Aaron the mouth to worke and denounce great plagues vnto Pharoah and were neuer turned and ioyned againe But the state standing in a setled pollicy in Dauids daies Daui◅ stood in state both of King an Priest from his fathers Abraham I saac and Iacob and was both a kingly Priest and a priestly King in the land for the Scepter of Iudah hee bare whereunto all were obedient and the Leuites of Aaron he ordered for their seruices in the Temple though the ministeriall still lay in Leui. So did Salomon in assembling the Priests to bring the things of the Tabernacle into the Temple and in praying for and blessing the people This kingly authority and priestly dealings to remooue the defects of Church and commonweale we see in Ezekiah by the reforming the land of their Groues and grauen Images and in breaking to peeces the Brasen Serpent that Moses had set vp when the people thereunto burned incense and committed Idolatry And by the yong king Iosiah in his care for the Temple and continuance of the Passeouer which hee commanded to be kept And this power of Scepter and Censer made the whole throne of Dauid wherein Christ the true substance was to sit for euer as had beene promised to Dauid of Iudah that he should not want one to sway the Scepter nor Leui a Sacri◅cer to stand and minister before the Lord for euer which none could doe but Iesus the sonne who liueth blessed for euer and euer And that Iesus in these things was heire to Abraham Isaac and Iacob to Dauid Salomon Ezekiah and Iosiah and in truth to all the Patriarkes Promises in the law is witnessed by the Apostle who calleth him the Heire of all things the Heire of the World And in the person of Melchizedek proueth his function both of King and Priest A King of Peace without beginning of daies or ende of time and a Priest not made after the Law but after the power of the endlesse life that continueth for euer Dauids Lord he is called by Dauid himselfe greater then Salomon in his wisdome and workes and for zeale to the Lords house exceeded both Ezekiah and Iosiah cleansing the Temple of prophane marchandizings and instituting for the Pasouer the Sacrament of the Lords Supper and for the Lambe of the Law the figure his owne body the substance The Lambe of God that taketh away the sinnes of the world and raigneth after death Dauids Lord for euer But the date of that earthly pollicy now neerely expired Christ came not to continue it further but as a better Ioshuah to bring the people into a better rest then that transitory Canaan was euen into that kingdom of glory which was appointed vnto him by his Father and which himselfe appointed to his Apostles where they shuld sit vpon twelue Thrones and iudge the twelue Tribes of Israell And therefore to draw their mindes from the one and to fix them on the other he vsed neither worldly pomp nor worldly power but refused al offers of magistracy yet to no preiudice of his right but rather as impedimēts to his functiō For surely had he executed any tēporall authority among them then temporal strength had bin imputed to his spirituall actions so forward were the people to outward things For preuention whereof wee see all outward meanes failing His father was a poore Catpenter of small esteeme read of among the people his mother noted by the pen of the Euangelist to bee of the meanest estate as appeareth by the offering for her purification which was but a paire of Turtle Doues or two yong Pigions the oblation enioyned for the poorest sort of weomen as the Law had said If shee bee not able to bring a Lambe shee shall bring two Turtle Doues or two yong pigions vnto the Priest which Mary did And in the person of Iesus himselfe all outward appearance were likewise preuented For his first entertainment was poore his birth Chamber a Stable and his Cradle a Crach for there was no roome for his Parents in the Inne The prouision for his liuely-hood were scanter then the world affoorded vnto vnreasonable Creatures for the Foxes had holes and the birds nests but the Sonne of man no place to lay his head And in the short passage of his kingly triumph when with concourse he was followed and with shouts of Hosanna saluted King of Israell his reioycing was teares with sighes for Ierusalem that knew not of that her visitation Neither after his death had hee the preheminence as most of them had to bee buried in the graues of their fathers but was laid in the Sepulchre of another man and at another mans charge intombed such fauours the world affoorded vnto this great king And therefore as it hath been of him prophesied that he should be a man despised without forme or beautie meeke lowly as a Sheep to the slaughter a iust and a poore King so was it expedient that all these parts in the person of Iesus should bee fulfilled And so himselfe taught in the way to Emaus when hee began at Moses and all the Prophets and by them proued that Christ ought so to haue liued so to haue suffered as he did And therefore the obiection made by Iulian and others that had Christ beene really king of the Iews than had he exercised the authority really of King of the Iewes deserueth no answeare For as he was called and verily was the Sonne of Man although he had no immediate father among men vpon the earth so was he called and verily was king of the Iewes though he vsed no kingly authority among men on the earth And why should that be obiected more against Iesus then against all his Ancestors the high Saints from Abiud to Ioseph who by birth were the vndoubted heires to that Crowne which notwithstanding was vsurped vpon by the Gentiles aboue the space of 400. yeeres Neither had they any promise that they should euer recouer that that terrestriall kingdome but rather that they should possesse the eternall which none could take from them And that Christ Iesus was King of that Kingdome promised and that Sonne that should sit vpon Dauids Throne for euer which none besides him could euer doe wee may further proue by his life after death For as hee assumed the flesh of Dauid and in the same flesh was the vndoubted heire of Dauid to the very instant of his death and in his death also had the same title devulged to the open view of all which hee caried with him to his graue so after his sleepe for his death was but a sleepe vnto him in his person onely it remained as before and in his person onely shall remaine for euer For the same humane body that was borne
