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DISSERTATIONS 
 
 ON 
 
 THE PROPHECIES, 
 
 WHICH HAVE BEE^r 
 
 REMARKABLY FULFILLED, 
 
 AND 
 
 AT THIS TIME ARE FULFILLING IN THE WORLD. 
 
 / 
 
 BY THOMAS NEWTON, D. D. 
 
 LATE LORD BISHOP OF BRISTOL. 
 
 TO WHICH ARE ADDED, 
 
 A number of Original Notes, and a Supplement, containing 
 
 Extracts from the writings of 
 
 Owen, Usher, Broum, Knox, Gill, More, &c. 
 
 . A NEW EDITION, 
 
 IN WHICH THE 
 
 GREEK, LATIN, AND OTHER QUOTATIONS, 
 
 .ire translated into English. 
 
 IJV THREE VOLUMES. .-^^^S' 
 
 / 
 
 VOL. L ;,0v .? 
 
 PHILADELPHIA : 
 PUBLISHED BT JAMES MAHTIJ^, 
 
 No. 369, Market-street. 
 
 Stiles, printer. /"T^ 
 
 1813. -wf 
 
District of Pennsylvania ^ to wit: 
 
 BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the twenty-seventh da> 
 of May, in the thirty-seventh year of the independence of the 
 United States of America, A. D. 1813, James Martin, of the said 
 District, hath deposited in thi« office ^^^f ^^^^ «^^ ^;°^> .'„^^^ 
 -/ight whereof he claims as proprietor, m the words following, 
 to wit : 
 
 *' Dissertatiom on ihe Prophecies, -^chich have been re^narko^ly 
 fuimetU find at this time are fulJiUii.g in the -.oorhl By Tho. 
 mas JK'e^oton, D. D. kite J^ord Bishop of Bristol, lo -wnich 
 are added, a number of original J\otes, and a Supplement, con- 
 taining Extracts frojn the ivritings of 0~uen, Usher, Broivn, 
 Knox, Gill, More, SJc. A neiu edition, in -ivhich the Greek, 
 Latin, and other Quotations are traiislated into English. In 
 three volumes. Vol. 7." 
 In conformity to the Act of the Congress of the United States, 
 .ntitiiled, " An Act for the Encouragement of Learning, by se- 
 curing the Copies of Maps, Charts, :uid Books, to the Authors 
 und I'roprictors of sucli Copies, during tlie times therein men- 
 tioned." And also lo the Act, entitled, " An Act supplemen- 
 tary to An Act, entitled, " An Act. for the Encouragement of 
 Learning, by securing the Copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, 
 to the Authors and Proprietors of such Copies duri^ng the times 
 therein mentioned," and extending the benefits tliereof to the 
 Arts of designing, engraving, and etching historical and other 
 prints." 
 
 n. CALDWELL, 
 Clerk of tlie District of rennsvlvania. 
 
TO HIS GRACE THE 
 
 LORD ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY: 
 
 (DR. HERRING.) 
 
 MAY IT PLEASE VOUR GRACE, - 
 
 WITH your wonted condescension and 
 goodness to accept this oifering from my hands, 
 as a testimony of my veneration for your grace, 
 and of my gratitude for your favours to me. A 
 work of this kind I could not indeed address to 
 any one so properly as to your grace, on account 
 of your eminent station, and much more on ac- 
 count of your amiable qualities, and more still 
 as I have the happiness to live under you^pecu- 
 liar jurisdiction ; and your grace is very kind in 
 permitting me to inscribe it to your name, which 
 kindness I will not abuse with the usual style of 
 dedications. Your grace's virtues are so well 
 known, and so universally esteemed, as to stand 
 in need of no commendation, and much less of 
 mine. 
 
 I would rather beg leave to apprise your 
 grace, and the reader, of the design of these 
 dissertations : which is not to treat of the pro- 
 phecies in general, nor even of those prophecies 
 in particular, which were fulfilled in the person 
 and actions of our Saviour ; but only of such as 
 relate more immediately to these later ages, and 
 
iv DEDICATION. 
 
 are in some measure receiving their accomplish- 
 ment at this time. What first suggested the 
 design, were some conversations formerly with 
 a great general,^ who had for many years the 
 chief command in the army, and was a man of 
 good understanding, and of some reading, but 
 unhappily had no great regard for revealed re- 
 ligion or the clergy. When the prophecies were 
 urged as a proof of revelation, he constantly de- 
 rided the notion, asserted that there was no such 
 thing, and that the prophecies which were pre- 
 tended, were written after the events. It was- 
 immediately replied, that though such a thing 
 might with less scruple and more confidence be 
 affirmed of some prophecies fulfilled long ago, 
 }'et it could never be proved of any, the con- 
 trary might be proved almost to a demonstra- 
 tion : but it could not be so much as affirmed of 
 several prophecies without manifest absurdity ; 
 Ibr there were several prophecies in scripture, 
 which were not fulfilled till these later ages, and 
 were fulfilling even now, and consequently could 
 not be framed after the events, but imdeniably 
 \vere written and published many ages before. 
 He was startled at this, and said he must ac- 
 kno\vledge, that if this point could be proved to 
 satisfaction, there would be no argument against 
 such plain matter of fact ; it would certainly con- 
 \ ince him, and he believed would be the readi- 
 est Avay to convince every reasonable man, of 
 the truth of revelation. 
 
 * Marshal Wade. 
 
DEDICATIOX. V 
 
 It was this occasion, my Lord, that first gave 
 rise to these dissertations, wlilc.h were originally 
 drawn up in the form of some sernions. But 
 since that time, they have been new-modelled, 
 much altered, and much enlarged, and confirm- 
 ed by proper authorities. And tliough some of 
 them only are here published, yet each disserta- 
 tion may be considered as a distinct treatise by 
 itself. It is hoped indeed, tliat the wliole, like 
 an arch, w^iil add strength and firmness to each 
 part ; but at the same time, care hath been ta- 
 ken, that the parts should have strength in them- 
 selves, as well as a relation to the whole, and a 
 connection with each other. The publication 
 therefore of some parts cannot be improper ; and 
 the others shall go to the press, so soon as an in- 
 different share of health, constant preaching twice 
 a day, and other necessary duties and avocations 
 will permit me to put the finisliing hand to 
 them. 
 
 Every reader must know, your grace, and 
 every scholar must know more especially, that 
 such works are not to be precipitated. They 
 require time and learned leisure, great reading 
 and great exactness, being disquisitions cf'some 
 of the most curious points of history, as Vvell as 
 explications of some of the most difficult pas- 
 sages of scripture. And I should not presume 
 to offer any of them to your grace, or to sub- 
 mit them to the public censure, if they had not 
 been first perused and corrected by some of my 
 friends, and particularly by three of the best 
 schoiarsj and ablest critics of this age, Bishop 
 
vl DEDICATION, 
 
 Pearce, Dr. Warburton, and Dr. Jortin ; who 
 were also my friendly coadjutors in my edition 
 of Milton ; and as they excel in all good learn- 
 ing themselves, so they are very ready to pro- 
 mote and assist the well-meant endeavours of 
 others. 
 
 When the other parts shall appear, they sliall 
 likewise beg your grace's patronage and protec- 
 tion. And in the mean time may your grace's 
 health be re-established, and continue many 
 vears for the good of this church and nation ! 
 It is nothing to say that it is my earnest wish : 
 It is the wish of all mankind : but of none more 
 ardently than, 
 
 May it please your grace, 
 
 Your grace's most dutiful, 
 
 and obliged, 
 
 and obedient servant, 
 
 THOMAS NEWTON. 
 
 9tiA. 5. 1731. 
 
DISSERTATIONS 
 
 . PROPHECIES 
 
 WHICH HAVE 
 
 KEM AUK ABLY BEEN FULFILLED, AND AT THIS TLME 
 ARE FULFILLING IN THE WORLD. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ONE of the strongest evidences for the truth of 
 revealed religion, is that series of prophecies which 
 is preserved in the Old and New Testament ; and a 
 greater service perhaps could not be done to Chris- 
 tianity than to lay together the several predictions of 
 scripture with their completions, to show how parti- 
 cularly things have been foretold, and. how exactly 
 fulfilled. A work of this kind was desired by the 
 Lord Bacon in his Advancement of Learning :* and 
 he intitleth it the kistoi'y of prophecy^ and therein 
 would have " every prophecy of the scripture be 
 sorted with the event fulfilling the same throughout 
 the ages of the world, both for the better confirma- 
 tion of faith," as he saith, " and for the better illu- 
 mination of the church, touching those parts of pro- 
 phecies which are yet unfulfilled : allowing never- 
 theless that latitude which is agreeable and familiar 
 unto divine prophecies, being of the nature of the 
 author, with whom a thousand years are but as one 
 
 ♦ Book II. in English. 
 
viii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 (lay, and therefore they are not fulfilled punctually 
 at once, but have springing and germinant accom- 
 plishment throughout many ages, though the heighth 
 or fulness of them may refer to some one age." 
 
 Such a work would indeed be a wonderful confir- 
 mation of our faith, it being the prejogative of God 
 alone, or of those who are commissioned by him, 
 certainly to foretel future events ; and the conse- 
 quence is so plain and necessary, from the believing 
 of prophecies to the believing of revelation, that an 
 infidel hath no way of evading the conclusion but by 
 denying the premises. But why should it be thought 
 at all incredible for God upon special occasions to 
 foretel future events ? or how could a divine revela- 
 tion (onh supposing that there was a divine revela- 
 tion) be better attested and confirmed than by pro- 
 phecies ? It is certain that God hath perfect and most 
 exact knowledge of futurity, and foresees all things 
 to come as well as comprt-hends every thing past or 
 present. It is certain too, that as he knoweth them 
 perfectly himself, so he may reveal them to others 
 in what degrees and proportions he pleaseth ; and 
 that he actually hath revealt-d them in several instan- 
 ces, no man can deny, every man must acknowledge, 
 who compares the several prophecies of scripture 
 with the events fulfilling the same. 
 
 But so many ages have passed since the spirit of 
 prophecy hath ceased in the world, that several per- 
 sons are apt to imagine, that no such thing ever ex- 
 isted, and that what we call predictions are only his- 
 tories written, after the events had happened, in a 
 prophetic style and manner : which is easily said in- 
 deed, but hath never been proved, nor is there one 
 tolerable argument to prove it. On the contrary 
 there are all the proofs and authorities, which can be 
 had in cast* s of this nature, that the prophets prophe- 
 sied in such and such ages, and the events happened 
 afterwards in such and such ages : and you have as 
 much reason to believe these, as you have to believe 
 
ESTTRODUCTION. ix 
 
 ^ny ancient matters of fact whatever; and by the 
 same rule that you deny these, you might as well 
 deny the credibility of all ancient history. 
 
 But such is the temper and genius of infidels ; 
 * they understand neither what they say, nor whereof 
 they affirm ;' and so betray their own ignorance, ra- 
 ther than acknowledge the force of divine truth ; and 
 assert things without the least shadow or colour of 
 proof, rather than admit the strongest proofs of di- 
 vine revelation. It betrays ignorance indeed, alto- 
 gether unworthy of persons of liberal education, not 
 to know when such and such authors flourished, and 
 such and such remarkable events happened ; and it 
 must be something worse than ignorance to assert 
 things without the least shadow or colour of proof, 
 contrary to all the marks and characters by which 
 we judge of the truth and genuineness of ancient au- 
 thors, contrary to the whole tenor of history, both 
 sacred and profane, which in this respect give won- 
 derful light and assistance to each other; and yet 
 these are the men, who would be thought to see far- 
 ther and to know more than other people, and will 
 believe nothing without evident proof and demon- 
 stration. 
 
 The facts, say they, were prior to the predictions, 
 and the prophecies were written after the histories. 
 But what if we should be able to prove the truth of 
 prophecy, and consequently the truth of revelation, 
 not by an induction of particulars long ago foretold, 
 and long ago fulfilled, the predictions whereof you 
 may therefore suppose to have been written after the 
 histories, but by instances of things which have con- 
 fessedly many ages ago been foretold, and have in 
 these latter ages been fulfilled, or are fulfilling at this 
 very time ; so that you cannot possibly pretend the 
 prophecies to have been written after the events, but 
 must acknowledge the events many ages after to cor- 
 respond exactly with the predictions many ages be- 
 fore ? This province we will now enter upon, this 
 
X INTHODUCTION. 
 
 task we will undertake, and will not only produce in- 
 stances of things foretold with the greatest clearness 
 in ages preceding, and iulfilled with the greatest ex- 
 actness in ages following, if there is any truth in his- 
 tory sacred or profane ; but we will also (to cut up 
 the ol)jection entirely by the roots) insist chiefly upon 
 such prophecies, as are known to have been written 
 and published in books many ages ago, and yet are 
 receiving their completion, in part at least, at this 
 very day. 
 
 For this is one great excellency of the evidence 
 drawn from prophecy for the truth of religion, that 
 it is a g-roxuing- evidence ; and the more prophecies 
 are fulfilled, the more testimonies there are and con- 
 firmations of the truth and certainty of divine reve- 
 lation. And in this respect we have eminently the 
 advantage over those, who lived even in the days of 
 Moses and the prophets, of Christ and his apostles. 
 They were happy indeed in hearing their discourses 
 and seeing their miracles, and doubtless * many righ- 
 teous men have desired to see those things which 
 they saw and have not seen them, and to hear those 
 things which they heard and have not heard them ;' 
 Mat. xiii. 17. but yet I say we have this advantage 
 over them, that several things, v/hich were then only 
 foretold, are now fulfilled ; and what were to them 
 only matters of faith, are become mattery of fact and 
 certainty to us, upon whom the latter ages of the 
 world are come. God in his goodness hath afforded 
 to every age sufficient evidence of the truth. Mira- 
 cles may be said to have been the great proofs of re- 
 velation to the first ages who saw them performed, 
 Prophecies may be said to be the great proofs of re- 
 velation to the last ages who see them fulfilled. All 
 pretence too for denying the prophecies of scripture 
 is by these means absolutely precluded ; for how can 
 it be pretended that the prophecies were written af- 
 ter the events, when it appears that the latest of these 
 prophecies were written and published in books near 
 
INTRODUCTION. Xl 
 
 1 TOO years ago, and the events have, many of them, 
 been accomplished several ages after the predictions, 
 or perhaps are accomplishing in the world at this 
 present time ? You are therefore reduced to this ne- 
 cessity, that you must either renounce your senses, 
 and deny what you may read in your bibles, together 
 with what you may see and observe in the world; 
 or else must acknowledge the truth of prophecy, and 
 in consequence of that the truth of divine revelation. 
 Many of the principal prophecies of scripture will, 
 by these means, come under our consideration, and 
 they may be best considered with a view to the se- 
 ries and order of time. The subject is curious as it 
 is important, and will be very well worth my pains 
 and your attention ; and though it turn chiefly upon 
 points of learning, yet I shall endeavour to render it 
 as intelligible, and agreeable, and edifying as I can 
 to all sorts of readers. It is hoped the work will 
 prove the more generally acceptable, as it will not 
 consist merely of abstract speculative divinity, but 
 will be enlivened with a proper intermixture of his- 
 tory, and will include several of the most material 
 transactions from the beginning of the world to this 
 day. 
 
 To this edition various notes are added, particu- 
 larly at the commencement and close of the work, 
 with a view of illustrating the observations of the ex- 
 cellent author, and showing how time continues to 
 confirm the prophecies of the divine word. Nearly 
 sixty years have elapsed since our author wrote. 
 Subsequent events, to an important extent, confirm 
 the persuasion that " the word of the Lord is true 
 and righteous altogether." 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 OF 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Page 7—11. 
 Pr(3phecies one of the strongest proofs of revelation, p. 7. A 
 history of prophecy desired by Lord Bacon, 7. The conse- 
 quence plain from the believing of prophecies to the believ- 
 ing of revelation, 8. The objection that the prophecies were 
 written after the events, groundless, and betrays great igno- 
 i*ance, or something worse, 9. The truth of prophecy may 
 be proved by instances of things fulfilling at this very time, 9. 
 The evidence drawn from prophecy, a growing evidence, 10. 
 Miracles the great proofs of revelation to the first ages. Pro- 
 phecies to the last, 10. The necessity to which infidels are 
 reduced, either to renounce their senses, or to admit the truth 
 of revelation, 11. Most of the principal prophecies of scrip- 
 ture will be comprehended in this work, as well as several of 
 the most material transactions in history, 11. 
 
 DISSERTxlTION I. 
 
 NOAH'S PROPHECY. 
 
 p. 25—42. 
 Very few prophecies till Noah, p. 25. Noah*s drunkenness, and 
 the behaviour of his sons thereupon, 26. In consequence of 
 their different behaviour he was enabled to foretel the differ- 
 ent fortunes of their families, 27. The prophecy, 27. Not 
 to be understood of particular persons, but of whole nations, 
 27, 28. The curse upon Canaan, a curse upon the Canaanites 
 for their wickedness, 28. The wickedness of the Canaanites 
 very great, 29. The curse particularly implies the subjection 
 of the descendants of Canaan to the descendants of Shem and 
 Japheih, 30. The completion of this shown from the time 
 of Joshua to this day, 31. A different reading proposed of' 
 VOL. I. B 
 
XIV CONTENTS. 
 
 Ham the fatlier of Canaan instead of Canaan, 32. The curse 
 in tills larger sense also shown to be fulfilled from the earliest 
 times to the present, 33, 34 The promise lo Shem of the 
 Lord being his God, how fulfilled, 34. The promise of en- 
 largement to Japheth, an allusion to his name, A5. How ful- 
 filled both in former and in later times, 36. The following 
 clause, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem, capable of 
 two senses, and in both punctually fulfilled, 37. Conclusion, 
 57. A mistake of Mr. Mede corrected, 38. Lord Bolingbroke 
 censured for his indecent reflections on this prophecj', 39. 
 His ignorance about the Codex Alexandrinus, 40. His blun- 
 der about the Roman historians, 40, 41, His sneer about be- 
 lievers refuted, 41. Condemned by himself, 41. Had great 
 talents, but misapplied them, 42. 
 
 DISSERTATION II. 
 
 THE PROPHECIES CONCERNING ISHMAEL. 
 
 p. 42—58. 
 Abraham favoured wnth several revelations, p. 42. Those con- 
 cerning Ishmael or the Ishmaelites, 42. The promise of a 
 numerous posterity, how fulfilled, 43. The promise of twelve 
 princes, how fulfilled, 44. The promise of a great nation, 
 how fulfilled, 44. The saying that he should be a wild man, 
 how fulfilled, 45. The saying that his hand should be against 
 every man and every man's hand against him, how fulfilled, 
 46. The saying that he should dwell in the presence of all 
 his brethren, how fulfilled, 46. The Ishmaelites or Arabians 
 have fi-om first to last maintained their independency, 47. 
 Against the Egyptians and Assyrians, 48. Against the Per- 
 sians, 48. Against Alexander and his successoi^s, 48, 49. 
 Against the Romans, 49. Their state under Mohammed, and 
 since his time, and now under the Turks, 50, 51. Dr. Shaw's 
 account of them, 53. Bishop Pocock's, 53. And Mr. Han- 
 way's, 54. Conclusion, 55. Wonderful that they shotdd re- 
 tain the same manners for so many ages, 56. More wonderful 
 that they should still remain a free people, 57. The Jews and 
 Arabs in some respects resemble each other, 57, 58. 
 
CONTENTS. Xy 
 
 DISSERTATION III. 
 
 THE PROPHECIES CONCERNING JACOB AND ESAU. 
 
 p. 58—71. 
 More prophecies concerning- the posterity of Isaac than of Ish- 
 mael, p. 58 The promise of the blessed sctd, how fulfilled, 
 58. The promise of the land of Canaan, how fulfilled, 58, 59. 
 The p omise of a numerous posterity, how fulfilled, 59. The 
 promises concerning- Esau and Jacob, 60. Not verified in 
 themselves, but in their posterity, 61. Comprehend several 
 particulars, 61. I. The families of Esau and Jacob two differ- 
 ent people and nations, 62, 63. 11. The family of the elder 
 subject lo that of the younger, 64, 65. 111. In situation and 
 other temporal advantages much alike, 65, 66. IV. The el- 
 der branch delighted more in war and violence, but subdued 
 by the younger, 67, 68. V The elder at one time shook ofiT 
 the dominion of the younger, 68, 69. YI. In all spiritual gifts 
 and graces the younger superior, and the happy instrument 
 of conveying the blessing to all nations, 69, 70. Conclusion^ 
 70. The prophecies fulfilled in the utter destruction of the 
 Edomites, 70, 71. 
 
 DISSERTATION IV. 
 
 JACOB'S PROPHECIES CONCERNING HIS SONS, 
 PARTICULARLY JUDAH. 
 
 p. 71-89. 
 An opinion of great antiquity, that the soul near death grew 
 prophetic, 71. Jacob upon his death-bed foretold his sons 
 what should befal them in the last days, the meaning of that 
 phrase, 73. Jacob bequeaths the temporal blessing to all his 
 sons, the spiritual to Judah, 74. Tiie prophecies concerning 
 several tribes, how fulfilled, 75. The temporal blessing how 
 fulfilled to Judah, 76. The spiritual blessing, 77- I. An ex- 
 planation of the words and meaning of the prophecy, 77 — 83. 
 The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, explained, 77 ^ 78. 
 Nor a law-giver from between his feet, explained, 79. Shiloh 
 in all the various senses of the word shown to be the Mes- 
 siah, 80. Le Clerc's singular interpretation, 81. J-T'/s as well 
 as Christians have by Shiloh generally understood the Mes- 
 siah, 82. And unto him shall the gathering of the people be, 
 capable of three different constructions, 82, 85. II. The com- 
 pletion of the prophecy, 83 — 89. Judah hereby constituted a. 
 
xvi Contents. 
 
 tribe or body politic, and so continued till the coming of the 
 Messiah and the destruction of Jerusalem, 83 — 85. The lat- 
 ter clause fulfilled in the first sense, and the people gathered 
 to Judah, 85. Fulfilled in the second sense, and the people 
 gathered to the Messiah, 86. Fulfilled in the last sense, and 
 the people gathered to the Messiah before the sceptre's de- 
 parture, 87. The prophecy with regard to Benjamin fulfilled, 
 88. Conclusion that Jesus is the Messiah, 88, 89. 
 
 DISSERTATION V. 
 
 BALAAM'S PROPHECIES. 
 
 p. 89—113. 
 The gift of prophecy not always confined to the chosen seed, or 
 to good men, p. 89. Balaam both a heathen and an immoral 
 man, 90. A ceremony among the Heathens to curse their 
 enemies, 91. The story of Balaam's ass considered, 91. A 
 proper sign to Balaam, and the prophecies render the mira- 
 cle more credible, 93. The style of his prophecies beautiful, 
 94. His prophecy of the singular character of the Jewish na- 
 tion, how fulfilled' even to this day, 95. His prophecy of their 
 victories much the same as Jacob's and Isaac's, 96 His pro- 
 phecy of a king higher than Agag, how fulfilled, 96. His pro- 
 face to his latter prophecies explained, 98. His prophecy of 
 a star and sceptre to smite the princes of Moabj how fulfilled 
 by David, 99. Who meant by the sons of Sheth, 99. His 
 prophecy ag-ainst the Edomifes, how fulfilled by David, 101. 
 This prophecy of the star and the sceptre applied by most 
 Jewish and Christian writers to tlie Messiah, 101, 102. But 
 principally to be understood of David, 103. His prophecy 
 against the Amalekites, how fulfilled, 104. His. prophecy 
 against the Kenites, and who the Kenites were, 106. How 
 fulfilled, 107. His prophecy of ships from the coast of Chit- 
 tim, 108. The land of Chittim shown to be a general name 
 for Greece, Italy, and the countries and islands in the Medi- 
 terranean, 109. How afflict Ashur, 111. How afflict Eber, 
 and who meant by Eber, 111. How perish for ever, 112. 
 Conclusion, 113. 
 
CONTENTS. XVll 
 
 DISSERTATION YI. 
 
 MOSES' PROPHECY OF A PROPHET UKE UNTO 
 HIMSELF. 
 
 p. 113—124. 
 Moses hath not only preserved several ancient prophecies, but 
 hath likewise inserted several of his own, p. 113. His pro- 
 phecy of another prophet like unto himself, 113. 1. What 
 prophet was here particularly intended, 114 — 118. The Mes- 
 siah principally, if not solely, 114. Proved from the conclu- 
 sion of the book of Deuteronomy, 115. From God's declara- 
 tion to Miriam and Aaron, 116. From the text itself, ilG. 
 From this prophet's being- a lawg-iver, 116. From fact, 117. 
 11. The g-reat likeness between Moses and Christ, 118 — 122. 
 Christ resembled Moses in more respects than any other per- 
 son ever did, 118. The comparison between them as drawn 
 by Eusebius, 119. As enlarged and improved by Dr. Jortin, 
 119, 120. His conchision from thence, 122. HI. The punish- 
 ment of the people for their infidelity and disobedience to 
 this prophet, 122—124. 
 
 DISSERTATION YII. 
 
 PROPHECIES OF MOSES CONCERNING THE JEWS. 
 
 p. 124—138. 
 Prophecies of Moses abound n^ost in the latter part of his wri- 
 tings, 124. The 28th of Deuteronomy a lively picture of the 
 state of the Jews at present, 124. Prop!iecy of their enemies 
 coming- from far, how fulfilled, 125. Prophecy of the cruelty 
 of their enemies, how fulfilled, 126. Of the sieg-es of their 
 cities, 126. Of their distress and famine in the sieges, 127. 
 Of women eating- their own children, 128. Of their great ca- 
 lamities and slaughters, 130. Of their being carried into 
 Egypt, and sold for slaves at a low price, 130. Of their be- 
 ing plucked from off their own land, 131, 132. Of their be- 
 ing dispersed into all nations, 133. Of their still subsisting 
 as a distinct people, 133. Of their finding no rest, 133. Of 
 their being oppressed and spoiled, 134. Of their children ta- 
 ken from them, 135. Of their madness and desperation, 135. 
 Of their serving otlier gods, 136. Of their becoming a pro- 
 verb, and a by-word, 137. Of the long continuance of them, 
 137. Conclusion, 138. 
 
 B 2 
 
XViU CONTENTS. 
 
 DISSERTATION VIII. 
 
 PROPHECIES OF OTHER PROPHETS CONCERNING 
 THt: JEWS. 
 
 p. 138—163. 
 Other prophecies relative to ihe present state of the Jews, p. 
 138. I. The prophecies concerning- the restoration of the two 
 tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and the dissolution of the ten 
 tribes, 139 — 146. The restoration of the two tribes foretold 
 to be after 70 years, 139. Fulfilled at three periods, 139. The 
 ten tribes to cease from being* a people within 65 years, 144. 
 The prophecy how fulfilled, 141. What is become of them 
 since, and where are they at present, 142. Vain conjectures 
 of the Jews thereupon, 142, 143. Not all returned with the 
 two tribes, 143. Not all swallowed up and lost among- the 
 heathen nations, 144. Whether they remained, or wliether 
 they returned, they ceased from being a distinct people, and 
 were all comprehended under the name of Jews, 144, 145. 
 The reason of this distinction between the two tribes and 
 the ten tribes, 146. II. The preservation of the Jews, and 
 the destruction of their enemies, 146 — 149. The preserva- 
 tion of the Jews, one of the most illustrious acts of divine 
 providence, 147. Nor less the providence of God in the de- 
 struction of their enemies, 148. Not only nations but sing-le 
 persons, 149. HI. The desolation of Judea another memora- 
 ble instance of the truth of prophecy, 149 — 155. Foretold by 
 the prophets, 149. The present state of Judea answerable to 
 the prophecies, 150. No objection from hence to its having 
 been a land flowing- with milk and honey, 151. The ancients. 
 Heathens as well as Jews testify it to have been a g-ood land, 
 151. Mr. Maundrell's account of its present state, 152, 153. 
 Dr. Shaw's, 152. IV. The prophecies of the infidelity and 
 reprobation of the Jews, how fulfilled, 155—157. V. Of the 
 calling and obedience of the Gentiles, 157. This revolution 
 effected by ir»competent persons, and in a short time, 159. 
 The prophecies concerning the Jews and Gentiles have not 
 yet received their entire completion, 159. What hath been 
 5iccomplislied a sufficient pledge of what is to come, 159, 160. 
 Conclusion dissuading all i)ersecution, and recommending hu- 
 manity and charity to the Jews, 161 — 163. 
 
CONTENTS. XIX 
 
 DISSERTATION IX. 
 
 THE PROPHECIKS CONCERNING NINEVEH. 
 
 p. 163— -181. 
 Some prophecies relating- to other nations which had connec- 
 tions with the Jews, 163. Want of ancient eastern historians 
 to clear up the prophecies, 163. The Assyrians terrible ene- 
 mies to bolh Israel and Judah, 164. Isaiah's prophecy against 
 the Assyrians, 165. Nineveh, the capital of (lie Assyrian em- 
 pire, a most ancient city, 166. An cxceedinir great city like- 
 wise, and the scripture-account confirmed by heathen authors, 
 167. Like other great cities very corrupt, but king- and peo- 
 ple repented, at the preaching- of Jonuh, 169. Some inquiry 
 who this king- was, and at what time Jonah prophesied, 170. 
 Their repentance of short continuance, for Nahvmi not long 
 after foretold the destruction of the city, 170, 171. Some in- 
 quiry when Nahum prophesied, 172. Nineveh accordingly 
 destroyed by the Medes and Babylonians, 172. Some inquiry 
 by whom particularly, 173. Nahum's prophecies of the man- 
 ner of its destruction exactly fulfilled according to the ac- 
 counts of Diodorus Siculus, 173, 174. Nahum and Zephaniah 
 foretold its total destruction contrary to all probability, i76, 
 177. These pi-edictions fulfilled according to the accounts of 
 the ancients, 178. According to the accounts of tJie moderns, 
 179, 180. Conclusion, 180, 181. 
 
 DISSERTATION X. 
 
 THE PROPHECIES CONCERNING BABYLON. 
 
 p. 181—203. 
 Babylon as w^ell as Nineveh an enemy to the people of God, 181. 
 A very great and very ancient city, 181. Considerably im- 
 proved by Nebuchadnezzai-, 182. One of the wonders of the 
 world, 183. Isaiah and Jeremiah foretold its destruction, 183, 
 184. Prophecies of Cyrus the conqueror of Babylon, fulfilled, 
 184. The time of the reduction of Babylon foretold, 185. Se- 
 veral circumstances of tlie siege foretold, 185. Besieged by 
 the Medes and Elamites or Persians, 185, 186. Armenians and 
 other nations united against it, 187. The Babylonians hide 
 themselves within their walls, 187 The river driefl up, 188. 
 The city taken during a feast, 189. The facis related by He- 
 rodotus and Xenophon, and therefore no room for scepticism, 
 189. The prophets foretold its total desolation, 190. These 
 
XX CONTENTS. 
 
 prophecies to be fulfilled by degrees, 191, 193. Its state un- 
 der Cyrus, 192. Under Darius, 192. Under Xerxes, 193. Un- 
 der Alexander and afterwards, 194, 195. The accounts of it 
 since that time, by Diodorus, 195. Strabo, 196. Pliny, 196. 
 Pausanias, 196. Maxinnus Tyrius and Lucian, 197 Jerome, 
 197. Accounts of later authors, of Benjamin of Tudela, 197. 
 Texeira, 198. Hauwolf, 198. Peter de la Valle, 199. Ta- 
 vernier, 199. Mr. Salmon, 200. Mr. Hanway, 200. By these 
 accounts it appears how punctually tlie prophecies have been 
 fulfilled, 201. Conclusion ; such prophecies a convincing- ar- 
 gument of the divinity of the scriptures, and likewise instan- 
 ces of fine writing, and of the spirit of liberty, 202, 203. 
 
 DISSERTATION XI. 
 
 THE PROPHECIES CONCERNING TYRE. 
 
 p. 203—225. 
 Tyre, another enemy to the Jews, its fall predicted by Isaiak 
 and Ezekiel, p. 203. The prophecies relate to both old and 
 new Tyre, 203. A very ancient city, 205. The daughter of 
 Sidon, but in time excelled the mother, and became a mart 
 of nations, 206. In this flourishing condition, when the pro- 
 phets foretold her destruction, for her pride, and wickedness, 
 and cruelty to the Jews, 207, 208. Several particulars inclu- 
 ded in the prophecies, 209. I. The city to be taken and de- 
 stroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldeans, 209 — 211. 
 II. The inhabitants to pass over the Mediterranean, but to 
 find no rest, 211—214. HI. The city to be restored after 70 
 years, 214, 215. IV. To be taken and destroyed again, 215, 
 216. V. The people to forsake idolatry, and become con- 
 verts to the true religion, 218, 219. VI. The city at last to 
 be totally destroyed, and become a place for fishers «to spread 
 their nets upon, 220. These prophecies to be fulfilled by de- 
 grees, 221 A short account of the place from the time of 
 Nebuchadnezzar to the present, 221, 222. Huetius' account 
 of it, 222. Dr. Shaw's, 223. Mr. Maundrell's, 223. Conclu- 
 sion with some reflections upon trade, 224, 225. 
 
 DISSERTATION XII. 
 
 THE PROPHECIES CONCERNING EGYPT. 
 
 p. 225—253. 
 T.gypt famous for its antiquity, p. 225. No less celebrated for 
 its wisdom, 226. The parent of superstition as well as the 
 
CONTENTS. XXI 
 
 mistress of leaniing-, 227- Had such connections with the 
 Jews, that it is made the subject of several prophecies, 227". 
 The phruse.of the burden of Kg-ypt considered iind explained, 
 227 — 229. I. Its conquest by Nebuchudnezxar foretold by 
 Jeremiah and Ezekiel, 229. How fulfilled, 229—232. H. Its 
 conquest by the Persians foretold by Isaiah, and how fulfilled, 
 232 — 236. 111. Its conquest by Alexander foretold by Isaiah, 
 and at the same time the spreading of the true religion in the 
 land, 236, 237. How fulfilled, 237--241. IV. Tlie prophecy 
 of Ezekiel, that it should be a base tributary kingdom, 241. 
 The truth of it shown by a short deduction of the history of 
 Ei?ypt from that time to this, 242 — 253. Its state under the 
 Babylonians, 242. Under the Persians, 243 — 245. Under ihe 
 Macedonians, 245. Under the Romans, 246. Under Uie Sa- 
 racens with the burning- of the Alexandrian Library, 247 — 
 249. Under the Mamalucs, 249. Under the Turks, 250. No 
 one could have foretold this upon hiuTian conjecture, 251. 
 Conclusion with some reflections upon the character of the 
 Eg'}ptians, as drawn by ancient and modern authors, 251 — 
 253. 
 
 DISSERTATION XIII. 
 
 NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S DREAM OF THE GREAT 
 ._ EMPIRES. 
 
 p. 253— 278, 
 Some prophecies relating to inore remote nations, p 253. The 
 genuineness of Daniel's prophecies denied by Porphyry and 
 Collins, but suihciently vindicaled, 254. Tiie credit of Da- 
 niel as a prophet established by prophecies fulfilling at this 
 time, 255. Daniel's first prophecy, his interpretation of Ne- 
 buchadnezzar's dream, with tiie occu.sion of it, 255 — 257. 
 A great human figure not an improper emblem of human 
 power, and the various parts and metals signify various king- 
 doms, 257. I. Tlie head of fine gold, or the Babylonian em- 
 pire, 258, 259. The extent of it shown from heathen authors, 
 259, 260. H. The breast and arms of silver, or the Medo- 
 Persian empire, 260. Whv said to be inferior, and how long 
 it lasted, 261. III. The belly and thighs of brass, or the Ma- 
 cedonian empire, 261. Why said to bear rule over all the 
 earth, 261. The kingdom of Alexander and of his successors 
 not two different kingdoms, 263. Spoken of as one and the 
 same by ancient authors, 263. IV. The legs of iron, and feet 
 part of iron and part of claj-, or the fourth en»pire, 264. Far- 
 ther proofs that t.-iC kingdoms of the Seleucida; and Lagidx 
 cannot be the fourth kingdom, 265. This description appli- 
 
XXll CONTENTS. 
 
 cable only to the Roman empire, 265, 266. So St. Jerome ex- 
 plains it, and all ancient writers both Jewish and Christian, 
 266, 267. V. The stone that brake the image, or the fifth 
 empire, 267 Cannot be the Roman, 268. Can be understood 
 only of the kingdom of Christ, 268, 269 Represented in two 
 states, as a stone, and as a mountain, 269, 270. This inter- 
 pretation confirmed by ancient writers, both Jews and Chris- 
 tians, and particularly by Jonathan Ben Uziel, who made the 
 Chaldee paraphrase upon the prophets, 270. The sense of 
 Josephus with Bishop Chandler's reflections upon it, 271, 272. 
 The ancient Christians give the same interpretation, 272. St. 
 Chrysostom's comment, 273. The exposition of Sulpicius 
 Severus, 274. Conclusion, 275. Hence we are enabled to 
 account, for Nebuchadnezzar's prophecy, and the Delphic 
 oracle, 276. Hence the distinction of four great empires, and 
 why only these four predicted, 277, 278. 
 
 DISSERTATION XIV. 
 
 DANIEL'S VISION OF THE SAME. 
 
 p. 278—311. 
 What was exhibited to Nebuchadnezzar in the form of a great 
 image, was represented to Daniel in the shape of great wild 
 beasts, and why, 278, 279. I The Babylonian empire why 
 compared to a lion, 279. Why with eagle's Avings, 279. Why 
 with a man's heart, 280. II. The Persian empire, why com- 
 pared to a bear, 281. How raised up itself on one side, and 
 had three ribs in the mouth, 281. Its cruelty, 282. 111. The 
 Macedonian empire, why compared to a leopard, 283. Why 
 with four wings and four heads, and dominion given to it, 
 284. IV. The Roman empire compared to a terrible beast 
 without a name, 284. The kingdoms of the Seleucidx and 
 Lagidx, can in no respect answer to this description, 285. 
 The Roman empire answers exactly. A memorable quotation 
 to this purpose, from Dionysius of Halicarnassus, 287- This 
 beast had ten horns or kingdoms, and the kingdoms of Egypt 
 and Syria were never so divided, 288. The notions of Por- 
 phyry, Grotius, and Collins, refuted, 289. The ten kingdoms 
 to be sought amid the broken pieces of the Roman empire, 
 
 289. The ten kingdoms, according to Machiavel, 289. Ac- 
 cording to Mr. Mede, 290. According to Bishop Lloyd, 290. 
 According to Sir Isaac Newton, 290. The same number since, 
 
 290. How they stood in the eighth century, 291. A little 
 liorn to rise up among the ten, 292 The notion of Grotius 
 and Collins, that Antiochus Epiphanes was the little horn, 
 refuted, 292, 293. An inquiry proposed into the sense of the; 
 
CONTENTS. XXlll 
 
 ancients, 293. The opinion of Irenaeus, 293. Of St. Cyril at 
 Jerusalem, 294. Of Si. Jerome with Theodoret and St. Aus- 
 tin 293. The fathei's had some mistaken notions concerning 
 Antichiist, and how it came to pass they had such, 196 — 298. 
 Tlie little horn to be soug-ht among- the ten kingdoms of the 
 western Roman empire, 298. Machiavel himself points out a 
 little horn spnng-uig- up among the ten, 299. Three of the 
 first horns to tall before him, 299. The three according to Mr. 
 Mede, 299. According to Sir Isaac Newton, 300. Something 
 to be approved, and something to be disapproved in both 
 their plans, 300. The first of the three horns, the exarchate 
 of Ravenna, 301. The second, the kingdom of the Lombards, 
 302. The third, the state of Rome, 303. The character an- 
 swers in all other respects, 304. How long Antichrist to 
 contintie, 305, 306. V. All these kingdoms to be succeeded 
 by the kingdom of the Messiah, 307. This and the former 
 prophecy compared together, 309. They extend from the 
 reign of the Babylonians to the consummation of all things,, 
 310. Will cast light upon the subseqtient prophecies, and 
 the subseqtient prophecies reflect light upon them again, 311; 
 Conclusion, 311. 
 
 INTRODUCTION TO THE LECTURE FOUNDED BY THE 
 HONOURABLE ROBERT BOYLE. 
 
 p. 312—322. 
 How and by whom the author was appointed to preach the 
 Boyle's Lecture, 312, 313. Previous to the farther explana- 
 tion of Daniel, a vindication is proposed of the genuineness of 
 his prophecies, against the principal objections of unbelie- 
 vers, 313. Collins' eleven objections, particularly considered 
 and refuted, 313. His first objection, relating to the age of 
 Daniel, refuted, 314. His second objection, relating to the 
 mistake of the kings names, and to Nebuchadnezzar's mad- 
 ness, refuted, 314. His third objection, relating to the Greek 
 words found in Daniel, refuted, 315. His fourth objection, 
 relating to the version of the Seventy, refuted, 316. His fifth 
 objection, drawn from the clearness of Daniel's prophecies to 
 the times of Antiochus Epiphanes, refuted, 316. His sixth 
 objection, drawn from the omission of Daniel in the book of 
 Ecclesiasticus, refuted, 317. His seventh objection, relating 
 Jonathan's making no Targum on Daniel, refuted, 317. His 
 eighth objection, drawn from the style of Daniel's Chaldee, 
 refuted, 318. His ninth objection, drawn from the forgeries 
 of the Jews, refuted, 319. His tenth objection, drawn from 
 Daniel's uncommon punctuality in fixing the times, refuted, 
 319. His eleventh objection, relating to Daniel's setting forth 
 
Xxiv CONTENTS. 
 
 facts very imperfectly, and contrary to other histories, and to 
 his dark and emblematic style, refuted, 320. The external 
 and internal evidence for the genuineness of the book of Da- 
 niel, 321. The division of the remainder of this work, agree- 
 able* to the design of the honourable founder, 321. From the 
 instance of this excellent person, and some others, it is shown 
 that philosophy and religion may weU consist and agree to- 
 gether, 322. 
 
DISSERTATIONS 
 
 ON THE 
 
 PROPHECIES, 
 
 NOAH'S PROPHECY. 
 
 THE first prophecy that occurs in scripture, is that 
 part of the sentence pronounced upon the serpent, which 
 IS, as I may say, the first opening of Christianity, the first 
 promise of our redemption. We read in P^.-csis, iii. 15. 
 ■' I will put enmity between thee and ^ vvoman, and be- 
 tween thy seed and her seed ; it siua bruise thy head, 
 and thou shalt bruise his heel.' If you understand this 
 In the sense which is commonly put upon it by Christian 
 interpreters, you have a remarkable prophecy, and re- 
 markably fulfilled. Taken in any other sense, it is not 
 worthy of Moses, nor indeed of any sensible writer. 
 
 The history of the antediluvian times is very short and 
 concise, and there are only a few prophecies relating to 
 the deluge. As Noah was a preacher of righteousness to 
 the old world, so he was a prophet to the new, and was 
 enabled to predict the future condition of his posterity, 
 which is a subject that upon many accounts requires a 
 particular discussion. 
 
 It is an excellent character that is given of Noah, Gen. 
 vi. 9. ' Noah was a just man, and perfect in his genera- 
 tions, and Noah walked with God.* But the best of men 
 are not without their infirmities : and Noah, Gen. ix. 20, 
 
 VOL. I. c 
 
26 DISSERTATIONS OX 
 
 &CC. having « planted a vineyard, and drank of the wine,' 
 became inebriated, not knowing perhaps the nature and 
 strength of the liquor, or being through age incapable of 
 bearing it : and Moses is so faithful an historian, that he 
 records the failings and imperfections of the most vene- 
 rable patriarchs, as well as their merits and virtues. Noah 
 in this condition lay * uncovered within his tent : and Ham 
 the father of Canaan saw the nakedness of his father ;* and 
 instead of concealing his weakness, as a good-natured man, 
 or at least a dutiful son would have done, he cruelly ex- 
 posed it ' to his two brethren without.* But * Shem and 
 Japheth,* more compassionate to the infirmities of their 
 aged father, ' took a garment' and ' went backward,' with 
 such decency and respect, that they * saw not the naked- 
 ness of their father' at the same time that they ' covered 
 it.* When * Noah awoke from his wine ' he was informed 
 of * what his younger son had done unto him.* The word* 
 in the original signifies his little son; and some f com- 
 mentators therefore, on account of what follows, have im- 
 agined that Canaan joined with his father Ham in this 
 mockery and insult upon Noah ; and the \ Jewish rabbins 
 hwVe a tradition, that Canaan was the first who saw Noah 
 in this pOP^^ure, and then went and called his father Ham, 
 and concurrea with him in ridiculing and exposing the 
 ^)ld man. But this '.^ a very arbitrary method of interpre- 
 uuion ; no mention was made before of Canaan and of 
 what he had done, but only of Ham the father of Ca- 
 naan ;' and of him therefore must the phrase of little son^ 
 or youngest soriy be naturally and necessarily understood. 
 
 * The Hebrew word Jvatan signifies little, less, least. 
 
 f Hence it is inferred with great probability, that he (Canaan) 
 was a companion with liis father in his transgression. See Pis- 
 rator in Pool's Synopsis on Cen. ix. 25. 
 
 t See Origen on the book of Genesis, page 33. of Vol. II. in the 
 Benedictine Edition. It is a question that has been greatly agi- 
 tated, why the curse due to Ham should have been denounced 
 by Noah against Canaan. Theodoret answers this in liis 57tii 
 question on the book of Genesis, that he had learned ft-om a cer- 
 tain Jew, that Canaan first beheld the nakedness of his grand- 
 iather, and in a sneering and contemptuous manner pointed him 
 out to his father. But the truth is, that this tradition among the 
 .fews is to be met with in Bereshith Itabba, a rabbinical book 
 written long before the time of Theodoret. See Bochart's book 
 entitled Phaleg-, Book IV. Chop, xxxvii. Col. 308. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 27 
 
 In consequence of this cUflcrent behaviour of his three 
 sons, Noah as a patriarch was enlightened, and as the fa- 
 ther of a family, who is to reward or punish his children, 
 was impowered, to foretel the different fortunes of their 
 families: for this prophecy relates not so much to them- 
 selves, as to their posterity, the people and nations de- 
 scended from them. He was not prompted by wine or 
 resentment j for neither the one nor the other could in- 
 fuse the knowledge of futurity, or inspire him with the 
 prescience of events, which happened hundreds, nay thou- 
 sands of years afterwards. But God, willing to manifest 
 his superintendence and government of the world, endued 
 Noah with the spirit of prophecy, and enal)led him in 
 some measure to disclose the purposes of his providence 
 towards the future race of mankind. At the same time 
 it was some comfort and reward to Shem and Japheth, 
 for their reverence and tenderness to their father, to hear 
 of the blessing and enlargement of their posterity ; and 
 it was some mortification and punishment to Ham, for 
 his mockery and cruelty to his father, to hear of the ma' 
 lediction and servitude of some of his children, and that 
 as he was a wicked son himself, so a wicked race should 
 spring from him. 
 
 Then this was Noah's prophecy : and it was delivered, 
 as * most of the ancient prophecies were delivered, in me- 
 tre for the help of the memory, Gen. ix. 25, 26, 27. 
 
 * Cursed be Canaan.' 
 
 * A servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.* 
 < Blessed be Jehovah the God of Shem ;' 
 
 * And Canaan shall be their servant.' 
 
 * God shall enlarge Japheth.' 
 
 * And shall dwell in the tents of Shem,' 
 
 * And Canaan shall be their servant.' 
 
 Canaan was the fourth son of Ham according to the urdei- 
 wherein they are mentioned in the ensuing chapter. And 
 for what reason can you believe that Canaan was so par- 
 
 * The reader may see this point proved at larg-e, in the very 
 ingenious and learned Mr. Arcluleacon Lowth's poetical Prelec- 
 tions Cparticiilarly Prelect. 18.) &c., a work that merits the at- 
 tention of all ^v!io study the Hebrew lang-uag-e. 
 
28 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 ticularly marked out for the curse ? for his father Ham's 
 transgression ? But where would be the justice or equity 
 to pass by Ham himself with the rest of his children, and 
 to punish only Canaan for what Ham had committed ? 
 Such arbitrary proceedings are contrary to all our ideas 
 of the divine perfections ; and we may say in this case 
 what was said in another, Gen. xviii, 25. ' Shall not the 
 judge of all the earth do right ?* The curse was so far 
 from being pronounced upon Canaan for his father Ham's 
 transgression, that we do not read that it was pronounced 
 for his own, nor was executed till several hundred years 
 after his death. The truth is, the curse is to be under- 
 stood not so properly of Canaan, as of his descendants to 
 the latest generations. It is thinking meanly of the an- 
 cient prophecies, of scripture, and having very imperfect, 
 very unworthy conceptions of them, to limit their inten- 
 tion to particular persons. In this view the ancient pro- 
 phets would be really what the Deists think them, little 
 better than common fortune-tellers ; and their prophecies 
 would hardly be worth remembering or recording, espe- 
 cially in so concise and compendious a history as that of 
 Moses. We must affix a larger meaning to them, and 
 understand them not of single persons, but of whole na- 
 tions; and thereby a nobler scene of things, and a more 
 extensive prospect will be opened to us of the divine dis- 
 pensations. The curse of servitude pronounced upon Ca- 
 naan, and so likewise the promise oi blessing and enlarge- 
 ment made to Shem and Japheth, are by no means to be 
 confined to their own persons, but extend to their whole 
 race ; as afterwards the prophecies concerning Ishmael, 
 and those concerning Esau and Jacob, and those relating 
 to the twelve patriarchs, were not so properly verified in 
 themselves as in their posterity, and thither we must look 
 for their full and perfect completion. The curse there- 
 fore upon Canaan was properly a curse upon the Canaan- 
 Ues. God foreseeing the wickedness of this people, (which 
 began in their father Ham, and greatly increased in this 
 branch of his family) commissioned Noah to pronounce 
 a curse upon them, and to devote them to the servitude 
 and misery, which their more common vices and iniqui- 
 ties would deserve. And this account was plainly written 
 by Moses, for the encouragement of the Israelites, to sup- 
 
THE PllOPHEClES. 29 
 
 port and animate them in their expedition against a peo- 
 ple, who by their sins had forfeited the divine protection, 
 and were destined to slavery from the days of Noah. 
 
 We see the purport and meaning of the prophecy, and 
 now let us attend to the completion of it. Cursed be Ca- 
 naan ; and the Canaanites appear to have been an abo- 
 minably wicked people. The sin and punishment of the 
 inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities of the 
 plain are too well known to be particularly specified : and 
 for the other inhabitants of the land, which was promised 
 to Abraham and his seed, God bore with them ' till their 
 iniquity was full,* Gen. xv. 16. They were not only ad- 
 dicted to idolatry, which was then the case of the greater 
 part of the world, but were guilty of the worst sort of ido- 
 latry ; ' for every abomination to the Lord, which he 
 hateth, have they done unto their gods ; for even their 
 sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to 
 their gods,' Deut. xii. 31. Their religion was bad, and 
 their morality, (if possible,) was worse ; for corrupt reli- 
 gion and corrupt morals usually generate each other, and 
 go hand in hand together. Read the 18th and 20th chap- 
 ters of Leviticus, and you will find that unlawful marri- 
 ages and unlawful lusts, witchcraft, adultery, incest, sod- 
 omy, bestiality, and the like monstrous enormities were 
 frequent and common among them. And was not a cnrse 
 in the nature of things, as well as in the just judgment of 
 God deservedly intailed upon such a people and nation as 
 this? It was not ' for their own righteousness' that * the 
 Lord brought' the Israelites in * to possess the land :' but 
 *for the wickedness of these nations did the Lord drive 
 them out :' Deut. ix. 4. and he would have driven out the 
 Israelites in like manner for the very same abominations. 
 Levit. xviii. 25, Sec. ' Defile not yourselves in any of these 
 things ; for in all these the nations are defiled which I 
 cast out before you. And the land is defiled ; therefore 
 I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself 
 vomiteth out her inhabitants. Ye shall therefore keep 
 my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit any 
 of these abominations — that the land spne not ycu out 
 also when ye defile it, as it spued out the nations that 
 were before you. For whosoever shall commit any of 
 c 3 
 
DISSERTATIONS OX 
 
 these abominations, even the souls that commit them> 
 shall be cut off from among their people/ 
 
 But the curse particularly implies servitude and sub- 
 jection. ' Cursed be Canaan ; a servant of servants shall 
 he be unto his brethren.' It is very well known that the 
 word brethren in Hebrew comprehends more distant re- 
 lations. The descendants therefore of Canaan were to be 
 subject to the descendants of both Shem and Japheth : 
 and the natural consequence of vice, in communities as 
 well as in single persons, is slavery. The same thing is 
 repeated again and again in the two following verses, 
 < and Canaan shall be servant to them,' or ' their servant ;' 
 so that this is as it were the burden of the prophecy. 
 Some* critics take the phrase observant of servants strict- 
 ly and literally, and say that the prediction was exactly 
 fulfilledj when the Canaanites became servants to the Is- 
 raelites, who had been servants to the Egyptians. But 
 this is refining too much ; the phrase off servant of ser- 
 vants is of the same turn and cast as ' holi/ of holies^ king 
 ofkings^ song of songs,' and the like expressions in scrip- 
 ture ; imports that they should be the lowest and basest 
 of servants. 
 
 We cannot be certain as to the time of the delivery of 
 diis prophecy ; for the history of Moses is so concise, 
 that it hath not gratified us in this particular. If the pro- 
 phecy was delivered soon after the transactions, which 
 •immediately precede in the history, Noah's ' beginning 
 to be a husbandman, and planting a vineyard,* it was soon 
 nfter the deluge, and then Canaan was prophesied of be- 
 
 * Noah cursing Ham, foretold that the time was coming", 
 when his posterity would be the servant of servants. This pre- 
 diction was fulfilled in the Canaanites, at that time, when they 
 were compelled to come under the yoke of the Israelites, a peo- 
 ple who for a long time had served the Egyptians. See Bo- 
 chart's Phaleg, Book I. Chap. i. Col. 3, 4. 
 
 I S. Pompey was a man without letters, a freedman of freed- 
 men, and a servant of servants. He envied the great, while he 
 cringed to tlie basest. So saith Velleius Peterculus, II. 73. In 
 the same book II, 83, and in the fragment of Sallust we meet 
 with these words, *' here indeed the lowest of servants obtains 
 the superiority." A vassal below the condition of servants. 
 These examples are taken from some manuscript notes in the 
 possession of Dr. Jortin. 
 
THE PllOPIlECIES. 31 
 
 fore he was born, as it was prophesied of Esau and Jacob, 
 Gen. XXV. 23. * the elder shall serve the younger,' before 
 the children ' were born and had done either good or evil,* 
 as St. Paul saith, Rom. ix. 11. If the prophecy was deli- 
 vered a little before the transactions, which immediately 
 follow in the history, it was a little before Noah's death, 
 and he was enlightened in his last moments as Jacob was, 
 to foretel what should befal his posterity in tht latter daysy 
 Gen. xlix. 1. However this matter be determined, il 
 was several centuries after the delivery of this prophecy, 
 when the Israelites, who were descendants of Shem, un- 
 der the command of Joshua invaded the Canaanites, smote 
 above thirty of their kings, took possession of their land, 
 slew several of the inhabitants, made the Gibeonites and 
 others servants and tributaries, and Solomon afterwards 
 subdued the rest, 2 Chron. viii. 7, 8, 9. < As for all the 
 people that were left of the Hittites, and the Amorites, 
 and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, 
 which were not of Israel ; but of their children who were 
 left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel 
 consumed not ; them did Solomon make to pay tribute 
 until this day. But of the children of Israel did Solomon 
 make no servants for his work : but they were men of 
 war, and chief of his captains, and captains of his chariots 
 and horsemen.' The Greeks and Romans too, who were 
 descendants of Japheth, not only subdued Syria and Pa- 
 lestine, but also pursued and conquered such of the Ca- 
 naanites as were any where remaining, as for instance 
 the Typians and Carthaginians, the former of whom were 
 mined by Alexander and the Grecians, and the latter by 
 Scipio and the Romans. " This fate," says Mr. Mede* 
 " was it that made Hannibal, a child of Canaan, cry out 
 with the amazement of his soul, Agnosco fortunam Car- 
 thaginis^ I acknowledge the fortune of Carthage.*' And 
 ever since the miserable remainder of this people have 
 been slaves to a foreign yoke, first to the Saracens, who 
 descended from Shera, and afterwards to the Turks, who 
 descended from Japheth ; and they groan under their do- 
 minion at this day. 
 
 * Mede's Works, Book I. Disc. 50. pag-. 284. See also tf>- 
 -.vards the end of the XXVU book of Llvy. 
 
32 DISSERTATIONS OS 
 
 Hitherto we have explained the prophecy according 
 to the present copies of owr bible : but if we were to cor- 
 rect the text, as we should any ancient classic author in 
 a like case, the whole perhaps might be made easier and 
 plainer. Ham the father of Canaan is mentioned in the 
 preceding part of the story ; and how then came the per- 
 son of a sudden to be changed into Canaan ? The Ara- 
 bic * version in these three verses hath the father of Ca^ 
 naan instead of Canaan. Some copies of the Septuagint t 
 likewise have Ham instead of Canaan^ as if Canaan was a 
 corruption of the text. Vatablus and others \ by Canaan 
 understand the father of Canaan^ which was expressed 
 twice before. And if we regard the metre, this line Curs^ 
 ed be Canaan, is much shorter than the rest, § as if some- 
 
 * Cursed be the father of Canaan. See the Arabic version. 
 f The Septuagint in some copies have Ham instead of Canaan, 
 as if Canaan were a corruption of the text. See Calmet on this 
 passage. So likewise Ainswortb, [Who says, by Canaan may be 
 understood or Implied, Canaan's father; as the Greek translation 
 hath Ifam, and elsewhere in Scripture, Goliah is named for Goli- 
 iih's father. 2 Sam. xxi, 19. compared with 1 Chron. xx. 5.] 
 
 i: Some suppose that the word Abi father, is left out by the 
 carelessness of transcribers and ought to be supplied, because a 
 little below Ham is twice called the father of Canaan, see Gen. 
 ix. 18, 22. As if the words stood thus. Cursed be Ham the fa- 
 ther of Canaan. See Vatablus on the passage. 
 
 § My suspicion hath since been confirmed by the reverend and 
 learned Mr. Green, fellow of Clare-hall in Cambridge ; who is 
 admirably W'ell skilled in the Hebrew language and Hebrew me- 
 tre, and hath given abundant proofs of his knowledge.rfnd judg- 
 ment, in these matters, in his new translation and commentary 
 on the song of Deborah, the prayer of Habakkuk, &c. He as- 
 serts, that according to Bishop Hare's metre, the words ha7n abi 
 are necessary to fill up the verse. He proposes a fartlier emen- 
 dation of the text, by the omission of one line, and the transpo- 
 sition of another, and would read the whole prophecy thus, ac- 
 cording to the metre. 
 
 And JToah said, 
 
 Cursed be Ham the father of Canaan ; 
 
 A servant of servants shall he be to his brethren. 
 
 And he said, 
 
 Blessed be Jehovah the God of Shem ; 
 
 For he shall dwell in the tents of Shem. 
 
 God shall enlarge Japheth ; 
 
 And Canaao shall be their servant. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 33 
 
 thing was deficient. May we not suppose therefore, 
 (without taking such liberties as father HoubiR-aut hath 
 with the Hebrew text) that the copyist by mistake wrote 
 only Canaan instead of Ham the father of Canaan^ 2iX\6. 
 the whole passage was originally thus ? ' And Ham the 
 father of Canaan saw the nakedness of his father, and told 
 his two brethren without. — And Noah awoke from his 
 wine, and knew what his younger son had done to him. 
 And he said, Cursed be Ham the father 0/ Canaan; a ser- 
 vant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. And he 
 said. Blessed be the Lord God of Shem ; and Ham the 
 father 0/ Canaan shall be servant to them God shall en- 
 large Japheth ; and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem ; 
 and Hun the father o/Canaan shall be servant to them.* 
 
 By this reading all the three sons of Noah are included 
 in the prophecy, whereas otherwise Ham, who was the 
 offender, is excluded, or is only punished in one of his 
 children. Ham is characterized as the father of Canaan 
 particularly, for the greater encouragement of the Israel- 
 ites, who were going to invade the land of Canaan : and 
 when it is said * Cursed be Ham the father of Canaan ; a 
 servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren ;* it is 
 implied that his whole race was devoted to servitude, but 
 particularly the Canaanites. Not that this was to take 
 effect immediately, but was to be fulfilled in process of 
 time, when they should forfeit their liberties by their wick- 
 edness. Ham at first subdued some of the posterity of 
 Shem, as Canaan sometimes conquered Japheth ; the Car- 
 thaginians, who were originally Canaanites, did particu- 
 
 If you will not allow this emendation to be right and certain, yet 
 I think you must allow it to be probable and ingenious, to ren- 
 der the sense clearer and plainer, and to give to every part its 
 just weight and proportion. Or the whole may, with only a 
 transposition and without any omission, be represented thus; 
 
 And Noah said. 
 
 Cursed be Ham the father of Canaan ; 
 
 A servant of servants shall he be to his brethren. 
 
 And he said. 
 
 Blessed be the Lord God of Shem ; 
 
 For he shall dwell in the tents of Shem ; 
 
 And Ham the father of Canaan shall be their servant. 
 
 God shall enlarge Japheth, 
 
 And Ham the father of Canaan shall be their servant.-. 
 
34 DISSEUTATIONS ON 
 
 larly in Spain and Italy : but in time they were to be sub- 
 dued, and to become servants to Shem and Japheth ; and 
 the change of their fortune from good to bad would ren- 
 der the curse still more visible. Egypt was the land of 
 Ham^ as it is often called in scripture ; and for many years 
 it was a great and flourishing kingdom : but it was sub- 
 dued by the Persians, who descended from Shem, and 
 afterwards by the Grecians, who descended from Japheth ; 
 and from that time to this it hath constantly been in sub- 
 jection to some or other of the posterity of Shem or Ja- 
 pheth. The whole continent of Africa* was peopled 
 principally by the children of Ham : and for how many 
 ages have the belter parts of that country lain under the 
 dominion of the Romans, and then of the Saracens, and 
 now of the Turks ? in what wickedness, ignorance, barba- 
 rity, slavery, and misery, live most of the inhabitants ? 
 and of the poor negroes how many hundreds every year 
 are sold and bought like beasts in the market, and are 
 conveyed from one quarter of the world to do the work 
 of beasts in another ? 
 
 Nothing can be more complete than the execution of 
 the sentence upon Ham as well as upon Canaan ; and 
 now let us consider the promises made to Shem and Ja- 
 fiheth. * And he said, ver. 26. Blessed be the Lord God 
 of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant? or rather, 
 and Canaan shall be servant to them^ or their servant^ 
 that is to his brethren ; for that, as we observed before, 
 is the main part of the prophecy, and therefore is so fre- 
 quently repeated. A learned critic t in the Hebrew lan- 
 guage, who hath lately published some remarks on the 
 printed Hebrew text, saith, that " if it should be thought 
 preferable to refer the word blessed directly to •S'/fd'wz, as 
 the word cursed is to Canaan ; the words may be (and 
 perhaps more pertinently) rendered — Blessed of Jehovah^ 
 my God., be Shem ! See Gen. xxiv. 3 1 ." Or if we choose 
 (as most perhaps will choose) to follow our own as well 
 
 * Ham, although cursed, yet was not excluded from earthly 
 blessings ; for in the division of the world, besides Egypt and 
 the whole continent of Africa, a large portion of Syria was like- 
 wise allotted to him. See Bochart's Phale^, Book lY. Chap. 1 
 Col. 203. 
 
 t See Kemiipott*6 Dissertation, p. 561. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 35 
 
 as all the ancient versions, we may observe that the old 
 patriarch doth not say, Blessed be i>7ie?n, as he said, Cursed 
 be CaiiaaJi ; for men's evils springeth of themselves, but 
 their good from God : and therefore in a strain of devo- 
 tion breaking forth into thanksgiving to God as the author 
 of all good to Shem. Neither doth he say the same to 
 Japheth ; for God certainly may dispense his particular 
 favours according to his good pleasure ; and salvation 
 was to be derived to mankind through Shem and his pos- 
 terity. God prefers Shem to his elder brother Japheth, 
 as Jacob was afterwards preferred to Esau, and David to 
 his elder brothers, to show that the order of grace is not 
 always the same as the order of nature. The Lord being 
 called the God of Shem particularly, it is plainly intimat- 
 ed that the Lord would be his God in a particular manner.* 
 And accordingly the church of God was among the pos- 
 terity of Shem for several generations ; and of them^ Rom. 
 ix. 5. as conceriiing thejiesh^ Christ came. 
 
 But still Japheth was not dismissed without a promise, 
 ver. 47. * God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell 
 in the tents of Shem ; and Canaan shall be servant to 
 them, or their servant. God shall enlarge Japheth.' 
 Some render the word, (it is so rendered in the margin 
 of our bibles) God shall jiersuade or allure Japheth, so 
 that he shall come over to the true religion, and dive II in 
 the tents of Shem. But the best critics t in the language 
 have remarked, besides other reasons, that they who 
 translate the word by persuade or allure., did not consider, 
 that when it is so taken, it is used in a bad sense, and go- 
 verns an accusative case, and not a dative, as in this place. 
 God shall enlarge Japheth^ or U7ito Japheth is the bestren- 
 
 * [Shem is the first person who had the honour of having* the 
 Lord stiled his God, This expression denotes his being a God 
 IN COVENANT with him, as when he is called the God of Abram, 
 Isaac, and Jacob. Noah, foreseeing by a spirit of prophecy, that 
 God would enter into a a special covenant with the posterity of 
 Shem, taking- them to be his peculiar people, and binding himself 
 to be their God, was affected at the consideration of so great a 
 privilege, and breaks out hito an ascription of praise to God, on 
 this account.] Fuller. 
 
 f See Boch art's Phaleg, Book HI. Chap, i. Col. 149. and Le 
 Clerc upon the passage. 
 
36 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 dering ; and in the original there is a manifest allusioii 
 to Japheth's name, such as is familiar to the Hebrew wri- 
 ters. As it was said of Noah, Gen. v. 29. « This same 
 shall comfort us/ the name of A^oah being thought to 
 signify comfort: As it is said of Judah, Gen. xlix. 8. 
 * Thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise/ and the 
 name of Judah signifies firaise .- As it is said of Dan, ver. 
 ]6 *Dan shall judge his people,' and the name of Dan 
 s\%ri\hQs judging : As it is said of Gad, ver. 19. < A troop 
 shall overcome him,' and the name of Gad signifies a 
 troofi or company : So it is said here, * God shall enlarge 
 Japheth,' and the name oiJafiheth signifies enlargement. 
 Was Japheth then more enlarged than the rest ? Yes, he 
 was both in territory and in children. The territories of 
 Japheth's posterity were indeed very large, for * besides 
 all Europe, great and extensive as it is, they possessed 
 the lesser Asia, Media, part of Armenia, Iberia, Albania, 
 and those vast regions towards the north, which anciently 
 the Scythians inhabited, and now the Tartars inhabit ; 
 and it is not improbable that the new world was peopled by 
 some of his northern descendants passing thither by the 
 straits of Anian. The enlargement of Japheth may also 
 denote a numerous progeny as well as ample territory : 
 and if you consult the genealogies of the three brothers 
 comprised in the following chapter, you will find that 
 Japheth had seven sons, whereas Ham had only ybwr, and 
 Shem ox^y Jive ; and the northern hive (as Sir William 
 Temple demoninates it) was always remarkable for its 
 fecundity, and hath been continually pouring forth 
 swarms, and sending out colonies into the more southern 
 parts, both in Europe and in Asia, both in former and in 
 latter times. 
 
 * I altogether agree with the admirers of Bochart, who think 
 that by the promise contained in these words was intimated, 
 that God in the division of the earth would bestow the greatest 
 portion on the posterity of Japheth. This must be acknowledg- 
 ed by every person, who considers that besides Europe, large as 
 it is, they inhabit the lesser Asia, Media, a part of Armenia, 
 Iberia, Albania and those most extensive countries towards the 
 north, which formerly the Scythians, but now the Tartars pos- 
 sess ; to say nothing of the continent of America, into which, it 
 is highly probable, they found their way by the straits of Anian. 
 See Bochart's Phaleg, Book III. Chap. i. Col. 149. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 37 
 
 « 
 
 The following clause, < and he shall dwell in the tents 
 of Shem,' is capable of a double construction ; for thereby 
 may be meant either that God^ or that Jaliheth shall dwell 
 in the tents of Shem; in the tents of Shem^ saith he, speak- 
 ing according to the simplicity of those times, when men 
 dwelt in tents and not in houses. They who prefer the 
 former construction, seem to have the authority of the 
 original text on their side ; for there is no other noun to 
 govern the verbs in the period, but God; there is no pro- 
 noun in the Hebrew answering to the he which is inserted 
 in our English translation : and the whole sentence would 
 run thus, ^ God will enlarge Japheth, and will dwell in 
 the tents of Shem :' and the Chaldee of Onkelos * also 
 thus paraphraseth it, * and will make his glory to dwell in 
 the tabernacles of Shem.' They who prefer the latter 
 construction, seem to have done it, that they might refer 
 this 27th verse wholly to Japheth, as they refer the 26th 
 wholly to Shem : but the other appears to me the more 
 natural and easy construction. Taken in either sense, 
 the prophecy hath been most punctually fulfilled. In the 
 former sense it was fulfilled literally, when the Shechinah 
 or divine presence rested on the ark, and dwelt in the 
 tabernacle and temple of the Jews ; and when * the Word 
 who was with God and was God,' John i. 1 . eskenosen, 
 pitched his tent, and dnvtU among us^ ver. 14. In the lat- 
 ter sense it was fulfilled first, when the Greeks and Ro- 
 mans, who sprung originally from Japheth, subdued and 
 possessed Judea and other countries of Asiabelonp:ing to 
 Shem ; and again spiritually, when they were proselyted 
 to the true religion, and they who were not Israelites by 
 birth, became Israelites by faith, and lived, as we and 
 many others of Japheth's posterity do at this day, within 
 the pale of the church of Christ. 
 
 What think you now ? Is not this a most extraordinary 
 prophecy ; a prophecy that was delivered near four thou- 
 sand years ago, and yet hath been fulfilling through the 
 several periods of time to this day ! It is both wonderful 
 and instructive. It is the history of the world as it were 
 
 • And he (God) will cause his glory to abide In the tents of 
 Shem. See the Paraphrase of Onkelos. 
 
 VOL. I. D 
 
3B DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 in epitome. And hence we are enabled to correct a tnis^ 
 take of one author, and expose the petulance of another. 
 1. The first is the learned and excellent Mr. IMede, an 
 author always to be read with improvement, and to be 
 corrected with reverence : but yet I conceive, that ht 
 hath carried matters too far in ascribing more to this pro- 
 phecy than really belongs to it. For discoursing of the 
 habitations and dispersions of the sons of Noah, he saith * 
 that " there hath never yet been a son of Ham, who hath 
 shaken a sceptre over the head of Japheth : Shem hath 
 subdued Japheth, and Japheth hath subdued Shem, but 
 Ham never subdued either:" and this passage hath been 
 cited by several commentators t to illustrate this prophe- 
 cy. But this worthy person surely did not recollect, that 
 Nimrod, the first monarch in the world, was the son of 
 Cush, who was the son of Ham, Gen. x. Misraim was 
 another son of Ham ; he was the father of the Egyptians, 
 and the Egyptians detained the Israelites in bondage se- 
 veral years. Shishak king of Egypt subdued Rehoboam 
 king of Judah, 1 Kings xiv. Sesostris king of Egypt 
 (the same probably as Shishak) conquered great part 
 of Europe and Asia, if there is any faith in ancient 
 history. The Carthaginians too, were descended from 
 the Canaanites, as we noticed before, gained several 
 victories over the Romans in Spain and Italy. It was a 
 mistake therefore to say that Ham never subdued Shem 
 Qr Japheth. It is enough if he hath generally and for 
 much the greatest part of time been a servant to them, as 
 he really hath been for two or three thousand years, and 
 continues at present. This sufficiently verifies the pre- 
 diction ; and we should exceed the limits of truth, if we 
 should extend it farther. Wc might almost as well say 
 (as some have said) that the complexion of the blacks was 
 in consequence of Noah's curse. But though Ham had 
 in some instances and upon some occasions been superior, 
 yet this is memorable enough, that of the four famous 
 monarchies of the world, the Assyrian, Persian, Grecian, 
 and Roman, the two former were of the descendants of 
 Shem, as the two latter were of the sons of Japheth. 
 
 • See Mede's Works, IJook I. Disc. 49, and 50. pag. 283. Edit. 
 2672. 
 t Patrick, kc. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 319 
 
 2. The other is the famous author of the Letters on the 
 study and use of history, who hath strangely abused his 
 talents in abusing this prophecy; For the true meaning 
 and exact completion of it rightly considered, what room 
 is there for ridicule ? and how absurd and impertinent as 
 well as gross and indecent are his reflections ? " The 
 curse," says he,* " pronounced in it contradicts all our 
 notions of order and of justice. One is tempted to think, 
 that the patriarch was still drunk ; and that no man in his 
 senses could hold such language, or pass such a sentence.** 
 But such will be the case, when men of more parts than 
 judgment talk and write about things which they do not 
 sufficiently understand ; and especially in matters of reli- 
 gion, whereof by no means they are competent judges, 
 having never either studied them at all, or studied them 
 superficially and with prejudice. All that he hath written 
 relating to these subjects betrays great weakness in a man 
 of his capacity, weakness great as his malice ; and we 
 might have an easy victory over assertions without proofs, 
 premises without conclusions, and conclusions without 
 premises.! But I love not controversy, and will only 
 
 * Lord Bolingbroke's Works, Vol. 2. Letter lii. pag. 314. Edit, 
 quarto. 
 
 f [It is worthy of notice, that the God of Israel thought it no 
 dishonour to his character to declare, that " heUvould visit the 
 iniquity of the fathers upon the cliildren in those that hated 
 him," any more than that " he would shew mercy to those that 
 loved him," which he did in an eminent degree in the posterit}' 
 of Abi-aham. And should any object to this, and to the Bible on 
 this account, we might appeal to universal fact. None can deny, 
 that children are the better or the worse for the conduct of their 
 parents. If any man insists that neither good nor evil j^iall befal 
 him, but what is the immediate consequence of his own conduct, 
 he must go out of the world, for no such state of existence is 
 known in it. 
 
 There is, however, an important difference between the sin of 
 a parejit being the occasion of the prediction of a curse upon his 
 posterity y -xvho tvere considered by Him ~cvho kiiexo the e?ul from the 
 beginning as -valking in )iis steps, and its being the formal cause 
 of their pimishme?it. 
 
 The sin of Ham was the occasion of the prediction against the 
 Canaanites, and the antecedent to the evil predicted, but it was 
 not the ca2is€ of it. Its formal, procilring cause, may be seen in 
 
40 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 inake two op three reflections, just to give a specimen of 
 the boasted learning and abilities of this writer. 
 
 His lordship seemeth to take a particular pleasure in 
 railing at pedants, at the same time that he himself is one 
 of the most pedantic of writers, if it be pedantry to make 
 a vain ostentation of learning, and to quote authors with- 
 out either reading or understanding them, or even know- 
 ing so much as who and what they are. " The Codex 
 Alexandrinus,* saith he, we owe to George the monk.*' 
 We are indebted indeed to George the monk, more usu- 
 ally called Syncellus, for what is entitlec^ Vetus Chronic 
 con or an old chronicle. But the Codex Alexandrinus 
 is quite another thing ; it is, as all the learned know, the 
 famous Greek MS. of the Old and New Testament, 
 brought originally from Alexandria, 'and presented to 
 Charles I, and now remaining in the King's library, of 
 which it doth not appear that George the monk knew 
 any thing, and it is evident that his lordship knew no- 
 thing. If he meant to say the Chronicon Aiexandrinum, 
 that is still another thing, and the work of another author. 
 
 His lordship is of opinion f that '< Virgil in those fa- 
 mous verses Excudent alii, Sec. might have justly ascrib- 
 ed to his countrymen the praise of writing history better 
 
 the 18th chapter of Leviticus. .To Ham, and perhaps to Canaan, 
 the prediction of the servitude of their descendants was a pu- 
 nishment, but the fulfilment of that prediction on the parties was 
 no farther such than as it was connected with their own sin. 
 
 There is also an important difference between the providential 
 dispensations of God toxvards fuwiUes and nations in the present 
 ruorld, and the admirdstration of distributive justice towards indivi' 
 duals, ivi^h respect iojhe ivorld to come. In the last judgment, 
 ' every one shall give an account of himself to God, and be judg- 
 ed according to the deeds done in the body,' but while we are 
 in this world we stand in various relations, in which it is impos- 
 sible that we should be dealt with merely as individuals. Cod 
 deals with fiimilics and nations as such, and in the course of his 
 providence visits them with good and evil, not according to the 
 conduct of individuals, but, as far as conduct is concerned, that 
 of the general body. To insist that we should, in all cases, be 
 treated as individuals, is to renounce the social character.] 
 
 * Lord Bolingbroke's AVorks, Letter 1st. page 26?. 
 t Letter the 5th. page 340, &.c. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 41 
 
 tiian thqr Grecians." But which are the Roman histories, 
 that are to be preferred to the Grecian ? " Why the re- 
 mains, the pfecioLis remains," says his lordship, " of Sa- 
 lust, of Livy, and of Tacitus." But it happened that 
 Virgil* died, before Livy had written his history, and be- 
 fore Tacitus was born. And is not this an excellent 
 chronologer now, to correct all ancient history and chro- 
 nology sacred and profane ? 
 
 His lordship is likewise pleased to say,t that " Don 
 Quixote believed, but even Sancho doubted :" and it may 
 be asserted on the other side, that Sir Isaac Newton be- 
 lieved the prophecies, though his lordship did not, the 
 principal reason of which may be found perhaps in the 
 different life and morals of the one and the other. Nay 
 the wisest politicians and historians'*have be^n believers, 
 as well as the greatest philosophers. Raleigh, and Cla- 
 rendon believed ; Bacon, and Locke believed ; and where 
 then is the discredit to revelation, if Lord Bolingbroke 
 was an infidel ? ' A scorner,* as Solomon saith, Pro v. xiv. 
 6, * seeketh wisdom, and findeth it not.* 
 
 But there cannot be a stronger condemnation of his 
 lordship's conduct, than his own words upon another oc- 
 casion in his famous Dissertation upon parties. " Some 
 men there are, the pests of society I think them, who 
 pretend a great regard to religion in general, but who 
 take every opportunity of declaiming publicly against 
 that system of religion, or at least against that church- 
 establishment, which is received in Britain. Just so the 
 men, of whom I have been speaking, affect a great re- 
 gard to liberty in general ; but they dislike so much the 
 system of liberty established in Britain, that they are in- 
 cessant in their endeavours to puzzle the plainest thing 
 in the world, and to refine and distinguish away the life 
 and strength of our constitution, in favour of the little, 
 present, momentary turns, which they are retained to 
 serve. What now would be the consequence, if all these 
 endeavours should succeed ? — I am persuaded that the 
 great philosophers, divines, lawyers, and politicians, who 
 
 * Virgil died A. U. C. 735. Livy according to Dodwell finished 
 his history in 745. Tacitus was consul in 850. See Fabriclus. 
 t Letter the 4th. page 130. 
 
 D 2 
 
42 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 exert them, have not yet prepared and agreed upon the 
 plans of a new religion, and of new constitutions in 
 church and state. We should find ourselves therefore 
 without any form of religion, or civil government. The 
 first set of these missionaries would take otf all the re- 
 straints of religion from the governed ; and the latter set 
 would remove, or render ineffectual, all the limitations 
 and controuls, which liberty hath prescribed to those that 
 govern, and disjoint the whole frame of our constitution. 
 Entire dissolution of manners, confusion, anarchy, or 
 perhaps absolute monarchy, would follow ; for it is possi- 
 ble, nay probable, that in such a state as this, and amidst 
 such a route of lawless savages, men would choose this 
 government, absurd as it is, rather than have no govern- 
 ment at all." 
 
 It is to be lamented that such a genius should be so 
 employed : but the misapplication of those excellent ta- 
 lents with which God had entrusted him, was his reign- 
 ing fault through every stage, through every scene of 
 life. That which Lord Digby * said of the great Lord 
 Strafford, may with more truth and justice be affirmed of 
 him, that the malignit}- of his practices was hugely ag- 
 gravated by those rare abilities of his, whereof God had 
 given him the use, but the devil the application. 
 
 II. 
 
 THE PROPHECIES CONCERNING ISHMAEL. 
 
 ABRAHAM was the patriarch of greatest renown 
 next after the times of Noah. He was favoured with 
 several revelations ; and from him two very extraordinary 
 nations descended, the Ishmaelites, and Israelites, concern- 
 ing each of whom there are some remarkable prophecies. 
 Ishmael, though the son of the bond-woman, and not pro- 
 perly the child of promise, was yet distinguished by some 
 
 • Ruskworth, Vol. 4. pag^ 2'25. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 43 
 
 express predictions for the comfort and satisfaction of 
 both his parents. In the 16th chapter of Genesis, when 
 Ilagur ' Ik'd from the face of her mistress who had dealt 
 hardiy with her, the angel of the Lord found her in the 
 wilderness, and said unto her, return to thy mistress, and 
 submit thyself under her hands. And the angel of the 
 Lord said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, 
 that it shidl not be numbered for multitude. And the 
 angel of the Lord said unto her, Behold thou art with 
 child, and shall bear a son, and shalt call his name Ish- 
 mael,' that is, God shall hear, ' because the J^ord hath 
 heard thy affliction.* And he will be a wild man ; his 
 hand will be against every man, and every man's hand 
 against him ; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his 
 brethren,* ver. 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12. In the folfcwing chap- 
 ter, when Isaac was promised to Abraham, God still re- 
 served a blessing for Ishmael, ' Behold I have blessed 
 him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him 
 exceedingly : twelve princes shall he beget, and I will 
 make him a great nation/ ver. 20. Afterwards when 
 Hagar and Ishmael were sent forth into the wilderness, 
 God said unto Abraham, Gen. xxi. J 3. * And also of the 
 son of the bond-woman will I make a nation, because he 
 is thy seed.' The same is repeated to Hagar, ver. 18, * I 
 will make him a great nation.' And if we are curious to 
 trace the course of events, we shall see how exactly these 
 particulars have been fulfilled from the earliest down to 
 the present times. 
 
 ' I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, th^it it shall not 
 be numbered for multitude :' and again, ' Behold I have 
 blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply 
 him exceedingly.' These passages evince that the pro- 
 phecy doth not so properly relate to Ishmael, as to his 
 posterity, which is here foretold to be very numerous. 
 Ishmael married an Egyptian woman, as his mother was 
 
 * [God is not said to have heard her prayer, for it does not ap- 
 pear that she, as yet, had ever called upon his name ; she merely 
 sat bewailing- herself, and not knowing what would become of her 
 —yet, lo, the ear of mercy is open to affliction itself! The 
 groans of the prisoner are heard of God ; not only theirs who 
 cry unto him, but, in many cases, theirs who do not.} 
 
 Fuller. 
 
44f DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 likewise an Egyptian : Gen. xxi. 21. and in a few years, 
 his family was increased so, that in the 37th chapter of 
 Genesis we read of Ishmaelites trading into Egypt. Af- 
 terwards his seed was multiplied exceedingly in the Ha- 
 garenes, who probably were denominated from his mother 
 Hagar ; and in the Nabathxans, who had their name 
 from his son Nebaioth ; and in the Itureans, who were so 
 called from his son Jetur or Itur ; and in the Arabs, es- 
 pecially the Scenites, and the Saracens, who over-ran a 
 great part of the world : and his descendants, the Arabs, 
 are a very numerous people at this day. 
 
 ' Twelve princes shall he beget.' This circumstance 
 is very particular, but it was punctually fulfilled; and Mo- 
 ses hath given us the names of these twelve princes. 
 Gen. XXV. >6. ' These are the sons of Ishmael, and these 
 are their names, by their towns, and by their castles ; 
 twelve princes according to their nations :' by which we 
 are to understand, not that they were so many distinct 
 sovereign princes, but only heads of clans or tribes. 
 Strabo frequently mentions the Arabian phylarchs as he 
 denominates them, or rulers of tribes : and- Melo, quoted 
 by Eusebius from Alexander Polyhistor, a heathen histo- 
 rian, relates that " Abraham* of his Egyptian wife begat 
 12 sons (he should have said one son who begat 12 sons) 
 who departing into Arabia divided the region between 
 them, and were the first kings of the inhabitants ; whence 
 even to our days the Arabians have twelve kings of the 
 same names as the first." And ever since the people 
 have been gj^verned by phylarchs,and have lived in tribes ; 
 and still continue to do so, as Thevenot't and other mo- 
 dern travellers testify- 
 
 * And I will make him a great nation.* This is repeat- 
 ed twice or thrice ; and it was accomplished, as soon as 
 
 * He (Abraham) of his Eg-yptian wife begat twelve soas, who 
 going into Arabia divided that country among themselves, and 
 were the first who arrived at sovereign authority therein. From 
 thence it hath come to pass, that the Arabians even down to the 
 times in which we live, reckon twelve kings reigning over them, 
 who are called by the same names with their first sovereigns. See 
 the Evangelical preparation of Eusebins, Book IX. Chap. xix. 
 page 421. in the edition of Vigerus. 
 
 t See Part I. Book 2. Chap. 32. See likewise Harris' Voyages, 
 Vol.2. Book 2. Chap. 9. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 45 
 
 in the regular course of nature it could be accomplished. 
 His seed in process of time grew up into a great nation, 
 and such they continued for several ages, and such they 
 remain to this day. They might indeed emphatically be 
 stiled a great nation^ when the Saracens had made those 
 rapid and extensive conquests, and erected one of the 
 largest empires ihat ever were in the world. 
 
 * And he will be a wild man.' In the original it is a 
 "'^ild ass man, and the learned Eochart * translates it tain 
 ferus quam onager^ as wild as a wild ass ; so that that 
 should be eminently true of him, which in the book of 
 Job xl, 12. is affirmed of mankind in general, 'Man is 
 born like a wild asses colt.' But what is the nature of 
 the creature, to which Ishmael is so particularly compar- 
 ed ? It cannot be described better than it is in the same 
 book of Job xxxix. 5, Sec. ' Who hath sent out the wild 
 ass free ? or who hath loosed the bands of the wild ass ? 
 Whose house I have made the wilderness, and the barren 
 land his dwellings. He scorneth the multitude of the 
 city, neither regardeth he the crying of the driver. The 
 range of the mountains is his pasture, and he searcheth 
 every green thing.' Ishmael therefore and his posterity 
 were to be wild, fierce, savage, ranging in the deserts, and 
 not easily softened and tamed to society : and whoever 
 hath read or known any thing of this people, knoweth this 
 to be their true and genuine character.. It is said of Ish- 
 mael, Gen. xxi. 20, that ' he dwelt in the wilderness, and 
 became an archer ;' and the same is no less true of his 
 descendants than himself. 'He dwelt in the wilderness;' 
 and his sons still inhabit the same wilderness, and many 
 of them neither sow nor plant t according to the best ac- 
 counts ancient and modern. ' And he became an archer ;* 
 and such were the Itureans, whose bows| and arrows are 
 famous in all authors ; such were the mighty men of Ke- 
 
 * See the first Part of Bochart's Hierozoicon, Book I. Chap. 
 xvi. Col. 878. 
 
 f See Amianus Marcellinus, Book XIV. Chap. iv. page 14. in 
 the edition of Valesius printed at Paris, 1681. See also Harris* 
 Voyages, Vol. II. Book II. Chap. ix. 
 
 t The wood of the yew-tree is bent into Iturean bows. See 
 Virgil's Georgics, Book II. line 448. — From thence apassage was 
 opened for Iturean arrows. See Lucan VU. oO. 
 
46 DISSERTATIONS 0%" 
 
 dar in Isaiah's time; Is. xxi. 17. and such the Arabs, 
 have been from the beginning, and are at this time. It 
 was late before they admitted the use of fire arms among 
 them ; * the greater part of them are still strangers t© 
 them, and still continue skilful archers. 
 
 * His hand will be against every man, and every man's 
 hand against him.* The one is the natural and almost 
 necessaiy consequence of the other. Ishmael lived by 
 prey and rapine in the wilderness ; and his posterity hav« 
 all along infested Arabia and the neighbouring countries 
 with their robberies and incursions. They live in a state 
 of continual war with the rest of the world, and are both 
 robbers by land, and pirates by sea. As they have been 
 such enemies to mankind, it is no wonder that mankind 
 have been enemies to them again, that several attempts 
 have been made to extirpate them ; and even now as well 
 as formerly, travellers are forced to go with arms and in 
 caravans or large companies, and to. n>arch and keep 
 watch and guard like a little army, to defend themselves 
 from the assaults of these freebooters, who run about in 
 troops, and rob and plunder all whom they can by any 
 means subdue. These robberies they also f justify, " by 
 alleging the hard usage of their father Ishmael, who be- 
 ing turned out of doors by Abraham had the open plains 
 and deserts given him by God for his patrimony, with per- 
 missiSn to take whatever he could find there. And on 
 this account they think they may, with a safe conscience, 
 indemnify themselves, as well as they can, not only on 
 the posterity of Isaac, but also on every body else ; always 
 supposing a sort of kindred between themselves and those 
 they plunder. And in relating their adventures of this 
 kind, they think it sufficient to change the expression, 
 and instead of I robbed a ?na7i of stick or such a things to 
 say, I gained it.** 
 
 ' And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren ;* 
 shall tabernacle^ for many of the Arabs dwell in tents, and 
 are therefore called Scenites. It appears that they dwelt 
 in tents in the wilderness so long ago as in Isaiah and 
 
 * Thevenot in Harris, Vol- 2. Book 2. Chap. ix. 
 
