Son Shallum having his name changed into Iehoahaz perhaps because of the ill fate of Shallum the Son of Iabesh King of Israel who reigned but one month and was murdered by Menahem 2 King 15.13 was anointed King by the people though he was the youngest of Iosiah's Sons either because he was best affected to the King of Babylon or most warlike and valiant and so most likely to defend them against Necho King of Egypt He was twenty three years old when he began to reign and reigned only three months He quickly fell to do that which was evil in the sight of the Lord and presently set up the Idolatry that his Father Iosiah had suppressed It seems he also grievously oppressed the people and therefore he is compared to a young lion which devoureth men Ezek. 19.2 3 4. The Prophet Ieremy is sent by the Lord to the new Kings Palace earnestly to exhort him and his Courtiers and all the people to repentance and amendment of their lives foretelling them that Shallum or Iehoahaz should be carried away captive into Egypt and bidding the people not to weep for him that is departed meaning Iosiah but for him that is to depart meaning Iehoahaz because he shall return no more to see his native soil Ier. 22. from 1 to 13. Pharoah Necho returning with victory from Charchemish where he vanquished the Babylonians was desirous to revenge the opposition he had received from Iosiah who sought to stop him in his passage through his Country and therefore making use of the dissention that was between Iehoahaz and Eliakim his Elder Brother and getting Iehoahaz or Shallum into his power he presently deposed him as if the Kingdom of Iudea had been at his diposal and set up his Eldest Brother Eliakim changing his name into Iehoiakim and then imposing upon the land a Tribute of an hundred talents of silver and one talent of gold he put Shallum or Iehoahaz into fetters at Riblah and carried him away with him prisoner into Egypt where he ended his life 2 King 23. from 30 to 36. 2 Chron. 36. from 1 to 5. The 18th that reigned in Judah JEHOIAKIM JEHOIAKIM was twenty five years old when he began to reign and reigned eleven years in Ierusalem He did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord being an Idolater and a cruel oppresser of the people and possibly the more out of revenge because they had preferred his younger brother before him his oppressions are notably set forth Ier. 22. from 13 to 20. and Ezek. 19. from 5 to 10. But herein he manifested the greatness of his impiety that when the Prophets denounced the judgments of God against him and his people for their evil ways he would not endure it but persecuted them for it as we shall shew afterwards He pays the King of Egypt the hundred talents of silver and one talent of gold which he had imposed upon him but he taxed the land for it and exacted it of the people 2 King 23.35 36 37. 2 Chron. 36. v. 5. In the beginning of his reign Ieremy was commanded by God to stand in the Court of the Temple and there to exhort the people assembled together out of all the Cities of Iudah to repentance it being then the Feast of Tabernacles Thus saith the Lord stand in the Court of the Lords house and speak unto all the Cities of Iudah which come to worship in the Lords house all the words that I command thee to speak unto them diminish not a word If so be they will hearken and turn every man from his evil way that I may repent me of the evil which I purpose to do unto them because of the evil of their doings and thou shalt say unto them Thus saith the Lord if ye will not hearken to me to walk in my Law which I have set before you to hearken to the words of my servants the Prophets whom I sent unto you rising up early and sending them * That is continually and carefully sending them a Metaphor taken from careful housholders who with the soonest seek to redress mischiefs causing their servants for that end to rise betimes then will I make this house like Shiloh and will make this City a curse to all the Nations of the earth So the Priests and the Prophets and all the people heard Ieremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord. And it came to pass when Ieremiah had made an end of speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak unto the people the Priests and the Prophets and the people took him saying thou shalt surely die Why hast thou prophesied in the name of the Lord saying This house shall be like Shiloh and this City shall be desolate without an inhabitant And all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the house of the Lord. When the Princes of Judah heard these things they came up from the Kings house unto the house of the Lord and sat down in the entry of the new gate of the Lords house to understand what the matter was Then spake the Priests and the Prophets unto the Princes and to all the people saying This man is worthy to die for he hath prophesied against this City and ye have heard it with your ears Then spake Jeremiah unto the Princes and to all the people saying The Lord sent me to prophesie against this house and against this City all the words that ye have heard Therefore now amend your ways and your doings and obey the voice of the Lord your God and the Lord will repent him of the evil he hath pronounced against you As for me behold I am in your hands do with me as seemeth good and meet unto you But know ye for certain that if ye put me to death ye shall surely bring innocent blood upon your selves and upon this City and upon the inhabitants thereof for of a truth the Lord hath sent me unto you to speak all these words in your ears Then said the Princes and the people unto the Priests and Prophets This man is not worthy to die for he hath spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God Then rose up certain of the Elders of the land and spake to all the assembly of the people saying Micah the Morasthite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah King of Judah and spake to all the people of Judah saying Thus saith the Lord of hosts Zion shall be plowed like a field and Jerusalem shall become heaps and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forrest Did Hezekiah King of Judah and all Judah put him at all to death did he not fear the Lord and besought the Lord and the Lord repented him of the evil which he had pronounced against them Therefore if we should proceed with that rigour you would have us against Jeremy we might procure great evil against our own souls Vriah also about the same time Prophesied against