as by the Prophets they are termed For Ioel saith that their teeth were like the teeth of Lyons and that they had the iawes of a great Lyon and Ieremy calles them a mighty and very strong Nation whose quiuer was an open sepulcher Ezekiel saw the tops of the Cedars of Lâ—…banon broken off and carried into the Land of Merchants by the Eagle of Babel and Daniel 〈◊〉 Babels King like a Lyon with wings being himselfe carried thither captiue in the first captiuity with periured Iehoiakim But the last and greatest rent of Salomons Kingdome was when the earth was commanded to take knowledge that his successour and sonne Ieconiah should die childlesse and that none of his seede should sit vpon Salomons Throne any more as by Ieremy was proclaimed and to Iechoniah told I wil giue thee saith he into the hand of them that seeke thy life and into the hand of them whose face thou fearest euen into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar King of Babel and into the hand of the Chaldeans And I will cause them to carry thee away and thy mother that bare thee into another countrey where ye were not borne and there shall ye die But to the I and whereunto they desire to returne thither they shall not returne Is not this man Coniah as a despised and broken Idoll or as a vessell wherein is no pleasure wherefore they are cast out into a Land which they know not O Earth Earth Earth heare the word of the Lord thus saith the Lord write this man childlesse a man that shall not prosper in his dayes for no man of his seede shall prosper to sit vpon the Throne of Dauid or to beare rule any more in Iudah Of whose successor Crowne and Kingdome the Prophet Ezechiel further speaketh when Nebuchad nezzar after he had captiuated Ie coniah in Babylon had set his Vncle Zedekiah vpon Iudahs throne Thou Prince of Israel saith he polluted and wicked whose day is come when iniquity shall haue an end Thus saith the Lord God I will take away the Diademe and take off the Crowne this shall be no more the same I will exalt the humble and will abase him that is hie I will ouerturne ouerturne ouerturne it and it shall be no more vntill hee come whose right it is and I will giue it him And for the reuersing of that Crowne into another Family the words of the Prophet Ieremy and Haggai doe witnesse The one speaking thus As I liue saith the Lord though Coniah the sonne of Iehoiakim King of Judah were the signet of my right hand yet would I plucke thee thence iâ—… not this man Coniah as a despised and broken Idoll And the other thus In that day saith the Lord of Hosts I will take thee O Zerubbabel my seruant the sonne of Salathiel saith the Lord and I will make thee as a Signet for I haue chosen thee saith the Lord of Hosts If seuen thunders of wrath should sound the period of any posterity how could they be lowder or plainer then these vniuersall speeches pronounced against Ieconiah O Earth Earth Earth heare the word of the Lord write this man childlesse Or the change of state in any Kingdome then this of Zedekiahs crowne I will ouerturne ouerturne ouerturne it it shall be no more the same Or what could be more distinctly said who should be cast off then this of Iechoniah by name a vessell without pleasure and who chosen Gods Signet then Zerubbabel that built the Lords Temple and brought forth the head stone thereof with shouts crying grace grace Let vs then that haue eares to heare heare what the Spirit hath spoken of Iudahs temporall Crowne and speaketh of him vnto whom it spiritually belongeth Behold the dayes come saith the Lord I will raise vnto Dauid a righteous Branch and a King shall raigne and prosper and shall execute iudgement and iustice in the Earth In his dayes Iudah shall be saued and Israel shall dwell safely and this is the name whereby he shall be called THE LORD OVR RIGHTEOVSNESSE Which speech of Ieremy is farre milder then that which was thundered out before and not much vnlike vnto the still voyce that spake to Elijah after the tempest of winde earth-quake and fier had rent the rockes and mountaines in peeces This righteous Branch then must not be brought from Salomons Stem of wicked Kings nor from the halfe bloud of Achab by his daughter Athaliah that died in their sinnes seeing that both roote and branch were cut off in Iechoniah and all threats of destruction as well to the house of Israel as Iudah accomplished when the want of issue in him was declared to the World But against this proclamation of Ieremy the Iewes haue their answere namely that these words are not meant for a childlesse posterity but for a Seed that should not inherit the fathers possession for thus Dauid Kimchi comments vpon this Text Write him childlesse If Ieconiah had sonnes saith he they died in his lifetime if hee had none then should hee haue none to gouerne for not Salathiel his sonne but Zerubbabel his Nephew ruled in Iudah after him And the threats in the Law of a childlesse posterity they expound in the same sence for where it is said He that lieth with his Ant or with his brothers wife to vncouer their nakednesse shall diâ—… childlesse That is meant say they that a seede so begot shall not inherit the patrimony whereas in truth it inforâ—…th a farre greater defect For 〈◊〉 in the Hebrew from the roote 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which word is vsed some times in the old Testament and signifieth one rooted vp oâ—… one who hath not in himselfe a roote for heires of his owne body A dee per signification by much then the want onely of an heire for inheritance as in the answer of Abraham to God is apparant What wilt thou giue me saith he seeing 〈◊〉 goe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 childlesse and the Steward of mine house is this Eliezer of Damascus behold to me thou hast giuen no seede and lo one borne in my house is mine heire Here it is most manifest that his speech was a complaint for want of issue from his body and not for want of an heire which we see hee had ordained and prouided and so must 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Ieremy be taken against Ieconiah that childlesse man And no otherwise can the malicious Iewes force it but by forcing a glosse vpon Gods decree saying that Ieconiahs repentancâ—… altered Gods purpose and oath for in their Gemera or Babylonian Talmud thus they write 〈◊〉 maketh reconciliation for three things spoken of by Ieremy the sword hunger and plague which they that abode in the City should suffer but hee that did yeelde to the Caldeans should haue his life for a prey Naâ—… saith Rabbi Iochanan
