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Show The third Booke of the first part Cuarpx'¢,2, ofAstiochas Epipbancs.This fond fuppofition ofhis, Exfebins, Apollonius, and others haue fufficiently anfwered. Forthe feuenty Interpreters,who conuerted the old Tefta- ment about an hundred yeares before Epiphanes,didalfo turnethis bookeof Davie! out of Hebrewinto Greeke, asa part of Scripture receiued. And were thereno other argu- Mact.11, Jofephant.rt. ment to confound Porphyrie, than that of Alexander Adacedon, it were fifficient , who |i- ued diners yeares before Antiochus Epiphanes. For Iaddus the high Pricft thewed that great Conquerour,when he came towardsferu/alem to haue deftroyed it, this bookeof Daniel , wherein he beheld his ownegloryforetold, as the fame was pl aine ly expounded ynto him; whichnotonelyftayedhis hand from the harme of that Cityarid people, but his affurance and refolution was fo confirmed and ftrengthened ther -by, 19 as defpifing all future perill and refiftance , heconquered Darits, and the Eafterne Empire in a fhorter time than Nabuchedonofor had done one City, to wit, Tyrein Phanicia. ‘ P : Iris true indeed that the Jewes themfeluesgiueleffe authority to Dahiel, than to Me. fes,and the Prophets, accompting his booke among thofe which they call Cetaphim, ot Hagiegrapha,or holy Writings,whichtheyfay E/aras and the.Seniors of the Synagogtic compiled after their returne from Babylon. But firft; that the booke of i Daniel (I meare fo muchasis found in the Hebrew)is Canonicall:fecondly,that it was written by Daniel himfelfe, and not by £/dras and the Seniors ; we may aflure our felues by teftimonyof 2 Councels,and Fathers. Forin the Counfell of Laedicea held about th eyear of our Lord 368. after the death of Jonizianthe Emperour,and after the Witewe Councell three and forty yeares, this booke of Danie/was receiued,verified and confirmed among the other Canonicall Scriptures, as in the Epitomyof the fame Councell it maybefeene; and fo doth Me/itox the moft ancient Bifhopof Sardé numberit,witneff{e Ex/ebiat in his Ecclefiafticall hiftory,, the fourth booke, and fiue andtwentieth chapter oth the fame Authorin the Catalogue of Canonicall books vpon Origen:fo doth Hilarixs inhis Preface vpon the Pfalmes,and Epiphaniusin his book ofWaightsand Meafur ¢5,&c-To thefe I may adde Saint Hierome, Gregory Nazianzené, and others. Fox the zfégiographe bookes or holy Writings, the Jewes and Rabbinesreckon to be thefe, Daniel, Pfalmes,Pr- ; werbs, Job, Canticles, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclefiastes, Hester, Efra,Nebemiah, and the chro.3° wicles. And that it was Daniel,and not E/dras,that wrote this booke, Gods commande- mentynto him by his Angell,to feale vp the fametothetime appointed, is an vnantiwerable teftimony. Yeathat which exceedethall ftrength of other proofe, our Sauiour Math.24.15. Marke 13-146 Dan I2 Chrift who citeth no Apocryphall Scripture,in matthew and Azark alleageth Daniththe Prophet, to wit,the laft verfe ofhis ninth chapter. Further,in the fifth ofJoba, : Chrift diftributcth the rifen from the dead,as in Damie/ the twelfth,verfe the fecond.Saint Pawl defcribeth Aatichriff out of Daniel , andthe Reuelationis wholly an interpretation of Daniels vifions. §.111. Thatthe 70.yeeres ofcaptinity are to be nuebredfrom the defruttion of Ierufalem ;netfim the migration of Techonia. Auingthusfarre digreffed,in maintaining that authority, which muft often be Hee inthe prefent argument, it is now conuenient, that we returne vato ite differences of opinion, concerning the beginning ofthefe 70.yeares. Neither will I ftand to trouble my felfe and others with laying open the grounds or weaknel® of that which En/éebias and fomefew nameleffe Authors, haue-fometimes held in t! ‘0 point, whichis lately reuiued by Beroaldws; but will forth-with enter into confideration ofthat opinion, which many both ancient and late Writers haue fo earneftly malt tained,thatit wants not muchof!being common. Foure Kingsof/uda werecarried away captiues to Babylon : Firft, Mana/fes;then ?? hoe ai dakive,and with him amongothers, Daniel the Prophet ; third ly, lechowias,and with a Exckiellattly,Zedekias,at whichtime the City and Temple were deftroyed.T o ints ofthefe captiuities the beginning ofthe 7o.yeares is referréd by none that Thauctt"9 to the fecond,by few and with weak proofe ; to the third,by very manyand with ae confidence, For befides thofe places of Ezekiel already cited,there