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
saluation purchased by Christ the Lord the three and thirtieth yere of his age But that three thirtieth yeare of the Lord vnexpired falleth into the eighteenth Y. of Tiberius Caesar because in the fifteenth yere of Tiberius beginneth the thirtie of the Lord whereby the one and thirtieth yeare of our Lord falleth into the sixteenth yeare of Tiberius and his thirtie two yeare runneth into the seuenteenth yeare of Tiberisn then the three and thirtieth yeare of the Lord must needes be referred to the eighteenth yeare of Tiberius which because they be grounded on the testimonies of holie Scripture and not on the vncertaine opinions of men they appeare to bee true and certaine But that the Lord Iesus Christ accomplished two and thirtie yeares a halfe on earth the auncient Church also acknowledged as reuerent Bed a hath witnessed in his booke of the Nature of things the fortie seuenth chapter whose words are these For the faith of the Church if I am not deceiued embraceth this that the Lord liued in the flesh somewhat more than two and thirtie yeares vnto the time of his passion because he was baptized at thirtie yeres as the Euangelist Luke witnesseth and preached three Y. an halfe after his baptisme as Iohn teacheth in his Gospel not onely by the time of the Passeouer but also in his Reuelation Daniel also in his vision appointeth the very same propheticallie Surely the holy apostolike Church of Rome testifieth that she reckoneth this faith euen by those notes which she vseth yerely to write in her waxe things where calling into the peoples minde the time of the Lords passion noteth alwaies three and thirtie yeare lesse than Dionysius reckoneth from his incarnation These things Beda deliuereth of the age of the Lord Iesus But I am ignorant what place of the Reuelation teacheth it but we may think that this was confessed in olde time by some receiued Cabala or tradition Eusebius in his 8. booke second chapter of the demonstration of the Gospell confirmeth this saying Surely it hath been recorded in written Storie that all the time of the teaching and dooing of miracles of our Sauiour was three yeares and a halfe which is truly the halfe of one seauen In a sort Iohn the Euangelist will declare this to them who shall attentiuely consider his Gospell Thus farre Eusebius Afterwards Abbas Vspergensis saith in the life of Tiberius The three and thirtieth yeare of his incarnation our Lord Iesus suffered in his flesh and rose again Also Nicephorus Callistus concludeth the first booke of his histories thus This first booke of histories conteineth three thirtie yeres the beginning taken from the two and fortieth yere of the reigne of Augustus Caesar now wexing old in the which our Lord Iesus Christ with flesh came foorth of the holie Virgine but the ende ending in the eighteenth yeare of Tiberius Caesars reigne which truly is from the creatiō of the world 5538. but was from the birth of our Lord three and thirtie These out of manie may suffice from which it is apparant that the time of the life of the Lord Iesus on earth was well knowen to the auncient Fathers Whereof yet the Diuines of our time doo so dispute that a matter of it selfe plaine enough they doo so enwrap and infolde that it is very hard for them to vnloose themselues from their trifling lets Therefore in the eighteenth yeare of Tiberius and the three and thirtieth of Christ the Lord we haue concluded the seuentie seuens of Daniel which to what yeares of the Olympiades or to the Citie of Rome or to the creation of the world they are to bee referred may most certainly be gathered out of the continuance and comparison of times determined by the authoritie of holie Scripture as is noted in the Table But the eighteenth yere of Tiberius is the fourescore 4. yeare from the building of Rome but of the world created three thousand nine hundred sixtie one which notation of time to be diligentlie considered and not to be ouerpassed careles or slothfullie the oracles of the Prophets concerning these matters doo declare But so diligent a care and carefulnesse which the Scripture vseth in noting downe these times shuld sharpen our diligence and shake out of vs all sluggishnes wherefore there is no reason why this our paines should be despised of anie or misliked seeing it consisteth and is grounded on the word of GOD and not on the traditions or opinions of men But by this we vnderstād that the knowledge