A Cloud of VVitnesses AND THEY THE HOLY GENEALOGIES OF THE SACRED SCRIPTVRES Confirming vnto vs the truth of the Histories in Gods most holy word and the Humanitie of Christ Iesus The second Addition MATTH 22. 45. If Dauid then call him Lord how is he his Sonne By Io. Speed LONDON Printed by Iohn Beale To the most reuerend Father in God George Lord Archbishop of Canterbury Primate and Metrapolitan of all England and one of his Maiesties most honourable priuy Councell THe manifold fauors that your GRACE hath extended to me euen from before I was knowne vnto you by face and euer since hath continued them abundantly without any my deserts hath imboldened me most reuerend Father in God to Dedicate vnto your GRACE and gracious protection these my last labours in this cloud of witnesses of Gods truth An argument it is vnto some of some seeming difficultie and a rough path vnto many vnusuall trode in and therefore requireth a far more able meanes to smooth the way then either my wit or weake ability can any waies aford That the Scriptures Genealogies are vaine some that follow their owne vaine in preferring zeale before knowledge would haue the Apostle to pronounce Others besides their authority for that they are penned by Gods Spirit account them vselesse and empty either to bee knowne or taught To meete with both my selfe of many thousands the least haue assaid first in drawing the lineall descents of all the Tribes and of euery family from first to last to illustrate the text and especially theirs of Iudahs that lead vnto Christ. And now in this small treatise doe endeauour to shew their vses both in the holy stories to whom they are staies and in confirmation of Gods promises to whom they are a great cloud of witnesses But for my refuge against the oposers of this my so weak a performance to whom shall I flie but onely to your Grace whom God and his Maiesty hath appointed to the helme of Christs ship in these Brittish seas And who formerly was one of those reuerend Commissioners that approued and authorised the publication of my draughts of the Scriptures Genealogies vnto the world That I am not a Leuite I confesse and farre vnworthy to offer or to come neer vnto the Altar I acknowledge yet am I not thereby quite exempted from seruice but am inioyned as all others are to labour and to lay hand to the forwarding of Gods worke For not onely the Leuites ministred to the prouision of the first Tabernacle but euery one of them also that were numbred from twenty yeers old and aboue among sixe hundred thousand three thousand fiue hundred fiftie men did offer his halfe shekell for the setting forward of the Sanctuary And for the increase of Gods treasurie the poore widdow did minister as well as the rich Pharisee The seruant that had but one Talent in charge for hiding that one was condemned the frutlesse fig-tree withered in one night The very heathen man could say That man is not borne onely for himselfe we know that all must labour in the Lords vine-yard and not stand idle all the day And sure I am that your GRACE as another Moses wisheth that all the people in the Host could prophesie with Eldad Medad as Gods high Priest continually shaketh the Censer of sweet prayers for the wealth of his Zion peace of our Church in whose hand I pray that Aarons rod may long bud that from your forehead may long shine Holinesse to the Lord. That God therefore who hath indued your GRACE with many blessed graces in this mortall life continue them long to his glory your own comfort and our consolation and after your Pilgrimage in this vale of teares crowne you in the life of immortality to reigne with his Christ and as a starre to shine among his elect and chosen children for euer Your Graces in all most humble and dutifull seruises to bee commanded IOHN SPEED To the Christian Reader Grace and Peace THe holy ascents mounting into those sacred buildings which are laid vpon the foundations of the Prophets and Apostles Christ Iesus himselfe being the Corner stone are the Times the Persons and the Places of the Scriptures Records which are as strong stayes to mount into the historicall sight of the sacred Scriptures as were the steps though supported with twelue Lions that led into Salomons Throne Any of which either so laid or mistaken hindreth the eye of some perfect obiest that otherwise from them lye open to the sight so no man can deny but that in all humane descriptions these are the Sinewes of the narration and in the sacred Text these also are the Cement that couer together the well squared Stones in the Lords building without noise or stroke either of Axe or Hammer And doe still make knowne how sure by Text the holy Spirit vttereth a vniforme truth For the euent of Prophecies falling in any Age vpon any Person People or Place and meeting in the Center of a perfect performance declares the constant accomplishment of Gods determined decrees whether it be in his Iustice vpon the sons of reiection and death or in his mercy vpon the children of Election and life and are to the mind of the thirsting searcher as the watersprings were to Dauids heart and more to be desired then the gold refined in the fier seauen times The discents of the persons the Genealogies annexed to the new translated Bible doe shew and what part they beare for illustration of Scriptures this present Treatise in some part doth witnesse which had it beene written with a more learned pen would haue giuen I know farre more satisfaction especially to such as thinke their doctrine condemned by the Apostle or atleast of lesse vse then other studies of Scripture Upon which occasion and the desire of others more moderatly minded these paines were vndertaken and gone wherein I haue rather chosen to confirme their vses in a continual discourse then to rippe vp the assertions of an ignorant zeale lest in opening the obiection the opinion proposed proue little lesse then blasphemy as Solon in his lawes forbare to mention the punishment for the murtherers of Parents lest in naming the Fact the thoughts of the children might be corrupted And albeit I haue not curiously carued but rather rough hewen the stones to this worke as the least labourer and in the last houre of the day yet the foundation being laid vpon the sacred sure Text cannot bee tempest-shaken howsoeuer for manner and stile it may bee found faultie in the searching eyes of this learned age And the thing especially aimed How God became Man and how the Immanuel Iesus was the Messiah of the world and King of the Iewes beside the hoâ—…y Prophets many testimonies the Iewish Rabbâ—…ins themselues apparantly grant whose owne reports in their many Talmuds as they are collected from the skilfull in that tongue are here laid down without any fainings or
