Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel, and the Apocalypse of St. John Part 5

The four horns are therefore four kingdoms; and by consequence, the first great horn which they succeeded is the first great kingdom of the _Greeks_, that which was founded by _Alexander_ the great, _An. Nabona.s.s._ 414, and lasted till the death of his son _Hercules_, _An. Nabona.s.s._ 441. And the four are those of _Ca.s.sander_, _Lysimachus_, _Antigonus_, and _Ptolemy_, as above.

[3] _And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a King_ [or new kingdom] _of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up: and his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power_. This King was the last horn of the Goat, the little horn which came up out of one of the four horns, and waxed exceeding great. The latter time of their kingdom was when the _Romans_ began to conquer them, that is, when they conquered _Perseus_ King of _Macedonia_, the fundamental kingdom of the _Greeks_. And at that time the transgressors came to the full: for then the High-priesthood was exposed to sale, the Vessels of the Temple were sold to pay for the purchase; and the High-priest, with some of the _Jews_, procured a licence from _Antiochus Epiphanes_ to do after the ordinances of the heathen, and set up a school at _Jerusalem_ for teaching those ordinances. Then _Antiochus_ took _Jerusalem_ with an armed force, slew 4000 _Jews_, took as many prisoners and sold them, spoiled the Temple, interdicted the wors.h.i.+p, commanded the Law of _Moses_ to be burnt, and set up the wors.h.i.+p of the heathen G.o.ds in all _Judea_. In the very same year, _An. Nabona.s.s._ 580, the _Romans_ conquered _Macedonia_, the chief of the four horns. Hitherto the Goat was mighty by its own power, but henceforward began to be under the _Romans_.

_Daniel_ distinguishes the times, by describing very particularly the actions of the Kings of the north and south, those two of the four horns which bordered upon _Judea_, until the _Romans_ conquered _Macedonia_; and thenceforward only touching upon the main revolutions which happened within the compa.s.s of the nations represented by the Goat. In this latter period of time the little horn was to stand up and grow mighty, but not by his own power.

The three first of _Daniel_'s Beasts had their dominions taken away, each of them at the rise of the next Beast; but their lives were prolonged, and they are all of them still alive. The third Beast, or Leopard, reigned in his four heads, till the rise of the fourth Beast, or Empire of the _Latins_; and his life was prolonged under their power. This Leopard reigning in his four heads, signifies the same thing with the He-Goat reigning in his four horns: and therefore the He-Goat reigned in his four horns till the rise of _Daniel_'s fourth Beast, or Empire of the _Latins_: then its dominion was taken away by the _Latins_, but its life was prolonged under their power. The _Latins_ are not comprehended among the nations represented by the He-Goat in this Prophecy: their power over the _Greeks_ is only named in it, to distinguish the times in which the He-Goat was mighty by his own power, from the times in which he was mighty but not by his own power. He was mighty by his own power till his dominion was taken away by the _Latins_; after that, his life was prolonged under their dominion, and this prolonging of his life was in the days of his last horn: for in the days of this horn the Goat became mighty, but not by his own power.

Now because this horn was a horn of the Goat, we are to look for it among the nations which composed the body of the Goat. Among those nations he was to rise up and grow mighty: he grew mighty [4] _towards the south, and towards the east, and towards the pleasant land_; and therefore he was to rise up in the north-west parts of those nations, and extend his dominion towards _Egypt_, _Syria_ and _Judea_. In the latter time of the kingdom of the four horns, it was to rise up out of one of them and subdue the rest, but not by its own power. It was to be a.s.sisted by a foreign power, a power superior to itself, the power which took away the dominion of the third Beast, the power of the fourth Beast. And such a little horn was the kingdom of _Macedonia_, from the time that it became subject to the _Romans_. This kingdom, by the victory of the _Romans_ over _Persius_ King of _Macedonia_, _Anno Nabona.s.s._ 580, ceased to be one of the four horns of the Goat, and became a dominion of a new sort: not a horn of the fourth Beast, for _Macedonia_ belonged to the body of the third; but a horn of the third Beast of a new sort, a horn of the Goat which grew mighty but not by his own power, a horn which rose up and grew potent under a foreign power, the power of the _Romans_.

The _Romans_, by the legacy of _Attalus_ the last King of _Pergamus_, _An.

