OBSERVATIONS
upon the
PROPHECIES
of
DANIEL,
and the
APOCALYPSE
of
St. JOHN.
In Two PARTS.
By Sir ISAAC NEWTON.
LONDON,
Printed by J. DARBY and T. BROWNE in Bartholomew-Close.
And Sold by J. ROBERTS in Warwick-lane, J. TONSON in the
Strand, W. INNYS and R. MANBY at the West End of St.
Paul's Church-Yard, J. OSBORN and T. LONGMAN in Pater-Noster-Row,
J. NOON near Mercers Chapel in Cheapside,
T. HATCHETT at the Royal Exchange, S. HARDING in St.
Martin's lane, J. STAGG in Westminster-Hall, J. PARKER in
Pall-mall, and J. BRINDLEY in New Bond-Street.
M.DCC.XXXIII.
To the Right Honourable
P E T E R
Lord K I N G,
Baron of Ockham, Lord High
Chancellor of Great-Britain.
My Lord,
I shall make no Apology for addressing the following Sheets to Your
Lordship, who lived in a long Intercourse of Friendship with the Author;
and, like him, amidst occupations of a different nature, made Religion
your voluntary Study; and in all your Enquiries and Actions, have shewn
the same inflexible Adherence to Truth and Virtue.
I shall always reckon it one of the Advantages of my Relation to
Sir Isaac Newton, that it affords me an opportunity of making this
publick acknowledgment of the unfeigned Respect of,
My Lord,
Your Lordship's
most obedient, and
most humble Servant,
Benj. Smith.
CONTENTS.
PART I.
Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel.
CHAP. I. Introduction concerning, the Compilers of
the Books of the Old Testament.
CHAP. II. Of the Prophetic Language.
CHAP. III. Of the vision of the Image composed
of four Metals.
CHAP. IV. Of the vision of the four Beasts.
CHAP. V. Of the Kingdoms represented by the feet
of the Image composed of iron and clay.
CHAP. VI. Of the ten Kingdoms represented by the
ten horns of the fourth Beast.
CHAP. VII. Of the eleventh horn of
Daniel's fourth Beast.
CHAP. VIII. Of the power of the eleventh horn
of Daniel's fourth Beast, to change times and laws.
CHAP. IX. Of the Kingdoms represented in
Daniel by the Ram and He-Goat.
CHAP. X. Of the Prophecy of the Seventy Weeks.
CHAP. XI. Of the Times of the Birth and Passion
of Christ.
CHAP. XII. Of the Prophecy of the Scripture of
Truth.
CHAP. XIII. Of the King who did according to
his will, and magnified himself above every God, and honoured
Mahuzzims, and regarded not the desire of women.
CHAP. XIV. Of the Mahuzzims, honoured by
the King who doth according to his will.
PART II.
Observations upon the Apocalypse of St. John.
CHAP. I. Introduction, concerning the time when
the Apocalypse was written.
CHAP. II. Of the relation which the
Apocalypse of John hath to the Book of the Law of
Moses, and to the worship of God in the Temple.
CHAP. III. Of the relation which the Prophecy of
John hath to those of Daniel; and of the Subject of the
Prophecy.
PART I.
OBSERVATIONS
upon the
PROPHECIES
of
DANIEL.
OBSERVATIONS
UPON THE
Prophecies of DANIEL
Introduction concerning the Compilers of
the books of the Old Testament.
When Manasses [1] set up a carved image in the house of
the Lord, and built altars in the two courts of the house, to all the
host of Heaven, and us'd inchantments and witchcraft, and familiar
spirits, and for his great wickedness was invaded by the army of
Asserhadon King of Assyria, and carried captive to
Babylon; the book of the Law was lost till the eighteenth year of
his grandson Josiah. Then [2] Hilkiah the High Priest, upon
repairing the Temple, found it there: and the King lamented that their
fathers had not done after the words of the book, and commanded that it
should be read to the people, and caused the people to renew the holy
covenant with God. This is the book of the Law now extant.
When [3]
Shishak came out of Egypt and spoil'd the temple, and
brought Judah into subjection to the monarchy of Egypt,
(which was in the fifth year of Rehoboam) the Jews
continued under great troubles for about twenty years; being without
the true God, and without a teaching Priest, and without Law: and in
those times there was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came
in, but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the countries,
and nation was destroyed of nation, and city of city, for God did vex
them with all adversity. But [4] when Shishak was dead, and
Egypt fell into troubles, Judah had quiet ten years; and in
that time Asa built fenced cities in Judah, and got up an
army of 580000 men, with which, in the 15th year of his reign, he met and
overcame Zerah the Ethiopian, who had conquered
Egypt and Lybia, and Troglodytica, and came out with
an army of 1000000 Lybians and Ethiopians, to recover the
countries conquered by Sesac. And after this victory [5] Asa dethroned
his mother for idolatry, and he renewed the Altar, and brought new
vessels of gold and silver into the Temple; and he and the people entered
into a new covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers, upon pain of
death to those who worshiped other Gods; and his son Jehosaphat
took away the high places, and in the third year of his reign sent some
of his Princes, and of the Priests and Levites, to teach in the cities of
Judah: and they had the book of the Law with them, and went about
throughout all the cities of Judah, and taught the people. This is
that book of the Law which was afterwards lost in the reign of
Manasses, and found again in the reign of Josiah, and
therefore it was written before the third year of Jehosaphat.
The same book of the Law was preserved and handed down to posterity by
the Samaritans, and therefore was received by the ten Tribes
before their captivity. For [6] when the ten Tribes were captivated,
a Priest or the captivity was sent back to Bethel, by order of the
King of Assyria, to instruct the new inhabitants of
Samaria, in the manner of the God of the land; and the
Samaritans had the Pentateuch from this Priest, as
containing the law or manner of the God of the land, which he was
to teach them. For [7] they persevered in the religion which
he taught them, joining with it the worship of their own Gods; and by
persevering in what they had been taught, they preserved this book of
their Law in the original character of the Hebrews, while the two
Tribes, after their return from Babylon, changed the character to
that of the Chaldees, which they had learned at
Babylon.
And since the Pentateuch was received as the book of the Law,
both by the two Tribes and by the ten Tribes, it follows that they
received it before they became divided into two Kingdoms. For after the
division, they received not laws from one another, but continued at
variance. Judah could not reclaim Israel from the sin of
Jeroboam, and Israel could not bring Judah to it.
The Pentateuch therefore was the book of the Law in the days of
David and Solomon. The affairs of the Tabernacle and Temple
were ordered by David and Solomon, according to the Law of
this book; and David in the 78th Psalm, admonishing the people to
give ear to the Law of God, means the Law of this book. For in describing
how their forefathers kept it not, he quotes many historical things out
of the books of Exodus and Numbers.
The race of the Kings of Edom, before there reigned any King
over Israel, is set down in the book of [8] Genesis; and therefore that
book was not written entirely in the form now extant, before the reign of
Saul. The writer set down the race of those Kings till his own
time, and therefore wrote before David conquered Edom. The
Pentateuch is composed of the Law and the history of God's people
together; and the history hath been collected from several books, such as
were the history of the Creation composed by Moses, Gen.
ii. 4. the book of the generations of Adam, Gen. v. i. and
the book of the wars of the Lord, Num. xxi. 14. This book of wars
contained what was done at the Red-sea, and in the journeying of
Israel thro' the Wilderness, and therefore was begun by
Moses. And Joshua might carry it on to the conquest of
Canaan. For Joshua wrote some things in the book of the Law
of God, Josh. xxiv. 26 and therefore might write his own wars in
the book of wars, those being the principal wars of God. These were
publick books, and therefore not written without the authority of
Moses and Joshua. And Samuel had leisure in the
reign of Saul, to put them into the form of the books of
Moses and Joshua now extant, inserting into the book of
Genesis, the race of the Kings of Edom, until there reigned
a King in Israel.
The book of the Judges is a continued history of the
Judges down to the death of Sampson, and therefore was
compiled after his death, out of the Acts of the Judges. Several
things in this book are said to be done when there was no King in
Israel, Judg. xvii. 6. xviii. 1. xix. 1. xxi. 25. and
therefore this book was written after the beginning of the reign of
Saul. When it was written, the Jebusites dwelt in
Jerusalem, Jud. i. 21 and therefore it was written before
the eighth year of David, 2 Sam. v. 8. and 1 Chron.
xi. 6. The books of Moses, Joshua, and Judges,
contain one continued history, down from the Creation to the death of
Sampson. Where the Pentateuch ends, the book of
Joshua begins; and where the book of Joshua ends, the book
of Judges begins. Therefore all these books have been composed out
of the writings of Moses, Joshua, and other records, by one
and the same hand, after the beginning of the reign of Saul, and
before the eighth year of David. And Samuel was a sacred
writer, 1 Sam. x. 25. acquainted with the history of Moses
and the Judges, 1 Sam. xii. 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. and had
leisure in the reign of Saul, and sufficient authority to compose
these books. He was a Prophet, and judged Israel all the days of
his life, and was in the greatest esteem with the people; and the Law by
which he was to judge the people was not to be published by less
authority than his own, the Law-maker being not inferior to the judge.
And the book of Jasher, which is quoted in the book of
Joshua, Josh. x. 13. was in being at the death of
Saul, 2 Sam. i. 18.
At the dedication of the Temple of Solomon, when the Ark was
brought into the most holy place, there was nothing in it but the two
tables, 1 Kings viii. 9. and therefore when the Philistines
took the Ark, they took out of it the book of the Law, and the golden pot
of Manna, and Aaron's Rod. And this and other losses in the
desolation of Israel, by the conquering Philistines, might
give occasion to Samuel, after some respite from those enemies, to
recollect the scattered writings of Moses and Joshua, and
the records of the Patriarchs and Judges, and compose them in the form
now extant.
The book of Ruth is a history of things done in the days of the
Judges, and may be looked upon as an addition to the book of the
Judges, written by the same author, and at the same time. For it
was written after the birth of David, Ruth iv. 17, 22. and
not long after, because the history of Boaz and Ruth, the
great grandfather and great grandmother of David, and that of
their contemporaries, could not well be remembered above two or three
generations. And since this book derives the genealogy of David
from Boaz and Ruth, and omits David's elder brothers
and his sons; it was written in honour of David, after he was
anointed King by Samuel, and before he had children in
Hebron, and by consequence in the reign of Saul. It
proceeds not to the history of David, and therefore seems to have
been written presently after he was anointed. They judge well therefore
who ascribe to Samuel the books of Joshua, Judges,
and Ruth.
Samuel is also reputed the author of the first book of
Samuel, till the time of his death. The two books of Samuel
cite no authors, and therefore seem to be originals. They begin with his
genealogy, birth and education, and might be written partly in his
lifetime by himself or his disciples the Prophets at Naioth in
Ramah, 1 Sam. xix. 18, 19, 20. and partly after his death
by the same disciples.
The books of the Kings cite other authors, as the book of the
Acts of Solomon, the book of the Chronicles of the Kings of
Israel, and the book of the Chronicles of the Kings of
Judah. The books of the Chronicles cite the book of
Samuel the Seer, the book of Nathan the Prophet, and the
book of Gad the Seer, for the Acts of David; the book of
Nathan the Prophet, the Prophecy of Ahijah the
Shilonite, and the visions of Iddo the Seer, for the Acts
of Solomon; the book of Shemajah the Prophet, and the book
of Iddo the Seer concerning genealogies, for the Acts of
Rehoboam and Abijah; the book of the Kings of Judah
and Israel for the Acts of Asa, Joash,
Amaziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah,
Manasseh, and Josiah; the book of Hanani the Seer,
for the Acts of Jehosaphat; and the visions of Isaiah for
the Acts of Uzziah and Hezekiah. These books were therefore
collected out of the historical writings of the antient Seers and
Prophets. And because the books of the Kings and Chronicles
quote one another, they were written at one and the same time. And this
time was after the return from the Babylonian captivity, because
they bring down the history of Judah, and the genealogies of the
Kings of Judah, and of the High Priests, to that captivity. The
book of Ezra was originally a part of the book of the
Chronicles, and has been divided from it. For it begins with the
two last verses of the books of Chronicles, and the first book of
Esdras begins with the two last chapters thereof. Ezra was
therefore the compiler of the books of Kings and
Chronicles, and brought down the history to his own time. He was a
ready Scribe in the Law of God; and for assisting him in this work
Nehemias founded a library, and gathered together the Acts of
the Kings and the Prophets, and of David, and the Epistles of the
Kings, concerning the holy gifts, 2 Maccab. ii. 13. By the
Acts of David I understand here the two books of Samuel, or
at least the second book. Out of the Acts of the Kings, written
from time to time by the Prophets, he compos'd the books of the Kings of
Judah and Israel, the Chronicles of the Kings of
Judah, and the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.
And in doing this he joined those Acts together, in due order of time,
copying the very words of the authors, as is manifest from hence, that
the books of the Kings and Chronicles frequently agree with
one another in words for many sentences together. Where they agree in
sense, there they agree in words also.
So the Prophecies of Isaiah, written at several times, he has
collected into one body. And the like he did for those of
Jeremiah, and the rest of the Prophets, down to the days of the
second Temple. The book of Jonah is the history of Jonah
written by another hand. The book of Daniel is a collection of
papers written at several times. The six last chapters contain Prophecies
written at several times by Daniel himself: the six first are a
collection of historical papers written by others. The fourth chapter is
a decree of Nebuchadnezzar. The first chapter was written after
Daniel's death: for the author saith, that Daniel continued
to the first year of Cyrus; that is, to his first year over the
Persians and Medes, and third year over Babylon.
And, for the same reason, the fifth and sixth chapters were also written
after his death. For they end with these words: So this Daniel
prospered in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus
the Persian. Yet these words might be added by the collector of the
papers, whom I take to be Ezra.
The Psalms composed by Moses, David, and others, seem to
have been also collected by Ezra into one volume. I reckon him the
collector, because in this collection I meet with Psalms as late as the
Babylonian captivity, but with none later.
After these things Antiochus Epiphanes spoiled the Temple,
commanded the Jews to forsake the Law upon pain of death, and
caused the sacred books to be burnt wherever they could be found: and in
these troubles the book of the Chronicles of the Kings of
Israel was entirely lost. But upon recovering from this
oppression, Judas Maccabæus gathered together all those writings
that were to be met with, 2 Maccab. ii. 14. and in reducing them
into order, part of the Prophecies of Isaiah, or some other
Prophet, have been added to the end of the Prophecies of
Zechariah; and the book of Ezra has been separated from the
book of Chronicles, and set together in two different orders; in
one order in the book of Ezra, received into the Canon, and in
another order in the first book of Esdras.
After the Roman captivity, the Jews for preserving their
traditions, put them in writing in their Talmud, and for
preserving their scriptures, agreed upon an Edition, and pointed it, and
counted the letters of every sort in every book: and by preserving only
this Edition, the antienter various lections, except what can be
discovered by means of the Septuagint Version, are now lost; and
such marginal notes, or other corruptions, as by the errors of the
transcribers, before this Edition was made, had crept into the text, are
now scarce to be corrected.
The Jews before the Roman captivity, distinguished the
sacred books into the Law, the Prophets, and the Hagiographa, or
holy writings; and read only the Law and the Prophets in their
Synagogues. And Christ and his Apostles laid the stress of religion upon
the Law and the Prophets, Matt. vii. 12. xxii. 4. Luke xvi.
16, 29, 31. xxiv. 44. Acts xxiv. 14. xxvi. 22. Rom. iii.
21. By the Hagiographa they meant the historical books called
Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel, Kings,
Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther, the
book of Job, the Psalms, the books of Solomon, and
the Lamentations. The Samaritans read only the Pentateuch:
and when Jehosaphat sent men to teach in the cities, they had with
them only the book of the Law; for the Prophecies now extant were not
then written. And upon the return from the Babylonian captivity,
Ezra read only the book of the Law to the people, from morning to
noon on the first day of the seventh month; and from day to day in the
feast of Tabernacles: for he had not yet collected the writings of the
Prophets into the volume now extant; but instituted the reading of them
after the collection was made. By reading the Law and the Prophets in the
Synagogues, those books have been kept freer from corruption than the
Hagiographa.
In the infancy of the nation of Israel, when God had given them
a Law, and made a covenant with them to be their God if they would keep
his commandments, he sent Prophets to reclaim them, as often as they
revolted to the worship of other Gods: and upon their returning to him,
they sometimes renewed the covenant which they had broken. These Prophets
he continued to send, till the days of Ezra: but after their
Prophecies were read in the Synagogues, those Prophecies were thought
sufficient. For if the people would not hear Moses and the old
Prophets, they would hear no new ones, no not tho they should rise
from the dead. At length when a new truth was to be preached to the
Gentiles, namely, that Jesus was the Christ, God sent new
Prophets and Teachers: but after their writings were also received and
read in the Synagogues of the Christians, Prophecy ceased a second time.
We have Moses, the Prophets, and Apostles, and the words of Christ
himself; and if we will not hear them, we shall be more inexcusable than
the Jews. For the Prophets and Apostles have foretold, that as
Israel often revolted and brake the covenant, and upon repentance
renewed it; so there should be a falling away among the Christians, soon
after the days of the Apostles; and that in the latter days God would
destroy the impenitent revolters, and make a new covenant with his
people. And the giving ear to the Prophets is a fundamental character of
the true Church. For God has so ordered the Prophecies, that in the
latter days the wise may understand, but the wicked shall do wickedly,
and none of the wicked shall understand, Dan. xii. 9, 10. The
authority of Emperors, Kings, and Princes, is human. The authority of
Councils, Synods, Bishops, and Presbyters, is human. The authority of the
Prophets is divine, and comprehends the sum of religion, reckoning
Moses and the Apostles among the Prophets; and if an Angel from
Heaven preach any other gospel, than what they have delivered, let
him be accursed. Their writings contain the covenant between God and
his people, with instructions for keeping this covenant; instances of
God's judgments upon them that break it: and predictions of things to
come. While the people of God keep the covenant, they continue to be his
people: when they break it they cease to be his people or church, and
become the Synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are
not. And no power on earth is authorized to alter this covenant.
The predictions of things to come relate to the state of the Church in
all ages: and amongst the old Prophets, Daniel is most distinct in
order of time, and easiest to be understood: and therefore in those
things which relate to the last times, he must be made the key to the
rest.
Notes to Chap. I.
[1] 2 Chron. xxxiii. 5, 6,
7.
[2] 2 Chron. xxxiv.
[3] 2 Chron. xii. 2, 3, 4, 8,
9. & xv. 3, 5, 6.
[4] 2 Chron. xiv. 1, 6, 7, 8,
9, 12.
[5] 2 Chron. xv. 3, 12, 13,
16, 18.
[6] 2 Kings xvii. 27, 28, 32,
33.
[7] 2 Kings xvii. 34, 41.
[8] Gen. xxxvi. 31.
Of the Prophetic Language.
For understanding the Prophecies, we are, in the first place, to
acquaint our-selves with the figurative language of the Prophets. This
language is taken from the analogy between the world natural, and an
empire or kingdom considered as a world politic.
Accordingly, the whole world natural consisting of heaven and earth,
signifies the whole world politic, consisting of thrones and people, or
so much of it as is considered in the Prophecy: and the things in that
world signify the analogous things in this. For the heavens, and the
things therein, signify thrones and dignities, and those who enjoy them;
and the earth, with the things thereon, the inferior people; and the
lowest parts of the earth, called Hades or Hell, the lowest or
most miserable part of them. Whence ascending towards heaven, and
descending to the earth, are put for rising and falling in power and
honour: rising out of the earth, or waters, and falling into them, for
the rising up to any dignity or dominion, out of the inferior state of
the people, or falling down from the same into that inferior state;
descending into the lower parts of the earth, for descending to a very
low and unhappy estate; speaking with a faint voice out of the dust, for
being in a weak and low condition; moving from one place to another, for
translation from one office, dignity, or dominion, to another; great
earthquakes, and the shaking of heaven and earth, for the shaking of
kingdoms, so as to distract or overthrow them; the creating a new heaven
and earth, and the passing away of an old one, or the beginning and end
of the world, for the rise and ruin of the body politic signified
thereby.
In the heavens, the Sun and Moon are, by interpreters of dreams, put
for the persons of Kings and Queens; but in sacred Prophecy, which
regards not single persons, the Sun is put for the whole species and race
of Kings, in the kingdom or kingdoms of the world politic, shining with
regal power and glory; the Moon for the body of the common people,
considered as the King's wife; the Stars for subordinate Princes and
great men, or for Bishops and Rulers of the people of God, when the Sun
is Christ; light for the glory, truth, and knowledge, wherewith great and
good men shine and illuminate others; darkness for obscurity of
condition, and for error, blindness and ignorance; darkning, smiting, or
setting of the Sun, Moon, and Stars, for the ceasing of a kingdom, or for
the desolation thereof, proportional to the darkness; darkning the Sun,
turning the Moon into blood, and falling of the Stars, for the same; new
Moons, for the return of a dispersed people into a body politic or
ecclesiastic.
Fire and meteors refer to both heaven and earth, and signify as
follows; burning any thing with fire, is put for the consuming thereof by
war; a conflagration of the earth, or turning a country into a lake of
fire, for the consumption of a kingdom by war; the being in a furnace,
for the being in slavery under another nation; the ascending up of the
smoke of any burning thing for ever and ever, for the continuation of a
conquered people under the misery of perpetual subjection and slavery;
the scorching heat of the sun, for vexatious wars, persecutions and
troubles inflicted by the King; riding on the clouds, for reigning over
much people; covering the sun with a cloud, or with smoke, for oppression
of the King by the armies of an enemy; tempestuous winds, or the motion
of clouds, for wars; thunder, or the voice of a cloud, for the voice of a
multitude; a storm of thunder, lightning, hail, and overflowing rain, for
a tempest of war descending from the heavens and clouds politic, on the
heads of their enemies; rain, if not immoderate, and dew, and living
water, for the graces and doctrines of the Spirit; and the defect of
rain, for spiritual barrenness.
In the earth, the dry land and congregated waters, as a sea, a river,
a flood, are put for the people of several regions, nations, and
dominions; embittering of waters, for great affliction of the people by
war and persecution; turning things into blood, for the mystical death of
bodies politic, that is, for their dissolution; the overflowing of a sea
or river, for the invasion of the earth politic, by the people of the
waters; drying up of waters, for the conquest of their regions by the
earth; fountains of waters for cities, the permanent heads of rivers
politic; mountains and islands, for the cities of the earth and sea
politic, with the territories and dominions belonging to those cities;
dens and rocks of mountains, for the temples of cities; the hiding of men
in those dens and rocks, for the shutting up of Idols in their temples;
houses and ships, for families, assemblies, and towns, in the earth and
sea politic; and a navy of ships of war, for an army of that kingdom that
is signified by the sea.
Animals also and vegetables are put for the people of several regions
and conditions; and particularly, trees, herbs, and land animals, for the
people of the earth politic: flags, reeds, and fishes, for those of the
waters politic; birds and insects, for those of the politic heaven and
earth; a forest for a kingdom; and a wilderness for a desolate and thin
people.
If the world politic, considered in prophecy, consists of many
kingdoms, they are represented by as many parts of the world natural; as
the noblest by the celestial frame, and then the Moon and Clouds are put
for the common people; the less noble, by the earth, sea, and rivers, and
by the animals or vegetables, or buildings therein; and then the greater
and more powerful animals and taller trees, are put for Kings, Princes,
and Nobles. And because the whole kingdom is the body politic of the
King, therefore the Sun, or a Tree, or a Beast, or Bird, or a Man,
whereby the King is represented, is put in a large signification for the
whole kingdom; and several animals, as a Lion, a Bear, a Leopard, a Goat,
according to their qualities, are put for several kingdoms and bodies
politic; and sacrificing of beasts, for slaughtering and conquering of
kingdoms; and friendship between beasts, for peace between kingdoms. Yet
sometimes vegetables and animals are, by certain epithets or
circumstances, extended to other significations; as a Tree, when called
the tree of life or of knowledge; and a Beast, when called
the old serpent, or worshipped.
When a Beast or Man is put for a kingdom, his parts and qualities are
put for the analogous parts and qualities of the kingdom; as the head of
a Beast, for the great men who precede and govern; the tail for the
inferior people, who follow and are governed; the heads, if more than
one, for the number of capital parts, or dynasties, or dominions in the
kingdom, whether collateral or successive, with respect to the civil
government; the horns on any head, for the number of kingdoms in that
head, with respect to military power; seeing for understanding, and the
eyes for men of understanding and policy, and in matters of religion for
Επισκοποι,
Bishops; speaking, for making laws; the mouth, for a law-giver, whether
civil or sacred; the loudness of the voice, for might and power; the
faintness thereof, for weakness; eating and drinking, for acquiring what
is signified by the things eaten and drank; the hairs of a beast, or man,
and the feathers of a bird, for people; the wings, for the number of
kingdoms represented by the beast; the arm of a man, for his power, or
for any people wherein his strength and power consists; his feet, for the
lowest of the people, or for the latter end of the kingdom; the feet,
nails, and teeth of beasts of prey, for armies and squadrons of armies;
the bones, for strength, and for fortified places; the flesh, for riches
and possessions; and the days of their acting, for years; and when a tree
is put for a kingdom, its branches, leaves and fruit, signify as do the
wings, feathers, and food of a bird or beast.
When a man is taken in a mystical sense, his qualities are often
signified by his actions, and by the circumstances of things about him.
So a Ruler is signified by his riding on a beast; a Warrior and
Conqueror, by his having a sword and bow; a potent man, by his gigantic
stature; a Judge, by weights and measures; a sentence of absolution, or
condemnation, by a white or a black stone; a new dignity, by a new name;
moral or civil qualifications, by garments; honour and glory, by splendid
apparel; royal dignity, by purple or scarlet, or by a crown;
righteousness, by white and clean robes; wickedness, by spotted and
filthy garments; affliction, mourning, and humiliation, by clothing in
sackcloth; dishonour, shame, and want of good works, by nakedness; error
and misery, by drinking a cup of his or her wine that causeth it;
propagating any religion for gain, by exercising traffick and merchandize
with that people whose religion it is; worshipping or serving the false
Gods of any nation, by committing adultery with their princes, or by
worshipping them; a Council of a kingdom, by its image; idolatry, by
blasphemy; overthrow in war, by a wound of man or beast; a durable plague
of war, by a sore and pain; the affliction or persecution which a people
suffers in labouring to bring forth a new kingdom, by the pain of a woman
in labour to bring forth a man-child; the dissolution of a body politic
or ecclesiastic, by the death of a man or beast; and the revival of a
dissolved dominion, by the resurrection of the dead.
Of the vision of the Image composed of four Metals.
The Prophecies of Daniel are all of them related to one
another, as if they were but several parts of one general Prophecy, given
at several times. The first is the easiest to be understood, and every
following Prophecy adds something new to the former. The first was given
in a dream to Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, in the
second year of his reign; but the King forgetting his dream, it was given
again to Daniel in a dream, and by him revealed to the King. And
thereby, Daniel presently became famous for wisdom, and revealing
of secrets: insomuch that Ezekiel his contemporary, in the
nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, spake thus of him to the King
of Tyre: Behold, saith he, thou art wiser than
Daniel, there is no secret that they can hide from thee, Ezek.
xxviii. 3. And the same Ezekiel, in another place, joins
Daniel with Noah and Job, as most high in the favour
of God, Ezek. xiv. 14, 16, 18, 20. And in the last year of
Belshazzar, the Queen-mother said of him to the King: Behold
there is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods;
and in the days of thy father, light and understanding and wisdom, like
the wisdom of the gods, was found in him; whom the king
Nebuchadnezzar thy father, the king, I say, thy father made master
of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans and soothsayers:
forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding,
interpreting of dreams, and shewing of hard sentences, and dissolving of
doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named
Belteshazzar, Dan. v. 11, 12. Daniel was in the greatest
credit amongst the Jews, till the reign of the Roman
Emperor Hadrian: and to reject his Prophecies, is to reject the
Christian religion. For this religion is founded upon his Prophecy
concerning the Messiah.
Now in this vision of the Image composed of four Metals, the
foundation of all Daniel's Prophecies is laid. It represents a
body of four great nations, which should reign over the earth
successively, viz. the people of Babylonia, the
Persians, the Greeks, and the Romans. And by a stone
cut out without hands, which fell upon the feet of the Image, and brake
all the four Metals to pieces, and became a great mountain, and filled
the whole earth; it further represents that a new kingdom should
arise, after the four, and conquer all those nations, and grow very
great, and last to the end of all ages.
The head of the Image was of gold, and signifies the nations of
Babylonia, who reigned first, as Daniel himself interprets.
Thou art this head of gold, saith he to Nebuchadnezzar.
These nations reigned till Cyrus conquered Babylon, and
within a few months after that conquest revolted to the Persians,
and set them up above the Medes. The breast and arms of the Image
were of silver, and represent the Persians who reigned next. The
belly and thighs of the Image were of brass, and represent the
Greeks, who, under the dominion of Alexander the great,
conquered the Persians, and reigned next after them. The legs were
of iron, and represent the Romans who reigned next after the
Greeks, and began to conquer them in the eighth year of
Antiochus Epiphanes. For in that year they conquered
Perseus King of Macedon, the fundamental kingdom of the
Greeks; and from thence forward grew into a mighty empire, and
reigned with great power till the days of Theodosius the great.
Then by the incursion of many northern nations, they brake into many
smaller kingdoms, which are represented by the feet and toes of the
Image, composed part of iron, and part of clay. For then, saith
Daniel, [1] the kingdom shall be divided,
and there shall be in it of the strength of iron, but they shall not
cleave one to another.
And in the days of these Kings, saith Daniel, 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.
Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountains
without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay,
the silver and the gold.
Notes to Chap. III.
Of the vision of the four Beasts.
In the next vision, which is of the four Beasts, the Prophecy of the
four Empires is repeated, with several new additions; such as are the two
wings of the Lion, the three ribs in the mouth of the Bear, the four
wings and four heads of the Leopard, the eleven horns of the fourth
Beast, and the son of man coming in the clouds of Heaven, to the Antient
of Days sitting in judgment.
The first Beast was like a lion, and had eagle's wings, to denote the
kingdoms of Babylonia and Media, which overthrew the
Assyrian Empire, and divided it between them, and thereby became
considerable, and grew into great Empires. In the former Prophecy, the
Empire of Babylonia was represented by the head of gold; in this
both Empires are represented together by the two wings of the lion.
And I beheld, saith [1] Daniel, till the wings
thereof were pluckt, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made to
stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it; that
is, till it was humbled and subdued, and made to know its human
state.
The second Beast was like a bear, and represents the Empire which
reigned next after the Babylonians, that is, the Empire of the
Persians. Thy kingdom is divided, or broken, saith
Daniel to the last King of Babylon, and given to the
Medes and Persians, Dan. v. 28. This Beast raised
itself up on one side; the Persians being under the
Medes at the fall of Babylon, but presently rising up above
them. [2] And it
had three ribs in the mouth of it, between the teeth of it, to
signify the kingdoms of Sardes, Babylon, and Egypt,
which were conquered by it, but did not belong to its proper body. And it
devoured much flesh, the riches of those three kingdoms.
The third Beast was the kingdom which succeeded the Persian;
and this was the empire of the Greeks, Dan. viii. 6, 7, 20,
21. It was like a Leopard, to signify its fierceness; and had four
heads and four wings, to signify that it should become divided into four
kingdoms, Dan. viii 22. for it continued in a monarchical form
during the reign of Alexander the great, and his brother
Aridæus, and young sons Alexander and Hercules; and
then brake into four kingdoms, by the governors of provinces putting
crowns on their own heads, and by mutual consent reigning over their
provinces. Cassander reigned over Macedon, Greece,
and Epirus; Lysimachus over Thrace and
Bithynia; Ptolemy over Egypt, Lybia,
Arabia, Cœlosyria, and Palestine; and
Seleucus over Syria.
The fourth Beast was the empire which succeeded that of the
Greeks, and this was the Roman. This beast was exceeding
dreadful and terrible, and had great iron teeth, and devoured and brake
in pieces, and stamped the residue with its feet; and such was the
Roman empire. It was larger, stronger, and more formidable and
lasting than any of the former. It conquered the kingdom of
Macedon, with Illyricum and Epirus, in the eighth
year of Antiochus Epiphanes, Anno Nabonass.. 580; and
inherited that of Pergamus, Anno Nabonass. 615; and
conquered that of Syria, Anno Nabonass. 679, and that of
Egypt, Anno Nabonass. 718. And by these and other conquests
it became greater and more terrible than any of the three former Beasts.
This Empire continued in its greatness till the reign of
Theodosius the great; and then brake into ten kingdoms,
represented by the ten horns of this Beast; and continued in a broken
form, till the Antient of days sat in a throne like fiery flame, and
the judgment was set, and the books were opened, and the Beast was
slain and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flames; and one
like the son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the
Antient of days [3], and received dominion over all
nations, and judgment was given to the saints of the most high, and the
time came that they possessed the kingdom.
I beheld, saith [4] Daniel, till the Beast was
slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flames. As
concerning the rest of the Beasts, they had their dominion taken away:
yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time. And therefore
all the four Beasts are still alive, tho the dominion of the three first
be taken away. The nations of Chaldea and Assyria are still
the first Beast. Those of Media and Persia are still the
second Beast. Those of Macedon, Greece and Thrace,
Asia minor, Syria and Egypt, are still the third.
And those of Europe, on this side Greece, are still the
fourth. Seeing therefore 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 nations on this side Greece; we
are to look for all the four heads of the third Beast, among the nations
on this side of 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 in those kingdoms, because they belonged
to the bodies of the two first Beasts. Nor do we reckon the Greek
empire seated at Constantinople, among the horns of the fourth
Beast, because it belonged to the body of the third.
Notes to Chap. IV.
[1] Chap. vii. 4.
[2] Chap. vii. 5.
[3] Chap. vii. 13.
[4] Chap. vii. 11, 12.
Of the Kingdoms represented by the
feet of the Image composed of iron and clay.
Dacia was a large country bounded on the south by the
Danube, on the east by the Euxine sea, on the north by the
river Neister and the mountain Crapac, and on the west by
the river Tibesis, or Teys, which runs southward into the
Danube a little above Belgrade. It comprehended the
countries now called Transylvania, Moldavia, and
Wallachia, and the eastern part of the upper Hungary. Its
antient inhabitants were called Getæ by the Greeks,
Daci by the Latins, and Goths by themselves.
Alexander the great attacked them, and Trajan conquered
them, and reduced their country into a Province of the Roman
Empire: and thereby the propagation of the Gospel among them was much
promoted. They were composed of several Gothic nations, called
Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Vandals, Gepides,
Lombards, Burgundians, Alans, &c. who all agreed
in their manners, and spake the same language, as Procopius
represents. While they lived under the Romans, the Goths or
Ostrogoths were seated in the eastern parts of Dacia, the
Vandals in the western part upon the river Teys, where the
rivers Maresh and Keresh run into it. The Visigoths
were between them. The Gepides, according to Jornandes,
were upon the Vistula. The Burgundians, a Vandalic
nation, were between the Vistula and the southern fountain of the
Boristhenes, at some distance from the mountain Crapac
northwards, where Ptolemy places them, by the names of
Phrugundiones and Burgiones.[1] The Alans, another
Gothic nation, were between the northern fountain of the
Boristhenes and the mouth of the river Tanais, where
Ptolemy placeth the mountain Alanus, and western side of
the Palus Mæotis.
These nations continued under the dominion of the Romans till
the second year of the Emperor Philip, and then for want of their
military pay began to revolt; the Ostrogoths setting up a kingdom,
which, under their Kings Ostrogotha, Cniva, Araric,
Geperic, and Hermanaric, increased till the year of Christ
376; and then by an incursion of the Huns from beyond the
Tanais, and the death of Hermanaric, brake into several
smaller kingdoms. Hunnimund, the son of Hermanaric, became
King over the Ostrogoths; Fridigern over the
Visigoths; Winithar, or Vinithar, over a part of the
Goths called Gruthungi by Ammian, Gothunni by
Claudian, and Sarmatæ and Scythians by others:
Athanaric reign'd over another part of the Goths in
Dacia, called Thervingi; Box over the Antes
in Sarmatia; and the Gepides had also their King. The
Vandals fled over the Danube from Geberic in the
latter end of the reign of Constantine the great, and had seats
granted them in Pannonia by that Emperor, where they lived quietly
forty years, viz. till the year 377, when several Gothic
nations flying from the Hunns came over the Danube, and had
seats granted them in Mæsia and Thrace by the Greek
Emperor Valens. But the next year they revolted, called in some
Goths, Alans and Hunns, from beyond the
Danube, and routed the Roman army, slew the Emperor
Valens, and spread themselves into Greece and
Pannonia as far as the Alps. In the years 379 and 380 they
were checkt by the arms of the Emperors Gratian and
Theodosius, and made a submissive peace; the Visigoths and
Thervingi returned to their seats in Mæsia and
Thrace, the Hunns retired over the Danube, and the
Alans and Gruthingi obtained seats in Pannonia.
About the year 373, or 374, the Burgundians rose from their
seats upon the Vistula, with an army of eighty thousand men to
invade Gallia; and being opposed, seated themselves upon the
northern side of the Rhine over against Mentz. In the year
358, a body of the Salian Franks, with their King, coming from the
river Sala, were received into the Empire by the Emperor
Julian, and seated in Gallia between Brabant and the
Rhine: and their King Mellobaudes was made Comes
domesticorum, by the Emperor Gratian. Richomer, another
noble Salian Frank, was made Comes domesticorum, and
Magister utriusque Militiæ, by Theodosius; and A.C. 384,
was Consul with Clearchus. He was a great favourite of
Theodosius, and accompanied him in his wars against
Eugenius, but died in the expedition, and left a son called
Theudomir, who afterwards became King of the Salian Franks
in Brabant. In the time of this war some Franks from beyond
the Rhine invaded Gallia under the conduct of
Genobald, Marcomir and Suno, but were repulsed by
Stilico; and Marcomir being slain, was succeeded in
Germany by his son Pharamond.
While these nations remained quiet within the Empire, subject to the
Romans, many others continued so beyond the Danube till the
death of the Emperor Theodosius, and then rose up in arms. For
Paulus Diaconus in his Historia Miscell. lib. xiv.
speaking of the times next after the death of this Emperor, tells us:
Eodem tempore erant Gothi & aliæ gentes maximæ trans Danubium
habitantes: ex quibus rationabiliores quatuor sunt, Gothi scilicet,
Huisogothi, Gepides & Vandali; & nomen tantum & nihil aliud
mutantes. Isti sub Arcadia & Honorio Danubium transeuntes, locati
sunt in terra Romanorum: & Gepides quidem, ex quibus postea divisi
sunt Longobardi & Avares, villas, quæ sunt circa Singidonum &
Sirmium, habitavere: and Procopius in the beginning of his
Historia Vandalica writes to the same purpose. Hitherto the
Western Empire continued entire, but now brake into many
kingdoms.
Theodosius died A.C. 395; and then the Visigoths, under
the conduct of Alaric the successor of Fridigern, rose from
their seats in Thrace and wasted Macedon, Thessaly,
Achaia, Peloponnesus, and Epirus, with fire and
sword for five years together; when turning westward, they invaded
Dalmatia, Illyricum and Pannonia; and from thence
went into Italy A.C. 402; and the next year were so beaten at
Pollentia and Verona, by Stilico the commander of
the forces of the Western Empire, that Claudian calls the
remainder of the forces of Alaric, tanta ex gente reliquias
breves, and Prudentius, Gentem deletam. Thereupon
Alaric made peace with the Emperor, being so far humbled, that
Orosius saith, he did, pro pace optima & quibuscunque
sedibus suppliciter & simpliciter orare. This peace was ratified
by mutual hostages; Ætius was sent hostage to Alaric; and
Alaric continued a free Prince in the seats now granted to
him.
When Alaric took up arms, the nations beyond the Danube
began to be in motion; and the next winter, between A.C. 395 and 396, a
great body of Hunns, Alans, Ostrogoths,
Gepides, and other northern nations, came over the frozen
Danube, being invited by Rufinus: when their brethren, who
had obtained seats within the Empire, took up arms also. Jerome
calls this great multitude, Hunns, Alans, Vandals,
Goths, Sarmatians, Quades, and Marcomans; and
saith, that they invaded all places between Constantinople and the
Julian Alps, wasting Scythia, Thrace,
Macedon, Dardania, Dacia, Thessaly,
Achaia, Epirus, Dalmatia, and all Pannonia.
The Suevians also invaded Rhætia: for when Alaric
ravaged Pannonia, the Romans were defending Rhætia;
which gave Alaric an opportunity of invading Italy, as
Claudian thus mentions.
Non nisi perfidiâ nacti penetrabile tempus,
Irrupere Getæ, nostras dum Rhætia vires
Occupat, atque alio desudant Marte cohortes.
And when Alaric went from those parts into Italy, some
other barbarous nations invaded Noricum and Vindelicia, as
the same Poet Claudian thus writes:
——Jam fœdera gentes
Exuerant, Latiique auditâ clade feroces
Vendelicos saltus & Norica rura tenebant.
This was in the years 402 and 403. And among these nations I reckon
the Suevians, Quades, and Marcomans; for they were
all in arms at this time. The Quades and Marcomans were
Suevian nations; and they and the Suevians came originally
from Bohemia, and the river Suevus or Sprake in
Lusatia; and were now united under one common King called
Ermeric, who soon after led them into Gallia. The
Vandals and Alans might also about this time extend
themselves into Noricum. Uldin also with a great body of
Hunns passed the Danube about the time of
Chrysostom's banishment, that is, A.C. 404, and wasted
Thrace and Mæsia. Radagaisus, King of the
Gruthunni and succesor of Winithar, inviting over more
barbarians from beyond the Danube, invaded Italy with an
army of above two hundred thousand Goths; and within a year or
two, A.C. 405 or 406., was overcome by Stilico, and perished with
his army. In this war Stilico was assisted with a great body of
Hunns and Ostrogoths, under the conduct of Uldin and
Sarus, who were hired by the Emperor Honorius. In all this
confusion it was necessary for the Lombards in Pannonia to
arm themselves in their own defence, and assert their liberty, the
Romans being no longer able to protect them.