is a ftrong argu" atherea gaticits o CuaragiD of theHiftory oftheWorld, 3 gathered out offeremy,which may feemeto make the matter plaine. For the Prophet in comforting the people that werecarried away with sechoni #,vieth thefe words : Thus faith the Lord, After 70.yeers be accomplifbed at Babel,1 will z ifityou, atedperforme my vood texemas.10, promife towards you,and caufe you to returne to this place. cies Butit ftands indeed with little teafon that wefhouldfeekt heinterpretation of 4 prophecyout of circumftances,when the prophecy is fuchas d oth fufficiently expoundit felfe. Jeremy had already, in the fourth yeare of sehoiakim . denouncedthe iudgemen t of God againft the Land; for the finnes and impenitency of that obfti nate people, in thefewords : Behold, Iwill fend and taketo me all the famsilies of "the North, faith the Lora, reves and Nebuchadnezzar, the King ofBabel, my feruant .and will bring th acainft this Land, 16,1718, and againfi the Inhabitants thereof, and against all thefe Nations rows wt, and I will de- Lrothem, andmake them an aftonifbment,andan hiftinz, and a continual defalation: Atore~ ouer, Lwilltakefrom themthe voyce of mirth 5 4ndthe voyce of gladneffe, the voyce of thes Bridegroome, and the voyce of the Bride, the aoy(cof the mill-stones, and the Licht of the candle and this whole Land{ball be defolate , and an aponifbment, and thee Nations {hall ferue the king of Babel 70. yeeres. And when 7 Ou yeeres are expired, Iwill vifit the king ofBabel, Here we fee prefcribed vnto the captiuity the terme of 70 -yeares, which were to commence,nei ther when the prophecy was vttered ; nor when hoiakim,who then reigned, was taken by Nebuchadnezzar; nor yet inthe timeof lechonia; but withthe vttet defola30 tion ofthe City, whereof Jeremy did againe givenoticeto thofe that were already in Babylon, at fuch time as he ent them the comfort of deliuerance before rehearfed/And fo didthe people vnderftandthis prophecy, inthofetimes when they fawit accompli- thed,beginning the 70.yeares at the time ofthe defolation,as manifeftly appeares in the end of the Hiftory ofJada, where itis {aid thus : They burnt the houfe of God, and brake downe the wall of lerufalem, and burnt allthe Palaces thereof with fire, andallthe precious . "iion veffels thereoft o deftrey all: And they that-we oft by the ford, carryed he awayto Babel audthey were feruants tohim and to hisfonnes, untill the kingdome of the Perfians haa rule, tofulfil the wordofthe Lord by the mouth of letemia, vatill the Land had berfill ofher Sabbaths: for all the dayes that fhe lay deflate, lbee kept Sabbath, to fulfill 70. peeves. Butin the 30SiriJere of Cyrus king of Perfia (when the word ofthe Lora, [poken by the mouth of Vere. Inia, w4sfinifhed) the Lord flirred vp the {pirit of Cyrus. We feldome finde one piece of Scripture fo precifely and plainly expounded by another,as in this prophecy, to haue afterwards been the fubieét of altercation. Foronecan hardly deuife, how either the "elation could hauebeen ex preffed morefenfibly than it was by thé Prophet; orthe Cuicnt ofthe prophecy haue been more exadtlyfer downe, than it was inthe placenow lat ofall cited. Ifi¢ be requifite that we bring more proofin fo euidenta cafe,the ninth hapter ofDaxiel yeelds teftimony fufficient, vato this expedition of /erexsia his prophecy,that Terufalem was to lie wafte 70: yeares. For inthe firtt yeare of Darins the Mede, Which was the laft of the 70. Daniel obtained of Godthe deliverance that had 40 been promifed by prayer , which he made vponconfidetation ofthe time that wasexPied: ashetelleth inthefe words : In thefiryeere of bis reigne, F Daniel underflood by Daing.2, cmt the number ofthe yeerswhereof the Lord hath(pokes uutoleremiah the Prophet, that met accomplifh TO.yecres in the defolation of.terufalem. So that howfoeuerthe time of ces aowne captiuity be reckoned ftom the taking of Iehoiakim,and that thepeo ple eb ay wah Techowia, did accompt, aswell they might,the yeares of their owne are Ths:‘ <e the generall defolation of the Country, wherein were few or none efor there €: remaining to inhabite, began inthe nineteenth yeare of Nabuchedoty seein captinity, which by Gods appointment continued vito the end of feuen- 5°. This I willno t furtherfeeke to proue, bythe authority of Zofephus and others affirthat which: already hath been produced, is enoughto fa. : that hath not fully determined to‘hold the contrary. ming thefame.3 for'as muchas tish Cany man |