Nabona.s.s._ 615, inherited that kingdom, including all _Asia Minor_ on this side mount _Taurus_. _An. Nabona.s.s._ 684 and 685 they conquered _Armenia_, _Syria_ and _Judea_; _An. Nabona.s.s._ 718, they subdued _Egypt_. And by these conquests the little horn [5] _waxed exceeding great towards the south, and towards the east, and towards the pleasant land. And it waxed great even to the host of heaven; and cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them_, that is, upon the people and great men of the _Jews_. [6] _Yea, he magnified himself even to the Prince of the Host_, the _Messiah_, the Prince of the _Jews_, whom he put to death, _An. Nabona.s.s._ 780. _And by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down_, viz. in the wars which the armies of the _Eastern_ nations under the conduct of the _Romans_ made against _Judea_, when _Nero_ and _Vespasian_ were Emperors, _An. Nabona.s.s._ 816, 817, 818. [7] _And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground, and it practised and prospered_. This transgression is in the next words called _the transgression of desolation_; and in _Dan._ xi. 31. _the abomination which maketh desolate_; and in _Matth._ xxiv. 15. _the abomination of desolation, spoken of by _Daniel_ the prophet, standing in the holy place_.

It may relate chiefly to the wors.h.i.+p of _Jupiter Olympius_ in his Temple built by the Emperor _Hadrian_, in the place of the Temple of the _Jews_, and to the revolt of the _Jews_ under _Barchochab_ occasioned thereby, and to the desolation of _Judea_ which followed thereupon; all the _Jews_, being thenceforward banished _Judea_ upon pain of death. _Then I heard_, saith [8] _Daniel, one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot? And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed._ _Daniel_'s days are years; and these years may perhaps be reckoned either from the destruction of the Temple by the _Romans_ in the reign of _Vespasian_, or from the pollution of the Sanctuary by the wors.h.i.+p of _Jupiter Olympius_, or from the desolation of _Judea_ made in the end of the _Jewish_ war by the banishment of all the _Jews_ out of their own country, or from some other period which time will discover. Henceforward the last horn of the Goat continued mighty under the _Romans_, till the reign of _Constantine_ the great and his sons: and then by the division of the _Roman_ Empire between the _Greek_ and _Latin_ Emperors, it separated from the _Latins_, and became the _Greek_ Empire alone, but yet under the dominion of a _Roman_ family; and at present it is mighty under the dominion of the _Turks_.

This last horn is by some taken for _Antiochus Epiphanes_, but not very judiciously. A horn of a Beast is never taken for a single person: it always signifies a new kingdom, and the kingdom of _Antiochus_ was an old one. _Antiochus_ reigned over one of the four horns, and the little horn was a fifth under its proper kings. This horn was at first a little one, and waxed exceeding great, but so did not _Antiochus_. It is described great above all the former horns, and so was not _Antiochus_. His kingdom on the contrary was weak, and tributary to the _Romans_, and he did not enlarge it. The horn was a _King of fierce countenance, and destroyed wonderfully, and prospered and practised_; that is, he prospered in his practises against the holy people: but _Antiochus_ was frighted out of _Egypt_ by a mere message of the _Romans_, and afterwards routed and baffled by the _Jews_. The horn was mighty by another's power, _Antiochus_ acted by his own. The horn stood up against the Prince of the Host of heaven, the Prince of Princes; and this is the character not of _Antiochus_ but of _Antichrist_. The horn cast down the Sanctuary to the ground, and so did not _Antiochus_; he left it standing. The Sanctuary and Host were trampled under foot 2300 days; and in _Daniel_'s Prophecies days are put for years: but the profanation of the Temple in the reign of _Antiochus_ did not last so many natural days. These were to last till the time of the end, till the last end of the indignation against the _Jews_; and this indignation is not yet at an end. They were to last till the Sanctuary which had been cast down should be cleansed, and the Sanctuary is not yet cleansed.

