren and possibly strangers of other Nations to go along with them though they were seated by the Sea-side in the outmost parts of the Land and so far off from the Temple of Jerusalem yet at times appointed they should readily go up to the House of God and there offer the Sacrifices and Thank-Offerings which were justly due to God and agreeable to what his Law prescribed 7ly He comes to Gad of whom he says Blessed be He that inlargeth Gad namely the Lord who hath bestowed upon Gad a large and spacious Country and though it lay upon the Frontiers and therefore was liable to frequent Incursions of Enemies yet they should have heart and courage to defend themselves Therefore he Prophesies of Gad That he shall dwell as a Lion that is bold and undaunted and as a Lion teareth sometimes the Arm sometimes the Crown of the Head that is sometimes in one place sometimes in another so this Tribe should divers ways spoil their Enemies He provided the first part for himself that is the first part of the conquered Land which was the Country of Sihon and this Tribe may be said to have provided for themselves because they desired it of Moses for their Inheritance and this part of the Country of Canaan being without Jordan was that alone which God permitted Moses the Law-giver to come into and allowed him to give unto them for their Inheritance and being thus provided they went with the Heads of the people armed * Moses here speaks of a thing to come as if it had been already done foreseeing by the Spirit of Prophesie that it would be so before their Brethren and executed the justice of the Lord and his judgments upon the accursed Canaanites 8ly He comes to Dan of whom he says Dan is a Lions whelp he shall leap from Bashan Bashan was a place where were many Lions though not in Dan's possession but Manasseh's see Deut. 3.13 The Danites are therefore here compared to Lions rushing suddenly out of the Forrests and Dens of Bashan who seize upon those that pass by ere they were aware Thus the Danites should leap unexpectedly out of their Forts and fastnesses and secret places where they lay in ambush and should seize upon their Enemies when they least expected them see Gen. 49.17 Josh 19.47 Judg. 18.27 29. 9ly He comes to Naphtali of whom he says O Naphtali satisfied with favour and full with the blessing of the Lord wherein he Prophesies of the fruitfulness of the Soil wherein this Tribe should have their portion Therefore Jacob compares them to a Hind let loose that hath a large walk and so in choice Pastures finds plenty of feeding Gen. 49.21 He therefore here breaks out into an admiration of the great plenty and abundance of blessings which their Inheritance should yield them but intimates that their blessings should not consist so much in their having such plenty and fulness of outward blessings as in their being fully satisfied and contented therewith and that the thing which should yield such satisfaction to their Souls was not so much the blessings themselves as the singular love and favour of God whereof to them these Blessings were Pledges He further adds Possess thou the West and the South intimating to them thereby that their lot
should fall to them South-West in reference to Dan's Inheritance which was in the North. And their Inheritance reaching to the Sea of Tiberias this might also imply that besides the other rich Commodities of the Land they should enjoy the advantage of Merchandizing also Lastly He comes to Asher saying Let Asher be blessed with Children that is with many and good Children who for their amiable disposition should be exceedingly beloved of all about them and let him dip his foot in Oil that is let his Country exceedingly abound with Oil * Ita abundabit oleo ut eo pedem lavare possit Vide Gen. 49.20 Job 29.6 Jansen and other good things And under his shoes shall be Iron and Brass that is his portion should be full of Mines of Iron and Brass and other metals and as his days so should his strength be that is all his days his strength should continue Moses having thus blessed the several Tribes particularly He now in the close of his Speech sets forth the happiness of all the people and all the Tribes in general and that for the special Interest they have in God who hath all the Creatures at his Command for their help There is none says he like unto the God of Jeshurun who rideth upon the Heavens for thy help and in his Excellency on the Sky intimating that as a man turns and winds his Horse which way he pleaseth so doth the Lord rule the Heavens and all the Host of them making them serviceable to the good of his people For from thence he sendeth help unto them against their Enemies smiting and destroying them with terrible Tempests with Hail Lightning and Thunder see Psal 18. from vers 7. to 20. The eternal God is thy Refuge and underneath thee are the everlasting Arms of his Omnipotency to support thee and he shall thrust out the Enemy from before thee and shall give thee Commission and Power to destroy them Israel shall dwell alone in safety that is shall cast out the Cannanites and have the Land to themselves not living now as formerly in Egypt only as Sojourners and mixt with other Nations but they shall live as a Nation and people of themselves and in a Land of their own under their own Laws and Government and shall dwell in safety not fearing other people The fountain * Fountain is here used for a River or Stream issuing out of a Fountain Psal 104.10 Waters often signifie people Rev. 17.15 see Psal 68.26 of Jacob that is the people which flowed out of Jacob as out of a Well or Fountain viz. the Posterity of Jacob shall dwell upon a Land of Corn and Wine and the Heavens that are spread over their Land shall drop down dew and make it exceeding fruitful He concludes all with this Acclamation Happy art thou O Israel who is like unto thee O people saved by the Lord who is the Shield of thy help and not only a Shield or Buckler to defend thee but the Sword of thy Excellency to fight for thee against thy Enemies 'T is He that maketh thee famous and renowned above others for Marshal Exploits and thine Enemies who prophesied of their Victories over thee and how they should overcome thee by the help of their Idol-gods shall be found Liars unto thee for thou shalt tread upon their High Places that is triumphantly prevail over their fenced Cities whose Walls and Towers are raised very high SECT XCIII MOses now having spoken all that he intended to speak to the Children of Israel Ch. XXXIV and having pronounced his last blessing upon them This last Chapter of of Deuteronomy was written after Moses's death but whither by Joshua or Eleazar or what other holy man is uncertain So the conclusion of the Book of Jeremy was written after his death see Jer. 51.64 and as 't is like taken his solemn leave of them went up from the Plains of Moab to Mount Nebo the highest top whereof called Pisgah lay over against Jericho Joshua and Eleazar as some * Mos◠morituro adfuisse Joshuam Eleazaram traedit Josephus Antiq. lib. 4. Cumque post mutuos Complexus Eleazaro Joshuae ultimum vale diceret interloquendum repentina nube circundatus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ex oculis illorum in quandam vallem est ablatus think accompanying him And as a weary Labourer at night goes to his Chamber to take his rest so this holy man after all his great and wearisome Labours in the Governing this people at the Commandment of God went up to Mount Nebo there to die and so to rest from his Labours But before he died the Lord was pleased to give him a sight of the promised Land And first He shewed him all the Land of Gilead unto Dan. Gilead was on the outside of Jordan Dan †Formerly call'd Leshem Josh 19.47 or Laish Judg. 18.27 was a City in the furthest part of the Land within Jordan Northward Then He shewed him the portion of Naphtali which was near unto it Then the Land of Ephraim and Manasseh which was in the midst of Canaan Then the Land of Judah which was the Southern part of the Country and then the Plain and Valley of Jericho which was on the East-Coast and the Midland-Sea called the Outmost-Sea which was the Western-Coast This view therefore that Moses had of the whole Land was by the miraculous power of God strengthening his sight so wonderfully for by the ordinary power of Nature it was not possible that from one place he should have beheld so large a Country therefore vers 4. 't is said God caused him to see it with his eyes and told him This was the Land which he sware to Abraham Isaac and Jacob to give it unto their Seed Moses having had a full prospect of this earthly Canaan there died and his Soul went to the heavenly being an 120 years old his eyes not being dim nor his radical moisture abated Of this time he had spent near a full third part in his Government of this people departing this life in the last month of the Year called Adar and the seventh day * For Aaron dying in the 40th year 5th month first day of it Numb 33.38 and that compar'd with the months mourning for Moses Deut. 34.8 and three days preparation to pass over Jordan Ch. 3.2 and their coming out of Jordan on the first month tenth day Josh 4.19 do shew that Moses died in the twelfth month and seventh day of it and so seven months and seven days after Aaron of it Moses's Soul being gone to Heaven Jehovah or Michael the Son of God Jude v. 9. translated his body out of the place where he died into a Valley of the Land of Moab †That Land was so called because it did formerly belong to the Moabites and was lately taken from them by Sihon King of the Amorites as we shewed on Numb 21.26 and was now possessed by the
Horam King of Gezer a City near to Lachish understanding this comes forth with his Forces to relieve it but Joshua utterly routed and defeated him and then the day after the Lord delivered Lachish into his hands whose Inhabitants he utterly destroyed as he had done those of Libnah Then he marched to Eglon (f) A City in the Tribe of Judah Ch. 15.39 five Leagues Southward from Jerusalem and took it the very day he encamped against it and put all to the Sword he found there From thence he marched to Hebron (g) A famous ancient City see Numb 13.23 in the Tribe of Judah call'd formerly Kirjath-jearim The King hereof was one of those hanged at Makkedah but He being dead either his Heir succeeded him or they chose another How this City is afterwards said to be taken by Caleb see Notes on Ch. 15.13 14. and took it with the new King thereof for the old one was lately hanged at Makkedah and all the Cities it had under its Jurisdiction and utterly destroyed all the Inhabitants thereof Joshua then bending his Course towards Gilgal he took Debir (h) A City in the Confines of Judah butting upon Simeon before call'd Kirjah-sepher Josh 15.15 five or six miles Southward of Hebron and the King thereof and all the Towns belonging to it utterly destroying all the people therein and as he had done to the King of Libnah so he did to the King of Debir All these Kings and their Land did Joshua take in one Expedition because the Lord fought for Israel He subdued also all that part of the Country which lay to the South both those Cities that were built on Hills and those that were seated in the Plains He subdued and vanquish'd all from Kadesh-Barnea the utmost Southern bound unto Gaza upon the Sea-Coast and all the Country of Goshen in the mountainous parts of Judah even to Gibeon and destroyed their Inhabitants to a vast number doing therein according to what the Lord God of Israel had commanded him Deut. 20.16 17. Then Joshua returned with his Army to the Camp at Gilgal Joshua Ch. 10. from 28. to the end SECT CV FRom the Autumn of this year wherein after the failing of Manna they began to till the Ground and sow it is to be reckoned the first year of their Tillage and the rise of the Sabhatical year is hence to be taken Exod. 23.10 11. Levit. 25. from 2. to 7. SECT CVI. THe five Southern Kings being thus destroyed all the rest of the Northern Kings combined together against the Israelites and with them Joshua had a long War see vers 18. which lasted till about the end of the sixth year of his Government by which time He subdued them Very observable was the Providence of God that he did not suffer all the Kings of the Canaanites at once to joyn their Forces together against the Israelites but ordered it so that only some of them fought against Israel at one time and some at another by which means the Israelites were heartned with frequent Victories and had leisure to refresh themselves between them And though Joshua's wonderful Successes and Victories are succinctly related in this Chapter one after another yet these Wars lasted a great while after the Battel of the waters of Merom and there were about six years spent in the subduing these Nations as may appear by considering Caleb's age of which more afterwards see Ch. 14. from vers 6. to 15. 'T is true God could have subdued these Nations in a shorter time but he was pleased to have it done by degrees that the greater Opposition and Difficulty the Israelites met with in the Work the more they might own his Power and Providence in carrying them thorow All. The Lord also hereby exercised their Faith and Patience and stirred up the Spirit of prayer in them and drew forth their Dependance and Reliance on Himself And hereby also He discovered the obstinacy of the Canaanites which rendred them the more inexcusable The Lord also had determined that they should drive out these Nations by little and littlâ— and not consume them all at once lest the wild Beasts might increase upon them for want of people to inhabit the Land see Deut. 7.22 And we may add this as a reason to all the former why the War continued so long namely God leaving these Canaanites to the hardness of their own hearts none of them besides the Gibeonites desired to make Peace with the Israelites but desperately and obstinately resolved to fight with them and to oppose them to the uttermost and God did judicially thus suffer them to harden their hearts more and more that so they might have no favour but be utterly destroyed vers 20. But to return The Northern Kings that had combined against Israel were Jabin King of Hazor a City lying in the upper Galilee not far from Kadesh who sent to Jobab King of Madon (i) A City near Dan. and to the King of Shimron (k) A City in Zebulun near Mount Carmel call'd Shimron-meron Ch. 12.20 and to the King of Ackshaph (l) In Asher near Accho or Ptolemais and to the Kings that were towards the North on the Mountains and those that were in the Plains that lay on the South-side of the Country of Cinneroth called afterwards Tiberias and Genne-sereth and in the Valley or low Grounds and in the Borders of Dor (m) A City and County in the Tribe of Manasseh on the Coast of the Mediterranean-Sea on the West and to the Canaanites that dwelt both on the East and West and to the Amorite Hittite Perizzite and Jebusite in the Mountains and to the Hivite under Hermon a Hill in the North of Canaan which were another sort of Hivites much differing from those of Gibeon who had submitted to Joshua All these upon Jabin's Sollicitation combined together and went out against Israel with a mighty Army even like the sand that is upon the Sea-shore for multitude that is with such a vast number as was not easily to be numbered and they had Horses and Chariots very many They pitched together at the waters of Merom to fight against Israel Joshua might possibly be now in some apprehension how the Israelites that were all Foot should be able to encounter so vast an Army as this which consisted so much of Horse and had so many Iron-Chariots But the Lord bad him not be afraid of them for on the morrow by that time he would deliver them up into his hands and He should hough their Horses that is cut their hamstrings and so make them unserviceable either in War or for any other use and burn their Chariots Accordingly Joshua very early next morning fell upon them with his whole Army probably before they were in any Order and made a vast Slaughter among them and chased them to Zidon * The Metropolis of Phaenicia Tyre is call'd the Daughter of it Isa 53.12 the Great and to
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
spoken Jer. Ch. 35. Judg. Ch. 1. vers 16. SECT CXXV AS Simeon had before assisted Judah in clearing his lot so now Judah assists Simeon in clearing his And joyning together they first Conquer Hormah and utterly destroy it and the reason hereof seems to be because of the Vow which the Israelites had made long since when Arad a King of the Canaanites had made War against them see Numb 21.3 They took also Gaza and Askelon and Ekron with their Coasts though it seems the Philistines soon recovered these three Cities again and drave out the Israelites before they had well setled themselves in them see Ch. 3.1 2 3. 1 Sam. 6.17 and the reason hereof was because the Israelites soon provoked the Lord by their Sins As for Ekron it was in Dan's lot Josh 19.43 Therefore it seems the Tribe of Judah joyned with those of Dan as well as with those of Simeon to help them to clear their Coasts The Lord being thus with Judah they drave out the Canaanites that dwelt in the mountainous Country but their own fears disabling them and God for their sins withdrawing his help from them they could not drive them out of the Vallies and Plains not daring it seems to set upon them because of their Iron-Chariots of which see Josh 17.16 Whereas this was no just cause to deter them seeing they had God's Promise of Victory It was therefore their own sinful fear and want of Faith in Gods Promises that hindred them from driving them out Judges 1.17 18 19. SECT CXXVI THe several Tribes are now working themselves into a settlement in their several lots but are not careful to root out the Canaanites but suffer'd them to live among them notwithstanding Gods Command which injoyned them utterly to destroy them and root them out And particularly the Children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited that part of Jerusalem which was in their lot viz. The Castle and Fort Josh 15.63 so that the Jebusites dwelt there unconquered till David's time 2 Sam. 5.6 7. And the Tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh went up against Bethel to take it because it belonged to their lot Josh 16.2 And their Spies catch'd a man that came out of the City and they told him If he would shew them how they might enter the City that is some weak place thereof where they might make their Entry the Gates being lock'd and bar'd they would shew him mercy and not only spare his life but the lives of those that belonged to him The man hereupon did shew them where they might enter the City and they entring accordingly smote it with the edge of the Sword but let the man * Non ut Rahab se ex fide Hebraeis adjungit sed avaritia ductus aut pavore prodidit Patriam Civitatem cujus tamen excitat memoriam sic Salamina posuit Teucer in Cypro Nov. and all his Family go so the man and his Company went among the Hittites who inhabited on the North-side of Mount Ephraim and there being as it seems a rich man with his Family Friends and Allies who were spared for his sake built a City and call'd it Luz after the name of the City in which probably he was born and bred that the memory of it might not perish but be preserved to Posterity Further that half-Tribe of Manasseh that dwelt in Canaan having disabled themselves by their Sins and so deprived themselves of God's Assistance drave not out the Canaanites out of Bethshean Taanach Dor Ibleam and Megiddo but they would dwell there either by Force or by Composition see Josh 17.11 12. And when the Israelites were grown strong and so by God's assistance might easily have driven them out if they had had an heart to set about it they out of Sloth Cowardliness or Covetousness let them alone on condition they would pay them Tribute Neither did the Children of Ephraim drive out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer viz. out of the City but they possessed it till Pharaoh took it and burnt it 1 Kings 9.16 Neither did Zebulun drive out the Canaanites out of his lot but only made them Tributary which shews that they might have subdued them seeing they could force them to pay them Tribute Neither did Asher drive out the old Inhabitants out of his lot but they were forc'd to live intermixed with them Neither did Naphtali drive the Canaanites out of his portion but only made them Tributary And though the Children of Dan had at first prevailed against the Amorites and possessed themselves of their Country yet afterwards the Amorites getting more strength recovered the best part of it namely the Vallies and forced the Danites into the Mountains where being much straitened they took occasion to enlarge their possessions by making that Expedition unto Laish mentioned Ch. 18. but the more fruitful Mountains of Heres they would not be driven out of till the House of Joseph assisting the Danities they so far prevailed that they made them Tributary And thus the Israelites by their own sloth suffered themselves to be hemmed in with those accursed Canaanites contenting themselves if they would pay them some small Tribute And this was the first step of their defection from God which did afterwards lead them into greater and grosser Enormities Judg. 1. from 21. to the end SECT CXXVII THe people of Israel now finding themselves sorely annoyed by the Canaanites in several parts of the Land there was it seems an Assembly called of the Heads of all the Tribes to Shiloh that they might Consult what was fit for them to do in this case The Lord was pleased to send the Angel of the Covenant to them in an Humane shape the same Angel that appeared to Joshua at Gilgal Josh 5.14 and therefore is here said to come up from Gilgal who sharply reproves them for their remisness and carelesness in executing the Commands of God He tells them He brought them up out of Egypt into that good Land and He would never break his Covenant with them if they did not first break their Covenant with Him He had commanded them That they should make no League with the Canaanites Deut. 7.2 but should throw down their Altars Deut. 11.3 but they had not obeyed his Voice therein Therefore says he I said I will not drive out the Inhabitants of the Land before you but they shall be as Thornes in your Sides and their gods shall be a Snare unto you to intangle you in their Idolatry to your perdition Exod. 23.33 34.12 The people being convinc'd by the Angel's words of their great Sin they lifted up their Voice and wept and they called the place upon that occasion Bochim * Called so v. 1. by anticipation and here from the event because the Israelites did weep abundantly in this place viz. the place of Weepers And here they offered Sacrifices to the Lord to make Attonement for their sins Judg. 2. from 1. to 6.
