A Short vievv of the Persian Monarchie and of Daniels weekes Beeing a peece of Beroaldus workes with a censure in some points LONDON Imprinted by Thomas Orwin 1590. A short view of the Persian Monarchie and of Daniels weekes being a peece of Beroaldus workes THe Persian Monarchie is first named siluerie because the people of God after the Temple restored and the Citie Ierusalem walled liued peaceablie vnder the Persians But how long this continued or how manie Kings it had neither the Historiographers of our time nor the prophane doo sufficientlie know which thing they doo declare in their diuers and vncertaine Histories showed foorth and published by them to the world of these matters But wee because we know the former Persian Kings out of the holie Scripture and the latter the prophane histories dooth mention of this matter therefore we are able more certainlie to determine than either Herodotus or Iosephus or Manetho or Metastenes or Ctesias from whō the true report of these matters is vsed to be cited Concerning the time and continuance of the Persian Monarchie we cannot doubt seing the beginning is apparāt out of the holy scripture and wee vnderstand from prophane Stories the ouerthrowe to bee by Alexander the Great Therefore let vs first speake of the time wherein the Persian Empire bare sway then of the Kings who gouerned that siluer Emperie which succeeded the golden Monarchie of the Babylonians The Persian Monarchie begins from that yeare in the which Cyrus the great was first aduaunced by God to the rule of Asia after Darius the Mede whom the holie Oracles call the King of Persia and endeth and is determined in the death of Darius the sonne of Arsanes for then no man resisting the Wealth of the Persians came to Alexander the great and Asia which before obeied the Persians became subiect to him Now the first yeare of Cyrus the greater or of the King of the Persians falls into the third yeare of the fourescore Olympiade which was from the beginning of the world three thousand foure hundred seuentie two and was the yeare since Rome was built 295. fortie yeares after the Kings were banished and exiled the Citie which wee vnderstand to be certaine laying down the times in order as they bee expounded in the holie Scripture and the Olympiades conferred and laide together with these and also the yeares of the continuance of the Citie of Rome And those things which haue been otherwise defined by prophane Writers and Writers of our time we haue obserued to be vnture Yet the death of Darius the last King of the Persians the prophane Historie referres to the first yeare of the hundred thirteenth Olympiade and that yeare is the fift of Daniels nineteenth weeke and the yeare of the Citie built foure hundred and fiue twentie and the yeare of the world three thousand three score two From which account of time we vnderstand that the Persian Monarchie is to haue allotted to it for the continuance a hundred and thiritie yeares although otherwise hereof other men haue determined But we cannot misse because we haue the time of the deliuerance from Babilon which is the beginning of the Persian Empire certainlie set downe and defined by the holie Scripture and the times which follow as the death of Darius the last King of Persia and of Alexander the great set downe faithfullie those who dissent from vs we are able by good reason to disprooue that especiallie seeing the exact time is set downe in the Scripture when Cyrus the greater began his Empire and the death of Alexander the great which fell in the next Olympiade from the death of Darius is agreed confessed and determined of manie Historiographers For then there was a more assured obseruation of the Greekish Historie manie learned and notable men hauing comprehended them in their writings agreeing in the setting downn of the accoūt of those times But those things which fell out before these times haue not so faithfullie been by Writers collected whereby it commeth to passe that the prophane storie is verie obscure which obscuritie we are able to dispearse to make cleere by that computation of time which we haue laide downe because this is grounded from a most vndoubted obseruation gathered from holie scripture which is not necessaire for vs at this time to handle more at large seeing it hath been handled before In the which treatise we haue set downe the exact account of time determined in the holie scripture which as it may bee referred to prophane stories if it hath little beene obserued by former Writers may yet now bee vnderstood by the table of this Chronicle continued and successiuely drawen downe from the beginning of the world euen vnto our times Now concerning the Kings of Persia who ruled these hundred thirtie yeares the place of Daniel which is in his eleuenth chapter and second verse is of great vse to the vnderstanding of the truth which is in this sort Beholde yet three Kings shall stand vp in Persia and the fourth shall be richer than they all and when he is growen great through his riches hee shall stirre vp all against the King of Graecia From this place of Daniel wee vnderstand that Persian King which afflicted Graecia with warre to bee the fift Monarch of the Persians from Cyrus the greater but the fift King in order from Cyrus by those things which he did from the monuments of prophane Writers wee doo finde to bee Xerxes for the Angel opened these things to Daniel in the third yeare of King Cyrus as it is cap. 10. ver 2. Because therefore besides Cyrus there were yet to bee 3. Kings of Persia after whom the fourth was to inuade Graecia by warre whom al prophane histories doo