Thornes and Thistles it should bring forth to him in abundance and he must now eat of such herbs and fruits as the Earth by tillage and husbandry would produce but not any more of the herbs and fruits of Paradise With labour and the sweat of his brows he must eat his bread and get food and nourishment till he die and his body return to dust out of which it was at first form'd Thus we have seen how God was pleased to relax his own Law and to reprieve our first Parents and not to execute the Sentence of Death immediately upon them For our infinitely-wise and gracious God foresaw how he could bring good out of this great evil and make this fall of our first Parents tend to the manifestation of his own justice and mercy whereas had he instantly destroyed them He had put an end to the World as to mankind and must have made a new new stock and race of men if he would be glorified by them God therefore in his infinite Wisdom and Goodness immediately made another Covenant with our first Parents viz. a Covenant of Grace giving them this glorious promise That the seed of the Woman should bruise the Serpents head which imported that all repenting Sinners who should unfeignedly believe in this Seed of the Woman should not perish but have eternal life And all that would desperately go on in their sins not regarding this Saviour should be damned and perish everlastingly These Sentences being passed Adam called the name of his Wife Evah because she was then ordained to be the Mother not only of all Men and Women that should live a natural life but of those that should live a spiritual life by faith (n) So Sarah was afterward call'd the Mother of the faithful 1 Pet. 3.6 in her Seed namely the promised Messias Now the day on which our first Parents fell seemeth to have been the 10th day after the Creation of the World which day probably in Remembrance of so remarkable a thing which brought so much misery on Mankind was appointed afterwards by God himself for the most solemn yearly Fast and the day of Atonement wherein all Strangers as well as Home-born people of the Jews were commanded to afflict their Souls under this severe threatning that every man who did not afflict his soul that day should be destroyed from among the people Levit. 16.29 Ch. 23.29 SECT III. SIn being now come into the World God teacheth Adam and Eve the Rite of Sacrificing and how to cloath themselves with the Skins of the sacrificed Beasts so that the first thing that dieth in the World is a Sacrifice or Christ in a Figure (o) Thus He was a Lamb slain from the beginning of the World Rev. 13.8 not only in Gods decree but in a Type Then the Lord upbraiding our first Parents for their vain Imagination and thinking by eating of the forbidden fruit to become like unto God in an ironical way He says Behold the Man is become like one of us to know good and evil meaning that by their sin they were become most unlike Him And upbraiding them also in like manner for the certainty of Death they had brought upon themselves and lest they should flatter themselves that they might now take of the tree of Life and eat and live for ever as they had flattered themselves about the other tree He ejects them out of the Garden of Eden and set Cherubims with a fiery flaming Sword to keep the way leading to the Tree of Life to shew them they had now no right to it nor might meddle with that Sacramental Seal of Life having by their Disobedience and Sin made themselves justly liable to Death Gen. 3. from 21. to the end SECT IV. ADam being now expell'd Paradise and appointed to till the ground begat of his Wife Cain and Abel though in what Year of the World is not expressed Cain was the first of all Mortal Men that was born of a Woman And next to him Abel Cain was a tiller of the Ground and Abel a keeper of Sheep In Cain evidently appeared the poyson the Devil had breathed into fallen Man And in Abel the Grace which is given to Gods people in and thorow Jesus Christ In process of time they both Sacrifice Cain of the fruits of the Earth Abel of the firstlings of his Flock and of the fat and best thereof And by Faith Abel offered a more excellent Sacrifice then Cain By which he obtained witness that He was Righteous Heb. 11.4 For God shewed by some outward visible sign that he had respect to Abels Sacrifice either by firing (p) See Levit. 