septuaginta annos excidetur Christus hic quidem praecise proprie loquutus esset Angelus quoniam precise ab eo tempore intercesserunt anni 560. This is farre worse Constat per synecdochen certum numerumpro incerto poni ita in hoc ipso Danielis loc restatiam nobis confirmandum non posse praecise intelligi annos 490 sed alium aliquem numerum incertum per certum First take this much against his vncertainty for propriety Afterwardes against his account of 560. yeres 1 The proprietie of Scripture whereupon actions of men must be altered through all the worlde is surer than heauen and earth which shall passe but it shall not 2 He that granteth an Antichristian that the fulnes of time for redemption differeth 70. yeres from the Angels speech turneth the proprietie of Scripture against our faith and shaketh Gods word whereby prophanenesse onely will beare sway and the Gospell shall be nothing worth 3 He maketh the Angell a greater deceauer than euer Apollo was speaking so that of two thousande yeres none euer Iew nor Gentile vnderstoode him vntill 1590. in a matter touching a principle of faith 4 He maketh Daniel not to vnderstande his owne prophecie who yet saith he vnderstoode and that the Angel came to teache him knowledge and professedly confuteth Daniels meaning He should haue found vpon his victorie farre more glorie if he had plainely tolde his hearers that he would teach Daniel better to vnderstand the Angel though he told them not obscurely in disputing that Daniel vnderstood it not and granteth or must grant that Daniel thought it properly spoken and so is the prophet of mine opinion and with me confuted 5 The charge to vnderstand Daniel Math. 24. were in vaine for a time indefinite for still the mind would be vnquiet if 70. yeares before the worde required that all things should be performed 6 Seauen in a trope signifieth many so seauenty seauen must signifie an exceeding great number So extreamitie of Iudaisme shoulde be established For the Iewes looke yet for Christ to come and hold him bad that prescribeth a time 7 The ceremonies haue no warrant from expressed wordes when they shoulde ende but cleane contrary are long to continue for any word of prophet if Gabriels speech be indefinite 8 It were in vaine to lay downe so exact a Chronicle from Adam to Cyrus that Iewes or Gentiles of olde haue rightly helde those yeares plainely the learned of them if from Cyrus to Christ where most neede was a certaine speech shoulde be vttered but an vncertaine meaning left and no Scripture handle the cause 9 Iewes and Gentiles hitherto vnderstood Gabriel in proprietie and a small Librarie wil affoord a hundred seuerall writers witnesses hereof 10 The deadly enemie Aben Ezra granteth that the time is from the word to Daniel vntil the Messiah is sealed and also that it is 490. yeares 11 The Pharisees might haue obiected Scripture against Christ Matth. 16. touching the time if it had not properly fallen out when our Lord doth blame them for not knowing the time 12 Herod had not feared nor the sage Magy come to Ierusalem nor after Andrew the Samaritans and they Luk. 19. Act. 2. or they that were in Barcozbas daies looked for a Messias but by Scripture If proprietie had bin cast off 70. yeares further some simple 70. yeres sooner would haue looked for Christ But none did 13 Auctor Chazon Moed and Barbinel should iustly accuse all Christians of extreame ignorance in this text if all haue bin deceaued who thought that Gabriel limited the time for Christ 14 To part an indefinite time reason can not suffer and no author euer went about therefore it passeth reason to make not onely the seauentie seauens vncertaine but the 7. also the 62. also the one also in his two partes 15 Daniel knew before Gabriel came to him euerie point of that which the angel spake of sauing the time when our Lord should dye Wherefore either that is it which he taught him or he spake vntruly in promising to teach him knowledge Conclusion Seauentie seauens of errours may be obiected against the inuentor of that opinion wherefore it must be abolished Obiections of aduersaries 1 The 400. yeres Gen. 15. are not exact so Gabriels yeares may be taken for a number vncertaine 2 Likewise the 300. yeares Iud. 11. 