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
beene if Israels abode had beene in Egypt fully foure hundred and thirty yeeres with no greater increase God promising to multiply that seede of Abraham as the starres of Heauen and the dust of the earth For in the like space of foure hundred and thirty yeeres the World from the floud was replenished onely by three persons Iaphet Sem and Ham with farre greater increase For in Abrahams story we reade of the preparation of nine Kings and of sixe Nations in Canaan and the Countries adiacent And that the earth was peopled and replenished both continent and Ilands long before wee see by the dispersions of Noahs sonnes through the world neither doth the Text being aduisedly read inforce any such continuance in Egypt for thus doth Moses write and our last translation reade The soiourning of the children of Israel who dwelt in Egypt was foure hundred and thirty yeeres But that the Israelites dwelt not in Egypt foure hundred and thirty yeeres as Genebrard vnderstandeth Moses a second foundation by the holy Genealogies is laid for Kohath accompanied Iacob into Egypt and his sonne was Amram and his son Moses Then seeing Kohath is the enterer and Moses the departer the time cannot extend to foure hundred and thirty yeeres for Kohath liued but one hundred thirty three yeeres Amram his sonne but one hundred thirty seuen and Moses his son was eighty at the departure All which added together make but three hundred and fifty and yet some of them also must bee deducted where they liued together These ages therfore are so sure and true witnesses of Moses his meaning that Genebrard mistaking it affirmeth some betwixt Kohath and Moses to bee omitted To such extremity Genealogies enforceth And yet further to illustrate the text for story a weake woman may serue to support the truth namely Iochebed the mother of Moses who was the immediate daughter of Leui borne vnto him in Egypt by Elishebah his wife Nom. 26. 59. Now the life of Leui extended but to one hundred thirty seuen yeeres Exod. 6. 16. whereof forty three were spent before hee came into Egypt which thus may be collected Leui was borne of Leah in the third yeere of the second seuen of Iacobs seruice with Laban in the end of which seauen Ioseph also was borne Gen. 30. 25. Chap. 31. 41. So that Ioseph is but foure yeeres yonger then Leui. Now Iosephs age at his expounding of Pharoahs dreame was thirty Gen. 41. 46. And thence the seauen yeeres of plenty and the two of famine were expired Gen. 45. 6. So that Ioseph was aged when his Father and bretheren came into Egypt thirty nine yeeres and Leui his elder was at that time forty three whose continuance then in Egypt must be ninety foure yeeres for ninety foure added to forty three make one hundred thirty seauen his whole age to his death before which time it is manifest Iochebed his daughter must bee borne or be begotten Now if the abode in Egypt were fully foure hundred thirty yeeres then three hundred thirty six yeeres after Leui his death must be the departure thence but so long a time by Iochebeds age cannot be granted for she being borne but ninety foure yeeres after the first entrance and liuing to beare a sonne but eighty yeers before the departure the time betwixt the death of her father and the birth of her sonne must be the age of her owne life for had shee beene borne the day of her fathers death which is not likely and had died the day of her sonnes birth which wee know is contrary yet must shee haue beene two hundred fifty and sixe yeeres old when shee bare Moses A time by much too long for weomen to conceiue and her age farre vnfit to giue sucke or to bee chosen a fit nurse for a Kings daughters sonne And therefore it is certenly gathered by these holy Genealogies that the peregrinations of the Patriarks Abraham Isaac and Iacob for the space of two hundred and fifteene yeeres must be accounted with the time of the continuance in Egypt both which together make the sum of foure hundred and thirty What lights therefore Genealogies are for history let these here alleaged stand for witnesses wherein I appeale to the gaine-sayers themselues whether any text bee forced contrary to the true meaning CHAP. IIII. That the Scriptures Genealogies doe limit Daniels Seuens not to exceede 490 yeeres THE like vse and vtility shall we find in the succeeding times of the sacred Records and most especially in that which concerneth vs most namely â—…he time mentioned in Daniel which â—…oreshewed the death of the true Lambe Christ vnto whom all the sacrifices of the Law pointed and in whom all the Leuiticall rites ended â—…e being our high Priest farre aboue Aarons order Now among many other maleâ—…ictions threatned for the breach of â—…he Law this was one that the Land should lie waste to pay her Sabbaths of rest Which time of waste â—…he Prophet Ieremy affirmeth to haue beene seuenty yeeres and doth begin their account in the first yeere of Nebuchadnezzar King of Babel from whence all nations should serue him his sonne and sonnes sonne the space of seuenty yeeres which expired in the third of Belshazzar and first yeere of King Cyrus when the raigne of the Kingdome of Persia beganne as it is in 2. Chron. 