9.24 Judg. 6.21 1 King 18.38 it from Heaven as some conceive or some other way but depised wicked Cains This much incensed Cain Whereupon the Lord tells him that he had no reason to be thus angry For if he did well he should surely be accepted but if he did ill the punishment of his sin would lie watching at his door to seize upon him And further to allay his anger towards his Brother He tells him that Abels desire should still be subject to him as to the first born and He should be content that He should be prefer'd before him See Ch. 2.16 But Cain notwithstanding being implacably angry with his Brother meeting him one day in the Field He slew him Having committed this Execrable Murder God calls to him and asks him Where his Brother was He answers I know not Am I my Brothers keeper Then the Lord tells him that the Voice of his Brothers blood cryed unto Heaven for vengeance against him and that He had drawn down upon himself by his hainous transgression this punishment that the Earth that receiv'd his Brothers blood should plague him by being unfruitful under all his pains of husbandry and that he should be a Fugitive and a Vagabond on the Earth Cain being thus sentenced was presently seiz'd with a great terrour and fear and vented the anguish of his Soul in such expressions as these My punishment is greater then I can bear Behold O Lord thou hast driven me out this day from the face of this Earth and Land where I now dwell with my Parents and Kindred and I shall be hid as it were and shut up and excluded from thy Grace and Favour so that thou will not vouchsafe any gracious glance towards me nor accept of any oblation from me and I shall be in a continual fear that every one that meets me will slay me And indeed Seth being born soon after the murder of Abel and in the 130th Year of Adam in that space of time so many might be born as might justly occasion Cain's guilty Conscience to suspect that every one that met him would kill him But God tells him He might be secure as to that for he would have him preserv'd alive as a miserable Spectacle to terrifie others from that hainous Crime of Murder And accordingly he would
unto the Lord to prosper him in his business and that by such a sign he might know the Damosel God had appointed for his Masters Son and this sign he found pointed him clearly to Rebecca These things being all true and real he desired them that they would please to deal kindly and uprightly with his Master and to let him have a direct answer concerning this great and weighty matter that he might know whether to turn to the right hand or to the left that is that if they consented not he might somewhere else look for a Wife for his young Master Then Laban who as 't is like had the managing of all their affairs his Father being old spake in the Name of them all and told the Servant that the thing seemed to proceed from the Lord and from his all-wise Providence and therefore they could not speak unto him either good or bad Good reasons they had none against this motion and bad they would not urge so that they had nothing to say against it And therefore he should have their free consent to have Rebecca for his Masters Son provided she were willing seeing God had declared his good pleasure therein by pointing Her out to him by that sign When Eliezer heard this he worshipped God bowing himself to the ground Then he presented Rebecca with some rich picces of Gold and Silver plate and with rich Suits of apparel and presented her Mother also and her Brother with rich Gifts All things having thus prosperously succeeded Eliezer and his Company were now willing to eat and drink with Laban which having done they reposed themselves there that night Then rising early the next Morning Eliezer like a man that seriously minded his business desired them to hasten him away with his young Mistress Her Mother and Brother were not willing so soon to part with her but desired that she might stay with them at least ten days before she went But Eliezer was impatient of so long a stay and therefore intreated them that seeing the Lord had so eminently prospered him in his business hitherto he might now hasten home to his Master They replied They would call Rebecca and see what she said to it Rebecca expressing a modest willingness to go provided it might be with their good liking They said They saw the thing was of God and therefore she should go Then solemnly blessing her and praying that she might be the Mother of thousands of Millions that is of an innumerable Posterity who might possess the Gates of their Enemies they forthwith sent her away with Deborah her Nurse and some young Maids to attend her Rebecca with Her Attendants being thus committed to the Care of Eliezer they began their Journey towards Canaan and after some days travel they drew near to Beersheba where Abraham and Isaac dwelt It being now Eventide Isaac was walking in the Fields to pray and meditate His walk was in the way (n) Veniebat ea via qua itur ad puteum that leads to the Well Lahai-roi where on a sudden lifting up his eyes he saw the Camels coming towards him Rebecca seeing him at some distance ask'd Eliezer who He was and he telling her it was Isaac his young Master she immediately lighted off from her Camel and took a Veil and covered her face in token of modesty and subjection When they met the Servant told Isaac all that had happened and presented Rebecca to Him Isaac joyfully receiv'd and welcom'd Her and forthwith conducted her into his Mother Sarahs Tent (o) Women it seems had their Tents apart see Ch. 31.33 which it seems at her death about three years before had been reserv'd with its Furniture for his Wife And soon after He took her for his Wife by solemn marrying of her and loved her exceedingly and was highly pleased with Her So that the great grief he had before lien under for his dear Mothers death was now well mitigated and abated by the Comforts he had in his new Wife Ch. 24. whole Chapter SECT XV. ABraham having thus happily dispatched that weighty business of his Sons marriage he took to himself another Wife (p) Non libidine motus sed amore prolis ex divino instinctu ut ex eo semen inter gentes quoque multiplicaretur by name Keturah when he was about 140 years old For though forty years before that time his body was as it were dead Rom. 4.19 as to any humane likelihood of begetting Children yet God who strengthen'd him then to beget Isaac did it seems now renew that Masculine vigor and strength to him to make good his Promise of multiplying his Seed Ch. 17. 