more expedite and compendious expression you may call Geniconaea the latter Idiconaea which signifie the general and more particular meaning of such a part of the Prophecy As in this present Instancâ—â— Geniconaea the whole succession of the Kingdom of the Seleucidae may be understood but by an Idiconaea such passages as are understood of others in the succession at large may be again particularly applied to Antiochus Epiphanes for whose sake chiefly the affairs of the Seleucidae are predicted And to give instances of these Figures in other Propehcies Apoc. 17. By a Geniconaea the whole succession of the Heads of the Beast that was is not and yet is namely of the Roman Empire become Pagano-Christian whether Emperours of Popes are understood by the seventh Head of that Beast but by an Idiconaea the Popes particularly as Antiochus Epiphanes particularly in the succession of the Seleucidae So Apoc. 13. The Beast healed of its deadly wound healed I say by the diligence of the Two-horned Beast and recovered again into a kind of Paganism by a Genicoâ—…aea may be understood of the whole Laick Roman Empire so debauched by the Sacerdotal Polity but by an Idiconaea the making of the Image of the Beast may be referred particularly to the German Empire as the Object or Opus and to the Pope as the particular Artifex thereof And lastly in Daniel Chap. 11. ver 36. the King that does according to his will and shall exalt himself c. by a Geniconaea may be understood of the Roman Power at least from the first Epocha of Christianity to the expiration of the said Power which will expire with the Pope but by an Idiconaea it is particularly understood of the Papal Polity or Hierarchy Which Four examples I hope are sufficient to illustrate these Prophetical Figures which are worth the notice of the judicious and considerate and will serve to reconcile serious Interpreters of the Prophecies some hitting upon the Idiconaea of the Prophecy others upon the Geniconaea Which is no clashing one with another if they understand themselves But that sense which the Geniconaea exhibits is necessary sometimes and demonstrably true by Virtue of the Synchronisms Ver. 14. Which is the sense that Calvin himself seems to aim at c. And Theodoret and Isidore are of the same opinion as they are cited by Gasper Sanctius Neque desunt says he qui Christum esse dicunt illum qui in flumine apparuit quique Gabrieli jussit ut Prophetae obscurm illud aenigma manifestaret quasi jam praeluderet ad sumendam posteà humanam naturam in qua suas deinde inter homines delicias haberet ita Theodoretus Isidorus So Gasper Sanctius upon the place VISION IV. The Vision or Prophecy of the Seventy Weeks communicated to Daniel by the Angel Gabriel Chap. 9. 1. IN the first year of Darius the Son of Ahasuerus that is the Son of Cyaxares King of Media as the Greeks call him And Ctesias in Diodorus Siculus Biblioth Histor. lib. 2. p. 85. seems to call him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 * which is very near to Assâ—…baras and consequently to Asuerus Which Cyaxares the Mede gave his daughter Nicrotis to Nebuchadnezzar the Son of Nabopolassar to Wife who therefore was the Sister of Darius the Mede as well as Mandane who was the Mother of Cyrus the Persian Of the séed of the Medes For he was Son to Cyaxares King of Media whom being an Infant in a manner his Father committed to the tutelage of Nebuchadnezzar his son in Law when he died together with his Kingdom over which Nebuchadnezzar set Astyages of near a kin to Nicrotis his Wife haply her Uncle but upon Nebuchadnezzar's death Cyrus rebell'd against Astyages by some intimation from his Uncle Darius and overcame him after he had reigned some Thirty five years in the Kingdom of Media and Persia and Darius had been kept out of it the time But Astyages being vanquished the Kingdom of Media was restored to Darius and Cyrus had the Kingdom of Persia for his pains See Tho. Lydiat his Emendatio Temporum Which was made King over the Realm of the Chaldeans succeeding immediately Belshazzar after Cyrus Nephew to Darius had taken Babylon and Belshazzar was slain Wherefore Darius was invested in the Kingdom of Babylon Cyrus his Nephew delivering it to him being then about Sixty two years of Age. And forasmuch as he lived from his infancy in Nebuchadnezzar's Court and Nicrotis Nebuchadnezzar's Wife was his Sister and was brought up as Nebuchadnezzar's Son and so haply called out of Courtship the Babylonian Empire seems still to have been continued in his Reign and he fitly to be called the King of the Chaldeans as Daniel the Prophet here styles him And yet notwithstanding Daniel comparing the Babylonish Captivity and the extirpation of Nebuchadnezzar's race by the Medes and Persians and that Cyrus being Commander in the war by name so predicted by the Prophet Isaiah he comparing these things I say with the commencement and duration of the Empire of Nebuchadnezzar and his Sons predefined by Ieremy the Prophet and with the time himself was first made captive which was in the Fourth year of Iehojakim King of Iudah and the first of Nebuchadnezzar when he was sent by his Father Nabopolassar with Regal power against Aegypt it came then into his mind that the expiration of the Seventy years Captivity of the Iews in Babylon was near at hand as it appears in the following Verse 2. In the first year of his Reign I Daniel understood by the Books For there was in the hands of the Iews then the Books of Moses and the Prophets that they might know their transgression punishment and time of appointed mercy The number of the years whereof the word of the Lord came to Ieremiah the Prophet Ierâ—…m 25. 