And now Stilico purposing to make himself Emperor, procured a
military prefecture for Alaric, and sent him into the East
in the service of Honorius the Western Emperor, committing
some Roman troops to his conduct to strengthen his army of
Goths, and promising to follow soon after with his own army. His
pretence was to recover some regions of Illyricum, which the
Eastern Emperor was accused to detain injuriously from the
Western; but his secret design was to make himself Emperor, by the
assistance of the Vandals and their allies: for he himself was a
Vandal. For facilitating this design, he invited a great body of
the barbarous nations to invade the Western Empire, while he and
Alaric invaded the Eastern. And these nations under their
several Kings, the Vandals under Godegisilus, the
Alans in two bodies, the one under Goar, the other under
Resplendial, and the Suevians, Quades, and
Marcomans, under Ermeric, marched thro' Rhætia to
the side of the Rhine, leaving their seats in Pannonia to
the Hunns and Ostrogoths, and joined the Burgundians
under Gundicar, and ruffled the Franks in their further
march. On the last of December A.C. 406, they passed the
Rhine at Ments, and spread themselves into Germania
prima and the adjacent regions; and amongst other actions the
Vandals took Triers. Then they advanced into
Belgium, and began to waste that country. Whereupon the Salian
Franks in Brabant took up arms, and under the conduct of
Theudomir, the son of Ricimer, or Richomer,
abovementioned, made so stout a resistance, that they slew almost twenty
thousand of the Vandals, with their King Godegesilus, in
battel; the rest escaping only by a party of Resplendial's
Alans which came timely to their assistance.
Then the British soldiers, alarm'd by the rumour of these
things, revolted, and set up Tyrants there; first Marcus, whom
they slew presently; then Gratian, whom they slew within four
months; and lastly Constantine, under whom they invaded
Gallia A.C. 408, being favoured by Goar and
Gundicar. And Constantine having possessed a good part of
Gallia, created his son Constans Cæsar, and sent him into
Spain to order his affairs there, A.C. 409.
In the mean time Resplendial, seeing the aforesaid disaster of
the Vandals, and that Goar was gone over to the
Romans, led his army from the Rhine; and, together with the
Suevians and residue of the Vandals, went towards
Spain; the Franks in the mean time prosecuting their
victory so far as to retake Triers, which after they had plundered
they left to the Romans. The Barbarians were at first stopt
by the Pyrenean mountains, which made them spread themselves into
Aquitain: but the next year they had the passage betrayed by some
soldiers of Constans; and entring Spain 4 Kal.
Octob. A.C. 409, they conquered every one what he could; and at
length, A.C. 411, divided their conquests by lot; the Vandals
obtained Bœtica, and part of Gallæcia; the
Suevians the rest of Gallæcia; and the Alans
Lusitania and the Carthaginian Province: the Emperor for
the sake of peace confirming them in those seats by grant A.C. 413.
The Roman Franks abovementioned, having made Theudomir
their King, began strait after their conquest of the Vandals to
invade their neighbours also. The first they set upon were the
Gauls of Brabant[2]: but meeting with notable resistance,
they desired their alliance: and so those Gauls fell off from the
Romans, and made an intimate league with the Franks to be
as one people, marrying with one another, and conforming to one another's
manners, till they became one without distinction. Thus by the access of
these Gauls, and of the foreign Franks also, who afterwards
came over the Rhine, the Salian kingdom soon grew very
great and powerful.
Stilico's expedition against the Greek Emperor was stopt
by the order of Honorius; and then Alaric came out of
Epirus into Noricum, and requested a sum of money for his
service. The Senate were inclined to deny him, but by Stilico's
mediation granted it. But after some time Stilico being accused of
a traiterous conspiracy with Alaric, and slain 10 Kal.
Sept. A.C. 408; Alaric was thereby disappointed of his
money, and reputed an enemy to the Empire; he then broke strait into
Italy with the army he brought out of Epirus, and sent to
his brother Adolphus to follow him with what forces he had in
Pannonia, which were not great, but yet not to be despised.
Thereupon Honorius fearing to be shut up in Rome, retired
to Ravenna in October A.C. 408. And from that time
Ravenna continued to be the seat of the Western Emperors.
In those days the Hunns also invaded Pannonia; and seizing
the deserted seats of the Vandals, Alans, and Goths,
founded a new kingdom there. Alaric advancing to Rome
besieged it, and 9 Kal. Sept. A.C. 410 took it: and afterwards
attempting to pass into Africa, was shipwrackt. After which
Honorius made peace with him, and got up an army to send against
the Tyrant Constantine.
At the same time Gerontius, one of Constantine's
captains, revolted from him, and set up Maximus Emperor in
Spain. Whereupon Constantine sent Edobec, another of
his captains, to draw to his assistance, the Barbarians under
Goar and Gundicar in Gallia, and supplies of
Franks and Alemans from beyond the Rhine; and
committed the custody of Vienne in Gallia Narbonensis to
his son Constans. Gerontius advancing, first slew
Constans at Vienne, and then began to besiege
Constantine at Arles. But Honorius at the same time
sending Constantius with an army on the same errand,
Gerontius fled, and Constantius continued the siege,
strengthned by the access of the greatest part of the soldiers of
Gerontius. After four months siege, Edobec having procured
succours, the Barbarian Kings at Ments, Goar and
Gundicar, constitute Jovinus Emperor, and together with him
set forward to relieve Arles. At their approach Constantius
retired. They pursued, and he beat them by surprize; but not prosecuting
his victory, the Barbarians soon recovered themselves; yet not so
as to hinder the fall of the tyrants Constantine, Jovinus
and Maximus. Britain could not be recovered to the Empire,
but remained ever after a distinct kingdom.
The next year, A.C. 412, the Visigoths being beaten in
Italy, had Aquitain granted them to retire into: and they
invaded it with much violence, causing the Alans and
Burgundians to retreat, who were then depopulating of it. At the
same time the Burgundians were brought to peace; and the Emperor
granted them for inheritance a region upon the Rhine which they
had invaded: and the same, I presume, he did with the Alans. But
the Franks not long after retaking and burning Triers,
Castinus, A.C. 415, was sent against them with an army, who routed
them and slew Theudomir their King This was the second taking of
Triers by the Franks. It was therefore taken four times,
once by the Vandals and thrice by the Franks.
Theudomir was succeeded by Pharamond, the Prince or King of
the Salian Franks in Germany. From thence he brought new
forces, reigned over the whole, and had seats granted to his people
within the Empire near the Rhine.
And now the Barbarians were all quieted, and settled in several
kingdoms within the Empire, not only by conquest, but also by the grants
of the Emperor Honorius. For Rutilius in his
Itinerary, written in Autumn, Anno Urbis 1169, that is,
according to Varro's computation then in use, A.C. 416, thus
laments the wasted fields:
Illa quidem longis nimium deformia bellis;
And then adds,
Jam tempus laceris post longa incendia fundis
Vel pastorales ædificare casas.
And a little after,
Æternum tibi Rhenus aret.
And Orosius in the end of his history, which was finished A.C.
417, represents now a general pacification of the barbarous nations by
the words comprimere, coangustare, addicere gentes
immanissimas; terming them imperio addictas, because they had
obtained seats in the Empire by league and compact; and
coangustatas, because they did no longer invade all regions at
pleasure, but by the same compact remained quiet in the seats then
granted them. And these are the kingdoms, of which the feet of the Image
were henceforward composed, and which are represented by iron and clay
intermixed, which did not stick one to another, and were of different
strength.
Notes to Chap. V.
[1] Procop. l. 1. de Bello
Vandalico.
[2] Galli Arborici: whence
the region was named Arboricbant, and by contraction
Brabant.
Of the ten Kingdoms represented by the
ten horns of the fourth Beast.
Now by the wars above described the Western Empire of the
Romans, about the time that Rome was besieged and taken by
the Goths, became broken into the following ten kingdoms.
1. The kingdom of the Vandals and Alans in Spain and Africa.
2. The kingdom of the Suevians in Spain.
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 Britains.
8. The kingdom of the Hunns.
9. The kingdom of the Lombards.
10. The kingdom of Ravenna.
Seven of these kingdoms are thus mentioned by Sigonius.
1Honorio regnante, in Pannoniam
2Hunni, in Hispaniam 3Vandali,
4Alani, 5Suevi &
6Gothi, in Galliam 4Alani
7Burgundiones & 6Gothi, certis
sedibus permissis, accepti. Add the Franks, Britains,
and Lombards, and you have the ten: for these arose about the same
time with the seven. But let us view them severally.
1. The Kings of the Vandals were, A.C.
407 Godegesilus, 407 Gunderic, 426 Geiseric, 477
Hunneric, 484 Gundemund, 496 Thrasamund, 513
Geiseric, 530 Gelimer. Godegesilus led them into
Gallia A.C. 406, Gunderic into Spain A.C. 409,
Geiseric into Africa A.C. 427; and Gelimer was
conquered by Belisarius A.C. 533. Their kingdom lasted in
Gallia, Spain and Africa together 126 years; and in
Africa they were very potent. The Alans had only two Kings
of their own in Spain, Resplendial, and Ataces,
Utacus or Othacar. Under Resplendial they went into
France A.C. 407, and into Spain A.C. 409. Ataces was
slain with almost all his army by Vallia King of the
Visigoths A.C. 419. And then the remainder of these Alans
subjected themselves to Gunderic King of the Vandals in
Bœtica, and went afterwards with them into Africa, as
I learn out of Procopius. Whence the Kings of the Vandals
styled themselves Kings of the Vandals and Alans; as may be
seen in the Edict of Hunneric recited by Victor in his
Vandalic persecution. In conjunction with the Chatti, these
Alans gave the name of Cathalaunia, or Catth-Alania,
to the Province which is still so called. These Alans had also
Gepides among them; and therefore the Gepides came into
Pannonia before the Alans left it. There they became
subject to the Hunns till the death of Attila A.C. 454, and
at length were conquered by the Ostrogoths.
2. The Kings of the Suevians were, A.C.
407 Ermeric, 458 Rechila, 448 Rechiarius, 458
Maldra, 460 Frumarius, 463 Regismund. And after some
other Kings who are unknown, reigned A.C. 558 Theudomir, 568
Miro, 582 Euboricus, and 583 Andeca. This kingdom,
after it had been once seated in Spain, remained always in
Gallæcia and Lusitania. Ermeric after the fall of
the Alan kingdom, enlarged it into all Gallæcia, forcing
the Vandals to retire into Bœtica and the
Carthaginian Province. This kingdom lasted 177 years according to
Isidorus, and then was subdued by Leovigildus King of the
Visigoths, and made a Province of his kingdom A.C. 585.
3. The Kings of the Visigoths were, A.C.
400 Alaric, 410 Athaulphus, 415 Sergeric and
Vallia, 419 Theoderic, 451 Thorismund, 452
Theoderic, 465 Euric, 482 Alaric, 505
Gensalaric, 526 Amalaric, 531 Theudius, 548
Theudisclus, &c. I date this kingdom from the time that
Alaric left Thrace and Greece to invade the
Western Empire. In the end of the reign of Athaulphus the
Goths were humbled by the Romans, and attempted to pass out
of France into Spain. Sergeric reigned but a few
days. In the beginning of Vallia's reign they assaulted the
Romans afresh, but were again repulsed, and then made peace on
this condition, that they should on the behalf of the Empire invade the
Barbarian kingdoms in Spain: and this they did, together
with the Romans, in the years 417 and 418, overthrowing the
Alans and part of the Vandals. Then they received
Aquitain of the Emperor by a full donation, leaving their
conquests in Spain to the Emperor: and thereby the seats of the
conquered Alans came into the hands of the Romans. In the
year 455, Theoderic, assisted by the Burgundians, invaded
Spain, which was then almost all subject to the Suevians,
and took a part of it from them. A.C. 506, the Goths were driven
out of Gallia by the Franks. A.C. 585, they conquered the
Suevian kingdom, and became Lords of all Spain. A.C. 713,
the Saracens invaded them, but in time they recovered their
dominions, and have reigned in Spain ever since.
4. The Kings of the Alans in
Gallia were Goar, Sambida, Eocharic,
Sangibanus, Beurgus, &c. Under Goar they invaded
Gallia A.C. 407, and had seats given them near the Rhine,
A.C. 412. Under Sambida, whom Bucher makes the successor,
if not the son of Goar, they had the territories of Valence
given them by Ætius the Emperor's General, A.C. 440. Under
Eocharic they conquered a region of the rebelling Galli
Arborici, given them also by Ætius. This region was from them
named Alenconium, quasi Alanorum conventus. Under
Sangibanus they were invaded, and their regal city Orleans
was besieged by Attila King of the Hunns, with a vast army
of 500000 men. Ætius and the Barbarian Kings of
Gallia came to raise the siege, and beat the Hunns in a
very memorable battle, A.C. 451, in campis Catalaunicis, so called
from these Alans mixt with the Chatti. The region is now
called Campania or Champagne. In that battle were slain on
both sides 162000 men. A year or two after, Attila returned with
an immense army to conquer this kingdom, but was again beaten by them and
the Visigoths together in a battle of three days continuance, with
a slaughter almost as great as the former. Under Beurgus, or
Biorgor, they infested Gallia round about, till the reign
of Maximus the Emperor; and then they passed the Alps in
winter, and came into Liguria, but were there beaten, and
Beurgus slain, by Ricimer commander of the Emperor's
forces, A.C. 464. Afterwards they were again beaten, by the joint force
of Odoacer King of Italy and Childeric King of the
Franks, about the year 480, and again by Theudobert King of
the Austrian Franks about the year 511.
5. The Kings of the Burgundians were,
A.C. 407 Gundicar, 436 Gundioc, 467 Bilimer, 473
Gundobaldus with his brothers, 510 Sigismund, 517
Godomarus. Under Gundicar they invaded Gallia A.C.
407, and had seats given them by the Emperor near the Rhine in
Gallia Belgica, A.C. 412. They had Saxons among them, and
were now so potent, that Orosius A.C. 417 wrote of them:
'Burgundionum esse prævalidam manum, Galliæ hodieque testes sunt, in
quibus præsumpta possessione consistunt. About the year 435 they
received great overthrows by Ætius, and soon after by the
Hunns: but five years after had Savoy granted them to be
shared with the inhabitants; and from that time became again a potent
kingdom, being bounded by the river Rhodanus, but afterwards
extending much further into the heart of Gallia. Gundobald
conquered the regions about the rivers Araris and Rhodanus,
with the territories of Marseilles; and invading Italy in
the time of the Emperor Glycerius, conquered all his brethren.
Godomarus made Orleans his royal seat: whence the kingdom
was called Regnum Aurelianorum. He was conquered by
Clotharius and Childebert, Kings of the Franks, A.C.
526. From thenceforward this kingdom was sometimes united to the kingdom
of the Franks, and sometimes divided from it, till the reign of
Charles the great, who made his son Carolottus King of
Burgundy. From that time, for about 300 years together, it enjoyed
its proper Kings; and was then broken into the Dukedom of
Burgundy, County of Burgundy, and County of Savoy;
and afterwards those were broken into other lesser Counties.
6. The Kings of the Franks were, A.C. 407
Theudomir, 417 Pharamond, 428 Clodio, 448
Merovæus, 456 Childeric, 482 Clodovæus, &c.
Windeline and Bucher, two of the most diligent searchers
into the originals of this kingdom, make it begin the same year with the
Barbarian invasions of Gallia, that is, A.C. 407. Of the
first Kings there is in Labbe's Bibliotheca M.S. this record.
Historica quædam excerpta ex veteri stemmate genealogico Regum
Franciæ.
Genobaldus, Marcomerus, Suno, Theodemeris. Isti duces vel reguli
extiterunt à principio gentis Francorum diversis temporibus. Sed incertum
relinquunt historici quali sibi procreations lineâ successerunt.
Pharamundus: sub hoc rege suo primo Franci legibus se subdunt, quas
primores eorum tulerunt Wisogastus, Atrogastus, Salegastus.
Chlochilo. Iste, transito Rheno, Romanos in Carbonaria sylva
devicit, Camaracum cepit & obtinuit, annis 20 regnavit. Sub hoc rege
Franci usque Summam progressi sunt.
Merovechus. Sub hoc rege Franci Trevirim destruunt, Metim
succendunt, usque Aurelianum perveniunt.
Now for Genobaldus, Marcomer and Suno, they were
captains of the Transrhenane Franks in the reign of
Theodosius, and concern us not. We are to begin with
Theudomir the first King of the rebelling Salii, called
Didio by Ivo Carnotensis, and Thiedo and
Theudemerus by Rhenanus. His face is extant in a coin of
gold found with this inscription, THEUDEMIR REX, published by
Petavius, and still or lately extant, as Windeline
testifies: which shews that he was a King, and that in Gallia;
seeing that rude Germany understood not then the coining of money,
nor used either Latin words or letters. He was the son of
Ricimer, or Richomer, the favourite of the Emperor
Theodosius; and so being a Roman Frank, and of the
Salian royal blood, they therefore upon the rebellion made him
King. The whole time of his reign you have stated in Excerptis
Gregorii Turonensis è Fredigario, cap. 5, 6, 7, 8. where the
making him King, the tyranny of Jovinus, the slaughter of the
associates of Jovinus, the second taking of Triers by the
Franks, and their war with Castinus, in which this King was
slain, are as a series of successive things thus set down in order.
Extinctis Ducibus in Francis, denuo Reges creantur ex eadem stirpe qua
prius fuerant. Eodem tempore Jovinus ornatus regios assumpsit.
Constantinus fugam versus Italiam dirigit; missis a Jovino Principe
percussoribus super Mentio flumine, capite truncatur. Multi nobilium
jussu Jovini apud Avernis capti, & a ducibus Honorii crudeliter
interempti sunt. Trevirorum civitas, factione unius ex senatoribus nomine
Lucii, à Francis captà & incensa est.—Castinus Domesticorum
Comes expeditionem accipit contra Francos, &c. Then returning to
speak of Theudomir, he adds: Franci electum à se regem, sicut
prius fuerat, crinitum inquirentes diligenter ex genere Priami, Frigi
& Francionis, super se crearunt nomine Theudemerum filium Richemeris,
qui in hoc prælio quod supra memini, à Romanis interfectus est; that
is, in the battle with Castinus's army. Of his death Gregory
Turonensis makes this further mention: In consularibus legimus
Theodemerem regem Francorum filium Ricimeris quondam, & Ascilam
matrem ejus, gladio interfectos.
Upon this victory of the Romans, the Franks and
rebelling Gauls, who in the time of Theudomir were at war
with one another, united to strengthen themselves, as Ordericus
Vitalis[1] thus
mentions. Cum Galli prius contra Romanos rebellâssent, Franci iis
sociati sunt, & pariter juncti, Ferramundum Sunonis ducis filium,
sibi regem præfecerunt. Prosper sets down the time; Anno 25
Honorii, Pharamundus regnat in Francia. This, Bucher well
observes, refers to the end of the year 416, or the beginning of the next
year, dating the years of Honorius from the death of
Valentinian; and argues well, that at this time Pharamond
was not only King by the constitution of the Franks, but crowned
also by the consent of Honorius, and had a part of Gallia
assigned him by covenant. And this might be the cause that Roman
writers reckoned him the first King: which some not understanding, have
reputed him the founder of this kingdom by an army of the Transrhenane
Franks. He might come with such an army, but he succeeded
Theudomir by right of blood and consent of the people. For the
above cited passage of Fredigarius, Extinctis Ducibus, in
Francis denuo Reges creantur ex eadem stirpe quâ prius fuerant,
implies that the kingdom continued to this new elected family during the
reign of more Kings than one. If you date the years of Honorius
from the death of his father, the reign of Pharamond might begin
two years later than is assigned by Bucher. The Salique
laws made in his reign, which are yet extant, shew by their name that it
was the kingdom of the Salii over which he reigned; and, by the
pecuniary mulcts in them, that the place where he reigned abounded much
with money, and consequently was within the Empire; rude Germany
knowing not the use of money, till they mixed with the Romans. In
the Preface also to the Salique laws, written and prefixed to them
soon after the conversion of the Franks to the Christian religion,
that is, in the end of the reign of Merovæus, or soon after, the
original of this kingdom is thus described: Hæc enim gens, quæ fortis
dum esset & robore valida, Romanorum jugum durissimum de suis
cervicibus excussit pugnando, &c. This kingdom therefore was
erected, not by invasion but by rebellion, as was described above.
Prosper in registering their Kings in order, tells us:
Pharamundus regnat in Francia; Clodio regnat in Francia; Merovæus
regnat in Francia: and who can imagine but that in all these places
he meant one and the same Francia? And yet 'tis certain that the
Francia of Merovæus was in Gallia.
Yet the father of Pharamond, being king of a body of
Franks in Germany in the reign of the Emperor
Theodosius, as above, Pharamond might reign over the same
Franks in Germany before he succeeded Theudomir in
the kingdom of the Salians within the Empire, and even before
Theudomir began his reign; suppose in the first year of
Honorius, or when those Franks being repulsed by
Stilico, lost their Kings Marcomir and Suno, one of
which was the father of Pharamond: and the Roman Franks,
after the death of Theudomir, might invite Pharamond with
his people from beyond the Rhine. But we are not to regard the
reign of Pharamond in Germany: we are to date this kingdom
from its rise within the Empire, and to look upon it as strengthened by
the access of other Franks coming from beyond the Rhine,
whether in the reign of this King or in that of his successor
Clodio. For in the last year of Pharamond's reign,
Ætius took from him a part of his possession in Gallia: but
his successor Clodio, whom Fredigarius represents as the
son of Theudomir, and some call Clogio, Cloio, and
Claudius, inviting from beyond the Rhine a great body of
Franks, recovered all, and carried on their conquests as far as
the river Soame. Then those Franks dividing conquests with
him, erected certain new kingdoms at Cologn and Cambray,
and some other cities: all which were afterwards conquered by
Clodovæus, who also drove the Goths out of Gallia,
and fix'd his seat at Paris, where it has continued ever since.
And this was the original of the present kingdom of France.
7. The Kings of Britain were, A.C. 407 or
408, Marcus, Gratian, and Constantine successively;
A.C. 425 Vortigern, 466 Aurelius Ambrosius, 498 Uther
Pendraco, 508 Arthur, 542 Constantinus, 545 Aurelius
Cunanus, 578 Vortiporeus, 581 Malgo, 586
Careticus, 613 Cadwan, 635 Cadwalin, 676
Cadwallader. The three first were Roman Tyrants, who
revolted from the Empire. Orosius, Prosper and
Zosimus connect their revolt with the irruptions of the
Barbarians into Gallia, as consequent thereunto.
Prosper, with whom Zosimus agrees, puts it in the year
which began the day after that irruption. The just time I thus collect:
Marcus reigned not many days, Gratian four months, and
Constantine three years. He was slain the year after the taking of
Rome, that is A.C. 411, 14 Kal. Octob. Whence the revolt
was in Spring A.C. 408. Sozomen joins Constantine's
expedition into Gallia with Arcadius's death, or the times
a little after; and Arcadius died A.C. 408 May the 1st. Now
tho the reign of these Tyrants was but short, yet they gave a beginning
to the kingdom of Britain, and so may be reckoned the three first
Kings, especially since the posterity of Constantine, viz.
his sons Aurelius Ambrosius, and Uther Pendraco, and his
grandson Arthur, reigned afterwards. For from the time of the
revolt of these Tyrants Britain continued a distict kingdom
absolved from subjection to the Empire, the Emperor not being able to
spare soldiers to be sent thither to receive and keep the Island, and
therefore neglecting it; as we learn by unquestionable records. For
Prosper tells us; A.C. 410, Variane Cos. Hac tempestate
præ valetudine Romanorum, vires funditùs attenuatæ Britanniæ. And
Sigebert, conjoining this with the siege of Rome, saith:
Britannorum vires attenuatæ, & substrahunt se à Romanorum
dominatione. And Zosimus lib. 6. The
Transrhenane Barbarians invading all places, reduced the
inhabitants of the island of Britain, and also certain
Celtic nations to that pass, that they fell off from the
Roman Empire; and being no longer obedient to the Roman
laws, κατ'
‛εαυτον
βιατευειν,
they lived in separate bodies after their own pleasure. The
Britons therefore taking up arms, and hazarding themselves for
their own safety, freed their cities from the imminent Barbarians.
In like manner all Brabant and some other Provinces of the
Gauls imitating the Britons, freed themselves also,
ejecting the Roman Presidents, and forming themselves into a sort
of commonwealth according to their own pleasure. This rebellion of
Britain and the Celtic nations happened when
Constantine usurped the kingdom. So also Procopius,
lib. 1. Vandal. speaking of the same Constantine,
saith: Constantine being overcome in battle, was slain with his
children: Βρεταννιαν
μεν τοι
Ρωμαιοι
ανασωσασθαι
ουκετι
εχον· αλλ'
ουσα ‛υπο
τυραννους
απ' αυτου
εμενε. Yet the Romans
could not recover Britain any more, but from that time it remained
under Tyrants. And Beda, l. 1. c. 11. Fracta
est Roma à Gothis anno 1164 suæ conditionis; ex quo tempore Romani in
Britannia regnare cessaverunt. And Ethelwaldus: A tempore
Romæ à Gothis expugnatæ, cessavit imperium Romanorum à Britannia insula,
& ab aliis; quas sub jugo servitutis tenebant, multis terris. And
Theodoret, serm. 9. de curand. Græc. affect. about
the year 424, reckons the Britons among the nations which were not
then in subjection to the Roman Empire. Thus Sigonius:
ad annum 411, Imperium Romanorum post excessum Constantini in
Britannia nullum fuit.
Between the death of Constantine and the reign of
Vortigern was an interregnum of about 14 years, in which the
Britons had wars with the Picts and Scots, and twice
obtained the assistance of a Roman Legion, who drove out the
enemy, but told them positively at their departure that they would come
no more. Of Vortigern's beginning to reign there is this record in
an old Chronicle in Nennius, quoted by Camden and others:
Guortigernus tenuit imperium in Britannia, Theodosio &
Valentiniano Coss. [viz. A.C. 425.] & in quarto anno
regni sui Saxones ad Britanniam venerunt, Felice & Tauro Coss.
[viz. A.C. 428.] This coming of the Saxons, Sigebert
refers to the 4th year of Valentinian, which falls in with the
year 428 assigned by this Chronicle: and two years after, the
Saxons together with the Picts were beaten by the
Britons. Afterwards in the reign of Martian the Emperor,
that is, between the years 450 and 456, the Saxons under
Hengist were called in by the Britons, but six years after
revolted from them, made war upon them with various success, and by
degrees succeeded them. Yet the Britons continued a flourishing
kingdom till the reign of Careticus; and the war between the two
nations continued till the pontificate of Sergius A.C. 688.[2]
8. The Kings of the Hunns were, A.C. 406
Octar and Rugila, 433 Bleda and Attila.
Octar and Rugila were the brothers of Munzuc King of
the Hunns in Gothia beyond the Danube; and
Bleda and Attila were his sons, and Munzuc was the
son of Balamir. The two first, as Jornandes tells us, were
Kings of the Hunns, but not of them all; and had the two last for
their successors. I date the reign of the Hunns in Pannonia
from the time that the Vandals and Alans relinquished
Pannonia to them, A.C. 407. Sigonius from the time that the
Visigoths relinquished Pannonia A. C. 408. Constat,
saith he, quod Gothis ex Illyrico profectis, Hunni successerunt, atque
imprimis Pannoniam tenuerunt. Neque enim Honorius viribus ad resistendum
in tantis difficultatibus destitutus, prorsus eos prohibere potuit, sed
meliore consilio, animo ad pacem converso, fœdus cum eis, datis
acceptisque obsidibus fecit; ex quibus qui dati sunt, Ætius, qui etiam
Alarico tributus fuerat, præcipue memoratur. How Ætius was
hostage to the Goths and Hunns is related by
Frigeridus, who when he had mentioned that Theodosius
Emperor of the East had sent grievous commands to John, who
after the death of Honorius had usurped the crown of the
Western Empire, he subjoins: Iis permotus Johannes, Ætium id
tempus curam palatii gerentem cum ingenti auri pondere ad Chunnos
transmisit, notos sibi obsidiatûs sui tempore & familiari amicitiâ
devinctos—And a little after: Ætius tribus annis Alarici
obses, dehinc Chunnorum, postea Carpilionis gener ex Comite domesticorum
& Joannis curopalatæ. Now Bucher shews that Ætius
was hostage to Alaric till the year 410, when Alaric died,
and to the Hunns between the years 411 and 415, and son-in-law to
Carpilio about the year 417 or 418, and Curopalates to
John about the end of the year 423. Whence 'tis probable that he
became hostage to the Hunns about the year 412 or 413, when
Honorius made leagues with almost all the barbarous nations, and
granted them seats: but I had rather say with Sigonius, that
Ætius became hostage to Alaric A.C. 403. It is further
manifest out of Prosper, that the Hunns were in quiet
possession of Pannonia in the year 432. For in the first book of
Eusebius's Chronicle Prosper writes: Anno decimo post
obitum Honorii, cum ad Chunnorum gentem cui tunc Rugila præerat, post
prælium cum Bonifacio se Ætius contulisset, impetrato auxilio ad
Romanorum solum regreditur. And in the second book: Ætio &
Valerio Coss. Ætius depositâ potestate profugus ad Hunnos in Pannonia
pervenit, quorum amicitiâ auxilioque usus, pacem principum interpellatæ
potestatis obtinuit. Hereby it appears that at this time
Rugila, or as Maximus calls him, Rechilla, reigned
over the Hunns in Pannonia; and that Pannonia was
not now so much as accounted within the soil of the Empire, being
formerly granted away to the Hunns; and that these were the very
same body of Hunns with which Ætius had, in the time of his
being an hostage, contracted friendship: by virtue of which, as he
sollicited them before to the aid of John the Tyrant A.C. 424, so
now he procured their intercession for himself with the Emperor.
Octar died A.C. 430; for Socrates tells us, that about that
time the Burgundians having been newly vext by the Hunns,
upon intelligence of Octar's death, seeing them without a leader,
set upon them suddenly with so much vigour, that 3000 Burgundians
slew 10000 Hunns. Of Rugila's being now King in
Pannonia you have heard already. He died A.C. 433, and was
succeeded by Bleda, as Prosper and Maximus inform
us. This Bleda with his brother Attila were before this
time Kings of the Hunns beyond the Danube, their father
Munzuc's kingdom being divided between them; and now they united
the kingdom Pannonia to their own. Whence Paulus Diaconus
saith, they did regnum intra Pannoniam Daciamque gerere. In the
year 441, they began to invade the Empire afresh, adding to the
Pannonian forces new and great armies from Scythia. But
this war was presently composed, and then Attila, seeing
Bleda inclined to peace, slew him, A.C. 444, inherited his
dominions, and invaded the Empire again. At length, after various great
wars with the Romans, Attila perished A.C. 454; and his
sons quarrelling about his dominions, gave occasion to the
Gepides, Ostrogoths and other nations who were their
subjects, to rebel and make war upon them. The same year the
Ostrogoths had seats granted them in Pannonia by the
Emperors Marcian and Valentinian; and with the
Romans ejected the Hunns out of Pannonia, soon after
the death of Attila, as all historians agree. This ejection was in
the reign of Avitus, as is mentioned in the Chronicum
Boiorum, and in Sidonius, Carm. 7 in Avitum, which speaks thus
of that Emperor.
——Cujus solum amissas post sæcula multa
Pannonias revocavit iter, jam credere promptum est.
Quid faciet bellis.
The Poet means, that by the coming of Avitus the Hunns
yielded more easily to the Goths. This was written by
Sidonius in the beginning of the reign of Avitus: and his
reign began in the end of the year 455, and lasted not one full year.
Jornandes tells us: Duodecimo anno regni Valiæ, quando &
Hunni post pene quinquaginta annos invasa Pannonia, à Romanis &
Gothis expulsi sunt. And Marcellinus: Hierio &
Ardaburio Coss. Pannoniæ, quæ per quinquaginta annos ab Hunnis
retinebantur, à Romanis receptæ sunt: whence it should seem that the
Hunns invaded and held Pannonia from the year 378 or 379 to
the year 427, and then were driven out of it. But this is a plain
mistake: for it is certain that the Emperor Theodosius left the
Empire entire; and we have shewed out of Prosper, that the
Hunns were in quiet possession of Pannonia in the year 432.
The Visigoths in those days had nothing to do with
Pannonia, and the Ostrogoths continued subject to the
Hunns till the death of Attila, A.C. 454; and Valia
King of the Visigoths did not reign twelve years. He began his
reign in the end of the year 415, reigned three years, and was slain A.C.
419, as Idacius, Isidorus, and the Spanish
manuscript Chronicles seen by Grotius testify. And
Olympiodorus, who carries his history only to the year 425, sets
down therein the death of Valia King of the Visigoths, and
conjoins it with that of Constantius which happened A.C. 420.
Wherefore the Valia of Jornandes, who reigned at the least
twelve years, is some other King. And I suspect that this name hath been
put by mistake for Valamir King of the Ostrogoths: for the
action recorded was of the Romans and Ostrogoths driving
the Hunns out of Pannonia after the death of Attila;
and it is not likely that the historian would refer the history of the
Ostrogoths to the years of the Visigothic Kings. This
action happened in the end of the year 455, which I take to be the
twelfth year of Valamir in Pannonia, and which was almost
fifty years after the year 406, in which the Hunns succeeded the
Vandals and Alans in Pannonia. Upon the ceasing of
the line of Hunnimund the son of Hermaneric, the
Ostrogoths lived without Kings of their own nation about forty
years together, being subject to the Hunns. And when Alaric
began to make war upon the Romans, which was in the year 444, he
made Valamir, with his brothers Theodomir and
Videmir the grandsons of Vinethar, captains or kings of
these Ostrogoths under him. In the twelfth year of
Valamir's reign dated from thence, the Hunns were driven
out of Pannonia.
Yet the Hunns were not so ejected, but that they had further
contests with the Romans, till the head of Denfix the son
of Attila, was carried to Constantinople, A.C. 469, in the
Consulship of Zeno and Marcian, as Marcellinus
relates. Nor were they yet totally ejected the Empire: for besides their
reliques in Pannonia, Sigonius tells us, that when the
Emperors Marcian and Valentinian granted Pannonia to
the Goths, which was in the year 454, they granted part of
Illyricum to some of the Hunns and Sarmatians. And
in the year 526, when the Lombards removing into Pannonia
made war there with the Gepides, the Avares, a part of the
Hunns, who had taken the name of Avares from one of their
Kings, assisted the Lombards in that war; and the Lombards
afterwards, when they went into Italy, left their seats in
Pannonia to the Avares in recompence of their friendship.
From that time the Hunns grew again very powerful; their Kings,
whom they called Chagan, troubling the Empire much in the reigns
of the Emperors Mauritius, Phocas, and Heraclius:
and this is the original of the present kingdom of Hungary, which
from these Avares and other Hunns mixed together, took the
name of Hun-Avaria, and by contraction Hungary.
9. The Lombards, before they came over
the Danube, were commanded by two captains, Ibor and
Ayon: after whose death they had Kings, Agilmund,
Lamisso, Lechu, Hildehoc, Gudehoc,
Classo, Tato, Wacho, Walter, Audoin,
Alboin, Cleophis, &c. Agilmund was the son of
Ayon, who became their King, according to Prosper, in the
Consulship of Honorius and Theodosius A.C. 389, reigned
thirty three years, according to Paulus Warnefridus, and was slain
in battle by the Bulgarians. Prosper places his death in
the Consulship of Marinianus and Asclepiodorus, A.C. 413.
Lamisso routed the Bulgarians, and reigned three years, and
Lechu almost forty. Gudehoc was contemporary to
Odoacer King of the Heruli in Italy, and led his
people from Pannonia into Rugia, a country on the north
side of Noricum next beyond the Danube; from whence
Odoacer then carried his people into Italy. Tato
overthrew the kingdom of the Heruli beyond the Danube.
Wacho conquered the Suevians, a kingdom then bounded on the
east by Bavaria, on the west by France, and on the south by
the Burgundians. Audoin returned into Pannonia A.C.
526, and there overcame the Gepides. Alboin A.C. 551
overthrew the kingdom of the Gepides, and slew their King
Chunnimund: A.C. 563 he assisted the Greek Emperor against
Totila King of the Ostrogoths in Italy; and A.C. 568
led his people out of Pannonia into Lombardy, where they
reigned till the year 774.
According to Paulus Diaconus, the Lombards with many
other Gothic nations came into the Empire from beyond the
Danube in the reign of Arcadius and Honorius, that
is, between the years 395 and 408. But they might come in a little
earlier: for we are told that the Lombards, under their captains
Ibor and Ayon, beat the Vandals in battle; and
Prosper placeth this victory in the Consulship of Ausonius
and Olybrius, that is, A.C. 379. Before this war the
Vandals had remained quiet forty years in the seats granted them
in Pannonia by Constantine the great. And therefore if
these were the same Vandals, this war must have been in
Pannonia; and might be occasioned by the coming of the
Lombards over the Danube into Pannonia, a year or
two before the battle; and so have put an end to that quiet which had
lasted forty years. After Gratian and Theodosius had
quieted the Barbarians, they might either retire over the
Danube, or continue quiet under the Romans till the death
of Theodosius; and then either invade the Empire anew, or throw
off all subjection to it. By their wars, first with the Vandals,
and then with the Bulgarians, a Scythian nation so called
from the river Volga whence they came; it appears that even in
those days they were a kingdom not contemptible.
10. These nine kingdoms being rent away, we are
next to consider the residue of the Western Empire. While this
Empire continued entire, it was the Beast itself: but the residue thereof
is only a part of it. Now if this part be considered as a horn, the reign
of this horn may be dated from the translation of the imperial seat from
Rome to Ravenna, which was in October A.C. 408. For
then the Emperor Honorius, fearing that Alaric would
besiege him in Rome, if he staid there, retired to Millain,
and thence to Ravenna: and the ensuing siege and sacking of
Rome confirmed his residence there, so that he and his successors
ever after made it their home. Accordingly Macchiavel in his
Florentine history writes, that Valentinian having left
Rome, translated the seat of the Empire to Ravenna.
Rhætia belonged to the Western Emperors, so long as that
Empire stood; and then it descended, with Italy and the
Roman Senate, to Odoacer King of the Heruli in
Italy, and after him to Theoderic King of the
Ostrogoths and his successors, by the grant of the Greek
Emperors. Upon the death of Valentinian the second, the
Alemans and Suevians invaded Rhætia A.C. 455. But I
do not find they erected any settled kingdom there: for in the year 457,
while they were yet depopulating Rhætia, they were attacked and
beaten by Burto Master of the horse to the Emperor
Majoranus; and I hear nothing more of their invading
Rhætia. Clodovæus King of France, in or about the
year 496, conquered a kingdom of the Alemans, and slew their last
King Ermeric. But this kingdom was seated in Germany, and
only bordered upon Rhætia: for its people fled from
Clodovæus into the neighbouring kingdom of the Ostrogoths
under Theoderic, who received them as friends, and wrote a
friendly letter to Clodovæus in their behalf: and by this means
they became inhabitants of Rhætia, as subjects under the dominion
of the Ostrogoths.
When the Greek Emperor conquered the Ostrogoths, he
succeeded them in the kingdom of Ravenna, not only by right of
conquest but also by right of inheritance, the Roman Senate still
going along with this kingdom. Therefore we may reckon that this kingdom
continued in the Exarchate of Ravenna and Senate of Rome:
for the remainder of the Western Empire went along with the Senate
of Rome, by reason of the right which this Senate still retained,
and at length exerted, of chusing a new Western Emperor.
I have now enumerated the ten kingdoms, into which the Western
Empire became divided at its first breaking, that is, at the time of
Rome's being besieged and taken by the Goths. Some of these
kingdoms at length fell, and new ones arose: but whatever was their
number afterwards, they are still called the Ten Kings from their
first number.
Notes to Chap. VI.
[1] Apud Bucherum, l. 14.
c. 9. n. 8.
[2] Rolevinc's Antiqua
Saxon. l. 1. c. 6.
Of the eleventh horn of Daniel's fourth Beast.
[1]Now
Daniel, considered the horns, and behold there came up among them another
horn, before whom there were three of the first horns pluckt up by the
roots; and behold in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a
mouth speaking great things,—and [2] his look was more stout than his
fellows,—and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed
against them: and one who stood by, and made Daniel know the
interpretation of these things, told him, that [3] the ten horns were ten kings
that should arise, and another should arise after them, and be diverse
from the first, and he should subdue three kings, [4] and speak
great words against the most High, and wear out the saints, and think to
change times and laws: and that they should be given into his hands until
a time and times and half a time. Kings are put for kingdoms, as
above; and therefore the little horn is a little kingdom. It was a horn
of the fourth Beast, and rooted up three of his first horns; and
therefore we are to look for it among the nations of the Latin
Empire, after the rise of the ten horns. But it was a kingdom of a
different kind from the other ten kingdoms, having a life or soul
peculiar to itself, with eyes and a mouth. By its eyes it was a Seer; and
by its mouth speaking great things and changing times and laws, it was a
Prophet as well as a King. And such a Seer, a Prophet and a King, is the
Church of Rome.
A Seer, Επισκοπος,
is a Bishop in the literal sense of the word; and this Church claims the
universal Bishoprick.
With his mouth he gives laws to kings and nations as an Oracle; and
pretends to Infallibility, and that his dictates are binding to the whole
world; which is to be a Prophet in the highest degree.