36. 20. 22. Vpon which Text of Ieremie Daniel tooke his occasion of Prayer for their deliuerance and the Lord was as ready to accomplish his promise who sending his Angell euen in the same moment certified him that whilest his supplications were in making the Decree of deliuerance was in determining and that not onely from Babels seuenty yeeres captiuity but also thence after seuenty times seuen should bee a full deliuerance from spiritual thraldome by the doctrine and death of the Messiah These seuenty seuens Gabriel diuideth into 3. parts as followeth 1. To the rebuilding of the City and building the second Temple seuen seuens Secondly Sixty two seuens wherein a silence for Prophesie the want of fier from heauen the Vrim and Thummim should be had And thirdly one seuen in the halfe whereof Christ should confirme the Couenant for many and in the end thereof should seale vp mans redemption by his death and passion Notwithstanding this tripple account and plainnesse of Chronologie which the Angell aimeth at as to the true period of times fulnesse hath beene troubled with the vncertaine computations both of Iewes and Christians who haue both shrunke and tentered them from the iust number of foure hundred and ninety yeeres which seuenty seuens make in their owne propriety For some will haue them to containe no fixed certaine time at all but rather thinke they were spoken vnto Daniel as Christ spake vnto Peter in forgiuing his brothers offences I say not vnto thee vnto seauen times but vnto seuenty times
knowne to the contrary he might liue long after the worke was finished Another witnesse wee haue as aged if not more as Zerubbabel and a principall man also who with him returned from Babylon in the first yeere of Cyrus euen Ezra the Scribe the sonne of Seraiah the high Priest whose ancestors both in the seuenth chapter of his booke and in the first booke of the Chronicles are reckoned vp vnto Aaron Now the same Seraiah father to Ezra was carried to Riblah in the land of Hamah and there slaine by Nebuehadnezzar King of Babel in the nineteenth yeere of his raigne So that had Ezra been begot but the day of his fathers death which is not likely yet must he haue been fiftie yeeres aged at the returne from captiuitie in the first yeere of Cyrus since when had there been one hundred and sixe yeeres as some account to there building of the Temple then must Ezra haue been at that time one hundred fifty sixe yeeres old an age by much too long to retaine actiuenesse or to stand as hee did from morning till mid-day to reade and expound the Law to the people But to liue a long time after as it is said he did euen to the end of the Persians raigne which was eightie yeeres more his life must haue seene more yeeres then that shortned age of mans life could attaine vnto And therefore the vncertaine accounts of the Heathen must be measured by those men whom the scriptures haue made their measuring â—…eedes And seeing God hath ordained â—…hat by the mouth and testimonie of two â—…r three witnesses the truth shall bee established Let Mordecai an eminent man of Beniamin stand for another This Mordecai was carried away captiue into Babylon with Ieconiah King of Iudah in the eighth yeere of Nebuchadnezzar and nourished Ester in the dayes of Ahashuerosh King of Persia vnto the twelfth yeere of his raigne And that this Ahashuerosh was Darius Histaspis besides Lyra and others ancient the moderne Writers Beroaldus Broughten Willet More the Geneuian Annotation and many more affirme and Herodotus in his third booke nameth Atossa to bee the wife of Hystaspis sounding so neere to Adassa the other name of Ester as without preiudice we may call Ester his Queene And the rather for that the said Author reporteth she could preuaile in any thing with the King her husband which the Scripture confirmeth euen to the halfe of his Kingdome And likewise Hellanicus another Heathen Author reporteth that Atossa Queene of Persia was the first inuenter of Epistles which vndoubtedly was ministred vpon the Letters by her procured and sent vnto one hundred and twenty seuen Prouinces for the sauing of her people whom Ahashuerosh had condemned at the sute of wicked Haman But that this Ahashuerosh could be Xerxes and he eighty foure yeeres after Cyrus as he hath been set the age of Mordecai may not admit for had Mordecai been but eight yeeres of age when hee was carried away captiue with Ieconiah in the eight yeere of Nebuchadnezzar yet must he haue been seuenty at the returne from Babylon but to adde almost a hundred yeeres more neither humanitie could require his so aged knees to bow nor nature afford his body to bee of such agilitie as it was for State affaires mans terme of life as Solon told Croesus men of the same time to be onely threescore and tenne yeeres I am not ignorant that some will haue the relatiue which to be referred to the antecedent Kish which say they the text doth import in these words Mordecai the sonne of Iair the sonne of Shimei the sonne of Kish and this Kish they will haue the man that had been carried captiue vnto Babilon with Ieconiah But if the words of Esters Apocrypha may be herd it was not Kish but Mordecai for there Mordecai a Noble man that dwelt in Susis and bare office in the Kings Court was he that had the dreame and was the man which Nebuchadnezzar brought captiue from Ierusalem as Chap. 2. 