11. 12. And this whole Land shall be a desolation and astonishment and it shall come to pass when Seventy years are accomplished I will punish the King of Babylon c. And the whole race of his Sons was exstinct in Belshazzar killed at the taking of Babylon by Cyrus And Ch. 27. ver 7. And all Nations says he shall serve him and his Son and his Son's Son until the very time of his land come And there was but Three successions Nebuchadnezzar himself Evil-Merodac his Son and Belshazzar his Son's Son according to the words of the Prophet slain at Cyrus his taking of Babylon Of whom Isaiah foretold by name what a Friend he would be to the Iews Isa. 44. 28. That saith of Cyrus He is my Shepherd c. That also of Jeremy Ch. 29. v. 10. is very express Thus saith the Lord of Hosts That after Seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you and perform my good word toward you in causing you to return to this place Wherefore Daniel seeing so plainly from these places of the Prophet sent to the Iews by God That he would accomplish Seventy years in the desolations
of Esther will assure us thereof which says he reigned from India even to Aethiopia over an hundred and seven and twenty Provinces And Iustin Lib. 2. notes of the riches of Xerxes that though his Army was so numerous that they drunk up rivers yet his riches were so great that the expence of so vast an Army nor any other occasions could exhaust them So hugely is it verified of this fourth King that he was far richer than they all and that therefore there is no doubt but that it is Xerxes Which yet is further confirmed from what follows And by his strength through his riches he shall stir up all against the Realm of Grecia The expedition of Xerxes against the Greeks is so vulgarly known and copiously set down in Iustin Diodorus Siculus and Herodotus that to remind the Reader of it is sufficient And that he did stir up all against the Realm of Grecia is I think very plain if we consider the numerousness of his Army as it is described in Herodotus Lib. 7. Cap. 186. where he reckons up no less than twenty six hundred thousand and forty one thousand six hundred and ten 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fighting men to which he adds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Attendants of the Army that were to minister to them and others that came along with them All which put together says he made a number at least as big as that of the fighting men So that there was in all at least two and fifty hundred thousand and eighty three thousand two hundred and twenty And this says he is the number 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the whole Army which he brought as far as to the Thermopylae But for the number of the women to dress their meat and of Courtizans and Eunuchs of Wagon-horses and other beasts of burthen and of Indian Dogs it was not to be told they were so many Whence says he I less wonder that it is reported that some Rivers were drunk up by them which also Diodorus relates and likewise the number of his Ships that they were about one thousand two hundred So that Xerxes by this account may well be said to have stirred up all against the Realm of Grecia And he must needs be rich that could set out such a Fleet and maintain such an Armie as I noted above Thus notably is this Prophecy of Daniel fulfilled concerning this fourth King of Persia. Who came against the Realm of Grecia with an Army to quite overflow them and swallow them up at once Of which Xerxes confiding in the numerousness of his Army made himself sure in a manner as we may understand by that discourse betwixt him and Demaratus that had been King of Sparta See Herodot Lib. 7. Cap. 101 102 c. For we have already produced enough to shew how fully the prediction is accomplished But why there are no more than four of the Persian Kings mentioned in this Prophecy and why four I conceive the reason is because the scope of this Prophecy is mainly to forewarn the People of God of the evils that would come upon them or what mutations there would be in which they were concerned whether Iews or Christians and therefore the catalogue of the Kings of Persia is so short but yet brought down to Xerxes who would have swallowed up all Greece as a fit transition to the expedition of Alexander against the Persians which intimates the reasonableness of the success which was given him by Providence as follows 