another In which course some considerable scruples will arise before the Student as hee goeth along which unlesse hee see and resolve hee will never be able to make the account right and which unlesse hee frame to himself such a Chronicall table as is mentioned hee will never see nor find out Hee will by the very Table as hee goeth along see that sometimes the yeeres are reckoned compleat as Reboboams seventeen are counted 1 Kings 15. 1. Sometimes current as Ahijams three 1 Kings 15. 1 2 9. and Elahs two 1 Kings 16. 8. But this will breed no difficulty since it is ordinary in Scripture thus variously to compute and since the drawing of his Table wil every where shew him readily this variety But these things will hee find of more obscurity and challenging more serious study and consideration First it is said that Jeroboam reigned two and twenty yeeres ' 1. Kings 14. 20. and Nadab his Sonne two yeeres chap. 15. 25. yet that Nadab began to reigne in the second yeere of Asa which was in the one and twentieth yeere of Jeroboam and so Nadabs two yeeres fall within the summe of his fathers two and twenty Now the reason of this accounting is this It is said in 2 Chron. 13. 20. that the Lord stroke Jeroboam and he died that is with some ill and languishing disease that he could not administer nor rule the Kingdome therefore was hee forced to substitute his Sonne Nadab in his life time and in one and the same yeer both Father and Son died Secondly it is said that Baasha began to reigne in the third yeere of Asa 1 King 13. 28. and reigned foure and twenty yeeres ver 33. then it followeth that he died in the six and twentyeth yeere of Asa as the text reckoneth the yeeres current 1 King 16. 8. And yet in the fix and thirtieth yeere of Asa Baasha came up and made war against Judah 2 Chron. 16. 1. So that this warre will seeme to bee made by â—im nine or ten yeeres after hee is dead But the resolution of this from the originall is easie For that text in the Chronicles meaneth not that Baasha made warre against Judah in the six and thirtieth yeere of Asaes reigne but in the six and thirtieth yeere of Asaes kingdome that is six and thirty yeeres from the division of the Tribes under Rehoboam For Reâ—oboam reigned seventeen yeeres Abijam his son three yeeres and in the sixteenth yeere of Asa was this warre made thirty six yeeres in all from the first division The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 therefore should there be rendred the Kingdom and not the Reign and the thing were cleare Now the text dateth this warre not from the time of Asaes reigne but from the time of the division of the Tribes because that though they were divided hitherto in regard of their Kings yet not totally in regard of their converse and affection for some of the revolted ones affected still the house of David but Baasha to make the division sure buildeth Ramah that none might goe in or out to Asa King of Judah and this was as a second division and therefore the Text reckoneth from the first Thirdly it is said 1 King 16. 23. that in the one and thirtieth yeere of Asa King of Judah began Omri to reigne over Israel twelve yeers six yeeres reigned bee in Tirzah And yet in verse 29. it is said that In the eight and thirtyeth yeere of Asa began Ahab thâ— sonne of Omri to reigne Now how can there possibly be twelve yeeres reigne betwixt Asaes thirty first and thirty eight Answer Omri began to reigne as soon as ever he had slaine Zimri which was in the twenty seventh of Asa but he was not sole and entire King till his thirty first For Tibni his competitor and corrivall for the Crowne held him in agitation and warres till Asaes thirty first And then was he overcome and Omri acknowledged absolute King by Tibnies souldiers and so from thence forward he reigned sole King in Tirzah But yet the doubt remaineth how Omri beginning his monarchy in the thirty first of Asa and ending it in his thirty eight can bee said to have reigned but six yeeres whereas it was eight current Answer The six compleat yeeres only are reckoned for the thirty first of Asa was even ending when Tibni was conquered and the thirty eight but newly begun when Omri died Such another kind of reckoning may be observed in casting up the age of Abraham and Ismael at their Circumcision compared with the age of Abraham at Ismaels death Fourthly the beginning of the reigne of Joram the sonne of Jehoshaphat hath three dates The first in the seventeenth yeere of Jehoshaphat his father compare 2 Kings 22. 51. and 2 King 1. 17. and 2 King 3. 1. The second in the fifth yeere of Joram the son of Ahab 2 King 8 16. This was the in the two and twentyeth yeere of his father Jehoshaphat And the third at his father Jehoshaphats death 2 Chron. 21. 1. Now the resolution of this Ambiguity is thus The first time hee was made Viceroy when his father went out of the Land for the recovery of Ramoth Gilead and because Ahab the King of Israel went with him Ahaziah his Son is made Viceroy in that Kingdome also The second time hee was Viceroy again in his Father Jehoshaphats absence upon his voyage into Moah with Jehoram 2 Kings 3. and from this time doth the Text date the fixed beginning of his reign as is plain â— Kings 8. 17. 2 Chron. 21. 20. For Jehoshaphat after this â—â—me was little at home but abroad either in his own Land peraâ—bulating it to reduce the people to true Religion or in Moah to reduce that to subjection 2 Chron. 19. 20. Fifthly but a greater doubt meeteth you by farre when you come to cast up the times of his son Ahaziah For whereas Joram was thirty and two yeeres old when hee began to reigne and reigned eight yeeres in Jerusalem 2 King 6. 17. 2 Chron. 21. 20. and so died when hee was forty yeeres old and instantly the inhabitants of Jerusalem set Ahaziah upon his throne who was his youngest Son yet was this Ahaziah forty two yeeres old when hee began to reigne 2 Chron. 22. 1. and so will prove to be two yeeres older then his father Answer The booke of Chronicles in this place meaneth not that Ahaziah was so old when hee began to reigne for the book of Kings telleth plainly that he was but two and twenty 2 King 8. 26. but these two forty yeers have relation to another thing namly to the kingdom of the house of Omri and not to the age of Ahaziah For count from the beginning of the reign of Omri and you find Ahaziah to enter his reign in the two and fortieth yeer from thence as he wil readily see that shall make such a Chronicall Table as is mentioned The Originall words therefore Ben arbaguim ushethajim shanaâ—
are not to be translated as they be Ahaziah was two and forty yeeres old but Ahaziah was the Son of the two and forty yeeres as Seder Olâ—m hath acutely observed long agoe Now the reason why his reigne is thus dated differently from all others the Kings of Judah is because he in a kind was an impe of the house of Omri for Athaliah his mother was Ahabs daughter 2 King 8. 18. And she both perverted her husband Joram and brought up this her sonne Ahaziah in the Idolatry of the house of Ahab therefore is not Ahaziah fit to be reckoned by the line of the Kings of Judah but by the house of Omri and Ahab see the Evangelist Matthew setting a speciall mark upon the house of Joram at the notes on Mat. 1. 8. Sixthly there is yet one scruple more arising concerning the beginning of the reigne of this Ahaziah For the same book of Kings saith that he began to reigne in the twelfth yeere of Joram the son of Ahab 2 King 8. 25. and in the eleventh yeere of Joram the son of Ahab 2 Kings 9. 29. Answer The resolution of this doubt will bee easie to him that hath such a Chronicall Table as wee have spoken of before his eyes For there will hee see that Jehoram reigned one yeere before his Father Ahabs death For in the twentyeth yeere of Ahab which was the seventeenth of Jehoshaphat did Ahaziah the sonne of Ahab begin to reigne 1 King 22. 51. being made Viceroy when his Father went to Ramoth Gilead Hee reigning but that yeere Jehoram his sonne was Viceroy or began to rule in his stead the next yeere namely in Ahabs one and twentyeth Ahab in his two and twentyeth dyed and so Jehoram became absolute and intire King and reigned so eleven yeeres So that his reign hath a double reckoning hee reigned as Viceroy twelve yeeres but as intire King but eleven 7. Amaziah beganne to reigne in the second yeere of Joash King of Israel 2 King 14. 1. this was the eight and thirtyeth yeere of his Father Joash King of Judah three yeeres current before his death And the reason was because his Father had cast himselfe into so much misery and mischiefe through his Apostasie and murder of Zacharies 2 King 12. 17 18. 2 Chron. 24. 23 24 25. that hee was become unfit and unable to manage the Kingdome 8. Vzziah or Azariah the sonne of this Amaziah being but sixteene yeeres of age in the seven and twentyeth yeere of the reigne of Jeroboam the second 2 King 15. 1 2. it appeareth that hee was but foure yeers old at his Fathers death Therfore was the Throne empty for eleven yeeres and the rule managed by some as Protectors in the Kings minority 9. There is also an interregnum or vacancy of 22 yeers in the kingdome of Israel between Jeroboam the second and Zachariah whereof what the reason should bee is not easie to determine whether through warres from abroad which Jeroboam might have provoked against his house by the conquest of Hamath and Damascus 2 King 14. 28. or through war at home as appeareth by the end of Zachariah 2 King 15. 10. or through what else it was it is uncertain but most sure it was that the Throne was so long without a King since Jeroboam beginning to reigne in the fifteenth yeere of Amaziah and reigning forty one yeeres 1 King 14. 23. dyed in the fifteenth of Vzziah and Zachariah began not to Reigne till the eight and thirtyeth 2 King 15. 8. 10. Hoshea is said to slay Pekah in the twentyeth yeere of Jotham the Sonne of Vzziah 2 King 15. 30. whereas Jotham reigned but sixteene yeeres in all 2 King 15. 33. But the reason of this accounting is because of the wickednesse of Achaz in whose reigne this occurrence was and the Holy Ghost chuseth rather to reckon by holy Jotham in the dust then by wicked Ahaz alive For in the slaughter of Pekah the Lord avenged upon Pekah the blood-shed and misery hee had caused in Judah for hee had slaine of the men thereof 120000 in one day 2 Chron. 28. 6. Now Ahaz had caused this wrath upon the people in withdrawing them from the wayes of the Lord therefore when the Lord avengeth this injury of his people upon Pekah the time of it is computed from Jotham who was holy and upright and not from Ahaz who had caused the mischiefe 11. There is a scruple of no small difficulty about the reckoning of this twentyeth yeere of Jotham if it once bee spyed out And that is this If Pekah began to reigne in the two and fiftyeth or last yeere of Vzziah and reigned twenty yeeres as 2 King 15. 27. and if Jotham beganne to reigne in the second yeere of Pekah 2 King 15. 33. then certainly the twentyeth yeere of Pekah the yeere when Hoshea slew him was but the nineteenth yeere of Jotham and not the twentyeth Answer In this very difficulty hath the Text fixed the time of Vzziahs becomming leprous which else-where is not determined and it sheweth that it was in the last yeere of his reigne when hee assayed to offer incense in the Temple and was struck with the leprosie a disease with which the Priests who were to bee the Judges of it could not bee touched nor insected and his sonne Jotham was over the house judging the land 2 King 15. 5. till the day of his death Now that last yeere of Vzziah is counted for the first of Jotham in this reckoning that wee have in hand and although hee beganne to reigne as absolute and sole King in the second yeere of the Reigne of Pekah yet beganne hee to reigne as Viceroy in the diseasednesse of his Father the yeere before 12. It is said that Hoshea the sonne of Elah beganne to reigne in the twelfth yeere of Ahaz 2 King 17. 1. whereas hee had slaine Pekah in the fourth of Ahaz or the twentyeth of Jotham which sheweth that hee obtained not the Crown immediately upon Pekahs death but was seven or eight yeeres before hee could settle it quietly upon his head It is like that Ahaz in this time did disquiet Israel when his potent enemy Pekah was dead in revenge of that slaughter that hee had made in Judah and that hee kept Hoshea out of the Throne and for this is called the King of Israel 2 Chron. 28. 19. as well as for walking in the wayes of those Kings 13. It is said that Hezekiah began to reigne in the third yeere of Hoshea the sonne of Elah 2 King 18. 1. Now Hoshea beginning in the twelfth of Ahaz 2 King 17. 1. it is apparent that Hezekiah began in the foureteenth and so reigned two or three yeeres with his Father Ahaz who Reigned sixteen yeeres 2 King 16. 2. The reason of this was because of the wickednesse of Ahaz and because of the miseries and intanglements that his wickednesse had brought him into as 2 Chron. 28. 16 17 18. and chap. 29. 7 8 9.