5. in others also though principally in Isaac that he inabled him to beget six Sons of Keturah in his old age To these he gave portions as he had done before to Ishmael the Son of Hagar being his Children by his Concubines (q) By this it appears that not only they were called Concubines who as Hagar were taken after a man was married to be as it were partner-wives or by-wives for the right of the Bed and propagation of Children though not solemnly betrothed nor taken with Dowry nor to be partners in the Government of the Family but to be subject to the lawful Wife and their Children were not to inherit except the Father pleased as Bilhah's and Zilpah's did extraordinarily becoming heads of Tribes I say not only such as these were called Concubines but second Wives taken after the first was dead were so called because their Children had no right of Inheritance and before his death sent them away into the East-Country into part of Arabia a good way off from Isaac the Heir of the Promise whom he made the sole and full heir of all his remaining Estate thus testifying his Faith that only Isaac and his Seed should enjoy the Land of Canaan Chap. 25. from 1. to 7. SECT XVI REbecca continued 19 years barren after her Marriage but at last upon Isaac's prayer who had prayed many years for her the Lord was intreated to bless her with power to Conceive and she conceived Twins who strugling in her Womb she said If it be so why am I thus that is if it be so that I am indeed with child why am I thus what is the reason I feel such a strange and extraordinary and painful strugling in my Womb more than other women do that are in my Condition Hereupon she betook her self either by her own private prayer or by some Prophet to inquire of the Lord what the meaning of it should be The answer she received was That she had two Sons in her Womb that should be the heads of two several Nations viz. Edomites and Israelites that these two Nations should differ very much one from the other They should be divided in habitation and should differ very much in their Laws Religion and Manners that Esau for some time should be greater than Jacob
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
own Country he presently found some who out of desire of Innovation sided with him among whom was Pitholaus the Governour of Jerusalem who left the Romans and revolted to him with a thousand men He quickly got together 8000 men well armed so that when the Romans followed him he gave them Battel in which he fought stoutly till his men being over-powered 5000 of them were slain upon the place near 2000 fled to a certain Mountain from whence they got away and provided for their own safety as well as they could The rest with Aristobulus fled to Machaerus and began to fortifie the Castle but being not able to hold out the siege above two days having received many wounds he was taken Prisoner with his Son Antigonus and brought to Gabinius who sent them both to Rome The Senate kept him Prisoner but sent his Son immediately back again into Judea because they understood by Gabinius's Letters that he had promised his Mother so much for the delivery of the Castles Gabinius now prepared an expedition against the Parthians but passing over Euphrates was hired by Ptol. Auletes who brought Letters to him from Pompey to reduce him into his Kingdom In this expedition he made use of Hircanus especially Antipater who furnished him with Supplies both of men and Provision and prevailed with the Jews inhabiting about Pelusium to give him passage and so he presently became Master of Egypt which he delivered to Ptolemy During his absence and tarrying in Egypt Alexander the Son of Aristobulus seized upon the Government and having gotten together a great number of the Jews he put to death all the Romans he could meet with and besieged all those that fled to mount Gerizim Gabinius sent Antipater before knowing his great Wisdom to see if he could reduce the people to obedience and he effected it with many But Alexander having gotten together an army of 30000 Jews he came out and gave battel to the Romans near the mountain Isabyr in which Fight the Jews lost ten thousand men Then Gabinius having ordered the affairs of the City of Jerusalem by Antipater's advice went against the Nabathaeans whom he overcame in one Battel Then returning to Rome he left his Province to Crassus his Successor Crassus intended first an Expedition against the Parthians but hearing of the Riches of the Temple which Pompey like a brave and gallant man had left untouch'd he turned aside into Palestine and came to Jerusalem and spoiled the Temple not only of those 2000 Talents which Pompey had spared but of all the Gold which he found there besides which amounted to the Sum of 8000 Talents more tho' Eleazer the Treasurer had given him a Beam of Gold weighing 750 common pounds as a ransom for all the rest and he had bound himself by an Oath therewith to be satisfied and not to meddle with any thing else but going against the Parthians he received the reward of his Sacriledge and Perjury for there he lost his life Crassus being dead one Head of Varro's three-headed Faction was cut off and a Foundation laid of the Civil Wars between Pompey and Cesar Cassius who was Treasurer to Crassus and he that together with Brutus afterwards killed Julius Cesar now took on him the Government of Syria He being come to Tyre visited also Judea and therein took Tarichaea and led from thence many of the Jews Prisoners and slew Pitholaus who had assisted Aristobulus at the desire of Antipater who now grew very considerable having entred into