of these times do chieflie concerne vs because they were written for vs who are come to those acceptable times to that grace which we haue also obteined which trulie now lōg agoe hath been prophecied by the oracles and foretellings of the Prophets For as the Apostle Peter saith in the first chapter of his first epistle Of this saluation the Prophets enquired searched who prophecied of the grace to come on you searching in what time or after what season the spirit of Christ which was in thē did foretel the suffrings which should come to Christ and his glorie to come to whom it was reuealed that not for themselues but for vs they did showe those things which now are declared vnto vs by thē who preach the Gospel vnto vs the holie spirit hauing been sent from heauen which things the Angels desire to behold So Peter the Apostle commendeth the greatnes of the grace communicated vnto vs in his time foretold and foreended by the Prophets that the Angels also doo admire it and doo desire to behold the complement thereof whereof that the elect be not defrauded wee must striue by all meanes The fruite also which floweth from these times is not to be omitted because the Iewes by the demonstration of them may be cōuinced to yeeld yet at the length vnto Christ and rest themselues in Christianitie and leaue off to blaspheame To which purpose wee must not onelie ioyne Daniels seuens but also Iaacobs prophecie which is in this sort in the 49. of Genesis 10. The Scepter shall not be taken from Iuda nor a Ruler out of his loynes till Silo come that is his son to wit Iuda and he shalbe the expectation of the Gētiles For that this ver is thus to be interpreted the Rabbines also confesse the truth compelling them for they say Silo signifieth Beno that is His sonne which is the Messias Christ the Lord the sonne of Iuda For Christ the Lord rose from Iuda as is confirmed and taught by the Scriptures Heb. 8. 14. To this the Prophecie and testimonie of Aggey the Prophet beeing added is of no small force in which the ancient Rabbines acknowledge the presence of Christ the Lord to bee signified with the which hee was to beautefie the second Temple which place is cited out of the 2. Aggey the 8. And I will mooue all Nations and the desired shall come to all the
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
are said in the beginning of the reigne of Assuerus to haue written an accusation against the Inhabitants of Iuda and Ierusalem whereby it came to passe that thorough the Edict of the same Assuerus to whom wee haue added the surname of Artaxerxes because afterward the scripture nameth him by the same name the worke of the house of God ceased Now there is often and vsuall mention of this Assuerus Artaxerxes in the booke of Ester whoÌ„ by this we vnderstand to succeede immediâ—â—lie Cyrus in gouernment because in the 4. of Esdr the 5. vers the work of the house of the Lord is said to be hindred vnder Assuerus all the dayes of Cyrus King of Persia euen to the reigne of Darius the King of Persia Now that this Assuerus succeeded Cyrus in gouernment whose Viceroy before he had been in Persia and Vicegerent in Cyrus name we may gather out of the beginning of the first of Ester Where in the first chapter and third verse according to the Hebrew it is said that the strength of Persia and Media was before him and it is said that there were in presence before him in his Court Noble men and Princes or Rulers ouer Prouinces 127. ouer whom hee gouerned whome many moneths he entertained with princely entertainment But the greater and more able part of the strength of Persia and Media which was then said to be in the Court of Assuerus was before in expedition with Cyrus the greater Now after Assuerus wee place Darius whom we haue named Assyrius for a difference from others who are called in the said Monarchie Darius because in the 6. of Ezra the 11. the Iewes are said to haue kept a solemn feast of sweete bread seuen dayes in mirth because the Lord had made their hearts glad and had turned the hart of the King of Assur towards them to helpe their hands in the work of the house of the God of Israel But this Darius Assyrius is mentioned in the beginnings of the prophecies of Aggey and Zacharie vnder whom the building of the temple of God was begun anew Whose praise is that the building of the temple intermitted vnder Assuerus Artaxerxes by his authority was begun againe and finished Which we gather from the Prophecie of Aggey and