for thou hast shed much blood and hast made great warres But when thy dayes shall be fulfilled and thou shalt sleepe with thy fathers I will set vp thy seed after thee which shall proceed out of thy Bowels Hee shall build an house for my name and I will establish the throne of his Kingdome for euer I will be his father and hee shall be my sonne if hee sinne I will chasten him with the rodde of men and with the stripes of the children of men but my mercy shall not depart away from him as I tooke it from Saul whom I put away before thee And albeit this house and Kingdome in their spirituall meaning were built and established in and by Christ yet litterally they were performed in Salomon whose works were so glorious and peace so famous as they were figures of the true substances following But that Salomon sinned is manifested by his story for his wiues turned away his heart after other gods when hee suffered the worshipping of Ashteroth the Goddesse of the Zidonians Milcom the abomination of the Amorites Chemoâ—…h the Idoll of Moab and Molech the Diuel of the children of Ammon For which cause God did chastise him by the rebellions of Hadad the Edomite of Rezon King of Damascus and of his seruant Ieroboam that rent his Kingdome after him and carried away ten Tribes These in part were the Rods in Gods hand that corrected his offences but his mercy hee tooke not from him as he had promised whose saluation notwithstanding these his great sinnes is confirmed by these many and more testimonies of Scriptures He loued the Lord 1 King 3 3 and is likewise called the Lords beloued Nehe. 13. 26. His Iedidiah 2 Sam. 12. 25. He pleased the Lord 1 Kings 〈◊〉 10. was a true Prophet 1 Kings 8. 48. a figure of Christ Luke 11. 31. and a repentant King as his Booke Ecclesiastes sufficiently sheweth His sonnes after him for the most part were extreamely wicked for of nineteene Kings of Iudahs throne from his loynes descended twelue are noted to bee extreamely impious who often prouoked and lastly procured the vtter subuersion of that glorious Kingdome which whilst it stood was the glory of the earth and a figure of the Celestiall that is to come The want of issue then which failed in Ieconiah was the Rod of Salomons line wherewith God scourged him and his Kingdome and how that fell out let vs see the seuerall rents that therein were made The first rent of Salomons Kingdome may bee said to beginne in his owne life time when Ahijah the Shilonite rent the new garment that Ieroboam wore into twelue peeces retaining onely two and deliuered him tenne by which was signified the tenne Tribes that God would take from Salomons Throne and Son and giue them vnto this Ephrathite the Sonne of Nebat Who no sooner was made King but that he set vp two golden Calues the one at Dan and the other at Bethel for his people to worship lest in returning to Ierusalem their harts should returne to the Lord and their subiection vnto Rehoboam With this his sinne all the Kings of Israel were polluted onely Shallum and Hosheah excepted for with that sinne they are not charged though otherwise they were as wicked as the rest And this was the cause that moued the Prophet Hosheah to say Thy Calfe O Samaria hath cast thee off Another rent was threatned to Salomons issue and Kingdome when his house ioyned with Omâ—…ies in Ioram the sonne of Iehoshaphat King of Iudah and in Athalia the daughter of Ahab King of Israel For Ahabs whole house that is both male and female must vtterly perish according to the threats of the Lord by Elijah the Prophet Behold saith he I will bring euill vpon thee and will take away thy posterity and will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall as well him that is shut vp as him that is left in Israel And I will make thy house like the house of Ieroboam the sonne of Nebat and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahiiah for the prouocations wherewith thou hast prouoked and made Israel to sinne The dogges shall eate him of Ahabs stocke that dieth in the City and hee that dieth in the fields shall the Fowles of the ayre eate And that the whole houses of Ieroboam and of Baasha were both of them extinct and their remnant swept away as dung from the dung-hill and all gone is most apparant by the holy Text and so must the whole house of Ahab be hauing the like threats of destructioÌ„ from the same Spirit that did not repent which presently beganne in Ahab and Iezebel themselues Hee wounded to death at Ramath Gilead by the King of Syria and shee throwne out of her window was dashed to death in Iezreel by her Eunuchs Ahaziah their first sonne was brused to death by a fall through his lettice window in Samariah And Ioram their second with all his brethren the sons of Ahab and his Kinsmen were all slaine in Iezreel by Iehu vntill hee left none remaining saith the Text of the whole House of Ahab And as Gods wrath followed Ahab in his sonnes vnto destruction so did it in his daughter Athalia the mother of most of the Kings of Iudah and most of them following her sinnes were also swept away till they were all gone For the three first Kings that succeeded of her descent were all of them slaine in battell and in conspiracy And Vzziah the fourth put from the peoples presence died a leaper Bad Ahaz distressed by Rezin of Syria and Pekah of Israel made himselfe seruant to Tiglah Pileser King of Ashur who carried his treasures away vnto Damascus And good Hezektah was told that his substance and seed foreshewing his treasures should be carried captiue vnto Babel The blood shed by Manasseh called as Abels for Babylons punishments and Amon for seruing strange gods was slaine by his seruants The godly Iosiah was told of captiuity curse and destruction of people and place which yet was deferred all his owne life because his heart melted at the words of the then found Booke of the Law but his sonnes succeeding soone pulled those plagues by his life kept back vpon themselues and Iudahs estate For Iehoahaz the first inthroned was captiuated by Necho carried to Aegypt and there died and Iehoiakim his successor made subiect to Nebuchadnezzar was for his rebellion slaine and his carkasse left vnburied to the heate of the day and the frost of the night Zedekiah was made blinde chained and carried to Babel where he died the City Ierusalem sacked the Temple t burned the Priests u slaine the people pillars and holy vessels transported to Babylon and all of them polluted and subiected to the Chaldeans that bitter furious and terrible Nation