out of thy Countrey c. to bee of the same time and spoken in the same place whereas there is a vast difference in the words themselves and so was there of the time and place where they were spoken Steven telleth that while Abraham was in Mesopotamia or Chaldea as ver 4. before hee dwelt in Haran God appeared to him and said unto him Get thee out of thy Country and from thy kindred but not a word of departing from his Fathers house for hee took his Father and his whole household along with him and dwelt with them a good while in Haran Gen. 11. 31. And Terah dyed in Haran ver 32. Then the Lord said unto Abram for so should Gen. 12. 1. bee translated and not Now the Lord had said And his saying was this Get thee out of thy Countrey and from thy kindred and from thy Fathers house too for that also hee now left behind him namely Nahor and all his Fathers Family but onely Lâ—t and Sarah that were fatherlesse children And this difference considered as necessarily it must it doth make this difficulty which hath cost so much canvasing so easie as a thing needeth not to bee more Sect. III. From the promise given to Abram upon his Father Terahs death to the delivery of the people of Israel out of Aegypt and to the giving of the Law were 430 yeeres Exod. 12. 40. Gal. 3. 17. This summe being joyned to that before of 2083. it maketh the world to bee in the two thousand five hundred and thirteenth yeere of her age when Israel was delivered and the Law given This space of time of 430 yeers betwixt the promise and the Law the divine wisedome and providence cast into two equall portions of 215 yeeres before the peoples going down into Aegypt and 215 yeeres of their being there The former moyety was taken up in these parcells Five and twenty yeeres betwixt the giving of the promise and the birth of Isaac compare Gen. 12. 4. with Gen. 21. 5. Sixty yeers betwixt the birth of Isaac the birth of Jacoh Gen. 25. 26 An hundred and thirty yeeres betwixt the birth of Jacob and Israels going into Aegypt Gen. 27. 9. The latter in these Ninety five yeers from their going into Aegypt to the death of Levi. Forty yeeres from the death of Levi to the birth of Moses Eighty yeeres from the birth of Moses to their delivery Sect. IV. From the comming of Israel out of Aegypt to the laying of the foundation of Solomons Temple were 480 yeeres 1 King 6. 1. and seven yeeres was it in building ver 38. So that joyne these 487 that passed from the comming out of Aegypt to the finishing of the Temple to the 2513. yeeres of which age the world was when they came out of Aegypt and it will appeare that Solomons Temple was finished exactly in the three thousandth yeâ—r of the world This summe is made up of these many parcells Israel in the wildernesse 40 yeeres Joshua ruled 17 yeeres Othniel judged 40 yeeres Judg. 3. 11. â—hud judged 80 yeeres Judg. 3. 30. Deborah c. 40 yeeres Judg. 5. 31. Gideon 40 yeeres Judg. 8. 28. Abimelech 3 yeeres Judg. 9. 22. Tolah 23 yeeres Judg. 10. 2. Jair 22 yeeres Judg. 10. 3. Jephtah 6 yeeres Judg. 12. 7. Ibsan 7 yeeres Judg. 12. 9. Elon Judged 10 yeeres Judg. 12. 11. Abdon 8 yeeres Judg. 12. 14 Sampson 20 yeeres Jud. 15. 20. 16. 31. Eli 40 yeeres 1 Sam. 4. 18. Samuel Saul 40 yeeres Acts 13. 21. David 40 yeeres 1 Kings 2. 11. Solomon 4 yeeres 1 Kings 6. 1. Totall 480. Now among all these parcels there is no number that hath not a text to warrant it but onely the date of the Government of Joshua which yet cannot bee doubted of to have been seventeen yeeres seeing that so many yeeres onely are not specified by expresse Text of all the 480 mentioned 1 King 6. 1. And here also may the reader observe that the yeers that are mentioned in the book of Judges for yeeres of Israels oppression as Judg. 3. 8. 14. c. are not to bee taken for a space of time distinct from the time of the Judges but included in the summe of their times Now it thus falling out as it is more then apparent that Solomons Temple was finished and perfected in the yeere of the world 3000 this belike hath helped to strengthen that Opinion that hath beene taken up by some That as the World was six dayes in creating so shall it bee six thousand yeeres in continuance and then shall come the everlasting Sabbath And indeed the observation could not but please those that were pleased with this opinion for when they found that the first three thousand yeeres of the World did end in the perfecting of the earthly Temple it would make them to conclude the bolder that the other three thousand should conclude in the consummation of the spirituall Sect. V. From the finishing of Solomons Temple to the falling away of the ten Tribes were 30 yeeres For Solomon reigned 40 yeeres 1 King 11. 42. and in the eleventh yeere of his reigne was the Temple finished 1 King 6. 38. And so count from that yeere to the expiration of his reigne and the beginning of his son Rehoboam and it will appeare easily that the falling away of the ten Tribes was 30 yeeres after the Temple was finished and in the yeare of the world 3030. Sect. VI. From the falling away of the ten Tribes under Jeroboam to the captivity of Judah into Babylon were 390. These are thus reckoned in a grosse summe by Ezekiel chap. 4 5. I have laid upon thee the yeeres of their iniquitie according to the number of dayes three hundred and ninety dayes So shalt thou beare the iniquity of the house of Israel vers 6. And when thou hast accomplished them lie againe on thy right side and thou shalt beare the iniquity of the house of Judah forty dayes I have appointed thee each day for a yeere Now these are not to be taken for two different and distinct sums as if it were 390 yeeres from the falling away of the ten Tribes to the captiving of the ten Tribes and 40 yeeres from thence to the captiving of Judah for it was but 200 yeeres and a little above an halfe between the two first periods and above an hundred yeeres between the two last but the forty yeeres are to bee reputed and counted within the 390 as the last yeeres of them and marked out so singularly because of Judahs rebellion in and under so cleare and powerfull preaching of Jeremy who-prophefied so long a time among them Now for the casting of these 390 yeeres into parcels as the Books of Kings and Chronicles have done them the surest and clearest way is to make a Chronicall table of the collaterall Kingdomes of Judah and Israel while they last together from yeare to yeare as they will offer themselves to parallel one
And this sheweth the zeale of Hezekiah in the work of Reformation the more in that hee assayed and perfected it so much in the very time of his wicked Father 14. But yet there ariseth another doubt in the computation of the times of Hezekiah parallel with the times of Hoshea For whereas hee beganne to reigne in the third yeere of Hoshea as is cleere before then the seventh yeere of Hoshea should bee counted his fifth yeere and yet it is called but his fourth 2 King 18. 9. Answer The beginning of Hezekiahs reigne is of a double date Hee beganne indeed to bee Viceroy and to beare the rule in the third of Hoshea which was the fourteenth yeere of his Father Ahaz but the time of that yeere was but short that hee was in the royalty and hee did but little or nothing of note that yeere but the next yeere which was the fifteenth of Ahaz and the fourth of Hoshea on the very first day of the yeere or the first of Nisan hee beganne the Reformation and stirred bravely in the restoring of Religion 2 Chron. 29. 3. and therefore that is owned as the most remarkable and renowned beginning of his dominion And so the seventh of Hoshea and his fourth yeere fall in together In his sixth yeer the ten Tribes are captived 2 King 18. 10. And so the parallelling of the two Kingdomes of Judah and Israel in their Chronicall Annals is at an end and now the times of the kingdome of Judah lye in an easie and continued Chronicle to the captivity in Babel without any great scruple Onely about those turbulent times of Jehoachaz and Jehoiakim there is a little difficulty For there passed some yeeres between the death of Josiah and the Reign of Jehoiakim in troubles and distempers though the Text hath mentioned the three moneths onely of Jehoachaz The grosse summe of 390. between the division and the burning of the Temple keepeth all right and sheweth how much space this was when all the other particulars are taken up as the 480 between the delivery out of Aegypt and building of Solomons Temple do by the time of the rule of Joshua though the Text expressely hath not determined it So that now adde these 390 yeeres mentioned by Ezekiel which was the exact space between the falling away of the ten Tribes and the destruction of Jerusalem to the 3030 yeeres of which age the world was when the ten Tribes fell away and wee finde that Jerusalem was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians in the yeere of the world 3420. Sect. VII From the burning of the Temple by Nebuzaradan 2 King 25. Jer. 52. to the return from Babel 2 Chro. 36. 22. Ezra 1. 1. were fifty yeeres It hath been no small controversie among the learned that have handled the current of these times that wee are about where to begin the seventy yeeres of the captivity in Babel so renowned in Scripture Jer. 25. 11 12. and 29. 10. 2 Chron. 36. 21. Zech. 1. 12. For since there were three captivities of Hierusalem by the Babylonian namely in the third yeere of Jehoiakim 2 Chron. 36. 6. Dan. 1. 1. In the yeere of Jehoiachin 2 Chron. 36. 9 10. and in the eleventh of Zedekiah 2 King 25. 2 3. Jer. 52. 4 5. it may very well bee questioned where those seventy yeeres of captivity did beginne and where those 390 yeeres from the falling away of the ten Tribes should terminate To omit varieties of opinions and reasons that fix these periods some here some there these reasons do plainly and sufficiently demonstrate that the seventy yeeres of Judahs captivity in Babel did begin from the third yeere of Jehoiakim First Because Daniel that measured out the whole space of that captivity and that giveth account of the state of the people that time beginneth from thence Dan. 1. Secondly Because it is most proper to beginne the seventy yeeres captivity by Babel from the very first time that any captivity by Babel began Thirdly It is prophecyed by Jeremy chap. 25. 11. that not onl the Jews but also all Nations round about them should serve the King of Babel 70 yeeres So that those seventy yeeres are to bee counted the time and space of the absolute Monarchy of Babel and they are to beginne from the beginning of Nebuchadnezzar the first Monarch Now the beginning of his Monarchy is easie to settle viz. in the third of Jehoiakim from these Texts Jer. 32. 1. and 52. 12. It is true indeed that in Jer. 25. 