Antiquities of the
Jews - Book X
CONTAINING THE INTERVAL OF ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-TWO YEARS
AND A HALF.
FROM THE CAPTIVITY OF THE TEN TRIBES TO THE FIRST YEAR
OF CYRUS.
CHAPTER 1.
HOW SENNACHERIB MADE AN EXPEDITION AGAINST HEZEKIAH; WHAT
THREATENINGS RABSHAKEH MADE TO HEZEKIAH WHEN SENNACHERIB WAS GONE AGAINST
THE EGYPTIANS; HOW ISAIAH THE PROPHET ENCOURAGED HIM; HOW SENNACHERIB HAVING
FAILED OF SUCCESS IN EGYPT, RETURNED THENCE TO JERUSALEM; AND HOW UPON
HIS FINDING HIS ARMY DESTROYED, HE RETURNED HOME; AND WHAT BEFELL HIM A
LITTLE AFTERWARD.
1. IT was now the fourteenth year of the government of Hezekiah, king
of the two tribes, when the king of Assyria, whose name was Sennacherib,
made an expedition against him with a great army, and took all the cities
of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin by force; and when he was ready to
bring his army against Jerusalem, Hezekiah sent ambassadors to him beforehand,
and promised to submit, and pay what tribute he should appoint. Hereupon
Sennacherib, when he heard of what offers the ambassadors made, resolved
not to proceed in the war, but to accept of the proposals that were made
him; and if he might receive three hundred talents of silver, and thirty
talents of gold, he promised that he would depart in a friendly manner;
and he gave security upon oath to the ambassadors that he would then do
him no harm, but go away as he came. So Hezekiah submitted, and emptied
his treasures, and sent the money, as supposing he should be freed from
his enemy, and from any further distress about his kingdom. Accordingly,
the Assyrian king took it, and yet had no regard to what he had promised;
but while he himself went to the war against the Egyptians and Ethiopians,
he left his general Rabshakeh, and two other of his principal commanders,
with great forces, to destroy Jerusalem. The names of the two other commanders
were Tartan and Rabsaris.
2. Now as soon as they were come before the walls, they pitched their
camp, and sent messengers to Hezekiah, and desired that they might speak
with him; but he did not himself come out to them for fear, but he sent
three of his most intimate friends; the name of one was Eliakim, who was
over the kingdom, and Shebna, and Joah the recorder. So these men came
out, and stood over against the commanders of the Assyrian army; and when
Rabshakeh saw them, he bid them go and speak to Hezekiah in the manner
following: That Sennacherib, the great king, (1)
desires to know of him, on whom it is that he relies and depends, in flying
from his lord, and will not hear him, nor admit his army into the city?
Is it on account of the Egyptians, and in hopes that his army would be
beaten by them? Whereupon he lets him know, that if this be what he expects,
he is a foolish man, and like one who leans on a broken reed; while such
a one will not only fall down, but will have his hand pierced and hurt
by it. That he ought to know he makes this expedition against him by the
will of God, who hath granted this favor to him, that he shall overthrow
the kingdom of Israel, and that in the very same manner he shall destroy
those that are his subjects also. When Rabshakeh had made this speech in
the Hebrew tongue, for he was skillful in that language, Eliakim was afraid
lest the multitude that heard him should be disturbed; so he desired him
to speak in the Syrian tongue. But the general, understanding what he meant,
and perceiving the fear that he was in, he made his answer with a greater
and a louder voice, but in the Hebrew tongue; and said, that "since
they all heard what were the king's commands, they would consult their
own advantage in delivering up themselves to us; for it is plain the both
you and your king dissuade the people from submitting by vain hopes, and
so induce them to resist; but if you be courageous, and think to drive
our forces away, I am ready to deliver to you two thousand of these horses
that are with me for your use, if you can set as many horsemen on their
backs, and show your strength; but what you have not you cannot produce.
Why therefore do you delay to deliver up yourselves to a superior force,
who can take you without your consent? although it will be safer for you
to deliver yourselves up voluntarily, while a forcible capture, when you
are beaten, must appear more dangerous, and will bring further calamities
upon you."
3. When the people, as well as the ambassadors, heard what the Assyrian
commander said, they related it to Hezekiah, who thereupon put off his
royal apparel, and clothed himself with sackcloth, and took the habit of
a mourner, and, after the manner of his country, he fell upon his face,
and besought God, and entreated him to assist them, now they had no other
hope of relief. He also sent some of his friends, and some of the priests,
to the prophet Isaiah, and desired that he would pray to God, and offer
sacrifices for their common deliverance, and so put up supplications to
him, that he would have indignation at the expectations of their enemies,
and have mercy upon his people. And when the prophet had done accordingly,
an oracle came from God to him, and encouraged the king and his friends
that were about him; and foretold that their enemies should be beaten without
fighting, and should go away in an ignominious manner, and not with that
insolence which they now show, for that God would take care that they should
be destroyed. He also foretold that Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, should
fail of his purpose against Egypt, and that when he came home he should
perish by the sword.
4. About the same time also the king of Assyria wrote an epistle to
Hezekiah, in which he said he was a foolish man, in supposing that he should
escape from being his servant, since he had already brought under many
and great nations; and he threatened, that when he took him, he would utterly
destroy him, unless he now opened the gates, and willingly received his
army into Jerusalem. When he read this epistle, he despised it, on account
of the trust that be had in God; but he rolled up the epistle, and laid
it up within the temple. And as he made his further prayers to God for
the city, and for the preservation of all the people, the prophet Isaiah
said that God had heard his prayer, and that he should not be besieged
at this time by the king of Assyria (2)
that for the future he might be secure of not being at all disturbed by
him; and that the people might go on peaceably, and without fear, with
their husbandry and other affairs. But after a little while the king of
Assyria, when he had failed of his treacherous designs against the Egyptians,
returned home without success, on the following occasion: He spent a long
time in the siege of Pelusium; and when the banks that he had raised over
against the walls were of a great height, and when he was ready to make
an immediate assault upon them, but heard that Tirhaka, king of the Ethiopians,
was coming and bringing great forces to aid the Egyptians, and was resolved
to march through the desert, and so to fall directly upon the Assyrians,
this king Sennacherib was disturbed at the news, and, as I said before,
left Pelusium, and returned back without success. Now concerning this Sennacherib,
Herodotus also says, in the second book of his histories, how "this
king came against the Egyptian king, who was the priest of Vulcan; and
that as he was besieging Pelusium, he broke up the siege on the following
occasion: This Egyptian priest prayed to God, and God heard his prayer,
and sent a judgment upon the Arabian king." But in this Herodotus
was mistaken, when he called this king not king of the Assyrians, but of
the Arabians; for he saith that "a multitude of mice gnawed to pieces
in one night both the bows and the rest of the armor of the Assyrians,
and that it was on that account that the king, when he had no bows left,
drew off his army from Pelusium." And Herodotus does indeed give us
this history; nay, and Berosus, who wrote of the affairs of Chaldea, makes
mention of this king Sennacherib, and that he ruled over the Assyrians,
and that he made an expedition against all Asia and Egypt; and says thus:
(3)
5. "Now when Sennacherib was returning from his Egyptian war to
Jerusalem, he found his army under Rabshakeh his general in danger [by
a plague], for God had sent a pestilential distemper upon his army; and
on the very first night of the siege, a hundred fourscore and five thousand,
with their captains and generals, were destroyed. So the king was in a
great dread and in a terrible agony at this calamity; and being in great
fear for his whole army, he fled with the rest of his forces to his own
kingdom, and to his city Nineveh; and when he had abode there a little
while, he was treacherously assaulted, and died by the hands of his elder
sons, (4)
Adrammelech and Seraser, and was slain in his own temple, which was called
Araske. Now these sons of his were driven away on account of the murder
of their father by the citizens, and went into Armenia, while Assarachoddas
took the kingdom of Sennacherib." And this proved to be the conclusion
of this Assyrian expedition against the people of Jerusalem.