Iudahs Crowne ascendeth as is said no higher then Abraham vnto whom the first promise either of King or Kingdome was giuen for when God meant to make him the glory of men and had called him from Vr of the Chaldeans had shewed and giuen him the Land of Canaan this further he assured that his Seede should be in number to the starres of heauen and in multitude as the dust of the earth and that Kings should proceede out of his loynes Sara his wife should bee a mother to kings of people Now as in Isaac the seede was called so in Iudah the Scepter was established which whilst it stood vpright with God was the glory of the Earth and their Temple the very gate of Heauen But when all Religion was turned to an outward worship and Salomons Throne made a denne of theeues looke what was done to Shilo must be done to Ierusalem for Christ his kingdome was not of this world And therefore vnder Nebuthadnezzer the Caldean Lion the glory and maiesty thereof fell From Zerubabell Gods signet by the Persian Beare the right was retained and the high Saints the holy Seede the onely substance of the downe-cast gouernment by the Grecian Leopard and double-king'd monster all fuell for Tophet were so afflicted as none were left to stand for the Crowne saue onely Ioseph a poore Carpenter and Iesus his supposed Sonne whilst an Idumean stranger vsurped their rights To this purpose then Saint Mathew wrote that the King promised to Abraham and found of the Wisemen was IESVS of Beth-lehem of Iudah and Dauid the sonne of Salomon touching succession but taking no flesh of his impious successors But the drift of S. Luke our other Euangelist was to shew that God became man in Iesus the Immanuel according to the promise made of him in Paradise beleeued in and looked for of all the Fathers figured in the law prophecied of by the Prophets now in the last time euen in the fulnesse of time was made man of a woman The Scriptures are full of a promised Messiah and as fully speake that from Adam Abraham Isaac Iacob Iudah and Dauid hee should come To Adam he was promised the Seed of life to Abraham the heire of the Couenant to Isaac the Seede in whom all should bee blessed to Iacob the Starre and Scepter of Israel to Iudah the Lion that none might stir vp and to Dauid the Sonne that was fairer then the children of men His offices were figured in the person of Melchisedec of him Moses meant when he spake of the Prophet and Iob acknowledged him for his Redeemer Ioshuah saw him a Captaine of the Lords Host Gideon the Angel that promised deliuerance and vnto Samuel he reuealed himselfe and in all the ensuing Prophets is so cleereiy foreshewed as the Sun shews no greater brightnesse in his greatest strength Vnto whom saith Peter Wee doe well to take heede as vnto a light that shineth in a darke place vntill the day dawne and the day-star arise in our hearts Therefore let vs heere behold how God hath reuealed his Christ vnto them and how they haue reuealed him vnto vs the frame of Saluation standing so ioynted as they without vs cannot be made perfect First then Isaiah saw him the Em manuel and Sonne of a Virgine wounded for our transgressions and broken for our iniquities vpon whom the chastisement of our peace was laid and by whose stripes we are healed Ieremiah calleth him the Lord our Righteousnesse the King that should execute iustice the Righteous Branch raised to Dauid And Ezekiel tearmes him the Shepheard that should feed and the Prince that should raigne euen the seruant Dauid Daniel saw him a Stone cut without hands a finisher of sins a maker of reconciliation a bringer of euerlasting righteousnesse and a Sealer vp of vision and prophecie and expresly nameth him Messiah Prince most holy Hosheah calleth him Dauid their King whom Israel should seeke should finde his goodnesse in the latter dayes Ioel sheweth That the Spirit in his daies should be powred out vpon all flesh that their sonnes and their daughters should prophecy their old men should dreame dreames and their young men should see visions Amos prophecied that in the daies of this Messiah the Tabernacle of Dauid that was falen downe should bee raised vp and the Breaches thereof built as in the daies of old Obadiah telles vs that They who shal be saued shal come to Mount Zion that the Kingdom shall be the Lords And Ionas in the Whale was a signe of Christ in the Graue Micah foreshewed whence the Ruler of Israel shuld come whose goings forth had beene from the beginning and from euerlasting Nahum bids vs behold vpon the Mountaine the feet of him that publisheth peace Habakkuk telles vs that Saluation came by the Annointed whose glory couereth the Heauens and the Earth is full of his praise Zephaniah saith that hee shall starue all the I dols of the Earth and euery man shall worship him from his place euen all the Iles of the Heathen and with pure language they shall call vpon his Name and shall serue him with one consent Haggai sheweth that the Lord would fill his last house with greater glory then the first wherein should be peace and vnto whom the desire of all Nations should come Zechariah sheweth Christs triumphs to be poore riding vpon a Coâ—…t the foale of an Asse and his wages as poore euen thirty peeces of siluer a goodly price saith he to be valued at by them for him whom they had pierced and for whom euery family should mourne apart as one that mourneth for his only Son And Malachi the last Prophet closeth vp the Old Testament for Christ with this saying Behold I will send you Elijah the Prophet beforâ—… the comming of the great and fearefull day of the Lord. And he shall turne the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers leâ—…t I come and smite the earth with câ—…rsing And with this Elias the Euangelists doe begin the New Testament in the birth of the Baptist whose office was fore-shewed by the Angeâ—… before his birth that in the spirit and power of Elias he should goe before to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. Which in the fifteenth of the Emperour Tiberius Pilat Herod Philip and Lysanias being Gouernours and Annas Caiph as high Priests accordingly he did when in preaching the Baptisme of Repentance his voyce from Isaiah cryed in the wildernesse preparâ—… yee the way of the Lord make his paths straight euery valley shall bee filled and euery mountain shall be brought low the crooked shall bee made straight and the rough waies shal be made