 •j- Sale's Preliminary Discourse to the Koran, Sect. I. page 30, 
 31, where he also quotes 9. book intituled, A Journey into Pales- 
 tine. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 47 
 
 Jeremiah's time ; Isa. xiii. 20. Jer. iii. 2. and they do the 
 same at this day. This is very extraordinary, that 
 * his hand should be against every man, and every man's 
 hand against him,' and yet that he should be able ' to 
 dwell in the presence of all his brethren :' but extraordi- 
 nary as it Was, this also hath been fulfilled both in the per- 
 son of Ishmael, and in his posterity. As for Ishmael 
 himself, the sacred historian afterwards relates, Gen.xxv. 
 17, 1 8. that * the years of the life of Ishmael were an hun- 
 dred and thirty and seven years, and he died in the pre- 
 sence of all his brethren.* As for his posterity, they dwelt 
 likewise in the presence of all their brethren, Abraham's 
 sons by Keturah, the Moabites and Atnmonites descend- 
 ants of Lot, the Israelites descendants of Abraham, Isaac 
 and Jacob, and the Edomites descrendants of Abraham, 
 Isaac and Esau. And they still subsist a distinct people, 
 and inhabit the country of their progenitors, notwith- 
 standing the perpetual enmity between them and the rest 
 of mankind. It may be said perhaps that the country 
 was not worth conquering, and its barrenness was its 
 preservation : but this is a mistake, for by all accounts, 
 though the greater part of it be sandy and barren deserts, 
 yet here and there are interspersed beautiful spots and 
 fruitful vallies. -One part of the country was anciently 
 known and distinguished by the name of Arabia the hafi- 
 py. And now the proper Arabia is by the oriental wri- 
 ters generally divided into five provinces. Of these the 
 chief is the province of Yaman, which, as a learned 
 writer* asserts upon good authorities, " has been famous 
 from all antiquity for the happiness of its climate, its fer- 
 tility and riches. The delightfulness and plenty of Ya- 
 man are owing to its mountains ; for all that part which 
 lies along the Red Sea, is a dry barren desert, in some 
 places 10 or 12 leagues over, but in return bounded by 
 those mountains, which being well watered, enjoy an al- 
 most continual spring ; and besides coffee, the peculiar 
 produce of this country, yield great plenty and variety of 
 fruits, and in particular excellent corn, grapes, and spices. 
 The soil of the other provinces is much more barren than 
 that of Yaman ; the greater part of their territories bein^ 
 
 * Sale's Preliminary Discourse, ibid, page 2, 3. 
 
48 DiSSERTATIONS ON 
 
 covered with dry sands, or rising into rocks, interspersed 
 here and there with some fruitful spots, which receive 
 their greatest advantages from their water and palm 
 trees.". But if the country was ever so bad, one would 
 think it should be for the interest of the neighbouring 
 princes and states at any hazard to root out such a pesti- 
 lent race of robbers : and actually it hath several times 
 been attempted, but never accomplished. They have from 
 first to last maintained their independency, and notwith- 
 standing the most powerful efforts for their destruction, 
 still dwell in the presence of all their brethren, and in the 
 presence of all their enemies. 
 
 We find that in the time of Moses, they were grown 
 up into ' twelve princes according to their nations ;* Gen. 
 XXV. 16. * and they dwelt,' saith Moses, ver. 18. 'from 
 Havilah unto Shur, that is before Egypt, as thou goest 
 towards Assyria :* but yet we do not find that they were 
 ever subject to either of their powerful neighbours, the 
 Egyptians or Assyrians. The conquests of Sesostris, the 
 great king of Egypt, are much magnified by Diodorus 
 Siculus; and probably he might subdue some of the 
 western provinces of Arabia bordering upon Egypt, but 
 he was obliged, as Diodorus * informs us, to draw a line 
 from Heliopolis to Pelusium, to secure Egypt from the 
 incursions of the Arabs. They were therefore not sub- 
 jects, but enemies to the Egyptians ; as they were like- 
 wise to the Assyrians, for they assisted t Belesis and Ar- 
 baces in overturning that empire, assisted them not as 
 fellow rebels, but as an independent state with their aux- 
 iliary forces. 
 
 The next great conquerors of the east were Cyrus and 
 the Persians ; but neither he nor any of his successors ever- 
 reduced the whole body of the Arabs to subjection. They 
 might conquer some of the exterior, but never reached 
 the interior parts of the country : and Herodotus, the 
 historian who lived nearest to those times, saith expressly, 
 
 * See Diodorus Sicnlus, Book 1. page 36, in the edition of Ste- 
 -phanus, and page 52, in that of Rhodomanus. 
 
 t See Diodorus Siculus, Book II. page 79, in the edition of 
 Stephanas, and page 111, in that of Rhodomanus. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 49 
 
 that the Arabs * were never reduced by the Persians to 
 the condition of subjects, but were considered by ihem as 
 friends, and opened to them a passage into Egypt, which 
 without the assistance and permission of the Arabs would 
 have been utterly impracticable ; and in another place f 
 he saith, that while Phoenicia, Palestine, Syria, and the 
 neighbouring countries were taxed, the Arabian territo- 
 ries continued free from paying any tribute. They were 
 then regarded as friends, but afterwards they assisted with 
 their forces Amyrtaeus | king of Egypt against Darius 
 Nothus, and Euagoras § king of Cyprus against Arta- 
 xerxes Mnemon ; so that they acted as friends or ene- 
 mies to the Persians, just as they thought proper, and as 
 it suited their humour or their interest. 
 
 Alexander the great then overturned the Persian em- 
 pire, and conquered Asia. The neighbouring princes 
 sent their ambassadors to make their submissions. The 
 Arabs || alone disdained to acknowledge the conqueror, 
 and scorned to send any embassy, or take any notice of 
 him. This slight provoked him to such a degree, that he 
 meditated an expedition against them ; and the great pre- 
 parations which he made for it, showed that he thought 
 them a very formidable enemy : but death intervened, 
 and put an end to all that his ambition or resentment had 
 formed against them. Thus they happily escaped the 
 fury of his arms, and were never subdued by any of his 
 successors, Antigonus, one of the greatest of his suc- 
 
 * The Arabians never were subdued by the Persians. Unless 
 a free passage had been granted by them to Cambyses the king 
 of Persia, that prince would never have been able to force his 
 way through their country to invade Egvpt. See Gale's edition 
 of Herodotus, Book I[I. Sect. 88, pag-e 198. 
 
 t See the same, Sect. 91, page 199. Beyond the territory of 
 Arabia, for this country was free. 
 
 i See Diodorus Siculus, Book XHI. page 355, In the edition of 
 Stephanus. Vol. ii. page 172, in the edition of Rhodomanus. 
 See Prideaux Connections, Part I. Book VI. In the year 410. 
 
 § See Diodorus Siculus, Book XV. page 459, in the edition of 
 Stephanus. Vol II. page 328, in the edition of Itliodomanus. See 
 also Prideaux Connections, Part I. Book VII. vear 3 86. 
 
 |i See Strabo, Book XVI. page 1076, and 1132, in the edition 
 of Amsterdam printed in 1707. AndArrian Book VII. page 300, 
 in the edition of Gronovius. 
 VOL. I. E 
 
so DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 cessors,*^ made two attempts upon them, one by his gen- 
 eral Athenaeus, and the other by his own son Demetrius, 
 but both without success ; the former was defeated, and 
 the latter was glad to make peace with them, and leave 
 them at their liberty. Neither would they suffer the 
 people employed by Antigonus, to gather the bitumen on 
 the lake Asphaltites, whereby he hoped greatly to increase 
 his revenue. The Arabs fiercely attacked the workmen 
 and the guards, and forced them to desist from their un- 
 dertaking. So true is the assertion of Diodorusjf that 
 " neither the Assyrians formerly, nor the kings of the 
 Mades and Persians, nor yet of the Macedonians, were 
 able to subdue them ; nay though they led many and 
 great forces against them, yet they could not accomplish 
 their attempts." We find them afterwards sometimes at 
 peace, and sometimes at war with the neighbouring states ; 
 sometimes joining the Syrians, and sometimes the Egyp- 
 tians; sometimes assisting the Jews, and sometimes 
 plundering them ; and in all respects acting like a free 
 people, who neither feared nor courted any foreign power 
 -whatever. 
 
 The Romans then invaded the east, and subdued the 
 countries adjoining, but were never able to reduce Arabia 
 into the form of a Roman province. It is too common 
 with historians to say, that such or such a country was 
 conquered, when perhaps only a part of it was so. It is 
 thus that Plutarch \ asserts, that the Arabs submitted to 
 LucuUus ; whereas the most that we can believe is, that 
 he might subdue some particular tribes ; but' he was re- 
 called, and the command of the Roman army in Asia was 
 given to Pompey. Pompey, though he triumphed over 
 the three parts of the world, could not yet conquer Arabia. 
 
 ♦ See Diodorus Siculus, Book XIX. page 722, &c. in Stepha- 
 nus' edition, and Vol. II. page 730, in that of Khodomanus. 
 
 f Neither the Assyrians in ancient times, nor the kings of the 
 Medes and Persians afterwards, nor even those of Macedon were 
 able to subjugate them. Although all these put in motion, 
 agaiiist them, many well appointed armies, yet their enterprises 
 were never crowned with success. See Diodorus Siculus, Book 
 II. page 92, in Stephanus' edition, and page 131, in that of Kho- 
 domanus. 
 
 4 See Plutarch, every where in his life of Lucullus. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 3% 
 
 He * carried his arms into the country, obtained some 
 victories, and ( omi)eJled Arelas to submit ; but other af- 
 fairs soon oblir]^ed him to retire, and by retiring, he lost all 
 the advanta;a,es which he had gained. His forces were 
 no sooner withdrawn, than the Arabs made their incur- 
 sions again into the Ionian provinces. iElius Gallus in 
 the reign of Augublust penetrated far into the country, 
 but a strange distemper made terrible havoc in his army, 
 and after two years spent in this unfortunate ex]>edition, 
 he was glad to escape with the small remainder of hir; 
 forces. The emperor Trajan reduced some parts of Ara- 
 bia, but he could never subdue it entirely ; and when he 
 besieged the city of the Haji,arenes, as Dion \ says, his sol- 
 diers were repelled by lightnings, thunderings, hail, 
 whirlwinds, and other prodigies, and were constantly so 
 repelled, as often as they renewed their assaults. At the 
 same time, great swarms of flies infested his camp ; so 
 that he was forced at last to raise the siege, and retired 
 with disgrace into his own dominions. About eighty 
 years after, the emperor Severus twice besieged the same 
 city with a numerous army, and a train of military en- 
 gines ; but he had no better success than Trajan. God, 
 says 5 the heathen historian, preserved the city by the 
 backwardness of the emperor at one time, and by that of 
 his forces at another. He made some assaults, but was 
 
 * See Plutarch in his life of Pompey.' Page GIO, Sec. in the 
 Paris edition of 1624. 
 
 f See Strabo, Book XVI. page 1126, in the Amsterdam edition 
 of 1707. See also Dion Cassius, Book LIIl. page 516, in Leun- 
 clavius' edition printed at Hanover, in 1606. Dion calls him by 
 mistake Aelius Largus. 
 
 ± There were thunderings. Tlie rainbow appeared. Flashes 
 of lightning, furious storms, hail and thunderbolts assailed the 
 Romans as often as they attacked them. (The Hagarenes.) As 
 often too as they provided a meal, great swarms of liies sending 
 forth a dreadful stench perched on their meats and drinks. For 
 these reasons Trajan retired from thence. See Dion's History. 
 Book LXVIII. page 785, in Leunclavius' edition printed at Han- 
 over, 1606. 
 
 § And thus God delivered the city (of the Hagarenes,) by tlu^ 
 emperor Severus recalling his soldiers, at a time, when they had 
 it in their power to take it, and afterwards when he was desir- 
 ous of possessing it, he was hindered by the obstinacy of his sol- 
 diers. See the same Book LXXV. page 855. 
 
52 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 baffled and defeated, and returned with precipitation as 
 great as his vexation for his disappointment. And if such 
 great empeiors and able warriors as I'rajan and Severus 
 eould not succeed in their attempts, it is no wonder that 
 the foilowino; emperors could prevail nothing. The 
 Arabs continued their incursions and depredations, in 
 Syria and other Roman provinces, with equal licence and 
 impunity. 
 
 Such was the state arrd condition of the Arabs to the 
 time of their famous prophet Mahommed, who laid the 
 foundation of a mighty empire : and then for several cen- 
 turies they w^ere better known among the European na- 
 tions by the name of the Sarraccni or Saracene^ the ^irru' 
 C(?m* of Pliny, and the Ha^q^arenesf of holy scripture. 
 Their conquests were indeed amazingly rapid ; they can 
 be compared to nothing more properly than to a sudden 
 flood or inundation. In a few years the Saracens over- 
 ran more countiies, and subdued more people than the 
 Romans did in several centuries. They were then not 
 only free and independent of the rest of the woi Id, but 
 ^vere themselves masters of the most considerable parts 
 of the earth. And so they continued for about t three 
 centuries ; and after their empire was dissolved, and they 
 were reduced within the limits of their native country, 
 they still maintained their liberty against the Tartars, 
 Mamalucs, Turks, and all foreign nations whatever. Who- 
 ever were the conquerors of Asia, they were still uncon- 
 quered, still continued their incursions, and preyed upon 
 all alike. The Turks have now for several centuries been 
 lords of the adjacent countries ; but they have been so 
 little able to restrain the depredations of the Arabs, that 
 they have been obliged § to pay them a sort of annu- 
 
 * See Pliny's Natural History, Book VI. Chap, xxxii. and the 
 note of Hardiiin. 
 
 f HagareneSj tlie descendants of Ishmael They are called also 
 Ishmaelites and Saracens, Sec Calmet's Diet. 
 
 i The Saracens beg^an their conquests, A. D. 622, and to reign 
 at Damascus A. D. 637. Theh* empire was broken and divided 
 A. D. 936. See Dr. lUair's Chronol. Tables. Tab. o3» and 39, and 
 Sir Isaac Newton on the Apocalypse. Chap. 3, pag-e 304, 305. 
 
 § See Thevenot m Harris, Vol". 2, Book 11. Chap. 9, and Deme- 
 trius Cantemir's Hist, of the Oihnian empire in Ashmed II. pag« 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 53 
 
 al tribute for the safe passage and security of the pil- 
 grims, who usually go in great companies to Mecca ; so 
 that the Turks have rather been dependant upon them, 
 than they upon the Turks. And they still continue the 
 same practices, and preserve the same superiority, if we 
 may believe the concurrent testimony of modern travel- 
 lers of all nations. 
 
 Two of our own nation have lately travelled into those 
 parts, and have written and published their travels, both 
 men of literature, both reverend divines, and writers of 
 credit and character. Dr. Shaw and Bishop Pococke ; 
 and in several instances they confirm the account that we 
 have given of this people. " With regard to the manners 
 and customs of the Bedoweens, saith Dr. Shaw,* it is to 
 be observed that they retain a great many of those we read 
 of in sacred as well as profane history ; being, if w'e ex- 
 cept their religion, the same people they were two or 
 three thousand years ago; without ever embracing any of 
 those novelties in dress or behaviour, which have had so 
 many periods and revolutions in the Moorish and Turkish 
 cities." And after giving some account of their hospi- 
 tality, he proceeds thus : " Yet the outward behaviour of 
 the Arab frequently gives the lie to his inward temper 
 and inclination. For he is naturally thievish and treach- 
 erous ; and it sometimes happens that those very persons 
 are overtaken and pillaged in the morning, who were en- 
 tertained the night before, with all the instances of friend- 
 ship and hospitality. Neither are they to be accused for 
 plundering strangers only, and attacking almost every 
 person, whom they find unarmed and defenceless, but for 
 those many implacable and hereditary animosities, which 
 continually subsist among them, literally fulfilling to this 
 day the prophecy, that Ishmael should be a nviid man ; his 
 hand should be against every man, aJid every man^s hand 
 against him.'* Dr. Shawf himself was robbed and plun- 
 dered by a party of Arabs in his journey from Ramah to 
 Jerusalem, though he was escorted by four bands of Turk- 
 ish soldiers : and yet the Turks at the same time paid a 
 stipulated sum to the Arabs, in order to secure a safe pas- 
 
 * Shaw's Travels, page 300, Sec. 
 t Preface to his Travels, page vii. 
 E 2 
 
54: DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 sage for their caravans : and there cannot surely be u 
 stronger proof, not only of the indei)endency of the Arabs, 
 but even of their superiority, not only of their enjoying 
 their liberty, but even of their abusing it to licentiousness. 
 Bishop Pococke was the last who travelled into those 
 parts ; and he hath informed us, that the present inhabit- 
 ants of Arabia resemble the ancient in several respects ; 
 that they* live under tents, and stay in one place as long 
 as they have water and shrubs and trees for their camels 
 to feed on, for there is no tillage nor grass in all this 
 country ; that all their riches consist in camels, a few 
 goats, and sometimes sheep, so that they live in great 
 poverty, having nothing but a few dates and a little goats 
 milk, and bring all their corn eight or ten days journey 
 from Cairo ; that they are in different nations or clans, 
 each obeying the orders of its great chief, and every en- 
 campment those of its particular chief ; and though seem- 
 ingly divided, yet they are all united in a sort of league 
 together; that they love plunder, f and the roving sort 
 of life this disposition leads them to ; have good horses, 
 and manage them and their pikes with much address; 
 those on foot use poles, with which they fence off the 
 spear, with great art. So that authors, both sacred and 
 profane, Jewish and Arabian, Greek and Roman, Chris- 
 tian and Mahommedan, ancient and modern, all agree in 
 the same account : and if any are desirous of seeing the 
 matter deduced more at large, they may be referred to a 
 dissertation upon the independency of the Arabs, by the 
 learned authors of the Universal History. 
 
 An author, who hath lately published an account of 
 Persia, having occasion to speak of the Arabians,! says, 
 *' their expertness in the use of the lance and sabre, ren- 
 ders them fierce and intrepid. Their skill in horseman- 
 ship, and their capacity of bearing the heat of their burn- 
 ing plains, give them also a superiority over their ene- 
 mies. Plence every petty chief in his own district con- 
 siders himself as a sovereign prince, and as s\ich exacts 
 customs from all passengers. Their conduct in this re- 
 
 * Pococke's Description of the East, Vol. I. Book III. Chap. 2. 
 
 f Book IV. Chap. 4. 
 
 ^ Ilanway's Travels, Vol. 4, Part 5. Chap. xxix. pa^e221. Sec. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 5.; 
 
 spect has often occasioned their being considered in no 
 better light than robbers, £cc. They generally marry 
 Avithin their own tribe, See. When they plunder caravans 
 travelling through their territories, they consider it as 
 reprisals on the Turks and Persians, who often make in- 
 roads into their country, and carry away their corn and 
 their flocks." 
 
 Who can fairly consider and lay all these particulars 
 together, and not perceive the hand of God in this whole 
 aftair from the beginning to the end ? - The sacred histo- 
 rian saith, that these prophecies concerning Ishmael were 
 delivered partly by the angel of the Lord, and partly by 
 God himself: and indeed who but God, or one raised and 
 commissioned by him, could describe so particularly the 
 genius and manners, not only of a single person before he 
 was born, but of a whole people from the first founder of 
 the race to the present time ? It was somewhat wonder- 
 ful, and not to be foreseen by human sagacity or prudence, 
 that a man's whole posterity should so nearly resemble 
 him, and retain the same inclinations, the same habits, 
 the same customs throughout all ages. The waters of 
 the purest spring or fountain are soon changed and pol- 
 luted in their course ; and the farther still tliey flow, the 
 more they are incorporated and lost in other waters. How 
 have the modern Italians degenerated from the courage 
 and virtues of the old Romans ? How are the French and 
 English polished and refined from the barbarism of the 
 ancient Gauls and Uritons ? Men and manners change 
 •with times : but in all changes and revolutions the Arabs 
 have still continued the same with little or no alteration. 
 And yet it cannot be said of them, as of some barbarous 
 nations, that they have had no commerce or intercourse 
 with the rest of mankind ; for by their conquests they 
 over-ran a great part of the earth, and for some centuries 
 were masters of most of the learning that was then in the 
 world : but, however, they remained and still remain the 
 same fierce, savage, intractable people, like their great 
 ancestor in every thing, and different from most of the 
 world besides, Ishmael was circumcised ; and so are his 
 posterity to this day : and as Ishmael was circumcised 
 when he was thirteen years old, so were^the Arabs at the 
 
56 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 same a^-e according to Josephus.* He was born of Ha- 
 gar, who was a concubine ; and they still indulge them- 
 selves in the use of mercenary wives and concubines. He 
 lived in tents in the wilderness, shifting from place to 
 place ; and so do his descendants, particularly those there- 
 fore called Scenitesf formerly, and those called Bedoweens 
 at this day. He was an archer in the wilderness ; and so 
 are they. He was to be the father of twelve princes or 
 heads of tribes ; and they live in clans or tribes at this 
 day. He was a wild man, his hand against every man, 
 and every man's hand against him : and they live in the 
 same state of war, their hand against every man, and every 
 man's hand against them. 
 
 This, I say, is somewhat v/onderful, that the same^eo- 
 ple should retain the same dispositions for so many ages; 
 but it is still more wonderful, that, with these dispositions, 
 and this enmity to the whole world, they should still sub- 
 sist in spite of the world an independent and free people. 
 It cannot be pretended, that no probable attempts were 
 ever made to conquer them ; for the greatest conquerors 
 in the world have almost all in their turns attempted it, 
 and some of them have been very near effecting it. It 
 cannot be pretended that the dryness or inaccessibleness 
 of their country hath been their preservation ; for their 
 country hath been often penetrated, though never entirely 
 subdued. I know that Diodorus Siculus:^ accounts for 
 their preservation from the dryness of their country, that 
 they have wells digc;ed in proper places known only to 
 themselves, and their enemies and invaders through ig- 
 norance of these places perish for want of water: but this 
 account is far from being an adequate and just represen- 
 tation of the case ; large armies have found the means of 
 
 * See his Antiquities, Book I. Chap, xii. Sect. 2, page 29, in 
 Hudson's edition. And also Pocock's Specimen of Arabian His- 
 tory, page 319. 
 
 f Scenites or Skenites, — wanderers, so called from their tents, 
 in Greek Skene, which signifies a tent. Pee Pliny, Book VI. Chap, 
 xxviii. Sect. 32, in Havduin's edition. See also Pocock's Speci- 
 men of Arabian History, page 87. 
 
 ^ See Diodorus Siculus, Book U. page 92, in Stephanus' edi- 
 tion, pag-e 131, in that of Rhodomanus, and Book XIX. page 722, 
 in Stephanus' edition, and page 730, in that of Kiiodomanus. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 57 
 
 subsistence in their country ; none of their powerful inva- 
 ders ever desisted on this account; and therefore that they 
 have not been concjuered, we must impute to son.e other 
 cause. When in all human probability they were upon the 
 brink of ruin, then (as we have before seen at large) they 
 were signally and providentially delivered. Alexander 
 was preparing an expedition against them, when an in- 
 fiammatoiy fever cut him off in the flower of his age. 
 Pompey was in the career of his conquests, when urgent 
 affairs called him elsewhere, ^lius Gallus had penetrated 
 far into the country, when a fatal disease destroyed great 
 numbers of his men, and obliged him to return. Trajan 
 besieged their capital city, but was defeated by thunder 
 and lightning, whirlwinds and other prodigies, and that as 
 often as he renewed his assaults. Severus besieged the 
 sauie city twice, and was twice repelled from before it ; 
 and the historian Dion, a man of rank and character, 
 though an heathen, plainly ascribes the defeat of these 
 two emperors to the interposition of a divine power. We 
 who know the prophecies, may be more assured of the 
 reality of a divine interposition : and indeed otherwise 
 how could a single nation stand out against the enmity of 
 the whole world for any length of time, and much more 
 for near four thousand years together? The great em- 
 pires round them have all in their turns fallen to ruin, 
 while they have continued the same from the beginning, 
 and are likely to continue the same to the end : and this 
 in the natural course of human affairs was so highly im- 
 probable, if not altogether impossible, that as nothing but 
 a divine prescience could have foreseen it, so nothing but 
 a divine power could have accomplished it. 
 
 These are the only people besides the Jews, who have 
 subsisted as a distinct people from the beginning ; and in 
 some respects they very much resemble each other. The 
 Arabs as well as the Jews are descended from Abraham, 
 and both boast of their descent from that father of the 
 faithful. The Arabs as well as the Jews are circumcised, 
 and both profess to have derived that ceremony from 
 Abraham. The Arabs as well as the Jews had originally 
 twelve patriarchs or heads of tribes, who were their princes 
 or governors. The Arabs as well as the Jews marry 
 among themselves, and in their own tribes. The Arabs 
 
58 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 as well as the Jews are singular in several of their cus- 
 tonis,and are standing monunnents to all ages, of the exact- 
 ness of the divine predictions, and of the veracity of scrip- 
 tiiie history. We may with more confidence believe the 
 particulars related of Abraham and IshmaeL when we 
 see them verified in their posterity at this day. Tl is is 
 havini; as it were ocular demonstratioii for our faith. This 
 is proving by plain matter of fact, that the most High 
 ruleth in the kingdom of men^ and that his truth, as well 
 as his mercy ^ endurethfor ever. 
 
 III. 
 
 THE PROPHECIES CONCERNING JACOB AND ESAU. 
 
 AS it pleased God to disclose unto Abraham the state 
 and condition of his posterity by Ishmael, who was the 
 son of the bond-woman ; it might be with reason expect- 
 ed, that something should be predicted concerning his 
 posterity also by Isaac, who was the son of the free-wo- 
 man. He was properly the child of promise, and the 
 prophecies relating to him and his family are much more 
 numerous than those relating to Ishmael: but wc will 
 select and enlarge upon such only, as have reference to 
 these later ages. 
 
 It was promised to Abraham before Ishmael or any 
 son was born to him, Gen. xii. 3. ' In thee shall all fami- 
 lies of the earth be blessed.' But after the birth of Ish- 
 mael and Isaac, the promise was limited to Isaac, Gen. 
 xxi. 12. ' for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.* And ac- 
 cordingly to Isaac was the promise repeated, Gen. xxiv. 
 4. ' In thy Seed shall all the nations of the earth be bless- 
 ed.' The Saviour of the world therefore was not to come 
 of the family of Ishmael, but of the family of Isaac ; which 
 is an argument for the truth of the Christian religion in 
 preference to the Mohammedan, drawn from an old pro- 
 phecy and promise made two thousand years before 
 Christ, and much more before Mohammed was born. 
 
 The land of Canaan was promised to Abraham and his 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 59 
 
 seed four hundred years before they took possession of it. 
 Gen. XV. It was promised again to Isaac^ Gen. xxvi. 3. 
 * Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will 
 bless thee : for unto thee and unto thy seed I will give all 
 these countries, and 1 will perform the oath which I sware 
 unto Abraham tuy father.* Now it is very well known, 
 that it was not till after the death of Moses, who wrote 
 these things, that the Israelites got possession of the land 
 under the command of Joshua. They remained in pos- 
 session of it several ages in pursuance of these prophe- 
 cies: and afterwards, when for their sins and iniquities 
 they were to be removed from it, their removal also was 
 foretold; both the carrying away of the ten tribes, and the 
 captivity of the two remaining tribes for seventy years, 
 and Ukcwise, their final captivity and dispersion into all 
 nations, till'in the fulness of time they shall be restored 
 again to the land of their inheritance. 
 
 It was foretold to Abraham that his posterity should 
 be multipHed exceedingly above that of others; Gen. xii. 
 2. ' I will make of thee a great nation;' and xxii. 17. ' in 
 blessing I will bless thee, in multiplying I will multiply 
 thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is 
 upon the sea-shore.' The same promise was continued 
 to Isaac, Gen. xxvi- 4. ' I will make thy seed to multiply 
 as the stars of heaven.* And not to mention the vast in- 
 crease of their other posterity, how soon did their descen- 
 dants by Jacob grow up into a mighty nation ? and how 
 numerous were they formerly in the land of Canaan ? how 
 numerous were they in other parts of the world accord- 
 ing to the accounts of Philo and Joscphus ? and after the 
 innumerable massacres and persecutions which they have 
 undergone, how fiunierous are they still in their present 
 dispersion among all nations ? It is computed that there 
 are as many Jews now, or more than ever there were, 
 since they have been a nation. A learned foreigner,* 
 who hath written a histoi y of the Jews as a supplement 
 and continuation of the history of Josephus, says that "it 
 is impossible to fix the number of persons this nation is 
 at present composed of. But yet we have reason to be- 
 
 * See Basnage's History of the Jews, Book VII. Chap, xxxiil. 
 Sect. 15. 
 
6G BISSERTATIOXS ON 
 
 lieve, there are still near three millions of people, who 
 profess this religion, and as their phrase is, are ivitnesess 
 of the unity of God in all the nations of the world" And 
 who could foretel such a wonderful increase and propa- 
 gation of a branch only of one man's family, but the same 
 divine power that could effect it ? 
 
 But Isaac had two Sons, whose families did not grow 
 up and incorporate into one people, but were separated 
 into two different nations : and therefore, as it had been 
 necessary before to specify whether Ishmaelor Isaac was 
 to be heir of the promises, so there was a necessity for 
 the same distinction now between Esau and Jacob. Ac- 
 cordingly, when their mother had conceived, * the chil- 
 dren struggled together within her ;' Gen. xxv. 22. and 
 it was revealed unto her by the Lord, ver. 23. ' Two na- 
 tions are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall 
 be separated from thy bowels ; and the one people shall 
 be stronger than the other people, and the elder shall 
 serve the younger.' The same divine spirit influenced 
 and directed their father to give his final benediction to 
 the same purpose : for thus he blessed Jacob, Gen. xxvii. 
 28, 29. * God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fat- 
 ness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine. Let peo- 
 ple serve thee, and nations bow down to thee ; be lord 
 over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down to 
 thee ; cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed 
 be he that blesseth thee.' And thus he blesseth Esau, ver. 
 39, 40. ^ Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of 
 the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above. And by 
 thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother ; 
 and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the do- 
 minion, that thou shalt break, his yoke from off thy neck.* 
 But for greater clearness and certainty a more express 
 revelation was afterwards made to Jacob ; and the land of 
 Canaan, a numerous progeny, and the blessing of all 
 nations, were promised to him in particulari Gen. xxviii. 
 13, 14. * I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and 
 the God of Israel : the land whereon thou liest, to thee 
 will I give it, and to thy seed. And thy seed shall be as 
 the dust of the earth ; and thou shalt spread abroad to the 
 west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south ; 
 and in thee, and in thy seed shall all the families of the 
 eai'th be blessed.* 
 
THE PR0PIILC1E:>. ^i 
 
 We have here a farther and more ample proof of what 
 was asserted before, that these ancient prophecies were 
 meant not so much of single persons, as of whole people 
 and nations descended from them. For what is here pre- 
 dicted concerning Esau and Jacob was not verified in 
 themselves, but in their posterity. Jacob was so far from 
 bearing rule over Esau, that he was forced to fly his coun- 
 try for fear of Esau, Gen. xxvii. He continued abroad 
 several years ; and when he returned to his native coun- 
 try, he sent a supplicatory message to his brother Esau, 
 Gen. xxxii. 5. * that he might find grace in his sight.* 
 When he heard of Esau's coming to meet him with four 
 hundred men, he ^ was greatly afraid and distressed,' ver. 
 7. and cried unto the Lord, ver. 11. ' Deliver me, I pray 
 thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of 
 Esau.* He sent a map^nificent present before him to ap- 
 pease his brother, calling Esau his iord, and himself 
 Esau's servant^ ver. 18. When he met him, he 'bowed 
 himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to 
 his brother.' Gen. xxx. 3. And after he had found a gra- 
 cious reception, he acknowledged, ver. 10. 'I have seen 
 thy face, as though I had seen the face of God, and thou 
 •wast pleased with me.' Jacob then had no temporal su- 
 periority over Esau ; and therefore we must look for the 
 completion of the prophecy among their posterity. The 
 prophecy itself refers us thither, and mentions plainly 
 two nations and tivo manner of fieofUe^ and comprehends 
 these several particulars; that the families of Esau and 
 Jacob should grow up into two different people and na- 
 tions ; that the family of the elder should be subject to 
 that of the younger; that in situation and other temporal 
 advantages they should be much alike; that the elder 
 branch should delight more in war and violence, but yet 
 should be subdued by the younger ; that, however, there 
 should be a time when the elder should have dominion, 
 and shake off the yoke of the younger; but in all spiritiTal 
 gifts and graces the younger should be greatly superior, 
 and be the happy instrument of conveying the blessing to 
 all nations.* 
 
 * [Paul introduces this case as an instance of the sovereignty 
 of God, in the dispensation of his grace. The rejection of a 
 
 VOL. I. F 
 
62 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 I. Tlie families of Esau and Jacob should grow up in- 
 to two different people and nations. * Two nations are in 
 thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated 
 from thy bowels.* The Edomites were the offspring of 
 Esau, as the Israelites were of Jacob; and who but the au- 
 thor and giver of life could foresee, that two children in 
 the womb would multiply into two nations ? Jacob had 
 twelve sons, a,nd their descendants all united and incor- 
 porated into one nation ; and what an over-ruling provi- 
 dence then was it, that two nations should arise from the 
 two sons only of Isaac ? But they were not only to grow 
 up into two nations : but into two very different nations, 
 and tivo manner of people were to be separated from her 
 bowels. And have not the Edomites and Israelites been 
 all along two very different people in their manners and 
 customs and religions, which made them to be perpetu- 
 ally at variance one with another? The children strug- 
 gled together in the womb, which was an omen and token 
 of their future disagreement: and when they were grown 
 up to manhood, they manifested very different inclina- 
 tions. Esau was a cunning hunter, and delighted in the 
 sports of the field; Jacob was more mild and gentle, 
 dwelling in tents, and minding his sheep and his cattle, 
 Gen. XXV. 27, Our English translation, agreeably to the 
 Septuagint, * and the vulgate, hath it, that Jacob was a 
 plain man ; but he appears from his whole conduct to have 
 been rather an artful than a plain man. The word * in 
 
 great part of the Jewish nation was to some a stunjbllng block. 
 5t seemed to them as if the word of promise, to the fathers had 
 taken no effect. The apostle in answer, maintains that it was 
 not the original design of God, in the promise to save all Abra- 
 ham's posterity, but on the contrary, that from the beginning, he 
 drew a line of distinction between Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and 
 Esau, though each were alike descended from him, according 
 to the flesh. To a farther, supposed objection, that such a dis- 
 tinction between children, while they were yet unborn, reflected 
 on the righteousness of God, he contents himself with denying 
 the consequence, and asserting the absolute right of Cod, to 
 iiave mercy on whom he will have mercy.] Rom. ix. 6, 16. 
 
 * " Aplastos," in the Septuag-int version, and "simplex," in 
 the Vulgate, both of which signify, plain, simple, or without 
 deceit. 
 
 t "Tam," a Hebrew word, which signifies entire or perfect. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 63 
 
 the original signifies perfect, which is a general term; 
 but being put in opposition to the rough and rustic man- 
 ners of Esau, it must particularly import that Jacob was 
 more humane and gentle, as Philo * the Jewamderstands 
 it, and Le Clerc translates it. Esau slighted his birth- 
 right f and those sacred privileges of which Jacob was 
 
 In the Syriac and Samaritan, this word is rendered entire, by 
 Onkelos it is translated perfect, and in the Arabic, perfect m 
 virtues. 
 
 ♦ See Le Clerc on the passage. " Jacob truly was mild, mee;k, 
 or gentle." 
 
 t [Whether Jacob was right as to the means he used or not, his 
 motives were good, and those of Esau were evil. Observe parti- 
 cularly. 
 
 1. The birth-right attached to seniority. 
 
 2. It ordinarily consisted in the excellency of dignity, the 
 excellency of power, and a double portion. 
 
 3. These privileges of the first-boi-n, were in several instances, 
 forfeited by the mis-conduct of the parties, as in the case of 
 Cain, Reuben, &c. 
 
 4. There was in the family of Abraham a peculiar blessmg, 
 which was supposed to be attached to the birth-right, though 
 God in several instances put it in another direction. This bles- 
 sing was principally spiritual and distant, having respect to the 
 setting up of God's kingdom, to the birth of the Messiah ; or \\\ 
 other words to all those great things, included in the covenant 
 of Abraham. This was well understood by the family, both 
 Esau and Jacob must have often heard their parents converse 
 about it. If the birth-right which was bought at that time, had 
 consisted in any temporal advantages of dignity, authority or pro- 
 perty to be enjoyed in the life time of the parties, Esau would, 
 not have made so light of it as he did, calling it this birth-right 
 and intimating that he should soon die, and then it would be of 
 no use to him. It is a fact too that Jacob had none of the ordi- 
 nary advantages of the birth-right during his life time. Instead 
 of a double portion he was sent out of the family with only a 
 Huff in his hand, leaving Esau to possess the whole of his fa- 
 ther's substance, and, when more than twenty years afterwards he 
 returned to Canaan, he made no scruple to ascribe to his bro- 
 ther, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power, call- 
 ing him my lord Esau, and acknowledging himself as his servant. 
 The truth is, the question between them was, which should be 
 heir to the blessing-s promised in the covenant with Abraiiam, 
 This Jacob desired, and Esau despised, and in despising bles- 
 sings of so sacred a nature, and that for a morsel of meat, he 
 was guilty of profaneness. The spirit of his language was 
 
64 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 desirous, and is therefore called Heb. xii. 16. the /wo/une 
 Esau : but Jacob was a man of better faith and religion. 
 The like diversity ran through their posterity. The re- 
 Tigion of the Jews is very well known ; but whatever the 
 Edomites were at first, in process of time they becaine 
 idolaters. Josephus* mentions an Idumean deity named 
 Koze : and Amaziah king of Judah, after he had over- 
 thrown the Edoniites, 2 Chron. xxiv. 14. * brought their 
 gods, and set them up to be his gods, and bowed down 
 himself before them, and burned incense unto them ;* 
 which was monstrously absurd, as the prophet remon- 
 strates, ver. 15. * Why hast thou sought after the gods 
 of the people, which could not deliver their own people 
 out of thine hand?* Upon these religious differences and 
 other accounts there was a continual grudge and enmity 
 between the tv/o nations. The king of Edom would not 
 sufier the Israelites in their return out of Egypt, so much 
 as to pass through his territories : Numb. xx. and the 
 history of the Edcmites afterwards is little more than the 
 history of their wars with the Jews. 
 
 II. The family of the elder should be subject to that 
 of the younger. * And the one people shall be stronger 
 than the other people, and the elder shall serve thQ 
 younger,' or as the words may be rendered, the greater 
 shall serve the lesser. Thefamily of Esau was theelder,and 
 for some time tlie greater and more powerful of the two, 
 there having been dukes and kings in Edom, ^ before there 
 reigned any king over the children of Israel, Gen. xxxvi. 
 3 1 . But David and his captains made an entire conquest 
 of the Edomites, slew several thousands of them, 1 Kings 
 xi. 16. and 1 Chron. xviii. 12. and compelled the rest to 
 become his tributaries and servants, and planted garrisons 
 among them to secure their obedience. 2 Sam. viii. 11. 
 * And he put garrisons in Edom ; throughout all Edom 
 
 " / cannot live upon protuhes, give me sompthing to eat and drink, 
 for to morroio 1 die.** Such is the spirit of unbelief in every age : 
 and tluis it is that poor deluded souls continue to despise things, 
 distant and lieavenly, and prefer to them the momentary grati- 
 fications of flesh and sen.se.] Fuller, 
 
 * Koze, was a divinity worshipped by the Edomites. See 
 Antiquities, Book XV. Chap. vii. Sect. 9.' page 686, in Hudson's 
 ••.dition. 
 
THE PROPHECIES 60 
 
 put he garrisons, and all they of Edom became David's 
 servants/ In this state of servitude they continued about 
 an hundred and fifty years, • without a king of their own, 
 being governed by viceroys or deputies appointed by the 
 kings of Judah. In the reign of Jehoshaphat king of Ju- 
 dah it is said, that ' tliere was then no king in Edom : a 
 deputy was king,' 1 Kings xxii. 47. But in the days of 
 Jehoram his son, they revolted, and recovered their li- 
 berties, ' and made a king over themselves,' 2 Kings viii. 
 20. But afterwards Amaziah king of Judah < slew of 
 Edom in the valley of salt ten thousand, and took Selah 
 by war, and called the name of it Joktheel unto this day/ 
 says the sacred historian, 2 Kings xiv. 7. ' And other 
 ten thousand left alive, did the children of Judah carry 
 away captive, and brought them unto the top of the rock,* 
 whereon Selah was built, 'and cast them down from the 
 top of the rock, that they were broken all in pieces,' 2 
 Chron. xxv. 12. His son Azariah or Uzziah likewise took 
 from them Elah, that commodious haven on the Red Sea, 
 and fortified it anew, ' and restored it to Judah,' 2 Kings 
 xiv. 22. 2 Chron. xxvi. 2. Judas Maccabaeus attacked and 
 defeated them several times, killed no fewer than twenty 
 thousand at one time, and more than twenty thousand at 
 another, and took their chief city of Hebron, and the 
 towns thereof^ and pulled down the fortress ofit^ and burtU 
 the towers thereof round about, 1 Mace. v. 2 Mace. x. 
 At last his nephew, Hyrcanusf the son of Simon, took 
 others of their cities, and reduced them to the necessity 
 of embracing the Jewish religion, or of leaving their coun- 
 try and seeking new habitations elsewhere, whereupon 
 they submitted to be circumcised, and became proselytes 
 to the Jewish religion, and ever after were incorporated 
 into the Jewish church and nation. 
 
 III. In situation and other temporal advantages Xhey 
 should be much alike. For it was said to Jacob, ' God 
 give thee of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the 
 
 * From about the year of the world 2960 before Christ 1044, 
 to about the year of the world 3115 before Christ 889. See 
 Usher's Annals. 
 
 j- See Josephus' Antiquities, Book IX. Sect. I. page 584;, in 
 Hudson's edition. 
 
 2 F 
 
66 DISSERTATIONS OX 
 
 earth, and plenty of corn and wine :' and much the same 
 is said to Esau, ' Behold thy dwelling shall be of the fat- 
 ness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above.* 
 Jn this manner the latter clause is translated in Jerome's * 
 and the old versions : but some modern commentators, 
 ( t Castalio, le Clerc, &c.) render it otherwise, that his 
 dwelling should be far from the fatness of the earthy and 
 from the dew of heaven: and they say that Idumea, the 
 country of the Edomites, was a dry, barren, and desert 
 country. But it is not probable, that any good author 
 should use the very same | words with the very same 
 praepositions in one sense, and within a few lines after 
 in a quite contrary sense. Besides Esau solicited for a 
 blessing ; and the author of the epistle to the Hebrews 
 saith, xi. 20. that/.saac blessed Jacob and Beau ; whereas 
 had he consigned Esau to such a barren and wretched 
 country, it would have been a curse rather than a bles- 
 sing. The spiritual blessing indeed, or the promise of 
 the blessed seed could be given only to one ; but tempo- 
 ral good things might be communicated and imparted to 
 both. Mount Seir and the adjacent country was at first 
 the possession of the Edomites; they afterwards extend- 
 ed themselves farther into Arabia; as they did afterwards 
 into the southern parts of Judea. But wherever they 
 were situated, we find in fact, that the Edomites in tempo- 
 ral advantages were little inferior to the Israelites. Esau 
 had cattle^ and beasts^ and substance in abundance, and he 
 went to dwell in Seir of his own accord, and he would 
 hardly have removed thither with so many cattle, had it 
 been such a barren and desolate country, as some would 
 
 * In the fatness of the earth, and In the dew of heaven from 
 above. 
 
 f He shall be at a distance from the fatness of the earth. See 
 Castalio. His habitation shall be remote indeed from the fat- 
 ness of the earth, nor shall it be fertilized by the dew of heaven. 
 And truly, the land of Edom was not rich, fertile, or well wa- 
 tered. See Le Clerc on the passage. 
 
 i Ver. 28. Mittal hashamaim umislimanne haaretz. 
 of the dew of heaven and the fatnesses of the earth. 
 Ver. 39. Mishmanne haaretz. umittal hashamain mignal 
 
 of the fatnesses of the earth and of the dew of heaven from 
 above- 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 67 
 
 represent it, Gen. xxxiv. 6, 7, 8, The Edomites had 
 dukes and kings reigning over them, while the Israelites 
 were slaves in Egypt. In their return out of Egypt when 
 the Israelites desired leave to pass through the territories 
 of Edom, it appears that the country abounded with fruit- 
 ful fields and vineyards ; ' Let us pass, I pray thee, through 
 thy country ; we will not pass through the fields, or 
 through the vineyards, neither will we drink of the water of 
 the wells,' Numb. xx. 17. And the prophecy of Malachi, 
 i. 2. which is commonly alleged as a proof of the barren- 
 ness of the country, is rather an argument to the contrary : 
 
 * And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his herit- 
 ap;e waste, for the dragons of the wilderness:' for this im- 
 plies that the country was fruitful belore, and that its pre- 
 sent unfruitfulness was rather an effect of war, and devasta- 
 tion, than any natural defect' and failure in the soil. If the 
 country is barren and unfruitful now, so neither is Judea 
 what it was formerly. The face of any country is much 
 changed in a long course of years : and it is totally a dif- 
 ferent thing, v/hen a country is regularly cultivated by m- 
 babitants living under a settled government, than when ty- 
 ranny prevails, and the land is left desolate. It is also fre- 
 quently seen that God, as the Psalmist saith, cvii. 34. 
 
 * turneth a fruitful land into barrenness for the wicked- 
 ness of them that dwell therein.' 
 
 IV. The elder branch should delight more in war and 
 violence, but yet should be subdued by the younger. 
 
 * And by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy 
 brother.' Esau himself might be said to live much by 
 the sword, for he ' was a cunning hunter, a man of the 
 field,' Gen. xxv. 27. He and his children got possession 
 of mount Seir by force and violence, by destroying and 
 expelling from thence the Horites, the former inhabitants, 
 Deut. ii. 22. We have no account, and therefore cannot 
 pretend to say, by what means they spread themselves 
 farther among the Arabians ; but it appears, * that upon 
 a sedition and separation many ofthe Edomites came, and 
 seized upon the south-west parts of Judea during the Ba- 
 bylonish captivity, and settled there ever afterwards. Both 
 
 * See Strabo Book XVI, page 1103, in the Amsterdam edition 
 of 1707. And Pridcuux.* Connections, Part I. Book I. in the year 
 
 740. 
 
6s DISSERTATIONS OX 
 
 before and after this, they were almost continually at war 
 with the Jews ; upon every occasion they were ready to 
 join with their enemies; and when Nebuchadnezzar be- 
 sieged Jerusalem, they encouraged him utterly to destroy 
 the city, saying. Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation 
 thereof,' Ps. cxxxvii. 7. Even long after they were sub- 
 dued by the Jews, they still retained the same martial 
 spirit, for Josephus * in his time giveth them the charac- 
 ter of ^' a turbulent and disorderly nation, always erect to 
 commotions and rejoicing in changes, at the least adula- 
 tion of those who beseech them beginning war, and hast- 
 ening to battles as it were to a feast." Agreeably to this 
 character, a little l)efore the last seige of Jerusalem, they 
 came at the entreaty of the zealots to assist them against 
 the priests and people, and there together with the zeal- 
 ots committed unheard-of cruelties, and barbarously mur- 
 dered Ananusthe high-priest, from whose death Josephus 
 dateth the destruction of the city. 
 
 V. However there was to be a time when the elder 
 should have dominion, and shake off the yoke of the 
 younger. * And it shall come to pass when thou shall 
 have dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off 
 thy neck.' The word which we translate have dornvrion 
 is capable of various interpretations. Some render it in 
 the sense of laying down or shaking off^ as the Septua- 
 gintj and the Vulgar Latin, And it shall come to pass that 
 thou shalt shake off^ and shalt loose his yoke from off thy 
 neck. Some again render it in the sense of mourniyig or 
 repenting^ as the Syriac,:^ But^ if thou shaW refient^ his 
 
 * They were a turbulent and disorderly nation, always inclin- 
 ed to commotions, and delighting in changes, easily flattered to 
 take up arms and hastening to battles as if they were going to a 
 feast. See the Jewish wars, Book IV. Chap. iv..Sect. 1. page 
 1177, in Hudson's edition. Consult also the following chapter. 
 
 f * Estaide henika ean katheles, kai ekluses ton Zugon antou 
 apo tou trachelou sou.' Septuagint. That is. It (the times) 
 shall be, when thou mayest shake off and loose his yoke from thy 
 neck. Tenipnsque veniet cum excutias et solvas jugum ejus 
 de cervicibus tuis. Vulgate Version. That is, the time will 
 come when thou mayest shake off and loose his yoke from thy 
 necks. 
 
 i But if thou shall exercise repentance, his yoke shall pass 
 ofl' from thy neck. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 69 
 
 yoke shall fiassfr 07)1 off thy neck. But the most common 
 rendering and most approved is, whcji thou shall have domi- 
 nion ; and it is not said or meant, that they should have 
 dominion over the seed of Jacob, but simply have domi- 
 nion, as they had when they appointed a king of their 
 own. The Jerusalem Targum * thus paraphraseth the 
 whol-e, " And it shall be when the sons of Jacob attend to 
 the law, and observe the precepts, they shall impose the 
 yoke of servitude upon thy neck ; but when they shall 
 turn themselves away from studying the law, and neglect 
 the precepts, behold then thou, shake off the yoke of ser- 
 vitude from thy neck." David imposed the yoke, and at 
 that time the Jewish people observed the law. But the 
 yoke was very galling to the Edomites from the first : 
 and toward the latter end of Solomon's reign, Hadad the 
 Edomite of the blood royal, who had been carried into 
 Egypt in his childhood, returned into his own country, 
 and raised some disturbances, 1 Kings xi. but was not 
 able to recover his throne, t his subjects being overawed 
 by the garrisons which David had placed among them. 
 But in the reign of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king 
 of Judah, ' the Edomites revolted from under the domi- 
 nion of Judah, and made themselves a king.' Jehoram 
 made some attempts to subdue them again, but could not 
 prevail. ' So the Edomites revolted from under the hand 
 of Judah unto this day,' saith the Author of the books of 
 Chronicles: 2 Chron. xxi. 8, 10. and hereby this part of 
 the prophecy was fulfilled about nine hundred years after 
 it was delivered. 
 
 VI. But in all spiritual gifts and graces the younger 
 should be greatly superior, and be the happy instrument 
 of conveying the blessihg to all nations. ' In thee and in 
 thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed:' and 
 
 * And it shall come to pass when the children of .Tacob shall 
 labour in the law and keep the commandments, they shall put a 
 yoke of bondage upon thy neck ; But when the children of Jacob 
 shall tuni away themselves from studying the law, and from 
 keeping the commandments, behold then thou shalt l)reak off' 
 their yoke of bondage from thy neck. See the Jerusalem Tar- 
 gum. 
 
 t See Josephus' Antiquities, Book VIII. Chap. VII. Sect. 6. 
 page 361, in Hudson's edition, 
 
70 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 hitherto are to be referred in their full force those ex- 
 pressions, ' Let people serve thee, and nations bow down 
 to thee ;• Cursed be every one that curseth thee, and bles- 
 sed be he that blesseth thee.' The same proi«nse was 
 made to Abraham in the name of God, ' I will bless them 
 that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee ;* Gen. 
 xii. 3. and it is here repeated to Jacob, and is thus para- 
 phrased in the Jerusalem Targum,* "He who curseth 
 thee, shall be cursed, as Balaam the son of Beor; and he 
 who blesseth thee, shall be blessed, as Moses the prophet, 
 the law-giver of Israel.'* It appears that Jacob was a man 
 of more religion, and believed the divine promises more 
 than Esau. The posterity of Jacob likewise preserved 
 the true religion and the worship of one God, while the 
 Edomites were sunk in idolatry. And of the seed of Ja- 
 cob was born at last the Saviour of the world. This was 
 the peculiar privilege and advantage of Jacob, to be the 
 happy instrument of conveying the spiritual blessings to 
 all nations. This was his greatest superiority over Esau ; 
 and in this sense St. Paul understands and applies the 
 prophecy, the elder shall serve the younger. Rom. ix. 12. 
 The Christ, the Saviour of the world, was to be born of 
 some one family : and Jacob's was preferred to Esau's 
 out of the good pleasure of almighty God, who is cer- 
 tainly the best judge of fitness and expedience, and hath 
 an undoubted right to dispense his favours as he shall see 
 proper; < for he saith to Moses,' {as the apostle proceeds 
 to argue, ver. 15)^1 will have mercy on whom I will 
 have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will 
 have compassion.' And when the Gentiles were con- 
 verted to Christianity, the prophecy was fulfilled literally, 
 * Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee ;' 
 and will more amply be fulfilled, when ' the fulness of the 
 Gentiles shall come in, and all Israel shall be saved.' 
 
 We have traced the accomplishment of the prophecy 
 from the beginning ; and we find that the nation of the 
 Edomites hath, at several times, been conquered by, and 
 
 * J.icob, my son, whosoever shall curse thee, sball be cursed, 
 like T^alaam the son of Beor; but whosoever blesseth thee, shall 
 be blessed, like Moses the prophet, the braelitish law-^iver. Sec 
 Jerusalem Tartjum, 
 
THK rUOPHEClES. 71 
 
 made tributary to the Jews, but never the nation of the Jews 
 to the Edomites, and the Jews have been the more conside- 
 rable people, more knowR in the world, and more famous 
 in history. ' We know indeed little more of the history 
 of the Edomites, than as it is connected with that of the 
 Jews : and where is the name or the nation nov/ ? They 
 were swallowed up and lost, partly among the Nabathaean 
 Arabs, and partly among the Jews ; and the very name 
 was abolished * and disused about the end of the first cen- 
 tury after Christ. Thus were they rewarded for insult- 
 ing and oppressing their brethren the Jews, and hereby 
 other prophecies were fulfilled of Jeremiah, xlix. 7. &c, 
 of Ezekiel, XXV. 12, Sec. of Joel, iii. 19. Amos, i. 11. Sec. 
 and Obadiah. And at this day we see the Jews subsisting 
 as a distinct people, while Edom is no more. For agree- 
 ably to the words of Obadiah, ver. 10. * For thy violence 
 against thy brother Jacob, shame shall cover thee, and 
 thou shalt be cut off for ever :* and again, ver. 1 8. * there 
 shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau, for the 
 vLord hath spoken it.* 
 
 IV. 
 
 JACOB'S PROPHECIES CONCERNING HIS SONS, 
 PARTICULARLY JUDAH. 
 
 IT is an opinion of great antiquity, that the nearer men 
 approach to their dissolution, their souls grow more di- 
 vine, and discern more of futurity. We find this opinion 
 as early as Homer, | for he represents the dying Patro- 
 clus foretelling the fate of Hector, and the dying Hector 
 denouncing no less certainly the death of Achilles. So- 
 crates in his Apology to the Athenians, a little before his 
 death \ asserts the same opinion. " But now," saith he, 
 
 * See Prideaux* Connect. Part L Rook V. Anno 1^9. 
 
 t See Homer's Iliad, Book XVI. Line 852, and Book XXH. 
 Line 358. 
 
 t Truly I feel a strong desire to prophecy, to you who have 
 condemned me, as to those things which shall happen hereafter. 
 
72 DISSERTATIONS OJjT 
 
 " I am desirous to prophecy to you who have condemned 
 me. what will happen hereafter. For now I am arrived 
 at that state, in which men prophecy most, when they are 
 about to die." His scholar Xenophon* introduces the 
 dying Cyrus declaring in like manner, " that the soul of 
 man at the hour of death appears most divine, and then 
 foresees something of future events.'* Diodorus Siculusf 
 allegeth great authorities upon this subject : " Pythago- 
 ras the Samian, and some others of the ancient natural- 
 ists have demonstrated, that the souls of men are immor- 
 tal, and in consequence of this opinion that they also fore- 
 know future events, at the time that they are making 
 their separation from the body in death." Sextus Empi- 
 ricus \ confirms it likewise by the authority of Aristotle ; 
 *< the soul," saith Aristotle, *' foresees and foretels future 
 events, when it is going to be separated from the body by- 
 death." We might produce more testimonies to this pur- 
 pose from Cicero, and Eustathius upon Homer, and from 
 other authors, if there was occasion ; but these are suffi- 
 cient to show the great antiquity § of this opinion. And 
 
 for now that I am about'to die, I am arrived at that period of 
 time when the prophetic faculty is most energetic. See Plato's 
 Apology for Socrates, Vol. II. of his works page 39, in the edi- 
 tion of Serranus. 
 
 • The soul of man (at the point of death) seems most divine, 
 and then foresees something of futurity. See Xenophon's Cyi-o- 
 pedia. Book VII. near the bottom of page 140, in the edition of 
 Henry Stephens, printed 1581. 
 
 f Pythagoras the Samian, and some others of the ancient na- 
 turalists have demonstrated the immortality of tlie soul, as a 
 consequence from this sentiment, that it has a foreknowledge of 
 future events at the time of its separation from the body. See 
 the beginning of Book XVIII. page 586, in Rhodomanus' edition. 
 
 i Aristotle saith, the soul divines and foretels future events, 
 when it is about to be separated from the body by death. Against 
 Mashem, page 312. 
 
 § Shakspeare alludes to this notion in Henry IV. First Part, 
 
 O, I could prophecy, 
 
 But that the earthly and cold hand of death 
 Lies on my tongue. 
 
 The same notion is also happily expressed in a most excellent 
 Latin poem on. The Immorlaiity of the Soul, which is deserving 
 of a place among- classic authors. In richness of poetry it equals 
 Lucretius, and in clearness and strength of argument, it exceeds 
 him. The following is a prose translation of four of its lines. 
 
THE PROPHFXIES. 73 
 
 it is possible, that old experierice* may in some cases at- 
 tain to something like prophecy and divination. In some 
 instances also God may have been pleased to comfort and 
 enlighten departing souls with a prescience of future 
 events. But what I conceive might principally give rise 
 to this opinion, was the tradition of some of the patriarchs 
 being divinely inspired in their last moments to foretel 
 the state and condition of the people descended from 
 them ; as Jacob upon his death-bed summoned his sons 
 together that he might inform them of what should befal 
 them in the latter daijs^ or the last days ; by which phrase 
 some commentators understand the times of the Messiah, 
 or the last great period of the world ; and Mr. Whiston 
 particularly asserts, f that it is generally, if not always, a 
 characteristic and criterion of prophecies not to be fulfilled 
 till the coming of the Messiah ; and accordingly he sup- 
 poses that these prophecies of Jacob more properly be- 
 long to the second coming of the Messiah, at the resto- 
 ration of the twelve tribes hereafter. But the phrase of 
 the latter days or last days in the Old Testament signifies 
 any time that is yet to come, though sometimes it may 
 relate to the times of the Messiah in particular, as it 
 comprehends all future time in general : and hence it is 
 used in prophecies that respect different times and periods. 
 'I will advertise thee,' saith Balaam to Balak, Numb, 
 xxiv. 14. 'what this people shall do to thy people in the 
 latter days :' but what the Israelites did to the Moabites, 
 was done long before the times of the Messiah. ' I know,' 
 Buith Moses, Dcut. xxxi. 29. 'that after my death ye will 
 utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way 
 which I have commanded you, and evil will befal you in 
 the latter days :' where the latter days are much the same 
 as the time after the death of Moses. ' There is a God 
 in heaven,' saith Daniel, ii. 28. 'that revealeth secrets 
 
 For when the joints grow stiff at the approach of death, the 
 mind possesseth a keener perception, and a vivacity more divine. 
 At no time do men discover an eloquence more i^raceful, than 
 when, about to die, they open their prophetic lips. 
 ' * Alluding- to these lines of Milton, 
 Till old experience do attain 
 To something like prophetic strain. ' 
 t Boyle's Lectures, Vol. 2, page 311. 
 
 VOL. I, G 
 
74 DISSERTATIONS OX 
 
 and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar, what 
 shall be in the latter days;* but several particulars are 
 there foretold of the four great monarchies of the earth, 
 which were fulfilled before the coming of the Messiah. 
 And in like manner these prophecies of Jacob were, ma- 
 ny or most of them, accomplished under the Mosaic 
 ceconomy, several ages before the birth of our Saviour. 
 
 Jacob as we have seen, received a double blessing, tem- 
 poral and spiritual, the promise of the land of Canaan, 
 and the promise of the seed in which all the nations of 
 the earth should be blessed ; which promises were first 
 made to Abraham, and then repeated to Isaac, and then 
 confirmed to Jacob ; and Jacob a little before his death 
 bequeaths the same to his children. The temporal bles- 
 sing or inheritance of the land of Canaan might be shared 
 and divided among all his sons, but ihe blessed seed could 
 descend only from one : and Jacob accordingly assigns to 
 each a portion in the promised land, but limits the de- 
 scent of the blessed seed to the tribe of Judah, and at the 
 same time sketches out the characters and fortunes of all 
 the tribes. 
 
 He adopts the two sons of Joseph, Manasseh and 
 Ephraim, for his own, but foretels that the younger should 
 be the greater of the two; Gen. xlviii. 19. and hath not 
 the prediction been fully justified by the event ? The 
 tribe of Ephraim grew to be so numerous and powerful, 
 
 that it is sometimes put for all the ten tribes of Israel. 
 
 Of Reuben it is said, Gen. xlix. 4. * Unstable as water, 
 thou shalt not excel :' and what is recorded great or ex- 
 cellent of the tribe of Reuben ? * In number, Numb. i. 
 
 and power they were inferior to several other tribes. 
 
 Of Simeon and Levi it is said, ver. 7. ' I will divide them 
 in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel :, and was not this 
 eminently fulfilled in the tribe of Levi, who had no por- 
 tion or inheritance of their own, but were dispersed 
 among the other tribes ? Neither had the tribe of Simeon 
 any inheritance pioperly of their own, but only a portion 
 in the midst of the tribe of Judah ; Josh. xix. 1 — 9. from 
 
 * [The double blesslug was taken from liim and given to Jo- 
 seph— the kingdom to Judali, and the pricstood to Levi.] 
 
 Fuller. 
 
THE PROPHECIES.. 75 
 
 whence several of them afterwards went in quest of new- 
 habitations, 1 Chron. iv. 39, &c. and so were divided from 
 the rest of their brethren. A constant tradition * too 
 liath prevailed amoni:;' the Jews which is also confirmed 
 by the Jerusalem Targum, that the tribe of Simeon were 
 so straightened in their situation and circumstances, that 
 threat numbers were necessitated to seek a subsistence 
 among the other tribes, by teaching and instructing their 
 children.! — - — Of Zebulun it is said, ver. 13. 'He shall 
 dwell at the haven of the sea, and shall be for an haven of 
 ships :' and accordingly the tribe of Zebulun extended 
 from the sea of Galilee to the Mediterranean, Josh. xix. 
 10, &c.| where they had commodious havens for ship- 
 ping. And how could Jacob have foretold the situation 
 o^ any tribe, which was determined two hundred years 
 aiterwards by casting of lots, unless he had been directed 
 
 by that divine Spirit, who disposeth of all events ? Of 
 
 Benjamin it is said, ver. 27. ' He shall ravin as a wolf:' and 
 was not that,a fierce and warlike tribe, as appears in seve- 
 ral instances, and particularly in the case of the Levite's 
 
 * The Jews also have a tradition that the writers, tutors, 
 schoolmasters and teachers of youth were almost all of the tribe 
 of Simeon. That they might procure a subsistence, they were 
 forced to live separately, in the towns and villages of their breth- 
 ren. Tliis opinion is embraced by the author of the Jerusalem 
 I'argum, by Fagius and others. 
 
 •f [The sentence in Levi's case was not reversed, but convert- 
 ed into a blessing in consequence of the service his descendants 
 performed in their zeal against the worshippers of the golden 
 calf. Exod. xxxii. 26, 29. Deut. xxxiii. 9, 10. So that being 
 consecrated to God, as the priestly tribe, they were honourably 
 and profitably diviilcd and scattered in that character throughout 
 Israel. ' Scott. 
 
 The Simeonites, however, for Zimri*s sin, had the curse bound 
 on. Num. xxv. Shameful divisions are the just punishment of 
 sinful confederacies.] 
 
 ^ [The maritime situation in which this tribe was placed, 
 tended greatly to enricli it, both by fisheries and commerce. 
 Deut. xxxiii. IS, 19. Zebulun was younger than Issachar, yet 
 Jacob mentions him first, and accordingly his inheritance was first 
 allotted him.] ' Scott. 
 
76 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 •wife, Judg. XX. Avhen they alone waged war against all the 
 other tribes, and overcame them in two battles ? * 
 
 In this manner he characterizes these and the other 
 tribes, and foretels their temporal condition, and that of 
 Judaii as well as the rest : ' Binding his fole unto the vine, 
 and his asses colt unto the choice vine, he washed his 
 garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood, of grapes. 
 Kis eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with 
 milk;' ver. 11, 12. and not to mention the valley of Esh- 
 col and other fruitful places, the mountaiRs about Jerusa- 
 lem, by the accounts df the best travellers, were particu- 
 larly fitted for the cultivation of the vine, and for ihe feed- 
 ing of cattle. "The blessing," says Dr. Shaw,f "that 
 Avas given to Judah, was not of the same kind, with the 
 blessing of Asher or of Issachar that his bread should be 
 fat^ or his land should be fileasant^hut that his eyes should 
 be red ivith wine, and his teeih should be ivhite with milk.^^ 
 He farther observes, that " the mountains of the country 
 abound with shrubs and a delicate short grass, both which 
 the cattle are more fond of, than of such plants as are 
 common to fallow grounds and meadows. Neither was 
 this method of grazing peculiar to this country ; inas- 
 much as it is still practised all over mount Libanus, the 
 Castravan mountains and Barbary ; in all which places the 
 higher grounds are set apart for this use, and the plains 
 and vallies for tillage. For besides the good manage- 
 ment and oeconomy, there is this farther advantage, that 
 ihe milk of cattle fed in this manner is far more rich 
 and delicious, as their flesh is more sweet 'and nour- 
 ishing. — It may be presumed likewise, that the vine 
 was not neglected, in a soil and exposition so proper for 
 
 * [Dr. Clarke observes, that the union of the tribe of Benjamin 
 *'with the tribe of Judah, seems to be intimated in their joint 
 conquest, expressed nearly in the same terms. — Jiulah ivent vp 
 from ihe preij — Benjamiyi devoured the prey. Moses in his parallel 
 prophecy, Deut. xxxiii. 12. confirms this by signifying, tliat the 
 Sanchiary should be fixed in his lot, and that he should continue 
 as long as the existence of the temple itself." 
 
 The beloved of the Lord^ shall dwell with him in safety and 
 .shall cover him all the day long, and shall dwell between his 
 .shoulders ] Deut. xxxiii. 18. 
 
 t .Shaw's Travels, page 2t66f 367. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 7^ 
 
 it to thrive in." He mentions particularly " the many 
 tokens which are to be met with, of the ancient vineyards 
 about Jerusalem and Hebron," and " the great quantity of 
 grapes and raisins, which are from thence brought daily 
 to the markets of Jerusalem, and sent yearly to Egypt." 
 
 But Jacob bequeaths to Judah particularly the spiritual 
 blessing, and delivers it in much the same form of words 
 that it was delivered to him. Isaac had said to Jacob, 
 Gen. xxvii. 29. 'Let people serve thee, and nations bow 
 down to thee ; be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mo- 
 ther's sons bow down to thee :' and here Jacob saith to 
 Judah, ver. 8. ' Thou art he whom thy brethren shall 
 praise ; thy hand shall be in the neck of thy enemies ; 
 thy father's children shall bow down before thee.' And 
 for greater certainty it is added, ver. 10. ' The sceptre 
 shall not depart from Judah, nor a law-giver from between 
 his feet, until Shiloh come, and unto him shall the gath- 
 ering of the people be.' I will not trouble the reader, or 
 myself with a detail of the various interpretations which 
 have been put upon this passage, but will only offer that 
 which appears to me the plainest, easiest, and best ; I 
 will first explain the words and meaning of the prophecy, 
 and then show the full and exact completion of it. They 
 who are curious to know the various interpretations of 
 the learned, may find an account of them in Huetius* and 
 Le Clerc ; t but no one hath treated the subject in a more 
 masterly manner than the present Lord Bishop t of Lon- 
 don ; and we shall principally tread in his footsteps, as 
 we cannot follow a better guide. 
 
 I. ' The sceptre shall not depart from Judah.' The 
 ■word shebet^ which we translate a sceptre^ signifies a rod 
 or staff of any kind; and particularly the rod or staff 
 which § belonged to each tribe as an ensign of their autho- 
 
 * See Eusebius' Evangelical preparation, Prop. IX. Chap. IV. 
 
 f See Le Clerc's commentary on the passage. 
 
 % See the 3d Dissertation in Bishop Sherlock's Discourses of 
 the Use and intent of Prophecy. 
 
 § Bishop Sherlock hath cited to this purpose Menochiiis on 
 the Hebrew Republic, Book I. Chap. IV. where he saith, the 
 name (of a rod) hath been transferred to denote a tribe, because 
 each tribe was in possession of its peculiar rod, with its name 
 inscribed thereon, which the princes of the tribes used to carry 
 in their hand, When the Lord addresscth Auronin these words, 
 G 2 
 
78 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 rity ; and thence it is transferred to signify a tribe^ as be- 
 ing united under one rod or staff of government, or a ru- 
 ler of a tribe ; and in this sense it is twice used in this 
 very chapter, ver. 16. ' Dan shall judge his people as one 
 of the tribes or riders of Israel ;' and again, ver. 28. * all 
 these are the twelve tribes or riders of Israel ;* It hath the 
 same signification in 2 Sam. vii. 7 . 'In all the places where- 
 in I have walked with all the children of Israel, spake I a 
 word with any of the tribes or riders of Israel, (in the paral- 
 lel place of Chronicles, 1 Chro. xvii. 6. it is judges oi Israel) 
 *whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying. 
 Why build ye not me an house of cedar ?' the word doth 
 indeed sometimes signify a sce/z^r^, but that is apt to con- 
 vey an idea of kingly authority, which was not the thing 
 intended here : and the Seventy * translate it * archon,' a 
 ruler, which answers better to a laiv-giver in the following 
 clause. It could not with any sort of propriety be said, 
 that tfie scefitre should not depart from Judah, when Ju- 
 dah had no sceptre, nor was to have any for many gene- 
 rations afterwards : but Judah had a rod or staff of a 
 tribe, for he was then constituted a tribe as well as the 
 rest of his brethren. The very same expression occurs 
 in Zechariah, x. 1 1. *and the sceptre of Egypt shall de- 
 part away,' which implies that Egypt had a sceptre, and 
 that that sceptre should be taken away ; but no grammar 
 or language could justify the saying, that Judah* s scefitre 
 should depart or be taken away, before Judah was in pos- 
 session of any sceptre. Would it not therefore be better, 
 to substitute the word staff ov ruler instead of 'sce/itre, un- 
 less we restrain the meaning of a sceptre to a rod or staff 
 of a tribe, which is all that is here intended ? The staff or 
 ruler shall not depart from Judah. The tribeship shall 7iot 
 depart from Judah. Such authority as Judah had then, 
 "was to remain with his posterity. It is not said or meant, 
 that he should not cease from being a king or having a 
 kingdom, for he was then no king, and had no kingdom ; 
 but only that he should not cease from being a tribe or 
 
 lut take thou tuith thee, both thy brethren of the tribe of Levi and 
 the rod of thy father^ we are to understand both the rod itself 
 and the whole tribe, wiiich was thereby signified and ruled. 
 
 • Ouk ekleipsei archon ex Juda. Septuagint, That is, a ruler 
 out of Judah shall not be wanting. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 79 
 
 body politic, having rulers and governors of his own till 
 a certain period here foretold. 
 
 , *Nor a law-giver from between his feet.' The sense of 
 the word scejitre will help us to fix and determine the 
 meaning of the other word mechokek^ which we translate 
 a laiO'giver. For if they are not synonimous, they are 
 not very different. Such as the government is, such 
 inust be the law-giver. The government was only of a 
 single tribe, and the law-giver could be of no more. Nor 
 had the tribe of Judah at any time a legislative authority 
 over all the other tribes, no, not even in the reigns of Da- 
 vid and Solomon. When David appointed the officers 
 for the service of the temple ; 1 Chron. xxv. 1. Ezra viii. 
 
 20. and when Solomon was appointed king, and Zadok 
 the priest ; 1 Chron. xxix. 22. these things were done 
 with the consent and approbation of the princes and ru- 
 lers of Israel. Indeed the whole nation had but one law, 
 and one law-giver in the strict sense of the word. The 
 king himself was not properly a law-giver ; he was only 
 to have * a copy of the law, to read therein, and to turn 
 not aside from the commandment, to the right hand or 
 to the left,' Deut. xvii. 18, Sec. Moses was truly, as he 
 is stiled, the laiv-giver; Numb. xxi. 18. Deut. xxxiii. 
 
 21. and when the word is applied to any other person or 
 persons, as Judah is twice called by the Psalmist, Psal. 
 xl. 7. cviii. 8. 7ny law-giver, it is used in a lower signi- 
 fication. For it signifies not only a law-giver, but a 
 judge : not only one who maketh laws, but likewise 
 one who exerciseth jurisdiction : and in the Greek • 
 it is translated ' hegoumenos,' a leader or president^ 
 in the Chaldee a scribe, f in the Syirac t an expo- 
 sitor, and in our English bible it is elsewhere translated a 
 governor, as in Judges v. 14. < Out of Machir came 
 down governors, and out of Zebulun they that handle the 
 pen of the writer.* The laiv-giver therefore is to be taken 
 in a restrained sense as well as the sceptre ; and perhaps 
 it cannot be translated better than judge ; J^or a judge 
 
 * * Kai hegoumenos ek ton meron autou,' Septuagint. That 
 is a ruler out of his loins. 
 
 f Nor a Scribe from his children's children. See the Chaldee 
 version. 
 
 4 And an expositor from between his feet. 
 
80 DISSERTATIONS OX 
 
 from betnvcen his feet. Whether we understand it, ihi V 
 a judge from between his feet shall not defiartfromJudah^ 
 or a judge shall not depart from betnveen his feet^ I con- 
 ceive the meaning to be much the same, that there should 
 not be wanting a judge of the race and posterity of Judah, 
 according to the Hebrew phrase of children's coming 
 from between the feet. They who expound it of sitting at 
 the feet of Judah, seem not to have considered that this was 
 the place of scholars, and not of judges and doctors of the 
 law. As Dan. vcr. 16. was io judge his fieofde as one of 
 the tribes or rulers of Israel ; so was Judah, and with 
 this particular prerogative, that ^/le staff or ruler should 
 not depart from Judah nor a judge /rem between his fcet^ 
 until the time here foretold, which we are now to exa- 
 mine and ascertain. 
 
 * Until Shiloh come,' that is, until the coming of the 
 INIessiah, as almost all interpreters, both ancient and mo- 
 dern, agree. For howsoever they may explain the word, 
 and whencesoever they may derive it, the Messiah is the 
 person plainly intended. — The Vulgar * Latin translates 
 it Qui niittcndus est, He ivho is to be sent ; and to favour 
 this version that passage in St. John's Gospel, ix. 7. is 
 usually cited, Go wash in the f^ool of Siloam, which is by 
 interpretation sent; And who was ever sent with such 
 power and authority from God as the Messiah, who fre- 
 quently speaking of himself in the gospel under the de- 
 nomination of him whom the Father hath sent?' — The 
 t Seventy translate it ' ta a]iokei mena auto,' the things re 
 served fjV him, or according to other copies ' ho apokei tai* 
 he for whom it is reserved ; And what was the great trea- 
 sure reserved for Judah, or who was the person for whom 
 all things were reserved, but the IN'Iessiah, whom we have 
 declaring in the gospel, Matt. xi. 27. 'All things are de- 
 livered unto me of my Father,' and again, xxviii. 1 8 
 
 * All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth?'— 
 The Syriac translates it to the same purpose, is cujus 
 
 • As if St. Jerome had read Shiloch instead of Shilob, and de- 
 rived it from Shalach, he sent. The letter in HebreAv made use 
 of to express the sound of ch^ is nearly of the same form with tl)e 
 letter answering- to our h. 
 
 t Deriving- it from sh yig'nifying which or what, and/o, to hirp. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 81 
 
 iUiid est, he nvhose it is, I suppose meaning the kingdom ; 
 and the Arabic cujus ifise est, ivhose he is, I suppose 
 meaning Judah : And whose was Judah, or whose was 
 the kingdom so properly as the Messiah's, who is so ma- 
 ny times predicted under the character oi the king of Is- 
 rael ? — Junius and Tremellius with others,* translate it 
 filiiis ejus, hie son - And who could be this son of Judah 
 by way of eminence, but the Messiah, *the seed in which 
 all the nations of the earth shall be blessed ?' — In the 
 Samaritan text and version it is fiacfus, the peace-maker ; 
 and thisf perhaps is the best explication of the word: 
 And to whom can this or any the like- title be so justly 
 applied as to the Messiah, who is emphatically stiled, 
 Is. ix. 6. * the prince of peace,* and at whose birth was 
 sung that heavenly anthem, Luke ii. 14. * Glory to God 
 in the highest, and on earth peace, good will towards 
 men V 
 
 These are the principal interpretations, and which ever 
 of these you prefer, the person understood must be the 
 Messiah. But the learned Mr. Le Clerc would explain 
 the text in such a manner as utterly to exclude the Mes- 
 siah : and he was a very able commentator, the best per- 
 haps upon the Pentateuch ; but like other learned men, 
 he was sometimes apt to indulge strange unaccountable 
 fancies. Of this kind, I conceive, is his interpretation of 
 this prophecy ; for he says % that &Jiilo7i signifies ^wz5 ejus 
 aut cessatio, his end or ceasi?ig, and that it may be referred 
 to the laiv-giver, or to the scefitre, or even to Judah him- 
 self. But if it be referred to the law-giver, or to the 
 scefitre, what is it but an unmeaning tautology. ' There 
 
 *As if it was derived from Shil, an issue of blood, or Sliilojah, 
 the secundines, that wherein the infant is wrapt, and thence by 
 a metonymy, the infant itself. 
 
 1 1 look upon the word Shlloh to be derived from the verb 
 Shalah, he was tranquil or peaceful, in the same manner as Ki- 
 tor smoke is fojnied from Katar he made smoke underneath ; 
 and there are other words of that formation. 
 - + He says that Shiloh is the same as Shilo, and Shil may be 
 derived from Shul, and Shul is the same as Shalah, which in 
 Chaldee signifies to cease, to end. It may be translated the end 
 or ceasing. This being supposed, his end may be referred to 
 law -givers, to sceptre, or even to Judah. See his Commentary 
 on the passage. 
 
82 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 shall be a law-giver as long as there shall be a law-giver, 
 There shall not be an end of the sceptre till the end of 
 the sceptre come ? If it be referred to Jiidah or the tribe 
 of Judah, the thing is by no means true ; for the tribe of 
 Judah subsisted, long after they had lost the kingdom, 
 and were deprived of all royal authority. Not many read- 
 ers, I imaghie, will concur with this learned commenta- 
 tor. The generality of interpreters, Jewish as well as 
 Christian, have by Shiloh always understood the Messiah. 
 The Targum of Onkelos is commonly supposed * to have 
 been made before our Saviour's time, and hef thus ex- 
 presseth the sense of the passage, " There shall not be 
 taken away one having the principality from the house of 
 Judah, nor a scribe from his children's children, till Mes- 
 siah come whose is the kingdom." And with him agree 
 the other Targums or Chaldee paraphrases, and the au- 
 thors of the Talmud, and other ancient and modern Jews, 
 whom the reader may see cited in Buxtorf upon the 
 word. So that, I think, no doubt can remain, that by the 
 coming of Shiloh is meant the coming of the Messiah. 
 
 * And imto him shall the gathering of the people be,' 
 or obedience of the people, as it is otherwise translated. 
 These words, are capable of three different constructions; 
 and each so probable, that it is not easy to say which was 
 certainly intended by the author. For 1. they may relate 
 to Judah, who is the main subject of the prophecy, and 
 of the discourse preceding and following ; and by the 
 people we may understand the people of Israel : and then 
 the meaning will be, that the other tribes should be gath- 
 ered to the tribe of Judah ; which sense is approved by 
 Le Clerc and some late commentators. Or 2. they may 
 relate to Shiloh, who is the person mentioned immediately 
 before ; and by the pa-.ofilc we may understand the Gen- 
 tiles: and then tlie meaning will be, that the Gentiles 
 should be gathered or become obedient to the Messiah ; 
 which sense is consonant to other texts of scripture and 
 is confirmed by the authority of most ancient interpreters ; 
 
 * See Prideaux' Connections, Part 2. Book VIII. and year 37. 
 t There shall not be taken away one, having- the cliief rule, 
 
 from the tribe of Judah, nor a Scribe from liis children's child- 
 r(,'n, even for ever; till Messiah come, whose is the kingdom. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 33 
 
 only some * of them render it, and he shall be the ex^ 
 fiectation of the nation. Or 3. they may still relate to 
 Shiloh^ and yet not be considered as a distinct clause, but 
 be joined in construction with the proceedins^ words, until 
 Shiloh come^ the word until being common to both parts; 
 and then the sentence will run thus, ujitil Shiloh come a?id 
 to him the gathering or obedience of the fieojile^ that is, 
 until the Messiah come, and until the people or nations 
 be gathered to his obedience ; which sense is preferred 
 by the most learned Mr. Medef and some others. And 
 each of these interpretations may very well be justified 
 by the event. 
 
 II. Having thus explained the words and meaning of 
 the prophecy, I now proceed to show the full and exact 
 completion of it. The tvvelve sons of Jacob are here 
 constituted twelve tribes or heads of tribes, ver. 28. " All 
 these are the twelve tribes of Israel ; and this is it that 
 their father spake unto them, and blessed them ; every 
 one according to his blessing he blessed them." To Ju- 
 dah particularly it was promised, that the sce/itre or rod 
 of the tribe should not depart from him^ nor a judge or 
 laiu-giverfrom bet'iueen his feet; his tribe should continue 
 a distinct tribe with rulers and judges and governors of 
 its own, until the coming of the Messiah. The people 
 of Israel after this settlement of their government were 
 reckoned by their tribes, but never before. It appears 
 that they were reckoned by their tribes and according to 
 their families, while they sojourned in Egypt: and the- 
 tribe of Judah made as considerable a figure as any of 
 them. In number it was superior to the others ; Numb, 
 i. and xxvi. it had the first rank in the armies of Israel ; 
 Numb. ii. it marched first against the Canaaniles : Judg. 
 i. and upon all occasions manifested such courage as fully 
 answered the character given of it, ver. 9. < Judah is a 
 lion's whelp ; from the prey, my son, thou art gone up : 
 
 * And he shall be the expectation of the nations. So the Vul- 
 gate following the Septuapf int, dotli translate. 
 
 f See Mode's Discoui'se VIII. and Gothofredus Valandus* 
 Dissertation, entituled, a leader not to depart from the midst 
 of the citiz-cns of Judah, before the miivcrsal empire of Messiah. 
 See Collection of Dissertations, Vol, I, and Mann's critical note 
 on the passage. 
 
S4> DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 lie stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion, 
 who shall rouse him up ?* If the first king of Israel was 
 of the tribe of Benjamin, the second was of the tribe of 
 Judah ; and from that time to the Babylonish captivity, 
 Judah had not only the sceptre of a tribe, but likewise 
 the sceptre of a kingdom. When it was promised to Ju- 
 dah particularly that the sceptre should not depart from 
 him, it was implied that it should depart from the other 
 tribes : and accordingly the tribe of Benjaniin became a 
 sort of appendage to the kingdom of Judah ; and the other 
 ten tribes were after a time carried away captive into As- 
 syria, from whence they never returned. The Jews also 
 were carried captive to Babylon, but returned after se- 
 venty years : and during their captivity they were far 
 from being treated as slaves, as it appears from the pro- 
 phet's advice to them ; Jerem. xxix. 5, See. * Build ye 
 houses and dwell in them ; and plant gardens, and eat the 
 fruit of them. Sec' and many of them were so well fixed 
 and settled at Babylon, and lived there in such ease and 
 affluence, that they refused to return to their native coun- 
 try. In their captivity they were still allowed to live as 
 a distinct people, appointed feasts and fasts for themselves, 
 and had rulers and governors of their own, as we may 
 collect from several places in Ezra and Nehemiah. When 
 Cyrus had issued his proclamation for the rebuilding of 
 the temple, ' then rose up the chief of the fathers,' saith 
 Ezra, i. 5. so that they had chiefs and rulers among 
 ihem. Cyrus ordered the vessels of the temple to be de- 
 livered to the prince of Judah ; Ezra i. 8. 'SO that they 
 had then a prince of Judah. And these princes and ru- 
 lars, who are often mentioned, managed their return and 
 settlement afterwards. It is true that after the Babylonish 
 captivity they were not so free a people as before, living 
 under the dominion of the Persians, Greeks and Romans ; 
 but still they lived as a distinct people under their own 
 laws. The authority of their rulers and elders subsisted 
 under these foreign masters, as it had even while they 
 were in Egypt. It subsisted under the Asmonean princes, 
 as it had under the government of the Judges, and Samuel, 
 and Saul ; for in the books of Maccabees there is frequent 
 mention of the rulers and elders and cou7icil of the JewSf 
 and of ptiblic acts and memorials in their name. It sub- 
 
THE PUOPIIECIES. 85 
 
 sisted even in our Saviour's time, for in the gospels we 
 read often of * the chief priests, and the scribes and the 
 elders of the people.' '1 heir power indeed in capital 
 causes, especially such as related to the state, was abridged 
 in some measure; they might judge, but not execute 
 without the consent of the Roman governor, as I think 
 we must infer from this passage, John xviii. 31. * Then 
 said Pilate unto them, Take ye him, and judge him ac- 
 cording to your law : the Jews therefore said unto him, 
 It is not lawful for us to put any man to death.' The 
 sceptre was then departing, and in about forty years af- 
 terwards it totally departed. 'I' heir city was taken, their 
 temple was destroyed, and they themselves were either 
 slain with the sword, or sold for slaves. And from that 
 time to this they have never formed one body or society, 
 but have been dispersed among all nations ; their tribes 
 and genealogies have been all confounded, and they have 
 lived without a ruler, without a law-giver, and without 
 supreme authority and government in any part of the 
 earth. . And this a captivity not for seventy years, but 
 for seventeen hundred. " Nor will they ever be able (as 
 the learned prelate * expresseth it) after all their preten- 
 ces, to show any signs or marks of the sccfiire among 
 them, till they discover the unknown country, where 
 never mankind dweH, and where the apocryphal Esdras 
 has placed their brethren of the ten tribes." 2 Esdras 
 xiii. 41. 
 
 We have seen the exact completion of the former part 
 of the prophecy, and now let us attend to that of the lat- 
 ter part, ' And unto him shall the gathering of the peo- 
 ple be.' If we understand this of Judah, that the other 
 tribes should be gathered to that tribe, it was in some mea- 
 sure fulfilled by the people's going up so frequently as 
 they did to Jerusalem, which was in the tribe of Judah, in 
 crder to obtain justice in difficult cases, and to worship 
 God in his holy temple. ' Whither the tribes go up,' saith 
 the Psalmist cxxii. 4, 5. 'the tribes of the Lord; unto 
 the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of 
 the Lord. For there are set thrones of judgment; the 
 thrones of the house of David.* Upon the division of the 
 
 * Bishop Shelock's Dissertation 3d. page 351. edit. ^. 
 VOL. I. H 
 
86 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 kingdoms of Israel and Judah, the tribe of Benjamin, and 
 the priests and Levites, and several out of all the other 
 tribes, 2 Chron. xi. 13, 16. went over to Judah, and were 
 so blended and incorporated together, that they are more 
 than once spoken of under the notion of one tribe : 
 1 Kings xi. 13, 32, 36. and it is said expressly, 1 Kings xii. 
 20. ' there was none that followed the house of David, 
 but the tribe of Judah only ;' all the rest were swallowed 
 up in that tribe, and considered as parts and members of 
 it. In like manner, when the Israelites were carried away 
 captive into Assyria, it is said, 2 Kings xvii. 18. 'there 
 was none left but the tribe of Judah only :' and yet we 
 know that the tribe of Benjamin, and many of the other 
 tribes remained too, but they are reckoned as one and 
 the same tribe with Judah. Nay at this very time there 
 was a remnant of Israel, that escaped from the Assyrians, 
 and went and adhered to Judah : for we find afterwards, 
 that in the reign of Josiah there was some ' of Manasseh 
 and Ephraim and of the remnant of Israel,* who contri- 
 buted money to the repairing of the temple, as well as 
 
 * Judah and Benjamin;* 1 Chron. xxxiv. 9. and at the 
 solemn celebration of the passover, some * of Israel were 
 present,* as well as ' all Judah and the inhabitants of Jeru- 
 salem.* When the people returned from the Babylonish 
 captivity, then again several of the tribes of Israel associ- 
 ated themselves, and returned with Judah and Benjamin; 
 
 * and in Jerusalem dwelt of the children of Judah, and of 
 the children of Benjamin, and of the children of Ephraim 
 and Manasseh,' 1 Chron. ix. 3. At so many times, and 
 upon such different occasions, the other tribes were ga- 
 thered to this tribe, insomuch that Judah became the ge- 
 neral name of the whole nation; and after the Babylonish 
 captivity they were no longer called the people of Israel, 
 but the peojilc of Judah or Jt ws. 
 