1. the fourth of Jehoiakim is called his first and so it might bee very well for the first of Nebuchadnezzar might take up part of two yeeres of his Reigne as any one yeere of the King takes up much time of two Lord Majors hee entring his yeere in the Spring and they in Autumne Thus doe the seventy yeeres beginne from the beginning of Nebuchadnezzar but the 390 that wee have been so long upon doe not there end but they end at his nineteenth or at the eleventh of Zedekiah when the City and Temple was utterly ruined and the captivity entirely consummate as the chaine of the yeere drawn out to the length doe really fix it and as the very intent and stile of the Prophet doth the like who in that summe doth comprehend the whole time of the peoples being in their own Land after the râ—volt under Jeroboam So that nineteen yeeres compleat out of the seventy must wee take into that sum and so there are but fifty yeeres of that captivity to the time of their delivery under Cyrus remaining which summe being added to the age of the world at the burning of the Temple 3420. doth make the world to bee 3470 yeeres old at the first of Cyrus when the captivity did return Sect. VIII From the return of the Jewes out of Babel to the death of Christ 490 yeeres This is so plain in Dan. 9. in the seventy weekes or seventy time seven yeeres there mentioned from the Commandement going forth from Cyrus to restore and build Hierusalem to the cutting off of the Messias that it needeth as little to confirme it as to tell that seventy times seven is foure hundred and ninety For if the Angel speak not of a fixed and certaine time in this summe hee nameth this summe to no purpose in the world but hee doth so cleerely fix the time the two termini of its extent and some particular linkes of it as it passed that nothing can bee more cleere evident and perspicuous Now adde these 490 yeeres which reach to the death of Christ to the age of the world 3470. at the time when they began and it resulteth that our Saviour dyed in the yeere of the world 3960. Out of which subduct the two and thirty yeeres of our Saviours life and it appeareth that hee was borne in the yeere of the world 3928. that yeere being then but newly begunne stilo veteri or according to the account used from
had speciall warrant and warrant they had none till the Angell dismisse them into Egypt This is not a groping of their thoughts onely by surmisall as was theirs of Herods mentioned before but there is plaine and evident demonstration for it in the text for when Joseph in Egypt was commanded by an Angel after the death of Herod to returne to the Land of Israel it is said Hee was afraid to goe into Judea when hee heard that Archelaus reigned in stead of Herod Now what should hee doe in Judea Or why should he rather thinke of going thither then into his owne Countrey Galilee But that hee thought of returning to Bethlehem againe from whence he had come supposing that the education of the Messias had beene confined thither as well as his birth But being warned and warranted by an Angel in a dreame hee then departed into Nazareth verse 22. By which words it is apparent not onely that he durst not goe to his owne home till hee had divine commission but also that hee had never been in Nazareth since Christ was borne till this his comming out of Egypt otherwise he would have addressed his thoughts thither and not to Judea And by this are wee to expound the text of Luke alledged when they had performed all things according to the Law they departed to their owne City Nazareth namely that he speaketh briefly in what hee saw Matthew had handled at large before and not so much intending to shew Christs quicke departure into Galilee after his presentation in the Temple as to draw you to looke for him in Galilee at the next story following which fell out very many yeeres after And that such briefe transitions are no strange thing in Scripture might be shewed at large but more especially in the Evangelist S. Luke that we have in hand as to spare more in Chap. 4. 14. He bringeth our Saviour as it were from the Pinnacle of the Temple into Galilee as if his journey thither had beene the first thing hee did whereas hee returned with the Devil into the Wildernesse againe and from thence came to John at Jordan before hee set for Galilee And Act. 9. 18 19. c. where under these few words Saul was converted and baptized preached in Damascus a good season was laid in wait for and escaped over the wall and went to Jerusalem hee hath comprehended a story of him of three yeeres and hath omitted his journey from Damascus into Arabia and to Damascus againe before he set for Jerusalem as Paul himselfe hath parcelled it out Gal. 1. Object 6. But why should the Wiseman stay so long after they had seene the Starre as not to come to Jerusalem and to Christ of two yeeres after Answ. So did Moses lie within a daies journey or little more of his wife and children Exod. 18. c. a whole twelve moneth together within a few daies and yet they came not at all together not for the distance of the places where they were but because of the divine disposall of the Lord for a speciall reason And so was it with these men It was not the distance of their Countrey from Judea were it either Arabia or Persia nay had it ben the utmost Judia that kept them away so long for they might have travelled it in halfe the time buâ— it was the divine dispensation of the Lord that detained them backe for so long a time partly that Christs stay in Bethlehem may leave no excuse behind if they would not know him but chiefely that the childe and Mother might gather some competent strength against their flight which God foresaw would follow upon the wisemens comming Harmony and Explanation Ver. 1. In the daies of Herod the King THis Herod was the Son of Antipater an Edomite or of the seed of Esau as was said before although Nicolas Damascen for which Josephus correcteth him averre that hee was of the race of the chief of the Jews that came up out of Babylon His Father Antipater growing into acquaintance and favour with Julius Caesar had the government of Judea committed to him And hee againe substituteth his sonne Phasaelus in the rule of Jerusalem and of the Country thereabout and his other Son Herod who is here spoken of in the ruling of Galilee Herod by his prowesse and policy indear'd himselfe to the succeeding Rulers of the Romane State but more especially by observance and promises to Antonius and by his meanes to Augustus whilest they two kept correspondency in the swaying of the Empire These two by the consent of the Senate make him King of Judea a man composed as if they were his foure elements of fawning policy cruelty and unconscionablenesse Of whose life and actions Josephus Egesippus and others have discoursed at large and it is not seasonable to insist upon them here This onely is not impertinent to inquire after what yeare it was of the reigne of Herod when this story of the Wisemens comming to Bethlehem and the butchery upon the children there fell out that it may bee seene how long our Saviour was in Egypt before his returne upon the tyrants death and how soon it was that the Lord overtook this and the other cruelties of the tyrant with deserved vengeance Josephus Antiq. lib. 14. cap. 26. hath placed the beginning of Herods reigne under the hundreth eighty and fourth Olympiad and under the Consulship of C. Domitius Calvinus II. and C. Asinius Pollio and hath summed the length of it to foure and thirty yeeres from the death of Antigonus his competitor and seven and thirty from the Romans first declaring of him King Antiq. lib. 17. cap. 10. And with this reckoning of the yeers of his reigne agreeth Egesippus de Excid Jerosol lib. 1. cap. 45. and so doth Eusebius in his Chronicle for the latter summe of seven and thirty but differeth farre from the beginning of his reigne placing it under the last yeere of Olympiad 186. eight yeeres at least after the time prefixed by Josephus And reason hee hath indeed to differ from his beginning For if Herod began his Reigne in the Consulship of the men fore-named and reigned but thirty and seven yeeres from thence it will result in the conclusion that hee dyed the yeere before our Saviour was borne as may bee easily cast by the Catalogue or number of Consuls from Cn. Domitius and Asinius Pollio which was after the building of the City Anno 71. to Cornelius Lentulus and Valerius Messalinus under whom our Saviour was borne which was Anno urbis 751. So that this account of yeeres that Josephus hath given though it bee true for the number yet can it not bee so from that beginning from whence hee hath dated them What shall we say then by beginning the thirty seven yeeres of his Reigne from the time that hee was King intire and sans corrivall in the kingdome by the death of Antigonus the last sparke of the Asmonean fire Why herein also I find
very well bee beleeved that hee would bloodily stirre against this new King of the Jewes that the wisemen spake of for feare of interception of the Crown as wel as his Father Hee dyed but five daies before his fathers death as it was touched before out of Josephus and thus God brought this bloodinesse of the Father and the Son and the rest of their cruelties to an end and upon their own heads at once and in a manner together and thus may the words of the Angel bee very fairely understood Take the childe and return to the Land of Israel for Herod and Antipater are dead that sought his life Ver. 22. Archelaus did reigne in Iâ—dea in the roome of his Father Herod Herod had first named Antipater for his Successor in the Throne of Judea but upon detection of his conspiracy against him hee altered his minde and his will and nominated Antipas and changing his minde yet againe hee named Archelaus and hee succeeded him a man not likely to prosper in a Throne that was so bebloodyed His conclusion was that in the tenth yeere of his reigne hee was accused by the Nobles of Judea and Samaria to Augustus banished to Vienna and his estate confiscate Jos. Ant. lib 17. cap. 15. Ver. 23. Hee shall bee called a Nazarene From Isai. 11. 