In the eighth century, by rooting up and subduing the Exarchate of
Ravenna, the kingdom of the Lombards, and the Senate and
Dukedom of Rome, he acquired Peter's Patrimony out of their
dominions; and thereby rose up as a temporal Prince or King, or horn of
the fourth Beast.
In a small book printed at Paris A.C. 1689, entitled, An
historical dissertation upon some coins of Charles the great,
Ludovicus Pius, Lotharius, and their successors stamped at
Rome, it is recorded, that in the days of Pope Leo X, there
was remaining in the Vatican, and till those days exposed to
public view, an inscription in honour of Pipin the father of
Charles the great, in these words: Pipinum pium, primum fuisse
qui amplificandæ Ecclesiæ Romanæ viam aperuerit, Exarchatu Ravennate,
& plurimis aliis oblatis; "That Pipin the pious was the
first who opened a way to the grandeur of the Church of Rome,
conferring upon her the Exarchate of Ravenna and many other
oblations." In and before the reign of the Emperors Gratian and
Theodosius, the Bishop of Rome lived splendidly; but this
was by the oblations of the Roman Ladies, as Ammianus
describes. After those reigns Italy was invaded by foreign
nations, and did not get rid of her troubles before the fall of the
kingdom of Lombardy. It was certainly by the victory of the see of
Rome over the Greek Emperor, the King of Lombardy,
and the Senate of Rome, that she acquired Peter's
Patrimony, and rose up to her greatness. The donation of
Constantine the Great is a fiction, and so is the donation of the
Alpes Cottiæ to the Pope by Aripert King of the
Lombards: for the Alpes Cottiæ were a part of the
Exarchate, and in the days of Aripert belonged to the Greek
Emperor.
The invocation of the dead, and veneration of their images, being
gradually introduced in the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th centuries, the
Greek Emperor Philippicus declared against the latter, A.C.
711 or 712. And [5] the Emperor Leo Isaurus, to
put a stop to it, called a meeting of Counsellors and Bishops in his
Palace, A.C. 726; and by their advice put out an Edict against that
worship, and wrote to Pope Gregory II. that a general Council
might be called. But the Pope thereupon called a Council at Rome,
confirmed the worship of Images, excommunicated the Greek Emperor,
absolved the people from their allegiance, and forbad them to pay
tribute, or otherwise be obedient to him. Then the people of Rome,
Campania, Ravenna and Pentapolis, with the cities
under them, revolted and laid violent hands upon their magistrates,
killing the Exarch Paul at Ravenna, and laying aside
Peter Duke of Rome who was become blind: and when
Exhileratus Duke of Campania incited the people against the
Pope, the Romans invaded Campania, and slew him with his
son Hadrian. Then a new Exarch, Eutychius, coming to
Naples, sent some secretly to take away the lives of the Pope and
the Nobles of Rome: but the plot being discovered, the
Romans revolted absolutely from the Greek Emperor, and took
an oath to preserve the life of the Pope, to defend his state, and be
obedient to his authority in all things. Thus Rome with its Duchy,
including part of Tuscany and part of Campania, revolted in
the year 726, and became a free state under the government of the Senate
of this city. The authority of the Senate in civil affairs was
henceforward absolute, the authority of the Pope extending hitherto no
farther than to the affairs of the Church only.
At that time [6] the Lombards also being
zealous for the worship of images, and pretending to favour the cause of
the Pope, invaded the cities of the Exarchate: and at length, viz.
A.C. 752, took Ravenna, and put an end to the Exarchate. And this
was the first of the three kingdoms which fell before the little
horn.
In the year 751 [7] Pope Zechary deposed
Childeric, a slothful and useless King of France, and the
last of the race of Merovæus; and absolving his subjects from
their oath of allegiance, gave the kingdom to Pipin the major of
the Palace; and thereby made a new and potent friend. His successor [8] Pope
Stephen III, knowing better how to deal with the Greek
Emperor than with the Lombards, went the next year to the King of
the Lombards, to persuade him to return the Exarchate to the
Emperor. But this not succeeding, he went into France, and
persuaded Pipin to take the Exarchate and Pentapolis from
the Lombards, and give it to St. Peter. Accordingly
Pipin A.C. 754 came with an army into Italy, and made
Aistulphus King of the Lombards promise the surrender: but
the next year Aistulphus, on the contrary, to revenge himself on
the Pope, besieged the city of Rome. Whereupon the Pope sent
letters to Pipin, wherein he told him that if he came not speedily
against the Lombards, pro data sibi potentia, alienandum fore à
regno Dei & vita æterna, he should be excommunicated.
Pipin therefore, fearing a revolt of his subjects, and being
indebted to the Church of Rome, came speedily with an army into
Italy, raised the siege, besieged the Lombards in
Pavia, and forced them to surrender the Exarchate and region of
Pentapolis to the Pope for a perpetual possession. Thus the Pope
became Lord of Ravenna, and the Exarchate, some few cities
excepted; and the keys were sent to Rome, and laid upon the
confession of St. Peter, that is, upon his tomb at the high Altar,
in signum veri perpetuique dominii, sed pietate Regis gratuita, as
the inscription of a coin of Pipin hath it. This was in the year
of Christ 755. And henceforward the Popes being temporal Princes, left
off in their Epistles and Bulls to note the years of the Greek
Emperors, as they had hitherto done.
After this [9]
the Lombards invading the Pope's countries, Pope Adrian
sent to Charles the great, the son and successor of Pipin,
to come to his assistance. Accordingly Charles entered
Italy with an army, invaded the Lombards, overthrew their
kingdom, became master of their countries, and restored to the Pope, not
only what they had taken from him, but also the rest of the Exarchate
which they had promised Pipin to surrender to him, but had
hitherto detained; and also gave him some cities of the Lombards,
and was in return himself made Patricius by the Romans, and
had the authority of confirming the elections of the Popes conferred upon
him. These things were done in the years 773 and 774. This kingdom of the
Lombards was the second kingdom which fell before the little horn.
But Rome, which was to be the seat of his kingdom, was not yet his
own.
In the year 796, [10] Leo III being made Pope,
notified his election to Charles the great by his Legates, sending
to him for a present, the golden keys of the Confession of Peter,
and the Banner of the city of Rome: the first as an acknowledgment
of the Pope's holding the cities of the Exarchate and Lombardy by
the grant of Charles; the other as a signification that
Charles should come and subdue the Senate and people of
Rome, as he had done the Exarchate and the kingdom of the
Lombards. For the Pope at the same time desired Charles to
send some of his Princes to Rome, who might subject the
Roman people to him, and bind them by oath in fide &
subjectione, in fealty and subjection, as his words are recited by
Sigonius. An anonymous Poet, publish'd by Boeclerus at
Strasburg, expresseth it thus:
Admonuitque piis precibus, qui mittere vellet
Ex propriis aliquos primoribus, ac sibi plebem
Subdere Romanam, servandaque fœdera cogens
Hanc fidei sacramentis promittere magnis.
Hence arose a misunderstanding between the Pope and the city: and the
Romans about two or three years after, by assistance of some of
the Clergy, raised such tumults against him, as gave occasion to a new
state of things in all the West. For two of the Clergy accused him
of crimes, and the Romans with an armed force, seized him, stript
him of his sacerdotal habit, and imprisoned him in a monastery. But by
assistance of his friends he made his escape, and fled into
Germany to Charles the great, to whom he complained of the
Romans for acting against him out of a design to throw off all
authority of the Church, and to recover their antient freedom. In his
absence his accusers with their forces ravaged the possessions of the
Church, and sent the accusations to Charles; who before the end of
the year sent the Pope back to Rome with a large retinue. The
Nobles and Bishops of France who accompanied him, examined the
chief of his accusers at Rome, and sent them into France in
custody. This was in the year 799. The next year Charles himself
went to Rome, and upon a day appointed presided in a Council of
Italian and French Bishops to hear both parties. But when
the Pope's adversaries expected to be heard, the Council declared [11] that he who
was the supreme judge of all men, was above being judged by any other
than himself: whereupon he made a solemn declaration of his innocence
before all the people, and by doing so was looked upon as acquitted.
Soon after, upon Christmas-day, the people of Rome, who
had hitherto elected their Bishop, and reckoned that they and their
Senate inherited the rights of the antient Senate and people of
Rome, voted Charles their Emperor, and subjected themselves
to him in such manner as the old Roman Empire and their Senate
were subjected to the old Roman Emperors. The Pope crowned him,
and anointed him with holy oil, and worshipped him on his knees after the
manner of adoring the old Roman Emperors; as the aforesaid Poet
thus relates:
Post laudes igitur dictas & summus eundem
Præsul adoravit, sicut mos debitus olim
Principibus fuit antiquis.
The Emperor, on the other hand, took the following oath to the Pope:
In nomine Christi spondeo atque polliceor, Ego Carolus Imperator coram
Deo & beato Petro Apostolo, me protectorem ac defensorem fore hujus
sanctæ Romanæ Ecclesiæ in omnibus utilitatibus, quatenùs divino fultus
fuero adjutorio, prout sciero poteroque. The Emperor was also made
Consul of Rome, and his son Pipin crowned King of
Italy: and henceforward the Emperor stiled himself: Carolus
serenissimus, Augustus, à Deo coronatus, magnus, pacificus, Romæ
gubernans imperium, or Imperator Romanorum; and was prayed for
in the Churches of Rome. His image was henceforward put upon the
coins of Rome: while the enemies of the Pope, to the number of
three hundred Romans and two or three of the Clergy, were
sentenced to death. The three hundred Romans were beheaded in one
day in the Lateran fields: but the Clergymen at the intercession
of the Pope were pardoned, and banished into France. And thus the
title of Roman Emperor, which had hitherto been in the
Greek Emperors, was by this act transferred in the West to
the Kings of France.
After these things [12] Charles gave the City and
Duchy of Rome to the Pope, subordinately to himself as Emperor of
the Romans; spent the winter in ordering the affairs of
Rome, and those of the Apostolic see, and of all Italy,
both civil and ecclesiastical, and in making new laws for them; and
returned the next summer into France: leaving the city under its
Senate, and both under the Pope and himself. But hearing that his new
laws were not observed by the judges in dictating the law, nor by the
people in hearing it; and that the great men took servants from free men,
and from the Churches and Monasteries, to labour in their vineyards,
fields, pastures and houses, and continued to exact cattle and wine of
them, and to oppress those that served the Churches: he wrote to his son
Pipin to remedy these abuses, to take care of the Church, and see
his laws executed.
Now the Senate and people and principality of Rome I take to be
the third King the little horn overcame, and even the chief of the three.
For this people elected the Pope and the Emperor; and now, by electing
the Emperor and making him Consul, was acknowledged to retain the
authority of the old Roman Senate and people. This city was the
Metropolis of the old Roman Empire, represented in Daniel
by the fourth Beast; and by subduing the Senate and people and Duchy, it
became the Metropolis of the little horn of that Beast, and completed
Peter's Patrimony, which was the kingdom of that horn. Besides,
this victory was attended with greater consequences than those over the
other two Kings. For it set up the Western Empire, which continues
to this day. It set up the Pope above the judicature of the Roman
Senate, and above that of a Council of Italian and French
Bishops, and even above all human judicature; and gave him the supremacy
over the Western Churches and their Councils in a high degree. It
gave him a look more stout than his fellows; so that when this new
religion began to be established in the minds of men, he grappled not
only with Kings, but even with the Western Emperor himself. It is
observable also, that the custom of kissing the Pope's feet, an honour
superior to that of Kings and Emperors, began about this time. There are
some instances of it in the ninth century: Platina tells us, that
the feet of Pope Leo IV were kissed, according to antient custom,
by all who came to him: and some say that Leo III began this
custom, pretending that his hand was infected by the kiss of a woman. The
Popes began also about this time to canonize saints, and to grant
indulgences and pardons: and some represent that Leo III was the
first author of all these things. It is further observable, that
Charles the great, between the years 775 and 796, conquered all
Germany from the Rhine and Danube northward to the
Baltic sea, and eastward to the river Teis; extending his
conquests also into Spain as far as the river Ebro: and by
these conquests he laid the foundation of the new Empire; and at the same
time propagated the Roman Catholic religion into all his
conquests, obliging the Saxons and Hunns who were heathens,
to receive the Roman faith, and distributing his northern
conquests into Bishopricks, granting tithes to the Clergy and
Peter-pence to the Pope: by all which the Church of Rome
was highly enlarged, enriched, exalted, and established.
In the forementioned dissertation upon some coins of Charles
the great, Ludovicus Pius, Lotharius, and their successors,
stamped at Rome, there is a draught of a piece of Mosaic work
which Pope Leo III. caused to be made in his Palace near the
Church of John Lateran, in memory of his sending the standard or
banner of the city of Rome curiously wrought, to Charles
the great; and which still remained there at the publishing of the said
book. In the Mosaic work there appeared Peter with three
keys in his lap, reaching the Pallium to the Pope with his right
hand, and the banner of the city to Charles the great with his
left. By the Pope was this inscription, SCISSIMUS D.N. LEO PP; by the
King this, D.N. CARVLO REGI; and under the feet of Peter this,
BEATE PETRE, DONA VITAM LEONI PP, ET BICTORIAM CARVLO REGI DONA. This
Monument gives the title of King to Charles, and therefore was
erected before he was Emperor. It was erected when Peter was
reaching the Pallium to the Pope, and the Pope was sending the
banner of the city to Charles, that is, A.C. 796. The words above,
Sanctissimus Dominus noster Leo Papa Domino nostro Carolo Regi,
relate to the message; and the words below, Beate Petre, dona vitam
Leoni Papæ & victoriam Carolo regi dona, are a prayer that in
this undertaking God would preserve the life of the Pope, and give
victory to the King over the Romans. The three keys in the lap of
Peter signify the keys of the three parts of his Patrimony, that
of Rome with its Duchy, which the Pope claimed and was conquering,
those of Ravenna with the Exarchate, and of the territories taken
from the Lombards; both which he had newly conquered. These were
the three dominions, whose keys were in the lap of St. Peter, and
whose Crowns are now worn by the Pope, and by the conquest of which he
became the little horn of the fourth Beast. By Peter's giving the
Pallium to the Pope with his right hand, and the banner of the
city to the King with his left, and by naming the Pope before the King in
the inscription, may be understood that the Pope was then reckoned
superior in dignity to the Kings of the earth.
After the death of Charles the great, his son and successor
Ludovicus Pius, at the request of the Pope, [13] confirmed the donations of his
grandfather and father to the see of Rome. And in the confirmation
he names first Rome with its Duchy extending into Tuscany
and Campania; then the Exarchate of Ravenna, with
Pentapolis; and in the third place, the territories taken from the
Lombards. These are his three conquests, and he was to hold them
of the Emperor for the use of the Church sub integritate,
entirely, without the Emperor's medling therewith, or with the
jurisdiction or power of the Pope therein, unless called thereto in
certain cases. This ratification the Emperor Ludovicus made under
an oath: and as the King of the Ostrogoths, for acknowledging that
he held his kingdom of Italy of the Greek Emperor, stamped
the effigies of the Emperor on one side of his coins and his own on the
reverse; so the Pope made the like acknowledgment to the Western
Emperor. For the Pope began now to coin money, and the coins of
Rome are henceforward found with the heads of the Emperors,
Charles, Ludovicus Pius, Lotharius, and their
successors, on the one side, and the Pope's inscription on the reverse,
for many years.
Notes to Chap. VII.
[1] Chap. vii. 8.
[2] Ver. 20, 21.
[3] Ver. 24.
[4] Ver. 25.
[5] Sigonius de Regno
Italiæ, ad Ann. 726.
[6] Sigonius ib. ad Ann.
726, 752.
[7] Sigon. ib. Ann.
750.
[8] Sigon. ib. Ann. 753,
754, 755.
[9] Sigon. ib. Ann.
773.
[10] Sigon. de Regno
Ital. ad Ann. 796.
[11] Vide
Anastasium.
[12] Sigon. de Regno
Ital.
[13] Confirmationem
recitat Sigonius, lib. 4. de Regno Italiæ, ad An. 817.
Of the power of the eleventh horn of
Daniel's fourth Beast, to change times
and laws.
In the reign of the Greek Emperor Justinian, and again
in the reign of Phocas, the Bishop of Rome obtained some
dominion over the Greek Churches, but of no long continuance. His
standing dominion was only over the nations of the Western Empire,
represented by Daniel's fourth Beast. And this jurisdiction was
set up by the following Edict of the Emperors Gratian and
Valentinian.—[1] Volumus ut quicunque judicio
Damasi, quod ille cum Concilio quinque vel septem habuerit Episcoporum,
vel eorum qui Catholici sunt judicio vel Concilio condemnatus fuerit, si
juste voluerit Ecclesiam retentare, ut qui ad sacerdotale judicium per
contumeliam non ivisset: ut ab illustribus viris Præfectis Prætorio
Galliæ atque Italiæ, authoritate adhibitâ, ad Episcopale judicium
remittatur, sive à Consularibus vel Vicariis, ut ad Urbem Romam sub
prosecutione perveniat. Aut si in longinquioribus partibus alicujus
ferocitas talis emerserit, omnis ejus causæ edictio ad Metropolitæ in
eadem Provincia Episcopi deduceretur examen. Vel si ipse Metropolitanus
est, Romam necessariò, vel ad eos quos Romanus Episcopus judices dederit,
sine delatione contendat.——Quod si vel Metropolitani Episcopi
vel cujuscunque sacerdotis iniquitas est suspecta, aut gratia; ad Romanum
Episcopum, vel ad Concilium quindecim finitimorum Episcoporum accersitum
liceat provocare; modo ne post examen habitum, quod definitum fuerit,
integretur. This Edict wanting the name of both Valens and
Theodosius in the Title, was made in the time between their
reigns, that is, in the end of the year 378, or the beginning of 379. It
was directed to the Præfecti Prætorio Italiæ & Galliæ, and
therefore was general. For the Præfectus Prætorio Italiæ governed
Italy, Illyricum occidentale and Africa; and the
Præfectus Prætorio Galliæ governed Gallia, Spain,
and Britain.
The granting of this jurisdiction to the Pope gave several Bishops
occasion to write to him for his resolutions upon doubtful cases,
whereupon he answered by decretal Epistles; and henceforward he gave laws
to the Western Churches by such Epistles. Himerius Bishop
of Tarraco, the head city of a province in Spain, writing
to Pope Damasus for his direction about certain Ecclesiastical
matters, and the Letter not arriving at Rome till after the death
of Damasus, A.C. 384; his successor Siricius answered the
same with a legislative authority, telling him of one thing: Cum hoc
fieri—missa ad Provincias à venerandæ memoriæ prædecessore meo
Liberio generalia decreta, prohibeant. Of another: Noverint se ab
omni ecclesiastico honore, quo indignè usi sunt, Apostolicæ Sedis
auctoritate, dejectos. Of another: Scituri posthac omnium
Provinciarum summi Antistites, quod si ultrò ad sacros ordines quenquam
de talibus esse assumendum, & de suo & de aliorum statu, quos
contra Canones & interdicta nostra provexerint, congruam ab
Apostolica Sede promendam esse sententiam. And the Epistle he
concludes thus: Explicuimus, ut arbitror, frater charissime, universa
quæ digesta sunt in querelam; & ad singulas causas, de quibus ad
Romanam Ecclesiam, utpote ad caput tui corporis, retulisti; sufficientia,
quantum opinor, responsa reddidimus. Nunc fraternitatis tuæ animum ad
servandos canones, & tenenda decretalia constituta, magis ac magis
incitamus: ad hæc quæ ad tua consulta rescripsimus in omnium
Coepiscoporum perferri facias notionem; & non solum corum, qui in tua
sunt diœcesi constituti, sed etiam ad universos Carthaginenses ac
Bœticos, Lusitanos atque [2] Gallicos, vel eos qui vicinis tibi
collimitant hinc inde Provinciis, hæc quæ a nobis sunt salubri
ordinatione disposita, sub literarum tuarum prosecutione mittantur. Et
quanquam statuta sedis Apostolicæ vel Canonum venerabilia definita, nulli
Sacerdotum Domini ignorare sit liberum: utilius tamen, atque pro
antiquitate sacerdotii tui, dilectioni tuæ esse admodùm poterit
gloriosum, si ea quæ ad te speciali nomine generaliter scripta sunt, per
unanimitatis tuæ sollicitudinem in universorum fratrum nostrorum notitiam
perferantur; quatenus & quæ à nobis non inconsultè sed providè sub
nimia cautela & deliberatione sunt salubriter constituta, intemerata
permaneant, & omnibus in posterum excusationibus aditus, qui jam
nulli apud nos patere poterit, obstruatur. Dat. 3 Id. Febr. Arcadio &
Bautone viris clarissimis Consulibus, A.C. 385. Pope Liberius
in the reign of Jovian or Valentinian I. sent general
Decrees to the Provinces, ordering that the Arians should not be
rebaptized: and this he did in favour of the Council of
Alexandria, that nothing more should be required of them than to
renounce their opinions. Pope Damasus is said to have decreed in a
Roman Council, that Tithes and Tenths should be paid
upon pain of an Anathema; and that Glory be to the Father,
&c. should be said or sung at the end of the Psalms. But the
first decretal Epistle now extant is this of Siricius to
Himerius; by which the Pope made Himerius his Vicar over
all Spain for promulging his Decrees, and seeing them observed.
The Bishop of Sevill was also the Pope's Vicar sometimes; for
Simplicius wrote thus to Zeno Bishop of that place:
Talibus idcirco gloriantes indiciis, congruum duximus vicariâ Sedis
nostræ te auctoritate fulciri: cujus vigore munitus, Apostolicæ
institutionis Decreta, vel sanctorum terminos Patrum, nullatenus
transcendi permittas. And Pope Hormisda [3] made the Bishop of Sevill
his Vicar over Bœtica and Lusitania, and the Bishop of
Tarraco his Vicar over all the rest of Spain, as appears by
his Epistles to them.
Pope Innocent the first, in his decretal Epistle to
Victricius Bishop of Rouen in France, A.C. 404, in
pursuance of the Edict of Gratian, made this Decree: Si quæ
autem causæ vel contentiones inter Clericos tam superioris ordinis quam
etiam inferioris fuerint exortæ; ut secundum Synodum Nicenam congregatis
ejusdem Provinciæ Episcopis jurgium terminetur: nec alicui liceat, [4] Romanæ
Ecclesiæ, cujus in omnibus causis debet reverentia custodiri, relictis
his sacerdotibus, qui in eadem Provincia Dei Ecclesiam nutu Divino
gubernant, ad alias convolare Provincias. Quod siquis fortè præsumpserit;
& ab officio Clericatûs summotus, & injuriarum reus judicetur. Si
autem majores causæ in medium fuerint devolutæ, ad Sedem Apostolicam
sicut Synodus statuit, & beata consuetudo exigit, post judicium
Episcopale referantur. By these Letters it seems to me that
Gallia was now subject to the Pope, and had been so for some time,
and that the Bishop of Rouen was then his Vicar or one of them:
for the Pope directs him to refer the greater causes to the See of
Rome, according to custom. But the Bishop of Arles soon
after became the Pope's Vicar over all Gallia: for Pope
Zosimus, A.C. 417, ordaining that none should have access to him
without the credentials of his Vicars, conferred upon Patroclus
the Bishop of Arles this authority over all Gallia, by the
following Decree.
Zosimus universis Episcopis per Gallias & septem
Provincias constitutis.
Placuit Apostolicæ Sedi, ut siquis ex qualibet Galliarum parte sub
quolibet ecclesiastico gradu ad nos Romæ venire contendit, vel aliò
terrarum ire disponit, non aliter proficiscatur nisi Metropolitani
Episcopi Formatas acceperit, quibus sacerdotium suum vel locum
ecclesiasticum quem habet, scriptorum ejus adstipulatione perdoceat: quod
ex gratia statuimus quia plures episcopi sive presbyteri sive
ecclesiastici simulantes, quia nullum documentum Formatarum extat per
quod valeant confutari, in nomen venerationis irrepunt, & indebitam
reverentiam promerentur. Quisquis igitur, fratres charissimi, prætermissà
supradicti Formatâ sive episcopus, sive presbyter, sive diaconus, aut
deinceps inferiori gradu sit, ad nos venerit: sciat se omnino suscipi non
posse. Quam auctoritatem ubique nos misisse manifestum est, ut cunctis
regionibus innotescat id quod statuimus omnimodis esse servandum. Siquis
autem hæc salubriter constituta temerare tentaverit sponte suâ, se a
nostra noverit communione discretum. Hoc autem privilegium Formatarum
sancto Patroclo fratri & coepiscopo nostro, meritorum ejus speciali
contemplatione, concessimus. And that the Bishop of Arles was
sometimes the Pope's Vicar over all France, is affirmed also by
all the Bishops of the Diocess of Arles in their Letter to Pope
Leo I. Cui id etiam honoris dignitatisque collatum est, say
they, ut non tantum has Provincias potestate propriâ gubernaret; verum
etiam omnes Gallias sibi Apostolicæ Sedis vice mandatas, sub omni
ecclesiastica regula contineret. And Pope Pelagius I. A.C.
556, in his Epistle to Sapaudus Bishop of Arles: Majorum
nostrorum, operante Dei misericordiâ, cupientes inhærere vestigiis &
eorum actus divino examine in omnibus imitari: Charitati tuæ per
universam Galliam, sanctæ Sedis Apostolicæ, cui divinâ gratiâ præsidemus,
vices injungimus.
By the influence of the same imperial Edict, not only Spain and
Gallia, but also Illyricum became subject to the Pope.
Damasus made Ascholius, or Acholius, Bishop of
Thessalonica the Metropolis of Oriental Illyricum, his
Vicar for hearing of causes; and in the year 382, Acholius being
summoned by Pope Damasus, came to a Council at Rome. Pope
Siricius the successor of Damasus, decreed that no Bishop
should be ordained in Illyricum without the consent of
Anysius the successor of Acholius. And the following Popes
gave Rufus the successor of Anysius, a power of calling
Provincial Councils: for in the Collections of Holstenius there is
an account of a Council of Rome convened under Pope
Boniface II. in which were produced Letters of Damasus,
Syricius, Innocent I. Boniface I. and
Cælestine Bishops of Rome, to Ascholius,
Anysius and Rufus, Bishops of Thessalonica: in which
Letters they commend to them the hearing of causes in Illyricum,
granted by the Lord and the holy Canons to the Apostolic See thro'out
that Province. And Pope Siricius saith in his Epistle to
Anysius: Etiam dudum, frater charissime, per Candidianum
Episcopum, qui nos præcessit ad Dominum, hujusmodi literas dederamus, ut
nulla licentia esset, sine consensu tuo in Illyrico Episcopos ordinare
præsumere, quæ utrum ad te pervenerint scire non potui. Multa enim gesta
sunt per contentionem ab Episcopis in ordinationibus faciendis, quod tua
melius caritas novit. And a little after: Ad omnem enim hujusmodi
audaciam comprimendam vigilare debet instantia tua, Spiritu in te Sancto
fervente: ut vel ipse, si potes, vel quos judicaveris Episcopos idoneos,
cum literis dirigas, dato consensu qui possit, in ejus locum qui
defunctus vel depositus fuerit, Catholicum Episcopum vitâ & moribus
probatum, secundum Nicænæ Synodi statuta vel Ecclesiæ Romanæ, Clericum de
Clero meritum ordinare. And Pope Innocent I. saith in his
Epistle to Anysius: Cui [Anysio] etiam anteriores tanti
ac tales viri prædecessores mei Episcopi, id est, sanctæ memoriæ Damasus,
Siricius, atque supra memoratus vir ita detulerunt; ut omnia quæ in
omnibus illis partibus gererentur, Sanctitati tuæ, quæ plena justitiæ
est, traderent cognoscenda. And in his Epistle to Rufus the
successor of Anysius: Ita longis intervallis disterminatis à me
ecclesiis discat consulendum; ut prudentiæ gravitatique tuæ committendam
curam causasque, siquæ exoriantur, per Achaiæ, Thessaliæ, Epiri veteris,
Epiri novæ, & Cretæ, Daciæ mediterraneæ, Daciæ ripensis, Mœsiæ,
Dardaniæ, & Prævali ecclesias, Christo Domino annuente, censeam. Verè
enim ejus sacratissimis monitis lectissimæ sinceritatis tuæ providentiæ
& virtuti hanc injungimus sollicitudinem: non primitùs hæc
statuentes, sed Præcessores nostros Apostolicos imitati, qui beatissimis
Acholio & Anysio injungi pro meritis ista voluerunt. And
Boniface I. in his decretal Epistle to Rufus and the rest
of the Bishops in Illyricum: Nullus, ut frequenter dixi,
alicujus ordinationem citra ejus [Episcopi Thessalonicensis]
conscientiam celebrare præsumat: cui, ut supra dictum est, vice nostrâ
cuncta committimus. And Pope Cælestine, in his decretal
Epistle to the Bishops thro'out Illyricum, saith: Vicem nostram
per vestram Provinciam noveritis [Rufo] esse commissam, ita ut ad
eum, fratres carissimi, quicquid de causis agitur, referatur. Sine ejus
consilio nullus ordinetur. Nullus usurpet, eodem inconscio, commissam
illi Provinciam; colligere nisi cum ejus voluntate Episcopus non
præsumat. And in the cause of Perigenes, in the title of his
Epistle, he thus enumerates the Provinces under this Bishop: Rufo
& cæteris Episcopis per Macedoniam, Achaiam, Thessaliam, Epirum
veterem, Epirum novam, Prævalin, & Daciam constitutis. And Pope
Xistus in a decretal Epistle to the same Bishops: Illyricanæ
omnes Ecclesiæ, ut à decessoribus nostris recepimus, & nos quoque
fecimus, ad curam nunc pertinent Thessalonicensis Antistitis, ut suâ
sollicitudine, siquæ inter fratres nascantur, ut assolent, actiones
distinguat atque definiat; & ad eum, quicquid à singulis sacerdotibus
agitur, referatur. Sit Concilium, quotiens causæ fuerint, quotiens ille
pro necessitatum emergentium ratione decreverit. And Pope Leo
I. in his decretal Epistle to Anastasius Bishop of
Thessalonica: Singulis autem Metropolitanis sicut potestas ista
committitur, ut in suis Provinciis jus habeant ordinandi; ita eos
Metropolitanos à te volumus ordinari; maturo tamen & decocto
judicio.
Occidental Illyricum comprehended Pannonia prima and
secunda, Savia, Dalmatia, Noricum
mediterraneum, and Noricum ripense; and its Metropolis was
Sirmium, till Attila destroyed this city. Afterwards
Laureacum became the Metropolis of Noricum and both
Pannonias, and Salona the Metropolis of Dalmatia.
Now [5] the
Bishops of Laureacum and Salona received the Pallium
from the Pope: and Zosimus, in his decretal Epistle to
Hesychius Bishop of Salona, directed him to denounce the
Apostolic decrees as well to the Bishops of his own, as to those of the
neighbouring Provinces. The subjection of these Provinces to the See of
Rome seems to have begun in Anemius, who was ordained
Bishop of Sirmium by Ambrose Bishop of Millain, and
who in the Council of Aquileia under Pope Damasus, A.C.
381, declared his sentence in these words: Caput Illyrici non nisi
civitas Sirmiensis: Ego igitur illius civitatis Episcopus sum. Eum qui
non confitetur filium Dei æternum, & coeternum patri, qui est
sempiternus, anathema dico. The next year Anemius and
Ambrose, with Valerian Bishop of Aquileia,
Acholias Bishop of Thessalonica, and many others, went to
the Council of Rome, which met for overruling the Greek
Church by majority of votes, and exalting the authority of the Apostolic
See, as was attempted before in the Council of Sardica.
Aquileia was the second city of the Western Empire, and
by some called the second Rome. It was the Metropolis of
Istria, Forum Julium, and Venetia; and its
subjection to the See of Rome is manifest by the decretal Epistle
of Leo I. directed to Nicetas Bishop of this city; for the
Pope begins his Epistle thus: Regressus ad nos filius meus Adeodatus
Diaconus Sedis nostræ, dilectionem tuam poposcisse memorat, ut de his à
nobis authoritatem Apostolicæ Sedis acciperes, quæ quidem magnam
difficultatem dijudicationis videntur afferre. Then he sets down an
answer to the questions proposed by Nicetas, and concludes thus:
Hanc autem Epistolam nostram, quam ad consultationem tuæ fraternitatis
emisimus, ad omnes fratres & comprovinciales tuos Episcopos facies
pervenire, ut in omnium observantia, data profit authoritas. Data 1-2
Kal. Apr. Majorano Aug. Cos. A.C. 458. Gregory the great A.C.
591, [6] cited
Severus Bishop of Aquileia to appear before him in judgment
in a Council at Rome.
The Bishops of Aquileia and Millain created one another,
and therefore were of equal authority, and alike subject to the See of
Rome. Pope Pelagius about the year 557, testified this in
the following words: [7] Mos antiquus fuit, saith
he, ut quia pro longinquitate vel difficultate itineris, ab Apostolico
illis onerosum fuerit ordinari, ipsi se invicem Mediolanensis &
Aquileiensis ordinare Episcopos debuissent. These words imply that
the ordination of these two Bishops belonged to the See of Rome.
When Laurentius Bishop of Millain had excommunicated
Magnus, one of his Presbyters, and was dead, [8] Gregory
the great absolved Magnus, and sent the Pallium to the new
elected Bishop Constantius; whom the next year [9] he reprehended
of partiality in judging Fortunatus, and commanded him to send
Fortunatus to Rome to be judged there: four years after [10] he
appointed the Bishops of Millain and Ravenna to hear the
cause of one Maximus; and two years after, viz. A.C. 601,
when Constantius was dead, and the people of Millain had
elected Deusdedit his successor, and the Lombards had
elected another, [11] Gregory wrote to the
Notary, Clergy, and People of Millain, that by the authority of
his Letters Deusdedit should be ordained, and that he whom the
Lombards had ordained was an unworthy successor of Ambrose:
whence I gather, that the Church of Millain had continued in this
state of subordination to the See of Rome ever since the days of
Ambrose; for Ambrose himself acknowledged the authority of
that See. Ecclesia Romana, [12] saith he, hanc consuetudinem
non habet, cujus typum in omnibus sequimur, & formam. And a
little after: In omnibus cupio sequi Ecclesiam Romanam. And in his
Commentary upon 1 Tim. iii. Cum totus mundus Dei sit, tamen
domus ejus Ecclesia dicitur, cujus hodie rector est Damasus. In his
Oration on the death of his brother Satyrus, he relates how his
brother coming to a certain city of Sardinia, advocavit
Episcopum loci, percontatusque est ex eo utrum cum Episcopis Catholicis
hoc est cum Romana Ecclesia conveniret? And in conjunction with the
Synod of Aquileia A.C. 381, in a synodical Epistle to the Emperor
Gratian, he saith: Totius orbis Romani caput Romanam Ecclesiam,
atque illam sacrosanctam Apostolorum fidem, ne turbari sineret,
obsecranda fuit clementia vestra; inde enim in omnes venerandæ
communionis jura dimanant. The Churches therefore of Aquileia
and Millain were subject to the See of Rome from the days
of the Emperor Gratian. Auxentius the predecessor of
Ambrose was not subject to the see of Rome, and
consequently the subjection of the Church of Millain began in
Ambrose. This Diocese of Millain contained Liguria
with Insubria, the Alpes Cottiæ and Rhætia; and was
divided from the Diocese of Aquileia by the river Addua. In
the year 844, the Bishop of Millain broke off from the See of
Rome, and continued in this separation about 200 years, as is thus
related by [13] Sigonius: Eodem anno
Angilbertus Mediolanensis Archiepiscopus ab Ecclesia Romana parum
comperta de causa descivit, tantumque exemplo in posterum valuit, ut non
nisi post ducentos annos Ecclesia Mediolanensis ad Romanæ obedientiam
auctoritatemque redierit.
The Bishop of Ravenna, the Metropolis of Flaminia and
Æmilia, was also subject to the Pope: for Zosimus, A.C.
417, excommunicated some of the Presbyters of that Church, and wrote a
commonitory Epistle about them to the Clergy of that Church as a branch
of the Roman Church: In sua, saith he, hoc est, in
Ecclesia nostra Romana. When those of Ravenna, having elected
a new Bishop, gave notice thereof to Pope Sixtus, the Pope set him
aside, and [14] ordained Peter
Chrysologus in his room. Chrysologus in his Epistle to
Eutyches, extant in the Acts of the Council of Chalcedon,
wrote thus: Nos pro studio pacis & fidei, extra consensum Romanæ
civitatis Episcopi, causas fidei audire non possumus. Pope Leo
I. being consulted by Leo Bishop of Ravenna about some
questions, answered him by a decretal Epistle A.C. 451. And Pope
Gregory the great, [15] reprehending John Bishop
of Ravenna about the use of the Pallium, tells him of a
Precept of one of his Predecessors, Pope John, commanding that all
the Privileges formerly granted to the Bishop and Church of
Ravenna should be kept: to this John returned a submissive
answer; and after his death Pope Gregory ordered a visitation of
the Church of Ravenna, confirmed the privileges heretofore granted
them, and sent his Pallium, as of antient custom, to their new
Bishop Marinian. Yet this Church revolted sometimes from the
Church of Rome, but returned again to its obedience.
The rest of Italy, with the Islands adjacent, containing the
suburbicarian regions, or ten Provinces under the temporal Vicar
of Rome, viz. 1Campania,
2Tuscia and Umbria, 3Picenum
suburbicarium, 4Sicily, 5Apulia
and Calabria, 6Brutii and Lucania,
7Samnium, 8Sardinia,
9Corsica, and 10Valeria, constituted
the proper Province of the Bishop of Rome. For the Council of
Nice in their fifth Canon ordained that Councils should be held
every spring and autumn in every Province; and according to this Canon,
the Bishops of this Province met at Rome every half year. In this
sense Pope Leo I. applied this Canon to Rome, in a decretal
Epistle to the Bishops of Sicily, written Alippio &
Ardabure Coss. A.C. 447. Quia saluberrime, saith he, à
sanctis patribus constitutum est, binos in annis singulis Episcoporum
debere esse conventus, terni semper ex vobis ad diem tertium Kalendarum
Octobrium Romam æterno concilio sociandi occurrant. Et indissimulanter à
vobis hæc consuetudo servetur, quoniam adjuvante Dei gratiâ, faciliùs
poterit provideri, ut in Ecclesiis Christi nulla scandala, nulli
nascantur errores; cum coram Apostolo Petro semper in communione
tractatum fuerit, ut omnia Canonum Decreta apud omnes Domini sacerdotes
inviolata permaneant. The Province of Rome therefore
comprehended Sicily, with so much of Italy and the
neighbouring Islands as sent Bishops to the annual Councils of
Rome; but extended not into the Provinces of Ravenna,
Aquileia, Millain, Arles, &c. those Provinces
having Councils of their own. The Bishops in every Province of the
Roman Empire were convened in Council by the Metropolitan or
Bishop of the head city of the Province, and this Bishop presided in that
Council: but the Bishop of Rome did not only preside in his own
Council of the Bishops of the suburbicarian regions, but also gave
Orders to the Metropolitans of all the other Provinces in the Western
Empire, as their universal governor; as may be further perceived by
the following instances.
Pope Zosimus A.C. 417, cited Proculus Bishop of
Marseilles to appear before a Council at Rome for
illegitimate Ordinations; and condemned him, as he mentions in several of
his Epistles. Pope Boniface I. A.C. 419, upon a complaint of the
Clergy of Valentia against Maximus a Bishop, summoned the
Bishops of all Gallia and the seven Provinces to convene in a
Council against him; and saith in his Epistle, that his Predecessors had
done the like. Pope Leo I. called a general Council of all the
Provinces of Spain to meet in Gallæcia against the
Manichees and Priscillianists, as he says in his decretal
Epistle to Turribius a Spanish Bishop. And in one of his
decretal Epistles to Nicetas Bishop of Aquileia, he
commands him to call a Council of the Bishops of that Province against
the Pelagians, which might ratify all the Synodal Decrees which
had been already ratified by the See of Rome against this heresy.
And in his decretal Epistle to Anastasius Bishop of
Thessalonica, he ordained that Bishop should hold two Provincial
Councils every year, and refer the harder causes to the See of
Rome: and if upon any extraordinary occasion it should be
necessary to call a Council, he should not be troublesom to the Bishops
under him, but content himself with two Bishops out of every Province,
and not detain them above fifteen days. In the same Epistle he describes
the form of Church-Government then set up, to consist in a subordination
of all the Churches to the See of Rome: De qua forma, saith
he, Episcoporum quoque est orta distinctio, & magna dispositione
provisum est ne omnes sibi omnia vindicarent, sed essent in singulis
Provinciis singuli quorum inter fratres haberetur prima sententia, &
rursus quidam in majoribus urbibus constituti sollicitudinem sumerent
ampliorem, per quos ad unam Petri Sedem universalis Ecclesiæ cura
conflueret, & nihil usque à suo capite dissideret. Qui ergo scit se
quibusdam esse præpositum, non moleste ferat aliquem sibi esse
præpositum; sed obedientiam quam exigit etiam ipse dependat; et sicut non
vult gravis oneris sarcinam ferre, ita non audeat aliis importabile
pondus imponere. These words sufficiently shew the monarchical form
of government then set up in the Churches of the Western Empire
under the Bishop of Rome, by means of the imperial Decree of
Gratian, and the appeals and decretal Epistles grounded
thereupon.
The same Pope Leo, having in a Council at Rome passed
sentence upon Hilary Bishop of Arles, for what he had done
by a Provincial Council in Gallia, took occasion from thence to
procure the following Edict from the Western Emperor
Valentinian III. for the more absolute establishing the authority
of his See over all the Churches of the Western Empire.
Impp. Theodosius & Valentinianus AA. Aetio
Viro illustri, Comiti & Magistro utriusque
militiæ & Patricio.