Family in Shechem that we must serve him is He not the Son of a Concubine And what is this Zebul but his Officer his Creature his Tool to tyranize by And must such an ancient and brave City as Shechem be inslav'd to every domineering Officer that this Son of an Hand-Maid shall set over you If you have a mind to give away your Liberty and be in Bondage you had better call in the old Lords of this place the Descendents of Hamor the Father of Shechem and serve them than serve this new base upstart Abimelech Well! if you men of Shechem would all put your selves under my Government I would quickly ease you of this Abimelech He should not long King it over you Then in a Bravado he cries out O Abimelech make thy self as strong as thou canst with all thine Allies and Friends and then come out and fight with me if thou darest Zebul the Ruler of the City hearing of these vaunting words of Gaal was greatly inrag'd and sent secret Intelligence to Abimelech How Gaal and his Adherents were fortifying the City against him He advises him therefore to come by night against Shechem with all his Army and having laid the greatest part of them in Ambush He should the next morning shew himself with the rest before the City against whom when Gaal came forth as undoubtedly he would He would fall unexpectedly into the snare Abimelech accordingly marched with his Army in the night towards Shechem and divided his Men into four Companies and laying three of them in Ambush He marched only with the fourth in the morning towards the City Gaal going early to the Gate of the City and Zebul the Major of the Town being by He said to him Behold there come people down from the top of the Mountains Zebul jeeringly replied Surely thou takest the shadows of the Mountains for Men. Gaal presently in some consternation cries out There was another Company coming by the middle of the Land and another by the Plain Then Zebul tauntingly ask'd him Where is now thy mouth wherewith thou saidst who is Abimelech that we should serve him where are thy great Brags and Boastings now Is not this the people whom thou didst so contemptuously despise Go out now and fight with them and shew thy valour if thou hast any Shew that thou canst fight as well as talk Gaal upon this got as many of the men of Shechem together as he could and marched out before them to fight with Abimelech But Abimelech quickly routed him and slew and wounded many of his men and chased the rest even to the Gates of the City Then Abimelech for the present withdrew his Forces to Aramah a place not far from Shechem to refresh them after the Fight and to wait for some better opportunity of surprizing the City The people of Shechem being now greatly vex'd and inraged at their Defeat 't is like Zebul suggested to them that the Cowardize and ill Conduct of Gaal and his Brethren had been the cause thereof and so he easily procur'd them to be cashier'd and sent away out of the City The Shechemites then choosing for themselves a new Commander in whom they might more confide and having recruited their Army resolved to march out the next morning to be revenged on Abimelech for their former loss and to drive him out of the Country Abimelech hearing they were come out against him He marched towards them and then dividing his Army into three parts He designed with one of them which he kept with himself to lie in Ambush and to surprize the City on a suddain whilst the Shechemites were ingaged with the other two Brigades of his Army or at least to keep them from sallying forth to assist those that were ingaged in the Fight and to prevent those in the Field from making any Retreat if they were worsted Accordingly whilst Abimelech and those that were with him ran and got to the Gate of the City his other two Parties ran upon the Shechemites in the Field and made a great slaughter of them Having thus vanquished the Field-Army he fought against the City all that day and at last took it and put to the Sword all that came in his way Many of the Shechemites had it seems got into the Tower of Shechem or House of Millo to secure themselves but hearing the dreadful Cries and Shreekes of their dying Fellow-Citizens they forsook that and betook themselves to the House of Baal-berith either trusting more to the strength of the Place or else flying to it as to a Sanctuary in this their great Extremity Abimelech hereupon went to Mount Zalmon a Hill near Shechem and cut down a Tree and laid it on his Shoulder and encouraged his Souldiers to do the like and with those he fired the House of Baal-berith and there destroyed about a thousand men and women of the Shechemites He then ras'd the City of Shechem to the ground and in detestation and for an exemplary Punishment he sowed it with Salt as a sign of an utter Vastation and perpetual Desolation But herein he failed of his end for it was afterwards rebuilt by Jeroboam 1 Kings 12.25 and inhabited 2 Chron. 10.1 Jer. 21.5 and afterwards it was called Sychar Joh. 4.5 Some of the Inhabitants of Shechem had it seems during these Disasters betaken themselves to Thebez a Town near Shechem which had a strong Fort or Castle in it Thither now Abimelech marches with his Army The people of Thebez betook themselves to the Castle as the only place of Security Abimelech resolving to set fire on the Gate of it went so near to it himself to give Orders about it that a woman from the top of the Tower cast a piece of a Mill-stone upon him and brake his Skull * Thus Phyrrhus was slain by a woman casting a Tile on his head at the taking of Argos He finding he had received his deaths wound bad his Armour-Bearer run him through with his Sword that it might not be said that a woman kill'd him (b) De Abimelech verum erat illud ingressus est ut vulpes regnavit ut Leo mortuus est ut Canis Thus we see how Jotham's Prophesie was fulfilled That a fire should come out from Abimelech and devour the men of Shechem and a fire should come out from the men of Shechem and should devour Abimelech Thus He who had slain his Brethren all upon one stone receives his own death by a stone He that had before managed this War politickly and successfully now by one rash unadvised Action going too near to the Gate of the Castle is ignominiously destroyed When the people that followed Abimelech saw he was dead they departed every one to his own home Judg. Ch. 9. whole Chapter SECT CXLII AFter Abimelech Tola the Son of Puah a man of the Tribe of Issachar Tola the Sixth Judge was raised up by God to Judge Israel and fitted with Heroick Gifts of Wisdom
present in the possession of the Philistines and there sees a Daughter of the Philistines whom he likes and acquainting his Father and Mother therewith he desires them to procure her for him to wife They were much troubled that he should have thoughts to marry with a Daughter of the uncircumcised Philistines and therefore sought to divert him from it but it seems Samson had an especial warrant from God either by revelation or some extraordinary motion of his Spirit for what he did For hereby he sought an occasion against the Philistines though his Parents understood not that it was of the Lord who hereby intended to give Samson an opportunity to perform what he called him unto Samsons Parents being now perswaded by him or at least yielding to his desires went down with him to Timnah in pursuance of this business When they came to the Vineyards belonging to that City Samson going aside upon some occasion a young Lion came roaring out against him and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him and he rent him with his naked hands as if he had been a tender Kid. Thus God by this victory over the Lion encouraged him against those Encounters with the Philistines which he was afterwards to be engaged in But he told not his Father and Mother what he had done Samson and his Parents being come to Timnah they began to treat with the young Maid and her Parents about this match It seems they soon agreed on it and the time was set when the young persons should be married Accordingly at the time appointed Samson went down with his Father and Mother to solemnize the Marriage And coming near the place where he had before kill'd the Lion he stept aside to see what was become of the carcass and behold there was a swarm of Bees and honey in the carcass that is in the bones * of it as they lay fastened still together In corpore osseo the flesh probably being eaten or dried away And he took of the honey and came eating of it and brought some of it to his Father and Mother who did also eat of it but he told them not whence he had it Samson being now come to marry this young woman he made a Wedding-Feast that lasted seven days as young men or their Parents for them used to do in those times on such occasions See Gen. 29.22 When the Brides friends and kindred saw that Samson was come to take his wife they provided thirty young men (d) Some think that the Philistines brought these 30 companions to be with Samson under pretence of respect and the custom used at Marriage-solemnities but indeed to be a Guard upon him according to custom to be his Companions and Bridemen called the children of the Bride-chamber or friends of the Bridegroom Mark 2.19 Mat. 9.15 to attend upon him and to rejoice with him It seems it was the custom of those times at Wedding-Feasts especially for the exercise of their wits †See 1 King 10.1 Queen of Sheba come to prove Solomon with hard Questions and to get the mastery to try one another in resolving of dark and intricate questions and riddles Samson accordingly on the first day of his Wedding-Feast propounds to his companions a riddle agreeing with them that if they could within the seven days of the Feast find out the meaning of it he would give them thirty shirts and thirty changes of garments that is upper Vestments which they often changed putting them on and off according to their occasions But if they could not within that time declare it they should give him as many This being agreed on on both sides he propounded his riddle to them which was this Out of the eater came forth meat * The more unexspectedly good comes to us out of evil the more thankful to God should we be for it and out of the strong came forth sweetness They tried their wits in vain for the three first days of the Feast and could not find it out On the fourth day they began to deal under-hand with his wife earnestly pressing her to get out of him the meaning of it but when the seventh day was come despairing to find it out themselves they came again to his wife and threatned to burn her and her fathers house if she did not with her importunity wring it out of him This they spake to terrifie her that she might be the more importunate with her husband What say they hast thou thy father and friends under shew of love and friendship to us invited us to your Feast that you may make a prey of us and take what we have If we cannot find out the meaning of this riddle we shall pay dear for our coming hither These men were to lose every one of them but only one Shirt and one upper garment if they could not solve the riddle but if Samson lost he alone was to pay thirty of them And yet they pretend they should be undone if they failed of solving the Riddle Samsons wife with all blandishments and importunity sought to get it out of him and added tears to her importunity nay plainly told him 't was a sign he did not love her in concealing so pertinaciously from her such a small thing He told her he had not acquainted his own Parents with it whom he ought most to reverence and of whose piety and care of him and faithfulness to him he had had so long experience and therefore she need not wonder if he concealed it from her with whom he had been but a little while acquainted and had small knowledg as yet of her fidelity and secresie But though she prest him with great importunity to reveal it to her all the days of the Feast from the day that his companions began first to imploy her which was the fourth day yet on the last day she plyed him with such intolerable importunity and with such a flood of tears that he could conceal it no longer from her but told her the meaning of it and she presently told it to the young men So Samsons companions that were chosen out of the City to accompany him at his Wedding-feast came to him on the seventh day before the Sun was set and told him they could expound this riddle What is sweeter say they than honey and what is stronger than a Lion He tells them that if they had not plowed with his heifer and made use of the help of his wife they had never by their own wit found it out So the Spirit of the Lord coming upon him and inciting him to go down to Ashkalon he there slew thirty men of the Philistines and gave their shirts and upper garments to those that had expounded the riddle What Samson did in this matter he did undoubtedly by the special motion of the Spirit of God and therefore he made no scruple though a Nazarite to take the garments off the dead bodies of
it were but in some of the meanest services of the Temple only that they may eat bread see Ezek. 44.13 14. 1 Sam. 2. from 12. to 18. and from 22. to the end SECT CLIV. THE impiety and wickedness of the times was now so great that the word of the Lord was precious there was no open vision that is there was not a man openly known to whom the Lord appeared in Visions or whom he sent forth among the people with a word of Prophesie in his mouth So that the Lord did not now reveal his mind to them by his Prophets as he used to do at other times See Psal 74.9 And this is mentioned probably for the honour of Samuel to whom the Lord was pleased to appear at such a time as this and to re-establish in him the Prophetick Office See 2 Chron. 35.18 and Act. 3.24 And the particular time when the Lord appeared to him is also set down which was when Eli being very old and his eyes dim was laid down in his place that is to take his rest in that place and in that lodging which belonged to him as High-Priest near unto the Court of the Tabernacle and it was towards the morning before the Lamps that were in the Golden Candlestick in the Tabernacle were gone out or the oyl spent See Exod. 30.7 Samuel being laid down to sleep in a Chamber near unto him the Lord calls him who awaking and supposing his Master Eli had called him ran to him but Eli told him that he did not call him and therefore bids him lye down again The Lord calls Samuel a second time and he runs again to Eli who tells him he did not call him and bids him go to his bed again Samuel was not yet acquainted with that way whereby the Lord did use to make known himself to his Prophets viz. by Visions neither had there been as yet any such revelation made unto him The Lord calls him a third time and he running again to Eli supposing that he had called him Eli then perceived that the Lord had appeared unto him he bids him therefore go and lye down again and if he heard the voice calling him any more he should say Speak Lord for thy servant heareth Samuel lying down again the Lord came and stood and called Samuel Samuel appearing possibly in a visible shape he answered as Eli had bidden him Speak Lord for thy servant heareth then the Lord said to him Behold I will do a thing in Israel at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle See 2 King 12.12 meaning the discomfiture of the Israelites the taking of the Ark the death of Eli's Sons and Eli's falling down backward and breaking his neck his daughter-in-law Phinehas's wife falling presently into the pains of Travel and dying Judgments so dreadful and hideous that every one that heard of them must needs be filled with horrour and astonishment And then will I perform against Eli all things that I have spoken concerning his house And though it may be some time e're I begin thus to visit him yet when I have once begun I will not cease till I have made an end For I have told him that I will judg his house for ever that is punish it till it be utterly ruined for the iniquity which he knew his Sons committed and yet he restrained them not neither chiding them severely as he was a Father nor deposing them from their office as he was the High-Priest nor punishing them corporally as he was a Judg. Therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli 's house shall not be purged with Sacrifice nor offering for ever that is that the temporal punishment denounced against them should not be kept off or averted by any Sacrifices or Oblations whatsoever though by their unfeigned repentance they may prevent their eternal misery Samuel having heard these sad words rose in the morning and opened the doors of the Tabernacle which seems at this time to be housed as we shewed before but he was affraid to acquaint Eli with the things revealed to him in this Vision because he knew that such tidings would wound his heart and he feared to offend him by bringing such a displeasing message unto him Eli therefore call'd him and charg'd him to declare all that the Lord had said unto him for being conscious of his Sons leudness and his own too great indulgence towards them he apprehended that some heavy sentence was denounced from the Lord against him and therefore he was so eager to know it that he said God do so to thee and more (a) See Notes on Ruth 1.17 also if thou hidest any thing from me Hereupon Samuel told him all Eli in an humble submissive manner replies It is the Lord let him do what seemeth him good After this Samuel grew and the Lord was with him and suffered none of his words to fall to the ground but exactly perform'd what he had foretold by him and all Israel even from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a Prophet of the Lord and effectually call'd and sent to execute this office among them and that God had firmly setled him in it by making good his own word in his mouth So that after the long intermission and cessation of Prophetical Vision whereby the word of the Lord was become rare and precious as we have shew'd before the Lord renewed this gift of Prophesie by appearing in Shiloh unto Samuel and revealing his mind and will unto him by Prophetical Visions and Inspirations (b) v. 21. By the word of the Lord some understand that God did by his Eternal and Essential Word viz. Christ the Wisdom of the Father reveal his mind to Samuel that he might reveal it unto the people 1 Sam. Ch. 3. whole Chapter SECT CLV AS Samuel had before made known the word of the Lord to Eli so he does now to all Israel reproving them for their sins and telling them before hand what Judgments would fall upon them if they did not speedily repent but they not reforming the Philistines who it seems during the forty years of Eli's Government had been pretty quiet possibly because of the great slaughter Samson had made of their Lords and chief men at his death see Judg. 16.30 now begin again to invade their Land and being entred with an Army the Israelites gather themselves together to fight with them and pitch their Camp at a place which was afterward call'd Eben-ezer the occasion whereof we may see afterwards Ch. 7.11 and the Camp of the Philistines was in Aphek a City in the Tribe of Judah The Armies joining Battel the Israelites were smitten before the Philistines and lost 4000 men The Israelites having rallied their scattered forces the Elders of the people began to inquire with some astonishment why the Lord had thus left them and suffered the Philistines to prevail over them though
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
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.