CHAPTER 2.
HOW HEZEKIAH WAS SICK, AND READY TO DIE; AND HOW GOD BESTOWED
UPON HIM FIFTEEN YEARS LONGER LIFE, [AND SECURED THAT PROMISE] BY THE GOING
BACK OF THE SHADOW TEN DEGREES.
1. NOW king Hezekiah being thus delivered, after a surprising manner,
from the dread he was in, offered thank-offerings to God, with all his
people, because nothing else had destroyed some of their enemies, and made
the rest so fearful of undergoing the same fate that they departed from
Jerusalem, but that Divine assistance. Yet, while he was very zealous and
diligent about the worship of God, did he soon afterwards fall into a severe
distemper, insomuch that the physicians despaired of him, and expected
no good issue of his sickness, as neither did his friends: and besides
the distemper (5)
itself, there was a very melancholy circumstance that disordered the king,
which was the consideration that he was childless, and was going to die,
and leave his house and his government without a successor of his own body;
so he was troubled at the thoughts of this his condition, and lamented
himself, and entreated of God that he would prolong his life for a little
while till he had some children, and not suffer him to depart this life
before he was become a father. Hereupon God had mercy upon him, and accepted
of his supplication, because the trouble he was under at his supposed death
was not because he was soon to leave the advantages he enjoyed in the kingdom,
nor did he on that account pray that he might have a longer life afforded
him, but in order to have sons, that might receive the government after
him. And God sent Isaiah the prophet, and commanded him to inform Hezekiah,
that within three days' time he should get clear of his distemper, and
should survive it fifteen years, and that he should have children also.
Now, upon the prophet's saying this, as God had commanded him, he could
hardly believe it, both on account of the distemper he was under, which
was very sore, and by reason of the surprising nature of what was told
him; so he desired that Isaiah would give him some sign or wonder, that
he might believe him in what he had said, and be sensible that he came
from God; for things that are beyond expectation, and greater than our
hopes, are made credible by actions of the like nature. And when Isaiah
had asked him what sign he desired to be exhibited, he desired that he
would make the shadow of the sun, which he had already made to go down
ten steps [or degrees] in his house, to return again to the same place,
(6) and
to make it as it was before. And when the prophet prayed to God to exhibit
this sign to the king, he saw what he desired to see, and was freed from
his distemper, and went up to the temple, where he worshipped God, and
made vows to him.
2. At this time it was that the dominion of the Assyrians was overthrown
by the Medes; (7)
but of these things I shall treat elsewhere. But the king of Babylon, whose
name was Baladan, sent ambassadors to Hezekiah, with presents, and desired
he would be his ally and his friend. So he received the ambassadors gladly,
and made them a feast, and showed them his treasures, and his armory, and
the other wealth he was possessed of, in precious stones and in gold, and
gave them presents to be carried to Baladan, and sent them back to him.
Upon which the prophet Isaiah came to him, and inquired of him whence those
ambassadors came; to which he replied, that they came from Babylon, from
the king; and that he had showed them all he had, that by the sight of
his riches and forces he might thereby guess at [the plenty he was in],
and be able to inform the king of it. But the prophet rejoined, and said,
"Know thou, that, after a little while, these riches of thine shall
be carried away to Babylon, and thy posterity shall be made eunuchs there,
and lose their manhood, and be servants to the king of Babylon; for that
God foretold such things would come to pass." Upon which words Hezekiah
was troubled, and said that he was himself unwilling that his nation should
fall into such calamities; yet since it is not possible to alter what God
had determined, he prayed that there might be peace while he lived. Berosus
also makes mention of this Baladan, king of Babylon. Now as to this prophet
[Isaiah], he was by the confession of all, a divine and wonderful man in
speaking truth; and out of the assurance that he had never written what
was false, he wrote down all his prophecies, and left them behind him in
books, that their accomplishment might be judged of from the events by
posterity: nor did this prophet do so alone, but the others, which were
twelve in number, did the same. And whatsoever is done among us, Whether
it be good, or whether it be bad, comes to pass according to their prophecies;
but of every one of these we shall speak hereafter.
CHAPTER 3.
HOW MANASSEH REIGNED AFTER HEZEKIAH; AND HOW WHEN HE WAS
IN CAPTIVITY HE RETURNED TO GOD AND WAS RESTORED TO HIS KINGDOM AND LEFT
IT TO [HIS SON] AMON.
1. WHEN king Hezekiah had survived the interval of time already mentioned,
and had dwelt all that time in peace, he died, having completed fifty-four
years of his life, and reigned twenty-nine. But when his son Manasseh,
whose mother's name was Hephzibah, of Jerusalem, had taken the kingdom,
he departed from the conduct of his father, and fell into a course of life
quite contrary thereto, and showed himself in his manners most wicked in
all respects, and omitted no sort of impiety, but imitated those transgressions
of the Israelites, by the commission of which against God they had been
destroyed; for he was so hardy as to defile the temple of God, and the
city, and the whole country; for, by setting out from a contempt of God,
he barbarously slew all the righteous men that were among the Hebrews;
nor would he spare the prophets, for he every day slew some of them, till
Jerusalem was overflown with blood. So God was angry at these proceedings,
and sent prophets to the king, and to the multitude, by whom he threatened
the very same calamities to them which their brethren the Israelites, upon
the like affronts offered to God, were now under. But these men would not
believe their words, by which belief they might have reaped the advantage
of escaping all those miseries; yet did they in earnest learn that what
the prophets had told them was true.
2. And when they persevered in the same course of life, God raised up
war against them from the king of Babylon and Chaldea, who sent an army
against Judea, and laid waste the country; and caught king Manasseh by
treachery, and ordered him to be brought to him, and had him under his
power to inflict what punishment he pleased upon him. But then it was that
Manasseh perceived what a miserable condition he was in, and esteeming
himself the cause of all, he besought God to render his enemy humane and
merciful to him. Accordingly, God heard his prayer, and granted him what
he prayed for. So Manasseh was released by the king of Babylon, and escaped
the danger he was in; and when he was come to Jerusalem, he endeavored,
if it were possible, to cast out of his memory those his former sins against
God, of which he now repented, and to apply himself to a very religious
life. He sanctified the temple, and purged the city, and for the remainder
of his days he was intent on nothing but to return his thanks to God for
his deliverance, and to preserve him propitious to him all his life long.
He also instructed the multitude to do the same, as having very nearly
experienced what a calamity he was fallen into by a contrary conduct. He
also rebuilt the altar, and offered the legal sacrifices, as Moses commanded.
And when he had re-established what concerned the Divine worship, as it
ought to be, he took care of the security of Jerusalem: he did not only
repair the old walls with great diligence, but added another wall to the
former. He also built very lofty towers, and the garrisoned places before
the city he strengthened, not only in other respects, but with provisions
of all sorts that they wanted. And indeed, when he had changed his former
course, he so led his life for the time to come, that from the time of
his return to piety towards God he was deemed a happy man, and a pattern
for imitation. When therefore he had lived sixty-seven years, he departed
this life, having reigned fifty-five years, and was buried in his own garden;
and the kingdom came to his son Amon, whose mother's name was Meshulemeth,
of the city of Jotbath.