This Prophecy of the Ram and He-Goat is repeated in the last Prophecy of _Daniel_. There the Angel tells _Daniel_, that [9] _he stood up to strengthen _Darius_ the _Mede_, and that there should stand up yet three kings in _Persia__, [_Cyrus_, _Cambyses_, and _Darius Hystaspis_] _and the fourth_ [_Xerxes_] _should be far richer than they all; and by his wealth thro' his riches he should stir up all against the realm of _Grecia__. This relates to the Ram, whose two horns were the kingdoms of _Media_ and _Persia_. Then he goes on to describe the horns of the Goat by the [10]

_standing up of a mighty king, which should rule with great dominion, and do according to his will_; and by the breaking of his kingdom into four smaller kingdoms, and not descending to his own posterity. Then he describes the actions of two of those kingdoms which bordered on _Judea_, _viz_. _Egypt_ and _Syria_, calling them the Kings of the _South_ and _North_, that is, in respect of _Judea_; and he carries on the description till the latter end of the kingdoms of the four, and till the reign of _Antiochus Epiphanes_, when transgressors were come to the full. In the eighth year of _Antiochus_, the year in which he profaned the Temple and set up the heathen G.o.ds in all _Judea_, and the _Romans_ conquered the kingdom of _Macedon_; the prophetic Angel leaves off describing the affairs of the kings of the _South_ and _North_, and begins to describe those of the _Greeks_ under the dominion of the _Romans_, in these words: [11] _And after him Arms_ [the _Romans_] _shall stand up, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength_. As [Hebrew: MMLK] signifies _after the king_, Dan.

xi. 8; so here [Hebrew: MMNW] may signify _after him_: and so [Hebrew: MN-H'CHT] may signify _after one of them_, Dan. viii. 9. Arms are every where in these Prophecies of _Daniel_ put for the military power of a kingdom, and they stand up when they conquer and grow powerful. The _Romans_ conquered _Illyric.u.m_, _Epirus_ and _Macedonia_, in the year of _Nabona.s.sar_ 580; and thirty five years after, by the last will and testament of _Attalus_ the last King of _Pergamus_, they inherited that rich and flouris.h.i.+ng kingdom, that is, all _Asia_ on this side mount _Taurus_: and sixty nine years after, they conquered the kingdom of _Syria_, and reduced it into a Province: and thirty four years after they did the like to _Egypt_. By all these steps the _Roman_ arms stood up over the _Greeks_. And after 95 years more, by making war upon the _Jews, they polluted the sanctuary of strength, and took away the daily sacrifice, and_, in its room soon after, _placed the abomination which made_ the Land _desolate_: for this abomination was placed after the days of Christ, _Matth._ xxiv. 15. In the 16th year of the Emperor _Hadrian_, A. C. 132, they placed this abomination by building a Temple to _Jupiter Capitolinus_, where the Temple of G.o.d in _Jerusalem_ had stood. Thereupon the _Jews_ under the conduct of _Barchochab_ rose up in arms against the _Romans_, and in that war had 50 cities demolished, 985 of their best towns destroyed, and 580000 men slain by the sword: and in the end of the war, A.C. 136, they were all banished _Judea_ upon pain or death; and that time the land hath remained desolate of its old inhabitants.

Now that the prophetic Angel pa.s.ses in this manner from the four kingdoms of the _Greeks_ to the _Romans_ reigning over the _Greeks_, is confirmed from hence, that in the next place he describes the affairs of the _Christians_ unto the time of the end, in these words: [12] _And they that understand among the people shall instruct many, yet they shall fall by the sword and by flame, by captivity and by spoil many days. Now when they shall fall they shall be holpen with a little help_, _viz_. in the reign of _Constantine_ the great; _but many shall cleave to them with dissimulation.

And some of them of understanding there shall fall to try them, and to purge_ them from the dissemblers; _and to make them white even to the time of the end_. And a little after, the time of the end is said to be _a time, times, and half a time_: which is the duration of the reign of the last horn of _Daniel_'s fourth Beast, and of the _Woman_ and her _Beast_ in the _Apocalyps_.

Notes to Chap. IX.

[1] Chap. viii. 3.

[2] Ver. 22.

[3] Ver. 23.

[4] Chap. viii. 9.

[5] Chap. viii. 9, 10.

[6] Ver. 11.

[7] Ver. 12.

[8] Ver. 13, 14.

[9] Dan. xi. 1, 2.

[10] Ver. 3.

[11] Dan xi. 31.

[12] Chap. xi. 33, &c.

CHAP. X.