 Again ; if we understand this of Shiloh or the Messiah, 
 that the people or Gentiles should be gathered to his obe- 
 dience, it is no more than is foretold in many other pro- 
 phecies of scripture, and it began to be fulfi led in Corne- 
 lius the centurion, whose conversion, Acts x. was, as I 
 may say. the first fruits of the Gentiles, and the harvest 
 afterwards was very plenteous. In a few years the gos- 
 pel was disseminated, and ' look root downward, and bore 
 
THE PROrilECIES. 87 
 
 fruit upward' in the most considerable parts of the world 
 then known : and in Constantine's time, when the em- 
 pire became Christian, it might with some propriety be 
 said, ' the kingdoms of this world are become the king- 
 doms of our Lord, and of his Christ, and he shall reign 
 for ever and ever,' Rev. xi. 15. We ourselves were of 
 the Gentiles, but are wow gathered unto Christ.* 
 
 Lastly, if we join this in construction with the words 
 preceding until Shiloh come^ two events are specified as 
 fore-runners of the sceptre's departing from Judah, the 
 coming of the Messiah, and the gathering of the Gentiles 
 to him; and these together point out with greater exact- 
 ness the precise time of the sceptre's departure. Now 
 it is certain that before the destruction of Jerusalem, and 
 the dissolution of the Jewish commonwealth by the Ro- 
 mans, the Messiah was not only come, but great numbers 
 likewise of the Gentiles were converted to him. The 
 very same thing was predicted by our Saviour himself, 
 Mat. xxiv. 14. * This gospel of the kingdom shall be 
 preached in all the world, for a witness unto all nations, 
 and then shall the end come ;' the destruction of Jerusa- 
 lem, and end of the Jewish constitution. The Jews were 
 not to be cut off, till the Gentiles were grafled into the 
 church. And in fact we find that the apostles and their 
 companions preached the gospel in all the parts of the 
 world then known, * Their sound,' as St. Paul applies the 
 saying, Rom. x. 18. ^ went into all the earth; and their 
 words unto the ends of the world.' And then the end 
 cavie^ then an end was put to the Jewish polity in church 
 and state. The government of the tribe of Judah had 
 subsisted in some form or other from the death of Jacob 
 to the last destruction of Jerusalem: but then it was ut- 
 terly broken and ruined ; then the sceptre departed, and 
 
 * [Such was the value of his sacrifice and mediation, that it 
 was considered a light thing for him, merely to raise up the 
 tribes of Jacob : he must be a light to the Gentiles and God's 
 salvation to the ends of the earth. Nor has this promise yet 
 spent its force : probably the greater part of it is yet to be ful- 
 filled. What is foretold of the church in the Ix. of Isaiah, of 
 multitudes of all nations gathering- together unto her, will be 
 the accomplishment of this promise concerning" Christ; for those 
 who are gathered to her are first gathered to'liim.] FtiUer. 
 
88 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 hath been departed ever since. And now even the dis- 
 tinction of tribes is in great measure lost among them; 
 they are called Jews, but the tribe of Judah is so far fromi 
 jjearing- rule, that they know not for certain which is the 
 tribe of Judah ; and all the world is witness, that they ex- 
 ercise dominion no where, but every where live in sub- 
 jection. 
 
 Before we conclude, it may not be improper to add a 
 just observation of the learned prelate before cited. As 
 the tribe of Benjamin annexed itself to the tribe of Judah 
 as its head, so it ran the same fortune with it; they went 
 together into captivity, they returned home together, and 
 were both in being when Shiloh came. This also was 
 foretold by Jacob, ver. 27. ' Benjamin shall ravin as a 
 wolf; in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at 
 night he shall divide the spoil.' The morrdng and night 
 here can be nothing else but the morning* and night of 
 the Jewish state ; for this state is the subject of all Jacob's 
 prophecy from one end to the other: and consecjuently it 
 is here foretold of Benjamin that he should continue to 
 the very last times of the Jewish state. This interpreta- 
 tion is confirmed by Moses' prophecy, for the prophecy 
 of iMoses is in truth an exposition of Jacob's prophecy. 
 'Benjamin,* saith Moses, Deut. xxxiii. 12. 'sliall dwell 
 in safety ; the Lord shall cover him all the day long.* 
 What is this all the day long ? The same certainly as the 
 morning and night. Does not this import a promise of a 
 longer continuance to Benjamin, than to the other tribes? 
 And was it not most exactly fulHlled? 
 
 To conclude* This prophecy and the completion of 
 it will furnish us with an invincible argument, not only 
 that the Messiah is come, but also that Jesus Christ is 
 the person. For the sceptre was not to depart from Ju- 
 dah, until the Messiah should come : but the sceptre hath 
 long been departed, and consequently the Messiah hath 
 been long corne^ The sceptre departed at the final 
 
 * Thus some Jewish iiiterprcters, referred to by Bochart, un- 
 derstood the expression; In tlie morning", that is, in the first or 
 early limes of the Isruelitisli kingdom. — In the evening, that 
 is, after the time of the liabvlonish captivity. Sec Bochart's 
 Uicrozoicon, first Part, Book 111. Chap. x. Col. 828. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. Si' 
 
 destruction of Jerusalem, and hath been departed seven- 
 teen centuries; and consequentjy the Messiah came a 
 little before that period : and if the Messiah came a little 
 before that period, prejudice itself cannot long make any 
 doubt concerning the person. All considerate men must 
 say as Simon Peter said to Jesus, John vi. 68, 69 : ' Lord, 
 to whom shall we go ? thou hast the words of eternal life. 
 And we believe and are sure that thou art the Christ, the 
 son of the living God.* 
 
 , BALAAM'S PROPHECIES. 
 
 WONDERFUL as the gift of prophecy was, it was 
 not always confined to the chosen seed, nor yet always 
 imparted to the best of men. God might sometimes, to 
 convince the world of his superintendance and govern- 
 ment of the world, disclose the purposes of his providence 
 to heathen nations. He revealed himself to Abimelech, 
 Gen. XX. to Pharaoh, Gen. xli. and to Nebuchadnezzar, 
 Dan. ii. and we have no reason to deny all the marvellous 
 stories which are related of divination among the Hea- 
 thens i the possibility and credibility of which is argued 
 on both sides by Cicero in his two books of Divination, 
 his brother Quintus- asserting it in the first book, and 
 himself labouring to disprove it in the second ; but I 
 think all unprejudiced readers nmust agree, that the argu- 
 ments for it are stronger and better than those urged 
 against it. Neither was there any necessity, that the pro- 
 phets should always be good men. Unworthy persons 
 may sometimes be possessed of spiritual gifts as well as 
 of natural. Aaron and Miriam, who were inspired upon 
 some occasions, yet upon others mutinied against Moses^^ 
 and rebelled against God. Jonah, for his disobedience ta 
 God, was thrown into the sea. In the 1 3th chapter of the 
 first book of Kings we read of two prophets, the one a 
 liar afterwards inspired, the other inspired and afte?wards 
 disobedient to the y^ord of the Lord. Yea, our Saviour 
 
90 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 himself hath assured us, Matt, vii 22. 23. that, * in the 
 last day many will say unto him, Lord, Lord, have we not 
 prophesied in thy name ? and in thy name have cast out 
 devils ? and in thy name done many wonderful works ? 
 and yet will he profess unto them, I never knew you ; de- 
 part from me, ye that work iniquity.* 
 
 Balaam was a remarkable instance of both kinds, both 
 of a prophet who was a heathen, and of a prophet who 
 M'as an immoral man. He came from ylram or Mesopo- 
 tamia, out of the mountains of the east ; Numb, xxiii. 7. 
 Deut. xxiii. 4. and the east was infamous for soothsayers 
 und diviners. Is. ii. 6. However, he was a worshipper 
 of the true God, (as were also Melchizedeck, and Job, and 
 others of the heathen nations) and this appears by his ap- 
 plying to God. Numb. xxii. 8; ' I will Ixing you word 
 again, as the Lord shall speak unto me ;' and by his cal- 
 ling* the Lord his God, ver. 18. ' I cannot go beyond the 
 Avord of the Lord my God, to do less or more.' But his 
 worship was mixed and debased with superstition, as ap- 
 pears by his building seven ai/ars, and sacrificing on each 
 altar. Numb, xxiii. 1, 2. and by his going to seek for in* 
 rhantments, whatever they v.erc. Numb. xxiv. 1. He ap- 
 pears to to have had some pious thoughts and resolutions, 
 by declaring, ' I cannot go beyond the w^ord of the Lord 
 my God to do less or more ;' and by so earnestly wish- 
 ing, ' Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my 
 last end be like his,* xxiii. 10. But his heart was un- 
 sound, was mercenary, was corrupt ; he * loved the wa- 
 ges of unrighteousness,* 3 Pet. ii. 15. and ' ran greedily 
 after rewards:* Jucle. 1 1. his inclinations were contrary 
 to his duty ; he was ordered to stay, but yet he wished to 
 go ; he was commanded to bless, but yet he longed to 
 V ursc ; and when he found that he was over-ruled, and 
 t:ould do the people no hurt as a prophet, he still contriv- 
 ed to do it as a politician, and taught Balak to cast a 
 stumbling-block before the children of Israel, to eatthings 
 sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.* Rev. ii. 
 14. So that he was indeed a strange mixture of a man ; 
 but so is every man more or less. There are inconsis- 
 tencies and contradictions in every character, though not 
 so greai perhaps and notorious as in Balaam. If he is 
 ' called a soothsayer in one part of scripture, Josh. xiiL 2^s. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 91. 
 
 in another part he is called 2^firo/ihet : 2 Pet. ii. 16. and 
 his name must have been in high credit and estimation, 
 that the king of Moab and the elders of Midian should 
 think it worth their while to send two honourable embas- 
 sies to him at a considerable distance, to engage him to 
 come and curse the people of Israel. It was a supersti- 
 tious ceremony in use among the heathens to devote their 
 enemies to destruction at the beginning of their wars, as 
 if the gods would enter into their passions, and were as 
 unjust and partial as themselves. The Romans had pub- 
 lic officers to perform the ceremony, and *Macrobius 
 hath preserved the form of these execrations. Now Ba- 
 laam being a prophet of great note and eminence, it was 
 believed that he was more intimate than others with the 
 heavenly powers, and consequently that his imprecations 
 would be more effectual ; for as Balak said unto him, 
 Numb. xxii. 6. ' I wot that he whom thou blessest is 
 blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed.' 
 
 But the strangest incident of all is the part of Balaam's 
 ass. This usually is made the grand objection to the 
 truth of the story. The speaking ass from that time to 
 this hath been the standing jest of every infidel brother. — 
 Philo the Jew seemeth to have been ashamed of this part 
 of the story : for in the first book of his life of Moses, 
 wherein he hath given an account of Balaam, he hath 
 purposely omitted this particular of the ass's speaking, I 
 suppose not to give oftence to the Gentiles ; but he need- 
 ed not to have been so cautious of offending them, for si- 
 milar stories were current among them. The learned f 
 Bochart hath collected several instances, the ass of Bac- 
 chus, the ram of Phrixus, the horse of Achilles, and the 
 like, not only from the poets and mythologists, but also 
 from the gravest historians, such as Livy and Plutarch, 
 who frequently affirm that oxen have spoken. The 
 proper use of citing such authorities is not to prove, that 
 those instances and this of Balaam are upon an equal 
 footing, and equally true ; but only to prove, that the 
 Gentiles believed such things to be true, and to lie within 
 the power of their gods, and consequently could not ob- 
 
 * In his Saturnalia, Book HI, Chap. ix. 
 
 f See the first part of the Hierozoicon, Book II. Chap. xiv. 
 
92 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 ject to the truth of scripture-history on this account.-— 
 Maifttonides and others have conceived, that the matter 
 was transacted in a vision : and it must be confessed, that 
 many things in the writings of the prophets are spoken 
 of as real transactions,-\vhich were only visionary ; and 
 these visions made as strong impressions upon the minds 
 of the prophets as realities. But it appears rather more 
 probable from the whole tenor of the narration, that this 
 was no visionary, but a real transaction. The words of 
 St. Peter show, that it is to be understood, as he himself 
 understood it, literally: 2 Tet. ii. 14, 15, 16. 'Cursed 
 children : which have forsaken the right way, and 
 are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of 
 Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness ; but was 
 rebuked for his iniquity; the dumb ass speaking with man's 
 voice, forbad the madness of the prophet/ The ass was 
 enabled to utter such and such sounds * probably, as parrots 
 do, without understanding them : and say what you will of 
 the construction of the ass's mouth, of the formation of 
 the tongue and jaws being unfit for speaking, yet an ade- 
 quate cause is assigned for this wonderful effect, for it is 
 said expressly, ' that the Lord opened tlie mouth of the ass ;' 
 and no one who believes a God, can doubt of his having 
 power to do this, and much more. If the whole transac- 
 tion was visionary, no reason can be given why it was 
 said particularly, that 'the Lord opened the mouth of the 
 ass.' But it is thought strange that Balaam should ex- 
 press no surprise upon this extraordinary occasion : but 
 perhaps he had been accustomed to prodigies with hisin- 
 ehantments; or perhaps, believing the eastern doctrine 
 of tl^e transmigration of human souls into the bodies of 
 brutes, he might think such a humanized brute not in- 
 capable of speaking : or perhaps, he might not regard, or 
 attend to the v/ondcr, through excess of rage and madness 
 as the word is in St. Peter ; or perhaps, (which is the 
 most probable of all) he might be greatly disturbed and 
 
 * [And where is the wonder of all this) If the ass hud opened 
 her own mouth and reproved the rash prophet, we might well be 
 astonished, but when God opens the mouth, an ass can speak as 
 well as a man. It is worthy of remark here, that Balaam testi- 
 fies no surprise at this miracle because he saw it was the Loid'iJ 
 doings ] ^. Clarkc> 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 93 
 
 astonished, as Josephus •^ afTirms he was, and yet Moses 
 in his short history might omit this circumstance. Tlie 
 miracle was by no means needless or superP.uous; it was 
 very proper to convince Balaani, that the mouth and ton- 
 p:ue were under God's direction, and that the same divine 
 power which caused the dumb ass to speak contrary to 
 its nature, could make him in like manner utter blessings 
 contrary to his inclination. And accordingly he was over- 
 ruled to bless the people, though he came prepared and 
 disposed to curse them, which according to Bochart f was 
 the greater miracle of the two, for the ass was merely 
 passive, but Balaam resisted the good motions of God. — 
 We may be the more certain that he was influenced to 
 speak contrary to his inclination, because after he had done 
 prophecying, tbnigh he had been ordered in anger to de- 
 part and y?(?<? ^0 his place ; Numb. xxiv. 10. II. yet he 
 had the meanness to stay, and give th^t wicked counsel, 
 whereby the people were enticed 'to commit whoredom 
 with the daughters of Moab, and twenty and four thou- 
 sand died in the plague,' Numb xxv. 
 
 This miracle then was a proper sign to Balaam, and 
 had a proper effect ; and we may the more easily believe 
 it, when we find Balaam afterwards inspired with such 
 knowledge of futurity. It was not more above the natur- 
 al capacity of the ass to speak, than it was above the na- 
 tural capacity of Balaam to foretel so many distant events. 
 The prophecies render the miracle more credible ; and 
 we shall have less reason to doubt of the one, when we see 
 
 * See Antiquities, Book IV. Chap. VI. Sect. 2. But whilst 
 he was astonished and confounded by the ass addressing him ia 
 a human voice, &c. See page 150, of Hudson's edition. 
 
 f Rabba in his twentieth section on the book of Numbers, af- 
 firms that God opened the mouth of Balaam's ass, to teach him, 
 that the mouth and the tongue were in his power, and so those 
 of Balaam himself, if he should go about tocur.se Israel. And 
 indeed, the event itself shewed the same thing, seeing Balaani 
 in spite of all that could be done, blessed the very persons, 
 whom with so much parade, it was intended that he should 
 curse. This was even a greater miracle than when the ass spake. 
 For the ass was merely passive, whereas Balaam to the utmost 
 opposed himself to the influences of Cod, as Saul did when he 
 prophecicd. See the first part of Hierozoicon, Book II. Chap, 
 xiv. 
 
94 DISSERTATIONS OJ? 
 
 the accomplishment of the others. His predictions ate 
 indeed wonderful, whether we consider the matter or the 
 stile, as if the same divine spirit that inspired his thoughts 
 had also raised his language. They are called parables 
 in the sacred text: he took up his parable, and said. The 
 same v/ordis used after the same manner in the book of 
 Job, xxvii.l. xxix. 1 Moreover^ Job continued his parable^ 
 and said. It is commonly translated parable or proverb. 
 Le Clerc translates 'wjiguraiioms orationem ; and thereby 
 is meant a weighty and solemn speech delivered in figu- 
 rative and majestic language Such, remarkably such,* are 
 the prophecies or parables of Balaam. V'ou cannot per- 
 ruse them without being struck with the beauty of them. 
 You will perceive uncommon force and energy, if you 
 read them only in our English translation. We shall 
 select only such parts as are more immediately relative 
 to the design of these discourses. 
 
 After he had offered his Brst sacrifice, Numb, xxiii. he 
 went to seek the Lord, and at his return he declared 
 among other things, < Lo, the people shall dwell alone, 
 and shall not be reckoned among the nations,' ver. 9. 
 
 * See to this purpose Bishop Lowth's Prelections, particular- 
 ly the fourth, page 41, and eighteenth, page 173, and his ingeni- 
 ous version of Part of Balaam's prophecies into Latin verse. — 
 See Prelection XX. page 206. The reader will not be displeas- 
 ed to see here a prose translation of it. How glorious in thine 
 encampment, O Jacob! and in thy standards, O [srael! Thou art 
 like a well watered valley, stretching out its fertile sides, or as 
 a garden abounding v/ith streams. Thou art like the spicy 
 plants in Eden's consecrated ground, always verdant and flour- 
 ishing, or like trees planted by tlie rivers, whose moist branches 
 drop by reason of copious dews, and whose fruit is nourished by 
 perennial waters. Thy king always victorious over thine ene- 
 mies, shall extend and perpetuate thy dominion. Thy God hav- 
 ing triumphed gloriously, over tlie Kgypiians, liath been thy 
 leader from the banks of tlie Nile, daily renewing thy strength. 
 Thou art like an unicorn, tliat has escaped from the toils of the 
 hunter, wliicli elated carries its horn aloft. It devours its ene- 
 mies, crushes tlicir bones, and breaks in pieces the spears of its 
 assaihints. Thou art like a lion stretched out and lying at his 
 case, or like a lioness couching, who dare rouse thee ? May every 
 one be enriched Vv^ith blessings who prays for thy prosperity, 
 and may he be overwhelmed with calamities who prays for tiiy 
 hurt. 
 
TlIE PROPHECIES. 95 
 
 And how could Balaam upon a distant view only of a peo- 
 ple, whom he had never seen or known before, have dis- 
 covered the genius and manners, not only of the people 
 then living, but of their posterity to the latest genera- 
 tions r What renders it, more extraordinary, is the singu- 
 larity of the character, that they should ditl'er from all the 
 people in the world, and should dwell by themselves 
 among the nations, without mixing and incorporating 
 with any. The time too when this was affirmed increases 
 the wonder, it being before the people were well known 
 in the world, before their religion and government were 
 established, and even before they had obtained a settle- 
 ment any where. But yet that the character was fully 
 verified in the event, not only all history testifies, but we 
 have even occular demonstration at this day. The Jews 
 in their religion and laws, their rites and ceremonies, 
 their manners and customs, were so totally different from 
 all other nations, that they had little intercourse or com- 
 munion with them. An eminent author * hath shown, 
 that there was a general intercomm.unity amongst the 
 gods of Paganism ; but no such thing was allowed be- 
 tween the God of Israel and the gods of the nations. 
 There was to be no fellowship between God and Belial, 
 though there might be between Belial and Dagon. And 
 hence the Jews were branded for their inhumanity and 
 unsociableness ; and they as generally hated, as they were 
 hated by the rest of mankind. Other nations, the con- 
 querors and the conquered, have often associated and 
 united as one body under the same laws ; but the Jews in 
 their captivities have commonly been more bigotted to 
 tlieir own religion, and more tenacious of their own rites 
 and customs, than at other times. And even now, while 
 they are dispersed among all nations, they yet live dis- 
 tinct and separate from all, trading only with others, but 
 eating, marrying, and conversing chiefly among them- 
 selves. We see therefore how exactly and wonderfully 
 Balaam characterized the whole race from the first to the 
 last, when he said, ' Lo, the people shall dwell alone, and 
 shall not be reckoned among the nations.* In the con- 
 
 * See the Divine Legation of Moses. Book II. Sect. 6, and 
 Book V. Sect. 2. 
 
9S DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 elusion too when he poured forth that passionate wish, 
 ^Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last 
 end be like his,* ver. 10, he had, in all probability, some 
 forebodings of his own coming to an untimely end, as he 
 really did afterwards, being slain with the five kings of 
 Midian by the sword of Israel. Numb. xxxi. 8. 
 
 After the second sacrifice, he said among other things, 
 Numb. xxii. 24, ' Behold, the people shall rise up as a 
 great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion ; he shall 
 not lie down until he eat of the prey, and drink of the^ 
 blood of the slain :* and again to the same purpose, after' 
 the third sacrifice, xxiv. 8, 9. ' He shall eat up the nations 
 his enemies, and shall break their bones, and pierce them 
 through with his arrows; He couched, he lay down as a 
 lion, and as a great lion ; who shall stir him up ? Blessed 
 is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth 
 thee.' Which passages are a manifest prophecy of the 
 victories which the Israelites should gain over their ene- 
 mies, and particularly the Canaanites, and of their secure 
 possession and quiet enjoyment of the land afterwards, 
 and particularly in the reigns of David and Solomon. It 
 is remarkable too, that God hath here put into the mouth 
 of Balaam much the same things which Jacob had before 
 predicted of Judah, Gen. xlix. 9. * Judah is a lion's 
 whelp ; from the prey, my son, thou art gone up : he 
 stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion ; 
 who shall rouse him up ?' and Isaac had predicted of Ja- 
 cob, Gen. xxvii. 29. * Cursed be every one that curseth 
 thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee :*' there is 
 such analogy and harmony between the prophecies of 
 scripture. 
 
 At the same time Balaam declared, ver. 7, < His king 
 shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be ex- 
 ulted.* Some copies have Gog- instead of ^gag^ which 
 reading is embraced by the authors * of the Universal 
 History, who say that, " as the Samaritan, Septuagint, 
 Syriac, and Arabic? read Go^ instead of ^ gag ^ and Gog^ 
 doth generally signify the Scythians and northern nations, 
 several interpreters have preferred this latter reading to 
 
 * See the Universal Hist. Book I, Chap. vii. Sect. 2. Vol. I 
 l^a^e 534. Fol. edit. Note Y. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. Qjr 
 
 the first, and not without good grounds." But it is a 
 mistake to say, that the Syriac and Arabic read Gog': it 
 is found only in the Samaritan * and the Septuagint, and 
 in Symmachus according toGrotius: the Syriac f and 
 Arabic have Jgag^^s Avell as the Targumof Onkelos and 
 the Vulgate, though this latter with a different sense and 
 construction of the words. Neither have we any account 
 that Gog was a famous king at that time, and much less 
 that the king of Israel was ever exalted above him : and 
 indeed the Scythians and northern nations lay too remote 
 to be the proper subject of a comparison. The reading 
 of the Hebrew copies, his king shall be higher than Agag^ 
 is without doubt the true reading : and we must either 
 suppose that Jigag was prophecied of by name particu- 
 larly, as Cyrus and Josiah were several years before they 
 were born : or, we must with Moses Gerundensis, | a 
 learned Rabbi, quoted by Munster, that Agag was the 
 gene'ral name of the kings of Amalek, which appears very 
 probable, it being the custom of those times and of those 
 countries, to give one certain name to all their kings, as 
 Pharaoh was the general name for the kings of Egypt, 
 and AbimeAech for the kings of the Philistines. Amalek 
 too was a neighbouring country, and therefore is fitly in- 
 troduced upon the present occasion : and it was likewise at 
 that time a great and flourishing kingdom, for, in ver. 20. 
 
 * And his king shall be exalted above Gog-. See the Samari- 
 tan version, " And the kingdom of Gog shall be exalted." See 
 the Septuagint. " And his kingdom shall be exalted above 
 Gog." See Symmachus, as quoted by Grotius. 
 
 t " He shall be extolled above king Agag, and his kingdom 
 shall be exalted." See the Syriac versicm. " More than Agag 
 shall his king be exalted, and his kingdom shall be extolled." 
 See the Arabic version, " His king shall be strengthened more 
 than Agag, and his kingdom shall be lifted up." See the version 
 of Onkelos. *' His king shall be taken away for the sake of 
 Agag, and his kingdom shall be removed." See the Vulgate 
 version. 
 
 % And according to Moses Gerundensis, all the kings of the 
 Amalckites were named Agag. For the name of the first king 
 was transferred to all that succeeded him in the throne of the 
 kingdom ; as all the Itoman emperors had the name of Caesar, 
 from Julius Ctcsar, the first who arrived at this dignity among 
 that people. See Munster. 
 
 VOL. r. I 
 
98 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 it is styled, the first of the nations; and therefore, for the 
 king of Israel to be exalted above the king of Amalek, 
 'was really a wonderful exaltation. But wonderful as it 
 was, it was accomplished by Saul, who ' smote the Ama- 
 iekites from Havilah, until thou comtst to Shur, that is 
 over against Egypt: and he took Agag the king of the 
 Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people 
 with the edge of the sword,' 1 Sam. xv. 7, 8. The first 
 king of Israel subdued Agag the king of the Amalekites, 
 so that it might truly and properly be said, his king shall 
 tie higher than ^igag^ arid his kingdom shall be exalted^ as 
 it was afterwards greatly by David and Solomon. 
 
 His latter prophecies Balaam ushers in with a remarka- 
 ble preface, ' Balaam the son of Beor hath said, and the 
 man whose eyes are open, hath said ; He hath said, which 
 heard the words of God, which saw the vision of the Al- 
 mighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open,* 
 ver. 3, 4,j and 15, 16. which hath occasioned much per- 
 plexity and confusion, but the words rightly rendered, 
 will admit of an easy interpretation. * Balaam the son 
 of Beor hath said, and the man whose eyes are open hath 
 said:* It should be, the man whose eye was shut : for the 
 word shatam is used only here and in Lamentations, iii. 8. 
 and there it signifies to shut ■ and the word satam which is 
 very near of kin to it, I think, hath always that significa- 
 tion. St, Jerome translates it, ciijiis obturatis est ocidus : 
 and in the margin of our bibles it is rendered, who had 
 his eijes shut^ but with this addition, but now open. It 
 plainly alludes to Balaam's not seeing the angel of the 
 Lord, at the same time that the ass saw him. * He hath 
 said, which heard the words of God, which saw the vision 
 of the Almighty ;' for in this story we read several times, 
 that ' God came unto Balaam and said unto him ;' and 
 possibly he might aHude to former revelations. * Falling 
 into a trance, but having his eyes open ;' in the original 
 there is no mention of a trance ; the passage should be 
 rendered, fallivg uvA his eves were oficned^ alluding to 
 what happened in the way, to Balaam's falling with his 
 falling ass, and then having his eyes opened : ' And when 
 the ass saw the angel of the Lord, she fell down under 
 Balaam. Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, 
 aiid he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, 
 
TIIE PROPHECIES. 99 
 
 and his sword drawn in his hand ; and he bowed down 
 his head, and fell flat on his face,' xxii. 27, 8cc. A con- 
 trast is intended between havin^j his eyes shut^ and having 
 his eyes ofiened ; the one answers to the other. The 
 design of this preface was to excite attention : and so 
 Balaam proceeds to advertise Balak nhac thin Jicofile 
 should do to his fieo/ile in the latter daijs, by which phrase 
 it meant the time to come, be it more or less remote. 
 
 He begins with what more immediately concerns the 
 Moabites, the people to whom he is speaking, ver 17, 
 18, 19. '1 shall see him, but not now, I shall behold him, 
 but not nii!;h ;* or rather, I see hiniy but not now ; I be- 
 hold him-) but not nigh ; the future tense in Hebrew being 
 often used for the present. He saw with the eyes of 
 prophecy, and prophets are emphatically styled s( fvs. 
 
 * There shall come a star out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall 
 rise out of Israel.' The star and the sceptre are proba- 
 bly metaphors borrowed from the ancient hieroglyphics, 
 which much influenced the language of the east : and 
 they evidently denote some eminent and illustrious king 
 or ruler, whom he particularizes in the following words. 
 
 * And shall smite the corners of Moab,' or the /irinces of 
 Moab^ according to other versions. This was executed 
 by David, for • he smote Moab, and measured them 
 with a line, casting them down to the ground : even with 
 two lines measured he, to put to death; and with one 
 full line, to keep alive :' that is, he destroyed two thirds, 
 and saved one third alive: ' and so the Moabites becauic 
 David's servants, and brought gilts,' 2 Sam. viii. 2. 
 
 ' And destroy all the children of Sheth.' If by Sheth, 
 was meant the son of Adam, then all the children of Sheth 
 are all mankind, the posterity of Cain and Adam's other 
 sons having all perished in the deluge, and the line only 
 of Sheth having been preserved in Noah and his family ; 
 but it is very harsh to say, that any king of Israel would 
 destroy all m*ankind, and therefore the Syriac * and Chal- 
 dee soften it, that he shall sjibdue all the sons of Sheth, 
 and rule over all the sons of men. The word occurs 
 
 * ** And he shall subjug-ate all the ciiildren of Setb." See 
 the Syriac version. "And he shall rule over all the children of 
 men." See the ChulJce, 
 
100 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 only in this place, and in Isaiah xxii. 5. where it is used 
 m the sense oi breaking- doivn or destroying .- and as par- 
 ticular places, Moab and Kdoni, are mentioned both be- 
 fore and after ; so it is reasonable to conclude, that not 
 all mankind in general, but some particular persons were 
 intended by the expression of the sons of Sheih. The 
 Jerusalem Targum * translates it, the srms of the east, the 
 Moabites lying east of Judea. Rabbi Nathan t says, 
 that Sheth is the name of a city in the border of Moab. 
 Grotius imagines t Sheth to be the name of some famous 
 king among the Moabites. Our Poole, who is a judici- 
 ous and useful commentator, says, that Sheth " seems 
 to be the name of some then eminent, though now un- 
 known, place or prince in Moab, where there were many- 
 princes, as appears from Numb, xxiii. 6. Amos ii. 3^. 
 there being innumerable instances of such places or per- 
 sons sometimes famous, but now utterly lost as to all 
 monuments and remembrances of them." Vitringa, in 
 ills commentary upon Isaiah, conceives, § that the Idu- 
 nieans were intended, the word Sheth, signifying a/own- 
 datioji, OY for tifed f dace •> because they trusted greatly in 
 iheir castles and fortifications. But the Idumeans are 
 mentioned afterwards ; and it is probable, that as two 
 hemistichs relate to them, two also relate to the Moab- 
 ites ; and the reason of the appellation assigned by Vi- 
 tringa, is as proper to the Moabites as to the Idumeans. 
 It is common in the style of the Hebrews, and especially 
 in the poetic parts of scripture, and we may observe it 
 
 • Hence the Jerusalem paraphrast rendereth it, the children 
 of the Moabites dwelt on the east of Judea. See Le Clerc. 
 
 f Kabbi Nathan saith, tiiat Seth was a city in the confines of 
 Moab. See Lira and Drusius. 
 
 i Nothing is more probable, than tliat Seth was some distin- 
 tjuishcd king among the Moabites, See Grotius. 
 
 § 1 am fully persuaded that the word • karkar.' in the speech 
 »)f Balaam, signifies destruction, overthroiv, devastation, but [ 
 ■im in some doubt about the phrase, the children of Seth, whom 
 •*Vom the circumstance of the place, I imagine to have been 
 Idumeans. For I think that the word Seth, ought to be under- 
 ^jlood appellatively, as signifying in general, a foundation or 
 tortificd place, because the Idumeans placed the greatest trust 
 in their castles and fortifications. See ^'itringa's Commentary 
 on Isaiah xxii. 5. page 611. ^ ol. I. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 101 
 
 particularly in these prophecies of Balaam, that the same 
 thing in eftect is repeated in other words, and the latter 
 member of each period is excgetical of the former, as 
 in the passage before us ; 'I see him, but not now ; I 
 behold him but not nigh :' and then again, ' there shall 
 come a star out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall rise out of 
 Israel:' and again afterwards, * And Edom shall be a 
 possession, Seir also shall be a possession for his ene- 
 mies.' There is great reason therefore to think, that 
 the same manner of speaking was continued here, and 
 consequently that Shcth must be the name of some emi- 
 nent place or person among the Moabites ; ' and shall 
 smite the princes of Moab, and destroy all the sons of 
 Sheth.' 
 
 ' And Edom shall be a possession.' This was also 
 fulfilled by David ; for * he put garrisons in Edom ; 
 throughout all Edom put he garrisons, and all they of 
 Edom became David's servants,' 2 Sam. viii. 14. Da- 
 vid himself in two of his psalms, hath mentioned to- 
 gether his conquest of Moab and Edom, as they are also 
 joined together in this prophecy ; ' Moab is my wash 
 pot, over Edom will I cast out my shoe,' Psal. Ix. 8, 
 cviii. 9, ' Seir also shall be a possession for his enemies/ 
 that is, for the Israelites. Seir is the name of the moun- 
 tains of Edom, so that even their mountains and fast- 
 nesses could not defend the Idumeans from David and 
 his captains. '• And Israel shall do valiantly,' as they 
 did particularly under the com.mand of David, several 
 of whose victories are recorded in this same 8th chap- 
 ter of the 2d book of Samuel, together with his conquest 
 of Moab and of Edom. < Out of Jacob shall come he that 
 shall have dominion, and shall destroy him that rem.ain- 
 eth of the city ;' not only to defeat them in the field, but 
 destroy them even in their strongest cities, or per- 
 haps, some particular city was intended, as Me may in- 
 fer from Psal. Ix. 9. cviii. 10. * Who will bring me 
 into the strong city ? who will lead me into Edom ?' And 
 "we read particularly that Joab, David's general, ' smote 
 every male in Edom : for six months did Joab reniain 
 there with all Israel, until he had cut off every male in 
 Edom,' 1 Kings xi. 15, 16. 
 
 We see how exactly this prophecy hath been fulfilled 
 
102 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 in the person and actions of David ; but most Jewish, as 
 ■well as Christian writers, apply it, primarily perhaps to 
 David, but ultimately to the Messiah, as the person 
 chiefly intended, in whom it was to receive its full and 
 entire completion. Onkelos, who is the most ancient 
 and valuable of the Chaldee paraphrasts, interprets it of 
 the Messiah. " When a prince,"* says he, '' shall 
 arise of the house of Jacob, and Christ shali be anointed 
 of the house of Israel, he shall both slay the princes of 
 Moab, and rule over all the sons of men :" and with him 
 agree the Targums or paraphrases. Alaimonides, who 
 is one of the most learned and famous of the Jewish 
 Doctors, understands it partly of David, and partly of 
 the Messiah : and with him agree other rabbies, whom 
 you may find cited by the critics and commentators to 
 this purpose. It appears to have been generally under- 
 stood by the Jews, as a prophecy of the Messiah, be- 
 cause the false Christ, who appeared in the reign of the 
 Roman emperor Adrian, assumed t the title of Barcho- 
 chcbas^ or tlic so7i of the star^ in allusion to this prophecy, 
 and in order to have it believed that he was the star 
 whom Balaam had seen afar off. The Christian fathers, 
 1 think, are unanimous in applying this prophecy to our 
 Saviour, and to the star which appeared at his nativity. 
 Origen in particular saith, that + in the law there ai:e 
 many typical and enigmatical references to the Messiah: 
 but he produccth this as one of the plainest and clearest 
 of prophecies : and both Origen § and Eusebius affirm, 
 
 • "Wlien a k\ng of the house of Jacob shall arise, and Christ 
 of the house of Israel shall be anointed ; he shall both kill the 
 princes of Moab, and bear rule over all the children of men. — 
 See Onkelos. 
 
 f See Rasnage's History of tlie Jews, Book 6. Chapter ix. 
 Sect. 12. 
 
 i Wherefore, although in the lav/, there may be found many 
 things, which typically and enigmatically have a reference to 
 Christ, yet at present, I can think of none, which more plainly 
 rind manifestly have an allusion to him, than the one now be- 
 fore us. 
 
 § See Origen against Celsus, Book IX. Sect. 60. page 374, 
 of V^ol. I. See his thirteenth homily on the book of Numbers, 
 Sect. 7. page 321, of the Benedictine edition. See Eusebi\is' 
 Evangelical Demonstration, Book IX. >ScQt. 1. page 417, of the 
 edition published at Paris in J.C28. 
 
THE rUOPIIECIES. 103 
 
 that it was in consequence of Balaam's prophecies,- 
 which were known and believed in the east, tliat the 
 !Magi, upon tiie appearance ot" a new star, came to Je- 
 rusalem to worship him who was born king of the Jews. 
 The stream of modern divines and commentators run- 
 neth the same way, that is, they apply the prophecy 
 principally to our Saviour, and by Moab and EcloiHy un- 
 derstand the enemies and persecutors of the church. 
 And it must be acknowledged in favour of this opinion, 
 that many prophecies of scripture have a double mean- 
 ing, literal and mystical, respect two events, and receive 
 a two-fold completion. David too was in several things 
 a type and figure of the Messiah. If by dcsCrcying alt 
 the children of Shelh^ be meant, ruling over all mankind^ 
 this w as never fulfilled in David. A star did really ap- 
 pear at our Saviour's nativity, and in Scripture, he is 
 styled Xh^ day-star, 2 Pet i. 19. tlie moniing-atar^ Rev. 
 ii. 28. the bright and morning-star, xxii. 16. perhaps 
 in allusion to this very prophecy. Dr. Warburton, who 
 improves every subject that he handles, assigns a farther 
 reason. Speaking of the two sorts of metaphor in the 
 ancient use of it, the popular and common, and the hid- 
 den and mysterious ; he says * that ^' the prophetic writ- 
 ings are full of this kind of metaphor. To instance only 
 in the famous prediction of Balaam — there shall come a 
 star out oj Jacob, and a scefitre shall rise out of Israel. 
 This prophecy may possibly in some sense relate to Da- 
 vid, but without doubt) it belongs principally to Chi ist. 
 Here the metaphor of a scejitre was common and popu- 
 lar to denote a ruler, like David ; but the star, though 
 like the other, it signified in the prophetic writings, a 
 temporal prince or ruler, yet had a secret and hidden 
 meaning likewise. A star in the Egyptian hieroglyphics, 
 denoted God if (and how much hieroglyphic writing 
 influenced the eastern languages, we shall see presently.) 
 Thus God, in the prophet Amos, reproving the Israel- 
 ites for their idolatry on their first coming out of Egypt, 
 :Says, Have yc offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in 
 
 * See the Divine Leg'alion, &c. Book IV. Sect. 4. 
 -j- A painte<l star was employed by the Egyptians to denote 
 God. See Horapol. Hierog-. Book 11. Chap. i. 
 
104 DISSEIITATIONS ON 
 
 the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel P Bui yr 
 have borne the taOdrriacle of your Moloch and Chiun your 
 images,, the star of your God which ye made to yourselves, 
 Amos V. 15, 26. the star of your God, is here a noble 
 figurative expression to sit^nlfy the image of your God ; 
 for a star, being employed in the hieroglyphics to signify 
 God, it is used here with great elegance to signify the 
 material image of a God; the words, :/if star of your God^ 
 being only a repetition (so usual in the Hebrew tongue) 
 of the preceding — China your ir/iugts; and not (as some 
 critics sup[)Ose) the same with your God Star, sidus 
 Deu/n vestrum. Hence we conclude, that the metaphor 
 here used by Balaam of a star, was of that abstruse mys- 
 terious kind, and so to be understood ; and conseciuently 
 that it related only to Chrif:t, the eternal Son of God." 
 Thus far this excellent writer. But though for these 
 reasons the Messiah might be remotely intended, yet we 
 cannot allow that he was intended solely, because, David 
 might be called a star by Balaam, as well as other rulers 
 or governors are by Daniel, viii. 10. and by St. John, 
 Rev. i. 20. and we must insist upon it, that the primary 
 intention, the literal meaning of the prophecy respects 
 the person and actions of David ; and for this reason par- 
 ticularly, because Balaam is here advertising Balak, 
 ' What this people should do to his people in the latter 
 days,' that is, what the Israelites should do to the Moab- 
 ites hereafter. 
 
 From the Moabites he turned his eyes more to the 
 south and west, and looked on their neighbours; the Ama- 
 lekites ; and " took up his parable, and said,' ver. 20. 
 * Amalek was the first of the nations, but his latter end 
 shall be tliat he perish for ever. Amalek was the first of 
 the nations,' the first and most powerful of the neigh- 
 bouring nations, or the first thrit warretl against Israel, 
 as it is in the margin of our bibles. The latter interpre- 
 tation is proposed by Onkelos * and other Jews, I suppose 
 because they would not allow the Amalekites to be a more 
 ancient nation than themselves: but most good critics 
 prefer the former interpretation as more easy and natural, 
 and for a very good reason, because the Amalekites appear 
 
 * The wars of Israel commtnced with Amalek. See Oakclos. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 105 
 
 to have been a very ancient nation. They arc reckoned 
 among the most ancient nations thereabouts, 1 vSam. xxvii. 
 8. ' the Geshurites, and the Gezriles, and the Amalekites ; 
 for these nations were of old the inhabitants of the land, 
 as thou goest to Shur, even unto the land of Egypt.* 
 They are mentioned as early as in the wars of Chedor- 
 laomer : Gen. xiv. 7. so that they must have been a na- 
 tion before the times of^Abraham and Lot, and conse- 
 quently much older than the Moabites, or Edomites, or 
 any of the nations descended from those patriarchs. And 
 this is a demonstrative argument, that the Amalekites did 
 not descend from Amalek, the son of Eliphuz and grand- 
 son of Esau, as many have supposed only from the simi- 
 litude of names; Gen. xxxvi. 12. but sprung from some 
 other stock, and probably, as the Arabian writers affirm 
 from Amalek or Amlak, the son of Ham and grandson 
 of Noah. " Ajnlak et Amlik^ fils de Cham, fils de Noe — 
 C'est celuy que les liebreux appellent Amelec pere des 
 Amalecites:" so saith Herbelot ; but it is to be wished 
 that this valuable and useful author had cited his autho- 
 rities. According to the Arabian historians * too, they 
 were a great and powerful nation, subdued Egypt, and 
 held it in subjection several years. They must certainly 
 have been more powerful, or at least more courageous, 
 than the neighbouring nations, because they ventured to 
 attack the Israelites, of whom the other nations were 
 afraid. But though they were the first, the most ancient 
 and powerful of the neighbouring nations ; yet 'their lat- 
 ter end shall be that they perish for ever.' Here llaiaam 
 unwittingly confirms what God had before denounced by 
 Moses, Exod. xvii. 14. * And the Lord said unto Moses, 
 Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in 
 the ears of Joshua, for I will (or rather, that I vAll) ut- 
 terly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under 
 heaven.' Balaam had before declared, that the king of 
 Israel should prevail over the king of Amalek ; but here 
 the menace is carried farther, and Amalek is consigned 
 to utter destruction. This sentence was in great mea- 
 sure executed by Saul, who ' smote the Amalekites, and 
 
 * See Universal History, Cook I. Chap. 3, page 281, of Vol. 
 I, in the Folio edition. 
 
106 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword,* 
 1 Sam XV. 7, 8. When they had recovered a little, 
 'David and his men went up and invaded them; and 
 David smote the land, and left neither man nor woman 
 alive, and took away the sheep and the oxen, and the asses, 
 and the camels- and the apparel,' 1 Sam. xxvii 8, 9. Da- 
 vid made a farther slaughter and conquest of them at 
 Ziklag : I Sam. xx;;. and at last, ' the sons of Simeon, in 
 the days of Hezekiah king of Jiidah, smote the rest of 
 the Amalekites that were escaped, and dwelt in their 
 habitations,' I Chron. iv. 41, 42, 43. And where is the 
 name or the nation of Amalek subsisting at this day ? 
 What history, what tradition concerning them is remain- 
 ln;-2; any where ? They are but just enough known and 
 remembered to show, that wliat God had threatened, he 
 hath punctually fulnlled; 'I will utterly put out the re- 
 membrance of Amalek from under heaven ; and his latter 
 end shall be, that he perish for ever/ 
 
 Then ' he looked on the Kenites : and took up his pa- 
 rable, and said,' ver. 2 1, 22. ' strong is thy dwelling place, 
 and thou puttest thy nest in a rock. Nevertheless the 
 Kenite shall be wasted, until Ashur shall carry thee away 
 captive.' Commentators are perplexed, and much at a 
 loss, to say with any certainty who thtHf Kenitts were. 
 There avQ ICevites mentioned, Gen. xv. 19. among the 
 Canaanitish nations, v.'hose land was promised unto Abra- 
 ham ; and Le Clerc * imagines, that those Kenites were 
 the people here intended : But the Canaanitish nations 
 are not the subject of Balaam's prophecies ; and the Ca- 
 naanitish nations were to be rooted out, but these Kenites 
 were to continue as long as the Israelites themselves, and 
 to be carried captive M'ith them by the Assyrians; and in 
 the opinion of Bochart,t those Kenites as well as the Ke- 
 
 * Here these more ancient Kenites arc to be understood. See 
 Le Clerc on the pas.sag-e. 
 
 f I um of opinion, that their names perished in that period, 
 which Intei'vened, bcluoen the times of Abruhum and of Moses. 
 This Iiowever is certain, tliat their name was imknown to Jo- 
 sluia. At least in hisdlvisionof the land, and in his enumeration 
 of the nations subdued by tlie Israelites, he no where makes men- 
 tion of it. See liochui't's rhalcii*, Bouk IV. ChuP. xx.\.vi. Col 
 397. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 107 
 
 nizzites became extinct in the interval of time which 
 passed between Abraham and Moses, being not mention- 
 ed by Joshua in the division of the land, nor reckoned 
 among- the nations conoiiert-d by him. The most proba- 
 ble account oi these Ke7iin\Sy I conceive to be this. Jethro, 
 the father-in-law of Moses, is called in one place, the 
 priest ofMidian^ Exod. iii. 1. and in another, the Kniite, 
 Judg'. i. 16. We may infer therefore, that the AJidian- 
 ites and the Kenites were the same, or at least, that the 
 Kciiites were some of the tribes of Midian. 'J'he Midian- 
 ites are said to be confederates with the Moabites in the 
 beginning of the story, and the elders of Midian as well 
 as the elders of Moab, invited Balaam to come and curse 
 Israel ; and one would naturally expect some notice to 
 be taken of them or their tribes in the course of these 
 prophecies. Now of the Kenites, it appears, that part 
 followed Israel : Judg. i. 1 6. but the greater part, we may 
 presume, remained among the Midianites and Amale- 
 kites We read in 1 Sam. xv. 6, that there were Kenites 
 dwelling among the Amalekites, and so the Kenites are 
 fitly mentioned here next after the Amalekites Their 
 situation is said to be strong and secure among the moun- 
 tains, ' Strong is thy dwelling-place, and thou puttest thy 
 nest in a rock ;* wherein is an allusion to the name, the 
 same word in Hebiew signifying a nest and a Kenite. 
 * Nevertheless the Kenite shall be wasted, until Ashur 
 carry thee away captive.' The Amalekites were to be 
 utterly destroyed, but the Kenites were to be carried cap- 
 tive. And accordingly when Saul was sent by divine 
 commission to destroy the Amalekites, he ordered the 
 Kenites to depart from among them. 1 Sam.xv. 6. 'And 
 Saul said unto the Kenites, Go, depart, get you down from 
 among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them : for 
 ye shewed kindness to all the children of Israel when they 
 came up out of Egypt ;' for the kindness which some of 
 them shewed to Israel, their posterity was saved. ' So 
 the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.' This 
 showeth that they were nvasted^ and reduced to a low and 
 weak condition ; and as the kings of Assyria carried cap- 
 tive not only the Jcvs, but also the Syrians, 2 Kings xvi. 
 9. and several other nations, 2 Kings xix.l2, 13. it is most 
 highly probable, that the Kenites shared the same fate 
 
108 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 with their neighbours, and were carried away by the same 
 torrent ; and especially as we find some Kenites men- 
 tioned among the Jews after their return from captivity. 
 1 Chron. ii. 55. 
 
 The next verse, ver. 23. ' And he took up his parable, 
 and said, Alas, who shall live when God doeth this '.' is 
 by several commentators referred lo what precedes, b\it 
 it relates rather to what follows, ' And he took up his 
 parable, and said :' this preface is U!?ed, when he enters 
 upon some new subject. ' Alas, who shall live when God 
 doeth this I' this exclamation implies, that he is now pro- 
 phecying of very distant and very calamitous times, ^nd 
 Shifis^ or rather/or Shi^is, as the particle vau often signi- 
 fies, and this instance among others is cited by Noldius.* 
 ' For ships shall com.e from the coast of Chittim, and 
 shall afflict Ashur,and shall afflict Eber, and he also shall 
 perish for ever,' ver. 24. 
 
 Chittim was one of the sons of Javan, who was one of the 
 sons of Japheth, by whose posterity the isies of the Gen- 
 tiles^ Gen. X. 5. ivere divided and peopled, that is Europe, 
 and the countries to which the Asiatics passed by sea, for 
 such the Hebrews called islands. Chitiim is used for the 
 descendants of Chittim, as Ashur is put for the descend- 
 ants of Ashur, that is the Assyrians : but what people 
 were the descendants of Chittim^ or what country was 
 meant by the coasts of Chittim^ it is not so easy to deter- 
 mine. — The critics and commentators are generally di- 
 vided into two opinions, the one asserting that Macedonia, 
 and the other that Italy was the country her6 intended : 
 and each opinion is recommended and authorised by some 
 of the first and greatest names in learning ; as not to men- 
 tion any others, Grotius and Le Clerc t contend for the 
 former, Bochart and Vitringa \ are strenuous for the lat- 
 ter. But there is no reason why we nay not adopt both 
 opinions; and especially as it is very well known and 
 agreed on all hands, that colonies came from Greece to 
 
 * See Noldius on the Hebrew particle, ver. o7' 
 
 \ See Grotius and Le Clerc on the passage, as also upon Gen. 
 
 X. 4. 
 
 t See Dochart's Phaleg, Book III. Chap. v. And Vitringa on 
 
 Isa. xxiii. 1. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 109 
 
 italy ; and as Josephus * saith, that all islands and most 
 maritime places are called Chethem by the Hebrews ; and 
 as manifest traces of the name are to be found in both 
 countries • the ancient name of Macedonia having been 
 Macfttia^\ and the Latins having before been called CV- 
 tii. What appears most probable is, that the sons of 
 Chittim settled first in Asia Minor, where were a people 
 called Ceti'i^ and a river called Cetium^ according to Ho- 
 mer and Strabo.:}: From Asia they might pass over into 
 the island of Cyprus, which Josephus § saith was possessed 
 by Chethim^ and called Cliethima ; and where was also the 
 city Cittium, famous for being the birth-place of Zeno, 
 the founder of the sect of the Stoics, who was therefore 
 called the Cittean. And from thence they might send 
 forth colonies into Greece and Italy. This plainly ap- 
 pears, that wherever the layid of C/iittim or the islfs of 
 Chittim are mentioned in scripture, there are evidently 
 meant some countries or islands in the Mediterranean. 
 
 Isaiah prophecying of the destruction of Tyre by Ne- 
 buchadnezzar .jsaith, xxiii. 1. ' Howl, ye ships of Tarshish,' 
 that is, the ships trading from Tyre to Tartessus in 
 Spain ; * for Tyre is laid waste : from the land of Chit- 
 tim it is revealed to them ;' the news is brought first to 
 the countries and islands in the Mediterranean, and from 
 thence it is conveyed to Spain ; and afterwards, ver. 12. 
 ' Arise, pass over to Chittim, there also shait thou have 
 no rest ;' the inhabitants might fly from Tyre, and pass 
 over to the countries and islands in the Mediterranean, 
 but even there they should find no secure place of refuge ; 
 Cod's judgments should still pursue them. Jeremiah 
 expostulating with the Jews concerning their causeless 
 
 * And from it (namely Chittim) every island, and almost every 
 place on the sea coast, is by the Hebrews called Chittim. See 
 Josephus' Antiquities, Book I. Chap, vi, in the 17 page of Hud- 
 son's edition, Vol. 1. 
 
 t See Bochart in the place above quoted. 
 
 + See Homer's Odyssey, Book XII. Line 520, and the Sclio- 
 liast upon it. See also Slrabo's Geography, Book XUl. pages^ 
 915, 916, in the second Volume of the Amsterdam edition of 
 1707. 
 
 § But Chettim possessed the island of Chittima, which is new 
 called Cyprus. See Josephus in the place above quoted. 
 
 VCL. I, K 
 
ilO DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 revolt, saitli, ii. 10. ^ Pass over to the isles of Ciiittim, and 
 see,' that is, the isles in the IVlediterranean "vvhich lay 
 •westward of Judea ; * and send unto Kedar,' which was 
 in Arabia and lay eastward of Judea ; 'and consider dili- 
 gently, and see if there be such a thing;' go search east 
 and west, and see if you can find any such instance of 
 apostacy as this of the Jews. Ezekiel describing the lux- 
 'iry of the Tyrians even in their shipping, saith, xxvii. 6. 
 ic cording to the true reading * and interpretation of the 
 words, * they made their benches of ivory inlaid on box, 
 brought out of the isles of Chittim^' that is, out of the 
 isles of the Mediterranean, and most probably from Cor- 
 sica, which was famous above all places for box, as Bo- 
 chart hath proved by the testimonies of Pliny, Theo- 
 phrastus, and Diodorus. Daniel foretelling the exploits 
 of Antiochus Epiphanes, saith, xi. 29, 30. that he should 
 ' come towards the south,' that is, invade Egypt, <• but the 
 ships of Chittim shall come against him, therefore he shall 
 be grieved and return :' the ships of Chittim can be none 
 other than the ships of the Romans, whose ambassadors! 
 coming from Italy to Greece, and from thence to Alex- 
 andria, obliged Antiochus, to his great grief and disap- 
 pointment, to depart from Egypt without accomplishing 
 his designs. The author of the first book of Maccabees, 
 speaking oi Alexander son of Philiji the Macedonian,, saith, 
 1, i. that he came out of the land of Chittim: and after- 
 wards, viii. 5. Perseus^ the last king of Macedon, he 
 calleth king of the Cittirns. By these instances it appears, 
 that the land of Chittim was a general name for the coun- 
 tries and islands in the Mediterranean : and therefore 
 when Balaam said, that shifis should come from the coast 
 of Chittim,, he might mean either Greece, or Italy, or 
 both, the particular names of those countries being at 
 that time perhaps unknown in the east : and the passage 
 may be the better understood of both, because it was 
 equally true of both, and Greece and Italy were alike, -the 
 scourges of Asia. 
 
 * See Bochart in tlie place above quoted^ and tiie first part of 
 his Hierozoicon, Book 11. Chap. xxiv. 
 
 t See Livy, Book XLV. Chapters x. xi. xii. Sec also Pol}l)iiis, 
 pag-e 915, and 916, in Casaubon's edition. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. Ill 
 
 'And shall afflict Asluir.' Ashur^ as we noted before, 
 signifies properly the descendants of Ashur, the Assyri- 
 ans : but* their name was of as large extent as their em- 
 pire, and the Syrians and Assyrians are often confounded 
 together, and mentioned as one and the same people. — 
 Now it is so well known as to require no particular proof, 
 that the Grecians under the command of Alexander the 
 Great, subdued all those countries. The llomans after- 
 wards extended their empire into the same regions ; and 
 as t Dion informs us, Assyria properly so called, was con- 
 quered by the emperor Trajan. 
 
 'And shall afflict Eber. Two interpretations are pro- 
 posed of the word Eber^ either the posterity of a man so 
 called, or the people who dwelt on the other side of the 
 river Euphrates. If by Eber we understand the posteri- 
 ty of Eber, as by Ashur the posterity of Ashur, which 
 appears a very natural construction ; then Balaam, who 
 was commissioned to bless Israel at first, prophecied evil 
 concerning them at last, though under another name : 
 but men and manners usually degenerate in a long course 
 of time ; and as the virtues of the progenitors might en- 
 title them to a blessing, so the vices of the descendants 
 might render them obnoxious to a curse. However, we 
 may avoid this seeming inconsistence, if we follow the 
 other interpretation, and by Eber^ understand the people 
 who dwelt on the other side of the river Euphrates, which 
 sense is given by Onkelos, t and is approved by several 
 of the ancients, as well as by many of the most able com- 
 mentators among the moderns, and is particularly enforc- 
 ed by a learned professor § of eminent skill in the orien- 
 tal languages. The two members of the period \vou1d 
 then better connect together, and the sense of the latter 
 Avould be somewhat exegetical of the former : cnid shall 
 
 * This name extended as widely as their empire^ — ^NFany of tlie 
 ancients consider the Syrians and the Assyrians as the same 
 people. See Bochart's Piialeg. Book II. Ciiap. iii. Col. 72. 
 
 j- See Dion's Roman History, Book LXVIU. page 7S3, in Leuu- 
 clavius' edition, printed at Hanover in 1606. 
 
 t 'And they shall subdue beyond the River Euphrates.' See 
 Onkelos. 
 
 § See Hyde's History of the Religion of the ancient Persians. 
 Chap. ii. page 52 — 57. 
 
112 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 ufflict Jshur, and shall afflict Eber^ shall affiict the Assy- 
 rians, and other neighbouring nations bordering upon the 
 river Euphrates. > And this interpretation I would readily 
 embrace if I could see any instance of a parallel expres- 
 sion. Beyond the river, meaning Euphrates, is indeed. a 
 phrase that sometimes occurs in scripture, and the con- 
 cordance will supply us with instances : but where doth 
 beyond alone ever bear that signification? I know, Gen, 
 X. 21. is usually cited for this purpose ; but that text is 
 as much controverted as this, and the question is the 
 same there as here, whether Eder be the proper name of 
 a man, or only a preposition signifying beyond^ and be- . 
 yond signifying the people beyond the river Euphrates : 
 or in other words, whether the passage should be trans- 
 lated, the father of all the children of Eber^ or the father ■ 
 of all the children of the pcop.le on the other side of the ri- 
 vrr Euphrates. Isaiah's manner of speaking of the same 
 people is, ' by them beyond the river, by the king of As- 
 syria :' vii. 20. and one would expect the like here, shall 
 afflict Ashur^ and shall afflict them beyond the river. But 
 which ever of these interpretations we prefer, the prophe- 
 cy was alike fulfilled. If we understand it of the people 
 bordering upon the Euphrates, they as well as the Assy- 
 rians were subdued both by the Grecians and Romans.— 
 If we understand it of the posterity of Eber, the Hebrev/s 
 v/ere afflicted, though not much by Alexander himself, 
 yet by his successors the Seleucid^e, and particularly by 
 Antiochus Epiphanes, who spoiled Jerusalem, defiled 
 the temple, and slew all those who adhered to the law of 
 IVIoses. 1 Maccab. i. They were worse afflicted by the 
 Romans, who not only subdued and oppressed them, and 
 made their country a province of the empire, but at last 
 took away their place and nation, and sold and dispersed 
 them over the face of the earth. 
 
 ' And he also shall perish for ever,* that is, Chittim, 
 who is the main subject of this part of the prophecy, and 
 whose ships were to afflict Ashur, and to afilict Eber : but 
 This notwithstanding, ' he also shall be even to perdition,* 
 he also shall be destroyed as well as Anialck, for in the' 
 original, the words are the same concerning both. He, in 
 the singular number, cannot well refer to both Ashur and 
 Eber. He, must naturally signify Chittim^ the principal 
 
Tilt: PIIOPHECIES. 115 
 
 agent : and if by Chlttini^ be meant the Grecians, the 
 Grecian empire was entirely subverted by the Roman ; 
 if the Romans, the Roman empire was in its turn broker, 
 into pieces by the incursion of the northern nations. The 
 name only of the Roman empire and Caesarean majest) 
 subsisting at this day, and is transferred to another coun- 
 try and another people. 
 
 It appears then that Balaam was a prophet divinely in- 
 spired, or he could never have foretold so many distant 
 events, some of which are fulfilling in the world at this 
 time : and what a singular honour was it to the people of 
 Israel, that a prophet called from another country, and 
 at the same time a wicked man, should be obliged to bear 
 testimony to their righteousness and holiness ? The com- 
 mendations of an enemy, among enemies, are commen- 
 dations indeed. And Moses did justice to himself as well 
 as to his nation in recording these transactions. They 
 are not only a material part of his history, but are likewise 
 a strong confirmation of the truth of his religion. Ba- 
 laam's bearing witness to Moses, is somewhat like Judas 
 attesting the innocence of Jesus. 
 
 VI. 
 
 MOSES' PROPHECY OF A PROPHET LIKE UNTO 
 HIMSELF. 
 
 MOSES is a valuable writer, as upon many accounts, 
 so particularly upon this, that he hath not only preserved 
 and transmitted to posterity several ancient prophecies, 
 but hath likewise shown himself a prophet, and inserted 
 several predictions of his own. Among these none is 
 more memorable, than that of another propliet to be raised 
 like u«to himself. He was now about to leave his peo- 
 ple, and comforts them with the promise of another pro- 
 phet. Deut. xviii. 15. 'The Lord thy God will raise 
 up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy 
 brethren, like unto me ; unto him ye shall hearken.' The 
 same is repeated at ver. 18. in the name of God, ' I will 
 raise them up a prophet from among their brethren, like 
 K 2 
 
il-i DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 unto thee, and will put my words in his month, and he 
 shall speak unto them ail that I shall command him.' It 
 is farther added at ver. 19. 'And it shall come to pass 
 that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he 
 shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.' Plain 
 as this prophecy is, it hath strangely been perverted and 
 misapplied: but I conceive nothing will be wanting to 
 the right understanding both of the prophecy and the 
 completion, if we can show first, wliat prophet was here 
 particulaiiy intended ; if we sl;ow secondly, that this pro- 
 phet resembled Moses in more respects than any other 
 person ever did ; and if we show thirdly, that the people 
 have been and btill are severely punished for their infide- 
 lity and disobedience to this prophet. 
 
 I. We will endeavour to show what prophet was here 
 )mrticularly intended. Some have been of opinion, * that 
 Joshua was the peison ; because he is said in l^^cclesias- 
 ticus xlvi. I. to have been successor of Moses in fir o- 
 phecies : and as the people were commanded to hearken 
 unto this prophet, unto him ye shall hearken ; so they said 
 unto Joshua, i. 17. ' According as we hearkened unto 
 Moses in all things, so will we hearken unto thee.' Some 
 again have imagined, t that Jeremiah was the person ; 
 because he frequently applies (say they) the words of 
 ZNIoses ; and Abarbinel in his preface to the commentary 
 iipon Jeremiah, reckons up fourteen particulars wherein 
 they resemble each other, and observes, that Jeremiah 
 prophecied forty years, as Moses also did. Otl^ers, and 
 those many more in number, % understand this neither of 
 Joshua, nor of Jeremiah, nor of any single person, but 
 of a succession of prophets to be raised up like unto Mo- 
 ses ; because (say they) the people being here forbidden 
 to follow after inchaniers and diviners^ as other nations 
 did, nothing would have secured them effectually from 
 ibllowing after them, but having true prophets of their 
 own, whom they might consult upon occasion ; and the 
 latter are opposed to the former. But still the propound- 
 •:rs and favourers of these different opinions, I think, agree 
 
 * See Manster, Drussius, Fag-ius,Calmet, 8cc. 
 t See Alunster, Fag-ius, Patrick, Calmet, &c. 
 \ See Fagiiis, roole, Lc Clcrc, Caimct, &.c. 
 
THE FROPIIECIES. 115 
 
 generally in this, that though Joshua, or Jeremiah, or a 
 succession of prophets was primarily intended, yet the 
 main end and ultimate scope of the prophecy was the 
 Messiah : and indeed there appear some very good rea- 
 sons for understanding it of him principally, if not of him 
 solely, besides the preference of a literal to a typical in- 
 terpretation. 
 
 There is a passage in the conclusion of this book of 
 Deuteronomy, whicli plainly refers to this prophecy, and 
 entirely refutes the notion of Joshua's being the prophet 
 like unto Moses. ' And Joshua the son of Nun was full 
 of the spirit of wisdom ; for Moses had laid his hand upon 
 him : and the children of Israel, hearkened unto him and 
 did as the Lord commanded Moses. And there arose not 
 a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord 
 knew face to face : In all the signs and the wonders which 
 the Lord sent him to do,' Sec. We cannot be certain at 
 what time, or by what hand this addition was made to the 
 sacred volume : but it must have been made after the 
 death of Moses : and consequently Joshua was not a pro- 
 phet like unto Moses in the opinion of the Jewish church, 
 both of those who made, and of those who received, this 
 •addition as canonical scripture. ' There arose not a pro- 
 phet <sf7icc in Israel;' the manner of expression plainly 
 implies, that this addition must have been made at some 
 considerable distance of time after the death of Moses ; 
 and consequently the Jewish church had no conception 
 of a perpetual succession of prophets to be raised up like 
 imto Moses : and if this addition was made, as it is com- 
 monly believed to have been made, by Ezra, after the Ba- 
 bylonish captivity, tlien it is evident, that neither Jeremiah, 
 r.or any of the ancient prophets was esteemed li^e unto 
 Moses. Consider what are the peculiar marks and cha- 
 racters, wherein it is said, that none other prophet had 
 ever resembled Moses. ' There arose not a proi)het since 
 in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to 
 face, in all the signs and the wonders which the Lord sent 
 him to do.' And which of the prophets ever conversed 
 so frequently and familiarly with God, face to face? 
 which of them ever wrought so many and so great mira- 
 cles ? Nobody was ever equal or comparable to Moses in 
 these respects, but Jesus the Messiah. 
 
116 msSEllTATIONS OX 
 
 God's declaralion too, upon occasion of Miriam's ar.d 
 Aaron's sedition, plainly evinces that there was to be no 
 prophet in the Jewish church, and much less a succession 
 of prophets Hke unto Moses<. JMiriam and Aaron grew 
 jealous of Moses, and mutinied against him, saying, ' Hath 
 the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not 
 spoken also by us ?' Numb. xxii. 2. The controversy 
 was of such importance, that God himself interposed ; 
 and what is his determination of the case ? * If tliere be a 
 prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known 
 unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. 
 My seivant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine 
 house. With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even 
 apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude 
 of the Lord shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not 
 afraid to speak against my servant Moses?' ver. 6, 7, 8. 
 We see here that a great difference was made between 
 Moses and other prophets, and also wherein that difier- 
 cnce lay. God revealed himself unto other prophets in 
 dreams and visions,, but with Moses he conversed more 
 openly, mouth to m.outh^ or, as it is said elsewhere,yflce to 
 face : and Moses saiv the si?mh'tude of the Lord. These 
 were singular privileges and prerogatives, which emi- 
 nently distinguished Moses from all the other prophets 
 of the Jewish dispensation: and yet there was a prophet 
 to be raised up like unto Moses: but whoever resembled 
 Moses in these superior advantages, but Jesus the Mes- 
 siah ? 
 
 It is likewise no considerable argument, that the letter 
 of the text favours our interpretation. The word is in the 
 singular number, ' The Lord thy God will raise up unto 
 thee a prophet;' and why then should we understand it of 
 a succession of prophets ? why should we depart from the 
 literal construction without any apparent necessity for it? 
 Other nations hearkened unto inchanters and diviners^ 
 but the Lord would not suffer them so do ; he had given 
 them a better guide, already, and would raise up unto 
 them another prophet superior to all the inchanters and 
 diviners in the world : unto him they should hearken. 
 
 Moreover it is implied, that this prophet should be a 
 iaw-giver. ' A prophet like unto thee ;' not simply a pro- 
 phet, but a prophet like unto Moses, that is a second law- 
 
YlIE PllOPlIECIES. 117 
 
 giver, as Eusebius * explains it. The reason too that is 
 assigned for sending this prophet, \vill evince that he was 
 to be vested \vith this character. The people had request- 
 ed, that the divine laws might not be delivered to them 
 in so terrible and awful a manner, as they had been in 
 Horeb. God approved their request, and promised there- 
 fore, that he would raise up unto them a prophet like unto 
 Moses, a law-giver who should speak unto them his com- 
 mands in a familiar and gentle way. This prophet there- 
 fore was to be a law-giver : but none of the Jewish pro- 
 phets were law-givers, in all the intermediate time be- 
 tween Moses and Christ. 
 
 If we farther appeal unto fact, we shall find that there 
 never was ^ny prophet, and much less a succession of pro- 
 phets, whom the Jews esteemed like iinto Moses. The 
 highest degree of inspiration they term the Mosaical, t 
 and enumerate several particulars, wherein that hath the 
 pre-eminence, and advantage above all others. There was 
 indeed, in consequence of this prophecy, a general ex- 
 pectation of some extraordinary prophet to arise, which 
 prevailed particularly about the time of our Saviour. The 
 Jews then, as well ast since, understood and applied this 
 prophecy to the Messiah, the only prophet whom they 
 will ever allow to be as great or greater than Moses. When 
 our Saviour had fed five thousand men, by a miracle 
 like that of Moses, who fed the Israelites in the wilder- 
 ness, then those men said, ' This is of a truth that prophet 
 that should come into the world,* John vi. 14. St. Peter and 
 
 * See Eusebiiis' Evangelical Demonstratioi-i, Book T. Chap. ii^i. 
 pag-e 6, and Book IX. Chap. xi. page 443, in the Paris edition of 
 1628. 
 
 f See Smith's Discourse of Prophecy, chap, ii, and xi, wherein 
 it is sliown from Maimouides, that Moses's inspiration excelled 
 all others in four particulars. 1. All other prophets prophecied 
 in a dream or vision, but Moses waking* and standing. 2. All 
 other prophets prophecied, by the help or ministry of an angel, 
 but Moses prophecied without the ministry of an angel. 3. All 
 other propliets were afraid, and troubled, and fainted, but Mo- 
 ses was not so, for the scripture saith, that God f'pdke to him a& 
 a man speiifccth to /us friend. 4 None of the proplicts did pro- 
 phecy at what time they would, save Moses. 
 
 + See authorities cited in Bishop Chandler's Defence of Chris- 
 tianity. Chap. 6." Sect. 2. p. 307. Edit. 3d. 
 
118 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 St. Stephen directly apply the prophecy to him : Acts iii. 
 22, 23. vii. o7 . and they may very well be justified for so 
 doing ; for he fully answers all the marks and characters 
 which are here given of the prophet like unto Moses. 
 He had immediate communication with the deity, and 
 God spake to him face toface^ as he did to Moses. He 
 performed <S7.§V25 and ti'onders, as great or greater than 
 those of Moses. He was a ian'-jiver, as well as Moses. 
 * I will raise them up a prophet,' saith God ; and the peo- 
 ple glorified God, saying, * That a great prophet is risen 
 up among us,' Luke vii. 16. 'I will put my words in his 
 mouth,' saith God, in Hebrew, will give my Avords: and 
 our Saviour saith, ^ I have given unto them the words 
 which thou gavest me,' John xvii. 8. * He shall speak 
 unto them all that I shall command him,' saith God : and 
 our Saviour saith, ' 1 have not spoken of myself ; but the 
 Father which sent me, he gave m.e a commandment what 
 I should say, and what I should speak. And 1 know that 
 his commandment is life everlasting : whatsoever I speak, 
 therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak,' 
 John xii. 49, 50. 
 
 n. We shall be more and more confirmed in this opi- 
 nion when we consider the great and striking likeness 
 between Moses and Jesus Christ, and that the latter resem- 
 bled the former in more respects than any other person 
 ever did. Notice hath been taken already of some instan- 
 ces, wherein they resemble each other, of God speaking to 
 both face toface^ of both performing sig77s a?id ivondeis^ 
 oihoihbfzm^ law -givers: and in these respects none of 
 the ancient prophets were like unto Moses. None of 
 them were law-givers ; they only interpreted and inforced 
 the law of Moses. None of them performed so many and 
 so great wonders. None of them had such clear com- 
 munications with God ; they all saw visions, and dreamed 
 dreams. Moses and Jesus Christ are the only two, who 
 perfectly resemble each other in these respects. But a 
 more exact and particular comparison may be drawn be- 
 tween them, and halli been drawn by two eminent hands, 
 by one of the best and ablest of the ancient fathers, and by 
 one of the most learned and ingenious of divines: and as 
 we cannot pretend to add any modern thing to tliem, wc 
 must be content to copy from them. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 119 
 
 Kusebius treatini^ of the prophecies concerning 
 Christ, * produceth first this of Moses ; and then asketh, 
 " which of the prophets after Moses, Isaiah for instance, 
 or Jeremiah, or Ezekiel, or Daniel, or any other of the 
 twelve, was a law-giver, and performed things like unto 
 !Moses? Moses first rescued the Jewish nation from Egyp- 
 tian superstition and idolatry, and taught them the true 
 theology ; Jesus Christ in like manner was the first 
 teacher of true religion and virtue to the Gentiles. Moses 
 confirmed his religion by miracles; and so likewise did 
 Christ. Moses delivered the Jewish nation from Egyp- 
 tian servitude ; and Jesus Christ all mankind from the 
 power of evil demons. Moses promised a holy land, and 
 therein a happy life to those who kept the law : and Jesus 
 Christ a better country, that is a heavenly, to all righteous 
 souls. Moses fasted forty days ; and so likewise did Christ. 
 Moses supplied the people with bread in the wilderness ; 
 and our Saviour fed five thousand at one time, and four 
 thousand at another, with a few loaves. Moses went him- 
 self, and led the people through the midst of the sea ; and 
 Jesus Christ walked on the sea, and enabled Peter to walk 
 likewise. Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and 
 the Lord caused the sea to go backward ; and our Saviour 
 rebuked the wind and the sea, and there was a great calm. 
 Moses' face shone, when he descended from the Mounts 
 and our Saviour's did shine as the sun, in his transfigura- 
 tion. Moses by his prayers cured Miriam of her leprosy; 
 and Christ with greater power by a word healed several 
 lepers. Moses performed wonders by the finger of God : 
 and Jesus Christ by the finger of God did cast out devils. 
 Moses changes Oshea's name to Joshua ; and our Saviour 
 did Simon's to Peter. Moses constituted seventy rulers 
 over the people ; and our Saviour appointed seventy dis- 
 ciples. Moses sent forth twelve men to spy out the land: 
 and our Saviour twelve apostles to visit all nations. Moses 
 gave several excellent moral precepts; and our Saviour 
 carried them to the highest perfection." 
 
 Dr. Jortin f hath enlarged upon these hints of Euse- 
 
 * See Eusebliis' Evan^^elical Demonstration, Book HI. Chap. ii. 
 page 90 — 94, in tlie Paris edition of 1628. 
 
 t Itcmarks on Ecclesixistical History, Vol. I. page 203—222. 
 
120 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 bius, and made several improvements and additions to 
 them. " Moses in his infancy was wonderfully preserv- 
 ed from the destruction of all the male children ; so was 
 Christ. Moses tied from his country to escape the hands 
 of the king : so did Christ, when his parents carried him 
 into Egypt : Afterwards, * the Lord said to Moses in 
 Midian, Go, return into Egypt ; for all the men are dead 
 which sought thy life ; Exod. iv. 19. so the angel of the 
 L6^^ said to Joseph, in almost the same words, * Arise, 
 and take the young child, and go into the land of Israeli 
 for they are dead which sought the yovmg child's life ; 
 Matth. ii. 20. pointing him out as it were for that pro- 
 phet, who should arise like unto Moses. Moses refused 
 to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing 
 rather to suffer affliction. Christ refused to be made 
 king, choosing rather to suffer affliction. Moses, says 
 St. Stephen, ' was learned,' epaideuthe < in all the wis- 
 dom of the Egyptians,' and Josephus (Ant. Jud. ii. 9.) 
 says, that he was a very forward and accomplished 
 youth, and had wisdom and knowledge beyond his years ; 
 St. Luke observes of Christ, that he increased betimes) 
 in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man,' 
 and his discourses in the temple with the doctors, when 
 he was twelve years old, were a proof of it. Moses 
 contended with the magicians, who were forced to ac- 
 knowledge the divine power by which he was assisted ; 
 Christ ejected evil spirits, and received the same ac- 
 knowledgments from them. Moses was not only a law- 
 giver, a prophet, and a worker of miracles, but a king 
 and a priest : in all these offices the resemblance betweien 
 Moses and Christ was singular. Moses brought dark- 
 ness over the land ; the sun withdrew his light at Christ's 
 crucifixion : And as the darkness which was spread over 
 Egypt was followed by the destruction of their first born, 
 and of Pharoah and his host ; so the darkness at Christ's 
 death was the forerunner of the destruction of the Jews. 
 Moses foretold the calanuties which would befal the na- 
 tion for their disobedience ; so did Christ. The spirit 
 which was in Moses was conferred in some degree upon 
 the seventy elders, and they prophecied ; Christ confer- 
 red miraculous powers upon his seventy disciples. Mo- 
 ses was victorious over powerful kings and great nations ; 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 121 
 
 so was Christ by the effects of his religion, and by the 
 fall of those who persecuted his church. Moses con- 
 quered Amalek by holding up both his hands ; Christ 
 overcame his and our enemies when his hands were 
 fastened to the cross. Moses interceded for trans- 
 gressors, and caused an atonement to be made for them, 
 and stopped the wrath of God ; so did Christ. Moses 
 ratified a covenant between God and the people by sprink- 
 ling them with blood ; Christ with his own blood. Mo- 
 ses desired to die for the people, and prayed that God 
 would forgive them, or blot him out of his book ; Christ 
 did more, he died for sinners. Moses instituted the pass- 
 over, when a lamb was sacrificed, none of whose bones 
 were to be broken, and whose blood protected the people 
 from destruction ; Christ was that paschal lamb. Moses 
 lifted up the serpent, that they who looked upon him 
 might be healed of their mortal wounds ; Christ was 
 that serpent. All Moses' affection towards the people, 
 all his cares and toils on their account, were repaid by 
 them with ingratitude, murmuring, and rebellion ; the 
 same returns the Jews made to Christ for all his benefits. 
 Moses was ill used by his owri family, his brother and 
 sister rebelled against him ; there was a time when 
 Christ's own brethren believed not in him. Moses had 
 a very wicked and perverse generation committed to his 
 care and conduct, and to enable him to rule them, mira- 
 culous powers were given to him, and he used his utmost 
 endeavour to make the people obedient to God, and to 
 save them from ruin ; but in vain ; in the space of forty 
 years they all fell in the wilderness, except two; Christ 
 also was given to a generation not less wicked and per- 
 verse, his instructions and his miracles were lost upon 
 them, and in about the same space of time, after they 
 had rejected him, they were destroyed. Moses was very 
 meek above all men that were on the face of the earth ; 
 so was Christ. The people could not enter into the land 
 of promise, till Moses was dead ; by the death of Christ 
 the kingdom of heaven was open to believers. In the 
 death of Moses and Christ there is also a resemblance of 
 some circumstances: Moses died, in one sense, for the 
 iniquities of the people ; it was their rebellion which 
 was the occasion of it, which drew down the displeasure 
 
 VOL. I. L 
 
122 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 of God upon them and upon him ; Moses went up, in 
 the sight of the people, to the top of mount Nebo, and 
 there he died, when he was in perfect vigour, when Miis 
 eyes was not dim, nor his natural force abated :' Christ 
 suffered for the sins of men, and was led up, in the pre- 
 sence of the people, to mount Calvary, where he died in 
 the flower of his age, and when he was in his full natu- 
 ral strength. Neither Moses nor Christ, as far as we 
 may collect from sacred history, were ever sick, or felt 
 any bodily decay or infirmity, which would have render- 
 ed them unfit for the toils they underwent; their suf- 
 ferings were of another kind. Moses was buried, and 
 210 man knew where his body lay ; nor could the Jews 
 iind the body of Christ. Lastly, as Moses a little before 
 death promised another prophet i so Christ another coni' 
 forter." 
 
 The great similitude consists in their both being law- 
 givers, which no prophet ever was besides Moses and 
 Christ. They may resemble each other in several other 
 features, and a fruitful imagination may find out a like- 
 ness where there is none. But as the same excellent 
 writer concludes, " Is this similitude and correspondence 
 in so many things between Moses and Christ the effect 
 of mere chance ? Let us search all the records of uni- 
 versal history, and see if we can find a man so like to 
 INIoses as Christ was, and so like to Christ as Moses was. 
 If we cannot find such a one, then have we found him 
 of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets did write, 
 Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God." 
 
 III. There is no want of many words to prove, for it 
 is visible to all the world, that the people have been and 
 still are severely punished for their infidelity and disobe- 
 dience to this prophet. 'J'he prophecy is clear and ex- 
 ^)ress ; ' Unto him ye shall hearken ; And it shall come 
 to pass that whosoever will not hearken unto my words 
 ■which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of 
 lum,' that is, I will severely punish him for it, as the 
 phrase signifies elsewhere. The antecedent is put for 
 the consequent; judges first inquired, then punished: and 
 the Seventy translate it,* I will take vengeance of him. 
 
 Sec the Septuag-lnt, 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 123 
 
 This prophecy, as we have proved at large, evidently re- 
 lates to Jesus Christ. Ciod himself in a manner applies 
 it to him: for when he was transfigured, Mat. xvii. 5. there 
 came ' a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my 
 beloved Son in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him ;* 
 alluding- plainly to the words of JN'loses, ' Unto him ye 
 shall hearken,' and so pointing him out for the prophet like 
 unto Moses. St Peter, as we noted before, directly applies 
 it to our Saviour, Acts iii. 22, 23. ' For Moses truly said 
 unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise 
 up unto you, of your brethren like unto me : him shall ye 
 hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you : And 
 it shall come to pass, that every soul which will not hear 
 that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people ;* 
 which is the sense rather than the words of the prophecy. 
 And hath not this terrible denunciation been fully execu- 
 ted upon the Jews? Was not the complete excision of 
 that incredulous nation, soon after Jesus had finished his 
 ministry among them, and his apostles had likewise 
 preached in vain, the fulfilling of the threat upon them 
 for not hearkening unto him ? We may be the more cer- 
 tain of this application, as our Saviour himself not only 
 denounced the same destruction, but also foretold the 
 signs, the manner, and the circumstances of it, with a 
 particularity and exactness that will amaze us, as we shall 
 see in a proper place : and those of the Jews who believed 
 in his name, by remembering the caution, and following 
 the advice which he had given them escaped from the 
 general ruin of their country, like fire-brands plucked out 
 of the fire. The main body of the nation either perished 
 in their infidelity, or were carried captive into all nations: 
 and have they not ever since, persisting in the same in- 
 fidelity, been obnoxious to the same punishment, and 
 been a vagabond, distressed, and miserable people in the 
 earth ? The hand of God was scarce ever more visible in 
 any of his dispensations. We must be blind not to see 
 it : and seeing, we cannot but admire and adore it. What 
 other probable account can they themselves give of their 
 long captivity, dispersion, and misery ? Their former cap- 
 tivity for the punishment of their wickedness and idolatry 
 lasted only seventy years: but they have lived in their 
 present dispersion, even though they have been no idola- 
 
124 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 ters, now these seventeen hundred years, and yet without 
 any immediate prospect of their restoration : and what 
 enormous crime could have drawn down, and unrepen ted 
 of, still continues to draw down, these heavy judgments 
 upon them? We say that they were cut off for their in- 
 fidelity ; and that when they shall turn to the faith, they 
 will be grafted in again. One would think, it should be 
 worth their while to try the experiment. Sure we are, 
 that they have long been monuments of God's justice ; 
 "we believe, that upon their faith and repentance they will 
 become again objects of his mercy : and in the mean 
 time with St. Paul, Rom. x. 1. ^ our hearts desire and 
 prayer to God for Israelis, that they may be saved/ 
 
 VII. 
 
 PilOPHECIES OF MOSES CONCERNING THE JEWS. 
 
 IT is observeable that the prophecies of Moses abound 
 most in the latter part of his writings. As he drew near- 
 er his end, it pleased God to open to him larger prospects 
 of things. As he was about to take leave of the people, 
 he was enabled to disclose unto them more particulars of 
 their future state and condition. The design of this work 
 will permit us to take notice of such only as have some 
 reference to these latter ages : and we will confine our- 
 selves principally to the 28th chapter of Deuteronomy, 
 the greater part whereof we may see accomplished in the 
 world at this present time. 
 
 This great prophet and law-giver is here proposing at 
 large to the people the blessings for obedience, and the 
 < urses for disobedience : and indeed he had foretold at 
 several times and upon several occasions, that they should 
 be happy or miserable in the world, as they were obedi- 
 
 dent or disobedient to the law that he had given them . 
 
 And could there be any stronger evidence of the divine 
 original of the Mosaical law ? and hath not the interposi- 
 tion of providence been woderfully remarkal)le in their 
 good or bad fortune I and is not the truth of the predic- 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 1^ y 
 
 tion fully attested by the whole series of their history 
 from their first settlement in Canaan to this very day? 
 But he is larger and more particular in recounting the 
 curses than the blessings, as if he had a prescience of the 
 peoples' disobedience, and foresaw that a larger portion 
 and longer continuation of the evil would fall to their 
 share, than of the good. I know that some critics make 
 a division of these prophecies, and imagine that one part 
 relates to the former captivity of the Jews, and to the 
 calamities which they suffered under the Chaldeans ; and 
 that the other part relates to the latter captivity of the 
 Jews, and to the calamities which they suffered under 
 the Romans : but there is no need of any such distinc- 
 tion ; there is no reason to think that any such was intend- 
 ed by the author ; several prophecies of the one part as 
 well as of the other have been fulfilled at both periods, 
 but they have all more amply been fulfilling during the 
 latter period ; and there cannot be a more lively picture 
 than they exhibit, of the state of the Jews at present. 
 
 1. We will consider them with a view to the ordei- 
 of time rather than the order wherein they lie ; and 
 we may not improperly begin with this passage, ver. 
 49. ' The Lord shall bi'ing a nation against thee from 
 far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth, 
 a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand :' and 
 the Chaldeans might be said to come from far, in compa- 
 rison with the Moabite«, Philistines, and other neighbour- 
 ing nations, which used to infest Judea. Much the same 
 description is given of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah, ver. 
 14. ' Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O 
 house of Israel, saith the Lord : it is a mighty nation, it 
 is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou know- 
 estnot, neither understandest what they say.* He com- 
 pares them in like manner to eagles, Lam. iv. 19. ' Our 
 persecutors are swifter than the eagles of the heaven : 
 they pursued us upon the mountains, they laid wait for 
 us in the wilderness,' But this description cannot be ap- 
 plied to any nation with such propriety as to the Romans. 
 They were truly brought ' from far, from the end of the 
 earth.' Vespasian and Adrian, the two great conquer- 
 ors and destroyers of the Jews, both came from com- 
 manding here in Britain. The Romans too for the rapi- 
 
 L 2 
 
126 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 dity of their conquests might very well be compared to 
 eagles, and perhaps not without an allusion to the stand- 
 ard of the Roman armies, which was an eagle : and their 
 language was more unknown to the Jews than the Chal- 
 dee. 
 
 2. The enemies of the Jews are farther characterized 
 in the next verse, ^ A nation of fierce countenance, which 
 shall not regard the person of the old, nor show favour to 
 the young. Such were the Chaldeans ; and the sacred 
 historian saith expressly, 2 Chron. xxxvi. 17. that for 
 the wickedness of the Jews, God ' brought upon them the 
 king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the 
 swordj in the house of their sanctuary, and had no com- 
 passion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that 
 stooped for age ; he gave them all into his hand.* Such 
 also were the Romans : for when Vespasian entered Ga- 
 dera, * Josephus saith, that " he slew all man by man, the 
 Romans showing mercy to no age, out of hatred to the 
 nation, and remembrance of their former injuries."— -The 
 like slaughter was made at GamaJa, f " For nobody es- 
 caped besides two women, and they escaped concealing 
 themselves from the rage of the Romans. For they did not 
 so much as spare young children, but every one at that 
 time snatching up many^cast them down from the cila- 
 del.'* 
 
 3. Their enemies were also to besiege and take their 
 cities, ver. 52. * And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, 
 imtil thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou 
 trustedst, throughout all thy land. So Shalmanezer king 
 of Assyria came up against Samaria, and besieged it, and 
 at the end of three years they took it.' 2 Kings xviii. 9, 10. 
 
 * And afterwards having entered into it, (Gadera,) he ordered 
 »^11 that were gravvn up to be slain. The Romans shewed rriercy 
 to no age, both on account of their hatred to the whole nation, 
 and because of their recollection of the wrong which they (the 
 .Jews) had done to Cestius. See Jewish Wars, Book HI. Chap, 
 vii. Sect. 1. page 1128, in Hudson's edition. 
 
 f None were saved excepting two women, and they escaped, 
 because at the time of sacking the city, they privily had with- 
 drawn and concealed themselves from the fury of the Romans. 
 They did not even spare infants, but every one laying hold of 
 many of them, threw them down headlong- from the castle. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 12r 
 
 * So did Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against 
 all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them: lb. ver. 13. 
 and Nebuchadnezzar and his captains took and spoiled 
 Jerusalem, burnt the city and temple, 'and brake down 
 the walls of Jerusalem round about,* lb. xxv. 10. So 
 likewise the Romans, as we may read in Josephus' histo- 
 ry of the Jewish wars, demolished several fortified places, 
 before they besieged and destroyed Jerusalem. And the 
 Jews may very well be said to have ' trusted in their high 
 and fenced walls,* for they seldom ventured a battle in the 
 open field. They confided in the strength and situation 
 of Jerusalem, as the Jebusites, the former inhabitants of 
 the place, had done before them: 2 Sam. v. 6, 7. in- 
 somuch that they are presented saying, Jer. xxi. 13. — 
 
 * Who shall come down against us ? or who shall enter 
 into our habitation ?* Jerusalem was indeed a very strong 
 place, and wonderfully fortified both by nature and art ac- 
 cording to the description of Tacitus * as well as of Jose- 
 phus : and yet how many f times it was taken ? It was ta- 
 ken by Shishak king of Egypt, by Nebuchadnezzar, by 
 Antiochus Epiphanes, by Pompey, by Sosius and Herod, 
 before its final destruction by Titus. 
 
 4. In these sieges they were to suffer much, and espe- 
 cially from famine, /in the straitness wherewith their 
 enemies should distress them,' ver. 53, Sec. And accor- 
 dingly when the king of Syria besieged Samaria, ' there 
 was a great famine in Samaria ; and behold they besieged 
 it, until an ass's head was sold for fourscore pieces of sil- 
 ver, and the fourth part of a cab of dove's dung for five 
 pieces of silver,' 2 Kings vi. 25. And when Nebuchad- 
 nezzar besieged Jerusalem, ' the famine prevailed in the 
 city, and there was no bread for the people of the land,* 
 2 Kings xxv. 3, And in the last siege of Jerusalem by 
 the Romans there was a most terrible famine in the city, 
 and Josephus hath given so melancholy an account of it, 
 that we cannot read it without shuddering. He saith, par- 
 
 * See Tacitus' History, Book V. See Josephus' Jewish wars. 
 Book V. Chap, iv, and v' 
 
 t See Josephus* Jewish wars, Book VI. and last chapter, page 
 1292, of Hudson's edition. 
 
