neither can neither be followed nor found For their beginning is but roueâ—… at from Hercules that aimelessâ—… marke their neglect remained tâ—… the daies of Licurgus the tenth from the founder their restoration was by Iphitus of Elis but set thâ—… centers in the circles of these timeâ—… where yee can find them and their celebration superstitiously begun in honour of the Idoll of Iupiter Olympius and againe restored to cease 〈◊〉 contagious pestilence if not to â—…fect the world with their pestifeâ—…ous accounts Their counsellour was Appollo â—…e instrument of Sathan there prise â—…as a Garland of a Spiders Webbe â—…ouen in the boughes of a wilde â—…liue and fruitlesse tree and their â—…ownes the crowne of vaine-glory â—…nd not that of immortality for â—…hich the Apostle councelleth the Corinthians to striue may well bee â—…mpared to the houses of Spiders in wherein was no confidence and to â—…e Webbes in Isaiah that made no â—…arments to couer from cold Are these gaimes then the inâ—…ntion of Sathan fit linkes to liâ—…it an Angels speech and account â—…r the saddest action that the â—…orld euer saw and shall more creâ—…t bee giuen them for the time of â—…e Suns course in the heauens then â—…nto the heauenly Oracle of an Angell from God for the time of his Sons death on earth Or shall those men whose charge is to teach all Nations that the Kingdome of God is come in his Christ take their authority for the time of his comming from such hea then recorders as neither knew God nor were regarded of God in the time of their ignorance as the Apostle witnesseth The City and holy Altar wee see were measured by the reede that the Angell gaue vnto Iohn and by the same reede the direction oâ—… God did Daniel from Ieremy measure the yeeres of captiuity and from their expiration was taught by an Angel from God the time oâ—… Christs sufferings without all help of any secular learning or accounâ—… of heathenish Olimpicks but rather by farre more holier bands tied with the accounts of three moâ—… certen euents as of seuen seuens sixtâ—… two seuens and one seuen in the halfe whereof Christ should die And whereof Gabriel confesseth that he was sent from God to teach Daniel the certaine knowledge and Daniel himselfe acknowledged that â—…he vnderstood the thing and had vnderstanding of the vsion which was vnlocked vnto him by no key of â—…humaÌ„e litterature but by the Scriptures of truth as the angell affirmed Neither Saint Paul the greatest humanist among the Apostles brought vp at the feete of Gamaleel and spake more Languages then all â—…is opposers euer relied vpon the Olimpicks or other secular learning touching the knowledge of Christ and his passion But contrariwise confessed that hee had deliuered vnto the Corinthians that which hee had receiued which was That Christ died for our sinnes that he was buried and rose the third day and that hee did according to the Scriptures of God without other helps of Olimipcks or secular learning And as touching humane litterature that any wise were oposit to the Gospell hee admonisheth his Disciple Timothy to auoide prophane oppositions of Sciences falsly called which while some professe they haue erred concerning the Faith And commendeth him for his knowledge in the holy Scriptures which are able to make him wise being giuen by inspiration of God and are sufficiently profitable to teach to improoue to correct and to instruct that the man of God may bee absolute And that Light which Saint Peter willeth vs to guide our steps by is the sure word of the Prophets to the which saith he yee doe well that yee take heede as vnto a light that shineth in a darke place vntill the day dawne and the day-star arise in your hearts But that the Olimpicks could bee the Light to leade to that Starre or to enlighten the sacred stories by their accounts is so farre from effect as they rather much darken the true Chronologie of the one and confound the mutuall agreements of the other nor haue they any assured truth for time in themselues For Phlegon for their beginning in pisus Pelops and Hercules appoints no time Pausanias saith hee must record but will not credit them and Plutarke in the life of Numa condemneth all gatherings of time from the Olimpiads And such are their disagreements in Thaluâ—…s Castor Phlegon Plutarke Dionisius and others in assigning their accounts as the supporters of that tottering foundation must beare as great a weight if nor greater as Atlas is fained