CHAPTER 4.
HOW AMON REIGNED INSTEAD OF MANASSEH; AND AFTER AMON REIGNED
JOSIAH; HE WAS BOTH RIGHTEOUS AND RELIGIOUS. AS ALSO CONCERNING HULDAH
THE PROPHETESS.
1. THIS Amon imitated those works of his father which he insolently
did when he was young: so he had a conspiracy made against him by his own
servants, and was slain in his own house, when he had lived twenty-four
years, and of them had reigned two. But the multitude punished those that
slew Amon, and buried him with his father, and gave the kingdom to his
son Josiah, who was eight years old. His mother was of the city of Boscath,
and her name was Jedidah. He was of a most excellent disposition, and naturally
virtuous, and followed the actions of king David, as a pattern and a rule
to him in the whole conduct of his life. And when he was twelve years old,
he gave demonstrations of his religious and righteous behavior; for he
brought the people to a sober way of living, and exhorted them to leave
off the opinion they had of their idols, because they were not gods, but
to worship their own God. And by repeating on the actions of his progenitors,
he prudently corrected what they did wrong, like a very elderly man, and
like one abundantly able to understand what was fit to be done; and what
he found they had well done, he observed all the country over, and imitated
the same. And thus he acted in following the wisdom and sagacity of his
own nature, and in compliance with the advice and instruction of the elders;
for by following the laws it was that he succeeded so well in the order
of his government, and in piety with regard to the Divine worship. And
this happened because the transgressions of the former kings were seen
no more, but quite vanished away; for the king went about the city, and
the whole country, and cut down the groves which were devoted to strange
gods, and overthrew their altars; and if there were any gifts dedicated
to them by his forefathers, he made them ignominious, and plucked them
down; and by this means he brought the people back from their opinion about
them to the worship of God. He also offered his accustomed sacrifices and
burnt-offerings upon the altar. Moreover, he ordained certain judges and
overseers, that they might order the matters to them severally belonging,
and have regard to justice above all things, and distribute it with the
same concern they would have about their own soul. He also sent over all
the country, and desired such as pleased to bring gold and silver for the
repairs of the temple, according to every one's inclinations and abilities.
And when the money was brought in, he made one Maaseiah the governor of
the city, and Shaphan the scribe, and Joab the recorder, and Eliakim the
high priest, curators of the temple, and of the charges contributed thereto;
who made no delay, nor put the work off at all, but prepared architects,
and whatsoever was proper for those repairs, and set closely about the
work. So the temple was repaired by this means, and became a public demonstration
of the king's piety.
2. But when he was now in the eighteenth year of his reign, he sent
to Eliakim the high priest, and gave order, that out of what money was
overplus, he should cast cups, and dishes, and vials, for ministration
[in the temple]; and besides, that they should bring all the gold or silver
which was among the treasures, and expend that also in making cups and
the like vessels. But as the high priest was bringing out the gold, he
lighted upon the holy books of Moses that were laid up in the temple; and
when he had brought them out, he gave them to Shaphan the scribe, who,
when he had read them, came to the king, and informed him that all was
finished which he had ordered to be done. He also read over the books to
him, who, when he had heard them read, rent his garment, and called for
Eliakim the high priest, and for [Shaphan] the scribe, and for certain
[other] of his most particular friends, and sent them to Huldah the prophetess,
the wife of Shallum, (which Shallum was a man of dignity, and of an eminent
family,) and bid them go to her, and say that [he desired] she would appease
God, and endeavor to render him propitious to them, for that there was
cause to fear, lest, upon the transgression of the laws of Moses by their
forefathers, they should be in peril of going into captivity, and of being
cast out of their own country; lest they should be in want of all things,
and so end their days miserably. When the prophetess had heard this from
the messengers that were sent to her by the king, she bid them go back
to the king, and say that "God had already given sentence against
them, to destroy the people, and cast them out of their country, and deprive
them of all the happiness they enjoyed; which sentence none could set aside
by any prayers of theirs, since it was passed on account of their transgressions
of the laws, and of their not having repented in so long a time, while
the prophets had exhorted them to amend, and had foretold the punishment
that would ensue on their impious practices; which threatening God would
certainly execute upon them, that they might be persuaded that he is God,
and had not deceived them in any respect as to what he had denounced by
his prophets; that yet, because Josiah was a righteous man, he would at
present delay those calamities, but that after his death he would send
on the multitude what miseries he had determined for them.
3. So these messengers, upon this prophecy of the woman, came and told
it to the king; whereupon he sent to the people every where, and ordered
that the priests and the Levites should come together to Jerusalem; and
commanded that those of every age should be present also. And when they
had gathered together, he first read to them the holy books; after which
he stood upon a pulpit, in the midst of the multitude, and obliged them
to make a covenant, with an oath, that they would worship God, and keep
the laws of Moses. Accordingly, they gave their assent willingly, and undertook
to do what the king had recommended to them. So they immediately offered
sacrifices, and that after an acceptable manner, and besought God to be
gracious and merciful to them. He also enjoined the high priest, that if
there remained in the temple any vessel that was dedicated to idols, or
to foreign gods, they should cast it out. So when a great number of such
vessels were got together, he burnt them, and scattered their ashes abroad,
and slew the priests of the idols that were not of the family of Aaron.
4. And when he had done thus in Jerusalem, he came into the country,
and utterly destroyed what buildings had been made therein by king Jeroboam,
in honor of strange gods; and he burnt the bones of the false prophets
upon that altar which Jeroboam first built; and, as the prophet [Jadon],
who came to Jeroboam when he was offering sacrifice, and when all the people
heard him, foretold what would come to pass, viz. that a certain man of
the house of David, Josiah by name, should do what is here mentioned. And
it happened that those predictions took effect after three hundred and
sixty-one years.
5. After these things, Josiah went also to such other Israelites as
had escaped captivity and slavery under the Assyrians, and persuaded them
to desist from their impious practices, and to leave off the honors they
paid to strange gods, but to worship rightly their own Almighty God, and
adhere to him. He also searched the houses, and the villages, and the cities,
out of a suspicion that somebody might have one idol or other in private;
nay, indeed, he took away the chariots [of the sun] that were set up in
his royal palace, (8)
which his predecessors had framed, and what thing soever there was besides
which they worshipped as a god. And when he had thus purged all the country,
he called the people to Jerusalem, and there celebrated the feast of unleavened
bread, and that called the passover. He also gave the people for paschal
sacrifices, young kids of the goats, and lambs, thirty thousand, and three
thousand oxen for burnt-offerings. The principal of the priests also gave
to the priests against the passover two thousand and six hundred lambs;
the principal of the Levites also gave to the Levites five thousand lambs,
and five hundred oxen, by which means there was great plenty of sacrifices;
and they offered those sacrifices according to the laws of Moses, while
every priest explained the matter, and ministered to the multitude. And
indeed there had been no other festival thus celebrated by the Hebrews
from the times of Samuel the prophet; and the plenty of sacrifices now
was the occasion that all things were performed according to the laws,
and according to the custom of their forefathers. So when Josiah had after
this lived in peace, nay, in riches and reputation also, among all men,
he ended his life in the manner following.