Certum est & nobis & imperio nostro unicum esse præsidium
in supernæ Divinitatis favore, ad quem promerendum præcipue Christiana
fides & veneranda nobis religio suffragatur. Cum igitur Sedis
Apostolicæ Primatum sancti Petri meritum, qui princeps est Episcopalis
coronæ & Romanæ dignitas civitatis, sacræ etiam Synodi firmavit
auctoritas: ne quid præter auctoritatem Sedis istius illicitum præsumptio
attemperare nitatur: tunc enim demum Ecclesiarum pax ubique servabitur,
si Rectorem suum agnoscat Universitas. Hæc cum hactenus inviolabiliter
suerint custodita, Hilarius Arelatensis, sicut venerabilis viri Leonis
Romani Papæ fideli relatione comperimus, contumaci ausu illicita quædam
præsumenda tentavit, & ideo Transalpinas Ecclesias abominabilis
tumultus invasit, quod recens maximè testatur exemplum. Hilarius enim qui
Episcopus Arelatensis vocatur, Ecclesiæ Romanæ urbis inconsulto Pontifice
indebitas sibi ordinationes Episcoporum solâ temeritate usurpans invasit.
Nam alios incompetenter removit; indecenter alios, invitis &
repugnantibus civibus, ordinavit. Qui quidem, quoniam non facile ab his
qui non elegerant, recipiebantur, manum sibi contrahebat armatam, &
claustra murorum in hostilem morem vel obsidione cingebat, vel
aggressione reserabat, & ad sedem quietis pacem prædicaturus per
bella ducebat: His talibus contra Imperii majestatem, & contra
reverentiam Apostolicæ Sedis admissis, per ordinem religiosi viri Urbis
Papæ cognitione discussis, certa in eum, ex his quos malè ordinaverat,
lata sententia est. Erat quidem ipsa sententia per Gallias etiam sine
Imperiali Sanctione valitura: quid enim Pontificis auctoritate non
liceret? Sed nostram quoque præceptionem hæc ratio provocavit. Nec
ulterius vel Hilario, quem adhuc Episcopum nuncupare sola mansueta
Præsulis permittit humanitas, nec cuiquam alteri ecclesiasticis rebus
arma miscere, aut præceptis Romani Antistitis liceat obviare: ausibus
enim talibus fides & reverentia nostri violatur Imperii. Nec hoc
solum, quod est maximi criminis, submovemus: verum ne levis saltem inter
Ecclesias turba nascatur, vel in aliquo minui religionis disciplina
videatur, hoc perenni sanctione discernimus; nequid tam Episcopis
Gallicanis quam aliarum Provinciarum contra consuetudinem veterem liceat,
sine viri venerabilis Papæ Urbis æternæ auctoritate, tentare. Sed illis
omnibusque pro lege sit, quicquid sanxit vel sanxerit Apostolicæ Sedis
auctoritas: ita ut quisquis Episcoporum ad judicium Romani Antistitis
evocatus venire neglexerit, per Moderatorem ejusdem Provinciæ adesse
cogatur, per omnia servatis quæ Divi parentes nostri Romanæ Ecclesiæ
detulerunt, Aetî pater carissime Augusti. Unde illustris & præclara
magnificentia tua præsentis Edictalis Legis auctoritate faciet quæ sunt
superius statuta servari, decem librarum auri multa protinus exigenda ab
unoquoque Judice qui passus fuerit præcepta nostra violari. Divinitas te
servet per multos annos, parens carissime. Dat. viii. Id. Jun.
Romæ, Valentiniano A. vi. Consule, A.C. 445. By this Edict the
Emperor Valentinian enjoined an absolute obedience to the will of
the Bishop of Rome thro'out all the Churches of his Empire; and
declares, that for the Bishops to attempt any thing without the Pope's
authority is contrary to antient custom, and that the Bishops summoned to
appear before his judicature must be carried thither by the Governor of
the Province; and he ascribes these privileges of the See of Rome
to the concessions of his dead Ancestors, that is, to the Edict of
Gratian and Valentinian II. as above: by which reckoning
this dominion of the Church of Rome was now of 66 years standing:
and if in all this time it had not been sufficiently established, this
new Edict was enough to settle it beyond all question thro'out the
Western Empire.
Hence all the Bishops of the Province of Arles in their Letter
to Pope Leo, A.C. 450, petitioning for a restitution of the
privileges of their Metropolitan, say: Per beatum Petrum Apostolorum
principem, sacrosancta Ecclesia Romana tenebat supra omnes totius mundi
Ecclesias principatum. And Ceratius, Salonius and
Veranus, three Bishops of Gallia, say, in their Epistle to
the same Pope: Magna præterea & ineffabili quadam nos peculiares
tui gratulatione succrescimus, quod illa specialis doctrinæ vestræ pagina
ita per omnium Ecclesiarum conventicula celebratur, ut vere consona
omnium sententia declaretur; merito illic principatum Sedis Apostolicæ
constitutum, unde adhuc Apostolici spiritus oracula reserentur. And
Leo himself, in [16] his Epistle to the metropolitan
Bishops thro'out Illyricum: Quia per omnes Ecclesias cura
nostra distenditur, exigente hoc à nobis Domino, qui Apostolicæ
dignitatis beatissimo Apostolo Petro primatum, fidei sui remuneratione
commisit, universalem Ecclesiam in fundamenti ipsius soliditate
constituens.
While this Ecclesiastical Dominion was rising up, the northern
barbarous nations invaded the Western Empire, and founded several
kingdoms therein, of different religions from the Church of Rome.
But these kingdoms by degrees embraced the Roman faith, and at the
same time submitted to the Pope's authority. The Franks in
Gaul submitted in the end of the fifth Century, the Goths
in Spain in the end of the sixth; and the Lombards in
Italy were conquered by Charles the great A.C. 774. Between
the years 775 and 794, the same Charles extended the Pope's
authority over all Germany and Hungary as far as the river
Theysse and the Baltic sea; he then set him above all human
judicature, and at the same time assisted him in subduing the City and
Duchy of Rome. By the conversion of the ten kingdoms to the
Roman religion, the Pope only enlarged his spiritual dominion, but
did not yet rise up as a horn of the Beast. It was his temporal dominion
which made him one of the horns: and this dominion he acquired in the
latter half of the eighth century, by subduing three of the former horns
as above. And now being arrived at a temporal dominion, and a power above
all human judicature, he reigned [17] with a look more stout than
his fellows, and [18] times and laws were
henceforward given into his hands, for a time times and half a
time, or three times and an half; that is, for 1260 solar years,
reckoning a time for a Calendar year of 360 days, and a day for a solar
year. After which [19] the judgment is to sit, and
they shall take away his dominion, not at once, but by degrees, to
consume, and to destroy it unto the end. [20] And the kingdom and dominion,
and greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven shall, by
degrees, be given unto the people of the saints of the most High,
whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve
and obey him.
Notes to Chap. VIII.
[1] See the Annals
of Baronius, Anno 381. Sect. 6.
[2] Populos
Galliciæ.
[3] Hormisd. Epist. 24.
26.
[4] The words,
sine auctoritate, seem wanting.
[5] Vide Caroli a S.
Paulo Geographiam sacram, p. 72, 73.
[6] Greg. M. lib. 1.
Indic. 9. Epist. 16.
[7] Apud Gratianum de
Mediolanensi & Aquileiensi Episcopis.
[8] Greg. M. lib. 3.
Epist. 26. & lib. 4. Epist. 1.
[9] Greg. lib. 5.
Epist. 4.
[10] Greg. lib. 9.
Epist. 10 & 67.
[11] Greg. lib. 11.
Epist. 3, 4.
[12] Ambros l. 3. de
sacramentis, c. 1.
[13] Sigonius de
Regno Italiæ, lib. 5.
[14] See
Baronius, Anno 433. Sect. 24.
[15] Greg. M. lib. 3.
Epist. 56, 57. & lib. 5. Epist. 25, 26, 56.
[16] Epist. 25. apud
Holstenium.
[17] Dan. vii.
20.
[18] Ver. 25.
[19] Ver. 26.
[20] Ver. 27.
Of the kingdoms represented in Daniel
by the Ram and He-Goat.
The second and third Empires, represented by the Bear and Leopard, are
again represented by the Ram and He-Goat; but with this difference, that
the Ram represents the kingdoms of the Medes and Persians
from the beginning of the four Empires, and the Goat represents the
kingdom of the Greeks to the end of them. By this means, under the
type of the Ram and He-Goat, the times of all the four Empires are again
described: I lifted up mine eyes, saith [1] Daniel, and saw,
and behold there stood before the river [Ulai] a Ram which had
two horns, and the two horns were high, but one was higher than the
other, and the higher came up last.—And the Ram having two horns,
are the kings of Media and Persia: not two persons but two
kingdoms, the kingdoms of Media and Persia; and the kingdom
of Persia was the higher horn and came up last. The kingdom of
Persia rose up, when Cyrus having newly conquered
Babylon, revolted from Darius King of the Medes, and
beat him at Pasargadæ, and set up the Persians above the
Medes. This was the horn which came up last. And the horn which
came up first was the kingdom of the Medes, from the time that
Cyaxares and Nebuchadnezzar overthrew Nineveh, and
shared the Empire of the Assyrians between them. The Empires of
Media and Babylon were contemporary, and rose up together
by the fall of the Assyrian Empire; and the Prophecy of the four
Beasts begins with one of them, and that of the Ram and He-Goat with the
other. As the Ram represents the kingdom of Media and
Persia from the beginning of the four Empires; so the He-Goat
represents the Empire of the Greeks to the end of those
Monarchies. In the reign of his great horn, and of the four horns which
succeeded it, he represents this Empire during the reign of the Leopard:
and in the reign of his little horn, which stood up in the latter time of
the kingdom of the four, and after their fall became mighty but not by
his own power, he represents it during the reign of the fourth Beast.
The rough Goat, saith Daniel, is the King of Grecia,
that is, the kingdom; and the great horn between his eyes is the first
King: not the first Monarch, but the first kingdom, that which lasted
during the reign of Alexander the great, and his brother
Aridæus and two young sons, Alexander and Hercules.
[2] Now that
[horn] being broken off, whereas four [horns] stood up for it,
four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation [of the
Greeks], but not in his [the first horn's] power.
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. Nabonass. 414, and lasted till the death of his son
Hercules, An. Nabonass. 441. And the four are those of
Cassander, 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
worship, commanded the Law of Moses to be burnt, and set up the
worship of the heathen Gods in all Judea. In the very same year,
An. Nabonass. 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 compass 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 assisted 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 Nabonass. 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. Nabonass. 615, inherited that kingdom,
including all Asia Minor on this side mount Taurus. An.
Nabonass. 684 and 685 they conquered Armenia, Syria and
Judea; An. Nabonass. 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. Nabonass. 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. Nabonass. 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 worship 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 worship 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 Gods 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 ממלך signifies after
the king, Dan. xi. 8; so here ממנו may signify after
him: and so מן־האחת
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 Illyricum, Epirus and
Macedonia, in the year of Nabonassar 580; and thirty five
years after, by the last will and testament of Attalus the last
King of Pergamus, they inherited that rich and flourishing
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 God
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 passes 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.
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 assigns 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 Longimanus, when
Ezra returned with a body of Jews from captivity, and
revived the Jewish worship; and by the King's commission created
Magistrates in all the land, to judge and govern the people according to
the laws of God 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] Irenæus, [9] Julius Africanus,
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 compass
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. xxxvi. 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. xxxvi. xxxvii. 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, Irenæus,
Eusebius, Epiphanius, Jerome, Orosius,
Cassiodorus, 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 passion.
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 Titus 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 Gods: for an abomination is often put in scripture for a
false God; 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 worship of the true God, and overspread the land with
an army of false gods; and by setting up their dominion and worship,
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 Longimanus 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 Longimanus 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 Consulship of the first Consul
Junius Brutus, Anno Urbis conditæ 273, Fabio & Furio
Coss. The passage of Xerxes's army over the Hellespont
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 Artabanus, 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 Africanus, 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.
[1] Chap. ix. 24, 25, 26,
27.
[2] Cut upon. A phrase
in Hebrew, taken from the practise of numbring by cutting
notches.
[3] Heb. to seal, i.e.
to finish or consummate: a metaphor taken from sealing what is finished.
So the Jews compute, ad obsignatum Misna, ad obsignatum
Talmud, that is, ad absolutum.
[4] Heb. the Prophet,
not the Prophecy.
[5] Heb. the Messiah,
that is, in Greek, the Christ; in English, the
Anointed. I use the English word, that the relation of this
clause to the former may appear.
[6] Jerusalem.
[7] See Isa. xxiii.
13.
[8] Iren. l. 5. Hær. c.
25.
[9] Apud Hieron. in h. l.
[10] 1 Kings xi. 7.
[11] The antient solar
years of the eastern nations consisted of 12 months, and every month of
30 days: and hence came the division of a circle into 360 degrees. This
year seems to be used by Moses in his history of the Flood, and by
John in the Apocalypse, where a time, times and half a
time, 42 months and 1260 days, are put equipollent. But in reckoning by
many of these years together, an account is to be kept of the odd days
which were added to the end of these years. For the Egyptians
added five days to the end of this year; and so did the Chaldeans
long before the times of Daniel, as appears by the Æra, of
Nabonassar: and the Persian Magi used the same year of 365
days, till the Empire of the Arabians. The antient Greeks
also used the same solar year of 12 equal months, or 360 days; but every
other year added an intercalary month, consisting of 10 and 11 days
alternately.
The year of the Jews, even from their coming out of
Egypt, was Luni-solar. It was solar, for the harvest always
followed the Passover, and the fruits of the land were always gathered
before the feast of Tabernacles, Levit. xxiii. But the months were
lunar, for the people were commanded by Moses in the beginning of
every month to blow with trumpets, and offer burnt offerings with their
drink offerings, Num. x. 10. xxviii. 11, 14. and this solemnity
was kept on the new moons, Psal. lxxxi. 3,4,5. 1 Chron.
xxiii. 31. These months were called by Moses the first, second,
third, fourth month, &c. and the first month was also called
Abib, the second Zif, the seventh Ethanim, the
eighth Bull, Exod. xiii. 4. 1 Kings vi. 37, 38.
viii. 2. But in the Babylonian captivity the Jews used the
names of the Chaldean months, and by those names understood the
months of their own year; so that the Jewish months then lost
their old names, and are now called by those of the Chaldeans.
The Jews began their civil year from the autumnal Equinox, and
their sacred year from the vernal: and the first day of the first month
was on the visible new moon, which was nearest the Equinox.
Whether Daniel used the Chaldaick or Jewish year,
is not very material; the difference being but six hours in a year, and 4
months in 480 years. But I take his months to be Jewish: first,
because Daniel was a Jew, and the Jews even by the
names of the Chaldean months understood the months of their own
year: secondly, because this Prophecy is grounded on Jeremiah's
concerning the 70 years captivity, and therefore must be understood of
the same sort of years with the seventy; and those are Jewish,
since that Prophecy was given in Judea before the captivity: and
lastly, because Daniel reckons by weeks of years, which is a way
of reckoning peculiar to the Jewish years. For as their days ran
by sevens, and the last day of every seven was a sabbath; so their years
ran by sevens, and the last year of every seven was a sabbatical year,
and seven such weeks of years made a Jubilee.
Of the Times of the Birth and Passion
of Christ.
The times of the Birth and Passion of Christ, with such like
niceties, being not material to religion, were little regarded by the
Christians of the first age. They who began first to celebrate
them, placed them in the cardinal periods of the year; as the
annunciation of the Virgin Mary, on the 25th of March,
which when Julius Cæsar corrected the Calendar was the vernal
Equinox; the feast of John Baptist on the 24th of June,
which was the summer Solstice; the feast of St. Michael on
Sept. 29, which was the autumnal Equinox; and the birth of
Christ on the winter Solstice, Decemb. 25, with the feasts
of St. Stephen, St. John and the Innocents, as near
it as they could place them. And because the Solstice in time removed
from the 25th of December to the 24th, the 23d, the 22d, and so on
backwards, hence some in the following centuries placed the birth of
Christ on Decemb. 23, and at length on Decemb. 20:
and for the same reason they seem to have set the feast of St.
Thomas on Decemb. 21, and that of St. Matthew on
Sept. 21. So also at the entrance of the Sun into all the signs in
the Julian Calendar, they placed the days of other Saints; as the
conversion of Paul on Jan. 25, when the Sun entred 
; St. Matthias on
Feb. 25, when he entred 
; St. Mark on Apr. 25, when he entred 
; Corpus Christi on
May 26, when he entred 
; St. James on July 25, when he entred 
; St. Bartholomew on
Aug. 24, when he entred 
; Simon and Jude on Octob. 28, when he entred 
: and if there were any other
remarkable days in the Julian Calendar, they placed the Saints
upon them, as St. Barnabas on June 11, where Ovid
seems to place the feast of Vesta and Fortuna, and the
goddess Matuta; and St. Philip and James on the
first of May, a day dedicated both to the Bona Dea, or
Magna Mater, and to the goddess Flora, and still celebrated
with her rites. All which shews that these days were fixed in the first
Christian Calendars by Mathematicians at pleasure, without any
ground in tradition; and that the Christians afterwards took up
with what they found in the Calendars.
Neither was there any certain tradition about the years of
Christ. For the Christians who first began to enquire into
these things, as Clemens Alexandrinus, Origen,
Tertullian, Julius Africanus, Lactantius,
Jerome, St. Austin, Sulpicius Severus,
Prosper, and as many as place the death of Christ in the
15th or 16th year of Tiberius, make Christ to have preached
but one year, or at most but two. At length Eusebius discovered
four successive Passovers in the Gospel of John, and thereupon set
on foot an opinion that he preacht three years and an half; and so died
in the 19th year of Tiberius. Others afterwards, finding the
opinion that he died in the Equinox Mar. 25, more consonant to the
times of the Jewish Passover, in the 17th and 20th years, have
placed his death in one of those two years. Neither is there any greater
certainty in the opinions about the time of his birth. The first
Christians placed his baptism near the beginning of the 15th year
of Tiberius; and thence reckoning thirty years backwards, placed
his birth in the 43d Julian year, the 42d of Augustus and
28th of the Actiac victory. This was the opinion which obtained in
the first ages, till Dionysius Exiguus, placing the baptism of
Christ in the 16th year of Tiberius, and misinterpreting
the text of Luke, iii. 23. as if Jesus was only beginning
to be 30 years old when he was baptized, invented the vulgar account, in
which his birth is placed two years later than before. As therefore
relating to these things there is no tradition worth considering; let us
lay aside all and examine what prejudices can be gathered from records of
good account.
The fifteenth year of Tiberius began Aug. 28, An.
J.P. 4727. So soon as the winter was over, and the weather became
warm enough, we may reckon that John began to baptize; and that
before next winter his fame went abroad, and all the people came to his
baptism, and Jesus among the rest. Whence the first Passover after
his baptism mentioned John ii. 13. was in the 16th year of
Tiberius. After this feast Jesus came into the land of
Judea, and staid there baptizing, whilst John was baptizing
in Ænon, John iii. 22, 23. But when he heard that
John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee,
Mat. iii. 12. being afraid, because the Pharisees had heard that
he baptized more disciples than John, John iv. 1. and in
his journey he passed thro' Samaria four months before the
harvest, John iv. 35. that is, about the time of the winter
Solstice. For their harvest was between Easter and
Whitsunday, and began about a month after the vernal Equinox.
Say not ye, saith he, there are yet four months, and then
cometh harvest? Behold I say unto you, lift up your eyes, and look on the
fields, for they are white already to harvest; meaning, that the
people in the fields were ready for the Gospel, as his next words shew[1]. John
therefore was imprisoned about November, in the 17th year of
Tiberius; and Christ thereupon went from Judea to
Cana of Galilee in December, and was received there
of the Galileans, who had seen all he did at Jerusalem at
the Passover: and when a Nobleman of Capernaum heard he was
returned into Galilee, and went to him and desired him to come and
cure his son, he went not thither yet, but only said, Go thy way, thy
son liveth; and the Nobleman returned and found it so, and believed, he
and his house, John iv. This is the beginning of his miracles in
Galilee; and thus far John is full and distinct in relating
the actions of his first year, omitted by the other Evangelists. The rest
of his history is from this time related more fully by the other
Evangelists than by John; for what they relate he omits.
From this time therefore Jesus taught in the Synagogues of
Galilee on the sabbath-days, being glorified of all: and coming to
his own city Nazareth, and preaching in their Synagogue, they were
offended, and thrust him out of the city, and led him to the brow of the
hill on which the city was built to cast him headlong; but he passing
thro' the midst of them, went his way, and came and dwelt at
Capernaum, Luke iv. And by this time we may reckon the
second Passover was either past or at hand.
All this time Matthew passeth over in few words, and here
begins to relate the preaching and miracles of Christ. When
Jesus, saith he, had heard that John was cast into prison,
he departed into Galilee; and leaving Nazareth, he came and
dwelt at Capernaum, and from that time began to preach and say,
Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, Matth. iv. 12.
Afterwards he called his disciples Peter, Andrew,
James and John; and then went about all Galilee,
teaching in the Synagogues,—and healing all manner of
sickness:—and his fame went thro'out all Syria; and they
brought unto him all sick people,—and there followed him great
multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and
from Jerusalem, and from Judea, and from beyond Jordan,
Matth, iv. 18, 25. All this was done before the sermon in the mount: and
therefore we may certainly reckon that the second Passover was past
before the preaching of that sermon. The multitudes that followed him
from Jerusalem and Judea, shew that he had lately been
there at the feast. The sermon in the mount was made when great
multitudes came to him from all places, and followed him in the open
fields; which is an argument of the summer-season: and in this sermon he
pointed at the lilies of the field then in the flower before the eyes of
his auditors. Consider, saith he, the lilies of the field, how
they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin; and yet Solomon in
all his glory was not arayed like one of these. Wherefore if God so
clothe the grass of the field, which to day is and to morrow is cast into
the oven, &c. Matth. vi. 28. So therefore the grass of the
field was now in the flower, and by consequence the month of March
with the Passover was past.
Let us see therefore how the rest of the feasts follow in order in
Matthew's Gospel: for he was an eye-witness of what he relates,
and so tells all things in due order of time, which Mark and
Luke do not.
Some time after the sermon in the mount, when the time came that he
should be received, that is, when the time of a feast came that he should
be received by the Jews, he set his face to go to
Jerusalem: and as he went with his disciples in the way, when the
Samaritans in his passage thro' Samaria had denied him
lodgings, and a certain Scribe said unto him, Master, I will follow
thee whithersoever thou goest, Jesus said unto him, The foxes have
holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man hath not
where to lay his head, Matth. viii. 19. Luke ix. 51, 57. The Scribe
told Christ he would bear him company in his journey, and
Christ replied that he wanted a lodging. Now this feast I take to
be the feast of Tabernacles, because soon after I find Christ and
his Apostles on the sea of Tiberias in a storm so great, that the
ship was covered with water and in danger of sinking, till Christ
rebuked the winds and the sea, Matth. viii. 23. For this storm shews
that winter was now come on.
After this Christ did many miracles, and went about all the
cities and villages of Galilee, teaching in their Synagogues, and
preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness, and
every disease among the people, Matth. ix. he then sent forth the
twelve to do the like, Matth. x. and at length when he had
received a message from John, and answered it, he said to the
multitudes, From the days of John the Baptist until now the
kingdom of heaven suffereth violence; and upbraided the cities,
Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, wherein most of
his mighty works were done, because they repented not, Matth. xi.
Which several passages shew, that from the imprisonment of John
till now there had been a considerable length of time: the winter was now
past, and the next Passover was at hand; for immediately after this,
Matthew, in chap. xii. subjoins, that Jesus went on the
sabbath-day thro' the corn, and his disciples were an hungred, and began
to pluck the ears of corn and to eat,—rubbing them, saith
Luke, in their hands: the corn therefore was not only in
the ear, but ripe; and consequently the Passover, in which the
first-fruits were always offered before the harvest, was now come or
past. Luke calls this sabbath δευτεροπρωτον,
the second prime sabbath, that is, the second of the two great feasts of
the Passover. As we call Easter day high Easter, and its
octave low Easter or Lowsunday: so Luke calls
the feast on the seventh day of the unlevened bread, the second of the
two prime sabbaths.
In one of the sabbaths following he went into a Synagogue, and healed
a man with a withered hand, Matth. xii. 9. Luke vi. 6. And
when the Pharisees took counsel to destroy him, he withdrew himself
from thence, and great multitudes followed him; and he healed them all,
and charged them that they should not make him known, Matth. xii. 14.
Afterwards being in a ship, and the multitude standing on the shore, he
spake to them three parables together, taken from the seeds-men sowing
the fields, Matth. xiii. by which we may know that it was now
seed-time, and by consequence that the feast of Tabernacles was past.
After this he went into his own country, and taught them in their
Synagogue, but did not many mighty works there because of their
unbelief. Then the twelve having been abroad a year, returned, and
told Jesus all that they had done: and at the same time
Herod beheaded John in prison, and his disciples came and
told Jesus; and when Jesus heard it, he took the twelve and
departed thence privately by ship into a desert place belonging to
Bethsaida: and the people when they knew it, followed him on foot
out of the cities, the winter being now past; and he healed their sick,
and in the desert fed them to the number of five thousand men, besides
women and children, with only five loaves and two fishes, Matth.
xiv. Luke ix. at the doing of which miracle the Passover of the
Jews was nigh, John vi. 4. But Jesus went not up to
this feast; but after these things walked in Galilee, because
the Jews at the Passover before had taken counsel to destroy him, and
still sought to kill him, John vii. i. Henceforward therefore he
is found first in the coast of Tyre and Sidon, then by the
sea of Galilee, afterwards in the coast of Cæsarea
Philippi; and lastly at Capernaum, Matth. xv. 21, 29.
xvi. 13. xvii. 34.
Afterwards when the feast of Tabernacles was at hand, his brethren
upbraided him for walking secretly, and urged him to go up to the feast.
But he went not till they were gone, and then went up privately,
John vii. 2. and when the Jews sought to stone him, he
escaped, John viii. 59. After this he was at the feast of the
Dedication in winter, John x. 22. and when they sought again to
take him, he fled beyond Jordan, John x. 39, 40.
Matth. xix. 1. where he stayed till the death of Lazarus,
and then came to Bethany near Jerusalem, and raised him,
John xi. 7, 18. whereupon the Jews took counsel from that
time to kill him: and therefore he walked no more openly among
the Jews, but went thence into a country near to the wilderness,
into a city called Ephraim; and there continued with his
disciples till the last Passover, in which the Jews put him to
death, John xi. 53, 54.
Thus have we, in the Gospels of Matthew and John
compared together, the history of Christ's actions in continual
order during five Passovers. John is more distinct in the
beginning and end; Matthew in the middle: what either omits, the
other supplies. The first Passover was between the baptism of
Christ and the imprisonment of John, John ii. 13. the
second within four months after the imprisonment of John, and
Christ's beginning to preach in Galilee, John iv.
35. and therefore it was either that feast to which Jesus went up,
when the Scribe desired to follow him, Matth. viii. 19.
Luke ix. 51, 57. or the feast before it. The third was the next
feast after it, when the corn was eared and ripe, Matth, xii. 1.
Luke vi. 1. The fourth was that which was nigh at hand when
Christ wrought the miracle of the five loaves, Matth. xiv.
15. John vi. 4, 5. and the fifth was that in which Christ
suffered, Matth. xx. 17. John xii. 1.
Between the first and second Passover John and Christ
baptized together, till the imprisonment of John, which was four
months before the second. Then Christ began to preach, and call
his disciples; and after he had instructed them a year, lent them to
preach in the cities of the Jews: at the same time John
hearing of the fame of Christ, sent to him to know who he was. At
the third, the chief Priests began to consult about the death of
Christ. A little before the fourth, the twelve after they had
preached a year in all the cities, returned to Christ; and at the
same time Herod beheaded John in prison, after he had been
in prison two years and a quarter: and thereupon Christ fled into
the desart for fear of Herod. The fourth Christ went not up
to Jerusalem for fear of the Jews, who at the Passover
before had consulted his death, and because his time was not yet come.
Thenceforward therefore till the feast of Tabernacles he walked in
Galilee, and that secretly for fear of Herod: and after the
feast of Tabernacles he returned no more into Galilee, but
sometimes was at Jerusalem, and sometimes retired beyond
Jordan, or to the city Ephraim by the wilderness, till the
Passover in which he was betrayed, apprehended, and crucified.
John therefore baptized two summers, and Christ preached
three. The first summer John preached to make himself known, in
order to give testimony to Christ. Then, after Christ came
to his baptism and was made known to him, he baptized another summer, to
make Christ known by his testimony; and Christ also
baptized the same summer, to make himself the more known: and by reason
of John's testimony there came more to Christ's baptism
than to John's. The winter following John was imprisoned;
and now his course being at an end, Christ entered upon his proper
office of preaching in the cities. In the beginning of his preaching he
completed the number of the twelve Apostles, and instructed them all the
first year in order to send them abroad. Before the end of this year, his
fame by his preaching and miracles was so far spread abroad, that the
Jews at the Passover following consulted how to kill him. In the
second year of his preaching, it being no longer safe for him to converse
openly in Judea, he sent the twelve to preach in all their cities:
and in the end of the year they returned to him, and told him all they
had done. All the last year the twelve continued with him to be
instructed more perfectly, in order to their preaching to all nations
after his death. And upon the news of John's death, being afraid
of Herod as well as of the Jews, he walked this year more
secretly than before; frequenting desarts, and spending the last half of
the year in Judea, without the dominions of Herod.
Thus have we in the Gospels of Matthew and John all
things told in due order, from the beginning of John's preaching
to the death of Christ, and the years distinguished from one
another by such essential characters that they cannot be mistaken. The
second Passover is distinguished from the first, by the interposition of
John's imprisonment. The third is distinguished from the second,
by a double character: first, by the interposition of the feast to which
Christ went up, Mat. viii. 19. Luke ix. 57. and
secondly, by the distance of time from the beginning of Christ's
preaching: for the second was in the beginning of his preaching, and the
third so long after, that before it came Christ said, from the
days of John the Baptist until now, &c. and upbraided the
cities of Galilee for their not repenting at his preaching, and
mighty works done in all that time. The fourth is distinguished from the
third, by the mission of the twelve from Christ to preach in the
cities of Judea in all the interval. The fifth is distinguished
from all the former by the twelve's being returned from preaching, and
continuing with Christ during all the interval, between the fourth
and fifth, and by the passion and other infallible characters.
Now since the first summer of John's baptizing fell in the
fifteenth year of the Emperor Tiberius, and by consequence the
first of these five Passovers in his sixteenth year; the last of them, in
which Jesus suffered, will fall on the twentieth year of the same
Emperor; and by consequence in the Consulship of Fabius and
Vitellius, in the 79th Julian year, and year of
Christ 34, which was the sabbatical year of the Jews. And
that it did so, I further confirm by these arguments.
I take it for granted that the passion was on friday the 14th day of
the month Nisan, the great feast of the Passover on saturday the
15th day of Nisan, and the resurrection on the day following. Now
the 14th day of Nisan always fell on the full moon next after the
vernal Equinox; and the month began at the new moon before, not at the
true conjunction, but at the first appearance of the new moon: for the
Jews referred all the time of the silent moon, as they phrased it,
that is, of the moon's disappearing, to the old moon; and because the
first appearance might usually be about 18 hours after the true
conjunction, they therefore began their month from the sixth hour at
evening, that is, at sun set, next after the eighteenth hour from the
conjunction. And this rule they called יה Jah, designing by the
letters י
and ה the
number 18.
I know that Epiphanius tells us, if some interpret his words
rightly, that the Jews used a vicious cycle, and thereby
anticipated the legal new moons by two days. But this surely he spake not
as a witness, for he neither understood Astronomy nor
Rabbinical learning, but as arguing from his erroneous hypothesis
about the time of the passion. For the Jews did not anticipate,
but postpone their months: they thought it lawful to begin their months a
day later than the first appearance of the new moon, because the new moon
continued for more days than one; but not a day sooner, lest they should
celebrate the new moon before there was any. And the Jews still
keep a tradition in their books, that the Sanhedrim used
diligently to define the new moons by sight: sending witnesses into
mountainous places, and examining them about the moon's appearing, and
translating the new moon from the day they had agreed on to the day
before, as often as witnesses came from distant regions, who had seen it
a day sooner than it was seen at Jerusalem. Accordingly
Josephus, one of the Jewish Priests who ministred in the
temple, tells us [2] that the Passover was kept on the
14th day of Nisan, κατα
σεληνην according to
the moon, when the sun was in Aries. This is confirmed also by two
instances, recorded by him, which totally overthrow the hypothesis of the
Jews using a vicious cycle. For that year in which
Jerusalem was taken and destroyed, he saith, the Passover was on
the 14th day of the month Xanticus, which according to
Josephus is our April; and that five years before, it fell
on the 8th day of the same month. Which two instances agree with the
course of the moon.
Computing therefore the new moons of the first month according to the
course of the moon and the rule Jah, and thence counting 14 days,
I find that the 14th day of this month in the year of Christ 31,
fell on tuesday March 27; in the year 32, on sunday Apr.
13; in the year 33, on friday Apr. 3; in the year 34, on wednesday
March 24, or rather, for avoiding the Equinox which fell on the
same day, and for having a fitter time for harvest, on thursday
Apr. 22. also in the year 35, on tuesday Apr. 12. and in
the year 36, on saturday March 31.
But because the 15th and 21st days of Nisan, and a day or two
of Pentecost, and the 10th, 15th, and 22d of Tisri, were
always sabbatical days or days of rest, and it was inconvenient on two
sabbaths together to be prohibited burying their dead and making ready
fresh meat, for in that hot region their meat would be apt in two days to
corrupt: to avoid these and such like inconveniences, the Jews
postponed their months a day, as often as the first day of the month
Tisri, or, which is all one, the third of the month Nisan,
was sunday, wednesday or friday: and this rule they called אדו
Adu, by the letters ו , ד , א signifying the numbers
1, 4, 6; that is, the 1st, 4th, and 6th days of the week; which days we
call sunday, wednesday and friday. Postponing therefore by this rule the
months found above; the 14th day of the month Nisan will fall in
the year of Christ 31, on wednesday March 28; in the year
32, on monday Apr. 14; in the year 33, on friday Apr. 3; in
the year 34, on friday Apr. 23; in the year 35, on wednesday
Apr. 13, and in the year 36, on saturday March 31.
By this computation therefore the year 32 is absolutely excluded,
because the Passion cannot fall on friday without making it five days
after the full moon, or two days before it; whereas it ought to be upon
the day of the full moon, or the next day. For the same reason the years
31 and 35 are excluded, because in them the Passion cannot fall on
friday, without making it three days after the full moon, or four days
before it: errors so enormous, that they would be very conspicuous in the
heavens to every vulgar eye. The year 36 is contended for by few or none,
and both this and the year 35 may be thus excluded.
Tiberius in the beginning of his reign made Valerius
Gratus President of Judea; and after 11 years, substituted
Pontius Pilate, who governed 10 years. Then Vitellius,
newly made President of Syria, deprived him of his honour,
substituting Marcellus, and at length sent him to Rome:
but, by reason of delays, Tiberius died before Pilate got
thither. In the mean time Vitellius, after he had deposed
Pilate, came to Jerusalem in the time of the Passover, to
visit that Province as well as others in the beginning of his office; and
in the place of Caiaphas, then High Priest, created
Jonathas the son of Ananus, or Annas as he is called
in scripture. Afterwards, when Vitellius was returned to
Antioch, he received letters from Tiberius, to make peace
with Artabanus king of the Parthians. At the same time the
Alans, by the sollicitation of Tiberius, invaded the
kingdom of Artabanus; and his subjects also, by the procurement of
Vitellius, soon after rebelled: for Tiberius thought that
Artabanus, thus pressed with difficulties, would more readily
accept the conditions of peace. Artabanus therefore straightway
gathering a greater army, opprest the rebels; and then meeting
Vitellius at Euphrates, made a league with the
Romans. After this Tiberius commanded Vitellius to
make war upon Aretas King of Arabia. He therefore leading
his army against Aretas, went together with Herod to
Jerusalem, to sacrifice at the publick feast which was then to be
celebrated. Where being received honourably, he stayed three days, and in
the mean while translated the high Priesthood from Jonathas to his
brother Theophilus: and the fourth day, receiving letters of the
death of Tiberius, made the people swear allegiance to
Caius the new Emperor; and recalling his army, sent them into
quarters. All this is related by Josephus Antiq.
lib. 18. c. 6, 7. Now Tiberius reigned 22 years and
7 months, and died March 16, in the beginning of the year of
Christ 37; and the feast of the Passover fell on April 20
following, that is, 35 days after the death of Tiberius: so that
there were about 36 or 38 days, for the news of his death to come from
Rome to Vitellius at Jerusalem; which being a
convenient time for that message, confirms that the feast which
Vitellius and Herod now went up to was the Passover. For
had it been the Pentecost, as is usually supposed, Vitellius would
have continued three months ignorant of the Emperor's death: which is not
to be supposed. However, the things done between this feast and the
Passover which Vitellius was at before, namely, the stirring up a
sedition in Parthia, the quieting that sedition, the making a
league after that with the Parthians, the sending news of that
league to Rome, the receiving new orders from thence to go against
the Arabians, and the putting those orders in execution; required
much more time than the fifty days between the Passover and Pentecost of
the same year: and therefore the Passover which Vitellius first
went up to, was in the year before. Therefore Pilate was deposed
before the Passover A.C. 36, and by consequence the passion of
Christ was before that Passover: for he suffered not under
Vitellius, nor under Vitellius and Pilate together,
but under Pilate alone.
Now it is observable that the high Priesthood was at this time become
an annual office, and the Passover was the time of making a new high
Priest. For Gratus the predecessor of Pilate, saith
Josephus, made Ismael high Priest after Ananus; and
a while after, suppose a year, deposed him, and substituted
Eleazar, and a year after Simon, and after another year
Caiaphas; and then gave way to Pilate. So Vitellius
at one Passover made Jonathas successor to Caiaphas, and at
the next Theophilus to Jonathas. Hence Luke tells
us, that in the 15th year of Tiberius, Annas and
Caiaphas were high Priests, that is, Annas till the
Passover, and Caiaphas afterwards. Accordingly John speaks
of the high Priesthood as an annual office: for he tells us again and
again, in the last year of Christ's preaching, that
Caiaphas was high Priest for that year, John xi. 49, 51.
xviii. 13. And the next year Luke tells you, that Annas was
high Priest, Acts iv. 6. Theophilus was therefore made high
Priest in the first year of Caius, Jonathas in the 22d year
of Tiberius, and Caiaphas in the 21st year of the same
Emperor: and therefore, allotting a year to each, the Passion, when
Annas succeeded Caiaphas, could not be later than the 20th
year of Tiberius, A.C. 34.
Thus there remain only the years 33 and 34 to be considered; and the
year 33 I exclude by this argument. In the Passover two years before the
Passion, when Christ went thro' the corn, and his disciples pluckt
the ears, and rubbed them with their hands to eat; this ripeness of the
corn shews that the Passover then fell late: and so did the Passover A.C.
32, April 14, but the Passover A.C. 31, March 28th, fell
very early. It was not therefore two years after the year 31, but two
years after 32 that Christ suffered.
Thus all the characters of the Passion agree to the year 34; and that
is the only year to which they all agree.
Notes to Chap. XI.
[1] I observe, that
Christ and his forerunner John in their parabolical
discourses were wont to allude to things present. The old Prophets, when
they would describe things emphatically, did not only draw parables from
things which offered themselves, as from the rent of a garment, 1
Sam. xv. from the sabbatic year, Isa. xxxvii. from the
vessels of a Potter, Jer. xviii, &c. but also when such fit
objects were wanting, they supplied them by their own actions, as by
rending a garment, 1 Kings xi. by shooting, 2 Kings xiii.
by making bare their body, Isa. xx. by imposing significant names
to their sons, Isa. viii. Hos. i. by hiding a girdle in the
bank of Euphrates, Jer. xiii. by breaking a potter's
vessel, Jer. xix. by putting on fetters and yokes, Jer.
xxvii. by binding a book to a stone, and casting them both into
Euphrates, Jer. li. by besieging a painted city,
Ezek. iv. by dividing hair into three parts, Ezek. v. by
making a chain, Ezek. vii. by carrying out houshold stuff like a
captive and trembling, Ezek. xii, &c. By such kind of types
the Prophets loved to speak. And Christ being endued with a nobler
prophetic spirit than the rest, excelled also in this kind of speaking,
yet so as not to speak by his own actions, that was less grave and
decent, but to turn into parables such things as offered themselves. On
occasion of the harvest approaching, he admonishes his disciples once and
again of the spiritual harvest, John iv. 35. Matth. ix. 37.
Seeing the lilies of the field, he admonishes his disciples about gay
clothing, Matth. vi. 28. In allusion to the present season of
fruits, he admonishes his disciples about knowing men by their fruits,
Matth. vii. 16. In the time of the Passover, when trees put forth
leaves, he bids his disciples learn a parable from the fig tree: when
its branch is yet tender and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is
nigh, &c. Matth. xxiv. 32. Luke xxi. 29. The same
day, alluding both to the season of the year and to his passion, which
was to be two days after, he formed a parable of the time of fruits
approaching, and the murdering of the heir, Matth. xxi. 33.