1. where the Messias is called by the title Nezer which indifferently signifieth A branch and the City Nazaret one and the same word denoting Christ and the place where hee should bee borne SECT VIII S. LUKE CHAP. II. Christ sheweth his wisedome at twelve yeeres old Ver. 40. ANd the Childe grew and waxed strong in spirit filled with wisdome and the grace of God was upon him 41 Now his Parents went to Jerusalem every yeer at the Feast of the Passeover 42 And when hee was twelve yeers old they went up to Jerusalem after the custome of the Feast 43 And when they had fulfilled the daies as they returned the Childe Jesus tarryed behind in Jerusalem and Joseph and his mother knew not of it 44 But they supposing him to have been in the company went a daies journey and they sought him among their kinsfolkes and acquaintance 45 And when they found him not they turned back again to Jerusalem seeking him 46 And it came to passe that after three daies they found him in the Temple sitting in the middest of the Doctors both hearing them and asking them questions 47 And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers 48 And when they saw him they were amazed and his mother said unto him Son why hast thou thus dealt with us Behold thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing 49 And hee said unto them How is it that yee sought mee wist yee not that I must bee about my Fathers businesse 50 And they understood not the saying which hee spake unto them 51 And hee went down with them and came to Narareth and was subject unto them but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart 52 And Jesus increased in wisedome and stature and in favour with God and men Reason of the Order THe Order of this Section dependeth so clearely upon the proper Order of that preceding that that being made good to lie where it doth as in the proper place the subsequence of this to it can nothing at all bee doubted of For whereas all the Evangelists have unanimously passed over in silence all those yeeres of Christs minority which intervened or passed between his return out of Egypt and this passage of his at twelve yeeres old there is nothing possible to bee found in the Gospels that can come between to interpose this order and connexion The carriage and demeanour of our Saviour in the time between is onely briefely comprised in the first verse of this portion And the childe grew and waxed strong in spirit filled with wisedome and the grace of God was upon him Harmony and Explanation Ver. 40. And the childe grew c. TWo yeeres Old hee was when hee went into Egypt and there hee abode in his Exile a very small time it may bee some two or three moneths about such a space as Moses had been hid in Egypt in his Fathers house from the fury of Pharaoh When hee returned to Narazeth his Mothers City being now about two yeers and a quarter old hee was not weaned if in this hee followed the use and custome of the Jewish children as it is like hee did but still sucked his Mothers breasts As hee grew in body hee grew much more in minde for so the phrase Hee waxed strong in Spirit seemeth to bee understood by the Evangelist taking Spirit not so much for the Holy Ghost though it is past question hee was filled with that as for his Soule or spirituall part of his humane nature And so hee describeth his growth in both parts in the two expressions The childe grew in body and waxed strong in intellect and soule filled with wisedome in an extraordinary manner above other children and a graciousnesse appeared in him both in person and actions Vers. 41. Now his Parents went to Jerusalem c. Joseph is called the Parent of Christ as Paul calleth preaching foolishnesse 1 Cor. 1. 21 23. because hee was so commonly reputed by men And as for Womens going up to this Festivall whereas the Law required onely the Males appearance before the Lord three times in the yeere wee shall have occasion to speake of it hereafter Ver. 42. And when hee was twelve yeeres old c. At what age our Saviour sheweth his admirable wisdome in the Temple among the Doctors in this Story at the same age had Solomon shewed his in the matter of the two Hostesses about the dead and living child 1 King 3. 25. â—8 For that hee was twelve yeers old at that time may be conceived upon these collections First Absolom began to rebell in the thirty seventh yeere of Davids Reigne or three yeeres before his death or thereabout This is to bee picked out of that datelesse reckoning of yeeres 2 Sam. 15. 7. And after forty yeeres Absalom said let mee goe pay my vow c. These forty yeeres are counted from the time that Israel asked a King three of Sauls Reigne 1 Sam. 13. 1. and seven and thirty of Davids and then began Absalom to challenge the Kingdome and the reckoning from that date giveth this hint and intimation that as their asking a King then did sore displease the Lord so now are they punished in the proper kind for it when they have so many Kings that they know not well which to follow and many of them perish in following the usurper Secondly before his open rebellion Absalom had been two yeeres in Jerusalem and not seen the Kings face 2 Sam. 14. 28. Thirdly before that time he had been three yeeres in deserved exile in Geshur 2 Sam. 13. 38. Fourthly and two yeeres had passed betwixt the rape of Tamar and
did bend their eyes and expectation and a time from which all the Christians that have lived since have dated their Chronicall accounts and computation And yet how unfixed is this time and age of the world in which so great a mysâ—ery came to passe and upon which so generall accounting doth depend in the various reckonings of learned and industrious men It is not onely to bee seen in their writings wondered at in regard of the great difference at which they count but the fixed time is the more to bee studied for upon this very reason because such men do so greatly differ among themselves The onely way to settle in such variety is to take the plain and cleere account and reckoning of the Scripture which hath taken a peculiar care to give an exact and most certain Chronicle to this time and not to rely upon the computation of Olympiadeâ— Consuls or any other humane calculation which it cannot bee doubted must of necessity leave the deepest student of them in doubting and uncertainty Now the Scripture carrying on a most faithfull reckoning of the times from the beginning of time to this fulnesse of it hath laid this great wondrous and happy occurrence of the birth of the Redeemer in the yeere of the world three thousand nine hundred twenty and eight Which that wee may make good and fixed among so much variety and difference may the Reader gently have the patience to see and to examine the particular summes by which the Scripture accounteth to make up this totall and to study upon those scruples in the severall parcells where they come that make the account intricate and doubtfull and to judge upon those resolutions and satisfactions that shall bee tendered for the cleering and untying of those scruples And surely though the businesse may bee something long and difficult which wee shall propose and lay before him yet doubt I not but the profit will fully countervaile his labour when hee shall not onely bee resolved of the certainty of the time which wee now have occasion and every Christian hath cause to looke after but when hee shall also see and that I suppose not without admiration the wondrous and mysterious and yet alwayes instructive stile and manner of accounting used by the Holy Ghost in most sacred Majesticknesse and challenging all serious study and reverence And though also this businesse may seem to bee something too Parergon and excentrick to the main work that wee have before us the Harmonizing of the Evangelists yet since a prime thing that wee are to inquire after in the very entrance of this story of our Saviours life is the fixed and certain time of his birth the Reader will bee pleased to excuse a fault on the right hand rather then on the left and to dispense with too much desire to give satisfaction rather then too little or with none at all Sect. I. From the Creation to the Flood were 1656. yeeres as appeareth Gen. 5. 6. 7. by these parcels Adam at 130 yeeres old hath Seth ver 3. Seth at 105 yeeres old hath Enosh ver 6. Enosh at 90 yeeres old hath Cainan ver 9. Cainan at 70 yeeres old hath Mahalaleel ver 12. Mahalaleel at 65 yeeres old hath Jared ver 15. Jared at 162 yeeres old hath Enoch ver 18. Enoch at 65 yeeres old hath Methuselah ver 21. Methuselah at 187 yeeres old hath Lamech ver 25. Lamech at 182 yeeres old hath Noah ver 28. 29. Noah at 600 yeeres old seeth the Flood Gen. 7. 11. Totall 1656. which whole yeere of the world was taken up with the Flood viz. from the 17 day of the second Moneth or Marheshvan Gen. 7. 11 to the 27 day of the same moneth come twelve-moneth Gen. 8 14. Sect. II. From the Flood to Terahs death and the Promise then given to Abram were 427 yeeres as appeareth Gen. 11. by these particulars Sem at 2 yeeres after the Flood begat Arphaxad ver 10. Arphaxad at 35 yeeres old begat Salah ver 12. Salah at 30 yeeres old begat Eber ver 14. Eber at 34 yeeres old begat Peleg ver 16. Peleg at 30 yeeres old begat Reu ver 18. Reu at 32 yeeres old begat Serug ver 20. Serug at 30 yeeres old begat Nachor ver 22. Nachor at 29 yeeres old begat Terah ver 24. Terah at 130 yeeres old begat Abram Abram at 75 yeeres old hath the Promise Gen. 12. 4. Totall 427. Which summe being added to 1656 which was the age of the world at the Flood amounteth to 2083. and it resulteth that the promise was given to Abram in the yeere of the world two thousand eighty three But here is the great question moved Whether Abram were the eldest son of Terah yea or no If hee were then was hee born when Terah was 70 yeeres of age Gen. 11. 26. and not as this Table layeth it at his 130. And if hee were not his eldest son why hath Moses named him first of all his sonnes Answer First Hee was not his eldest Sonne for 1. Hee marryed his brother Harans daughter for so all men hold Sarah to have been and shee was but ten yeeres younger then himself Gen. 17. 17. which was impossible if her Father were younger then hee 2. Hee is said to bee but 75 yeeres old when hee departed out of Hanan Gen. 12. 4. And this was after his Fathers death Act. 7. â— Now had hee been born at Terahs 70 he had been 135 yeeres old when his Father dyed Wee must therefore compute and reckon backward thus that since hee was but 75 yeeres old when his Father dyed it must needs bee concluded that hee was born when Terah was 130. as is laid down in the Table Answer Secondly Hee is reckoned first of Terahs sonnes as Sem is of Noahs not because hee was the first in time but the first in dignity For that Sem was not the eldest sonne of Noah is cleere by comparing these places Gen. 5. 32. Noah was 500 yeeres old when hee begat his first sonne and Gen. 7. 11. when Noah was fix hundred yeeres old was the Flood of waters upon the earth and then was one of his sonnes an hundred yeeres old But Sem was not so till two yeeres after Gen. 11. 10. And yet is hee ever named the fiâ—â—t of his sonnes Gen. 5. 32. 6. 10. 7. 13. 9. 18. 10. There are some that not content with this plain necessary and undenyable explication of the difficulty do hold that Abram took two journeys into Canaan one before his Fathers death and another after whereas Moses and Steven well compared together do plainly shew the contrary and fully and sufficiently cleere the matter under scruple That which hath made men to fall into the mistake of his two journies into Canaan hath been this that they have taken the words of God in Act. 7. 3. Get thee out of thy Countrey c. and his words in Gen. 12. 1. Get thee