Zacharie but chieflie we vnderstand it from the historie of Esdras for in the fourth chapt 24. verse it is said that the house of the Lord was intermitted vnder Asserus nor begun againe before the 2. yeare of Darius the King of Persia but in the 6. chapt 14. vers it is thus spoken of the house of God built vnder Darius Assyrius But the Elders of Iuda built and prospered according to the prophecie of Aggey the prophet and Zacharie the sonne of Addo and they edified and built the God of Israel commaunding them and Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes Kings of Persia Now he in this verse who is in the last place called Artaxerxes seemeth to be Assuerus Artaxerxes by whom it hath been saide before the worke of the Lord was hindred vnlesse our coniecture deceiue vs because by reason of Hester and Mardochey he fauoured the proceedings of the people of GOD the which before he greatly misliked For peraduenture when he now waxed old Darius Assyrius beeing consorted in gouernment with him he also commaunded the temple of God to be built Darius chieflie busying himselfe thereabouts as the diuine Oracles haue witnessed to vs. Also that Artaxerxes may be he whom we name Pius vnder whome by Nehemias the Citie was compast about with a wal and the temple obtained his ornaments Others referre the word Artaxerxes to Darius Assyrius as if and were put in stead of of that is to say because the surname of Artaxerxes was proper to the kings of Persia as Caesar was a common name to the Emperours of Rome and Pharao to the auncient Kings of Egypt as after Alexander the great the name of Ptolomey was attributed to all the Kings of Egypt till Egypt was reduced to the form of a prouince by the Romanes But to Darius Assyrius wee adioyned in succession Artaxerxes Pius of whoÌ„ there is mention made as it were in a new historie in the seuenth chapter and first verse after this manner After these words In the kingdome of Artaxerxes the King of Persia Esdras the sonne of Seraias there is added This Esdras went vp from Babilon and he was a sleight Scribe in the lawe of Moses which the Lord God gaue to Israel And the King gaue vnto him all his request according to the hand of the Lord which was vpon him For as it shalbe touched afterwards Iudea did then seeme Zorobabel being dead to want a Ruler For which cause in the seuenth yeare of Artaxerxes Pius Esdras is sent into Iudea with commaundement to compound the causes of the people of God For so in the said 7. chap. 24. vers it is said But thou Esdras according to the wisedome of thy God which is in thy hand appoint Iudges and Gouernours to iudge the people which is beyond the Riuer to wit those that knowe the Lord yet also teach freelie those which are ignorant From the same Artaxerxes Pius afterwards Nehemias is sent into Iudea to compound ecclesiasticall causes in the tweÌ„tieth yeare as it is largely expounded in the second of Nehemias Seeing therefore Artaxerxes Pius is thus knowen vnto vs out of the Historie of Esdra Nehemia we haue made him to succeede Darius Assyrius Wherefore we know from the holie Scripture these Kings to wit Cyrus Maior Assuerus Artaxerxes Darius Assuerus Artaxerxes Pius whom Xerxes the terrour of Graecia succeedeth the fifth in succession from Cyrus Maior And thus we haue named the former kings of Persia staying our selues vpon the authoritie of holie Scripture carelesse in the meane while of Herodotus and Ctesias and of others who follow Herod or Ctesias of whom we wil speake afterwardes Now who those Kings were who succeeded this Xerxes in Persia we collect out of the prophane storie Xerxes was the sonne of Artaxerxes Macrochir that is the long handed whome hee succeeded in the Kingdome From whose twentie yere they who reckon the beginning of Daniels Seuens may now perceiue how far they are from the truth when they take this Artaxerxes Longimanus the sonne of Xerxes for Artaxerxes Pius who peraduenture was the grandfather of Artaxerxes Longimanus But after Artaxerxes Longimanus Darius Nothus begotten by him succeeded in the Kingdom Artaxerxes Mnemon that is by surname the Rememberer succeeded Darius Nothus beeing his bastard whose brother was Cyrus called the lesser famous in the Greeke historie and in Xenophon who was fellow in Armes with him against Artaxerxes After Artaxerxes Mnemon Ochus his sonne reigned ouer the Persians Then Arses the sonne of Ochus who being destroyed with his whole familie had for his successor Darius the last king of Persia whom Diodorus Siculus in his 17. booke sayth to be
