Commentary on Daniel, Chapter 9 · Doctrines 1 · Question 54

Commentary on Daniel · Chapter 9 · Doctrines 1 · Question 54

p. 31954. Quest. Of the iust computation of the yeares of the Grecian Monarchie.

Hauing the certentie of the yeares of the Persian Monarchie in generall, the next part of the 490. yeares, decyphered in the 70. weekes, consisteth in the due examination of the yeares of the kingdome of the Grecians: where there are fiue seuerall accounts. 1. by the raigne of the kings of Syria, 2. by the yeares of the high Priests, 3. by the yeares of the captaines and Princes of the Iewes, 4. by the yeares of the kings of Egypt, 5. by the Olympiades.

1. By the Syrian kings, the account is vncerten: there are numbred of them in all from Seleucus Nicanor, the first king and founder of the familie of the Seleucians, to Seleucus the sonne of Gryphus 19. kings: their particular names, with the yeares of their raigne, it is not needefull here to set downe: we shall hauehave further occasion to deale with them in particular in the 11. chapter. But the reason why the account taken by them is not certen; is this: because the kingdome of Syria, beganne 15. yeares after Alexanders death, and after the kingdome of Egypt, and it ended aboue 50. yeares before the kingdome of the Herodians began in Iudea, about which time the raigne of Cleopaora, the last Queene and Regent of Egypt, expired.

p. 3202. Likewise there is small certentie in the account taken by the yeares of the high Priests. Montanus setteth them downe in this order vntounto the time of Herod.

The whole summe ariseth to 293. yeares or thereabout: in which account we want 7. yeares of the full number, which is allowed to the Greeke Monarchie, which is 300. yeares: and beside there is some variance in the particular account: for vntounto Eleazar the third in the foresaid number, Philo giueth but 20. yeares, Eusebius 23. to Onias Bullinger appointeth but 25. yeares, Montanus 27. And the like difference may be found in the rest: as Oecolampad. giueth but 26. to Ioannes Hircanus, Montanus and Bullinger allow him 31. to Aristobulus and Hircanus he giueth 34. yeares, the other two count but 26. betweene them, So then this reckoning by the yeares of the high Priests is vncerten, and the rather, because the times were corrupt, and confused: they were made high Priests for money, and sometime one was vp, and an other downe.

3. The third kind of reckoning is by the yeares of the Princes and captains, ioyned with the yeares of the kings of Syria. Oecolampad. thus setteth downe the yeares of the kings of Syria vntounto the time of the Macchabees, and then the yeares of the Macchabees in this order.

Both these summes put together make 292. there wanteth 6. to make vp 300. yeares. And beside, there is great variance and difference about the summe of these yeares: Montanus setteth downe an other account of the Hebrewes, who allow vntounto the kingdome of the Grecians 175. yeares, before the time of the Macchabees, to whose gouernment they assigne but an 103. yeares, which make in all but 278. here want 22. yeares of 300. Melancthon much differeth not from the last account: he giueth vntounto Alexander 7. yeares, to the Seleucians vntounto Iudas Macchabeus 146. to the Macchabees from Iudas vntounto Herod 127. the whole summe is 280. there yet are wanting 20. yeares. The former of these numbers agreeth with the account of yeares in the booke of the Macchabees, where it is said, that Antiochus died in the 149. yeare, 1. Macchab. 6. 16. and three yeare before that Iudas Macchabeus beganne to oppose himselfe against the tyrannie of Autiochus Epimanes. Hitherto then we can hauehave no certentie for the iust number of these yeares.

4. The fourth way is to proceede by the account of the yeares of the Ptolomes of Egypt: for Ptolomeus Lagi beganne his gouernment immediatly after Alexanders death: and Cleopatra the daughter of Ptolome Auletes raigned in Egypt to the beginning of Herods raigne in Iewrie, and somewhat after: their yeares are set downe thus, according to the computation of Clemens Alexandrinus, which M. Br. followeth:

p. 321And in this account likewise there is great vncertentie. Tertullian. 1. lib. contr. Iudaeos, setteth downe the kings with their yeares of raigne thus:

This summe commeth short of 300, by 15. and beside here are 12. yeares giuen vntounto Alexanders raigne after Darius, whereas he raigned but 6. or at the most 7. after the finall ouerthrow of the Persians: he raigned in all 12. yeares, but after Darius was vanquished, 6. onelyonly or 7. which Tertullian counteth 12. yeares. And further, whereas Clemens Alexandrinus reckoneth for the Grecian Monarchie three hundreth yeares, some doe exceede that number, as Epiphanius addeth 12. yeares more: some come short, as Suidas, in Adam counteth lesse by 30. yeares.

5. The last way then to know the iust number of yeares for the kingdome of the Greeks, is by the Olympiads, which is a sure reckoning, as is before declared, qu. 35. for the Greeke affaires. Alexander died in the 1. yeare of the 114. Olympiad, as Arrianus, and most Chronologers doe hold: and our blessed Sauiour suffered in the 1. of the 203. Olympiad, Ioseph. Scallig. the yeares betweene these two Olympike yeares amount to 356. and with Alexanders 6. yeares, 362. Iun. annotat. from whence 62. must be aba…ed from the ende of Cleopatraes raigne, vntounto the passion of our blessed Sauiour: so there will remaine iust 300. yeares within two for the Greeke Monarchie. Polanus much differeth not counting by the yeares of the building of Rome: Alexander died in the 430. yeare of the age of Rome, and Ierusalem was destroyed in the 822. yeare: then diducting 38. yeares from thence backward to the passion of Christ, (which Bullinger maketh 40. placing the destruction of Ierusalem 2. yeares later. in the 824. yeare of Rome) and 60. or 61. to the ende of Cleopatraes gouernment: and there will by this account also remaine 300. yeares for the kingdome of the Grecians.

So then we hauehave toward the number of 490. yeares, first from Cyrus 1. to the ende of the Persian Monarchie, an 130. yeares, and then 300. yeares for the gouernment of the Grecians: there remaine 60. yeares from the ende of Cleopatra her raigne, in the 4. yeare of Herod, in whose 30. Christ was borne, vntounto the passion of Christ in the 34. of his age, but 33. complete, which make vp the 60. yeares▪ And so riseth the iust summe of 490. yeares, contained in Daniels 70. weekes. Thus by Gods gracious assistance hauehave I waded through this bottomlesse depth of Daniels 70. weekes, which I hold to be simply the most difficult and inextricable question in the olde Testament. Now it is time, that I proceede to discusse the words of the text: but first I will lay together in one view the sundrie interpretations of these 70. weekes, which hauehave beene dispersedly handled before.