thus wee see and may observe Rome come to its intire and absolute Monarchy but at this time and the state and power that should persecute Christ in his Members to the end of the world beginning and borne as it were at the very same time when Christ himselfe Augustus as Tacitus recordeth of him did cause an account to be taken of all the Empire and himself had a Book Record of it written out with his own hand Opes publieae continebantur quantum civium sociorumque in armis quot classes regna Provinciae tributa aut vectigalia necessitates ac largitiones quae cuncta suae manu perscripserat Augustus which contained the publick revenue the number of Citizens or confederates in the Armies what Shipping Kingdoms Provinces Tributes or Subsidies and reliefe money and beneficences Dion also in the life of Augustus and much also about this time mentioneth a taxe laid by him upon those that dwelt in Italy whose estates were not lesse then five thousand Sesterces and poorer then these hee taxed not Ver. 2. This taxing was first made when Cyrenius was Governour of Syria The Taxe is dated by the time of Cyrenius his Governing of Syria First because Judea was annexed to Syria as a member of it and in naming the one the other is included Secondly hereby the losse and want of the Scepter and Law-giver in the Tribe of Judah is the better seen for the subjection of the Jewes by this is shewed to bee in the third degree They subject to Herod Herod to Cyrenius and Cyrenius to Augustus Thirdly from Syria had Israel had their greatest afflictions that ever they had in their own Land as by Gog and Magog Ezek. 38. or the house of the North Dan. 11. And Luke deriving the taxing of the Jewes from Syria calleth those things to mind and sayeth as it were the last verse of Dan. 11. and the first of Dan. 12. together The taxing is said first to bee made in his time As first denying that ever there was such an universall taxation in the Empire before for the Empire was never in that case of universall quietnesse to bee taxed before And secondly importing the taxes of that Country that followed after Augustus at this very time laying the platform subjection and submission of the Empire for succeeding posterities And here let it bee said againe in exact propriety beginneth the Romane Monarchy and is farre from being any of the foure Mentioned Dan. 2. or 7. Josephus mentioneth Cyrenius his comming into Syria after Archelaus his death To doe justice and to assesse and taxe every mans goods and hee came into Judea which was now annexed to Syria and did so there Now Archelaus reigned after Herod Mat. 2. and reigned till Christ was about ten yeers old forten yeers hee reigned as saith the same Josephus and therefore either Cyrenius came twice into Syria to lay taxations as Funccius concludeth or else Josephus fayleth here as hee doth not seldome elsewhere in Chronology Ver. 3. And all went to bee taxed This taxing was first by Kingdomes and Countries then by Cities and Townes and then by poll First Kingdomes and Provinces were divided one from another Secondly Cities and Townes in every Kingdome and Province were also particularized and notice given that every one should repaire to the place to which by stock and descent they did belong Thirdly the people being thus convened in their severall Cities their names were taken and inrolled and so the Greek word here used doth signifie in the neerest propriety Then did they make profession of Subjection to the Romane Empire either by some set forme of words or at least by payment of some certaine summe of money which was laid upon every poll And now first are the Jews entring under the yoke of that subjection which they never cast off again but it pressed them into a finall desolation even to this day Secondly They had voluntarily brought this misery upon themselves in calling in the Romans in their civill warres Thirdly No sparke of their former freedome and authority is left among them for their King and Law-giver is cleane gone Fourthly they are now to bee inrolled and registred for vassals to all succeeding generations Fifthly they must now leave their own occasions and many of them their owne houses to attend their owne bondage and misery And thus It is in the words of our Rabbins if thou see a generation that hath many afflictions then looke for the Redeemer from Isa. 59. 17 18. Jer. 30. 6 7. c. D. Kimch in Isa. 59. Ver. 4. And Joseph also went up from Galilee c. Whether it were for the feare of Herod that had a murderous spite at the stock of David or for the more commodiousnesse for his trade or for whatsoever else it was that Josoph a Bethlehemite became a resident in Galilee surely it was the wondrous disposall of the Lord that a decree from Rome should bring him now from Galilee to Bethlehem that the Prophecy of Christs being borne in that place might take effect Ver. 7. Shee brought forth her first-borne This is to bee understood according to the propriety and Phrase of the Law agreeable to which it speaketh Now the Law speaking of the first-borne regardeth not whether any were borne after or no but onely that none was borne before As Hur is called the first-born of Ephrâ—â—â— 1 Chron. 2. 5. and yet no mention of any childe that shee had after So Christ is here called the first-borne not as though shee had any children besides but to shew that in him was fulfilled what was typifyed by the first-borne under the Law who was as King Priest and Prophet in the Family and holy to the Lord. And so likewise in that spâ—â—ch of Matthew chap. 1. 25. Hee knew her not till shee had brought fâ—rth her first-borne It implyeth not that 〈◊〉 knew her after for the word till inforceth no such thing as see the Geneva notes upon the place but the Evangelists intention is to cleere the birth and generation of Christ from any carnall mixture of Joseph and Mary before hee was borne And here it is not unseasonable to looke a little narrowly into the time of our Saviours birth namely the time of the yeere â—â— which hee was borne as wee have done into the yeere it self or the time of the world heretofore The yeere of the world as wee observed then was 3928. The yeere of Augustus is neither so necessary to seek nor so ease to find partly because there is some difference among Historians about the number of the yeeres of his Reigne and partly because there may bee some about the yeere of Tiberius in which Christ was Baptized from which wee should count backward For though it bee said that John came Baptizing in his fifteenth yeere Luk. 31. yet may it bee questionable whether hee Baptized Christ in that yeere or no But not to swarve from the most common
consent of Romane Historians that say that Augustus Reigned six and fifty yeeres and of Christians that hold that Christ was baptized in the fifteenth of Tiberius then may it bee readily concluded that hee was borne in the forty second of Augustus The time of the yeere at which hee was borne hath beene much mistaken being concluded upon at the latter end of December This mistake did first arise by another for it being misunderstood that Zacharias was the High Priest and that hee was in Sancto Sanctorum on the expiation day when the Angel Gabriel appeared unto him they could doe no lesse then conclude that John was borne in the middle of Summer and Christ in the middle of Winter A time very unfit for people to travaile to their severall Cities to be taxed but far more unfit for Shepherds to lye abroad in the fields all night For finding out therefore the true and right time of his Nativity these things are to bee taken into consideration First That the time that Christ lived here upon the earth was two and thirty yeeres and a halfe exactly And so long did David Reigne in Jerusalem 2 Sam. 5. 4 5. This time was divided into two unequall parts twenty nine yeers compleat hee spent as a private man before hee was baptized for it is said hee began to bee thirty or was entring upon his thirtieth at his Baptisme Luk. 3. 23. And three yeeres and an halfe from his Baptisme to his death This summe was precisely told of by the Angel Gabriel Dan. 9. 27. In halfe that week shall hee cause sacrifice and oblation to cease And is plainly parcelled out by Passeovers and other circumstances of time Mat. 4. 2. Job 1. 29. 35. 44. 2. 1. 13. 5. 1. 6. 4. 13. 1. Secondly That the time of Christs death was at Easter or their Passeover as is most plaine by all the Evangelists Thirdly That hee living just two and thirty yeers and a halfe and dying at Easter it must needs follow that hee was borne about the middle of the moneth Tisri which answereth to part of our September And it is not only probable but also necessary if he lived thirty two yeeres and a halfe exactly that then as hee died upon the fiftheenth day of the moneth Abib or at the Passeover so that he was borne about the fifteenth day of Tisri at the Feast of Tabernanacles a moneth and a Feast that had been exceedingly renowned in ancient times In this moneth the World had begun and sin had entred into it In this moneth were all the Father born before the Flood as the Jewes averre and reason confirmes it From this moneth began the circle of the yeere from the Creation to the redemption out of Egypt From this moneth began the typicall yeere of Jubile in the ages after And in this moneth were the three famous Feasts of Trumpets of Expiation and of Tabernacles And like glorious things may bee observed upon the Feast of Tabernacles it selfe At that very time did Israel fall upon the making of the Tabernacle in the wildernesse Exod. 35. At this very time was the consecration of the Temple 1 King 1. 8. 2. And at this very time was our Saviour borne and began to carry the Tabernacle of his flesh and at this very time was hee Baptized and began the Ministery of the Gospel So that here appeareth one addition more to the present misery and subjection of the Jewes at the time of this taxe that not onely they must leave all their occasions to wait upon thier own taxing and promote their own bondage but that they must neglect a maine part of the service of God the Feast of Expiation and the Feast of Tabernacles as Zech. 14. 16 17. to attend the Conquerour and their owne thraldome And now it being considered that John the Baptist was but halfe a yeere older then our Saviour it will be observable how the foure points of the yeer as it may be so said were renowned with their conception and nativity John conceived at the Summer Solstice and our Saviour at the Winter John born at the vernall Equinox and our Saviour at the Autumnall SS And wrapped him in swadling cloaths This passage is one ground-work whereupon Expositors conclude that Christ was borne without paine to his mother for that shee performed the Midwives pâ—t her selfe and none to help her A second is this That he was borne without his Mothers paine because hee was conceived without her pleasure A third Argument may bee fetched from the blessing of propagation given to our first Parents in the Garden And a fourth from the example of the delivery of the Hebrew women in Egypt For first when God gave this blessing to Adam and Eve in their innocency increase and multiply Gen. 1. 28. it inabled them to beget children agreeable to their owne perfection that is holy righteous and without any symptomes or consequents of sinne either in themselves or in the mothers But they never begat any child thus because of their sudden fall What did this first blessing then utterly faile and never take effect in its proper sense and full extent Could such emphaticall words of God to man in innocency fall to the ground without performance No they took place in the second Adam who was borne according to the full extent and intent of that blessing to our innocent parents in perfect holinesse and righteousnesse and without paine to his mother Secondly if the Hebrew wonien in Egypt had so quicke and easie a delivery as that they were not like to other women much more may we thinke the travaile and delivery of the Virgin to have been quicke lively miraculous and painlesse as Esa. 66. 7. Before her paine came she was delivered of a man child SS Because there was no roome for them in the Inne At the returne out of Babylon the Children of Bethlehem were a hundred twenty three persons Ezra 2. 21. Now that being foure hundred and fifty yeers past and somewhat above to what a multitude might the stock or breed of that City be growne by this time of Christs birth This multitude pressing together to their own City according to the Emperours edict the weakest goe to the walls and Joseph and Mary are excluded out of the Inne and thus the free-woman and her Son are cast out of doores as the bond-woman and her Sonne had been Gen. 2. Vers. 8. And there were Shepheards c. The Patriarchs to whom Christ was more especially promised were of this vocation Gen. 47. 3. especially Abraham and David to whom the promise was more clearly made peculiarly David who was feeding Sheepe neere to Bethlehem when hee was taken a Father and type of Christ 1 Sam. 16. 11 12. And it doth illustrate the exactnesse of the performance the more and doth Harmonize with the giving of it the better when to Shepheards it is first revealed is to Shepheards it was first promised Compare