Alluding at the same time, both to the money-changers whom he had newly
driven out of the Temple, and to his passion at hand; he made a parable
of a Noble-man going into a far country to receive a kingdom and return,
and delivering his goods to his servants, and at his return condemning
the slothful servant because he put not his money to the exchangers,
Matth. xxv. 14. Luke xix. 12. Being near the Temple where
sheep were kept in folds to be sold for the sacrifices, he spake many
things parabolically of sheep, of the shepherd, and of the door of the
sheepfold; and discovers that he alluded to the sheepfolds which were to
be hired in the market-place, by speaking of such folds as a thief could
not enter by the door, nor the shepherd himself open, but a porter opened
to the shepherd, John x. 1, 3. Being in the mount of
Olives, Matth. xxxvi. 30. John xiv. 31. a place so
fertile that it could not want vines, he spake many things mystically of
the Husbandman, and of the vine and its branches, John xv. Meeting
a blind man, he admonished of spiritual blindness, John ix. 39. At
the sight of little children, he described once and again the innocence
of the elect, Matth. xviii. 2. xix. 13. Knowing that
Lazarus was dead and should be raised again, he discoursed of the
resurrection and life eternal, John xi. 25, 26. Hearing of the
slaughter of some whom Pilate had slain, he admonished of eternal
death, Luke xiii. 1. To his fishermen he spake of fishers of men,
Matth. iv. 10. and composed another parable about fishes.
Matth. xiii. 47. Being by the Temple, he spake of the Temple of
his body, John ii. 19. At supper he spake a parable about the
mystical supper to come in the kingdom of heaven, Luke xiv. On
occasion of temporal food, he admonished his disciples of spiritual food,
and of eating his flesh and drinking his blood mystically, John
vi. 27, 53. When his disciples wanted bread, he bad them beware of the
leven of the Pharisees, Matth. xvi. 6. Being desired to eat, he
answered that he had other meat, John iv. 31. In the great day of
the feast of Tabernacles, when the Jews, as their custom was,
brought a great quantity of waters from the river Shiloah into the
Temple, Christ stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst let
him come unto me and drink. He that believeth in me, out of his belly
shall flow rivers of living water, John vii. 37. The next day, in
allusion to the servants who by reason of the sabbatical year were newly
set free, he said, If ye continue in my word, the truth shall make you
free. Which the Jews understanding literally with respect to
the present manumission of servants, answered, We be Abraham's
seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayeth thou, ye shall be
made free? John viii. They assert their freedom by a double argument:
first, because they were the seed of Abraham, and therefore newly
made free, had they been ever in bondage; and then, because they never
were in bondage. In the last Passover, when Herod led his army
thro' Judea against Aretas King of Arabia, because
Aretas was aggressor and the stronger in military forces, as
appeared by the event; Christ alluding to that state of things,
composed the parable of a weaker King leading his army against a stronger
who made war upon him, Luke xiv. 31. And I doubt not but divers
other parables were formed upon other occasions, the history of which we
have not.
[2] Joseph. Antiq. lib. 3.
c. 10.
Of the Prophecy of the Scripture of
Truth.
The kingdoms represented by the second and third Beasts, or the Bear
and Leopard, are again described by Daniel in his last Prophecy
written in the third year of Cyrus over Babylon, the year
in which he conquered Persia. For this Prophecy is a commentary
upon the Vision of the Ram and He-Goat.
Behold, saith [1] he, there shall stand up yet
three kings in Persia, [Cyrus, Cambyses, and Darius
Hystaspes] and the fourth [Xerxes] shall be far
richer than they all: and by his strength thro' his riches he shall stir
up all against the realm of Grecia. And a mighty king
[Alexander the great] shall stand up, that shall rule with
great dominion, and do according to his will. And when he shall stand up,
his kingdom shall be broken, and shall be divided towards the four winds
of heaven; and not to his posterity [but after their death,] nor
according to his dominion which he ruled: for his kingdom shall be pluckt
up, even for others besides those. Alexander the great having
conquered all the Persian Empire, and some part of India,
died at Babylon a month before the summer Solstice, in the year of
Nabonassar 425: and his captains gave the monarchy to his bastard
brother Philip Aridæus, a man disturbed in his understanding; and
made Perdiccas administrator of the kingdom. Perdiccas with
their consent made Meleager commander of the army, Seleucus
master of the horse, Craterus treasurer of the kingdom,
Antipater governor of Macedon and Greece,
Ptolemy governor of Egypt; Antigonus governor of
Pamphylia, Lycia, Lycaonia, and Phrygia
major; Lysimachus governor of Thrace, and other
captains governors of other Provinces; as many as had been so before in
the days of Alexander the great. The Babylonians began now
to count by a new Æra, which they called the Æra of
Philip, using the years of Nabonassar, and reckoning the
425th year of Nabonassar to be the first year of Philip.
Roxana the wife of Alexander being left big with child, and
about three or four months after brought to bed of a son, they called him
Alexander, saluted him King, and joined him with Philip,
whom they had before placed in the throne. Philip reigned three
years under the administratorship of Perdiccas, two years more
under the administratorship of Antipater, and above a year more
under that of Polyperchon; in all six years and four months; and
then was slain with his Queen Eurydice in September by the
command of Olympias the mother of Alexander the great. The
Greeks being disgusted at the cruelties of Olympias,
revolted to Cassander the son and successor of Antipater.
Cassander affecting the dominion of Greece, slew
Olympias; and soon after shut up the young king Alexander,
with his mother Roxana, in the castle of Amphipolis, under
the charge of Glaucias, An. Nabonass. 432. The next year
Ptolemy, Cassander and Lysimachus, by means of
Seleucus, form'd a league against Antigonus; and after
certain wars made peace with him, An. Nabonass. 438, upon these
conditions: that Cassander should command the forces of
Europe till Alexander the son of Roxana came to age;
and that Lysimachus should govern Thrace, Ptolemy
Egypt and Lybia, and Antigonus all Asia.
Seleucus had possest himself of Mesopotamia,
Babylonia, Sustana and Media, the year before. About
three years after Alexander's death he was made governor of
Babylon by Antipater; then was expelled by
Antigonus; but now he recovered and enlarged his government over a
great part of the East: which gave occasion to a new Æra,
called Æra Seleucidarum. Not long after the peace made with
Antigonus, Diodorus saith the same Olympic year;
Cassander, seeing that Alexander the son of Roxana
grew up, and that it was discoursed thro'out Macedonia that it was
fit he should be set at liberty, and take upon him the government of his
father's kingdom, commanded Glaucias the governor of the castle to
kill Roxana and the young king Alexander her son, and
conceal their deaths. Then Polyperchon set up Hercules, the
son of Alexander the great by Barsinè, to be king; and soon
after, at the sollicitation of Cassander, caused him to be slain.
Soon after that, upon a great victory at sea got by Demetrius the
son of Antigonus over Ptolemy, Antigonus took upon
himself the title of king, and gave the same title to his son. This was
An. Nabonass. 441. After his example, Seleucus,
Cassander, Lysimachus and Ptolemy, took upon
themselves the title and dignity of kings, having abstained from this
honour while there remained any of Alexander's race to inherit the
crown. Thus the monarchy of the Greeks for want of an heir was
broken into several kingdoms; four of which, seated to the four winds
of heaven, were very eminent. For Ptolemy reigned over
Egypt, Lybia and Ethiopia; Antigonus over
Syria and the lesser Asia; Lysimachus over
Thrace; and Cassander over Macedon, Greece
and Epirus, as above.
Seleucus at this time reigned over the nations which were
beyond Euphrates, and belonged to the bodies of the two first
Beasts; but after six years he conquered Antigonus, and thereby
became possest of one of the four kingdoms. For Cassander being
afraid of the power of Antigonus, combined with Lysimachus,
Ptolemy and Seleucus, against him: and while
Lysimachus invaded the parts of Asia next the
Hellespont, Ptolemy subdued Phœnicia and
Cœlosyria, with the sea-coasts of Asia.
Seleucus came down with a powerful army into Cappadocia,
and joining the confederate forces, fought Antigonus in
Phrygia and flew him, and seized his kingdom, An. Nabonass.
447. After which Seleucus built Antioch, Seleucia,
Laodicea, Apamea, Berrhæa, Edessa, and other
cities in Syria and Asia; and in them granted the
Jews equal privileges with the Greeks.
Demetrius the son of Antigonus retained but a small part
of his father's dominions, and at length lost Cyprus to
Ptolemy; but afterwards killing Alexander, the son and
successor of Cassander king of Macedon, he seized his
kingdom, An. Nabonass. 454. Sometime after, preparing a very great
army to recover his father's dominions in Asia; Seleucus,
Ptolemy, Lysimachus and Pyrrhus king of
Epirus, combined against him; and Pyrrhus invading
Macedon, corrupted the army of Demetrius, put him to
flight, seized his kingdom, and shared it with Lysimachus. After
seven months, Lysimachus beating Pyrrhus, took
Macedon from him, and held it five years and a half, uniting the
kingdoms of Macedon and Thrace. Lysimachus in his
wars with Antigonus and Demetrius, had taken from them
Caria, Lydia, and Phrygia; and had a treasury in
Pergamus, a castle on the top of a conical hill in Phrygia,
by the river Caicus, the custody of which he had committed to one
Philetærus, who was at first faithful to him, but in the last year
of his reign revolted. For Lysimachus, having at the instigation
of his wife Arsinoe, slain first his own son Agathocles,
and then several that lamented him; the wife of Agathocles fled
with her children and brothers, and some others of their friends, and
sollicited Seleucus to make war upon Lysimachus; whereupon
Philetærus also, who grieved at the death of Agathocles,
and was accused thereof by Arsinoe, took up arms, and sided with
Seleucus. On this occasion Seleucus and Lysimachus
met and fought in Phrygia; and Lysimachus being slain in
the battel, lost his kingdom to Seleucus, An. Nabonass.
465. Thus the Empire of the Greeks, which at first brake into four
kingdoms, became now reduced into two notable ones, henceforward called
by Daniel the kings of the South and North. For
Ptolemy now reigned over Egypt, Lybia,
Ethiopia, Arabia, Phœnicia,
Cœlosyria, and Cyprus; and Seleucus, having
united three of the four kingdoms, had a dominion scarce inferior to that
of the Persian Empire, conquered by Alexander the great.
All which is thus represented by Daniel:[2] And the king of the South
[Ptolemy] shall be strong, and one of his Princes
[Seleucus, one of Alexander's Princes] shall be strong
above him, and have dominion; his dominion shall be a great
dominion.
After Seleucus had reigned seven months over Macedon,
Greece, Thrace, Asia, Syria,
Babylonia, Media, and all the East as far as
India; Ptolemy Ceraunus, the younger brother of Ptolemy
Philadelphus king of Egypt, slew him treacherously, and seized
his dominions in Europe: while Antiochus Soter, the son of
Seleucus, succeeded his father in Asia, Syria, and
most of the East; and after nineteen or twenty years was succeeded
by his son Antiochus Theos; who having a lasting war with
Ptolemy Philadelphus, at length composed the same by marrying
Berenice the daughter of Philadelphus: but after a reign of
fifteen years, his first wife Laodice poisoned him, and set her
son Seleucus Callinicus upon the throne. Callinicus in the
beginning of his reign, by the impulse of his mother Laodice,
besieged Berenice in Daphne near Antioch, and slew
her with her young son and many of her women. Whereupon Ptolemy
Euergetes, the son and successor of Philadelphus, made war
upon Callinicus; took from him Phœnicia, Syria,
Cilicia, Mesopotamia, Babylonia, Sustana, and
some other regions; and carried back into Egypt 40000 talents of
silver, and 2500 images of the Gods, amongst which were the Gods of
Egypt carried away by Cambyses. Antiochus Hierax at
first assisted his brother Callinicus, but afterwards contended
with him for Asia. In the mean time Eumenes governor of
Pergamus beat Antiochus, and took from them both all
Asia westward of mount Taurus. This was in the fifth year
of Callinicus, who after an inglorious reign of 20 years was
succeeded by his son Seleucus Ceraunus; and Euergetes after
four years more, An. Nabonass. 527, was succeeded by his son
Ptolemy Philopator. All which is thus signified by
Daniel:[3]
And in the end of years they [the kings of the South and
North] shall join themselves together: for the king's daughter
of the South [Berenice] shall come to the king of the
North to make an agreement, but she shall not retain the power of
the arm; neither shall she stand, nor her seed, but she shall be
delivered up, and he [Callinicus] that brought her, and he
whom she brought forth, and they that strengthned her in [those]
times, [or defended her in the siege of Daphne.] But out
of a branch of her roots shall one stand up in his seat [her brother
Euergetes] who shall come with an army, and shall enter into
the fortress [or fenced cities] of the king of the North,
and shall act against them and prevail: and shall carry captives into
Egypt, their Gods with their Princes and precious vessels of
silver and gold; and he shall continue some years after the king of
the North.
Seleucus Ceraunus, inheriting the remains of his father's
kingdom, and thinking to recover the rest, raised a great army against
the governor of Pergamus, now King thereof, but died in the third
year of his reign. His brother and successor, Antiochus Magnus,
carrying on the war, took from the King of Pergamus almost all the
lesser Asia, recovering also the Provinces of Media,
Persia and Babylonia, from the governors who had revolted:
and in the fifth year of his reign invading Cœlosyria, he
with little opposition possest himself of a good part thereof; and the
next year returning to invade the rest of Cœlosyria and
Phœnicia, beat the army of Ptolemy Philopator near
Berytus; he then invaded Palestine and the neighbouring
parts of Arabia, and the third year returned with an army of
78000: but Ptolemy coming out of Egypt with an army of
75000, fought and routed him at Raphia near Gaza, between
Palestine and Egypt; and recovered all Phœnicia
and Cœlosyria, Ann. Nabonass. 532. Being puffed up
with this victory, and living in all manner of luxury, the
Egyptians revolted, and had wars with him, but were overcome; and
in the broils sixty thousand Egyptian Jews were slain. All which
is thus described by Daniel: [4] But his sons [Seleucus
Ceraunus, and Antiochus Magnus, the sons of Callinicus]
shall be stirred up, and shall gather a great army; and he
[Antiochus Magnus] shall come effectually and overflow, and
pass thro' and return, and [again the next year] be stirred up
[marching even] to his fortress, [the frontier towns of
Egypt;] and the King of the South shall be moved with
choler, and come forth [the third year] and fight with him, even
with the King of the North; and he [the King of the
North] shall lead forth a great multitude, but the multitude
shall be given into his hand. And the multitude being taken away, his
heart shall be lifted up, and he shall cast down many ten thousands; but
he shall not be strengthned by it: for the king of the North shall
return, &c.
About twelve years after the battle between Philopator and
Antiochus, Philopator died; and left his kingdom to his
young son Ptolemy Epiphanes, a child of five years old. Thereupon
Antiochus Magnus confederated with Philip king of
Macedon, that they should each invade the dominions of
Epiphanes which lay next to them. Hence arose a various war
between Antiochus and Epiphanes, each of them seizing
Phœnicia and Cœlosyria by turns; whereby those
countries were much afflicted by both parties. First Antiochus
seized them; then one Scopas being sent with the army of
Egypt, recovered them from Antiochus: the next year, An.
Nabonass. 550, Antiochus fought and routed Scopas near
the fountains of Jordan, besieged him in Sidon, took the
city, and recovered Syria and Phœnicia from
Egypt, the Jews coming over to him voluntarily. But about
three years after, preparing for a war against the Romans, he came
to Raphia on the borders of Egypt; made peace with
Epiphanes, and gave him his daughter Cleopatra: next autumn
he passed the Hellespont to invade the cities of Greece
under the Roman protection, and took some of them; but was beaten
by the Romans the summer following, and forced to return back with
his army into Asia. Before the end of the year the fleet of
Antiochus was beaten by the fleet of the Romans near
Phocæa: and at the same time Epiphanes and Cleopatra
sent an embassy to Rome to congratulate the Romans on their
success against their father Antiochus, and to exhort them to
prosecute the war against him into Asia. The Romans beat
Antiochus again at sea near Ephesus, past their army over
the Hellespont, and obtain'd a great victory over him by land,
took from him all Asia westward of mount Taurus, gave it to
the King of Pergamus who assisted them in the war; and imposed a
large tribute upon Antiochus. Thus the King of Pergamus, by
the power of the Romans, recovered what Antiochus had taken
from him; and Antiochus retiring into the remainder of his
kingdom, was slain two years after by the Persians, as he was
robbing the Temple of Jupiter Belus in Elymais, to raise
money for the Romans. All which is thus described by
Daniel. [5] For the King of the North
[Antiochus] shall return, and shall set forth a multitude
greater than the former; and shall certainly come, after certain years,
with a great army and with much riches. And in those times there shall
many stand up against the King of the South, [particularly the
Macedonians;] also the robbers of thy people [the
Samaritans, &c.] shall exalt themselves to establish the
vision, but they shall fall. So the King of the North shall come,
and cast up a mount, and take the most fenced cities; and the arms of the
South shall not withstand, neither his chosen people, neither
shall there he any strength to withstand. But he that cometh against him
shall do according to his own will, and none shall stand before him: and
he shall stand in the glorious land, which shall fail in his hand. He
shall also set his face to go with the strength [or army] of all
his kingdom, and make an agreement with him [at Raphia;]
and he shall give him the daughter of women corrupting her; but she
shall not stand his side, neither be for him. After this he shall turn
his face unto the Isles, and shall take many: but a Prince for his own
behalf [the Romans] shall cause the reproach offered by him
to cease; without his own reproach he shall cause it to turn upon him.
Then he shall turn his face towards the fort of his own land: but he
shall stumble and fall, and not be found.
Seleucus Philopator succeeded his father Antiochus,
Anno Nabonass. 561, and reigned twelve years, but did nothing
memorable, being sluggish, and intent upon raising money for the
Romans to whom he was tributary. He was slain by
Heliodorus, whom he had sent to rob the Temple of
Jerusalem. Daniel thus describes his reign. [6] Then shall
stand up in his estate a raiser of taxes in the glory of the kingdom, but
within few days be shall be destroyed, neither in anger nor in
battle.
A little before the death of Philopator, his son
Demetrius was sent hostage to Rome, in the place of
Antiochus Epiphanes, the brother of Philopator; and
Antiochus was at Athens in his way home from Rome,
when Philopator died: whereupon Heliodorus the treasurer of
the kingdom, stept into the throne. But Antiochus so managed his
affairs, that the Romans kept Demetrius at Rome; and
their ally the King of Pergamus expelled Heliodorus, and
placed Antiochus in the throne, while Demetrius the right
heir remained an hostage at Rome. Antiochus being thus made
King by the friendship of the King of Pergamus reigned powerfully
over Syria and the neighbouring nations: but carried himself much
below his dignity, stealing privately out of his palace, rambling up and
down the city in disguise with one or two of his companions; conversing
and drinking with people of the lowest rank, foreigners and strangers;
frequenting the meetings of dissolute persons to feast and revel;
clothing himself like the Roman candidates and officers, acting
their parts like a mimick, and in publick festivals jesting and dancing
with servants and light people, exposing himself by all manner of
ridiculous gestures. This conduct made some take him for a madman, and
call him Antiochus Επιμενης. In the
first year of his reign he deposed Onias the high-Priest, and sold
the high-Priesthood to Jason the younger brother of Onias:
for Jason had promised to give him 440 talents of silver for that
office, and 15 more for a licence to erect a place of exercise for the
training up of youth in the fashions of the heathen; which licence was
granted by the King, and put in execution by Jason. Then the King
sending one Apollonius into Egypt to the coronation of
Ptolemy Philometor, the young son of Philometor and
Cleopatra, and knowing Philometor not to be well affected
to his affairs in Phœnicia, provided for his own safety in
those parts; and for that end came to Joppa and Jerusalem,
where he was honourably received; from thence he went in like manner with
his little army to the cities of Phœnicia, to establish
himself against Egypt, by courting the people, and distributing
extraordinary favours amongst them. All which is thus represented by
Daniel. [7] And in his
[Philometor's] estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom
they [the Syrians who set up Heliodorus] shall not
give the honour of the kingdom. Yet he shall come in peaceably, and
obtain the kingdom by flatteries [made principally to the King of
Pergamus;] and the arms [which in favour of
Heliodorus oppose him] shall be overflowed with a food from
before him, and be broken; yea also [Onias the high-Priest]
the Prince of the covenant. And after the league made with him,
[the King of Egypt, by sending Apollonius to his
coronation] he shall work deceitfully [against the King of
Egypt,] for he shall come up and shall become strong [in
Phœnicia ] with a small people. And he shall enter into
the quiet and plentiful cities of the Province [of
Phœnicia;] and [to ingratiate himself with the
Jews of Phœnicia and Egypt, and with their
friends] he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his
fathers fathers: he shall scatter among them the prey and the spoil, and
the riches [exacted from other places;] and shall forecast his
devices against the strong holds [of Egypt] even for a
time.
These things were done in the first year of his reign, An.
Nabonass. 573. And thenceforward he forecast his devices against the
strong holds of Egypt, until the sixth year. For three years
after, that is in the fourth year of his reign, Menelaus bought
the high-Priesthood from Jason, but not paying the price was sent
for by the King; and the King, before he could hear the cause, went into
Cilicia to appease a sedition there, and left Andronicus
his deputy at Antioch; in the mean time the brother of
Menelaus, to make up the money, conveyed several vessels out of
the Temple, selling some of them at Tyre, and sending others to
Andronicus. When Menelaus was reproved for this by
Onias, he caused Onias to be slain by Andronicus:
for which fact the King at his return from Cilicia caused
Andronicus to be put to death. Then Antiochus prepared his
second expedition against Egypt, which he performed in the sixth
year of his reign, An. Nabonass. 578: for upon the death of
Cleopatra, the governors of her son the young King of Egypt
claimed Phœnicia and Cœlosyria from him as her
dowry; and to recover those countries raised a great army.
Antiochus considering that his father had not quitted the
possession of those countries[8], denied they were her dowry; and
with another great army met and fought the Egyptians on the
borders of Egypt, between Pelusium and the mountain
Casius. He there beat them, and might have destroyed their whole
army, but that he rode up and down, commanding his soldiers not to kill
them, but to take them alive: by which humanity he gained
Pelusium, and soon after all Egypt; entring it with a vast
multitude of foot and chariots, elephants and horsemen, and a great navy.
Then seizing the cities of Egypt as a friend, he marched to
Memphis, laid the whole blame of the war upon Eulæus the
King's governor, entred into outward friendship with the young King, and
took upon him to order the affairs of the kingdom. While Aniochus
was thus employ'd, a report being spread in Phœnicia that he
was dead, Jason to recover the high-Priesthood assaulted
Jerusalem with above a thousand men, and took the city: hereupon
the King thinking Judea had revolted, came out of Egypt in
a furious manner, re-took the city, slew forty thousand of the people,
made as many prisoners, and sold them to raise money; went into the
Temple, spoiled it of its treasures, ornaments, utensils, and vessels of
gold and silver, amounting to 1800 talents; and carried all away to
Antioch. This was done in the year of Nabonassar 578, and
is thus described by Daniel. [9] And he shall stir up his power,
and his courage against the King of the South with a great army;
and the King of the South shall be stirrd up to battle with a very
great and mighty army; but he shall not stand: for they, even
Antiochus and his friends, shall forecast devices against
him, as is represented above; yea, they that feed of the portion
of his meat, shall betray and destroy him, and his army shall be
overthrown, and many shall fall down slain. And both these Kings hearts
shall be to do mischief; and they, being now made friends, shall
speak lyes at one table, against the Jews and against the holy
covenant; but it shall not prosper: for yet the end, in which the
setting up of the abomination of desolation is to prosper, shall be at
the time appointed. Then shall he return into his land with great riches,
and his heart shall be against the holy covenant; and he shall act,
against it by spoiling the Temple, and return into his own
land.
The Egyptians of Alexandria seeing Philometor
first educated in luxury by the Eunuch Eulæus, and now in the
hands of Antiochus, gave the kingdom to Euergetes, the
younger brother of Philometor. Whereupon Antiochus
pretending to restore Philometor, made war upon Euergetes;
beat him at sea, and besieged him and his sister Cleopatra in
Alexandria: while the besieged Princes sent to Rome to
implore the assistance of the Senate. Antiochus finding himself
unable to take the city that year, returned into Syria, leaving
Philometor at Memphis to govern Egypt in his
absence. But Philometor made friendship with his brother that
winter; and Antiochus, returning the next spring An.
Nabonass. 580, to besiege both the brothers in Alexandria, was
met in the way by the Roman Ambassadors, Popilius Læna,
C. Decimius, and C. Hostilius: he offered them his hand to
kiss, but Popilius delivering to him the tables wherein the
message of the Senate was written, bad him read those first. When he had
read them, he replied he would consider with his friends what was fit to
be done; but Popilius drawing a circle about him, bad him answer
before he went out of it: Antiochus, astonished at this blunt and
unusual imperiousness, made answer he would do what the Romans
demanded; and then Popilius gave the King his hand to kiss, and he
returned out of Egypt. The same year, An. Nabonass. 580,
his captains by his order spoiled and slaughtered the Jews,
profaned the Temple, set up the worship of the heathen Gods in all
Judea, and began to persecute and make war upon those who would
not worship them: which actions are thus described by Daniel. [10] At the
time appointed he shall come again towards the South, but
the latter shall not be as the former. For the ships of Chittim
shall come, with an embassy from Rome, against him.
Therefore he shall be grieved, and return, and have indignation against
the holy covenant. So shall he do; he shall even return, and have
intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant.
In the same year that Antiochus by the command of the
Romans retired out of Egypt, and set up the worship of the
Greeks in Judea; the Romans conquered the kingdom of
Macedon, the fundamental kingdom of the Empire of the
Greeks, and reduced it into a Roman Province; and thereby
began to put an end to the reign of Daniel's third Beast. This is
thus exprest by Daniel. And after him Arms, that is the
Romans, shall stand up. As ממלך signifies
after the King, Dan. xi. 8; so ממנו may signify after
him. Arms are every where in this Prophecy of Daniel
put for the military power of a kingdom: and they stand up when they
conquer and grow powerful. Hitherto Daniel described the actions
of the Kings of the North and South; but upon the conquest
of Macedon by the Romans, he left off describing the
actions of the Greeks, and began to describe those of the
Romans in Greece. They conquered Macedon,
Illyricum and Epirus, in the year of Nabonassar 580.
35 years after, by the last will and testament of Attalus the last
King of Pergamus, they inherited that rich and flourishing
kingdom, that is, all Asia westward of mount Taurus; 69
years after they conquered the kingdom of Syria, and reduced it
into a Province, and 34 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 then placed the abomination of desolation. For this abomination
was placed after the days of Christ, Math. xxiv. 15. In the
16th year of the Emperor Adrian, A.C. 132, they placed this
abomination by building a Temple to Jupiter Capitolinus, where the
Temple of God in Jerusalem had stood. Thereupon the Jews
under the conduct of Barchochab rose up in arms against the
Romans, and in the 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, were banished Judea upon pain of death, and
thenceforward the land remained desolate of its old inhabitants.
In the beginning of the Jewish war in Nero's reign, the
Apostles fled out of Judea with their flocks; some beyond
Jordan to Pella and other places, some into Egypt,
Syria, Mesopotamia, Asia minor, and elsewhere.
Peter and John came into Asia, and Peter went
thence by Corinth to Rome; but John staying in
Asia, was banished by the Romans into Patmos, as the
head of a party of the Jews, whose nation was in war with the
Romans. By this dispersion of the Christian Jews, the
Christian religion, which was already propagated westward as far
as Rome, spred fast into all the Roman Empire, and suffered
many persecutions under it till the days of Constantine the great
and his sons: all which is thus described by Daniel. [11] And such
as do wickedly against the covenant, shall he, who places the
abomination, cause to dissemble, and worship the heathen Gods;
but the people among them who do know their God, shall be
strong and act. And they that understand among the people, shall instruct
many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, and 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; and at that time by reason of their prosperity, many
shall come over to them from among the heathen, and cleave to them
with dissimulation. But of those of understanding there shall still
fall to try God's people by them and to purge them from the
dissemblers, and to make them white even to the time of the end:
because it is yet for a time appointed.
Hitherto the Roman Empire continued entire; and under this
dominion, the little horn of the He-Goat continued mighty, but not by
his own power. But now, by the building of Constantinople, and
endowing it with a Senate and other like privileges with Rome; and
by the division of the Roman Empire into the two Empires of the
Greeks and Latins, headed by those two cities; a new scene
of things commences, in which which [12] a King, the Empire of the
Greeks, doth according to his will, and, by setting his own
laws above the laws of God, exalts and magnifies himself above every
God, and speaks marvellous things against the God of Gods, and shall
prosper till the indignation be accomplished.—Neither shall he
regard the God of his fathers, nor the lawful desire of women
in matrimony, nor any God, but shall magnify himself above all. And in
his seat he shall honour Mahuzzims, that is, strong guardians, the
souls of the dead; even with a God whom his fathers knew not shall he
honour them, in their Temples, with gold and silver, and with
precious stones and valuable things. All which relates to the
overspreading of the Greek Empire with Monks and Nuns, who placed
holiness in abstinence from marriage; and to the invocation of saints and
veneration of their reliques, and such like superstitions, which these
men introduced in the fourth and fifth centuries. [13] And at the time of the end the
King of the South, or the Empire of the Saracens, shall
push at him; and the King of the North, or Empire of the
Turks, shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots
and with horsemen, and with many ships; and be shall enter into
the countries of the Greeks, and shall overflow and pass
over. He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries
shall be overthrown; but these shall escape out of his hand, even
Edom and Moab, and the chief of the children Ammon:
that is, those to whom his Caravans pay tribute. He shall stretch
forth his hand also upon the countries, and the land of Egypt
shall not escape; but he shall have power over the treasures of
gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; and
the Lybians and Ethiopians shall be at his steps. All
these nations compose the Empire of the Turks, and therefore this
Empire is here to be understood by the King of the North. They
compose also the body of the He-Goat; and therefore the Goat still reigns
in his last horn, but not by his own power.
Notes to Chap. XII.
[1] Chap. xi. 2, 3,
4.
[2] Chap. xi. 5.
[3] Chap. xi. 6, 7,
8.
[4] Chap. xi. 10,
&c.
[5] Chap. xi. 13-19.
[6] Chap. xi. 20.
[7] Chap. xi. 21,
&c.
[8] 2 Maccab. iii. 5, 8.
& iv. 4.
[9] Chap. xi. 25,
&c.
[10] Chap. xi. 29,
30.
[11] Chap. xi. 32,
&c.
[12] Chap. xi. 36,
&c.
[13] Chap. xi. 40,
&c.
Of the King who did according to his
will, and magnified himself above
every God, and honoured Mahuzzims,
and regarded not the desire of women.
In the first ages of the Christian religion the Christians of every
city were governed by a Council of Presbyters, and the President of the
Council was the Bishop of the city. The Bishop and Presbyters of one city
meddled not with the affairs of another city, except by admonitory
letters or messages. Nor did the Bishops of several cities meet together
in Council before the time of the Emperor Commodus: for they could
not meet together without the leave of the Roman governors of the
Provinces. But in the days of that Emperor they began to meet in
Provincial Councils, by the leave of the governors; first in Asia,
in opposition to the Cataphrygian Heresy, and soon after in other
places and upon other occasions. The Bishop of the chief city, or
Metropolis of the Roman Province, was usually made President of
the Council; and hence came the authority of Metropolitan Bishops above
that of other Bishops within the same Province. Hence also it was that
the Bishop of Rome in Cyprian's days called himself the
Bishop of Bishops. As soon as the Empire became Christian, the
Roman Emperors began to call general Councils out of all the
Provinces of the Empire; and by prescribing to them what points they
should consider, and influencing them by their interest and power, they
set up what party they pleased. Hereby the Greek Empire, upon the
division of the Roman Empire into the Greek and
Latin Empires, became the King who, in matters of religion,
did according to his will; and, in legislature, exalted
and magnified himself above every God: and at length, by the seventh
general Council, established the worship of the images and souls of dead
men, here called Mahuzzims.
The same King placed holiness in abstinence from marriage.
Eusebius in his Ecclesiastical history [1] tells us, that Musanus
wrote a tract against those who fell away to the heresy of the
Encratites, which was then newly risen, and had introduced
pernicious errors; and that Tatian, the disciple of Justin,
was the author thereof; and that Irenæus in his first book against
heresies teaches this, writing of Tatian and his heresy in these
words: A Saturnino & Marcione profecti qui vocantur Continentes,
docuerunt non contrahendum esse matrimonium; reprobantes scilicet
primitivum illud opificium Dei, & tacitè accusantes Deum qui masculum
& fæminam condidit ad procreationem generis humani. Induxerunt etiam
abstinentiam ab esu eorum quæ animalia appellant, ingratos se exhibentes
ergo eum qui universa creavit Deum. Negant etiam primi hominis salutem.
Atque hoc nuper apud illos excogitatum est, Tatiano quodam omnium primo
hujus impietatis auctore: qui Justini auditor, quamdiu cum illo versatus
est, nihil ejusmodi protulit. Post martyrium autem illius, ab Ecclesia se
abrumpens, doctoris arrogantia elatus ac tumidus, tanquam præstantior
cæteris, novam quandam formam doctrinæ conflavit: Æonas invisibiles
commentus perinde ac Valentinus: asserens quoque cum Saturnino &
Marcione, matrimonium nihil aliud esse quam corruptionem ac stuprum: nova
præterea argumenta ad subvertendam Adami salutem excogitans. Hæc Irenæus
de Hæresi quæ tunc viguit Encratitarum. Thus far Eusebius. But
altho the followers of Tatian were at first condemned as hereticks
by the name of Encratites, or Continentes; their principles
could not be yet quite exploded: for Montanus refined upon them,
and made only second marriages unlawful; he also introduced frequent
fastings, and annual, fasting days, the keeping of Lent, and
feeding upon dried meats. The Apostolici, about the middle of the
third century, condemned marriage, and were a branch of the disciples of
Tatian. The Hierocitæ in Egypt, in the latter end of
the third century, also condemned marriage. Paul the
Eremite fled into the wilderness from the persecution of
Decius, and lived there a solitary life till the reign of
Constantine the great, but made no disciples. Antony did
the like in the persecution of Dioclesian, or a little before, and
made disciples; and many others soon followed his example.
Hitherto the principles of the Encratites had been rejected by
the Churches; but now being refined by the Monks, and imposed not upon
all men, but only upon those who would voluntarily undertake a monastic
life, they began to be admired, and to overflow first the Greek
Church, and then the Latin also, like a torrent. Eusebius
tells us, [2]
that Constantine the great had those men in the highest
veneration, who dedicated themselves wholly to the divine philosophy; and
that he almost venerated the most holy company of Virgins perpetually
devoted to God; being certain that the God to whom he had consecrated
himself did dwell in their minds. In his time and that of his sons, this
profession of a single life was propagated in Egypt by
Antony, and in Syria by Hilarion; and spred so fast,
that soon after the time of Julian the Apostate a third part of
the Egyptians were got into the desarts of Egypt. They
lived first singly in cells, then associated into cœnobia or
convents; and at length came into towns, and filled the Churches with
Bishops, Presbyters and Deacons. Athanasius in his younger days
poured water upon the hands of his master Antony; and finding the
Monks faithful to him, made many of them Bishops and Presbyters in
Egypt: and these Bishops erected new Monasteries, out of which
they chose Presbyters of their own cities, and sent Bishops to others.
The like was done in Syria, the superstition being quickly
propagated thither out of Egypt by Hilarion a disciple of
Antony. Spiridion and Epiphanius of Cyprus,
James of Nisibis, Cyril of Jerusalem,
Eustathius of Sebastia in Armenia, Eusebius
of Emisa, Titus of Bostra, Basilius of
Ancyra, Acacius of Cæsarea in Palestine,
Elpidius of Laodicea, Melitius and Flavian of
Antioch, Theodorus of Tyre, Protogenes of
Carrhæ, Acacius of Berrhæa, Theodotus of
Hierapolis, Eusebius of Chalcedon,
Amphilochius of Iconium, Gregory Nazianzen,
Gregory Nyssen, and John Chrysostom of
Constantinople, were both Bishops and Monks in the fourth century.
Eustathius, Gregory Nazianzen, Gregory Nyssen,
Basil, &c. had Monasteries of Clergymen in their cities, out
of which Bishops were sent to other cities; who in like manner erected
Monasteries there, till the Churches were supplied with Bishops out of
these Monasteries. Hence Jerome, in a Letter written about the
year 385, [3]
saith of the Clergy: Quasi & ipsi aliud sint quam Monachi, &
non quicquid in Monachos dicitur redundet in Clericos qui patres sunt
Monachorum. Detrimentum pecoris pastoris ignominia est. And in his
book against Vigilantius: Quid facient Orientis Ecclesiæ? Quæ
aut Virgines Clericos accipiunt, aut Continentes, aut si uxores habuerint
mariti esse desistunt. Not long after even the Emperors commanded the
Churches to chuse Clergymen out of the Monasteries by this Law.
Impp. Arcad & Honor. AA. Cæsario PF. P.
[4] Si
quos forte Episcopi deesse sibi Clericos arbitrantur, ex monachorum
numero rectius ordinabunt: non obnoxios publicis privatisque rationibus
cum invidia teneant, sed habeant jam probatos. Dat. vii. Kal. Aug.
Honorio A. iv. & Eutychianio Coss. A.C. 598. The
Greek Empire being now in the hands of these Encratites,
and having them in great admiration, Daniel makes it a
characteristick of the King who doth according to his will, that he
should not regard the desire of Women.
Thus the Sect of the Encratites, set on foot by the
Gnosticks, and propagated by Tatian and Montanus
near the end of the second century; which was condemned by the Churches
of that and the third century, and refined upon by their followers;
overspread the Eastern Churches in the fourth century, and before
the end of it began to overspread the Western. Henceforward the
Christian Churches having a form of godliness, but denying the power
thereof, came into the hands of the Encratites: and the Heathens,
who in the fourth century came over in great numbers to the Christians,
embraced more readily this sort of Christianity, as having a greater
affinity with their old superstitions, than that of the sincere
Christians; who by the lamps of the seven Churches of Asia, and
not by the lamps of the Monasteries, had illuminated the Church Catholic
during the three first centuries.
The Cataphrygians brought in also several other superstitions:
such as were the doctrine of Ghosts, and of their punishment in
Purgatory, with prayers and oblations for mitigating that punishment, as
Tertullian teaches in his books De Anima and De
Monogamia. They used also the sign of the cross as a charm. So
Tertullian in his book de Corona militis: Ad omnem
progressum atque promotum, ad omnem aditum & exitum, ad vestitum, ad
calceatum, ad lavacra, ad mensas, ad lamina, ad cubilia, ad sedilia,
quacunque nos conversatio exercet, frontem crucis signaculo terimus.
All these superstitions the Apostle refers to, where he saith: Now the
Spirit speaketh expresly, that in the latter times some shall depart from
the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils,
the Dæmons and Ghosts worshipped by the heathens, speaking lyes
in hypocrisy, about their apparitions, the miracles done by them,
their reliques, and the sign of the cross, having consciences seared
with a hot iron; forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain
from meats, &c. 1 Tim. iv. 1,2,3. From the Cataphrygians
these principles and practices were propagated down to posterity. For
the mystery of iniquity did already work in the
Apostles days in the Gnosticks, continued to work very
strongly in their offspring the Tatianists and
Cataphrygians, and was to work till that man of sin should
be revealed; whose coming is after the working of Satan, with
all power and signs, and lying wonders, and all deceivableness of
unrighteousness; coloured over with a form of Christian
godliness, but without the power thereof, 2 Thess. ii. 7-10.
For tho some stop was put to the Cataphrygian Christianity, by
Provincial Councils, till the fourth century; yet the Roman
Emperors then turning Christians, and great multitudes of heathens
coming over in outward profession, these found the Cataphrygian
Christianity more suitable to their old principles, of placing religion
in outward forms and ceremonies, holy-days, and doctrines of Ghosts, than
the religion of the sincere Christians: wherefore they readily
sided with the Cataphrygian Christians, and established that
Christianity before the end of the fourth century. By this means those of
understanding, after they had been persecuted by the heathen Emperors in
the three first centuries, and were holpen with a little help, by
the conversion of Constantine the great and his sons to the
Christian religion, fell under new persecutions, to purge
them from the dissemblers, and to make them white, even to the
time of the end.
Notes to Chap. XIII.
[1] Lib. 4. c. 28,
29.
[2] In vita
Constantini, l. 4. c. 28.
[3] Epist. 10.
[4] L. 32. de
Episcopis.
Of the Mahuzzims, honoured by the
King who doth according to his will.
In scripture we are told of some trusting in God and others
trusting in idols, and that God is our refuge, our strength,
our defense. In this sense God is the rock of his people, and
false Gods are called the rock of those that trust in them, Deut.
xxxii. 4, 15, 18, 30, 31, 37. In the same sense the Gods of the
King who shall do according to his will are called
Mahuzzims, munitions, fortresses, protectors, guardians, or
defenders. In his estate, saith [1] Daniel, shall he honour
Mahuzzims; even with a God whom his fathers knew not, shall he
honour them with gold and silver, and with precious stones, and things of
value. Thus shall he do in the most strong holds or
temples;—and he shall cause them to rule over many, and divide
the land among them for a possession. Now this came to pass by
degrees in the following manner.