particular provocation they gave now unto David to make war upon them is uncertain Some Jewish Writers think that David having left his Father and Mother under the protection of the Moabites they treacherously murdered them after he was departed from them but the Scripture affording us no ground for such a conceit we dare not entertain it However undoubtedly David had just cause now to make war upon them they still continuing in their former enmity against the Israelites though his end was not wholly to dispossess them of their Country but to make them Tributary He therefore absolutely vanquishing them and levelling their Cities to the ground he measured their Country with a (a) Regionem in tres partes mensus est adhibito funiculo ex quibus unam conservavit occisis qui erant in aliis duabus Glass line dividing it into three parts and two thirds of the people he doom'd to destruction and preserved one third part of them alive to inhabit there and till the land and pay him Tribute And so that Prophesie was in part fulfilled Numb 24.17 There shall come a Star out of Jacob and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel and shall smite the corners of Moab c. And so Moab became his Wash-pot as he himself sang Psal 60.8 His third War was with Hadadezer King of Zobah a Country in Syria lying between Damascus and Euphrates Saul it seems had had a war with this King 1 Sam. 14.47 and had prevailed against him but he was now grown very potent and formidable and David knowing how dangerous it was that the Syrians who were professed enemies to the Israelites and dwelt so near them should grow powerful he made war upon them intending to enlarge his bounds * Upon this occasion David composed the 60 Psalm as may appear by the Title and recover the utmost border appointed by God to the Israelites which reached to the river Euphrates Gen. 15.18 And David took from him a thousand Chariots and seven hundred Horsemen that is seven hundred Companies or ranks (b) Thus is this place reconciled with 1 Chron. 18.4 where 't is said that David took from him 7000 Horsemen of Horsemen having ten in each rank And David houghed or ham-string'd all the Chariot-horses excepting only so many as would serve for air hundred Chariots which he reserved for himself having regard therein to what God had commanded the Kings of Israel Deut. 17.16 viz. not to multiply horses to themselves lest putting confidence in their horses of war they should leave off trusting in the Lord. And therefore this houghing was put in execution by Joshua Ch. 11.6 And besides these Chariots and Horses David took also from Hadadezer twenty thousand footmen His fourth war was with the Syrians of Damascus who came to succour Hadadezer of whom he slew two and twenty thousand and he put Garrisons into that part of Syria (c) When Hadadezer King of Zoba was worsted by David Rezon the Son of Eliadah fled from him and gathered together such scattered forces of Hadadezers as were put to flight in the battel and made himself Captain over them and in time got such an army together who maintained themselves as 't is like by plunder and spoil roving up and down that at last in Solomons time either he or his Son seized upon Damascus and was made King there and 't is said of him that he abhorred Israel ond reigned over Syria see 1 King 11. from 23 to 26. the Kings that succeeded him became afterwards bitter enemies to the Kings of Israel and they became Tributary to him Thus the Lord preserved and prospered David in all his enterprizes And David took the shields of gold (d) Hac arma vel tum gestata sunt in armamentario Regio servabantur Sic Alexander Magnus Milites Argyraspidas habuit sic dictos a parmis Argenteis which he found with the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem and there laid them up for the building of the Temple and from Betah (e) These Cities are called Tibhath and Chun 1 Chron. 18.8 possibly their names were afterwards changed when that History was written and Berothai Cities of Hadadezer he took very much Brass wherewith Solomon afterwards made the Brazen Sea and the pillars and vessels of Brass Then Toi (f) Toi is called Tou 1 Chron. 18.9 King of Hamath †Duplex erat Hamath vel major quae est Antiochia vel minor quae Epiphania sent his Son Joram called Adoram 1 Chron. 18.10 to David to congratulate his victory over Hadadezer who was his enemy and with whom he had had wars And Joram brought with him rich presents viz. vessels of silver and vessels of gold and of brass which David consecrated to God for the building of the Temple as he did the other silver and gold which he had taken from other Nations And David by his many victories became renowned for a great Captain and victorious Conquerour having all his enterprizes crowned by God with success His fifth War was against the Edomites When he returned from conquering the Syrians he led the Army which under himself was commanded by Joab and Abishai into the Country of the Edomites with whom many of the Syrians as it seems now joined and in the valley of Salt situate on the East of Mount Seir and on the South of the Dead Sea 2 King 14.7 he engaged with them and slew of them twelve thousand and afterwards in the pursuit by Abishai six thousand more in all eighteen thousand Which victory being obtained by Joab and Abishai as Generals under David it is ascribed to them all three see 2 Sam. 8.13 Psal 60. in the Title and 1 Chron. 18.12 Joab after this victory employed himself first in burying the slain and then staying there six months in that time he made a full conquest of them and slew every male that he could lay his hands on from whom he apprehended any danger In this time Hadad who was of the seed royal of Edom a youth of about twelve years of age with several of his fathers servants fled into Egypt and there was kindly received and entertained by Pharaoh and married the Queens sister and afterwards returning into Edom in Solomon's reign was a bitter enemy to him see 1 King 11. from v. 14 to 22. The Edomites being thus conquered David put Garrisons into all their strong holds and they became Tributary unto him and he placed a Viceroy over them to govern them as his Deputy which continued unto Jehorams time 2 Chron. 21.8 compared with 1 King 22.47 And thus that Prophesie Gen. 25.23 that the elder should serve the younger was fulfilled though that other Prophesie Gen. 47.40 that Esau's posterity should break the yoke from off his neck was also afterwards accomplished in the days of Jehoram David returning from making these Conquests behaved himself as a wise and just King executing judgment and
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
Is the young man Absalom safe Ahimaaz answers that when Joab sent away Cushi the Kings servant and him to bring tidings he saw a great tumult but knew not what the matter was He knew undoubtedly of Absalom's death but through humane frailty fearing to displease the King he here miserably faulters Then came Cushi who cried out Good tidings my Lord the King for the Lord hath avenged thee this day of all those that rose up against thee Then said the King is the young man Absalom safe Cushi replied let the enemies of my Lord the King and all that rise up against him be as that young man is David was smitten with a wonderful consternation at this news and his grief and passion brake out so violently that it almost overwhelmed him he now retires into the Chamber over the Gate there in secret to pour out his sorrow and as he went up he cried out O my Son Absalom my Son Absalom would God I had died for thee my Son Absalom if my temporal death would have saved thee from eternal misery 2 Sam. Ch. 18. whole Chapter 15. The King taking on so immoderately for the death of Absalom his excessive grief came to be known in the Army and caused great trouble of spirit among them also so that the victory was turned into mourning neither came they up like a victorious army with joy and triumph to the City but dispersing themselves secretly stole into it not as if they had been Conquerours but rather as if they had been beaten and fled away from their enemies The King still took on excessively and covered his head in token of extream sorrow and cried out O my Son Absalom O Absalom my Son my Son Joab understanding this and seeing in what a discontent the Souldiers were hereupon and how their hearts began to be alienated from the King so that they were even ready to fall quite off from him he comes in a great rage to him and highly expostulates with him and tells him He had shamed the faces of all his faithful servants that day who had saved his life and the lives of his wives and children with the extreme hazard of their own and had frustrated them of their deserved praise and reward this strange carriage of thine saith he sheweth as if thou lovedst thy enemies in that thou mournest so excessively for this Traytor Absalom and hatedst thy friends seeing thou dost thus discountenance their faithful service Thou seemest not to regard thy faithful subjects let them be of what degree or quality they will I perceive that if that Arch-Rebel Absalom had lived thou hadst not much cared if all we had died I solemnly protest to thee if thou wilt not give over thy whining for that Rebel and go forth presently and speak comfortably to thy people and congratulate their victory and give them thanks for their venturing their lives for thee I believe they will all forsake thee as a person unfit to govern them who canst not govern thine own passions and possibly they will think of chusing another * Prospicient sibi de alio rege site aequum habere non possint and that will be worse to thee than all the afflictions thou hast hitherto met with in all thy life David being startled at this bold speech of Joab's which though harsh and tart yet was needful at this time he took his counsel and went and sat in the Gate and there shaking off sorrow manifested his kindness and grace to his Souldiers to win their hearts again to him As for those that had followed Absalom and escaped in the battel they were fled to their own houses 2 Sam. Ch. 19. from v. 1 to 9. 16. The people now through all the Ten Tribes of Israel began to blame one another for siding with Absalom against his Father and to call upon one another and upon their Elders and Officers to submit themselves unto David and to go and fetch him back again to the City of Jerusalem with honour they began to recount the great and manifold benefits they had enjoyed under his Government and how he had saved them out of the hands of their enemies especially the Philistines And they saw that God was against them in that attempt of making Absalom King and therefore there was great reason they should go and seek reconciliation with David whom they had so highly injured and offended This resolution of the Israelites to fetch their King home with honour coming to his ears and he perceiving that the men of Judah who had been first and chief in siding with Absalom and had delivered up to him the City of Jerusalem and the strong fort of Sion being conscious to themselves of their great ingratitude against him were now afraid to address themselves to him or to go to fetch him home therefore he sent to Zadock and Abiathar who had stayed all this while at Jerusalem that they should acquaint the Elders of Judah how ready he was to pardon them and to forget all that was past They were also to assure them of his singular affection to them they being his brethren and of the same Tribe therefore he would not have them to be the last in fetching home their King who ought to be the first He sends also unto Amasa whom Absalom had made General of his Army and who if he should despair of pardon might draw a great party of the Israelites after him to assure him that he was ready to receive him into his favour and to regard him as his nephew nay he intended to prefer him and to make him General of his Army as long as he lived in the place of Joab Indeed Joab had incurred his displeasure by killing Abner and several other unjustifiable acts yet he had also done him great services and had been always faithful to him whereas Amasa had been faithless and rebellious Besides the place of General belonged to Joab both by Davids promise and his own purchase he having hazarded his life in that dangerous service of assaulting and taking the strong fort of Sion However David being now offended with him for killing Absalom he resolv'd to prefer Amasa before him thinking by that policy to reduce all Absaloms party that stood out against him under his obedience By this kind message to the men of Judah and to Amasa David bowed the hearts of the men of Judah even as the heart of one man so that they sent this word unto the King Return thou and all thy servants we are most willing to receive thee and submit unto thee David considered that it might cost a great deal of blood to subdue them by force therefore he thought it best by these tenders of grace to bow their hearts to him and it happened according to his desire for the men of Judah now agreed to meet together at Gilgal and from thence they passed over the river Jordan to meet the King and to bring him
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
Thus Solomon finished the Lords house and his own house and all that came into his heart to do he prosperously effected 2 Chron. 7.11 having spent full twenty years in this kind of work 1 King 9.10 whereof seven and an half upon the Temple and about twelve and an half upon his own houses and buildings 1 King Ch. 7. from v. 1 to 13. 1 King Ch. 10. from v. 16 22. 1 Chron. Ch. 9. from v. 15 to 21. SECT V. WHilst Solomon was busied about his Magnificent buildings it seems Gezer a City allotted to the Levites in the Tribe of Ephraim Josh 21.20 21. but never recovered out of the possession of the Canaanites gave to the King some great distaste so that not being at leisure himself he intreated Pharaoh his Father-in-law to take it in for him by his Armes and to rid him of those troublesome neighbours Pharaoh accordingly did it and burnt the City or some part of it with fire and put the inhabitants thereof to the sword and so gave it for a present to his daughter Solomon's wife 1 King 9.16 SECT VI. HIram King of Tyre having furnished Solomon towards these magnificent buildings with Cedar-trees and Firr-trees and sixscore Talents of Gold Solomon in a grateful retribution and to make him amends gave him twenty Cities or Towns in the land of Galilee which were not as it seems a part of the land which God had given for an inheritance to his people but lay in a tract of ground on the outside of the borders of Asher Josh 19.24 betwixt them and mount Libanus and being now reduced under Solomon's Dominion he presented them to Hiram that he might by them receive satisfaction for what he had had of him But it seems Hiram when he saw them liked them not possibly because they stood in a moorish ground or because he thought it would be long e're he should from them receive that satisfaction which he expected Therefore he return'd them to Solomon again and chose rather to expect satisfaction from him some other way and thereupon Solomon repair'd and enlarged them and planted certain colonies of the Israelites in them See 2 Chron. 8.1 2. whereas before they were inhabited only by the Heathen and now that tract of ground was counted a part of Galilee which 't is thought was the reason why Galilee was called Galilee of the Gentiles 1 King Ch. 9. from v. 10 to 15. SECT VII SOlomon having now finished his own houses and built an house for his Queen Pharaohs daughter he remov'd her and brought her up thither out of the City of David for he said My wife shall not dwell in the house of David King of Israel because the places whereunto the Ark of the Lord hath come are more holy than other places 'T is true Davids house ceased to be holy in that respect after the Ark was removed thence yet Solomon out of his superabundant respect to that sign of Gods presence thought it not fit to make that a dwelling place for his Queen and her followers who were aliens and strangers to the house of Israel and possibly retain'd some of their Egyptian profaneness which had been the holy dwelling place of the most High 2 Chron. 8.11 Solomon as it seems reflecting on his Marriage with Pharaohs daughter and his bringing her up to the stately house he had built and prepared for her took occasion from thence to pen that excellent Song called the Song of Songs or the Canticles being the chiefest of those one thousand * See 1 King 4.32 and five Songs composed by him and the most excellent of them all And this Song he composed after he had built his Summer-house in Lebanon as may be gathered by some passages in it see Ch. 4.8 Come with me from Lebanon my Spouse with me from Lebanon And Ch. 7. 4. Thy nose is as the tower of Lebanon This Song is clearly a Marriage-song and much of the same nature with the 45 Psalm which is called a Song of Loves And it is a kind of Pastoral composed in the way of Dialogue where the speakers are the Bridegroom and the Bride represented sometimes under the quality of a Shepherd and Shepherdess or Country-damsel and the Bride-men and Bride-maids the friends of the Bridegroom and companions of the Bride And though the most proper aim of it seemeth to be at higher and diviner matters than an earthly marriage and a greater than Solomon is here yet Solomon thought fit to make his marriage with Pharaohs daughter a type of that sublime and spiritual marriage between Christ and his Church The Song is a continued Allegory and full of obscurities yea here we have all the Rhetorick of love and such affectionate compellations and Elogies as are not elsewhere to be found The flowers and ornaments of language used in the praises both of Bridegroom and Bride are not appliable to natural beauties but are mystical representations and emblems of higher things Indeed this Book is all mystical and therefore the Jews forbad the reading of it by any under thirty years of age Here between Christ and his Church are interchangings of mutual praises gloriations and congratulations His divine and glorious excellencies in himself and rich bounties and blessings to her and her precious graces and endowments are in an high character in lofty and stately sayings and similitudes set forth both by him and her And yet withal her failings and his withdrawings from her thereupon and returnings to her again upon her repentance are not omitted In all the interlocutions betwixt them she speaks nine times and he seven In the first Chap. from v. 1 to the 8. the Spouse speaks expressing her ardent desires after Christ and vindicates her own deformities and defects against the uncharitable censures of others and petitions him for further counsel and direction From the v. 8 to the 12. the Bridegroom speaks granting her request and giving her great commendations and making rich promises to her From v. 12 to the 15. the Spouse speaks again then the Bridegroom at v. 15. In the two first verses of Ch. 2. Christ speaks characterizing himself and his Church and then the Church speaks from the v. 3. to the end and throughout all the third Chapter speaking sometimes of Christ and sometimes unto him At Ch. 4. Christ speaks from v. 1 to 15. and at v. 15 16. the Church At Ch. 5. v. 1. Christ granteth the request of the Church and cometh into his Garden and accepteth her entertainment and bringeth his friends with him and feasteth them but this kindness it seems was not so well improved by her as it deserved for she is surprized with a fit of drowsie negligence and so is brought into danger of losing him who after much patient waiting knocking and calling upon her and her unkind answer becomes angry and being not received when he tendred himself departs displeased and is hardly reconciled though she afterwards expresses much care and