128 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 ticularly, that t " women snatched the food out of the very- 
 mouths of their husbands, and sons of their fathers, and 
 (what is most miserable) mothers of their infants:" and 
 in another f place he saith, that " in every house, if there 
 appeared any semblance of food, a battle ensued, and the 
 dearest friends and relations fought with one another, 
 snatching away the miserable provisions of life :" so liter- 
 ally were the words of Moses fulfilled, ver. 54, 8cc. the 
 man's ' eye shall be evil towards his brother, and to- 
 wards the wife of his bosom, and towards his child- 
 ren, because he hath nothing left him in the siege 
 and in the straitness wherewith thine enemies shall dis- 
 tress thee in all thy gates,* and in like manner the woman's 
 
 * eye shall be evil towards the husband of her bosom, and 
 towards her son, and towards her daughter.' 
 
 5. Nay it was expressly foretold, that not only the men, 
 but even the women should eat their own children. Mo- 
 ses had foretold the same thing before, Levit. xxvi. 29. 
 
 * Ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your 
 daughters shall ye eat.' He repeats it here, ver. 53. *And 
 thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy 
 sons and of thy daughters ;' and more particularly, ver. 
 56, &:c. ' The tender and delicate woman among you, 
 who would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon 
 the ground for delicateness and tenderness—she shall eat 
 her children for want of all things secretly in the siege 
 and straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress 
 thee in thy gates.' And it was fulfilled about six hundred 
 years after the time of Moses arnong the Israelites, when 
 Samaria was besieged by the king of Syria, and two wd- 
 men agreed together, the one to give up her son to be 
 
 * Forasmuch as wives squeezed the food out of the mouths of 
 their husbands, and children out of the mouths of their parents, 
 and what was most miserable of all, mothers out of the mouths 
 of their babes. See Jewish wars. Book V. Chap. x. Seet. 3. page 
 1245. 
 
 f Wherever, in any house, but the shadow of bread appeared, 
 instantly a battle ensued, and they who before had been on the 
 most friendly footing, fought against each other with the great- 
 est fury, that they might carry off some miserable scraps for 
 their sustenance. See Book VI. Chap, iii. Sect. 3. page 1274, 
 of Hudson's edition. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 129 
 
 boiled and eaten to-day, and the other to deliver up her 
 son to be dressed and eaten to-morrow, and one of them 
 was eaten accordingly, 2 Kings vi. 28, 29. It was fulfilled 
 again about nine hundred years after the time of Moses 
 among the Jews in the siege of Jerusalem before the 
 Babylonish captivity ; and Bai uch thus expresseth it, ii. 
 1, &c. * The Lord hath made good his word, which he 
 pronounced against us, to bring upon us great plagues, 
 such as never happened under the whole heaven, as it 
 came to pass in Jerusalem, according to the things that 
 were written in the law of Moses, that a man should eat 
 the flesh of his own son, and the flesh of his own daugh- 
 ter :* and Jeremiah thus laments it in his Lamentations, 
 iv. 10. * The hands of the pitiful women have sodden 
 their own children, they were their meat in the destruc* 
 tion of the daughters of my people,' And again it was 
 fulfilled above fifteen hundred years after the time of 
 Moses in the last siege of Jerusalem by Titus, and we 
 read in Josephus particularly of a noble woman's killing; 
 and eating her own sucking child. Moses saith, ' The 
 tender and delicate woman among you, who would not 
 adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground, for 
 delicateness and tenderness :' and there cannot be a more 
 natural and lively description of a woman, who was ac- 
 cording to Josephus * illustrious for her family and riches. 
 Moses saith, * she shall eat them for want of all things :' 
 and according to Josephus she had been plundered of all 
 her substance and provisions by the tyrants and soldiers. 
 Moses saith, that she should do it secretly- and according 
 to Josephus, when she had boiled and eaten half, she 
 covered up the rest, and kept it for another time. At so 
 many different times and distant periods hath this prophe*- 
 cy been fulfilled ; and one would have thought that such 
 distress and horror had almost transcended imagination, 
 and much less that any person would certainiy have fore- 
 seen and foretold it. 
 
 * Distinguished by her birth and wealth The tyrants in- 
 
 deed bad by this time pkmdered ber of all her substance, &c. 
 Afterwards having- dressed ber child, she devoured tlie one half 
 of him, and covering- up the remainder, sbe secretly reserved 
 him for another meal. See Jewish wars, Book VI. Chap. iii. 
 Sf-ct. 4, of Hudson's edition. 
 
130 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 6. Great numbers of them were to be destroyed, ver. 
 62. * And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye 
 were as the stars of heaven for multitude.' Now not to 
 mention any other of the calamities and slaughters which 
 they have undergone, there was in the last siege of Jeru- 
 salem by Titus an infinite multitude, saith Josephus,* 
 who perished by famine : and he computes, that during 
 the whole siege, the number of those who were destroyed 
 by that and by the war amounted to eleven hundred thou- 
 s.wd, the people being assembled fi om all parts to cele- 
 brate the passover ; and the same author hath given us 
 an account of one million two hundred and forty thou- 
 sand, four hundred and ninety destroyed in Jerusalem 
 and other parts of Judea, besides ninety-nine thousand 
 two hundred made prisoners ; as Basnage t has reckoned 
 them up from that historian's account. Indeed there is 
 not a nation upon earth, that hath been exposed to so 
 many massacres and persecutions. Their history abounds 
 with them. If God had not given them a promise of a 
 numerous posterity, the whole race would many a time 
 have been extirpated. 
 
 7. They were to be carried into Egypt, and sold for 
 slaves at a very low price, ver. 68. * And the Lord shall 
 bring thee unto Egypt again, with ships : and there ye 
 shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bond- 
 women, and no man shall buy you.* They had come out 
 of Egypt triumphant, but now they should return thither 
 as slaves. They had walked through the sea as dry land 
 at their coming out, but now they should be carried thither 
 in ships. They might be carried thither in the ships of 
 the Tyrian or Sidonian merchants, or by the Romans who 
 had a fleet in the Mediterranean : and this was a much 
 safer way of conveying so many prisoners, than sending 
 
 * But of them who perished by famine throughout the city, 
 tliere was an incalculable multitude. See Jewish wars, 13ook 
 YI. Chap. iii. Sect. 3, page 1274. 
 
 And during the whole time of the siege, there perished eleven 
 hundred thousand persons. See the same. Chap. ix. Sect. 3. page 
 1291, of Hudson's edition, 
 
 t Hist, of the Jews, Book I. Chap. viii. Sect. 19. See too the 
 conclusion of Usher's Annals. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 131 
 
 them by land. It appears from Josephus * that in the 
 reigns of the two first Ptolemies many of the Jews were 
 slaves in Egypt. And when Jerusalem was taken by 
 Titus,! of the captives who were above seventeen years 
 he sent many bound to the works in Egypt; these under 
 seventeen were sold : but so little care was taken of these 
 captives, that eleven thousand of them perished for want. 
 The markets were quite overstocked with them, so that 
 Josephus says in another place, that they were sold with 
 their wives and children at the lowest price, there being 
 many to be sold, and but few purchasers ; so that hereby 
 also was verified that of the Psalmist, xliv. 13. *Thou 
 sellest thy people for nought, and takest no money for 
 them.' And we learn from St. Jerome, t " that after 
 their last overthrow by Adrian, many thousands of them 
 were sold, and those who could not be sold, were trans- 
 ported into Egypt, and perished by shipwreck or famine^ 
 or were massacred by the inhabitants." 
 
 8. They were to be rooted out of their own land, ver. 
 63. < And ye shall be plucked from off the land whither 
 thou goest to possess it.' They were ixidetd /iluckedfro?}i 
 off their own land, when the ten tribes were carried into 
 captivity by the king of Assyria, and other nations were 
 planted in their stead ; and when the two other tribes 
 were carried away captive to Babylon ; and when the 
 Romans took away their place and nation; besides other 
 captivities and transportations of the people. Afterwards 
 when the emperor Adrian had subdued the rebellious 
 
 * See Josephus' Antiquities, Book XII. Chap. i. and ii. 
 
 f Having chained the males that were above seventeen years 
 of age, he sent them down to the works which were in Egypt. — 
 But such of them as were below that age, he sold. While 
 Phronton had the charge of the captives, eleven thousand per- 
 ished through want . See Jewish wars. Book VI Chap. ix. Sect. 
 2, page 1291, and Chap. viii. Sect. 2, page 1288, of Hudson's 
 edition. 
 
 :|: After the last destruction, which was brought upon them by 
 the emperor Adrian, many thousands of the Jews were sold; and 
 such of them as could find no purchasers, were transported into 
 Egypt. Of these last many perished by shipwreck, or famine, or 
 were cruelly massacred by the Egyptians. See Jerome on Zech. 
 XI. page 1774, in the third volume of the Benedictine edition. 
 
132 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 Jews, be published an edict * forbidding them upon pain 
 of death to set foot in Jerusalem, or even to approach the 
 country round about it. Tertullian and Jerome say,t that 
 they were prohibited from entering into Judea. From 
 that time to this, their country hath been in the posses- 
 sion of foreign lords and masters, few of the Jews dwelling 
 in it, and those only of a low servile condition. Benjamin 
 of Tudela in Spain, a celebrated Jew of the twelfth cen- 
 tury, travelled into all parts to visit those of his own na- 
 tion, and to learn an exact state of their own nation, and 
 to learn an exact state of their affairs : and he \ hath re- 
 ported that Jerusalem was almost entirely abandoned by 
 the Jews. He found there not above two hundred per- 
 sons, who were for the most part dyers of wool, and who 
 every year purchased the privilege of the monopoly of 
 that trade. They lived all together under David's tower, 
 and made there a very little figure. If Jerusalem had 
 so few Jews in it, the rest of the holy land was still more 
 depopulated. He found two of them in one city, twenty 
 in another, most whereof were dyers. In other places 
 there were more persons ; but in upper Galilee, where 
 the nation was in greatest repute after the ruin of Jeru- 
 salem, he found hardly any Jews at all. A very accu- 
 rate and faithful traveller § of our own nation, who was 
 himself also in the holy land, saith, that " it is for the most 
 part now inhabited by Moors and Arabians ; those pos- 
 sessing the vallies, and these the mountains. Turks 
 there be few : but many Greeks with other Christians of 
 all sects and nations, such as impute to the J)lace an ad- 
 herent holiness. Here be also some Jews, yet inherit 
 they no part of the land, but in their own country do live 
 as aliens.*' 
 
 * See TertuUian's Apology, Chap. xxi. page 19, in Rlgaut's 
 edition, printed at Paris in 1675. See also Jerome on Isa. vi. 
 page 65, and upon Daniel, Chap, ix, page 1117, in the third vo- 
 lume of the Benedictine edition. 
 
 t See Benjamin of Tudela's Itinerary, and Basnage's History 
 of the Jews, Book YII. Chap. vii. 
 
 + See Justin Martyr's Apology, page 71, of Thirlbiiis' edition, 
 and Eusebius' Church History, Book IV. Chap vi 
 
 § See Sandy's Travels, Book III. page 114, of the seventh edi- 
 tion. 
 
THE PROniEClES. 133 
 
 9. But they were not only to be plucked ott' from their 
 >\vn h\ncl, but also to be dispersed into all nations, ver. 25. 
 And thou shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the 
 
 earth;' and again ver. 64. 'And the Lord sliall scatter 
 thee among all people, from one end of the earth even to 
 the other.* Nehemiah i. 8, 9. confesseth that these 
 words were fulfilled in the Babylonish captivity ; but they 
 have more amply been fulfilled since the great dispersion 
 of the Jews by the Romans. What people indeed have 
 been scattered so far and wide as they ? and where is the 
 nation, which is a stranger to them, or to which they are 
 strangers ? They swarm in many parts of the East, are 
 spread through most of the countries of Europe and Af- 
 rica, and there arc several families of them in the West 
 Indies. They circulate through all parts where trade 
 and money circulate ; and are, as I may say, the brokers 
 of the whole world. 
 
 10. But though they should be so dispersed, yet they 
 should not be totally destroyed, but still subsist as a dis- 
 tinct people, as Moses had before foretold, Lev. xxvi. 44. 
 'And yet for all that, when-they be in the land of their 
 enemies, I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor 
 them, to destroy them utterly, and break my covenant 
 with them.' The Jewish nation,* like the bush of Mo- 
 ses, hath been always burning, but is never consumed. — 
 And what a marvellous thing is it, that after so many 
 wars, battles and sieges, after so many fires, famines, and 
 pestilences, after so many rebellions, massacres, and per- 
 secutions, after so many years of captivity, slavery and 
 misery, they are not destroyed utterly f and though scat- 
 tered among all people, yet subsist as a distinct people by 
 themselves l Where is any thing comparable to this to be 
 found in all the histories, and in all the nations under the 
 sun ? 
 
 1 1. However, they should suffer much in their disper- 
 sion, and should not rest long in any place, ver. 65. * And 
 among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall 
 the sole of thy foot have rest.' They have been so far 
 from finding rest, that they have been banished from city 
 to city, from country to country. In many places they 
 
 * See Basnage's History of the^Jews, Book YI. Chap. I. Sect. 1. 
 VOL. L M 
 
134 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 have been banished and recalled, and banished again. We 
 will only just mention their great banishments in modern 
 times, and from countries very well known. In the lat- 
 ter end of the thirteenth century, they* were banished 
 from England by Edward I, and were not permitted to 
 return and settle again till Cromwell's time. In the lat- 
 ter end of the fourteenth century theyf were banished 
 from France (for the seventh time, says Mezeray) by 
 Charles VI ; and ever since they had been only tolerated, 
 they have not enjoyed entire liberty except at Metz where 
 they have a synagogue. In the latter end of the fifteenth 
 century they ^ were banished from Spain by Ferdinand 
 and Isabella ; and according to Mariana, there were a 
 hundred and seventy thousand families, or as some say, 
 eii^ht hundred thousand persons who left the kingdom ; 
 Most of them paid dearly to John II. for a refuge in Por- 
 tugal, but within a few years were expelled from thence 
 also by his successor Emanuel. And in our own time, 
 within these few years, they were banished from Prague 
 by the queen of Bohemia. 
 
 12. They should be op/iressed and spoiled evermore; 
 and their houses and vineyards.^ their oxen and asses 
 should be taken from them, and they should be only ofi- 
 firessed and crushed always, ver. 29, &c. And what fre- 
 quent seizures have been made of their effects in almost all 
 countries ? how often have they been fined and fleeced by 
 almost all governments ? how often have they been forc- 
 ed to redeem their lives with what is almost as dear as 
 their lives, their treasure ? Instances are innumerable. — 
 We will only cite an historian § of our own, who says 
 that Henry III, " always polled the Jews at every low ebb 
 of his fortunes. One Abraham, who was found delin- 
 quent, was forced to pay seven hundred marks for his re- 
 demption. Aaron, another Jew, protested that the king 
 had taken from him at times thirty thousand marks of 
 
 * See Kennet, Echard, and Basnage's History of the Jews, 
 Book VII. Chap. xix. 
 
 f The Jews were ordered to depart for the seventh time, 8cc. 
 See Mezeray's Chronological abridgement, and Basnage, Book 
 VII. Chap, xviii. 
 
 t See Mariana's History of Spain, Book XXVI. Chap. i. and vi. 
 See also Basnage, Book VII. xxi. 
 
 § See Daniel in Kennet, Vol. I. page 179. 
 
THE I'ROPHECIES. 1 35 
 
 silver, besides two hundred marks of gold, Avhich he had 
 presented to the queen. And in like manner used many 
 others of the Jews." And when they were banished in 
 the reign of Edward I, their estates were confiscated and 
 immense sums thereby accrued to the crown. 
 
 1 3. * Their sons and their daughters should be given 
 unto another people,' ver. 32. And in several countries, 
 in Spain and Portugal particularly, their children have 
 been taken from them by order of the government to be 
 educated in the Popish religion. The fourth council * of 
 Toledo ordered, that all their children should be taken 
 from them for fear they should partake of their errors, 
 and that they should be shut up in monasteries, to be 
 instructed in the christian truths. And when they were 
 banished from Portugal, "the king," says Mariana,! 
 "ordered all their children, under 14 years of age, to 
 be taken from them, and baptized : a practice not at all 
 justifiable," adds the historian, " because none ought to 
 be forced to become christians, nor children to be taken 
 from their parents." 
 
 14. *They should be mad for the sight of their eyes 
 which they should see,' ver. 34. And into what madness, 
 fury, and desperation have they been pushed by the cruel 
 usage, extortions, and oppressions which they have un- 
 dergone ? We will allege only two similar instances, one 
 from ancient, and one from modern history. After the 
 destruction of Jerusalem by Titus,| some of tlie worst of 
 the Jews took refuge in the castle of Masada, where being 
 closely besieged by the Romans, they at the persuasion 
 of Eleazar their leader, first murdered their wives and 
 children ; then ten men were chosen by lot to slay the 
 rest ; this being done, one of the ten was chosen in like 
 manner to kill the other nine, which having executed he 
 set fire to the 'place, and then stabbed himself. There 
 were nine hundred and sixty who perished in this mise- 
 rable manner ; and only two women, and five boys escaped 
 by hiding themselves in the aqueducts under ground, 
 
 * See Basnage, Book VII. Chap. xii. Sect. 14. 
 f See Mariana's History of Spain, Book XXVI. Chap. vi. 
 i See Josephus* Jewish wars, Book VII. Chap, viii, and ix, of 
 Hudson's edition. 
 
136 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 Such another instance we have in our English history.* 
 For in the reign of Richard the first, when the people 
 were in arms to make a general massacre of them, fifteen 
 hundred of them seized on the city of York to defend 
 themselves ; but being besieged, they offered to capitu- 
 late, and to ransom their lives with money. The offer 
 being refused, one of them cried in despair, that it was 
 better to die courageously for the law, than to lull into 
 the hands of the Christians. Everyone immediately took 
 his knife, and stabbed his wife and children. 7he men 
 afterwards retired into the king's palace which they set on 
 lire, in which they consumed themselves with the palace 
 and furniture. 
 
 15. ' They should serve other's gods, wood and stone,* 
 ver. 36 ; and again ver. 64. ' they should serve other gods, 
 which neither they nor their fathers had known, even 
 wood and stone.* And is it not too common for the Jews 
 in popish countries to comply with the idolatrous worship 
 of the church of Rome, and to bow down to stocks and 
 stones rather than their effects should be seized and con- 
 fiscated ? Here again we must cite the author, who hath 
 most studied, and hath best written their modern history, 
 and whom we have had occasion to quote several times 
 in this discourse. " The Spanish and Portugal Inqijisi- 
 (ions, saith he,t reduce them to the dilemma of being 
 either hypocrites or burnt. The number of these dis- 
 semblers is very considerable : and it ought not to be 
 concluded, that there are no Jews in Spain or Portugal, 
 because they are not known : They are so much the more 
 dangerous, for not only being very numerous, but con- 
 founded with the ecclesiastics, and entering into all ec- 
 clesiastical dignities." In another place he saith,± " The 
 most surprising thing is, that this religion spreads from 
 generation to generation, and still subsists in the persons 
 of dissemblers in a remote posterity. In vain the great 
 lords of Spain § 7nake alliaiices^ change their nuDicny and 
 
 * See Basnage, Book YII. Chap. x. Sect. 20, who cites Mat« 
 ihew Pai'is, page 111, and Polydon Virgil, Book XI VT page 248. 
 t See Basnage, Book VII. Cliap. xxxiii. Sect. 14. 
 4: See Book Vll. Ciiap. xxi. Sect. 26. 
 § See Limborch's conference with a Jew, page 102. 
 
HIE PKOPimCIES. 137 
 
 take ancient scutcheons; they are still knoivn to be of 
 Jeiviah race, and Jews themselves. The convents of nionks 
 and Tiuns are full of them. Most of the canons, inqui- 
 sitors, and disho/is firoceed from this nation. This is 
 enough to make the people and clergy of this country 
 tremble, since such sort of churchmen can only pro- 
 fane the sacraments, and want intention in consecrating 
 the host they adore. In the mean time Orobio, who 
 relates the fact, knew these dissemblers. He was one 
 of them himself, and bent the knee before the sacra- 
 ment. Moreover he brings proofs of his assertion, in 
 maintaining, that there are in the synagogue of Amster- 
 dam, brothers and sisters, and near relations to good 
 families of Spain and Portugal ; and even Franciscan 
 monks, Dominicans and Jesuits, who came to do penance, 
 and make amends for the crime they have committed in 
 dissembling.** 
 
 16. ' They should become an astonishment, a proverb, 
 and a by-word among all nations,* vcr. 37. And do we 
 not hear and see this prophecy fulfilled almost every day: 
 is not the avarice, usury, and hard heartedness of a Jew 
 grown proverbial? and are not their persons generally 
 odious among all sorts of people ? Mahommedans, Hea- 
 thens, and Christians, however they may disagree in other 
 points, yet generally agree in vilifying, abusing, and per- 
 secuting the Jews. In most places where they are tole- 
 rated, they are obliged to live in a separate quarter by 
 themselves, (as they did here in the Old Jewry) and to 
 wear some badge of distinction. Their very countenances 
 commonly distinguish them from the rest of mankind. 
 They are in all respects treated, as if they were of ano- 
 ther species. And when a great master of nature would 
 draw the portrait of a Jew, how detestable a character 
 hath he represented in the person of his Jeiv of Venice ! 
 17. Finally, * Their plagues should be wonderful, even 
 great plagues, and of long continuance,* ver. 59. And 
 have not their plagues continued now these 1700 years? 
 Their former captivities were very short in comparison : 
 And Ezekiel* and Daniel prophecied in the land of the 
 Chaldeans : but now they have no true prophet to foretel 
 
 ♦ See Basna^e, Book "VI. Chap. i. Sect. 2. 
 
 M 2 
 
138 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 an end of their calamities, they have only false Messiahs 
 to delude them and aggravate their misfortunes. In their 
 former captivities they had the comfort of being convey- 
 ed to tlie same place ; they dwelt together in the land of 
 Goshen, they were carried together to Babylon ; but now 
 they are dispersed all over the fuce of the earth. What 
 nation hath suflered so much, and yet endured so long? 
 •what nation hath subsisted as a distinct people in their 
 own country, so long as these have done in their disper- 
 sion into all countries? and ^\^hat a standing miracle is 
 this exhibited to the view and observation of the whole 
 ■world? 
 
 Here are instances of prophecies, prophecies delivered 
 above three thousand years ago, and yet as we see, fulfill- 
 ing in the world at this very time: and what stronger 
 proofs can we desire of the divine legation of Moses? 
 How these instances may affect others, I know not : but 
 for myself I must acknowledge, they not only convince, 
 but amaze and astonish me beyond expression. They 
 are truly, as Moses foretold they would be, ' a sign and a 
 wonder for ever,' vcr. 45, 46. ' Moreover all these curses 
 shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee and over- 
 take thee, till thou be destroyed ; because thou hearken- 
 edst not unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep bis 
 commandments, and his statutes which he commanded 
 thee: and they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a 
 wonder, and upon thy seed for ever.* 
 
 YIlY. 
 
 TROPHECIES OF THE PROPHETS CONCERNING 
 THE JEWS. 
 
 BESIDES the prophecies of Moses, there are others 
 of other prophets, relative to the present state and con- 
 dition of the Jews. Such are those particularly concern- 
 ing the restoration of the two tribes of Judah and* Benja- 
 min from captivity, and the dissolution of the ten tribes 
 of Israel; and those concerning the preservation of ihe 
 Jews, and the destruction of their enemies; and those con- 
 cerning the desolation of Judea; and those concerning the 
 
THb: PIlOPilliClES. 139 
 
 infidelity and reprobation of the Jews ; and those con- 
 cerning the calling and obedience of the Gentiles. And 
 it may be pioper to say something upon each of these 
 topics. 
 
 I. It was foretold, that the ten tribes of Israel should 
 be carried captive by the kings of Assyria, and that the 
 two remaining tribes of Judah and Benjamin should be 
 carried captive by the king of Babylon: but with this 
 diftVrence, that the two tribes should be restored and re- 
 turn from their captivity, but the ten tribes should be 
 diiisolved and lost in theirs. Nay, not only the captivity 
 and restoration of the two tribes were foretold, but the 
 precise time of their captivity and restoration was also 
 prefixed and determined by the jn'ophet Jeremiah: xxv. 
 11.' This whole land shall be a desolation, and an aston- 
 ishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Baby- 
 lon, seventy yeai's:' and again, xxix. 10. ' Thus saith the 
 Lord, that after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon, 
 
 1 will visit you, and perform my good word towards you, 
 in causing you to return to this place.* This prophecy 
 was delivered, Jer. xxv. 1. *in the fourth year of Jehoia- 
 kim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that was the first 
 year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.* And this same 
 year * it began to be put in execution; for Nebuchadnez- 
 zar invaded Judea, besieged and took Jerusalem, made 
 Jehoiakim his subject and tributary, transported the finest 
 children of the royal family and of the nobility to Baby- 
 lon to be bred up there for eunuchs and slaves in his 
 palace, and also carried away the vessels of the house cf 
 the Lord, and put them in the temple of his god at Ba- 
 bylon. Seventy years from this time will bring us down 
 to the first year of Cyrus, 2 Chron. xxxvi. 22. Ezra i. I. 
 when he made his proclamation for the restoration of the 
 Jews, and for the rebuilding of the temple at Jerusalem. 
 I'he computation of the seventy years captivity appears 
 to be the truest, and most agreeable to scripture. But if 
 you fix the commencement of these seventy years at the 
 time when Jerusalem was burnt and destroyed, their 
 conclusion f will fall about the time when Darius issued 
 
 * See Usher, Prideaux,and the Commentators on 2King'sxxiv. 
 
 2 Chion. xxxvi. and Dan. i. 
 
 T See Pridcaux Connectlon.s, Anno 518, and fourth of Darius 
 
140 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 his decree for rebuilding the temple, after the work had 
 been stoptand suspended. Or if you fix their commence- 
 ment at the time when Nebuzaradan carried away the 
 last remainder of the people, and completed the desolation 
 of the land, their conclusion * will fall about the time when 
 the temple was finished and dedicated, and the first pass- 
 over was solemnized in it. " So that," as Dean Prideaux 
 says, " taking it which way you will, and what stage you 
 please, the prophecy of Jeremiah will be fully and exact- 
 ly accomplished concerning this matter." It may be said 
 to have been accomplished at three different times, and 
 in three different manners, and therefore possibly all 
 might have been intended, though the first without doubt 
 was the principal object of the prophecy. 
 
 But the case was different with the ten tribes of Israel. 
 It is well known that Ephraim being the chief of the ten 
 tribes is often put for all the ten tribes of Israel ; and it 
 was predicted by Isaiah, vii. 8. ' Within threescore and 
 five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a peo- 
 ple.' This prophecy was delivered in the first year of 
 Ahaz king of Judah ; for in the latter end of his father 
 Jotham's reign, 2 Kings xv. 37. Rezin king of Syria 
 and Pekah king of Israel began their expedition against 
 Judah. They went up towards Jerusalem to war against 
 it in the beginning of the reign of Ahaz ; and it was to 
 comfort him and the house of David in these difficulties 
 and -distresses, that the prophet Isaiah was commissioned 
 to assure him, that the kings of Syria and Israel should 
 remain only the heads of their respective cities, they 
 should not prevail against Jerusalem, and within sixty 
 and five years Israel should be broken as to be no more a 
 people. The learned Vitringat is of opmion, that the 
 text is corrupted, and that instead of sixty and five it 
 was originally sixteen and five. Sixteen and ^ve, as he 
 confesseth, is an odd way of computation for one and 
 twenty ; but it designs perfectly the years of Ahaz and 
 Hezekiah. For Ahaz reigned sixteen years, and Heze- 
 kiah ^/ive years alone, having reigned one year jointly 
 with his father ; and it was in the sixth year of Hezekiah ^ 
 
 * See Prideaux' Connections, Anno 51^, and 7 of Darius. 
 t See his Commentury on the passage. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 141 
 
 2 kings xviii. 10, 11. that Shalmancficr took Samaria^ and 
 carried aivaij Israel unto Jfisyria. Then indeed the kin£^- 
 dom of Israel was broken : and the conjecture of Vitringa 
 would appear much more probable, if it could be proved 
 that it had ever been usual to write the number or dates 
 of years partly in words at length, and partly in numeral 
 letters. But without recourse to such an expedient the 
 thing may be explicated otherwise. For from the first of 
 Ahaz * compute sixty and five years in the reigns of 
 Ahaz, Hezekiah, and Manasseh,the end of them will fall 
 about the 22d year of Manasseh, when Esarhaddon king 
 of Assyria made the last deportation of the Israelites, and 
 planted other nations in their stead ; and in the same ex- 
 pedition probably took Manasseh captive, 2 Chron. xxxiii. 
 1 1. and carried him to Babylon. It is said expressly that 
 it was Esarhaddon who planted the other nations in the 
 cities of Samaria: but it is not said expressly in scrip- 
 ture, that he carried away the remainder of the people, 
 but it may be inferred from several circumstances of the 
 story. There were other deportations of the Israelites 
 made by the kings of Assyria before this time. In the 
 reign of Ahaz, Tiglathpilezer took many of the Israelites, 
 *even the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe 
 of Manasseh, and all the land of NapJitali, and carried 
 them captive to Assyria, and biought'them unto Halah, 
 and Habor, and Hara, and to the river Gozan.' 1 Chron. 
 V. 26. 2 Kings xv. 29. His son Shalmaneser, in the reign 
 of Hezekiah, took Samaria, and carried away still greater 
 numbers ' unto Assyria, and put them in Halah and in 
 Habor by the river of Gozan,' (the same places whither 
 their brethren had been carried before them) * and in the 
 cities of the Medes.' 2 Kini2:s xviii. 11. His son Senna- 
 cherib came up also against Hezekiah, and all the fenced 
 cities of Judah; but his army was miraculously defeated, 
 and he himself was forced to return with shame and dis- 
 grace into his own country, where he was murdered by 
 two of his sons, 2 Kings xviii. 19. Another of his sons, 
 Esarhaddon succeeded him in the throne, but it was some 
 time before he could recover his kingdom from these 
 disorders, and think of reducing Syria and Palestine again 
 
 * See Usher, I'ricleaitx, &c. 
 
142 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 to his obedience : and then it was, and not till then, that 
 he completed the ruin of the ten tribes, carried away the 
 remains of the people, and to prevent the land from be- 
 coming desolate, 'brought men from Babylon, and from 
 Cuthah, and from Havah, and from Hamath, and from Sep- 
 harvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria, instead 
 of the children of Israel,' Ezra iv. 2, 10. 2 Kings xvii. 24. 
 Ephraim was broken from being a kingdom before, but 
 now he was broken from being a people. And from that 
 time to this what account can be given of the people of 
 Israel as distinct from the people of Judah ? where have 
 they subsisted all this while ? and where is their situation, 
 or what is their condition at present ? 
 
 We see plainly that they were placed in Assyria and 
 Media; and if they subsisted any where, one would ima- 
 gine they might be found there in the greatest abundance. 
 But authors have generally sought for them elsewhere : 
 and the visionary writer of the second book of Esdras, 
 xiii. 40, 8cc. hath asserted that they took a resolution of 
 retiring from the Gentiles, and of going into a country, 
 which had never been inhabited ; that the river Euphrates 
 was miraculously divided for their passage, and they pro- 
 ceeded in their journey a year and a half, before they a- 
 rived at this country, which was called Arsareth. But the 
 worst of it is, as this country was unknown before, so it 
 hath been equally unknown ever since. It is to be found 
 no where but in this apocryphal book, which is so wild 
 and fabulous in other respects, that it deserves no credit 
 in this particular. Benjamin ofTudela, a Jew of the 12th 
 century, * hath likewise assigned them a large and spa- 
 cious country witli fine cities ; but nobody knoweth to 
 this day where it is situated. Eldad, another Jew of the 
 thirteenth century, had placed them in Ethiopia and I 
 know not where, and hath made the Saracens and twenty- 
 five kingdoms tributary to them. Another Jewish writer, 
 Peritful of Ferrara, who lived in the century before the 
 last, hath given them kingdoms in a country called Per- 
 richa, inclosed by unknown mountains, and bounded by 
 Assyria, and likewise in the deserts of Arabia, and even 
 
 * For these particulars, the reader may consult Casnage's 
 History of the Jews, Book Yl. Chap, ii, andiii. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 143 
 
 in the East Indies. Manasseh, a famous rabbi of the 
 last century, and others have asserted, that they passed 
 into Tartary, and expelled the Scythians ; and others a- 
 gain from Tartary have conveyed them into America. — 
 But all these differing accounts prove nothing but the 
 great uncertainty that there is in this matter. The best 
 of them are only conjectures without any solid founda- 
 tion, but most of them were manifest forgeries of the Jews 
 to aggrandize their nation. 
 
 The difficulty of finding out the habitations of the ten 
 tribes hath induced others * to maintain, that they return- 
 ed into their own country with the other two tribes after 
 the Babylonish captivity. The decree indeed of Cyrus 
 extended to all the fieople of God, Ezra i. 3. and that of 
 Artaxerxes to ail the /leo/ile 0/ Israel; vii. 13. and no 
 doubt many of the Israelites took advantage of these de- 
 crees, and returned with Zerubbabel and Ezra to their 
 own cities : but still the main body of the ten tribes re- 
 mained behind. Ezra, who should best know, saith that 
 there rose ufi of the chief of the fathers of Judah and Ben' 
 jamin^ i. 5. and he calleth the Samaritans the adversaries 
 of Judah and Benjamin; iv. i. these two tribes were the 
 principals, the others were only as accessories. And if 
 they did not return at this time, they cannot be supposed 
 to have returned in a body at any time after this : for we 
 read of no such adventure in history, we know neither 
 the time nor occasion of their return, nor who were their 
 generals or leaders in this expedition. Josephus, who 
 saw his country for several years in as flourishing a condi- 
 tion as at any time since the captivity, affirms, that Ezraf 
 
 * See Calmet's two Dissertations, 1st. Concerning the country 
 Into which the ten tribes were carried, and concerning the pres- 
 ent place of their abode. Vol. HI. and 2, An inquiiy, whether 
 the ten tribes have returned from their captivity, into the land 
 of Israel. Vol. VI. 
 
 f He (Ezra,) indeed sent a copy of it, (the degree,) into Me« 
 dia, to all the people of his nation, — when as many as were actu- 
 ated by a desire of returning to Jerusalem, betook themselves 
 with tiieir eiiects to Babylon. .But the great bulk of the Israel- 
 ites remained scattered over that country, so that two only of the 
 tribes live in Asia and Europe underthe Roman dominion. Where- 
 as the ten remaining tribes, at present are settled beyond the 
 
144 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 sent a copy of the decree of Artaxerxes to all of the same 
 nation throughout Media, where the ten tribes lived in 
 captivity, and many of them came with their effects to 
 Babylon, desiring to return to Jerusalem : but the main 
 body of the Israelites abode in that region : and there- 
 fore it hath happened, said he, that there are two tribes 
 in Asia and Europe, living in subjection to the Romans : 
 but the ten tribes are beyond the Euphrates to this time : 
 and then addeth with the vanity of a Jew speaking of his 
 countrymen, that they were so many myriads, that they 
 could not be numbered. 
 
 Others, finding no good authority for admitting that 
 the ten tribes of Israel wer^e restored in the'same manner 
 as the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, * have therefore 
 asserted, that "the ten tribes of Israel, which had separa- 
 ted from the house of David, were brought to a full and 
 utter destruction, and never after recovered themselves 
 again. For those who were thus carried away (except- 
 ing only some few, who joining themselves to the Jews in 
 the land of their captivity returned with them) soon go- 
 ing into the usages, and idolatry of the nations, among 
 whom they were planted, (to which they were too much 
 addicted, while in their own land,) after a while became 
 wholly absorbed, and swallowed up in them, and thence 
 utterly losing their name, their language, and their me- 
 morial, were never after any more spoken of." But if 
 the whole race of Israel became thus extinct, and perish- 
 ed for ever, how can the numerous prophecies be fulfill- 
 ed, which promise the future conversion and restoration 
 of Israel as well as of Judah ? 
 
 The truth I conceive to lie between these two opinion^ 
 Neither did they all return to Jerusalem, neither did all, 
 who remained behind, comply with the idolatry of the 
 Gentiles, among whom they lived. But whether they re- 
 mained, or whether they returned, this prophecy of Isaiah 
 *vvas still fulfilled ; the kingdom, the commonwealth, the 
 
 Kuphrates and compose an infinite and incalculable number of 
 people. See Antiquities, Book XI. Chap. v. Sect. 2. page 482, 
 <>i' Hudson's edition. 
 
 * See Prideaux' Connections, Part I. Book I. Year 677, and 
 22, of Manassch. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 14 j 
 
 state of Israel was utterly broken ; they no longer subsis- 
 ted as 81 distinct people from Judah, they no longer main- 
 tained a separate religion, they joined themselves to the 
 Jews from whom they had been unhappily divided, they 
 lost the name of Israel as a name of distinction and were 
 thenceforth all in common called Jews. It appears from 
 the book of Esther, that there were great numbers of Jews 
 in all the hundred twenty and seven provinces of the king- 
 dom of Ahasuerus or Artaxerxes Longimanus, king of 
 Persia, and they could not all be the remains of the two 
 tribes of Judah and Benjamin, who had refused to return 
 to Jerusalem with their brethren ; they must many of 
 them have been the descendants of the ten tribes whora 
 the kings of Assyria had carried away captive ; but yet 
 they are all spoken of as one and the same people, and 
 all without distinction are denominated Jews. We read 
 in the acts of the Apostles, ii. 9. that there came to Jeru- 
 salem to celebrate the feast of Pentecost ' Parthians, and 
 Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia :* 
 these men came from the countries, wherein the ten 
 tribes had been placed, and in all probability therefore 
 were some of their posterity ; but yet these as well as the 
 rest are styled, ver. 5. * Jews, devout men, out of every 
 nation under heaven.' Those likewise of the ten tribes 
 who returned to Jerusalem, united with the two tribes of 
 Judah and Benjamin, and formed but one nation, one bo- 
 dy of Jews ; they might for some ages perhaps preserve 
 their genealogies ; but they are now incorporated toge- 
 ther, and the distinction of tribes and families is in a great 
 measure lost among them, and they have all from the 
 Babylonish captivity to this day been comprehended under 
 the general name of Jews. In St. Paulas time there were 
 several persons of all the ten tribes in being ; for he speak- 
 eth of ' the twelve tribes hoping to attain to the promise 
 of God ;* Acts xxvi. 7. and St. James addresseth his 
 epistle, ' to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad,' 
 James i. 1. And we make no question, that several per- 
 sons of all the ten tribes are in being at present, thougji 
 we cannot separate them from the rest ; they are confoun- 
 ded with the other Jews ; there is no difference, no dis- 
 
 VOL, I. N 
 
146 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 tinction between them. The Samaritans* indeed (of 
 whom there are still some remains at Sichem and the 
 neighbouring towns) pretend to be the descendants of the 
 children of Israel, but they are really derived from those 
 nations, which Esarhaddon king of Assyria planted in 
 the country, after he had carried thence the ten tribes 
 into captivity. And for this reason the Jews call them 
 by no other name than Cuthites, (the name of one of those 
 nations) and exclaim against them as the worst of here- 
 tics, and if possible have greater hatred and abhorrence 
 of them than of the Christians themselves. 
 
 Thus we see how the ten tribes of Israel were in a 
 manner lost in their captivity, while the two tribes of Ju- 
 dah and Benjamin were restored and preserved several 
 ages afterwards. And what, can you believe, were the 
 reasons of God's making this difference and distinction 
 between them ? The ten tribes had totally revolted from 
 God to the worship of the golden calves in Dan and Be- 
 thel ; and for this, and their other idolatry and wickedness, 
 they were suffered to remain in the land of their captivity. 
 The Jews were restored, not so much for their own sakes, 
 as for the sake of the promises made unto the fathers ; 
 the promise to Judah, that the Messiah should come of 
 his tribe ; the promise to David that the Messiah should 
 be born of his family. It was therefore necessary for the 
 tribe of Judah, and the families of that tribe, to be kept 
 distinct until the coming of the Messiah. But now these 
 ends are fully answered, the tribes of Judah and Benja- 
 min are as much confounded as any of the rest : all dis- 
 tinction of families and genealogies is lost among them : 
 and the Jewsf themselves acknowledge as much in say- 
 ing, that when the Messiah shall come, it will be part of 
 his office " to sort their families, restore the genealogies, 
 and set aside strangers." 
 
 II. The preservation of the Jews through so many 
 ages, and the total destruction of their enemies are won- 
 derful events ; and are made still more wonderful by be- 
 ing signified before-hand by the spirit of prophecy, as 
 we find particularly in the prophet Jeremiah, xlvi, 28. 
 
 * See Prideaux as before. 
 
 t See Bishop Chandler's Defence of Christianity, Chap. I. 
 SeC^. 2, page 38, of the third edition. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 147 
 
 ^ Fear not thou, O Jacob my servant, saitb the Lord, for 
 I am with thee, for I will make a full end of all the nations 
 whither I have driven thee, but I will not make a full end 
 of thee." 
 
 The preservation of the Jews is really one of the most 
 sii^nal and illustrious acts of divine providence. They are 
 dispersed among all nations, and yet they are not con- 
 founded with any. The drops of rain which fall, nay the 
 great rivers which flow into the ocean, are soon mingled 
 and lost in that immense body of waters : and the same 
 in all human probability would have been the fate of the 
 Jews, they would have been mingled and lost in the com- 
 mon mass of mankind ; but on the contrary, they flow 
 into all parts of the world, mix with all nations, and yet 
 keep separate from all. They still live as a distinct peo- 
 ple, and yet they no where live according to their own 
 laws, no where elect their own magistrates, no where en- 
 joy the full exercise of their religion. Their solemn feasts 
 and sacrifices are limited to one certain place, and that 
 hath been now for many ages in the hands of strangers 
 and aliens, who will not suffer them to come hither. No 
 people have continued unmixed so long as they have 
 done, not only of those who have sent forth colonies into 
 foreign countries, but even of those who have abided in 
 their own country. The northern nations have come in 
 swarms into the more southern parts of Europe; but 
 where are they now to be discerned and distinguished ? 
 The Gauls went forth in great bodies to seek their for- 
 tune in foreign parts ; but what traces or footsteps of them 
 are now remaining any where ? In France who can sepa- 
 rate the race of the ancient Gauls from the various other 
 people, who from time to time have settled there ? In 
 Spain who can distinguish exactly between the first pos- 
 sessors, the Spaniards, and the Goths, and the Moors, 
 who conquered and kept possession of the country for 
 some ages ? In England who can pretend to say v/ith 
 certainty which families are derived from the ancient 
 Britons, and which from the Romans, or Saxons, or 
 Danes, or Normans ? The most ancient and honourable 
 pedigrees can be traced up only to a certain period, and 
 beyond that there is nothing but conjecture and uncer- 
 tainty, obscurity and ignorance : but the Jews can go up 
 higher than any nation, they can even deduce their pedi- 
 
148 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 gree from the beginning of the world. They iTiay not 
 know from what particular tribe or family they are de- 
 scended, but they know certainly that they all sprung 
 from the stock of Abraham. And yet the contempt with 
 which they have been treated, and the hardships which 
 they have undergone in almost all countries, should, one 
 would think, have made them desirous to forget or re- 
 nounce their original ; but they profess it, they glory in 
 it : and after so many wars, massacres, and persecutions, 
 they still subsist, they siill are very numerous : and what, 
 but a supernatural power could have preserved them in 
 such a manner, as none other nation upon earth hath 
 been preserved ? 
 
 Nor is the providence of God less remarkable in the 
 destruction of their enemies, than in their preservation. 
 For from the beginning, who have been the great enemies 
 and oppressors of the Jewish nation, removed them from 
 their own land, and compelled them into captivity and 
 slavery ? The Egyptians afflicted them much, and de- 
 tained them in bondage several years. The Assyrians 
 carried away captive the ten tribes of Israel, and the 
 Babylonians afterwards the two remaining tribes of Judah 
 and Benjamin. The Syro-Macedonians, especially An- 
 liochus Epiphanes cruelly persecuted them : and the 
 Ivomans utterly dissolved the Jewish state, and dispersed 
 *he people, so that they have never been able to recover 
 their city and country again. But where are now these 
 great and famous monarchies, which in their turns sub- 
 dued and oppressed the people of God ? Are they not 
 vanished as a dream, and not only their power, but their 
 very names lost in the earth ? The Egyptians, Assyrians, 
 and Babylonians were overthrown, and entirely subju- 
 gated by the Persians ; and the Persians, (it is remarka- 
 ble) were the restorers of the Jews, as well as the destroy- 
 ers of their enemies. The Syro-Macedonians were swal- 
 lowed up by the Romans : and the Roman empire, great 
 and powerful as it was, was broken in pieces by the in- 
 cursions of the northern nations; while the Jews are 
 subsisting as a distinct people at this day. And what a 
 wonder of providence is it, that the vanquished should so 
 many ages survive the victors, and the former be spread 
 all over'the world, while the latter are no more ? 
 
THE PiiOPlIECIKS. 149 
 
 Nay, not only nations have been punished for their 
 cruelties to the Jews, but divine vengeance hath pursued 
 even single persons, who have been their persecutors and 
 oppressors. 1'he first born of Pharaoh was destroyed, 
 and he himself with his host was drowned in the sea. 
 Most of those who oppressed Israel in the days of the 
 Judg-es, Eglon, Jabin and Sisera, Oreb and Zeeb, and the 
 rest, came to an untimely end. Nebuchadnezzar was 
 stricken with madness, and the crown was soon transfer- 
 red from his family to strangers. Antiochus Epiphanes * 
 died in great agonies, with ulcers and vermin issuing from 
 them, so that the filthiness of his smell was intolerable to 
 all his attendants, and even to himself. Herod, who was 
 a cruel tyrant to the Jews,t died in the same miserable 
 manner. Flaccus, governor of Egypt, who barbarously 
 plundered and oppressed the Jews of Alexandria, | was 
 afterwards banished and slain. Caligula, who persecuted 
 the Jews for refusing to pay divine honours to his statues,^^ 
 was murdered in the flower of his age, after a short and 
 ■wicked reign. But where are they now, since they have 
 absolutely rejected the gospel, and been no longer the pe- 
 culiar people of God, where are now such visible mani- 
 festations of a divine interposition in their favour? The 
 Jews would do well to consider this point ; for rightly con- 
 sidered it may be an effectual means of opening their 
 eyes, and of turning them to Christ our Saviour. 
 
 III. The desolation of Judea is another memorable in- 
 stance of the truth of prophecy. It was foretold so long 
 ago as by Moses, Levit. xxvi. 33. ' I will scatter you 
 among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you ; 
 and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste.* It 
 
 * See 2 Maccab. ix. 9. See also the Fragments of Polybius in 
 page 997, of Casavibon's edition. 
 
 ■j- See Josephus' Antiquities, Book XVII. Chap. vi. Sect. 5, 
 page 768. See also his Jewish wars. Book I. Chap, xxxiii. Sect, 
 5, in page 1040, of Hudson's edition. 
 
 ^ See Philo upon Flaccus. 
 
 § See Philo's Embassy to Caius Cxsar. See Josephus' Anti- 
 q^lj:ies. Book XVIII. Chap. ix. and Book XIX. Chap. i. See 
 Suetonius' life of Culigula, Chap. lix. who tells us that Caligula 
 lived thirty years, and reigned tlu-ee years, ten months and eight 
 days. 
 
 N 2 
 
150 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 was foretold again by Isaiah, the prophet, speaking, as 
 prophets often do, of things future as present : i. 7, 8. 9. 
 ' Your country is desolate, your cities are burnt with fire ; 
 your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is 
 desolate as overthrown by strangers. And the daughter 
 of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a 
 garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.* This passage 
 may relate immediately to the times of Ahaz and Heze- 
 kiah; but it must have a farther reference to the devas- 
 tations made by the Chaldeans, and especially by the Ro- 
 mans. In this sense it is understood by Justin Martyr,* 
 Tertullian, Jerome, and most ancient interpreters : and 
 the following words imply no less than a general destruc- 
 tion, and almost total excision of the people, such as they 
 suftered under the Chaldeans, but more fully under the 
 Romans ; * Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a 
 very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom and 
 "ive should have been like unto Gomorrah.' The same 
 thing was again foretold by Jeremiah ; for speaking af- 
 terwards of the conversion of the Gentiles, and of the 
 restoration of the Jews in the latter days, he must be 
 understood to speak here of the times preceding, xii. 10, 
 H . * Many pastors (princes or leaders) have destroyed 
 my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot, 
 they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wildei'ness; 
 they have made it desolate, and being desolate it mourn- 
 eth unto me ; the whole land is made desolate, because 
 no man layeth it to heart.* 
 
 The same thing is expressed or implied in other places ; 
 and hath not the state of Judea now for many ages been 
 exactly answerable to this description ? That a country 
 should be depopulated and desolated by the incursions and 
 depredations of foreign armies is nothing wonderful ; but 
 that it should lie so many ages in this mjiserable condi- 
 tion is more than man could foresee, and could be revealed 
 only by God. A celebrated French writer f in his history 
 
 * See Justin Martyr's Apology, page 70, in tlie edition of 
 Thirlbius. See Ihe Dialogue with Tryphon, pages 160 and 143. 
 See Tertullian against the Marcionites, Book VIII. Chap, xjhiii. 
 page 411, in Rigaut's edition printed at Paris In 1675, and Je- 
 rome on the passage. Vol. III. page 12, of the Benedictine edi- 
 tion, 
 
 t See Voltaire's History, not far from the beginning. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 151 
 
 of the Crusades, pretends to exhibit a true picture of 
 Palestine, and he says that then " it was just what it is at 
 present, the worst of all the inhabited countries of Asia. 
 It is almost wholly covered with parched rocks, on which 
 there is not one line of soil. If this small territory were 
 cultivated, it might not improperly be compared to Swis- 
 serland." But there is no need of citinp: autliorities to 
 prove that the land is forsaken of its inhabitants, is uncul- 
 tivated, unfruitful, and desolate ; -for the enemies of our 
 religion make this very thing an objection to the truth of 
 our religion. They say that so barren and wretched a 
 country could never have been a land fionvuig with 7nilk 
 and /toncij, nov have supplied and maintained such multi- 
 tudes, as it is represented to have done in scripture. But 
 they do not see or consider, that hereby the prophecies 
 are fulfilled ; so that it is rather an evidence for the truth 
 of our religion, than any argument against it. 
 
 The country was formerly a good country, if we may 
 believe the concurrent testimony of those who should 
 best know it, the people who inhabited it Aristeas and 
 Josephus too* speak largely in commendation of its fruit- 
 fulness : and though something may be allowed to nation- 
 al prejudices, yet they would hardly have had the confi- 
 dence to assert a thing, which all the world could easily 
 contradict and disprove. Nay there are even heathen 
 authors who bear testimony to the fruitfulness of the land : 
 though we pi*esu me, that after the Babylonish captivity 
 it never recovered to be again what it was before. Strabo f 
 describes indeed the country about Jerusalem as rocky 
 and barren, but he commends other parts, particularly 
 about Jordan and Jericho. HecatseusI quoted by Jose- 
 
 • See Aristeas, pag-e 13, 14, in the edition of Hody. See Jo- 
 sephus* Jewish Wars, Book VHI. Chap. iii. page 1120, of Hud- 
 son's edition. 
 
 t See Strabo, Book XVI. pa^e 761, of the Paris edition, and 
 pa,^e 1104, of that of Amsterdam. See pag-e 755, of the Paris 
 edition and page 1095, of (hat of Amsterdam. See page 763, of 
 the Paris edition and page 1106, in that of Amsterdam printed 
 in 1707. 
 
 i See Josephus ag-alnst Apion, Book I. Sect. 22. where it is 
 called a country the best and most productivov page 1348^ ii\ 
 Hudson's edition. 
 
152 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 phus giveth it the character of one of the best and most 
 fertile countries. Tacitus* saith ; that it raineth seldom, 
 the soil is fruitful, fruits abound as with us, and besides 
 them the balsam and palm-trees. And notv/ithstanding 
 the long- desolation of the land, there are still visible such 
 marks and tokens of fruitfulness, as may convince any 
 man that it once deserved the character, which is given 
 of it in scripture. I would only refer the reader to two 
 learned and ingenious travellers of our own nation, Mr. 
 Maundrcll and Dr. Shaw ; and he will be fully satisfied 
 of the truth of what is here asserted. 
 
 The former-f- says, that " all along this day's travel 
 (Mar. 25.) from Kane Leban to Beer, and also as far as 
 we could see around, the country discovered a quite dif- 
 ferent face from what it had before ; presenting nothing 
 to the view in most places, but naked rocks, mountains, 
 and precipices. At sight of which, pilgrims are apt to be 
 astonished and baulked in their expectations ; finding that 
 country in such an inhospitable condition, concerning 
 whose pleasantness and plenty they had before formed in 
 their minds such high ideas from the description given 
 of it, in the word of God: insomuch, that it almost star- 
 tles their faith when they reflect how it could be possible 
 for a land like this, to supply food for so prodigious a 
 number of inhabitants, as are said to have been polled in 
 the twelve tribes at one time ; the sum given in by Joab, 
 2 Sam. xxiv. amounting to no less than thirteen hundred 
 thousand fighting men, besides women and children. But 
 it is certain that any man, who is not a little biassed to 
 infidelity before, may see, as he passes along, arguments 
 enough to support his faith against such scruples. For it 
 is obvious for any one to observe, that these rocks and 
 hills must have been anciently covered with earth, and 
 cultivated, and made to contribute to the maintenance of 
 the inhabitants, no less than if the country had been all 
 plain : nay, perhaps much more ; for as much, as such a 
 
 * See Tacitus' History, Book V. where he salth, that in this 
 country they have but few showers, the soil however is fertile, and 
 producelh in great abundance the same fruics as are to be met 
 with in Italy, and besides these, it abounds with Balsams and 
 palm trees. 
 
 t See Maundrell, page 64, fifth edition. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 153 
 
 mountainous and uneven surface, affords a larger space of 
 ground for cultivation, than this country would amount 
 to, if it were all reduced to a perfect level. For the hus- 
 banding of these mountains, their manner was to gather 
 up the stones, and place them in several lines, along the 
 sides of the hills, in form of a wall. By such borders 
 they supported the mould from tumbling or being washed 
 downi ; and form many beds of excellent soil, rising gra- 
 dually one above another, from the bottom to the top of 
 the mountains. Of this form of culture you see evident 
 footsteps, wherever you go in all the mountains of Pales- 
 tine. Thus the very rocks were made fruitful. And 
 perhaps there is no spot of ground in this whole land, that 
 was not formerly improved, to the production of some- 
 thing or other, ministering to the sustenance of human 
 life. For than the plain countries, nothing can be more 
 fruitful, whether for the production of corn or cattle, and 
 consequently of milk. The hills, though improper for 
 all cattle except goats, yet being disposed into such beds 
 as are before described, served very well to bear corn, 
 melons, gourds, cucumbers, and such like garden stuff', 
 which makes the principal food of these countries for 
 several months in the year. The most rocky parts of all, 
 which could not well be adjusted in that manner for the 
 production of corn, m.ight yet serve for the plantation of 
 vines and olive trees; which delight to extract, the one 
 its fatness, the other its sprightly juice, chiefly out of such 
 dry and flinty places. And the great plain joining to 
 the dead sea, which by reason of its sahness might be 
 thought unserviceable both for cattle, corn, olives, and 
 vines, had yet its proper usefulness for the nourishment 
 of bees, and for the fabric of honey: of wliich Josephus 
 give us his testimony, De Bell. Jud. Lib. 5. Cap. 4. And 
 1 h'ave reason to believe it, because when I was there, I 
 perceived in many places a smell of honey and wax, as 
 strong as if one had been in an apiary. Why then, might 
 not this country very well maintain the vast number of its 
 inhabitants, being in every part so productive, of either 
 milk, corn, wine, oil, or honey, which are the prijacipal 
 food of these eastern nations; the constitution of their bo- 
 dies, and the nature of their clime, inclining then\ to a 
 more abstemious diet than we use in England, and other 
 colder regions." 
 
154 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 The other asserts, * that " the Holy Land, were it as 
 well peopled, and cultivated, as in former time, -would 
 still be more fruitful than the very best part of the coast 
 of Syria and Phcenice. For the soil itself is generally 
 much richer, and all things considered, yields a prefer- 
 able crop. Thus the cotton that is gathered in the 
 plains of Ramah, Esdraelon, and Zebulun, is in greater 
 esteem, than what is cultivated near Sidon and Tripoly ; 
 neither is it possible for pulse, wheat, or any sort of grain, 
 to be more excellent than what is commonly sold at Je- 
 rusalem. The barrenness or scarcity rather, which some 
 authors may either ignorantly or maliciously complain 
 of, does not proceed from the incapacity or natural un- 
 fruitfulness of the country, but from the want of inhabi- 
 tants, and the great aversion there is to labour and indus- 
 try in those few who possess it. There ai'e besides, such 
 perpetual discords, and depredations among the petty 
 princes, who share this fine country, that allowing it was 
 better peopled, yet there would be small encouragement 
 to sow, when it was uncertain, who should gather in the 
 harvest. Otherwise the land is good land^ and still capable 
 of affording its neighbours the like supplies of corn and 
 oil, which it is known to have done in the time of Solo- 
 mon. The parts particularly about Jerusalem, being 
 described to be rocky and mountainous, have been there- 
 fore supposed to be barren and unfruitful. Yet granting 
 this conclusion, which is far from being just, a kingdom 
 is not to be denominated barren or unfruitful from one 
 part of it only, but from the whole. Nay, farther, the 
 blessing that was given to Judah, was not of the same 
 kind with the blessing of Asher or of Issachar, that his 
 bread should be fat^ or his land should ^e/z/t^a^an^, but that 
 his eyes should be red rjith \vine^ mid his teeth should be 
 lohite with milk^ Gen, xlix. 12. IVIoses also maketh milk 
 and honey (the chief dainties and subsistence of the ear- 
 lier ages, as they continue to be of the Bedoween Arabs) 
 to be the glory of all lands :j all which productions are 
 
 * Shaw's Travels, page 365, &.c. 
 
 t As Bishop Pearce observes, is not tills a mistake in Dr. 
 Shaw? The words are not of Moses butof Ezekiel,xx.6, 15. and 
 he does not seem io call tiie milk and honeij the glory of all Umds ; 
 but the land which did abound with milk and honeij^ he rather 
 CuUs the r^lory ofal!la?uL: 
 
THE PUOPHECIES. I55 
 
 either actually enjoyed, or as least might be, by proper 
 care and application. The plenty of wine alone is want- 
 ing at present; yet from the goodness of that little, which 
 is still made at Jerusalem and Hebron, we find that these 
 barren rocks (as they are called) might yield as much 
 greater quantity, if the abstemious Turk and Arab would 
 permit a further increase and improvement to be made 
 of the vine, Sec.'* 
 
 IV. Nothing can be a stronger or clearer proof of the 
 divine inspiration of the prophets, than their foretelling 
 not only the outward actions, but even the inward dispo- 
 sitions of men, many ages before those men were in be- 
 ing. The prophets were naturally prejudiced in favour 
 of their own nation ; but yet they foretel the infidelity 
 and reprobation of the Jews, their disbelief of the Mes- 
 siah, and thereupon their rejection by God. We will not 
 multiply quotations to this purpose. It will be sufficient 
 to produce one or two passages from the evangelical pro- 
 phet Isaiah. The 53d chapter is a most famous prophe- 
 cy of the Messiah ? and it begins with upbraiding the 
 Jews for their unbelief, ' Who hath believed our report ? 
 and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed ?' which 
 St. John, xii. 38. and St. Paul, Rom. x. 16. have express- 
 ly applied to the unbelieving Jews of their time. The 
 prophet assigns the reason too, why they would not re- 
 ceive the Messiah, namely, because of his low and afflict- 
 ed condition: and it is very well known that they reject- 
 ed him on this c.ccount, having all along expected him to 
 come as a temporal prince and deliverer in great power 
 and glory. 
 
 The prophet had before been commissioned to declare 
 unto the people the judgments of God for their infideli- 
 ty and disobedience, vl. 9, &c. < And he said, Go ye and 
 lell this people, (this people, not my people) Hear ye in-^ 
 deed, but understand not ; and see ye indeed, but perceive 
 not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their 
 ears heavy, and shut their eyes ; lest they see with their 
 eyes and hear with their ears, and understand with their 
 heart, and convert, and be healed.* In the style of scrip- 
 ture the prophets are said to do what they declare nvill be 
 done; and in -like manner Jeremiah is said, i. 10. to be 
 ' set over the nations, and over the kingdoms, to root out. 
 
J 56 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to 
 build, and to plant ; because he was authorised to make 
 known the purposes and decrees of God, and because 
 these events would follow in consequence of his prophe- 
 cies. * Make the heart of this people fat, is therefore as 
 much as to say,,Denounce my judgment upon this people, 
 that their heart shall be fat, and their ears heavy, and their 
 eyes shut : lest they see with their eyes, and hear with 
 ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and 
 be healed.' This prophecy might relate in some mea- 
 sure to the state of the Jews before the Babylonish capti- 
 vity ; but it did not receive its full completion till the days 
 of our Saviour : and in this sense itis understood and ap- 
 plied by the writers of the New Testament, and by our 
 Saviour himself. The prophet is then informed, that 
 this infidelity and obstinacy of his countrymen should be 
 of long duration. * Then said I, Lord, how long ? And 
 he answered. Until the cities be wasted without inhabitants 
 and the houses without man, and the land be utterly deso- 
 late, And the Lord have removed men far away, and there 
 be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.' Here is a 
 remarkable gradation in the denouncing of these judg- 
 ments. Not only Jerusalem and 'the cities should ^be 
 wasted without inhabitants,' but even the single houses 
 should be without man ; and not only the houses of the 
 cities should be without man, but even the country should 
 be utterly desolate ; and not only the people should be re- 
 moved out of the land^ but the Lord should remove them, 
 far away ; and they should not be removed for a short pe- 
 riod, but there should be a great or rather a long forsak' 
 ing in the midst of the land. And hath not the world seen 
 all those particulars exactly fulfilled ? Have not the Jews 
 laboured under a spiritual blindness and infatuation in 
 hearings but not understandings in seeing, but not perceiv- 
 ing the Messiah, after the accomplishment of so many 
 prophecies, after the performance of so many miracles ? 
 And in consequence of their refusing to convert and be 
 healed, have not their cities been wasted without inhabi- 
 tants, and their houses without man ? Hath not their land 
 been utterly desolate? Have they not been removed far 
 away into the most distant parts of the earth ? And hath 
 not their removal or banishment been now of near 1700 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 137 
 
 years duration ? And do they not still continue deaf and 
 blind, obstinate and unbelieving ? The Jews, at the time 
 of the delivery of this prophecy, gloried in being the pe- 
 culiar church and people of God : and would any Jew of 
 himself have thought or have said, that his nation would 
 in process of time become an infidel and reprobate nation, 
 infidel arid reprobate for many ages, oppressed by men, 
 and forsaken by God ? It was above 750 years before 
 Christ, that Isaiah predicted these things; and how could 
 he have predicted them, unless he had been illuminatedby 
 the divine vision ; or how could they have succeeded ac- 
 cordingly, unless the spirit of prophecy had been the spi- 
 rit of God. 
 
 V. Of the same nature are the prophecies concerning 
 the calling and obedience of the Gentiles. How could 
 such an event be foreseen hundreds of years before it hap- 
 pened ? but the prophets are full of the glorious subject j 
 and speak with delight and rapture of the universal king- 
 dom of the Messiah ; that ' God would give unto him the 
 heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the 
 earth for his possession :' Psal. ii. 8. that < all the ends of 
 the world should remember and turn unto the Lord, and 
 all the kindreds of the nations should worship before him,* 
 Psal, xxii. 27. that ' in the last days the mountain of the 
 house of the Lord should be established in the top of the 
 mountains, and should be exalted above the hills, and all 
 people should flow unto it,* Micah iv. 1 . which passage is 
 also to be found in Isaiah ; ii. 2. that from the rising of 
 the sun, even unto the going down of the same, my name 
 shall be great among the Gentiles, and in every place in- 
 cense shall be oftered unto my name, and a pure offering ; 
 for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the 
 Lord of hosts,' Mai. i. 11. But the prophet Isaiah is 
 more copious upon this as well as other evangelical sub- 
 jects : and his 49th and 60th chapters treat particularly 
 of the glory of the church in the abundant access of the 
 Gentiles. » It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my 
 servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the 
 preserved of Israel : I will also give thee for a light to 
 the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the 
 end of the earth, xlix. 6. Arise, shine, for thy light is 
 come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. The 
 VOL. I O 
 
1,38 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 Gentiles shall come to thy lig'ht, and kings to the bright- 
 ness of thy rising. The abundance of the sea shall be 
 converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come 
 unto thee,' Sec' Ix. 1, 3, 5, Sec. 
 
 It is as absurd as it is vain in the Jews to apply these 
 prophecies to the proselytes whom they have gained 
 among the nations ; for the number of their proselytes 
 was very inconsiderable, and nothing to answer these pom- 
 pous descriptions. Neither was their religion ever de- 
 signed by its founder for an universal religion, their wor- 
 ship and sacrifices being confined to one certain place, 
 whither all the males were obliged to repair thrice every 
 year ; so that it was plainly calculated for a particular 
 people, and could never become the religion of the whole 
 world. There was indeed to be a religion, which was de- 
 signed for all nations, to be preached in all, and to be receiv- 
 ed in all : but what prospect or probability was there, that 
 such a generous institution should proceed from such a 
 narrow-minded people as the Jews, or that the Gentiles 
 who hated and despised them should ever receive a reli- 
 gion from them ? Was it not much more likely, that 
 ihey should be corrupted by the example of all the na- 
 tions around them, and be induced to comply with the 
 polytheism and idolatry of some of their powerful neigh- 
 bours and conquerors, to which they were but too much 
 inclined of themselves ; was not this, I say, much more 
 Jikely than that they should be the happy instruments of 
 reforming the world, and converting some of all nations 
 to the worship of the one only God in spirit apd in truth ? 
 
 But the prophet farther intimates, that this great revo- 
 lution, the greatest that ever was in the religious world, 
 should be effected by a few incompetent persons, and ef- 
 fected too in a short compass of time. * A little one shall 
 become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation : I 
 the Lord will hasten it in his time, Ix. 22. Our Saviour's 
 commission to his apostles was, ^ Go teach all nations :* 
 and who were the persons to whom this commission was 
 given ? those who were best qualified and able to carry it 
 into execution ? the rich, the wise, the mighty of this world ? 
 No, they were chiefly a few poor fishermen, of low pa- 
 rentage and education, of no learning or eloquence, of no 
 policy or address, of no repute or authority, despised as 
 Jews by the rest of mankind, and as the meanest and worst 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 1J9 
 
 of Jews by the Jews themselves. And what improper per- 
 sons were these to contend with the prejudices of all the 
 world, the superstition of the people, the interest of the 
 priests, the vanity of philosophers, the pride of rulers, the 
 malice of th Jews, the learning of Greece, and the power 
 of Home ; 
 
 As this revolution was eftected by a few incompetent 
 persons, so it was effected too in a short compass of time. 
 After our Saviour's ascension 'the number of disciples 
 tog-ether was about an hundred and twenty :' Acts i.l5. 
 but they soon increased and multiplied : the first sermon 
 of St. Peter 'added unto them ' about three thousand 
 souls,' ii. 41. and the second made up the number 'about 
 five thousand,' iv. 4. Before the destruction of Jerusa- 
 lem, in the space of about forty years, the gospel was 
 preached in almost every region of the world then know n : 
 And in the reign of Constantine Christianity became the 
 religion of the empire : and after having suffered a little 
 under Julian it entirely prevailed and triumphed over pa- 
 ganism and idolatry : and still prevails in the most civil- 
 ized and improved parts of the earth. All this was more 
 than man could foresee, and much more than man could 
 execute: and we experience the good effects of these 
 prophecies at this day. The speedy propagation of the 
 gospel, could not have been effected by persons so une- 
 qual to the task, if the same divine Spirit %vho foretold 
 it, had not likewise assisted them in it, according to the 
 promise, ' I the Lord will hasten it in his time.' We may 
 be as certain as if we had seen it, that the truth really 
 was, as the evangelist affirms, Mark xvi. 20. ' they went 
 forth and preached every where, the Lord working with 
 them, and confirming the word with signs following.' 
 
 But neither the prophecies concerning the Gentiles, 
 nor those concerning the Jews, have yet received their 
 full and entire completion. Our Saviour hath not yet 
 had 'the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession :' 
 Psal. ii. 8. ' All the ends of the world' have not yet ' turn- 
 ed unto the Lord :' xxii. 27. ' All people, nations, and 
 languages,' have not yet ' served him :' Dan. vii. 14. These 
 things have hitherto been only partially, but they will 
 even literally be fulfilled. Neither are the Jews yet made 
 * an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations,' Isa. 
 Ix. 15. The time is not yet come, when 'violence shall no 
 
160 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 iTierebe heard in the land, wasting nor destruction within 
 their borders,' ver. 18. God's promises to them are not 
 yet made good in their full extent. ' Behold, I will take 
 the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither 
 ihey be gone, and will gather them on every side, and 
 bring them into their own land. And they shall dwell in 
 the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, even 
 they and their children, and their children's children for 
 ever, and my servant David shall be their prince forever,' 
 Ezek. xxxvii, 21, 25. ' Then shall they know that I am 
 the Lord their God, who caused them to be led into cap- 
 tivity among the heathen ; but I have gathered them unto 
 their own land, and have left none of them any more there. 
 Neither will I hide my face any more from them, for I 
 have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith 
 the Lord God,' xxxix. 28, 29. However what hath al- 
 ready been accomplished, is a sufficient pledii^e and ear- 
 nest of what is yet to come : and we have all imaginable 
 reason to believe, since so many of these prophecies are 
 fulfilled, that the remaining prophecies will be fulfilled 
 also ; that there will be yet a greater harvest of the na- 
 tions, and the yet unconverted parts of the earth will be 
 enlightened with the knowledge of the Lord ; that the 
 Jews will in God's good time be converted to Christianity, 
 and upon their conversion be restored to their native city 
 and country : and especially since the state of aifairs is 
 such, that they may return without much difficulty, hav- 
 ing no dominion, no settled country, or fixed property to 
 detain them mu<:h any where. We have seen the pro- 
 ])hecy of Hosea, iii. 4, 5. fulfilled in part, and why should 
 we not believe that it will be fulfilled in whole ? ' The 
 children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, 
 and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without 
 an image or a/tar, and without an ephod' or priest to 
 wear an ephod, ' and without teraphim' or divine mani- 
 festation. ' Afterwards shall the children of Israel return, 
 and seek the Lord their God, and David their king, and 
 hhall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days." 
 
 We have now exhibited a summary view of the pro- 
 phecies of the Old Testament more immediately relative 
 to the preifent state and condition of the Jews ; and what 
 stronger and more convincing arguments can you require 
 
THE PIIOPHECIES. 161 
 
 of the truth both of the Jewish and of the Christian reli- 
 gion ? The Jews were once the peculiar people of God : 
 and as St. Paul saith, Rom. xi. 1. ' Hath God cast away 
 his people ? God foibid.' We see that after so many 
 ages they are still preserved by a miracle of providence 
 a distinct people ; and why is such a continual miracle 
 exerted, but for the greater illustration of the divine truth, 
 and the better accomplishment of the divine promises, as 
 well those wducli are yet to be, as those w^hich are already 
 fulfilled ? We see that the great empires, which in their 
 turns sul)dued and oppressed the people of God, are all 
 come to ruin : because though they executed the pur- 
 poses of God, yet that was more than they understood ; 
 all that they intended was to satiate their own pride and 
 ambition, their own cruelty and revenge. And if such hath 
 been the fatal end of the enemies and oppressors of the 
 Jews, let it serve as a warning to all those, who at any 
 time or upon any occasion are for raising a clamour and 
 persecution against them. They are blameable no doubt 
 for persisting in their infidelity after so many means of 
 conviction; but this is no warrant or authority for us to 
 prescribe, to abuse, injure, and oppress them, as Chris- 
 tians of more zeal than either knowledge or charity have 
 in all ages been apt to do. Charity is greater than faith ; 
 and it is worse in us to be cruel and uncharitable, than it 
 is in them to be obstinate and unbelieving. Persecution 
 is the spirit of popery, and in the worst of popish coun- 
 tries the Jews are the most cruelly used and persecuted : 
 the spirit of protestantism is toleration and indulgence to 
 weaker consciences. Compassion to this unhappy people 
 is not to defeat the prophecies ; for only wicked nations 
 were to harass and oppress them, the good were to show 
 mercy to them ; and we should choose rather to be the 
 dispensers of God's mercies than the executioners of his 
 judgments. Read the eleventh chapter of the Epistle to 
 the Romans, and see what the great apostle of the Gen- 
 tiles, who certainly understood the prophecies better than 
 any of us can pretend to do, saith of the infidelity of the 
 Jews. Some of the Gentiles of his time valued them- 
 selves upon their superior advantages, and he reproves 
 them for it, that they who ' were cut out of the olive-tree 
 which is wild by nature; and were graffed contrary to na- 
 o 2 
 
162- DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 ture into a good olive-tree,* should presume to * boast 
 against the natural branches;' ver. xxiv. 18. but what 
 would he have said, how would he have flamed and light- 
 ened, if they had made religion an instrument of fac- 
 tion, and had been for stirring up a persecution against 
 them ? We should consider, that to them we owe the 
 oracles of God, the scriptures of the New Testament as 
 well as the Old; we should consider, that Me glorious 
 comfiany of the afioatles^fV^^WQW as the goodly fellow shifi of 
 the firofihets were Jews ; we should consider, that of them 
 as concerning the f/'sh Christ came^ the Saviour of the 
 world : and surely something of kindness and gratitudp 
 is due for such infinite obligations. Though they are 
 now broken off, yet they are not utterly cast away. * Be- 
 cause of unbelief,' as St. Faul argues, ver. 20. ^ they 
 were broken otF, and thou standest by faith ; Be not high 
 minded, but fear.* There will be a time, when they will 
 be gralFed in again, and again become the people of God ; 
 for as the apostle proceeds, ver. 25, 26. '1 would not 
 brethren that ye should be ignorant of this mystery (lest 
 ye should be wise in your own conceits) that blindness in 
 .part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles 
 be come in ; and so all Israel shall be saved.* And which 
 (think ye) is the most likely method to contribute to their 
 conversion, which are the most natural means to recon- 
 cile them to us and our religion, prayer, argument, long- 
 suffering, gentleness, goodness ; or noise and invective, 
 injury and outrage, the malice of some, and the folly and 
 madness of more ! They cannot be worse than when they 
 crucified the Son of God, and persecuted his apostles : 
 but what saith our Saviour ? Luke xxiii. 34. ' Father, 
 forgive them, for they know not what they do :* what 
 saith his apostle St.' Paul? Rom. x. 1. 'Brethren, my 
 heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they 
 might be saved.* In conformity to these blessed exam- 
 ples our church hath also taui^ht us to pray for them : 
 and how can prayer and persecution consist and agree to- 
 gether ? They are only pretended friends to the church, 
 but real enemies to religion, who encourage persecution 
 of any kind. All true sons of the church, all true pro- 
 testants, all true christians will, as the apostle adviseth, 
 Eph. iv. 3 ! . ' put away all bitterness, and wrath, and an- 
 
THE PROPHECIES. I53 
 
 ger, and clamour, and evil r.pcaking;, with all malice ;' and 
 will join heart and voice in that excellent collect — Huve 
 mercy ufion all Jcnvs, Turks, injidtda, and heretics, and 
 take from, them all ignorance, hardness of heart, and con- 
 tempt of thy ivord .- and so fetch them home, blessed Lord, 
 to thyfock, that they may be saved among the remnant of 
 the true Israelites, and be made one fold under our Shefi^ 
 herd, Jesus Christ our Lord. 
 
 IX. 
 
 THE PROPHECIES CONCERNING NINEVEH. 
 
 AS the Jews were the peculiar people of God, the pro- 
 phets were sent to them chiefly, and the main subjects of 
 the prophecies are the various changes and revolutions in 
 the Jewish church and state. But the spirit of prophecy- 
 is not limited there ; other subjects are occasionally in- 
 troduced ; and for the greater manifestation of the divine 
 providence, the fate of other nations is also foretold : and 
 especially of those nations, which lay in the neighbour- 
 hood of Judea, and had intercourse and connections with 
 the Jews ; and whose good or ill fortune therefore was of 
 some concern and consequence to the Jews themselves. 
 But here it is greatly to be lamented, that of these east- 
 ern nations, and of these early times, we have very short 
 and imperfect accounts ; we have no regular histories, 
 but only a few fragments of history, which have escaped 
 the general shipwreck of time. If we possessed the As- 
 syrian history written by Abydenus, and the Chaldean by 
 Berosus, and the Egyptian by Manetho ; we might in all 
 probability be better enabled to explain the precise mean- 
 ing, and to demonstrate the exact completion of several 
 ancient prophecies ; but for want of such helps and as- 
 sistances we must be glad of a little glimmering light, 
 wherever we can see it. We see enough, however, 
 though not to discover the beauty and exactness of each 
 particular, yet to make us admire in the general these 
 wonders of providence, and to show that the condition of 
 
1G4 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 cities and kingdoms hath been such, as the prophets had 
 long ago foretold. And we will begin with the instance 
 of Nineveh. 
 
 Nineveh was the metropolis of the Assyrian empire, 
 and the Assyrians were formidable enemies to the king- 
 doms both of Israel and Judah. In the days of Menahem 
 king of Israel, Pul the king of Assyria invaded the land, 
 and was bought off with a thousand talents of silver, 2 
 Kings XV. 19. A few years afterwards 'in the days of 
 Pekah king of Israel came Tiglath-pileser king of Assy- 
 ria, and took several cities^ and Gilead, and Galilee, all 
 the land of Naphtali, and carried them captive to Assyria,* 
 2 Kings XV. 29. The same Tiglath-pileser was invited 
 by Ahaz king of Judah, to come and assist him against 
 Rezin king of Syria, and Pekah king of Israel : ' And 
 Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house 
 of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king's house, and 
 sent it for a present to the king of Assyria,' 2 Kings xvi. 
 8. The king of Assyria came accordingly to his assist- 
 ance, and routed his enemies : but still, as another sacred 
 writer saith, 'distressed him, and strengthened him not,' 
 2 Chron. xxviii. 20. A little after, in the days of Hoshea 
 kin • of Israel, ' Shalmaneser the king of Assyria came 
 up thrpughout all the land,' and after a siege of three 
 years ' took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, 
 and placed them in Halah, and in Habor by the river of 
 Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes,' 2 Kings xvii. 5, 
 6. It was ' in the sixth year of Hezekiah,' king of Ju- 
 dah, that Shalmaneser king of Assyria carried Israel 
 away captive : and 'in the fourteenth year of king Heze- 
 kiah, did vSennacherib king of Assyria come up against 
 all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them,' 2 Kings 
 xviii. 10, 13. And the king of Assyria exacted of the 
 king of Judah, ' three hundred talents of silver, and thirty- 
 talents of gold ; so that even good king Hezekiah was 
 forced to ' give him all the silver that was found in the 
 house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king's 
 house,' ver. 14, 15. Sennacherib notwithstanding sent 
 his captains ' with a great host against Jerusalem,' ver. 
 17. but his army was miraculously defeated,* and he 
 
 [* Herodotus mentions this destruction, but ascribes it to a 
 large number of field mice devouring in i'. night their shield- 
 
THE PROPHECIES. IGJ, 
 
 Jiimself was afterwards slain at Nineveh, 2 Kings xix. 35, 
 36, 37. His son Esarhaddon compleated the deportation 
 of the Israelites, 'and brought men from Babylon, and 
 from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from 
 Seph^rvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria, 
 instead of the children of Israel ; and they possessed Sama- 
 ria, and dwelt in the cities thereof/ 2 Kings xvii. 24. Ezra 
 iv. 2. We see then that the Assyrians totally destroyed 
 the Kingdom of Israel, and greatly oppressed the king- 
 dom of Judah : and no wonder therefore that they are 
 made the subject of several pro])hecies. 
 
 The prophet Isaiah denounceth the judi2:nients of God 
 against Sennacherib in particular, and against the Assy- 
 rians in general.' ' () Assyrian, the rod of mine anger,* 
 or rather, JVoc to the Jhsyrian^ tin rod of mine ani^er^ x» 
 5. God might employ them as the ministers of his 
 wrath, and executioners of his vengeance ; and so make 
 the wickedness of some nations the means of correcting 
 that of others : ' I will send him against an hypocritical 
 nation ; and against the people of my wrath will I give 
 him a charge to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and 
 to tread them down like the mire in the streets,' ver. 6. 
 But it was far from any intent of theirs to execute the 
 divine will, or to chastise the vices of mankind ; they 
 only meant to extend their conquest, and .establish their 
 own dominion upon the ruins of others : ' Howbeit he 
 meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so, but it is 
 in his heart to destroy, and cut oif nations not a few,' ver. 
 7. Wherefore when they shall have served the purpo- 
 
 straps, quivers and bow-strings — Herapollo says that the Eg^'p- 
 tians to signify destruction painted a mouse. — Ijoswell in his lite 
 of Dr. S. Johnson observes, tiiat it was a subject of conversation 
 between them, in what manner so great a multitude of Sennache- 
 rib's army was destroyed. "We are not to suppose," says the 
 doctor, " that the ang-el went about with a sword in his hand 
 stabbing them one by one, but, that some powerful natural agent 
 was employed, most probably the Samiel." The Samiel accord- 
 ing- to Mr. Bruce consists of a meteor ** appearing- like a thin 
 smoke and passing with a gentle ruffling wind. It is peculiarly 
 fatal to persons sleeping. It is felt and is compared to a suffo- 
 cating fire. Its extent is •very considerable ; and it often happens 
 in the night." God says, Isuiah 37. 7. "Behold 1 will send a 
 BLAST upon him."] 
 
166 DISSERTATION'S OX 
 
 ses of divine providence, they shall be severely punished 
 for their pride and ambition, their tyranny and cruelty to 
 their neighbours; ' Wherefore it shall come to pass,tliat 
 when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon 
 mount Zion, and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of 
 the stout heart of the king- of Assyria, and the glory of 
 his high looks,' ver. 12. There was no prospect of such 
 an event, while the Assyrians were in the midst of their 
 successes and triumphs ; but still the word of the pro- 
 phet prevailed ; and it was not long after these calamities 
 brought upon the Jews, of which we have given a short 
 deduction, that the \ssyrian empire properly so called 
 was overthrown, and Nineveh destroyed. 
 
 Nineveh, or Ninus, as it was most usually called by 
 the Greeks and Romans, was, as we said before, the capi- 
 tal city of the Assyrian empire ; and the capital is fre- 
 quently put for the whole empire, the prosperity or ruin 
 of the one being involved in that of the other. This was 
 a very ancient city, being built by Ashur, or as others 
 say, by Nimrod; for those words of Moses, Gen. x. 11. 
 which our translators, together with most of the ancient 
 versions render thus. Out of that land went forth Ashur ^ 
 and builded Mneveh^ others translate it, as the Chaldee* 
 paraphrast translates them, and as they are rendered in 
 the margin of our bibles, Ont of that land he., that is, 
 Nimrod, the person spoken of before, ivnit forth into 
 Assyria^ and builded A'ineveh. It is well known that the 
 word Ashur in Hebrew is the name of the country, as 
 well as the name of the man, and the preposition is often 
 omitted, so that the words may very well be translated, he 
 iverit forth into Assyria. And Moses is here giving an 
 account of the sons of Ham, and it may seem foreign to 
 his subject to intermix the story of any of the sons of 
 Shem, as Ashur was. Moses afterwaids recounts the sons 
 of Shem ; and Ashur among them ; and it is presumed 
 that he would hardly relate his actions, before he had men- 
 tioned his nativity, or even his name, contrary to the series 
 of the genealogy and to the order of the history. But this 
 notwithstanding, I incline to understand the text literally 
 as it is translated, out of that land luent forth Ashur ^ be- 
 
 * " Out of that land he went into Assyria," See Onkclos-» 
 
THE rUOFIlEClES. 167 
 
 ing expelled thence by Nimrod, a7id builded Kincveh^ 
 and other cities, in opposition to the cities which Nimrod 
 had founded in the land of Shinar. And neither is it for- 
 eign to the subject, nor contrary to the order of the his- 
 tory, upon the mention of Nimrod's invading and seizing 
 the territories of Ashur, to relate whither Ashur retreat- 
 ed, and where he fortified himself against him. But by 
 whom soever Nineveh was built, it might afterwards be 
 greatly enlarged and improved by Ninus, and called after 
 his name, whoever Ninus was, for that is altogether un- 
 certain. 
 
 As it was a very ancient, so was it likewise a very great 
 city. In Jonah it is styled that great city^ i. 2. iii. 2. an 
 exceeding great city., iii. 3. In the original it is * a city 
 great to God ; in the same manner as Moses is called by 
 St. Stephen, in the Acts of the Apostles, vii. 20. <asteios 
 to Theo,* fair to God, or exceeding Jhir, as our transla- 
 tors rightly render it, and so t/ie 7noiintains of God, Psal. 
 xxxvi. 6. are exceeding high mountains, and the cedars 
 of God, Psal. Ixxx. 10. are exceeding tall cedars. It was 
 therefore an exceeding great city ; and the scripture ac- 
 count is confirmed by the testimony of heathen authors, 
 Strabo f says, that Nineveh was much greater even than 
 Babylon : and t Diodorus Siculus from Ctesias affirms that 
 "its builder Ninus proposed to build a city of such mag- 
 nitude, that it should not only be the greatest of the cities 
 which were then in all the world, but that none of those 
 who should be born after that time, attempting the like, 
 should easily exceed it ;" and a little after he subjoins, 
 that " nobody afterwards built such a city, either as to the 
 
 * * Gnir Gedokh Lelohlm,' a city great to God. 'Polls me- 
 gale to Theo.' See Septiiagint. 
 
 f It was much larger than Babylon. See Strabo, Book XVI. 
 page 7ii7, of the Paris edition, and page 1071, of that of Amster- 
 dam, printed In 1707. 
 
 i, Also he (Ninus), made quick dispatch to build a city of suck 
 magnitude, that it should exceed in greatness, not only all that 
 were then in the world, but that no person afterwards to be born 
 
 engaging in a like work should go beyond it For since, none 
 
 hath ever built a city mclosing- a larger space, or with walls 
 more magnificent. See Diodorus Siculus, Book II. page 65, in 
 Stephanus' edition, and page 91, 92. in that of Rhodomauus. 
 
Ig^ DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 greatness of the compass, or as to the magnificence of the 
 walls." It is added in Jonah iii. 3. that it was * ' an ex- 
 ceeding great city of three day's journey,' that is of three 
 days journey in circuit, as St. Jerome and the best com- 
 mentators expound it. Strabo, as it was observed before 
 hath said that Nineveh was much larger than Babylon ; 
 and a little afterwards he says, that t the circuit of Baby- 
 lon was 385 furlongs: but t Diodorus Siculus asserts, 
 that the v/hole circuit of Nineveh was 480 furlongs; 
 •which § make somewhat more than 60 miles, and 60 
 miles were three days journey, 20 miles a day being the 
 common computation of a foot traveller. It is farther said 
 in Jonah, iv. 11. that in Nineveh ' there were more than 
 sixscore thousand persons, who could not discern between 
 their right hand, and their left hand, and also much cat- 
 tle.* I think it is !i generally calculated that the young 
 children of any place are a fifth part of the inhabitants ; 
 and if we admit of that calculation, the whole number of 
 inhabitants in Nineveh amounted to ^bove six hundred 
 thousand : which number will appear by no means incre- 
 dible, if we consider the dimensions of the city as given 
 
 * A large city, and of so extensive a chxuit, that it could 
 scarcely be travelled round in the space of three days. See Je- 
 rome's Commentary on the passag-e, page 1486. Vol. III. of the 
 Benedictine edition. 
 
 f Its walls were three hundred and eighty-five furlongs in cir- 
 cumference. See Strabo, page 738 of the Paris edition, and 
 page 1072, of that of Amsterdam, published in 1707. 
 
 t The whole circumference (of Nineveh) measured four hun- 
 dred and eighty furlongs. See Book II. page 56, of Stephanus' 
 edition, and page 92, in that of Rhodomanus. 
 
 § The circumference of Nineveh measured four hundred and 
 eighty furlongs, that is sixty miles, wliichwill require tlnee days 
 to travel round it, allowing twenty miles for each day. A day's 
 journey was considered by the Roman lawyers, and by the an- 
 cient Greeks, as extending to this number of miles. Ilerodotus, 
 in Book V. Chap. xxxv. saith they marched an hundred and fif- 
 ty furlongs each day. — Now an hundred and fifty furlongs, make 
 twenty miles. The Stadiaii or furlong among the Greeks being 
 larger than ours. See Bochart's Phaleg, Book IV. Chap. xx. — 
 Col. 252. 
 
 II See the same work of Bochart, Col, 253. Lowth*s Commew- 
 tary and Calinet's. 
 