hand and in his having the Saviour of the world in his armes and heart Now this is the Genealogy of this man as it is Recorded by the Jewes themselves Hillel begat Simeon who was first titled Rabban Rabban Simeon begat Rabban Gamaliel the Tutor of Paul Rabban Gamaliel begat Rabban Simeon the second Rabban Simeon the second begate Rabban Gamaliel the second Rabban Gamaliel begat Rabban Simeon the third Rabban Simeon the third begat Rabbi Juda the holy Rabbi Juda begat Rabban Gamaliel the third These six Rabbans were of the line of Hillel besides whom there was a seventh that bare the same title of another stocke Rabban Jobanan beâ— Zaccai But it may bee justly questioned if Simeon were the man wee suppose namely the Sonne of Hillel and the Father of Gamaliel and if hee were so holy and devout a man and confessed Christ as this Evangelist relateth of him how came it to passe that his Sonne Gamaliel was so farre contrary as appeareth by the education of Paul in Pharisaicall righteousnesse and persecution of the Truth Answ. First it is no strange thing for holy Fathers to have wicked Children witnesse Eli David Josaphat and common experience Secondly it was thirty yeeres from Simeons acknowledging of Christ to Gamaliels education of Paul or little lesse and so much time might weare out the notice of his Fathers action if hee had taken any notice of it especially his Father dying shortly after he had made so glorious a confession SS Waiting for the consolation of Israel It is an Article of the Jewish Creed To beleeve the comming of the Messias and to wait and wait for his comming although hee deferre it which foolishly they doe even to this day after sixteene hundred yeeres expired since hee came But Simeons expectation is neither so vaine nor so uncertaine For besides the generall expectation of the whole Nation that the Messias should appeare about that time Luke 19. 11. hee had it by a speciall and assured revelation ver 26. The comming of Christ is called The conâ—â—â—ation of Israel from Isa. 49. 13. 52. 9. 66. 13. Jer. 31. 13. Zech. 1. 17. and such like places which the Jewes doe not onely apply to the comming of the Messias but also in their Talmud questioning what his name should bee when as hee came some conclude it to bee Menahem The Comforter from Lam. 1. 16 In Sanbedr Ver. 26. That hee should not see death before hee had seen the Lords Christ. This was the time when the Nation expected that Messias should appeare Luk. 19. 11. and began to look for redemption neere at hand Luk. 2. 38. The Angel Gabriel to Daniel and hee to the people had so determinately pointed out the time Dan. 9. 26 27. that not onely Jewes of all Nations are gathered to Jerusalem against the expiring of that Prophecy Act. 2. but also all the East was possessed with an opinion of a Prince to rise about these times of supereminent honour glory and dominion Baron in Appar c. Sueton Virgil c. Simeon having learned the time with the rest of the studious of the Nation out of the Scripture hath the certainty of it sealed up to him by the spirit of Prophecy which assured him that the time of so great expectation was so neere at hand that hee though hee were old yet should not dye till hee had seene what hee desired And thus Prophecy that was departed from Israel so long agoe is returning and dawning to it againe to bee as the morning starre to tell that the Sun of righteousnesse would rise ere long Ver. 35. Yea a sword shall pierce through thine owne soule also These words seeme to bee of the same tenor and intent with those of our Saviour to Peter Joh. 21. 18. and to tell Mary of her suffering martyrdome for Christ and the Gospel as those doe of his For Simeon having in the preceding verse related how Christ both in his person and in the Gospel should bee as a signe to bee spoken against persecuted and opposed yea saith hee and thou his Mother also for his and the Gospels sake shalt drinke of the same cup and partake of the same lot for the sword of persecution shall goe through thy life â—lso for so the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth often signifie SS That the thoughts of many hearts may bee revealed This clause is linked to the latter end of the verse preceding and reacheth beyond the Parenthesis that lyeth before it and in conjuncture with the clause before that it maketh this sense that Christs being set up for a signe to bee spoken against or persecution for the Gospels sake should detect many mens tempers and affections which were not descryed nor revealed before and discover what malignity or sincerity to him and to his cause is in their hearts as Mat. 13. 21. and as it is at this day Ver. 36. The daughter of Phanuel of the Tribe of Aser Hannah a Widow indeed as 1 Tim. 5. 3. 5. that is not by divorce but by the death of her husband and now of above an hundred yeeres of age is chosen also and actuated by the Holy Ghost to give testimony of Christ as Simeon had done that out of the mouth of two such witnesses of either sex one the thing might bee established and the party witnessed unto might bee the more taken notice of Her Father Phanuel is named as either being a noted and well knowne man in those times or for the significancy of his name made good in her in that shee now beholdeth the Lord face to face as Gen. 32. 30. 31. And thus the New Testament doth by this Prophetesse as the Old Testament doth by divers of the Prophets in naming her and her Father with her as Isa. 1. 1. Jer. 1. 1. Joel 1. 1. c. Phanuel her Father was a Galilean for in Galilee lay the Tribe of Aser and from thence commeth a Prophetesse now to declare and publish the great Prophet that must once appeare thence to the wonder of the Nation Ver. 37. Which departed not from the Temple Her constant continuance there might bee either because shee was a poore Widow and so maintained upon the foundation or because shee was a Prophetesse and so lodged in some of the buildings or chambers belonging to the Temple For so might women doe as 2 Chron. 22. 11 12. SECTION VII S. MATTHEW CHAP. II. Christ at two yeers old is visited and honoured by the Wisemen The children of Bethlehem murthered Herod dyeth soon after Christ returneth out of Egypt NOw when Jesus was borne in Bethlehem of Judea in the daies of Herod the King behold there came wise men from the East to Jerusalem 2 Saying where is he that is borne King of the Jewes For we have seen his Starre in the East and are come to worship him 3 When Herod the King had heard these things he was troubled and all Jerusalem with him 4
Dion differing from Josephus and Eusebius from them both For whereas Josephus hath related that the sacking of Jerusalem by Socius and the death of Antigonus were under the Consulship of M. Agrippa and Canidius or Caninius Gallus which was Anno urbis conditae 717. Dion in his Romane History lib. 49. hath placed the crucifying of Antigonus and the making of Herod King by Antony under the Consulship of Claudius and Norbanus which was Anno V. C. 716. or a yeer before And Eusebius hath still laid Herods beginning a yeere or two after Baronius hath found out a date different from all these namely that Herods yeeres of his Reigne are to bee begun from the time that hee received his Crowne from the hands of Augustus after his Victory of Antony at the battell at Actium Caesar being then in Rhodes of which story Josephus maketh mention Antiq. lib. 15. cap. 10. Augustus being then a third time Consull and Valerius Messalla Corvinus his partner By which account 't will follow that our Saviour was borne in the nine and twentieth yeere of Herods Reigne and that Herod lived till hee was about nine yeeres old Which opinion though it best suiteth to the salving of other passages of Josephus in Chronologie about this time yet it seemeth to bee something too corrasive an application and a remedy very harsh upon these respects First Because by this account of his both about the wisemens comming and Herods death hee will have Christ to bee nine yeers in Egypt or thereabout or according to our reckoning seven yeers or little under Now in his banishment from his owne Country the meanes of his Parents and of his owne subsistence in a foraine Land for so long a time is so hard to imagine that it will breed another and no lesse a scruple then that in hand Secondly the transition of S. Luke from his presenting in the Temple to his comming into Nazareth will seem a great deale the more harsh if eight or nine yeeres are to bee taken in betweene especially with such as Baronius himselfe who will have nothing to come betweene at all Thirdly by this opinion must our Saviour bee nineteen yeers old and more at the death of Augustus and then how could hee bee but beginning to bee thirty in the fifteenth of Tiberius Luk 3. For suppose with the Cardinall that hee was nine yeers old at the death of Herod then was hee nineteen at the banishment of Archelaus who reigned ten yeers as appeareth by Josephus Antiq. lib. 17. cap. 15. After Archelaus was removed from his kingdome the same Josephus nameth Cyrenius and Coponius as rulers and disposers of Judea for a season And after Coponius Marcus Ambibuchus was Ruler and after him Annius Rufus and then dyed Augustus Now lay all these together and it will follow that our Saviour could not bee lesse then above twenty yeeres old at the death of Augustus whereas it is most plaine by the Gospel that hee was but about fifteene Let us therefore take these parcels backward and as they confute the opinion under question so doe they helpe to settle and resolve the question in hand For grant that Coponius Ambibuchus and Rufus ruled their single yeeres apeece after the exile of Archelaus as it is most like they did and more then yeeres a peece they could not doe all things well laid together and take before them the ten yeeres current of Archelaus and we have thirteene yeeres backward o sour Saviours fifteene at the death of Augustus and this doth bring us to his two yeeres of age or thereabout which was the time when the Wisemen came to him So that since Archelaus began to reigne when Christ was not very much above two yeeres old for that hee was something above it may bee some moneths the time that Archelaus wanted of ten yeeres reigne compleat will allow and that hee could not be more then such a space above the premises well ponderated will conclude it will readily and plainly follow that our Saviours birth was in the five and thirtieth yeer of Herod and this murder of the children of Bethlehem in his seven and thirtieth but a moneth or two or such a space before his death Now whereas some sticke not to say that he was strucke with the wound of death that very night that the children were slaine and dyed not many dayes or houres after in that we cannot be so punctuall but that he lived not many moneths after is more then probable by the collections and computations mentioned well weighed and laid together SS Wisemen That is Sorcerers or Magicians and so might it not unfitly bee translated For first though Magus and Magia admit of a gentle construction and be often taken not onely in an harmlesse but in a laudable sense in prophane Authors yet are they never so in Scripture and by the Idiom and propriety of that must the word bee expounded and not by Forain and Heathen language and acceptation It is true indeed that among the Persians the Magi have beene renowned for men of excellent wisdome and skill in naturall and in other things and that none were admitted to reigne among them unlesse he were well versed in the learning of the Magi and that Plato Tullie Philo Plinie and others doe extoll Magia or Magick to be the very height and perfection of Philosophy But the Scripture who is ever the sure Expositor of it selfe doth never take the word but in the worse sense for the Devillish and damnable practice and practicers of sorcery and unlawfull arts as Act. 8. 