God and their detestable counsels practised against the good also the niggardlines of the rich towards the poore all which are described verie largely of Esdra and Nehemias doo manifest the troubles and miseries of these times The twentieth yere therefore of Artaxerxes Pius walleth Ierusalem finisheth the temple with all his appurtenances to the finishing whereof Nehemias had gotten and obtained stuffe of the King By reason whereof the Iewes say trulie in the second of Iohn and the twentieth verse This Temple was in building fortie and sixe yeares and wilt thou raise it vp againe in three dayes Which trulie the Iewes may be thought to speake as thereby to mention the twentieth yeare of Artaxerxes Pius rather than the sixt yeare of Darius Assyrius For by what reason that place may receiue other construction I vnderstand not vnlesse we will say that Darius Assyrius and 1. â—â—â—axerxes Pius whom by the Scripture we vnderstand to be diuers kings to haue reigned at one time and in the meane time to haue fauoured the people of God and to haue taken that care vpon them because they were deuoted to Religion This not withstanding we shalbe alwaies coÌ„pelled to affirme that the Temple was built in the sixt yeare of Darius Assyrius as it is in Esdras 6. and 15. ver to the complement wherof manie things wanted which were added vnder Artaxerxes Pius vnder whom in his twentieth yere we will say that Ierusalem was fortified as we doo vnderstand out of the 2. of Nehemias the 2. vers and the 6. cap. and 15. ver Wherefore we will thinke and not without reason that the Temple was finished with all his adiuncts which before were wanting vnder Artaxerxes Pius as peraduenture there might bee additions to the Temple for the roomes of the Priests ministring by course in the Tabernacle of the Lord barnes or garners for to lay vp the first fruites and tythes of the Priests And wee may say that the same time the Citie Ierusalem attained her fortification But the place of the Gospel before remembred is not to be past ouer whereby the authoritie of Iosephus Writer of the Iewish storie whom our time too greatly esteemeth of is to be diminished who trulie in manie places sheweth himselfe to be ignoraÌ„t of those things which he handleth and argueth himselfe to be a stranger in his owne Common wealth And it is requisite for this which we haue in hand to shew himto bee scarce aduised and circumspect nay most notable impudent and a liar that we may vnderstaÌ„d that his writings must be more narrowlie lookt into and examined of vs. For he in the 15. booke of the Iewish antiquitie the 14. chapt saith That Herode the sonne of Antipater erected the Temple from the foundation farre more sumptuouslie and largelie than it was and to haue finished it with his additions and gates in eight yeares and a halfe But the Iewes that liued in that age conuince him of lying who casting their eyes to the old building say that that was built in the space of 40 and 6. yeares Besides we know that the secoÌ„d Temple that is that Temple which Zorobabel with Iosua built and the rest of the Companie of the Iewes which returned froÌ„ the captiuitie of Babylon to haue been ouerthrowen subuerted about fortie yeres after the death of Christ with all the pompe of the ceremonies of the lawe which the Iewish Historiographers also doo acknowledge to haue bin done by Titus referring the destruction of the second Temple to the Romanes and their Imperator Titus And wee know by the certaine predictions of the prophets that the same TeÌ„ple stood when Christ Iesus our Lord beeing man conuersed in mount Sion For Aggey saith in the 2. chapt 10. verse That the glorie of the second Temple built by Zorobabel should be farre greater than that was of Salomons Temple looking vnto the presence of Christ the Lord who was therewith to beautefie their Temple Yet if as Iosephus saith Herode had built that Temple in which our Lord was conuersant that should not haue been the second temple but the third the forme whereof shoulde haue been farre otherwise as Ezechiel describeth it in the latter end of his prophecie Therfore manie of our time are to bee condemned of sloth and ignorance who stand so affected to the writings of Iosephus and the like Writers that presentlie they assent vnto them and beleeue those things to be true which are propounded by them the book of the holy scripture in the meane while