much of the Book of Ecclesiastes SECT XVII GOD threatned Solomon 2 Sam. 7.13 14 15. That if he committed iniquity he would chasten him with the rod of men and with the stripes of the children of men but his mercy should not depart from him And accordingly he now stirred up three Adversaries (a) Though Solomon's enemies had herein their own ends yet the Lord us'd them as instruments of his Justice to punish his revolt against him 1. Hadad the Edomite When David subdued the Edomites 't is said 2 Sam. 8.14 He put Garrisons through all Edom and they became his servants And at this time as it seems whilst Joab pursued his victory slaying all the males where he came Hadad then being very young was hid and afterwards secretly carried away by some of his Fathers servants who also took some out of Paran that lay in the way to attend him into Egypt where he was kindly entertained by Pharaoh who gave him an house and lands and appointed him victuals and a constant Table and in time he came to be in so great favour with him that he gave him to wife his own Queens sister who bare him a Son that was educated in Pharaoh's house When this Hadad heard in Egypt that David and Joab were dead he desired leave of Pharaoh to return into his own Country Pharaoh askt him what he lacked there He said nothing However I desire to return to my own Country that I may recover my Kingdom again Pharaoh hearing this kindly dismissed him and he came to his own Country where he was received for their King Yet 't is manifest he attempted nothing against Solomon for a long time after this For till Solomon's fall in his old age his enemies stirred not see 1 King 5.4 so that 't is like Hadad at first made some Covenant with Solomon and was his Tributary for his Kingdom but at last he stirred against him and created him much trouble yet he was not able quite to shake off his yoke for the Edomites continued Tributaries to the Kings of Judah till Jehoram's reign 2 Chron. 21.10 2ly God stirred up another enemy against Solomon viz. Rezon who when David had gotten the better of his Master in battel and had vanquished the Syrians see 2 Sam. 10.18 he gathered together such of them as were put to flight ande made himself Captain over them and for some time t is like lived by robbing and pillaging till Solomon's declining days And though 't is not like that Solomon lost any thing of that which his Father had gotten till himself fell from God yet then it seems Rezon took courage to set upon Damascus into which David had put a Garrison 2 Sam. 8.6 and took it from Solomon and there reigned as King So that Solomon had now one enemy in the North and another in the South 3ly A third enemy whom God stirred up against him was Jeroboam his own servant of the Tribe of Ephraim who had been raised and preferred by him And the occasion of his rise was this Solomon when he built Millo of which see Ch. 9.15 and repaired the breaches in Zion the City of David going out often to see * The Masters eye they say makes the horse fat and the servant to sweat his workmen and to encourage them to diligence he observed Jeroboam who was then but a young man to be very active and industrious in those labours and services he was set about whereupon Solomon taking a liking to him preferred him and in time made him Receiver or Treasurer for all the Kings revenue in the two Tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh Upon a time when he went out of Jerusalem to execute his Office it happened that the Prophet Ahijah †He who with some others penned the Acts of Solomon 2 Chron. 9.29 the Shilonite who had clad himself with a new garment met him and desired some private conference with him and when they were alone he took off his new garment and rent it into twelve pieces according to the number of the Tribes of Israel and gave ten of them to Jeroboam saying Thus saith the Lord I will rend the Kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and will give ten Tribes to thee because they (b) Solomon giving way to his wives Idolatry proved a snare to the people and occasioned their revolt from God and in this rent the people suffered as well as Rehoboam the rent in the Kingdom proving an occasion of continual Wars between Judah and Israel which brought in many miseries from foreign Nations upon both Kingdoms have forsaken me and worshipped Ashtaroth and Chemosh and Moloch and have not walked in my ways to do that which was right in mine eyes and to keep my statutes and judgments as did David my servant Howbeit I will not take the Kingdom from Solomon while he lives but he shall be King thereof all his days for David my servants sake whom I chose because he kept my commandments and my statutes But I will take the Kingdom out of his Sons hands viz. ten Tribes of it and will give them unto thee And unto his Son will I give one intire Tribe viz. Judah with Simeon (a) Ac proinde Synecdochice includitur Nam e Benjamine tantum pars penes eum fuit Jeroboamo cesserunt Bethel Ephraim quae erant oppida Benjaminis that is mixt with it together with the greatest part of the Tribe of Benjamin that David my servant may have a light always before me in Jerusalem that is a Royal glory shining in one of his posterity who as a light may shine before the people and direct them as long as that Kingdom shall last See 2 Sam. 21.17 1 King 15.4 and that in Jerusalem where my Temple is built and where my name is solemnly call'd upon and which is called after my name the City of God And I will take thee and make thee King over the Ten Tribes and thou shalt be a Soveraign King and not under any Superiour on earth so that thou maist reign according as thy soul desireth And if thou wilt hearken unto all that I command thee and wilt walk in my ways and do that which is right in my sight to keep my statutes and commandments as David my servant did I will be with thee and build thee a sure house that is so establish thy Kingdom that it shall continue in thy posterity as I promised to David And though I will by this division of the Kingdom sorely afflict the house of David yet I will not do it for ever For though they shall be carried into captivity yet they shall be brought back again and the Messiah shall at last be born of the seed of David who shall continue to reign most gloriously for ever Ahijah having delivered what God commanded him to Jeroboam took his leave of him How Jeroboam was affected with this surprizing message we may easily imagine It seems he
to spie whether he could see any likelihood of it At last the servant discern'd a little cloud arising out of the Sea as big as a mans hand upon this Elijah presently sends to Ahab to make hast home lest he should be stopped by the rain that was now coming And immediately the heaven was black with clouds and wind and there fell a great rain Ahab getting into his Chariot went to Jezreel a City of Issachar where was one of his houses and Elijah being extraordinarily moved and enabled by God girded up his long garment and ran †V. 46. Currebat ante Ahab ut officium honorarium Regi suo praestaret Is qui caelum clauserat tanquam unus e servis currit ante Regem Neque enim viri sancti hanc externam rerum pompam assis faciunt before his Chariot to shew him how ready he would be to honour and serve him if he would proceed on to remove Idolatry out of the land and perfect that work which was so happily begun by the slaughter of Baals Prophets 1 King 18. Ahab coming to Jezebel tells her the event of that contest between Elijah and the Prophets of Baal and the unavoidable execution of the Baalites that followed thereupon and to excuse himself to his imperious wife he represents their Execution as Elijah's act not his she falling into a great rage and passion like a rash and unadvised woman sent one to Elijah to tell him that she desired the gods might do so to her and more also if she did not make his life like one of theirs by to morrow about that time And hereby she gave him as it were fair warning to be gone Elijah hereupon flies for his life to Beersheba God suffering him to be overborn with fear of Jezebel now who e're while feared not Ahab and all his Baalites that he might see his own weakness and not be exalted in mind by reason of those great miracles that had been wrought by him so he now fled into another Kingdom viz. that of Judah where good Jehoshaphat reigned yea to the uttermost Southern part of it and from thence withdrew himself into the Wilderness as fearing lest Ahab or Jezebel should send some thither to dispatch him And therefore when he went from Beersheba he left his servant there because he would not expose him to the wants of the Wilderness and going a days journey in the Wilderness and sitting under a juniper tree he even wished for death and said it is enough O Lord I have lived long enough take away I pray thee my life I know I must die at one time or other for I am not better than my Fathers that have all died before me and seeing my life is so full of troubles and miseries I desire if it be thy holy will to end my days presently Then laying himself down to sleep under the tree as he slept behold an Angel touched him and said Arise and eat And he looked and behold there was a cake baking on the coals at his head and a cruse of water by him So he did eat and drink and laid him down to sleep again The Angel awoke him a second time and bad him arise and eat again for the journey that he was to take was too great for him except he were well refreshed beforehand by that provision which God by his holy Angels had now sent him Accordingly he did eat and drink again and in the strength of that food he travelled forty days and forty nights (a) Christ Moses and Elijah who all appeared together at Christs Transfiguration did each of them fast in their several times forty days and forty nights without any sustenance without any other sustenance even to Horeb (b) Non recta via progrediebatur alioqui tantum 4 aut 5 dieram iter erat sed fugientium more vias invias inopinatas sectatus est interdum substitit quievit latuit Et forte a principio non ei erat propositum ad Horeb proficisci sed per 40 dies per desertum vagatiis eo pervenit At Deus illum huc perduxit ut ibi institueret where the Lord formerly appeared unto Moses in a burning bush Being come thither and lodging in a cave the Lord asks him what he did there he answers I have been very zealous for the honour of the Lord God of hosts For the children of Israel have forsaken thy Covenant thrown down the Altars that have been erected to thee and have preferred Baal before thee and have slain thy Prophets and I even I only am left this he speaks according to his own apprehension * See Rom. 11.2 3. and they seek my life to take it away The Lord bad him go forth and stand upon mount Horeb where he would manifest his presence to him And behold the Lord immediately passed by in some visible manifestation of his glory 1. There was a great strong wind that rent the mountains and brake the rocks in pieces 2. An earthquake 3. After that a fire but the Lord was in none of these to wit did not in these speak to Elijah nor make known his mind to him These were the dreadful foregoing signs of Gods majesty and power to prepare Elijah with the more awe and reverence to hearken to what he should say to him and to strengthen his faith in Gods power who had all creatures at his command Then there came a still and small voice It seems Elijah stood all this while in the mouth of the Cave but kept himself somewhat inward till knowing that in that still voice the Lord would speak to him then he went to the very entrance of the Cave casting his mantle about his face out of an awful fear of Gods Majesty as Moses did Exod. 3.6 The Lord asks him by this still voice the same question he did before viz. what he did there and Elijah gave the same answer he had done before The Lord to comfort and support his spirit intimates to him that he took notice of and was sufficiently displeased with the Idolatry of the Israelites and intended to punish them severely for it And in order thereunto he bids him go to the Wilderness of Damascus and there anoint Hazael to be King over Syria and to anoint Jehu the Son of Nimshi to be King over Israel that is to anoint them himself or take order they should be anointed by others at the appointed times and to anoint Elisha to be a Prophet in his room to succeed him in the Prophetick office And the Lord tells him that he that escapes the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay For though the greatest destruction wrought by Hazael was towards the end of Jehu's reign 2 King 10.32 and after it 2 King 13.3 yet he began to destroy Israel before Jehu's time 2 King 8.28 and many of those who escaped Hazael's hands Jehu slew as Jehoram and others 2 King 9.24 And him that
escapeth the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay that is by his Prophetical denouncing * See Jer. 1.10 Hos 6.5 some think that this is meant of some other judgments not expressed in the Scripture which upon the Prophesying and Prayers of Elisha did fall upon the Idolatrous Israelites divine vengeance (a) Prophetae eos per accidens perdere dicuntur dum exitum iis minantur against such Israelites as remained Idolaters even after Jehu had destroyed the house of Ahab And lastly the Lord says to him Though in this general apostacy of the Israelites thou thinkest there is none left untainted with the Idolatry of Baal but thy self I tell thee that there are many thousands (b) Seven thousand in Israel a certain number for an indefinite meaning a great number see Rom. 11.4 in Israel that are not infected with it and who have not bowed the knee to Baal nor with their mouths kissed him in token of adoration and subjection see Hos 13.2 Elijah having receiv'd these commands from God he took care to have Hazael (c) But some think Elijah did anoint them all three himself though it be not particularly expressed and that he went forthwith to Damascus to anoint Hazael anointed by appointing Elisha to do it when he was dead 2 King 8.7 And Jehu was anointed by a young Prophet at the command of Elisha 2 King 9.1 who as 't is like received order from Elijah to do it And as for Elisha who as it seems was before a Country farmer Elijah found him plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him that is there were many Plows going in the field where Elisha was and many persons attending them and Elisha himself went with the last Elijah passing by him cast his Prophets mantle upon him as a sign of his calling to be a Prophet whereupon being endued with a Prophetick spirit he presently left the oxen and ran after Elijah a little way but then said unto him I pray thee let me go and kiss my father and mother (d) He in Luk. 9.61 made that a pretext to depart from Christ or at least to make delay But Elisha intends only a friendly farewell and speedily to return and pay my duty to them and take my leave of them and then I will follow thee and wholly attend upon thee Elijah bids him use his liberty as to that for says he what have I done to thee to make thee so willing to follow me I have only cast my mantle upon thee and it seems thou hast received the spirit of Prophesie and the Spirit of God being come upon thee thou maist thereby know that thou art called to a great and extraordinary work which thou must not delay to execute So Elisha went back to his Fathers house and took a yoke of oxen and slew them probably the very oxen with which he had plowed and boiled the flesh with the plow and all the wooden instruments belonging to it thereby shewing that he willingly left his former calling and so made a farewell feast for his kindred companions and neighbours and they did eat with him and then he presently arose and followed Elijah and ministred unto him and diligently observed his carriage and behaviour in his function that he might learn of him and possibly Elijah did also anoint him as he was commanded ver 16. 1 King 19. wh Ch. About this time Benhadad King of Syria gathered all his forces together and with the assistance of thirty two petty neighboring Kings * These were Kings of Cities Counties and Provinces such as Joshua destroyed in Canaan Josh 12.7 The kind of their Government which was by one alone and not the largeness of their Dominion gave them the title of Kings came and besieged Samaria and Ahab in it At first he pretended a willingness to make conditions with Ahab upon the performance of which he would raise his siege and accordingly sent messengers into the City to him who in an insolent manner spake to him saying Thus saith Benhadad King of Syria thy silver and thy gold is mine thy wives also and thy children are mine that is at my disposal and under my power Ahab being exceedingly afraid like a poor spirited Prince returned this tame answer My Lord O King of Syria according as I understand thy message I am willing to be thine that is a Tributary King to thee and to hold all in fealty and fee under thee paying thee homage Benhadad perceiving Ahab to yield thus far now sends another message to him and requires harder conditions of him than before Thou says he didst so interpret my last message as if I intended no more than homage and fealty to be paid by thee unto me and that thou shouldst hold all that thou hast as my Vassal and Tributary but know thou that my intent and purpose is to have the actual possession of all and I will send my servants to thee to morrow about this time and they shall search thine house and see what is laid up therein as also the houses of thy people and whatsoever is of value or desirable in thine or their eyes and you are loth to part with they shall take from you and bring to me Ahab 't is like of his own bead and out of fear had returned the former answer but now perceiving Benhadad to grow upon him and to require things of him so extreamly unreasonable he calls together his ancient grave Counsellors the Elders of the land that were with him in the City and says to them I pray you mark and observe how this man seeks mischief against us He pretends a Treaty as if he were willing upon terms to raise his siege but he intends nothing but mischief and ruin to us for he sent unto me before for my wives my children my silver and gold that is as I understood it to have the dominion over them as chief Lord reserving to me my subordinate interest and propriety in them and this I denied him not But that will not now content him but he will have liberty to take of ours whatsoever he pleases The Elders and the people being extreamly startled at this earnestly desired the King by no means to consent to such abominable terms So Ahab returned this answer by the messengers Tell says he my Lord the King all that thou didst require of me in thy first message as I understood it viz. that I should only be Tributary to the King of Syria I am willing to perform But that which thou requirest in thy last viz. that I should put all presently into thy hands that I may by no means consent unto The messengers returning carried this answer of Ahab's to Benhadad who hearing it in a proud rage said The Gods do so to me and more also if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me As if he should have said I swear I will bring more