Confederacy and Allyance with divers Princes especially with the Arabian out of whose Country he had married a Wife of Noble Extraction by name Cypris by whom he had four Sons Phasaelus Herod Joseph and Pheroras and a Daughter named Solome His Sons he sent into Arabia and committed them to the Custody of the King thereof whilst he was engaged in the War with Aristobulus The Civil Wars between Pompey and Caesar now beginning and Pompey being driven beyond the Ionian Sea and Cesar having got Rome into his power he set Aristobulus at liberty and with two Legions sent him back into Syria hoping that all that Country round about Judea might be brought under by him yet he was frustrated of his hopes Aristobulus being poisoned by the Pompeians in the way and buried after by the Cesareans in the Sepulchre of his Ancestors This Expedition proved fatal not only to Aristobulus but to his son Alexander also who was beheaded by Scipio at Antioch by order from Pompey beig first arraigned and condemned for what he had done against the Romans Ptolemy Mennaeus the Governour of Chalcis under Mount Libanus sent Philippio his Son to Ascalon to Aristobulus's Wife for her Son Antigonus and her two Daughters and courteously entertained them the youngest of which named Alexandra Philippio fell in love with and married But Ptolemy's Passion overcoming both Reason and Nature he killed his Son and took the Lady to himself Pompey being now murdered on the Egyptian shore Antipater betook himself to Cesar as his Interest led him and by his great services purchased his favour Cesar Warring with young Ptolemy in Egypt after the death of Pompey Antipater joyned with Mithridates of Pergamus who went down thither to him with supplies and brought a supply of 3000 Jews for his assistance At Pelusium he did special service being the first that broke down the Wall and entred And whereas the Jews inhabiting the Country of Onias hindred them from going any further he prevailed with them not to oppose Cesar yea to furnish his Army with Provisions At the Battel at Delia he recovered the Battel almost lost by Mithridates and afterwards behaved himself very gallanty for Cesar having received many wounds as the tokens of his valour Antigonus the Son of Aristobulus coming unto Cesar complained to him of the hard Fate his Father had met with for taking his side that he was poisoned by the Pompeians and his Brother beheaded by Scipio he desired him that he would have pity on him being cast out of his Fathers Kingdom He also accused Hircanus and Antipater that they had by force got the Government But Antipater so pleaded his cause and indeed the Wounds he had received and the pains he had taken in Cesars service so pleaded for him that Cesar confirmed Hircanus in the High-Priesthood and offer'd Antipater what Government he would desire and made him Procurator of Judea and gave him leave to re-build the walls of Jerusalem thrown down by Pompey and caused these Grants to be registred in the Capitol and seconded them with divers decrees made both by himself and the Senate in favour of him and the Jews Antipater then bringing Cesar on in his Journey as far as the borders of Syria returned and fell to building up the walls of Jerusalem and going about the Country by threatnings and other Policy contained the people in obedience otherwise ready to Rebel Hircanus being heavy and dull and unfit to manage the
Affairs of Government Antipater made his Son Phasaelus Captain of Jerusalem and the Country adjacent and committed Galilee to the Custody of his second Son Herod being then about 25 years of Age. Herod at the very first gave evidence of what Spirit and heigth of courage he was For there being at that time one Hezekias a notable Thief who with a great company of followers used to infest the Country of Syria he took him and put him to death with many others of that Rout which thing much endeared him to the Syrians and thereby he became known to Sextus Cesar the President and Kinsman to the Dictator Phasaelus his Brother was hereby much stirred up to Emulation and carryed himself very obligingly and honourably towards those of his Jurisdiction so that their Father was honoured by the people as a King and yet preserved his fidelity intire to Hircanus But divers of the Nobles and chief men of the Jewish Nation understanding how he flourished both upon his own account and that of his Sons inwardly fretted at it and the rather because he made use of Hircanus for his own ends as they conceived having contracted friendship with the Roman Generals and perswaded him to send money to them yet got to himself the credit of the President But especially the forward and bold disposition of Herod affrighted them whom they looked upon as a young and growing Tyrant They make their Addresses to Hircanus complaining to him bitterly against Antipater as one who carried away all the profit of the Kingdom They further complained of that bold act of Herods in putting to death Hezekias with many others without any Commission received from Hircanus in contempt of the Laws by which no man is to suffer tho' he were never so wicked till he had a legal Tryal and were condemned by the Sentence of the Judge Hircanus being at last wrought upon by these complaints summoned Herod to Jerusalem to give an account of these his actions before the Council Herod having settled the affairs of Galilee appeared at Jerusalem but with a Guard as his Father had advised him by Letter yet a moderate one lest he should affright Hircanus When he appeared before the Sanhedrin in his Royal Robes and with his Guard no body had the courage to say any thing to him or accuse him till one of the Council called Sameas a just man and yet no hot-spirited man as the Jewish Proverb