CHAPTER 5.
HOW JOSIAH FOUGHT WITH NECO [KING OF EGYPT.] AND WAS WOUNDED
AND DIED IN A LITTLE TIME AFTERWARD; AS ALSO HOW NECO CARRIED JEHOAHAZ,
WHO HAD BEEN MADE KING INTO EGYPT AND DELIVERED THE KINGDOM TO JEHOIAKIM;
AND [LASTLY] CONCERNING JEREMIAH AND EZEKIEL.
1. NOW Neco, king of Egypt, raised an army, and marched to the river
Euphrates, in order to fight with the Medes and Babylonians, who had overthrown
the dominion of the Assyrians, (9)
for he had a desire to reign over Asia. Now when he was come to the city
Mendes, which belonged to the kingdom of Josiah, he brought an army to
hinder him from passing through his own country, in his expedition against
the Medes. Now Neco sent a herald to Josiah, and told him that he did not
make this expedition against him, but was making haste to Euphrates; and
desired that he would not provoke him to fight against him, because he
obstructed his march to the place whither he had resolved to go. But Josiah
did not admit of this advice of Neco, but put himself into a posture to
hinder him from his intended march. I suppose it was fate that pushed him
on this conduct, that it might take an occasion against him; for as he
was setting his army in array, (10)
and rode about in his chariot, from one wing of his army to another, one
of the Egyptians shot an arrow at him, and put an end to his eagerness
of fighting; for being sorely wounded, he command a retreat to be sounded
for his army, and returned to Jerusalem, and died of that wound; and was
magnificently buried in the sepulcher of his fathers, when he had lived
thirty-nine years, and of them had reigned thirty-one. But all the people
mourned greatly for him, lamenting and grieving on his account many days;
and Jeremiah the prophet composed an elegy to lament him, (11)
which is extant till tills time also. Moreover, this prophet denounced
beforehand the sad calamities that were coming upon the city. He also left
behind him in writing a description of that destruction of our nation which
has lately happened in our days, and the taking of Babylon; nor was he
the only prophet who delivered such predictions beforehand to the multitude,
but so did Ezekiel also, who was the first person that wrote, and left
behind him in writing two books concerning these events. Now these two
prophets were priests by birth, but of them Jeremiah dwelt in Jerusalem,
from the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah, until the city and temple
were utterly destroyed. However, as to what befell this prophet, we will
relate it in its proper place.
2. Upon the death of Josiah, which we have already mentioned, his son,
Jehoahaz by name, took the kingdom, being about twenty-three years old.
He reigned in Jerusalem; and his mother was Hamutal, of the city Libhah.
He was an impious man, and impure in his course of life; but as the king
of Egypt returned from the battle, he sent for Jehoahaz to come to him,
to the city called Hamath (12)
which belongs to Syria; and when he was come, he put him in bands, and
delivered the kingdom to a brother of his, by the father's side, whose
name was Eliakim, and changed his name to Jehoiakim and laid a tribute
upon the land of a hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold; and
this sum of money Jehoiakim paid by way of tribute; but Neco carried away
Jehoahaz into Egypt, where he died when he had reigned three months and
ten days. Now Jehoiakim's mother was called Zebudah, of the city Rumah.
He was of a wicked disposition, and ready to do mischief; nor was he either
religions towards God, or good-natured towards men.
CHAPTER 6.
HOW NEBUCHADNEZZAR, WHEN HE HAD CONQUERED THE KING OF EGYPT
MADE AN EXPEDITION AGAINST THE JEWS, AND SLEW JEHOIAKIM, AND MADE JEHOLACHIN
HIS SON KING.
1. NOW in the fourth year of the reign of Jehoiakim, one whose name
was Nebuchadnezzar took the government over the Babylonians, who at the
same time went up with a great army to the city Carchemish, which was at
Euphrates, upon a resolution he had taken to fight with Neco king of Egypt,
under whom all Syria then was. And when Neco understood the intention of
the king of Babylon, and that this expedition was made against him, he
did not despise his attempt, but made haste with a great band of men to
Euphrates to defend himself from Nebuchadnezzar; and when they had joined
battle, he was beaten, and lost many ten thousands [of his soldiers] in
the battle. So the king of Babylon passed over Euphrates, and took all
Syria, as far as Pelusium, excepting Judea. But when Nebuchadnezzar had
already reigned four years, which was the eighth of Jehoiakim's government
over the Hebrews, the king of Babylon made an expedition with mighty forces
against the Jews, and required tribute of Jehoiakim, and threatened upon
his refusal to make war against him. He was aftrighted at his threatening,
and bought his peace with money, and brought the tribute he was ordered
to bring for three years.
2. But on the third year, upon hearing that the king of the Babylonians
made an expedition against the Egyptians, he did not pay his tribute; yet
was he disappointed of his hope, for the Egyptians durst not fight at this
time. And indeed the prophet Jeremiah foretold every day, how vainly they
relied on their hopes from Egypt, and how the city would be overthrown
by the king of Babylon, and Jehoiakim the king would be subdued by him.
But what he thus spake proved to be of no advantage to them, because there
were none that should escape; for both the multitude and the rulers, when
they heard him, had no concern about what they heard; but being displeased
at what was said, as if the prophet were a diviner against the king, they
accused Jeremiah, and bringing him before the court, they required that
a sentence and a punishment might be given against him. Now all the rest
gave their votes for his condemnation, but the elders refused, who prudently
sent away the prophet from the court of [the prison], and persuaded the
rest to do Jeremiah no harm; for they said that he was not the only person
who foretold what would come to the city, but that Micah signified the
same before him, as well as many others, none of which suffered any thing
of the kings that then reigned, but were honored as the prophets of God.
So they mollified the multitude with these words, and delivered Jeremiah
from the punishment to which he was condemned. Now when this prophet had
written all his prophecies, and the people were fasting, and assembled
at the temple, on the ninth month of the fifth year of Jehoiakim, he read
the book he had composed of his predictions of what was to befall the city,
and the temple, and the multitude. And when the rulers heard of it, they
took the book from him, and bid him and Baruch the scribe to go their ways,
lest they should be discovered by one or other; but they carried the book,
and gave it to the king; so he gave order, in the presence of his friends,
that his scribe should take it, and read it. When the king heard what it
contained, he was angry, and tore it, and cast it into the fire, where
it was consumed. He also commanded that they should seek for Jeremiah,
and Baruch the scribe, and bring them to him, that they might be punished.
However, they escaped his anger.
3. Now, a little time afterwards, the king of Babylon made an expedition
against Jehoiakim, whom he received [into the city], and this out of fear
of the foregoing predictions of this prophet, as supposing he should suffer
nothing that was terrible, because he neither shut the gates, nor fought
against him; yet when he was come into the city, he did not observe the
covenants he had made, but he slew such as were in the flower of their
age, and such as were of the greatest dignity, together with their king
Jehoiakim, whom he commanded to be thrown before the walls, without any
burial; and made his son Jehoiachin king of the country, and of the city:
he also took the principal persons in dignity for captives, three thousand
in number, and led them away to Babylon; among which was the prophet Ezekiel,
who was then but young. And this was the end of king Jehoiakim, when he
had lived thirty-six years, and of them reigned eleven. But Jehoiachin
succeeded him in the kingdom, whose mother's name was Nehushta; she was
a citizen of Jerusalem. He reigned three months and ten days.