4. Which booke though not Canonicall yet is it ancient and may well be a witnesse in a well knowne historie Besides we see that the intent of that story is not to relate of Kish his captiuitie if any such had been the miseries of those times now ouerblowne but rather the meanes that God then wrought to saue his Church by this his instrument Mordecai that had seene the deliuerance both of himself and others from that Captiuitie of Babylon and now was an acter to blunt the edge of wicked Hamans sword And that the time could extend to those yeeres thus inlarged betwixt Cyrus his Edict and the building of the Citie Nehemiah doth bring a whole Iury of witnesses against it who in his catalogue of twenty two men that returned with him and Zerubbabel from Chaldea vnto Iewrie â—…ameth twelue of them to be liuing â—…n the daies of his gouernment after that the walles of Ierusalem were finished which were Seraiah Amaziah Malluch Hattush Sebaniah Haâ—…im Merimoth Ginnethon Abbiiah Miiamin Bilgai and Shemaiah as in the tenth and twelfth Chapters of Nehemiah apparantly is seene But from these particulars let vs come to the generals That many of the same persons which had been caried captiue vnto Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar were returned and aliue at the building of the second Temple in the second yeere of Darius is manifest by this speech of Haggai who is left saith â—…e among you that saw this house in her first glory and how doe you see it now is it not in your eies in comparison of it as nothing Whereby it is apparant that many of the returned had seene the great beauty of Salomons Temple and were seated againe in Ierusalem according to the Vision of the gooâ—… figges seene by Ieremy concerninâ—… the captiuitie of Ieconiah whom thâ—… Lord had promised to bring again to Iudah to build them and not destroâ—… them to plant them and not to root theâ—… out And albeit that Zecariah told theâ—… that old men and old women shoulâ—… walke the streetes of Ierusalem vpon theâ—… staues through decrepit age yeâ—… such exceeding old age could not bâ—… retained in that age of the world foâ—… had an hundred and sixe yeeres beeâ—… expired from the first yeere of Cyrus to the rebuilding of Ierusalem anâ—… the Temple then should the returneâ—… each of them haue been at that timâ—… an hundred sixty seuen yeeres aged had they been but ten when Salomons Temple was destroyed anâ—… ten yeeres is the least age that caâ—… bee allowed to retaine memory oâ—… obseruation of the Temples curiouâ—… building and passing great beauty Wherefore those tentured timeâ—… of Daniels Seuens must bee again shrunke vnto the staple of the sacred accounts and the Persians raigne shortned vnto halfe the number almost that some ouer-lauishly haue giuen them For the chaine of Chronologie
this pedegree was the immediat son of the second Caleb or the immediat father vnto the third may seeme doubtfull As also Kenaz hauing no such pregnant testimony either of predecessor or successor as may inforce it may be obiected there is no certaine descents betwixt the Lands searcher and the equalising of the skilfull workman Bezaleel To which may be answered that although Ezer bee not so precisely named a sonne as some others are yet is he said to bee of the sonnes of Hur in the first of the Chronicles the fourth Chapter and the fourth verse and neerer to him by any of his sonnes he cannot bee then of Caleb who was his eldest sonne as verse fiftie so that the many descents in so short a time will warrant him to be Calebs sonne And for the other obiection of doubt thus I answere If the Kene zite Numb 32. vers 12. be not the immediate sonne of Caleb and the immediate father vnto Iephuneh then more of his families must come betwixt and so the last Caleb should be further remooued from Bezaleel and a more impossibilitie imagined But to vnloose this seeming hard knot and to approue the truth of a continued succession let it be allowed to suppose the ages of these men when they were fathers and especially of him vpon whom resteth the greatestdoubt so shall wee force neither breach of successiō nor find such impossibilities as haue bin alleaged Admit then Hur to bee twentie yeeres old when he begot Caleb and Caleb twenty when he begot Ezer Ezer twenty when he begot Caleb Caleb twenty when he begot Kenaz Kenaz twenty when he begot Iephuneh Iephuneh twenty when he begot Caleb and Caleb we know was forty when hee