shews Be thou humble as Hillel and not angry as Sameas rising up inveighed against him for the manner of his Appearance not suitable to the condition of a person summoned to answer for his faults and blamed both Hircanus and the Council for their too great Indulgence which he feared they would afterwards pay dearly for And the event proved his words true that very Council and Hircanus himself being afterwards put to death by Herod when he was King The Council being inflamed with Sameas's words had certainly now condemned him had not Hircanus foreseeing it put off the business till the next day and in the mean time privately advised Herod to shift for himself Herod thereupon retired to Damascus and visited Sextus Cesar who loved him as his own Son and then gave out That he would no more appear though he were cited at which they at Jerusalem fretted and perswaded Hircanus That all these things tended to his ruine Herod having purchased of Sextus Cesar the Government of Coelosyria disdaining now that he had been commanded to come and plead his cause at Jerusalem marches towards the City with an Army and if his Father and Brother had not met him and otherwise perswaded him he had made mischief enough Having therefore made a shew of his power he retreated About this time Caelicius Bassus in favour of Pompey made away Sextus Cesar and got his Army to submit to him but divers of Cesars party came to revenge his Kinsmans death and a War ensued about Epamea whither Antipater mindful of the Benefits he had received from Cesar sent his Sons with aid to assist Cesars Captains The War being drawn out in length Statius Marcus was sent to succeed Sextus and in the mean time Julius Cesar was stab'd in the Senate-house which as it bred trouble and disturbance to the whole Roman Empire so neither did Judea escape without its share thereof A Civil War insuing the chief Captains on both sides ran up and down to provide themselves for it Cassius one of them that slew Cesar came into Syria where raising the Seige before Apamea he drew both Marcus and Bassus to his Party and then taking upon him the Power of a General and Title of Proconsul he reduced to his obedience all the Cities of Syria and levied men and exacted grievous Contributions But especially he afflicted Judea levying a Tax of above 700 Talents upon it Antipater seeing the Commonwealth in trouble and fearing Cassius's Threats appointed his two Sons to gather part of the money and Malichus a Jew that was an enemy of his to gather another part and some others another part But Herod bringing first of all an 100 Talents which were imposed upon Galilee which belonged to his Government became thereby much in Cassius's favour But under the other Governours divers Cities were set to Sale to make up the Sum. And the Tax as it should seem came in so slowly that Cassius was exceedingly enraged and was about to put Malichus one of the Collectors to death had not Hircanus by sending to him a 100 Talents of his own money by Antipater appeased his fury But Antipater was ill requited by Malichus for this For as soon as Cassius left Judea Malichus practiced to take away Antipaters life thinking that he being removed out of the way they should better provide for the security of Hircanus's Government Antipater having an inckling of it passed over Jordan and gathered an Army intending to revenge the Treachery but Malichus being a crafty Dissembler so denyed the matter with Oaths to his two Sons that they reconciled him to their Father who by his Intercession saved him out of the Hands of Marcus President of Syria who understanding that Malichus attempted some Innovations in Judea had resolved to put him to death But Antipater preserved him to his own Destruction Cassius and Marcus having gathered an Army made Herod for his good services Governour of Coelosyria and gave him forces both of Horse and Foot and also Ships at Sea and promised to make him King of Judea if they got the better against Anthony and young Cesar Antipater not long after being feasted by Hircanus at Jerusalem Malichus corrupting the Kings Butler poisoned Antipater and gathering a Band of Soldiers seized on the Government of the City Antipaters Sons having notice of their Fathers death Herod would have revenged it out of hand and that by open force but Phasaelus thought it better to circumvent the Murderer in some more private way lest they should seem the beginners
beasts I pray thee therefore consider what is fit to be done in the case for David is a man of courage and prowess and will never suffer such a gross abuse and injury offered to him to go unchastised For my part I am afraid he will revenge himself on our whole family I thought good to speak to thee of it that thou maist consider of some way to prevent it As for our Master he is such a Son of Belial of such an harsh and churlish temper that a man knows not how to speak to him Abigail being greatly awakened by this representation of her servant she speedily without acquainting Nabal therewith provided and took two hundred loaves and two leather-sacks of wine and five sheep ready dressed and five measures of parched corn and a hundred clusters of raisons and two hundred cakes of figs and laid them on asses and bad her servants go before with them and she would follow after and riding upon her ass attended with her servants who had the charge of the presents on a sudden as she came under the hollow of the hill she met David and his men Seeing David coming she lighted off her ass and bowed her self to the ground and fell at his feet and said Vpon me * Crimen initio transfert ab odiosa persona in favorabilem my Lord upon me let the punishment of this great iniquity (b) Iniquitas hic peccati paenam significat and