past ouer and neglected and the diuine histories carelesly read ouer which histories must be first and chieflie learned by the which all other are to bee iudged of examined none but a most vniust iudge will denie But because it is said the second Temple was finished in sixe and fortie yeares and yet neuerthelesse seuen seuens which amounteth vnto fortie nine yeares is assigned to the absolute finishing of the temple therefore it must thus be vnderstood That the Temple was absolutely finished with the Citie walled about in the nine and fortieth yeare after the libertie restored by Cyrus Yet sixe and fortie yeares to be onely bestowed in the building of the temple because three whole yeares were passed before Zorobabel the other which returned out of captiuitie came to doo that worke For after Cyrus Edict published for the libertie and restoring of the people of GOD a great time was requisite to consult of the manner of their returne and for to compell those that should returne and to settle their affaires who determined to leaue Chaldea to retourne to their Countrey Let vs therefore graunt a yere for these matters which being ended let vs admit the Iewes returners to haue begun their iourney the second yeare from the publishing of the Edict and so we shall vnderstand these returners to haue come into their Countrey a yeare and almost a halfe after the Edict of Cyrus For from Babylon to Iudea the iourney to those that haue lets is of foure moneths trauell as it is written in the 7. of Esdr 8. verse in this sort And they came to Ierusalem the fift moneth which is the seuenth yeare of the King because they begun to goe from Babilon in the first day of the first month and came into Ierusalem the first day of the fift moneth according to the good fauour of God towards them Now the foundations of the Temple were not layd as soone as they came to Ierusalem for we read in the third of Esdr and the 8. verse that this was not done till the second yere after their return From wheÌ„ce we gather that there were three yeares from the Edict of Cyrus to the foundations of the Temple laid to the which if we adde sixe and fortie yeares we haue nine and fortie yeares which are assigned to the first seuen seuens which ended and expounded according as they were propounded by the Angel wee must passe
saw this who in his booke of the account of times the 7. chapter writeth after this manner Christ was not staine immediately after the 62. seauens but in the ende of the seuentieth seauen which so farre as we can coniecture he separated from the other because he was to speak more of this hereafter For both Christ was crucified in that and of a faithlesse people he was denied not onely at his passion but continuallie from the time when Iohn began to preach him The halfe of the last seauen was the 15 yeare of Tiberius Caesar when after the baptisme of Christ the cleansing by sacrifices amongst the faithfull began to be contemned Thus farre Beda More of Bucholcerus the Reader may fetch frō himself The Conclusion This Treatise was thought needfull in this time wherein some would make this Prophecie of Dan. 9 to bee worse than nothing as speaking of a certaine number of yeres to mens opinion hethertoo but not so to bee vnderstood Therein the Iewes woulde triumph ouer all Christians that viged this prophecie for describing Christs time and Christian should ken small thankes for that newe opinion as also little to them that cannot see this point to be of speciall vse Here Strangers opinions were brought to stay the rashnes of the vnlearned who thinke all things new that they know not The Writer of the obseruations vpon this translated by I A. a friend of his in an Apologie of his owne writeth more at large vppon that The Lord giue iudgement in all points FINIS * Rather from Darius named in vers 1. * That he was the 4. it shalbe shewed hereafter There be seuerall Kings of those names but for time in this order Artaxerxes to whom an epistle was writtenn against the Iewes soone after their returne Assuerus and Darius Artaxerxes There Artaxerxes Assuerus are seuerall men and the former is named last because to him was ioyned the narration of the letter which caused the temples worke to bee staied The Ebrewes who shoulde haue skill in their owne stories hold this Darius to bee the sonne of Ester This Artaxerxes and Assuerus whom being two he nameth one person may bee known not only by this Authour but also by Dan. 10. 