searched the land all which yeeres being added together make one hundred and sixty Returne to Hur in his other issue and admit Hur to be seuentie when he begot Vri Vri to be sixtie when when he begot Bezaleel and Bezaleel thirty when hee wrought vpon the Tabernacle which yeeres likewise being summed together come also to one hundred and sixty Thus then you see this rough way made smooth and nature no whit forced in neither line for that sons were begotten both at younger and elder yeeres through many descents in those times as we haue alreadie seene And that Bezaleel should bee thirtie is most agreeable to the Law of the Leuites who at thirtie were chosen for seruices in the Tabernacle and therefore most likely that at those yeeres hee was chosen to worke in the Tabernacle Now seeing wee haue the true Tabernacle which is not made with hands and are heires of that Canaan whose rest is perpetuall let vs study to enter therein and with thanks offer our sacrifices vnto him who is the first and the last in euery leafe and line of the Law For of him and through him and for him are all things that are written to whom be all glory for euer Amen CHAP. 6. That God became Man and from what men descended the Scriptures Genealogies doe euidently shew IT resteth now to shew that through these holy Genealogies GOD became Man and that Christ the word before all things was in mans loynes inclosed till the fulnesse of time came that God sent his Sonne to bee made of a Woman This blessed fruit therefore in whom our election was sealed before the foundation of the world was first promised to our first parents in Paradise after their taste of the forbidden fruit of death when likewise the Serpents malice was quailed by this sentence I wil put enmity between thee and the woman and betweene thy seed and her seed He shall breake thine head and thou shalt bruse his heele And that this her seed then promised was the very Messiah to come both Iewes and Gentiles haue acknowledged the ◅athers looked for and the Patriarkes beleeued in The Scriptures thus beginning with a Messiah the onely Alpha of al our happinesse aimeth at no other marke besides him the onely Omega of all our hopes For leauing the state-affaires of the world as the breeding of Kingdomes Principalities and the like they directly leade vs to the birth and of-spring of Abraham whereof Christ was to bee borne and vnto him eight seuerall times was promise made that in his seed all the nations of the earth should bee blessed And vnto Isaac his sonne the same promise was confirmed in the same words Vnto Iacob he was the star that should haue dominion and vnto Iudah the Lion that should weld the Scepter to Dauid he was the Sonne that was his Lord and to Esay the child vpon whose shoulders the gouernment was laid To faithfull Ahaz he was the sonne of a Virgin and to the backe-sliding Iewes a signe that a woman should compasse a man Brifely vnto his elect he was and is the Rocke of Saluation and vnto his Zion the the corner stone tried and precious These and infinite more promises of the Messiah are most frequent in the Scriptures of God which were all accomplished in Christ the Immanuel with vs whose naturall fathers were as great a cloud and as many witnesses to shew the truth of his humanity as were the Euangelists Disciples that wrote and were sent to preach his Deity being fitted forthat worke as was the golden crownework vpon the edges of the incense Alter and leade our paths into that way of truth as the fiery Pillar did light the Israelites remouings But our ouer-much negligence in these holy Genealogies as also in the double discents legall and naturall of Iesus our Lord and Messiah hath greatly hurt both our owne cause and hindered the Iewes from embracing the Gospell Our hurt in bringing him naturally from Salomon whose line was ended long before their hinderance by our entangling the text of the old Testament in Ioash and Ieconiah and in the new in Iacob Ioseph and Eli whereby they daily obiect that we are not able by Scriptures to reconcile our owne Euangelists Saint Mathew and Saint Luke That he is of Dauid both they and we agree but whether by Salomon or Nathan resteth the question They hold him from Salomon by birth and naturall succession wee naturally from Nathan by a legall right the next heire to Salomons Kingdom his own posterity being vtterly extinct But this not obserued that Saint Mathew recordeth Christs legall descent from Salomon whereby he was the lawfull King of the Iewes and that Saint Luke bringeth his naturall line from Nathan thereby to shew him to be the Seed of the promise hath bred many intricate and some of them dangerous expositions In the mentioning whereof let it bee farre from mee to blot with the least imputation the faire remembrances of any paineful father gone before vs in the Scriptures explanation from whose bright torches we must confesse our dim candles haue beene much enlightened and by whose