shew him which of them were for the King of Israel and secretly gave him intelligence One of them replied Thou hast no cause to suspect that any of us are treacherous or false to thee for assure thy self we are not but there is one Elisha a Prophet in Israel who by the inspiration of God can discern the most secret things that are done in any place and I believe telleth the King of Israel the very words thou speakest in thy bed-chamber The King of Syria being enraged at this bad them go and inquire where he was for he would endeavour to catch him and if he once had him in his hands he would do well enough with him They told him they heard he was in Dathan a City not far from Samaria Immediately he sent horses and chariots and a considerable host by night to encompass the City that they might take him Elisha's servant whom he had chosen to attend him in Gehazi's room going out early in the morning saw a great host about the City whereupon he ran back and told his Master thereof and cry'd out Alas Master what shall we do Elisha bad him fear nothing for says he those that be with us are more than those that be with them Then Elisha going out of the â—ity with his servant prayed unto the Lord that his servants eyes might be opened that he might see that great host of Angels that were sent for their defence and the young mans eyes being opened he saw the mountains near Dothan full of horses and chariots of fire the holy Angels appearing in that shape because the enemy that incompassed the City had horses and chariots and those appeared to him to incompass his Master Elisha to * Solum visio fuit vidit imaginem â—eu speciem Elisei residentem in medio castrorum quem defendebat ille exercitus ut nemo hostium illi nocere potuerit Munsterus secure and defend him Elisha being come out of the City some of the host of Syria seeing him but not knowing him came to him to inquire about the Town and about the Prophet He then prayed to the Lord to smite them with blindness which immediately he did but not with a perfect blindness but only such a dazeling of their sight * Such a blindness as the Sodomites were striken with Gen. 19.11 that they could not well discern things or persons He told them that was not the way they must go neither was that the City wherein they might expect to find Elisha Follow me says he and I will bring you to the man whom ye seek They accordingly following him he led them to Samaria 'T is like he sent a messenger to Jehoram who was now in that City to give him notice that he was bringing his enemies into Samaria that so he might have all his militia in readiness against they came When he had brought them into that City he prayed to the Lord to open their eyes which being done they saw themselves to their great astonishment in the midst of Samaria and so in the midst of their enemies Jehoram having them now in his hands spake to Elisha saying My Father shall I smite them shall I smite them What says Elisha wouldest thou smite them If thou hadst taken them prisoners with thy sword and with thy how having given them quarter surely thou wouldst not kill them much less oughtest thou now to do it seeing by an extraordinary providence they are brought unto thee surely thou shalt not smite them Thus easily the Prophet forgives their mischievous intention who came out on purpose to carry him prisoner to his enemies Instead of smiting them he advises Jehoram to set bread and water before them that they might eat and drink and go back to their King and declare what kindness they had found in Israel notwithstanding their ill intentions towards it Jehoram hereupon made great provisions for them and feasted them royally and then peaceably dismissed them After this the Syrians gave over their inrodes into the land and came no more as yet †So these words v. 23. are to be interpreted See Lightfoot pag. 69. into the land of Israel And thus we see how many miracles were wrought about this one matter 1. The Prophet discovered the King of Syria's secret plots and contrivances 2ly The Angels appeared as an host for his defence 3ly His servants eyes were opened to see those Angels 4ly The Syrians were smitten with blindness 5ly Their eyes were opened again and all this upon the prayer of Elisha 2 King 6. from v. 8. to the 24. Benhadad King of Syria who had once before besieged Samaria in Ahab's time 1 King 20.1 but was then repulsed with shame and loss being now desirous as it seems to blot out the reproach of that his shameful flight and being encourag'd perhaps by the great overthrow he had given the Israelites at the battel at Ramoth-Gilead wherein Ahab was slain 1 King 22.34 he now attempts to besiege this City again with a collection of all his forces During which siege Samaria was so sorely distressed with famine that an Asses-head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver * Which was as some account about ten pounds of our money though an unclean and forbidden meat Exod. 13.13 and the fourth part of a cab or pottle of corn which they had taken out of the crop of Doves (a) Quidam esse ervum credunt quo saginantur columbae that is a kind of pulse or tares wherewith they fed Pidgeons which in that extremity they were glad of for food for themselves for five pieces of silver (b) Which was about 12 s. 6 d. of our money One day as the King was walking upon the wall to see whither the Soldiers duly kept the watches a woman cried unto him Help my Lord O King The King replied Alas if the Lord do not help thee how shall I be able to help thee I cannot supply thee either from the barn-floor or the wine-press But tell me what aileth thee she said This woman my neighbour and I being extreamly distressed with famine agreed between our selves that my Son should be first killed and eaten by us and afterwards her Son accordingly we boiled my Son and did eat him but when her Son should have been eaten by us she hid him to save him alive or else did eat him alone by her self and gave me none of him The King hearing these sad words of the woman his heart was so deeply pierced with them that he rent his upper garment so that the sackcloth that he had next his flesh appeared which he wore as a sign of his humiliation and affliction for the present distress of his people though he was not so truly penitent for his sins as he should have been Then he said The Lord do so to me and more also if I do not take off the head of Elisha before night for I look upon him as
Prophet had promised from the Lord which was the very next day to be accomplished One of the Kings servants hearing his Master make this construction of the departure of the Syrians replied let us I pray thee take some of the horses that yet remain in the City and go out and see whither the Syrians be indeed fled or no. It will be no great loss if these be taken by the enemy seeing they are already almost consumed by famine as most of the people of the City likewise are The King consenting hereunto they took two of the Kings Chariot-horses and setting riders on them sent them out these scouts rode as far as Jordan and found no enemy between Samaria and it but many evidences of the enemies flight for all the way was full of garments and other furniture which the Syrians had thrown away in their hasty flight So they return'd and brought this word to the King Then the people transported with joy rusht out of the City with all the hast they could make to spoil the Tents of the Syrians and in them they found such plenty of provisions that a measure of fine flower was sold for a shekel and two measures of barley for a shekel as the Prophet had foretold The King understanding that the people ran so violently out of the City he commanded the Lord on whose hand he leaned to take charge of the Gate to keep them from such a tumultuous running out and to see to it that they might not all run out and leave the City naked This Lord accordingly standing there to keep the people back they were so eagerly bent upon the spoil and to get some provisions for themselves that they ran him down and trode upon him so that he died and thus what the man of God prophesied of him exactly came to pass 2 King 6. from 24 to the end 2 King 7. wh Ch. The Shunamite the seven years famine being now ended returns with her family into her own Country and petitions the King for her house and land which in her absence was as it seems seized upon by the Officers of State for the Kings use * Mos hic fuit in decem tribubus qui alibi reperitur ut qui patria exirent eorum bona confiscarentur Grot. at the very time when she came to present her petition the Providence of God so ordered it that she found the King talking with Gehazi Elisha's servant about the miracles his Master had wrought It seems his Leprosie was not of that sort that did render him unclean or unfit to be conversed * Lex non vetabat leprosos adire alloquii consolari Naaman leprosus Regem accessit Alii volunt Gehazi act◠paenitentia sanatum fuisse with or else upon his repentance as some think God revers'd the sentence against him and had now healed him Whilst he was discoursing about his Masters raising one from the dead he sees this woman come to petition the King whereupon he crys out My Lord O King this is the very woman of whom I spake and this is her son that was restor'd to life by my Master The King asking the woman about it she fully confirm'd it and 't is like told him the several circumstances of it whereupon the King gave order that her lands should be restored to her again with all the profits that had arisen from them in her absence 2 King 8. from v. 3 to 7. Elisha now by some special instinct of Gods Spirit went into the Region †In Regionem Damascenam ut apparet ex versu nono Jun. of Damascus to confirm as 't is probable to Hazael by a second prediction what formerly upon Elijahs anointing of him he did not much believe namely that he should be King of Syria Benhadad the present King of Syria was at this time very sick Josephus thinks his sickness was occasion'd by the shameful flight of his Army from Samaria Ch. 7.6 especially understanding it happened through a causeless fear The King therefore hearing of the Prophets arrival in that Region whose fame was so spread among them by the cure of Naaman and other miracles he had wrought he sent Hazael who was now as it seems his chief Minister of State Naaman being either dead or put by his place for professing the true God of Israel with a present to him and to inquire of him whither he should recover of that sickness Hazael accordingly went to meet him with a noble and large present viz. forty Camels lading of the best provisions of the Country and when he came to him he said Thy Son Benhadad who honours thee as a Son doth his Father hath sent me to thee with this present which he desires thee to accept of and to acquaint him Whither he shall recover of his sickness Whither the Prophet accepted the present is not recorded but he return'd him this short answer That he might recover for any danger from his disease yet the Lord had shewed him that he should certainly die though by some other means and not by his sickness Then the Prophet fixt his eyes stedfastly on Hazael until he began to blush to see him look so earnestly on him and Elisha bursting out into tears Hazael said Why weepeth my Lord He answered Because I know the evil thou wilt do when thou art King of Syria to the people of Israel their strong bolds wilt thou set on fire and their young men wilt thou slay with the sword their young childrens brains wilt thou dash out and rip up their women with child Hazael replied Is thy servant a dog that I should ever be guilty of such great horrible barbarity and inhumane cruelty * Fortuna potestat etiam mores ingenium mutant 'T is like he did not think at this time that ever he should do such cruel acts But no man knows the depth of that corruption that is in his heart which will soon discover it self if God leave him to himself See what he afterwards did 2 King 10.32 33. and Ch. 13.3 Elisha replies The Lord hath shewed me that thou wilt be King over Syria and then thou wilt bear the same deadly hatred to the people of Israel which thy Predecessors have done before And the Lord as a just and righteous Judg will permit thee to come into that Throne that thou maist be a scourge to punish the Idolatrous and Rebellious Israelites So Hazael departed from the Prophet and coming to his Master Benhadad told him that the Prophet said He should certainly recover but therein he delivered not to him the true sense of the Prophet Then considering with himself what Elisha had told him viz. that he should be King of Syria and apprehending that if his Master did recover of this sickness it might be difficult for him to attain the Crown and being impatient of delay and unwilling to stay Gods time for the bringing about of that he had promised
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
Son of Nebat for their King But the Tribes of Judah and Benjamin stuck fast to Rehoboam In memorial of this sad rent the Jews afterwards kept a solemn Fast yearly upon the three and twentieth day of the third month called Sivan Rehoboam being come to Jerusalem forthwith raises an Army of an hundred and fourscore thousand valiant men out of Judah and Benjamin to reduce the Ten Tribes back to his subjection but is forbidden to proceed on in that enterprize by the Prophet Shemaiah who told him that the thing was of God who had so ordered it for the punishment of his Fathers defection from him and so the people returned to their own homes But though for the present that design was laid aside yet there followed continual bickerings between the two Kings all their days and the borderers on both sides did continually make inrodes one upon another see Ch. 14.30 Rehoboam dwelt in Jerusalem and built and fortified fifteen Cities for the defence of Judah and made great warlike provisions and put Garrisons into the Cities and placed Captains and Commanders over them some whereof it seems were his own Sons for 2 Chron. 11.23 't is said He dealt wisely and dispersed all his children thoroughout all the Countries of Judah and Benjamin into every fenced City And in that it must be acknowledged he dealt prudently for in his own Sons he might most securely confide And he stored those Garrisons with plenty of victuals and with wine and oyl and in every Garrison he put Shields and Spears and other Warlike ammunition and made them exceeding strong And many Priests and Levites that were cast off by Jeroboam and his Sons * They probably were placed as Captains in the Cities of Israel as Rehoboam's Sons were in the Cities of Judah who would not suffer them to execute the Priests office in their Cities and many people out of all the Ten Tribes who set their hearts to seek the Lord God of Israel resorted unto him whereby his Kingdom was much strengthned For three years he and his people walked in the ways of David and in the ways of Solomon viz. his first ways before his fall but afterwards they forsook the Law of the Lord though some particular persons among them undoubtedly remained faithful to God and made themselves High-places Images †So that none of the twelve Tribes at this time continued faithful to God the Ten revolted with Jeroboam and these two with Rehoboam and Groves doing according to all the abominations of the Heathen And they did evil in the sight of the Lord and provoked him to jealousie with their sins insomuch that in none of their Fathers days there was such a general apostasie And it seems there were among them some that practised that abominable sin of Sodomy so that they did after all the abominations of the Heathen whom God cast out before their Fathers As for the Domestick affairs of Rehoboam we find that he took eighteen Wives and sixty Concubines and begat twenty eight Sons and sixty Daughters and dispersed his Sons through all the Countries of Judah and Benjamin into the several fenced Cities and there gave them liberal and Princely allowances and sought out many Wives for them out of Noble Families to strengthen their interest by their alliances Of all his Wives he loved Maachah best the daughter of Absalom who was a great Idolatress see 1 King 15.13 and he made Abijah her Son to be chief ruler over his brethren intending he should succeed him in the Throne In the fifth year of his reign because he had so heinously transgressed against the Lord Shishak King of Egypt invited possibly thereunto by Jeroboam who had lived there and been kindly entertained by him before he was made King came up against him with twelve hundred chariots and threescore thousand horsemen and people without number Some of them were Lybians a people in Africa bordering upon Egypt some Suckites otherwise call'd Troglodites a people dwelling in Caves of Rocks and some of them Ethiopians With this great Army invading Judea he took the fenced Cities that were in his way to Jerusalem and then came before that City also The people of Judah being now in great distress Shemaiah the Prophet came to Rehoboam and the Princes * Ver. 6. Princes of Israel that is the Princes of Judah who were Israelites that were gathered together in Jerusalem and spake to them after this manner Thus saith the Lord ye have forsaken me and therefore have I also left you in the hand of Shishak Rehoboam and the Princes upon this humbled themselves and confest their sins and said the Lord is righteous in all the judgments he hath brought upon us Hereupon the Lord spake to Shemaiah again saying They have humbled themselves therefore I will not utterly destroy them but grant them some deliverance and my wrath shall not be poured forth upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak nevertheless they shall be his servants and shall yield to such terms as he shall put upon them that they may know my service and the service of the Kingdoms of the Countries That is that they may know by the hard conditions Shishak will put upon them how much better it had been for them to have served me than by their sins to have brought themselves into bondage to other Nations See Isa 26.13 So Shishak being come before Jerusalem to save the Temple and City from plunder and to regain the Cities he had taken as he came up to them they were forc'd to give him the Treasures †This was the first spoiling of the Temple of the Temple not the holy vessels but such gold and silver and other precious things as were laid up for repairing the Temple and other holy uses as also the Treasures of the Kings house as also the Golden Shields that Solomon had made 1 King 10.16 Instead of these Rehoboam made Shields of Brass and committed them to the hands of the chief of the Guard that kept the door of the Kings house And when the King entred into the house of the Lord the Guard came and fetched them and carried them before him and when he was come back returned them again into his Guard-chamber Thus Rehoboam humbling himself the wrath of God turned from him so as he would not destroy him altogether And after this things began to go well again in Judah for they enjoyed their liberty of serving the true God the benefit of their own Laws and had for the most part peace and prosperity So Rehoboam recovered strength again and repaired and fortified the Cities of his Kingdom yet he did not sincerely set and fix his heart to seek the Lord that is did not endeavour to know him aright to worship him purely to call upon him fervently and to obey him faithfully and in all these to persevere constantly Now the Acts of Rehoboam first and last namely such as were done in his