_Of the Prophecy of the Seventy Weeks._

The Vision of the Image composed of four Metals was given first to _Nebuchadnezzar_, and then to _Daniel_ in a dream: and _Daniel_ began then to be celebrated for revealing of secrets, _Ezek._ xxviii. 3. The Vision of the four Beasts, and of _the Son of man_ coming in the clouds of heaven, was also given to _Daniel_ in a dream. That of the Ram and the He-Goat appeared to him in the day time, when he was by the bank of the river _Ulay_; and was explained to him by the prophetic Angel _Gabriel_. It concerns the _Prince of the host_, and the _Prince of Princes_: and now in the first year of _Darius_ the _Mede_ over _Babylon_, the same prophetic Angel appears to _Daniel_ again, and explains to him what is meant by the _Son of man_, by the _Prince of the host_, and the _Prince of Princes_. The Prophecy of the _Son of man_ coming in the clouds of heaven relates to the second coming of _Christ_; that of the _Prince of the host_ relates to his first coming: and this Prophecy of the _Messiah_, in explaining them, relates to both comings, and a.s.signs the times thereof.

This Prophecy, like all the rest of _Daniel_'s, consists of two parts, an introductory Prophecy and an explanation thereof; the whole I thus translate and interpret.

[1] '_Seventy weeks are [2] cut out upon thy people, and upon thy holy city, to finish transgression, and [3] to make an end of sins, to expiate iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, to consummate the Vision and [4] the Prophet, and to anoint the most Holy_.

'_Know also and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to cause to return and to build _Jerusalem_, unto [5] the Anointed the Prince, shall be seven weeks_.

'_Yet threescore and two weeks shall [6] it return, and the street be built and the wall; but in troublesome times: and after the threescore and two weeks, the Anointed shall be cut off, and [6] it shall not be his; but the people of a Prince to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary: and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war, desolations are determined_.

'_Yet shall he confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in half a week he shall cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease: and upon a wing of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that which is determined be poured upon the desolate_.'

_Seventy weeks are cut out upon thy people, and upon thy holy city, to finish transgression_, &c. Here, by putting a week for seven years, are reckoned 490 years from the time that the dispersed _Jews_ should be re-incorporated into [7] a people and a holy city, until the death and resurrection of _Christ_; whereby _transgression should be finished, and sins ended, iniquity be expiated, and everlasting righteousness brought in, and this Vision be accomplished, and the Prophet consummated_, that Prophet whom the _Jews_ expected; and whereby _the most Holy_ should be _anointed_, he who is therefore in the next words called the _Anointed_, that is, the _Messiah_, or the _Christ_. For by joining the accomplishment of the vision with the expiation of sins, the 490 years are ended with the death of _Christ_. Now the dispersed _Jews_ became a people and city when they first returned into a polity or body politick; and this was in the seventh year of _Artaxerxes Longima.n.u.s_, when _Ezra_ returned with a body of _Jews_ from captivity, and revived the _Jewish_ wors.h.i.+p; and by the King's commission created Magistrates in all the land, to judge and govern the people according to the laws of G.o.d and the King, _Ezra_ vii. 25. There were but two returns from captivity, _Zerubbabel_'s and _Ezra_'s; in _Zerubbabel_'s they had only commission to build the Temple, in _Ezra_'s they first became a polity or city by a government of their own. Now the years of this _Artaxerxes_ began about two or three months after the summer solstice, and his seventh year fell in with the third year of the eightieth _Olympiad_; and the latter part thereof, wherein _Ezra_ went up to _Jerusalem_, was in the year of the _Julian Period_ 4257. Count the time from thence to the death of _Christ_, and you will find it just 490 years. If you count in _Judaic_ years commencing in autumn, and date the reckoning from the first autumn after _Ezra_'s coming to _Jerusalem_, when he put the King's decree in execution; the death of _Christ_ will fall on the year of the _Julian Period_ 4747, _Anno Domini_ 34; and the weeks will be _Judaic_ weeks, ending with sabbatical years; and this I take to be the truth: but if you had rather place the death of _Christ_ in the year before, as is commonly done, you may take the year of _Ezra_'s journey into the reckoning.

_Know also and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to cause to return and to build _Jerusalem_, unto the Anointed the Prince, shall be seven weeks_. The former part of the Prophecy related to the first coming of _Christ_, being dated to his coming as a Prophet; this being dated to his coming to be Prince or King, seems to relate to his second coming. There, the Prophet was consummate, and the most holy anointed: here, he that was anointed comes to be Prince and to reign. For _Daniel_'s Prophecies reach to the end of the world; and there is scarce a Prophecy in the Old Testament concerning _Christ_, which doth not in something or other relate to his second coming. If divers of the antients, as [8] _Irenaeus_, [9] _Julius Africa.n.u.s_, _Hippolytus_ the martyr, and _Apollinaris_ Bishop of _Laodicea_, applied the half week to the times of _Antichrist_; why may not we, by the same liberty of interpretation, apply the seven weeks to the time when _Antichrist_ shall be destroyed by the brightness of _Christ_'s coming?