labours our studies are inriched both with Arts and wisdome but rather with the Bee let vs worke the hony out of euery flower and according to the precept of the Apostle try the worke by the fier of Gods word The Romanist Iohn Lucidus deceiued by a forged Philo and Niâ—… cholas Lyra our Country-man corrupted by study of malitious Rabbins together with Annius Eusebius Africanus and many others haue in Glosses verie much intangled the truth of these pedegrees For Lucidus allowing that Vtopian Hebrician from him doth end the line of Salomon in Ochozias otherwise called Achaztah the seuenth King succeeding and vnto Ieconiah the last King of Iudah doth name al the Kings mentioned by Saint Mathew to bee the same men whom S Luke recordeth from Nathan whose words thus follow S. MATHEVV  S. LVKE Ioas otherwise Simeon Amasia Leui. Ozias Matthat Iotham Iorim Achas Eliezar Ezechias Iose. Manasses Er. Amon Elmodam Iosias Cosam Iehoahaz Addi Iehoiachim Melchi Ieconiah Neri The like fainings of double names he continueth from Zorobabel through the line of Rhesa vnto Eli the father of Mary though to little purpose and lesse explanation Eusebius likewise citing the Epistle of Africanus to Aristides as ancient as Origin in these descents of Christ his parents both by legall mariages and in double venters of sons so troubleth the truth with vnwarrantable inuentions as may dazell the eies of the best sighted searcher his words somewhat abridged I will here insert The kindred saith he of Salomon and of Nathan is so knit together by reuiuing of the deceased without issue by second mariages by raising of seede so that not without cause the same persons are posted ouer to diuers fathers whereof some were imagined and some others were their fathers indeed both the allegations being properly true though in Ioseph diuersly yet exactly by descent determined And that that which I go about to proue may plainely appeare I will declare the orderly succession of this Genealogie making a recitall from Dauid to Salomon The third from the end is Matthan found which begat Iacob the father of Ioseph but from Nathan the son of Dauid decending according to the Gospell of Luke the third from the ende is Melchi whose sonne is Hely the father of Ioseph For Ioseph is the son of Hely the sonne of Melchi Ioseph being the proposed marke to shoote at wee must shew how either is termed his father deriuing the pedegree of Iacob from Salomon of Heli from Nathan And first how Iacob and Heli being two brethren then their fathers Matthan and Melchi borne of diuers kindreds may be prooued grandfathers to Ioseph Matthan therefore and Melchi marrying the same wife begat brethren by the same mother the law not forbidding a Widow either dismissed from her Husband or after the death of her husband to be coupelled vnto another man First therefore Matthan descending from Salomon begat Iacob of Estha for that is said to be her name After the death of Matthan Melchi which is said to haue descended from Nathan beeing of the same Tribe but of another race hauing maried this widow to his wife begat Hely his sonne Thus doe wee finde Iacob and Heli of a different race but by the same mother to haue bin brethren Of the which Iacob taking to wife his sister the wife of Heli his brother beeing deceased without issue begat on her the third to wit Ioseph by nature and the order of generation vnto himselfe whereupon it is written Iacob begat Ioseph by the law vnto his brother Heli deceased whose sonne Ioseph was For Iacob being his brother raised seede vnto him wherefore neither that Genealogie which concerneth him is to be abolished the which Mathew the Auangelist reciting Iacob saith he begat Ioseph and Luke of the other side which was the sonne saith he as it was supposed adding this withall of Ioseph which was the sonne of Heli which was the sonne of Melchi And the word of begetting hee ouer skipped with silence vnto the end with such a recitall of sonnes making relation vnto Adam which was of God nor is this hard to proue or to small purpose proposed In this tedious speech of Eusebius you may see how Ioseph is forced to bee naturally from Salomon and adoptiuely from Nathan but by imagined fathers as himselfe confesseth and Mary whose parentage concerneth Christs humanity most not once spoken of in this Epistle how weake a reconciliation therefore is made of our holy Euangelists let the vnsatisfied Christian iudge and yet in these fainings he hath beene followed in the labours of those that otherwise haue done wel which their pedegrees to shew the present defect is here from them presented to thy sight In this intricate Labirinth who can but lament where neither Scripture is followed nor propagation allowed and how farre from truth Eusebius hath straied in this his pretended reconciliation is euidently seene namely in making Melchi to be the immediat father of Heli and the third from the end in S. Lukes catalogue when by the said Euangelist it is most apparant that he was the fifth from the end and not the father but the great grandfather