person the Crown was intaled euen by God himselfe neither was there any before him besides or with him that could be his competitor in that right though himselfe was no King but a poore Carpenter nor had hee any after him from his lovnes descended or of his kindred that could debarre Iesus to bee his heire The opinion therefore of one Iraeneus and others is not to be approued who suppose that Ioseph had children of his owne body begot and wil haue Iames and Ioses Iudah and Simon to bee the naturall brethren of Christ either by Father or Mother or both And Heluidius the Heretick with the Ebionites vrgeth that Iesus was not the onely sonne of Mary his Mother because saith hee his brethren and sisters are so particularly named in the Euangelists Others from the words of the Apostle Saint Paul who calleth S. Iames the Lords brother doe take Iames to bee the brother of Iesus indeed and doe iudge him to bee borne vnto Ioseph by a former wife Vnto which conceit Eusebius seemeth to leane and Cestrenfis alleageth but not alloweth for then had Iames the eldest son both by birth-right and parantage beene King of the Iewes and the title vsurped and impropper to Iesus who was but the Legall sonne of Ioseph by whom the claime came For the right resting in Abiud the eldest of Zorobabels sonnes must likewise descend to Iosephs eldest sonne otherwise the Law debarreth the claime and Christ was to accomplish euery iot of the law And how the law intaled it to his person alone let vs heare the Euangelists for his title speake where wee shall finde three Maries recorded to bee Mothers vnto Christ his Apostles which were Mary the Uirgin Mary surnamed Saloâ—…e and Mary Cleopas for other Maries not to this purpose of purpose we omit Mary the Virgin and Mother of Christ neither by Saint Mathew nor by Saint Luke hath her Parents expresly recorded For the Euange lists setting downe the Lineage of our Sauiour they doe not by the line of Mary from whom he tooke flesh but from Ioseph by whom hee was to deriue the Kingdome Therefore it is consequent that the Euangelists in that point did principally intend to set forth our Sauiours Kingly right That so Christ might bee accounted from the man and not from the woman according to the vsuall manner of the Scriptures for which cause Ioseph is called the sonne both of Iacob his begetter and of Eli her father by the mariage of her his daughter And that shee was the daughter of Eli the Rabbins themselues doe acknowledge and so tearme her and doe bring her from Dauid from Iudah and from the Towne Bethlehem as the Euangelists haue done Ioseph her husband neither haue wee Christians euer seene any contrary record and so it must be For Christ could not truely be the seed of Dauid vnlesse Mary whose seede he was immediatly were truely the seed of Dauid But Christ was truely the seed of Dauid therefore Mary whose seed he was immediatly was truly the seed of Dauid This Mary then the daughter and sole heire of Eli her father hath her fathers right in the title of Iudah for so saith the Law If a man haue no sonne his daughter shall inherit And by matching with Ioseph in whom the right lay from Abiud the eldest of Zorobabels sonnes after his decease is also his heire For shee being descended from Rhesa the younger brother and Abiuds house failing in Ioseph her husband Abiuds inheritance was to descend vnto Rhesa his line and Mary then of Rhesa was heire vnto Abiud for so doth the same law establish that if a man haue neither sonne nor daughter as Ioseph had not the neerest of his kindred shall inherit And Mary the neerest by any record though many descents passed betwixt must be the only heire of Ioseph her husband he dying issulesse as hee did and of Eli her Father he hauing no other child to in herit And none suruiunig either Ioseph or Mary in that royall line Christ Iesus who was knowne and reputed to bee the onely sonne of them both by that double right and most inst title is stiled and called King of the Iewes Mary surnamed Salome in Marke 15. 40. by 〈◊〉 Flinspachio in his draughts of the Scriptures Genealo gies is set to be the daughter of Iacob and the sister of Ioseph the Carpenter but without any proof for his so doing alledged or warrant of any before him And so to admit â—…er were to intitle both her selfe sons to be next heires vnto Iudahs Crowne For Iosephs title standing from Abiud and dying 〈◊〉 as he did had shee beene his sister and from the same stem shee then had beene inheretriâ—… vnto Ioseph her brother deceased and must haue inioyed his rights by the same law before alledged And so her sons Iames Iohn had stood in estate before Iesus and the Euangelists too farre ouerseene to annihilate them the next in bloud and â—…uer to intitle Iesus King of the Iewes But antiquity hath brought this Mary Salome from Anna the mother of the blessed virgin Mary and how from Anna let me here insert from Authors worthy of credit Saint Hierom and others besides him affirme that this Anna had three husbands and by each of them had a daughter and each of the daughters named Mary The first Mary say they was borne by Anna vnto Ioachim or Eâ—… her first husband who was of the Tribe of Iadah lineage of Dauid and this his daughter a wife and a virgin was made most blessed in bearing of Christ. Annaes second husband was Salome of whom or from whence is no where recorded that I haue seen Vnto him shee bare the second Mary for so in the vulgar translation shee is named but by the later is called onely Salome and is as it seemeth so called from Salome her father This Mary was the wife of Zebedee as is inferred by Saint Matthew chap. 27. 56. where shee is calâ—…ed the mother of Zebedees sonnes and those were Iohn and Iames the beloued Apostles of our Lord who for their zeale were called the sons of thunder and may well bee accounted the kins-men of Christ but â—…o wise interested vnto Dauids Crowne The third and last Mary is calâ—…ed Mary Cleopas being borne vnto Cleopas the third and last husband of Anna. But of this Maries surâ—…ame resteth some doubt for some â—…o call her from her father birth and some from her husband and mariage That shee had the surname Cleoâ—…as from her father Saint Hierom and many ancient manuscripts of the Scriptures Genealogies so affirme but the text in Iohn Chap. 19. 25. as it is translated doth call her the wife of Cleopas and so by consequence shee should from her husband beare that surname But