3 Also the time of the three dayes and three nights tolde by our Lord for being in the graue are not iust so fully 4 Likewise many expoūd the Angel as in his commentary or second spech cutting of his last seauen in the middle and some of the aboue named so do therfore it is not precisely 490. yeares 5 As autor Concentus maketh the three yeres and halfe which are in Apoc. 13. to be spoken by a synecdoche so may Gabriels seauens be Answers The first is exact and alwayes hath so ben taken from since Ismael persecuted Isaak vntil the departure from Egipt yeares precisely 400. Moreover if by a prophet from the old testamēt any could proue it contrould he should helpe himselfe nothing for God by propriety shoulde tel what he meant and give warrant for a trope So the spech of Iephte for the. 300 yeresis controld by Scripture and was such as the cause required For wheras the king of Ammon complained of iniury done at the comming from Egipte not knowing or not regardinge the. 40. yeares continuance in the wildernes it had ben a curiositie for Iephte to be quarreling for that which nothing altered the pley and so he speaketh of the time from their owne supposition 305. it was But who in that case woulde be trifling for the od fiue For the three dayes and three nightes the Euangelists make the meaning plaine shewing that the sixt day our Lord was buried and arose the first day The fourth obiection is twise faulty For it woundeth the obiecter more sharpely For if the angel said 490. yeres sauing three yeares and an halfe he calleth to a most straight reckoning Moreouer how can he make vp 560. precisely if the angel cut of three yeres an halfe But that the angel in his commentarie crossed not his owne text many lerned old and new shew and to striue for such quirkes it is no grauitie The vse of the text is to shew the time of redemtion expressing a redeemer If men further will contend the Church of God hath no such custome Lastly if the 3. yeres half Gabriels seauens be equal concerning trope propriety by a consequent the Pope shuld be freed frō being Antechrist by the general testimony of writers that hold Daniels spech to be proper so a learned mā that so thinketh by his owne voice shuld disgrace his learned works writtē against the Pope THAT THERE WAS NO cause why 560. yeares should be imagined betwixt the deliuerance by Cyrus and the death of our Sauiour For the whole time IF twentie from Nathan to Salathiel much the like in Salomons
yet fell out together and afterwardes fellow rulers as seuerall And the curing is not hard with tractable iudges Iudge what I say Darius Hystaspis liued about sixe and twentie yeeres while Iaddue was vnder Persia After his death two breethren haue the famous gentle strife Iust Xerxes in warres reigneth Artaxerxes at home the same time otherwise Themistocles coulde not flie to them both Artaxerxes reigning one and fortie yeeres dieth in the seauenth of the Peloponnesian warres Thucid. Diod. Thereby Thucidides is contrould for making the Peloponnesian warres fiftie yeeres after that of Xerxes wherein Aristicles the iust bare swaye whose daughter Socrates married Suid. in Socrates and he was but seauentie at seauen and twentie yeres after that warres when he died Though by a shift one say that he might beget that daughter in his olde age at the warres end yet she shoulde be seauen yeeres elder than Socrates without anie reason of likelihoode Nowe to this Artaxerxes Ioseph Scaliger will no◠sticke to ioyne presently Artaxerxes Mnemon with Darius Nothus which Mnemon commeth within nine yeeres in Clemens of Alexanders monarchie and reigneth yeres but fortie and two Thus scantly wil that be made vp which might make the rest vnder Greekes and Romanes three hundred and sixtie to agree with Gabriels foure hundred and ninetie yeeres Therefore Plutarch to fill vp the common summe giueth him sixtie and two yeeres of reigne and ninetie foure of life not knowing Daniels vision against the Persians at sharpe swift Tigris not bookes opened before the firie throne iudging the Persian beare nor comparing Leuites a score Neh. 12. with the Persians nor yet Amyntas king in Macedon the thirde of the Peloponnesian warres whose sonne Philip reigned but twentie yeeres Athen. and Alexander but six before his monarchie Moreouer Amyntas him selfe reigned but few yeeres two of his elder sonnes not long Philip died at seauen and fortie who was brought vp in Epaminondas fathers house Thus the Persians by Greekes will not exceede Against Eratosthenes account This standing thus howe can Eratosthenes say true whom in Clemens