of Heli for Melchi begat Leui and Leui begat Matthat and Matthat begat Heli whose sonne in law Ioseph was Then could not Melchi be the naturall and next immediate father of Heli two generations comming betwixt howsoeuer Eusebius vnderstandeth his ranke from the end Nor could the issues of double mariages so begot and borne bee brothers of one venter twines as Iacob and Heli are said to bee by the said Estha and by two seuerall men Matthan and Melchi a thing strange in nature and the like in Scripture neuer seene And though Lyra from Africanus and Hierome allow of the double mariages for the raysing of seed to the issulesse deceased yet he ioyneth Matthat and not Melchi vnto Estha for her second husband and maketh Heli her sonne by the same man But in following these Rabbins too neerely that bring Christ from Salomon Nicolas Lyra in his annotations both vpon the first booke of Chronicles and the Gospell of Saint Mathew ouerrunneth the truth into a most dangerous error For he would haue Nathan to bee but the adopted sonne of Dauid and the naturall sonne of Vriah the Hittite borne vnto him by Bathsheba his wife before Dauid tooke her for his For vpon Dauids sonnes borne in Ierusalem and 1 Chro. 3. 5. thus he commenteth Onely Salomon was Dauids naturall sonne the other three were Vriahs whom Dauid made his by adoption So our Lord should come and take flesh not of blessed Sem and beloued Dauid as by the Prophets was promised but of cursed Cham and irreligious Heth without all warrant of the sacred Text. But vnto these their assertions let vs assay further the answer to cleere our Euangelists from the least touch of disagreement First then though Lucidus bee greatly deceiued
smooth and al flesh shall see the saluation of God And that this Baptist was the Elijah there meant Christ himself witnesseth that the Law and the Prophets spake vnto Iohn and that Iohn was the Elias which was to come Who more to manifest his function in many things resembled the former Elijah Their Diets were strange and both in the wildernesse their Garments hairie and their Girdles of Leather their reprehensions free without respect of person and both con firmed by voyce from Heauen This Ambassador Iohn then beginning his function at the Baptisme of Christ declareth him to bee the Lambe of God that taketh away the sinnes of the world Testifying of himselfe that he was the forerunner vnto him that should Baptise them with the holy Ghost and with fier And with this Lambe of God Iohn the Euangelist beginneth his Gospell shewing him to be the Word that was with God in the beginning by which the World was made and without which was made nothing that was made In it was Life and the Life was the light of men This Word saith he was made flesh and dwelt among vs we saw the glory thereof as the glory of the onely begotten Sonne of the Father full of grace and truth This Sonne of God Saint Lukes pen sheweth to be Iesus the Seed promised in Paradise to the espoused Virgin Eua and borne at Beth-lehem of the betrothed virgin Mary according to the Prophets recording betweeene them all his naturall Fathers from Eli to Adam whom he calleth the Sonne of God By which tearme Son through them all he proueth that Iesus was the Christ of whom Moses wrote and the Prophets spake The purposes therefore of the two Euangelists being thus obserued their reconciliation is easie namely that Saint Matthew following the right that Iesus had by law vnto Salomons Crowne recordeth his title therunto from such Kings and persons as excepting his legall right of succession he in no wise tooke flesh of or by nature came and in that sense of Succession bringeth Christ to bee the sonne of Salomon But Saint Luke purposing to prooue Christ hâ—… humanity registreth his naturall descent from euery particular Father and among them bringeth him by Nature from Nathan the brother of Salomon Saint Matthew by a legall right bringeth Christ from twelue as wicked Kings as the Earth bare when they ware Iudahs Crown But Saint Luke by his naturall parentage deriueth him from the holy seed and high Saints of God that should possesse Gods Kingdome for euer Saint Matthew in his legall right of Succession bringeth Christ from Ieconiah that neuer had child nor any of his seed euer sate vpon Iudahs Throne But Saint Luke by his Natural fathers deriueth him from Zorobabell made the Ruler of Iudah and Signet vpon Gods finger Saint Mathew bringeth Ioseph the sonne of Iacob to be the lawfull heire of Iudahs Crowne from Abiud the eldest sonne of Zorobabell And Saint Luke recordeth Mary the daughter of Heli to descend from Rhesa a yonger sonne of Zorobabell who ioyning in mariage with Ioseph he became the supposed but indeed was the legall father of Iesus and Mary was made blessed among women when her virgins wombe was made blessed and the Word was incarnate in that sanctified Tabernacle Thus our two Euangelists vncouering the Arke wherein this Manna was kept by shewing the Messiah in his Nature and Office looke face to face as did the two Cherubins vpon the Mercy seate of the holy Oracle both of them sounding the same thing that Iesus was the Immanuel with their well tuned Harps set to the straine of the Patriarks and Prophets shew Christ to be the Lambe of God slaine to take away the sinnes of the world and the Lion of Iudah crowned with Salomons Crowne who hath obtained a more excellent ministery then that of the Tabernacle by how much hee is the Mediator of a better Couenant Heb. 8. 