CHAPTER 7.
THAT THE KING OF BABYLON REPENTED OF MAKING JEHOIACHIN KING,
AND TOOK HIM AWAY TO BABYLON AND DELIVERED THE KINGDOM TO ZEDEKIAH. THIS
KING WOULD NOT RELIEVE WHAT WAS PREDICTED BY JEREMIAH AND EZEKIEL BUT JOINED
HIMSELF TO THE EGYPTIANS; WHO WHEN THEY CAME INTO JUDEA, WERE VANQUISHED
BY THE KING OF BABYLON; AS ALSO WHAT BEFELL JEREMIAH.
1. BUT a terror seized on the king of Babylon, who had given the kingdom
to Jehoiachin, and that immediately; he was afraid that he should bear
him a grudge, because of his killing his father, and thereupon should make
the country revolt from him; wherefore he sent an army, and besieged Jehoiachin
in Jerusalem; but because he was of a gentle and just disposition, he did
not desire to see the city endangered on his account, but he took his mother
and kindred, and delivered them to the commanders sent by the king of Babylon,
and accepted of their oaths, that neither should they suffer any harm,
nor the city; which agreement they did not observe for a single year, for
the king of Babylon did not keep it, but gave orders to his generals to
take all that were in the city captives, both the youth and the handicraftsmen,
and bring them bound to him; their number was ten thousand eight hundred
and thirty-two; as also Jehoiachin, and his mother and friends. And when
these were brought to him, he kept them in custody, and appointed Jehoiachin's
uncle, Zedekiah, to be king; and made him take an oath, that he would certainly
keep the kingdom for him, and make no innovation, nor have any league of
friendship with the Egyptians.
2. Now Zedekiah was twenty and one year's old when he took the government;
and had the same mother with his brother Jehoiakim, but was a despiser
of justice and of his duty, for truly those of the same age with him were
wicked about him, and the whole multitude did what unjust and insolent
things they pleased; for which reason the prophet Jeremiah came often to
him, and protested to him, and insisted, that he must leave off his impieties
and transgressions, and take care of what was right, and neither give ear
to the rulers, (among whom were wicked men,) nor give credit to their false
prophets, who deluded them, as if the king of Babylon would make no more
war against them, and as if the Egyptians would make war against him, and
conquer him, since what they said was not true, and the events would not
prove such [as they expected]. Now as to Zedekiah himself, while he heard
the prophet speak, he believed him, and agreed to every thing as true,
and supposed it was for his advantage; but then his friends perverted him,
and dissuaded him from what the prophet advised, and obliged him to do
what they pleased. Ezekiel also foretold in Babylon what calamities were
coming upon the people, which when he heard, he sent accounts of them unto
Jerusalem. But Zedekiah did not believe their prophecies, for the reason
following: It happened that the two prophets agreed with one another in
what they said as in all other things, that the city should be taken, and
Zedekiah himself should be taken captive; but Ezekiel disagreed with him,
and said that Zedekiah should not see Babylon, while Jeremiah said to him,
that the king of Babylon should carry him away thither in bonds. And be-
3. Now when Zedekiah had preserved the league of mutual assistance he
had made with the Babylonians for eight years, he brake it, and revolted
to the Egyptians, in hopes, by their assistance, of overcoming the Babylonians.
When the king of Babylon knew this, he made war against him: he laid his
country waste, and took his fortified towns, and came to the city Jerusalem
itself to besiege it. But when the king of Egypt heard what circumstances
Zedekiah his ally was in, he took a great army with him, and came into
Judea, as if he would raise the siege; upon which the king of Babylon departed
from Jerusalem, and met the Egyptians, and joined battle with them, and
beat them; and when he had put them to flight, he pursued them, and drove
them out of all Syria. Now as soon as the king of Babylon was departed
from Jerusalem, the false prophets deceived Zedekiah, and said that the
king of Babylon would not any more make war against him or his people,
nor remove them out of their own country into Babylon; and that those then
in captivity would return, with all those vessels of the temple of which
the king of Babylon had despoiled that temple. But Jeremiah came among
them, and prophesied what contradicted those predictions, and what proved
to be true, that they did ill, and deluded the king; that the Egyptians
would be of no advantage to them, but that the king of Babylon would renew
the war against Jerusalem, and besiege it again, and would destroy the
people by famine, and carry away those that remained into captivity, and
would take away what they had as spoils, and would carry off those riches
that were in the temple; nay, that, besides this, he would burn it, and
utterly overthrow the city, and that they should serve him and his posterity
seventy years; that then the Persians and the Medes should put an end to
their servitude, and overthrow the Babylonians; "and that we shall
be dismissed, and return to this land, and rebuild the temple, and restore
Jerusalem." When Jeremiah said this, the greater part believed him;
but the rulers, and those that were wicked, despised him, as one disordered
in his senses. Now he had resolved to go elsewhere, to his own country,
which was called Anathoth, and was twenty furlongs distant from Jerusalem;
(13)
and as he was going, one of the rulers met him, and seized upon him, and
accused him falsely, as though he were going as a deserter to the Babylonians;
but Jeremiah said that he accused him falsely, and added, that he was only
going to his own country; but the other would not believe him, but seized
upon him, and led him away to the rulers, and laid an accusation against
him, under whom he endured all sorts of torments and tortures, and was
reserved to be punished; and this was the condition he was in for some
time, while he suffered what I have already described unjustly.
4. Now in the ninth year of the reign of Zedekiah, on the tenth day
of the tenth month, the king of Babylon made a second expedition against
Jerusalem, and lay before it eighteen months, and besieged it with the
utmost application. There came upon them also two of the greatest calamities
at the same time that Jerusalem was besieged, a famine and a pestilential
distemper, and made great havoc of them. And though the prophet Jeremiah
was in prison, he did not rest, but cried out, and proclaimed aloud, and
exhorted the multitude to open their gates, and admit the king of Babylon,
for that if they did so, they should be preserved, and their whole families;
but if they did not so, they should be destroyed; and he foretold, that
if any one staid in the city, he should certainly perish by one of these
ways, - either be consumed by the famine, or slain by the enemy's sword;
but that if he would flee to the enemy, he should escape death. Yet did
not these rulers who heard believe him, even when they were in the midst
of their sore calamities; but they came to the king, and in their anger
informed him what Jeremiah had said, and accused him, and complained of
the prophet as of a madman, and one that disheartened their minds, and
by the denunciation of miseries weakened the alacrity of the multitude,
who were otherwise ready to expose themselves to dangers for him, and for
their country, while he, in a way of threatening, warned them to flee to
the enemy, and told them that the city should certainly be taken, and be
utterly destroyed.
5. But for the king himself, he was not at all irritated against Jeremiah,
such was his gentle and righteous disposition; yet, that he might not be
engaged in a quarrel with those rulers at such a time, by opposing what
they intended, he let them do with the prophet whatsoever they would; whereupon,
when the king had granted them such a permission, they presently came into
the prison, and took him, and let him down with a cord into a pit full
of mire, that he might be suffocated, and die of himself. So he stood up
to the neck in the mire which was all about him, and so continued; but
there was one of the king's servants, who was in esteem with him, an Ethiopian
by descent, who told the king what a state the prophet was in, and said
that his friends and his rulers had done evil in putting the prophet into
the mire, and by that means contriving against him that he should suffer
a death more bitter than that by his bonds only. When the king heard this,
he repented of his having delivered up the prophet to the rulers, and bid
the Ethiopian take thirty men of the king's guards, and cords with them,
and whatsoever else they understood to be necessary for the prophet's preservation,
and to draw him up immediately. So the Ethiopian took the men he was ordered
to take, and drew up the prophet out of the mire, and left him at liberty
[in the prison].