Gregory Nyssen [2] tells us, that after the
persecution of the Emperor Decius, Gregory Bishop of
Neocæsarea in Pontus, instituted among all people, as an
addition or corollary of devotion towards God, that festival days and
assemblies should be celebrated to them who had contended for the
faith, that is, to the Martyrs. And he adds this reason for
the institution: When he observed, saith Nyssen, that
the simple and unskilful multitude, by reason of corporeal delights,
remained in the error of idols; that the principal thing might be
corrected among them, namely, that instead of their vain worship they
might turn their eyes upon God; he permitted that at the memories of the
holy Martyrs they might make merry and delight themselves, and be
dissolved into joy. The heathens were delighted with the festivals of
their Gods, and unwilling to part with those delights; and therefore
Gregory, to facilitate their conversion, instituted annual
festivals to the Saints and Martyrs. Hence it came to pass,
that for exploding the festivals of the heathens, the principal festivals
of the Christians succeeded in their room: as the keeping of
Christmas with ivy and feasting, and playing and sports, in the
room of the Bacchanalia and Saturnalia; the celebrating of
May-day with flowers, in the room of the Floralia; and the
keeping of festivals to the Virgin Mary, John the Baptist,
and divers of the Apostles, in the room of the solemnities at the
entrance of the Sun into the signs of the Zodiac in the old
Julian Calendar. In the same persecution of Decius,
Cyprian ordered the passions of the Martyrs in Africa to be
registred, in order to celebrate their memories annually with oblations
and sacrifices: and Felix Bishop of Rome, a little after,
as Platina relates, Martyrum gloria consulens, constituit at
quotannis sacrificia eorum nomine celebrarentur; "consulting the
glory of the Martyrs, ordained that sacrifices should be celebrated
annually in their name." By the pleasures of these festivals the
Christians increased much in number, and decreased as much in
virtue, until they were purged and made white by the persecution
of Dioclesian. This was the first step made in the
Christian religion towards the veneration of the Martyrs: and tho
it did not yet amount to an unlawful worship; yet it disposed the
Christians towards such a further veneration of the dead, as in a
short time ended in the invocation of Saints.
The next step was the affecting to pray at the sepulchres of the
Martyrs: which practice began in Dioclesian's persecution. The
Council of Eliberis in Spain, celebrated in the third or
fourth year of Dioclesian's persecution, A.C. 305, hath these
Canons. Can. 34. Cereos per diem placuit in Cœmeterio non
incendi: inquietandi enim spiritus sanctorum non sunt. Qui hæc non
observârint, arceantur ab Ecclesiæ communione. Can. 35. Placuit
prohiberi ne fæminæ in Cœmeterio pervigilent, eò quod sæpe sub
obtentu orationis latentèr scelera committant. Presently after that
persecution, suppose about the year 314, the Council of Laodicea
in Phrygia, which then met for restoring the lapsed discipline of
the Church, has the following Canons. Can. 9. Those of the Church are
not allowed to go into the Cœmeteries or Martyries, as
they are called, of hereticks, for the sake of prayer or recovery of
health: but such as go, if they be of the faithful, shall be
excommunicated for a time. Can. 34. A Christian must not
leave the Martyrs of Christ, and go to false Martyrs, that is,
to the Martyrs of the hereticks; for these are alien from God: and
therefore let those be anathema who go to them. Can. 51. The
birth-days of the Martyrs shall not be celebrated in Lent, but
their commemoration shall be made on the Sabbath-days and Lords days.
The Council of Paphlagonia, celebrated in the year 324, made this
Canon: If any man being arrogant, abominates the congregations of the
Martyrs, or the Liturgies performed therein, or the memories of the
Martyrs, let him be anathema. By all which it is manifest that the
Christians in the time of Dioclesian's persecution used to
pray in the Cœmeteries or burying-places of the dead; for
avoiding the danger of the persecution, and for want of Churches, which
were all thrown down: and after the persecution was over, continued that
practice in honour of the Martyrs, till new Churches could be built: and
by use affected it as advantageous to devotion, and for recovering the
health of those that were sick. It also appears that in these
burying-places they commemorated the Martyrs yearly upon days dedicated
to them, and accounted all these practices pious and religious, and
anathematized those men as arrogant who opposed them, or prayed in the
Martyries of the hereticks. They also lighted torches to the
Martyrs in the day-time, as the heathens did to their Gods; which custom,
before the end of the fourth century, prevailed much in the West.
They sprinkled the worshipers of the Martyrs with holy-water, as the
heathens did the worshipers of their Gods; and went in pilgrimage to see
Jerusalem and other holy places, as if those places conferred
sanctity on the visiters. From the custom of praying in the
Cœmeteries and Martyries, came the custom of
translating the bodies of the Saints and Martyrs into such Churches as
were new built: the Emperor Constantius began this practice about
the year 359, causing the bodies of Andrew the Apostle,
Luke and Timothy, to be translated into a new Church at
Constantinople: and before this act of Constantius, the
Egyptians kept the bodies of their Martyrs and Saints unburied
upon beds in their private houses, and told stories of their souls
appearing after death and ascending up to heaven, as Athanasius
relates in the life of Antony. All which gave occasion to the
Emperor Julian, as Cyril relates, to accuse the
Christians in this manner: Your adding to that antient dead
man, Jesus, many new dead men, who can sufficiently abominate? You have
filled all places with sepulchres and monuments, altho you are no where
bidden to prostrate yourselves to sepulchres, and to respect them
officiously. And a little after: Since Jesus said that
sepulchres are full of filthiness, how do you invoke God upon them?
and in another place he saith, that if Christians had adhered to
the precepts of the Hebrews, they would have worshiped one God
instead of many, and not a man, or rather not many unhappy men: And
that they adored the wood of the cross, making its images on their
foreheads, and before their houses.
After the sepulchres of Saints and Martyrs were thus converted into
places of worship like the heathen temples, and the Churches into
sepulchres, and a certain sort of sanctity attributed to the dead bodies
of the Saints and Martyrs buried in them, and annual festivals were kept
to them, with sacrifices offered to God in their name; the next step
towards the invocation of Saints, was the attributing to their dead
bodies, bones and other reliques, a power of working miracles, by means
of the separate souls, who were supposed to know what we do or say, and
to be able to do us good or hurt, and to work those miracles. This was
the very notion the heathens had of the separate souls of their antient
Kings and Heroes, whom they worshiped under the names of Saturn,
Rhea, Jupiter, Juno, Mars, Venus,
Bacchus, Ceres, Osiris, Isis, Apollo,
Diana, and the rest of their Gods. For these Gods being male and
female, husband and wife, son and daughter, brother and sister, are
thereby discovered to be antient men and women. Now as the first step
towards the invocation of Saints was set on foot by the persecution of
Decius, and the second by the persecution of Dioclesian; so
this third seems to have been owing to the proceedings of
Constantius and Julian the Apostate. When Julian
began to restore the worship of the heathen Gods, and to vilify the
Saints and Martyrs; the Christians of Syria and
Egypt seem to have made a great noise about the miracles done by
the reliques of the Christian Saints and Martyrs, in opposition to
the powers attributed by Julian and the heathens to their Idols.
For Sozomen and Ruffinus tell us, that when he opened the
heathen Temples, and consulted the Oracle of Apollo Daphnæus in
the suburbs of Antioch, and pressed by many sacrifices for an
answer; the Oracle at length told him that the bones of the Martyr
Babylas which were buried there hinder'd him from speaking. By
which answer we may understand, that some Christian was got into
the place where the heathen Priests used to speak thro' a pipe in
delivering their Oracles: and before this, Hilary in his book
against Constantius, written in the last year of that Emperor,
makes the following mention of what was then doing in the East
where he was. Sine martyrio persequeris. Plus crudelitati vestræ
Nero, Deci, Maximiane, debemus. Diabolum enim per
vos vicimus. Sanctus ubique beatorum martyrum sanguis exceptus est, dum
in his Dæmones mugiunt, dum ægritudines depelluntur, dum miraculorum
opera cernuntur, elevari sine laqueis corpora, & dispensis pede
fæminis vestes non defluere in faciem, uri sine ignibus spiritus,
confiteri sine interrogantis incremento fidei. And Gregory
Nazianzen, in his first Oration against the Emperor Julian
then reigning, writes thus: Martyres non extimuisti quibus præclari
honores & festa constituta, à quibus Dæmones propelluntur & morbi
curantur; quorum sunt apparitiones & prædictiones; quorum vel sola
corpora idem possunt quod animæ sanctæ, sive manibus contrectentur, sive
honorentur: quorum vel solæ sanguinis guttæ atque exigua passionis signa
idem possunt quod corpora. Hæc non colis sed contemnis &
aspernaris. These things made the heathens in the reign of the same
Emperor demolish the sepulchre of John the Baptist in
Phœnicia, and burn his bones; when several Christians
mixing themselves with the heathens, gathered up some of his remains,
which were sent to Athanasius, who hid them in the wall of a
Church; foreseeing by a prophetic spirit, as Ruffinus tells us,
that they might be profitable to future generations.
The cry of these miracles being once set on foot, continued for many
years, and encreased and grew more general. Chrysostom, in his
second Oration on St. Babylas, twenty years after the silencing of
the Oracle of Apollo Daphnæus as above, viz. A.C. 382,
saith of the miracles done by the Saints and their reliques [3]: Nulla est
nostri hujus Orbis seu regio, seu gens, seu urbs, ubi nova &
inopinata miracula hæc non decantentur; quæ quidem si figmenta fuissent,
prorsus in tantam hominum admirationem non venissent. And a little
after: Abunde orationi nostræ fidem faciunt quæ quotidiana à
martyribus miracula eduntur, magna affatim ad illa hominum multitudine
affluente. And in his 66th Homily, describing how the Devils were
tormented and cast out by the bones of the Martyrs, he adds: Ob eam
causam multi plerumque Reges peregrè profecti sunt, ut hoc spectaculo
fruerentur. Siquidem sanctorum martyrum templa futuri judicii vestigia
& signa exhibent, dum nimirum Dæmones flagris cæduntur, hominesque
torquentur & liberantur. Vide quæ sanctorum vitâ functorum vis
sit? And Jerom in his Epitaph on Paula, thus [4] mentions the
same things. Paula vidit Samariam: ibi siti sunt Elisæus & Abdias
prophetæ, & Joannes Baptista, ubi multis intremuit consternata
miraculis. Nam cernebat variis dæmones rugire cruciatibus, & ante
sepulchra sanctorum ululare, homines more luporum vocibus latrare canum,
fremere leonum, sibilare serpentum, mugire taurorum, alios rotare caput
& post tergum terram vertice tangere, suspensisque pede fæminis
vestes non defluere in faciem. This was about the year 384: and
Chrysostom in his Oration on the Egyptian Martyrs, seems to
make Egypt the ringleader in these matters, saying [5]: Benedictus
Deus quandoquidem ex Ægypto prodeunt martyres, ex Ægypto illa cum Deo
pugnante ac insanissima, & unde impia ora, unde linguæ blasphemæ; ex
Ægypto martyres habentur; non in Ægypto tantum, nec in finitima vicinaque
regione, sed UBIQUE TERRARUM. Et quemadmodum in annonæ summa
ubertate, cum viderunt urbium incolæ majorem quam usus habitatorum
postulat esse proventum, ad peregrinas etiam urbes transmittunt: cum
& suam comitatem & liberalitatem ostendant, tum ut præter horum
abundantiam cum facilitate res quibus indigent rursus ab illis sibi
comparent: sic & Ægyptii, quod attinet ad religionis athletas,
fecerunt. Cum apud se multam eorum Dei benignitate copiam cernerent,
nequaquam ingens Dei munus sua civitate concluserunt, sed in OMNES
TERRÆ PARTES bonorum thesauros effuderunt: cum ut suum in fratres
amorem ostenderent, tum ut communem omnium dominum honore afficerent, ac
civitati suæ gloriam apud omnes compararent, totiusque terrarum
ORBIS esse METROPOLIN declararent.—Sanctorum enim
illorum corpora quovis adamantino & inexpugnabili muro tutiùs nobis
urbem communiunt, & tanquam excelsi quidam scopuli undique
prominentes, non horum qui sub sensus cadunt & oculis cernuntur
hostium impetus propulsant tantùm, sed etiam invisibilium dæmonum
insidias, omnesque diaboli fraudes subvertunt ac dissipant.—Neque
vero tantùm adversus hominum insidias aut adversus fallacias dæmonum
utilis nobis est hæc possessio, sed si nobis communis dominus ob
peccatorum multitudinem irascatur, his objectis corporibus continuo
poterimus eum propitium reddere civitati. This Oration was written at
Antioch, while Alexandria was yet the Metropolis of the
East, that is, before the year 381, in which Constantinople
became the Metropolis: and it was a work of some years for the
Egyptians to have distributed the miracle-working reliques of
their Martyrs over all the world, as they had done before that year.
Egypt abounded most with the reliques of Saints and Martyrs, the
Egyptians keeping them embalmed upon beds even in their private
houses; and Alexandria was eminent above all other cities for
dispersing them, so as on that account to acquire glory with all men, and
manifest herself to be the Metropolis of the world. Antioch
followed the example of Egypt, in dispersing the reliques of the
forty Martyrs: and the examples of Egypt and Syria were
soon followed by the rest of the world.
The reliques of the forty Martyrs at Antioch were distributed
among the Churches before the year 373; for Athanasius who died in
that year, wrote an Oration upon them. This Oration is not yet published,
but Gerard Vossius saw it in MS. in the Library of Cardinal
Ascanius in Italy, as he says in his commentary upon the
Oration of Ephræm Syrus on the same forty Martyrs. Now since the
Monks of Alexandria sent the reliques of the Martyrs of
Egypt into all parts of the earth, and thereby acquired glory to
their city, and declared her in these matters the Metropolis of the whole
world, as we have observed out of Chrysostom; it may be concluded,
that before Alexandria received the forty Martyrs from
Antioch, she began to send out the reliques of her own Martyrs
into all parts, setting the first example to other cities. This practice
therefore began in Egypt some years before the death of
Athanasius. It began when the miracle-working bones of John
the Baptist were carried into Egypt, and hid in the wall of a
Church, that they might be profitable to future generations. It
was restrained in the reign of Julian the Apostate: and then it
spred from Egypt into all the Empire, Alexandria being the
Metropolis of the whole world, according to Chrysostom, for
propagating this sort of devotion, and Antioch and other cities
soon following her example.
In propagating these superstitions, the ring-leaders were the Monks,
and Antony was at the head of them: for in the end of the life of
Antony, Athanasius relates that these were his dying words
to his disciples who then attended him. Do you take care, said
Antony, to adhere to Christ in the first place, and then
to the Saints, that after death they may receive you as friends and
acquaintance into the everlasting tabernacles, Think upon these things,
perceive these things; and if you have any regard to me, remember me as a
father. This being delivered in charge to the Monks by Antony
at his death, A.C. 356, could not but inflame their whole body with
devotion towards the Saints, as the ready way to be received, by them
into the eternal Tabernacles after death. Hence came that noise about the
miracles, done by the reliques of the Saints in the time of
Constantius: hence came the dispersion of the miracle-working
reliques into all the Empire; Alexandria setting the example, and
being renowned, for it above all other cities. Hence it came to pass in
the days of Julian, A.C. 362, that Athanasius by a
prophetic spirit, as Ruffinus tells us, hid the bones of
John the Baptist from the Heathens, not in the ground to be
forgotten, but in the hollow wall of a Church before proper witnesses,
that they might be profitable to future generations. Hence also
came the invocation of the Saints for doing such miracles, and for
assisting men in their devotions, and mediating with God. For
Athanasius, even from his youth, looked upon the dead Saints and
Martyrs as mediators of our prayers: in his Epistle to
Marcellinus, written in the days of Constantine the great,
he saith that the words of the Psalms are not to be transposed or
any wise changed, but to be recited and sung without any artifice, as
they are written, that the holy men who delivered them, knowing them
to be their own words, may pray with us; or rather, that the Holy Ghost
who spake in the holy men, seeing his own words with which he inspired
them, may join with them in assisting us.
Whilst Egypt abounded with Monks above any other country, the
veneration of the Saints began sooner, and spred faster there than in
other places. Palladius going into Egypt in the year 388 to
visit the Monasteries, and the sepulchres of Apollonius and other
Martyrs of Thebais who had suffered under Maximinus, saith
of them: Iis omnibus Christiani fecerunt ædem unam, ubi nunc multæ
virtutes peraguntur. Tanta autem fuit viri gratia, ut de iis quæ esset
precatus statim exaudiretur, eum sic honorante servatore: quem etiam nos
in martyrio precati vidimus, cum iis qui cum ipso fuerunt martyrio
affecti; & Deum adorantes, eorum corpora salutavimus.
Eunapius also, a heathen, yet a competent witness of what was done
in his own times, relating how the soldiers delivered the temples of
Egypt into the hands of the Monks, which was done in the year 389,
rails thus in an impious manner at the Martyrs, as succeeding in the room
of the old Gods of Egypt. Illi ipsi, milites, Monachos
Canobi quoque collocârunt, ut pro Diis qui animo cernuntur, servos &
quidem flagitiosos divinis honoribus percolerent, hominum mentibus ad
cultum ceremoniasque obligatis. Ii namque condita & salita eorum
capita, qui ob scelerum multitudinem à judicibus extremo judicio fuerant
affecti, pro Divis ostentabant; iis genua submittebant, eos in Deorum
numerum receptabant, ad illorum sepulchra pulvere sordibusque
conspurcati. Martyres igitur vocabantur, & ministri quidem &
legati arbitrique precum apud Deos; cum fuerint servilia infida &
flagris pessimè subacta, quæ cicatrices scelerum ac nequitiæ vestigia
corporibus circumferunt; ejusmodi tamen Deos fert tellus. By these
instances we may understand the invocation of Saints was now of some
standing in Egypt, and that it was already generally received and
practised there by the common people.
Thus Basil a Monk, who was made Bishop of Cæsarea in the
year 369, and died in the year 378, in his Oration on the Martyr
Mamas, saith: Be ye mindful of the Martyr; as many of you as
have enjoyed him in your dreams, as many as in this place have been
assisted by him in prayer, as many of you as upon invoking him by name
have had him present in your works, as many as he has reduced into the
way from wandering, as many as he has restored to health, as, many as
have had their dead children restored by him to life, as many as have had
their lives prolonged by him: and a little after, he thus expresses
the universality of this superstition in the regions of Cappadocia
and Bithynia: At the memory of the Martyr, saith he, the
whole region is moved; at his festival the whole city is transported with
joy. Nor do the kindred of the rich turn aside to the sepulchres of their
ancestors, but all go to the place of devotion. Again, in the end of
the Homily he prays, that God would preserve the Church, thus
fortified with the great towers of the Martyrs: and in his Oration on
the forty Martyrs; These are they, saith he, who obtaining our
country, like certain towers afford us safety against our enemies.
Neither are they shut up in one place only, but being distributed are
sent into many regions, and adorn many countries.—You have often
endeavoured, you have often laboured to find one who might pray for you:
here are forty, emitting one voice of prayer.—He that is in
affliction flies to these, he that rejoices has recourse to these: the
first, that he may be freed from evil, the last that he may continue in
happiness. Here a woman praying for her children is heard; she obtains a
safe return for her husband from abroad, and health for him in his
sickness.—O ye common keepers of mankind, the best companions of
our cares, suffragans and coadjutors of our prayers, most powerful
embassadors to God, &c. By all which it is manifest, that before
the year 378, the Orations and Sermons upon the Saints went much beyond
the bounds of mere oratorical flourishes, and that the common people in
the East were already generally corrupted by the Monks with
Saint-worship.
Gregory Nazianzen a Monk, in his sixth Oration written A.C.
373, when he was newly made Bishop of Sasima, saith: Let us
purify ourselves to the Martyrs, or rather to the God of the Martyrs:
and a little after he calls the Martyrs mediators of obtaining an
ascension or divinity. The same year, in the end of his Oration upon
Athanasius then newly dead, he thus invokes him: Do thou look
down upon us propitiously, and govern this people, as perfect adorers of
the perfect Trinity, which in the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, is
contemplated and worshiped: if there shall be peace, preserve me, and
feed my flock with me; but if war, bring me home, place me by thyself,
and by those that are like thee; however great my request. And in the
end of the funeral Oration upon Basil, written A.C. 378, he thus
addresses him: But thou, O divine and sacred Head, look down upon us
from heaven; and by thy prayers either take away that thorn of the flesh
which is given us by God for exercise, or obtain that we may bear it with
courage, and direct all our life to that which is most fitting for us.
When we depart this life, receive us there in your Tabernacles, that
living together and beholding the holy and blessed Trinity more purely
and perfectly, whereof we have now but an imperfect view, we may there
come to the end of our desires, and receive this reward of the wars which
we have waged or suffered: and in his Oration upon Cyprian,
not the Bishop of Carthage, but a Greek, he invokes him
after the same manner; and tells us also how a pious Virgin named
Justina, was protected by invoking the Virgin Mary, and how
miracles were done by the ashes of Cyprian.
Gregory Nyssen, another eminent Monk and Bishop, in the life of
Ephræm Syrus, tells how a certain man returning from a far
country, was in great danger, by reason all the ways were intercepted by
the armies of barbarous nations; but upon invoking Ephræm by name,
and saying, Holy Ephræm assist me, he escaped the danger,
neglected the fear of death, and beyond his hope got safe home. In the
end of this Oration Gregory calls upon Ephræm after the
following manner: But thou, O Ephræm, assisting now at the divine
altar, and sacrificing to the Prince of life, and to the most holy
Trinity, together with the Angels; remember us all, and obtain for us
pardon of our sins, that we may enjoy the eternal happiness of the
kingdom of heaven. The same Gregory, in his Oration on the
Martyr Theodorus written A.C. 381, thus describes the power of
that Martyr, and the practice of the people. This Martyr, saith
he, the last year quieted the barbarous tempest, and put a stop to the
horrid war of the fierce and cruel Scythians.—If any one is
permitted to carry away the dust with which the tomb is covered, wherein
the body of the Martyr rests; the dust is accepted as a gift, and
gathered to be laid up as a thing of great price. For to touch the
reliques themselves, if any such prosperous fortune shall at any time
happen; how great a favour that is, and not to be obtained without the
most earnest prayers, they know well who have obtained it. For as a
living and florid body, they who behold it embrace it, applying to it the
eyes, mouth, ears, and all the organs of sense; and then with affection
pouring tears upon the Martyr, as if he was whole and appeared to them:
they offer prayers with supplication, that he would intercede for them as
an advocate, praying to him as an Officer attending upon God, and
invoking him as receiving gifts whenever he will. At length
Gregory concludes the Oration with this prayer: O Theodorus, we
want many blessings; intercede and beseech for thy country before the
common King and Lord: for the country of the Martyr is the place of his
passion, and they are his citizens, brethren and kindred, who have him,
defend, adorn and honour him. We fear afflictions, we expect dangers: the
wicked Scythians are not far off, ready to make war against us. As
a soldier fight for us, as a Martyr use liberty of speech for thy
fellow-servants. Pray for peace, that these publick meetings may not
cease, that the furious and wicked barbarian may not rage against the
temples and altars, that the profane and impious may not trample upon the
holy things. We acknowledge it a benefit received from thee, that we are
preserved safe and entire, we pray for freedom from danger in time to
come: and if there shall be need of greater intercession and deprecation,
call together the choir of thy brethren the Martyrs, and in conjunction
with them all intercede for us. Let the prayers of many just ones attone
for the sins of the multitudes and the people; exhort Peter,
excite Paul, and also John the divine and beloved disciple,
that they may be sollicitous for the Churches which they have erected,
for which they have been in chains, for which they have undergone dangers
and deaths; that the worship of idols may not lift up its head against
us, that heresies may not spring up like thorns in the vineyard, that
tares grown up may not choak the wheat, that no rock void of the fatness
of true dew may be against us, and render the fruitful power of the word
void of a root; but by the power of the prayers of thyself and thy
companions, O admirable man and eminent among the Martyrs, the
commonwealth of Christians may become a field of corn. The
same Gregory Nyssen, in his sermon upon the death of
Meletius Bishop of Antioch, preached at
Constantinople the same year, A.C. 381, before the Bishops of all
the East assembled in the second general Council, spake thus of
Meletius. The Bridegroom, saith he, is not taken from
us: he stands in the midst of us, tho we do not see him: he is a Priest
in the most inward places, and face to face intercedes before God for us
and the sins of the people. This was no oratorical flourish, but
Gregory's real opinion, as may be understood by what we have cited
out of him concerning Ephræm and Theodorus: and as
Gregory preached this before the Council of Constantinople,
you may thence know, saith [6] Baronius, that he professed
what the whole Council, and therewith the whole Church of those parts
believed, namely, that the Saints in heaven offer prayers for us before
God.
Ephræm Syrus, another eminent Monk, who was contemporary with
Basil, and died the same year; in the end of his Encomium or
Oration upon Basil then newly dead, invokes him after this manner:
Intercede for me, a very miserable man; and recal me by thy
intercessions, O father; thou who art strong, pray for me who am weak;
thou who art diligent, for me who am negligent; thou who art chearful,
for me who am heavy; thou who art wise, for me who am foolish. Thou who
hast treasured up a treasure of all virtues, be a guide to me who am
empty of every good work. In the beginning of his Encomium upon the
forty Martyrs, written at the same time, he thus invokes them: Help me
therefore, O ye Saints, with your intercession; and O ye beloved, with
your holy prayers, that Christ by his grace may direct my tongue
to speak, &c. and afterwards mentioning the mother of one of
these forty Martyrs, he concludes the Oration with this prayer: I
entreat thee, O holy, faithful, and blessed woman, pray for me to the
Saints, saying; Intercede ye that triumph in Christ, for the most
little and miserable Ephræm, that he may find mercy, and by the
grace of Christ may be saved. Again, in his second Sermon or
Oration on the praises of the holy Martyrs of Christ, he thus
addresses them: We entreat you most holy Martyrs, to intercede with
the Lord for us miserable sinners, beset with the filthiness of
negligence, that he would infuse his divine grace into us: and
afterwards, near the end of the same discourse; Now ye most holy men
and glorious Martyrs of God, help me a miserable sinner with your
prayers, that in that dreadful hour I may obtain mercy, when the secrets
of all hearts shall be made manifest. I am to day become to you, most
holy Martyrs of Christ, as it were an unprofitable and unskilful
cup-bearer: for I have delivered to the sons and brothers of your faith,
a cup of the excellent wine of your warfare, with the excellent table of
your victory, replenished with all sorts of dainties. I have endeavoured,
with the whole affection and desire of my mind, to recreate your fathers
and brothers, kindred and relations, who daily frequent the table. For
behold they sing, and with exultation and jubilee glorify God, who has
crown'd your virtues, by setting on your most sacred heads incorruptible
and celestial crowns; they with excessive joy stand about the sacred
reliques of your martyrdoms, wishing for a blessing, and desiring to bear
away holy medicines both for the body and the mind. As good disciples and
faithful ministers of our benign Lord and Saviour, bestow therefore a
blessing on them all: and on me also, tho weak and feeble, who having
received strength by your merits and intercessions, have with the whole
devotion of my mind, sung a hymn to your praise and glory before your
holy reliques. Wherefore I beseech you stand before the throne of the
divine Majesty for me Ephræm, a vile and miserable sinner, that by
your prayers I may deserve to obtain salvation, and with you enjoy
eternal felicity by the grace and benignity and mercy of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ, to whom with the Father and Holy Ghost be
praise, honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
By what has been cited out of Basil, the two Gregories
and Ephræm, we may understand that Saint-worship was established
among the Monks and their admirers in Egypt, Phœnicia,
Syria and Cappadocia, before the year 378, this being the
year in which Basil and Ephræm died. Chrysostom was
not much later; he preached at Antioch almost all the time of
Theodosius the great, and in his Sermons are many exhortations to
this sort of superstition, as may be seen in the end of his Orations on
S. Julia, on St. Pelagia, on the Martyr Ignatius, on
the Egyptian Martyrs, on Fate and Providence, on the Martyrs in
general, on St. Berenice and St. Prosdoce, on
Juventinus and Maximus, on the name of
Cœmetery, &c. Thus in his Sermon on Berenice and
Prosdoce: Perhaps, saith he, you are inflamed with no
small love towards these Martyrs; therefore with this ardour let us fall
down before their reliques, let us embrace their coffins. For the coffins
of the Martyrs have great virtue, even as the bones of the Martyrs have
great power. Nor let us only on the day of this festival, but also on
other days apply to them, invoke them, and beseech them to be our
patrons: for they have great power and efficacy, not only whilst alive,
but also after death; and much more after death than before. For now they
bear the marks or brands of Christ; and when they shew these
marks, they can obtain all things of the King. Seeing therefore they
abound with such efficacy, and have so much friendship with him; we also,
when by continual attendance and perpetual visitation of them we have
insinuated ourselves into their familiarity, may by their assistance
obtain the mercy of God.
Constantinople was free from these superstitions till
Gregory Nazianzen came thither A.D. 379; but in a few years it was
also inflamed with it. Ruffinus [7] tells us, that when the Emperor
Theodosius was setting out against the tyrant Eugenius,
which was in the year 394, he went about with the Priests and people to
all the places of prayer; lay prostrate in haircloth before the shrines
of the Martyrs and Apostles, and pray'd for assistance by the
intercession of the Saints. Sozomen [8] adds, that when the Emperor was
marched seven miles from Constantinople against Eugenius,
he went into a Church which he had built to John the Baptist,
and invoked the Baptist for his assistance. Chrysostom [9] says: He that
is clothed in purple, approaches to embrace these sepulchres; and laying
aside his dignity, stands supplicating the Saints to intercede for him
with God: and he who goes crowned with a diadem, offers his prayers to
the tent-maker and the fisher-man as his Protestors. And in [10] another
place: The cities run together to the sepulchres of the Martyrs, and
the people are inflamed with the love of them.
This practice of sending reliques from place to place for working
miracles, and thereby inflaming the devotion of the nations towards the
dead Saints and their reliques, and setting up the religion of invoking
their souls, lasted only till the middle of the reign of the Emperor
Theodosius the great; for he then prohibited it by the following
Edict. Humatum corpus, nemo ad alterum locum transferat; nemo Martyrem
distrahat, nemo mercetur: Habeant verò in potestate, si quolibet in loco
sanctorum est aliquis conditus, pro ejus veneratione, quod
Martyrium vocandum sit, addant quod voluerint fabricarum. Dat.
iv. Kal. Mart. Constantinopoli, Honorio nob. puero & Euodio
Coss. A.C. 386. After this they filled the fields and high-ways with
altars erected to Martyrs, which they pretended to discover by dreams and
revelations: and this occasioned the making the fourteenth Canon of the
fifth Council of Carthage, A.C. 398. Item placuit, ut altaria,
quæ passim per agros aut vias, tanquam memoriæ Martyrum constituuntur, in
quibus nullum corpus aut reliquiæ Martyrum conditæ probantur, ab
Episcopis, qui illis locis præsunt, si fieri potest, evertantur. Si autem
hoc propter tumultus populares non sinitur, plebes tamen admoneantur, ne
illa loca frequentent, ut qui rectè sapiunt, nullâ ibi superstitione
devincti teneantur. Et omnino nulla memoria Martyrum probabiliter
acceptetur, nisi aut ibi corpus aut aliquæ certæ reliquiæ sint, aut ubi
origo alicujus habitationis, vel possessionis, vel passionis fidelissima
origine traditur. Nam quæ per somnia, & per inanes quasi revelationes
quorumlibet hominum ubique constituuntur altaria, omnimodè
reprobentur. These altars were for invoking the Saints or Martyrs
buried or pretended to be buried under them. First they filled the
Churches in all places with the reliques or pretended reliques of the
Martyrs, for invoking them in the Churches; and then they filled the
fields and high-ways with altars, for invoking them every where: and this
new religion was set up by the Monks in all the Greek Empire
before the expedition of the Emperor Theodosius against
Eugenius, and I think before his above-mentioned Edict, A.C.
386.
The same religion of worshiping Mahuzzims quickly spred into
the Western Empire also: but Daniel in this Prophecy
describes chiefly the things done among the nations comprehended in the
body of his third Beast.
Notes to Chap. XIV.
[1] Chap. xi. 38, 39
[2] Orat. de vita Greg.
Thaumaturg. T. 3. p. 574.
[3] Vide Hom. 47. in. S.
Julian.
[4] Epist. 27. ad
Eustochium.
[5] Edit. Frontonis
Ducæi, Tom. 1.
[6] Ad. an. 381, Sect.
41.
[7] Hist. Eccl. l. 2. c.
23.
[8] L. 4. c. 24.
[9] Hom. 66. ad. populum,
circa finem. & Hom. 8, 27. in Matth. Hom. 42, 43. in Gen. Hom. 1. in
1 Thess.
[10] Exposit. in Psal.
114. sub finem.
The end of the first Part.
PART II.
OBSERVATIONS
upon the
APOCALYPSE
of
St. JOHN.
Introduction, concerning the time when
the Apocalypse was written.
Irenæus introduced an opinion that the Apocalypse was
written in the time of Domitian; but then he also postponed the
writing of some others of the sacred books, and was to place the
Apocalypse after them: he might perhaps have heard from his master
Polycarp that he had received this book from John about the
time of Domitian's death; or indeed John might himself at
that time have made a new publication of it, from whence Irenæus
might imagine it was then but newly written. Eusebius in his
Chronicle and Ecclesiastical History follows
Irenœus; but afterwards [1] in his Evangelical
Demonstrations, he conjoins the banishment of John into
Patmos, with the deaths of Peter and Paul: and so do
[2] Tertullian
and Pseudo-Prochorus, as well as the first author, whoever he was,
of that very antient fable, that John was put by Nero into
a vessel of hot oil, and coming out unhurt, was banished by him into
Patmos. Tho this story be no more than a fiction yet was it
founded on a tradition of the first churches, that John was
banished into Patmos in the days of Nero. Epiphanius
represents the Gospel of John as written in the time of
Domitian, and the Apocalypse even before that of
Nero. [3]
Arethas in the beginning of his Commentary quotes the opinion of
Irenæus from Eusebius, but follows it not: for he
afterwards affirms the Apocalypse was written before the
destruction of Jerusalem, and that former commentators had
expounded the sixth seal of that destruction.
With the opinion of the first Commentators agrees the tradition of the
Churches of Syria, preserved to this day in the title of the
Syriac Version of the Apocalypse, which title is this:
The Revelation which was made to John the Evangelist by God in
the Island Patmos, into which he was banished by Nero the
Cæsar. The fame is confirmed by a story told by [4] Eusebius out of Clemens
Alexandrinus, and other antient authors, concerning a youth, whom
John some time after his return from Patmos committed to
the care of the Bishop of a certain city. The Bishop educated,
instructed, and at length baptized him; but then remitting of his care,
the young man thereupon got into ill company, and began by degrees first
to revel and grow vitious, then to abuse and spoil those he met in the
night; and at last grew so desperate, that his companions turning a band
of high-way men, made him their Captain: and, saith [5] Chrysostom, he continued their
Captain a long time. At length John returning to that city, and
hearing what was done, rode to the thief; and, when he out of reverence
to his old master fled, John rode after him, recalled him, and
restored him to the Church. This is a story of many years, and requires
that John should have returned from Patmos rather at the
death of Nero than at that of Domitian; because between the
death of Domitian and that of John there were but two years
and an half; and John in his old age was [6] so infirm as to be carried to Church,
dying above 90 years old, and therefore could not be then suppos'd able
to ride after the thief.
This opinion is further supported by the allusions in the
Apocalypse to the Temple and Altar, and holy City, as then
standing; and to the Gentiles, who were soon after to tread under
foot the holy City and outward Court. 'Tis confirmed also by the style of
the Apocalypse itself, which is fuller of Hebraisms than
his Gospel. For thence it may be gathered, that it was written when
John was newly come out of Judea, where he had been used to
the Syriac tongue; and that he did not write his Gospel, till by
long converse with the Asiatick Greeks he had left off most of the
Hebraisms. It is confirmed also by the many false
Apocalypses, as those of Peter, Paul, Thomas,
Stephen, Elias and Cerinthus, written in imitation
of the true one. For as the many false Gospels, false Acts, and false
Epistles were occasioned by true ones; and the writing many false
Apocalypses, and ascribing them to Apostles and Prophets, argues
that there was a true Apostolic one in great request with the first
Christians: so this true one may well be suppos'd to have been
written early, that there may be room in the Apostolic age for the
writing of so many false ones afterwards, and fathering them upon
Peter, Paul, Thomas and others, who were dead before
John. Caius, who was contemporary with Tertullian,
[7] tells us that
Cerinthus wrote his Revelations as a great Apostle, and pretended
the visions were shewn him by Angels, asserting a millennium of
carnal pleasures at Jerusalem after the resurrection; so that his
Apocalypse was plainly written in imitation of John's: and
yet he lived so early, that [8] he resisted the Apostles at
Jerusalem in or before the first year of Claudius, that is,
26 years before the death of Nero, and [9] died before John.
These reasons may suffice for determining the time; and yet there is
one more, which to considering men may seem a good reason, to others not.
I'll propound it, and leave it to every man's judgment. The
Apocalypse seems to be alluded to in the Epistles of Peter
and that to the Hebrews and therefore to have been written before
them. Such allusions in the Epistle to the Hebrews, I take to be
the discourses concerning the High-Priest in the heavenly Tabernacle, who
is both Priest and King, as was Melchisedec; and those concerning
the word of God, with the sharp two-edged sword, the σαββατισμος,
or millennial rest, the earth whose end is to be burned,
suppose by the lake of fire, the judgment and fiery indignation which
shall devour the adversaries, the heavenly City which hath
foundations whose builder and maker is God, the cloud of
witnesses, mount Sion, heavenly Jerusalem, general
assembly, spirits of just men made perfect, viz. by the
resurrection, and the shaking of heaven and earth, and removing them,
that the new heaven, new earth and new kingdom which cannot be shaken,
may remain. In the first of Peter occur these: [10] The Revelation
of Jesus Christ, twice or thrice repeated; [11] the blood of Christ as of
a Lamb foreordained before the foundation of the world; [12] the spiritual
building in heaven, 1 Pet. ii. 5. an inheritance incorruptible and
undefiled and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for us, who are
kept unto the salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time, 1
Pet. i. 4, 5. [13]
the royal Priesthood, [14] the holy Priesthood, [15] the judgment
beginning at the house of God, and [16] the Church at Babylon. These
are indeed obscurer allusions; but the second Epistle, from the 19th
verse of the first Chapter to the end, seems to be a continued Commentary
upon the Apocalypse. There, in writing to the Churches in
Asia, to whom John was commanded to send this Prophecy, he
tells them, they have a more sure word of Prophecy, to be heeded
by them, as a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn,
and the day-star arise in their hearts, that is, until they begin to
understand it: for no Prophecy, saith he, of the scripture is
of any private interpretation; the Prophecy came not in old time by the
will of man, but holy men of God spake, as they were moved by the Holy
Ghost. Daniel [17] himself professes that he
understood not his own Prophecies; and therefore the Churches were
not to expect the interpretation from their Prophet John, but to
study the Prophecies themselves. This is the substance of what
Peter says in the first chapter; and then in the second he
proceeds to describe, out of this sure word of Prophecy, how there
should arise in the Church false Prophets, or false
teachers, expressed collectively in the Apocalypse by the name
of the false Prophet; who should bring in damnable heresies, even
denying the Lord that bought them, which is the character of
Antichrist: And many, saith he, shall follow their
lusts [18];
they that dwell on the earth [19] shall be deceived by the false
Prophet, and be made drunk with the wine of the Whore's fornication,
by reason of whom the way of truth shall be blasphemed; for [20] the Beast is full
of blasphemy: and thro' covetousness shall they with feigned words
make merchandize of you; for these are the Merchants of the Earth,
who trade with the great Whore, and their merchandize [21] is all things of
price, with the bodies and souls of men: whose judgment—lingreth
not, and their damnation [22] slumbreth not, but shall surely
come upon them at the last day suddenly, as the flood upon the old
world, and fire and brimstone upon Sodom and Gomorrha,
when the just shall be delivered [23] like Lot; for the Lord
knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the
unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished, in the lake of fire;
but chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of
uncleanness, [24] being made drunk with the wine of
the Whore's fornication; who despise dominion, and are not afraid to
blaspheme glories; for the beast opened his mouth against God [25] to blaspheme his
name and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. These, as
natural brute beasts, the ten-horned beast and two-horned beast, or
false Prophet, made to be taken and destroyed, in the lake of
fire, blaspheme the things they understand not:—they count
it pleasure to riot in the day-time—sporting themselves with their
own deceivings, while they feast [26] with you, having eyes full of an
[27]
Adulteress: for the kingdoms of the beast live deliciously with the
great Whore, and the nations are made drunk with the wine of her
fornication. They are gone astray, following the way of Balaam,
the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness, the
false Prophet [28]
who taught Balak to cast a stumbling-block before the children of
Israel. These are, not fountains of living water, but
wells without water; not such clouds of Saints as the two
witnesses ascend in, but clouds that are carried with a tempest,
&c. Thus does the author of this Epistle spend all the second Chapter
in describing the qualities of the Apocalyptic Beasts and false
Prophet: and then in the third he goes on to describe their destruction
more fully, and the future kingdom. He saith, that because the coming of
Christ should be long deferred, they should scoff, saying,
where is the promise of his coming? Then he describes the sudden
coming of the day of the Lord upon them, as a thief in the night,
which is the Apocalyptic phrase; and the millennium, or
thousand years, which are with God but as a day; the
passing away of the old heavens and earth, by a conflagration in
the lake of fire, and our looking for new heavens and a new earth,
wherein dwelleth righteousness.
Seeing therefore Peter and John were Apostles of the
circumcision, it seems to me that they staid with their Churches in
Judea and Syria till the Romans made war upon their
nation, that is, till the twelfth year of Nero; that they then
followed the main body of their flying Churches into Asia, and
that Peter went thence by Corinth to Rome; that the
Roman Empire looked upon those Churches as enemies, because
Jews by birth; and therefore to prevent insurrections, secured
their leaders, and banished John into Patmos. It seems also
probable to me that the Apocalypse was there composed, and that
soon after the Epistle to the Hebrews and those of Peter
were written to these Churches, with reference to this Prophecy as what
they were particularly concerned in. For it appears by these Epistles,
that they were written in times of general affliction and tribulation
under the heathens, and by consequence when the Empire made war upon the
Jews; for till then the heathens were at peace with the
Christian Jews, as well as with the rest. The Epistle to the
Hebrews, since it mentions Timothy as related to those
Hebrews, must be written to them after their flight into
Asia, where Timothy was Bishop; and by consequence after
the war began, the Hebrews in Judea being strangers to
Timothy. Peter seems also to call Rome
Babylon, as well with respect to the war made upon Judea,
and the approaching captivity, like that under old Babylon, as
with respect to that name in the Apocalypse: and in writing to
the strangers scattered thro'out Pontus, Galatia,
Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, he seems to intimate
that they were the strangers newly scattered by the Roman wars;
for those were the only strangers there belonging to his care.