transgression fall which has so much provoked thee yet I pray thee let thy hand-maid speak a few words in thy ears which may possibly dispose thee to forbear taking revenge upon us Let not my Lord regard this man of Belial this Nabal Nabal is his name and indeed he answers his name for folly is with him it will not be for thy honour to regard his words or actions wise men do not use to regard the words of fools He is not worthy that thou shouldst trouble thy self about him much less that thou shouldst destroy me and my whole family for his sake She spake not thus to disgrace her husband for his folly was too notoriously known but because she had no other excuse to make for him to preserve him from ruin As for me she says I saw not the young men whom my Lord did send Had I seen them or known of their coming I should have treated them more civilly And now my Lord as sure as the Lord liveth and as sure as thou thy self art alive thou oughtest to believe that by my coming to meet thee and to pacifie thy anger the Lord doth intend to hinder thee from coming to shed blood and from avenging thy self with thy own hand and seeing I trust the Lord will by his alwise Providence so over-rule thy heart my earnest prayer is that God would make all thine enemies like Nabal that is as weak and unable to hurt thee as Nabal is And as for the present (c) V. 27. Benedictionem id est munus sive donum sive rem a benedictione Dei profectam that thy handmaid hath here brought to my Lord though it is so mean that it is not worthy of thy acceptance yet do not I pray thee disdain it seeing it may be of some use to thy servants that follow thee And I beseech thee vouchsafe to forgive the trespass of thy handmaid seeing I take the blame of all this miscarriage wholly upon my self I do verily believe the Lord will give thee the Kingdom and that thy Kingdom will be lasting and durable †* Stabile manebit regnum in familia tua and nothing better becomes a a King than clemency and mercy And that which enduces me to believe this is because I see thou fightest the Lords battels and hast often engaged thy self having warrant from him in a just defence of his cause and people and no self-revenge or cruelty hath been found in thee all thy days hitherto therefore I pray thee do not stain thine honour now by shedding innocent blood Indeed Saul is risen up unjustly to pursue thee and seek thy life but all his attempts will be in vain for the Lord will carefully preserve and charily keep thy life as men are wont carefully to bind up those things in bundles which they much value and intend to preserve And that mans rage must needs be vain who seeks to destroy him whom the Lord will preserve and protect But as for the lives of thine enemies them will he by a violent death sling out as men use to sling out stones out of their slings which they value not And it shall come to pass when the Lord shall have performed all his promises which he hath made unto thee and hath setled thee in thy Kingdom and made thee Ruler over all Israel then it will be a comfort to thee to remember that thou didst spare us and thou wilt not be tormented with anguish and trouble of conscience that thou didst shed innocent blood as certainly thou wilt be if thou shouldst proceed to execute thy bloody purpose And when thou art come to thy Kingdom let me find favour in thine eyes when my occasions and necessities shall require me to wait upon thee Abigail having thus spoken David said Blâ—ssed be the Lord God of Israel which sent thee this day to meet me and blessed be thy advice and blessed be thou who hast kept me this day from shedding blood and avenging my self with my own hand for in very deed as sure as the Lord liveth who hath graciously kept me back from hurting thee and thy family except thou hadst thus seasonably met me I had utterly destroyed by the next morning Nabal and all that belonged to him But thou maist now assure thy self that my wrath is appeased and as an evidence thereof I do kindly accept of the present thou hast brought me and will not avenge the wrong offered me by thy husband either upon him or any of his family I have heard thy suit and do grant all that thou desiredst therefore go in peace to thy own house and the Lord be with thee Abigail returning to her husband Nabal behold he kept a Feast that day in his house like the Feast of a King for plenty of provisions and multitude of guests And he had been so merry with his guests that he was very drunk wherefore she said nothing to him more or less of his danger till the morning In the morning when he had slept out his drunkenness and dâ—bauch she acquainted him with the desperate danger he had by his folly run them all into and how near destruction they all were if in the very nick of time it had not been by a wonderful Providence prevented He hearing this was so terrified with the horrour and dread of the danger he had been in that his heart died within him and falling into a swoon he became as a stone and about ten days after the Lord smote him with