6. But when the king had sent to call him privately, and inquired what
he could say to him from God, which might be suitable to his present circumstances,
and desired him to inform him of it, Jeremiah replied, that he had somewhat
to say; but he said withal, he should not be believed, nor, if he admonished
them, should be hearkened to; "for," said he, "thy friends
have determined to destroy me, as though I had been guilty of some wickedness;
and where are now those men who deceived us, and said that the king of
Babylon would not come and fight against us any more? but I am afraid now
to speak the truth, lest thou shouldst condemn me to die." And when
the king had assured him upon oath, that he would neither himself put him
to death, nor deliver him up to the rulers, he became bold upon that assurance
that was given him, and gave him this advice: That he should deliver the
city up to the Babylonians; and he said that it was God who prophesied
this by him, that [he must do so] if he would be preserved, and escape
out of the danger he was in, and that then neither should the city fall
to the ground, nor should the temple be burned; but that [if he disobeyed]
he would be the cause of these miseries coming upon the citizens, and of
the calamity that would befall his whole house. When the king heard this,
he said that he would willingly do what he persuaded him to, and what he
declared would be to his advantage, but that he was afraid of those of
his own country that had fallen away to the Babylonians, lest he should
be accused by them to the king of Babylon, and be punished. But the prophet
encouraged him, and said he had no cause to fear such punishment, for that
he should not have the experience of any misfortune, if he would deliver
all up to the Babylonians, neither himself, nor his children, nor his wives,
and that the temple should then continue unhurt. So when Jeremiah had said
this, the king let him go, and charged him to betray what they had resolved
on to none of the citizens, nor to tell any of these matters to any of
the rulers, if they should have learned that he had been sent for, and
should inquire of him what it was that he was sent for, and what he had
said to him; but to pretend to them that he besought him that he might
not be kept in bonds and in prison. And indeed he said so to them; for
they came to the, prophet, and asked him what advice it was that he came
to give the king relating to them. And thus I have finished what concerns
this matter.
CHAPTER 8.
HOW THE KING OF BABYLON TOOK JERUSALEM AND BURNT THE TEMPLE
AND REMOVED THE PEOPLE OF JERUSALEM AND ZEDEKIAH TO BABYLON. AS ALSO, WHO
THEY WERE THAT HAD SUCCEEDED IN THE HIGH PRIESTHOOD UNDER THE KINGS.
1. NOW the king of Babylon was very intent and earnest upon the siege
of Jerusalem; and he erected towers upon great banks of earth, and from
them repelled those that stood upon the walls; he also made a great number
of such banks round about the whole city, whose height was equal to those
walls. However, those that were within bore the siege with courage and
alacrity, for they were not discouraged, either by the famine, or by the
pestilential distemper, but were of cheerful minds in the prosecution of
the war, although those miseries within oppressed them also, and they did
not suffer themselves to be terrified, either by the contrivances of the
enemy, or by their engines of war, but contrived still different engines
to oppose all the other withal, till indeed there seemed to be an entire
struggle between the Babylonians and the people of Jerusalem, which had
the greater sagacity and skill; the former party supposing they should
be thereby too hard for the other, for the destruction of the city; the
latter placing their hopes of deliverance in nothing else but in persevering
in such inventions in opposition to the other, as might demonstrate the
enemy's engines were useless to them. And this siege they endured for eighteen
months, until they were destroyed by the famine, and by the darts which
the enemy threw at them from the towers.
2. Now the city was taken on the ninth day of the fourth month, in the
eleventh year of the reign of Zedekiah. They were indeed only generals
of the king of Babylon, to whom Nebuchadnezzar committed the care of the
siege, for he abode himself in the city of Riblah. The names of these generals
who ravaged and subdued Jerusalem, if any one desire to know them, were
these: Nergal Sharezer, Samgar Nebo, Rabsaris, Sorsechim, and Rabmag. And
when the city was taken about midnight, and the enemy's generals were entered
into the temple, and when Zedekiah was sensible of it, he took his wives,
and his children, and his captains, and his friends, and with them fled
out of the city, through the fortified ditch, and through the desert; and
when certain of the deserters had informed the Babylonians of this, at
break of day, they made haste to pursue after Zedekiah, and overtook him
not far from Jericho, and encompassed him about. But for those friends
and captains of Zedekiah who had fled out of the city with him, when they
saw their enemies near them, they left him, and dispersed themselves, some
one way, and some another, and every one resolved to save himself; so the
enemy took Zedekiah alive, when he was deserted by all but a few, with
his children and his wives, and brought him to the king. When he was come,
Nebuchadnezzar began to call him a wicked wretch, and a covenant-breaker,
and one that had forgotten his former words, when he promised to keep the
country for him. He also reproached him for his ingratitude, that when
he had received the kingdom from him, who had taken it from Jehoiachin,
and given it to him, he had made use of the power he gave him against him
that gave it; "but," said he, "God is great, who hated that
conduct of thine, and hath brought thee under us." And when he had
used these words to Zedekiah, he commanded his sons and his friends to
be slain, while Zedekiah and the rest of the captains looked on; after
which he put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him, and carried him to
Babylon. And these things happened to him, (14)
as Jeremiah and Ezekiel had foretold to him, that he should be caught,
and brought before the king of Babylon, and should speak to him face to
face, and should see his eyes with his own eyes; and thus far did Jeremiah
prophesy. But he was also made blind, and brought to Babylon, but did not
see it, according to the prediction of Ezekiel.
3. We have said thus much, because it was sufficient to show the nature
of God to such as are ignorant of it, that it is various, and acts many
different ways, and that all events happen after a regular manner, in their
proper season, and that it foretells what must come to pass. It is also
sufficient to show the ignorance and incredulity of men, whereby they are
not permitted to foresee any thing that is future, and are, without any
guard, exposed to calamities, so that it is impossible for them to avoid
the experience of those calamities.
4. And after this manner have the kings of David's race ended their
lives, being in number twenty-one, until the last king, who all together
reigned five hundred and fourteen years, and six months, and ten days;
of whom Saul, who was their first king, retained the government twenty
years, though he was not of the same tribe with the rest.
5. And now it was that the king of Babylon sent Nebuzaradan, the general
of his army, to Jerusalem, to pillage the temple, who had it also in command
to burn it and the royal palace, and to lay the city even with the ground,
and to transplant the people into Babylon. Accordingly, he came to Jerusalem
in the eleventh year of king Zedekiah, and pillaged the temple, and carried
out the vessels of God, both gold and silver, and particularly that large
laver which Solomon dedicated, as also the pillars of brass, and their
chapiters, with the golden tables and the candlesticks; and when he had
carried these off, he set fire to the temple in the fifth month, the first
day of the month, in the eleventh year of the reign of Zedekiah, and in
the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar: he also burnt the palace, and overthrew
the city. Now the temple was burnt four hundred and seventy years, six
months, and ten days after it was built. It was then one thousand and sixty-two
years, six months, and ten days from the departure out of Egypt; and from
the deluge to the destruction of the temple, the whole interval was one
thousand nine hundred and fifty-seven years, six months, and ten days;
but from the generation of Adam, until this befell the temple, there were
three thousand five hundred and thirteen years, six months, and ten days;
so great was the number of years hereto belonging. And what actions were
done during these years we have particularly related. But the general of
the Babylonian king now overthrew the city to the very foundations, and
removed all the people, and took for prisoners the high priest Seraiah,
and Zephaniah the priest that was next to him, and the rulers that guarded
the temple, who were three in number, and the eunuch who was over the armed
men, and seven friends of Zedekiah, and his scribe, and sixty other rulers;
all which, together with the vessels which they had pillaged, he carried
to the king of Babylon to Riblah, a city of Syria. So the king commanded
the heads of the high priest and of the rulers to be cut off there; but
he himself led all the captives and Zedekiah to Babylon. He also led Josedek
the high priest away bound. He was the son of Seraiah the high priest,
whom the king of Babylon had slain in Riblah, a city of Syria, as we just
now related.