3. And a mighty King shall stand up namely Alexander the great That shall rule with great dominion and do according to his will that is All things shall succeed according to his mind And it is Curtius his character of him Lib. 10. Fatendum est tamen cùm plurimum virtuti debuerit plus debuisse Fortunae quam solus omnium mortalium in potestate habuit He had the world in a string as our English Proverbial Phrase is So fitly is this Prophecy fulfilled in Alexander But we will only take notice by the by how like this is which is a Transition from the Persian Empire to the Grecian how like it is I say to that Transition from the Grecian to the Roman Vers. 36. And a King shall do according to his will In both which the transition is so little pompous and discriminative that if the matter it self did not discover there was a Transition from one Empire to another the Form of Transition would scarcely assure us of it But being no man doubts but that here is a Transition though the form be so slender and obscure from the Persian to the Grecian Empire so the slenderness and obscureness of the Form of the Transition v. 36. from the Greek Empire to the Roman ought to be no prejudice to the reality thereof 4. And when he shall stand up his Kingdom shall be broken and shall be divided toward the four winds of Heaven namely into four Kingdoms lying North West East and South Which are the Kingdoms of Thracia Macedonia Asia and Aegypt which belonged to Lysimachus Cassander Antigonus and Ptolemaeus See what has been said above Ch. 8. And not to his posterity For within sixteen years space after Alexander's death not only Aridaeus the brother of Alexander together with his mother Olympias were put to death but also Alexander the Son of Alexander the Great and Roxana and Hercules the other Son of Alexander by Barsine was killed and Cleopatra the sister of Alexander So fully is this passage accomplished And not to his Posterity Nor according to his dominion which he ruled As not having that strenuity and greatness of parts nor that strength his entire Empire being thus divided into four Kingdoms which therefore was a weakening to it and made it subject to dissenâ—…ons amongst themselves besides that there were several other Satrapies which other commanders of Alexander were possest of distinct from those four Kingdoms which was a further weakening thereof as it follows For his Kingdom shall be plucked up even for others besides those The Hebrew word which our English translation renders shall be plucked up is rendred by the Septuagint 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and by the Vulgar lacerabitur from the Septuagints 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies Quisquiliae Whence is intimated into what a many little shreds this great Empire would be discerped after his death which is most fitly understood of those lesser portions they had who are related to here besides those four namely Lysimachus Cassander Antigonus and Ptelomaeus For Eumenes Philotas Menander Leonatus Seleucus and others had their portions distinct from those four whereby the main body of Alexanders Kingdom possest by them was the more weakened 5. And the King of the South shall be strong that is Ptolemaeus the Son of Lagus King of Aegypt He speaks onely of the Kings of the South and of the North that is of the Kings of Aegypt and of
Syria because the affairs of the Iews are most concerned in them And this very first King of Aegypt Ptolemaeus the Son of Lagus he is taken notice of in Historians for that treacherous exploit of his of the taking Ierusalem on the Sabbath day under pretence of Sacrificing But he possest himself of the City they not arming themselves for resistance For which Agatharchides Cnidius twitts them as a fond people that preferred their superstition before their liberty He carried many of the Iews at that time with him into Aegypt See Ioseph Antiq. lib. 12. c. 1. And one of his Princes that is one of the Princes of Alexander says Grotius but if it be referred not to Alexander but to Ptolemy it may haply be one of those lesser Princes that he had a more special favour for but either way it is Seleucus Nicator that is here meant who got up first toward this greatness by the favour and countenance of this Ptolemy as I noted above And he shall be strong above him Seleucus shall outdoe Ptolemy in exploits of war For having taken Demetrius the Son of Antigonus he added Asia to Syria he overcame Lysimachus King of Thracia in batle and Antigonus in Phrygia as Androcotus also in India from which great exploits he purchased to himself the name of Nicanor or Nicator as if we should say Seleucus the Conquerour And have Dominion That is plain from which has been said already His Dominion shall be a great Dominion And so it appears to have been by History as Grotius has noted out of Appianus according to whom his Dominion contained all these Countreys Syria Phrygia Mesopotamia Bactriana Arabia Sogdiana Arachosia and a great part of India even beyond the River Indus And Appianus