Commentary on Daniel, Chapter 9 · Doctrines 1 · Question 3 – Question 4
3. Quest. Whether in the first yeare of Darius the Chaldean Monarchie was dissolued and the 70. yeares captiuitie ended, against the opinion of Iosephus Scalling. lib. 6.
Iosephus Scalliger, a man of excellent learning, who for his singular labours in that learned and exquisite worke, which he hath written of the emendation of the times hath highly deserued of all men, yet is in diuers points ouerseene, and especially in this matter concerning the ende of the Chaldean Monarchie, and of the Iewish captiuitie: for lib. 6. of that worke he hath these positions.
1. He affirmeth, that the Chaldean state was not dissolued in the 70. yeare of the captiuitie, but rather in the 60. yeare: for from the 8. yeare of Ieconias captiuitie vntounto the ende of the Chaldean gouernment, are found saith he, by Iosephus computation, who therein followeth Berosus, about 60. yeares: 36. yeares remained after the 8. yeare of Nabuchadnezzers raigne when the captiuitie beganne, who raigned in all 43. yeares: after Nabuchadnezzer Euilmerodach 2. yeares, then Niglasar 4. yeares, Labosardach 9. moneths, and Nabonidus, whome Cyrus ouercame, 17. yeares.
2. He thinketh that Cyrus did not take Babylon in the first yeare of his raigne, but many yeares after when he had vanquished Cresus the rich king of Lydia, two yeares after that, as Herodotus writeth, he ouercame the Chaldeans: But Cresus was ouercome, as Eusebius doth cast the time, in the 4. yeare of the 57. Olympiad, whereas Cyrus began to raigne in the 1. yeare of the 53. Olyampiad.
3. The first yeare of Cyrus he would hauehave concurre with the 46. yeare of the captiuitie, not with the 70. yeare: for the beginning of Cyrus raigne, as is before shewed, was in the 1. yeare of the 55. Olympiade: And Babylon was taken in the 2. yeare of the 58. Olympiade, which was the 14. yeare of Cyrus, and the 60. yeare of the captiuitie.
4. A fourth assertion is, that the captiuitie ended in the last yeare of Cyrus, about the 2. yeare of the 62. Olympiad, when as Cyrus had now subdued many countries, which could not be in the beginning of his raigne: for thus Cyrus saith in his Edict for the returne of the Iewes, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the Lord God of heauen giuen vntounto me: And whereas it is there called the 1. yeare of Cyrus, that is not to be vnderstood of his raigne, but of the captiuitie: for so the Iewes began their account of yeares from that time.
Contra. 1. The first position is contrarie to that prophesie of Ieremie, c. 35. 12. When the 70. yeares are accomplished, I will visit the king of Babel, &c. then the 70. and last yeare of the captiuitie, and the dissolution of the Babylonian state, must fall out together: as for that computation of Berosus of the yeares of the Babylonian kings, it is vncerten: neither doth Iosephus alwaies follow it, who els where ioyneth the last yeare of the captiuitie, with the first yeare of Cyrus.
2. Herodotus is deceiued much in his historie in the order of time, and in the computation of yeares, as is euident in this one instance; Nitocris the mother of Balshazar, whome he calleth Labynitus the last king of Babylon, he maketh but fiue generations or descents from Semiramis: which exceedeth not an 165. yeares, counting a generation at 33. yeares, or at the most 500. yeares, if we giuegive an 100. yeares to a generation: whereas the most writers are of opinion, as Hierome, Eusebius, Orosius, Augustine, with others, that there were at the least a 1000. yeares betweene them.
3. The two last assertions may euidently be conuinced by the Scripture, which expressely setteth downe, that the returne of the Iewes, and so the ende of their captiuitie, was in the first yeare of Cyrus: which must be vnderstood of his raigne ouer Chaldea, for he had raigned before in Persia, and Darius in Media: he might say all kingdomes were giuen him, because he had ouercome the large Empire of Babylon. The Iewes indeede accounted their owne yeares from such notable deliuerances, as from their going out of Egypt, from their returne out of Chaldea: but there is no reason so to account the yeares of the raigne of forren kings, neither can any such president be shewed in Scripture.
4. Quest. Of the 70. yeares of captiuitie in what sense they are called seuen generations, Baruch. 6. 2.
Whereas the Prophet Ieremie defineth and setteth downe the tearme of the Babylonian captiuitie, to be 70. yeares, c. 25. v. 11, 12. c. 29. v. 10. it seemeth strange, that Baruch, c. 6. 2. should say, that they should remaine in Babylon seuen generations: to this obiection diuers answers are made by the Romanists, who hold the epistle of Baruch to be Canonicall.
1. The word generation, is taken diuersly: sometimes for 7. yeares, as when the Physi…ians prescribe that a child should not be let blood till he hath accomplished two generations, that is, 14. yeares. Eusebius taketh a generation for 20. yeares: Herodotus sometime for the space of 2…. yeares, sometime for 33. yeares: Diodorus for 30. yeares: in which sense H… mer saith Nestor liued three ages, that is 90. yeares: Dyonisius Halycarnass. by a generation vnderstandeth an 100. yeares: and so it is taken in Scripture, Gen. 15. 13. 16. foure generations are expounded to be foure hundred yeares. Beside these diuers acceptions of the word generation, Carthusianus taketh it for the age of a man apt for generation, which is at 14. yeares: whereof fiue doe make 70. yeares: the first and last are reckoned exclusive, exclusiuely: as the like instance he giueth in the Euangelists, where Mathew saith Christ was transfigured after sixe daies, c. 17. Luke saith after eight, exclusiuely: But this is a very forced exposition: for to what ende should seuen generations be named, if they were onelyonly fiue: neither can it be shewed out of the Scriptures, that a generation is taken for 14. yeare….
2. The same Carthusian hath an other exposition, that the number of seuen is taken for perfection, and so by 7. generations he meaneth the perfect periode of a mans life, which is seauentie yeares: as it is defined, Psal. 90. But this rather should hauehave beene named one generation, then seuen: for one mans life maketh but one generation.
3. Pererius hath diuerse answers, by seuen generations he vnderstandeth many: but the captiuitie lasted not many generations, seeing Daniel sawe the beginning and ende thereof.
4. By a generation he vnderstandeth the tearme of 15. yeares, because at that age men are apt for generation: then 5. of these generations were complete, and two of them the first and last were but begunne onelyonly.
5. Or Ieremie speaketh of the captiuitie which beganne with Iechonias, Baruch of that which tooke beginning vnderunder Zedekiah: or Ieremie defineth the time of that captiuitie, which ended in the first yeare of Cyrus, Baruch of that which held vntounto the seuenth yeare of Artaxerxes, when diuerse of the Iewes returned with Zorobabel: But if they will hauehave Baruch a Prophet, he must not crosse Ieremies prophesie, to beginne the time determined of 70. yeares captiuitie sooner, or to ende it later.
6. The onelyonly solution is, that this epistle of Baruch is Apochryphall, and this is an euident argument thereof, because he calleth this tearme of 70. yeares, 7. generations, which hath no warrant out of Scripture, and therein disagr…eth from the Prophet Ieremie.