The Period of the Persian Monarchy, Chapter 3
CHAP. III. Doubts removed, which seemed to prove the Persian Monarchy much shorter than the former accompt.
Answer 1.
ARGVMENT. I. From the storie of Mordecay, who, they say, was carried captive with Ieconiah from Ierusalem.THat Mordecay was not carried captive from Ierusalē with Ieconiah: That place, Ester 2.5. [Who was carried away] is necessarily to be referred to Kish, Mordecay's great grandfather.
1 The accent Tipcha proves nothing.
2 Nor the Conjunction Copulative [&] And bee nourished Hadassa.
3 No more doth the history or narration of Kish, put betweene, in vers. 6.
4 If Mordecay, named, Ester 2.2 were the same that is mentioned in Ester; yet it followes not, that he was carried captive with I…coniah from Ierusalem: For Zerubbabel himselfe, with whom he is mentioned, was not carried captive with I…coniah, but was begotten in the captivity by Pedajah, the sonne of Salathiel;Mat. 1.12. …onne by law though not by nature of Iaconiah. Againe Mordecay mentioned in Ezra 2. returned into Iudaea, as is manifested by Nehem. 7.7. but Mordecay in Ester went not into Iudaea at all.
Arguments to prove it, are,
1 The Pronoune relative must be referred to the next going before it, and not to that which is further off, as 1. Chron. 2.7.
2 To what other end should mention be made of Kish, unlesse to shew by his carrying away captive, how Mordecay a Iew, borne of him, became citizen of Susa? Certainly he is not named to distinguish him from the other Mordecay, which is one rule why mens fathers and grandfathers are named in Scripture.
3 This confirms the truth of Gods promise, which he made to those that were carryed away captive with Ieconiah, Ier. 24.6. That they should returne, be built up, planted, and not rooted out, &c. And therefore were commanded to marry and beget children. Ier. 29.6. Whereby it appeares that the promise was made unto their posterity also. The performance whereof by this story of Ester is excellently declared.
4. From the time. For if Mordecay were carried away captive with Ieconiah, then was he above a hundred yeares old in the 12th. of Assuer…s, according to Broughton. For by 2 Kings, 24.16. wee may iudge him to bee at the least 20· yeares old, when hee was carried Captiue. From the 8th. of Nebuchadnezzar, in which Ieconiah was captived, to the first of Cyrus are 63. yeares. From the first of Cyrus, to the 12. of Assuerus, are 20. yeares. All make 103. at least 100. At which age Mordecay was altogether unfit to performe offices and services in Court, As Barzillay at a lesse age.2. Sam. 19.36. But reckon we the times of Cyrus and Cambyses aright; and make (as the truth is,) Assuerus to bee Xerxes: and there are betwixt Cyrus the first, and Xerxes the twelfth 60. yeares. So Mordecay shall have lived about 140. yeares in the twelfth of Xerxes, being then too, of strong and able body, and likely to live longer. As may appeare, Ester 10.2, 3. foreign.
Answer 2.
ARGUM. 2. Nehemiah is named among those that returned in the first yeare of Cyrus from Babylon. Ezra. 2.…. And this Nehemiah lived till the end of the Persian Monarchie. Nehem. 12. therefore (saith Mr Broughton) the Persian Monarchie cannot be held to stand 200 yeares.There be two Nehemiahs. One mentioned, Ezra 2.
Another who returned in the 20. yeare of Artaxerxes Mnemon: and lived till the reigne of Darius the Persian.
Answer 3.
ARGUM. 3. Ezra is called son of Serajah. Ezra. 7.1. Now Serajah was slaine before the destruction of Ierusalem, 2. King. 25.21. Therefore Ezra must needs be borne at that time: who also lived untill the later times of the Persian Monarchy: therefore either the Persian Monarchie must endure but 130 years: or else Ezra must live above 200, wch is not likely.There is Ambiguity in the word Son, which M. Broughton takes properly; as if Ezra had beene immediately the sonne of Serajah: whereas indeed he was so Serajahs sonne, as the Iewes used to call their posteritie, even to the fifth descent, Sonnes. And Zerubbabel is usually called the son of Shealti…l, whereas he was but his nephew.