were suspected not to be firm against Judah and therefore were slain by the men of Moab and Ammon fell unexpectedly upon them like men that rise suddenly out of an ambush upon their enemies and when they had destroyed them they fell out among themselves and destroyed one another The Army of Jehoshaphat coming now to the Watch-tower of Ziz in the Wilderness they looked towards the formidable army of their enemies and they saw none but dead bodies on the ground they saw none flying or escaping whom they needed to pursue or fall upon and so that was accomplished which the Prophet foretold v. 17. Ye shall not need to fight in the battel When Jehoshaphat and his people came to the field where their enemies lay slaughtered they found very rich spoils among the dead bodies viz. rings on their fingers chains about their necks jewels in their ears besides the wealth and riches they brought on their beasts and in their carts and carriages and their being so vast a number of the enemy slain the Israelites could not carry away all in one day but were three days in gathering the spoil it was so much so God not only freed them from their enemies but greatly enriched them by them On the fourth day they marched to the valley of Berachah or blessing and there solemnly praised the Lord for this great victory and from thence that valley had this name given it Then they all marched with great joy to Jerusalem Jehoshaphat marching in the front of them for the Lord had made them rejoice over their enemies And they came to Jerusalem playing on Psalteries and Harps and with the sound of Trumpets and so went to the house of the Lord to offer up there their more solemn praises and sacrifices of thanksgiving And the fear of the Lord fell on all the Kingdoms round about when they heard how the Lord had fought against the enemies of his people So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet for his God gave him rest round about But notwithstanding this signal deliverance and though Jehoshaphat had been reproved by the Lord for joining first with wicked Ahab and then with Ahaziah his wicked Son in building and fitting out Ships to go to Tarshish yet he fell again a third time into the like sin by assisting Jehoram the second Son of Ahab who succeeded Ahaziah and going forth with him and the King of Edom against the Moabites In which expedition he and the two other Kings were in great danger of perishing for want of water had they not been supplied by the prayers of Elisha the Prophet who had a great regard for Jehoshaphat 2 King 3.14 and so they obtained a great victory over their enemies 2 King 3. from v. 4 to the end Of this we may see more in the life of Jehoram King of Israel This seems to have happened about the 22th year of Jehoshaphat and then 't is probable he set up his Son Jehoram again as his Viceroy or took him into Copartnership with him in the Kingdom 2 King 8.16 as he had made him his Viceroy before when he went to visit Ahab Jehoshaphat 2 Chron. 21.2 is call'd King of Israel that is of the Israelites that lived in the Kingdom of Judah He reigned 25 years and they buried him with his Fathers in the City of David and his Son Jehoram succeeded him who reigned eight years which together are 33 years Yet in Chronological account there were not above 29 years in the reigns of them both because Jehoshaphat did set up his Son Jehoram as partner with him in the Kingdom whilst he himself was alive see 2 King 8.16 which was about the 22th year of his reign so that the four last years of his reign and the four first of his Son Jehoram's were not eight but only four years seeing both of them reigned together at the same time 1 King 22. from 41 to 51. 2 Chron. 17. whole Chapter 2 Chron. 18. wh Ch. 2 Chron. 19. wh Ch. 2 Chron. 20. wh Ch. 2 Chron. 21.1 The 5th King that reigned in Judah was JEHORAM JEhoshaphat had designed his Son Jehoram to be King and appointed him to govern the Kingdom in his absence in the 17th year of his reign a little before he went with Ahab against Ramoth-Gilead thence the beginning of the reign of Jehoram King of Israel is counted to be both in the 18th year of Jehoshaphat * 2 King 3.1 and in the second year of Jehoram †2 King 1.17 Son of Jehoshaphat but at his return resumed the Royal power wholly to himself not communicating the same again to his Son until the fifth year of Jehoram King of Israel which was the 22th of Jehoshaphats own reign and then this King being old took Jehoram his Son as partner with him in the Government The cause whereof in all probability was some discord or differences that brake out even then between him and his younger Brethren which moved Jehoshaphat to give to his younger Sons great gifts of gold and silver and jewels and to commmit to their custody some strong fenced Cities in Judah 2 Chron. 21.3 the better to secure them against the power of their Elder Brother and on the other side he put his Eldest Son into the possession of the Kingdom whilst himself was living for fear of tumults and commotions that might arise after his death Jehoram therefore being 32 years old succeeded his Father and reigned eight years in Jerusalem to wit four years together with his Father and four years by himself alone He walked in the Idolatrous ways of the Kings of Israel as did the house of Ahab whose daughter he had married viz. Athaliah and a vertuous daughter she was like to be that sprang from the cursed root of Ahab and Jezebel she soon drew him to follow her Fathers courses so great an influence have bad wives upon their husbands to draw them to evil He did that which was very evil and provoking in the sight of the Lord howbeit the Lord would not destroy the house of David because of the Covenant he had made with him to give him always a light that is a royal glory in a successor and to continue the Soveraignty in his race as long as that Kingdom should last See 1 King 11.36 When he was setled in the Kingdom he sought to make himself strong as Jeroboam did 2 Chron. 13.7 that he might the better effect his mischievous intents and purposes and accordingly getting his six younger brethren into his hands he like a cruel Tyrant slew them and many also of the great men of the land who he thought favoured them and had a kindness for them He made great innovations in Religion erecting those Idolatrous places in mountains which his Father and Grandfather had with so much zeal destroyed He caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit spiritual fornication in worshipping of Baal and to embrace that Idolatry which himself had learned from
taking this advantage forthwith she laid hold on the Princes of the blood and those of the Royal family that remained in Judah and slew them although some of them as 't is like her own Grandchildren so cruel and bloody are the minds of Idolaters But by the wonderful Providence of God it happened that Joash an infant-son of Ahaziah escaped her hands for Jehoshaba the wife of Jehoiada the High Priest got him away and hid him with his nurse in a private Chamber belonging to the Temple Athaliah did these strange and unnatural things that she might quietly possess the Royal Throne and set up the worship of Baal again in the Kingdom And some conjecture that she had Sons by some other man besides Jehoram whom she desired to promote to the Crown perhaps some of those who brake up the house of God and bestowed the dedicated things thereof upon Baal as we read 2 Chron. 24.7 For the Sons of Athaliah that wicked woman had broken up the house of God and all the dedicated things thereof did they bestow upon Baalim Athaliah having thus usurped the Crown she reigned about six years 2 Chron. 22.10 11 12. 1 King 11. from 1 to 4. The 8th that reigned in Judah was JOASH AThaliah having usurped the Crown and reigned about six years during which time she had much promoted the worship of Baal in Judah at length Jehoiada the High Priest began to think of setling this young Joash in the Throne to whom it did belong not only by natural right being the former Kings Son but by vertue of the promise made by God to David and his posterity 2 Sam. 7.13 16. Having therefore imparted this secret to five Captains of the land in whose fidelity he had most confidence and he and they having made a Covenant to do their utmost to depose Athaliah the Vsurper and to set up Joash and to pull down Idolatry and establish the true Religion afterwards by their means he drew in others of the principal men of the Kingdom both Levites and others procuring them to meet at Jerusalem in order to the carrying on of the design And accordingly they being met together in some Chamber of the Temple and having taken an Oath of secresie and fidelity he shewed them the Kings Son Then they resolved how the business should be manag'd the next Sabbath-day in every particular The Levites were by an order long since established among them by David divided in twenty four Companies which did in their courses each company a week perform the service of the Temple the rest abiding in their private dwellings in the several Cities of Judah and so every Sabbath-day they that served the week before went out and another company came in to serve in their rooms In each company there were a great many of these Levites besides Porters and Singers Now because Jehoiada and his Associates were not able to bring together secretly so many trusty and serviceable hands of the Country as would be sufficient to manage this great business therefore he resolv'd to arm the Levites for the work having secretly laid in the Chambers of the Temple some arms and weapons for the purpose And that the Levites whom he intended to employ in this business might be the stronger he took in the new company that were to come in on the Sabbath-day and did not dismiss the old that should have gone out but retained them still and so by that means without any noise he made up such a number as he thought would be able to deal with the Queens ordinary Guards if need should be All these Levites therefore he disposes under the command of several Captains either such as were principal men among the Levites or others whom he had sworn his associates in this design in this manner Those that were to enter into the service of the Temple that Sabbath-day he divided into three Companies One Company whereof he assigned to watch at the Gate of the outer Court viz. the North-gate that led to the Kings Palace where Athaliah now was Another company he assign'd to the East * Call'd the Gate of Shur or the Gate of the foundation 2 King 11.6 Gate that led into the City A third company to the South-gate Those Levites that should have gone out from the service of the Temple he divided into two companies and appointed them to be a Guard in the Temple unto the Kings person the one on his right hand and the other on his left Then he gave to the Captains for themselves and their men King David's Spears and Shields See 1 Sam. 21.9 2 Sam. 8.7 viz. such weapons as were there reserved as Trophies and monuments of David's victories which weapons of war were some of those things dedicated by David and brought into the Temple by Solomon 1 King 7.51 Thus this Guard of Levites stood every man with his weapon in his hand and Jehoiada charged them to look to it that their watches were not disordered by the breaking in of any body and that if any offered to break through their ranks by force they should slay them Things being thus ordered he brought forth the Kings Son to them and set him on the Brazen Scaffold and Jehoiadah and his Sons anointed him and put the Crown upon his head and gave into his hands the Testimony that is the Book wherein the Law of God was written and wherein was testified what God required of his people and what they might expect from him in case of obedience These things being done all there present made a great acclamation and cried out God save the King Then Jehoiada made a Covenant between the Lord and the King and the people viz. that the King should serve the Lord and maintain his pure worship and root out Idolatry and that the people should join with him therein and should fear and serve the Lord and him only and every way carry themselves as became his peo-people Then he made a Covenant between the King and the people viz. that the King should govern them righteously and that they should yield due obedience unto him Athaliah being at the Palace which was near the Temple and hearing these great loud acclamations of the peo-people and of such as in the great Court stood about the King she with a few of her servants that were about her rusht into the Temple through the Guards and when she came to the great Court she saw the King standing by the Pillar on the Brazen Scaffold with the Crown on his head and the Trumpeters about him blowing and all the people there present wonderfully rejoicing upon this she rent her clothes and cried out Treason Treason Jehoiada immediately commanded the Officers and Commanders to lay hold on her and to have her out of the ranges and and to kill any man that offered to rescue her and to carry her out of the Temple and to slay her which accordingly they did in the
and the shew-bread-table with the utensils belonging to it Moreover say they all the holy vessels which Ahaz in his transgression did cut in pieces and cast away we have repaired and renewed and fitted and sanctified for the holy use to which they were appointed Behold they are before the Altar of the Lord and ready to be set in their proper places 2 Chron. 29. from v. 12 to 20. The next morning King Hezekiah called together all the Rulers of the City and went up with them to the house of the Lord where he together with the people by the Ministry of the Priests and Levites offered seven Bullocks seven Rams seven Lambs and seven He-goats as a sin-offering upon the Altar of the Lord to make atonement 1. For the King his counsellors and officers and family 2. For the sins and abominations that were committed in the Temple by Idolatry and false worship 3. For the sins of Judah that is of the whole people And the Priests killed the Bullocks and Rams and sprinkled the blood on the Altar and they brought forth the he-goats before the King and all the congregation and they laid their hands on them thereby acknowledging their sins and that this sacrifice was offer'd up in their stead and the Priests killed them and made reconciliation for the people with their blood For the King commanded that the burnt-offering and the sin-offering should be offered for the whole people that atonement might be made for all that the plaister might be as large as the sore And he took care also to have the praises of the Lord solemnly sung by the Levite-singers and that they should be ready with their Cymbals Psalteries and Harps to do it as David Gad and Nathan being all inspired by God had directed The Levites therefore standing ready with their instruments and the Priests with their Trumpets when the burnt-offering began to be offered then the Song of the Lord began to be sung viz. the 136 Psalm the Trumpets sounding and the Levites singing and playing on their instruments the more to excite their spirits and all this continued till the burnt-offering was offered and then the King and all the people bowed their heads and worshipped the Lord. And the King and his Nobles commanded the Levites that they should sing praise unto the Lord with the words of David and Asaph the Seer which accordingly they did with great gladness of heart bowing also their heads and worshipping Then the King spake to the Priests saying Ye have now consecrated your selves as it were a new to the Lord therefore approach his Altar and bring in the sacrifices and thank-offerings which the people shall be willing to offer The whole congregation being much wrought upon by the Kings words presented their sacrifices and thank-offerings very freely and those that were of a more free and forward spirit offered whole burnt-offerings wherein there was more respect manifested to God than in other sacrifices for in these the offerers themselves had a part but in the other all was consumed on the Altar and yet the number of these burnt-offerings that were now offered was very great viz. seventy bullocks and an hundred rams and two hundred lambs But the other sacrifices of several sorts that were offered viz. peace-offerings and free-will offerings were very numerous viz. six hundred oxen and three thousand sheep But the Priests were too few to slay all the burnt-offerings therefore the Levites did help them * This they did in this particular case it was not their ordinary work till the work was ended and till other Priests had sanctified themselves For the Levites were more forward to sanctifie themselves than the Priests and so there were more of them at this present sanctified than of the Priests Besides the burnt-offerings were very many and the fat of the peace-offerings was to be pulled off and burnt upon the Altar and drink-offerings to be added to every burnt-offering all which required much work which those few Priests were not able to perform at this time Thus the service of the house of the Lord was set in order by good Hezekiah And the King rejoiced and all that were truly pious with him that the Lord had put such a good inclination and zeal into the hearts of the people whereby they were so willing and so readily inclined to this work of reformation And it was evident that the thing was of God because it was done sooner and with more speed than could reasonably have been expected considering how much before under Ahaz they had been corrupted with Idolatry And to have their hearts so soon and so wonderfully changed was an extraordinary work of the Spirit of God 2 Chron. 