pag. 126. though Clemens reiecteth him as deceaued yet some great men greatly follow He hath these distances From Xerxes voiage to Archidamus warres eight and fortie yeeres That ended at seauen and twentie There Athens lost the superiority of Grecia and Lacedemon by Lysander gate it which they lost at Leuctra where Epaminondas the Theban victor died after 34. yeeres And thence to Philips death who died 47. yeeres old he reckoneth yeres 35. But how could he be a fit companion for Epaminondas or yet sonne to Amyntas reigning young and but a little while Polybius granteth the Lacedemonians but twelue yeeres of quiet superioritie pag. 1. Iustine abridging Trogus Pompeius maketh Amyntas son to Menelaus brother to Alexander who reigned in Darius Hystaspis daies whereby it appereth how little credit old Latines or some Greekes gaue the other Greekes for these times and how Plutarch had iust occasion to condemne the Greeke Chronicles Of Olympiades Romes antiquitie and Chaldeans This threefold thred was spunne against me though I had cut the knottinesse of them as Alexander did the Gordian knot For Olympiades Phlegon is the most famous auctour whom Christians cite ioyning his Olympiade two hundred and two in the fourth yeere to our Lord his death If I grant anie thing good in this account I must bring Cyrus reigne ouer Iuda vnto Olympiade the eightith For the vse of studentes I will affoord Phlegons whole treatise that young men may see what stuffe men bring against proprietie of Scripture afterwards I will shew further their nullitie how the citers of them by their owne auctours are condemned I will abridge and translate anone so muche as I neede The Grecian may take all He shall finde their antiquitie not greatly farre from Hercules whose sonne Tlepolemus was Agamemnons souldier whereby Cyrus may well be cast to Olympiad eightie or yeere three hundred twentie after their beginning which thing will finish this combat Yet I loth that helpe where Apollo is the counseller of the games a pestilence ioined to their beginning a spiders webbe couering of their garlande and Choraebus the first man in Pausanias whence the accoūt is fetched And I maruell at my aduersarie who counted my doctrine against Choraebus and him to be Chorebus harnes The defence of this Olympike stuffe best deserued that name But now looke to Phlegon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Here Lycurgus is the tenth from Hercules he vvith Jphitus restored Olympikes Koroebus is the first gamester though not expressely Apollo gave counsell at the first they neglected the game A famine follovved For that vanitie say I that it vvas at all begun for contempt of it said Apollo Of vvhome sundry counsels they tooke of vvhich this vvas one that they shoulde not make the garland or crovvne of a fruitfull tree but of a vvild olive beset vvith cobvvebs of vvhich kinde one among many vvas found in a vvood there and was vvalled about for to be kept still OF THE OLYMPIA by Phlegon freeman of Adrianus Caesar I Thinke it behooveable to tel the cause why the Olympia chansed to be set up And this was it After Pisus and Pelops and also Hercules the first erecters of the solemnitie game in Olympiades the Peloponnesians left off the religion a certain time for which are numbred 28 Olympiades unto Iphitus Choroebus Eleus When they had thus neglected the game a sedition arose in Peloponnesus Then Lycurgus the Lacedaemonian the sonne of Prytaneus of Europus of Sosus of Procleus of Aristodemus of Aristomachus of Cleodaeus of Hyllus of Hercules and Deianira And Iphitus sonne of Aemon or by some of Praxonides a man of Elis of Hercules lineage Cleosthenes sonne of Cleonicus a man of Pisa willing to restore the people to amity peace derermined to renue the Olympique solemnitie to keep the gymnike game Then some are sent unto Delphos to consult with Apollo whether he also advised to doe thus Apollo said it was best to doe it commanded to proclaime truce for the cities that would be partakers