witnes to be Xerxes by good right therfore we say that Xerxes the terror of Graecia was the 5. Emperor of the Persians from Cyrus the greater Now who were Kings in the times which fell out betwixt these the holie writings doo suggest vnto vs who doo pursue and faithfullie expound the Historie of those Mesne times so farre as their knowledge concernes the Church of God by these names of Assuerus Darius Artaxerxes wee haue these Kings expressed in holy Writ who that they may be distinguished from other Kings who had likewise the same names they are to be assigned and set out by those epithites and surnames which may bee most agreeable and fit the present matter and historie which wee repeate out of Esdra and Nehemiah To Assuerus therefore wee will adde the surname of Artaxerxes Darius we will name Assyrius and we will surname Artaxerxes Pius for he bestowed a great care on the Church of God as afterwards shalbe vnderstood And that wee may proceede orderlie let vs first handle Assuerus who is made knowen vnto vs from Esdras historie In the which historie the 4. chapter and 6. verse The Enemies of the people of God
the Kings of the South are called the Kings of Egypt proceeding from Ptolomeus the sonne of Lagus Now there resteth is remaining one seauen which is the last the seuentith wherof also sme thing must be said seeing it comprehendeth the Ministerie of Christ the Lord his death in which is the fulnes of times Of the which it is thus prophecied in the 9. of Daniel the 27. ver But he shall confirme the couenant for many in one seuen in the half of the last seuen shall cease offring sacrifice and in the Tēple shalbe abhomination of desolation and desolation shall continue vntill a consummation and ende Which words in part are rather taken out of some Greeke Interpreter than out of the Hebrue text and whether they be taken out of the seuentie Interpreters the proper interpretation of this verse in the Greeke Copies printed at Strausburge in the yeare of our Lord 1526. maketh somewhat doubtfull If anie enquire after the Hebrue and desireth to know let them heare and vnderstand that the words may be thus translated And one seauen shall confirme the couenaunt for manie and the halfe of that seuen shall cause to cease Sacrifice and Offering and euerie one shall bee amazed for the extremitie of abhomination desolation shall drop vpon the astonished euen vnto a certaine destruction But in this place wee must chieflie looke vnto the Hebrue because the Latine Greek doth expound and signifie in the halfe of that last seauen the sacrifices shall cease Which was not so neither doo the Hebrew wordes teach that which say The halfe of that last seuen will adde an ende to the sacrifice and ceremonies of the lawe But the halfe of that seauen signifieth those things which are done in the last seauen of all which brought an ende to the ceremoniall lawe of Moses the eternall couenaunt of God concerning our saluation by Christ the Lord being declared stable and firme But afterwards there was nothing to be lookt for to the Citie Ierusalem to the vnbeleeuers who contemned God calling them but a beadroule of miseries which should destroy Ierusalem enwrap the Iewish people rebellious and disobedient to God in infinite calamities But those things brought an ende to the ceremonies of the lawe which were done in the halfe of the last seauen which teach that Iesus Christ was made manifest Iohn Baptist being the publisher foremessenger of so great a good To whom God spake whilest hee liued in the desert giuing him commandements which he should put in practise then when it was the 15. yeare of Tiberius Caesars Empire as it is written in the third of Luke where these things are thus set downe But in the 15. yeare of the reigne of Tiberius Caesar Pontius Pilate being Lieutenant of Iudea and Herode Tetrarch of Galilee and his brother Philip Tetrarch of Iturea and of the Region of Traconitis and Lysama Tetrarch of Abilena Ananias and Caiphas beeing the high Sacrificers the word of the Lord came vnto Iohn the sonne of Zacharie being in the wildernesse And he came into all the countrey of Iordan preaching the baptisme of repentance for remission of sinnes It appeareth therefore out of these words of the Euangelist Luke that after his commission commaundement giuen from heauen Iohn came into all the Region nere Iordan preaching the baptisme of repentance for remission of sinnes who whilest he baptised the people washeth Christ the Lord beginning to be thirtie yeare olde with the washing of baptisme as it is taught in the same third chapter of Luke the Euangelist in these words And it came to passe when all the people was baptized and Iesus had been baptized and was praying the heauen opened And the holy Spirit descended in a corporall forme as a Doue vpon him and a voice came from heauen Thou art my sonne in thee I am well pleased And Iesus began to be as it were thirtie yeare olde Now this obseruation of the age of the Lord and of the Romane Emperour Tiberius is not lightlie to bee passed ouer because from thence is the certaine knowledge of the death of the Lord and his age as also of the ende of the seuentie seuens of Daniel Now wee haue alreadie shewed the death of our Lord Iesus Christ to be the limit and ende of Daniels seauentie seauens which wee can easelie gather into what instance of time they fall out And we know from the historie of the Gospel that Christ the Lord was crucified that day in the which the Passeouer was to be offered by euerie familie which was the fourteenth day of the first moneth that is March as the account of the olde yeare was vsuallie taken