whether from father or husband most certen it is by the Euangelist Iohn shee was the sister of Mary the Virgin and that by the mother and not by the father And that shee had either beene or then was the wife of Alpheus S. Mathew doth inferre Chap. 10. 3. for Alpheus was the father and she the mother of Iames the lesse as also of Ioses Math. 27. 56. vnto whom Iudah was brother Luke 6. 16. and Simon is reckoned a brother among them Mat. 13. 55. But this Simon the sonne of this Mary and Bishop of Ierusalem saith Aegesippus was of the kindred lineage of Dauid for which and for his Christianity hee was accused vnto Traian the Emperour and patiently suffered death vnder Atticus the Consull as likewise many others of Iudahs Tribe for the same occasion of kindred vnder him and other Emperours did had done So as it may be obiected Iesus stood not sole heire vnto Dauids Crown but that this Simon and others also were interested therein But thereunto may be answered that albeit these and many others in those daies also were of Iudahs Tribe and Dauids kindred yet that prooueth not they were of the children either of Abiud or Rhesa the sons of Zorobabel from whō the right is deriued by both the Euangelists Nor were these men Zebedee and Alpheus the husbands of these Maries nor Cleopas whether husband or sonne knowne to bee of Dauids line or of Iudahs Tribe by any apparancy of text and therefore neither themselues nor sonnes could be heires vnto Dauids throne and Iudahs Kingdome But Christ being the sonne of the first borne Mary and himselfe the first borne of euery Creature is therefore before any of these Sons or parents in title to the Crowne the law hauing established the first borne to inherit For if in al things he was to haue the preheminēce then most especially in that of Iudahs Crowne it being reserued for him vnto whom it most rightfully belonged and hee the onely rightfull heire vnto Dauid as wee haue said Neither had Mary Cleopas the mother of Iames Ioses Iudah and Simon beene a former wife vnto Ioseph the Carpenter as consequently shee must had Ioseph been father to any of these her borne sons For it is euident that shee liued after the death of Ioseph the Carpenter for with Mary her sister she beheld Christ vpon the Crosse wherby is most manifest that with Mary her sister shee could not haue beene a wife vnto Ioseph nor Ioseph haue beene a iust man as Saint Mathew records him had hee enioyed two sisters at once but rather a transgressour of the law which saith Thou shalt not take a wife with her sister during her life to vex her And that Iames the lesse the son of this Mary was the sonne of Alpheus we haue shewed and how hee and the rest were called the brethren of Iesus wee may soone perceiue if wee consider that the vsuall custome of the Iewes was to call not onely any of their kindred brethren but them also of their Countrey and Tribe as Moses did the Striuers and as they of Israell were brethren to them of Iudah And in that sense did the Iewes call them the brethren of Iesus when seeing his person his wisedome and workes and knowing his parents kindred and education in the trade of a poore Carpenter with great admiration they obiected and said Whence hath hee this learning is not this the Carpenter Maries sonne the brother of Iames and Ioses and Iudah and Simon and are not his sisters here with vs And Iames the lesse being the son of Mary who was the sister of Mary the Virgin was then the Cosen-german as we speake vnto Iesus euen his Ants sonne and from that his neere consanguinity was called the Lords brother and not from Ioseph by a former wife as some haue imagined nor any similituder likenesse that he had vnto Iesus as Lyra saith he was of both in face and lineaments of body But much more propperly was Iesus euer taken and reputed to bee the sonne of Ioseph for that Ioseph was his bringer vp in the trade of a Carpenter and his maintainer of liuelihood the space of twenty nine yeeres And hauing no father vpon earth amonst men but Ioseph the Carpenter is therefore commonly called the sonne of Ioseph the Carpenter And Ioseph likewise for the foresaid causes is often reputed and called the father of Iesus and so doth Mary her selfe call him when finding Iesus among the Doctors in the Temple disputing shee said Sonne why hast thou thus dealt with vs behold thy Father and I haue sought thee sorrowing And vpon the same ground that Ioseph had no issue of himselfe begot is built the Perpetuitie of Maries Virginity who being blessed aboue women doubtlesse had not been subiect to the curse of barrennesse had Ioseph euer knowne her as his wife And the childe so begot and borne had beene heire to Iudahs Kingdome in the right of the Father Iesus being but sonne to the mother nor shee any wise interrested vnto Salomons Crown whilst Ioseph her husband liued or any childe from him But Ioseph being a iust man and beleeuing the Angell that told him his wiues conception was by the holy Ghost forbare to touch by mariage knowledge that her Virgins blessed wombe wherein the Sonne of righteousnesse had been incarnate For as the outward Eastgate of Ezekiels glorious Temple was commanded to stand shut and no more to bee opened and no man to enter in by it because the Lord God of Israell had entred in that way so that sanctified Virgins * blessed body remained vnknowne by man for euer because the Prince of Princes Christ Iesus her Sonne had entred the passage vnto his humanity through that holy gate of his Tabernacle Mary of all weomen the most blessed And as the Spices confection compounded in the f◅st Tabernacle was onely to bee imployed vpon and in the first Tabernacle where God did make his Couenant with Moses so the sweete composition of the eternall deity with the then assumed hamanity in the wo◅b of that Ros◅ or Lilly of Zion was no more to bee attempted in that sanctified Tabernacle wherein Gods couenant was performed in becomming the Immanuel for the saluation of man which wrought no doubt in Ioseph the husband a reuerend fo◅ bearance though the bed of mariage be holy and vndefiled These things being so as by the Scriptures we find them not otherwise Iesus his title stands firme for Iudahs Crowne for hee hauing neither brother nor sister vncle nor kinsman by any descent either from Abiud or from Rhesa any kindred at all is himselfe then the only immeate and next heire vnto them both both by Ioseph his father and by Mary his mother And by that do◅ble line