29. wh Ch. Hezekiah now resolves to have the Passover solemnly celebrated but it could not be kept at the time appointed viz. on the 14th day of the first Month because the purgation of the Temple was not finished until the 16th day of that month neither had the Priests sanctified themselves sufficiently neither were all the males gathered together to Jerusalem according to the Law as they ought to be at that great Festival therefore the King Priests and representative body of the people appointed to keep the Passover on the 14 day of the second month and in order hereunto the King sent to Judah and Benjamin and to all the Israelites that had join'd themselves to them and sent Letters also to the remainder of the ten Tribes that were not carried away by Tiglath-pilesar King of Assyria as many of their brethren were See 2 King 15.29 even to all the Israelites from Dan to Beersheba inviting them to come to the house of the Lord to keep the Passover For they had not done it of a long while in such sort as was prescribed So the Posts went out with Letters from the King and his Princes inviting the Israelites to come and keep this solemn Festival at Jerusalem His Letters ran thus Ye children of Israel I exhort you to turn again unto the Lord God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob and he will return in grace and mercy to the remnant of you that are escaped out of the hand of Pul and Tiglath-pilesar Kings of Assyria 2 King 15.29 1 Chron. 5.26 And be not like your Fathers and your brethren which trespassed against the Lord who therefore gave them up to desolation as you see at this day Neither be ye stiff-necked as your Fathers were but yield your selves unto the Lord and willingly give up your selves in obedience unto him and enter into his Sanctuary and Temple which he hath consecrated to himself for a place of workship even as long as it shall stand and there appear before him viz. in the Court of the people and serve the Lord your God that the fierceness of his wrath may turn away from you For if you turn again unto the Lord your brethren and your children that are led away captive shall find compassion from
must now for the better understanding this History of Hezekiah look a little into the neighbour Kingdom of Israel We shall find that in the days of Menahem the sixteenth King that there reigned who began to reign in the 39th year of Vzziah that God stirred up the spirit of Pul King of Assyria to invade the Kingdom of Israel 1 Chron. 5.26 and he made great spoil among them Then in the latter end of the reign of Pekah the eighteenth King of Israel who began to reign in the 52 year of Vzziah Tiglath-pileser Son of Pul carried away captive the people of Gilead and Peraea to wit the Reubenites Gadites and half the tribe of Manasseh unto Chabor and Haran and then passing over Jordan possessed himself of Galilee and carried away the inhabitants of Napthali into Assyria So that at this time he subdued in a manner five Tribes of Israel 2 King 15.29 Tiglath-pilesar dying Salmanassar his Son succeeded him who in the ninth year of Hoshea and sixth of Hezekiah after three years siege took Samaria and their King Hoshea and carried away the Israelites captives into his own Country as we shall see more in the life of Hoshea So that the Kingdom of Israel now came to an end Sometime after Salmanassar dies and his Son Sennacherib reigned in his stead whom Herodotus Lib. 2. calleth King both of Assyria and Arabia too Perchance for that the Assyrians at that time together with Peraea or the land of Gilead and Hamath or Ituraea had also under their power a part of Arabia either Petrea or Deserta For Ava or Ivah which Sennacherib so much boasteth of to have been conquered by him or his ancestors 2 King 18.34 and Ch. 19.13 was a Country lying in the desert of Arabia as Fran. Junius affirms upon 2 King 17.24 And the Prophet Isaiah foretelling the calamity which was to befall the Moabites under Salmanassar Isa 15.7 and Ch. 16.14 threatens them that whatever they had laid up in store the Assyrians should carry it away into the valley of the Arabians Sennacherib now about the eleventh or twelfth year of Hezekiah as 't is probable resolving to make war against the Egyptians perhaps because they had been so lately assistant to the Israelites against the Assyrians in the reign of Salmanassar and an occasion of their revolt see 2 King 17.4 and the Philistines as it seems joining with him therein he sends part of his Army under Tartan one of his Generals to besiege Ashdod or Azotus which City Hezekiah had sometime before recovered out of the hands of the Philistines Now that this war lasted three whole years may be gathered out of Isa 20. where the Prophet putting off his coat of hairy cloth belonging to his Prophetical function see Zach. 13.4 from his loins and his shoos from his feet was commanded to walk up and down naked and bare foot as some conceive three days a day being put for a year to signifie to the Egyptians and Ethiopians that when that time was once run out they should in like manner being stript of their clothes and barefoot be led away into captivity and bondage by the King of Assyria which command the Prophet is said to have received in the year when Tartan being sent by Sargon King of Assyria besieged Ashdod and took it Isa 20.1 where by Sargon we must understand Sennacherib himself among whose Commanders this Tartan is particularly named 2 King 18.17 And the King of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rabshakeh from Lachish c. Hezekiah whether provoked by Sennacherib's taking of Ashdod so injuriously from him or for other reasons resolves now to shake off the King of Assyria's yoke which his Father Ahaz had taken on him and would no longer pay him Tribute Hereupon Sennacherib in the fourteenth year * Eight years after Shalmanasser had taken Samaria of Hezekiah even after he had made so good an establishment of Religion see 2 Chron. 32.1 bringing his Army out of Egypt where he had made great havock of which calamity the Prophet Nahum seems to speak Ch. 3.10 Yet was she carried away she went into captivity her young children also were dashed in pieces at the top of all the streets and they cast lots for her honourable men and all her great men were bound in chains invades the Kingdom of Judah and besieges many of their fenced Cities and took many of them Hezekiah bestirs himself with all diligence to defend himself and his Kingdom against him And to that end by the advice of his Captains and Council he fill'd up the fountains and springs that were without the City of Jerusalem and covered them with earth and carried the waters by pipes under ground into the City that so the Assyrians if they came to besiege the City might be distressed for want of water also the brook Gihon or Siloe which ran through the midst of the Country where Jerusalem stood and divided it self into two streams one of them he turned from the usual channel and brought it strait down into the west-side of the City of David 2 Chron. 32.30 and made a great pond to receive the water of it for the benefit of the besieged And the Princes and the people did much assist him therein Also he fortified Jerusalem and built up that part of the wall that was broken down by Joash King of Israel in Amaziah's time which breach it seems was not fully repaired till now and he made the wall strong and high and made also another wall without as an Antimural or outwork see 2 King 25.4 and repaired Millo in the City of David which some think was their Town-house where the people had their general assembly or else some fort in the City he also provided all sorts of arms offensive and defensive and set Officers and Commanders over his Souldiers and calling them together into the broad street that was by the City-gate he spake comfortably to them after this manner My good subjects and faithful souldiers be ye strong and courageous be not afraid of the King of Assyria nor of the great multitude that is with him For there be more with us than with him with him is only the arm of flesh but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battels And the people rested themselves on the words of Hezekiah 2 King 18.13 2 Chron. 32. from v. 1 to 9. Hezekiah seeing how soon the Assyrian had taken many of the fenced Cities of Judah and that proceeding on in his victories he had also laid siege to Lachish he began to entertain thoughts of buying his peace with him Hereupon he sent his Ambassadours to him to acknowledg his offence in denying the tribute and to intreat his favour yielding withal to pay whatever tribute he should impose upon him Sennacherib being puft up with his success requires of him three hundred Talents of Silver and thirty Talents of Gold * Which amounts to
for us Isaiah bids them return this answer to Hezekiah Thus saith the Lord Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard wherewith the servants of the King of Assyria have blasphemed behold I will send a blast upon him which shall blow him out of this land as the dust or chaff is blown before the wind and he shall hear a rumour of the destruction of a vast number of his Souldiers and Commanders in one night and shall return to Nineveh his chief City and there I will cause him to fall by the sword 2 King 18. from v. 13. to the end 2 King 19. from v. 1 to 8. Isai 36. whole Chapter Isai 37. from v. 1 to 8. Rabshakeh finding that he could neither threaten nor flatter the inhabitants of Jerusalem into a surrender leaving his Army before the City he went presently to Sennacherib whom he found risen from before Lachish and besieging Libna to inform him of the state of things at Jerusalem as also perhaps to confer with him about opposing Tirhakah King of Ethiopia who as he understood was now coming with his Army against them Sennacherib therefore that he might use all possible means to terrifie Hezekiah into a speedy surrender that so he might the better attend the motion of Tirhakah's Army he sends other messengers to him who brought a threatning message by word of mouth and spake to him after the same rate that Rabshakeh had done before they did not indeed mention the persidiousness of Egypt nor the weakness of Hezekiab's Army as Rabshakeh had done but understanding that Hezekiah relyed wholly on God therefore they endeavour to affright him from that confidence by telling him with what ill success other Nations had relyed on their gods instancing in Gozan and Haran Rezeph and the people of Eden all as 't is like regions of Mesopotamia and several other people and therefore they would have perswaded him that he had little reason to trust and relye on his God They also brought with them a blasphemous and threatning Letter from the King of Assyria which Hezekiah having received and read he went up to the Temple and there spread it before the Lord and poured forth unto him a most fervent prayer with many tears humbly and earnestly begging his help in this his great extremity He humbly intreats the Lord to take notice of and to revenge the horrible blasphemies of that daring wretch the King of Assyria against his great and glorious Majesty His prayer was after this manner O Lord of hosts God of Israel who dwellest between the Cherubims on the Mercy-seat and thence art wont to manifest thy gracious presence and thy power to thy poor people Thou art God even thou alone and all the Kingdoms of the earth are thine Thou hast made heaven and earth and all things therein are subject unto thee Incline thine ear O Lord and hear the blasphemous words of Sennacherib's Letter which I here present before thee and open thine eyes and see the blasphemies he hath written therein Hear I pray thee and take notice of all these blasphemous railings wherewith he hath blasphemed and reproached thee the living God Of a truth O Lord the Kings of Assyria have laid wast the Nations they warred against and have cast their gods into the fire for they were no gods but the works of mens hands wood and stone and therefore 't is no wonder they destroyed them But thou art the ever living and true God a God of infinite power and might Therefore we pray thee save us save us out of the hands of the King of Assyria that all the Kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art God and thou only Hezekiah having ended his prayer Isaiah sent unto him this message Thus saith the Lord God of Israel whereas thou hast prayed unto me against Sennacherib King of Assyria this is the word which I have spoken concerning him The virgin-daughter of Sion * The inhabitants of any City or Country are call'd the virgin-daughter of it because delicately and tenderly brought up by their mother as a virgin-daughter and because Jerusalem was fair beautiful and comely as a virgin useâ—h to be in regard of the Temple and other excellencies thereof shall (a) Isaiah Ch. 37.22 Hath despised thee Enallage temporis a praeterperfect Tense for a future despise and laugh thee to scorn O King of Assyria and shake her head at thee to wit when she shall see thine Army destroyed And consider O thou blasphemous wretch who it is whom thou hast reproached and blasphemed and against whom thou hast lifted up thine eyes so high and carried thy self so proudly is it not against the holy one of Israel By Rabshakeh and his companions thy servants thou hast reproached the Lord and hast said By the multitude of my Chariots am I come up to the heigth of the mountains as if thou shouldest have said the strongest places of the Kingdom have I subdued and passed through as a conquerour even those that seemed most inaccessible and am come to the sides of * From the famous Forrest of Lebanon Jerusalem is here call'd Lebanon by a Metaphor Lebanon that is to their chief City and strength the City of Jerusalem where the King his Nobles and Princes dwell are like tall cedars and firr-trees in Lebanon and will cut down the tall-cedars and the choice firr-trees thereof that is I will destroy the Nobles and Princes of Jerusalem and will enter into the lodgings of his border that is will possess my self of his frontier-Towns and will enter into the forrest of his Carmel or by an hypallage into the Carmel of his forrest that is his most excellent and pleasant hill viz. mount Sion on which the most pleasant objects in Jerusalem were seated Thou further sayest I have digged and drunk strange waters and with the soles of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of besieged places that is when I have come to places destitute of water even there have I digged up new fountains where none were before and where Cities have been invironed with great and deep waters no sooner have I set my foot there to besiege them but with the multitude of my Souldiers I have dried them up †Hereby an intimation is given that he laughed to scorn Hezekiah's policy in cutting off the waters about Jerusalem and in Thrasonical manner seems to boast that there was nothing he could not do by his own strength nor any places he could not subdue by his own power But though thou boastest so much of thy power in subduing Cities and Countries hast thou not heard that I the Lord of Heaven and Earth long ago contriv'd and determin'd what thou shouldst do viz. that thou shouldst lay wast defenced Cities and turn them into ruinous heaps see Isa 10.5 c. And accordingly I have now brought it to pass And thence it was that the inhabitants of those places were of so small