as before hath been declared in the account of moneths and yeares Therefore the 14. day of the moneth of March which to the Hebrues is Nisan and is the first moneth of the ciuile yeare amongst the people of God is the ende and conclusion of the seauentie seauens because then the Lord is dead whom Daniels Prophecie witnesseh in the time of the halfe last seauen to haue performed amongst men the dutie of a true teacher and sauiour Also the historie of the gospel which remembreth foure feasts of Easter after his baptisme as Andreas Osiander hath learnedly gathered and expounded in his edition of the Harmonie of the gospell frō whence is gathered both the certaine age of Christ while he liued vppon earth and the certaine time of his death For because Christ the Lord was baptised the 15. yeare of Tiberius Caesar was then baptised when he began to bee thirtie yeares of age as it is expounded in Luke the Euangelist the 3. chapter trulie he must suffer death for vs on the crosse the eighteenth yere of Tiberius then when he was three and thirtie yeares olde that is when he had fullie accomplished thirtie two yeares and a halfe for the halfe of the last seauen cōteineth three yeares and a halfe in which is anoynted the Holie of Holiest Christ Iesus and declared King of his heauenlie Father vpon Mount Sion by whom our sinnes were thē to be purged Moreouer the sacrifices of the Lawe were to be taken away by the death of the immaculate Lambe that is the Lord lesus Christ after hee had on earth finished the dutie of a true teacher and prophet But he began to teach and to manifest himselfe to be the true Messias or Christ when he began his 30. yeare but in that function he spent three yere and a halfe From whence the thirtieth yeare of his age is the first of his Ministerie then the 31. the second and the 32. the third in the which Christ the Lord was the Minister of circumcision From whence the thirtie three yeare of his age in the midst where of he fullie finished his ministerie shalbe said the halfe yeare of the last half seauen in the which were fulfilled all the prophecies of the Prophetes concerning our
speaketh well theÌ„ he is voide of parcialitie Often he foloweth heathen or of malice crosseth prophecies and his whole nation theÌ„ his authoritie is nothing * And the Talmud Zoar and commentaries commonly * To the foundation in some plain forwardnes wherefore in the 3. of Cyrus Daniel was in heauinesse for the worke hindred Iosephus in Euseb dem 8. to the full finishing of the Temple reckoneth 49. yeres Though hee make some account of a nuÌ„ber certaine in Olympiades he might rather for this than anie thing else blame the heathen of vncertaintie In the Image legs chapt 2. fourth beast chap. 7 buckes hornes chap. 8. and in a proper speach chapt 11. and 12. * There is no word in Daniel which handleth the Romanes dealing against the lewes vntill they denie and kill Christ after the 490. Y. for which time their citie was called the holy Citie There onely the Romanes be noted and tearmed a wing or campe of Infidels or abhominable The not able horne in the forehead of the Bucke is the first King of Iauan Dan. 8. His Kingdome is a Leopard with 4. wings Dan 7. Ephes 1. * The Hebrue might be better translated for plaines but for smal things men should not fight The Greek Hebrue are omitted which bare English men neede not to be troubled with though he set them downe Whereas Mat. Beroaldus expoundeth the halfe seuen not onely the time of our Lords death to conteine the ministerie of doctrine which maketh strong the couenaunt for many that is the heatheÌ„ and the same time to cause sacrifice to cease as well by the doctrine teaching of that as by the Lords verie death Of this the reader is to be admonished least he should thinke him to say that Christ should die in halfe that seauen whereof he is of some vniustly blamed as also an other of his iudgement In Cereâ—â— * Carthusianus ap 11. expoundeth Beda That by dayes 1260. must bee vnderstood all the time of the Euangel call lawe because Christ had preached so long a time Beda vnderstood that time to haue been an allusion to the time of our Lords preaching * He followeth the Greekes most grosse errour by mistaking the Septuaginta vpon Gen. 15 11 The 4 yeare of the Olympiad 202. supposing his owne accoÌ„pt to be true as he placed Cyrus otherwise Olympiades are of no certaintie 784. For one yeares difference a modest student will not striue * A speciall point For if by proper scripture from Adam deriued our Lords time of suffering might not be shewed a matter most needful wished of al had been omitted but God omitteth nothing good for vs. * The Iewes feare disputing vpon this text more than anie other and lest meddle with it in their comments Zoar vpoÌ„ that place doth confesse the nature of God conteined in Shiloh and most Rabbines expound that place of Christ * Because it is not good to haue differing translations for smal points is one kingdom this for his was borrowed from a defender of his iudgment * Though these words be not in the text yet for light of the argument they may well be vsed so doo the best that profes folowing of the Hebrue They think it no departing from the Hebrue to adde words for explication and nothing is more vsuall It is maruell that some of iudgement blame so vsuall and lawfull a matter * Though many Translaters runne on the middle of the seauen yet many the eldest and the late follow the proprietie of the Hebrue word which most often is taken for halfe neuer for middle but when the matter forceth that signification But the whole sum of 490. yeare here suffreth it not to be wrested