6. Great therefore is the mysterie of Saluation That God was manifested in the flesh iustified in the spirit sâ—…ne of Angels preached to the Gentiles beleeued on in the world and receiued vp into glory Happy are they that beleeue in him And blessed are they that are not offended in him CHAP. X. That Christ Iesus by his naturall descent was the onely imediate and lawfull King of the Iewes and that none other had any claime or title thereunto HAuing thus by Gods most gracious assistance shewed Christ Iesus to bee the true sonne of Dauid and from the Euangelists declared his parentage naturall and in common reputation it remaineth now to proue that the same Iesus the sonne of the Uirgine both from Ioseph and Mary was the only heire of Dauids terrestiall kingdom of Canaan and in that right is euer called King of the Iewes to manifest which shall be obserued First That it was an earthly kingdome that was promised to Abraham and by his seed possessed Secondly That the generall expectation of the Iewes was set vpon a terrestiall and powerfull King and Kingdome Thridly That none other by any descent kindred or estate had any right title or claime to the kingdome of Iudah Fourthly That Christ Iesus alone and none but hee was the lawfull King of the Iewes the seed and sonne of Dauid that sits vpon his Throne for euer Prepare my heart O Lord to indite this good matter and make my hand the pen of a readie writer to proclaime that King which is fairer then the children of men For the first That it was an earthly Kingdome wee will begin with the promise made to Abraham lay that as the foundation of a terrestriall before wee build vpon the mysticall as Salomon did the materials of his Temple whose beauty was a figure of that which is to come The beginning then of this earthly kingdome was when God began to make Canaan a Kingdome which was at his calling of Abraham from Mesopotamia vnto the plaine of mount Moreh where hee bad him lift vp his eies and looke Northward and southward eastward and westward and to walke through the breadth and length of the land All which hee would giue vnto him and to his seed after him to inherit with promise that Kings from his loynes proceeding should rule and possesse all the land from the Riuer of Egypt vnto the great Riuer Euphrates Here we see the foundation of a terestricall kingdome laid whereof Abraham had the promise and his seede after him the possession Of whose state and continuance old Iacob prophecied that the Scepter should not depart from Iudah nor a law-giuer from betweene his feete vntill Shilo should come and vnto him the people should be obedient That by the Scepter is meant an earthly gouernment or a regall authority both the Septuagint and the Chalde paraphrase doe auouch and that Iesus Christ was the Shiloh from
Kingdome of God should shortly appeare and that then Iesus from their Isaiah at Nazaret did preach it they bare him witnesse and wondred at the gracious words that came out of his mouth And surely if wee begin to account them as wee must from the seuenth yeere of Ioshuah when the Lands full conquest was accomplished we shall find twenty eight fiftieths vnto that of the Passion where al freedome was purchased when Christ in his last words vpon the Crosse cryed It is finished Besides these agreements of figure and substance the Prophet Daniel declaring the change of states by the metaline Image shewed to Nebuchadnezzar giues limits to the kingdoms therin contained till a Stone cut without hands from the mountaine should fall vpon and breake to powder the Gold the Siluer the Brasse the Iron and the Clay al which should bee blowne away as the chaffe of the Summer flowers but the Stone that so fell should fill the whole earth Now that the euent was according is euidently seene for Cleopatra the proud and lasciuious Queen of Egypt the last successor or Toe of the Image for the death of Antonius stung herfelfe to death with a Serpent what time Egypt the one legge by Octauian was made a Prouince to Rome as Syria the other by Pompey before had beene And that a full dissolution of euery part of the Image vpon her death happened the taxing of the world then laid by Augustus doth testifie when the Roman Monarchi with acknowledged subiection first began and vpon which occasion Christ was borne in Beth-lehem two yeeres before the death of Herod And that this Stone was Christ all almost acknowledged neither doth the euent fall in any other the Gospell being the Mountaine that spred his kingdome ouer the face of the whole