some plague or sickness whereof he died When David heard of the death of Nabal though he rejoiced not in the evil that was befallen him yet he could not but rejoice in the manifestation of Gods justice upon him and that the Lord himself had pleaded his cause against him and had returned his wickedness upon his own head and had withheld him from revenging himself Sometime after David understood that Saul out of malice to him had given his wife Michal to one Phaltiel * Ishbosheth upon Davids desire restored her to him again 2 Sam. 3.14 15. the Son of Laish who was of Gallim a place in the Tribe of Benjamin wherefore reflecting upon the piety the prudence the modesty and comeliness of Abigail and possibly something upon her portion also as being in likelihood of very great wealth which his present condition might cause him to consider he sent some of his Attendants to her to treat with her about marriage And he chose rather to send others than to go himself that Abigail might be the more free in her choice not being over-awed with his presence and also that he might come off with less disgrace if his motion were not accepted The messengers coming to Abigail acquaint her with their business she as one wonderfully surprized at the strangeness of the motion bowed her self to the earth before them and addressing her self to the principal person among them said Alas I am utterly unfit for so high a dignity and advancement Let thine handmaid be a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my Lord. I hardly think my self worthy to be a servant to his servants Herein Abigail shewed not only her great humility but her faith also who could think so honourably of David when he was in such a persecuted state and such a despised condition But the messengers pressing her further she at last consented and as 't is like sometime after when the messengers came again to fetch her she rode upon an ass after them having five young maidens to attend her And so she became Davids wife David also took to wife Ahinoam of Jezreel a City in Judah by whom he had Amnon his first-born 1 Sam. Ch. 25. from v. 2. to the end 11ly From hence he fled back again to Hachilah-Hill which is before Jeshimon for though the Ziphites had once sought to betray him there yet he hoped he should find more favour from them now seeing they knew how wonderfully God had delivered him And besides possibly he apprehended this place more convenient for him upon his marriage with Abigail because her possessions lay near it However the Ziphites fearing possibly that if David came to the Crown he would remember them for their former treachery against him bring Saul tidings a second time that he was there that so he might be cut off and they secur'd from any danger from him Saul accordingly without delay came with three thousand chosen men of Israel to find him out David having some intelligence of his coming he sent out Scouts to see if it were so and was by them informed that it was so indeed Saul being come near to him with his forces David arose and went secretly himself and possibly disguiz'd to the place where Saul had pitched and he beheld where he lay and Abner the Captain of his host and he saw that Saul lay inclosed with the Carriages and his Souldiers about him but they were all fast asleep David being moved doubtless by a special instinct of Gods Spirit to undertake this dangerous Enterprize and being desirous once more to manifest his innocence to Saul he spake to Abimelech the Hittite one of his Commanders being so by birth though an Israelite by Religion and to Abishai the Son of Zerviah (a) She had three Sons Joab Abishai and Asahel all valiant men she being Davids Sister is always mentioned and not her husband who possibly was of no great family and his name no where mentioned in Scripture his Sister 1 Chron. 2.15 16. demanding of them which of them would adventure to go with him into the Camp to Saul Abishai readily answered he would go with him David and Abishai accordingly entred into Saul's Camp through the midst of his Army and found Saul and his men fast asleep his Spear sticking at his head and a Cruse of water standing by him Then Abishai said to David God hath at this time delivered thine enemy into thy hands it would be a strange and unaccountable neglect if thou shouldst let slip this opportunity which Providence plainly offers thee let me I pray thee smite him with the Spear that stands at his head and let me alone I will smite him so surely at the first blow that I shall not need to give him a second David charges him not to touch him (b) Nusquam magis eluceo Clementia Davidis quam hoc loco ca. 24. Privato qualis adhuc erat David non actu Rex vide ca. 16. 13. non licet regem suum occidere quamvis Tyrannum P. Mart. for says he who can stretch forth his hand against the Lords anointed and be guiltless Possibly the Lord himself will smite him with some mortal disease as he did Nabal or he will die a natural death as other men do by sickness or old age or he will come to his end by some casualty falling in battel But as for me God forbid that I should stretch forth my hand against him or smite him my self or suffer him to be smitten But I pray thee take the Spear that stands at his boulster and the cruse of water that stands by him and let us be gone So they took away the Spear and the cruse of water neither Saul nor any of his men about him awaking for a dead sleep from the Lord was fallen upon them See Gen. 2.21 Then David went over to the other side and stood on the top of an hill at some distance from Saul's Camp but so as his voice might be heard and he called aloud to the people and to Abner and it seems he called often before he could awaken him at last Abner awaking said Who art thou that criest unto the King so as to disturb him in his rest David answers what art thou Abner a man so esteemed for valour that there is scarce any in Israel like unto thee wherefore then hast thou not kept thy Lord the King better For I do assure thee there came one of my followers into your Camp that would have destroyed the King had not I prevented it as the Lord liveth thou and the people about the King are worthy to die because ye have not watched better about your master the Lords anointed And now behold here in my hand the Kings Spear and the Cruse that stood at his head How came I by these Saul being now awake and hearing David speak to Abner after this manner he cries out What is this thy voice my