Answer. 4.
ARGUM. 4. Is from the 70 weekes of Daniel, which they say doe begin at the 1. yeare of Cyrus, and end with Christ, and are precisely 490 yeares: and therefore the Persian Monarchie, cannot be, no not 200 years. For then from the first of King Cyrus will arise more then 490. yeares to the death of Christ.When Daniels 70. weekes begin, is uncertaine. Some will have them begin in the first yeare of Cyrus: some in the second of Darius▪ Nothus: others in the twentieth of Artaxerxes Mnemon. A man may follow his judgement: for neyther the one nor the other is defined in the Text, Dan. 9.25. but is absolutely put [from the outgoing of the Word] which we know went forth in three Kings reignes.
But for the end and period of them, it must necessarily be at the death of Christ: and not as some will have it, at the destruction of Ierusalem by the Romanes. Its plain, Dan. 9.24. But to graunt this Proposition true, though uncertaine, that Daniels seventie Weekes begin at the first yeare of Cyrus, yet doth not this follow thereupon, That from the first yeare of Cyrus are precisely 490. years: for Numbers are eyther taken,
Properly, when they note that which naturally they signifie:
Improperly or figuratively, when they signifie eyther more or lesse, in regard of the circumstance of the matter, and the speakers intention. So is Two and Three taken properly, Matth. 16.21. & 27.23. & 20.19. Improperly, Hos. 6.2. Seven properly, 1. King. 18. Figuratively, Luc. 17.4. Matth. 18.22. Ten properly, Exod. 34.28. figuratively, Numb. 14.22. Twelve properly, Mat. 10.2. figuratively, Apoc. 7. Thousands, figuratively, Dan. 7.10. So that often in Scriptures Numbers finite are put for infinite, certaine for uncertaine, perfect for imperfect, round and grosse for corrupt.
2. Chr. 26.21. For the land rested (or kept Sabbath) all the dayes of her desolation, to fulfill 70 yeares.These 70. yeares begin at the time of the first Captivitie, in the reigne of Ioakim. Now from this time till the eleventh yeare of Zedekiah, when hee was captived & the Temple and Citie burnt, the Land cannot be said to keepe Sabbaths, because the Inhabitants were not yet carried away: and therefore it was but a part of these 70. years that she rested.
Not precisely.Iudg. 11.26. Israel dwelt in Heshbon, Aroër, and Arnon, 300. yeares. For reckon from their first inhabiting of those Cities, and we find it but 260. yeares, or thereabouts: unlesse we adde the 40 yeares from comming up out of Egypt. But it ought to be understood synecdochicè and figuratè.Apoc. 11.12.13. Three yeares and a halfe, &c.
Often mention is made of three years and a halfe, of 42 moneths, (which make so many yeares) of 1260. dayes, which also make so many years: In all which we must needs understand a certaine number to be put for an uncertaine, that is, for the whole time that runnes on from the passion of Christ till the end of the World.
Let us consider the drift and scope of the Angels speech. Daniel he understands by bookes, that the 70. yeares of Captivitie were now even at an end: Hereupon hee prayeth that God would bee mercifull to the people and holy Citie. An Angel is sent to him, and talkes unto him, not of the 70. yeares of Captivitie to be ended under Cyrus, but of seventy times seven yeares, of most glorious deliverance from the slavery of Hell and the Divell, to be purchased by Christ. As if the Angel had thus said: Thou Daniel thinkest of 70. yeares, at the end whereof thy people is to have a deliverance from carnall servitude under Babylon, and a restauration of an earthly Ierusalem: but I give thee to understand of a farre more glorious liberty and freedom from Sathans slaverie, to be purchased by Christ for thy people after 70. times 7. yeares. Doe not thou thinke of 70. years, which are now even gone and past, but of 70 times 7 yeares, which when they are come to end, thy people and city for whom thou prayest, shal obtain this great blessing.