The _Israelites_ in the days of the antient Prophets, when the ten Tribes were led into captivity, expected a double return; and that at the first the _Jews_ should build a new Temple inferior to _Solomon_'s, until the time of that age should be fulfilled; and afterwards they should return from all places of their captivity, and build _Jerusalem_ and the Temple gloriously, _Tobit_ xiv. 4, 5, 6: and to express the glory and excellence of this city, it is figuratively said to be built of precious stones, _Tobit_ xiii. 16, 17, 18. _Isa._ liv. 11, 12. _Rev._ xi. and called the _New Jerusalem_, the _Heavenly Jerusalem_, the _Holy City_, the _Lamb's Wife_, the _City of the Great King_, the _City into which the Kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour_. _Now_ while such a return from captivity was the expectation of _Israel_, even before the times of _Daniel_, I know not why _Daniel_ should omit it in his Prophecy. This part of the Prophecy being therefore not yet fulfilled, I shall not attempt a particular interpretation of it, but content myself with observing, that as the _seventy_ and the _sixty two weeks_ were _Jewish_ weeks, ending with sabbatical years; so the _seven weeks_ are the compa.s.s of a _Jubilee_, and begin and end with actions proper for a _Jubilee_, and of the highest nature for which a _Jubilee_ can be kept: and that since _the commandment to return and to build _Jerusalem__, precedes the _Messiah the Prince_ 49 years; it may perhaps come forth not from the _Jews_ themselves, but from some other kingdom friendly to them, and precede their return from captivity, and give occasion to it; and lastly, that this rebuilding of _Jerusalem_ and the waste places of _Judah_ is predicted in _Micah_ vii.

11. _Amos_ ix. 11, 14. _Ezek._ x.x.xvi. 33, 35, 36, 38. _Isa._ liv. 3, 11, 12. lv. 12. lxi. 4. lxv. 18, 21,22. and _Tobit_ xiv. 5. and that the return from captivity and coming of the _Messiah_ and his kingdom are described in _Daniel_ vii. _Rev._ xix. _Acts_ i. _Mat._ xxiv. _Joel_ iii. _Ezek._ x.x.xvi.

x.x.xvii. _Isa._ lx. lxii. lxiii. lxv. and lxvi. and many other places of scripture. The manner I know not. Let time be the Interpreter.

_Yet threescore and two weeks shall it return, and the street be built and the wall, but in troublesome times: and after the threescore and two weeks the _Messiah_ shall be cut off, and it shall not be his; but the people of a Prince to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary_, &c. Having foretold both comings of _Christ_, and dated the last from their returning and building _Jerusalem_; to prevent the applying that to the building _Jerusalem_ by _Nehemiah_, he distinguishes this from that, by saying that from this period to the _Anointed_ shall be, not seven weeks, but threescore and two weeks, and this not in prosperous but in troublesome times; and at the end of these Weeks the _Messiah_ shall not be the Prince of the _Jews_, but be cut off; and _Jerusalem_ not be his, but the city and sanctuary be destroyed. Now _Nehemiah_ came to _Jerusalem_ in the 20th year of this same _Artaxerxes_, while _Ezra_ still continued there, _Nehem._ xii. 36, and found the city lying waste, and the houses and wall unbuilt, _Nehem._ ii. 17. vii. 4, and finished the wall the 25th day of the month _Elul_, _Nehem._ vi. 15, in the 28th year of the King, that is, in _September_ in the year of the _Julian Period_ 4278. Count now from this year threescore and two weeks of years, that is 434 years, and the reckoning will end in _September_ in the year of the _Julian Period_ 4712 which is the year in which _Christ_ was born, according to _Clemens Alexandrinus_, _Irenaeus_, _Eusebius_, _Epiphanius_, _Jerome_, _Orosius_, _Ca.s.siodorus_, and other antients; and this was the general opinion, till _Dionysius Exiguus_ invented the vulgar account, in which _Christ_'s birth is placed two years later. If with some you reckon that _Christ_ was born three or four years before the vulgar account, yet his birth will fall in the latter part of the last week, which is enough. How after these weeks _Christ_ was cut off and the city and sanctuary destroyed by the _Romans_, is well known.