this place And so that came to pass which God threatned Levit. 26.34 35. Then shall the land enjoy her Sabbaths as long as it lyeth desolate it shall rest because it did not rest in your Sabbaths when ye dwelt upon it * See Pag. 169. Hereupon many begin the seventy years captivity from the destruction (c) Here many begin the Seventy years captivity though some begin it from the carrying away of Jeconiah 2 King 24.12 of Jerusalem which are called the seventy years of the desolations of Jerusalem Dan. 9.2 Now the desolation of that City was not till the last fatal destruction of it And the same term also of seventy years is set for the subjection of the neighbouring Nations as we find Isai 23.15 And it shall come to pass in that day that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years according to the days of one King after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot c. CHAP. VI. The sixth Age of the World containing the space of time from the carrying of Judah into Captivity unto the liberty granted by Cyrus for their return and consists of seventy years ending in the 3478 year of the World THE City of Jerusalem and the Temple being thus destroyed and burnt down to the ground by Nebuzaradan he left only a few and those of the poorer sort of the people there to dress the Vineyards and to be husbandmen over whom Gedaliah the Son of Ahikam a man of the same Nation was placed Governour but as a Provincial Governour only without any badg of Regality or Kingly Title 'T is like this Gedaliab was one of those that followed the advice which the Prophet Jeremy gave both to Zedekiah and the rest Jer. 21.8 9 10. And unto this people thou shalt say thus saith the Lord Behold I set before you the way of life and the way of death He that abideth in this City shall die by the sword and by the famine and by the pestilence but he that goeth out and falleth to the Caldeans that besiege you he shall live and his life shall be unto him for a prey For I have set my face against this City for evil and not for good saith the Lord it shall be given into the hand of the King of Babylon and he shall burn it with fire 'T is like therefore that upon this account he was made Governour by Nebuchadnezzar's command Jer. 39.10 Jer. 40.5 2 King 25.12 22. Seraiah the chief Priest and Zephaniah the second Priest and the three Keepers of the Gate of the Temple and other principal men by whose counsels Zedekiah had been much led to resist the King of Babylon contrary to Jeremy's warnings Nebuzaradan took and carried them to Riblah to Nebuchadnezzar and there they were put to death But Jehozadak the Son of Seraiah who after him came to be High Priest was carried away prisoner to Babylon 2 King 25. from 18 to 22. Jer. 52. from 24 to 28. 1 Chron. Ch. 6.15 The Prophet Jeremy being bound with chains was carried with the rest as far as Rama towards Babylon and had there his irons knocked off and was set at liberty and had his choice given him whither he would go on to Babylon and there to be honourably treated or stay in Judea with those poor people that were there left And he choosing to stay was sent back with money in his purse to Gedaliah the Governour who made his residence at Mizpeh in the Tribe of Benjamin Jer. 39. from 11 to 15. Jer. 40. from 1 to 7. Some of those Captains and Souldiers which upon the taking of Jerusalem had fled away by night and were scattered over the Country and some of the Jews that had fled to the Moabites and Ammonites and other neighbouring Nations returned after a while to Gedaliah into their own Country where they had good provision of wine and oyl and other summer-fruits to subsist withal Gedaliah made his residence at Mizpeh in the Tribe of Benjamin leaving the rest of the Jews that were with him to live in such Towns as they thought fit Jer. 40. from 7 to 13. 2 King 25.23 24. Ismael the Son of Nethaniah of the race of the Kings of Judah had it seems during the siege of Jerusalem kept himself out of the storm with Baalis King of the Ammonites Jer. 40.14 and being of the Royal seed he envied that the Government of the Jews should be committed to Gedaliah who seems to have been but of private condition and being stirred up likewise as 't is probable by the King of Ammon he made a conspiracy with some few more to slay him Johanan of whom mention is made 2 King 25.23 came and discovered this conspiracy to Gedaliah and offered his help to dispatch Ismael to prevent it but Gedaliah would not believe it but thought he spake falsely of Ismael and would by no means consent he should be taken off Not long after Ismael came to him with ten resolute fellows to Mizpeh where Gedaliah friendly entertained him giving no credit to such as informed him of his treacherous intentions against him and in the seventh month Ismael with his associates taking their opportunity wickedly murdered Gedaliah and such Jews and Caldeans as he had then about him And a day or two after fourscore Jews coming from several places of the Kingdom in a most sad and mournful manner with their beards shaven and clothes rent and having cut themselves deploring the desolation that was fallen upon Jerusalem and bringing certain offerings and incense with them which they purposed to offer to the Lord in the place where the Temple before stood now lying in its dust Ismael having notice of their coming went out to meet them and with counterfeit tears making shew that he also bore a part with them in their sorrow he invited them to go with him to Gedaliah feigning himself to be one of his friends thereby to try how they stood affected to him and having gotten them within the City of Mizpeh he and his companions slew them all there in the open streets ten only excepted whom he spared because they promised to discover to him some treasure hid in the fields during the war and the bodies of the slain he threw into King Asa's pit * In the days of King Baasha Asa King of Judah it seems made a pit in Mizpâ—h for a hiding place in case of danger of which we find no mention but only here which he made in Mizpeh for fear of Baasha See 1 King 15.22 Jer. 40. from 13 to the end Jer. 41. from 1 to 10. 2 King 25.25 Ismael having now taken the Kings daughters whom the Caldeans had left behind being hidden possibly at first and afterwards coming forth had committed themselves to the care of Gedaliah and many others of the people captive he was returning with them as his prisoners to the King of Ammon but Johanan meeting him with a band of men
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
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
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
time the Kingdom of Syria was miserably shaken by intestine Wars raised by the children of these two last Kings that strove for the Kingdom so that it became a prey to Tigranes King of the Parthians 20. Tigranes King of Armenia major with the help of the Parthians gets the Kingdom of Syria He was conquered at last by Pompey and the Kingdom of Syria taken away from him but that of Armenia was restored to him And so the Kingdom of Syria was reduced under the Roman power and made a Province by Pompey 260 years after Alexanders Death KINGS of ASIA minor 1 ANtigonus Bastard to Philip King of Macedon He succeeded Alexander in the Kingdom of Asia and reigned Eleven years 2. Demetrius son of Antigonus he brought almost all Greece under his Power Afterwards by Seleucus Nicanor King of Syria his Son-in-Law he was overcome when he had reigned Thirteen years and being imprisoned Two years he there died And so the Kindgom of Asia came into the power of the Kings of Syria and was joyned to that Kingdom A. M. 3683. KINGS of Egypt or KINGS of the South 1. PTolemeus Lagi son of Lagus a Macedonian called Soter He conquered Palestine and took Jerusalem used the Jews cruelly at first but afterwards was more kind to them He carried a great many of them into Egypt and let them live there with the same freedom as his other Subjects And hereupon many others of the Jews went down into Egypt and lived there Daniel speaks of him Chap. 11. v. 5. 2. Ptolemeus Philadelphus so called because he married his sister Arsinoe He was son of Ptolemaeus Lagi by Bernice his 2d Wife Ptolemaeus Ceraunus eldest son of Ptolemaeus Lagi by Euridice his first Wife being put by He was a very learned King and a great lover of Learned men He married his Daughter Bernice to Antiochus Theos 3d. King of Assyria Dan. 11.6 He founded the famous Library at Alexandria He procured the Translation of the Septuagint He was after this a great Friend to the Jews He redeemed a vast number of them that were Servants from their Masters with his own Money and made them Free and was otherwise very munificent to them 3. Ptolemeus Euergetes son of Philadelphus and his Sister-wife Arsinoe This King carried himself commendably but all the Egyptian Kings after him were debauched persons He led a great Army into Syria against Seleucus Callinicus and overcame him of which Daniel speaks Ch. 11. v. 7. He was poisoned by Ptolemaeus Philopator his son 4. Ptol. Philopater son of Ptol. Euergetes called Philopator per antiphrasin He kill'd his Mother also and his Brother married his Sister He waged War against Antiochus Magnus 6th King of Syria and overcame him After the Victory he would needs offer Sacrifices to God at Jerusalem but he was forbidden by the High Priest to enter into the Temple Hereupon being enraged against the Jews he carries multitudes of them into Egypt to be destroyed of Elephants of him Daniel speaks Chap. 11.11 5. Ptol. Epiphanes son of Ptol. Philopator He was but 5 years old when he began to reign Antioch Mag. hearing of his Fathers death and taking advantage of his Childhood and procuring Philip of Macedon to joyn with him comes against Egypt with a great Army He is met by a great Army of the Egyptians under Scopas their General in the North part of Palestine where the Egyptians are beaten He takes the Tower of Sion and so became Lord of Judea He afterwards marries his Daughter Cleopatra to Ptol. Epiphanes and gives her for Dowry Coelosyria and Judea Of these things Daniel speaks Ch. 11.13 14 15. 6. Ptol. Philometor son of Ptol. Epiphanes he married his own mother Cleopatra and had a Daughter called Cleopatra by her Antiochus Epiphanes 8th King of Syria his Vncle brings a great Army into Egypt against him and takes many of his Cities He marries his Daughter Cleopatra to Alexander Bala the 11th King of Syria The Nuptials were celebrated at Ptolemais to which Jonathan the High Priest was invited by Alexander and gave great Presents to both Kings Ptol. Philometor afterwards finding his Son-in-law treacherous he took his Daughter from him and gave her to Demetrius Nicanor who overcoming Bala by the help of Philometor got the Kingdom of Syria 7. Ptol. Physcon 2d son of Ptol. Epiphanes He married Cleopatra his Neice who whas first married to Alexander Bala then to Demetrius Nicanor 8. Ptol. Lathurus eldest son of Physcon he married first Cleopatra his Sister and then by the perswasion of his mother putting her away he married his younger Sister Salone Afterwards he was driven out of the Kingdom by his mother and fled to Cyprus when Alexander Jannaeus King of the Jews besieged Ptolemais the besieged called Ptol. Lathurus out of Cyprus to their aid He fights with Alexander and overcomes him and slays 30000 of the Jews and used his victory cruelly 9. Ptol. Alexander 2d son of Physcon was set up by his mother whilst his brother Lathurus remained in Cyprus He killed his mother and then was driven out of the Kingdom by the Egyptians and flying to the Island Coos there lived privately to his death 10. Ptol. Lathurus is now called back out of Cyprus and enjoys the Kingdom of Egypt again 11 Ptol. Auletes son of Ptol. Lathurus by Salonice his Sister-Wife he used to contend for mastery with Fidlers thence called Auletes He buys the Friendship of the people of Rome with great gifts which he exacts from his Subjects and so is hated by them and ejected out of his Kingdom He flies to Rome for help but not obtaining it after a long waiting he goes to Ephesus where he carried Letters from Pompey to Gabinus Praefect of Syria that he should use his endeavour to restore him which Gabinus effected yet this Auletes's Son afterwards destroyed Pompey 12. Ptol. Dionysius junior son of Ptol. Auletes his Sister was Cleopatra last Queen of Egypt whom he marries and joyns with himself in the Government by the command of Julius Caesar who had conquered Alexandria and all Egypt He kill'd Pompey flying to him from the Pharsalian Battel Julius Caesar coming with his Army into Egypt this Ptol. Dionysius strives to fly away by Sea and is there drowned 13. Cleopatra daughter of Auletes and Sister and Wife to Ptol. Dionysius After his death Antonius was so enamoured of her that putting away his former Wife Octavia Augustus's Sister he married her whereupon he was engaged in a War with Augustus and being conquered by him in a Naval Fight at Actium he flies into Egypt with Cleopatra where he kills himself and Cleopatra lest she should be carried in Triumph kills her self with Asps and so Egypt was reduced into the Form of a Province by Augustus 3ly We are to shew who were High Priests among the Jews from their return out of the Captivity to Christs time The Catalogue of them follows 1. Joshua the Son of Jozedeck who returned out of Captivity
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
honourable persons and after the feast was ended and the Guests gone and himself had retired to his Lodging the Room in which they had supped being now empty of Company fell down and did no body any harm whereupon he was accounted as one especially owned by God who had so wonderfully preserved him Not long after he got five Towns into his hands wherein he put to the Sword 2000. Garrison Soldiers and then went against Pappus whom Antigonus had sent into Samaria Pappus gave him Battel very boldly but his Army was overthrown by him and himself taken Prisoner and Herod in revenge of his Brothers death did great Execution upon them by which defeat Antigonus's Interest was quite broken Next day he cut off Pappus's Head and sent it to his Brother Pheroras in revenge of his Brother Josephs death whom it seems Pappus slew The extremity of the Weather being over Herod marches up to Jerusalem and lays siege to it in the third year after he had been declared King by the Romans intending to use the same manner of assault that Pompey had made formerly against the Temple Socius also came up to him to Jerusalem so that both carried on the siege with an army of eleven Legions and 6000 horse The Defendants with great courage made resistance doing all that could reasonably be expected from them though much straitned for provisions it being the Sabbatical year They held out five months though there was so great an army besieging them At length twenty of Herods stoutest Souldiers got upon the walls and then the Centurions of Socius The outward part of the Temple being taken and the lower City the Jews fled into the inward part at length by a general assault that was taken also and then all places were filled with slaughters the Romans being enraged that they had held out so long and the Jews out of malice and particular grudges seeking to destroy all of the contrary faction the reverence of the Temple not abating their rage Antigonus came and fell at Socius's feet who insulting over him called him Madam Antigona and put him in prison and set keepers over him Herod did what he could to restrain the Souldiers from exercising such extream violence and to keep the profane multitude from violating the Temple and from plundring the City asking Socius If the Romans intended to make him King of a wilderness and added that he should think the victory worse than an overthrow if they proceeded to such extremities At length he was fain to redeem the City from further plunderings by his own moneys wherewith he rewarded the Romans and sent them away sufficiently inriched Socius having offered a Crown of Gold to God departed from Jerusalem leading Antigonus with him prisoner to Antony This disaster befell Jerusalem in the third month on the 28th day of which the Jews were wont to celebrate a solemn fast in memory of the Roll that was burnt by Jehoiakim and it was taken on the same day it had been taken by Pompey several years before Herod fearing that if Anthony should carry Antigonus to Rome he would there obtain favour of the Senate as being of the Royal race and procure the Kingdom at their hands if not for himself yet for his children who never had ill deserved of the Romans he procured Antony to dispatch him out of the way who pretending the unquietness of the Jews for his sake caused him to be beheaded at Antioch And so the Principality of the Asmonaeans came to an end after it had stood 126 years and had been freed from the yoke of Syria 98 years and Herod a forreigner was confirmed in the Soveraignty over Judea by the Romans Of these miserable times among others were spectators Zachary the Priest with his wife Elizabeth of the relicts of Davids stock Heli and Joseph Anna also the Prophetess of the Tribe of Asser and Simeon who was assur'd from God he should not see death till he had seen the Lords Christ Herod being thus setled in the Kingdom in the third year after he was made King by the Romans advanced those of his own faction and put to death many of the contrary party among others he put to death all those Judges of the great Sanhedrin who had accused him of capital crimes before he was King except Pollio the Pharisee and his disciple Sameas whom he highly honoured During these things the King of the Parthians had courteously treated the captive High-Priest Hircanus who hearing that Herod was made King began to conceive hopes of favour from him because he had saved his life when he was called into question and therefore thought of returning into his own Country To which he was at last perswaded having received courteous invitations from Herod who strove to get the poor old man into his clutches and when he came Herod received him with all honour and respect and gave him the upper hand in all Assemblies and calling him Father lull'd him on lest he should suspect any treachery Then he preferred to the High-Priesthood an old friend of his one Ananelus sending for him from Babylon a man of obscure parentage derived from those Jews that were carry'd away beyond Euphrates but of the race of the Priests passing by Aristobulus the Grandson of Aristobulus the King and Brother to his own wife Mariamne Alexandra the Mother of Mariamne being exceedingly enraged at this and Mariamne continually following him with intreaties that he would restore the High Priesthood to her Brother to whom of right it belonged whither moved by these things or that Antony desiring to see the youth Aristobulus for the same of his beauty he feared the Romans might advance him or however it was to stay him at home he gave him the Priesthood putting out Ananelus and excused his not sending him to Antony by the inclination of the Jews to rebellion Perceiving him therefore to be in extraordinary favour with the Jews and that Alexandra plotted the escape of her self and her Son into Egypt where she expected aid and assistance from Cleopatra Herod caused him to be duckt to death as he was bathing himself in the eighteenth year of his age and then feigning to be very sorrowful for his death he buried him with a most magnificent funeral and then made Ananelus High-Priest again Alexandra certifies Cleopatra by Letters of this horrid treachery of Herod who exceedingly pittying her misfortune urged Antony exceedingly to revenge the young mans death Antony when he came into Laodicea sent for Herod to come to him to answer the crime objected against him He therefore leaving the care of the Kingdom to his Vncle Joseph gave him private instructions that if any thing otherwise than well should befall him he should put his wife Mariamne to death for he so loved her that he would not have any one to enjoy her though after his death And then going to Antony he quickly appeased him by gifts and presents and made his peace
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