9. Simon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Act. 13. 8. Elymas 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And the Babylonian 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Wizzards are so called by the Greeke of Daniel whosoever translated it whether the Lxx or Theodotion or who else soever Dan. 1. 20. 2. 2. c. Now it is against sense and reason to refuse the sense of Scripture for a Scripture word and to fetch the interpretation of it from Persia Plato Pliny and I know not whence 2. It doth the more set forth the lustre and glory of the birth of Christ and the power of himselfe and kingdome by supposing that these men that had beene hitherto devoted to the arts service and converse of the Devill should now forsake them and him and their owne delight and their old profession and dedicate themselves travailes and gifts to a child unknowne farre off and but poorely borne 3. Nor is this opinion but newly minted but it carrieth with it the passeport and priviledge of antiquity For Ignatius Martyr in his Epistle to the Ephesians speaking concerning the Wisemens Starre saith thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Then the wisdome of this World grew foolish Sorcery a toy and Magicke a derision personating the men in both their contrary professions and devotednesse Devillish and divine to Satan and Christ. So likewise Just in Martyr in his Dialogue with Trypho speaking of these same
Frankiniense and Myrrhe The mysterious application of these presents as Myrrham homini uncto aurum c. be left to them that delight and content themselves in such things the plaine and easie interpretation of the matter is that they tendered to Christ the chiefest and choicest commodities that their Countrey could afford which they carried in their treasures as the text calleth it that is in and among those commodities that the men of those Nations used to carry with them when they travailed especially when they meant to present any one to whom they went as Gen. 24. 53. 1 Kings 10. 2. Vers. 15. Out of Egypt have I called my Sonne The two allegations produced here out of the Old Testament this and that out of Jeremy in Rama was a voice heard are of that fulnesse that they speake of two things a piece and may very â—itly be applyed unto them both and shew that the one did resemble or prefigure the other as this text of Hosea aimeth both at the bringing of the Church of Israel in old time and of the head of that Church at this time out of Egypt Then a Joseph nourished his father now a Joseph doth so to his redeemer then was Egypt deadly to every male child that was borne now is it a place of refuge and preservation to this child Ver. 18. In Rama was there a voice heard c. Ramah stood not farre from Bethlehem though they were in two Tribes and the cry that the poor Parents and children made in Bethlehem when this matchlesse 〈◊〉 was in hand reach't to Ramah and was plainly heard thither Now observe the fulnesse of this Scripture as it is uttered by the Prophet as it is applied by the Evangelist It was fulfilled in one kind in the time of Jeremy him self and then was the lamentation and weeping in Ramah it selfe for hither did Nebuzaradan bring his Prisoners after hee had destroyed Jerusalem and there did he dispose of them to the Sword or to Captivity as seemed good unto himself Jer. 40. 1. And imagine what lamentation and crying was then in that City when so many were doomed there either to bee slaine in that place or to goe to Babel never to see their owne Land againe Then was the cry in Ramah and it was heard no doubt to Bethlehem But now the Prophecy is fulfilled in another kind when Harod destroyeth so many Children in Bethlehem and in the Suburbs and Borders belonging to it And now the cry is in Bethlehem and it is heard to Ramah SS Rachel weeping for her children c. Rachels grave was betwixt Bethlehem and Ramah or at least not farre distant from either of them Gen. 35. 16. 20. 1 Sam. 10. 2. The holy Ghost therefore doth elegantly set forth this lamentation by personating Rachel who dyed in the birth of her 〈◊〉 the Sonne of her Sorrow sorrowing for her Sonnes and Children that were thus massacred And this sheweth that the text in the Prophet aimeth in the first place and intention at the matter of Nebuzaradan for in Bethlehem Rachel properly had no children at all that City being inhabited by the children of Judah which deseended of Leah but in Ramah dwelt Rachels children that being a towne of Ephramites descended from Joseph Howsoever Rachel may bee said to weepe for the Babes of Bethlehem as her owne children though they were not strictly and properly her seed in regard of the interest that shee had in all the tribes of Israel as being wife unto their Father as Joseph is often called the Father of Christ being onely husband to his mother And see such another phrase Gen. 37. 10. Shall I and thy mother come to bow downe before thee whereas Josâ—phs mother was dead already Vers. 19. But when Herod was dead c. The end of Herod was not long after the massacre of these infants and his bloodinesse which he had used all his life long and topped up in the murder of these innocents and in desire to have done as much to the Lord of life the Lord doth now bring upon his owne head This matter with the children of Bethlehem wee conceive to have been some three moneths more or lesse before his end in which space this was his behaviour as may be collected out of Josephus Hee had slaine long before this his two Sonnes Alexander and Aristobulus and now was he about to doe as much by his Sonne Antipater a child too like the Father and one whom hee left by will the Successor in his Kingdome Him suspected by him for some man chination against himselfe hee had now shut up in prison and intended him presently for the execution but that his sicknesse whereof he died seizing on him gave some more space to the imprisoned and some hopes and possibilities of escaping His disease was all these mixed together an inward burning and exulceration an insatiable greedinesse and devouring the collicke the goute and dropsie his loines and secrets crawling with lice and a stinke about him not to bee indured These wringings and tortures of his body meeting with the peevishnesse of old age for hee was now seventy and with the naturall cruelty which alwayes had been in him made him murderously minded above all measure insomuch that hee put to death divers that had taken downe a golden Eagle which hee had set up about the Temple And when he grew neer to his end and saw himselfe ready to die hee slew his Sonne Antipater and caused great multitudes of the Nobility and People to bee closed up in a sure place giving command to slay them assoone as hee was dead for by that meanes hee said hee should have the Jewes truely and really to sorrow at his death Vid. Joseph Antiq. lib. 17. cap. 8 9 10. and de Bel. lib. 1. câ—p 21. Vers. 20. For they are dead that sought the young childs life The like saying is to Moses Exod. 4. 19. where the word they may be understood of Pharaoh and his servants which jointly sought his life for the Egyptians sake whom hee had slaine and were now all dead and worne out in the fourty yeeres of his being in Midian But here it is true indeed that the seeking of the childs life may well bee applied to Herods Servants as well as himselfe but that all they died with him or about the time of his death who in flattery or favour or obedience to him had promoted the slaughter at Bethlehem and had sought the childs life I know not upon what ground it should be conceived I should therefore by the they in this place understand Herod and his Sonne Antipater jointly together For if it bee well considered how mischievous this Antipater was against his own Brethren and how hee wrought their ruine and misery for feare they should get betwixt him and the throne yea how hee sought the destruction of his owne Father because hee thought hee kept him out of the Throne too long it may
the letter a message of death yet in the spirit is it a doctrine of faith unto life The Jew being thus entred by the morall law into the schoole of faith then came in the Ceremoniall and was as an usher of hope for by those rites and legall observations the memory of Christs comming was continually kept fresh and in the eye and expectation and the fruit and application of his performance of the morall law for the good of men daily read in those typicall and shadowed lectures As therefore it was absolutely necessary that Christ should fulfill the morall law in regard of all men so was it respectively necessary that he should answer and accomplish the Ceremoniall in regard of the Jew For if the outward observance thereof were for nothing so much as to lead his eye and expectation to Christ and the very life and equity thereof were included in him how necessary was it that for the sake of that people and for confirmation both to them and all others that he was Christ that was to come that he should fulfill thâ—t part of the Law as well as the other At the least how fitting And so hee saith in the place in hand Thus it becommeth us to fulfill all the equity of the Ceremoniall law Now the Ceremony to which our Saviour looketh in these words was the washing of the Priests in water when they entred into their function Exod. 29. 4. Lev. 8. 6. the equity of which appeared in him when hâ—e was baptized at his entrance into his Ministery And this indeed was the mainest and properest end and reason of Christ being baptized namely that by baptisme he might bee installed into his Ministeriall office Luke 3. ver 21. Now when all the people were baptized c. Not all that were to be baptized by John for the contrary is evident Joh. 3. 