THE PROPlIECIfiS. 16y 
 
 by Diodorus Sicnlus, * that it was in length 1 50 furlongs, 
 in breudth 90 furlongs, and in circuit 480 furlongs, that 
 ia 20 miles long, about 12 miles broad, and above 60 miles 
 in compass. A city of such dimensions might easily con- 
 lain such a number of inhabitants, and many more : and 
 at the same time there might be, as there are in most of 
 the great cities of the east, large vacant spaces for gar- 
 dens or for pasture ; so that there might be, as the sacred 
 text asserts there was, also much cattle. But according to 
 the modern method f ot calculation the number of Nine- 
 vites is reduced much lower. For allowing that the num- 
 i)er of infants was one hundred and thirty thousand, as the 
 scripture saith that they were more than one hundred and 
 twenty thousand ; yet these making but three tenths of the 
 inhabitants, the number of the citizens will appear to have 
 amounted to four hundred and twenty-three thousand. — 
 London and Paris stand not upon one quarter of the 
 ground, and yet are supposed to contain more inhabi- 
 tants ; London even more than the former calculation, 
 und Paris more than the latter ; it being computed + that 
 in London there are about 725,943 persons, and about 
 437,478 in Paris. 
 
 The inhabitants of Nineveh, like those of other great 
 cities, abounding in wealth and luxury, became very cor- 
 rupt in their morals. Whereupon it pleased God to com- 
 mission the prophet Jonah to preach unto them the ne- 
 cessity of repentance, as the only means of averting their 
 impending destruction : and such was the success of his 
 preaching, that both the king and the people repented 
 and turned from their evil ways, and thereby for a time 
 delayed the execution of the divine judgments. Who 
 this king of Assyria was, we cannot be certain, we can 
 only make conjectures, his name not being mentioned in 
 the i3ook of Jonah. Archbishop Usher § supposeth him 
 to have been Pul the king of Assyria, who afterward in- 
 
 * Each of the two longer sides measured one hundred and 
 fifty furlongs, and each of the two shorter ninety . See Diodorus 
 Siculus in the same place. 
 
 f See Maitland's History of London, BooklHChap. li. page 543. 
 
 4: See Maithmd, page 541 and 548. 
 
 § See Usher's Annals, year of the world 32.13^ page 5^, and 
 Lavvth's Comme^itary. 
 
 VOL. I. P 
 
170 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 vaded the kingdom of Israel, in the days of Menahem ; 2 
 Kings XV. 19. it being very agreeable to the methods of 
 providence, to make use of an heathen king who was pe- 
 nitent, to punish the impenitency of God's own people 
 Israel. But it should seem more probable, that this prince 
 was one of the kings of Assyria, before any of those who 
 are mentioned in scripture. For Jonah is reckoned the 
 most ancient of all the prophets, usually so called, whose 
 writings are preserved in the canon of scripture. We 
 know that he prophecied of the restoration of the coasts 
 of Israel taken by the king of Syria, which was accom- 
 plished by Jeroboam the second : 2 Kings xiv. 25. and 
 therefore Jonah must have lived before that time ; and 
 is with great reason supposed by Bishop Lloyd, in his 
 Chronological Tables to have prophecied at the latter end 
 of Jehu's, or the beginning of the reign of Jehoahaz, 
 when the kingdom of Israel was reduced very low, and 
 greatly oppressed by Hazael king of Syria, 2 Kings x. 
 32. If he prophecied at that time, there intervened Je- 
 hoahaz's reign of seventeen years, Joash's reign of six- 
 teen years, Jeroboam's of forty and one years, Zachariah's 
 of six months, Shallum's of one month, and Menahem 
 was seated on the throne of Israel, before any mention 
 is made of Pul, the king of Assyria : and therefore we 
 may reasonably conclude from the distance of time, which 
 was above seventy years, that Jonah was not sent to Pul 
 the king of Assyria, but to one of his predecessors, though 
 to whom particularly we are unable to discover, for the 
 want before complained of, the want of Assyrian histories, 
 which no doubt would have related so memorable a trans- 
 action. 
 
 But this repentance of the Ninevites, we may presume 
 was of no long continuance. For not many years after 
 we find the pfophet Nahum foretelling the total and en- 
 lire destruction of the city ; though there is no certainty 
 of the time of Nahum's, any more than of Jonah's pro- 
 phecying. Josephus* saith, that he flourished in the time 
 
 * And there was a certain prophet at this time, whose name 
 was Nahum. — All these thing's which were foretold by him con- 
 cernuig Nineveh, were accomplished one hundred and fifteen 
 
THE PllOPHEClES. 171 
 
 of Jotham kingoFJudah, and that ail the things which he 
 foretold concerning Nineveh came to pass one hundred 
 and fifteen years afterwards. St. Jerome * placeth him 
 under Hezekiah, king of Judah, and saith that liis name 
 by interpretation is a comforter ; for the ten tribes bein?.'; 
 carried away by the kino- of Assyria, this vision was to 
 comfort them in their captivity ; nor was it a less conso- 
 lation to the other two tribes of Judah and IBenjamin, who 
 remained in the land, and were besieged by the same ene- 
 mies, to hear that these conquerors would in time be con- 
 quered themselves, their city be taken, and their empire 
 overthrown. Ail that is said of him in scripture is A^'ur 
 hum the Elkoshitt^ Nahum i. 1. which title in all proba- 
 bility was given him from the place of his nativity; and 
 St. Jerome f supposeth it to have been a village in Gali- 
 lee, the ruins wher.-of were shown to him, when he tra- 
 velled in those parts. Now we learn from the sacred his- 
 tory, 2 Kings XV. 29. that the people of* Galilee were ta- 
 ken by Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, and carried cap- 
 tive into Assyria.' It is notimprolmble therefore, that at 
 that time this prophet, who v^'as a Galilean, might be in- 
 structed to foretel the fall of Nineveh: and that time co- 
 incides with the reign of Jotham king of Judah, which 
 
 years afterwards. See Josephus' Antiquities, Book IX. C'lap. 
 xi. Sect. 3. page 422, and 423, of Hudson's edition. 
 
 * Nahum, which is by interpretation **a Comforter." For du- 
 ring" the reign of lie/ekiah the king of Judah, the ten tribes had 
 been led into captivity by the Assyrians, and at that very time 
 tlie prophet had a vision against Nineveh, for the comfort of 
 these captives. Nor was his vision calculated to afford small con- 
 solation only to such of the Israelites as were now in bondage to 
 tlie Assyrians, but to the remaining tribes of Judah and Benja- 
 min, under the government of Hezekiah, wlio were now attack- 
 ed by the same enemies; when they slioulil fearn that tlic Assy- 
 rians in their turn would be led into captivity by the Chaldces, 
 as will be shewn in the sequel of this book. Sec Jerome's pre- 
 face to the book of Nahum, page 1553, Vol. III. of the Bcuedic- 
 tine edition. 
 
 f Elkosh, at this veiy day is a village in Galilee, small indeed 
 and scarcely in its ruins discovering any vestiges of its ancient, 
 buildings. It is, however, wellknov/nto the Jews, and was point- 
 ed out to me by my conductor. See Jerome in the same place, 
 page 1559. 
 
1T2 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 is the time assigned for Nahum's prophecying by Jo- 
 sephus. But if Josephus was right in this particular, 
 he was wrong in another ; for more than one hundred 
 and fifteen years intervened between the reign of Jotham 
 king of Judah, and the desti*uction of Nineveh^as it is usu- 
 ally computed by chronologers. There is one thing, 
 ^yhich might greatly assist us in fixing the time of Na- 
 luim's prophecying ; and that is the destruction of No- 
 Amon or Diospolis in Egypt, which he mentions, chap, 
 iii. 8, &c. as a late transaction, if we could know certain- 
 ly, when that destruction happened, or by whom it wfts 
 effected. It is commonly attributed to Nebuchadnez- 
 Xar ; but tlmt time is too late, and the destruction of 
 No-Amon would fall out after the destruction of Nineveh 
 instead of before it. Dr. Prideaux * with more reason 
 believes, that it was eftected by Sennacherib, before he 
 marched against Jerusalem ; and then Nahum's prophe- 
 cying would coincide exactly with the reign of Hezekiah, 
 which is the time assigned for it by St. Jeron.e. 
 
 But whenever it was that Nahumprophecied, he plainly 
 and largely foretold the destruction of Nineveh ; his whole 
 prophecy relates to this single event ; and the city was 
 accordingly destroyed by the Medes and Babylonians. 
 This point I think is generally agreed upon, that Nineveh 
 was taken and destroyed by the iVIedes and Babylonians ; 
 these two rebelling and uniting together subverted the 
 Assyrian empire : but authors differ much about the time 
 when Nineveh was taken, and about the king of Assyria 
 in whose reign it was taken, and even about the persons 
 who had the command in this expedition. llerodotusf 
 affirms, that it was taken by Cyaxares king of the Medes ; 
 St. Jerome after the Hebrew chronicle | asserts that it 
 
 * See Brideaux' Connections, Part I. Book I. year 713, and 15 
 of Hezekiah. 
 
 f See also Herodotus, Book I. Chap. cvi. pag-e 45, in Gale's 
 edition. 
 
 ^ Jerome on Nah. ii. 12. page 1574. Vol. 3, of the Benedictine 
 edition, saith, that Seder 01am liabba ascribes the taking- of 
 Nineveli to Xehuchodnosor alone, and fixes the time. For in his 
 first year, Nebuchodnosor took Nineveh, that is, soon after tlte 
 
 death of his father. This Hebrew Chronicle is followed by 
 
 Jerome, &c. See ulso Marsham's Chronicle of the XYHI. age, 
 pag-e 559. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. I73 
 
 >vas taken by Nebuchodnosor king of the Babylonians : 
 but these accounts may be easily reconciled, for Cyaxares 
 and Nebuchodnosor might take it with their joint forces, 
 as they actually did according to that which is written in 
 the book of Tobit, xiv. 15. if the Assuerus in Tobit be 
 the same (as there is great reason to think him the same) 
 with the Cyaxares of Herodotus ; But before Tobiiis died, 
 he heard of the deslruction of J^inevrh^ which was taken 
 by JVebuchodnosor and Assiceriis ; and before his death he 
 rejoiced over Minevfh. Josepluis, * whosaith in one place 
 that the empire of the Assyrians was dissolved by the 
 Medes, saith in another that the Medes and Babylonians 
 dissolved the empire of the Assyrians. Herodotus him- 
 self saith t that the Medes took Nineveh, and subdued the 
 Assyrians, except the Babylonian portion ; the reason of 
 which was, the Babylonians were their allies and confede- 
 rates. Ctesias, and after him Diodorus Siculus:^ ascribe 
 the taking of Nineveh, and the subversion of the Assyrian 
 empire to Arbaces the Mede, assisted by Belesis the Ba- 
 bylonian. I know that Eusebius,§ and after him several 
 excellent chronologers, Usher, Pridej:ux, and others reck- 
 on this quite a diiFerent action, and fix it at quite a differ- 
 ent time ; but it is not likely that the same city should be 
 twice destroyed, and the same empire twice overthrown 
 by the same people twice confederated together. Diodo- 
 
 * The empire of the Assyrians was destroyed by the Medes. 
 See Josephus' Antiquities, Book X. Chap. ii. Sect. 2, page 4S5. 
 The Medes and the Bab3'lonians who had destroyed the empire 
 of the Assyrians. See the same, Chap. v. Sect. 1, page 441, in 
 Hudson's edition. 
 
 j They (the Medes,) took Nineveh, and subdued the Assyri- 
 ans, excepting that quarter which pertained to Babylon. See 
 Herodotus, Book I. Chap. cvi. page 45, in Gale's edition. 
 
 \ See Diodorus Siculus, Book H. page 78, in Stephanas' edi- 
 tion, and page 110, in that of Rhodomanus. 
 
 § Eusebius (according to the plan which he had adopted,) 
 hath stated both these opinions. For following Ctesias he saith, 
 Arbaces the Mede, Num. 1197,) having destroyed the empire of 
 the Assyrians, transferred tlie sovereignty to the Medes. And 
 a^ain, (213 years afrerwards,) upon the credit of Heiodotus, 
 (Num. 1410,) he saith, Cyaxares the Mede destroyed Nineveh. 
 But these assertions are inconsistent. See Marsham's Chronicle 
 of the Xym age, page 556. 
 
 p 2 
 
174 DISSERTAXrONS ON 
 
 riis, who relates this catastrophe, cloth not mention tJie 
 other ; but saith expressly,* that Arbaces distributed the 
 citizens of Nineveh in the country villages, levelled the 
 city with the ground, transferred many talents of gold 
 and silver to Ecbatana the royal city of the Medes ; and 
 so, saith he, the empire of the Assyrians was subverted. 
 If there is some difficulty in discovering the persons by 
 whom Nineveh was taken, there is more in ascertaining the 
 king of Assyria in whose reign it was taken, and more 
 still in fixing the time when it was taken, scarce any two 
 chronologers agreeing in the same date : but as these 
 kings are hardly possible to be known, so neither are they 
 necessary to be known, with precision and exactness; 
 and we may safely leave them among the uncertaiRties of 
 ancient chronology. 
 
 It is sufficient for our purpose, that Nineveh was taken 
 and destroyed according to the predictions : and Nahum 
 foretold not only the thing, but also the manner of it. 
 Herodotus promised to relate in his Assyrian history how 
 Nineveh was taken ;t the Medes took Nineveh, saith he, 
 but how they took it, I will show in another work. Again 
 afterwards he mentions his design of writing the Assyrian 
 history. Speaking of the kings of Babylon, he saith,:^ of 
 these I shall make mention in the Assyrian history. I3ut 
 to our regret, tins history was never finished, or is lost. 
 More probably it was never finished, for otherwise some 
 or other of the ancients would have mentioned it. If it 
 had been extant with his other works, it would in all pro- 
 
 * But Arbaces havin.^ collected the inhabitants of Nineveh, 
 dispersed them among the country villages. — He levelled the 
 city with the grotmd. — Then he conveyed the gold and silver, of 
 which there were many talents, to Ecbatana, the metropolis of 
 Media. In this manner the dominions of the Assyrians were 
 put an end to, by the Medes. See Diodorus Siculus, Book II. 
 pnge 81, in Stephanas' edition, and page 115, in that of Rhodo- 
 manus. 
 
 t And they also took Nineveh, (hut in what manner, I will 
 shew elscwliere.) See Herodotus, Book I. Chap. cvi. page 45, 
 m Gale's edition. 
 
 4 Of whom, in giving an accountof the Assyrians, I shall make 
 mention, Book I. Chap, clxxxiv. page 76, of Gale's edition. See 
 also Vossius' Grecian History, Book 1. Chap. iii. And also Fa- 
 i)ricius' Greek Library, Book II. Chap. xx. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 1^5 
 
 bability have been of great service in illustrating seve- 
 ral passages in Nahum's prophecies. It is however 
 something fortunate, that we can in some measure supply 
 this loss out of Diodorus Siculus. Nahum prophecies* 
 that the Assyrians should be taken while they were drunk- 
 en, i. 10. ' For while they be folden together as thorns, 
 and while they are drunken as drunkards, they shall be 
 devoured as stubble fully dry :' and Diodorus * relates^, 
 that " it was while all the Assyrian army were feasting 
 for their former victories, that those about Arbaces being 
 informed by some deserters of the negligence and drunk- 
 enness in the camp of the enemies, assaulted them unex- 
 pectedly by night, and falling orderly on them disorderly, 
 and prepared on them unprepared, became masters of the 
 camp, and slew many of the soldiers, and drove the rest 
 into the city." Nahum foretels, ii. 6. "that the gates of 
 the rivers shall be opened, and the palace shall be dis- 
 solved :" and Diodorus f informs us, "that there was an 
 
 * While the whole (Assyrian) army was devoting itself to 
 feasting, Arbaces, by means of deserters, having learned their 
 negligence and drunkenness, attacks them suddenly by night. 
 And because his army was well arranged and prepared'for the 
 onset, and the case of the enemy the very reverse, he easily made 
 himself master of their camp, put a vast number of the soldiers 
 to the sword, and chased the rest into the city. See Diodorus 
 Siculus, Book H. page 80, of Stephanus' edition, and page 112, 
 of that of Tlhodcmanus. 
 
 f But there was a prophecy handed down by tradition from 
 their ancestors, that Nineveh could never be taken, till the river 
 had first become its enemy. — At length it came to pass in the 
 third year, that the Euphrates, (Tigris) increasing by the heavi- 
 est showers of rain, which were of long continuance, overflowed 
 a part of the city, and with its torrent, brake down about twenty 
 furlongs of the vs-all. Then the king thinking that the prophecy 
 was accomplished, and that the river M'as now evidentlj- become 
 an enemy lO the city, fell into despair. Lest, therefore, he should 
 fall into the hands of his enemies, he caused a large funeral pile 
 to be constructed in the midst of his palace. Into this he or- 
 dered to be conveyed all his gold, silver, and royal apparel.— 
 Then having shut up his concubines and eunuchs with himself, 
 in an apartment in the centre thereof, he set fire to it, all of 
 which, with the palace, was reduced to ashes. As soon as the 
 revolters from the king heard of his death, they entered by a 
 breach made in the wall, and took the city. Sec Diodorus Sicu- 
 lus, Book II. page 80, of Stephanus' edition, and paye 113, in 
 that of Rhodomaniis. 
 
1 YQ DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 old prophecy, that Nineveh should not be taken, till the 
 river became an enemy to the city ; and in the third year 
 of the siege, the river being swoln with continual rains 
 o.verliowed part of the city, and broke down the wall for 
 20 furlongs; then the king- thinking that the oracle was 
 fulfilled, and the river become an enemy to the city, built 
 a large funeral pile in the palace, and collecting together 
 all his wealth and concubines and eunuchs, burnt himself 
 and the palace with them all ; and the enemy entered 
 the breach that the waters had made, and took the city." 
 What was predicted in the first chapter, ver. 8. was 
 therefore literally, fulfilled, ' With an over-running flood 
 he will make an utter end of the place thereof.* Nahum 
 promises the enemy much spoil of gold and silver-, ii. 19. 
 ' Take ye the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold ; for 
 there is no end of the store, and glory out of all the plea- 
 sant furniture :' and we read in Diodorus, * that Arbaces 
 carried many talents of gold and silver to Ecbatana the 
 royal city of the Medes. According to Nahum i. 8. iii. 
 15. the city was to be destroyed by fire and water; and 
 we see in Diodorus, that by fire and water it was destroy- 
 ed. 
 
 But Nahum is cited upon this occasion principally to 
 show, that he foretold the total and entire destruction of 
 this city. ' The Lord, saith he in the first chapter, ver. 
 8, 9. 'with an over-running flood will make an utter 
 end of the place there ;.he will make an utter end ; aflPiic- 
 tion shall not rise up the second time.' Again in the 
 second chapter, ver. 11,13.* Where is the dwelling of the 
 lions, and the feeding place of the young lions ?* meaning 
 Nineveh whose princes rfivaged like lions: * Behold, I 
 am against thee, saith the Lord of hosts; and I will cut 
 oflf thy prey from the earth, and the voice of thy messen- 
 gers shall no more be heard. And again in the third and 
 ^ast chapter, ver. 17, 18, 19. * Thy crowned are as the 
 locusts, and thy captains as the great grashoppers, which 
 camp in the hedges in the cold day ; but when the sun 
 
 * Then having collected whatever gold and silver the fire of 
 the funeral pile had not cnnsiimcd. unmounting to many talents, 
 lie carried them oft' to Ecbatana of Media. Diodorus Sicuhis, 
 Book II. page 81, of Slephanus' edition and page 115, in that of 
 Ehodoman^s. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 177 
 
 ariseth, they flee away, and in tlieir place is not known 
 where they are,' or have been ; ' thy shepherds slumber, 
 O king of Assyria: thy nobles shall dwell in the dust ; 
 thy people is scattered upon llie mountains, and no man 
 gathereth them; there is no healing- of thy bruise; thy 
 wound is grievous ; all that hear the bruise of thee shall 
 clap the hands over thee ; for upon whom hath not thy 
 wickedness passed continually ? The prophet Zephaniah 
 likewise in the days of Josiah king of Judah foretold the 
 same sad event, ii. 13, 14, 15. The Lord v/ill stretch out 
 his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria, and will 
 make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like a wilderness :. 
 and flocks shall Jic down in the midst of her, all the beasts 
 of the nations ; both the cormorant and the bittern shall 
 lodge in the upper lintels of it ; their voice shall sing in 
 the windows ; desolation shall be in the thresholds ; for he 
 shall uncover the. cedar work ; this is the rejoicing city 
 that dwelt carelessly, that said in her heart, I am, and 
 there is none beside me ; how is she become a desolation, 
 a place for beasts to lie down in ! every one that passeth 
 by her, shall hiss and wag his hand.' * But what proba- 
 bility was there that the capital city of a great kingdom, 
 a city which was sixty miles in compass, a city which 
 contained so many thousand inhabitants, a city which had 
 walls, according to Diodorus Siculus,t a hundred feet 
 
 * [" The entire desolation of Nineveh is in this prophecy most 
 expressly and particularly foretold, yet no event can be imagined 
 more improbable at the time when Nahiim wrote than this was. 
 The entire desolation of London, so that none could decide where 
 this great metropolis was situated, would not be considered by 
 uSj as more improbable than the desolations of Nineveh must 
 liave appeared at that day ; when it was the most populous and 
 powerful city in the known world. The discordant opinions, 
 ^ relative to the spot where once it stood' is the completest proof 
 imaginable that the prediction has been most wonderfully ac- 
 complished, and that it was deliverd by the inspiration of that 
 God, known unto whom are all his works from the beginning."] 
 
 Scott. 
 
 f For its wall rose to the heighth of a hundred feet, its 
 breadth was so extended, that three chariots abreast could quite 
 easily be driven along. The number of its towers amounted to 
 fifteen hundred, and the heighth of each of them was two hun- 
 dred feet. See Diodorus Siculus, Book II. page 65, of Stephanas' 
 edition, and page 92, of that of lihodomanus. 
 
1 78 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 high, and so thick that three chariots could go abreast 
 upon them, and fifteen hundred towers at proper distances 
 in the walls of two hundred feet in heighth; what proba- 
 bility was there, I say, that such a city should ever be to- 
 tally destroyed ? and yet so totally >va3 it destroyed, that 
 the place is hardly known where it was situated. 
 
 We have seen that it was taken and destroyed by the 
 Medes and Babylonians : and what we may suppose help- 
 ed to complete its ruin and devastation was Nebuchad- 
 nezzar's soon afterwards enlarging and beautifying of Ba- 
 bylon. From that time no mention is made of Nineveh 
 by any of the sacred writers ; and the most ancient of the 
 heathen authors, who have occasion to say any thing 
 about it, speak of it as a city that was once great and 
 flourishing, but now destroyed and desolate. Great as it 
 was formerly, so little of it was remaining, that authors 
 are not agreed even about its situation. I think v/e may 
 conclude from the general suffrage of ancient historians 
 and geographers, that it was situated upon tlie river Ti- 
 gris ; but yet no less authors than Ctesias and Diodorus 
 Siculus * represent it as situated upon the river Euphrates. 
 Nay, authors differ not only from one another, but alsQ 
 from themselves. For the learned Bochartf hath shown 
 that Herodotus, Diodorus Siculus, and Ammianus Mar- 
 cellinus, all three speak differently of it, sometimes as if 
 it was situated upon the river Tigris, and sometimes as 
 if it was situated upon the River Euphrates. So that to 
 reconcile these authors with themselves and with others, 
 it is supposed by Bocharl :|: that there were two Ninevehs, 
 and by Sir John Marsham§ that there were three ; the Sy- 
 rian upon the river Euphrates, the Assyrian upon the 
 river Tigris, and a third built afterwards upon the Tigris 
 
 * See Diodorus Siculus, page 80, of Stephanas* edition, and 
 page 113, of that of Rliodomanus. 
 
 t See Bochart's Phaleg, Book IV. Chap. xx. Col. 248, 249. 
 
 4: I cannot see how to reconcile these thing-s, but by supposing 
 there were two Ninevehs; one of them situaled on the banks of 
 the Euphrates in Comagena, the other beyond the river Tigris 
 • In Assyria. See Bochart's Phaleg, and sanic place. 
 
 § In the writings of the ancients, mention is made of three Ni- 
 rtevchs ; one in Syi-ia, another in Assyria, and a third in Pcrsiy. 
 See Mavsliam's Chroulclc of the XV III age, page 569. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 17<^ 
 
 by the Persians, who succeeded the Parthians in the em- 
 pire of the east in the third century, and were subdued by 
 the Saracens in the seventh century after Clirist : but, 
 whether this later Nineveh was built in the same place as 
 old Nineveh, is a question that cannot be decided. 'Lu- 
 cian, * who flourished in the second century after Christ, 
 aftirms, that Nineveh was utterly perished, and there was 
 no footstep of it remaining, nor could you tell where once 
 it was situated ; and the greater regard is to be paid to 
 Lucian's testimony, as he was a native of Samosata, a 
 city upon the river Euphrates, and coming from a neigh- 
 bouring country he must in all likelihood, have known 
 whether there had been any remains of Nineveh or not. 
 There is at this time a city called Mosul, situate upon 
 the western side of the river Tigris, and on the opposite 
 astern shore are ruins of a great extent, which are said to 
 be the ruins of Nineveh. Benjamin of Tudela, t who 
 Avrote his Itinerary in the year of Christ 1173, infonns 
 us, that there is only a bridge between Mosul and Nine- 
 veh ; this latter is laid waste, yet hath it many streets and 
 castles. But another, who wrote in 1300, asserts that 
 Nineveh at present is totally laid waste, but by the ruins 
 which are still to be seen there, we may firmly believe 
 that it was one of the greatest cities in the world. The 
 same thing is attested by later travellers, and particularly 
 by Thevenot, I upon whose authority Prideaux relates 
 
 * Nineveh hath so perished, that no vestige of it at present 
 remaineth, nor can it be easily ascertained where formerly it 
 stood. See Lucian's Contemplations near the end. 
 
 t Benjamin of Tudela, who v/rote his Itinerary in the year of 
 our Lord 1173, sai h (page 62.) that between Moz,al and Nineveli 
 there is at present only a bridge. The latter place is in ruins, 
 
 yet it hath still many small villages and castles. But Haitoa 
 
 the Armenian in his book concerning the Tartars, Chap. xi. 
 page 406. (he wrote in the year 1300,) saith that the city of Ni- 
 neveh, is at present totally in ruins. Marsham in his Chroni- 
 cle of the XVHl age, observes, page 558, that by the ruins which 
 are still to be seen, one may be fully satisfied, that it was once 
 one of the greatest cities in the world. Sec this in Bochart's 
 Phaleg, Book IV. page xx. Col. 255. 
 
 i See Thevenoi's Travels, Part 2. Book I. Chap. xi. page 50. 
 See also Prideaux' Connections, Part I. Book I. year 612, and 
 39thofJosiah. 
 
i go DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 that " Mosul is situated on the west side of the river Ti- 
 gris; where was anciently only a suburb of the old Nineveh, 
 for the city itself stood on the east side of the river, where 
 are to be seen some of its ruins of great extent even to 
 this day.'* Tavernier likewise affirms, * that " across the 
 Tigris, which hath a swift stream and whitish water, 
 whereas Euphrates runs slow and is reddish, you come 
 to the ancient city Nineveh, which is now an heap of 
 rubbish only, for a league along the river, full of vaults 
 antl caverns." Mr. Salmon, -j- who is an industrious col- 
 lector and compiler from others, saith in his account of 
 Assyria, " In this country the famous city of Nineveh 
 once stood, on the eastern bank of the river Tigris, op- 
 posite to the place where Mosul now stands There is 
 
 nothing now to be seen but heaps of rubbish, almost a 
 league along the river Tigris, over against Mosul, which 
 people imagine to be the remains of this vast city." But 
 it is more than probable that these ruins are the remains 
 of the Persian Nineveh, and not of the Assyrian. ///S'^ 
 periere runa : Even the ruins of old Nineveh have been, 
 as I may say, long ago ruined and destroyed: such an ut- 
 ter end hath been made of it, and such is the truth of the 
 divine predictions! 
 
 This perhaps may strike us the more strongly by sup- 
 posing a parallel instance. Let us then suppose, that a 
 person should come in the name of a prophet, preaching 
 repentance to the people of this kingdom, or otherwise 
 denouncing the destruction of the capital city within a 
 few years; ' with an over-running flood will God make an 
 utter end of the place thereof, he will make an utter end ; 
 its place may be sought, but it shall never be found.' I 
 presume we should look upon such a prophet as a mad- 
 man, and shew no farther attention to his message than to 
 deride and despise it ; and yet such an event would not be 
 more strange and incredible than the destruction and de- 
 vastation of Nineveh. For Nineveh was much the larger, 
 and much the stronger, and older city of the two ; and 
 the Assyrian empire had subsisted and flourished more 
 
 * See Tavernier in Harris' Collection, Vol. 2. Book II. Chap.iv. 
 t Sec Salmon's Modern History, Vol. I Chap. xii. See present 
 slritc of the Turkish Empire. Quarto. , - 
 
THE PROfllECHiS. 181 
 
 ages than any form of government in this country ; so that 
 you cannot object the instability of the eastern monar- 
 chies in this case. Let us then, since this event would 
 not be more improljable and extraordinary than the other, 
 suppose again, that things should succeed according to 
 the prediction, the floods should arise, and the enemy 
 should come, the city sliould be overflown and broken 
 down, be taken and pillaged, and destroyed so totally, that 
 even the learned could not agree about the place where 
 it was situated. What would be said or thought in such 
 a case? Whoever of posterity should read and compare 
 the prophecy and event together, must they not by such 
 an illustrious instance be thoroughly convinced of the 
 providence of God, and of the truth of this prophet, and 
 be ready to acknowledge, ' Verily this is the word that 
 the Lord hath spoken, verily there is a God who judge th 
 the earth V 
 
 X. 
 
 THE PROPHECIES CONCERNING BABYLON. 
 
 AFTER Nineveh was destroyed, Babylon became the 
 queen of the east. They were both equally enemies to 
 the people of God ; the one subverted the kingdom of Is- 
 rael, and the other the kingdom of Judah ; the one car- 
 ried away the ten tribes, and the other the two remaining 
 tribes into captivity. No wonder therefore that there are, 
 several prophecies relating to each of these cities, and 
 that the fate of Babylon is foretold as well as of Nineveh. 
 As Jeremiah said, 1. 17, 18. < Israel is a scattered sheep, 
 the lions have driven him away ; first the king of Assyria 
 hath devoured him, and last this Nebuchadnezzar king 
 of Babylon hath broken his bones : Therefore thus saith 
 the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will punish 
 the King of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the 
 king of Assyria.' 
 
 Babylon was a very great and a very ancient city, as 
 well as Nineveh. It is indeed generally reckoned less 
 
 VOL. I. Q 
 
1S2 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 than Nineveh ; for according to Strabo (who was cited in 
 the last discourse) it was only 385 furlongs in compass, or 
 :i60 according to Diodorus Siculus, * or 368 according to 
 Quintus Curtius: but Herodotus, f who was an older an- 
 thor than any of them, represents it of the same dimen- 
 sions as Nineveh, that is, 480 furlongs or above 60 miles 
 in compass; but the difference was, that Nineveh was 
 constructed in the form of a parallelogram, and Babylon 
 was an exact square, each side being 120 furlongs in 
 length. So that according to this account Babylon con- 
 tained more ground in it than Nineveh did ; for by the 
 multiplying the sides of the one by the other, it will be 
 found, that Nineveh contained within its walls only 
 13,500 furlongs, and that Babylon contained 14,400. It 
 was also as ancient, or more ancient than Nineveh ; for 
 in the words of Moses, speaking of Nimrod, Gen. x. 10. 
 it was Me beginning of his kingdom, that is, the first city, 
 or the capital city in his dominions. Several heathen 
 authors say that Semiramis, but most (as Quintus Cur- 
 tius \ asserts) that Belus built it : and Belus was very pro- 
 bably the same as Nimrod. But whoever was the first 
 founder of this city, v/e may reasonably suppose that it 
 received very great improvements afterwards, and Nebu- 
 chadnezzar particularly, repaired .and enlarged and beau- 
 tified it to such a degree, that he may in a manner be 
 said to have built it ; as he boasted himself, Dan. iv. 30. 
 * Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house 
 of the kingdom, by the might of my power, and for the 
 honour of my majesty ?' Nor is this asserted only in 
 scripture, but is likewise attested by heathen authors, Me- 
 gasthenes, Berosus, and Abydenus, whose words are quo- 
 
 * He threw about the city, a wall of three hundred and sixty 
 fiirlong-s. See Diodorus Siculus, Book II. pag-e 68, in Stephanus* 
 edition, and page 95, in that of Hhodomaniis. The circumfer- 
 ence of the wliole work measured three hundred and sixty-eight 
 furlongs. See Quintus Curtius, Book V. Chap. i. 
 
 t The city stood in a plain of great extent. It was in the 
 form of a square. Each of its sides was a hundred and twenty 
 furlongs, so that the measurement of all its sides amounted to 
 four hundred and elvjhly furlongs. See Herodotus, Book I. Chap, 
 clxxviii. pag^ 74, in Gale's edition. 
 
 i It had been built by Semiramis, or in the opinion of many, 
 by Belus. See Quintus Curtius in the same place. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 183 
 
 ted by Josephiis * and Eusebius. By one means or other 
 Babylon becanne so great and famous a city as to give 
 name to a very large empire ; and it is called in scriptures, 
 Dan. iv. 50. great Babylon ; Isa. xiii. 19. the glory of king- 
 domsi the beauty of the Chaldeca^ excelUncy ; Isa .xiv. 4, the 
 golden city ; Isa. xlvii. 5. the lady of kingdorns ; Jer. U. 13. 
 abundant in treasures : Jer. li. 41. the /traise of the whole 
 earth .• and its beauty, strength, and grandeur ; its walls, 
 temple, palaces, and hanging gardens ; the banks of the 
 river, and the anificial canals and lakes made for the 
 draining of that river in the seasons of its overflowings, 
 are described with such pomp and magnificence by hea- 
 then authoj's, that it might deservedly be reputed one of 
 the wonders of the world. The fullest and best account 
 of these things, in English, is to be found in the second 
 book of that very valuable and very useful work, Dr. Pri- 
 deaux's Connections. Though Babylon was seated in a 
 low watery plain, yet in scripture, Jer. li. 25. it is called 
 a mountaiTi on account of the great heighth of its walls 
 and towers, its palaces and temples : and Berosus f speak- 
 ing of some of its buildings, saith, that they appeared 
 most hke mountains. Its gates of brass and its broad 
 avail's are particularly mentioned in scripture : Isa. xiv. 
 2. Jer. li. 58, and the city ^ had an hundred gates, 25 on 
 each side, all made of solid brass : and its walls according 
 to Herodotus § were 350 feet in heighth, and 87 in thick- 
 ness, and six chariots could go abreast upon them, as Di- 
 odorus il affirms after Ctesias. 
 
 Such a city as this, one would imagine was in no dan- 
 ger of being totally abandoned, and coming to nought. 
 Such a chy as this, might surely with less vanity than 
 
 * See Josephus' Antiquities, Book X. Chap. xi. Sect. i. page 
 459, in Hudson's edition. See also Eusebius' Evangelical Pre- 
 paration, Book IX. Cliap. xli. page 457, in Vi,^erus' edition. 
 
 f To which he gave an appearance, very much resembling that 
 of mountains. See Antiquities in the same place. 
 
 ir See Herodotus, Book I. Chap, clxxix. page 74, in-Gale's edi- 
 tion. 
 
 § See the same book of Herodotus, Chap, clxxvili. See also 
 Prideaux' Connections in the same place. 
 
 II So that the breadth of the wall was sufficient for passing six 
 chariots abreast. See Dlodorus Siculus, Book H. page 68, ia 
 Steph.^iuus' edition, and page 96, in that of Ithodomanus^ 
 
184 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 any other, boast that she could continue for ever. So she 
 vainly gloried, Isa. xlvii. 7, 8. 'I shall be a lady for ever ; 
 I am, and none else beside me ; I shall not sit as a wi- 
 dow, neither shall I know the loss of children/ But the 
 prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah, plainly and particularly 
 foretold the destruction of this city. They lived during 
 the declension of the kingdom of Judah ; and as they pre- 
 dicted the captivity of the Jews, so they likewise foretold 
 the downfal of their enemies: and they speak with such 
 assurance of the event, that they describe a thing future 
 as if it were already past, Isa. xxi. 9. ' Babylon is fallen, 
 is fallen ; and all the graven images of her gods he hath 
 broken to the ground,' Jer. li. 8. * Babylon is suddenly 
 fallen and destroyed ; howl for her, take balm for her pain, 
 if so be, she may be healed.' It is somewhat remarkable, 
 that one of Isaiah's prophecies concerning Babylon is in- 
 titled, xxi. 1. * the burden of the desert of the sea, 07' 
 rather the plain of the sea,' for Babylon was seated in a 
 plain, and surrounded by water. The propriety of the 
 expression consists in this, not only that any large collec- 
 tion of waters in the oriental style is called a sea, but 
 also that the places about Babylon as Abydenus * in- 
 forms us out of Megasthenes, are said from the beginning 
 to have been overwhelmed with waters, and to have been 
 called the sea. 
 
 Cyrus, who was the conqueror of Babylon, and trans- 
 ferred vhe empire from the Babylonians to the Medes and 
 Persians, was particularly foretold by name, Isa. xliv, 2 8. 
 xlv. 1. above an hundred years before he was born. He 
 is honoured with the appealltion of the Lord's anointed, 
 and the Lord is said to have holdcn his right hand., and to 
 have girded him: Isa xlv. 1,3. and he was raised up to 
 be an instrument of providence for great purposes, and 
 was certainly a person of very extraordinary endowments, 
 though we should allow that Xenophon had a little ex- 
 ceeded the truth, and had drawn his portrait beyond the 
 reality. It was promised that he should be a great con- 
 queror, should < subdue nations before him/ Isa. xlv. 1. 
 
 * It is reported that all these places were from t])e beginning- 
 covered with water, and called Sea. See Eusebius' Evangelical 
 Preparation, Book IX. Chap. xli. page 457, in Yigerus' edition. 
 
THE rilOPIlKCIES. 1 85 
 
 *and I will loose the loins of kings to open before him 
 the two-leaved gates, and the gates shall not be shut :* 
 and he subdued several kings, and took several cities, par- 
 ticularly Sardes and Babylon, and extended his conquests* 
 over all Asia, from the river Indus to the ^Egean sea. It 
 was promised that he should find great spoil and treasure 
 among the conquered nations ; Isa. xlv. 3. ' I will give 
 thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret 
 places :' and the riches which Cyrus found in his con- 
 quests amounted to a prodigious value in Pliny's account ;t 
 nor can we wonder at it, for those parts of Asia at that 
 time abounded in wealth and luxury : Babylon had been 
 heaping up treasures for many years ; and the riches of 
 Croesus king of Lydia, whom Cyrus conquered and took 
 prisoner, are in a manner become proverbial. 
 
 The time too of the reduction of Babylon was marked 
 out by the prophet Jeremiah, xxv. 11, 12. 'These na- 
 tions (that is, the Jews and the neighbouring nations) 
 shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years ; And it 
 shall come to pass when seventy years are accomplished, 
 that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, 
 saith the Lord.' This prophecy was delivered, as it ap- 
 pears from the first verse of the chapter, 'in the fourth 
 year of Jehoiakini the son of Josiah king of Judah, that 
 was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon :' 
 and from that time there were seventy years * to the tak- 
 ing of Baby4on, and the restoration of the Jews. Nebu- 
 chadnezzar had transplanted the Jews to Babylon to peo- 
 ple and strengthen the place, and their removal from 
 Ihence must have weakened it very much ; and afler that 
 it was distressed more and more, till at last it was brought 
 to nought. 
 
 Several circumstances likewise of the siege and taking 
 of Babylon were presignified by the prophets. It was 
 foretold, that God would stir up the Medes and Persians 
 against it ; 'Go up, O Elam,* that is, Persia, Isa. xxi. 2. 
 ' besiege, O Media ;* and, Jer. li. 11. ' The Lord hath 
 
 * The whole of Asia from India to the .^gean Sea. See Mar- 
 sham's Chronicle, XVIIT ag-e, page 587. 
 
 f See Pliny, Book XXXIII. Chap. xv. In Ilarduin's edition. 
 i See Prideaux and other chronologers. 
 
 q 2 
 
>8d DISSERTATIONS OX 
 
 raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes, for his de- 
 vice is against Babylon to destroy it :* And accordingly 
 it was besieged by the united forces of the Medes and 
 Persians under the command of Cyrus the Persian, the 
 nepliew and son-in-law of the king of the Medes. The 
 Medes are chiefly spoken of, as they were at that time the 
 superior people. The Medes is too a general name for 
 both nations, and so it is used and applied by several 
 Greek historians as well as by the sacred writers. Elam* 
 was an old name for Fersia^ for the name of Persia doth 
 not appear to have been known in Isaiah's time ; Ezekiel 
 is the first who mentions it. And Bochart asserts,f that 
 the Persians were first so named from their becoming 
 horsemen in the time of Cyrus, the same word signifying 
 both a Persian and a horseman. Or if by Elam we un- 
 derstand the province strictly so called, it is no less true 
 that this also, though subject to Babylon, rose up against 
 
 * Elam is Persia, and is frequently mentioned alonj^ with Me- 
 dia. The name of the Persians, before the Babylonish captivity, 
 v/as scarcely known. Ezekiel Chap, xxvii. 10, and xxxviii. 5, is 
 the first who mentions them under that name, and ranks them 
 among- warlike nations, when the deeds of Cyrus were yet un- 
 known. From the time of Cyrus, who was a Persian by birth. 
 And celebrated for his victories, the glory of the Persians was 
 widely spread. See Marsham's Chronicle, XVIII age, page 
 564. 
 
 ■j- But the Persians derived their name from their cavalry, in 
 which they were powerful. In horsemanship they were instructed 
 from their earliest years. Cyrus was the first that introduced 
 this kind of discipline among them. — ^^From a change so suddenly 
 brought in amongst them, it came to pass, that their country 
 was called Paras, and themselves Persians, that is, horsemen. 
 In the Arabic language, Pharas signifies a horse, and Pharis an 
 horseman, as Pharash doth in Hebrew. The same word Pharis 
 is made use of by them, to denote Persia. This is the reason 
 that neither INIoses, nor the author of the books of Kings, nor 
 Isaiah, nor Jeremiah, nor in short any one that lived before the 
 time of Cyrus, make mention of that people under this name. 
 But the name of Persians frequently occurs in the books of 
 Daniel and Ezekiel, who were contemporaries with Cyrus, and 
 in the books of Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, &c. which 
 were written after the time of Cyrus. Before his time, it is pro- 
 bable that the Hebrew names Chut and Gnelam, or Elam, took 
 in a large portion of Persia. See Bochart's Phaleg, Book IV. 
 Chap. X. Col. 224. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 1^7 
 
 it, and upon the following occasion. Abradates * was 
 vicei'oy or i2;overnor of Susa or Shushan, and SInishan 
 was tlie capital of the province of Elum, Dan. viii. 2. His 
 wife Panthea, a lady of e:<quisite beauty, happened to be 
 taken prisoner by the Persians. Cyrus treated her with 
 such generosity, and preserved her with such strict hon- 
 our, safe and inviolate for her husband, as won the heart 
 of the prince, so that he and his forces revolted to Cyrus, 
 and fought in his army against the Babylonians. 
 
 It was foretold, that various nations should unite against 
 Babylon; Isa. xiii. 4. 'The noise of a multitude in the 
 mountains, like as of a great people ; a tumultuous noise 
 of the kingdoms of nations gathered together ; the Lord 
 of hosts mustereth the host of the battle :' and particularly 
 it was foretold, that ' the kingdoms of Ararat, Minvi and 
 Ashchenaz^ that is, the Armenians,! Phrygians, and other 
 nations should compose part of his army ; Jer. li. 27. 
 * Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among 
 the nations, prepare the nations against her, call together 
 against her, the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashche- 
 naz :' And accordingly, Cyrus' army consisted of various 
 nations ; and among them were these very people,* whom 
 he had conquered before, now obliged to attend him in 
 this expedition. 
 
 It was foretold, that the Babylonians should be terrified, 
 and hide themselves within their walls ; Jer. li. 30. ' the 
 mighty men of Babylon, haveforeborn to fight, they have 
 remained in their holds, their might hath failed, they be- 
 came as women : And accordingly the Babylonians, after 
 the loss of a battle or two, never recovered their courage 
 to face the enemy in the field again ; they retired within 
 their walls, and the first time§ that Cyrus came with his 
 army before the place, he could not provoke them to ven- 
 ture forth and try the fortune of arms, even though he 
 sent a challenge to the king to fight a duel with him ; and 
 
 * See Xenophon'sCvropaedia, Book IV, V, VI, and VII. 
 
 t See Bochart's Plialeg, Book I. Chap. 3, Col. 16, and 20, and 
 Book HI. Chap. ix. Col. 174. 
 
 + See Xenophon's Cyropxdia, Book V. page 77. Book VII. 
 page 111, in Henry Stephen's edition of 1581. 
 
 § See Xenophon's Cyropsdia, Book V. page 75^ in Henry Ste- 
 phen's edition of 1581. 
 
138 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 the last time* that he came, he consulted with his officers 
 about the best method of carryinvj on the siege, " since 
 saith he, they do not come forth and fight." 
 
 It '.vas foretold, that the river shoukl be dried up, before 
 the city should be taken ; which was very unlikely ever 
 to happen,t the river beinir more than two furlongs broad, 
 and deeper than two men standin£^ one upon another, so 
 that the city was thought to be better and stronger forti- 
 fied by the river than by the walls ; but yet the prophets 
 predicted that the waters shonkl be dried up ; Isai. xlv. 
 27. ' That saith to the deep and dry, and 1 will dry up thy 
 rivers?* Jer. 1. 38. 'A drought is upon her waters, and 
 they shall be dried up ;' Jer. li. 36. * I will dry up her 
 sea, and make her springs dry : And accordingly Cyrus ^f: 
 turned the course of the river Euphrates which ran 
 through the midst cf Babylon, and by means of deep 
 trenches and the canals and lakes before mentioned, so 
 drained the waters, that the river became easily fordable 
 for his soldiers to enter the city ; and by these means 
 Babylon was taken, which was otherwise impregnable, 
 and was supplied with provisions for very many years, 
 saith Herodotus,§ for more than twenty years, saitbXeno- 
 phon ; or, as Herodotus saith,|| if the Babylonians had 
 
 * See the same, Book VTI. * Since they do not go out of their 
 walls to fig'ht,' pag-e 112. 
 
 -j- See Xenoplion's Cyropsedia. Book VII. * The width of tlie 
 river is more than two furloiij^cs, and its depth such, that two 
 men standiiig the one on the other, the uppermost would not 
 appear above the water. And therefore the river afforded a bet- 
 ter defence to the city than its walls.' 
 
 + See Herodotus, Book I. Chap. cxci. page 79, in Gale's edi- 
 tion. * They had amassed stores of provisions (which might 
 serve them) for many yeai'S.' See Xenophon's Cyropsedia, Book 
 VII. page 113, in Stephen's edition. * They had necessaries for 
 more than twenty j-ears.* 
 
 § * Whom, if the Babylonians had heard or perceived before- 
 hand what had been done by Cyrus, they would not have suffer- 
 ed him to enter (the city,) but would have put them to the most 
 dreadful destruction. For by shutting all the sally ports that 
 ltd to the river, and by mounting the rampart, and standing on 
 the banks, they would have caught as in a trap, his soldiers as 
 they came forward.' 
 
 II See Herodotus, Book I. Chap. cxci. page 79, in Gale's edi- 
 tion. See also Xenophon's Cyropccdia, Book VII. page 113, in 
 Stephen's edition. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. I39 
 
 but known what the Persians were doing, by shutting the 
 gates which opened to the river, and by standing upon 
 the walls which were built as banks, they might have 
 taken and destroyed the Persians as in a net or cage. 
 
 It was foretold, that the city should be taken by surprise, 
 during the time of a feast ; Jcr. 1. 24. ' I have laid a snare 
 for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou 
 wast not aware, thou art found and also caught,' li. 39. 
 * In their heat, I will make their feasts, and I will make 
 them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpe- 
 tual sleep, and not wake, saith the Lord, li. 57. « And I 
 will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her cap- 
 tains, and her rulers, and her mighty men, and they shall 
 sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the king, 
 whose name is the Lord of hosts :' And accordingly the 
 city was taken, in the night of a great annual festival, 
 while the inhabitants were dancing, drinking, and revel- 
 ling; and as Aristotle reports,* it had been taken three 
 days, before some part of the city perceived it ; but He- 
 rodotus' f account is more modest and probable, that the 
 extreme parts of the city were in the hands of the enemy 
 before they who dwelt in the middle of it knew any thing 
 of their danger. These were extraordinary occurrences 
 in the taking of this city : and, hov/ could any man fore- 
 see and foretel such singular events, such remarkable 
 circumstances, without revelation and inspiration of God? 
 
 But these events you may possibly thii}k too remote 
 in time to be urged in the present argument : and yet 
 the prophecies were delivered by Isaiah, and Jeremiah, 
 and the facts are related by no less historians, than Hero- 
 dotus and Xenophon ; and Isaiah lived above 250 years 
 before Herodotus, and near 350 before Xenophon, and 
 Jeremiah lived about 150 years before the one and near 
 250 before the other. Cyrus took Babylon, according to 
 
 * See Aristotle's Politics, Book ITT. Cliap. iii. 'which having 
 been taken three days, they tell us, that this was not known by 
 a certain portion of the city.' 
 
 f And by reason of the greatness of the city, as is related by 
 some of its ir.habitants, when tlie extremities of Babylon were in 
 the possession of the enemy, they who lived in the midst of it 
 were unacquainted with v/Iiat had happened. See Herodotus in 
 the same place. 
 
190 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 Prideaux, in the year 539 before Christ. Isaiah prophe- 
 cied < in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, 
 kings of Judah,' Isa. i. 1. which was at least 160 years be- 
 fore the taking of Babylon, for Hezekiah died in the year 
 699 before Christ. Jeremiah sent his prophecies con- 
 cerning Babylon, to Babylon, by the hands of Seraiah ' in 
 the fourth year of the reign of Zedekiah,' Jer. li. 59. 
 which was 56 years before the taking of Babylon, for the 
 fourth year of Zedekiah coincides with the year 595 be- 
 foi'e Christ. There is therefore no room for scepticism : 
 but if you are still disposed to doubt and hesitate, what 
 then think you of the present condition of the place ? — 
 Could the prophets, unless they were prophets indeed, 
 have foreseen and foretold what that would be so many 
 ages afterwards ? And yet they have expressly foretold 
 that it should be reduced to desolation. Isaiah is very 
 strong and poetical: xiii 19, &c. ' Babylon, the glory 
 of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall 
 be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah : 
 It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from 
 generation to generation ; neither shall the Arabian pitch 
 tent there, neither shall the shepherds make their fold 
 there : But wild beasts of the deserts shall lie there, and 
 their houses shall be full of doleful creatures, and owls 
 shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there : And the 
 wild beasts of the island shall cry in their desolate houses, 
 and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is 
 near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.' — 
 Again, xiv. 22, 23. I will rise up against them,saith the 
 Lord of hosts, and cut off from Babylon the name, and 
 remnant, and son, and nephew (or rather, son, and grand- 
 son,) saith the Lord ; I will also make it a possession for 
 the bittern, and pools of water ; and I will sweep it with 
 the besom of destruction, saith the Lord of hosts.' Jere- 
 miah speakelh much in tlie same strain : 1. 13, 23, 39, 40. 
 • Because of the wrath of the Lord, it shall not be inliabit- 
 ed, but it shall be wholly desolate ; every one that goeth 
 by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues : 
 How is the ham.mer of the whole earth, cut asunder and 
 broken ? How is Babylon became a desolation among 
 the nations? Therefore the wild beasts of the desert, with 
 the wild beasts of the islands shall dwell there, and the 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 191 
 
 ©wis shall dwell therein ; and it shall be no more inhabit- 
 ed forever ; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation 
 to generation : As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah 
 and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the Lord; so no 
 man shall abide there, neither shall any son of man dwell 
 therein.' Again, li. 13, 26, 29, Z7, 42, 43. 'O thou 
 that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures ; 
 thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness : 
 And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor 
 a stone for foundations ; but thou shalt be desolate for 
 ever, saith the Lord : And the land shall tremble and sor- 
 row, for every purpose of the Lord shall be performed 
 against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation, 
 without an inhabitant: And Babylon shall become heaps, 
 a dwelling place for dragons, an astonishment, and an his- 
 sing, without an inhabitant : The sea is come up upon 
 Babylon ; she is covered with the multitude of the waves 
 thereof: Her cities are a desolation, a dry land, and a 
 wilderness, a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth 
 any son of man pass thereby.' We shall see how these 
 and other prophecies have by degrees been accomplished, 
 for in the nature of the things they could not be fulfilled 
 all at once. But as the prophets often speak of things 
 future, as if they were already effected ; so they speak 
 often of things to be brought about, in process of time, as 
 if they were to succeed immediately ; past, present, and to 
 come, being all alike known to an infinite mind, and the 
 intermediate time not revealed perhaps to the minds of 
 the prophets. 
 
 Isaiah addresseth Babylon by the name of a virgin^ as 
 having never before been taken by any enemy : Isa. xlvii. 
 1 . ' Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of 
 Babylon, sit on the ground :' and Herodotus * saith ex- 
 pressly, that this was the first time that Babylon was ta- 
 ken. After this it never more recovered its ancient splen- 
 dor ; from an imperial, it became a mbutary city ; from 
 being governed by its own kings, and governing strang- 
 ers, it came itself to be governed by strangers ; and the 
 seat of empire, being transferred to Shushan, it decayed 
 
 * * And thus indeed Babylon was taken for the first time.* See 
 Herodotus, Book I. Chap. cxci. page 79, in Gale's edition. 
 
192 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 by degrees, tiil it was reduced at last to utter desolation, 
 Berosus in Josephiis * saith, that when Cyrus had taken 
 Babylon, he ordered the outer walls to be pulled down, 
 because the city appeared to him to be very factious and 
 difficult to betaken. And Xenophon f informs us, that 
 Cyrus obliged the Babylonians to deliver up all their arms 
 upon pain of death, distributed their best houses among 
 his officers, imposed a tribute upon them, appointed a 
 strong garrison, and compelled the Babylonians to defray 
 the charge, being desiious to keep them poor, as the best 
 means of keeping them obedient. 
 
 But notwithstanding these. precautions, i they rebelled 
 against Darius, and in order to hold out to the last extre- 
 mity, they took all their women, and each man choosing 
 one of them, out of those of his own family, whom he lik- 
 ed best, they strangled the rest, that unnecessary mouths 
 might not consume their provisions. "And hereby," saith 
 Dr. Prideaux,§ " was very signally fulfilled the prophecy 
 of Isaiah against them, in which he foretold. Chap, xlvii. 9. 
 That tivo thijigs should come to them in a moment^ in one 
 day^ the loss of children and rddowhood^ and that these 
 shall come ufion them in their perfection^ for the multitude 
 of their sorceries^ and the great abuyidance of their Inchant' 
 ments. And in what greater perfection could these cala- 
 mities come upon them, than when they themselves, thus 
 upon themselves, became the executioners of them ?" Or 
 rather, this prophecy was then fulfilled a second time, 
 having been fulfilled before, the very night that Babylon 
 was taken, when the Persians slew the king Jiimself and 
 a ^reat number of the Babylonians. They sustained the 
 siege, and all the efforts of Darius for twenty months, and 
 at length the city was taken by stratagem. As soon as 
 
 * * But Cyrus having taken Babylon, gave orders to destroy 
 the outer walls, both because he saw that the city was factious^ 
 and difficult to be taken.' See Josephus against Apion, Book I. 
 Sect, 22. page 1344, in Hudson's edition. 
 
 f See Xenophon's Cyropaedia, Book VII. page 114 and 117, in 
 Stephanus' edition. 
 
 + See Herodotus, Book III. Chap. clvi. page 220, in Gale's edi- 
 tion. 
 
 § See Prideaiix' Connections, Part \. Book Ml. year 517, and 
 5 of Darius. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. I9j 
 
 Darius had made himself master of the place, he ordered 
 three thousand of the principal men to be crucified, and 
 thereby fulfilled the prophecies of the cruelty, which the 
 Medes and Persians should use towards the Babylonians ; 
 Isa. xiii. 17, IS. Jer. 1. 42. and he likewise demolished 
 the wall, and took away the gates, neither of which, saith 
 Herodotus,* had Cyrus done before. But either Herodo- 
 tus or Berosus must have been mistaken ; or we must 
 suppose that Cyrus' orders were never carried into exe- 
 cution ; or we must understand Herodotus to speak of 
 the inner wall, as Berosus spoke of the outer : and yet it 
 doth not seem very credible, when the walls were of that 
 prodigious heighth and thickness, that there should be 
 an inner and an outer wall too ; and much less that there 
 should be three inner and three outer walls, as Berosus f 
 affirms. Herodotus :*: computes the heighth of the wall 
 to be 200 cubits ; but latter authors reckon it much low- 
 er,§ Quintus Curtius at 100, Strabo " who is a more ex- 
 act writer, at 50 cubits. Herodotus describes it as it was 
 originally ; and we may conclude therefore that Darius 
 reduced it from 200 to 50 cubits ; and by thus taking 
 down the wall and destroying the ^ates, he remarkably 
 fulfilled the prophecy of Jeremiah, li. 58. ' Thus saith 
 the Lord of Hosts, the broad walls of Babylon shall be ut- 
 terly broken, and her high gates shall be burnt with fire.' 
 Xerxes IF after his return from his unfortunate expedi- 
 tion into Greece, partly out of religious zeal; being a pro- 
 
 * He took away the wall, and removed all the g'ates, none of 
 which had been clone when first it was taken by Cyrus.' See 
 Herodotus, Book HI. Chap. clix. page 223, in Gale's edition. 
 
 f * He surrounded the city by three walls within, and in like 
 manner wiih tliree walls without.' See Josephus against Apion, 
 Book I Sect. 19, in Hudson's edition. 
 
 i ' The heighth was of two hundred cubits.' See Herodotus, ' 
 Book I. Chap, clxxviii. page 74, in Gale's edition. 
 
 § 'The heighth of the wall was more than a hundred cubits.' 
 See Quintus Curtius, Book V. Chap. i. 
 
 11 'The heighth of the wail between the tower.";, was fifty cu- 
 bits.' See Strabo, Book XVI. page 738, in the I'aris edition; 
 and page 1072, in that of Amsterdam, printed in 1707. 
 
 % See Herodotus, Book I Chap clxxxiii. page 76, in Gale's 
 edition. See Arrian's expedition of Alexander, Book VH. Chap, 
 xvil. page 296, in Gronovius' edition. See Usher's AnnalS; year 
 
 VOL. I. II 
 
194 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 fessed enemy to image worship, and partly to reimburse 
 liimself after his immense expenses, seized the sacred 
 treasures, and plundered or destroyed the temples and 
 idols of Babylon, thereby accomplishing' the prophecies 
 of Isaiah and Jeremiah ; Isa. xxi. 9. ' Babylon is fallen, 
 is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he hath 
 broken unto the ground :' Isa. xlvi. 1. ' Bel boweth down, 
 Nebo stoopeth, their idols were upon the beasts, and up- 
 on the cattle,' Sec. Jer. 1. 2. * Babylon is taken, Bel is 
 confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces, her idols are 
 confounded, her images are broken in pieces:' Jer. li. 
 44, 47, 52. ' And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and 
 I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath 
 swallowed up ; Therefore behold the days come, saith 
 the Lord, that I will do judgment upon the graven im- 
 ages of Babylon;' and again, 'Wherefore, behold the 
 days come, saith the Lord, that I will do judgment up- 
 on her graven images.' What God declares, ' I will pun- 
 ish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth that which he 
 hath swallowed,' was also literally fulfilled, when the ves- 
 sels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had 
 brought from Jerusalem, and placed in the temple of Bel, 
 Dan. i. 2. were restored by order of Cyrus, Ezra i. 7. 
 and carried to Jerusalem again. 
 
 Such was the state of Babylon under the Persians, 
 when Alexander came thither, though Quintus Curtius * 
 says, that the whole circuit of the city was 368 furlongs, 
 yet he affirms, that only for the space of 90 furlongs it 
 was inhabited. The river Euphrates having heen turned 
 out of its course by Cyrus, and never afterwards restored 
 to its former channel, all that side of the country was 
 flooded by it. Alexander indeedf purposed to have made 
 
 of the world 3526, page 129. See Prideaux' Connections, Oart 
 I. Book IV. year 479, and 7 of Xerxes. 
 
 * Quintus Curtius, liook V. Chap, i, saith, * that all the space 
 within the walls was not occupied by buildings. Only the space 
 of ninety furlongs was inhabited, and even in this space, the 
 houses were not close to one another.' 
 
 f See Arrian's expedition of Alexander, Book VII. Chap. xvii. 
 page 296, and Chap. xxi. page 303, in Gronovius' edition. See 
 iiecatxus in Josephus against Apion, Book I. Sect. 22 page 
 1348, in Hudson's edition See also Strabo, Book XVI. page 
 ?'38, in tlie Paris edition, and page 1073, in that of Amsterdam, 
 printed in 1707. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 19 J 
 
 Babylon the seat of his empire, and actually set men at 
 work to rebuild the temple of Jielus, and to repair the 
 banks of the river, and to bring- back the waters again in- 
 to their old channel : and if his designs had taken effect, 
 how could the prophecies have been fulfilled ? and what 
 providence therefore was it, that his designs did not take 
 effect, and that the breaches were never repaired ? He 
 met with some difficulties in the work, and death soon 
 after put an end to this, and all his other projects; and 
 none of his successors ever attempted it : and Seleucia * 
 being built a few years afterwards in the neighbourhood, 
 Babylon in a little time became wholly desolate. Seleucia 
 not only robbed it of its inhabitants, but even of its name, 
 being called also Habylonf by several authors. We learn 
 farther from a fragment of DiodorusSiculus, which is pro- 
 duced by Valesius, and quoted from him by Vitringa,| that 
 a king of Parthia, or one of his peers, surpassing all the 
 famous tyrants in cruelty, omitted no sort of punishment, 
 but sent many of the Babylonians, and for trifling causes, 
 into slavery, and burnt the Forum and some of the tem- 
 ples of Babylon, and demolished the best parts of the 
 city. This happened about 130 years before Christ: and 
 now let us see what account is given of Babylon by au- 
 thors after that time. 
 
 Diodorus Siculus § describes the buildings as ruined or 
 
 * See Strabo in the same place. And also Pliny's Natural His- 
 tory, Book yi. Chap. xxx. in Harduin*s edition. 
 
 J See the same place of Pliny; * which nevertheless is called 
 Babylon.* See Prideaux' Connections, Part I. Book Vlll. year 
 '29'o, and 12 of Ptolemy Soter. 
 
 t Vitring-a in his Commentary on Isaiah, Chap. xiii. page 421. 
 Vol. 1. expressed himself thus. "Euemerus the king- of the Par- 
 thians, (Valesius from comparhig some passages of Justin and 
 Athnxus, and from the time in which he lived, hath clearly 
 shewn, that his name ought to be read Iliudrus) a native of 
 llyrcania, going beyond every tyrant in ]-igour, was inattentive 
 to no sort of cruelty. For lie sent into .Media, and distributed 
 in every family of that country, vast multitudes of Babylonians, 
 doomed to slavery. He also set on fire the forum, and some of 
 the temples at Babylon, and destroyed all the finest places of tlie 
 city. This calamity happened during the reign of the descend- 
 ents of Seleucus, about 130 years before the birth of our Lord." 
 
 § ' Time in some cases, hath altogether destroytd, and in 
 otluers defaced the royal palaces and otlier stately edifices. Por 
 
196 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 decayed in his time, and asserts, that now only a small 
 part of the city is inhabited, the greatest part within the 
 walls is tilled. Strabo * who wrote not long after Diodo- 
 riis, saith that part of the city the Persians demolished, 
 and part, time and the neglect of the Macedonians, and 
 especially after Seleucus Nicator had built Seleucia on 
 the Tigris, in the neighbourhood of Babylon, and he and 
 his successors removed their court thither : and now 
 (saith he,) Seleucia is greater than Ba1)ylon, and Babylon 
 is much deserted, so that anyone may apply to this, what 
 the comic poet said of Megalopolis in Arcadia, The great 
 city is now become a in-eat desert. Pliny in like manner 
 affirms,! that it was reduced to solitude, being exhausted 
 by the neighbourhood of Seleucia, built for that purpose 
 by Seleucus Nicator. As Strabo compared Babylon to 
 Megalopolis, so Pausanius| (who flourished about the 
 middle of the second century after Christ) compares 
 Megalopolis to Babylon, and says in his Arcadics, that of 
 Babylon, the greatest city that the sun ever saw, there is 
 
 at present, only a certain small portion of Babjylon is Inhabited, 
 the far greater part within the walls is under tillage.' See Dio- 
 dorus Siculus, Book II. page 70, in Stephanus' edition, and page 
 1)8, in that of Ilhodomanus. 
 
 * ' The Persians destroyed a part of the city. A part has 
 been consumed by time, and the neglect of the Macedonians. 
 But the chief cause of its decay, has been the building of Sck ucia, 
 on the banks of the Tigris, by Seleucus Nicator. at the distance 
 only of three hundred furlongs from Babylon. For both he, and 
 all his descendants, have laboured to the utmost, to^aggrandize 
 it (Seleucia), and have removed the court thither. At pre- 
 sent, it is greater than Babylon, so that one may boldly say, 
 that concerning it, which was said by a certain comedy writer, 
 concerning Megalopolis, a large city of Arcadia, Megalopolis is 
 now a vast desert.' See Strabo, Book XVT. page 738, in the Pa- 
 ris edition, and page 1073, in that of Amsterdam, printed in 
 1707. 
 
 f 'Surely it hath returned to a desolate and forsaken place, on 
 account of its vicinity to Seleucia, a city built for tliat very pur- 
 pose by Nicator.' See Pliny's Natural iJistory, Book VI. Chap. 
 XXX. in llarduin's edition. , 
 
 + * Babylon, the greatest of all these cities, which ever the 
 sun shone upon, has now nothing remaining besides its walls.* 
 See Pausanias, Book 111. Chap, xxxiii. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 197 
 
 nothing now remaining, but the walls. Maxinms Tyrius * 
 mentions it, as lying neglected and forsaken ; and Lucian \ 
 intimates, that in a little time it ^You■.d be sou,:^ht for, and 
 not be found, like Nineveh. C.'onstantine the Great, m 
 an' oration preserved by Eusebias, saith, that he himself 
 was upon the spot, and an eye-witness of the desolate and 
 miserable condition of the city. In Jerome's time (who 
 lived in the fourth century after Christ,; it was converted 
 into a chase, to keep wild beasts within the compass of 
 its walls, for the hunting of the later kings of Persia. We 
 have learned,:}; saith he, from a certain Elamite brother, 
 who coming out of those parts, now liveth as a monk at 
 Jerusalem, that the royal huntings are in Babylon, and 
 wild beasts of every kind aie confined within the circuit 
 of its walls. And a little afterwards he saith, § that ex- 
 cepting the brick, walls, which after many years are re- 
 paired for the inclosing of wild beasts, all the space with- 
 in is desolation. These walls might probably, be demo- 
 lished by the Saracens, who subverted this empire of the 
 Persians, or they might be ruined or destroyed by time : 
 but of this we read nothing, neither have we any account 
 of Babylon for several hundred years afterwards, there 
 having been such a dearth of authors during those times 
 of ignorance. 
 
 Of later authors, the first who mentions any thing con- 
 cerning Babylon, is Benjamin of Tudela, a Jew who lived 
 in the twelfth century. In his Itinerary, which was writ- 
 ten almost 700 years ago, he asserts li that ancient Baby- 
 
 * * Babylon forsaken.'* See Maximus Tyrius, Dissertation VI. 
 near the end. 
 
 f ' Not long hence it will be searched for, like Kineveh.* See 
 Lucian's Contemplations, near the end. 
 
 t ' We have been informed, by a certain Elamite friar, who 
 at present, leads a monastic life in Jerusalem, but came from 
 that country, that Babylon is a royal hunting park, and that 
 wild beasts of every kind are shut up within its circuit.' See Je- 
 rome's commentary, on Isa. xiii. pag-e 111. Vol. 3. in the Bene- 
 dictine edition. 
 
 § * For excepting the walls of brick, which aficr the lapse of 
 many years, are repaired, for confining the wild beasts, all the 
 space in the middle is gone to a wilderness.' See the same on 
 Chap. xiv. page 115. 
 
 II Benjamin in his Itinerary, page 76, saith, that men are afraid 
 K 2 
 
298 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 Ion is now laid waste, but some ruins are sdll to be seen 
 of Nebuchadnezzar's palace, and men Tear to enter there 
 on account of the serpents and scorpions, which are in 
 the midst of it. Texeira, a Portuguese, in the descrip- 
 tion of his travels from India to Italy, affirms,* that of 
 this great and famous city, there is nothing but a few 
 vestiges remaining, nor in the whole region is any place 
 less frequented. 
 
 A German traveller, whose name was Rauwolf, passed 
 that way in the year of our Lord 1574, and f his account of 
 the ruins of this famous city, is as follows: " The village of 
 Elugo now lielh on the place where formerly old Babylon, 
 the metropolis of Chaldea, was situated. The harbour is a 
 quarter of a league's distance from it, where people go 
 ashore in order to proceed by land to the celebrated city 
 of Bagdat, which is a day and a half's journey from 
 thence eastwsrd on the Tigris. This country is so dry 
 and barren, that it cannot be tilled, and so bare that I 
 could never have believed that this powerful city, once 
 the most stately and renowned in all the world, and situat- 
 ed in the pleasant and fruitful country of Shinar, could have 
 ever stood there, if 1 had not known it by its situation, 
 and many aniiquities of great beauty, which are still 
 standing hereabout in great desolation. 1 irst, by the old 
 bridge which was laid over the Euphrates, whereof there 
 are some pieces and arches still remaining, built of burnt 
 brick, and so strong that it is admhable. — Just before the 
 village of Elugo is the hill whereon the castle stood, and 
 the ruins of its fortifications are still visible, tjiough de- 
 molished and uninhabited. Behind it, and pretty near to 
 it, did stand the tower of Babylon. — It is still to be seen, 
 and is half a league in diameter; but so ruinous, so low, 
 
 to enter into it, by reason of the serpents and scorpions, which 
 dwell in the midst of it. See Bochart's Phaleg, Book IV. Chap, 
 xv. Col. 234. See Vitringu on Isa. xiii. page 421. Vol. I. Pri- 
 deaux' Connections, Part I. Book VIII. year 293, and 12, of Pto- 
 lomy Soter. See Calmet's Dictionary on the word Babylon. 
 
 * * None but a few vestiges remain of this city ; nor is there 
 any place in that country less frequented.* See Bochart in the 
 same place, and Prideaux. 
 
 t See Babylon in Calmet*s Dictionary, and Prideaux as before, 
 fuid Raay's edition of these Travels in linglish, Part 2. Chap. 7. 
 
THE PUOPilECIES. 199 
 
 and so full of venomous creatures, which lodge in holes 
 made by them in the rubbish, that no one durst approucli 
 nearer to it than within half a league, except during two 
 months in the winter, when these animals never stir out 
 of their holes. There is one sort particularly, which the 
 inhabitants, in the language of the country, which is I'er- 
 sian, call J'^glo, the poison whereof is very searching : 
 they are larger than our lizards." 
 
 A noble Roman, Petrus Valiensis, (Delia \'alle,) was 
 at Bagdat in the year 1616, and went to see the ruins, as 
 they are thought of, ancient Babylon ; and he informs 
 lis, * that " in the middle of a vast and level plain, about a 
 quarterof a league from the Euphrates, which in that place 
 runs westward, appears a heap of ruined buildinp:s. like a 
 huge mountain, the materials of which are so confounded 
 together, that one knows not what to make of it. — Its 
 situation and form correspond with that pyramid, whici\ 
 Strabo calls the tower of Belus; and is in all likelihood 
 the tower of Nimrod in Babylon, or Babel, as that place 
 is still called. There appear no marks of ruins, with- 
 out the compass of that huge mass, to convince one so 
 great a city as Babylon had ever stood there : all one dis- 
 covers within fifty or sixty paces of it, being only the re- 
 mains here and there, of some foundations of buildings ; 
 and the country round about it so Hat and level, that one 
 can hardly believe it should be chosen for the situation 
 of so great and noble a city as Babylon, or that there were 
 ever any remarkable buildings on it ; but for my part, I 
 am astonished there appears so much as there does, con- 
 sidering, it is at least four thousand years since that city 
 was built, and that Diodorus Siculus tells us, it was re- 
 duced almost to nothing in his time.'* 
 
 Tayernier, who is a very celebrated traveller, relates t 
 that '^ at the parting of the Tigris, which is but a little 
 way from Bagdat, there is the foundation of a city, which 
 may seem to have been a large league in compass. There 
 are some of the walls yet standing, upon which six coaches 
 
 * See Viag-gi de Pietro della Valle, Part 2. Epistle xvii. See 
 Le Clerc's Commentary on Isa. xiii. 20. See A'^itringa's Commen- 
 tary on the same, page 421, of Vol. 1. See also Universal His- 
 tory, Book 1. Chap II. Sect. 4- Note N. 
 
 t See Tavernier in Harris's Collection, Vol. 2. Book 2. Chap. v. 
 
200 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 may go abreast ; They are made of burnt brick, ten foot 
 square and three thick. The chronicles of the country 
 say, here stood the ancieni Babylon." Tavernier, no 
 doubt, saw the saaie ruins, as Benjamin the Jew, and 
 Rauwolf, and Peter delie Valhi did; but he thou54;ht them 
 not to be the ruins of Nebuchadnezzar's palace, or of the 
 lower of Babel. He adopts the opinion of the Arabs, and 
 conceives them to be rather the remains of some tower 
 built by one of their princes for a beacon to assemble his 
 subjects in time of war : and this in all probability was 
 the troth of the matter. 
 
 Mr. Salmon's* observation is just and pertinent: 
 *' What is as strange as any thing- that is related of Ba- 
 bylon is, that we cannot learn either by ancient writers or 
 modern travellers, where this famous city stood, only in 
 general, that it was situated in the province of Chaldea, 
 upon the river Euphrates, considerably above the place 
 where it is united with the Tigris. Travellers have 
 guessed from the great ruins they have discovered in 
 several parts of this country, that in this or that place 
 Babylon once s^.ood: but when we come to examine nice- 
 ly the places they mention, we only learn that they are 
 certainly in the wrong, and have mistaken the ruins of 
 Seleucia, or i-ome other great town." 
 
 Mr. Hanway f eoing to give an account of the seige 
 of Bagdat by Nadir Shah, prefaceth it in this manner j 
 *' Before we enter upon any circumstance relating to the 
 seige of Bagdat, it may afford some light to the subject, 
 to give a short account of this famous city, m the neigh- 
 bourhood of which formerly stood the metropolis of one 
 of the most ancient and most potent monarchies in the 
 world. The place is generally called Bagdat or Bagdad, 
 though some writers preserve the ancient name of Baby- 
 lon. The reason of thus confounding these two cities is, 
 that the Tigris and Euphrates, forming one common 
 stream before they disembogue into the Persian gulf, are 
 not unfrequently mentioned as one and the same river. 
 It is certain that the present Bagdat is situated on the 
 
 * See Salmon's Modern History, Vol. I. Present state of the 
 Turkish Empire, Chap. xi. 
 
 I See ihinway's Travels, Vol. IV. Part 111. Chap. x. page 78. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 201 
 
 Tigris, but the ancient Babylon, accordinpj to all histo- 
 rians sacred and profane, was on the Kuphrates. The 
 ruins of the latter, which ideographical writers place about 
 fifteen lea.^ues to the south of Bagdat, are now so nuich 
 ciTaced, that there are hardly any vestiges of Ihtm to i)oint 
 out the situation. In the time of the emperor 1 heodo- 
 sius, there was only a great park remaining, in which the 
 kings of Persia bred wild beasts for the amusement of 
 hunting.'* 
 
 By thc^e accounts we see, how punctually time hath 
 fulfilled the predictions of the prophets concerning Baby- 
 lon. When it was converted into a chase, for wiid beasts 
 to feed and breed there, then were exactly accomplished 
 the words of the prophets, that ' the wild beasts of tlie de- 
 sert, with the wild beasts of the islands, should dwell 
 there, and cry in their desolate houses.' One part of the 
 country was overfiowed, by the river's having been turn- 
 ed out of its course, and never restored again to its for- 
 mer channel, and thence became boggy and marshy, so 
 that it might literally be said to be ' a possession for the 
 bittern, and pools of water.' Another part is described 
 xis diy and naivcd, and barren of every thing, so that there- 
 by, was also fulfilled another prophecy, which seemed in 
 some measure to contradict the former. ' Her cities are 
 'a desolation, a dry land, and a wilderness, a land wherein 
 no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of man pass there- 
 by.' The place thereabout is represented as over-run 
 with serpents, scorpions, and all sorts of venemous, and 
 unclean creatures, so that ' their houses are full of dole- 
 ful creatures, and dragons cry in their pleasant palaces ; 
 and Babylon is become heaps, a dwelling place fo.r dra- 
 gons, an astonishment and an hissing without an inhabi- 
 tant.' For all these reasons, 'neither can the Arabian 
 pitch his tent there, neither can the shepherds make their 
 folds there.' And when we find that modern travellers, 
 cannot now certainly discover the spot of ground, where- 
 on this renowned city once was situated, we may very 
 properly say, ' How is Babylon became a desolation 
 among the nations? Every purpose of the Lord hath he 
 performed against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon 
 a desolation without an inhabitant :' and the expression 
 is no less true than sublime, that ' the Lord of hosts hath 
 swept it with the besom of destruction.* 
 
202 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 How wonderful are such predictions compared with 
 the events, and what a convincing argument of the truth 
 and divinity of the holy scriptures ! Well might God al- 
 lege this as a memorable instance of his prescience, and 
 challenge all the false gods and their votaries, to produce 
 the like, Isa. xlv. 21. xlvi. 10. * Who hath declared this 
 from ancient time ? who hath told it from that time ? 
 have not I the Lord ? and there is no God else beside me, 
 a just God and a Saviour, there is none beside me ; De- 
 claring the end from the beginning, and from ancient 
 times, the things that are not yet done, saying, My coun- 
 sel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure,' And in- 
 deed, where can you find a similar instance, but in scrip- 
 ture, from the beginning of the world to this day. 
 
 At the same time, it must aflord all readers of an exalt- 
 ed taste, and generous sentiments, all the friends and lo- 
 vers of liberty, a very sensible pleasure, to hear the pro- 
 phets exulting over such tyrants and oppressors, as the 
 kings of Assyria. In the 14th chapter of Isaiah there is 
 an Epinikion, or a triumphant ode upon the fall of Baby- 
 ion. It represents the infernal mansions as moved, 
 and the ghosts of deceased tyi-ants, as rising to meet the 
 king of Bai)ylon, and congratulate his coming among 
 them. It is really admirable for the severest strokes of 
 irony, as well as for the sublimest strains of poetry. The 
 Greek poet AIcxus, * who is celebrated for his hatred to 
 tyrants, and whose odes were animated with the spirit of 
 liberty, no less than with the spirit of poetry, we may 
 presume to say, never wrote any thing comparable to it. 
 The late worthy professor of poetry at Oxford, hath emi- 
 nently distinguished it in his lectures f upon the sacred 
 
 * And O Alcaeus, — thee sounding thy notes more fully with a 
 golden bow, &.c. See Horace, Ode IJ. 
 
 Quintiliun in his oratoi-ial institutions. Book I. Chap. I, Saith, 
 that Alcxus in a pait of the woj-k is presented with a golden 
 bow, because he employs it against tyrants, &c. 
 
 f Lowtli in his thirteenth Prelection, page 120, &c. saitb, 
 tlu-oughout the wiiole, a free, sublime, and truly divine spirit 
 prevaileth ; nor is there any tiling wanting to add to tlie subli- 
 mity and perfect beauty of this Ode: to wliich if I should speak 
 freely what I think, there is nothing that equals, or indeed that 
 comes near to it, either in CJreek or Roman poetry.' See also 
 Prelection XXYIII. page 2772. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 203 
 
 poesy of the. Hebrews, and hath given it the character 
 that it justly deserves, of one of the most spirited, most 
 sublime, and most perfect compositions of the lyric kind, 
 superior to any of the productions of Greece or Rome: 
 and he hath not only illustrated it with an useful commen- 
 tary, but hath also copied the beauties of the great origi- 
 nal, in an excellent Latin Alcaic ode, which if the learn- 
 ed reader hath not yet seen, he will be not a little pleas- 
 ed with the peruijal of it. Another excellent hand, Mr. 
 Mason, hath likewise imitated it in an English ode, with 
 which I hope he will* one time or other oblige the pub- 
 lic. 
 
 But not only in this particular, but in the general, the 
 scriptures, though often perverted to the purposes of ty- 
 ranny, are yet in their own nature calculated to promote 
 the civil, as well as the religious liberties of mankind. 
 True religion, and virtue, and liberty, are more nearly re- 
 lated, and more intimately connected with each other, 
 than people commonly consider. It is very true, as St. 
 Paul saith, 2 Cor. iii. 17. that * where the spirit of the 
 Lord is, there is liberty :' or as our Saviour himself ex- 
 presseth it, John viii. 31, 32. * If ye continue in my word, 
 then are ye my disciples indeed : And ye shall know the 
 truths and the truth shall make ye free.' 
 
 XL 
 
 THE PROPHECIES CONCERNING TYRE. 
 
 ANOTHER city that was an enemy to the Jews, and 
 another memorable instance of the truth of prophecy, is 
 Tyre, whose fall was predicted by the prophets, and par- 
 ticularly by Isaiah and Ezekiel. But it hath been ques- 
 tioned among learned men, which of the Tyres was the 
 subject of these prophecies, whether Palaetyrus, or old 
 Tyre. that was seated on the continent, or new Tyre, that 
 was built in an island almost over against it. The truest 
 
 * Mr. Mason hath since published this, with some other Odesi 
 in 1756. 
 
OQ4 mSSERTATIOXS OX 
 
 and best answer I conceive to be, that the prophecies ap- 
 pertain to both, some expressions being applicable only 
 to the former, and others only to the latter. In one place, 
 Ezek. xxvii. 3, it is described as ' situate at the entry of 
 the sea :' in others ver. 4. and "25. as ' in the midst of the 
 seas,' or according to the original, *in the heart of the 
 seas.* Sometimes, Ezek. xxvi. 7, See. it is represented 
 as besieged * with horse sand with chariots ;* a/orr, a mount, 
 and engines of war ^ are set against it j at other times, Isa. 
 xxiii. 2, 4, 6. it is expressly called an island^ and the sea, 
 even the strength of the sea. Now it is said, Ezek. xxiv. 10. 
 * By reason of the abundance of his horses, their dust shall 
 cover thee, thy walls shall shake at the noise of the horse- 
 men, and of the wheels, and of the chariots when he shall 
 enter into thy gates, as men enter into a city wherein is 
 made a breach.' Then it is said, ver. 12. They shall break 
 down thy walls, and destroy thy pleasant houses, and they 
 shall lay thy stones, and thy timber, and thy dust, in the 
 midst of the water;' andagain, Ezek.xxviii. 8. <• They shall 
 bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the deaths 
 of them that are slain in the midst of the seas.' The in- 
 sular Tyre therefore, as well as the Tyre upon the conti- 
 nent, is included in these prophecies ; they are both com- 
 prehended under the same name, and both spoken of as 
 one and the same city, part built on the continent, and 
 part on an island adjoining. It is commonly said indeed 
 that when old Tyre was closely beseiged, and was near 
 falling into the hands of the Chaldeans, then the Tyri- 
 ans fled from thence, and built new Tyre ir\ the island : 
 but the learned * Vitringa hath proved at large from good 
 authorities, that new Tyre was founded several ages be- 
 fore, and was the station for ships, and considered as part 
 of old Tyre; andf Pliny speaking of the compass of the 
 city, reckons both the old and the new together. 
 
 Whenever the prophets denounce the downfall, and 
 desolation of a city or kingdom, they usually ascribe by 
 
 * See Vitringa's Commentavv on Isa. xxiii. Vol. I. pages 667 
 —671. 
 
 t * The circumference, including old Tyre, is nineteen miles.' 
 See Pliny's Natural History, Book V. Chap. xvii. in Harduin's 
 edition. 
 
THE PROPHEeiES. 265 
 
 way of contrast its present flourishing condition, to show 
 in a stronger point of view, how providence shifteth and 
 changeth the scene, and ordereth and disposeth all events. 
 The prophets Isaiah and Kzekiel observe the same me- 
 thod, with regard to Tyre. Isaiah speaketh of it, as a 
 place of great antiquity, xxiii. 7. ' Is this your joyous 
 city, whose antiquity is of ancient days "r* And it is men- 
 tioned as a strong place, as early as in the days of Joshua, 
 Josh. xix. 29. ' the strong city Tyre,' for there is no reason 
 for supposing with Sir John Marsham,* that the name is 
 used here by way o{ /iroiefisis or anticipation. Nay, there 
 are even heathen authors, who speak of the insular Tyre, 
 and yet extol the great antiquity of the place. The Greek 
 geographer Strabo saith,t that after Sidon the greatest 
 and most ancient city of the Phoenicians is Tyre, which 
 is a rival to Sidon in greatness, and lustre, and antiquity. 
 The Roman historian Quintus Curtius saith,:j: that it is a 
 city remarkable to posterity, both for the antiquity of its 
 origin, and for its frequent change of fortune. Herodo- 
 tus§ who was himself at Tyre, and enquired into the an- 
 tiquity of the temple of Hercules, was informed by the 
 priests, that the temple was built at the same time as the 
 city, and from the building of the city, they counted two 
 thousand and three hundred years. The ironical expres- 
 sion of the prophet, ' Is this your joyous city, whose an- 
 tiquity is of ancient days V implies that the Tyrians were 
 apt to boast of their antiquity : and by this account of 
 Herodotus it appears that they did so, and much exceed- 
 ed the truth ; but there could have been no pretence, for 
 
 * jMarsham, in his chronicle of the XI age, salth in page 290. 
 * That name is given by way of anticipation.' 
 
 t Next to Sidon, Tyre is the largest and most ancient city of 
 the Phoenicians, and comparable to it in size, beauty, and anti- 
 quity,' See Strabo, Book XVI. page 756, in the Paris edition, 
 and page 1007, in that of Amsterdam, printed in 1707. 
 
 ■^ *The ancient origin of this city, and the frequent changes 
 of its condition, have rendered it memorable to posterity.' See 
 Quintus Curtius, Book IV". Chap. iv. 
 
 § ' For they said, that along with the city, the foundation of 
 the temple of the god (Hercules) was laid; and that from the 
 building of Tyre, they reckoned two thousand and three hun- 
 dred years.' See Herodotus, Book II. Chap. xliv. page 107, in 
 Gale's edition. 
 
 VOL. I. S 
 
206 
 
 DISSEUTATIONS ON 
 
 their boasting of thousands of years, if the city had not 
 been built (as some contend) till after the destruction of 
 the old city by the Chaldeans, that is not one hundred 
 and thirty years before. Josephus asserts,* that from 
 the building of Tyre, to the building of Solomon's tem- 
 ple were two hundred and forty years ; but he is with rea- 
 son,! supposed to speak of the insular Tyre ; for the other 
 part of the city on the continent, was much older, was a 
 strong place, as we have seen in the days of Joshua, and 
 is mentioned in the fragments of Sanchoniathon,^ the 
 Phoenician historian, who is reckoned § to have lived 
 about the time of Gideon,|| or somewhat later. 
 
 But ancient as this city was, it was the daughter of 
 S'iclon, as it is called by the prophet Isaiah, xxiii. 12. and 
 ver. 2. 'the merchants of Sidon who pass over the sea, 
 replenished it.' Sidoti was the eldest son of Canaan, 
 Gen. X. 15. and the city of Sidon is mentioned by the 
 patriarch Jacob, Gen. xlix. 13. and in the days of Joshua, 
 it is called great Sidon, Josh. xi. 8. and in the days of 
 the Judges, the inhabitants of Laish are said, Jud. xviii. 
 7. to have ' dwelt careless and secure after the manner of 
 the Sidonians.* We have seen already, that Strabo af- 
 firms, that after Sidon Tyre was the greatest and most 
 ancient city of the Phoenicians; and he asserts likewise,^ 
 that the poets have celebrated Sidon more, and Homer 
 hath not so much as mentioned Tyre, though he com- 
 mends Sidon and the Sidonians in several places. It may 
 be therefore with reason inferred, that Sidon was the 
 
 * ' From the building of Tyre to the raising oT Solomon's 
 temple, there were two hundred and forty years.' See Jose- 
 phus' Antiquities, Book VIII. Chap. iii. Sect. 1. page 341, in 
 riudson's edition. 
 
 t See Vitringa in the same place, page 669. 
 
 t See Eusebius' Evangelical Preparation, Book I. Chap. x. 
 page 35, in Vigerus' edition. 
 
 § * Therefore he is properly thrown back to the time of Gi- 
 .deon.' See Eochai't's Canaan, Book II. Chap. xvii. Col. 776. 
 
 " See Stillingfleet's book, entitled Origines Sacrae, Book L 
 Chap ii. 
 
 ^ ' Indeed the poets employ themselves more in celebrating 
 the praise of Sidon. Homer is silent with respect to Tyre.' 
 See Strabo in the place above quoted, page 1097. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 20.7 
 
 more ancient: and Justin,* the epitomizer of Trogus, 
 hath expressly informed us, that the Sidonians being be- 
 sieged by the king of Ascalon, went in ships and built 
 Tyre. But though Tyre was the daughter of Sidon, yet • 
 ihe daughter soon equalled, and in time excelled the mo- 
 ther, and became the most celebrated place in the world, 
 for its trade and navigation, the seat of commerce, and 
 the centre of riches, and is therefore called by Isaiah, 
 xxiii. 3, 8. < a mart of nations, the crowning city, whose 
 merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honour- 
 able men of the earth ;' and Ezekiel, as it were com- 
 menting upon the words of Isaiah, a mart of ?iatzo7is, 
 Chap, xxviii. recounts the various nations, whose com- 
 modities were brought to Tyre, and were bought and 
 sold by the Tyrians. 
 