confirme the Couenant and to take away Sinne which none did nor could doe but onely Christ by his death and therefore Christ is the Messiah there slaine And surely the efficacie of his death doth very strongly confirme the same both in sealing his couenant of mercie in each beleeuing heart through the power of his Gospell and in ending the ceremonies of the place once holy And therefore we conclude that in this text of Daniel as Phillip did in Iohns we haue found the Messiah of whom Moses wrote and the Prophets spake And that Christ Iesus alone vnto whom al the scriptures leade was the onely accomplisher of that diuine Prophecy who in halfe the last seuen that is after his baptisme in preaching and in miracles confirmed the Couenant for many and lastly in the end of the last seuen and yeere of of Iubile by his death passion finished wickednesse restrained sin reconciled iniquitie and sealed vp Vision and Prophecie vnto whō be ascribed our saluation and his glorie for euer Amen But against this opinion of Lyra Liuelie is confident and will haue the appellatiue Gouerner Captaine or Prince to be of no force in argument against his exposition but rather by the word Nagid it selfe would proue the contrary and maketh it wholly a supporter of his conceited opinion of a double gouernment and no whit to appertaine vnto Christ the Messiah For saith he the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifying any Ruler or Gouernour is vsed sometime of Kings as Saul is called the Gouernour of the Lords inheritance 1. Samuel 10. 1. Dauid is called the Ruler of Gods people 2. Sam. 7. 8. And King Hezekiah is called the Captaine of the Lords people 2. Kings 20. 5. And sometime it is giuen to other inferiour Rulers or Gouernours such as Rehoboam placed in his strong holds 2. Chron. 11. 11. and Iehoshaphat ouer the House of Iudah 2. Chro. 19. 11. in all which places the word Nagid is vsed And therefore faith he there is no let by the force and signification of the word but that it may be well referred to the chiefe Ruler of the Iewes commonwealth in Ierusalem after the building thereof And to that purpose doth applie the word in his Coment vpon the Come Gouernour A come Gouernour saith he I call Presidem aduenam a Deputy stranger called here in the originall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Ruler which is to come For in the times before the destruction of Ierusalem by the Romans there were two Rulers of the Citie one of their owne people a Iew by profession and birth after their manner annointed to the gouernment of the Commonwealth among them here named in the verse afore going 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the annointed Prince the other a stranger appointed deputie by the Romans Emperour called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Ruler not borne in the Countrie or one of the same Nation but a stranger come from another place Into which opinion he saith he was both led and confirmed by ancient Eusebius who held that the annointed gouernour in that text of Daniel is none other but a succession of High Priests which after this prophecie and the Iewes returne from Babylon gouerned the people among whom hee nameth Iudas Macchabeus his brethren and their posteritie And Master Liuelie himselfe doth somewhat more largely attribute the word Gouernour vnto other Rulers and Kings of the Iewes Common-wealth which as he affirmeth but without proofe were after their manner annointed vtterly exempting Christ Iesus out of that Text of Daniel Whereunto wee answere First as touching the word Nagid indifferently giuen to diues men of diuers degrees wee say that albeit those by him cited and more besides had that title appropriated for the more dignitie to their persons and places yet in none of those texts by him alleaged nor in any other is to bee found the apposition Nagid ioyned with the primarie word Messiah sauing onely in that text of Daniel much lesse then to any succeeding Gouernour many of them vsurping as those of the Leuites did vpon Iudahs right and some of them vncircumcised Gentiles the Romans farre vnworthy of the name Messiah or to bee called the Nagid Gouernour of the Lords people Next that Eusebius held a succession of Priests we see in his workes but withall we say it is very likely that Eusebius called backe his error himselfe seeing hee makes the halfe of the last Seuen to belong vnto Christ for saith he the Greeke Church hath rightly obserued foure Paschals from the Lords Baptisme vnto his Death Howsoeuer an error dying with the man should not againe be quickened if nothing but Antiquity did excuse him And though wee should allow a Succession of Priests and Princes that ruled in Iudea from Iaddua downeward yet I thinke it will be hard to proue that the Romans had any stroke in that Countrey before Gabinius was made Lieutenant of Siria which was but fifteen yeers before the raigne of Octauian Augustus And harder that all the former Gouernours much lesse the later were euer annointed as hee affirmeth for wee doe not reade that either Moses Ioshuah Zorubbabel or Nehemiah all of them Princes and Gouernours of the people were annointed nor indeede any King of Iudahs Throne excepting such as were the first or after the first stood either vpon change of Families or else vpon strife So Saul the first King was annointed So Dauid of another Tribe vpon his reiection was annointed So Salomon in the conspiracies of Adoniah was annointed So Ioash in the vsurpations of Athaliah was annointed and so Iehoahaz the younger brother to Iehoiakim was annointed and besides these wee find none of those Kings annointed nor any at all vnder the second Temple as Du Plessie hath well obserued Lastly that the word Nagid the Prince is an attribute and note of excellencie vnto the Messiah spoken of in Daniel the Rabbins of them-Iewes confesse and among them Rabbi Iudah commenting vpon that text saith that this Messiah was the hope of Israel and the Commander of Nations alleaging for his proofe this text of Esay I haue giuen him for a witnesse to the people a Prince and a Commander to the people And all almost consent that the title Nagid Captaine or Prince is particularly giuen vnto Christ the annointed of God And that no stranger was meant in the Hebrew word Haba the learned Iunius affirmeth who interpreteth He the Prince to be the Messiah Christ Iesus For saith he He that is the Messiah the Prince shal destroy the people of the Prince his owne people which shall come that is which shall be then And the great Hebrecian H. B. is confident that the word Ba vsed by the Angell is to come and is neuer vsed for a Stranger but in men the age following and so saith he the Angell meant that Christ in the age following