earth And what that Stone signified Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar as Iosephus writeth which though himselfe thought not fit in that his discourse there to expresse yet afterwards in the com motions of the Iewes against Pilat hee speaketh both of Iohn Baptist slaughtered by Herod and of Iesus condemned to the Crosse in these venerable words At that time saith he was Iesus a wise man if it bee lawfull to call him a man For he was the performer of diuers admirable workes and the instructer of those who willingly entertaine the truth and hee drew vnto him diuers Iewes and Greekes to bee his followers This was Christ who beeing accused by the Princes of our Nation before Pilat and afterwards condemned to the Crosse by him yet did not those who followed him from the beginning forbeare to loue him for the ignominie of his death For he appeared vnto them aliue the third day after according as the diuine Prophets had before testified the same and diuerse other wonderfull things of him and from that time for ward the race of the Christians who haue deriued their Name from him hath neuer ceased What testimony can bee greater then this so agreeing with the Miracles death and resurrection of Christ especially from his pen who wrote the History of the Iewes from Moses the first vnto the destruction of Ierusalem and last times of their estate being as all men know by birth a Iew himselfe and in his yong yeeres might haue seene the same Iesus of whom he giueth such commendable reports But to confirme the fall of the Image which Daniel had affirmed by the fall of the Stone is the testimony of the Angel sent vnto him to shew the times that were to succeede For the Prophet praying for a present releasement from Babels captiuity was answered by Gabriel aboue his request namely that after seuentie seuens of yeeres a perfect deliuerance should bee wrought by the death of the Messiah which shoulâ—… end Sinne and the Ceremonies of the place and should bring an euerlasting freedome to all that beleeue And that these yeeres so predicted fell in number weight and measure euen 490. we haue shewed before and now further affirme that the very houres by a skifull Arithmetician may be exactly calculated from the message of the Angell deliuered at the time of the euening oblation vnto the voice vtteâ—…ed by Christ vpon the Crosse at the ninth houre of the day when hee cried aloud and gaue vp the ghost Another marke set forth for the time of Christs comming is gatheâ—…ed by the graces that should bee â—…euealed vnder the standing or conâ—…inuance of the second Temple which was built by b Zerubbabel after the returne from Babylon which worke though later and lesser then that of Salomons had notwithstanding a promise from GOD to exceed Salomons But how glorious his was the building guilding riches and beautie doth euidently declare and the cloud of Gods glory so filling the house as the Priest could not minister doth manifestly shew Whereas contrariwise this second was so inferiour as the olde men that had seene the former wept exceedingly at the laying of the foundation neither was it filled with any such glorious Clowd nor had the like Patternes of Gods diuine presence as Salomons had For in this second Temple as the Rabbins haue obserued these fiue great blessings were wanting 1 The fier from heauen to consume the Sacrifices the visible signe of Gods fauourable acceptance 2. The Vrim and Thummim most sacred monuments put in the pectorall or Brest-plate of Aaron 3. The Arke of the Couenant wherein the Tables of Stone Arons Rod and pot of Manna were kept 4. The Mercy seate and Cherubins from whom the oracles of God were reuealed 5. And the manifest breathing of the holy Ghost vpon the Prophets all which Salomons Temple had Contrariwise before the daies of Christ this later Temple was polluted and defiled by Antiochus Pompey and Crassus and after the death of Christ vtterly destroyed by Titus Domitian Hadrian and other Roman Emperours And being assaied againe to be built by Iulian the Apostata was with earthquakes and fier from heauen so hindred as the foundations of the first Temple left in the former destructions were so shaken asunder that a stone was not left standing vpon astone and the workemen by fier from heauen forced to leaue off the attempt Since which time in seeking to rebuild that which Christ had so accursed more Christian bloud hath been spilt then was in those wars of destruction which Iosephas writeth of and saw Wherein then was the glory of this second Temple greater then Salomons or what should moue the desire of all nations to come thereunto Surely it was the Lord whom they sought and the Messenger of the Couenant whom they desired to behold that should come to this his Temple euen the Messiah promised to restore the desolations of Israell and that should be giuen for a light of saluation vnto the Gentiles which was accomplished onely in the person of Christ Iesus who with his presence filled this later house with