 It was in this wealthy and flourishing condition, when 
 the prophets foretold its destruction ; Isaiah 125 years at 
 least before it was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. An 
 extensive and beneficial trade, soon produces luxury and 
 pride. So it fared with the Tyrians ; and for these and 
 their other vices," as well as for their insults and injuries 
 done to the Jews, the prophets prophecied against them. 
 Isaiah mentions their pride as the great occasion of their 
 fall, xxiii. 9. < The Lord of hosts hath purposecj it, to 
 stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt all 
 the honourable of the earth.' Ezekiel, xxvii. 3, 8cc. de- 
 scribes at large their luxury even in their shipping. Cle- 
 opatra's sailing down the river Cydnos to meet her gal- 
 lant, Antony, was not with greater finery and magnifi- 
 cence ; nor have f the historians and poets painted the 
 one in more livefy colours, than the prophet hath the 
 other. He censures likewise the pride of the king of 
 Tyre, in arrogating to himself divine honours, xxviii. 2, 
 Sec. * Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus 
 saith the Lord God, Because thine heart is lifted up, and 
 thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in 
 
 * * Many years afterwards, the inhabitants of Sidori being" dri- 
 ven from their city, by the king" of Ascalon, and conveyed by 
 their ships, went and built Tyre' See .Justin, Book XVlll. 
 Chap. i. Sect. 5. pag-e 362, in Gr.xvius' edition. 
 
 t See Plutarch's life of Antony, page 913, Vol. in the Paris 
 edition of 1624. See also Shakspeure aiid Dryden- 
 
208 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 the midst of the seas ; yet thou art a man, and not God, 
 though thou set thine heart asj the heart of God : — With 
 thy wisdom and with thine understanding, thou hast got- 
 ten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy 
 treasures : By thy great wisdom, and by thy traffic hast 
 thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up, 
 because of thy riches; Therefore thus saith the Lord 
 God, Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of 
 God ; Behold therefore, I will bring strangers upon thee, 
 *the terrible of the nations ; and they shall draw their 
 swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall 
 defile thy brightness: They shall bring thee down to the 
 pit, and thou shait die the deaths of them that are slain 
 in the midst of the -seas/ 7'he prophets Jcel and Anios, 
 had before denounced the divine judgments upon the Ty- 
 rians for their wickedness in general, and in particular 
 for their cruelty to the children of Israel, and for buying 
 and selling them like cattle in the markets. Thus saith 
 the Lord by the prophet Joel, iii. 5, Sec. ' Because ye 
 have taken my silver, and my gold, and have carried into 
 your temples my goodly pleasant things : The children 
 alsoof Judah, and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold 
 unio the Grecians, that ye might remove them far from 
 their border : Behold, I will raise them out of the place 
 whither ye have sold them, and will return your recom-' 
 pense upon your own head.' Amos speaketh to the same 
 purpose, i. 9. ' Thus saith the Lord, For three ti ansgres- 
 bions of Tyrus, and for four I will not turn away the pun- 
 ishment thereof; because they delivered up t,he whole 
 captivity to Edom, and remembered not the brotherly 
 covenant,' that is, the league and alliance between Hiram 
 king of Tyre on one part, and David and Solomon on the 
 other. The Psalmist reckons them among the most in- 
 veterate and implacable enemies of the Jewish name and 
 nation. Psalm. Ixxxiii. 6, 7. ' The tabernacles of Edom, 
 and the Ishmaelites of Moab, and the Hagarenes, Gebal, 
 and Amnion, and Amalek, the Philistines with the inha- 
 bitants of Tyre.' Ezekiel also begins his prophecy against 
 them with a declaration, that it was occasioned by their 
 insulting over the Jews, upon the taking of Jerusalem by 
 Nebuchadnezzar, xxvi. 2, 3. ' Son of man, Because that 
 Tyrus hath said against Jerusalem, Aha, she is broken, 
 that was the gates of the people; she is turned unto me. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 209 
 
 I shall be replenished, now slie is laid waste : Therefore, 
 thus saith the Lord God, Behold, 1 am against thee, O 
 Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come up against 
 ihee, as the sea causeth his waves to come up.' 
 
 These were the occasions of the prophecies against 
 Tyre: and by carefully considering, and comparing the 
 prophecies together, we shall find the following particu- 
 lars, included in them ; that the city was to be taken, and 
 destroyed by the Chaldeans, who were at the time of the 
 delivery of the prophecy an inconsiderable people, and 
 particularly by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; that 
 the inhabitants should fly over the Mediterranean, into 
 the islands and countries adjoining, and even there should 
 not find a quiet settlement ; that the city would be re- 
 stored after 70 years, and return to her gain and mer- 
 chandize ; that it should be taken and destroyed again ; 
 that the people should in time forsake their idolatry, and 
 become converts to the true religion, and worship of God ; 
 and finally, that the city should be totally destroyed, and 
 become a place only for fishers to spread their nets upon. 
 We shall find these particulars, to be not only distinctly 
 foretold, but likewdse exactly fulfilled. 
 
 I. The city was to be taken, and destroyed by the Chal- 
 deans, who were at the time of the delivery of the pro- 
 phecy, an inconsiderable people. This, we think, is suf- 
 ficiently implied in these words of the prophet Isaiah, 
 xxiii. 13. 'Behold, the land of the Chaldeans; this peo- 
 ple was not till the Assyrian founded it for them that 
 dwell in the wilderness, they set up the towers thereof 
 they raised up the palaces thereof; and he brought it to 
 ruin.' Behold^ an exclamation, that he is 5>^oing to utter 
 something new and extraordinary ; ' the land of the Chal- 
 deans,' that is, Babylon, and the country about Babylon ; 
 * this people was not,' was of no note, or eminence, ' till 
 the Assyrian founded it for them t^jat dwell in the wilder- 
 ness,' they dwelt before in tents, and led a wandering life 
 in the wilderness, till the Assyrians built Babylon for their 
 reception Babel or Babylon, was first built by the children 
 of men, after the flood. After the dispersion of mankind, 
 Nimrod made it the capital of his kingdom. With N'im- 
 rodnt sunk again, till the Assyrians rebuilt it, for the pur- 
 poses here mentioned ; ' they set up the towers thereof, 
 s2 
 
210 DISSERTATIONS OX 
 
 they raised up the palaces thereof,* and Herodotus, Cte- 
 sias. and other ancieiu liistorians agree, that the kings of 
 Assyria fortified and beaulilied liabylon ; and he, that is 
 this people mentioned before, the Chaldeans or Babylo- 
 nians, 'brought it to ruin,' that is, Tyre, which is the 
 subject of the whole prophecy. The Assyrians were at 
 that time, the great monarchs of the east; the Chaldeans 
 were their slaves and subjects; and therefore it is the 
 iiflore extraordinary, that the prophet should so many 
 years before-hand foresee the successes and conquests of 
 the Chaldeans. 
 
 Ezeklel lived nearer the time, and he declares express- 
 ly, that the city should be taken, and destroyed by Nebu- 
 chadnezzar king of Babylon ; xxvi, 7 — 1 1. * Thus saith 
 the Lord God, Behold, I will bring upon Tyrus, Nebu- 
 chadnezzar king of Babylon, a king of kings from the 
 north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horse- 
 men, and companies, and much people ; — he shall slay 
 thy people by the sv/ord, and thy strong garrisons, and 
 shall go down to the ground.' Salmaneser, king of As- 
 syria,* had beseiged Tyre, but without success; the Ty- 
 rians had with a few ships beaten his large fieet; but yet 
 Nebuchadnezzar should prevail. Ezekiel not only fore- 
 told the siege, but mentions it afterwards as a past trans- 
 action, xxix. 18. * Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king 
 of Babylon, caused his army to serve a great service 
 against I'yrus ; every head was made bald, and every 
 shoulder was peeled.' 
 
 Menander the Ephesian, translated the Phoenician an- 
 lials into Greek ; and Josephus asscrtsf upon their autho- 
 Tity, that Nebuchadnezzar besieged Tyre 1 3 years, when 
 Ithobal was king there, and began the siege in the seventh 
 year of Ithobal's reign, and that he subdued Syria and all 
 Phoenicia. The same historian ^ likewise observes, that 
 
 * See Menander's Annals in Josephus' Antiquities, Book IX. 
 Chap, xiv. Sect. 2. page 428, in Hudson's edition. 
 
 \ See Josephns against Apion,Bock I. Sec. 20 and 21, in Hud- 
 son's edition. 
 
 t Philostratus, both in the histories of India and Phrcnicia, as- 
 serts, • tliat this king (Nebuchadnezzar) besieged Tyre for the 
 space of thirteen years, at the time that Ithobalus was its sove- 
 reign.' See Antiquities, Book X. Chap. xi. Seet, 1. page 460 in 
 l.ludson's edition. 
 
THE PROPJIRCIES. 2ll 
 
 Philostratiis in his Indian and Phctnician histories affirms, 
 that tliis king (Nebuchadnezzar) beseiged Tyre 13 years, 
 Ithobal reigning at that time in Tyre. The siege conti- 
 nuing so lo)ig, the soldiers must needs endure many hard- 
 ships, so that hereby we better understand the justness of 
 Ezekiel's expression, that ' Nebuchadnezzar caused his 
 army to serve a great service against Tyrus ; every head 
 was made bald, and every shoulder was peeled:' sucli 
 light doth prophane history cast upon sacred. It farther 
 appears from the Phoenician annals, quoted by the same 
 historian,* that the Tyrians received their kings after- 
 wards from Babylon, which plainly evinces that some of 
 the blood royal must have been carried captives thither. 
 The Phoenician annals too, as Dr. Prideauxf liath clearly 
 shown, agree exactly with Ezekiel's account of the time, 
 and year, wherein the city was taken. Tyre therefore 
 according to the prophecies was subdued, and taken by 
 Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldeans : and after this we 
 hear little more of that part of the city, which stood up- 
 on the continent. It is some satisfaction, that we are able 
 to produce such authorities, as we have produced, out of 
 heathen historians, for transactions of such remote anti- 
 quity. 
 
 II. The Inhabitants should pass over the Mediterra- 
 nean, into the Islands and countries adjoining, and even 
 there should find no quiet settlement. This is plainly 
 signified by Isaiah, xxiii. 6. ' Pass ye over to Tarshish,' 
 that is to Tartessus in Spain, ' howl ye inhabitants of the 
 isle :' and again, ver. 12. * Arise, pass over to Chittim,' 
 that is, the islands ;ind countries bordering upon the 
 Mediterranean ; * there also, shalt thou have no rest.' — 
 What the prophet delivers by way of advice, is to be un- 
 derstood as a prediction. Ezekiel intimates the same 
 thing, xxvi. 18. * The isles that are in the sea shall be 
 troubled at thy departure.' It is well known that the 
 Phoenicians were the best navigators of antiquity, and 
 sent forth colonies into several parts of the world. A 
 great scholar of the last century, hath written a whole 
 
 * See Joseplnis ag-ainst Apion, Book I. Sect. 21. page 1344, 
 in Hudson's edition. 
 
 t See Prideaux' Connections, Part I. Book II. year 573, and 
 32 of Ncbuchadneixar. 
 
212 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 tieatise * of the colonies of the Phoenicians, a work (as in- 
 deed all his are) of iuimense learning and erudition.— 
 And of all the Phoenicians, the Tyrians were the most 
 celebrated for their shipping and colonies. Tyre exceed- 
 ed Sidon in this respect, as Strabo testifieb,-|- and sent 
 forth colonies into Africa and Spain, unto and beyond the 
 pillars of Hercules : and Quintus Curtius saith, t that - 
 her colonies were diffused almost over the whole world. 
 The Tyriuns therefore having planted colonies at Tar- 
 shish, and upon the coasts of Chittim, it was natural for 
 them, when they v/ere pressed with dangers and diflicul- 
 ties at home, to fiy to their friends and countrymen 
 abroad for refuge and protection. That they really did 
 so, St. Jerome asserts upon the authority of Assyrian 
 'histories, which are now lost and perished. ' We have 
 read, saith he;§ in the histories of the Assyrians, that 
 when the Tyrians were besieged, after they saw no hope 
 of escaping, they went on board their ships, and fled to 
 Carthage, or to some islands of the Ionian and Agean 
 sea.' And in another place he saith,5[ that when the 
 Tyrians saw that the works for carrying on the siege 
 were perfected, and the foundations of the walls were 
 shaken, by the battering of the rams, whatsoever preci- 
 ous things in gold, silver, cloths, and various kinds of 
 furniture the nobility had, they put them on board their 
 
 » See Boch art's Canaan. 
 
 ■f * Rut the Colonies sent into Africa and Spain, to and be- 
 yond the pillars of Hercules, celebrated Tyre much in their 
 song-s'.' See Strabo, Book XVI. pag-e 1097- 
 
 ^ t ' Surely its colonies were spread almost over the whole 
 world.' See Quhitus Curtius, Book IV. Chap. iv. 
 
 § We have read in tlie Assyrian histories, that when the Ty- 
 rians being' besieged, perceived that no hope of escaping 
 left, went on board their ships, and fled to Carthage, or to the 
 islands of the Ionian and jEgean sea. See Jerome on Isa. xxiii. 
 6. page 144, in the Benedictine edition. 
 
 ^ * Which (works for carrying on the siege,) when the Ty- 
 rians saw completed, and the foundations of their walls shaken 
 by the blows of the battering-rams, whatever precious commo- 
 dity in gold, or silver, in apparel or furniture, the Noblesse 
 Vrere first in possession of, they put it 0)i board of ships, and 
 conveyed it to the islands: so thut Avhen the city was taken, 
 Nebuchadnezzar found nothing in it to reward his toil.' See 
 Jerome on Ezek. xxix., page 909. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 213 
 
 ships, and carried to the islands ; so that the city being 
 taken, Nebuchadnezzar found nothing worthy of his la- 
 bour.' It must have been grievou.s to Nebuchadnezzar, 
 after so long and laborious a siege, to be disappointed of 
 the spoil of So rich a city; and therefore Ezekiel was 
 commissioned to promise him the conquest of Egypt 
 for his reward; xxix. 18, 19. ' Son of man, Nebuchad- 
 nezzar king of Babylon, caused his army to serve a great 
 service against Tyrus: every head was made bald, and 
 every shoulder was peeled : yet had he no wages, nor his 
 army for Tyrus, for the service that he had served against 
 it. Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold I will 
 give the land of E!;ypt unto Nebuchadnezzar king of Ba- 
 bylon, and he shall take her multitude, and take her 
 spoil, and take her prey, and it shall be the wages for his 
 army.' 
 
 But though the Tyrians should pass over to Tarshish, 
 and to Chittim, yet even there they should find no quiet 
 settlement, ' there also, shalt thou have no rest.' Me- 
 gasthenes, * v/ho lived about 300 years before Christ, 
 and was employed by Seleucus Nicator in an embassy to 
 the king of India, wrote afterwards a history of India, 
 Avherein he mentioned Nebuchadnezzar with great honor. 
 I'his historian is quoted by several ancient authors, and 
 he is cited particularly by t Strabo, Josephus, and Aby- 
 denus in Eusebius for saying that Nebuchadnezzar sur- 
 passed Hercules in bravery and great exploits, that he 
 subdued great part of Africa and Spain, and proceeded as 
 for as to the pillars of Hercules. After Nebucliadnezzar 
 had subdued Tyre and Egypt, we may suppose that he 
 carried his arms farther westward ; and if he proceeded 
 so far as Megasthenes reports, the Tyrians might well be 
 
 * See Arrlan's' expedition of Alexander, Book V. Chap. vi. 
 page 203. See also his Indian histor}^ Chap. v. page 318, In 
 Gronovius* edition. See Vossius' Greek History, Rook I. Chap, 
 xi. See also Prideaux* Connections, Part I. Eook YUI. year 
 298, and 7th of Ptolomy Soter. 
 
 f See Strabo, Ro(jk XV. pag-e 687, in the Paris edition, and 
 page 1007, in that of Amsterdam, printed in 1707. See Jose- 
 phiis' Antiquitie.s, Hook X. Chap, xi. Sect, 1. page 460, See 
 him against Apion, Rook I. Sect. 20. pag-e 1343, in Hudson's 
 ed'^tion. See also Kusebius' Evanc;-elicul Preparation, Book IXt 
 Chap. xvi. page 456, in Vigerus' edition. 
 
214 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 said to have no rest^ their conqueror pursuing them from 
 one country to another. But besides this, and after this, 
 the Carthaginians, and other colonies of the Tyrians 
 lived in a very unsettled state. Their history is made 
 up of httle but wars and tumults, even before their three 
 fatal wars with the Romans, in every one of which their 
 affairs grew worse and worse. Sicily and Spain, Europe 
 and Africa, the land and their own element the sea, were 
 theatres of their calamities and miseries ; till at last not 
 only the new, but old Carthage too was utterly destroyed. 
 As the Cai'thaginians sprung from the Tyrians, and the 
 Tyrians from the Sidonians, and Sidon was the first-born 
 of Canaan, Gen. x. 15. so the curse upon Canaan seem- 
 eth to have pursued them to the most distant parts of 
 the earth. 
 
 III. The city should be restored after 70 years, and 
 return to her gain and her merchandise. This circum- 
 stance is expressly foretold by Isaiah, xxiii. 13, 16, 17. 
 * And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall 
 be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one 
 King,' or kingdom meaning the Babylonian which was 
 to continue 70 years : ' after the end of seventy years, 
 shall Tyre sing as an harlot. Take an harp, go about 
 the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten, make sweet 
 melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remem- 
 bered. And it shall come to pass, after the end of seven- 
 ty years, that the Lord will visit Tyre, and she shall turn 
 to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the 
 kingdoms of the world, upon the face of the earth.' — 
 Tyre is represented as an harlot, and from thence these 
 figures are borrowed, the plain meaning of which is, that 
 she should lie neglected of traders and merchants for 70 
 years, as long as the Babylonian empire lasted, and after 
 that she should recover her liberties and her trade, and 
 draw in several of all nations to deal with her, and par- 
 ticularly the kings of the earth to buy her purples, which 
 were wore chiefly by emperors and kings, and for which 
 Tyre was famous above all places in the world. 
 
 Seventy years was the time prefixed for the duration 
 of the Babylonian empire. So long the nations were to 
 groan under that tyrannical yoke, though these nations 
 were subdued some sooner, some later than others, Jer. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 215 
 
 XXV. 11,12. < These nations shall serve the king of Ba- 
 bylon seventy years : And it shall come to pass, when 
 seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the 
 kint^ of Babylon, and that nation, saith the Loid, lor their 
 iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans and will xnake it 
 perpetual desolations.' And accordingly at the end of 
 seventy years, CyiHis and the Persians subverted the Ba- 
 bylonian empire, and restored the conquered nations to 
 their liberties. 
 
 But we may compute these 70 years after another man- 
 ner,* Tyre was taken by Nebuchadnezzar, in the 3 2d 
 year of his reign, and in the year 573 before Christ. — 
 Seventy years from thence will bring us down to the 
 year 503 before Christ, and the 19th of Darius Hystaspis. 
 At that time it appears from history,! that the lonians 
 had rebelled against Darius, and the Phoenicians assisted 
 him with their fleets : and consequently it is reasonable 
 to conclude, that they were now restored to their former 
 privileges. In the succeeding reign, we find + that they, 
 together with the Sidonians, furnished Xerxes with se- 
 veral ships for his expedition into Greece. And by the 
 time of Alexander, the Tyrians were grown to such 
 power and greatness, that they stopped the progress of 
 that rapid conqueror, longer than any part of the Per- 
 sian empire besides. But all this is to be understood of 
 the insular Tyre ; for as the old city flourished most be- 
 fore the time of Nebuchadnezzar, so the^new city flou- 
 rished most afterwards, and this is the Tyre that hence- 
 forth is so much celebrated in history. 
 
 IV. The city should be taken and destroyed again. — 
 For when it is said by the prophets, Isa. xxiii. 6. ^ Howl 
 ye inhabitants of the isle;' Ezek. xxvii. 32. * What 
 city is like Tyrus, like the destroyed in the midst of the 
 sea ? xxviii 8. * They shall bring thee down to the pit, 
 and thou shalt die the deaths of them that are slain in the 
 midst of the sea :' these expressions can imply no less 
 than the insular Tyre should be destroyed as well as that 
 
 * See Prideaux' Connections, Part I Book II. and Book IV. 
 
 f See Herodotus, Book V. Chap, cvili. &c. page 330. 
 
 i: See Herodotus, Book VH. Chap. Ixxxix, Sec. page 412, in 
 Gale's edition. See Dlodorus Siculus, Book XI. page 244, in 
 Stephanus' edition, and page 3, Vol. 2. in that of Khodomanus. 
 
216 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 upon the continent ; and as the one was accomplished by 
 Nebuchadnezzar, so was the other by Alexander the 
 Great. But the same thing may be inferred more direct- 
 ly from the words of Ze<^hariah, who prophecied in the 
 reign of Darius, Zech. i. 1. vii. 1. pi-obably Darius 
 Hystaspis, many years after the former destruction of 
 the city, and consequently he must be understood to 
 speak of this latter. His words are these? ix. 3, 4. — 
 ' And Tyrus did build herself a strong hold, and heaped 
 up silver as the dust, and fine gold as the mire of the 
 streets. Behold the Lord will cast her out, and he will 
 smite her power in the sea, and she shall be devoured 
 with fire.' It is very true that Tyrus did build her a 
 stronghold; for her situation was very strong in an 
 island, and besides the sea to defend her she was for- 
 tified with a wall of 150 feet in height, and of a propor- 
 tionable thickness. * She heaped up silver as the dust, 
 and fine gold as the mire of the streets,' being the most 
 celebrated place in the world for trade and riches, ' the 
 mart of nations,' as she is called, conveying the commo- 
 dities of the east to the west, and of the west to the east. 
 But yet ' Behold the Lord will cast her out, and he will 
 smite her power in the sea, and she shall be devoured 
 with fire.' Ezekiel had likewise foretold that the city 
 should be consumed with fire, xxviii. 18. * I will bring 
 forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, 
 and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth, in the sight 
 of all tiiem that behold thee.' And accordingly Alexan- 
 der besieged, and took, and set t the city on, fire. The 
 ruins of old Tyre contributed much to the taking of the 
 new city : for + with the stones and timber and rubbish 
 ©f the old city, Alexander built a bank or causey from 
 the continent to the island, thereby literally fulfilling the 
 words of the prophet Ezekiel, xxvi. 12. < They shall 
 
 * See Arrian's expedition of Alexander, Book II. Chap. xxi. 
 page 96, in Gronovius' edition. * The height was an hundred 
 and fifty feet, and of a coiresponding thickness. 
 
 t See Quintus Curtius, Book IV. Chap. iv. * And he orders 
 fire to be thrown into the houses.' 
 
 \ See Quintus Curtius, Book IV. Chap. il. See Diodorus 
 Siculus, Book XVII. page 583, in Stephanus' edition, and 219, 
 Vol. 2. in that of Rliodomanus. 
 
THE PUOPIIECIES. 217 
 
 lay thy stones, aud thy timber, and thy dust in the midst 
 of the water.' He was seven montb.s in completing this 
 work, but the time and lai:)0ur were well employed, for by 
 means hereof he was enabled to storm and take the city. 
 As in the former siege, the inhabitants according to 
 the prophecies, fled over the Mediterranean, to the islands 
 and countries adjoining ; so they did likewise in this latter 
 siege; for Diodorua Siculus, * and Quintus Curtius, both 
 testify that they sent their wives and children to Carthage ; 
 and upon the taking of the place, the Sidoniansf secretly 
 conveyed away fifteen thousand more in their ships. Hap- 
 py were they who thus escaped, for of those who remained 
 beliind, the conqueror + slew eight thousand, in the storm- 
 ing and taking of the city, he caused two thousand after- 
 wards cruelly to be crucified, and thirty thousand he sold 
 for slaves. They had before sold some of the captive 
 Jews, and now it was returned upon thena according to 
 the prediction of Joel, iii. 6, 7, 8. ' The children also of 
 Judah, and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold; Be- 
 hold, I will return your recompense upon your own head, 
 and will sell your sons and your daughters.' This is the 
 main of the prophecy, that as they had sold the captive 
 Jews, so they should be sold themselves : and having seen 
 this so punctually fulfilled, we may more easily believe 
 that the other parts were so too, though at this distance 
 of time, and in this scarcity of ancient historians, we are 
 not able to prove all the particulars. When the city was 
 taken before, the Tyrians received their kings afterwards 
 from Babylon; and now their § king held his crown by 
 
 * 'They determined to send their children and wives, and 
 aged people to Carthag-e, They prevented a part of their cliil- 
 dren and wives from falling into the hands of the enemy, by 
 sending tliem away secretly to the Carthaginians.' See Diodo- 
 rus Siculus, Book XVII. — 'They delivered their wives and chll- 
 dren to be conveyed to Carthage.' See Quintus Curtius, Book 
 IV. Chap. iii.. 
 
 f See Quintus Curtius, Book IV. Chap. iv. 
 
 :^ See Arrian, Book II. Chap, xxiv page 100, in Gronovius' 
 edition. See the same place of Quintus Curtius. 
 
 § See Diodorus Siculus, Book XVII. page 587, in Stephanus* 
 edition, and page 524, Vol. II. in the edition of Hhodomanus. 
 * He appointed one named Byllonymus, king of the city of the 
 Tyrians.' 
 
 VOL. I. T 
 
218 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 Alexander's appointment. The cases are parallel in 
 many respects ; but the city recovered much sooner from 
 the calamities of this siege than from the fatal consequen- 
 ces of the former. For in nineteen years* time, it was 
 able to withstand the fleets and armies of Antigonus, and 
 sustained a siege of fifteen months before it was taken : 
 a plain proof, as Dr. Prideaux observes of" the great ad- 
 vantage of trade. For this city being the grand mart, 
 where most of the trade, both of the east and west did 
 then centre, by virtue hereof it was, that it so soon reviv- 
 ed to its pristine vigour." 
 
 V. It is usual with God, to temper his judgments with 
 mercy : and amidst these calamities it is also foretold, that 
 there should come a time, when the Tyrians would for- 
 sake their idolatry, and become converts to the true re- 
 ligion and worship of God. The Psalmist is thought to 
 have hinted as much in saying, xlv. 12. ' The daughter 
 of Tyre shall be there with a gift,* and again, Ixxii. 10. 
 " The kings of Tarshish, and of the isles shall bring pre- 
 sents.* Zechariah, when he foretels the calamities, 
 which the Tyrians and neighbouring nations should suf- 
 fer from Alexander, ix. 1 — 7. at the same time, predicts 
 their conversion to the true God ; but he that remaineth, 
 even he shall be for our good.' But nothing can be plain- 
 er than Isaiah's declaration, that they should consecrate 
 the grains of their merchandise, for the maintenance 
 of those who minister to the Lord in holy things, 
 xxxiii. 18. ' And her merchandise, and her hire shall 
 be holiness to the Lord ; it shall not be treasured, nor laid 
 up ; for her merchandise, shall be for them that dwell be- 
 fore the Lord, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing.* 
 Here particularly we must be much obliged to the learn- 
 ed Vitringa,t who hath fully shown the completion of 
 this article ; as indeed every one, who would rightly un- 
 derstand the prophet Isaiah, must be greatly obliged to 
 that able commentator, and will receive more light and 
 assistance from him, than from all besides him. 
 
 * See Dlodorus Siculus, Rook XIX. page 704, in Stephanas' 
 edition, and page 703, Vol. II. in that of Kliodomanus. See Pri- 
 deaux' Connections, Part I. Book VIII, year 313, and 4, of Alex- 
 ander. 
 
 t See Vitringa's Commentary on Isa. xxUi. Vol. I. page 704. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. i>19 
 
 The Tyrians were nuich addicted to the worship of 
 Hercules, as he was called by the Greeks, or of Baal, as 
 he is denominated in scripture. But in process of time, 
 by the means of some Jews and Proselytes, livini^ and 
 conversing among them, some of them also became pro- 
 selytes to tlie Jewish religion ; so that ' a great multitude 
 of people from tlie sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, came to 
 hear' our Saviour, Luke vi. 17. ' and to be healed of their 
 diseases :' and our Saviour, who was ' sent only to the 
 lost sheep of the house of Israel,* yet came ' into the 
 coasts of Tyre and Sidon ;' Matth. xv. 21, kc. IVlark vii. 
 24, &c. and the first fruits of the gospel there, was aTy- 
 rian woman, ' a woman of Canaan,' as she is called, a 
 Syro-phcenician by nation.' When St. Paul in his way 
 to Jerusalem came to Tyre, he found disciples there, who 
 were inspired by the Holy Ghost, and prophecied, Acts 
 xxi. 4. and with them he 'tarried seven days.* The Ty- 
 rians were such sincere converts to Christianity, that in 
 the time of Dioclesian's persecution, they exhibited several 
 glorious examples of confessors and martyrs: this Euse- 
 bius * himself saw, and hath amply testified in his book of 
 the martyrs of Palestine. Afterwards, when the storm of 
 persecution was blown over, the Tyrians under their 
 Bishop Paulinus, built an oratory or rather a temple, for 
 the public worship of God, the most magnificent and 
 sumptuous in all Palestine and Phoenicia, which temple 
 Eusebiusf hath described, and celebrated in a handsome 
 panegyrici whereof he hath inserted a copy in his history, 
 but modestly concealed the name of the author. Euse- 
 bius therefore commenting upon this passage of Isaiah, 
 might very well ^ say that ' it is fulfilled in our time. For 
 since a church of God hath been founded in Tyre, as well 
 as in other nations, many of its goods gotten by merchan- 
 
 * See Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History, Book VHI. Chap. vii. 
 See the Palestine Martyrs, Chap. v. and vii. 
 
 t See Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History, Book X. Chap. iv. 
 
 i ' Which we see accomplished in our time. For since a 
 church of God hath been established in the ciiy of Tyre, in like 
 manner as in ot)ier nations, much of its wealtli procured by mer- 
 chandise, offered to its church, is consecrated to the Lord. This 
 he soon afterwards exj)lains by saying", that it is applied to the 
 use of tlie ministers of the altar, or of the gospel, according to 
 the liord's appointment, that they who serve at the altar, shocild 
 live by it.* 
 
220 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 disc are consecrated to the Lord, being offered to his 
 chiipch ;' as he afterwards explains himself, " for the use 
 of the ministers of the altar or gospel, according- to the 
 institution of our Lord, that they who wait at the altar, 
 should live of the altar." In like manner St. Jerome:* 
 '' We may behold churches in Tyre built to Christ ; we 
 may see their riches that they are not laid up, nor treasur- 
 ed, but given to those who dwell before the Lord. For the 
 Lord hatfi appointed, that they who preach the gospel, 
 should live of the gospel." And how liberally, and munifi- 
 cently the bishops and clergy were at that time maintained, 
 how plentifully they were furnished with every thing, * to 
 eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing,' no man can want 
 to be informed, who is ever so little conversant in eccle- 
 siastical history. To the«e proofs we will only add, that 
 as Tyre consecrated its merchandise and hire unto the 
 Lord, so it had the honour t of being erected into an arch- 
 bishopric, and the first archbishopric under the patriar- 
 chate of Jerusalem, having fourteen bishops under its 
 primacy ; and in this state it continued several years. 
 
 VL But after all, the city should be totally destroyed, 
 and become a place only for fishers to spread their nets 
 upon. When the prophets denounced the destruction of 
 a city or country, it was not intended that such denun- 
 ciation should take eff'ect immediately. The sentence 
 of condemnation, (as I may say,) was then passed upon 
 it, but the execution might be respited for some time. 
 When it was threatened that Babylon should become a 
 desolation without an inhabitant, there were, yet many 
 ages before it was reduced to that condition ; it decayed 
 by degrees, till at last it came to nothing ; and now the 
 place is so little known, that you may look for Babylon 
 in the midst of Babylon. In like manner, Tyre was not 
 to be ruined and desolated all at once. Other things were 
 
 * We may behold in Tyre, churches built to the honour of 
 Christ, and may see that the wealth of all its inhabitants is not 
 lioarded or treasured up, but given to them who dwell before 
 
 the Lord. For so hath the Lord appointed, tliat they wiio 
 
 preach the gospel, should live b} tlie gospel. See .Terome on 
 Isa. xxiii. page 146, Vol. 111. in the Benedictine edition. 
 
 t See Sandy's Travels, Book III. page 168, sixth edition, 
 printed in 16f0. See Hoffman's Lexicon, S;c. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 2x2 i 
 
 to happen first. It was to be restored after 70 years; it 
 was to be destroyed and restored again, in order to its be- 
 ing adopted into the church. These events wet e to take 
 place, before Ezekiel's prophet^es could be fully accom- 
 plished : xxvi. 3, 4, 5, 'Thus saith the Lord C^od, Be- 
 hold, I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many 
 nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his 
 waves to come up : And they shall destroy the v»'alls of 
 Tyi'"s, and break down her towers; I will also scrape her 
 dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock : It 
 shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of 
 the sea : for I have spoken it. saith the Lord God.' He 
 repeats it to show the certainty of it, ver. 14. ' I will make 
 thee like the top of a rock ; thou shalt be a place to spread 
 nets upon ; thou shalt be built no more ; for I the Lord 
 hath spoken it, saith the Lord God :' and again, ver. 21. 
 * I will make thee a terror, and thou shalt be no more : 
 though thou be sought for, yet shalt thou never be found 
 again, saith the Lord God.* 
 
 These prophecies, like most others, were to receive 
 their completion by degrees. Nebuchadnezzar, as we 
 have seen, destroyed the old city ; and Alexander employ- 
 ed the ruins and rubbish in making his causey from the 
 continent to the island, which henceforwards were joined 
 together. '* It is no wonder therefore," as Bishop Po- 
 cock * observes, " that there are no signs of the ancient 
 city ; and as it is a sandy shore, the face of every thing is 
 altered, and the great aqueduct in many parts, is almost 
 buried in the sand," So that as to this part of the city, 
 the prophecy hath literally been fulfilled, * Thou shalt be 
 built no more ; though thou be sought for, yet shalt thou 
 never be found again.' It may be questioned, whether the 
 new city ever after that, arose to that height of power, 
 wealth, and greatness, to which it was elevated in the 
 times of Isaiah and Ezekiel. It received a great blow 
 from Alexander, not only by his taking apd burning the 
 city, but much moreby his buildingof Alexandria in Egypt, 
 which in time deprived it of much of its trade, and there- 
 by contributed more effectually to its ruin. It had the 
 
 • See Pocock's Description of the East, Vol. II. Book I. Chap. 
 XX. page 81, 82. 
 
 2 T 
 
002 DISSEUTATIONS ON 
 
 misfortune afterwards of changing its masters often, be- 
 ing sometimes in the hands of the Ptolemies kings of 
 Egypt, and sometimes of the Selucidae kings of Syria, 
 till at length it fell under the dominion of the Romans. 
 It was taken by the Saracens * about the year of Christ 
 639 in the reign of Omar their third emperor. It was 
 retaken by the Christians,! during the time of the holy- 
 war in the year 1 124, Baldwin the second of that name, 
 being then king of Jerusalem, and assisted by a fleet of 
 the Venetians. From the Christians, it was taken* again 
 in the year 1289, by the Mamalucs of Kgypt, under their 
 Sultan Alphix, who sacked and razed this and Sidon and 
 other strong towns, that they might not ever again afford 
 any harbour or slielter to the Christians From the Ma- 
 malucs, it was again taken § in the year 15 16 by Selim, 
 the ninth emperor of the Turks ; and under their domi- 
 nion it continues at present. But alas, how fallen, how 
 chani^ed from what it was formerly I For from being the 
 centre of trade, frequented by all the merchant ships of 
 the east and west, it is now become a heap of ruins, visit- 
 ed only by the boats of a few poor fishermen. So that 
 as to this part likewise of the city, the prophecy hath li- 
 terally been fulfilled, ' I will make thee like the top of a 
 rock ; thou shalt be a place to spread nets upon. 
 
 The faiiious Huetius|| knew one Hadrianus Parvillci 
 
 * See Ockley's History of the Saracens, Vol I. pag-e 340. 
 
 \ See Abul-i'hraj ills' History, Dynasty 9. pag-e 250. See Po- 
 cock, and Savag-e's Abridgment of Knolles and Rycaut, Vol. I. 
 page 26. 
 
 1: See Savage's Abridgment, Vol. I. page 95. and Pocock's De- 
 scription of the East, Vol. II. Book I. Chap. xx. page 83. 
 
 § iiee Savage's Abridgments, Vol. I. page 241. 
 
 II I remember to liave been told by Hadrianus Parvillerius, a 
 Jesuit, a man greatly distinguished for his candour, and for his 
 skill in the Arabic language, and who spent ten years of his time 
 in Syria, that long ago, when he drew near to the fallen-down 
 ruins of Tyre, he beheld at a distance, the rocks stretching out 
 towards the sea, and the stones scattered in different directions 
 upon the shore, waslied and smoothed by the sun, the waves and 
 the wind, and only \iseful for drying the fishermen's nets, which 
 tlien happened to be spread upon them, it brought to his recol- 
 lection, these words of the prophet E7.ekiel. ' It shall be a place 
 tor the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea, for 1 have 
 6pokcn it. saith the Lord God. — And I will make thee like the 
 
THE PROFHECIRS 22 J 
 
 riiis, a Jesuit, a very candid man, and a master of Arabic, 
 who resided ten years in Syria : and he remembers to 
 have heard him sometimes say, that when he approach- 
 ed the ruins of Tyre, and beheld the rocks stretched forth 
 to the sea, and the great stones scattered up and down on 
 the shore, made clean and smooth by the sun and waves 
 and winds, and useful only for the dryinij of fishermen's 
 nets, many of which happened at that time to be spread 
 thereon, it brought to his memory this prophecy of Eze- 
 kiel concerning- Tyre; xxvi. 5, 14. 'I will make thee 
 like the top of a rock ; thou shalt be a place to spread nets 
 upon ; thou shalt be built no more; for I the Lord have 
 spoken it, saith the Lord Ciod.' 
 
 Dr. Shaw* in his account of Tyre, thusexpresseth him- 
 self, "I visited several creeks and inlets in order to dis- 
 cover what provision there might have been formerly 
 made for the security of their vessels. Yet notwithstand- 
 ing, that Tyre was the chief maritime power of this 
 country, I could not observe the least token of either co- 
 t/ion or harbour, that could have been of any extraordina- 
 ry capacity, '{'he coasting ships indeed still find a tole- 
 rable good shelter from the northern winds under the 
 southern shore, but are obliged immediately to retire, 
 when the winds change to the west or south ; so that 
 there must have been some better station than this, for 
 their security and reception. In the N. N. E. part like- 
 wise of the city, we see the traces of a safe and commo- 
 dious bason lying within the walls ; but which at the same 
 time is very small, scarce forty yards in diameter. Nei- 
 ther could it ever have enjoyed a large area, unless the 
 buildings which now circumscribe it, were encroachments 
 iipon its original dimensions. Yet even this port, small 
 as it is at present, is notwithstanding, so choaked up with 
 sand and rubbish, that the boats of those poor fishermen, 
 who now and then visit this once renowned emporium, 
 can with great difficulty only be admitted." 
 
 But the fullest for our purpose is Mr. Maundrell,whom 
 it is a pleasure to quote as well as to read, and whose 
 
 top of a rock ; thou shalt be a place to spread nets upon : thou 
 shalt be built no more : for I the Lord have spoken^t, saith the 
 Lord God.' See Chap. xxvi. 5, 14. 
 • See Shaw's Travels, page 330. 
 
22 4. DISSERTATIONS ON, 
 
 journal of his journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem, thougli 
 a little book, is yet worth a folio, being so accurately and 
 ingeniously written, that it might serve as a model for all 
 writers of travels. " I'his city, * saith lie, standing in 
 the sea upon a peninsula, promises at a distance some- 
 thing very magnificent. But when you come to it, you 
 find no similitude of that glory, for which it was so re- 
 nowned in ancient times, and which the prophet Ezeki^ 
 describes, Chap. 26, 27, 28. On the north side, it has 
 an old Turkish ungarrisoned castle; besides which you 
 see nothing here, but a mere Babel of broken walls, pil- 
 lars, vaults, &c. there being not so much as one entire 
 house left ; its present inhabitants are only a few poor 
 wretches harbouring themselves in the vaults, and sub- 
 sistii^g chieliy upon fishing, who seem to be preserved in 
 this place by divine providence, as a visible argument, 
 how Ciod hath fulfilled his nerd concerning Tyre, viz. 
 that it should be afi the tofi of a rock^a place for fishers to 
 dry their nets on.'*'' 
 
 Such hath been the fate of this city, once the most fa- 
 mous in the world for trade and commerce. But trade 
 is a fluctuating thing : it passed from Tyre to Alexandria, 
 from Alexandria to Venice, from V^enice to Antwerp, from 
 Antwerp to Amsterdam and London, the English rival- 
 ling the Dutch, as the French are now rivalling both. 
 All nations almost are wisely applying themselves to 
 trade ; and it behoves those who are in possession of 
 it, to take the greatest care that they do not lose it. It 
 is a plant of tender growth, and requires sun and soil, 
 and fine seasons, to make it thrive and floiirish. It 
 will not grow like the palm-tree, which with the more 
 Aveight and pressure rises the more. Liberty is a friend 
 to that, as that is a friend to liberty. But the greatest 
 enemy to both is licentiousness, which tramples upon all 
 law and lawful authority, encourages riots and tumults, 
 promotes drunkenness and debauchery, sticks at nothing 
 to supply its extravagance, practises every art of illicit 
 gain, ruins credit, ruins trade, and will in the end ruin li- 
 berty itself. Neither kingdoms nor commonwealths, nei- 
 ther public companies nor private persons, can iDng car- 
 ry on a beneficial flourishing trade without virtue, and 
 
 » See Maundrcll, pa^e 48, 49. fif.h edition. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 225 
 
 what virtue teacheth, sobriety, industry, frugality, modes- 
 ty, honesty, punctuality, humanity, charity, the love of 
 our country, and tiie fear of God. The prophets will in- 
 form us how the Tyrians lost it; and tlie like causes will 
 always produce the like eftects, Isa. xxiii. 8, 9. * Who 
 hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city, 
 A\ hose merchants are princes, whose tiafiickers are the 
 honourable of the earth ? 'I'he Lord of hosts hath pur- 
 posed it, to stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into 
 contempt all the honourable of the earth.' Ezck. xxvii. 
 5, i. * Thus saith the Lord God, O Tyrus, thou hast 
 said, I am of perfect beauty. Thy borders are in the 
 midst of the seas, thy builders have perfected thy beauty.' 
 xxviii. 5, &c. * By thy great wisdom, and by thy traffic 
 hast thou increased thy riches, and thy heart is lifted up 
 because of thy riches. By the multitucle of thy merchan- 
 dise, they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and 
 thou hast sinned; therefore, will I cast thee as profane, 
 out of the mountain of God. Thine heart was lifted up 
 because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom 
 by reason of thy brightness. Thou hast defiled thy 
 sanctuaries, by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the 
 ini(iuity of thy trafhc ; therefore will I bring forth a fire 
 from the midst of thee, it shali devour thee, and I will 
 bring thee to ashes upon the earth, in the sight of all them 
 that behold thee. All they that know thee among the 
 people, shall be astonished at thee ; thou shaltbe a terror, 
 and never shalt thou be any more.* 
 
 XII. 
 
 THE "PUOPHECIES CONCERNING EGYPT. 
 
 EGYPT is one of the first and most famous countries 
 that we read of in history. In the Hebrew scriptures, it is 
 c^Utd Mi zrai?n and f/ie land of ff a fn ^hawing htt^n first inha- 
 bited after the deluge by Noah's youngest son Ham or 
 J-Tammov^ and by his son Mizruhn. The name of F.gufit 
 ),3 of more uncertain derivation. It appears that the rivef 
 
826 DISSEUTATIOXS OX 
 
 was so called in Homer's* time ; and from thence, as He- 
 sychius imagines, the name might be derived to the coun- 
 try. Others more probably conceive, that the meaning 
 of the name ^gyptiusf is am Cuphti, the land cf Cuphti^ 
 as it was formerly called by the Egyptians themselves, 
 and their neighbours the Arabians. Ail agree in this, 
 that the kingdom of Egypt was very ancient ; but some 
 have carried this antiquity to an extravai^ant and fabu- 
 lous height, their dynasties being utterly irreconcilable 
 to reason and history both, and no ways lo be solved or 
 credited, but by supposing that they extend beyond the 
 deluge, and that they contain the catalogues, of several 
 contc*.,porary, as well as of some successive kings and 
 kiniL,doms. It is certain that in the days of Joseph, if not 
 before those in the days of Abraham, it was a great and 
 flourishing kingdom. There are monuments of its great- 
 ness, yet remainin,^ to the surprise and astonishment of 
 all posterity, of which as we know not the time of their 
 erection, so in al! probability we shall never know the 
 time of their destruction. 
 
 This country was also celebrated for its wisdom, no 
 less than for its antiquity. It was, as I may call it, the 
 great academy of the earlier ages. Hither the wits and 
 sages of Greece, and other countries repaired, and imbib- 
 ed their learning at this fountain. It is mentioned to the 
 commendation of Moses, Acts vii, 22. that he * was learn* 
 ed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians :* and the highest 
 character given of Solomon's wisdom, 1 Kings iv. 30. is, 
 that it ' excelled all the wisdom of the children'of the east 
 country, and all the wisdom of Egypt.' But with this 
 wisdom, and this greatness, it was early corrupted ; and 
 was as much the parent of superstition, as it was the mis- 
 
 * * On the fifth day we came lo the beautifully flowing Egypt, 
 and I equipped in the rivei- F.g-vpt, vessels rowed on both sides.' 
 bee Homer's Odyssey, Book XIV. Lines 257, 258. 
 
 The fifth fair morn we stem the Egyptian tide. 
 
 And tilting o'er the bay, the vessels ride. See Pope's Trans- 
 lation. 
 
 Hesychlus saith, that Egypt is the river Nile, and ber.ce tlie 
 country by later writers, hath been called Egypt. 
 
 t See Mede's Works, Book I. Discourse 50, page 281. See 
 also Hoffman's Lexicon. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 227 
 
 iress of learning ; and the one as well as the other, were 
 from thence propagated and diftnscd over other countries. 
 It was indeed the grand corrupter of the world, the 
 source of polytheism and idolatry, to several of the east- 
 ern, and to most of the more western nations ; and dege- 
 nerated at last to such monstrous and beastly worship, 
 that we shall scarcely find a parallel in all history. 
 
 However, this was the country, where the children of 
 Israel, were in a manner born and bred ; and it must be 
 said, they were much perverted by their education, and 
 retained a fondness for the idols of Egypt ever afterwards. 
 Sieveral of Moses* laws and institutions, were plainly cal- 
 culated to wean them from, and to guard them against 
 the manners and customs of the Egyptians. But still in 
 their hearts and aflfections, they were much inclined to 
 return into Egypt. Even Solomon married his wife from 
 thence. And upon all occasions they courted the friend- 
 ship and alliance of Egypt, rather than of any of the 
 neighbouring powers. Which prejudice of theirs was 
 the more extraordinary, as the Egyptians generally treat- 
 ed them very injuriously. They oppressed them with 
 most cruel servitude in Egypt. They gave them leave 
 to depart, and then pursued them as fugitives. Shishak 
 king of Egypt, came up against Jerusalem, 1 Kings, xiv. 
 25, 26. and plundered it. And in all their leagues and 
 alliances, Egypt was to them as ' a broken reed,' Isaiah 
 xxxvi. 6. ' whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, 
 and pierce it.' Upon all these accounts, we might rea- 
 sonably expect that Egypt would be the subject of several 
 prophecies, and ue shall not be deceived in our expecta- 
 tion. 
 
 It is remarkable, that the prophecies uttered against 
 any city or country, often carry the inscription of the bur- 
 den of that city or country. The prophecies against Ni- 
 neveh, Babylon, and Tyre, were inscribed Nahum i. 1. 
 'the burden of Nineveh,' Isa. xiii. 1. 'the burden of Ba- 
 bylon, isa. xxiii. 1. 'the burden of Tyre:* and so here 
 likewise, Isaiah xix. 1. the prophecies against Egypt 
 have the title of 'the burden of Egypt.* And by bur- 
 den is commonly understood a threatening burden, some 
 prophecy, big with rum and destruction, which like 
 a dead weight is hung upon a city or country, to sink it. 
 
228 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 But the word in the ori,qinal, is of more general import 
 and signification. Sometimes it signifies a prophecy at 
 large : as the prophecies of Habakkuk and Malachi are 
 entitled ' the burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see, 
 and the burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Ma- 
 lachi :' and it is rendered a vision or /irophecy, in the Sep- 
 tuagint, and other ancient versions. Sometimes it signi- 
 fies a prophecy of good as well as of evil : as it was said 
 of the false prophets, who prophecied peace when there 
 was no peace, Lament, ii. 14. * Thy prophets have seen 
 vain and foolish things for thee, they have seen for thee 
 false burdens;* and Zechariah*s prophecy of the restora- 
 tion and triumphs of the Jews in the latter days is enti- 
 tled, Zech. xii. 1. 'the burden of the word of the Lord 
 for Israel.' Sometimes it is translated a /irofihecy, where 
 there is no prophecy, but only some grave moral sayings 
 or sentences, as Prov. xxx. 1. * the words of Agur the 
 son of Jakeh, even the prophecy ;' and again, Prov. xxxi. 
 1. ' The words of king Lemuel, the prophecy that his 
 mother taught him.' We may farther observe that the 
 word is used of the author of prophecy, as well as the 
 subject of it : and there is ' the burden of the Lord, and 
 the burden of the word of the Lord, as iveltas the burden 
 of Babylon, and the burden of Egypt.' We may be cer- 
 tain too, that this title was affixed to the prophecies by 
 the prophets themselves, and not by the scribes who col- 
 lected their writings afterwards, because it appears from 
 Jeremiah, xxiii. 33, Sec. that the scoffers and infidels of 
 his time made a jest and derision of it; and therefore they 
 are forbidden to mention it any more, as being a term of 
 ambiguous signification ; and instead of inquiring ' what 
 is the burden of the Lord,' they are commanded to say, 
 * what hath the Lord answered ? and what hath the Lord 
 spoken?' The word * in the original, is derived from a 
 verb that signifies to take up, to lift up, to bring forth, 
 and the like; and the proper meaningof it is any weighty 
 important matter or sentence, which ought not to lie ne- 
 glected, but is worthy of being carried in the memory, 
 
 • The Hebrew word Masha, a burden, is derived from Nasha, 
 which signifies, he carried, lie took up, he lifted up, he brought 
 forth. See Buxtorfs Lexicon. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. '22^ 
 
 and deserves to be lifted up and uttered with emphasis. 
 Such, eminently such, are all these prophecies, and 
 those relating to Egypt as well as tlie rest. For they 
 comprise the principal revolutions of that kingdom from 
 Uie times of the prophets to this day. 
 
 I. The first great revolution that we shall mention, 
 was the conquest of this kingdom by Nebuchadnezzar, 
 %vhich was particularly foretold by Jeremiah and EzekieJ. 
 These two prophets have both employed several sections 
 or chapters upon this occasion. Jeremiah was carried 
 into Egypt, and there foretold, Chap, xliii, the conquest 
 of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon: and some 
 of his prophecies are entitled, xlvi. 13. ' The word that 
 the Lord spake to Jeremiah the prophet, how Nebuchad- 
 nezzar king of Babylon should come and smite the land 
 of Egypt.' Ezekiel also declares, xxx. 10, 11. 'Thus 
 saith the Lord God, I will also make the multitude of 
 Egypt, to cease by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of 
 Babylon. He and his people with him, the terrible of 
 the nations shall be brought to destroy the land ; and 
 they shall draAV their swords against Egypt, and fill the 
 land with the slain :* and the conquest of this kingdom 
 WHS promised to Nebuchadnezzar, as a reward for his 
 services against Tyre, which after a long siege he took 
 and destroyed, but was disappointed of the spoil, as was 
 observed in the foregoing dissertation ; Ezek. xxix. 18, 
 19. ^ Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, caused hin 
 army to serve a great service against Tyrus : every head 
 was made bald, and every shoulder was peeled : yet had 
 he no wages, nor his army for Tyrus, for the service 
 that he had served against it. Therefore thus saith the 
 Lord God, Behold, I will give the land of Egypt unto 
 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take her 
 multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey, and it 
 shall be the wages for his army,' 
 
 Now for this early transaction we have the testimo- 
 nies* of Magasthenes and Berosus, two heathen histori- 
 
 * * For they say, that he (Nebuchadnezzar) reduced into his 
 obedience a great part of Africa.' See MegaKthencs in Jose- 
 phus' Antiquities, Book X. Chap. xi. Sect. 1. in Hudson'.'; 
 edition. * But Nebucliadnezzar, not lonj^ after, having heard 
 
 VOL. I. U 
 
230 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 ans, ^vho lived about 300 years before Christ, one of 
 -vvhom affirms expressly, that Nebuchadnezzar conquered 
 the greatest part of Africa, and the other affirms it in 
 effect, in saying, that when Nebuchadnezzar heard of 
 the death of his father, having- settled his affairs in Egypt, 
 and committed the captives whom he took in Egypt to 
 the care of some of his friends to bring them after him, 
 he hasted directly to Babylon. If neither Herodotus nor 
 Diodorus Siculus, have recorded this transaction, what 
 Scaliger* said of one of them may be very justly applied 
 lo both, that those Egyptian priests, who informed them 
 of the Egyptian affairs, taught them only those things 
 which made for the honour of their nation ; other particu- 
 lars of their idleness, servitude, and the tribute which 
 they paid to the Chaldeans they concealed. Josephus, 
 we may presume, had good authorities, and was support- 
 ed by earlier historians, when he f asserted, that Nebu- 
 chadnezzar, having subdued Coelo-Syria, waged war 
 against the Ammonites and Moabites ; and having con- 
 quered them, he invaded Egypt, and slew the king who 
 then reigned, and appointed another. 
 
 It is indeed most highly probable, that Apries was de- 
 throned, and Amasis constituted king by Nebuchadnez- 
 zar ; and I think, we may infer much from Herodotus 
 himself. The name of the king of Egypt, at that time, 
 according to Jeremiah, was Pharaoh- Hophra^ and he 
 
 of the death of his father, and having set in order his affairs in 
 Egypt, &c.* See Berosus as quoted by the same author. Sea 
 also Eusebius* Evangelical Preparation, Book IX. Chap, xl, 
 und xli. 
 
 * AVhat is plainly related by Jeremiah, Herodotus was igno- 
 j'ant of. For these Egyptian priests, who answered his ques- 
 tions concerning the affairs of Egypt, candidly told him, that 
 they only made mention of these things, which tended to the 
 honour of their nation, but that they concealed every thing re- 
 lating to their idleness, their servitude, or the tribute which 
 they paid to the Chaldeans. See Scaliger's Fragments, page 11. 
 
 f ' He (Nebucliadnczzar) invaded Calo-Syria, and having 
 made himself master of it, he fought against the Ammonites 
 and Moabites. When he had reduced these nations under liis 
 power, he made an incursion into Egypt. There he slew the 
 reigning king, and appointed another.' See Josephus' .fewish 
 Antiquities, Book X. Sect. 9. page 454, in Hudson's edition. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 251 
 
 ciin be none other than the Afiries of Herodotus. Eze- 
 kiel represents him as an arrogant impious prince, xxix. 
 3. as ' the great dragon or crocodile that lieth in the 
 midst of his rivers, which hath said, My river is my own, 
 antl I have made it for myself:' and agreeably hereto * 
 Herodotus informs us, that Apries proudly and wick- 
 edly boasted, of having established his kingdom so sure- 
 ly, that it was not in the power of any god to dispossess 
 him of it. However Jeremiah foretold, that he should 
 be taken and slain by his enemies, xliv. 30. ' Thus 
 saith the Lord, Behold, 1 will give Fhaiaoh-Hophraking 
 of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand 
 of them that seek his life, as I gave Zedckiah king of 
 Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, 
 his enemy, and that sought his life :' and accordingly 
 Apriest was taken and strangled by Amasis, who was by 
 Nebuchadnezzar constituted king in his room, 
 
 Ezekiel foretold, that the country should be desolated 
 forty years, and the people carried captive into other 
 countries: xxix. 12. ' I will make the land of Egypt 
 desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate, 
 and her cities among the cities that are laid waste, shall 
 be desolate forty years j and I will scatter the Egyptians 
 among the nations, and will disperse them through the 
 countries.' We cannot prove indeed from heathen au- 
 thors, that this desolation of the country continued ex- 
 actly forty years, though it is likely enough that this, as 
 well as the other conquered countries did not shake oft* 
 the Babylonian yoke till the time of Cyrus, which was 
 about forty years after the conquest of Egypt by Nebu- 
 chadnezzar: but we are assured by Berosus,t that Ne- 
 
 * It is reported, that Apries was fully persuaded, that no one 
 of the gods was able to put an end to his kingdom, as it seeiu» 
 ed to him to be so firmlv established. See Herodotus, Book 
 n. Sect. 169, in (bale's edition. 
 
 f See Herodotus in the place above quoted. See Diodonis 
 Siculus, IJook I. page 43, in Stephanus' edition, and page 62, 
 in that of llhodomanus. 
 
 ^ Berosus as quoted by Josephus, Book X. Chap. xl. Sect. 1. 
 page 459, in Hudson's edition, saith, * that having joined the 
 ligyptian prisoners, with those whom he had taken irom other 
 nations, their (Eg-yptian) allies, he sent them to Buijylon,' 
 
232 DISSEllTATIOKS ON 
 
 buchadnezzar took several captives in Egypt, and carried 
 them to Babylon ; and from Megasthenes* we learn, 
 that he transplanted and settled others in Pontus. So 
 true it is, that they were ' scattered among the nations, 
 and dispersed through the countries,' and might upon 
 the dissolution of the Babylonian empire return to their 
 native country. 
 
 II. Not long after this was another memorable revolu- 
 tion, and the country was invaded and subdued by Cam- 
 byses and the Persians, which is the main subject of the 
 19th chapter of Isaiah. Son)e parts indeed of this pro- 
 phecy have a near affinity with those of Jeremiah and 
 Ezekiel, concerning the conquest of Egypt by Nebu- 
 chadnezzar, and St. Jerome and others apply it to Ne- 
 buchadnezzar : but this prophecy, as well as several 
 others, might admit of a double completion, and be ful- 
 filled at both those periods. For this prophecy of Isaiah, 
 is a general representation of the calamities of the na- 
 tion ; it includes various particulars ; it is applicable^ to 
 Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians, as well as to Cam- 
 byses and the Persians. They might therefore be both 
 intended and comprehended in it : but tlie latter, I con- 
 ceive, were principally intended, and for this reasoa ; 
 because the deliverance of the Egyptians by some great 
 conqueror, and their conversion afterwards to tli€ true 
 religion, which are foretold in the latter part of this chap- 
 ter, were events consequent to the dominion of the Per- 
 sians, and not to that of the Babylonians. 
 
 The prophet begins with declaring, that the conquest 
 of Egypt should be swift and sudden, and that the idols 
 of Egypt should be destroyed; ver. 1. * Behold the Lord 
 ridcth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt, 
 and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, 
 and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.* — 
 The same thing is foretold of Nebuchadnezzar by Jere- 
 miah, xliii. 11, Sec. * And when he cometh he shall 
 smite the land of Egypt — And I will kindle a fire in the 
 houses of the gods of Egypt, and he shall burn them, 
 
 * * He c.iused a colony of them to be settled on the right 
 hand side of Pontus. See Megasthenes in Eusebius, in tlie 
 place above quoted, Chap. xli. page 456, in Vigerus' edition. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 233 
 
 and carry them away captives — He shall break also the 
 images of Bethshemesh, that is in the land of Egypt; and 
 the houses of the gods of the Egypiians shall he burn 
 with hre:* and again by Ezekiel, xxx. 13. ' Thus saith 
 the Lord God, I will also destroy the idols, and I will 
 cause their images to cease out of Noph,' or Memphis. 
 We are not furnished with ancient authors sufficient to 
 prove these particulars (however probable) in the history 
 of Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians ; but we have 
 ample proois, with relation to Cambyses and the Persians. 
 The first attempt made by Cambyses was upon Pelusium,* 
 a strong town at the entrance of Egypt, and the key of 
 the kingdom ; and he succeeded by the stratagem of 
 placing before his army a great number of dogs, sheep, 
 cats, and other ani!nals, who being held sacred by the 
 Egyptians, not one of them would casta javelin, or shoot 
 an arrow that way ; and so the town was stormed and 
 taken in a manner without resistance. Met treated the 
 gods of Egypt, with marvellous contempt, laughed at the 
 people, and chastised the priests for worshipping such 
 deities. He slew Apis, or the sacred ox, which the Egyp- 
 tians worshipped, with his own hand ; and i)ur!it and de- 
 molished their other idols and temples ; and v/ould like- 
 wise, if he had not been prevented, have destroyed the 
 famous temple of Jupiter Hammon. Ochus too, who was 
 another king of Persia, and subdued the Egyptians again 
 after they had revolted,* plundered their temples, and 
 caused Apis to be slain and served up in a banc;uet to him 
 and his friends. 
 
 The prophet foretels, that they should also be misera- 
 bly distracted with civil wars; ver. 2. ' And I will set 
 the Egyptians against the Egyptians ; and they shall fight 
 
 • See Polyjenus' Stratagems, Book VII. Chap. is. page 620, in 
 Maasvicius' edition. 
 
 f See Herodotus, Book HI. Sect. 27, &c. page 172, and Sect. 
 37, &c. pa^e 176, in Gale's edition. See Stiabo, Book XVH. 
 page 805, in the Paris edition, and page 1158, m the Amsterdam 
 edition of 1707- See Justin, Book 1. Chap. ix. page 29, in Grx- 
 vius' edition. 
 
 4: See Diodorus Siculus, Book XVI. page 537, in Stephanus' 
 edition, and page 448 of Vol. 2. in the edition of Rhodomanus. 
 See Plutarch upon Isis and Osiris, page 355, in the Paris edition 
 cfl62i. 
 
 u 2 
 
234 DISSERTATIONS OX 
 
 every one against his brother, and every one against his 
 neighbour, city against city, and kingdom against king- 
 dom ;' iiGJnos epi nomon as the Seventy translate it, pro- 
 vince against province, Egypt being divided into nomoi^ 
 prefectures or provinces. Vitringa and others apply this 
 to the time of the dodtkarchia * or the reign of the twelve 
 kings, the anarchy that preceded, and the civil wars that 
 ensued, wherein the genius and fortune of Psammitichus 
 prevailed over the rest. But it may perhaps be more 
 properly applied to what agrees better in point of time, 
 with other parts of the prophecy, f the civil wars between 
 Apries and Amasis, at the time of Nebuchadnezzar's in- 
 vasion, and the % civil wars between Tachos, Nectanebus, 
 and the Mendesian, a little before the country was finally 
 subdued by Ochus. 
 
 It is no wonder, that in such distractions and distresses 
 as these, the Egyptians being naturally a cowardly peo- 
 ple, should be destitute oi counsel^ and that ' the spirit of 
 Egypt should fail in the midst thereof,' as the prophet 
 foretels : ver. 3. and that being also a very superstitious 
 people, ' they should seek to the idols, and to the charm- 
 ers, and to thepti that have familiar spirits, and to the wi- 
 zards.' But their divination was all in vain : it was their 
 fate to be subdued and oppressed by cruel lords and ty- 
 rants ; ver. 4. ' And the Egyptians will I give over into 
 the hand of a cruel lord ; and a fierce king shall rule over 
 them,saith the Eord, the Lord of hosts.' This is the most 
 essential part of the prophecy ; and this Grotius and 
 others understand of Psammitichus ; but it doth not ap- 
 pear from history, that Psammitichus was such ?i fierce 
 and cruel tyrant ; on the contrary he § re-established the 
 
 * See Herodotus, Book II. Sect. 147 — 154, page 146 — 150, in 
 Gale's edition. See Biodorus Siculus, Book 1. page 41, &c. in 
 Stephanas' edition, and page 59, &.c. Vol. I, in that of Rhodo- 
 xnanus. 
 
 f See Herodotus, Book II. Sect. 169, page 155, in Gale's edi- 
 lion. See Diodorus Siculus, Book 1 pag-e 43, in Stephanus' edi- 
 tion, and page 62, Vol. I. in that of Rhodomanus. 
 
 \ See Plutarch's life of Ag-esilaus. Sec Diodorus Siculus, 
 Book XV. page 506, in Stephanus' edition, and page 390, &c. 
 Vol. 2, in that of Rhodomanus. 
 
 § See Herodotus, Book II. Sect. 153—157. page 150. 151. in 
 Gale's edition. See Diodorus Siculus, Book 1. page 42, in Ste- 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 255 
 
 government, and reigned long and prosperously for Egypt 
 in many respects. It may'with greater truth and proprie- 
 ty, be understood of Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians, 
 whose dominion was very grievous to the conquered na- 
 tions : but with the greatest propriety and justice, it may 
 be applied to the Persians, and especially to Cambyses 
 and Ochus ; one of whom put the yoke upon the neck of 
 the Egyptians, and the other rivetted it there ; and who 
 are both branded in history for cruel tyrants and mon- 
 sters of men. Tlie Egyptians said that Cambyses, after 
 his killing of Apis, was stricken with madness ; but his 
 actions, saith Dr. Prideaux * after Herodotus, showed him 
 to have been mad long before. He could hardly have 
 performed these great exploits, if he had been a dowa- 
 right madman : and yet it is certain, that he was very 
 much like one ; there was a mixture of barbarity and 
 madness in ail his behaviour. Ochus was the crudest 
 and worst of all the kings of Persia, and was so destruc- 
 tive and oppressive to Egypt in particular, that his favour- 
 ite eunuch Bagoas, f who was an Egyptian, in revenge of 
 his injured country, poisoned him. The favours shown 
 to himself could not compensate for the wrongs done to 
 his country. None other allegation is wanting to prove, 
 that the Persian yoke was galling and intolerable to the 
 Egyptians, than their frequent revolts and rebellions, 
 which served st'U but to augment their misery, and en- 
 slave them more and more. 
 
 The prophet then proceeds to set forth in figurative 
 language, ver. 5 — 10. the consequences of this subjection 
 and slavery, the poverty and want, the mourning and la- 
 mentation, the confusion and misery, which should be 
 entailed on both them and their posterity ; and afterwards 
 
 phanus' edition, and page 60. Vol. I. in that of Rliodomanus. 
 See also Marsham's Clironicle, a.^e XVIIT. pag-e 505. 
 
 * See Prideaux' Connections, Part I. Book lU. year 525, and 
 5 of Cambyses. See Herodotus, Book HI. Sect. 30. page 173, in 
 Gale's edition. * But Cambyses (as tiie Egyptians say,) on ac- 
 count of this wickedness, was immediately stricken with mad- 
 ness, but before that, he was not in bis right senses.* 
 
 t See Diodorus Siculus, Book XVI. page 564, in Stephanus* 
 edition, and 490, of Vol. 2. in that of Rhodomanus. See Aelian's 
 Various history. Book VJ Chap. viii. 
 
236 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 he recounts ver. 11 — 17. the immediate causes of these 
 evils, the folly of the princes and rulers who valued thera- 
 selves upon their wisdom, and the cowardice, and effemi- 
 nacy of the people in general. These things will plainly 
 appear to any one, by perusing the history of the nation, 
 but it would carry us beyond ail bounds, to prove them 
 by an induction of particulars. In general it may be said, 
 that Egypt would not have become a prey to so many 
 foreign enemies, but through the excessive weakness of 
 the Egyptians, both in counsel and in action. They had 
 not the courage even to defend themselves. They trusted 
 chiefly to their Grecian and other mercenaries, who in- 
 stead of defending, were often the first to betray them. 
 
 III. The next memorable revolution was effected by 
 Alexander the Great, who subverted the Persian empire 
 in Egypt, as well as in all other places ; and this event, I 
 entirely agree with Vitringa, is pointed out to us in this 
 same 1 9th chapter of Isaiah. It is also foretold, that 
 about the same time several of the Egyptians should be 
 converted to the true religion, and the worship of the God 
 of Israel. And as these events, which are the subjects of 
 t'ne latter part of the chapter, ver. 18 — 25. followed upon 
 the subversion of the Persian e rtpire ; we may be satisfied, 
 that our application of the former part of the chapter to 
 the Persians in particular, was not a misapplication of the 
 prophecy. In that clay, that is, after that day, after that 
 tinie, as the phrase signifies, and should be translated in 
 several passages of the prophets, ' shall five cities in the 
 land of Egypt speak the language of Canaan,' profess the 
 religion of the Hebrews ; as in Zephaniah iii'. 9. * I will 
 turn to the people a pure language,' signifies, I will re- 
 store to the people a pure religion, * that they may all 
 call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one 
 consent. And swear to the Lord of hosts : one shall be 
 called the city of destruction,' or of the sun, as it is in the 
 margin of our bibles, meaning Heliopolis, a famous city 
 in Egypt, ' In that day shall there be an altar to the Lord, 
 in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the bor- 
 der thereof to the Lord,' such as Jacob erected, Gep. 
 xxviii. IS. at Lethel. ' And it shall be for a sign, and for 
 a witness unto the Lord because of the oppressors, and he 
 shall send them a saviour and a great one, and he shall 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 237 
 
 deliver them. And the Lord shall be known to Egypt, 
 and the Eijyptians shall know the Lord in that day, and 
 shall do sacrifice and oblation, yea, they shall vow a vow 
 unto the Lord, and perform it.' The propliet describes 
 the worship of future times, according to the rites and 
 ceremonies of his own time. ' And the Lord shall smite 
 Egypt, he shall smite and heal it, and they shall return 
 even to the Lord, and he shall be intreated of them, and 
 shall heal them.' The pi'ophet then proceeds tp show, 
 that Assyria or Syria in Egypt, which used to be at great 
 enmity with each other, shall be united in the same wor- 
 ship by the intermediation of Israel, and they three shall 
 be a blessing in the earth. * In that day shall there be a 
 high way out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall 
 come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the 
 Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians. In that day 
 shall Israel be the third with Egypt, and with Assyria, 
 even a blessing in the midst of the land : Whom the 
 Lord of hosts shall bles.s, saying, Blessed be Egypt my 
 people, and Assyria the work of my hands, aiid Israel 
 mine inheritance.* 
 
 Here is clearly foretold, that a great prince, a saviour 
 aent by God^ from a foreign country, should deliver the 
 Egyptians from their Persian op.Jiressors^ and heal their 
 country, \vhich was smitten of God and afiiicted : and who 
 could this be, but Alexander, who is always distinguish- 
 ed by the name of Alexander the grtat^ and whose first 
 successor in Egypt was called the great Ptolemy, and Pto- 
 lemy Soter or the saviour ? Upon Alexander's first com- 
 ing into Egypt, the people * all cheerfully submitted to 
 him out of hatfed to the Persians, so that he became 
 master of the country without any opposition. For this 
 reason, he treated them v/ilh humanity and kindness, 
 built a city there, which after his own name he called 
 Alexandria, appointed oneof their own country for their 
 civil governor, and permitted them to be governed by 
 their own laws and customs. By these changes and re- 
 
 * See Diodorus Sicukis, Book XVII. p.ig-e 588, In Stepbanus' 
 edition, and pup:e 526,'of Vol. 2. in that of Rhodomanus. See 
 Arrian, Rook lit. Chap, i, 8cc. See Quintiis Cuvtius, Book lY. 
 Cliap. vii. and viii. 
 
23S DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 gulations. and by the prudent and gentle administration 
 of some of the first Ptolemies, Egypt revived, trade and 
 learning nourished, and for a while peace and plenty 
 blessed the land. 
 
 But it is more largely foretold, that about the same 
 time the true religion and the worship of the God of Is- 
 rael, should begin to spread and prevail in the land of 
 Egypt : and what event was ever more unlikely to hap- 
 pen, than the conversion of a people so sunk and lost in 
 superstition and idolatry of the worst and grossest kind? 
 It is certain that many of the Jews> after Nebuchadnezzar 
 had taken Jerusalem, fled into Egypt, and carried along 
 with them Jeremiah the prophet, Jer. xliii. he. who there 
 tittered most of his prophecies, concerning the conquest 
 of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar. From thence some know- 
 ledge of God, and some notice of the prophecies might 
 easily be derived to the Egyptians. It is said that this 
 alteration should be effected principally in Jive cities. If 
 a certain number be not here put for an uncertain, I 
 should conclude with Le Clerc, * that the ^/ive cities, 
 wherein the worship of the one true God was received, 
 were Heliopolisy which is particularly named in the text, 
 and the four others, which are mentioned in Jeremiah, 
 xliv. 1. as the places of the residence of the Jews, Migdol 
 or Magdolus, Tahjianhes^ or Daphne, JVofih or Memphis, 
 
 * 'If one might form a conjecture, concerning the names of five 
 (four) other cities, I would say that they are these mentioned by 
 Jeremiah in Chup. xliv. 1. namely Migdol, called by Herodotus, 
 Magdolus, Tahpanhes, called by the same author Daphne, Noph, 
 or Alemphis, and the fourth, in the country of Pathros, or Pa- 
 thyrisjthe name of which is not mentioned, perhaps Ammon — No, 
 orDiospolis. In these cities dwelt the Jews, who through fear of 
 the Chaldeans, migrated into Egypt, and who forced Jeremiah 
 to accompany them thither. Although these men were very 
 wicked in general, on which account, the prophet denounced 
 against them very heavy calamities, yet amongst them there 
 might be a few godly men, who made known to the Egyptians 
 liis predictions. And these last, when they saw them accom- 
 plished, embraced the Jewish religion. This however is not to 
 he understood of all the inhabitants of these places, but only of 
 some. For that is a sullicient reason, why mention should be 
 juude of five cities, that were to speak the language of Canaan, 
 and to swear by the name of Jehovah. See his Commentary on 
 the passage. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 239 
 
 and the fourth in the country of Pat fir os or Thebais, not 
 mentioned by name, perhaps Ammon — No, or Diospolis. 
 There the Jews chiefly resided at that time : and though 
 they were generally very wicked men, and disobedient to 
 ilie word of the Lord, and upon that account the prophet 
 Jeremiah denounced the heaviest judgments against 
 them : yet some good men might be mingled among 
 them, who might open his prophecies to the Egyptians, 
 and they themselves, when they saw them fuh'illed, might 
 embrace the Jewish religion. But this is to be under- 
 stood not of all the inhabitants of those places, but only 
 of some; which is sufficient to justify the expression of 
 ' five cities speaking the language of Canaan, and swear- 
 ing by the Lord of hosts.' 
 
 Alexander the Great * transplanted many of the Jews 
 into his new city of Alexandria, and allowed them privi- 
 leges and immunities, equal to those of the Macedonians 
 themselves. Ptolemy Soter f carried more of them into 
 Egypt, who there enjoyed such advantages, that not a few 
 of the other Jews went thither of their own accord ; the 
 goodness of the country, and the liberality of Ptolemy, al- 
 luring them. Ptolemy Philadelphusjt redeemed and releas- 
 ed the captive Jews : and in his reign, or his father's, the 
 books of Moses were translated into Greek, and after- 
 wards the other parts of the Old Testament. The third 
 Ptolemy, § called Euergetes, having subdued all Syria, 
 did not sacrifice to the gods of Egypt, in acknowledgment 
 of his victory ; but coming to Jerusalem, made his obla- 
 tions to God, after the manner of the Jews ; and the king's 
 example, no doubt, would influence many of his subjects. 
 The sixth Ptolemy, I| called Philoraetor, and his queen 
 
 * See Jewish wars. Book H. Chap, xvlii. Sect. 7. page 1098. 
 See his work against Apion, Book l\ Sect. 4. page 1364, in 
 Hudson's edition. 
 
 t See Josephus' Antiquities, Book XII. Chap. i. page 508. See 
 Hecatxus in Josephus. See him against Apion, Book I. Sect. 
 22. page 1347, in Hudson's edition. 
 
 t See Josephus' Antiquities, Book XII. Chap. ii. page 508. See 
 liim against Apion, Sect. 4. page 1365, in Hudson's edition. See 
 Hody on the Greek version, Book H. Ch.ap. ii. 
 
 § See Josephus against Apion, Book H, Sect. 5. page 1365, in 
 Hudson's edition. 
 
 tj See Josephus against Apion in the same place. See his An- 
 
240 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 Cleopatra committed the whole management of the king- 
 dom to two Jews, Onias and Dositheus, who were their 
 chief ministers and generals, and had the principal direc- 
 tion of all aftairs both civil and military. This Onias ob- 
 tained a license from the king and queen to build a tem- 
 ple for the Jews of Egypt like that at Jerusalem, alleging 
 for this purpose this very prophecy of Isaiah, that there 
 should 'be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land 
 of Egypt :' and the king and queen in their rescript, make 
 honourable mention of the lav/ and of the prophet Isaiah, 
 and express a dread of sinning against God. The place 
 chosen for the building of this temple, was in the prefec- 
 ture of Heliopolis or iht city of the sun^ which place is 
 likewise mentioned in the prophecy. It was built after 
 the model of the temple at Jerusalem, but not so sump- 
 tuous and magnificent. He himself was made high priest ; 
 other priests and Levites were appointed for the minis- 
 tration ; and divine service was daily performed there, in 
 the same manner as at Jerusalem, and continued as long ; 
 for Vespasian, having destroyed the temple at Jerusalem, 
 ordered this also to be demolished. 
 
 By these means the Lord must in som.e degree * have 
 been known to Egypt, and the Egyptians must have 
 known the Lord :' and without doubt there must have 
 been many proselytes among them. Among those who 
 came up to the feast of Pentecost, Acts ii. 10. there are 
 particularly mentioned ' the dwellers in Egypt, and in the 
 parts of Lybia about Cyrene, Jews and proselytes.' Nay, 
 from the instance of Candace's eunuch, Acts.viii. 27. we 
 may infer that there were proselytes, even beyond Egypt, 
 in Ethiopia. Thus were the Jews settled and encour- 
 aged in Egypt, insomuch that Philo * represents their 
 number as not less 'than a hundred myriads, or ten hun- 
 dred thousand men. Nor were they less favoured or re- 
 warded for their services, by the kings of Syria. Seleu- 
 
 tiquitles, Book XIII Chap. iii. page 562. Sec his Jewish wars. 
 Book 1. Chap. i. Sect. 1. page 958! Book VJI. Chap. x. Sect. 2. 
 page 1325, in Hudson'^ edition. 
 
 • * They were not sliortof a hundred myriads. ' See him against 
 Flaccus, page 9/1, in the Varisediiion o'f 1640. 
 
iiiE rnoriiECiES. 241 
 
 c;us Nicator * made them free of the cities, which he built 
 in Asia and the lower Syria, and of Antioch itself the ca- 
 pital of his kingdom ; and granted the same rights and 
 privileges to them, as to the Greeks and Macedonians. 
 Antiochus the Great, -j- published several decrees in fa- 
 vour of the Jews, both of those who inhabited Jerusalem, 
 and of those who dwelt in Mesopotamia and Babylonia. 
 Josephus \ saith, that the Jews gained more proselytes at 
 Antioch. And thus by the means of the Jews and pro- 
 selytes dwelling in Egypt and Syria, Israel, Egypt and 
 Syria were in some measure united in the same worship. 
 But this was more fully accomplished, when these coun- 
 tries became Christian, and so were made members of 
 the same body in Christ Jesus. And we piously hope and 
 believe, that it will still receive its most perfect comple- 
 tion in the latter days, when Mohammedism shall be 
 rooted out, and Christianity shall again flourish in these 
 countries, when ^ the fulness of the Gentiles shall come 
 in, and all Israel shall be saved.' 
 
 IV. But there is a remarkable prophecy of Ezekiel, 
 Avhich comprehends in little, the fate of Egypt, from the 
 days of Nebuchadnezzar to the present. For therein it 
 is foretold, that after the desolation of the land, and the 
 captivity of the people by Nebuchadnezzar, xxix. 14, 15. 
 it ' sliould be a base kingdom : It shall be the basest of 
 the kingdoms, neither shall it exalt itself any more above 
 the nations ; for I will diminish them, that they shall no 
 more rule over the nations :' and again in the next chap- 
 ter, ver. 12, 13. * I will sell the land into the hand of the 
 Avicked, and I will make the land waste, and all that is 
 therein, by the hand of strangers : and there shall be no 
 more a prince of the land of Egypt.' Such general pro- 
 phecies, like general rules, are not to be understood so 
 strictly absolute, as if they could not possibly admit of 
 any kind of limitation or exception whatever. It is suffi- 
 cient if they hold good for the most part, and are confirm- 
 ed by the experience of many ages, though perhaps not 
 
 * See Josephus' Antiquities, Book XII. Chap. iii. page 519, iti 
 Hudson's edition. 
 
 f See the same place of Josephus. 
 
 t See hiB Jewish wars, Book VII. Chap. iii. Sect. 3. page 1290, 
 in Hudson's edition. 
 
 VOL. I X 
 
24,2 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 without an exception of a few years. The prophets ex- 
 hibit a i^cneral view of things, without entering into the 
 particular exceptions. It was predicted, Gen. ix. 25. that 
 ' Canaan should be a servant of servants unto his brethren ;' 
 and generally his posterity were subjected to the descend- 
 ants of his brethren ; but yet they were not always so : 
 upon some occasions they were superior ; and Hannibal 
 ;^.nd the Carthaginians obtained several victories over the 
 Romans, though tliey were totally subdued at last. In 
 like manner, it was not intended by this prophecy, that 
 Egypt should ever afterwards, in every point of time, but 
 only that it should for much the greater part of time, be 
 a base kini{dom^ be tributary and subject to strangers. 
 This is the purport and meaning of the prophecy ; and 
 the truth of it will best appear by a short deduction of the 
 history of Egypt, from that time to this. 
 
 Amasis was left king by Nebuchadnezzar ; and as he 
 field his crown by the periiission and allowance of the Ba- 
 bylonians, there is no room to doubt that he paid them 
 tribute for it. Berosus, the Chaldean historian,* in a 
 fragment preserved by Josephus, sptaketh of Nebuchad- 
 nezzar's reducing Egypt to his obedience, and afterwards 
 of his settling the affairs of the country, and carrying cap- 
 tives from thence to Babylon, By his constituting and 
 settling the affairs of Egypt, nothing less could be meant 
 than his appointing the governors, and the tribute that 
 they should pay to him; and by carrying some Egyp- 
 tians captive to Babylon, he plainly intended not only to 
 weaken the country, but also to have them as hostages to 
 secure the obedience of the rest, and the payment of their 
 tribute. If Herodotus had given no account of these 
 transactions, the reason is evident, according to the obser- 
 vation cited before from Scaliger : the Egyptian priests 
 would not inform him of things, which were for the dis- 
 credit of their nation. However we may, I think, confirm 
 the truth of this assertion even by Herodotus' own narra- 
 tion. The Persians succeeded in the right of the Baby- 
 
 * * And having settled his aflTuh'S in Eg-ypt, and in the rest of 
 the country, he sent the prisoners which he hud taken therein, 
 to Babylon. See Josephus' Antiquities, Book X. Chap. xi. SeeL 
 1. paje 459, in Hudson's edition. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 243 
 
 lonians : and it appears* by Cyrus' sending for the best 
 physician in Egypt to Amasis, who was obliged to force 
 one from his wife and children ; and by Cambyses' de- 
 manding the daughter of Amasis, not for a wife but for a 
 mistress ; by these instances, I say, it appears that they 
 considered them as their tributaries and subjects. And in- 
 deed no reason can be assigned for the strong resent- 
 ment of the Persians against Amasis, and t]u:ir horrid 
 barbarity to his dead body, so probable and satisfactory, 
 as his having revolted and rebelled against them. Hero- 
 dotus himself t mentions the league and alliance, which 
 Amasis made with Croesus king of Lydia against Cyrus. 
 Upon the ruins of the Babylonian empire Cyrus erect- 
 ed the Persian. Xenophon hath written the life of this 
 extraordinary man : and he affirm s,t both in the intro- 
 duction and near the conclusion of his history, that Cyrus 
 also conquered Egypt, and made it part of his empire ; 
 and there is not a more faithful, as well as a more ele- 
 gant historian than Xenophon. But whether Cyrus did 
 or not, it is universally allowed that his son Cambyses (s 
 did conquer Egypt, and deprive Psammenitus of his 
 crown, to which he had newly succeeded upon the death 
 of his father Amasis. Cauibyses purposed to have made 
 Psammenitus administrator of the kingdom under him, 
 as it was the custom of the Persians to do to the conquer- 
 ed princes : but Psammenitus forming schemes to recov- 
 er the kingdom, and being convicted thereof, was forced 
 to drink bull's blood, and thereby put an end to his life. 
 The Egyptians groaned under the yoke near forty years. 
 Then they revolted,!! towards the latter end of the reign 
 of Darius, the son of Hystaspis : but his son and succes- 
 sor Xerxes, in the second year of his reign, subdued them 
 again, and reduced them to a worse coiiditiou of servi- 
 tude than they had been in under Darius, and appointed 
 
 * See Herodotus, Book lU. Sect. 1. page 161, in Gale's edi- 
 tion. 
 
 f See Herodotus, IJook I. Sect. 77 page ?yl', in Gale's edition, 
 
 % See Xenophon*s Cyropredia, Book !. pag-e 2^ Book YHf. pag^ 
 127, in Henry Stephens' edition of 15r^:I. 
 
 % See Herodotus, Book HI. Sect. 10 — 15. page 164 — 167, in 
 Gale's edition. 
 
 II See Herodotus, Book Yll. Sect. 1, and 7. page 382, and 584, 
 in Gale's edition. 
 
244i DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 his brother Achxmenes governor of Egypt. About four 
 and twenty years after this, when * the Egyptians heard 
 of the troubles in Persia, about the succession to th« 
 throne after the death of Xerxes, they revolted again at 
 the instigation of Inarus king of Lybia ; and havhig drove 
 away the Persian tribute-collectors, they constituted Ina- 
 rus their king. Six years were euQployed in reducing 
 ihem to obedience, and ail Egypt submitted again to the 
 king Artaxerxes Longimanus, except Amyrtaeus who 
 reigned in the fens, whither the Persians could not ap- 
 proach to take him : but Inarus, the author of these evils, 
 was betrayed to the Persians, and was crucified. However 
 they t permitted his son Thannyra to succeed his father 
 in the kingdom of Lybia ; and Egypt continued in sub- 
 jection all the remaining part of the long reign of Artax- 
 erxes. In the ± tenth year of Darius Nothus they revok- 
 ed again under the conduct of Aniyrtxus, who sailed out 
 of the fens, drove the Persians out of Egypt, made him- 
 self master of the country, and reigned there six years; 
 but his son Pausiris,$ as Herodotus informs us, succeeded 
 him in his kingdom by the favour of the Persians; this 
 argues that the Persians had again subdued Egypt, or at 
 least that the king was not established without their con- 
 sent and approbation. It is certain, that after this, Egypt 
 gave much trouble to the Persians. Artaxerxes Mnemon|j 
 made several efforts to re-conquer it, but all in vain. It was 
 not totally and finally subdued till the ninth ^ year of the 
 
 * See Thucydldes, Book I. Sect. 104— 110. pa^e 57—60, m 
 Hudson's edition. See Diodorous Siculu.s, JJook XI. page 279, 
 in Stephanas' edition, and page 54, &.c. of Vol. 2. in that of Rho- 
 domanus. 
 
 t See Herodotus, Book III. Sect. 15. pag-e 167. in Gale's edi- 
 tion. 
 
 t See Etisebius' Chronicle. See Usher's Annals, year of ilic 
 norld 3590, page 146. See Prideaux* Connections, Part I. ]5ook 
 \ 1. year 414. 
 
 § See Herodotus, Book III. Sect. 15, in tlie same place. 
 
 Ij See Diodorus Siculus, Book XV. page 478, in Sttphanns' 
 edition, and pag-e 357, &c. of Vol. 11. in that oilihodomanu.«. 
 
 If See Diodorus Siculus, Book XVI. page 5373 i'^ the edition 
 of Stephanas, page 448, of Vol. H. In that of Ilhodomaniis. See 
 Prideaux' Connections, Part I. Book VII. and }eiU 330. See 
 Usher's Annals, year of the world 3654. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 245 
 
 Mlowlnij; reign of Ochus. about 3 50 years before Chn>»t ; 
 when Nectanebus the hist kinj^ fied into Elhiopici, and 
 Ochus became absolute master of the country, and liav- 
 ing appointed one of his nol)it's, named Fherendates, lo 
 be his viceroy and [governor of Ej^ypt, he returned with 
 p:reat t>lory, and iinmense treasures to Babylon. E.t^ypt 
 from that time liath never l)een able to recover its liber- 
 ties. It hath always been subject to straniijers. It hath 
 never been g;oveined by a king of its own. From this 
 last revolt of the Egyptians in the tenth year of Darius 
 Nothus, to their total subjugation in the ninlh year of 
 Ochus, I think there are computed sixty-four years ; and 
 this is the only exception of any significance to the gene- 
 ral truth of the prophecy. But what are sixty-four years, 
 compared to two thousand, three hundred and twenty-five.'' 
 for so many years have passed from the con-^uest of 
 Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar to this time. They are really 
 as notliing, and not worth mentioning in comparison : and 
 during these sixty-four years, we see, that the Egyptians 
 were not entirely independent of the Persians; Paiisiris 
 succeeded his father Amyrtxus in the kingdom by their 
 consent and favour ; and during the rest of the time the 
 Egyptians lived in continual fear and dread of the Persi- 
 ans, and were either at war with them, or with one ano- 
 ther. And perhaps this part of the prophecy, was not in- 
 tended to take effect immediately: its completion might 
 be designed to commence from this period, when the 
 Persians had totally subdued Egypt, and then there 
 should 'be no more a prince of the land of Egypt." 
 