23. where John is baptizing a twelve moneth after this but all those that were reckoned by the Evangelist before from Jerusalem and Judea of Pharisees Sadduces Publicanes and Souldiers which he now reckoneth up in this summa totalis of All the people to shew what multitudes were baptized into Christ before Christ came to bee revealed But it may be questioned among all this number whether there were any women baptized by John or no. And the doubt may seem to be equally ballanced for as the silence of the Text doth seeme to deny it so reason on the other side doth strongly affirme it For first the baptism of John was such a thing as women might 〈◊〉 as well as men in regard of possibility which they could not possibly doe by Circumcision Secondly it was such a thing as they might receive as well as men in regard of capability for women were as ready to repent as they But thirdly that which putteth it out of all doubt that women were baptized by him is the testimony of our Saviour Mat. 21. 32. John came unto you in the way of righteousnesse and yee beleeved him not but Publicanes and the Harlots beleeved him SS Jesus also being baptized About the time place and manner of our Saviours baptisme the Evangelists have been so silent in this place that what is to bee resolved upon them is to bee fetched from and by comparison of other texts and collection from other places whcih about the first will give very full satisfaction about the second indifferent and about the last little or none at all The time then of his being baptized that is the time of the yeere is onely or at least chiefly to be found by computing the time or length of his preaching and thereby considering the time or season of his death Now the length of his preaching or from his baptisme to his death was justly and exactly three yeeres and an halfe as was touched before And from that very thing or in relation to it that number is so very renowned in Scripture being sometimes expressed in the plaine termes of three yeeres and six moneths Luke 4. 25. sometimes by halfe a weeke Dan. 9. 27. sometimes by a time times and halfe a time Dan. 12. 7. Rev. 12. 14. and sometimes by a thousand two hundred and threescore dayes Rev. 11. 3. 12. 6. and sometimes by forty and two moneths Rev. 11. 2. To evidence which account of his Ministery first may bee produced the Text of Daniel alledged instantly before chap. 9. 27. where it is said that Messias should confirme the Covenant for many for one week or in that one week rather namely which hee reckoneth the last of the seventy for first hee nameth seven weeks by themselves and then sixty two by themselves ver 25. which every one knoweth make sixty nine and then comming to speak of the last week which was to make up the seventy hee saith that in that one weeke Christ shall confirme the Covenant for many and then describing and decâ—â—â—ing the exact time of that his worke hee saith And in halfe that week shall bee cause sacrifice and oblation to cease Now that by these weeks are meant weeks of yeeres or as many yeeres as a week hath dayes hardly any man ever denyed or suâ—â—â—cted the contrary and that then by halfe a week is meant halfe seven yeeres or three yeeres and an halfe there can bee as little doubt or scruple This then the Angell Gabriel telleth was the exact time in which the Messias did confirme the Covenant and was bringing to an end Sacrificing and other Ceremonies or the time of his Preaching the Gospell which was from his Baptisme to his death Secondly if not for proofe yet for better illustration of the same may bee produced that place of the Gospell alledged so lately also before namely Luk. 4. 25. where Elias is a glorious type and resemblance of Christ in a sweet and harmonious discord and difference For as hee shut up heaven by his prayer and there was no raine for three yeeres and six moneths so Christ opened heaven at his baptisme as it is said in the verse in hand and continued to distill the divine dew and raine of his heavenly doctrine as Deut. 32. 2. for the same space of time And thirdly as there is such evidence for the time averred from a Prophecy and such illustration from a type so is there a full confirmation of it in the Evangelicall story For John hath plainly parcelled out the three yeeres by foure Passeovers as the first chap. 2. 13. the second chap. 5. 1. the third chap. 6. 4. and the fourth chap. 13. 1. c. and the odde halfe yeere which since hee dyed at the last Passeover must bee laid before the first was taken up in these particulars of his journey into the wildernesse and forty dayes fast Matth. 4. 1. his return to Jordan and abode thereabout Joh. 1. 29. 35. 44. his voyage into Galilee and miracle at Cana Joh. 2. 1. his removall after some space to Capernaum and some abode in it chap. 2. 12.
Mother or in Capernaum the Town of his supposed Father and so his birth in Bethlehem is utterly grown out of the thoughts and observation of the people Fourthly That hee hath now three yeeres and a halfe to labour in the Gospell from his Baptisme to his crucifying Rabbi Janna said Three yeeres and a halfe the glory of God stood upon Mount Olivet and preached saying Seek the Lord while hee may bee found call upon him while hee is neere Midr. Tillin Fifthly That hee lived but two and thirty yeeres and an halfe and that his thirtyeth yeere was the first yeere of his preaching and not the last yeere of his private life Compare the date of Davids Reign in Hierusalem 1 Chro. 29. 27. The time that David Reigned over Israel was forty yeeres Seven yeeres reigned hee in Hebron and thirty three yeeres reigned hee in Hierusalem Exactly Seven yeeres and six moneths reigned hâ—e in Hebron 2 Sam. 5. 5. and then thirty and two yeeres and six moneths reigned hee in Hierusalem Sixthly That if Hierusalem were destroyed exactly forty yeeres after our Saviours death as it is apparent it was both in Christian and Heathen Stories then that destruction of it befell just in the foure thousandth yeer of the world and so as the Temple of Solomon had been finished Anno mundi exactly 3000 so in Anno mundi exactly 4000. both the City and the Temple that then was was destroyed never to bee repaired or rebuilt againe And from that time most properly began the Kingdome of Heaven and the new Hierusalem when that earthly Kingdome and that old City were utterly ruined SS Being as was supposed the sonne of Joseph which was the sonne of Heli. At every descent in this Genealogy the word Jesus is to bee understood otherwise the first and last descents are improper and different in stile from all the rest For Joseph was not the Sonne of Heli but onely his Sonne in Law and Adam was no more the Son of God then any of the other holy men that were named before The supply therefore is thus to bee made to make all proper Jesus being as was supposed the Sonne of Joseph Jesus the Sonne of Heli Jesus the Son of Matthat c. Jesus the Sonne of Seth Jesus the Sonne of Adam Jesus the Sonne of God And the like stile of Genealogy Moses useth Gen. 36. 2. Aholibamah the daughter of Anah the daughter of Zibeon where Anah is not called the daughter of Zibeon for hee was a man and not a woman nâ— more was Joseph the Sonne of Heli for hee was onely his sonne in Law but the word Aholibamah is to â—ee supplyed thus Aholibamah the daughter of Anah Aholibamah the daughter of Zibeon Heli or Eli for the name seemeth to bee the same with his in 1 Sam. 1. 3. c. was not the naturall Father of Joseph for Matthew told us plainely before that it was Jacob that begot Joseph but Heli was the Father of Mary and Father-in-law of Joseph onely Now because it is not used in Scripture to mention any women in a pedegree or to run the line from the Mother but from the Father to the Son therefore Mary is not here named at all but intimated or included when the line begins from her Father and calleth her husband his sonne which hee was onely because of her So that Luke intending to shew Christ the seed of the woman must of necessity reckon by Mary the daughter of Heli as Matthew intending to shew him the heire of the Crown of David doth reckon by Joseph the heire male apparent In comparing and laying together these men that Matthew and Luke have named in the ancestry of Joseph and Mary betwixt the returning out of the captivity and the times of our Saviour wee finde that every one man in the â—â—ock of Joseph did almost outlive two of those in the line of Mary the one line affording twenty descents betwixt those two periods and the other but one above halfe so many which easily and readily conâ—â—teth that opinion that some have strangely held that the persons iâ— the two Genealogies have been the same men onely under different names and it helpeth somewhat to settle the times between those two periods against the different miscountings of severall men some stretching them longer then the eleven persons named in Matthew could stretch to live and some cutting them shorter then the twenty named in Luke could bee comprehended in Ver. 27. Which was the Son of Salathiel which was the Son of Neri Neri was the naturall father of Salathiel hee seemeth to have been so named from the candle which the Lord reserved for David and his house 2 Chron. 21. 7. Ver. 31. Which was the Sonne of Nathan 2 Sam. 5. 14. 1 Chron. 3. 5. It is like that hee was named after Nathan the Prophet who brought David word of the promise 2 Sam. 7. and of the continuance of his house which failed in the race of Solomon but continued in the race of this Nathan till the King came that was to sit on Davids Thron for ever Here again the number of persons in the Genealogy of Mary betwixt David and the captivity exceed the number in the Genealogy of Joseph in Mat. 1. Ver. 36. Which was the Sonne of Caiâ—an which was the Sonne of Arphaxad In Moses it is said Arphaxad begat Shelah and Shelah begate Eber Gen. 10. 24. and 11. 12. And so is it briefly reckoned 1 Chron. 1. 24. Shem Arphaxad Shelah without any mention of Cainan at all nor is there any memoriall of such a sonne of Arphaxad throughout all the old Testament nor indeed was there ever any such a man in the world at all Here therefore is an extraordinary scruple and a question of no small difficulty meeteth us where Luke found the name of this man which is not to bee found else-where in all the Bible and whether it bee not an error in the Text and were not a miscarriage in the Evangelist to reckon a man for an ancestor of Christ that the world never saw or that never was upon the earth Answer It is 〈◊〉 indeed to resolve where Luke found this name of Cainan and from whence hee took it namely from the Greek Bible or the Septuagint which hath inserted it in those places of Moses that are alledged but when this is resolved the greater scruple is yet behind of his warrantablenesse so to doe and of the purity of the Text where it is so done The Seventy translatours indeed read Gen. 10. 24. thus Arphaxad begat Cainan and Cainan begat Sala and Sala begat Eber. And in Chap. 11. they say Arphaxad lived 135 yeeres and begat Cainan And Cainan lived 130 yeeres and begat Sala and Cainan lived after hee begat Sala 330 yeeres And from hence hath Saint Luke without controversie taken in Cainan into this Genealogy a man that never was in the world but the warrantablenesse of this insertion will require divers considerations