adds in general that he was by far the most potent of all the successours of Alexander and that there were built by him near fifty Cities 6. And in the end of years that is After a certain time They shall ioyn themselves together that is They shall be friends or confederates one with another viz. the King of the North with the King of the South Not that the same Individual persons Ptolemaeus Lagi and Seleucus Nicanor shall do this but some of the succession of each of them For the succession of the Kings of the North and of the South or of Syria and Aegypt are in the Prophetick style spoke of as of two single Kings continuing all that time of their Kingdomes Which is a thing so obvious and known that it hinders not at all but that this Prophecy may be called the Prophecy of the Scripture of Truth for all that For the Kings Daughter of the South shall come to the King of the North to make an agréement The Hebrew word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies Rectitudes and the Septuagint render it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Agreements For the agreeing of things is to set them right and straight This Kings daughter therefore of the South is Berenice the Daughter of Ptolemaeus Philadelphus Son and Successour to Ptolemaeus Lagi She it seems was sent to the King of the Nâ—…orth viz. to Antiochus Theos King of Syria and Asia and grandchild to Seleâ—…cus Nâ—…icanor to beget peace and amity betwixt those two Kingdoms with a vast dowry of gold and silver so that by this marriage betwixt Antiochus Theos and Berenice these two Kingdoms might be held together in a firm league Otherwise the proâ—â—er seems needless Antiochus having already a wife viz. Laodice and two children by her Seleucus Callinicus and Antiochus But accepting of Berenice for his wife and promising that he would not have Laodice for any other than a concubine this proved an ill business both to him and to Berenice at last For he receiving afterwards Laodice into favour and calling her â—…ack to Court she made shift to poison her husband Antiochus and get Berenice and her young child she had by Antiochus to be slain according as it follows predicted by Daniel But she shall not retain the power of the Arm that is She shall not have that strong Interest at Court nor remain in that authority she seemed to have at first the mind of her husband being afterward carried to his former wife Laodice Neither shall he stand not Antiochus himself For Laâ—…dice suspicious how constant he might prove in his love to her got him to be poisoned Nor his Arm The Hebrew is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and may be translated Nor his seed viz. that offspring which he had by Berenice his little Son he had by her who was killed with her But she shall be given up and they that brought her and he that begat her The truer reading is and that son of hers or he whom she brought forth For that is the most obvious sense of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And he that strengthened her in these times that is Those who were with her and took her part as friends and comforters But she and her little son and all her Confidents would go to the pot Even as it came to pass in the Daphneum at Antioch where she had shut her self up and might have been safe through the help of friends that heard thereof but that she was betrayed and so she and her little son murder'd by Seleucus Callinicus her son in law So bad an end had a matter ill begun See Iustin lib. 27. c. 1. 7. But out of a branch of her roots It seems to be an Hypallage as Gasper Sanctius also takes notice for But out of the roots of her branch that is from the root or stock from whence she and her little son was that is from Ptolemaeus Philadelphus who was her father Shall one stand up in his estate The Hebrew is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 where there is plainly an Ellipsis of a praeposition suppose 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 super baâ—…in ejus so Vatablus supplies it He shall found his quarrel upon the right that the young child had if he had had strength and been alive to revenge his mothers death This therefore is the brother of Berenice Ptolemaeus Euergetes Which shall come with an Army and shall enter into the fortress of the King of the North that is Shall fall into the Territories or Frontiers of Seleucus Callinicus the King of Syria who killed Berenice and her little Son And shall deal against them and prevail that is He shall make war against them and have them so much in his power that he may do what he will with them He shall have very easy and mighty success 8. And shall also carry captives into Egypt their Gods with their Princes and with their precious vessels of silver and of gold St. Ieromes comment upon this place is full enough Ptolemaeus saith he prevailed so far that he took Syria and Cilicia and the upper parts beyond Euphrates and almost all Asia and when he heard there was sedition moved at home in Aegypt he spoiling the Kingdoms of