Wherefore this is spoken in allusion to the 70 yeares of Captivitie, to shew that Gods mercy should exceed his judgements seventie times, which from that should endure seventy times seven yeare, till the comming of Christ, and afterwards for ever. It is therfore a propheticall prediction, and not an hystoricall relation: and the circumscription of time is used only for memory sake; that after these many yeares, they should be sure to obtain such a deliverance, as, than which, they could desire nothing more.
Not precisely.Gen. 15.13. Know for a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs 400. yeres, and they shall serve them. For from the time that God spake unto Abraham (whence the yeares must necessarily beginne) unto the comming of the children of Israel out of Egypt, are 430. yeares, as Moses witnesses, Exo. 12. If we say that they begin at the fift yeare of Isaac; yet from the time that God spake, unto that, are about twenty yeares. From that to the departure of the Israelites, Matth. 1.17. From Abraham to David, are 14. Generations: from David to the captivity of Babylon, 14. Generations: from the Capt. of Babylon unto Christ, 14. Generations.whole 400. Wherefore, from the time that God spake this, till the departure from Egypt, are foure hundred synecdochicè; above foure hundred precisely.
What! precisely fourteene in all? No. From David to the Captivity of Babylon, were twenty seven, as Mr Broughton confesseth. In the other two were indeed fourteene.
Full and whole? By no means.Mat. 12.14. So shall the Son of Man be three dayes, and 3. nights in the heart of the earth. For Christ was buried on the Evening of the sixt day, the same day he dyed. The seventh day he rested in the grave, upon the eight day early he rose againe. So that he was but two whole dayes in the grave, and scarce that neither. Now the Day and the Night make one Day, Gen. 1. And therfore because Christ rested in the Sepulchre part of three dayes, he is sayd by a synecdoche to bee three dayes and three nights in the heart of the Earth.
If the Angel had sayd, The seventy yeares of your Captivity in Babylon: But after 80. times seventy yeares, Christ shalbe slaine, and so you shall obtaine a more glorious freedome; Then had the Angel spoken precisely: for, from that time to the death of Christ, was precisely five hundred sixty yeares. But so the force & efficacy of the Type had bin obscured. To which the Angel would allude by the name of seventy times seven yeares.
Antiochus his persecution continued three yeares and a halfe precisely, Dan. 7. Now Antiochus was a Type of Satan. And therefore the Time, times, and halfe a Time, forty two moneths, 1260. dayes, all making up the same number of yeares, are uttered by S. Iohn, Apoc. 11.12, 13. in allusion to Antiochus persecution. For by this he comforteth the Woman, that is, the Church, persecuted by the Dragon Satan; That this persecution should last but a little while, even as that of Antiochus; not properly, but figuratively: for Satan persecuteth the Church unto the end of the world.
That the seventy weekes are not to bee understood precisely, but by a synecdoche, is thus proved. Seventy weekes are determined upon thy People, saith Gabriel, Dan. 9. ver. 24. That these are whole and full so many, is proved by their partition. For there are seven weekes from the going forth of the Commandement, ver. 25. and sixty three weekes when the street and wall shall be builded; and againe, after threescore and two weekes, Christ shall be slaine. But not presently after those sixty nine weekes; but in the middle of the last weeke. ver. 27. Where it is sayd, And he shall confirme the Covenant with money for one weeke: and in the Middle of the weeke he shall cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease. Then thus the Reason stands:
If Christ dyed in the middest of the last weeke; then from the first yeare of Cyrus to the death of Christ, are not precisely 490. yeare…, but 486. and a halfe. The reason of the consequence is plaine: For if Christ dyed in the middest of the last weeke, i.e. the seventieth week, then to the death of Christ from Cyrus the first, are but sixty nine weeks and a halfe. Now sixty nine weekes cum dimidio, make but foure hundred eighty six yeares cum dimidio; whereas seventy whole weekes make foure hundred ninety yeares.