6. And now, because we have enumerated the succession of the kings,
and who they were, and how long they reigned, I think it necessary to set
down the names of the high priests, and who they were that succeeded one
another in the high priesthood under the Kings. The first high priest then
at the temple which Solomon built was Zadok; after him his son Achimas
received that dignity; after Achimas was Azarias; his son was Joram, and
Joram's son was Isus; after him was Axioramus; his son was Phidens, and
Phideas's son was Sudeas, and Sudeas's son was Juelus, and Juelus's son
was Jotham, and Jotham's son was Urias, and Urias's son was Nerias, and
Nerias's son was Odeas, and his son was Sallumus, and Sallumus's son was
Elcias, and his son [was Azarias, and his son] was Sareas, (15)
and his son was Josedec, who was carried captive to Babylon. All these
received the high priesthood by succession, the sons from their father.
7. When the king was come to Babylon, he kept Zedekiah in prison until
he died, and buried him magnificently, and dedicated the vessels he had
pillaged out of the temple of Jerusalem to his own gods, and planted the
people in the country of Babylon, but freed the high priest from his bonds.
CHAPTER 9.
HOW NEBUZARADAN SET GEDALIAH OVER THE JEWS THAT WERE LEFT
IN JUDEA WHICH GEDALIAH WAS A LITTLE AFTERWARD SLAIN BY ISHMAEL; AND HOW
JOHANAN AFTER ISHMAEL WAS DRIVEN AWAY WENT DOWN INTO EGYPT WITH THE PEOPLE
WHICH PEOPLE NEBUCHADNEZZAR WHEN HE MADE AN EXPEDITION AGAINST THE EGYPTIANS
TOOK CAPTIVE AND BROUGHT THEM AWAY TO BABYLON.
1. NOW the general of the army, Nebuzaradan, when he had carried the
people of the Jews into captivity, left the poor, and those that had deserted,
in the country, and made one, whose name was Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam,
a person of a noble family, their governor; which Gedaliah was of a gentle
and righteous disposition. He also commanded them that they should cultivate
the ground, and pay an appointed tribute to the king. He also took Jeremiah
the prophet out of prison, and would have persuaded him to go along with
him to Babylon, for that he had been enjoined by the king to supply him
with whatsoever he wanted; and if he did not like to do so, he desired
him to inform him where he resolved to dwell, that he might signify the
same to the king. But the prophet had no mind to follow him, nor to dwell
any where else, but would gladly live in the ruins of his country, and
in the miserable remains of it. When the general understood what his purpose
was, he enjoined Gedaliah, whom he left behind, to take all possible care
of him, and to supply him with whatsoever he wanted. So when he had given
him rich presents, he dismissed him. Accordingly, Jeremiah abode in a city
of that country, which was called Mispah; and desired of Nebuzaradan that
he would set at liberty his disciple Baruch, the son of Neriah, one of
a very eminent family, and exceeding skillful in the language of his country.
2. When Nebuzaradan had done thus, he made haste to Babylon. But as
to those that fled away during the siege of Jerusalem, and had been scattered
over the country, when they heard that the Babylonians were gone away,
and had left a remnant in the land of Jerusalem, and those such as were
to cultivate the same, they came together from all parts to Gedaliah to
Mispah. Now the rulers that were over them were Johanan, the son of Kareah,
and Jezaniah, and Seraiah, and others beside them. Now there was of the
royal family one Ishmael, a wicked man, and very crafty, who, during the
siege of Jerusalem, fled to Baalis, the king of the Ammonites, and abode
with him during that time; and Gedaliah persuaded them, now they were there,
to stay with him, and to have no fear of the Babylonians, for that if they
would cultivate the country, they should suffer no harm. This he assured
them of by oath; and said that they should have him for their patron, and
that if any disturbance should arise, they should find him ready to defend
them. He also advised them to dwell in any city, as every one of them pleased;
and that they would send men along with his own servants, and rebuild their
houses upon the old foundations, and dwell there; and he admonished them
beforehand, that they should make preparation, while the season lasted,
of corn, and wine, and oil, that they might have whereon to feed during
the winter. When he had thus discoursed to them, he dismissed them, that
every one might dwell in what place of the country he pleased.
3. Now when this report was spread abroad as far as the nations that
bordered on Judea, that Gedaliah kindly entertained those that came to
him, after they had fled away, upon this [only] condition, that they should
pay tribute to the king of Babylon, they also came readily to Gedaliah,
and inhabited the country. And when Johanan, and the rulers that were with
him, observed the country, and the humanity of Gedaliah, they were exceedingly
in love with him, and told him that Baalis, the king of the Ammonites,
had sent Ishmael to kill him by treachery, and secretly, that he might
have the dominion over the Israelites, as being of the royal family; and
they said that he might deliver himself from this treacherous design, if
he would give them leave to slay Ishmael, and nobody should know it, for
they told him they were afraid that, when he was killed by the other, the
entire ruin of the remaining strength of the Israelites would ensue. But
he professed that he did not believe what they said, when they told him
of such a treacherous design, in a man that had been well treated by him;
because it was not probable that one who, under such a want of all things,
had failed of nothing that was necessary for him, should be found so wicked
and ungrateful towards his benefactor, that when it would be an instance
of wickedness in him not to save him, had he been treacherously assaulted
by others, to endeavor, and that earnestly, to kill him with his own hands:
that, however, if he ought to suppose this information to be true, it was
better for himself to be slain by the other, than to destroy a man who
fled to him for refuge, and intrusted his own safety to him, and committed
himself to his disposal.
4. So Johanan, and the rulers that were with him, not being able to
persuade Gedaliah, went away. But after the interval of thirty days was
over, Ishmael came again to Gedaliah, to the city Mispah, and ten men with
him; and when he had feasted Ishmael, and those that were with him, in
a splendid manner at his table, and had given them presents, he became
disordered in drink, while he endeavored to be very merry with them; and
when Ishmael saw him in that case, and that he was drowned in his cups
to the degree of insensibility, and fallen asleep, he rose up on a sudden,
with his ten friends, and slew Gedaliah, and those that were with him at
the feast; and when he had slain them, he went out by night, and slew all
the Jews that were in the city, and those soldiers also which were left
therein by the Babylonians. But the next day fourscore men came out of
the country with presents to Gedaliah, none of them knowing what had befallen
him; when Ishmael saw them, he invited them in to Gedaliah, and when they
were come in, he shut up the court, and slew them, and cast their dead
bodies down into a certain deep pit, that they might not be seen; but of
these fourscore men Ishmael spared those that entreated him not to kill
them, till they had delivered up to him what riches they had concealed
in the fields, consisting of their furniture, and garments, and corn: but
he took captive the people that were in Mispah, with their wives and children;
among whom were the daughters of king Zedekiah, whom Nebuzaradan, the general
of the army of Babylon, had left with Gedaliah. And when he had done this,
he came to the king of the Ammonites.