contriued into the lyne of his kinred euen for profe of that prophecy which so directly calleth vs to a most certayne yeere of his death and reprofe of all Heathen tyme-rolles and specially the Olympike pastymes But I haue more plentifully then briefe assertions suffer enlarged this blame of that witnes whiche woulde bryng Cyrus and the Sonne out of his course and make Phaeton ruler of the Chariot Now I wyll pursue other wandringes and come to others of whom Heathen haue store which lyue before their elders were borne or dye themselues afore euer they saw the ey-liddes of the mornyng A Cataloge of further impossibilities in Olympike reckonynges 1 By this variety of accomptes Clemens Alexandrinus maketh Aggai Zachary and Malachy to prophecy afore Ezekiel For he placeth Iechonias captiuity in Olympiade 48. Ezekiel prophecied not vntyll fyue yeeres after that Ezek. 1. and Aggai Zachary and Malachy doth he also of resolute purpose place in Olympiade 48. makyng them elder then Pythagoras though his familiarity with Amasis myght haue warned him better Yea Thales also is hereby made their puny These be the wonderful wordes of Clemens It is cleere that they who prophecyed vnder Darius Hystaspis in the seconde yeere of his kingdome Aggai Zachari and he who amongest the twelue is called Angel Malachi he meaneth in the first yeere of the 48. Olympiade are elder then Pythagoras which was in the 62. Olympiade and elder then I hales which was in the 52. Clemens runneth into this blame no lesse culpable then yfa man shoulde place queene Mary afore king Richarde the thyrde or to spe ke prouerbially all the Cartes in London before their Horses But Clemens must be spared Come to Heathen recordes 2. Parmenides floryshed in Olympiade 29. But his ancient Anaximenes saw not the Sunnes lyght vntyl the Olympiade 63. nor Pittacus the olde sage vntyll the 54. nor Thales vntyll the 56. though by other he dyed afore he is borne by some Laert. Solon also by Laertius florisheth when by Suidas he is yet vnborne Dracon also by â—atianus being in Olympiad the 30. the olde law-maker shoulde be as late as Parmenides So the Poet Sophocles farre elder then Plato shoulde floryshe with Eudorus Platoes scholer at the 73. Olympiade Laertius and Suidas 3 Zenon was a boy and Socrates a young man when Parmenides was very aged that is 65. yeres olde and at the solemnity called Panathenaea they dispute in Platoes Parmenides Yet Socrates is borne in the 77. Olympiade as before I touched from Suidas Zeno the younger in the 70. by Laertius 4 But Plutarch hath no fellowe for this purpose for in one mans lyfe of a tyme well knowen and course of lyfe differyng twyse from common reckonyng 5 Lysias by Plutarch is borne in Olympiade 82. the seconde yeere when Philocles was Archon at Athens The Olympiades by Diodorus were 80. vnder Philocles In Plutarch the same Lysias after 63. yeeres is in the 90. Olympiade 40 yeeres woulde haue brought hym from the 82. vnto the 92. He lytle cared for that accompt that so doth speake Neyther may the print be blamed vnlesse the Basil and Stephens in the lyfe of Lysias be blamed at once A Chaos of confusions haue Greekes in this kinde that Apollo the wicked spirite myght well be counted witty in appoynting a Tree beset all with Spiders nettes for a garlande of these games For the house of a Spider wilbe their confidence which entangle Diuinitie and humanitie with these toyes 6 A great deale of foule play about Alexander the great hath this gamestery wrought in sad wryters Our countrey man Florentius VVigoriensis burieth Alexander in Olymprade 110. By Diodorus at 111. he entreth Asia and by 114. the first yeere by Arrianus he dieth And hereupon belyke Duris placeth his death in Clem. 1. Str. where others place his voyage fyrst 7 And vpon this confusion also it may be sayde that some make Alexanders reigne after the Persians to be of 18. yeeres where Clemens maketh the whole Macedonians vnto Cleopatras fall to be 306. Ouides Iupiter was neuer so frighted with Phaetons running of the Sunne out of his course least all shoulde be brought by flames into the olde Chaos as the course of the holy story is disturbed by seeking helpe at these forlorne Olympike recordes But I must haste to ende this Olympike differing absurdities Yet Pindarus the harping Poet who wrote of the Olympian gamesters and his commenters they may not be omitted He as he thought no Starre bryghter then the Sunne on the day tyme so he thought no gamestery better then the Olympike 1 Fyrst for Pindarus if in his time any accompt had been knowen of theyr number the Poet so witty and so farre fetchyng antiquities woulde hardly haue omitted that 2 The commenters vppon hym bryng a reckoned number of the Olympiades vppon two gamesters Xenophon and Psaumis Xenophon Corinthius wan the stadion by Triclinius