_Yet shall he confirm the covenant with many for one week._ He kept it, notwithstanding his death, till the rejection of the _Jews_, and calling of _Cornelius_ and the _Gentiles_ in the seventh year after his pa.s.sion.

_And in half a week he shall cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease_; that is, by the war of the _Romans_ upon the _Jews_: which war, after some commotions, began in the 13th year of _Nero_, A.D. 67, in the spring, when _Vespasian_ with an army invaded them; and ended in the second year of _Vespasian_, A.D. 70, in autumn, _Sept._ 7, when _t.i.tus_ took the city, having burnt the Temple 27 days before: so that it lasted three years and an half.

_And upon a wing of abominations he shall cause desolation, even until the consummation, and that which is determined be poured upon the desolate._ The Prophets, in representing kingdoms by Beasts and Birds, put their wings stretcht out over any country for their armies sent out to invade and rule over that country. Hence a wing of abominations is an army of false G.o.ds: for an abomination is often put in scripture for a false G.o.d; as where _Chemosh_ is called [10] the abomination of _Moab_, and _Molech_ the abomination of _Ammon_. The meaning therefore is, that the people of a Prince to come shall destroy the sanctuary, and abolish the daily wors.h.i.+p of the true G.o.d, and overspread the land with an army of false G.o.ds; and by setting up their dominion and wors.h.i.+p, cause desolation to the _Jews_, until the times of the _Gentiles_ be fulfilled. For _Christ_ tells us, that the abomination of desolation spoken of by _Daniel_ was to be set up in the times of the _Roman Empire_, _Matth._ xxiv. 15.

Thus have we in this short Prophecy, a prediction of all the main periods relating to the coming of the _Messiah_; the time of his birth, that of his death, that of the rejection of the _Jews_, the duration of the _Jewish_ war whereby he caused the city and sanctuary to be destroyed, and the time of his second coming: and so the interpretation here given is more full and complete and adequate to the design, than if we should restrain it to his first coming only, as Interpreters usually do. We avoid also the doing violence to the language of _Daniel_, by taking the _seven weeks_ and _sixty two weeks_ for one number. Had that been _Daniel_'s meaning, he would have said _sixty and nine weeks_, and not _seven weeks_ and _sixty two weeks_, a way of numbring used by no nation. In our way the years are _Jewish Luni-solar years_, [11] as they ought to be; and the _seventy weeks of years_ are _Jewish weeks_ ending with _sabbatical years_, which is very remarkable. For they end either with the year of the birth of _Christ_, two years before the vulgar account, or with the year of his death, or with the seventh year after it: all which are _sabbatical years_. Others either count by Lunar years, or by weeks not _Judaic_: and, which is worst, they ground their interpretations on erroneous Chronology, excepting the opinion of _Funccius_ about the _seventy weeks_, which is the same with ours. For they place _Ezra_ and _Nehemiah_ in the reign of _Artaxerxes Mnemon_, and the building of the Temple in the reign of _Darius Nothus_, and date the weeks of _Daniel_ from those two reigns.

The grounds of the Chronology here followed, I will now set down as briefly as I can.

The _Peloponnesian_ war began in spring _An._ 1 _Olymp._ 87, as _Diodorus_, _Eusebius_, and all other authors agree. It began two months before _Pythodorus_ ceased to be _Archon_, _Thucyd._ l. 2. that is, in _April_, two months before the end of the _Olympic_ year. Now the years of this war are most certainly determined by the 50 years distance of its first year from the transit of _Xerxes_ inclusively, _Thucyd._ l. 2. or 48 years exclusively, _Eratosth. apud Clem. Alex._ by the 69 years distance of its end, or 27th year, from the beginning of _Alexander_'s reign in _Greece_; by the acting of the _Olympic_ games in its 4th and 12th years, _Thucyd._ l. 5; and by three eclipses of the sun, and one of the moon, mentioned by _Thucydides_ and _Xenophon_. Now _Thucydides_, an unquestionable witness, tells us, that the news of the death of _Artaxerxes Longima.n.u.s_ was brought to _Ephesus_, and from thence by some _Athenians_ to _Athens_, in the 7th year of this _Peloponnesian_ war, when the winter half year was running; and therefore he died _An._ 4 _Olymp._ 88, in the end of _An. J.P._ 4289, suppose a month or two before midwinter; for so long the news would be in coming. Now _Artaxerxes Longima.n.u.s_ reigned 40 years, by the consent of _Diodorus_, _Eusebius_, _Jerome_, _Sulpitius_; or 41, according to _Ptol.