But Christ dyed in the middest of the last weeke. This is manifest: For Christ then dyed, when sacrifice and oblation ceased. This is proved by the ninth and tenth to the Hebrewes. But sacrifice and oblation ceased in the middest of the last weeke. This Daniel expressely saith, Cap. 9. ver. 27.
Therefore from the first yeare of Cyrus to the death of Christ, are not foure hundred ninety yeares precisely: And by consequent, the seventy weekes are to be understood figuratè and synecdochicè: not praecisè and tropriè.
Christ was baptized about three yeares and a halfe before he dyed, and then (saith Funccius) was sacrifice & oblation abolished out of the place. Mat. 3. ult. This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. And therefore God was pleased afterward with no other sacrifice, but the immaculate Lambe Christ. But for answere: So God was onelyonly pleased with the sacrifice of Christ before his Baptisme. For he was a perpetuall sacrifice from the beginning: and the other sacrifices pleased him onelyonly as Types and shadowes of Christs sacrifice of himselfe. Secondly, Moses sacrifices and such Types of Christ were acceptable unto God after his Baptisme: which is plaine, Matth. 8.3. where Christ after his Baptisme bids the Leper offer the gift, that Moses commanded. Which was, Levit. 14.10. two Lambes and an Ewe Lambe, for a trespasse offering and a burnt offering.
Answere
Object. The word foreign must be translated Dimidio, not Medio. So that Christ shall be said to abolish sacrifice and offering, not in the middle of the Weeke, but in halfe of the Weeke: and this halfe must be the last halfe, and not the first.Though the word signifie both wayes, aExod 12. Medio noctis Exod 24.16. dimidium sangui…is.yet here it must be translated middle, not halfe:
1. By the consent of the Learned:
2. By this reason out of the Text. Christ is here said, to Cause to cease, or to abolish sacrifice and oblations in the middest of the 70th. weeke. Now this Action is not actio maneus, and continuata, but citò transiens. For it is meant of the death of Christ. Vnlesse therefore wee will make Christs death to be a continued action, and say, that Christ dyed in the halfe of the Seventy Seven; i.e. his crucifying and death continued for the space of 3. yeares and a halfe (than which, what more absurd?) we must needs grant, that hee dyed in the middle. Had it beene said, that Christ should preach the Gospell in halfe the last 7. it had beene truly; because it was a continued action.
Not only in this last weeke, but in some of the former is this Synecdoch… to be understood. For the 70. weekes are divided into 3. parts: ver. 25. Kno… therefore, and understand, that from the going forth of the commandement to bring againe the people, and to build Ierusalē shall be seven Weeks (there is the first part) and threescore and two Weekes, (there is the second) and the Wall, and the Street shall be built againe, in a troublous time. After threescore and two weekes Christ shall be slaine. v. 27. And he shall confirme the Cov…nant for many one Weeke (there is the third part:) and in the middest of the Weeke, he shall abolish sacrifice and oblation.
The Reason is this then:
Seaven Weekes are said to passe before the building of the street and wall; above 49. were past. And therefore by these 7. Weekes more yeares are meant▪ than are precisely set downe.
The Minor is proved by the storie of Scripture. For (Ezr. 4) the building both of the Temple and Citie, as appeares by the Letter of S…imshag, was hindered all the dayes of Cyrus, till the second yeare of Darius. And from the 2. yeare of Darius, along unto the 20. of Artaxerxes, who succeeded him, was it still hindred, as appeares, Nehem. 1.1. The Wall was built afterward, Cap. 4.6. The Street, Cap. 7. Whereby it is manifest, if wee reckon the yeares from Cyrus the first, to Artaxerxes the 20. that the Wall and Street could not be builded in the first 7. Weekes. Therefore those words [In the other] are falsely shuffled into the Text.
Eusebius, Iunius, and Tremellius say, That the Temple was built in the first 7. Weeks.