in Olympiade 79. yet the same Xenophon Corinthius in Pausanias wan the stadion in Olympiade the 29. when Archimedes was Archon not Archidemides whom Diodorus bringeth And yet the same Pausanias for the 29. Olympiade whiche he maketh to be soone after Gyges reigne when Ardys graundfather to Croesus reigned maketh Miltiaden to be Archon But the print may not be blamed For Pausanias hym selfe bryngyng vnreconcileable wordâ—s of Olympiades telleth what he must recorde but must not beleeue Besides the Latine translater in both places foâ—oweth the Greeke as lytle caryng for the authoritie of the games Thus for Xenophon the commenter Pausanias disagree 3 For Psaumis the gamester two commenters more fall out Pindarus doth commende him of his towne Camarina which towne he tearmed the New-towne Thereupon thus doth the commenter speake Camarina was buylt in Olympiade 45. destroyed in the 57. buylt agayne in the 85. lately before Psaumis gamâ—stery This the same speaketh also Camarina was buylt of Gelo in the 42. Olympiade as Timaeus wryteth But Philistus sayth that in the thirde Olympiade Gelo buylt it So Gelo shoulde be about 160. yeeres differing from hym selfe Trichinus sayth thus Camarina was buylt first in the 45. Olympiade and was ouâ—rthrowen in the 57. and was buylt in the 82. Olympiade at Psaumis victories Now the former commenter ioyneth the taking of it to the tyme of Darius us Hystaspis warres And how coulde that be agreeable to Cyrus 55. Olympiade or to Xerxes warres in 75. which was but tenne yeeres later then the former of Darius Cornelius Agrippa myght fitly haue brought olympike recordes into the vanity of sciences For nothyng can be so vayne The causes of differing by Olympiades sundry games and sundry game-rulers 1 Pausanias in Eliacis doth shew that a full dosen of seuerall games were set vp at seuerall tymes farre distant and yet he omitteth some that others haue 2 The Stadion or foote race was the first whence of late men tooke their accompt 3 But the most ancient reckon from other gamesters Thucidides declareth that
house for that Ezekias might haue been a grandfather at Manasses birth if these two houses had but 430. yeares for twenty or as twentie the twentie in Sainct Luke from Zororobabel by all likelihoode can not without warrant from God come so farre as to make vp Daniels 490. yeares much lesse 560. If twentie can hardly bring vp so much much lesse would an heathen gather from ten Matth. 1. so much by ordinarie course none can affirme anie omitted For the Persians 130. yeres The fiue generations from Iosua excluded vnto Iaddue by common succession hardlie make vp one hundred and thirtie much lesse may mans counters summon them to double almost And if Nehemiahs gonernement and Sanballats open dealing saw the whole 5. that are after Iosua it is strange that his gouernment should be longer than all theirs in so small recordes of doings Nehemiah by all Ebrewes and Greekes and all that read the Bible as sufficient in it self is the same Ez. 2. Ne. 1. So he must see all the Persian times For Iaddue who met Alexander and Darius the last of Persian Monarchs is in his booke chap. 12. 22. and his owne dealinges against Manasses brother to Iaddue sonne in lawe to Sanballat who saw Alexanders warres Ioseph 11. ant 7. 8. conferd with Neh. 13. 28. Obiection Bellarmine the Iesuite from Beda saith that Nehemiaâ— numbreth the high Priests vnto Iaddue because he touched the infancie of Iaddue who was aged when he met Alexander Answer 1 Manasses the younger brother of Iaddue marying Sanballats daughter caused Nehemias troubles therfore he saw their mans age 2 He saw also Darius Codomanus N. 12. euen by the confession of M. F. Iunius An other obiection in Wolphius vpon Nehemias It may be that some after Nehemias death wrote the catalogue of those high Priests Answer 1 We shoulde not imagine one worke to be of two auctors though Deut. 33. hath the last eight verses written after Moses death by Iosue Baua Batra pag. 15. or some other For there euident mention of death went afore but no such thing is here 2 Also that of Darius and Manasses doth aunswer him And thus Nehemias age controlleth all that extend the Persians rule vnto two hundred yeres and more and grant him borne at the first returne as all antiquitie and the late that I know do sauing one or two A third obiection Nehemias placed third amongst the names expressely named Ezr. 2. 