 After the Persians, Egypt came into the hands of tlie 
 ISIacedonians. It submitted to Alexander the Great, 
 v.'ithout striking a stroke ; made no attempts at that fa- 
 vourable juncture to recover its liberties, but was content 
 only to change its master. After the death of Alexander, 
 it fe ! to the share of Ptolemy one of his four famous 
 captains, and was governed by his family for several ge- 
 nerations. The two or three first of the Ptolemies were 
 ^vise and potent princes, but most of the rest were prodi- 
 gies of luxury and wickedness. It is Strabo's * observa- 
 
 * 'All af.er the third Ptolemy, governed the stale Tory ill^ 
 being debauched by luxury; but of all, the worst were the fourth. 
 X 2 
 
246 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 tion, that all, after the third Ptolemy, governed very ill, 
 being corrupted by luxury ; but they who governed worst 
 of all were the fourth, and the seventh, and the last called 
 Auletes. The persons here intended by Strabo, were * 
 Ptolemy Philopater or the lover of his father^ so called 
 (as Justin conceives,) by way of antiphrasis, or with a con- 
 trary meaning, because he was a parricide, and murdered 
 both his father and his mother ; and Ptolemy Physcon \ 
 or the big-bellied, who aiiectcd the title of Eiiergetea or 
 the benefactor^ but the Alexandrians more justly named 
 him Kakergetes or the malefactor ; and Ptolemy Auletes? 
 or the fii/ier^ so denominated because he spent much of 
 his time in playing on the pipe, and used to contend for 
 the prize in the public shows. This kingdom of the Ma- 
 cedonians § continued from the death of Alexander 294 
 years, and ended in the famous Cleopatra, of whom it is 
 not easy to say, whether she excelled more in beauty, or 
 wit, or wickedness. 
 
 After the Macedonians, Egypt fell under the dominion 
 of the Romans. The Romans had either by virtue of trea- 
 ties, or by force of arms obtained great authority there, 
 and were in a manner arbiters of the kingdom before, but 
 after the death of Cleopatra, jj Octavius Csesar reduced it 
 into the form of a Roman province, and appointed Corne- 
 lius Gallus, the friend of Virgil, to whom the tenth ec- 
 logue is inscribed, the first prefect or governor : and so it 
 
 »ntl seventh, and last, called Auletes.' See Strabo, Book XVTI. 
 page 796, in the Paris edition, and page 1146, in the Amster- 
 dam edition of 1707. 
 
 * See Justin, Book XXIX. Chap. T. Sect. 5. page 466, in Grx- 
 yius' edition. ' Ptolemy had gotten possession of Egypt by slay- 
 ing his father and mother. He had the simame of Philopater, 
 by way of irony given to him, that is, the lover of his father.* 
 
 f See Athenseus, Book XII. page 549, in Causabon's edition. 
 
 ■^ See Strabo in the same place. 
 
 § See the Stromata of Clement of Alexandria, Book I. page 
 143, in the Sylburgh edition, and page 396, in Potter's edition. — 
 See Prideaux' Connections, Part ]I. Book VIII. }ear 30, and 8 
 of Herod. 
 
 II See Strabo, Book XVII. page 797, and 819, in the Paris 
 edition, and page 1147, and 1175, in the Amsterdam edition of 
 5707. See Dion Cassius, Book LI. page 455. in Leunclavius* 
 «<lition. 
 
Tflfcl PUOPflEClES. 24r 
 
 aoniinued to be governed by a prefect or viceroy sent fiotn 
 Rome, and from Constantinople, wben after tbe division 
 of the Roman empire, it fell to tbe share of the eastern 
 emperors. It was first made a province of the Roman 
 empire in the year * 30 before Christ, and in this state it 
 remained without much variation till the year 6-1 1 after 
 Christ, that is 670 years in the whole, from the reign of 
 Augustus Caesar, to that of the emperor Heraclius. ^ 
 
 Then it was that the Saracensf in the reign of Omar 
 their third emperor, and under the command of Amrou 
 the son of Aas, invaded and conquered Egypt, took Mis- 
 rah (formerly Memphis, now Cairo) by sto^ m, and also 
 Alexandria, after they had besieged it fourteen months, 
 and had lost twenty-three thousand men before it : and 
 the rest of the kingdom soon followed the fortune of the 
 capital cities, and submitted to the conqueror. There 
 is one thing which was effected partly in the v.ars of the 
 Romans, and partly by the Saracens, and which no lover 
 of learning can pass over without lamentation ; and that 
 is, the destruction of the library at Alexandria. This 
 famous library was founded by the first Ptolemies, and 
 was so much eularged and improved by their successors, 
 that it amounted t to the number of seven hundred thou- 
 sand volumes. It consisted of two parts,§ one in that 
 quarter of the city called Baruchion, containing four 
 hundred thousand volumes, and the other within the Se- 
 
 rapeum, containing three hundred thousand volumes . 
 
 It happened, that v.'hile Julius Cicsar was making war 
 upon the inhabitants of Alexandria, 1i the library in Ba- 
 ruchion, together with other buildings was burnt, and the 
 
 * See Usher, Prideaux, and others, vmder that year. 
 
 f See Elmacinus' History of the Saracens, Book I. page 2o, 
 24. See Abul-Pharajius' History, I>yT\. 9. pag-e 112, Pocock's 
 version. See Ocklev's History of the Saracens, Vol. I. page 
 344. 
 
 4: See Ammianus Marcellinus, Book XXil. Chap. xvi. page 
 343, in Valesiiis' edition of 1681, and tlie note of Valesius on 
 tbe passage. See Aldus Gellius, Book VJ. Chap. xvii. 
 
 § See Epipbanius on measuits and weights. Vol. 11. page 168, 
 in Petravius' edition, printed at Paris in 1622. See Chryso- 
 stoni's iirsl oration against the Jews, page 595. Vol. I. in the 
 Benedictine edition. 
 
 '% See Plutarch's life of Julias C?esar, Vol. I. page 731, in the 
 
248 DISSEUTATiONS ON 
 
 four hundred thousand voUmies* which was kept tiiei C'- 
 in were all consumed. But this loss was in son^e mea- 
 sure repaired by the Pergamean library,! consisting oi 
 two hundred thousand volumes, which Antony presented 
 to Cleopatra, and by the addition ot other books after- 
 wards,* so that this latter library was reckoned as nuine- 
 rous and as famous as the other ever was; and it came 
 to the same fatal end, this being also destroyed by fire. 
 For John the Grammarian,^ a famous philosopher of 
 Alexandria, being in great favour with Amrou, the Sara- 
 cen general, asked of him the royal library. Amrou re- 
 plied, that it was not in his power to give it him, without 
 leave first obtained from the emperor of the faithful. — 
 Amrou therefore wrote to Omar, and acquainted him 
 with John's petition, to which the caliph returned this 
 .answer; that if what was contained in those books, was 
 agreeable to the book of God or the Koran, the Koran 
 Avas sufficient without tbem ; but if it was repugnant to 
 the Koran, it was no ways useful ; and therefore he com- 
 manded them to l)e destroyed. Amrou in obedience to 
 the caliph's commands, ordered them to be distributed 
 among the baths of the city, and to be burnt in warming 
 them, whereof there were no fewer at that time in Alex- 
 andria than four thousand : and yet there passed six 
 months before the books were all consumed ; which suf- 
 ficiently evinces how great their number was, and what 
 an inestimable loss not only Egypt, but all the learned 
 •world hath sustained. Egypt before this ^[ was frequent- 
 Paris edition of 1624. See Dion Cassias, Book XLII. page 203, 
 iii Leunclavius' edition. 
 
 * See Seneca on the tranquillity of the mind, Chap, ix. Vol. I. 
 page 362, edition varior. See Oroslus' history, Book \l. Chap. 
 XV. page 421, in Havercamp's edition. 
 
 f See Plutarch's life of Antony, Vol. I. page 94, In the Paris 
 edition of 1624. 
 
 t See TertuUian's Apology, Chap, xviii. page 18, in Rlgaut's 
 edition of 1675. 
 
 § See Abul-Pharajius' liistory, ninth Dynasty, page 114, Po- 
 coek's translation. See Dckley's history, of the Saracens, Vol. 
 1. page 359, ix.c See Prideaux' Connections, Part II. Book L 
 year 284, and first of Ptolemy Philadelpiius- 
 
 1[ Sulijnmianus Marcellinus, Bof-jk XXH. Chap. xvi. page 344, 
 £tc. in Vrdcsius' edition at Paris of 1681. 
 
TflE PROPHECIES. 249 
 
 ed by learned foreigners lor the sake of this library, and 
 produced several learned natives ; but after this it be- 
 came more and more a base kingdom^ and sunk into 
 g;reater ignorance and superstition. Mohammedism was 
 now established there instead of Christianity, and the 
 government of the Caliphs and Sultans continued till 
 about the year of Christ 1250. 
 
 About that time it was that the Mamalucs* usurped 
 the royal authority. The word in general,! signifies a 
 slave bought with money, but it is appropriated in par- 
 ticular to those Turkish and Circassian slaves, whom the 
 Sultans of Egypt bought very young, trained up in mili- 
 tary exercises, and so made them their choicest officers 
 and soldiers, and by them controlled their subjects, and 
 subdued their enemies. These slaves perceiving how 
 necessary and useful they were, grew at length insolent 
 and audacious, slew their sovereigns, and usurped the 
 government to themselves. It is commonly said, that 
 none but the sons of Christians were taken into this or- 
 der ; and there are other popular mistake^ about them, 
 which are current among European authors, and which 
 Sir WiHiam Temple,^ among others, hath adopted and 
 expressed, as he doth every thing, in a lively and ele- 
 gant manner. " The sons of the deceased Sultans en- 
 joyed the estates and riches left by their fathers, but by 
 the constitutions of the government no son of a Sultan 
 was ever either to succeed, or even to be elected Sultan : 
 So that in this, contrary to all others ever known in the 
 world, to be born of a prince, was a certain and unalter- 
 able exclusion from the kingdom ; and none was ever 
 to be chosen Sultan, that had not been actually sold for 
 
 * See Abul-Fharajius' History, Dynasty IX. pa^e 325, &c. and 
 Pocock's Supplement, page 8, &c. 
 
 t See l*ocock's Supplement, page 7. * Mamaluc, (and in the 
 plural Mamalic,) signifies a purchased slave, or one that be- 
 comes the property of a master by a price told down.' See 
 llerbelol's Oriental Library, page 525, on the word Mamlouk.. 
 • This word, of which the plural isMemalik, signifies in Arabic, 
 R slave in general, but in particular it hath been applied to 
 Turkish and Circassian slaves,* Sec. 
 
 t See Sir William Temple's works. Vol. I. iMiscellanieS^ 
 X'art II. Essay on Heroic Virtue, Sect. 5. page 224. 
 
250 DISSERTATIONS OX 
 
 a slave, brought from Circassia, and trained up a private 
 soldier in the Mamaluc bands," But they* vt^ho were 
 better versed in oriental authors, assure us, that these 
 are vulgar errors, and it appears from the Arabian his- 
 torians,! that among the ^^lamalucs the son often suc- 
 ceeded the father in the kingdom. Their government 
 is thus characterised by an Arabic author,^ quoted by 
 Dr. Pocock ; " If you consider the whole time that they 
 possessed the kingdom, especially that which was near- 
 er the end, you will find it filled with wars, battles, in- 
 juries and rapines." Their government § began with Sul- 
 tan Ibeg, in the 648th year of the Hegira, and the year 
 of Christ 1250; and continued through a || series of 24 
 Turkish and 23 Circassian Mamaluc Sultans, 275 Ara- 
 bic and 267 Julian years ; und ended H with Tamanbai in 
 the 923d year of the Hegira, and the year of Christ 
 1517. 
 
 For at that time Sclim,** the ninth emperor of the 
 Turks conquered ihe Mamalucs, hanged their last Sultan 
 Tumanhai before one of the gates of Cairo, put an end 
 to their government; caused five hundred of the chiefest 
 Egyptian families to be transported to Constantinople, as 
 likev/ise a great number of Mamalucs' wives and chil- 
 
 * See Pocock's Supplement, page 31. From what has been 
 said, it is manifest that they are mistaken;, who tliink that the 
 Mamalucs are the sons of Christians only. They have also been 
 mistaken, who have written concerning- the riglit of succession 
 among them, and concerning their discipline. Herbelot in his 
 Oriental I^ibrary, pag-e 545, saith ; It appears from what we 
 have seen, that the Mamalucs were not the sons' of Christians, 
 (though perhaps there may be some such among them,) as some 
 of our historians have asserted. 
 
 t See Pocock's Supplement, page 8, 10, 11, 13, 18, 20, 22, 
 23, 24, 25. 
 
 ^ Al-Janabius in Pocock's Supplement, page 31, saith, * if 
 }od take a retrospective view of tlie whole time in which they 
 possessed the kingdom, especially that which approached to 
 the termination of it, you will find it filled with a detail of wars, 
 ligiits, iiijuries, and plunderings.' 
 
 § See Pocock, page 8. See Herbelot, page 479. 
 
 ii See Pocock, page 8—30. See Herbelot, page 5i5. 
 
 *[ See Pocock, p:iL,'-c 30. See Herbelot, page i;.>31. 
 
 ** See Pocock's Supplement, page 30 and 49. .See Herbclot's 
 Oriental Library, png-c 545, and 802, and 1031. See also Sa- 
 vage's Abridgment of KiioUes and llycaut's Turkish History, 
 Yo). I. page 241. 
 
THE PROPUFXIES. 251 
 
 dren, besides the Sultan's treasure and other immense 
 riches ; and annexed Egypt to the Othman empire, 
 whereof it hath continued a province from that day to 
 this. It is governed as prince Cantemir informs us, by 
 a Turkish Basha,* with twenty-four beg,s or princes un- 
 der him, who are advanced from servitude to the admi- 
 nistration of public affairs ; a superstitious notion posses- 
 sing the Egyptians, that it is decreed by fate, that cap- 
 tives shall reign, and the natives be subject to them.— 
 But it cannot well be a superstitious notion, being a no- 
 tion in all probability at first derived from some tradi- 
 tion of these prophecies, that ' Egypt should be a base 
 kingdom ; t/iat there should be no more a piince of the 
 land of Egypt, and that Ham in his posterity should be 
 a servant of servants unto his brethren.' 
 
 By this deduction it appears, that the truth of Ezekiei's 
 prediction is fully attested by the whole series of the his- 
 tory of Egypt from that time to the present. And who 
 couid pretend to say upon human conjecture, that so 
 great a kingdom, so rich and fertile a country, should 
 ever afterwards become tributary and subject to stran- 
 gers ? It is now a great deal above two thousand years, 
 since this prophecy was first delivered; and what likeli- 
 hood or appearance was there, that the Egyptians should 
 for so many ages bowAmder a foreign yoke, and never in 
 all that time be able to recover their liberties, and have a 
 prince of their own to reign over them ? But as is the 
 prophecy, so is the event. For not long afterwards Egypt 
 was conquered by the Babylonians, and after the Baby- 
 lonians by the Persians; I and after the Persians it became 
 subject to the Macedonians, and after the Macedonians 
 to the Romans, and after the Romans to the Saiacens, 
 and then to the Mamalucs ; and is now a province of the 
 Othman empire. 
 
 Thus we see how Nineveh, Babylon, Tyre and Egypt, 
 the great adversaries and oppret^sois of the Jews, have 
 been visited by divine vengeance for their enmity and- 
 cruelty to the people of God. Not that we must think 
 God so partial as to punish these nations only for the 
 
 * Se e Piince Cantlmlr's History of the Othman empire. Part 
 I. Book ni page 156, in the No'.es. 
 
 f See Prideaux' Connections, Part I. Book J. ycwir 589, and 1^, 
 'of Zedekiah. 
 
252 DISSERTATION ON 
 
 sake of the Jews; the}- were guilty of other flagrant sins^ 
 for which the prophets denounced the divine judgments 
 upon them. Egypt in particular was severely threa^ 
 tened by the prophet Ezekiel,Chup.xxix.xxx.xxxi. xxxii. 
 for her idolatry, her pride, and her wickedness. And the 
 Egyptians have generally been more wretched, as they 
 have generally been more wicked, than other nations. An- 
 cient authors describe them every where as superstitious 
 and luxurious, as an* unwarlike and unserviceable people ; 
 ast a faithless and fallacious nation, always meaning one 
 thing and pretending another, as^ lovers of wine and 
 strong drink, as § cruel in their anger, as || thieves and 
 tolerating all kinds of theft, as^ patient of tortures, and 
 though put to the rack, yet choosing rather to die than 
 to confess the truth. Modern authors paint them still in 
 blacker colours. The famous Thevenot** is very strong 
 and severe : " The people of Egypt (generally speaking) 
 are all swarthy, exceeding wicked, great rogues, coward- 
 ly, lazy, hypocrites, buggerers, robbers, treacherous, so 
 very greedy of inoney, that they will kill a man for a 7naid' 
 at or three halfpence.'* Bishop Pocock'sft character of 
 
 * See Strabo, Book XVII. page 817, in ihe Paris edition, and 
 page 1175, in the Amsterdam' edition of 1707. See also Juve- 
 *al's Satire XV. line 126, * An unwarlike and useless rabble.* 
 
 f See Lucan, V. line 58th. * a faithless nation.* See Hirtius' 
 Wars of Alexander, Chap. xvi. ' A treacherous nation, always 
 slcsfgning one thing, and pretending another.* 
 
 i Athenxusin Dion, Book I. page 34, in Casaubon*s edition, 
 * iriuch addicted to wine and strong drink.' 
 
 § Polybius, Book XV. page 719, in Cusaubon's. edition, saith, 
 'That this seems to be constitutional with the Egyptians, that 
 they are wonderfully irascible and cruel.' 
 
 ij Auhis GcUius, Book XI. Chap, xviii, 'on the authority of 
 Aristo, saitli, lliat all kinds of theft were suifered to pass with 
 impunity.' See Diodorus Siculus, Book 1. page 50, in Stephanas* 
 edition, and page 72, in that of Rhodomanus. 
 
 ^ Aciian in his Various History, Book VII. Chap, xviii. has 
 thest words; 'It is said, that the Egyptians endure torture with 
 the greatest patience ; and that an Egyptian -svill rather die, when, 
 examined upon the rack, than tell the ti'uth.' See Aminianus 
 Marcelliiiui., Book XXJI. Chap. xvi. page 347, in Valesius' edi- 
 tion of 1681. 
 
 *• See Thevenot in Harris's Collection, Vol. IT. Chap. viii. page 
 429. 
 
 ft See Pocock's Description of the E^st, Vol I. Book IV. Chap, 
 iv. page 177. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 253 
 
 them is not much more favourable, though not so harsh 
 and opprobrious ; '' The natives of Egypt are now a sloth- 
 ful people, and delight in sitting still, hearing tales, and 
 indeed seem always to have been more fit for the Cjuiet 
 life, than for any active scenes. — They are also malicious 
 and envious to a great degree, which keeps them from 
 uniting and setting up for themselves ; and thou-h they are 
 \ ery ignorant, yet they have a natural cunning and artifice 
 as well as falsehood, and this makes them always suspicious 
 of travellers. — The love of money is so rooted in them, 
 that nothing is to be done without bribery — They think 
 the (greatest villanies are expiated, when once they wash 
 their hands and feet — Their words pass for nothing, ei- 
 ther in relations, promises, or professions of friendship, 
 Sec." Such men arc evidently born not to command, but 
 to serve and obey. They are altogether unworthy of li- 
 berty. Slavery is the fittest for them, as they are the 
 fittest for slavery. It is an excellent political aphorism 
 of the wisest of kings, and all history will bear witness to 
 the truth of it, that, Prov. xiv. 34. ' righteousness exalt- 
 eth a nation, but sin is a reproach and ruin to any people.' 
 
 XIII. 
 
 XEBUCIIADNEZZAU'S DREAM OF THE 
 G1?EAT EMPIRES. 
 
 WE have seen how it pleased God to reveal unto the 
 prophets the future condition of several of the ncigh- 
 l)0uring countries ; but there are other prophecies which 
 extend to more remote nations, those nations especially, 
 and their transactions, wherein the church of God was 
 particularly interested and concerned. It pleased God 
 too to make these revelations, at a time when his people 
 seemed in other respects abandoned and forsaken, and 
 did not so much deserve, as stand in need of light and 
 comfort. Isaiah and Jeremiah prophecied in the declen- 
 sion of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Ezekiel and 
 Daniel prophecied during the time of the Babylonish 
 captivity. And the prophecies of Daniel are so clear 
 
 VOL. I. Y 
 
J 54 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 and exact, that in former as well as in later times, it hath 
 confidently been asserted, that they must have been writ- 
 ten after the events, which they are pretended to foretel. 
 
 The famous Porphyry (who flourished at the latter 
 end of the third century after Christ) was, I think, the 
 first who denied their genuineness and authority. He 
 wrote fifteen books* against the Christian rehgion, the 
 twelfth of which was designed to depreciate the prophe- 
 cies of Daniel ; and therein he affirmed, that they were 
 not composed by Daniel whose name they bore, but by 
 somebody who lived in Judea about the time of Antiochus 
 Epiphanes ; because all to that time contained true his- 
 tory, but all beyond that were manifestly false. This 
 work of Porphyry together with the answers of Euse- 
 bius, Appolinarius, and Methodius, is wholly lost, except- 
 ing a few fragments and quotations, which are preserved 
 in Jerome and others of the fathers. But as Jeromef 
 rightly observes, this method of opposing the prophecies 
 is the strongest testimony of their truth. For they were 
 fulfilled with such exactness, that to infidels the prophet 
 seemed not to have foretold things future, but to have re- 
 lated things past. 
 
 The celebrated author of the Scheme of Literal PrO' 
 nhecy considered^ hath followed the steps of Porphyry. 
 He hath collected every thing, that in the course of his 
 reading he thought could be turned to the disparagement 
 of the book of Daniel. He hath framed all that he had 
 collected into eleven objections against il ; and upon the 
 whole concludes with much positiveness and assurance, 
 that it must be written in the days of the Maccabees. 
 But his two learned opponents,:^ both of the same name, 
 
 * See Cave's Literary History, Vol. I. page 156. See Jerome's 
 Preface to the book of Daniel, Vol. 111. page 1072, in the Bene- 
 dictine edition. 
 
 t The opposing of which (prophecies) Is a testimony of their 
 truth. For so great was the truth of iheir words, that even to 
 men that were not credulous, the prophet seemed not to be 
 speaking of future events, but to be iclating such as were past. 
 See the same place of Jerome. 
 
 + See Bp. Chandler's Vindication of his Defence of Christia- 
 nity, and Mr. Samuel Chandler's Vindication of the Antiquity 
 and Authority of Daniel's Prophecies, in answer to the Scheme 
 of Literal Prophecy considered. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 255 
 
 have solidly and clearly refuted his eleven objections, and 
 shown them ail to be mere cavils or direct falsities, 
 groundless assertions, wrong quotations, or plain contra- 
 dictions. 
 
 And indeed it may be proved, it hath been proved to 
 a demonstration, as much as any thing of this nature can 
 be proved to a demonstration, by all the characters and 
 testimonies both internal and external, that the prophe- 
 cies of Daniel were written at the time that the scripture 
 says they were written, and he firosfiered on account of 
 these prophecies, Dan. vi. 23. < in the reign of Darius the 
 Mede, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian :* that is 
 between five and six hundred years before Christ. It is 
 Very capricious and unreasonable in believers to object, 
 as Colins doth, to the piophecies of Daniel, sometimes 
 that they are too plain, and sometimes that they are too 
 obscure. Bui it will entirely overthrow the notions of 
 their being written in the days of Antiochus Epiphanes 
 or of the Maccabees, and will establish the credit of Da- 
 niel as a prophet beyond all contradiction, if it can be 
 proved that there are several prophecies of his, which 
 have been fulfilled since the days of Antiochus Epiphanes 
 and the Maccabees as well as before, nay, that there are 
 prophecies of his, which are fulfilling in the world at this 
 very time. 
 
 Daniel's first prophecy, and the ground-work as I may 
 say of all the rest, was his interpretation of Nebuchad- 
 nezzar's dream. This monarch ' in the second year of 
 his reign,* Dan. ii. 1. according to the Babylonian ac- 
 count, or the fourth according to the Jewish, that is in 
 the second year of his reigning alone, or the fourth from 
 his first reigning jointly with his father, having subdued 
 all his enemies, and firmly established his throne, was 
 thinking ' upon his bed,' ver. 29. < what should come to 
 pass hereafter,' what should be the future success of his 
 family and kingdom, and whether any or what families 
 and kingdoms might arise after his own : and as our 
 waking thoughts usually give some tincture to our dreams, 
 he dreamed of something to the same purpose, which 
 astonished him, but which he could not rightly under- 
 stand. The dream affected him strongly at the time ; 
 but awaking in confusion, he had but an imperfect re- 
 
256 DISSERTATIONS OX 
 
 niembrance of it, he could not re collect all the particu- 
 lars. He called therefore, ver. 2. ' for the magicians and 
 astrologers; and, as absurdly as imperiously, demanded 
 of them, ver. 5. upon pain of death and destruction. Ho 
 jnake known unto him both the dream and the interpre- 
 tation thereof.* They answered very reasonably, that no 
 king had ever required such a thing, that it transcended 
 all the powers and faculties of man ; God alone or only 
 beings like God conld disclose it ; ver. 10, 11. ' There is 
 not a man upon eaith, that can show the king's matter ; 
 therefore there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such 
 thin;j;s at any magician, astrologer, or Chaldean : And it 
 is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none 
 other that can show it before the king, except the God, 
 whose dwelling is not with flesh.' Eut the pride of ab- 
 solute power cannot hear any reason, or bear any con- 
 trol ; and the king greatly incensed, presently ordered 
 all the magicians and wise men of Babylon to be destroy- 
 ed ; ver. 12. 'For this cause the king was angry and very 
 furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of 
 ]3abylon.' 
 
 Daniel and his fellows would have been involved in the 
 same fate as the rest ; but by their joint and earnest 
 prayers to the God of heaven, ' the secret was revealed 
 unto Daniel in a niglit vision ;' ver. 19. ' and Daniel bles- 
 sed the God of heaven.' Daniel thus instructed was de- 
 sirous to save the lives of the wise men of Babylon, who 
 Avcre unjustly condemned, as well as his own : and he 
 ' went unto Arioch, the captain of the king's guard, whoni 
 the king had ordained to destroy the wise men of Baby- 
 lon : he went,' ver. 24. 'and said thus unto him. De- 
 stroy not the wise men of Babylon; bring me in before 
 the king, and I will show unto the king the interpreta- 
 tion.* The captain of the guard immediately introduced 
 him to the king, and said, ver. 25. 'I have found a man 
 of the captives of Judah, that will make known unlo tlic 
 king the interpretation.' ' I have found a man' said he, 
 though Daniel had voluntarily offered himself; where 
 Jerome remarks the manner of courtiers, qjd (juvm bora 
 'iumciant^ sua vid'/riy volunt^ who when they relate good 
 tilings, are willing to have them thou.^ht their own, and 
 to have the merit ascribed to themselves. But Daniel 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 257 
 
 was far from assuming; any merit to himself, and said 
 vciy modestly, that 'this secret,' ver. 27. 'which the 
 wise men, astrologers, magicians, and soothsayers, could 
 not show unto the king, was not revealed to him,' ver. 
 30. ' for any wisdom that he had more than others : but 
 there is a God in heaven, ver. 28. 'that revealeth secrets 
 and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar, what 
 shall be in the latter days ; or ' what shall come to pass 
 hereafter,' as it is expressed, ver. 29, and 45, twice af- 
 terwards. The impious king, as Jerome* justly observes, 
 had a prophetic dream, that the Saint interpreting it, God 
 might be glorified, and the captives and those who served 
 God in captivity might receive great consolation. We read 
 the same thing of Pharaoh, not that Pharaoh and Nebu- 
 chadnezzar deserved to see such things, but that Joseph 
 and Daniel by interpreting them might be preferred to 
 all others. And as St. Jerome farther observes, that Ne- 
 buchadnezzar might admire the grace of divine inspira- 
 tion. Daniel not only told him what he saw in his drean.', 
 but also what he thought within himself before his dream, 
 ver. 29. 'As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into 
 thy mind; upon thy bed, what should come to pass here- 
 after: and he that revealeth secrets, maketh known un- 
 to thee what shall come to pass.' 
 
 Nebuchadnezzar's dream was of ' a great image. This 
 great image,' ver. 31. ' whose brightness was excellent, 
 stood before him, and the form thereof was terrible.' It 
 appears from ancient coins and medals, that cities and 
 people were often represented by figures of men and 
 
 * See Jerome's Commentary on verse 1. He saith, 'That the 
 wicked king had a prophetic dream, that by the saints making 
 kr.own and interpreting to him v/hat was revealed, God might 
 be glorified, and that great consolation might be imparted to 
 them who served God, and that were in a state of captivity. 
 The very same thing we read of in the case of Pharaoh, not that 
 Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar deserved to have such things re- 
 vealed to them, but that Joseph and Daniel were found worthy 
 to be preferred to all others, by tlie interpretation of them.' And 
 .afterwards on verse 29, he addeth, 'And that Nebuchadnezzan 
 might admire the grace of divine inspiration, he (Daniel) not 
 only told to him the dream, which he was lavoured with, but 
 even the secret thoughts of his heart, previous to the dream.* 
 See Vol. 111. page 1077, and 1080, in the Benedictine edition. 
 
258 DiSSEUTATlOXS 0.V 
 
 Avonien. A great terrible human fif^iire was not an Impro- 
 per emblem of liuraun power and dominion ; and the va- 
 rious metals of which it was composed, not unfitly typify 
 the various kingdoms which should arise. It consist- 
 ed of four difterent metals, gold and silver, brass and iron 
 mixed with clay ; and these four metals according to 
 Daniel's own interpretation, mean so many kingdoms : 
 and the order of their succession is clearly denoted by 
 the order of the parts, the head * aiid higher parts signi- 
 fying the earlier times, and the lower the parts, the later 
 the times. From hence, as Calvin f conceives, the poets 
 drew their fables of the four ages of the world, the golden, 
 the silver, the brazen, and the iron age ; by which de- 
 clension in this place it is signified, that the world always 
 degenerates, and manners grow worse and worse. But 
 Hesiod, who lived about 2uO years before Daniel, men- 
 tioned the four ages of the world ; so that this vision was 
 formed agreeably to the commonly received notion, and 
 the comn^.only received notion was not first propagated 
 from hence. Whether this notion of the world's degene- 
 rating and growing worse and worse Ije true or not, these 
 different kingdoms will naturally constitute the different 
 heads of our discourse. And we shall follow the best 
 commentators from Josephus down to Sir Isaac Newton, 
 but we shall regard no commentator so much as the 
 truth of history, the evidence of reason, and the analogy 
 of scripture. 
 
 I. * This image's head was of fine gold,' ver. 32. which 
 Daniel interprets, ver. 38. * Thou art this hfcad of gold,' 
 thou, and thy family, and the representatives. The Baby- 
 hnian therefore was the first of these kingdoms; and it 
 was fitly represented by 'the head of fine gold,' on account 
 of its great riches ; and Babylon for the same reason was 
 
 * *The part of the statue which was higher, signifies what 
 was first in the order of time, and the parts lower downwards, 
 events that were to follow after in the same order.' See Grotius 
 on the passage. 
 
 . f * Fioni this passage of Daniel, poets have deduced their fa- 
 ble concerning- tiie four ages of the world, namely, these of gold, 
 silver, brass, and iron ; by which declension in this passage is 
 sipjiifijd, that the world is alwii.ys degenerating, and its manners 
 growing worse' See Culvin in pool's Synopsis. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 259 
 
 called by Isaiah; xiv. 4. ' the golden city.' The Assyrian 
 is usually said to be the tirst of the four p^reat empires ; 
 and the name may be allowed to pass, if it be not taken 
 too strictly. For the Assyrian empire, properly so called, 
 was dissolved before this time ; the Babylonian was erect- 
 ed in its stead ; but the Babylonians' are sometimes callccT 
 Assyrians in the best classic authors, Herodotus, Xeno- 
 phon, Strabo, and others, as well as in the holy scrip- 
 tures. Daniel addresseth Nebuchadnezzar, as if he was a 
 very powerful kins^, and his empire very large and exten- 
 sive; ver. 37. ' Thou, O king, art a King of kings.' He per- 
 haps might think, like some of his predecessors, that his 
 conquests were owing to his own fortitude and prudence: 
 Isu. X. 13. 'By the strength of my hand I have done it, 
 and by my wisdom, for 1 am prudent ; and I have rtm.ov- 
 ed the bounds of the people, and have robbed their trea- 
 sures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant 
 man ' But the prophet assures him that his success 
 must be primarily imputed to the God of heaven ; ver. 
 37, and 38. ' For the God of heaven hath given thee a 
 kingdom power, and stren;^th, and glory : And whereso- 
 ever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field, 
 and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, 
 and hath made thee ruler over them all.' 
 
 All the ancient eastern histories almost are lost : but 
 there are some fragments even of heathen historians yet 
 preserved, which speak of this mighty conqueror, and his 
 extended empire. Berosus in Josephus* saith, that he 
 held in subjection Egypt, Syria, Phoenicia, Arabia, and 
 by his exploits surpassed all the Chaldeans and Babyloni- 
 ans who reigned before him. Josephus t subjoins, that 
 in the archives of the Phcenicians, there are written 
 
 * * He further saith, that this Babylonian king held in subjec- 
 tion to himself, Eg-ypt, Syria, Piioenicia and Arabia, and that by 
 his illus rious actions, he fi*..- surpassed all the Chaklean and Ba- 
 b Ionian kings, who had gone before him ' See Josephus' against 
 Apion, Book I. Sect. 19. page 1342, in Hudson's edition. 
 
 ■\ * In the archives of the Phoenicians, are to be found things 
 written, which agree wiih what is related by Berosus, concern- 
 ing the king of the Babylonians. For in these it is affirmed, that 
 he subdued Syria and all PhcEnicia, And with them, Phllostra- 
 tus in his history exactly accords. — Nay, Megasthenes, in tlie 
 
O(50 - DISSERTATIONS OS 
 
 things coiisonant to those which are said by Berosus con- 
 cerning this king of the Babylonians, that he subdued 
 Syria and all Phoenicia : With these likewise agree Phi- 
 lostratus in his history, and Megasthenes in the fourth 
 book of his Indian history, throughout which he attempts 
 to show, that the forementioned king of the Babylonians 
 exceeded Hercules in fortitude, and greatness of exploits : 
 for he affirms that he subdued the greatest part of Lybia 
 and Spain. Strabo likewise from the same Megasthenes* 
 asserts, that this king among the Chaldeans was more ce- 
 lebrated than Hercules, and led his army out of Spain 
 into Thrace and Pontus. But his empire, though of 
 great extent, was yet of no long duration ; for it t ended 
 in his grandson Belshazzar, not 70 year's after the delive- 
 ry of this prophecy, nor above 23 years after the death of 
 Nebuchadnezzar; wdiich luay be the reason of Daniel's 
 speakintr of him as the only king, ' thou art this head of 
 gold,' and ' after thee shall arise, 8<c.' the rest being to be 
 considered as nothing ; nor do we read of any thing good 
 or great that was performed by them. 
 
 n. ' His breast and his arms of silver,' ver. 32. which 
 Daniel interprets, ver. 39. 'And after thee shall arise 
 another kingdom inferior to thee.' It is very well known, 
 that tl\e kingdom which arose after the Babylonian, was 
 the Medo-Persian. The two hands and the shoulders, 
 saith Josephusjt signify that the empire of the Babylonians 
 
 fourth volume of his Indian history, attempts to show, that the 
 forementioned king of tlie Babylonians suj-passed 'Hereules in 
 bravery, and in splenJor of action, for he saith, tl\at he conquer- 
 ed a great part of Africa and Spain.' See Josephus against 
 Apion, Book 1. Sect. 2. page 1343. 
 
 * ' But Nebuchadnexzar, who is more extolled among the 
 Chaldeans than Hercules, marched to the pillars of Hercules — 
 and afterwards conducted his army out of Spain, into Thrace 
 and Pontus. See Strabo, Book XV. page 687, in tlie Paris edi- 
 tion, and page 1007, in the Amsterdam edition of 1707. 
 
 •|- See Usher's Annals, year of the world 3466, page 100. See 
 Prideaux' Connections, Part I. Book 11. year 539, and 17 of Bel- 
 shazzar. 
 
 ^ * But the two hands and the shoulders, show that your 
 kinj^dom will be dissolved by two kings.' See .Tosephus' Anti- 
 quities, Book X. Chap. x. Sect. 4. page 457, in Hudson's edi- 
 tion. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 251 
 
 should be dissolved by two kini^s. The two kings were the 
 kings of the Medes and Persians, whose powers were united 
 under Cyrus, who was son of one of the kini;s and son-in- 
 law of the other, and who besieged and took Babylon, put 
 an end to that empire, and on its ruins erected the Medo- 
 Persian, or the Persian, as it is more usually called, the' 
 Persians having soon gained the ascendency over the 
 Medes. This empire is said to be inferior^ as beinj^ less 
 than the former, mitius te as the Vulgar Latin translates 
 it, because neither Cyrus nor any of his successors ever 
 carried their arms into Africa or Spain so far as Nebu- 
 chadnezzar is reported to have done ; or rather inferior 
 as being wor.^e than the former, deterius te as Castalio 
 translates it, for Dr. Piideaux * asserts, and I believe he 
 may assert very truly, that the kings of Persia were "the 
 worst race of men that ever governed an empire." This 
 empire from its first establishment by Cyrus to the death 
 of the last king Davius Coclomannus lasted not much 
 above 200 years. Thus far all critics and commentators 
 are agreed, that the two hi st kingdoms represented in 
 Nebuchadnezzar's dream were the Babylonian and the 
 Persian. As to the rest there hath been some contro- 
 versy, but with little reason or foundation for it, only that 
 some persons are troubled with the spirit of contradic- 
 tion, and will dispute about the plainest points. 
 
 III. ' His belly and his thighs of brass,' ver. 32. 
 which Daniel interprets ver. 39. ' And another third 
 kingdom of brass which shall bear rule over all the 
 earth.' It is universally known, that Alexander the 
 Great, subverted the Persian empire. The kingdom 
 therefore which succeeded to the Persian, was the 
 Macedonian ; and this kingdom was fitly represented 
 by brass ; for the Greeks were famous for their brazen 
 armour, their usual epithet being t/ie brazen-coated 
 Greeks. Daniel's interpretation in Josephusf is, that 
 another coming from the west, completely armed in brass 
 
 • Sec Prkleaux' Connections, Part I. Book II. year 559, and 
 first of Neriglissar. 
 
 f 'But another completely arracd In brass, coming from the 
 west, shall destroy their kingdom.' See Josephus' Antiquities, 
 Book X. Cliap. X. Sect: 4. page 457, in Hudson's edition. 
 
262 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 shall destroy the empire of the Medes and Persians. — 
 This third kingdom is also said to ' bear rule over all the 
 earth' by a figure usual in almost all authors. Alexander 
 himself * coramanded. that he should be called ' the king 
 of all the world ;' not that he really conquered, or nearly 
 conquered the whole world, but he had considerable do- 
 minions in Europe, Asia, and Africa, that is in all the 
 three parts of the world then known ; and Diodorus Si- 
 culus,t and other historians give an account of ambassa- 
 dors coming from almost all the world to congratulate 
 him upon his success, or to submit to his empire ; and 
 then especially, as Arrian t remarks, did Alexander him- 
 self appear to himself and to those about him to be 'mas- 
 ter both of all the earth and sea.' 
 
 That this third kingdom therefore was the Macedo- 
 nian, every one allows, and must allow : but then it is 
 controverted, whether this kingdom ended in the person 
 of Alexander, or was continued in his successors. St. Je- 
 rome saith § expressly, that the third kingdom signifies 
 Alexander, and the kingdom of the Macedonians, and of 
 the successors of Alexander. Which is rightly named 
 brazen, saith he : for among all metals brass is more vo- 
 cal, and tinkles louder, and its sound is diffused far and 
 wide, that it portended not only the fame and power of 
 the kingdom, but also the eloquence of the Greek lan- 
 
 * * After he had received the empire, he gave orders that he 
 should be called the king of all lands, avid of the world.' — 
 See Justin, Book XII, Chap. xvi. Sect. 9. in Graevius' edition. 
 
 f ' At this time, ambassadors ft-om almost every part of the 
 world came to him, he. See Diodorus Siculus, Book XVII. page 
 623, in Stephanas' edition, and page 579, Vol. 2. in that of Kho - 
 domanus. 
 
 i * And then especially, Alexander appeared to himself, and 
 to them that were about him, to be master of every land and 
 sea.' See Arrian's expedition of Alexander, Book VII. Chap. xv. 
 pag-e 294, in Gronovius' edition. 
 
 § Jliid another third kingdom of brass, -iohich shall bear rule over 
 all the earth, Dan. ii. 39. ' This means Alexander, and the king- 
 dom of tile Macedonians, and of the successors of Alexander. 
 They rightly may be said to be of brass. For among all the me- 
 tals brass is most sonorous, it tinkles loudest, audits sound is dif- 
 fused far and wide ; and so it shows not only the fame and power of 
 the kingdom, but also the eloquence of the Greek tongue.' See 
 Jerome, Vol. HI. page 1081, in the Benedictine edition. 
 
THE PHOPHECIES. 263 
 
 g^iiage. Another commentator observes * that this king- 
 dom is compared to the belly, to denote the drunkenness 
 of Alexander, and the profuse luxury of his successors, 
 especially of the Ptolemies. It Avas a strange wild con- 
 ceit in Grotius and others, to think that the kingdom of 
 Alexander and of his successors made two different king- 
 doms. Grotius was indeed a very great man, and, for 
 the most part, a very able and useful commentator: 
 but the greatest and ablest men have their weaknesses, 
 and none hath betrayed more weakness, or committed 
 more errors in chronology and history than he hath done, 
 in explaining the Prophecies. His notions here are as 
 mean and contracted, as they are generous and enlarged 
 in other instances. 
 
 TheSelucidx who reigned in Syria, and the Lagidae 
 who reigned in Egypt, might be designed particularly 
 by ' the two thighs"' of brass. Of all Alexander's suc- 
 cessors they might be pointed out alone, because they 
 alone had much connection with the Jewish church and 
 ration. But their kingdom was no more a different king- 
 dom from that of Alexander, than the parts differ from 
 the whole. It was the same government still continued. 
 They who governed were still Macedonians. The me- 
 tal was the same, and the nation was the same : nor is 
 the same nation ever represented by different metals, but 
 the different metals always signify different nations. All 
 ancient authors too speak of the kingdom of Alexander 
 and of his successors as one and the same kingdom. The 
 thing is implied in the very name by which they are 
 usually called, 'the successors of Alexander.' Alexan- 
 der being dead, saith Josephus,t the empire was divided 
 among his successors; he doth not say that so many new 
 empires were erected. After the death of Alexander, 
 saith Justin, ± the kingdoms of the east were divided 
 
 * It is compared to the belly, to denote the drunkenness and 
 profuse luxury of Alexander, and of his successors, especially 
 the Ptolemies.' See Tirinis in Pool's Synopsis. 
 
 f ' Upon the death of Alexander, his empire was divided 
 among- his successors.' See Josephus* Antiquities, Book XI. 
 Chap. viii. Sect. 4. page 505, in Hudson's edition. 
 
 i ' After the death of Alexander the Great, whilst his eastern 
 'kingdoms were divided among hia successors,' &c. See Justin, 
 
264 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 among his successors; and he still denominates them 
 Macedonians, and their empire the Macedonian; and 
 reckons Alexander the same to the Macedonians, as Cy- 
 lus was to the Persians and Romulus to the Romans. 
 Grotius himself acknovvledgeth,* that even now the He- 
 brews call those kingdoms by one name the kingdom of 
 the Grecicuis. There is one insuperable objection against 
 the kingdoms of the Lagidae and of the Selucidae being 
 a different kingdom from that of Alexander, because if 
 they are not considered as parts of Alexander's dominion, 
 they cannot be counted as one kingdom, they constitute 
 properly two separate and distinct kingdoms. 
 
 IV. ' His legs of iron, his feet part of iron, and part of 
 clay,' ver. 33, which is thus interpreted by Daniel, ver. 
 40, 41, 42, 43. ' And the fourth kingdom shall be strong 
 as iron? forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and sub- 
 dueth all things ; and as iron that breaketh all these, shall 
 it break in pieces and bruise. And whereas thou sawest 
 the feet and toes, part of potter's clay, and part of iron ; 
 the kingdom shall be divided, but there shall be in it of 
 the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the 
 iron mixed with miry clay. And as the toes of the feet 
 were part of iron, and part of clay ; so the kingdom shall 
 be partly strong and partly broken. And whereas thou 
 sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle 
 themselves with the seed of men ; but they shall not cleave 
 one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.' 
 Here are farther proofs that the kingdoms of the Seluci- 
 dae and of the Lagidae cannot possibly be the fourth 
 kingdom, because the marks and characters here given 
 
 rJook XLI. Chap. iv. Sect. 1. speaking of the Parthians, he saith, 
 ' that be tiiumphing in the east, they last of all became subject 
 10 the Macedonians,* Chap. i. Sect. 5. They afterwards, tlie Ma- 
 cedonians, being drawn into a civil war, &:c. Chap. iv. Sect 2. 
 ■J'he government of the nation, after their revolt fiom the Mace- 
 donian empire was monarchical. Chap. ii. Sect. 1. Thus Arsa-- 
 ces having soug-ht and established his kingdom, was no less re- 
 nowned among' the Parthians, than Cyrus among- the Persians, 
 or Alexander among the Macedonians, or Itomulus among the 
 Romans. He died in an extreme old age, Chap. v. Sect. 5. in 
 Graevius' edition. 
 
 * * Even at present, the Jews call these kingdoms by one name, 
 that of the Greeks.' See Grotius on Dan. vii. 7. 
 
THE PROPHECIKS. 265 
 
 of the rourth kingdom by no means af^rce with either of 
 those kint^doms. 'I'his fourth kingdoni is described a!> 
 stronger than the preceding. As iron breaketh and 
 bruiseth all other metals, so th's brcaketh and subdueth 
 all the former kingdoms: but the kingdoms of the Lagi- 
 dx and of the Sciucid^e were so far from being stronger, 
 that they were much weaker, and less than any of the 
 former kingdoms. This kingdom too is represented as 
 divided into ten toes : but when or where were the king- 
 doms of the I.agidae and of the Selucidoe divided into so 
 many parts ? Besides, the metal here is different, and con- 
 sequently the nation should be different from the pre- 
 ceding. The four different metals must signify four dif- 
 ferent nations : and as the gold signified the Babylonians, 
 and the silver the Persians, and the brass the Macedo- 
 nians ; so the iron cannot signify the Macedonians again, 
 but must necessarily denote some other nation : and we 
 will venture to say that there is not a nation upon earth, 
 to which this description is applicable, but the Romans. 
 The Romans succeeded next to the Macedonians, and 
 therefore in course were next to be mentioned. The Ro- 
 man empire was stronger and larger than any of the pre- 
 ceding. The Romans brake in pieces, and subdued all 
 the former kingdoms. As Josephus said, that the two 
 arms of silver denoted the kings of the Medes and Per- 
 sians; so we might say in like manner, that the two legs 
 of iron signified the two Roman consuls. The iron was 
 < mixed with miry clay,* and the Romans were defiled 
 with a mixture of barbarous nations. The Roman empire 
 was at length divided into ten lesser kin, doms, ansv/ering 
 to the ten toes of the image, as we shall see heieafler. 
 These kingdoms retained much of the old Roman strength, 
 and manifested it upon several occasions, so that ' the king- 
 dom was partly strong and partly broken.' They mingled 
 themselves with the seed of men ;' they made marriages 
 and alliances one with another, as they continue to do at 
 this day : but no hearty union ensued; reasons of state are 
 stronger than the ties of blood, interest generally avails 
 more than affinity. Some expound it of the secular and 
 ecclesiastical powers, sometimes agreeing, sometimes 
 clashing and interfering with-each other, to the weaken- 
 ing of both, and endangering their breaking to pieces-. 
 
 TOL, I. Z 
 
066 DISSEUTATIOXS ON 
 
 Or if by ' the seed of men' we are to understand the same 
 as by ' the daughters of men,' Gen. vi. 2, those of a false 
 and different relit>ion, it nuiy allude to tlie intermarriages, 
 which several of the European nations, and particularly 
 the French, Spanish and Portuguese, have made with the 
 Indians, Africans and Americans. Thus some of the ten 
 kingdoms who call themselves ' sons of God,* and the 
 only sons of God by adoption, have mixed with ' the seed 
 of men,' with strangers to men ; and yet no solid union 
 ensues. \\ hich observation was sut^gested to me by an 
 unknown correspondent, J>ir. IJerciilus Younti,e, an inge- 
 nious clergymen of Carrick in Ireland. The Koman em- 
 pire therefore is represented in a double state, first with 
 ihe strength of iron, conquering ail before it, ' his kgs of 
 iron ;' and then weakened and divided by the mixture of 
 barbarous nations, ' his feet part of iron, and part of clay.' 
 It subdued Syria, and made the kingdom of the beleucidae 
 a Roman province in the * year 65 before Christ ; it sub- 
 dued Egypt, and made the kingdom of the Lagidae a Ro- 
 inan province in the year 30 before Christ ; and in the 
 fourth century after Christ, it began to be torn in pieces 
 J?y the incursions of the barbarous nations. 
 
 St. Jerome lived to see the incursions of the barbarous 
 nations ; and his comment t is, that the" fourth kingdom, 
 which plainly belongs to the Romans, is the iron that 
 breaketh and subdueth all things ; but his feet and toes 
 are part of iron, and part of clay, which is most manisfestly 
 proved at this time : Tor as in the beginning nothing 
 was stronger and harder than the Roman empire, so in 
 the end of things nothing is weaker; since "both in civil 
 wars, and against divers nations, we want the assistance 
 of other barbarous nations." He hath given the same 
 interpretation in other parts of his works; and it seemeth 
 
 * See Usher, Prideaux, and other cbronolcg-ers. 
 
 •j- * But the fourth kingdom, which evidently belong^s to the 
 Jlomans, is that of iron, whicli breaks in pieces, and subdues all 
 things. But its feet and toes are partly of iron, and partly of 
 clay, which is most manifestly proven at this time. For as in 
 the beginning, nothing was firmer and harder than the lioraaii 
 empire, so in the end, nothing is weakei-, seeing both in the ci- 
 vil wars, and against foreign nations, we require the aid of oUier 
 barbarous nations.' See Vol. III. page 1082, in the Jienedictine 
 edition. 
 
THE i'ROPiit:cn:s. 26r 
 
 that he had been bl.unecl for it, as a reflection upon the 
 i^-overnmciit ; and there fore he n^aketh this apoloi^-y for 
 himself. ••' If,* saith he, in explaining the statue and the 
 ditfevence of his feet and toes, I have interpreted the iron 
 and clay of the Ro-nan kingdom, which the scripture 
 foretels should first be strong, and then weak, let theiu not 
 impute it to me, but to the prophet: lor we must not so 
 flatter princes, as to neglect the verity of the holy scrip- 
 tures, nor is a general disputation an injury to a single 
 person." 
 
 All ancient writers, both Jewish and Christian, agree 
 with .lerome in explaining the fourth kingdom to be the 
 Roman Porphyry, who was a heathen, and an enemy 
 to Christ, was the first who broached the other opinion : 
 which, though it hath been maintained since by some of 
 the moderns, is yet not only deslilute of the authority, 
 but is even contrary to the authority of both scripture 
 and history- It is a just observation of Mr. Mede,f who 
 was as able and consummate a judge as any in these mat- 
 ters ; " The Roman empire to be the fourth kingdom of 
 Daniel, was believed by the church of Israel both before 
 and in our Saviour's time ; received by the disciples of 
 the apostles, and the whole Christian church for the fiist 
 300 years, without any known contradiction. And I con- 
 fess, having so good ground in scripture, it is with me 
 tantum nan articulus Jidei^ little less than an article of 
 faith:* 
 
 V. Besides this image, Nebuchadnezzar saw, ver. 34, 
 35. till that a stone was cut out without hands, which 
 smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, 
 and brake them to pieces : Then was the iron, the clay, 
 the brass, the silver, and the gold broken to pieces toge- 
 
 * * But if in expounding the statue, and the different mate- 
 riols of lis feet and toes, 1 have interpreted the iron and clay of 
 the Roman kingdom, which tiie scripture foretels should be first 
 strong, and then weak, let them not impute it to me, but to the 
 prtjphet. For neitb.er must we so pay adidation to princes as to 
 neglect the truth of the holy scriptures, nor can a general dis- 
 quisition be regarded as an insult offered to an individual.' See 
 his preface to Isa. xxxvi. Vol. III. page 283, in the Benedictine 
 edition. 
 
 t See Mede's Works, Book IV. Letter 6Lh. page 736. 
 
268 DiSSF.RTATlOXS ON 
 
 ther, and became like the chaffofihe summer threshinj^- 
 fioors, and the wind carried them away, that no place was 
 found tor them : and the stone that smote the imape be- 
 cunie a threat tnountain, and filled the whole earth :* 
 Which is thus interpreted and explained by Daniel, ver. 
 4 t, 45. ' And in the days of these kings shall the God 
 of heaven set up a kint3;dom, which shall never be de- 
 stroyed ; and the kingdom shall not be left to other peo- 
 ple, but it shall break in pieces, and consume all these 
 kins^doms, and it shall stand for ever : Forasmuch as 
 thou sawest tiiat the stone was cut out of the mountain 
 without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the 
 biass, the clay, the silver, and the gold.' They who main- 
 tain that the fourth kingdom was the kingdoms of the Se- 
 leucid^ and of the LagidiE, do. many of them, maintain 
 likewise that this fifth kingdom was the Roman. But how 
 can these characters agree with the Roman empire ? 
 ilow was the Rom^m empire ' cut out of the mountain 
 without hands,* or formed without human force and hu- 
 man policy ? How was the Roman empire 'of God's erec- 
 tion' more than any of the former kingdoms ? How can 
 the Roman empire which is ' left to other peoj le,' be 
 said 'not' to be 'left to ether people,' and how can that 
 which is ' broken in pieces,' be said to ' stand for ever ;* 
 This description can with propriety only be understood, 
 as the ancients understood it, of the kingdom of Christ. 
 ' And in the days of these kings.' that is in the days of 
 some of them. As ' in the days when the judges ruled ;* 
 Ruth.i. 1. signifies ' in the day when' some of.' the judges 
 ruled ;' so ' in the days of these kings' signifies ' in the days 
 of some of' these kingdoms :' and it must be during the 
 days of the last of them, because they are reckoned ybz^r 
 in succession, and consequently this must be the fifth 
 kingdom. Accordingly the kingdom of Christ was set 
 up during the days of the last of these kingdoms, that is 
 the Romans. The stone was totally a different thing from 
 he image^ and the kingdom of Christ is totally different 
 from the kingdoms of this world. 'The stone was cut 
 out of the mountain without hands,' as our heavenly body 
 is said, 2 ('or. v. I. to be ' a building of God, an house 
 not made with hands ;' that is spiritual, as the phrase is 
 used in other places. Mark xiv. 5 8. compared with John 
 
TMK PJlOPflECIIiS. 269 
 
 ii. 2\. See also Coloss. ii. II. Tl»us the fathers * gene- 
 rally apply to Christ himself, who was miraculously horn 
 of a viri^in without the concurrence of a man ; but it 
 should rather be iniderstood of tiie kingdom of Christ, 
 which was lonned out of the Roman empire, not by num- 
 ber of hands, or strength of armies, but without human 
 raeans, and the virtue of second causes. This Idngdoni 
 was * set up by the Ciod of heaven ;* and from hence the 
 phrase of 'the kingdom of heaven' came to signify the 
 kingdom of the Messiah ; and so it was u^ed and understood 
 by the Jews, and so it is applied by our Saviour in the 
 New-Testament. Other knigdoms were raised by hu- 
 man ambition and worldly power . but this was the work 
 not of man but of God ; this was truly as it is called ' the 
 kingdo'u of heaven,' and, John xviii. 36. ' a kingdom not 
 of this world ;' its laws, its powers, were cdl divine. This 
 kingdom was 'never to be destroyed,' as the Babylonian, 
 the Feisian, and the Macedonian empires have been, and 
 in great measure also the Rouian. Thiskingdo;r\ was to 
 ' break, in pieces and consume all the kingdoms,' to spread 
 and enlarge itself, so that it should comprehend within 
 itself all the former kingdoms. This kingdom was to 
 ' iill the whole earth,' to become universal, and to ' stamJ 
 for ever.' 
 
 As the fourth kingdom or the Roman empire was re- 
 presented in a two-fold state, first strong and flourishing 
 ' with legs of iron,' and then weakened and divided ' with 
 feet and toes, part of iron and of clay ;' so this fifth king- 
 dom or the kingdom of Christ is described likewise in 
 two states, which Mr. Medef rightly distinguished by 
 the names oi regnum lafiidis^ the kingdom of the stone, 
 and ng-num montis^ the kingdom of the mountain; the 
 first wljen, ' the stone was cut out of the mountain without 
 hands,' the second wheait became itself ' a mountain and 
 filled the whole earth. The stone was cut out of the 
 mountain without hands,' the kingdom of Christ was set 
 up first, while the Roman empire was in its full strength 
 
 * See Justin Martyr's Dialog-ue with Tryphon, pag-e 301, in 
 Thirlbius' edition. See Irenaeus against Heresies, Chap, xxviii. 
 page 258, in Grabe's edition See Jerome's Commentary on the 
 passage, Vol. 111. page 1081, in the Benedictine edition. 
 
 t See Mede's Works, Book IV. Letter 8. page 743. 
 z 2 
 
270 DISSEUTATIONS OX 
 
 'with ' legs of iron.' The Roman empire was aficrwards 
 divided into ten lesser kingdoms, the remains of which 
 are subsis.ing at present. The image is still standing 
 upon his te^t and toes of iron and clay; the kingdom of 
 Christ is yet 'a sloue of stumbling, and a rock of offence ;' 
 but the stone will one day smite the image upon the feet 
 and toes, and destroy it utterly, and will itself * become a 
 great mount.;in, and fill the whole earth ;' or in other 
 words, Rev. xi. 15. ' the kingdoms of this world shall be- 
 come the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ, and 
 he shall reign ror ever and ever.' We have therefore seen 
 the kingdom of the sione, but we have not yet seen the 
 kingdom of the ivo-uitain. Some parts of this propiiecy 
 still remain to be fuliJlL d : but the exact completion of 
 the other parls will not suifer us to doubt of the accomp- 
 lishment of the rest also in due season. 
 
 As we may presume to say, that this is the only true 
 and genuine interpretation of this passage, so likewise is 
 it the r/iost consonant to the sense of all ancient writers, 
 both Jews and Christians; and its antiquity will be a far- 
 ther reco.nmendation and confirmation of its truth. Jo- 
 nathan Bel Uzziel, who made the Chaldee Targum or pa- 
 ^phrase upon the prophets, * lived a little before our Sa- 
 viour, fie made no Chaldee version of Daniel, the grea- 
 ter part of this book being originally written in Chaldee, 
 or his version is lost : but however he applies the prophe- 
 eies of Daniel in his interpretation of other prophets. 
 Thus in his paraphrase upon Habakkuk he speaketh 
 of the four great kingdoms of the earth, f that they 
 should in their turns be destroyed, and be succeeded by the 
 kingdom of the Messiah. "For the kingdom of Babylon 
 
 * See Walton's Preface, XH. 10.— See Wolsius' Hebrew Li- 
 brary, Book \1. Ciiap. ii. Sect. 2. See alsoPrideaux' Connections, 
 Pari n. Book VIII. year 27, and first of Herod. 
 
 •j- Habak. iii. 17, 18. * For the kingdom of Babylon shall not 
 be permanent, nor exercise dominion over Israel. The kings of 
 Media sliall be slain, tlie brave men of Greece shall not prosper. 
 Tlie Romans shall be destroyed, nor shall they collect tribute 
 from Jerusalem. Tlierefore on account of the sign, and of the 
 ycdemption which thou shalt accomplish for thy Christ, and for 
 the residue of thy peuple, they who remain shall celebrate thy 
 praise saying,' 84c. 
 
THE PUOPHKCIES. 271 
 
 shall not continue, nor exercise dominion over Israel ; 
 the kings of Media shall be slain, and the strong men oi' 
 Greece shal! not prosper ; the Romans shall be blotted 
 oiiU nor collect tribute from Jerusalem. '1 herelore be- 
 cause of tl^e sign and redeniption which thou shalt 
 accomplish for thy Christ, and for the ren.nant of thy 
 peo])le, they who remain shall praise thee, kc." 
 
 The sense of Josephus we will give in the words of 
 Bishop Chandler* together with his reflections upon it. 
 *' Josephus' exposition of this text is so full in the point, 
 that it ought not to be omitted. Josephus was born while 
 Jesus Christ lived, and was, as het says, skilful in the 
 knowledge of the sacred books of the prophets, being 
 himself la priest, and the son of a priest, and extrt ised 
 this way. Hear then his sense of that part of the dream 
 "we have been upon. Daniel foretold, :f that the second 
 kingdom shall be taken out of the way, by one that 
 should come from the west clothed with brazen aruis : 
 and also that the strength of this (en.pire) another should 
 put an end to, that should be like to iron, which from the 
 nature of the mineral is superior to gold, silver, and brass. 
 Daniel added his interpretation of the stone ; but I don't 
 think fit to relate that ; my business being only to give a 
 history ofpasl and neuiy dotie things^ not to write of fu- 
 ture thiuga. Yet if there be any one that is eager after 
 
 • Sec Defence of Christianity, Chap. ii. Sect. 2. page 104, &c. 
 third edition. 
 
 f See Josephus' Jewish Wars, Book IlL Chap. vii.Sect. 3. pug-e 
 1143, in Hudson's edition. 
 
 \ ' Bui their empire shall be destroyed by one coming fi otn 
 the west, equipped with brazen armour. 1 be strength of the 
 kingdom set up by him, shall be overcome by another power, 
 which maybe compared to iron, and shall bring all under its 
 power like that metal, which in its nature hath a firmer contex- 
 ture than gold, or silver, or brass. Moreover Daniel expounded 
 to the king, every thing relating to the stone. But ir is not be- 
 coming in me to relate these things, seeing I liave prescribed 
 these limits to myself, to commit to writing what has happened 
 long ago, or lately, without meddling with future events. But 
 if any person should be eagerly desirous to come at the truth, 
 and curious to push his inquiries into those obscure matters, 
 that are yet future, let liim carefully search tlie book of Daniel, 
 which he will find among the sacred writings.' Sec Josephus' 
 Antiquities, Book X. Chap. x. Sect. 4. page 457, in Hudson's 
 edition. 
 
oj-o DISSERTATIONS 0^ 
 
 truth, and will not give over inquiring, in order to learn 
 these obscure events that are to come, let him carefully 
 read the book itself, which he will find among our sa- 
 cred (or canonical) books. Upon this passage observe, 
 that the fourth empire is the Roman, in his judgment; 
 because the third kingdom, which he begins in Alexan- 
 der, was destroyed, not by the Greek generals, but by the 
 Romans. Again, the fourth euipire he reckons to be 
 past, i. e. to be set up in the room ot the Greek, and 
 therefore he gives an historical explication of that, among 
 the past events. But the kingdom of the stone being 
 future, he refuses to toucii on that. But he had a bet- 
 ter reason than he gave : he feared to oflend the power 
 in bein^j,-, whose protection he needed and which, he 
 foresaw, must be offended, if he should publish the hope 
 of his captive nation, one day to subdue their conquer- 
 ors. We see however, in this excuse for stopping sliort, 
 his sense of the prophecy that is yet unfuiiilled, viz. 
 that the kingdom of the God of heaven should break 
 in pieces the Roman ; and v/hich he must consequently 
 suppose will continue, till it gives place to the everlast- 
 ing kingdom of the Messiah. And in this belief Christ 
 confirmed the Jews, at the time he warned them of their 
 own excision. Th^ kbigdoin of God. saith he, Matth. 
 xxii. 43, 44. or all the advantages of the Messiah's com- 
 ing, shall.be taken from yon and given to a nation bring- 
 ing forth the ftuits thereof. For whosoever shall fall 
 against this stone, (as one of your prophets predicted, 
 Isa viii. 14, 15 ) shall be broken : but, I add from another 
 prophet, Dan ii. 34, 35. something more grievous for 
 those that shall break you, on ivhomsover it shall fall, it 
 ivill grind him to fioivder. The kingdom of the stone 
 shall bruise the Jews that stumbled at Christ's first com- 
 ing ; but the kingdom of the mountain., when manifested, 
 shall beat the feet of the monarchial statue to dust, and 
 leave no remains of the fourth monarchy in its last and 
 degenerate state.'* 
 
 Tht same notion was prevalent among the ancient 
 Christians, as well as among the Jews. St. Jerome and 
 all the fathers, who have occasion to comment upon this 
 passage, give the same interpretation: but we love not 
 to multiply quotations; it will be suflicient to produce 
 
TilE PliOPHEClKS. 273 
 
 the testimonies of tluit eloquent prca -her St. Chrysos- 
 toni, and of that elegant historian Siilpicivis Severus. St. 
 C lirysostoni is too copiouy to be quoted at large ; we must 
 content oui'belves with some extracts out of him. "For 
 \Nluit reason,* saith he, doih he call Nebuchadnezzar's 
 kingdom of g;old, and that of the Persians of silver, and 
 tliat of the Macedonians of brass, and that of the Ro- 
 mans of iron and clay ? See the materials ri^^htly dis- 
 posed ; for gold represents richer, Sec ; so likewise was 
 
 that kingdom and it occupies the head, because it 
 
 appeared the first. But that of the Persianswas not so 
 wealthy, as neither was that of the Macedonians : but that 
 of the Romans was both more useful and stronger, and 
 later in time, therefore it occupies the place of the feet. 
 But some parts of this kingdom are weaker and others 
 
 are stronger. i7id in the days of those kings.^ shall the 
 
 God of heaven set ufi a kingdom^ ivhich shall never be de^ 
 stroyed i and the kingdom shall 7ivt be It ft to other people, 
 
 * ' But why flolh he call his (Nebucliadnezzar's) kingdem, a 
 klng"dom of g'oUl, and that of the Persians one of silver, and 
 that of the Macedonians, of brass, and that of the Romans of 
 iron and clay? You may observe the mateiials well chosen and 
 arranged. For gold is an emblem of riches — and so was that 
 kingdom — and it holds the place of the head, because it was 
 first in the order of time. But that of the Persians was not so 
 opulent, nor that of the Macedonians. But that of ihe Romans 
 was more useful and stronger, and followed the rest in the order 
 of time, and tlierefore holds the place of the feet. But some parts 
 of this kingdom are weaker, and others stronger. — "And in the 
 duys-t)f these kings, shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, 
 which shall never be destroyed, and the kingdom shall not be left 
 to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these 
 kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever." Bring me hither the Jews, 
 what will they say concerning this prophecy ! For surely it is not 
 lawful to say of any kingdom merely hiunan, that it hath no 
 bounds.or termination. — *'hi the days of diese kingdoms," name- 
 ly of the Romans. But if they say otherwise. l>et them tell me, 
 how he could break in pieces and consume the kingdom of the 
 Babylonians, which already had been long ago destroyed? How 
 the silver, tiie kingdom of the Persians ? How the brass, tlie king- 
 dom of the Macedonians? For all these were kingdoms that 
 
 had been in former times, and then were no more. But hovr 
 
 can he destroy kingdoms which are already extmct? Tlie 
 reason is plain, he destroyed other kngdoms that swallowed up 
 and dv-'Stro;. ed those.* See Jc.lin Citrysoslom on Daniel, page 
 214, and 216, in the S'h Vol. of the Benedictine edition. 
 
274 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 bh't it shall break in pifcts. and consume all tlh ae king' 
 (ioJ)ifi^ aiidit ahall Hiandfort^-oev. Bring hither to me the 
 Jews. What will they say concerning- this prophecy? 
 lor it is by no means right to say of any human king- 
 dom, that it shall be everlasting or without end. — In the 
 days of those kings^ to wit, the Hon)ans. But if they say 
 how can he break in pieces the gold, the kingdoin of the 
 Babylonians destroyed long ago ? how the silver, the king- 
 dom of the Persians? how the brass, the kingdom of the 
 Macedonians I for these are past long ago, and are come 
 
 to an end how can he destroy the kingdoms, which 
 
 are already destroyed ? But to destroy others in which 
 these are included, amounts to the same thing." 
 
 Sulpicius Severus having given an account of Nebu- 
 chadnezzar's dream, and of all the particulars relating to 
 it, subjoins an exposition* of it, agreeable to Daniel's in- 
 terpretation. " The image is an emblem of the world. 
 The golden head is the ei":jpire of the C haldeans: foras- 
 much as that was the first and most wealthy. The breast 
 and arms of silver signify the second kingdom : For Cy- 
 
 * Therefore, according to tlie interpretation of theprophqt, the 
 ij-nage seen is a picture of the wo^-ld. The head of gold is^ the 
 er.^pire of the Chaldeans, forasmuch as we have been told, it was 
 the fii'st and the most wealth)'. The breast and arms of silver 
 speak out the second kingdr-irt. F<>v Cyrus, when he had van- 
 quished the Chaldeans and Modes, transferred the empii-e to the 
 Persians. In the belly of brass is evidently foreshown the third 
 kingdom. This part of the piopljecy vve see fulfilled. For 
 Alexander having wrested the empire from the Persians, deli- 
 vered it up to the Macedonians. The legs of iron denote the 
 fourth empire, namely, the Roman, which was the strong-est of 
 all the kingdoms that had gone before it. But the feet, partly of 
 iron, and partly of clay, sig'nify that the Roman empii-e was to 
 he divided in such a manner, as never to be again united. I'his 
 also has been fulfilled. — For the Roman territory is now posses- 
 sed by foreign nations or rebels. — In our armies, cities, and pro- 
 vinces, we at present v/itness a mixture of barbarous nations. — 
 But in the stone cut out without hands, which brake in pieces 
 the goUl, the silver, the brass, the ii-on, and the cla}', we have an 
 emblem of Christ. For he will bring to nothing, that world in 
 which are earthly kingdoms, and shall establish another incor- 
 ruptible kingdom. Concerning which alone, some are still in 
 doubt, discrediting fu\ure things, though convinced of the past.* 
 See Sulpicius' Sacred History, Book II. page 66/67i in the EL 
 zivir edition of 1656. 
 
TIIK IMIOPIIECIES. 275 
 
 rus, the Chaldeans and Medcs hcint^ overcome, transfer- 
 rt^d the empire lo the Persians. In the brazen heily the 
 third kini^dom is declared to be portcnderl ; and that we 
 see fulrtlled : Forasmuch as the empire taken from the 
 Persians, Alexander vindicated to Macedonia. The iron 
 legs are the fourth kingdom : and that is the Roman, the 
 strongest of all the kingdoms before it. But the feet, part 
 of iron and part of clay, prefigure the Roman empire to 
 he so divideds as that it should never unite again : which 
 
 is equally fulfilled Forasmuch as the Roman teri-itory 
 
 is occupied by foreign nations or rebels : and we see 
 
 (saith he, and he lived at the beginning of the fifth* cen- 
 tury) barbarous nations mixed with our armies, cities, 
 
 and provinces But in the stone cutout without hands, 
 
 which brake in pieces the gold, the silver, the brass, the 
 iron, and the clay, we have a figure of Christ. For he 
 shall reduce this world, in which are the kingdoms of the 
 earth, to nothing, and shall establish another everlasting 
 kingdom. Of which alone the faith of some is still 
 dubious, and they will not credit future things, when they 
 are convinced of the past." 
 
 Nay, Grotius himself, the great patron of the other 
 opinion, that the fifth kingdom is the Roman empire, 
 commenting upon those words, ver. 45. * it brake in 
 pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the 
 gold,' cannot but acknowledge thatf the sublimer sense 
 is, that Chi ist will put an end to all earthly empires, ac- 
 cording to I Cor. XV. 24. that ' he shall put down all 
 rule, and all authority, and power.' 
 
 Thus it pleased God to reveal unto Daniel, and by 
 Daniel unto Nebuchadnezzar, the greatest and most sig- 
 nal events of this world. As Daniel said unto Nebuchad- 
 nezzar, ver. 45. ' The great God hath made known to 
 the king what shall come to pass hereafter ; and the 
 dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof is sure.* 
 The king hearing his dream related with such exactness, 
 might, be better assured of the truth of the interpreta- 
 
 * See Cave's Literary History, Vol. I. page 374. 
 
 •j- ' The sublimer senst is, that Christ will put an end to all 
 earthly governments,' 1 Cor. xv. 21. See Grotius on the pas- 
 sage. 
 
276 BTSSERTATIOXS ON 
 
 tion, and of the g-reat events which shouM follow. And 
 from hence we are enabled in some measure to accoiuit 
 for Nebuchadnezzar's prophecying a little belore he 
 died. Abydenus wrote the history of the Assyrians. — 
 It is not well known in what age he lived, and liis history- 
 is lost: but there is a fragment of it preserved by Euse- 
 bius, wherein it is asserted upon the authority of Me- 
 gasthenes, that Nebuchadnezzar was divinely inspired 
 and prophecied in this manner:* " I Nebuchadnezzar 
 foretel unto you, O Babylonians, an imminent calamity, 
 vhich neither Behis my progenitor, nor queen Beltis can 
 persuade the fates to avert : A Persian mule shall come, 
 assisted by your demons, and impose servitude upon 
 you ; whose coadjutor shall be a Mede, the boast of the 
 Assyrians.* And soon after he died. Herodotus, who 
 was a much older historian than Megasthenes, relates 
 that a Delphic oracle was given to Croesus king of Lydia, 
 that t when a mule should rule over the Medes, that he 
 should not be ashamed to fly away. Which oracle was 
 afterwards thus interpreted by the Pythian priestess ; Cy- 
 rust was this mule ; for he was born of parents of differ- 
 ent nations, the mother the better, and the father the 
 meaner ; for she was a Mede, and the daughter of the 
 king of the Medes, but he was a Persian and subject to 
 the Medes. If any credit is to be given to these stories, 
 if any such prophecy was uttered by Nebuchadnerzar a 
 
 • * (y Babylonians, t Nebuchadnezzar foretel to you an ap- 
 proaching* calamity, which neither Belus my prog'enitor, nor 
 queen Beltis could ever persuade the flites to turn away from 
 you. A Persian mule will come, aided by your demons, and 
 lay a heavy yoke upon your necks. He shall have for his assist- 
 ant a Mede, the pride of the Assyrians. See Eusebius' Evan- 
 g-elical Preparation, Book IX. Chap. xli. page 456, in Vigerus' 
 edition. 
 
 f * But when a mule shall be king of the INIedes, then, O Ly- 
 dian, be not ashamed to flee away.' See Herodotus, Book I. 
 (Jhap. Iv. page 21, in Gale's edition 
 
 ^ • For Cyrus truly was ihis mule, being descended from two 
 pai'ents that belonged to different nations, and being of a nobler 
 extraction by the mother's side than by the fathei's. For she 
 was a Mede, the daughter of Astyages, a king of the Medes. 
 But he was a Persian, and under the dominion of the Medes,* 
 'See Herodotus, in the same place, Chap. 5;ci. page 39. 
 
THE PROrHECIES. 277 
 
 little before his death, if any such oracle was received 
 and believed of Cyrus and the Persians subduinc^ Asia, 
 the notion, the tradition, may very well be supposed to 
 have been derived originally from this prophecy of Da- 
 niel, which being so solemnly delivered to a great king, 
 and pul)lished in Chaldee, might come to be generally 
 known in the east ; and the event soon afterwards evinced 
 the truth of it. 
 
 It was from this prophecy too, that the distinction first 
 arose of the four great empires of the world, which hath 
 been followed by most historians and chronologers in 
 their distribution of times. These four empires, as they 
 are the subject of this prophecy, are likewise the sub- 
 ject of the most celebrated pens, both in former and in 
 later ages, the histories of these empires are the best 
 writ, and the most read of any ; they are the study of 
 the learned, and the amusement of the polite ; they are 
 of use both in schools, and in senates; we learn them when 
 we are young, and we forget them not when we are old ; 
 from hence examples, instructions, laws and politics are 
 derived for all ages ; and very little in comparison is 
 known of other times, or of other nations. Not but there 
 have been empires as great or greater than some of these, 
 as those of the Tartars for instance, and of the Saracens, 
 and of the Turks ; and you may think perhaps, that 
 they are as well deserving of a place in this succession 
 of kingdoms, and were equally worthy to be made the 
 objects of prophecy, being as eminent for the wisdom 
 of their constitutions, the extent of their dominions, and 
 the length of their duration. But these four empires 
 had a particular relation to the church and people of God, 
 ■who were subject to each of them in their turns. They 
 were therefore particularly predicted ; and we have in 
 them, without the intermixture of others, a line of pro- 
 phecy (as I may say) extending from the vt\ii:n of Ne- 
 buchadnezzar to the full and complete establishment of 
 the kingdom of the Messiah. He who is arbiter of king- 
 doms, and governor of the universe, can reveal as much 
 of their future revolutions as he pleaseth : and he hath 
 revealed enough to manifest his providence, and to con- 
 firm the truth of religion. What Daniel said upon the 
 first discovery of these things, well may we say after 
 
 \0L. 1, A a 
 
278 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 the completion of so many particulars, verse 20 — 22. 
 ' Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever ; for wis- 
 dom and might are his. And he changeth the times and 
 the seasons : he removeth kings, and setteth up kings : 
 he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them 
 that know understanding. He revealeth the deep and 
 secret things : he knoweth what is in the darkness, and 
 the light dwelleLh with him.' 
 
 XIV. 
 
 DANIEL'S VISION OF THE SAME. 
 
 WHAT was revealed unto Nebuchadnezzar, in the 
 second year of his reign, concerning the four great em- 
 pires of the world, was again revealed unto Daniel, Chap, 
 vii. with some enlargements and additions in the first 
 year of Belshazzar, that is. about eight and forty years 
 afterwards. But there is this difference, that what was 
 exhibited to Nebuchadnezzar m the form of a great 
 image, was represented to Daniel in the shape of great 
 wild beasts. The reason of which is ingeniously assign- 
 ed by Grotius, and after him by Mr. Lowth,* " that this 
 image appeared with a glorious lustre in the imagination 
 of Nebuchadnezzar, whose mind was wholly taken up with 
 admiration of worldly pomp and splendor ;• whereas the 
 same monarchies were represented to Daniel under the 
 shape of fierce and wild beasts, as being the great sup- 
 porters of idolatry and tyranny in the world." 
 
 Daniel dreamed, and the angel interpreted. * These 
 great beasts, which are four,' (says the angel, ver. 17.) 
 < are four kings,' or kingdoms, as it is translated in the 
 vulgar Latin, and the Greek, and Arabic versions, and 
 as the angel himself explains it, ver. 23. ' The fourth 
 beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth.' They 
 arise out of a stormy and tempestuous sea, that is out of 
 
 • See Lowth's Commentary on Chap. ii. 31. and Grotius on 
 the passage. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 279 
 
 the wars and commotions of the world ; and they arc 
 called great in comparison of other lesser states and 
 kingdoms, as ihey are denominated beasts for their ty- 
 rannical and cruel oppressions and depredations. These 
 beasts are indeed monstrous productions ; a lion with 
 eagle's wings, a bear with three ribs in the mouth of it, 
 a leopard with four wings and four heads, and a beast 
 with ten horns : but such emblems and hieroglyphics 
 Were usual among the eastern nations ; a winged lion 
 and sucli fictitious animals may still be seen in the ruins 
 of Persepolis;* horns are attributed to beasts, which na- 
 turally have none ; and these figures were, as I may say, 
 the arms and symbols of such and such nations, and are 
 no stranger than several v/hich are still used in modern 
 heraldry. We will consider them m order, and take 
 notice only of such interpretations as carry in them some- 
 thing probable and plausible, to the end that we may 
 ■ establish what is more certain. To recite all the various 
 opinions of commentators woidd be but heaping up a 
 monument of the absurdities of former ages. We may 
 collect something from one, and something from an- 
 other, and yet in all respects perfectly agree with none. 
 I. The first kingdom is represented by a beast, ver. 4. 
 that was * like a lion, and had eagle's wings : and I be- 
 held till the wings thereof were pluckt, and it was lifted 
 up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a 
 man, and a man's heart was given to it.' This is the 
 kingdom of the Babylonians: and the king of Babylon 
 is in like manner compared to a lion by Jeremiah, iv. 7. 
 * The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer 
 of the Gentiles is on his way ;' and he is «aid to fly as 
 an eagle, xlviii. 40. ' Behold he shall fly as an eagle, 
 and shall spread his wings over ^Nloab; and he is also 
 compared to an eagle by Ezekiel, xvii. :1, — 12. * "i'hus 
 saith the Lord God, a great eagle with great wings, Sec* 
 The lion is esteemed the king of beasts, and the eagle 
 the king of birds : and therefore the kingtijm of Baby- 
 lon, which is described as the first and noblest kingdom, 
 and was the kingdom then in being, is said to partake of 
 the nature of both. Instead of a lion, the Vulgar Latin, 
 
 * See Sir John Chard in, and other travellers, 
 
j>80 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 and the Greek and Arabic versions have a lioness ; and 
 it is Jerome's^observation,* that the kingdom of Babylon, 
 for its cruelty is compared not to a lion, but to a lioness, 
 Avhich naturalists say is the fiercer of the two. 
 
 The euglv's wing}^ denote its swiftness and rapidity ; 
 and the conquests of Babylon were very rapid, that em- 
 pire l)eini^ advanced to the heighth within a few years by 
 a single person, by the conduct and arms of Kebiichad- 
 iiezzar. It is farther said, ' the wings thereof were pluckt, 
 -and it was lifted up from the earth,' that is, it was taken 
 away from the earth, as it is corsmionly understood, and 
 as it is translated in almost ail the f ancient versions : or 
 it may be rendered* thus, the nvivga thereof ivere pluckt 
 wherewith it ivas lified nfi from the earthy as Gfotius* 
 explains it, and as we read ir in the margin of our bibles, 
 the conjunction copulative sometimes supplying the place 
 of a relative. Its wings were beginning to be pluckt at 
 the time of the. delivery of this prophecy ; for at this 
 time the Medes and Persians were mcroaching upon it; 
 Belshazzar the king now reigning was the last of his race; 
 and in the § seventh year of his reign Babylon was taken, 
 and the kingdom was transferred to the Medes and Per- 
 sians. 
 
 ' And it was made to stand upon the feet as a man. and 
 a man*s heart was given to it.* It is not easy to say what 
 
 • The Babylonian kingdom, on account of it3 ferocity and 
 cruelty, — is not called a lion, but a lioness. For they who have 
 written on the nature of beasts, tell us, that the lioness is the 
 most ferocious and cruel, &c. See Jerome's Commentary on 
 the place, Vol. III. page 1099, in the Benedictine edition. 
 
 -j- *And (he says) it was lifted up from the earth. This hap- 
 pened by the su!)version of the impious empire of the Clialdeans.* 
 Sec Jerome or\ tlie passage. 'Ami it was taken away from the 
 earth.' Sec the Scptuagiiit. * 1 beheld its wings plucked, and 
 removed from tl)e ground.' See the Syriac version. ' And it 
 went away from the earth.' See the Arabic. 
 
 t ' And it was removed from tiie earth ; namely by its wings , 
 v;hich Jified It above the earth. For frequently in the Chaldee, 
 no less than in the Hebrew language, the copulative conjunction 
 has the power of the relative pronoun.' See Grotius on Dan. 
 vii. 4. 
 
 § See Josepli'is' Antiquities, Kook X. Chap. xi. Sect. 4. page 
 462, in Hudson's edition. See also Usher, Prideaax, and other 
 Chronologers. 
 
Tin: PROPHECIES. 281 
 
 is the precise mcaninp^ of this passage ; unless it be an 
 allusion to the case of Nebuchadnezzar, when in his mad- 
 ness, iv. 6. * a beast's heart was given unto him, and af- 
 ter he was restored to his senses, 'a man's heart' was giv- 
 en to him' again. What appears most probable is, thut 
 after the Babylonian empire was subverted, the people 
 became more humane and gentle ; their minds were 
 humbled with their fortune ; and they who vaunted as if 
 they had been gods, now felt themselves to be but men. 
 They were broiight to such a sense astlie Psalmist Xvish- 
 eth such persons to have, Psal. ix. 20. ' Put them in fear, 
 O Lord ; that the nations may know themselves to be but 
 men.' 
 
 II. The second kingdom is presented, ver. 5. by * ano- 
 ther beast like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, 
 and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth 
 of it : and they said thus unto it. Arise, devour much flesh.* 
 This is the kingdom of the Medes and Persians : and for 
 their cruelty and greediness after blood they are compar. 
 ed to a dear^ which is a most voracious and ciuel animal. 
 The very learned Bochart * recounts several particulars, 
 wherein the Persians resembled bears : but the chief like- 
 ness consisted in what I have mentioned ; and this like- 
 ness was principally intended by the prophet, as 1 think 
 we may infer from the words of the text itself; ••■ Arise, 
 devour much flesh.* A bear, saith Aristotle, is an all- 
 devouring animal : and so, saith Grotius,! the Medo-Per- 
 sians were great robbers and spoilers according to Jere- 
 miah, li. 48, 5 6. 
 
 * And it raised up itself on one side,' or as it is in the 
 margin, it raised u/i one dominion ; for the Persians were 
 subject to the Medes at the conquest of Babylon, but soon 
 after raised up themselves above them. ' And it had 
 three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it; 
 these \ Jerome understands of the three kingdoms of the 
 
 * See Bocliart's Hierozoicon, Part I. Book III. Chap. ix. Col. 
 816, &.C. 
 
 \ * The bear is an all-devouring animal, saith Aristotle,' Book 
 YIII. Chap. v. So Grotius on Jer. li. 48, 56. suiih, ' that the 
 ;&iedo-Persians were great spoilers and plundctxrs ' 
 
 4: * Therefoi-e, the three rows (ribs) ii\ tlic mouth of the king-- 
 dom of tiie Persians, and in its teeth, we must understand, the 
 A a 2 
 
232 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 Babylonians, Medes, and Persians, which were reduced 
 into one kingdom ; and so likewise Vatabulns and Gro- 
 tius : but Sir Isaac Newton * and Bishop Chandler with 
 greater propriety explain them to signify the kingdoms 
 of Babylon, Lybia, and Egypt, which were conquered by 
 it, but were not properly parts and members of its body. 
 They might be called rib.'s^ as the conquest of them much 
 strengthened the Persian empire ; and they might be said 
 to be ' between the teeth of the bear,' as tliey were much 
 grinded and oppressed by the Persians. 
 
 ' And they said thus unto it. Arise, devour much flesh :' 
 this was said, as it was before observed, to denote the 
 cruelty of the Medes and Persians. 'i'hey are also re- 
 presented very cruel by the prophet Isaiah, xiii. 18 
 
 ' Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces, 
 and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb ; 
 their eye shall not spare children.' Cambyses, Ochus, 
 and others of their princes were indeed more like bears 
 than men. Inhtances of their cruelty abound in almost 
 all the historians, who have written of their affairs, from 
 Herodotus down to Ammianus Marcellinus, t who de- 
 scribes them proud, cruel, exercising the power of life 
 and death over slaves and obscure plel3eians. They pull 
 off the skin, says he, from men alive, by pieces or all to- 
 gether : and they have abominable laws, by which for 
 one man's olfence all the neighbourhood is destroyed*— 
 Well therelore might a learned French \ commentator 
 
 three king'doms of the Babylonians, Medes and Persians, which 
 were reduced inxo one kmg-dom.' See Jerome's Commentary, 
 Vol. III. page 1100, in the Benedictine edition. See also Yata- 
 l^iilus, and trotivis en the passage. 
 
 • See Sh- Isaac Newton's Observations on Daniel, Chap iv. 
 page 29. See alsoBp. Chandler's Vindication, Book I. Chap. ii. 
 Sect. 2. page 198. 
 
 f ' Haughty, cruel, claiming the power of life and death, 
 ever slaves and obscure common people, lliey pull the skin off 
 from men alive, either in piecemeal or altogether. Their laws 
 are to be detested, whereby for the fault of one man, all his 
 kindred are put to death .' See Ammianus Marcellinus, Book 
 XXIII. Chap. vi. page 384, in Valesius' edition, printed at Paris 
 in 1681. 
 
 \ 'The Persians have exercised a dominion, the severest and 
 most cruel which is known. The punishments inflicted by them 
 produce horror in those who read them.' See Cahnet on Daniel 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 2g3 
 
 sa)', that the Persians have exercised the most severe, 
 and the most cruel dominion that we know of. The 
 punishments used among them beget horror in thoi>e 
 who read of them. 
 
 III. The third kingdom is represented, ver. 6. by 
 * another beast like a leopard, which had upon the back 
 of it four wings of a fowl ; the beast had also four heads ; 
 and dominion was given to it.' This is the kingdom of 
 the Macedonians or (jrecians, who under the command 
 of Alexander the Great, overcame the Persians, and 
 reigned next after them : and it is fitly compared to a 
 li-ojiard upon several accounts. The leopard is remarka- 
 ble for swiftness ; ' their horses' (saith the prophet Ha- 
 bakkuk, i. 8.) ' are swifter than the leopards :' and Alex- 
 ander and the Macedonians were amazingly swift and ra- 
 pid in their conquests. The leopard is a spotted animal : 
 and so was a proper emblem, according to Bochart, * of 
 the different manners of the nations which Alexander 
 commanded ; or according to Grouus.f of the various 
 manners of Alexander himself, who was sometimes mer- 
 ciful, and sometimes cruel ; sometiii es temperate, and 
 sometimes drunken ; sonetimes abstemious, and some- 
 times incontinent. The leopard, as Bochart \ observes, is 
 of small stature, but of great courage, so as not to be afraid 
 to engage with the lion and the largest beasts ; and so 
 Alexander, a little king in comparison, of small stature 
 too, and with a small army, dared to attack the king of 
 kings, that is Darius, w^hose kingdom was extended from 
 the iEgean seat to the Indies. Others have pu. sued the 
 comparison further, but v/ith more subtility than solidity; 
 for I conceive the principal point of likeness was design- 
 
 * 'The different manners and customs of the nations, over 
 which he bare rule, may have a reference to the spots of a leo- 
 pard.* See Bochart's Hierozoicon, Part I. Book III Chap, vii^ 
 Col. 789. 
 
 ■^ * The leopard is an animal of divers colours. So in Alexan- 
 der we discover a variety. For sometimes he was merciful, then 
 cruel, sometimes temperate, then drunken, sometimes chaste, 
 and then incontinent.' See Grotius on the passage. 
 