This account of things agrees best with history when duly rectified.
For [29]
Justin and [30] Irenæus say, that Simon
Magus came to Rome in the reign of Claudius, and
exercised juggling tricks there. Pseudo-Clemens adds, that he
endeavoured there to fly, but broke his neck thro' the prayers of
Peter. Whence [31] Eusebius, or rather his
interpolator Jerom, has recorded, that Peter came to
Rome in the second year of Claudius: but [32] Cyril
Bishop of Jerusalem, Philastrius, Sulpitius,
Prosper, Maximus Taurinensis, and Hegesippus junior,
place this victory of Peter in the time of Nero. Indeed the
antienter tradition was, that Peter came to Rome in the
days of this Emperor, as may be seen in [33] Lactantius.
Chrysostom [34] tells us, that the Apostles
continued long in Judea, and that then being driven out by the
Jews they went to the Gentiles. This dispersion was in the
first year of the Jewish war, when the Jews, as
Josephus tells us, began to be tumultuous and violent in all
places. For all agree that the Apostles were dispersed into several
regions at once; and Origen has set down the time, [35] telling us that
in the beginning of the Judaic war, the Apostles and disciples of
our Lord were scattered into all nations; Thomas into
Parthia, Andrew into Scythia, John into
Asia, and Peter first into Asia, where he preacht to
the dispersion, and thence into Italy. [36] Dionysius Corinthius saith,
that Peter went from Asia by Corinth to Rome,
and all antiquity agrees that Peter and Paul were martyred
there in the end of Nero's reign. Mark went with
Timothy to Rome, 2 Tim. iv. 11. Colos. iv.
10. Sylvanus was Paul's assistant; and by the companions of
Peter, mentioned in his first Epistle, we may know that he wrote
from Rome; and the Antients generally agree, that in this Epistle
he understood Rome by Babylon. His second Epistle was writ
to the same dispersed strangers with the first, 2 Pet. iii. 1. and
therein he saith, that Paul had writ of the same things to them,
and also in his other Epistles, ver. 15, 16. Now as there is no
Epistle of Paul to these strangers besides that to the
Hebrews, so in this Epistle, chap. x. 11, 12. we find at large all
those things which Peter had been speaking of, and here refers to;
particularly the passing away of the old heavens and earth, and
establishing an inheritance immoveable, with an exhortation to
grace, because God, to the wicked, is a consuming fire,
Heb. xii. 25, 26, 28, 29.
Having determined the time of writing the Apocalyse, I need not
say much about the truth of it, since it was in such request with the
first ages, that many endeavoured to imitate it, by feigning
Apocalypses under the Apostles names; and the Apostles themselves,
as I have just now shewed, studied it, and used its phrases; by which
means the style of the Epistle to the Hebrews became more mystical
than that of Paul's other Epistles, and the style of John's
Gospel more figurative and majestical than that of the other Gospels. I
do not apprehend that Christ was called the word of God in any
book of the New Testament written before the Apocalypse; and
therefore am of opinion, the language was taken from this Prophecy, as
were also many other phrases in this Gospel, such as those of
Christ's being the light which enlightens the world, the lamb
of God which taketh away the sins of the world, the bridegroom, he that
testifieth, he that came down from heaven, the Son of God, &c.
Justin Martyr, who within thirty years after John's death
became a Christian, writes expresly that a certain man among
the Christians whose name was John, one of the twelve
Apostles of Christ, in the Revelation which was shewed him,
prophesied that those who believed in Christ should live a
thousand years at Jerusalem. And a few lines before he saith: But
I, and as many as are Christians, in all things right in their
opinions, believe both that there shall be a resurrection of the flesh,
and a thousand years life at Jerusalem built, adorned and
enlarged. Which is as much as to say, that all true Christians
in that early age received this Prophecy: for in all ages, as many as
believed the thousand years, received the Apocalypse as the
foundation of their opinion: and I do not know one instance to the
contrary. Papias Bishop of Hierapolis, a man of the
Apostolic age, and one of John's own disciples, did not only teach
the doctrine of the thousand years, but also [37] asserted the Apocalypse as
written by divine inspiration. Melito, who flourished next after
Justin, [38]
wrote a commentary upon this Prophecy; and he, being Bishop of
Sardis one of the seven Churches, could neither be ignorant of
their tradition about it, nor impose upon them. Irenæus, who was
contemporary with Melito, wrote much upon it, and said, that
the number 666 was in all the antient and approved copies; and that he
had it also confirmed to him by those who had seen John face to
face, meaning no doubt his master Polycarp for one. At the
same time [39]
Theophilus Bishop of Antioch asserted it, and so did
Tertullian, Clemens Alexandrinus, and Origen soon
after; and their contemporary Hippolytus the Martyr, Metropolitan
of the Arabians, [40] wrote a commentary upon it. All
these were antient men, flourishing within a hundred and twenty years
after John's death, and of greatest note in the Churches of those
times. Soon after did Victorinus Pictaviensis write another
commentary upon it; and he lived in the time of Dioclesian. This
may surely suffice to shew how the Apocalypse was received and
studied in the first ages: and I do not indeed find any other book of the
New Testament so strongly attested, or commented upon so early as this.
The Prophecy said: Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the
words of this Prophecy, and keep the things which are written
therein. This animated the first Christians to study it so
much, till the difficulty made them remit, and comment more upon the
other books of the New Testament. This was the state of the
Apocalypse, till the thousand years being misunderstood, brought a
prejudice against it: and Dionysius of Alexandria, noting
how it abounded with barbarisms, that is with Hebraisms, promoted
that prejudice so far, as to cause many Greeks in the fourth
century to doubt of the book. But whilst the Latins, and a great
part of the Greeks, always retained the Apocalypse, and the
rest doubted only out of prejudice, it makes nothing against its
authority.
This Prophecy is called the Revelation, with respect to the
scripture of truth, which Daniel [41] was commanded to shut up and
seal, till the time of the end. Daniel sealed it until the
time of the end; and until that time comes, the Lamb is opening the
seals: and afterwards the two Witnesses prophesy out of it a long time in
sack-cloth, before they ascend up to heaven in a cloud. All which is as
much as to say, that these Prophecies of Daniel and John
should not be understood till the time of the end: but then some should
prophesy out of them in an afflicted and mournful state for a long time,
and that but darkly, so as to convert but few. But in the very end, the
Prophecy should be so far interpreted as to convince many. Then,
saith Daniel, many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be
encreased. For the Gospel must be preached in all nations before the
great tribulation, and end of the world. The palm-bearing multitude,
which come out of this great tribulation, cannot be innumerable out of
all nations, unless they be made so by the preaching of the Gospel before
it comes. There must be a stone cut out of a mountain without hands,
before it can fall upon the toes of the Image, and become a great
mountain and fill the earth. An Angel must fly thro' the midst of heaven
with the everlasting Gospel to preach to all nations, before
Babylon falls, and the Son of man reaps his harvest. The two
Prophets must ascend up to heaven in a cloud, before the kingdoms of this
world become the kingdoms of Christ. 'Tis therefore a part of this
Prophecy, that it should not be understood before the last age of the
world; and therefore it makes for the credit of the Prophecy, that it is
not yet understood. But if the last age, the age of opening these things,
be now approaching, as by the great successes of late Interpreters it
seems to be, we have more encouragement than ever to look into these
things. If the general preaching of the Gospel be approaching, it is to
us and our posterity that those words mainly belong: [42] In the time of the end the wise
shall understand, but none of the wicked shall understand. [43] Blessed is he
that readeth, and they that hear the words of this Prophecy, and keep
those things which are written therein.
The folly of Interpreters has been, to foretel times and things by
this Prophecy, as if God designed to make them Prophets. By this rashness
they have not only exposed themselves, but brought the Prophecy also into
contempt. The design of God was much otherwise. He gave this and the
Prophecies of the Old Testament, not to gratify men's curiosities by
enabling them to foreknow things, but that after they were fulfilled they
might be interpreted by the event, and his own Providence, not the
Interpreters, be then manifested thereby to the world. For the event of
things predicted many ages before, will then be a convincing argument
that the world is governed by providence. For as the few and obscure
Prophecies concerning Christ's first coming were for setting up
the Christian religion, which all nations have since corrupted; so
the many and clear Prophecies concerning the things to be done at
Christ's second coming, are not only for predicting but also for
effecting a recovery and re-establishment of the long-lost truth, and
setting up a kingdom wherein dwells righteousness. The event will prove
the Apocalypse; and this Prophecy, thus proved and understood,
will open the old Prophets, and all together will make known the true
religion, and establish it. For he that will understand the old Prophets,
must begin with this; but the time is not yet come for understanding them
perfectly, because the main revolution predicted in them is not yet come
to pass. In the days of the voice of the seventh Angel, when he shall
begin to sound, the mystery of God shall be finished, as he hath declared
to his servants the Prophets: and then the kingdoms of this world
shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ, and he shall
reign for ever, Apoc. x. 7. xi. 15. There is already so much of the
Prophecy fulfilled, that as many as will take pains in this study, may
see sufficient instances of God's providence: but then the signal
revolutions predicted by all the holy Prophets, will at once both turn
mens eyes upon considering the predictions, and plainly interpret them.
Till then we must content ourselves with interpreting what hath been
already fulfilled.
Amongst the Interpreters of the last age there is scarce one of note
who hath not made some discovery worth knowing; and thence I seem to
gather that God is about opening these mysteries. The success of others
put me upon considering it; and if I have done any thing which may be
useful to following writers, I have my design.
Notes to Chap. I.
[1] Dem. Evang. l. 3.
[2] Vid. Pamelium in
notis ad Tertull. de Præscriptionbus, n. 215 & Hieron
l. 1. contra Jovinianum, c. 14. Edit.Erasmi.
[3] Areth. c. 18, 19.
[4] Hist. Eccl. l. 3. c.
23.
[5] Chrysost. ad Theodorum
lapsum.
[6] Hieron. in Epist. ad Gal.
l. 3. c. 6.
[7] Apud Euseb. Eccl. Hist.
l. 3. c. 28. Edit. Valesii.
[8] Epiphan. Hæres. 28.
[9] Hieron. adv. Lucif.
[10] 1 Pet. i. 7, 13. iv.
13. & v. 1.
[11] Apoc. xiii. 8.
[12] Apoc. xxi.
[13] Apoc. i. 6. & v.
10.
[14] Apoc. xx. 6.
[15] Apoc. xx. 4, 12.
[16] Apoc. xvii.
[17] Dan. viii. 15, 16, 27.
& xii. 8, 9.
[18] ασελγειας,
in many of the best MSS.
[19] Apoc. xiii. 7, 12.
[20] Apoc. xiii. 1, 5,
6.
[21] Apoc. xviii. 12,
13.
[22] Apoc. xix. 20.
[23] Apoc. xxi. 3, 4.
[24] Apoc. ix. 21.
and xvii. 2.
[25] Apoc. xiii. 6.
[26] Apoc. xviii. 3, 7,
9.
[27] μοιχαλιδος.
[28] Apoc. ii. 14.
[29] Apol. ad Antonin.
Pium.
[30] Hæres. l. 1. c. 20.
Vide etiam Tertullianum, Apol. c. 13.
[31] Euseb. Chron.
[32] Cyril Catech. 6.
Philastr. de hæres. cap. 30. Sulp. Hist. l. 2. Prosper de promiss. dimid.
temp. cap. 13. Maximus serm. 5. in Natal. Apost. Hegesip. l. 2. c. 2.
[33] Lactant de mortib.
Persec. c. 2.
[34] Hom. 70. in Matt. c.
22.
[35] Apud Euseb. Eccl.
Hist. l. 2. c. 25.
[36] Euseb. Hist. l. 2. c.
25.
[37] Arethas in Proæm.
comment. in Apoc.
[38] Euseb. Hist. l. 4.
cap. 26. Hieron.
[39] Euseb. Hist. l. 4. c.
24.
[40] Hieron.
[41] Dan. x. 21. xii. 4,
9.
[42] Dan. xii. 4, 10.
[43] Apoc. i. 3.
Of the relation which the Apocalypse
of John hath to the Book of the
Law of Moses, and to the worship
of God in the Temple.
The Apocalypse of John is written in the same style and
language with the Prophecies of Daniel, and hath the same relation
to them which they have to one another, so that all of them together make
but one complete Prophecy; and in like manner it consists of two parts,
an introductory Prophecy, and an Interpretation thereof.
The Prophecy is distinguish'd into seven successive parts, by the
opening of the seven seals of the book which Daniel was commanded
to seal up: and hence it is called the Apocalypse or
Revelation of Jesus Christ. The time of the seventh seal is
sub-divided into eight successive parts by the silence in heaven for half
an hour, and the sounding of seven trumpets successively: and the seventh
trumpet sounds to the battle of the great day of God Almighty, whereby
the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of the Lord and of his
Christ, and those are destroyed that destroyed the earth.
The Interpretation begins with the words, And the temple of God was
opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the Ark of his
Testament: and it continues to the end of the Prophecy. The Temple is
the scene of the visions, and the visions in the Temple relate to the
feast of the seventh month: for the feasts of the Jews were
typical of things to come. The Passover related to the first coming of
Christ, and the feasts of the seventh month to his second coming:
his first coming being therefore over before this Prophecy was given, the
feasts of the seventh month are here only alluded unto.
On the first day of that month, in the morning, the High-Priest
dressed the lamps: and in allusion hereunto, this Prophecy begins with a
vision of one like the Son of man in the High-Priest's habit,
appearing as it were in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, or
over against the midst of them, dressing the lamps, which appeared like a
rod of seven stars in his right hand: and this dressing was perform'd by
the sending seven Epistles to the Angels or Bishops of the seven Churches
of Asia, which in the primitive times illuminated the Temple or
Church Catholick. These Epistles contain admonitions against the
approaching Apostacy, and therefore relate to the times when the Apostacy
began to work strongly, and before it prevailed. It began to work in the
Apostles days, and was to continue working till the man of sin should
be revealed. It began to work in the disciples of Simon,
Menander, Carpocrates, Cerinthas, and such sorts of
men as had imbibed the metaphysical philosophy of the Gentiles and
Cabalistical Jews, and were thence called Gnosticks.
John calls them Antichrists, saying that in his days there
were many Antichrists. But these being condemned by the Apostles,
and their immediate disciples, put the Churches in no danger during the
opening of the first four seals. The visions at the opening of these
seals relate only to the civil affairs of the heathen Roman
Empire. So long the Apostolic traditions prevailed, and preserved the
Church in its purity: and therefore the affairs of the Church do not
begin to be considered in this Prophecy before the opening of the fifth
seal. She began then to decline, and to want admonitions; and therefore
is admonished by these Epistles, till the Apostacy prevailed and took
place, which was at the opening of the seventh seal. The admonitions
therefore in these seven Epistles relate to the state of the Church in
the times of the fifth and sixth seals. At the opening of the fifth seal,
the Church is purged from hypocrites by a great persecution. At the
opening of the sixth, that which letted is taken out of the way, namely
the heathen Roman Empire. At the opening of the seventh, the man
of sin is revealed. And to these times the seven Epistles relate.
The seven Angels, to whom these Epistles were written, answer to the
seven Amarc-holim, who were Priests and chief Officers of the
Temple, and had jointly the keys of the gates of the Temple, with those
of the Treasuries, and the direction, appointment and oversight of all
things in the Temple.
After the lamps were dresed, John saw the door of the
Temple opened; and by the voice as it were of a trumpet,
was called up to the eastern gate of the great court, to see the visions:
and behold a throne was set, viz. the mercy-seat upon the
Ark of the Testament, which the Jews respected as the throne of
God between the Cherubims, Exod. xxv. 2. Psal. xcix. 1.
And he that sat on it was to look upon like Jasper and
Sardine stone, that is, of an olive colour, the people of
Judea being of that colour. And, the Sun being then in the
East, a rainbow was about the throne, the emblem of glory. And
round about the throne were four and twenty seats; answering to the
chambers of the four and twenty Princes of the Priests, twelve on the
south side, and twelve on the north side of the Priests Court. And
upon the seats were four and twenty Elders sitting, clothed in white
rayment, with crowns on their heads; representing the Princes of the
four and twenty courses of the Priests clothed in linen. And out of
the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings, and voices,
viz. the flashes of the fire upon the Altar at the
morning-sacrifice, and the thundering voices of those that sounded the
trumpets, and sung at the Eastern gate of the Priests Court; for these
being between John and the throne appeared to him as proceeding
from the throne. And there were seven lamps of fire burning, in
the Temple, before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God,
or Angels of the seven Churches, represented in the beginning of this
Prophecy by seven stars. And before the throne was a sea of glass
clear as chrystal; the brazen sea between the porch of the Temple and
the Altar, filled with clear water. And in the midst of the throne,
and round about the throne, were four Beasts full of eyes before and
behind: that is, one Beast before the throne and one behind it,
appearing to John as in the midst of the throne, and one on either
side in the circle about it, to represent by the multitude of their eyes
the people standing in the four sides of the peoples court. And the
first Beast was like a lion, and the second was like a calf, and the
third had the face of a man, and the fourth was like a flying eagle.
The people of Israel in the wilderness encamped round about the
tabernacle, and on the east side were three tribes under the standard of
Judah, on the west were three tribes under the standard of
Ephraim, on the south were three tribes under the standard of
Reuben, and on the north were three tribes under the standard of
Dan, Numb. ii. And the standard of Judah was a Lion,
that of Ephraim an Ox, that of Reuben a Man, and that of
Dan an Eagle, as the Jews affirm. Whence were framed the
hieroglyphicks of Cherubims and Seraphims, to represent the
people of Israel. A Cherubim had one body with four faces,
the faces of a Lion, an Ox, a Man and an Eagle, looking to the four winds
of heaven, without turning about, as in Ezekiel's vision, chap. i.
And four Seraphims had the same four faces with four bodies, one
face to every body. The four Beasts are therefore four Seraphims
standing in the four sides of the peoples court; the first in the eastern
side with the head of a Lion, the second in the western side with the
head of an Ox, the third in the southern side with the head of a Man, the
fourth in the northern side with the head of an Eagle: and all four
signify together the twelve tribes of Israel, out of whom the
hundred forty and four thousand were sealed, Apoc. vii. 4. And
the four Beasts had each of them six wings, two to a tribe, in all
twenty and four wings, answering to the twenty and four stations of the
people. And they were full of eyes within, or under their wings.
And they rest not day and night, or at the morning and
evening-sacrifices, saying, holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty, which
was, and is, and is to come. These animals are therefore the
Seraphims, which appeared to Isaiah [1] in a vision like this of the
Apocalypse. For there also the Lord sat upon a throne in the
temple; and the Seraphims each with six wings cried, Holy, holy, holy
Lord God of hosts. And when those animals give glory and honour and
thanks to him that sitteth upon the throne, who liveth for ever and ever,
the four and twenty Elders go into the Temple, and there fall down
before him that sitteth on the throne, and worship him that liveth for
ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art
worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast
created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
At the morning and evening-sacrifices, so soon as the sacrifice was laid
upon the Altar, and the drink-offering began to be poured out, the
trumpets sounded, and the Levites sang by course three times; and
every time when the trumpets sounded, the people fell down and worshiped.
Three times therefore did the people worship; to express which number,
the Beasts cry Holy, holy, holy: and the song being ended, the
people prayed standing, till the solemnity was finished. In the mean time
the Priests went into the Temple, and there fell down before him that sat
upon the throne, and worshiped.
And John saw, in the right hand of him that sat upon the
throne, a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven
seals, viz. the book which Daniel was commanded to seal
up, and which is here represented by the prophetic book of the Law laid
up on the right side of the Ark, as it were in the right hand of him that
sat on the throne: for the festivals and ceremonies of the Law prescribed
to the people in this book, adumbrated those things which were predicted
in the book of Daniel; and the writing within and on the backside
of this book, relates to the synchronal Prophecies. [2] And none was found worthy to open
the book but the Lamb of God. And lo, in the midst of the throne
and of the four Beasts, and in the midst of the Elders, that is, at
the foot of the Altar, stood a lamb as it had been slain, the
morning-sacrifice; having seven horns, which are the seven
Churches, and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent
forth into all the earth. And he came, and took the book out of the right
hand of him that sat upon the throne: And when he had taken the book, the
four Beasts and four and twenty Elders fell down before the Lamb, having
every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the
prayers of saints. And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to
take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and
hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue,
and people, and nation; and hast made us, unto our God, Kings and
Priests, and we shall reign on the earth. The Beasts and Elders
therefore represent the primitive Christians of all nations; and
the worship of these Christians in their Churches is here
represented under the form of worshiping God and the Lamb in the Temple:
God for his benefaction in creating all things, and the Lamb for his
benefaction in redeeming us with his blood: God as sitting upon the
throne and living for ever, and the Lamb as exalted above all by the
merits of his death. And I heard, saith John, the voice
of many Angels round about the throne, and the Beasts and the Elders: and
the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of
thousands; saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to
receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and
glory, and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven, and on the
earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are
in them, heard I, saying, Blessing, honour, glory, and power, be unto him
that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. And
the four Beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty Elders fell
down and worshiped him that liveth for ever and ever. This was the
worship of the primitive Christians.
It was the custom for the High-Priest, seven days before the fast of
the seventh month, to continue constantly in the Temple, and study the
book of the Law, that he might be perfect in it against the day of
expiation; wherein the service, which was various and intricate, was
wholly to be performed by himself; part of which service was reading the
Law to the people: and to promote his studying it, there were certain
Priests appointed by the Sanhedrim to be with him those seven days
in one of his chambers in the Temple, and there to discourse with him
about the Law, and read it to him, and put him in mind of reading and
studying it himself. This his opening and reading the Law those seven
days, is alluded unto in the Lamb's opening the seals. We are to conceive
that those seven days begin in the evening before each day; for the
Jews began their day in the evening, and that the solemnity of the
fast begins in the morning of the seventh day.
The seventh seal was therefore opened on the day of expiation, and
then there was silence in heaven for half an hour. And an Angel,
the High-Priest, stood at the Altar, having a golden Censer; and there
was given him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of
all Saints, upon the golden Altar which was before the throne. The
custom was on other days, for one of the Priests to take fire from the
great Altar in a silver Censer; but on this day, for the High-Priest to
take fire from the great Altar in a golden Censer: and when he was come
down from the great Altar, he took incense from one of the Priests who
brought it to him, and went with it to the golden Altar: and while he
offered the incense, the people prayed without in silence, which is the
silence in heaven for half an hour. When the High-Priest had laid the
incense on the Altar, he carried a Censer of it burning in his hand, into
the most holy place before the Ark. And the smoke of the incense, with
the prayers of the Saints, ascended up before God out of the Angel's
hand. On other days there was a certain measure of incense for the
golden Altar: on this day there was a greater quantity for both the Altar
and the most holy Place, and therefore it is called much incense.
After this the Angel took the Censer, and filled it with fire from
the great Altar, and cast it into the earth; that is, by the
hands of the Priests who belong to his mystical body, he cast it to the
earth without the Temple, for burning the Goat which was the Lord's lot.
And at this and other concomitant sacrifices, until the
evening-sacrifice was ended, there were voices, and thundrings, and
lightnings, and an earthquake; that is, the voice of the High-Priest
reading the Law to the people, and other voices and thundrings from the
trumpets and temple-musick at the sacrifices, and lightnings from the
fire of the Altar.
The solemnity of the day of expiation being finished, the seven Angels
found their trumpets at the great sacrifices of the seven days of the
feast of tabernacles; and at the same sacrifices, the seven thunders
utter their voices, which are the musick of the Temple, and singing of
the Levites, intermixed with the soundings of the trumpets: and
the seven Angels pour out their vials of wrath, which are the
drink-offerings of those sacrifices.
When six of the seals were opened, John said: [3] And after these
things, that is, after the visions of the sixth seal, I saw four
Angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds
of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea,
nor on any tree. And I saw another Angel ascending from the East,
having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the
four Angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying,
Hurt not the earth, nor the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the
servants of our God in their foreheads. This sealing alludes to a
tradition of the Jews, that upon the day of expiation all the
people of Israel are sealed up in the books of life and death. For
the Jews in their Talmud [4] tell us, that in the beginning of
every new year, or first day of the month Tisri, the seventh month
of the sacred year, three books are opened in judgment; the book of life,
in which the names of those are written who are perfectly just; the book
of death, in which the names of those are written who are Atheists or
very wicked; and a third book, of those whose judgment is suspended till
the day of expiation, and whose names are not written in the book of life
or death before that day. The first ten days of this month they call the
penitential days; and all these days they fast and pray very much, and
are very devout, that on the tenth day their sins may be remitted, and
their names may be written in the book of life; which day is therefore
called the day of expiation. And upon this tenth day, in returning home
from the Synagogues, they say to one another, God the creator seal you
to a good year. For they conceive that the books are now sealed up,
and that the sentence of God remains unchanged henceforward to the end of
the year. The same thing is signified by the two Goats, upon whose
foreheads the High-Priest yearly, on the day of expiation, lays the two
lots inscribed, For God and For Azazel; God's lot
signifying the people who are sealed with the name of God in their
foreheads; and the lot Azazel, which was sent into the wilderness,
representing those who receive the mark and name of the Beast, and go
into the wilderness with the great Whore.
The servants of God being therefore sealed in the day of expiation, we
may conceive that this sealing is synchronal to the visions which appear
upon opening the seventh seal; and that when the Lamb had opened six of
the seals and seen the visions relating to the inside of the sixth, he
looked on the backside of the seventh leaf, and then saw the four
Angels holding the four winds of heaven, and another Angel ascending from
the East with the seal of God. Conceive also, that the Angels
which held the four winds were the first four of the seven Angels, who
upon opening the seventh seal were seen standing before God; and that
upon their holding the winds, there was silence in heaven for half an
hour; and that while the servants of God were sealing, the Angel with
the golden Censer offered their prayers with incense upon the golden
Altar, and read the Law: and that so soon as they were sealed, the winds
hurt the earth at the sounding of the first trumpet, and the sea at the
sounding of the second; these winds signifying the wars, to which the
first four trumpets sounded. For as the first four seals are
distinguished from the three last by the appearance of four horsemen
towards the four winds of heaven; so the wars of the first four trumpets
are distinguished from those of the three last, by representing these by
four winds, and the others by three great woes.
In one of Ezekiel's visions, when the Babylonian
captivity was at hand, six men appeared with
slaughter-weapons; and a seventh, who [5] appeared among them clothed in
white linen and a writer's ink-horn by his side, is commanded to
go thro' the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the
foreheads of the men that sigh and cry for all the abominations done in
the midst thereof: and then the six men, like the Angels of the first
six trumpets, are commanded to slay those men who are not marked.
Conceive therefore that the hundred forty and four thousand are sealed,
to preserve them from the plagues of the first six trumpets; and that at
length by the preaching of the everlasting gospel, they grow into a
great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds,
and people and tongues: and at the sounding of the seventh trumpet
come out of the great tribulation with Palms in their hands: the
kingdoms of this world, by the war to which that trumpet sounds,
becoming the kingdoms of God and his Christ. For the solemnity of
the great Hosannah was kept by the Jews upon the seventh or
last day of the feast of tabernacles; the Jews upon that day
carrying Palms in their hands, and crying Hosannah.
After six of the Angels, answering to the six men with
slaughter-weapons, had sounded their trumpets, the Lamb in the form of
a mighty Angel cane down from heaven clothed with a cloud, and a
rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the Sun, and his
feet as pillars of fire, the shape in which Christ appeared in
the beginning of this Prophecy; and he had in his hand a little book
open, the book which he had newly opened; for he received but one
book from him that sitteth upon the throne, and he alone was worthy to
open and look on this book. And he set his right foot upon the sea and
his left foot on the earth, and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion
roareth. It was the custom for the High-Priest on the day of
expiation, to stand in an elevated place in the peoples court, at the
Eastern gate of the Priests court, and read the Law to the people, while
the Heifer and the Goat which was the Lord's lot, were burning without
the Temple. We may therefore suppose him standing in such a manner, that
his right foot might appear to John as it were standing on the sea
of glass, and his left foot on the ground of the house; and that he cried
with a loud voice, in reading the Law on the day of expiation. And
when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices. Thunders are
the voice of a cloud, and a cloud signifies a multitude; and this
multitude may be the Levites, who sang with thundering voices, and
played with musical instruments at the great sacrifices, on the seven
days of the feast of Tabernacles: at which times the trumpets also
sounded. For the trumpets sounded, and the Levites sang
alternately, three times at every sacrifice. The Prophecy therefore of
the seven thunders is nothing else than a repetition of the Prophecy of
the seven trumpets in another form. And the Angel which I saw stand
upon the sea and upon the earth, lifted up his hand to heaven, and sware
by him that liveth for ever and ever, that after the seven thunders
there should be time no longer; but in the days of the voice of the
seventh Angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be
finished, as he hath declared to his servants the Prophets. The
voices of the thunders therefore last to the end of this world, and so do
those of the trumpets.
And the voice which I heard from heaven, saith John,
spake unto me again and said, Go and take the little book, &c. And
I took the little book out of the Angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was
in my mouth sweet as honey, and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was
bitter. And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many
peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings. This is an introduction
to a new Prophecy, to a repetition of the Prophecy of the whole book; and
alludes to Ezekiel's eating a roll or book spread open before him,
and written within and without, full of lamentations and mourning and
woe, but sweet in his mouth. Eating and drinking signify acquiring and
possessing; and eating the book is becoming inspired with the Prophecy
contained in it. It implies being inspired in a vigorous and
extraordinary manner with the Prophecy of the whole book, and therefore
signifies a lively repetition of the whole Prophecy by way of
interpretation, and begins not till the first Prophecy, that of the seals
and trumpets, is ended. It was sweet in John's mouth, and
therefore begins not with the bitter Prophecy of the Babylonian
captivity, and the Gentiles being in the outward court of the
Temple, and treading the holy city under foot; and the prophesying of the
two Witnesses in sackcloth, and their smiting the earth with all
plagues, and being killed by the Beast; but so soon as the Prophecy of
the trumpets is ended, it begins with the sweet Prophecy of the glorious
Woman in heaven, and the victory of Michael over the
Dragon; and after that, it is bitter in John's belly, by a large
description of the times of the great Apostacy.
And the Angel stood, upon the earth and sea, saying, Rise
and measure the Temple of God and the Altar, and them that worship
therein, that is, their courts with the buildings thereon,
viz. the square court of the Temple called the separate place, and
the square court of the Altar called the Priests court, and the court of
them that worship in the Temple called the new court: but the
great court which is without the Temple, leave out, and measure it
not, for it is given to the Gentiles, and the holy city shall they
tread under foot forty and two months. This measuring hath reference
to Ezekiel's measuring the Temple of Solomon: there the
whole Temple, including the outward court, was measured, to signify that
it should be rebuilt in the latter days. Here the courts of the Temple
and Altar, and they who worship therein, are only measured, to signify
the building of a second Temple, for those that are sealed out of all the
twelve tribes of Israel, and worship in the inward court of
sincerity and truth: but John is commanded to leave out the
outward court, or outward form of religion and Church-government, because
it is given to the Babylonian Gentiles. For the glorious woman in
heaven, the remnant of whole seed kept the commandments of God, and had
the testimony of Jesus, continued the same woman in outward form
after her flight into the wilderness, whereby she quitted her former
sincerity and piety, and became the great Whore. She lost her chastity,
but kept her outward form and shape. And while the Gentiles tread
the holy city underfoot, and worship in the outward court, the two
witnesses, represented perhaps by the two feet of the Angel standing on
the sea and earth, prophesied against them, and had power, like
Elijah and Moses, to consume their enemies with fire
proceeding out of their mouth, and to shut heaven that it rain not in the
days of their Prophecy, and to turn the waters into blood, and to smite
the earth with all plagues as often as they will, that is, with the
plagues of the trumpets and vials of wrath; and at length they are slain,
rise again from the dead, and ascend up to heaven in a cloud; and then
the seventh trumpet sounds to the day of judgment.
The Prophecy being finished, John is inspired anew by the eaten
book, and begins the Interpretation thereof with these words, And the
Temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his Temple the
Ark of the Testament. By the Ark, we may know that this was the first
Temple; for the second Temple had no Ark. And there were lightnings,
and voices, and thundrings, and an earthquake, and great hail. These
answer to the wars in the Roman Empire, during the reign of the
four horsemen, who appeared upon opening the first four seals. And
there appeared a great wonder in heaven, a woman clothed with the
Sun. In the Prophecy, the affairs of the Church begin to be
considered at the opening of the fifth seal; and in the Interpretation,
they begin at the same time with the vision of the Church in the form of
a woman in heaven: there she is persecuted, and here she is pained in
travail. The Interpretation proceeds down first to the sealing of the
servants of God, and marking the rest with the mark of the Beast; and
then to the day of judgment, represented by a harvest and vintage. Then
it returns back to the times of opening the seventh seal, and interprets
the Prophecy of the seven trumpets by the pouring out of seven vials of
wrath. The Angels who pour them out, come out of the Temple of the
Tabernacle; that is, out of the second Temple, for the Tabernacle had
no outward court. Then it returns back again to the times of measuring
the Temple and Altar, and of the Gentiles worshiping in the
outward court, and of the Beast killing the witnesses in the streets of
the great city; and interprets these things by the vision of a woman
sitting on the Beast, drunken with the blood of the Saints; and
proceeds in the interpretation downwards to the fall of the great city
and the day of judgment.
The whole Prophecy of the book, represented by the book of the Law, is
therefore repeated, and interpreted in the visions which follow those of
sounding the seventh trumpet, and begin with that of the Temple of God
opened in heaven. Only the things, which the seven thunders uttered, were
not written down, and therefore not interpreted.
Notes to Chap. II.
[1] Isa. vi.
[2] Apoc. v.
[3] Apoc. vii
[4] Buxtorf in Synogoga
Judaica, c. 18, 21.
[5] Ezek. ix.
Of the relation which the Prophecy of
John hath to those of Daniel; and
of the Subject of the Prophecy.
The whole scene of sacred Prophecy is composed of three principal
parts: the regions beyond Euphrates, represented by the two first
Beasts of Daniel; the Empire of the Greeks on this side of
Euphrates, represented by the Leopard and by the He-Goat; and the
Empire of the Latins on this side of Greece, represented by
the Beast with ten horns. And to these three parts, the phrases of the
third part of the earth, sea, rivers, trees, ships, stars, sun, and
moon, relate. I place the body of the fourth Beast on this side of
Greece, because the three first of the four Beasts had their lives
prolonged after their dominion was taken away, and therefore belong not
to the body of the fourth. He only stamped them with his feet.
By the earth, the Jews understood the great continent of
all Asia and Africa, to which they had access by land: and
by the Isles of the sea, they understood the places to which they
sailed by sea, particularly all Europe: and hence in this
Prophecy, the earth and sea are put for the nations of the
Greek and Latin Empires.
The third and fourth Beasts of Daniel are the same with the
Dragon and ten-horned Beast of John, but with this difference:
John puts the Dragon for the whole Roman Empire while it
continued entire, because it was entire when that Prophecy was given; and
the Beast he considers not till the Empire became divided: and then he
puts the Dragon for the Empire of the Greeks, and the Beast for
the Empire of the Latins. Hence it is that the Dragon and Beast
have common heads and common horns: but the Dragon hath crowns only upon
his heads, and the Beast only upon his horns; because the Beast and his
horns reigned not before they were divided from the Dragon: and when the
Dragon gave the Beast his throne, the ten horns received power as Kings,
the same hour with the Beast. The heads are seven successive Kings. Four
of them were the four horsemen which appeared at the opening of the first
four seals. In the latter end of the sixth head, or seal, considered as
present in the visions, it is said, five of the seven Kings are
fallen, and one is, and another is not yet come; and the Beast that was
and is not, being wounded to death with a sword, he is the eighth,
and of the seven: he was therefore a collateral part of the seventh.
The horns are the same with those of Daniel's fourth Beast,
described above.
The four horsemen which appear at the opening of the first four seals,
have been well explained by Mr. Mede; excepting that I had rather
continue the third to the end of the reign of the three Gordians
and Philip the Arabian, those being Kings from the
South, and begin the fourth with the reign of Decius, and
continue it till the reign of Dioclesian. For the fourth horseman
sat upon a pale horse, and his name was Death; and hell
followed with him; and power was given them to kill unto the fourth part
of the earth, with the sword, and with famine, and with the plague, and
with the Beasts of the earth, or armies of invaders and rebels: and
as such were the times during all this interval. Hitherto the
Roman Empire continued in an undivided monarchical form, except
rebellions; and such it is represented by the four horsemen. But
Dioclesian divided it between himself and Maximianus, A.C.
285; and it continued in that divided state, till the victory of
Constantine the great over Licinius, A.C. 323, which put an
end to the heathen persecutions set on foot by Dioclesian and
Maximianus, and described at the opening of the fifth seal. But
this division of the Empire was imperfect, the whole being still under
one and the same Senate. The same victory of Constantine over
Licinius a heathen persecutor, began the fall of the heathen
Empire, described at the opening of the sixth seal: and the visions of
this seal continue till after the reign of Julian the Apostate, he
being a heathen Emperor, and reigning over the whole Roman
Empire.
The affairs of the Church begin to be considered at the opening of the
fifth seal, as was said above. Then she is represented by a woman
in the Temple of heaven, clothed with the sun of righteousness,
and the moon of Jewish ceremonies under her feet, and
upon her head a crown of twelve stars relating to the twelve Apostles
and to the twelve tribes of Israel. When she fled from the Temple
into the wilderness, she left in the Temple a remnant of her seed, who
kept the commandments of God, and had the testimony of Jesus Christ;
and therefore before her flight she represented the true primitive Church
of God, tho afterwards she degenerated like Aholah and
Aholibah. In Diocesian's persecution she cried,
travelling in birth, and pained to be delivered. And in the end of
that persecution, by the victory of Constantine over
Maxentius A.C. 312, she brought forth a man-child, such a
child as was to rule all nations with a rod of iron, a
Christian Empire. And her child, by the victory of
Constantine over Licinius, A.C. 323, was caught up unto
God and to his throne. And the woman, by the division of the
Roman Empire into the Greek and Latin Empires,
fled from the first Temple into the wilderness, or
spiritually barren Empire of the Latins, where she is found
afterwards sitting upon the Beast and upon the seven mountains; and is
called the great city which reigneth over the Kings of the earth,
that is, over the ten Kings who give their kingdom to her Beast.
But before her flight there was war in heaven between Michael
and the Dragon, the Christian and the heathen religions; and the
Dragon, that old serpent, called the Devil and Satan, who deceiveth
the whole world, was cast out to the earth, and his Angels were cast out
with him. And John heard a voice in heaven, saying, Now is come
salvation and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his
Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down. And they
overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their
testimony. And they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore
rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe be to the inhabiters
of the earth and sea, or people of the Greek and Latin
Empires, for the devil is come down amongst you, having great wrath,
because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.
And when the Dragon saw that he was cast down from the
Roman throne, and the man-child caught up thither, he
persecuted the woman which brought forth the man-child; and to
her, by the division of the Roman Empire between the cities of
Rome and Constantinople A.C. 330, were given two wings
of a great eagle, the symbol of the Roman Empire, that she
might flee from the first Temple into the wilderness of
Arabia, to her place at Babylon mystically so called.
And the serpent, by the division of the same Empire between the
sons of Constantine the great, A.C. 337, cast out of his mouth
water as a flood, the Western Empire, after the woman; that
he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. And the earth, or
Greek Empire, helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth,
and swallowed up the flood, by the victory of Constantius over
Magnentius, A.C. 353, and thus the Beast was wounded to death with
a sword. And the Dragon was wroth with the woman, in the reign of
Julian the Apostate A.C. 361, and, by a new division of the
Empire between Valentinian and Valens, A.C. 364,
went from her into the Eastern Empire to make war with
the remnant of her seed, which she left behind her when she fled: and
thus the Beast revived. By the next division of the Empire, which was
between Gratian and Theodosius A.C. 379, the Beast
with ten horns rose out of the sea, and the Beast with two
horns out of the earth: and by the last division thereof, which
was between the sons of Theodosius, A.C. 395, the Dragon gave
the Beast his power and throne, and great authority. And the ten
horns received power as Kings, the same hour with the Beast.
At length the woman arrived at her place of temporal as well as
spiritual dominion upon the back of the Beast, where she is nourished
a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent;
not in his kingdom, but at a distance from him. She is nourished by
the merchants of the earth, three times or years and an half, or
42 months, or 1260 days: and in these Prophecies days are put for years.
During all this time the Beast acted, and she sat upon him, that
is, reigned over him, and over the ten Kings who gave their power and
strength, that is, their kingdom to the Beast; and she was
drunken with the blood of the Saints. By all these circumstances
she is the eleventh horn of Daniel's fourth Beast, who reigned
with a look more stout than his fellows, and was of a different
kind from the rest, and had eyes and a mouth like the woman;
and made war with the saints, and prevailed against them, and
wore them out, and thought to change times and laws, and
had them given into his hand, until a time, and times, and half a
time. These characters of the woman, and little horn of the Beast,
agree perfectly: in respect of her temporal dominion, she was a horn of
the Beast; in respect of her spiritual dominion, she rode upon him in the
form of a woman, and was his Church, and committed fornication with the
ten Kings.
The second Beast, which rose up out of the earth, was the
Church of the Greek Empire: for it had two horns like those of
the Lamb, and therefore was a Church; and it spake as the
Dragon, and therefore was of his religion; and it came up out of
the earth, and by consequence in his kingdom. It is called also
the false Prophet who wrought miracles before the first Beast, by
which he deceived them that received his mark, and worshiped his image.