to doe in supporting the world To giue an assay then how their accouÌ„ts agree with the holy Scriptures of God wee will but touch two among many that by them the credit of the rest may be iudged Master Liuelie setteth King Cyrus in the fiftie fiue Olimpiad And Titus the Emperour in the ond hundred twelfth betwixt whom he accounteth no lesse then six hundred twenty nine yeeres and odde moneths more by one hundred then the Sun euer measured But that Cyrus his first could meete with the Olimpiad 55 the diuers beginnings of them by diuers men assigned doth make very doubtfull for Bibliander doth begin them in the thirteenth of Iotham King of Iudah and Paulus Phrygio in his twelfth but Africanus Bullinger and Functius set them in the second yeere of Iotham the same King Glareanâ—… will haue the first Oimpiad to be in the fiftieth yeere of Azariah king of Iudah and Eusebius in his forty nine but Pererius begins them in the eight of King Ahaz which is twenty fiue yeeres after So that the first yeere of Cyrus most certenly fixed in the diuine Chronologie as the pole is in the North cannot fit the fifty fiue Olimpiad for their diuers beginnings The other proofe is taken from the destruction of Ierusalems Temple which Clemens Alexandrinus saith happened in the last of the forty seuenth Olimpiad Now wee know by the holy Text that the destruction of the Temple was in the nineteenth yeere of Nebuchadnezzer King of Babell from whence to the end of the captiuity or first of Cyrus fiftie one yeeres more were to ensue to make vp the seuentie of the captiuity But from the last yeere of the forty seuenth Olympiad to the first of the fifty fiue are but twenty nine yeeres whereunto adde nineteene more from Nebuchadnezzers first yeere in the which the captiuity began vnto the Temples destruction in his ninteenth and yet there will waÌ„t of the seueÌ„ty twenty two yeers to the end of the captiuity Wherby we see that the first yeere of Cyrus must bee pulled backe and set in the fiftieth and not the fifty fiue Olympiad so far differing are these prophane Olympiads from the sacred Chronologie of the holy text That a most certen and exact Chronologie was registred from Adam the first man vnto the first
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
though shee was elder then his afflictions by an hundred and seuenty yeeres And more obsurdly they marrie her to Simeon her brother naming her the Canaanit mother of Saul Iacob they faine to haue had a twin daughter borne with euery of his sons as Adam by them is fained to haue had And good Thamar that got Iudah vnto her bed they make to be the daughter of Melchisedeck king of Salem who died ninty seauen yeeres before Iudah was borne So likewise Ruth the Moabite hauing no father named in Scripture nor Eglon king of Moab any daughter Rabbi Iarchi and others faine Ruth therefore to bee daughter to King Eglon. Keturah likewise the second wife of Abraham the Rabbins will haue to be the same Hagar that had bâ—… him Ishmael lest incontinency should be imputed vnto him for marrying another woman hauing knowne Hagar before And from the sonnes of the said Keturah they bring both Balaam the Gentile Prophet and Queene Sheba that came to heare the wisedome of Salomon As also doubtlesse from the Rabbins the Christians Origen and Chrysostom from the said Balaam doe bring the wise men that from the East followed the Starre vnto Christ and so Dorotheus and Epiphanius make Ionas the Prophet to bee the widowes sonne of Sarepta whom Elias raised from death In like sort when some great personages are but once named in the Scriptures they make them to be some other famous men by other names So Ethan the Ezrathite the Author of the 89. Psalme Kimchi Iarchi affirme to be Abraham because that Psalme goeth before the Psalme of Moses the man of God and because Ezrathite may be translated Orientall So Chalcol and Darda whose wisedome Salomon is commended to exceede they feine to be Moses and Aaron Elihu the Buzite to bee Balaam Ibsan to bee Boos and Putiel to be Iethro So likewise the forenamed Rabbins Kimchi and Iarchi make Uriah mentioned in Esay to be the same man that Iehoiakim slew though there were an hundred twenty yeers betwixt And Zechariah mentioned in the same Prophet to be the same Zechariah that with Haggai prophecied after the returne from Babylon betwixt whom were aboue two hundred yeeres But the writer of the Booke Tobit falleth into farre greater sinnes in making an