 ^ • The leopard is a beast of small stature, but eminently dis- 
 tinguished for its courage and strength, so that it is not afraid 
 to engage with the lion, or any other of the largest beasts of 
 
284 DISSERTATIOXS OX 
 
 ed between the swiftness and impetuosity of the one and 
 the other. 
 
 For the same reason the beast * had upon the back of 
 it four wings of a fowl.' The r>abylonian empire was re- 
 presented with tvjo wings, but this is described withybwr. 
 For, as Jerome * saith, nothing was swifter than the vic- 
 tories of Alexander, who ran through all the countries 
 from Illyricum and the Adriatic sea to the Indian ocean 
 and the river Ganges, not so much fighting as conquer- 
 ing, and in six years (he should have said in twelve) sub- 
 jugated part of Europe, and all Asia to himself. ' The 
 beast had also four heads:' to denote the four kingdoms 
 into which this same third kingdom should be divided, as 
 it was divided into four kingdoms after the death of Alex- 
 ander,! his four captains Cassander reigning over Mace- 
 don and Greece, Lysimachus over Thrace and Bithynia, 
 Ptolemy over Egypt, and Seleucus over Syria. ' And 
 dominion was given to it ;' which sheweth, as Jerome 
 saith, that it was not owing to the fortitude of xVlexan- 
 der, but proceeded from the will of the Lord. And in- 
 deed unless he had been directed, preserved, and assisted 
 by the mighty power of God, hov/ could Alexander with 
 thirty thousand men have overcome Darius with six 
 hundred thousand, and in so short a time, have brought 
 all the countries from Greece, as far as to India, into sub- 
 jection. 
 
 IV. The fourth kingdom is represented, ver. 7. by a 
 < fourth beast, dreadful and terrible ; and strong exceed- 
 ingly ; and it had great iron teeth ; it devoured, and brake 
 
 prey. In like manner, Alexander, though a little king and with 
 a small army, ventured to aUack a king of kings, namely, Dari- 
 us, whose KiiTipire reached from the JEgean sea to the Indies.' — 
 See B;>chii.rt in the same place. 
 
 * * Xo:hing was swifter than the conquests of Alexander. Fqi* 
 he ran dirough uU the countries, which extend from Illyricum, 
 and the Venetian sea to tlie Indian ocean, and the banks of the 
 Ganges, rather conquering than fighting- : And in the compass 
 of six years, he made himself master of a part of Europe, and 
 the whole of Asia.' See .Jerome's Commentary, Vol. III. page 
 1160, in the Benedictine edition, 
 
 t See Prideaux' Connections, Parti. Book VIII. year 301, and 
 foiurth of Ptolemv Soter. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. ^85 
 
 in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it, and 
 it was divers from all the beasts tiiat were before it.* Da- 
 niel was curious to know particularly what this might 
 mean ; ver. 19. * Then I would know the truth of the 
 fourth beast, which was divers from all the others, exceed- 
 ing dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of 
 brass, which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the 
 residue with his feet.' And he was answered thus by the 
 angel ; ver. 23. ' The fourth beast shall be the fourth 
 kingdom upon earth, which shall be divers from all king- 
 doms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread 
 it down, and break it in pieces.* This fourth kingdom 
 can be none other than the Roman empire ; for it is as 
 absurd as it is singular, to pretend to reckon the king- 
 doms of the Seleucidie in Syria and of the Lagidae or 
 Ftolemies in Egypt as the fourth kingdom. Calmet him- 
 self* acknowledgeth, that this is usually explained of the 
 Roman empire ; and though for reasons of Church, as 
 well as reasons of state, he may prefer the other hypo- 
 thesis, yet it is, '' without pretending to destroy the sys- 
 tem which understands the fourth empire of the Roman, 
 and which, as he confcsseth, is the miost commonly re- 
 ceived among interpreters." 
 
 The kingdoms of the Seleucidae and of the Lagidse, can 
 in no respect answer to this description of the fourth 
 beast or kingdom. It is described as ' dreadful, and ter- 
 rible, and strong exceedingly : but the kingdoms of the 
 Lagidae, and of the Selucidse, were less terrible, and Irss 
 strong than any of the former kingdoms. It ' devoured, 
 and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue,' that is, the 
 remains of the former kingdoms, 'with the feet of it;* 
 but the Lac^idas and the Seleucidse, were almost continu- 
 ally at war with each other ; and instead of subduing 
 other kingdoms, tore to pieces their own. It was 'divers 
 from all kingdoms that is. of a different nature and con- 
 stitution of government : but Egypt and Syria were go- 
 verned much in the same manner, as the former king- 
 
 * *It is ordinarily explained of the lloman emph-c. — Without 
 pretending: Hevertheless to overtui-n the system, whicli under- 
 stands the fourth empire of the lionian, and which is the most 
 commonly recei^cd among intevpreters." See Culmet on the 
 passage. 
 
^90 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 doms, and were equally absolute monarchies. Of the 
 fourth kingdom it is said, ' that it shall devour the whole 
 earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces :* but 
 this can never be applied to the kings of Egypt and Sy- 
 ria, who were so far from enlarging their dominions, that 
 they could not preserve what was left them by their 
 ancestors. 
 
 Wherefore Jerome* rightly concluded, that " the fourth 
 empire which now possesseth the world, is the Roman, 
 whereof it is said in the statue, his legs of iro7i, his fret 
 fiart of iron, and part of clay ; and yet he mentions now 
 the iron in part, attesting that it had great iron teeth. 
 And I greatly wonder, saith he, that when he ha 1 before 
 placed a lion, and a bear, and a leopard in three kingdoms, 
 he should compare the Roman empire to no beast : un- 
 less, perhaps that he might make the beast more formi- 
 dab'e, he concealed the name ; so that whosoever we 
 could have imagined the most fierce in beasts, that we 
 should understand the Romans to be." The fourth beast 
 was so great and horrible, that it was not easy to find an 
 adequate name for it : and the Roman empire was ' dread- 
 ful, and terrible, and strong exceedingly,' beyond any of 
 the former kingdoms. It was ' divers from all kingdoms,* 
 not only in its republican form of government, but like- 
 wise in strength, and power, and greatness, length of du- 
 ration, and extent of dominion. ' It devoured, and brake 
 in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it ;* 
 it reduced Macedon into a Roman provincef about 168 
 years, the kingdom of Pergamus about 133. years, Syria 
 about 65 years, and Egypt about 30 years before Christ. 
 And besides the remains of the Macedonian empire, it 
 
 * * The fourth kingdom, which now bears rule over all the 
 earth, is the Roman. Concerning it, in the image it is said, Ma* 
 its legs tvere of iron, and its feet partly of iron, and partly of clay ; 
 and yet he now mentions the iron in part, and bears witness that 
 its teeth were of iron, and larg-e. 1 greatly wonder, that when 
 he hath put the lioness, the bear, and tlie leopard, in three king- 
 doms, he should not compare the Roman to any wild beast; un- 
 less perhaps he hatli omitted the name, to render the beast the 
 more terrible, that whatever we can think of, as being fiercest, 
 is to be understood of the Roman.' See Jerome's Commentary» 
 Vol. III. page 1100 in the Benedictine edition. 
 
 t See Usher, Prideaux, and other chronoloijers. 
 
THE PROPHECIES 281 
 
 subtliied many other provinces and kingdoms, so that it 
 niighi by a very uset'ul figure be said, to 'devour the 
 whole earth, and to tread it down, and break it in pieces ;* 
 and became in a manner what the Roman readers delight-, 
 ed to call it, terrariim orbia imjicrhim, the empire of the 
 whole world. 
 
 A Greek writer too, and he a grave and judicious his- 
 torian, who flourished in the reign of Augustus Caesar, 
 hath a remarkable passage, which is very pertinent to our 
 present purpose. Speaking of the great superiority of 
 the Roman empire to ail former empires, he saith,that the 
 Persian was succeeded by the Macedonian, and the Ma- 
 cedonian by the Roman ; so that he had no conception of 
 Alexander's erecting one kingdom, and his successors 
 another, but considered them both as one and the same 
 kingdom. His words are, * "the Macedonian empire 
 having overturned the force of the Persians, in greatness 
 indeed of dominion, exceeded ail the kingdoms which 
 were befoie it : but yet it did not flourish a longtime, but 
 after the death of .Alexander it began to grow worse and 
 worse. For being iaimediately distracted into several 
 principalities by his successors, and after them having 
 
 * * The kingdom of the Macedonians, having" destroyed the 
 power of ttie Persians, exceeded in largeness of dominion ali 
 that had been before it. But even this kingdom did not lon^ 
 fiourJsli. For after the death of Alexander, its ruin began, it 
 was then divided into many principalities by his successors, and 
 after them, it was contip.iied to the third and fourth generation, 
 but was weakened by itself, and at last overturned by the Ro- 
 mans. Nor yet did it reduce into its dominion all lands and 
 seas. It was not even possessed of Africa, which is of great 
 extent, excepting that part of it, which bordereth upon Egypt, 
 nor did it conquer the whole of Europe, but reached only to 
 Tiirace nortliward, and westward descended to the Venetian 
 
 sea But tlie Roman republic has obtained dominion over all 
 
 that part of the earth, which is not desert, but inhabited, and 
 is miSiress of the whole sea, not only of that within the pillars 
 of Hercules, but also of the ocean, as far as it is navigable. It 
 is the fust and only one, in the memory of man, which hath 
 made the east and west, the bounds of its dominion. Its power 
 bath not lasted tor a short time, but its duration hath been 
 greater, than luith fallen to the lot of any republic or kingdom.* 
 See the Roman antiquities of Dionysius, of Halicarnassus, Book 
 1. page 2, and 3, in Hudson's edition. 
 
288 DISSEHTATIONS ON 
 
 Strength to go on to the second or third generation, it 
 ^vas weakened by itself, and at last was destroyed by the 
 Romans. And yet it did not reduce all the earth and 
 sea to its obedience. For neither did it possess Africa, 
 except that part adjoining to hgypt ; neither did it sub- 
 due all Europe, but only northwards it proceeded as far 
 as Thrace, and westward it descended to the Adriatic 
 sea. But the city of Rome ruleth over all the earth, as 
 far as it is inhabited ; and commands all the sea, not only 
 that within the pillars of Hercules, but also the ocean, as 
 far as it is navigable, having first and alone of all the 
 most celebrated kingdoms, made the east and west the 
 bounds of its empire ; and its dominion hath not continu- 
 ed a short time, but longer than that of any other city or 
 kingdom.'* 
 
 2. Another remarkable property of this beast is, ver. 
 7. that 'it had ten horns :' and according to the angel's 
 interpretation, ver. 24. *the ten horns out of this king- 
 dom are ten kings' or kingdoms * that shall arise. Four 
 kings' a little before, ver. 17. signified 'four kinL;doms :' 
 and so here teji kings are ten kingdoms^ according to the 
 usual phraseology of scripture. And this is a farther 
 argument that the kingdoms of the Lagidae, and of the 
 Seieucidae, cannot possibly be the fourth kingdom, be- 
 cause they were never divided into so many parts. "^The 
 Macedonian empire was divided a few years after the 
 death of Alexander into four kingdoms, whereof Egypt 
 ar:d Syria were two ; but these two were never again 
 subdivided into ten lesser kingdoms. Porphyry there- 
 fore, who made two separate kingdoms of the kingdom 
 of Alexander and his successors, contrary to the received 
 interpretation of kingt,, for kingdoms^ reckons down to 
 Antiochus Epiphanes, whom he supposeth to be the little 
 horn,, ten kings who were n.ost cruel : but these kings, 
 as Jerome* observes, were not all of one kingdom, of 
 Macedonia for instance, or Syria, or Asia, or Egypt ; but 
 the list was made up out of the different kingdoms. 
 
 • And afterwards down to Antiochus, sirnamed Epiphanes, all 
 of whom were outrageously cruel. He places these kings, not 
 in one kingdom, for example, in that of Macedonia, or Syria, or 
 Asia, or Egypt. But he makes up his one list of kings, by tak- 
 ing them out of different kingdoms. See Jerome's Commen* 
 tary, Vol. III. page 1130, in the Benedictine edition. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 28f) 
 
 Grotiu;^* indeed, and Collins after him, form their cata- 
 logue of the ten kings, who were very oppressive and cruel 
 to the Jews, out oFtlie kings of Egypt and Syria: and they 
 thus enumerate them, five out of one kingdom, and five 
 out of the other : Ptolemy the son of Lagus, Seleucus 
 Nicator, Ptolemy Eupator, [I suppose they mean Ptolemy 
 Philadelphus, for he reigned next before Ptolemy the son 
 of Lagus, and next after Ptolemy Euergetes, being the 
 son of the former, and the father of the latter] Ptolemy 
 Euergetes, Seleucus Callinicus, Antiochus the Great, 
 Ptolemy Philopater, Ptolemy Epiphanes, Seleucus Phi- 
 lopater, and Antiochus Epiphanes. But it happens, that 
 some of these kings did not persecute the Jews at all, as 
 Seleucus Callinicus. Others were so far from persecut- 
 ing them, that they were their patrons and protectors. 
 Such were Ptolemy the son of Lagus, Seleucus Nicator, 
 Ptolemy Philadelphus, Ptolemy Euergetes, and Antio- 
 chus the Great ; and such they are reckoned by Josephus 
 himself t So that out of the ten kings, only four were 
 persecutors and oppressors of the Jews. The ten horns 
 too are represented as existing ail at once : they shoot 
 out and appear upon the head of the beast all together : 
 hut these kings were not all contemporaries, many of 
 them were successive, and one fell before another rose. 
 So forctd and arbitrary is this exposition, and so contrary 
 to the truth of history. 
 
 We must therefore look for the ten kings, or king- 
 doms, where only they can be found, amid the broken 
 pieces of the Roman empire. I'he Roman empire, as 
 the Romanists^ themselves allow, was by means of the 
 incursions of the northern nations, dism.embered into ten 
 kingdoms : and Machiavel, § little thinking what he was 
 doing, (as Bishop Chandler observes) hath given us their 
 names ; I. The Ostrogoths in Moesia, 2. the Visigoths in 
 
 * See Grotius on the passage. See also Scheme of Literal 
 Prophecy, &c. page 162. 
 
 f See AnUquities, Book XII. Chap. i. ii. iil. See him against 
 Apion, Book II. Sect. 4 and 5. page 1365, in Iludson's edition. 
 
 t See CahTiet upon Rev. xiii. 1. He refers to Berengaud, Bos- 
 suet, and Dii Pin. 
 
 § See Machiavel's History of Florence, Book I. See Bp. Chand- 
 ler's Vindication, &,c. Book I. Chap. ii. Sect. 3. page 235. 
 
 VOL. I. B b 
 
:a90 BiSSEllTATIONS ON 
 
 Pannonia, 3. the Sueves and Alans in Gascogine slu6 
 Spain, 4. the Vandals in Africa, 5. the Franks in France, 
 6. the Burgundians in Burgundy, 7. the Hueli and Tu- 
 ring! in Italy, 8. the Saxons and Angles in Britain, 9. the 
 Huns in Hungary, 10. the Lombards at first upon the 
 Danube, afterwards in Italy. 
 
 Mr. Mede, whom* a certain writer esteemed as a man 
 divinely inspired for the interpretation of the prophecies,! 
 reckons up the ten kingdoms thus, in the year 456, the 
 year after Rome was sacked by Genseric king of the Van- 
 dals : 1. the Britons, 2. the Saxons in Briton, 3. the 
 Franks, 4. the Burgundians in France, 5. the Wisigoths 
 in the south of France, and part of Spain, 6. the Sueves 
 and Alans in Galiicia and Portugal, 7. the Vandals in 
 Africa, 8. the Alemanes in Germany, 9. the Ostrogoths 
 whom the Longobards succeeded in Pannonia, and after- 
 wards in Italy, 10. the Greeks in the residue of the em- 
 pire. 
 
 That excellent chronologer Bishop Lloyd, exhibits the 
 following list I of the ten kingdoms with the time of their 
 rise : 1. Huns about A. D. 356. 2. Ostrogoths 377. 3. Wi- 
 sigoths 378. 4. Franks 407. 5. Vandals 407. 6. Sue- 
 ves and Alans 407. 7. Burgundians 407, 8. Herules 
 and Rugians 476. 9, Saxons 476. 10. Longobards be- 
 gan to rei£2:n in Hungary A. D. 526, and were seated in 
 the northern parts of Germany about the year 483. 
 
 Sir Isaac Newton enumerates them thus. § 1. the king- 
 dom of the Vandals and Alans in Spain and Africa, 2. the 
 kingdom of the Suevians in vSpain, 3. the kingdom of the 
 Visigoths, 4. the kingdom of the Alans in Gallia, 5. the 
 kingdom of the Burgundians, 6. the kingdom of the 
 Franks, 7. the kingdom of the Britons, 8. the kingdom of 
 the Huns, 9, the kingdom of the Lombards, 10. the king- 
 dom of Ravenna. 
 
 The few variations in these accounts must be ascribed 
 to the great disorder and confusion of the times, one 
 
 * See Mons. Jurieu's Preface to his Accomplishment of Scrip-- 
 tUre Prophecies. 
 
 f See Mode's Works, Book III. page 661. 
 
 \ See the Addenda to Lowth's Commentary, pag-e 514. 
 
 § See Sir fsaac Newton's Observations on Uie book of Daniel 
 Chap. vi. page 47. 
 
THE PROPIIRCHiS. 091 
 
 kingdom falling, and another rising, and scarce any sub- 
 sisting for a long while together. As a learned writer * 
 remarks, "all these kingdoms were variously divided, 
 cither by conquest or inheritance. However, as if that 
 number of te7i had been fatal in the Roman dominions, it 
 hath been taken notice of upon particular occasions. As 
 about A. D. 1240 by Ebcrard, Bishop ofSaltsburg, in the 
 diet at Ratisbon. At the time of the Reformation they 
 were also ten. So that the Roman empire was divided 
 into ten in a manner, first and last." IMr. Whiston, who 
 published his essay on the Revelation of St. John in the 
 year 1706, farther observes, | "that as the number of the 
 kin:-do:Yis, into which the Roman empire in Europe, 
 agreeably to the ancient prophecies, was originally divid- 
 ed, A. D 456, was exactly ten : so it is also very nearly 
 returned again to the same condition ; and at present iu 
 divided into ten grand or principal kingdoms or states. — 
 For though there are many more great kingdoms and 
 dominions in Kurope besides, yet they are out of the 
 bounds of the oid Roman empire, and so not directly 
 %vithm our present inquiry.*' 
 
 We would, for reasons which will hereafter appear to 
 the attentive reader, fix these ten kingdoms at a different 
 aera from any of the foregoing ; and let us see how they 
 stood in the eighth century. The principal states and 
 governments then were, 1. of the senate of Rome, who 
 revolted from the Greek emperors, and claimed and ex- 
 erted the privilege of choosing a new v.'estern emperor ; 
 2. of the Greeks in Ravenna ; 3. ofthe Lombards, in Lorn- 
 bardy ; 4. ofthe Huns in Hungary ; 5. ofthe Alemanesiu 
 Cermany ; 6. ofthe Franks in France ; 7. of the Burgun- 
 diansin Burgundy; 8. ofthe (joths in Spain; 9. ofthe Bri- 
 tons; 10. ofthe Saxons in Britain. Not that there were con- 
 stantly ten kingdoms ; they were sometimes more, and 
 sometimes fewer ; but, as Sir Isaac Newton ~ says," what- 
 ever was their number afterwards, they are siill called 
 the teji kings from their first number." 
 
 * See Daubuz on Rev. xiii. 1. page 559. 
 •j- See Essay on the llevelation. Part HI, Vision IV. 
 + See Sir Isaac Newton's Observations on the Book of Daniel^ 
 Ghap. vi. page To. 
 
292 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 3. Besides these ten horns or kingdoms'of the fourth 
 empire, there was to spring up among them another little 
 horn. *1 considered the horns, saith Daniel, ver. 8. 
 ' and behold there came up among them another little 
 Jhorn, before whom there wei e three of the first horns 
 pliickt up by the roots.' Daniel was eager to know, 
 ver. 20. as ' of the ten horns,' so likewise 'of the other 
 which came up, and before whom three fell.' And he 
 Tvas informed by the angel, ver. 24. that as ' the ten horns 
 out of this kingdom were ten kings' or kingdoms ' that 
 should arise,' so likewise that 'another shall rise after 
 them, and he shall subdue three kings' or kingdoms. One 
 absurdity generally produceth another: and Grotius, * in 
 consequence of his former supposition that the fourth 
 kingdom was the kingdoms of the Seleucidae and the La- 
 gidae, supposeth also that 'the little horn' was Antiochus 
 Epiphanes, and that ' the three horns which were pluckt 
 up before him' were hh elder brother Seleucus, and 
 Demetrius the son of Seleucus, and Ptolemy Philopater 
 king of Egypt : and Collins adopts the same notion after 
 Grotius, for Collins v/as only a retailer of scraps, and 
 could not advance any thing of this kind of his own. But 
 surely it is very arbitrary to reckon Antiochus Epiphanes 
 as one of the ten horns, and at the same time as the Uttle 
 horn, when the prophet hath plainly made the little horn 
 an eleventh horn, distinct from the formier ten. There 
 were ' three of the first horns' to be pluckt up by the roots 
 before the little horn; but the three kings mentioned by 
 Grotius are not all in his first catalogue of ten kings, nei- 
 ther Ptolemy Philometer, (if Philometer be meant) nor 
 Demetrius being of the number. Neither were they 
 ' pluckt up by the roots' by Antiochus, or by his order. 
 Seleucus wasf poisoned by his treasurer Heliodorus, 
 whose aim it was to usurp the crown to himself, before 
 Antiochus returned from Rome, where he had been de- 
 tained a hostage several years. Demetrius t lived to de- 
 throne and murder the son of Antiochus, and succeeded 
 
 * See Grotius, Collins on the same place. 
 
 t See Appian's History of the Syrian War, pag*e 11(3, in Sle- 
 phanus' (edition^ and page 187, in that of Tollius. 
 
 i See the same work of Appian, page 117, in Stephanus' edi- 
 tion, page 188, in that of Tollius. See Justin, Book xxxiv. Chap. 
 
THE PllOPHF.CrcS. 293 
 
 him in the kingdom of Syria. Ptolemy Philopater* died 
 king of Egypt, almost thirty years before Antiochus came 
 to the throne of Syria: or if Ptolemy Philometor. Philo- 
 metor (as is most probable) was meant by Grotius, though 
 he suft'ered much in his wars with Antiochus, yet sur- 
 vived himf about eighteen years, and died in possession 
 of the crown of Egypt, after the family of Antiochus had 
 been set aside from the succession to the crown of Syria. 
 Neither doth Antiochus Kpiphanes answer to the cha- 
 racter of the little horn in other respects, and particularly 
 in this: the little horn continues, ver. 21, 22, 26. to 
 reign till the second coming of Christ in glory ; but An- 
 tiochus Epiphanes died about 164 years before his first 
 coming in the flesh. These are all farther arguments to 
 prove, that iho. fourth beast must needs signify the Ro- 
 man empire, and that the ten horns represent the ten 
 kingdoms into which that empire was divided, and there- 
 fore we must look for the little horn among them, and no 
 where else : and that we may not be led away by modern 
 prejudices, let us see whether the ancients will not afford 
 us some light and direction. 
 
 Irenjeus a father who flourished in the second centu- 
 ry, treating of the fraud, pride, and tyranny of Antichrist, 
 asserts, that Daniel \ respecting the end " of the last king- 
 
 iil. See Joscphus' Antiquities, Book xii. Chap. x. Sect. 1. page 
 548, in Hudson's edition. 
 
 * Ptolemy Philopater died Anno 204. Antiochus became king 
 Anno \7B before Clirist. See Usher, Prideaux, &c. 
 
 -j- Antiochus Epiphanes died Anno 164. Ptolemy Philometor, 
 Anno 146 before Christ. See Usher, Prideaux, Sec. 
 
 + * For Daniel, considering the end of tlie last kingdom, that 
 is, tlie last ten kings, among whom that kingdom was to be par- 
 celled out, in whose time the son of perdition should come, saitli 
 that ten horns shall grow upon the beast, and another small horn 
 sliall grow up in the midst of them, and shall i*oot out three of 
 the former horns. — Of this the apostle Paul speaks, in his se- 
 cond epistle to the Thessalonians, when he mentions the son of 
 perdition and the wicked one, &c. John, the Lord's disciple, in 
 ins book of the Tlevelation, hath made us more fully acquainted 
 with the last time, and with the ten kings, among whom the 
 present empire shall be divided, declaring- plainly, what the tea 
 horns shall be, which were seen by Daniel,' &c. SeeTrenxuf, 
 Book V. Chap, xxv. xxvi. &c. in Grabe*s edition. 
 B b 2 
 
294 DISSERTATIOX OX 
 
 dom, that is, the last ten kings, aniont^ whom that king- 
 dom should be divided, upon whom the son of perdition 
 shall come, saith that ten horns shall grow on the beast, 
 and another little horn shall grow up among them, and 
 three of the first horns shall be rooted out before him. — 
 Of whom also Paul the apostle speaketh, in his second 
 epistle to the Thessalonians, calling him ^^f" so7i ofperdi- 
 tion and the wicked one. St. John, our Lord's disciple, 
 hath in the Apocalypse still more plainly signified of the 
 last time, and of these ten kings, among whom the em- 
 pire that now reigneth, shall be divided, explaining 
 what the ten horns shall be, which were seen by Daniel." 
 St. Cyril of Jerusalem, who fiourished about the mid- 
 dle of the fourth century, speaking of Antichrist's com- 
 ing in the latter times of the Roman empire,* saith, " We 
 teach these things not of our oivn invention, but having 
 learned them out of the divine scriptures, and especi- 
 ally out of the prophecy of Daniel, which was just now 
 read ; even, as Gabriel the archangel interpreted, say- 
 ing thus ; the fourth beast shall he the fourth kingdom 
 iifion earthy which shall exceed all the kingdoms ; but 
 that this is the empire of the Romans, ecclesiastical in- 
 
 * * But these thing's we teach, not with an affectation of elo- 
 quence, but m the way of gathering them out of the holy scrip- 
 tures, and especially out of the words of Daniel, which we have 
 just read, even as the archangel Gabriel hath interpreted the 
 matter expressing" himself in these words, " the fourth beast 
 shall bo the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be greater 
 tlian all other kingdoms," and that this is the empire of the 
 Komans, is the sentiment of Ecclesiastical writers. For the first 
 of these kingdoms that became renovmed, was that of the Assy- 
 rians. The second was that of ihe Medes and Persians. After 
 these came the third, namely, the kingdom of the Macedonians. 
 And the fourth is the present Roman empire. Afterwards Ga- 
 briel goes on to interpret, saying-, " Its ten horns are ten kings 
 that shall arise, and another shall arise after them, who shall 
 surpass in wickedness all that went before him ;** not only these 
 ten kings, but all others who have gone before him. *' And he 
 .shall subdue three kings." But it is manifest that out of the 
 iirst ten he shall subdue three, while he himself shall reign as 
 the eighth, and he shall speak great words against the most 
 High." See Cyril of Jerusalem's Catechcsis XV. Chap. vi. page 
 211, in Mill's edition of Oxford. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 295 
 
 terpreters have delivered. For the first that was made 
 famous, was the kingdom of the Assyrians ; and the se- 
 cond, was that of the Medes and Persians together ; and 
 after these, the third, was that of the Macedonians ; and 
 the fourth kingdom, is now that of the Romans. After- 
 wards Gabriel interpreting, saith, Its teyi hornfi are ten 
 king's that shall arise ; and after them shall arise another 
 I'ing-^ who shall^exceed in wickedness all before him ; not 
 only the ten he saith, but also all who were before him. 
 Ayid he shall de/iress three kings ; but it is manifest, that 
 of the first ten he shall depress three, that he himself may 
 reign the eighth : and he shall speak words, saith he, a- 
 gainst the most High.' 
 
 St. Jerome having refuted Pophyry's notion of Anti- 
 ochus lipiphanes, being the little horn, (where by the 
 way, the passage appears to want much emendation)* 
 concludes thus: " Therefore, let us say what all Ecclesi- 
 astical writers have delivered, that in the latter days, when 
 the empire of the Romans shall be destroyed, theie will 
 be ten kings, who shall divide it between them, and an 
 eleventh shall arise, a little king, who shall subdue three 
 of the ten kings, and the other seven shall submit their 
 necks to the conqueror." Theodoret speaketh much to 
 the same purpose, in his comment upon Daniel 5 and St. 
 Austin t expressly approveth of Jerome's interpretation. 
 " Those four kingdoms, saith he, some have expounded 
 to be the Assyrian, Persian, Macedonian and Roman. — 
 How properly they have done that, those who are desir- 
 
 * 'Therefore, let us mention the sentiment of all Ecclesiasti- 
 cal writers, namely, that at the end of the world, when the em- 
 pire of the Romans shall be destroyed, there will arise ten kings 
 who shall divide it among them, and an eleventh inconsiderable 
 king shall spring up, who shall conquer three of the ten kings. 
 These being slain, the remaining seven kings shall do homage to 
 the conqueror.* See Jerome's Commentary, Vol. HI. page 1101, 
 in the Benedictine edition. 
 
 f ' Some have expounded these four kingdoms to be the As- 
 syrian, Persian, Macedonian and Roman. How aptly this hatli 
 been done, they who are desirous of learning, may consult the 
 presbyter Jerome's book upon Daniel, which has been written 
 with considerable care and learning-.' See Augustine's city of 
 God, Book XX. Chap, xxiii. Vol. VII. page 457, in the Bene- 
 dictine edition, printed at Antwerp. 
 
296 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 ous of knowing, may read the presbyter Jerome's book 
 upon Daniel, which is very accurately and learnedly writ- 
 ten.'* 
 
 The fathers, it appears by these instances, conceived 
 that the fourth empire was the Roman, that the Roman 
 empire was to be divided between ten kings, and that a- 
 mon£^ them would arise Antichrist, who sliould root up 
 three of the ten kings, and domineer over the other seven. 
 At the same time it must be confessed, that these same 
 fathers entertained strange wild notions concerning- this 
 Antichrist,* that he should be a Jew, that he should de- 
 scend from the tribe of Dan, that he should come from 
 Babylon, that he should fix his residence in the temple at 
 Jerusalem, that he should first subdue Egypt, and after- 
 wards Lybia and Ethiopia, which were the three bonis 
 that should fiiil before him. But it is no wonder that the 
 fathers, nor indeed that any one should mistake in par- 
 ticularly applying prophecies, which had not then receiv- 
 ed their completion. The fathers might understand the 
 prophecies so far as they were fulfilled, and might say 
 with certainty, which were the four great kingdoms of 
 the world, that the fourth was the Roman, and that the 
 Roman would be divided in the manner that Daniel had 
 foretold. So far was plain and obvious, and so far they 
 might proceed with safety : but wiien they ventured far- 
 ther, and would define particularly who were the ten 
 kings, and Avho was Antichrist, and who were the three 
 kiu'^s that should fall before him, then they plunged out 
 of their depth, and were lost in the abyss of error. Such 
 
 * Set; l!en?eus. Book V. Chap, xxv, and xxx. See C}ril of Je- 
 rusalem's Catechesis XV, Chap. vii. ' He shall conquer three 
 OUT of ihe ten kings, namely, the kings of Egypt, Africa, and 
 Etliiopia,' See Jerome's Commentary, page 1101. — ' He will be 
 descended fi-om the Jews, and he will come from Babylon, and 
 first subdue the king of Egypt, &.c. Afterwards he will subdue 
 those of Africa, and Ethiopia, which are the tliree liorns out of 
 the ten, that were to full before him.' — See the same in Chap, 
 xi, page 1128, and 1132, in the Benedictine edition. — ' ^Vhcn 
 Jacob blessed his sons, he spake such things concerning Dan, 
 that from thence it hath been thovight that Antichrist would 
 spj-ing from him.* Sec Augustine's Questions on Joshua, Book 
 \l. Question xxii. page 441, Vol. HI. in the Benedictine edi- 
 tion, printed at Antwerp. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 297 
 
 prophecies can be explained only by the events, andthese 
 events were yet in the womb ot time. Some other mis- 
 taken prophecies might lead the fathers into this inter- 
 pretation. There is not the least foundation for it in this 
 prophecy. On the contrary, this prophecy might have 
 instructed them better, and have taught them that as the 
 western empire was to be divided into ten kingdoms, so 
 the little horn should arise among tlievii, and subdue 
 three of them: and consecjuently, the little horn could 
 not arise in the east, he could not be a Jew, he couidnot 
 couie fiom Babylon, and neither could Egypt, Lybia, and 
 Ethiopia, be the three kingdoms which should fall before 
 liim. Antichrist then (as the fathers delight to call him) 
 or the little horn is to be sought among the tsn kingdoms 
 of the western Roman empire. I say of the western 
 Roman em])ire, because th:.t was properly the body of 
 the fourth beast ; Greece and the counti iec which lay 
 eastward of Italy, belonged to the third beast ; for the 
 forniei; beasts Vvcre still subsisting, though their domi- 
 nion was taken away. * As concerning i)\Q rest of the 
 beasts,' saith Daniel, ver. 12. 'they had their dominion 
 taken away ; yet their lives were prolonged for a season, 
 and a time.' "And therefore, as Sir Isaac Newton* 
 rightly infers, all the four beasts are stiil alive, though 
 the dominion of the three first be taken dv/ay. The na- 
 tions of Chaldea and Assyria, are still the first beast.-— 
 Those of Media and Persia, are st.ill the second beast.-^ 
 Those of Macedon, Greece, and Thrace, Asia minor, Sy- 
 ria and Egypt, are still the third. And those of Europe, 
 on this side Greece, are still the fourth. Seeirig there- 
 fore the body of the third beast is confined to the nations, 
 on this side the river Euphrates, and the body of the 
 fourth beast is confined to the nation on this side Greece; 
 we are to look for all the four heads of the third beast, a- 
 mong the nations on this side the river Euphrates ; and for 
 all the eleven horns of the fourth beast, among the nations 
 on this side of Greece. And therefore, at the breaking 
 of the Greek empire into four kingdoms of the Greeks, 
 we include no part of the Chaldeans, Medes, and Persians 
 
 • See Sii- Isaac Xewton's Observations on Daniel, Chap., iv. 
 page 31, 32. 
 
298 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 in those kingdoms, because they belonged to the bodies' 
 of the two first beasts. Nor do we reckon the Greek enn- 
 pire seated at Constantinople, among the horns of the 
 fourth beast, because it belonged to the body of the third." 
 For the same reason, neither can the Saracen nor the 
 Turk, be the little horn or Antichrist, as some have ima- 
 gined them to be ; and neither do they come up to the 
 character in other respects. 
 
 Let us therefore look for the little horn, as the pro- 
 phecy itself directs us, among the other ten horns of 
 the western Roman empire. If indeed it be true, as the 
 Romanists pretend, that this part of the prophecy is 
 not yet fulfilled, and that antichrist will come only for a 
 little time before the general judgment-, it would be in 
 vain to inquire who or what he is; we should split upon 
 the same rock, as the fathers have done ; it would better 
 become us to say with Calmet,* that " as the reign of 
 Antichrist is still remote, we cannot show the accom- 
 plishment of the prophecies with regard to him ; we 
 ought to content ourselves with considering the past, and 
 comparing it with the words of the prophet; the past is 
 an assurance of the future." But perhaps upon exami- 
 nation, we shall see reason to conclude with the general- 
 ity of the protestants, that this part of the prophecy is 
 fulfilled. We have seen already, that the Roman empire 
 was divided into ten horns or kingdoms, and among 
 them possibly we may find another little horn or king- 
 dom, answering in all respects to the character here 
 given. Machiavel himself, will lead us by the hand ; for 
 having shown how the Roman empire was broken and 
 divided by the incursions of the northern nations, he 
 says,t " About this time the bishops of Rome began to 
 take upon them, and to exercise greater authority than 
 they had formerly done. At first the successors of St. 
 
 * As the reign of Antichrist is yet far distant, we cannot 
 show the accomplishment of the prophecies witli respect to 
 him. AVe sliould content ourselves with considering what is 
 past, and compare that with the words of the prophet. The 
 past is a pledge of that which must one day happen.' Calmet 
 on the place. 
 
 t See Machiavel's history of Florence, Book I. page 6. of the 
 Eng^lish translation. 
 
TilE PUOPJLECIES. 099 
 
 iPctev were venerable and eminent for their rairacles, 
 and the holiness of their lives ; and their examples ad- 
 ded daily such numbers to the christian church, that to 
 obviate or remove the confusions, which were then in 
 the world, many princes turned christians, and the em- 
 peror of Rome being converted among the rest, and 
 quitting Rome, to hold his residence at Constantinople: 
 the Roman empire (as we have said before) began to 
 decline, but the church of Rome augmented as fast." — . 
 And so he proceeds to give an account how the Roman 
 empire declined, and the power of the church of Rome 
 increased, first under the Goths, then under the Lom- 
 bards, and afterwards by the calling in of the Franks. 
 
 Here then is a little horn springing up among the 
 other ten horns. The bishop of Rome was respectable, 
 as a bishop, long before, but he did not become a horn 
 properly, (which is an emblem of strength and power,) 
 till he became a temporal prince. He was to rise after 
 the other, that is behind thern^ as the Greek translates it, 
 ofiis auton^ and as Mr. IVIede explains it,* so that ten 
 kings were not aware of the growing up of the little 
 horn, till it overtopped them ; the word in the original, 
 signifying as well btliind in place, as after in time ; as 
 also post in Latin is used indifferently, either of place or 
 time. Three of the first horns, that is, three of the first 
 kings or kingdoms, were to be pluckt tifi bij the roots, 
 Ziud to fall before him. And these three, according to 
 Mr. Mede, " were those, whose dominions extended into 
 Italy, and so stood in his light : first, that of the Greeks, 
 whose emperor Leo Isaurus, for the quarrel of image- 
 worship, he excommunicated, and made his sub;ects 
 of Italy, revolt from their allegiance : secondly, that of 
 the Longobards (successors to the Ostrogoths,) whose 
 kingdom he caused by the a'd of the Iranks to be wholly 
 ruined and extirpated, thereby to get the exarchaic of 
 Ravenna (which since the revolt from the Greeks the 
 Longobards were seized on) for a patrimony to St. Fe^er: 
 thirdly, the last was the kingdom of the Fro/:k,s^ itself, 
 continued in the empire of Geimf.ny ; whose en^peiors 
 from the days of Henry the fou, th, he excommun" rated, 
 
 ^ See Mede's Works, Book IV. Epistle xxiv. pag-e 776^ &c. 
 
300 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 deposed, and trampled under his feet, and never suffer- 
 ed to live in rest, till he made them not only quit 
 their interest in the election of popes, and investitures 
 of bishops, but that remainder also of jurisdiction in 
 Italy, wherewith, together with the Roman name, he had 
 once infeofied their predecessors. These were the kings 
 by displanting or (as the Vulgar hath) Immbling^ of whom 
 the pope got elbow-room by degrees, and advanced him- 
 self to that height of temporal majesty, and absolute 
 greatness, which made him so terrible in the world. 
 
 Sir Isaac Newton reckons them up with some varia- 
 tion. Kings, saith he,* are put for kingdoms, as above; 
 and therefore the little horn is a httle kingdom. It was 
 a horn of the fourth beast, and rooted up three of his 
 iirst horns ; and therefore we are to look for it among 
 the nations of the Latin em.pire, after the rise of the ten 
 horns.- In the eighth century, by rooting up and sub- 
 duing the exarchate of Raocnna, the kingdom of the 
 JLojubards, and the senate and dukedom of Rome, he ac- 
 quired Peter's patrim.ony out of their dominions ; and 
 thereby rose up as a temporal prince or king, or horn 
 of the fourth beast." Again. *^ It was certainly by the 
 victory of the see of Rome over the Greek emperor, the 
 l<;ing of Lomhardy^ and the senate of Rome, that she 
 acquired Peter's patrimony, and rose up to her great- 
 ness.'* 
 
 In both these schemes there is something to be ap- 
 proved, and something perhaps to be disapproved. In 
 Mr. Mede's plan il is to be approved, that the three 
 kingdoms which he proposeth, are mentioned in his 
 first table of the ten kingdoms : but then it may be ques- 
 tioned, whether the kingdom of tiie Franks or Germans 
 in Italy, can be said proj erly to have been pluckt ufi by 
 the roots, through the power or policy of the popes. — 
 There were indeed long struggles and contests, between 
 the popes and emperoi s ; but did the pope ever so total- 
 ly prevail over the emperors, as to extirfiate and eradi- 
 cate them out of Italy, (for so the original word signi- 
 
 * See Sir Isaac Newton's Observations on Danielj Chap. vii. 
 page 74, 75, and 76. 
 
THE PROPHECJES. 301 
 
 fies,)* and to seize «nd annex their dominionfe to his own ? 
 If all history answers in the atnnnative, as it hath been 
 
 said, it wovild be easy to point out the time or times 
 
 But for my part 1 recollect no period, when the pope 
 dispossessed the emperor of all his Italian dominions, 
 and united them to the estates of the chuich, and enjoy- 
 ed them as such for any time. The emperor possesseth 
 dominions in Italy to this day. In Sir Isaac Newton's 
 plan, it is to be approved, that the three kingdoms which 
 he proposeth, were pluckt. ufi by the roots^ were totally 
 subdued by the popes, and possessed as parts of Peter's 
 patrimony : but then it may be objected, that only two 
 of the three are mentioned in his first catalogue of the 
 ten kingdoms, the senate and dukedom of Rome being 
 not included in the number. There were not only three 
 hornsi to be pluckt up before the little horn, but three of 
 ihe Jimt horns. We have therefore exhibited a cata- 
 logue of the ten kingdoms, as they stood in the eighth 
 century ; and therein are comprehended the three states 
 or kingdoms, which constituted the pope's dominions, 
 and which we conceive to be the sanae as Sir Isaac New- 
 ton did, the exarchate oi Ravenna, the kircgdom oi xh^ 
 Lombards, and the state of Rome. 
 
 First, the exarchate of Ravenna, which of right be- 
 longed to the Greek emperors, and which was the capi- 
 tal of iheir dominions in Italy, having revolted at the in- 
 stigation of the pope, was unjustly seized by Aistulphus, 
 king of the Lombards,! who thereupon thought of mak- 
 ing himself master of all Italy. The pope in this exi- 
 gency applied for help to Pepin, king of France, who 
 marched into Italy, besieged the Lombards in Pavia, and 
 forced them to surrender the exarchate and other terri- 
 tories, which were not restored to the Greek emperor as 
 
 * * Gnakar* to pluck up, to extirpate, to eradicate. See Bux- 
 lorf s Lexicon. See Dan. vii. 8. 
 
 f See Sigonius' kingdom of Italy, Book III. Anno 753 — 755. 
 See Mezeray's Chronological Abridgment, Art. Pepin, 23d. 
 king. See Platina's lives of the Popes, translated and con- 
 tinued by Sir Paul Rycaut, in Stephen II. See Sir Isaac New- 
 ton's Observations on Daniel, Chap. vii. See also Voltaire's 
 origin of the power of the Popes, in the first part of his gene- 
 ?al history of Europe. 
 
 VOL. I. C C 
 
302 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 in justice they ought to have been, but at the solidtaticm 
 of the pope, were given to St. Peter and his successors, 
 for a perpetual succession. Pope Zachary had acknow- 
 ledged Pepin, usurper of the crown of France, as lawful 
 sovereign ; and now Pepin in his turn bestowed a prin- 
 cipality, which was another's properly, upon Pope Ste- 
 phen II. the successor of Zachary. " And so, as Pla- 
 tina says,* the name of the exarchate, which had con- 
 tinued from the time of Narses to the taking of Ravenna 
 by Aistulphus, an hundred and seventy years, was ex- 
 tinguished." This was effected in the year 755 accord- 
 ing to Sigonius. And henceforward the popes, being 
 now become temporal princes, did no longer date their 
 epistles and bulls, by the years of the emperors reign, 
 but by the years of their own advancement to the papal 
 chair. 
 
 Secondly, the kingdom of the Lombards, was often 
 troublesome to the popes : and now again king Deside- 
 riust invaded the territories of Pope Adrian I. So that 
 the pope was obliged to have recourse again to the king 
 of France, and earnestly invited Charles the Great, the 
 son and successor of Pepin, to come into Italy to his as- 
 sistance. He came accordingly with a great army, being 
 ambitious also himself of enlarging his dominions in 
 Italy, and conquered the Lombards, and put an end to 
 their kingdom, and gave great part of their dominions to 
 the pope. He not only confirmed the former donations 
 of his father Pepin, but also made an addition of other 
 countries to them, as Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, the Sa- 
 bin territory, the whole tract between Luc<;jl and Parma, 
 and that part of Tuscany which belonged to the Lom- 
 bards : and the tables of these donations he signed him- 
 self, and caused them to be signed by the bishops, ab- 
 bots, and other great men then present, and laid them 
 so signed upon the altar of St. Peter. And this was the 
 
 * See Platina on tlie same, page 140. 
 
 f See Sigonius' kingdom of Italy, Book III. Anno 772 — 774. 
 See Platina's Adrian. See Mezeray*s Chronological Abridg- 
 ment, Article Charlemagne 23d. king. Anno 772 — 774. Sec 
 also Sir Isaac Newton's Observations on Daniel, Chap. vil. 
 page 80. 
 
THE PROPl|KClES. 303 
 
 end of the kingdom of the Lombards,* in the 206th year 
 after their possessing Italy, and in the yeur of Christ 774. 
 Thirdly, the state of Romr^ though subject to the popes 
 in things spiritual, was yet in things temporal governed 
 by the senate and people, who after their defection from 
 the eastern emperois, still retained many of their old 
 privileges, and elected both the western emperor and the 
 popes. After Charles the Great,t had overthrown the 
 kingdom of the Lombards, he came again to Home, and 
 was there by the pope, bishops, abbots, and people of 
 Rome, chosen Roman patrician, which is the degree of 
 honour and power next to the emperor. lie then settled 
 the affairs of Italy, and permitted the, pope to hold imder 
 him the duchy of Rome with other territories : but alter 
 a few years, the.Roinans+, desirous to recover their liber- 
 ty, conspired against pope Leo III, accused him of many 
 great crimes, and imprisoned him. His accusers were 
 heard, on a day appointed, before Charles and a coui>* 
 oil of French and Italian bishops : but the pope, without 
 pleading his own cause or making any defence, was 
 acquitted, his accusers were slain or banished, and he 
 himself was declared superior to all human judicature, 
 And thus the foundation was laid for the absolute autho- 
 rity of the pope over the Romans, which was completed 
 by degrees ; and Charles in return was chosen emperor 
 of the west. However,§ after the death of Charles the 
 Great, the Romans again conspired aaamst the nope $ bu* 
 Lewis the pious, the son and successor of Charles, acquit- 
 ted him again. In the meanwhile Leo was dangerously 
 ill : which as soon as the Romans, his enemies, perceived, 
 they rose again, burned and plundered his villas, and 
 
 * * And here was the end of the kingdom of tlie Lon^bards 
 in Italy, in the 206th year after tiiey had gotten possession of 
 that counti y, and in the year of Christ 774.' See Sii^-onius ia 
 the end of his third Book. 
 
 f See Sjgonius' kingdom of Italy, Book IV. year 774. Sea 
 the above work of Mezeray. 
 
 ^ See Sigonius in the same place, years 798 — 801. See Pla- 
 tina's life of Leo HI. See also the same work of Mezeray, year 
 799, &c. See Sir Isaac Newton's observations on Daniel. See 
 also Voltaire's revival of the empire of the west, in the first 
 part of his general history of Europe. 
 
 § See Sig-onius in tha same place, years 814, 815.. 
 
'304. DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 thence marched to Rome to recover what things they 
 complained were taken from them by force ; but they 
 >vere repressed by some of the emperor's troops. The 
 same emperor, Lewis the pious*, at the request of pope 
 Paschal, confirmed the donations which his father and 
 grandfather had made to the see of Rome. Sigonius has 
 recited the confirmation : and therein are mentioned 
 Home and its duchy coniainmg part of Tuscany and Cam- 
 pania, Ravenna with the exarchate and pentapolis, and 
 the other part of Tuscany and the countries taken from 
 the Lombards : and all these are granted to the pope and 
 his successors to the end of the world, nt in suo detincani 
 jiire^ firi7!cifiatu^ atf^ue ditione^ that they should hold them 
 in their own right, principality, and dominion. These, as 
 we conceive, were the three horuii^ three of the Jirat homs^ 
 which fell before the little horn : and the pope hath in a 
 manner pointed himself out for the person by wearing 
 the triple crown. 
 
 4. In other respects too the pope fully answers the 
 character of the little horn ; so that if exquisite fitness of 
 application may assure us of the true sense of the pro- 
 phecy, we can no longer doubt concerning the person. 
 He is a little horn : And the power of the popes was ori- 
 ginally very small, and their temporal dominions were 
 little and inconsiderable in comparison with others of the 
 
 ten horns. * He shall be divers from the first;' ver. 
 
 24. The Greek and Arabic translate it, that he shall ex- 
 ceed in wickedness t all before him ; and so most of the 
 fathers who made usq only of the Greek translation^ 
 understood it ; but it rather signifies that l>is kingdom 
 shall be of a different nature and constitution : And the 
 power of the pope differs greatly from that of all other 
 princes, being an ecclesiastical and spiritual, as well as a 
 
 civil and temporal authority. ' And behold in this horn 
 
 'vvere eyes like the eyes of a man :' ver. 8. To denote 
 h.is cunning and foresight, his looking out and watching 
 all opportunities to promote his own interests : And the 
 
 * See Sig-onius in the same place, year 817. See Sir Isaac 
 Newton's Observations on Duniei, Chap. vii. page 88. 
 
 t * VVlio in wicke dncss shall surpass all his predecessors.' Sec 
 ihe Arabic version. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 305 
 
 policy of the Roman hierarchy haih almost passed into 
 a proverb ; the pope is properly an overlooker or ovrr- 
 secr^ Efiuko/'os or bishop in the literal sense of the word 
 — ' He h id a mouth speakintij very great things:' ver. 8, 
 20, And who hath been more noisy and blustering than 
 the pope, especially in former ages, boasting of his supre- 
 macy, thundering out his bulls and anathemas, excom- 
 municating princes, and absolving subjects from their 
 allegiance? — * His look was more stout than his fellows:* 
 ver. 20. And the po[)e assumes a superiority not only 
 over his fellow bishops, but even over crowned heads, and 
 requires his foot to be kissed, and greater honours to be 
 paid to him than to kings and emperors themselves. — 
 ' And he shall speak great words against the Most High :* 
 ver. 25. or as Symmachus* interprets it, * he shall speak 
 great words as the Most High ;' setting up himself above 
 all laws divine and human, arrogating to himself godlike 
 attributes and titles of holinesH and infalUhilHy^ exacting 
 obedience to his ordinances and decrees in preference to, 
 and open violation of reason and scripture, insulting men, 
 and blaspheming God. In Gratian's decretals the pope 
 hath the title of God given to him — ' And he shall wear 
 out the saints of the Most High;' by wars, and massa- 
 cres, and inquisitions, persecuting and destro)ing the 
 faithful servants of Jesus, and the true worshippers of 
 God, who protest against his innovations, and refuse to 
 comply with the idolatry practised in the church of Rome. 
 — ' And he shall think to change times and laws ;' ap- 
 pointing fasts and feasts, canonizing saints, granting par- 
 dons and indulgences for sins, instituting new modes of 
 worship, imposing new articles of faith, injoining new 
 rules of practice, and reversing at pleasure the laws both 
 of God and men. — * And they shall be given into his 
 hand, until a time, and times, and the dividing of time. 
 A time,* all agree, signifies a year ; and ' a time and 
 times and the dividing of time, or half a time,' are three 
 years and a half. So long and no longer, as the Roman- 
 ists conceive, the power of Antichrist will continue ; but 
 
 * Or, as Symmuchus hath translated, * he shall speak great 
 words as if he were God ' See Jerome's Commentary, Vol. III. 
 pag-e 1103, ia the Benedictine edition. 
 
 C C 2 
 
306 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 it is impossible for all the things, which are predicted of 
 Antichrist, to be fulfilled in so short a space of time, and 
 neither is antichrist or the liitle horn a single man, but 
 a kingdom. Sin.-^le men are not the subjects of this pro- 
 phecy, but kingdoms. I'he 'four vings' ver. 17. are not 
 four single kings, but kingdonis ; and so the 'ten horns* 
 or ki-^tg-sy ver. 24. are not ten e-ingle kings, but kingdoms ; 
 and so likewise * the little horn is not a single king, but 
 a kingdom, not a single man, but a succebsion of men, 
 exercising such powers, and performing such actions, as 
 are here described. We must therefore compute the 
 time according to the nature and genius of the prophetic 
 language. ' A time,' then, ' and times, and half a time* 
 are three years and a half; and the ancient Jewish year 
 consisting of twelve months, and each month of thirty 
 days, " a time and times and half a time,' or three years 
 and a half, are reckoned in the revelation, xi. 2, 3. xii. 6, 
 14. as equivalent to 'forty and two months, o?- a thou- 
 sand two hundr;:d and threescore days :' and a day, in the 
 style of the prophets, is a year ; ' I have appointed thee 
 each day for a year,' saith God to Lzekiel ; iv. 6. and it 
 is confessed, that ' the seventy weeks' in the ninth chap- 
 ter of Daniel, are weeks of years ; and consequently 1260 
 daijs are 1260 years. So long Antichrist or the little 
 horn will continue; but from what point of time the 
 commencement of these 1260 years is to be dated, is not 
 easy to determine. It should seem that they are to be 
 computed from the full establishment of the power of 
 the Pope, and no less is implied in the expression ' given 
 into his hand.' Now the power of the pope, as a horn 
 or temporal prince, it hath been shown, was established 
 in the eighth century : and 1260 years from that time, 
 will lead us down to about the year of Christ 2000, or 
 about the 6000th year of the world : and there is an old 
 tradition* both among Jews and Christians, that at the 
 end of six thousand years the Messiah shall come, and 
 the world shall be renewed, the reign of the wicked one 
 shall cease, and the reign of the saints upon earth shall 
 begin. But as Irenaeus saith, in a like case, it is surer and 
 
 * See the Epistles of Barnabas, Chap. xv. with Cotelerius* 
 Jiotcs. See Burnet's Theory, Book III. Chap. v. 
 
TflE PROPHECIEg. SOf 
 
 safer* to wait for the coiiiplelion of the prophecy, than to 
 conjecture and to divnie about it. When the end shall 
 come, tiicn we shall know better whence to date tlie 
 beginning. 
 
 V. x\Il these kingdoms will be succeeded by the king- 
 dom of the Messiah. *■ 1 beheld,' saith Daniel, ver. 9, lu. 
 * till the thrones were cast down,' or rather f ' tiil thrones 
 were set, and the ancient of days did sit, wliose garment 
 was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure 
 wool : his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels 
 as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth 
 from before him ■ thousand thousands ministered unto 
 him : and ten thousand times ten thousand stood beiore 
 him: the judgment was set,' or the judges did sit, ' and 
 the books were opened.' These netaphors and figures 
 are borrowed from the soleninities of eaithly judicatories, 
 and particularly of the gieat Sanhedrim of the Jew«, 
 where the father of the consistory sat, with his assessors 
 seated on each side of him, in the form of a seuiicircle, 
 and tlie people standing before hinj : and froni this de- 
 scription again was borrowed the description of the day 
 of judgment in the New Testament. 
 
 ' 1 beheld then, because of the voice of the great words 
 which the horn spake : i beheld, even till the beast was 
 slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning 
 flame' ver. 1 1. The beast will be destroyed ' because of 
 the great words which the horn spake,' and the destruc- 
 tion of the beast will also be the destruction of the horn ; 
 and conse^juently the horn is a part of the fourth beast, or 
 of the Roman empire. ' As concerning the rest of the 
 beasts, they had their dominion taken away, yet their lives 
 were prolonged for a season and a time,' ver. 12. When 
 the dominion was taken away from the other beasts, their 
 
 * 'Therefore it is safer and attended with less danger, to 
 wait the acsonnplishment of the pxophecy, than to conjecture or 
 to divine about it.' See Irenxus, Book V. Chap. xxx. page 448. 
 in Grabe's edition. 
 
 f ' Till the thrones were set,' so the Vulg-ate, * Until the 
 thrones were placed,' so the Septuugint. ' I saw the benches 
 placed,' so the S}riac. * The seats were set,' so the Arabic. 
 And tlie same word is used in the Chakiee parAphraiie of Jei*. i. 
 15. * They shall set every one his throne.' 
 
308 DISSERTATIONS OU 
 
 bodies were not destroyed, they were suffered to conti^- 
 nue still in being : but when the dominion shall be taken 
 away from this beast, his body shall totally be destroyed; 
 because other kingdoms succeeded to those, but none 
 other, earthly kingdom shall succeed to this. 
 
 * I saw rn the night-visions, and behold, one like the 
 son of man, came with the clouds of heaven, and came to 
 the ancient of days, and they broui;ht him near before 
 hira,* ver. l.S. How strange and forced, how absurd and 
 unworthy of Grotius is it to apply this to the Romans, 
 which hath always been, and can only be properly under- 
 stood of the Messiah ? From hence * the son of man,* 
 came to be a known phrase* for the Mei5siah anonp the 
 Jews. From hence it was taken and used so frequently 
 in the gospels : and our Saviour intimates himself to be 
 this very Son of man in saying, Matth. xxvi. 6 ;, 65. 
 * Hereafter shall ye see the son of man sitting on the right 
 hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven ;' and 
 thereupon he was charged by the high-priest * having 
 spoken with bhsphemy.' 
 
 * And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a 
 kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should 
 serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, 
 which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that M'hich 
 shall not be destroyed,' ver. 14. All these kingdoms shall 
 in their turns be destroyed, but the kingdom of the Mes- 
 siah shall stand for ever: and it was an allusion to this 
 prophecy, that the angel said of Jesus before he was con- 
 ceived in the womb, Luke i. 33. ' He shall reign over the 
 house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there shall be 
 no end.* 
 
 After what manner these great changes will be effect- 
 ed, we cannot pretend to say, as God hath not been pleas- 
 ed to reveal it. We see the remains of the ten horns, 
 which arose out of the Roman empire. We see the lit- 
 tle horn still subsisting, though not in full strength and 
 vigour, but as we hope on the decline, and tending to- 
 wards a dissolution. And having seen so many of these 
 
 * See Jewish authors cited even by Grotius, and Bp. Chandler 
 in his deftnce of Christianity, Chap. ii. Sect. 1. page 108, of th€ 
 third edition. 
 
THE PUOPHECTRS. ^9 
 
 particulars accomplished, we can have no reason to doubt 
 that the rest also will be fulfilled in due season, though 
 we cannot Irame any conception how Christ will be ma- 
 nifested in glory, how the little horn with the body of the 
 fourth beast will be given to the burning flame, or how 
 the saints will take the kingdom, and possess it for ever 
 and ever. It is the nature of such piophccies not to be 
 perfectly understood, till they are fulfilled. The best 
 comment upon them will be their completion. 
 
 It may yet add some farther li^'ht to these prophecies, 
 if we compare this and the former together ; for compar- 
 ing scripture with scripture is the best way to understand 
 both the one and the other. What was represented to 
 Nebuchadnezzar in the form of a ' great image,' was re- 
 presented again to Daniel by * four great wild beasts :* and 
 the beasts degenerate, as the metals in the image grow 
 worse and worse, the lower they descend. 
 
 •• This image's head v/as of fine gold/ and ' the first 
 beast was like a lion with eagle's wings :' and these an- 
 swer to each other; and both represented the powers 
 then reigning, or the kingdom of the Babylonians : but 
 it appeared in splendour and glory to Nebuchadnezzar, as 
 it was then in its flourishing condition ; the fUuckiug of 
 its uin:s, and its humiliation were shown to Daniel, as it 
 was then drawing near to its fatal end. 
 
 * The breast and arms of silver,' and ' the second beast 
 like a bear' were designed to represent the second king- 
 dom, or that of the Medes and Persians. The two ai^msdHQ 
 supposed to denote the two people; but some farther parti- 
 culars were hinted to Daniel, of the one people rising up 
 above the other people, and of the conquest of three ad- 
 ditional kingdoms. To Nebuchadnezzar this kingdom 
 was called iiiftrior^ or worse than the former ; and to 
 Daniel it was described as very cruel, ' Arise, devour 
 much flesh ' 
 
 The third kingdom, or that of the Macedonians, was 
 represented by ' the belly and thighs of brass,' and by 
 * the third beast like a leopard with four wings of a fowl.* 
 It was said to Nebuchadnezzar, that * it should bear rule 
 over all the earth ;' and in Daniel's vision, ' dominion was 
 given to it.' The four htada signify Alexander's four 
 successors ; but the fwo thighs can only sigpnify the two 
 
31© DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 principal of them, the Seleucidae, and Lagidse, the Syrian^ 
 and Egyptian kings. 
 
 * The legs of iron,* and ' the fourth beast with great 
 iron teeth,' correspond exactly ; and as ' iron breaketh in 
 pieces/ all other metals, so the fourth beast * devoured, 
 and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the 
 feet ot it;* and they were both therefore equally proper 
 representatives of the fourth kingdom, or the Roman, 
 which was stronger and more powerful than all the for- 
 mer kingdoms. The ten toes too and the [enhornsj were 
 alike fit emblems of the ten kingdoms, which arose out 
 of the division of the Roman empue ; but all that relates 
 to ' the little horn/ was revealed only to Daniel, as a per- 
 son more in-med'ately interested in the fate of the church. 
 
 The ' stone' that was ' cut out of the mountain, without 
 hands, and became' itself ' a mountain, and filled the 
 ■whole earth,' is explained to be a kingdom, which shall 
 prevail over all other kingdoms, and become universal 
 and everlasting. * In like m.anner, 'one like the son of 
 man came to the ancient of days,' and was advanced to a 
 kingdom, which shall prevail likewise over all other king- 
 doms, and become universal and everlasting. 
 
 Such concord and agreement is there between these 
 prophecies of Daniel, which remarkable as they are in 
 many things, are in nothing more remarkable, than that 
 they comprehend so many distant events, and extend 
 through so many ages, from the reign of the Babylo- 
 nians to the consummation of all things. They are tru- 
 ly, as IVlr. Mede t called them, " r/ie sacred calender and 
 great almanack of prophecy^ 'i a prophetical 'chronology 
 
 • [The Jews unanimously agree, that by the stone, is here 
 meant the Messiah. His kingdom, from small beginnings, should 
 proceed to fill the whole earth, as if a stone should grow into a 
 mountain. Mr. Mede has judiciously observed, that this king- 
 dom is described here in two states, the kingdom of the stone, 
 and the kingdom of the mountain. The small and progressive 
 success of Christianity is meant by the former, the universal 
 triumph of it by the latter.] 
 
 t See Mede's Works, Book III. page 654. 
 
 + [The kingdom of Christ from small beginnings hath already 
 made a vast progress, it hath subverted, and will continue to 
 subvert Pagan and Antichristian kingdoms, and entirely to de- 
 «trOy and dispose them, and at length it will triumph over all 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 311 
 
 ©f times measured by the succession of four principal 
 kingdoms, from the beginning of the captivity of Israel, 
 until the mystery of God should be finished." They are 
 as it were the great outlines, the rest mostly are filling 
 up the parts : and as these will cast light upon the subse- 
 quent prophecies, so the subsequent prophecies will re- 
 flect light upon them again. 
 
 Daniel was ' much troubled,* ver. 28. ' and his counte- 
 nance changed in him,' at the foresight of the calamities 
 lo be brought upon the church by the little horn : *but 
 he kept the matter in his heart.' Much more may good 
 men be grieved at the sight of these calamities, and la- 
 ment the prevalence of popery and wickedness in the 
 world : but let them keep, it in their hearty that a time of 
 just retribution will certainly come. The proof may be 
 drawn from the moral attributes of God, as well as frora 
 his promise ; ver. 26, 27. * The judgment shall sit, and 
 they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to de- 
 stroy it unto th? end. And the kingdom, and dominion, 
 and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole hea- 
 ven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most 
 High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and all 
 dominion shall serve and obey him. 
 
 •pposition, become a great mountain, and fill the earth. This 
 latter part of the prophecy yet remains to be accomplished : s* 
 that we have in this dream a most extraordinary prophetical 
 abstract of the most signal events that would take place, througk 
 all succeeding ages, nearly to the consummation of all things. 
 As fur as the accomplishment hath proceeded, it hath been most 
 exact and undeniable, and future ages shall be filled with aston- 
 ishment and awe, by witnessing this stone cut out without hands, 
 destroying the remaining toes of this image, wid wiiversally- 
 •ti'iumphaat."] >Sc»rt. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 TO THE LECTURE FOUNDED BY THE HONOURABLE 
 
 EGBERT BOYLE, 
 
 JANUARY 5, 1756. 
 
 THERE is not a stronger, or more convincing proof 
 of divine revelation, than the sure wort/ oy/zro/i/ircy. But 
 to the truth of prophecy it is objected, that the predictions 
 "were written after the events ; and could it be proved as 
 well as asserted, it would really be an insuperable objec- 
 tion. It was thought therefore that a greater service 
 could not be done to the cause of Christianity, than by 
 an induction of particulars to show, that the predictions 
 •were prior to the events, nay, that several prophecies have 
 been fulfilled in these later ages, and are fulfilliKg even at 
 this present time: And for the farther prosecution and the 
 "better encouragement of this work, I have been called to 
 preach these lectures, by the favour and recommendation 
 oi the great prelate^ who having himself written most ex- 
 cellently of the use and intent of firof'hecy^ is also willing 
 to reward and encourage any one who bestows his time 
 and pains upon the same su!)ject. The ready and gracious 
 concurrence of the other trustees,* was an additional 
 
 * The Trustees appointed by Mr. Boyle himself, were Sir 
 John Rotheram, Serg-eant at law ; Sir Henry Ashurst of London^ 
 Knight and Bart. Thomas Tenison, D. D. afterwards Archbi- 
 fibop of Canterbury, and John Evelyn Esq. ; ArchbishopfTenison, 
 the survivor of these, nommated and appointed for trustees, 
 Richard Earl of Durling'ton ; Dr. Edmund Gibson, then- Arch- 
 deacon of Surry, afterwards Lord Bishop of London ; Dr. Charles 
 Trimnel, then Bisliop of Norwick, afterwards Bishop of AVin- 
 chester; Dr. White Kennet, then Dean, afterwards bishop of 
 Peterboroug-h ; and Dr. Samuel Bradford, tlien Rector of St. Mary 
 Le Bow, afterwards Bishop of Rochester. The Earl of Burling- 
 ton, being the only surviving trustee, appointed to succeed him 
 in the said trust; William, then Marquis of Hartington, now 
 Duke of Devonshire ; Dr. Thomas Sherlock, lord Bishop of Lon- 
 don ; Dr. Martin Benson, Lord Bishop of Gloucester ; Dr. Thomas 
 
THE 1*R0PHECIES. 313 
 
 honour and favour, and is deserving the most cjratcful 
 acknowledgments. Engaging in this service may indeed 
 have retarded the publication of these discourses longer 
 than was intended : but perhaps they may be the better 
 for the delay, since there have been more frequent occa- 
 sions to review and reconsider them; and time corrects 
 and improves works as well as generous wines, at least 
 it atfords opportunities of correcting and improving them. 
 This work hath already been deduced to the prophe- 
 cies of Daniel : and as some time and pains have been 
 employed in explaining some parts of his prophecies, and 
 iDore will be taken in explaining other parts , it may be 
 proper, before we proceed, to consider the principal ob- 
 jections which have been made to the genuineness of the 
 book of Daniel. It was before asserted, that the first who 
 called in question the truth and authenticity of Daniel's 
 prophecies, was the famous Porphyry, who maintained 
 that they were written about the time of Antiochus Epi- 
 phanes: but he was amply refuted by Jerome,* and hath** 
 been and will be more amply refuted still, in the course 
 of these dissertations. A modern infidel hath followed 
 Porphyry's example, and in his scheme of literal jirophecy^ 
 hath heaped together all that he could find or invent 
 against the book of Daniei, and hath comprised the whole 
 in eleven objections, in order to show that the book was 
 written about the time of the Maccabees i but he likewise 
 hath been refuted to the satisfaction of every intelligent 
 and impartial reader; as indeed there never were any ar- 
 guments urged in favour of inlideUty, but better were al- 
 ways produced in support of truth. The substance of 
 hist objections, and of the answers to him, may with 
 truth and candour, be represented in the following man- 
 ner. 
 
 Seeker, Lord Bishop of Oxford, now Archbishop of Canterbury ; 
 and the Honourable Richard Arundcll, Esq. of whom Bishop 
 Benson died before, and Mr. Arundell since the appointment of 
 the present lecturer. 
 
 * See Jerome's Commentary on Daniel, Vol. III. in the Bene- 
 dictine edition. 
 
 t See Collins' Scheme of Literal Prophecy, page 149— isr 
 See Bp. Chandler's Vindication, pa^Ci 4 — 157. See also Saiti. 
 Chandler's Vindication, paije 3 — 6U. 
 
 VOL. I. D d 
 
314. DISSERTATIONS 0^ 
 
 1. It is objected, " that the famous Daniel mentioned 
 by Ezekiel, could not be the author of the book of Daniel ; 
 because Ezekiel, who prophecied in the ' fifth year of Je- 
 hoiakim* king of Judah, implies Daniel at that time to be 
 a person in years; whereas the book of Daniel, speaks of 
 Daniel at that time as a youth." But here the objector 
 is either ignorantly or wilfully guilty of gross misrepre- 
 sentation. For Ezekiel did not prophecy * in the fifth 
 year of Jehoiakim,' nor in the reign of Jehoiakim at all; 
 but he began to prophecy in the ' fifth year of king Je- 
 hoiakim's captivity,' the son and successor of Jehoiakim, 
 Ezek.i 2. that is, eleven years after. When Daniel was 
 first carried into captivity ; he might be a youth* about 
 eighteen : but when Ezekiel magnified his piety and wis- 
 dom, Chap. xiv. and xxviii. he was between thirty and 
 forty : and several years before that he had interpreted 
 Nebuchadnezzar's dream, and was advanced, Dan, ii. 48. 
 to be * ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and 
 chief of the governors over all the wise men of I3abylon ;' 
 and was therefore very fit and worthy to be celebrated by 
 his fellow-captive Ezekiel. 
 
 2. His second objection is, " that Daniel is represent- 
 ed in the Book of Daniel, as living chiefly at the courts 
 of the kings of Babylon and Persia ; and yet the names 
 of the several kings of his time are all mistaken in the 
 book of Daniel. It is also more suited to a fabulous wri- 
 ter, than to a contemporary historian, to talk of " Nebu- 
 chadnezzar's dwelhng with the beasts of the field, and 
 eating grass like oxen,' &:c. and then returning again to 
 the government of his kingdom." Here are two objec- 
 tions confounded in one. As to the mistake of the kings 
 names, there are only four kings n.entioned in the book 
 of Daniel, Nebvichadnezzar, Helshazzar, Darius the 
 IMede, and Cyius Of the first and the last, there was 
 never any doubt ; and the other two may be rightly 
 nam«'d. thoi:i^h they are named differently by the Greek 
 historians, who yet dii tr as mueh one Irom ftnother as 
 froni Daniel ft is well known that the eastern monan.hs 
 liad se\eral names ; and one mtght be n.ade use of by 
 one writer and another by aitither it is i liMoly beg- 
 ging the question, to presume without fai iher proof, tliat 
 
 ♦ Sec Prideaux' Connections, Pai*t I. Book I. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. siry 
 
 Daniel was not the oldest of these writers, and had not 
 better opportunities of knowing the names than any of 
 them. As to the case of Nebuchadnezzar, it is related 
 indeed in the prophetic ti;>^urative style. It is the inter- 
 pretation of a dream, and stript of its figures, the plain 
 meanino;' is, that Nebuchadnezzar should be punished 
 with madness, should fancy himself a beast, and live like 
 a beast, should be ' made to eat grass as oxen,' be oblig- 
 ed to live upon a vegetable diet, but after some time, 
 should recover his reason, and resume the government. 
 And what is there fabulous or absurd in this ? The dream 
 was not of Daniel's inditing, but was told by Nebuchad- 
 nezzar himself. The dream is in a poetic strain, and .so 
 likewise is the interpretation, the better to show how 
 the one corresponded with the other, and how the pro^ 
 phecy and event agreed tos2:ether. 
 
 3. 5le objects, '*• that the book of Daniel could not be 
 written by that Daniel who was carried captive in the 
 Babylonish captivity, because it abounds with derivations 
 from the Greek, which language was unknown to the 
 Jews till long after the captivity." The assertion is false, 
 that the book of Daniel aboutids with derivations from 
 the Greek. There is an affinity only between some few 
 words in the Greek and the Chaldee language : and why 
 must they be derived the one from the other ? or if deri- 
 ved, why should not the Greeks derive them from the 
 Chaldee, rather than the Chaldees from the Greek ? If 
 the words in question could be shown to be of Greek 
 extraction, yet there was some communication between 
 the eastern kingdoms, and the Colonies of the Greeks set- 
 tled in Asia Minor before Nebuchadnezzar's time ; and 
 so some particular terms might pass from the Greek in- 
 to the oriental languages. But on the contrary, the 
 words in question are shown to be not of Greek, but of 
 eastern derivation ; and consequently, passed from the 
 east to the Greeks, rather than from the Greeks to tlie 
 cast. Most of the words are names of musical instru- 
 ments ; and the Greeks acknowledge,* that they receiv- 
 
 * ' And having- consecrated to Bacchus the whole of Asia, 
 all the way to India, they borrow from thence u considerable 
 part of their music' See Strabo, Book X. paije 471, hi th^ 
 Paris edition of 1620. page 722, in the Amsterdam edition of 
 1707. Sec also Athcnaeus, Book XIV. pa^e 625. 
 
316 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 €(1 their music from the eastern nations, from whence 
 Ihey themselves originally descended. 
 
 4.'" It doth not appear," says the objector, " that thfe 
 book of Daniel was translated into Greek, when the 
 other books of the Old Testament were, which are at- 
 tributed to the Seventy ; the present Greek version, in- 
 serted in the Septuagint, being taken from Theodotion's 
 translation of the Old Testament, made in the second 
 century of Christ.*' But it doth appear, that there was 
 an ancient Greek version of Daniel, which is attributed 
 to the Seventy, as well as the version of the other books 
 of the Old Testament. It is cited by Clemens Roma- 
 niis, Justin Martyr, and many of the ancient fathers. It 
 was inserted in c3rigen, and filled a column of his Hexa- 
 j^la. It is quoted several times by Jerome ; and he saith 
 expressly,* that the version of the Seventy was repudiat- 
 ed by the doctors of the church, and that of Theodotion 
 substituted in the room of it, because it came nearer to 
 the Hebrew verity. This version hath also been lately 
 published from an ancient M. S. discovered in the Chig- 
 hian library at Rome. 
 
 5. It is objected " that divers matters of fact are spo- 
 ken of with the clearness of history, to the times of An- 
 tiochus Epiphanes, who is very particularly dwelt upon, 
 and that with great and seeming fresh resentment for his 
 barbarous usage of the Jews : And this clearness deter- 
 mined Porphyry, and would determine any one to think, 
 that the book was written about the times of Antiochus 
 Epiphanes, the author appearing to be well acquainted with 
 things, down to the death of Antiochus, but not farther.'* 
 13ut what an argument is this against the book of Daniel? 
 His prophecies are clear, and therefore are no prophe- 
 
 * * The churches of our Lord .ind Saviour do not read tl-.e 
 prophecies of Uaniel according to the Septuagint, but iDuke use 
 of the version of Theodotion; that which is at great variance 
 with the truth, is rejected with great propriety.' See Jerome's 
 Preface to the Book of Daniel, Vol. I. page 987. — ' According 
 to the judgment of teachers in tlie church, the Scptuag'hU ver- 
 sion has been rejected, and that of I'heodotion is commonly 
 read. For it agrees better with tlie Hebrew and other transla- 
 tions,' &.C. See his Commentary on Dan. IV. Col. 1088. of Vo^, 
 III, in the Benedictine edition. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 31 7 
 
 cies: as if an all-knowing Cod could not foretcl thini^s 
 ckarly ; or as if there were not many predictions in other 
 prophets, as clear as any in Daniel If his prophecies 
 extend not low^rthan the times of Antiochus Kpiphanes, 
 his commission mii^ht be limited thcie, and he would 
 not f^o beyond his commission. But it hath been shown, 
 and will be shown, that there are several propliecies in 
 Daniel, relatin,^' to times long after the death of Antio- 
 chus, and these prophecies are as clear as those before 
 the death of Antiocluis. Neither is Antiochus so very 
 particularly dwelt upon as is commonly imagined ; nei- 
 ther is he spoken of with greater resentment, than other 
 prophets express towards the kings'of Assyria and Babv- 
 lon. All honest men, who love liberty and their coun- 
 try, must speak with indignation of tyrants and oppres- 
 sors. 
 
 6. His sixth objection is, " that Daniel is omitted 
 among the prophets recited in Ecclesiasticus, where it 
 seems proper to have mentioned him as a Jewish pro- 
 phet-author, had the book mider his name been received 
 as canonical, when Ecclesiasticus was published." Jt 
 might have been proper to have mentioned him, had the 
 author been giving a complete catalogue of the Jewish 
 canonical writers. But that is not the case. Ke men- 
 tions several who never pretended to be inspired writers, 
 and omits others who really were so. No mention is 
 made of Job and Ezra, and of the books under their 
 nanes, as well as of Daniel : and who can account for 
 the silence of authors in any particular at this distance 
 of time? Daniel is proposed, 1 Macc.ii. 60. as a pattern, 
 by the father of the Maccabees, and his wisdom is high- 
 ly recommended by Ezekiel : and these are sufficient tes- 
 timonies of his antiquity, without the confirmation of a 
 later writer. 
 
 7. It is objected, " that Jonathan, who made the Chal- 
 dee paraphrases on the pronhets, has omitted Daniel: 
 from whence it should seem, the book of Daniel was not 
 of that account with the Jews, as the other books of the 
 piophets were." But there are other books, which were 
 always accounted canonical amcng the Jews, and yet 
 ha' e no Chaldee paraphrases extant, as the looks of 
 Ezra and Nehcmiah. Jonathan might perhaps not make 
 
 D d2 
 
518 DISSEllTATIOXS OX 
 
 a Targuin or Chaldce paraphrase on Daniel, because 
 half of the book is \vriuen in Chaldee. Or he might 
 have mtde a 'I'arL^um on Daniel, and that Targiim may- 
 have been lost: as other ancient Ta» gums have been de- 
 stroyed by the injury of time ; and there are good proofs 
 in the Misna, and other writers cited by Bishop Chan- 
 dler, that there was an ancient Targum on Daniel. But 
 though Jonathan made no Targum on Daniel, yet in his 
 interpretation of other prophets, he frequently applies 
 -the prophecies of Daniel, as fuller and clearer in des- 
 cribing the same events ; and consequently Daniel was 
 in his esteeir. a prophet, and at least of equal authority 
 with those before him. The ranking of Daniel among 
 the Hagiographa, and not among the prophets, was done 
 by the Jews since Christ's time for very obvious reasons. 
 He was always esteemed a prophet by the ancient Jewish 
 church. Our Saviour calleth him ' Daniel the prophet :* 
 and Josephus* speaketh of him as one of the greatest of 
 the prophets. 
 
 8. " That part of Daniel,*' says the objector, " which 
 is written in Chaldee, is near the style of the old Chal- 
 dee paraphrases ; which being composed many hundred 
 years after Daniel's time, must have a very different 
 style from that used in his time, as any one may judge 
 i\om the nature of language, which is in a constant flux, 
 and in every age deviating frorii what it was in the for- 
 aiier : And therefore that part could not be written at a 
 time very remote from the date of the eldest of those 
 Chakke para])hrases." But by the same argument Ho- 
 mer cannot be so ancrent an autlior, as he i« generally 
 reputed, because the Greek language continued much 
 the same, many hundred years after his time. Nay, 
 the style of Daniel's Chaldee difTei s more from that of 
 the old Chaldee paraphrases, than Homer doth from the 
 latest of the Greek classic writers ; and when it was said 
 by Prideaux and Kidder, whose authority the objector 
 alleges, that the old Chaldee paraphrases, came near to 
 tht Chaldee of Danitl, it was not said absolutely, but 
 comparatively, with respect to other paraphrases, which 
 «Ud not come near to Daniel's purity. 
 
 * S^ Josephiis' Antiquities, Book X. Chap, x, and xi. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 3ig 
 
 9. It is objected, " that the Jews were great compos- 
 ers of books, tmrler the names of their renowned pro- 
 phets, to do themselves the honour, and particularly 
 under the name of Daniel : and the book, of Daniel seems 
 composed lo do honour to the Jews, in the person of Da- 
 niel, in making a Jew superior to all the wise men of Ba- 
 bylon." If there is any force in this objection, it is this. 
 There have been books counterfeited under the names 
 of men of renown, therefore there can be no genuine 
 books of the same men. Some pieces iu Greek have 
 been forged under the name of Daniel, and therefore he 
 "wrote no book in Chaldee and Hebrew long before these 
 forgeries. In like manner, some poems have been as- 
 cribed to Homer and Virgil, which were not of their con^- 
 posing; and therefore the one did not compose the Iliad, 
 nor the other the iLneid. Som-e false writings have been 
 attributed to St. Peter and St. Paul ; and therefore there 
 are no true writings of those apostles. Such ar;_^uments 
 sufficiently expose and refute themselves. One wo\ild 
 think the inference should rather lie on the other side. 
 Some books have been counterfeited in the name of this or 
 that writer ; and therefore that there were some gcmjine 
 books of his writing, is a much more probable presump- 
 tion than the contrary. 
 
 10. The tenth objection is, "that the author of the 
 book of Daniel appears plainly to be a writer of things 
 past, after a prophetical manner, by his uncommon punc- 
 tuality, by not only foretelling things to come, like otl.er 
 prophets, but fixed the time when the things weie to 
 happen." But other prophets and other prophecies have 
 prefixed the times for several events; as 120 years for 
 the continuance of the antediluvian world ; 400 years for 
 the sOjOurning of Abraham's seed in a strange land ; 40 
 years for the peregiination of the children of Israel ; 65 
 years for Ephraim's continuing a people ; 70 years for 
 the desolation of Tyre ; 70 years for Judah's captivity ; 
 and the like : and therefore the fixing of the times can- 
 not be a particular objection against the prophecies of 
 Daniel. Daniel may have done it in more instances than 
 any other prophet : but why nnght not God, if he was so 
 pleased, foretel the dates and periods of any events, as 
 well as the events themselves ? Josephus, whom the ob- 
 
320 DISSERTATIONS ON 
 
 jector hath quoted upon this occasion, differs totally from 
 hun. jtie * ascribes this punctuality to divine revelation, 
 not like the objector, to the late composition of the book. 
 lie infers from it, that Daniel was one of the greatest 
 prophets, not like the objector, that he was no prophet at 
 all. 
 
 Lastly, it is objected, "that the book of Daniel sets 
 forth factis very imperfectly, and often contrary to other 
 historical relations, and the whole is written in a dark 
 and emblematical style, with images and sy- ibols unlike 
 the books of ather proplicts, and taken from the schools of 
 the Greeks." As to Daniel's setting forth facts very imper- 
 fectly, he is perfect enough for his design, which was 
 not to write a history but prophecies, and history only so 
 far as it relates to his prophecies As to his writing 
 contrary to other historical relation!^, it is false. For most 
 of the main facts related by him are confirmed even by 
 heathen historians ; but if he contradicted them, yet he 
 would deserve more credit, as he was n.ore ancient than 
 any of them, and lived in the times whereof he wrote. 
 As to his emblems being unlike the books of other pro- 
 phets, and taken from the schools of the Greek-i, this is 
 also false. For the like emblems are often used by other 
 prophets, and are agreeable to the style und genius of all 
 the eastern writers of his time They were so far from 
 being taken from the schools of the Greeks, th^t on the 
 contrary, if they were ever used by the Greeks, the 
 Greeks borrowed them fiom the oriental writers. But 
 after all how dcih this last objection consist and agree 
 with the fifth and tenth ? There divrrs matters of fact 
 ivers sfiokcn of w:i.h th'- clearness of histor\^ and the au- 
 thor was convicted of forgery by his uncojnmon pimctU' 
 alit .. - Here all is dark and emblemaiical^ imperfct and 
 contrary to oihrr histories. Such objections contradict 
 and destroy another. Both may be false, both cannot be 
 true. 
 
 • ' For whatever books have been wi'itten and left by him, are 
 at piesen; leud among us; and fiom these ve ure persuaded that 
 D.aiicl enjoyedf;.miliar inUtcoiiisc wirhGod. For unl;keloo'her 
 proplietK, he not only foretold fuUire thing-.s, but he ;il^o fixes 
 the time of their accomplisJimeut.' See Josepiius' Ar.t;quitigSj 
 Book X. Chap. xi. Sect. 7. page 465, i)i Hudson's editigu. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 321 
 
 These objections bein^ removed, what is there want- 
 ing of external or internal evidence to ^)rove the genu- 
 ineness and authenticity of the book of Daniel ? There is 
 all the external evidence that can well be iuid or desired 
 in a case of this naluie ; not only the testimony of the 
 Avhole Jewish church and nation, who ha\e constantly re- 
 ceived this book as canonical ; but of Josephus particu- 
 larly, who commends him as the greatest of the pro- 
 phets ; of the Jewish Targums and Talmuds, wliich fre- 
 quently cite and appeal to his authority ; of St. I'aui and 
 St. John, who have copied many of his prophecies : of 
 our Saviour himself, who citeth his words, and styleth 
 him ' Daniel the prophet ;' of ancient historians, who re- 
 late many of the same transactions; of the mother of the 
 seven sons, and of the father of the Maccabees, who both 
 recommend the example of Daniel to their sons: of old 
 Eleazer in Egypt, who praying for the Jews then suffer- 
 ing under the persecution of Ptolemy Philopater. 3 Mace, 
 vii. 6, 7. mentions the deliverance of Daniel out of the 
 den of lions, together with the deliverance of the three 
 men out of the fiery furnace; of the Jewish high-priest, 
 who showed Daniel's prophecies to Alexander the Great) 
 while he was at Jerusalem ; and still higher, of Ezekiel, 
 a contemporary writer, who greatly extols his tiety and 
 ivisdom. Nor is the internal less powerful and convinc- 
 ing than the external evidence ; for the language, the 
 style, the manner of writing, and all other internal marks 
 and characters, are perfectly agreeable to that age ; and 
 he appears plainly and undeniably to have been a prophet 
 by the exact accomplishment of his prophecies, as well 
 those which have already been fulfilled, as those \\\\\q,\\ 
 are now fulfilling in the world. 
 
 The genuineness and authenticity of the book of Daniel 
 being therefore established beyond all reasonable contra- 
 diction, we may now proceed in our main design : and 
 the vision of the Ram and he-goat, and the prophecy of 
 the things noted in the scripture of truth, and the trans- 
 actions of the kings of the north and the south, will find 
 sufficient matter for our meditations this year. Another 
 year will be fully employed on our Savio\ir's prophecies 
 of the destruction of Jerusalem, and the dispersion of the 
 Jews together with St. Paul's prophecies of the MiUi of 
 
322 DISSERTATIONS OK 
 
 Sin, and of the apostacy of the latter times. The last and 
 most difficult task of all, will be an analysis or explication 
 of the Apocalypse or revelation of St. John. It is a haz- 
 ardous attempt, in our little bark, to venture on that dan- 
 gerous ocean, where so many stouter vessels and abler pi- 
 lots have been shipwrecked and lost: but possibly we 
 may be the better able to sail through it, coming prepar- 
 ed, careened and sheathed as I njay say for such a voyage, 
 by the assistance ot the former prophets, having paiticu- 
 larly Daniel and St. Paul as our pole-star and compass, 
 and bcRginj^ withal of God's holy Spirit to steer and di- 
 rect our course. The conclusion will consist of reflec- 
 tions and inferences from the whole. In this manner, 
 v/ith the divine assistance, shall be employed the three 
 years, which is the period usually allotted to these exer- 
 cises ; and it is hoped that the design of the honourable 
 founder will in some measure b'2 an^sweredby proving the 
 truth of revelation from the truth ol psophe' y It was 
 indeed a noble design after a life spent in the study of 
 philosophy, and equally devoted to the service of religion, 
 to benefit posterity not only by his ov,'n useful and nume- 
 rous writings, theological as well as philosophical, but 
 also by engaging the thoughts and pens of others in de- 
 fence of natural and revealed religion ; and some of the 
 best treatises on these subjects in the English language, 
 or indeed in any language, are owing to his institution. 
 This is continuing to do good even after death ; and what 
 ^vas said of Abel's faith, may also be said of his, that ' by 
 it he being dead, yet speaketh.* 
 
 From the instance of this excellent person, and some 
 others who might be mentioned, it appears that there is 
 nothing inconsistent in science and religion, but a great 
 philosopher may be a good Christian. True philosophy 
 is indeed the handmaid to true religion ; and the know- 
 ledge of the works of nature will lead one to the know- 
 ledge of the God of nature, the invisible things of him be- 
 iJig clearly seen by the things which are 7nade ; even his 
 eternal flower and Godhead. They are only minute phi- 
 losophers, who are sceptics and unbelievers. Smatterers 
 in science, they are but smatterers in religion. Where- 
 as the most eminent philosophers, those who have done 
 honour to the nationj done honour to human nature itself, 
 
THE PROPHECreS. 223 
 
 have also been believers and defenders of revelation, have 
 studied scripture as well as nature, have searched after 
 God in his word as well as in his works, and have even 
 made comments on several parts of holy writ. So just 
 and true is the observation of the Lord Bacon, * one of 
 the illustrious persons here intended ; " A little philoso- 
 phy intiineth man's mind to atheism, but depth in phila- 
 sophy bringeth men's minds about religion." 
 
 * Sec Lord Bacon's Essays, XVIT. 
 
 END OF TOL. I. 
 
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