When the Dragon went from the woman to make war with the remnant of her
seed, this Beast arising out of the earth assisted in that war, and
caused the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the
authority of the first Beast, whose mortal wound was healed, and
to make an Image to him, that is, to assemble a body of men like
him in point of religion. He had also power to give life and
authority to the Image, so that it could both speak, and by
dictating cause that all religious bodies of men, who would not
worship the authority of the Image, should be mystically
killed. And he causeth all men to receive a mark in their right hand
or in their forehead, and that no man might buy or sell save he that had
the mark, or the name of the Beast, or the number of his name; all
the rest being excommunicated by the Beast with two horns. His mark is
, and his name
ΛΑΤΕΙΝΟΣ, and the
number of his name 666.
Thus the Beast, after he was wounded to death with a sword and
revived, was deified, as the heathens used to deify their Kings after
death, and had an Image erected to him; and his worshipers were initiated
in this new religion, by receiving the mark or name of this new God, or
the number of his name. By killing all that will not worship him and his
Image, the first Temple, illuminated by the lamps of the seven Churches,
is demolished, and a new Temple built for them who will not worship him;
and the outward court of this new Temple, or outward form of a Church, is
given to the Gentiles, who worship the Beast and his Image: while
they who will not worship him, are sealed with the name of God in their
foreheads, and retire into the inward court of this new Temple. These are
the 144000 sealed out of all the twelve tribes of Israel, and
called the two Witnesses, as being derived from the two wings of
the woman while she was flying into the wilderness, and represented by
two of the seven candlesticks. These appear to John in the inward
court of the second Temple, standing on mount Sion with the Lamb,
and as it were on the sea of glass. These are the Saints of the most
High, and the host of heaven, and the holy people
spoken of by Daniel, as worn out and trampled under foot, and
destroyed in the latter times by the little horns of his fourth Beast and
He-Goat.
While the Gentiles tread the holy city under foot, God gives
power to his two Witnesses, and they prophesy a thousand two hundred and
threescore days clothed in sackcloth. They are called the two
Olive-trees, with relation to the two Olive-trees, which in
Zechary's vision, chap. iv. stand on either side of the golden
candlestick to supply the lamps with oil: and Olive-trees, according to
the Apostle Paul, represent Churches, Rom. xi. They supply
the lamps with oil, by maintaining teachers. They are also called the
two candlesticks; which in this Prophecy signify Churches, the seven
Churches of Asia being represented by seven candlesticks. Five of
these Churches were found faulty, and threatned if they did not repent;
the other two were without fault, and so their candlesticks were fit to
be placed in the second Temple. These were the Churches in Smyrna
and Philadelphia. They were in a state of tribulation and
persecution, and the only two of the seven in such a state: and so their
candlesticks were fit to represent the Churches in affliction in the
times of the second Temple, and the only two of the seven that were fit.
The two Witnesses are not new Churches: they are the posterity of
the primitive Church, the posterity of the two wings of the woman, and so
are fitly represented by two of the primitive candlesticks. We may
conceive therefore, that when the first Temple was destroyed, and a new
one built for them who worship in the inward court, two of the seven
candlesticks were placed in this new Temple.
The affairs of the Church are not considered during the opening of the
first four seals. They begin to be consider'd at the opening of the fifth
seal, as was said above; and are further considered at the opening of the
sixth seal; and the seventh seal contains the times of the great
Apostacy. And therefore I refer the Epistles to the seven Churches unto
the times of the fifth and sixth seals: for they relate to the Church
when she began to decline, and contain admonitions against the great
Apostacy then approaching.
When Eusebius had brought down his Ecclesiatical History
to the reign of Dioclesian, he thus describes the state of the
Church: Qualem quantamque gloriam simul ac libertatem doctrina veræ
erga supremum Deum pietatis à Christo primùm hominibus annunciata, apud
omnes Græcos pariter & barbaros ante persecutionem nostrâ memoriâ
excitatam, consecuta sit, nos certè pro merito explicare non possumus.
Argumento esse possit Imperatorum benignitas erga nostros: quibus
regendas etiam provincias committebant, omni sacrificandi metu eos
liberantes ob singularem, qua in religionem nostram affecti erant,
benevolentiam. And a little after: Jam vero quis innumerabilem
hominum quotidiè ad fidem Christi confugientium turbam, quis numerum
ecclesiarum in singulis urbibus, quis illustres populorum concursus in
ædibus sacris, cumulatè possit describere? Quo factum est, ut priscis
ædificiis jam non contenti, in singulis urbibus spatiosas ab ipsis
fundamentis exstruerent ecclesias. Atque hæc progressii temporis
increscentia, & quotidiè in majus & melius proficiscentia, nec
livor ullus atterere, nec malignitas dæmonis fascinare, nec hominum
insidiæ prohibere unquam potuerunt, quamdiu omnipotentis Dei dextra
populum suum, utpote tali dignum præsidio, texit atque custodiit. Sed cum
ex nimia libertate in negligentiam ac desidiam prolapsi essemus; cum
alter alteri invidere atque obtrectare cæpisset; cum inter nos quasi
bella intestina gereremus, verbis, tanquam armis quibusdam hastisque, nos
mutuò vulnerantes; cum Antistites adversus Antistites, populi in populos
collisi, jurgia ac tumultus agitarent; denique cum fraus & simulatio
ad summum malitiæ culmen adolevisset: tum divina ultio, levi brachio ut
solet, integro adhuc ecclesiæ statu, & fidelium turbis liberè
convenientibus, sensim ac moderatè in nos cæpit animadvertere; orsà
primùm persecutione ab iis qui militabant. Cum verò sensu omni destituti
de placando Dei numine ne cogitaremus quidem; quin potius instar impiorum
quorundam res humanas nullâ providentiâ gubernari rati, alia quotidiè
crimina aliis adjiceremus: cum Pastores nostri spretâ religionis regulâ,
mutuis inter se contentionibus decertarent, nihil aliud quam jurgia,
minas, æmulationem, odia, ac mutuas inimicitias amplificare studentes;
principatum quasi tyrannidem quandam contentissimè sibi vindicantes: tunc
demùm juxta dictum Hieremiæ, obscuravit Dominus in ira sua filiam
Sion, & dejecit de cælo gloriam Israel,—per Ecclesiarum
scilicet subversionem, &c. This was the state of the Church just
before the subversion of the Churches in the beginning of
Dioclesian's persecution: and to this state of the Church agrees
the first of the seven Epistles to the Angel of the seven Churches, [1] that to the
Church in Ephesus. I have something against thee, saith
Christ to the Angel of that Church, because thou hast left thy
first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent,
and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will
remove thy candlestick out of its place, except thou repent. But this
thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I
also hate. The Nicolaitans are the Continentes above
described, who placed religion in abstinence from marriage, abandoning
their wives if they had any. They are here called Nicolaitans,
from Nicolas one of the seven deacons of the primitive Church of
Jerusalem; who having a beautiful wife, and being taxed with
uxoriousness, abandoned her, and permitted her to marry whom she pleased,
saying that we must disuse the flesh; and thenceforward lived a single
life in continency, as his children also. The Continentes
afterwards embraced the doctrine of Æons and Ghosts male and
female, and were avoided by the Churches till the fourth century; and the
Church of Ephesus is here commended for hating their deeds.
The persecution of Dioclesian began in the year of
Christ 302, and lasted ten years in the Eastern Empire and
two years in the Western. To this state of the Church the second
Epistle, to the Church of Smyrna, agrees. I know, saith [2] Christ,
thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, but thou art rich; and I know
the blasphemy of them, which say they are Jews and are not, but
are the synagogue of Satan. Fear none of those things which thou shalt
suffer: Behold, the Devil shall call some of you into prison, that ye may
be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days. Be thou faithful unto
death, and I will give thee a crown of life. The tribulation of ten
days can agree to no other persecution than that of Dioclesian, it
being the only persecution which lasted ten years. By the blasphemy of
them which say they are Jews and are not, but are the synagogue of
Satan, I understand the Idolatry of the Nicolaitans, who
falsly said they were Christians.
The Nicolaitans are complained of also in [3] the third Epistle, as men that
held the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a
stumbling-block before the children of Israel, to eat things
sacrificed to Idols, and [4] to commit spiritual
fornication. For Balaam taught the Moabites and
Midianites to tempt and invite Israel by their women to
commit fornication, and to feast with them at the sacrifices of their
Gods. The Dragon therefore began now to come down among the inhabitants
of the earth and sea.
The Nicolaitans are also complained of in the fourth Epistle,
under the name of the woman Jezabel, who calleth herself a
Prophetess, to teach and to seduce the servants of Christ to
commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed to Idols. The woman
therefore began now to fly into the wilderness.
The reign of Constantine the great from the time of his
conquering Licinius, was monarchical over the whole Roman
Empire. Then the Empire became divided between the sons of
Constantine: and afterwards it was again united under
Constantius, by his victory over Magnentius. To the affairs
of the Church in these three successive periods of time, the third,
fourth, and fifth Epistles, that is, those to the Angels of the Churches
in Pergamus, Thyatira, and Sardis, seem to relate.
The next Emperor was Julian the Apostate.
In the sixth Epistle, [5] to the Angel of the Church in
Philadelphia, Christ saith: Because in the reign of
the heathen Emperor Julian, thou hast kept the word of my
patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which by
the woman's flying into the wilderness, and the Dragon's making war with
the remnant of her seed, and the killing of all who will not worship the
Image of the Beast, shall come upon all the world, to try them that
dwell upon the earth, and to distinguish them by sealing the one with
the name of God in their foreheads, and marking the other with the mark
of the Beast. Him that overcometh, I will make a pillar in the Temple
of my God; and he shall go no more out of it. And I will write
upon him the name of my God in his forehead. So the Christians
of the Church of Philadelphia, as many of them as overcome, are
sealed with the seal of God, and placed in the second Temple, and go no
more out. The same is to be understood of the Church in Smyrna,
which also kept the word of God's patience, and was without fault. These
two Churches, with their posterity, are therefore the two Pillars,
and the two Candlesticks, and the two Witnesses in the
second Temple.
After the reign of the Emperor Julian, and his successor
Jovian who reigned but five months, the Empire became again
divided between Valentinian and Valens. Then the Church
Catholick, in the Epistle to the Angel of the Church of Laodicea,
is reprehended as lukewarm, and [6] threatned to be spewed out of
Christ's mouth. She said, that she was rich and increased
with goods, and had need of nothing, being in outward prosperity;
and knew not that she was inwardly wretched, and miserable, and
poor, and blind, and naked. She is therefore spewed out of
Christ's mouth at the opening of the seventh seal: and this
puts an end to the times of the first Temple.
About one half of the Roman Empire turned Christians in
the time of Constantine the great and his sons. After
Julian had opened the Temples, and restored the worship of the
heathens, the Emperors Valentinian and Valens tolerated it
all their reign; and therefore the Prophecy of the sixth seal was not
fully accomplished before the reign of their successor Gratian. It
was the custom of the heathen Priests, in the beginning of the reign of
every sovereign Emperor, to offer him the dignity and habit of the
Pontifex Maximus. This dignity all Emperors had hitherto accepted:
but Gratian rejected it, threw down the idols, interdicted the
sacrifices, and took away their revenues with the salaries and authority
of the Priests. Theodosius the great followed his example; and
heathenism afterwards recovered itself no more, but decreased so fast,
that Prudentius, about ten years after the death of
Theodosius, called the heathens, vix pauca ingenia & pars
hominum rarissima. Whence the affairs of the sixth seal ended with
the reign of Valens, or rather with the beginning of the reign of
Theodosius, when he, like his predecessor Gratian, rejected
the dignity of Pontifex Maximus. For the Romans were very
much infested by the invasions of foreign nations in the reign of
Valentinian and Valens: Hoc tempore, saith
Ammianus, velut per universum orbem Romanum bellicum canentibus
buccinis, excitæ gentes sævissimæ limites sibi proximos persultabant:
Gallias Rhætiasque simul Alemanni populabantur: Sarmatæ Pannonias &
Quadi: Picti, Saxones, & Scoti & Attacotti Britannos ærumnis
vexavere continuis: Austoriani, Mauricæque aliæ gentes Africam solito
acriùs incursabant: Thracias diripiebant prædatorii globi Gotthorum:
Persarum Rex manus Armeniis injectabat. And whilst the Emperors were
busy in repelling these enemies, the Hunns and Alans and
Goths came over the Danube in two bodies, overcame and slew
Valens, and made so great a slaughter of the Roman army,
that Ammianus saith: Nec ulla Annalibus præter Cannensem ita ad
internecionem res legitur gesta. These wars were not fully stopt on
all sides till the beginning of the reign of Theodosius, A.C. 379
& 380: but thenceforward the Empire remained quiet from foreign
armies, till his death, A.C. 395. So long the four winds were held: and
so long there was silence in heaven. And the seventh seal was opened when
this silence began.
Mr. Mede hath explained the Prophecy of the first six trumpets
not much amiss: but if he had observed, that the Prophecy of pouring out
the vials of wrath is synchronal to that of sounding the trumpets, his
explanation would have been yet more complete.
The name of Woes is given to the wars to which the three last
trumpets sound, to distinguish them from the wars of the four first. The
sacrifices on the first four days of the feast of Tabernacles, at which
the first four trumpets sound, and the first four vials of wrath are
poured out, are slaughters in four great wars; and these wars are
represented by four winds from the four corners of the earth. The first
was an east wind, the second a west wind, the third a south wind, and the
fourth a north wind, with respect to the city of Rome, the
metropolis of the old Roman Empire. These four plagues fell upon
the third part of the Earth, Sea, Rivers, Sun, Moon and Stars;
that is, upon the Earth, Sea, Rivers, Sun, Moon and Stars of the third
part of the whole scene of these Prophecies of Daniel and
John.
The plague of the eastern wind [7] at the sounding of the first
trumpet, was to fall upon the Earth, that is, upon the nations of
the Greek Empire. Accordingly, after the death of
Theodosius the great, the Goths, Sarmatians,
Hunns, Isaurians, and Austorian Moors invaded and
miserably wasted Greece, Thrace, Asia minor,
Armenia, Syria, Egypt, Lybia, and
Illyricum, for ten or twelve years together.
The plague of the western wind at the sounding of the second trumpet,
was to fall upon the Sea, or Western Empire, by means of
a great mountain burning with fire cast into it, and turning it
to blood. Accordingly in the year 407, that Empire began to be
invaded by the Visigoths, Vandals, Alans,
Sueves, Burgundians, Ostrogoths, Heruli,
Quadi, Gepides; and by these wars it was broken into ten
kingdoms, and miserably wasted: and Rome itself, the burning
mountain, was besieged and taken by the Ostrogoths, in the
beginning of these miseries.
The plague of the southern wind at the sounding of the third trumpet,
was to cause a great star, burning as it were a lamp, to fall from
heaven upon the rivers and fountains of waters, the Western
Empire now divided into many kingdoms, and to turn them to
wormwood and blood, and make them bitter.
Accordingly Genseric, the King of the Vandals and
Alans in Spain, A.C. 427, enter'd Africa with an
army of eighty thousand men; where he invaded the Moors, and made
war upon the Romans, both there and on the sea-coasts of
Europe, for fifty years together, almost without intermission,
taking Hippo A.C. 431, and Carthage the capital of
Africa A.C. 439. In A.C. 455, with a numerous fleet and an army of
three hundred thousand Vandals and Moors, he invaded
Italy, took and plundered Rome, Naples,
Capua, and many other cities; carrying thence their wealth with
the flower of the people into Africa: and the next year, A.C. 456,
he rent all Africa from the Empire, totally expelling the
Romans. Then the Vandals invaded and took the Islands of
the Mediterranean, Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica,
Ebusus, Majorca, Minorca, &c. and Ricimer
besieged the Emperer Anthemius in Rome, took the city, and
gave his soldiers the plunder, A.C. 472. The Visigoths about the
same time drove the Romans out of Spain: and now the
Western Emperor, the great star which fell from heaven, burning
as it were a lamp, having by all these wars gradually lost almost all
his dominions, was invaded, and conquered in one year by Odoacer
King of the Heruli, A.C. 476. After this the Moors revolted
A.C. 477, and weakned the Vandals by several wars, and took
Mauritania from them. These wars continued till the Vandals
were conquered by Belisarius, A.C. 534. and by all these wars
Africa was almost depopulated, according to Procopius, who
reckons that above five millions of men perished in them. When the
Vandals first invaded Africa, that country was very
populous, consisting of about 700 bishopricks, more than were in all
France, Spain and Italy together: but by the wars
between the Vandals, Romans and Moors, it was
depopulated to that degree, that Procopius tells us, it was next
to a miracle for a traveller to see a man.
In pouring out the third vial it is [8] said: Thou art righteous, O
Lord,—because thou hast judged thus: for they have shed the blood
of thy Saints and Prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink, for
they are worthy. How they shed the blood of Saints, may be understood
by the following Edict of the Emperor Honorius, procured by four
Bishops sent to him by a Council of African Bishops, who met at
Carthage 14 June, A.C. 410.
Impp. Honor. &. Theod. AA. Heracliano Com. Afric.
Oraculo penitus remoto, quo ad ritus suos hæreticæ superstitionis
abrepserant, sciant omnes sanctæ legis inimici, plectendos se pœna
& proscriptionis & sanguinis, si ultra convenire per publicum,
execrandâ sceleris sui temeritate temptaverint. Dat. viii. Kal.
Sept. Varano V.C. Cons. A.C. 410.
Which Edict was five years after fortified by the following.
Impp. Honor. & Theod. AA. Heracliano Com. Afric.
Sciant cuncti qui ad ritus suos hæresis superstitionibus
obrepserant sacrosanctæ legis inimici, plectendos se pœnâ &
proscriptionis & sanguinis, si ultra convenire per publicum exercendi
sceleris sui temeritate temptaverint: ne quâ vera divinaque reverentia
contagione temeretur. Dat. viii. Kal. Sept. Honorio x.
& Theod. vi. AA. Coss. A.C. 415.
These Edicts being directed to the governor of Africa, extended
only to the Africans. Before these there were many severe ones
against the Donatists, but they did not extend to blood. These two
were the first which made their meetings, and the meetings of all
dissenters, capital: for by hereticks in these Edicts are meant
all dissenters, as is manifest by the following against Euresius a
Luciferan Bishop.
Impp. Arcad. & Honor. AA. Aureliano Proc. Africæ.
Hæreticorum vocabulo continentur, & latis adversus eos
sanctionibus debent succumbere, qui vel levi argumento à judicio
Catholicæ religionis & tramite detecti fuerint deviare: ideoque
experientia tua Euresium hæreticum esse cognoscat. Dat. iii. Non.
Sept. Constantinop. Olybrio & Probino Coss. A.C. 395.
The Greek Emperor Zeno adopted Theoderic King of
the Ostrogoths to be his son, made him master of the horse and
Patricius, and Consul of Constantinople; and recommending
to him the Roman people and Senate, gave him the Western
Empire, and sent him into Italy against Odoacer King of the
Heruli. Theoderic thereupon led his nation into
Italy, conquered Odoacer, and reigned over Italy,
Sicily, Rhætia, Noricum, Dalmatia,
Liburnia, Istria, and part of Suevia,
Pannonia and Gallia. Whence Ennodius said, in a
Panegyric to Theoderic: Ad limitem suum Romana regna
remeâsse. Theoderic reigned with great prudence, moderation
and felicity; treated the Romans with singular benevolence,
governed them by their own laws, and restored their government under
their Senate and Consuls, he himself supplying the place of Emperor,
without assuming the title. Ita sibi parentibus præfuit, saith
Procopius, ut vere Imperatori conveniens decus nullum ipsi
abesset: Justitiæ magnus ei cultus, legumque diligens custodia: terras à
vicinis barbaris servavit intactas, &c. Whence I do not reckon
the reign of this King, amongst the plagues of the four winds.
The plague of the northern wind, at the sounding of the fourth
trumpet, was to cause the Sun, Moon and Stars, that is, the King,
kingdom and Princes of the Western Empire, to be darkned,
and to continue some time in darkness. Accordingly Belisarius,
having conquered the Vandals, invaded Italy A.C. 535, and
made war upon the Ostrogoths in Dalmatia, Liburnia,
Venetia, Lombardy, Tuscany, and other regions
northward from Rome, twenty years together. In this war many
cities were taken and retaken. In retaking Millain from the
Romans, the Ostrogoths slew all the males young and old,
amounting, as Procopius reckons, to three hundred thousand, and
sent the women captives to their allies the Burgundians.
Rome itself was taken and retaken several times, and thereby the
people were thinned; the old government by a Senate ceased, the nobles
were ruined, and all the glory of the city was extinguish'd: and A.C.
552, after a war of seventeen years, the kingdom of the Ostrogoths
fell; yet the remainder of the Ostrogoths, and an army of
Germans called in to their assistance, continued the war three or
four years longer. Then ensued the war of the Heruli, who, as
Anastasius tells us, perimebant cunctam Italiam, slew all
Italy. This was followed by the war of the Lombards, the
fiercest of all the Barbarians, which began A.C. 568, and lasted
for thirty eight years together; factâ tali clade, saith
Anastasius, qualem à sæculo nullus meminit; ending at last
in the Papacy of Sabinian, A.C. 605, by a peace then made with the
Lombards. Three years before this war ended, Gregory the
great, then Bishop of Rome, thus speaks of it: Qualiter enim
& quotidianis gladiis & quantis Longobardorum incursionibus, ecce
jam per triginta quinque annorum longitudinem premimur, nullis explere
vocibus suggestionis valemus: and in one of his Sermons to the
people, he thus expresses the great consumption of the Romans by
these wars: Ex illa plebe innumerabili quanti remanseritis aspicitis,
& tamen adhuc quotidiè flagella urgent, repentini casus opprimunt,
novæ res & improvisæ clades affligunt. In another Sermon he thus
describes the desolations: Destructæ urbes, eversa sunt castra,
depopulati agri, in solitudinem terra redacta est. Nullus in agris
incola, penè nullus in urbibus habitator remansit. Et tamen ipsæ parvæ
generis humani reliquiæ adhuc quotidiè & sine cessatione feriuntur,
& finem non habent flagella cœlestis justitiæ. Ipsa autem quæ
aliquando mundi Domina esse videbatur, qualis remansit Roma conspicimus
innumeris doloribus multipliciter attrita, defolatione civium,
impressione hostium, frequentiâ ruinarum.—Ecce jam de illa omnes
hujus fæculi potentes ablati sunt.—Ecce populi
defecerunt.—Ubi enim Senatus? Ubi jam populus? Contabuerunt ossa,
consumptæ sunt carnes. Omnis enim sæcularium dignitatum ordo extinctus
est, & tamen ipsos vos paucos qui remansimus, adhuc quotidié gladii,
adhuc quotidié innumeræ tribulationes premunt.—Vacua jam ardet
Roma. Quid autem ista de hominibus dicimus? Cum ruinis crebrescentibus
ipsa quoque destrui ædificia videmus. Postquam defecerunt homines etiam
parietes cadunt. Jam ecce desolata, ecce contrita, ecce gemitibus
oppressa est, &c. All this was spoken by Gregory to the
people of Rome, who were witnesses of the truth of it. Thus by
the plagues of the four winds, the Empire of the Greeks was
shaken, and the Empire of the Latins fell; and Rome
remained nothing more than the capital of a poor dukedom, subordinate to
Ravenna, the seat of the Exarchs.
The fifth trumpet sounded to the wars, which the King of the
South, as he is called by Daniel, made in the time of the
end, in pushing at the King who did according to his will.
This plague began with the opening of the bottomless pit, which
denotes the letting out of a false religion: the smoke which came out
of the pit, signifying the multitude which embraced that religion;
and the locusts which came out of the smoke, the armies which came
out of that multitude. This pit was opened, to let out smoke and locusts
into the regions of the four monarchies, or some of them. The King of
these locusts was the Angel of the bottomless pit, being chief
governor as well in religious as civil affairs, such as was the Caliph of
the Saracens. Swarms of locusts often arise in Arabia
fælix, and from thence infest the neighbouring nations: and so are a
very fit type of the numerous armies of Arabians invading the
Romans. They began to invade them A.C. 634, and to reign at
Damascus A.C. 637. They built Bagdad A.C. 766, and reigned
over Persia, Syria, Arabia, Egypt,
Africa and Spain. They afterwards lost Africa to
Mahades, A.C. 910; Media, Hircania, Chorasan,
and all Persia, to the Dailamites, between the years 927
and 935; Mesopotamia and Miafarekin to
Nasiruddaulas, A.C. 930; Syria and Egypt to
Achsjid, A.C. 935, and now being in great distress, the Caliph of
Bagdad, A.C. 936, surrendred all the rest of his temporal power to
Mahomet the son of Rajici, King of Wasit in
Chaldea, and made him Emperor of Emperors. But Mahomet
within two years lost Bagdad to the Turks; and
thenceforward Bagdad was sometimes in the hands of the
Turks, and sometimes in the hands of the Saracens, till
Togrul-beig, called also Togra, Dogrissa,
Tangrolipix, and Sadoc, conquered Chorasan and
Persia; and A.C. 1055, added Bagdad to his Empire, making
it the seat thereof. His successors Olub-Arflan and
Melechschah, conquered the regions upon Euphrates; and
these conquests, after the death of Melechschah, brake into the
kingdoms of Armenia, Mesopotamia, Syria, and
Cappadocia. The whole time that the Caliphs of the Saracens
reigned with a temporal dominion at Damascus and Bagdad
together, was 300 years, viz. from the year 637 to the year 936
inclusive. Now locusts live but five months; and therefore, for the
decorum of the type, these locusts are said to hurt men five months
and five months, as if they had lived about five months at
Damascus, and again about five months at Bagdad; in all ten
months, or 300 prophetic days, which are years.
The sixth trumpet sounded to the wars, which Daniel's King of
the North made against the King above-mentioned, who did
according to his will. In these wars the King of the North,
according to Daniel, conquered the Empire of the Greeks,
and also Judea, Egypt, Lybia, and Ethiopia:
and by these conquests the Empire of the Turks was set up, as may
be known by the extent thereof. These wars commenced A.C. 1258, when the
four kingdoms of the Turks seated upon Euphrates, that of
Armenia major seated at Miyapharekin, Megarkin or
Martyropolis, that of Mesopotamia seated at Mosul,
that of all Syria seated at Aleppo, and that of
Cappadocia seated at Iconium, were invaded by the
Tartars under Hulacu, and driven into the western parts of
Asia minor, where they made war upon the Greeks, and began
to erect the present Empire of the Turks. Upon the sounding of the
sixth trumpet, [9] John heard a voice from the four
horns of the golden Altar which is before God, saying to the sixth Angel
which had the trumpet, Loose the four Angels which are bound at the great
river Euphrates. And the four Angels were loosed, which were
prepared for an hour and a day, and a month and a year, for to slay the
third part of men. By the four horns of the golden Altar, is
signified the situation of the head cities of the said four kingdoms,
Miyapharekin, Mosul, Aleppo, and Iconium,
which were in a quadrangle. They slew the third part of men, when they
conquered the Greek Empire, and took Constantinople, A.C.
1453. and they began to be prepared for this purpose, when
Olub-Arslan began to conquer the nations upon Euphrates,
A.C. 1063. The interval is called an hour and a day, and a month and a
year, or 391 prophetic days, which are years. In the first thirty years,
Olub-Arslan and Melechschah conquered the nations upon
Euphrates, and reigned over the whole. Melechschah died
A.C. 1092, and was succeeded by a little child; and then this kingdom
broke into the four kingdoms above-mentioned.
Notes to Chap. III.
[1] Apoc. ii. 4,
&c.
[2] Apoc. ii. 9, 10.
[3] Ver. 14.
[4] Numb. xxv. 1, 2, 18,
& xxi. 16.
[5] Apoc. iii. 10,
12.
[6] Apoc. iii. 16,
17.
[7] Apoc. viii. 7,
&c.
[8] Apoc. xvi. 5, 6.
[9] Apoc. ix. 13,
&c.
THE END.
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The last pages of these Observations having been differently drawn
up by the Author in another copy of his Work; they are here inserted as
they follow in that copy, after the 22d line of the 261st page
foregoing.
And none was found worthy to open the book till the Lamb of God
appeared; the great High-Priest represented by a lamb slain at the foot
of the Altar in the morning-sacrifice. And he came, and took the book
out of the hand of him that sat upon the throne. For the High-Priest,
in the feast of the seventh month, went into the most holy place, and
took the book of the law out of the right side of the Ark, to read it to
the people: and in order to read it well, he studied it seven days, that
is, upon the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth days,
being attended by some of the priests to hear him perform. These seven
days are alluded to, by the Lamb's opening the seven seals
successively.
Upon the tenth day of the month, a young bullock was offered for a
sin-offering for the High-Priest, and a goat for a sin-offering for the
people: and lots were cast upon two goats to determine which of them
should be God's lot for the sin-offering; and the other goat was called
Azazel, the scape-goat. The High-Priest in his linen garments,
took a censer full of burning coals of fire from the Altar, his hand
being full of sweet incense beaten small; and went into the most holy
place within the veil, and put the incense upon the fire, and sprinkled
the blood of the bullock with his finger upon the mercy-seat and before
the mercy-seat seven times; and then he killed the goat which fell to
God's lot, for a sin-offering for the people, and brought his blood
within the veil, and sprinkled it also seven times upon the mercy-seat
and before the mercy-seat. Then he went out to the Altar, and sprinkled
it also seven times with the blood of the bullock, and as often with the
blood of the goat. After this he laid both his hands upon the head of
the live goat; and confessed over him all the iniquities of the children
of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting
them upon the head of the goat; and sent him away into the wilderness by
the hands of a fit man: and the goat bore upon him all their iniquities
into a land not inhabited, Levit. chap. iv. & chap. xvi. While
the High-Priest was doing these things in the most holy place and at the
Altar, the people continued at their devotion quietly and in silence.
Then the High-Priest went into the holy place, put off his linen
garments, and put on other garments; then came out, and sent the bullock
and the goat of the sin-offering to be burnt without the camp, with fire
taken in a censer from the Altar: and as the people returned home from
the Temple, they said to one another, God seal you to a good new
year.
In allusion to all this, when he had opened the seventh seal, there
was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. And an Angel stood
at the Altar having a golden Censer, and there was given unto him much
incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all Saints, upon the
golden Altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense
with the prayers of the Saints ascended up before God out of the Angel's
hand. And the Angel took the Censer, and filled it with fire of the
Altar, and cast it to the earth, suppose without the camp, for
sacrificing the goat which fell to God's lot. For the High-Priest being
Christ himself, the bullock is omitted. At this sacrifice there
were voices and thundrings, of the musick of the Temple, and
lightnings of the sacred fire, and an earthquake: and
synchronal to these things was the sealing of the 144000 out of all
the twelve tribes of the children of Israel with the seal of God
in their foreheads, while the rest of the twelve tribes received the
mark of the Beast, and the Woman fled from the Temple into the wilderness
to her place upon this Beast. For this sealing and marking was
represented by casting lots upon the two goats, sacrificing God's lot on
mount Sion, and sending the scape-goat into the wilderness loaden
with the sins of the people.
Upon the fifteenth day of the month, and the six following days, there
were very great sacrifices. And in allusion to the sounding of trumpets,
and singing with thundring voices, and pouring out drink-offerings at
those sacrifices, seven trumpets are sounded, and seven
thunders utter their voices, and seven vials of wrath are poured
out. Wherefore the sounding of the seven trumpets, the voices
of the seven thunders, and the pouring out of the seven vials
of wrath, are synchronal, and relate to one and the same division of
the time of the seventh seal following the silence, into seven successive
parts. The seven days of this feast were called the feast of Tabernacles;
and during these seven days the children of Israel dwelt in
booths, and rejoiced with palm-branches in their hands. To this alludes
the multitude with palms in their hands, which appeared after the
sealing of the 144000, and came out of the great tribulation with
triumph at the battle of the great day, to which the seventh trumpet
sounds. The visions therefore of the 144000, and of the palm-bearing
multitude, extend to the sounding of the seventh trumpet, and therefore
are synchronal to the times of the seventh seal.
When the 144000 are sealed out of all the twelve tribes of
Israel, and the rest receive the mark of the Beast, and
thereby the first temple is destroyed; John is bidden to
measure the temple and altar, that is, their courts, and them
that worship therein, that is, the 144000 standing on mount
Sion and on the sea of glass: but the court that is without the
temple, that is, the peoples court, to leave out and measure it
not, because it is given to the Gentiles, those who receive the mark
of the Beast; and the holy city they shall tread under foot forty and
two months, that is, all the time that the Beast acts under the woman
Babylon: and the two witnesses prophesy 1260 days, that is,
all the same time, clothed in sackcloth. These have power, like
Elijah, to shut heaven that it rain not, at the sounding of the
first trumpet; and, like Moses, to turn the waters into blood at
the sounding of the second; and to smite the earth with all
plagues, those of the trumpets, as often as they will. These
prophesy at the building of the second temple, like Haggai and
Zechary. These are the two Olive-trees, or Churches, which
supplied the lamps with oil, Zech. iv. These are the two
candlesticks, or Churches, standing before the God of the
earth. Five of the seven Churches of Asia, those in
prosperity, are found fault with, and exhorted to repent, and threatned
to be removed out of their places, or spewed out of
Christ's mouth, or punished with the sword of
Christ's mouth, except they repent: the other two, the
Churches of Smyrna and Philadelphia, which were under
persecution, remain in a state of persecution, to illuminate the second
temple. When the primitive Church catholick, represented by the woman
in heaven, apostatized, and became divided into two corrupt Churches,
represented by the whore of Babylon and the two-horned
Beast, the 144000 who were sealed out of all the twelve
tribes, became the two Witnesses, in opposition to those two
false Churches: and the name of two Witnesses once imposed,
remains to the true Church of God in all times and places to the end of
the Prophecy.
In the interpretation of this Prophecy, the woman in heaven clothed
with the sun, before she flies into the wilderness, represents the
primitive Church catholick, illuminated with the seven lamps in
the seven golden candlesticks, which are the seven Churches
of Asia. The Dragon signifies the same Empire with Daniel's
He-goat in the reign of his last horn, that is, the whole Roman
Empire, until it became divided into the Greek and Latin
Empires; and all the time of that division it signifies the Greek
Empire alone: and the Beast is Daniel's fourth Beast, that is, the
Empire of the Latins. Before the division of the Roman
Empire into the Greek and Latin Empires, the Beast is
included in the body of the Dragon; and from the time of that division,
the Beast is the Latin Empire only. Hence the Dragon and Beast
have the same heads and horns; but the heads are crowned upon the Dragon,
and the horns upon the Beast. The horns are ten kingdoms, into which the
Beast becomes divided presently after his separation from the Dragon, as
hath been described above. The heads are seven successive dynasties, or
parts, into which the Roman Empire becomes divided by the opening
of the seven seals. Before the woman fled into the wilderness, she
being with child of a Christian Empire, cried travelling,
viz. in the ten years persecution of Dioclesian, and
pained to be delivered: and the Dragon, the heathen Roman
Empire, stood before her, to devour her child as soon as it was born.
And she brought forth a man child, who at length was to rule all
nations with a rod of iron. And her child was caught up unto God, and to
his throne in the Temple, by the victory of Constantine the
great over Maxentius: and the woman fled from the Temple
into the wilderness of Arabia to Babylon, where
she hath a place of riches and honour and dominion, upon the back of
the Beast, prepared of God, that they should feed her there 1260 days.
And there was war in heaven, between the heathens under
Maximinus and the new Christian Empire; and the great Dragon
was cast out, that old serpent, which deceiveth the whole world, the
spirit of heathen idolatry; he was cast out of the throne into
the earth. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the
word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the
death.
And when the Dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he
persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child, stirring up a
new persecution against her in the reign of Licinius. And to
the woman, by the building of Constantinople and equalling it
to Rome, were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might
flee into the wilderness into her place upon the back of her Beast,
where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from
the face of the serpent. And the serpent, upon the death of
Constantine the great, cast out of his mouth water as a
flood, viz. the Western Empire under Constantine
junior and Constans, after the woman: that he might cause
her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth, the nations of
Asia now under Constantinople, helped the woman; and
by conquering the Western Empire, now under Magnentius,
swallowed up the flood which the Dragon cast out of his mouth. And the
Dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of
her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of
Jesus Christ, which in that war were sealed out of all the
twelve tribes of Israel, and remained upon mount Sion with the
Lamb, being in number 144000, and having their father's name written in
their foreheads.
When the earth had swallowed up the flood, and the Dragon was gone to
make war with the remnant of the woman's seed, John stood upon the
sand of the sea, and saw a Beast rise out of the sea, having seven heads
and ten horns. And the Beast was like unto a Leopard, and his feet were
as the feet of a Bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a Lion.
John here names Daniel's four Beasts in order, putting his
Beast in the room of Daniel's fourth Beast, to shew that they are
the same. And the Dragon gave this Beast his power and his seat
and great authority, by relinquishing the Western Empire to
him. And one of his heads, the sixth, was as it were wounded to
death, viz. by the sword of the earth, which swallowed up the
waters cast out of the mouth of the Dragon; and his deadly wound was
healed, by a new division of the Empire between Valentinian
and Valens, An. 364. John saw the Beast rise out of
the sea, at the division thereof between Gratian and
Theodosius, An. 379. The Dragon gave the Beast his power,
and his seat and great authority, at the death of Theodosius, when
Theodosius gave the Western Empire to his son
Honorius. After which the two Empires were no more united: but the
Western Empire became presently divided into ten kingdoms, as
above; and these kingdoms at length united in religion under the woman,
and reign with her forty and two months.
And I beheld, saith John, another Beast coming up out
of the earth. When the woman fled from the Dragon into the kingdom of
the Beast, and became his Church, this other Beast rose up out of the
earth, to represent the Church of the Dragon. For he had two horns
like the Lamb, such as were the bishopricks of Alexandria and
Antioch: and he spake as the Dragon in matters of religion:
and he causeth the earth, or nations of the Dragon's kingdom,
to worship the first Beast, whose deadly wound was healed, that
is, to be of his religion. And he doth great wonders, so that he
maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men;
that is, he excommunicateth those who differ from him in point of
religion: for in pronouncing their excommunications, they used to swing
down a lighted torch from above. And he said to them that dwell on the
earth, that they should make an image to the Beast, which had the wound
by a sword, and did live; that is, that they should call a Council of
men of the religion of this Beast. And he had power to give life unto
the image of the Beast, that the image of the Beast should both speak,
and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the Beast should
be killed, viz. mystically, by dissolving their Churches.
And he causeth all both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond,
to receive a mark in their right band or in their foreheads, and that no
man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the
Beast, or the number of his name; that is, the mark , or the name ΛΑΤΕΙΝΟΣ, or the
number thereof χξς, 666. All others were excommunicated.
When the seven Angels had poured out the seven vials of wrath, and
John had described them all in the present time, he is called up
from the time of the seventh vial to the time of the sixth seal, to take
a view of the woman and her Beast, who were to reign in the times of the
seventh seal. In respect of the latter part of time of the sixth seal,
then considered as present, the Angel tells John: The Beast
that thou sawest, was and is not, and shall ascend out of the abyss, and
go into perdition; that is, he was in the reign of Constans
and Magnentius, until Constantius conquered
Magnentius, and re-united the Western Empire to the
Eastern. He is not during the reunion, and he shall ascend out of
the abyss or sea at a following division of the Empire. The Angel tells
him further: Here is the mind which hath wisdom: the seven heads are
seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth; Rome being built
upon seven hills, and thence called the seven-hilled city. Also there
are seven Kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet
come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space: and the Beast
that was and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and
goeth into perdition. Five are fallen, the times of the five first
seals being past; and one is, the time of the sixth seal being considered
as present; and another is not yet come, and when he cometh, which will
be at the opening of the seventh seal, he must continue a short space:
and the Beast that was and is not, even he is the eighth, by means of the
division of the Roman Empire into two collateral Empires; and is
of the seven, being one half of the seventh, and shall go into perdition.
The words, five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet
come, are usually referred by interpreters to the time of John
the Apostle, when the Prophecy was given: but it is to be considered,
that in this Prophecy many things are spoken of as present, which were
not present when the Prophecy was given, but which would be present with
respect to some future time, considered as present in the visions. Thus
where it is said upon pouring out the seventh vial of wrath, that
great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her
the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath; this relates not
to the time of John the Apostle, but to the time of pouring out
the seventh vial of wrath. So where it is said, Babylon is fallen, is
fallen; and thrust in thy sickle and reap, for the time is come
for thee to reap; and the time of the dead is come, that they
should be judged; and again, I saw the dead small and great stand
before God: these sayings relate not to the days of John the
Apostle, but to the latter times considered as present in the visions. In
like manner the words, five are fallen, and one is, and the other is
not yet come, and the Beast that was and is not, he is the
eighth, are not to be referred to the age of John the Apostle,
but relate to the time when the Beast was to be wounded to death with a
sword, and shew that this wound was to be given him in his sixth head:
and without this reference we are not told in what head the Beast was
wounded. And the ten horns which thou sawest, are ten Kings, which
have received no kingdom as yet, but receive power as Kings one hour with
the Beast. These have one mind, being all of the whore's religion,
and shall give their power and strength unto the Beast. These shall
make war with the Lamb, at the sounding of the seventh trumpet;
and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of Lords and King of
Kings; and they that are with him are called and chosen and faithful. And
he saith unto me, the waters which thou sawest where the whore sitteth,
are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues, composing her
Beast. And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the Beast, these shall
hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her
flesh, and burn her with fire, at the end of the 1260 days. For
God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree and give
their kingdom unto the Beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.
And the woman which thou sawest, is that great city which reigneth over
the Kings of the earth, or the great city of the Latins, which
reigneth over the ten Kings till the end of those days.
FINIS.