2. is not he who is neere in gouernment Neh. 1. of that the Geneua notes auctoritie might haue warned For that Nehemias was young as circumstances proue specially that he knewe not that Ierusalem was destroied Answer 1 It is strange that Nehemias a Iewe wittie and learned coulde be ignoraunt of Moses Esay Micheas Ieremie Ezekiel Obadias Psalm 137. Daniel whose praier he so expressely followeth touching Ierusalem of Cyrus decree of Zorâ—babels companie of Ezras and after fiftie thousande returned to their countrie shoulde not know that A childe seauen yeares olde hardly would haue beene so simple Marke what strange expositions a false Chronicle breedeth 2 All circumstances proue him aged his heauinesse of foure moneths for Ierusalem his office of trust for the kings life his policie yeelding an idean of a politician 3 The notes on the Bible dedicated to her Maiestie as they now stand proue the contrarie and vtterly resist the citer of them So vnlesse Romistes and Protestantes and the olde fathers will resist their owne selues Nehemias wil driue them all to condemne the Greeke supposed agreement of Chronicle and to followe Gabriels For what a vanitie and vexation of studie hath it wroght among men that would seeme to commend Scripture as plaine To what inconstancie hath it driuen men to make their owne writings to crosse themselues and to wrest Scriptures beyonde all reason of common iudgement Of Ezra A like strength to the cause bringeth Ezra Ebrewes Greekes Latines all commonly vnlesse some one forget himselfe helde Ezra sonne to Saraias which was killed when the temple was burnt So he liuing nigh to their last times controulleth the ouerreachers by their owne consent So do Sal. Iarchi vpon 1. Chron. 5. Abrabbaneel vpon Aggei Rambam and zakuto in their successions Megilah in the Talmud maketh him such as Baruchs scholer Simeony vpon Ezra named Neh. 12 from Talmud Sanedrin maketh him the Scribe as nothing further doubting Athanasius or other Greekes neuer moued anie doubt Latines more expressely mention it as olde Ierome whome also H. Bullinger citeth as Lyra Lauater Pellican Sixtus Senensis Tilemanus Stella and Romistes in apparatu Bibliorum and vpon 2. King 25. and all who like of 4. Esd 3. Whereas none yet for that point controll the auctor none that I could heare of Only the Rabbin zakuto forgetting the text maketh him sonne to Iosedek though in an other place he shewing how manie of his ancesters Ezra omitted placeth not Iosedek as one And M. F. Iunius in priuat speech with my selfe though hereby he ouerthroweth his cause and my aduersaries by his grant maruelled that any woulde doubt of it For his death whether we holde with them that bring him to the Persians end of Monarchie as they do who either make him to be Malachie or to write Nehemias storie or to dye somewhat sooner we neede not to striue for the extremitie of his olde age Obiection against that Esra should be properly sonne to Saraias The terme sonne may be for any posterity and Esra iâ— â—bnepos to Saraias that is in the fifte descent from him Answer 1 He is very simple in deede knoweth not Christ to be the sonne of Dauid who is ignorant how sonne may signifie any posteritie But we must hold the usuall signification of termes vnles scripture driue us to seeke others that be further of 2 It had ben a strange dealing in Esra to deriue Saraias to Aaron 1. Chro. 5. who is knowen vp to Adam without omitting any one if betwixt him and Saraias he would so pen the matter as to deceaue his owne nation continually Greekes also and also Latinistes commonly None heretofore euer thought him abnepotem Saraiae nor borne after the Captiuity 3 It can not agree with any mans nature to haue him in record next himselfe who is the first staine of his house if he had any betwixt to record but to Efra Saraias was such the first of his line that died in open wrath therfore he would neuer haue him next himselfe if any further kinred were betwixt 4 The lerning and authority of Esra argueth that he was of that age wherin ebrew was purely kept For he could not haue bin counted a principal man amongest so many thousandes vnles in ebrew studies he had bin of the ebrew prophets education as the talmâ—d maketh him scholler to Barue the Iewes generall consent holdeth and the Greekes with Latines much in the same 〈◊〉 Touching the obiection that as Esra ouer skippeth in one cataloge certen generations