11 to haue had a short reigne and Darius vnder whom the Temple was built was of antiquitie holden most commonly excepting some one or two learned to begin his reigne no whit aboue thirtie yeares from Babels fall but rather shorter much though a shorter time should hardly be graunted But 107. yeares frō Cyrus as some would should be too much for 50000. being men at Cyrus Monarchie to be workefull for the Temple * Heere And might be held as the Hebrues holde it for which is Here his iudgmēt staggreth Any man may know by the text and the time that Darius also Arraxerxes grāting authoritie to build the temple the worke being finished in Darius sixt yeare after that Ezra the the sonne of Saraiah comming to Ierusalem frō Babel is the seauenth of Artaxerxes either the two termes must needes as Hebrues assuredly hold signifie one person or the two must reigne at once * This is most holden and plaine The selfe same man as by the Scripture examined anie may see and Hebrues with maine Latines holde * The time for the yeare seauenth vpon the sixt and the name of Artaxerxes that went before in the second of Darius graunting the building of the Temple show the two names signifie but one King as was touched before Seraias case best discusseth the whole time of the Persiās For seeing Seraias was killed by Nabucadnezzar 52. yeares before Cyrus tooke Babylon and Esdras is commonly graunted to haue seene the Persians last reigne It is as much as olde age can suffer in one mans life aged 50. yeares before that the Persians should reigne in that mans life 130 yeares more For so he must match Isaacks yeares 180 and that so hee did or came neare it may be proued by manie likelihoods It is but a bare conjecture for to imagine that Esdras omitted his father or grandfathers two or three betwixt him and Seraias No man hath authoritie to forme more than is to the Bible “ Zorobabel was aliue the yere before and yonger than he Who was also Darius Pius Longimanus seemeth to be that brother of Xerxes of whose quiet reigne Iustine writeth Herodotus writeth that the sonne of Atossa Ester is she gate the Kingdom though he took one brother for the other * This would not soone be graunted nor at all he was elder than Lōgimanus and ruler of the wars of Greece and not with the Iewes Ezra 4. * The particular Kings of Persia neuer were neuer will be knowen by Writers For times touching scripture of 49. yeares for the chiefe worke of walling lerusalem to that Aben Ezra wilagree and no Hebrue wil grant that they reigned aboue 130. yeres but rather cōe farre short And flout manie closely in Seder Olam as grosely deceaued that giue the Persians 250. yeares though not the most part were so much deceiued The fiue generations of Iosuahs posteritie to Iuddue will compell them to graunt nere that somme but to more than that no likelihood can vrge “ This somme will not soone be disprooued though the particular Kings be not agreed vpon which yet 〈◊〉 neuer agreed vpon not anie learned Christians for the Bible is compelled to take notice of Metastenes a forged author yet deceaued manie * Not all the Kings because they touch not the common weale * To teach the vanitie of this consent wee may mark out of Pausanias other accounts for men of that age as Oebotas is in Olympiade the sixt and Xenophō in 25. but in Triclinius in 79. both winners of the footerace Of Xenophō Pindarus made an Ode Infinite varietie of Writers disanulleth this cōsent Nay rather later in part than he for he seemeth to touch the Persiās ouerthrow to haue been for hindring of the Temple Ezra 6. 13. Dan. 11. The power of Persia raised against Greece was to look for a sharp punishment frō him whose eies were a flame of fire for the sorrow caused to Daniels people * The terme weekes much entangleth the weake and requireth a comment in English for a terme plaine in Ebrue or Greeke * Daniel praied for restoring of the Citie and the Angel accordingly ioineth to the grant ofreturne the building of the Citie that wee should not seek for sundrie times to take the beginning of our account vnles whē God maketh a thing plaine we will be finding out inuentions The very matter dooth still driue him to grāt these two names to mean one King or two beginning reigne together Esters sonne he shuld be thoght that so fauored the Iewes If any cā speak better thā this to the text of Daniel he shall doo verie well to helpe the world with it Iosephus regarded custom of speach rather thā truth sometimes vnwares he