Angell to bee of the seede of man as hee affirmeth Raphael to acknowledge his kinred from Azarias and Ananias men well knowne vnto Tobit contrary to the Doctrin of the whole Scriptures which teach that Christ Iesus the great Archangel tooke onely mans nature vpon him and that the Angels haue neither flesh nor bones but are ministring Spirits to attend his Elect. Which blasphemie the blasphemous Rabbins further teach in affirming that there should come two Christs the one of Dauid and the other of Ioseph vpon which ground they build who say that Hee whom the Iewes crucified was not the same man that had beene borne of the virgin Mary but another in his similitude and likenesse In the contrary extreamity I would to God Christians had not offended in denying Christ to bee the Messiah mentioned in Daniel the ninth a text most pregnant shewing his office of Redemption in abolishing Sinne and the effecacie of his Death in ending Sacrifice and oblation in the place once holy For whereas the Angell Gabriel in the first yeere of Cyrus and last of Babels seuentie was sent vnto Daniel to declare the present liberty for his people decreed and to assure a future and fuller by the death of the Messiah determined after the expiration of seuentie times seuen yeeres they deny the words to bee meant of Iesus the sonne of Mary and â—…abbinically apply the text to other purposes and persons whereby a stumbling blocke is laid before the blinde Iewes and an vnchristianlike testimony left of Christian Iudaâ—…sme For more to shew conteÌ„tion â—…hen truth or Religion in a booke of that kind thus it stands written Of all the places in the old Testament touching the comming of Christ whereof there is great store that verse 〈◊〉 Daniel meaning the 24. of the ninth Chapter is most excellent and â—…leere yet withall I deny saith the Author that by the Name of Messiah in the verses following Christ our Sauiour is vnderstood for neither the true account of yeeres will suffer it nor the text of holy Scriptures beare it Two strong supporters verily if the foundation be sure but seeing hee setteth the one vpon the vncertaine Olympicks and the other vpon a priuate and vnchristian interpretation wee may safely deny what he doth affirme Concerning the first then or credit of the Olympiads to the disabling of other Chronologies the iudgment of Marcus Varro the learned Roman is brought who will haue all vncerten before the first Olympiad for from the beginning of men to the first flood for the ignorance of things therein happening he calleth obcure or vnknown From the first flood to the first Olympiad for the vaine tales contained therein hee calleth false or fabulous But from the first Olympiad to his owne age for the truth and certenty of things therein recorded he calleth Historicall prouided alwaies by master Liuely that yee seeke them no higher then Iphitus their restorer And these Olympicks doth that holy tongues reader make the onely computators of the Suns course in incirculating the earth for the space of 530. yeeres and by them doth order that time which is of most moment in the Scriptures of God For by them hee will haue the Angels speech for the death of Christ accounted by them the raignes and yeeres of the Persian Kings from Cyrus to Alexander numbred and by them the time from the rebuilding of Ierusalem by â—…he returned to the finall destruction thereof by Titus the Romane calâ—…ulated Affirming them to bee of a sure Bulwark for Chronologie warranâ—…ed by the mouth of Heauen it self â—…y the Astronomicall eclipses therâ—… happening and the only Key to â—…nlocke the shut and hid meaning â—…f Daniels oracles without which â—…y Scriptures alone saith hee can â—…euer be opened whereunto wee â—…nswere That Varro was a heathen and â—…ad not read Moses who seeth not whose writings notwithstanding were extant of things done from the first Creation vnto the entrance into Canaan nor the sacred Histories from his death by others continued vnto Nebuchadnezzar the great King else would hee not haue made these times obscure that are most plaine nor that the plainest which is most obscure And if wee shall throughly examine those his so highly commended Olimpicks either of beginning continuance restoration or agreements wee shall finde them to be but a Babel of confusions anâ—… the truth of time by them as harâ—… to be trased as is the way of a Shâ—… in the waues of the Sea or the flight 〈◊〉 an Eagle in the ayre the tract of