in can. Clem. Alexand._ l. 1. _Strom. Chron. Alexandr_. _Abulpharagius_, _Nicephorus_, including therein the reign of his successors _Xerxes_ and _Sogdian_, as _Abulpharagius_ informs us. After _Artaxerxes_ reigned his son _Xerxes_ two months, and _Sogdian_ seven months; but their reign is not reckoned apart in summing up the years of the Kings, but is included in the 40 or 41 years reign of _Artaxerxes_: omit these nine months, and the precise reign of _Artaxerxes_ will be thirty nine years and three months.

And therefore since his reign ended in the beginning of winter _An. J.P._ 4289, it began between midsummer and autumn, _An. J.P._ 4250.

The same thing I gather also thus. _Cambyses_ began his reign in spring _An. J.P._ 4185, and reigned eight years, including the five months of _Smerdes_; and then _Darius Hystaspis_ began in spring _An. J.P._ 4193, and reigned thirty six years, by the unanimous consent of all Chronologers. The reigns of these two Kings are determined by three eclipses of the moon observed at _Babylon_, and recorded by _Ptolemy_; so that it cannot be disputed. One was in the seventh year of _Cambyses_, _An. J.P._ 4191, _Jul._ 16, at 11 at night; another in the 20th year of _Darius_, _An. J.P._ 4212, _Nov._ 19, at 11h. 45' at night; a third in the 31st year of _Darius_, _An. J.P._ 4223, _Apr._ 25, at 11h. 30 at night. By these eclipses, and the Prophecies of _Haggai_ and _Zechary_ compared together, it is manifest that his years began after the 24th day of the 11th _Jewish_ month, and before the 25th day of _April_, and by consequence about _March_. _Xerxes_ therefore began in spring _An. J.P._ 4229: for _Darius_ died in the fifth year after the battle at _Marathon_, as _Herodotus_, _lib._ 7, and _Plutarch_ mention; and that battle was in _October_ _An.

J.P._ 4224, ten years before the battle at _Salamis_. _Xerxes_ therefore began within less than a year after _October_ _An. J.P._ 4228, suppose in the spring following: for he spent his first five years, and something more, in preparations for his expedition against the _Greeks_; and this expedition was in the time of the _Olympic_ games, _An._ 1 _Olymp._ 75, _Calliade Athenis Archonte_, 28 years after the _Regifuge_, and Consuls.h.i.+p of the first Consul _Junius Brutus_, _Anno Urbis conditae_ 273, _Fabio & Furio Coss._ The pa.s.sage of _Xerxes_'s army over the _h.e.l.lespont_ began in the end of the fourth year of the 74th _Olympiad_, that is, in _June_ _An.

J.P._ 4234, and took up one month: and in autumn, three months after, on the full moon, the 16th day of the month _Munychion_, was the battle at _Salamis_, and a little after that an eclipse of the sun, which by the calculation fell on _Octob._ 2. His sixth year therefore began a little before _June_, suppose in spring _An. J.P._ 4234, and his first year consequently in spring _An. J.P._ 4229, as above. Now he reigned almost twenty one years, by the consent of all writers. Add the 7 months of _Artaba.n.u.s_, and the sum will be 21 years and about four or five months, which end between midsummer and autumn _An. J.P._ 4250. At this time therefore began the reign of his successor _Artaxerxes_, as was to be proved.

The same thing is also confirmed by _Julius Africa.n.u.s_, who informs us out of former writers, that the 20th year of this _Artaxerxes_ was the 115th year from the beginning of the reign of _Cyrus_ in _Persia,_ and fell in with _An._ 4 _Olymp._ 83. It began therefore with the _Olympic_ year, soon after the summer Solstice, _An. J.P._ 4269. Subduct nineteen years, and his first year will begin at the same time of the year _An. J.P._ 4250, as above.

His 7th year therefore began after midsummer _An. J.P._ 4256; and the Journey of _Ezra_ to _Jerusalem_ in the spring following fell on the beginning of _An. J.P._ 4257, as above.

Notes to Chap. X.