5. But when Johanan and the rulers with him heard of what was done at
Mispah by Ishmael, and of the death of Gedaliah, they had indignation at
it, and every one of them took his own armed men, and came suddenly to
fight with Ishmael, and overtook him at the fountain in Hebron. And when
those that were carried away captives by Ishmael saw Johanan and the rulers,
they were very glad, and looked upon them as coming to their assistance;
so they left him that had carried them captives, and came over to Johanan:
then Ishmael, with eight men, fled to the king of the Ammonites; but Johanan
took those whom he had rescued out of the hands of Ishmael, and the eunuchs,
and their wives and children, and came to a certain place called Mandra,
and there they abode that day, for they had determined to remove from thence
and go into Egypt, out of fear, lest the Babylonians should slay them,
in case they continued in the country, and that out of anger at the slaughter
of Gedaliah, who had been by them set over it for governor.
6. Now while they were under this deliberation, Johanan, the son of
Kareah, and the rulers. that were with him, came to Jeremiah the prophet,
and desired that he would pray to God, that because they were at an utter
loss about what they ought to do, he would discover it to them, and they
sware that they would do whatsoever Jeremiah should say to them. And when
the prophet said he would be their intercessor with God, it came to pass,
that after ten days God appeared to him, and said that he should inform
Johanan, and the other rulers, and all the people, that he would be with
them while they continued in that country, and take care of them, and keep
them from being hurt by the Babylonians, of whom they were afraid; but
that he would desert them if they went into Egypt, and, out of this wrath
against them, would inflict the same punishments upon them which they knew
their brethren had already endured. So when the prophet had informed Johanan
and the people that God had foretold these things, he was not believed,
when he said that God commanded them to continue in the country; but they
imagined that he said so to gratify Baruch, his own disciple, and belied
God, and that he persuaded them to stay there, that they might be destroyed
by the Babylonians. Accordingly, both the people and Johanan disobeyed
the counsel of God, which he gave them by the prophet, and removed into
Egypt, and carried Jeremiah and Barnch along with him.
7. And when they were there, God signified to the prophet that the king
of Babylon was about making an expedition against the Egyptians, and commanded
him to foretell to the people that Egypt should be taken, and the king
of Babylon should slay some of them and, should take others captive, and
bring them to Babylon; which things came to pass accordingly; for on the
fifth year after the destruction of Jerusalem, which was the twenty-third
of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, he made an expedition against Celesyria;
and when he had possessed himself of it, he made war against the Ammonites
and Moabites; and when he had brought all these nations under subjection,
he fell upon Egypt, in order to overthrow it; and he slew the king that
then reigned (16)
and set up another; and he took those Jews that were there captives, and
led them away to Babylon. And such was the end of the nation of the Hebrews,
as it hath been delivered down to us, it having twice gone beyond Euphrates;
for the people of the ten tribes were carried out of Samaria by the Assyrians,
in the days of king Hoshea; after which the people of the two tribes that
remained after Jerusalem was taken [were carried away] by Nebuchadnezzar,
the king of Babylon and Chaldea. Now as to Shalmanezer, he removed the
Israelites out of their country, and placed therein the nation of the Cutheans,
who had formerly belonged to the inner parts of Persia and Media, but were
then called Samaritans, by taking the name of the country to which
they were removed; but the king of Babylon, who brought out the two tribes,
(17)
placed no other nation in their country, by which means all Judea and Jerusalem,
and the temple, continued to be a desert for seventy years; but the entire
interval of time which passed from the captivity of the Israelites, to
the carrying away of the two tribes, proved to be a hundred and thirty
years, six months, and ten days.
CHAPTER 10.
CONCERNING DANIEL AND WHAT BEFELL HIM AT BABYLON,
1. BUT now Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, took some of the most noble
of the Jews that were children, and the kinsmen of Zedekiah their king,
such as were remarkable for the beauty of their bodies, and the comeliness
of their countenances, and delivered them into the hands of tutors, and
to the improvement to be made by them. He also made some of them to be
eunuchs; which course he took also with those of other nations whom he
had taken in the flower of their age, and afforded them their diet from
his own table, and had them instructed in the institutes of the country,
and taught the learning of the Chaldeans; and they had now exercised themselves
sufficiently in that wisdom which he had ordered they should apply themselves
to. Now among these there were four of the family of Zedekiah, of most
excellent dispositions, one of whom was called Daniel, another was called
Ananias, another Misael, and the fourth Azarias; and the king of Babylon
changed their names, and commanded that they should make use of other names.
Daniel he called Baltasar; Ananias, Shadrach; Misael, Meshach; and Azarias,
Abednego. These the king had in esteem, and continued to love, because
of the very excellent temper they were of, and because of their application
to learning, and the profess they had made in wisdom.
2. Now Daniel and his kinsmen had resolved to use a severe diet, and
to abstain from those kinds of food which came from the king's table, and
entirely to forbear to eat of all living creatures. So he came to Ashpenaz,
who was that eunuch to whom the care of them was committed, (18)
and desired him to take and spend what was brought for them from the king,
but to give them pulse and dates for their food, and any thing else, besides
the flesh of living creatures, that he pleased, for that their inclinations
were to that sort of food, and that they despised the other. He replied,
that he was ready to serve them in what they desired, but he suspected
that they would be discovered by the king, from their meagre bodies, and
the alteration of their countenances, because it could not be avoided but
their bodies and colors must be changed with their diet, especially while
they would be clearly discovered by the finer appearance of the other children,
who would fare better, and thus they should bring him into danger, and
occasion him to be punished; yet did they persuade Arioch, who was thus
fearful, to give them what food they desired for ten days, by way of trial;
and in case the habit of their bodies were not altered, to go on in the
same way, as expecting that they should not be hurt thereby afterwards;
but if he saw them look meagre, and worse than the rest, he should reduce
them to their former diet. Now when it appeared that they were so far from
becoming worse by the use of this food, that they grew plumper and fuller
in body than the rest, insomuch that he thought those who fed on what came
from the king's table seemed less plump and full, while those that were
with Daniel looked as if they had lived in plenty, and in all sorts of
luxury. Arioch, from that time, securely took himself what the king sent
every day from his supper, according to custom, to the children, but gave
them the forementioned diet, while they had their souls in some measure
more pure, and less burdened, and so fitter for learning, and had their
bodies in better tune for hard labor; for they neither had the former oppressed
and heavy with variety of meats, nor were the other effeminate on the same
account; so they readily understood all the learning that was among the
Hebrews, and among the Chaldeans, as especially did Daniel, who being already
sufficiently skillful in wisdom, was very busy about the interpretation
of dreams; and God manifested himself to him.
3. Now two years after the destruction of Egypt, king Nebuchadnezzar
saw a wonderful dream, the accomplishment of which God showed him in his
sleep; but when he arose out of his bed, he forgot the accomplishment.
So he sent for the Chaldeans and magicians, and the prophets, and told
them that he had seen a dream, and informed them that he had forgotten
the accomplishment of what he had seen, and he enjoined them to tell him
both what the dream was, and what was its signification; and they said
that this was a thing impossible to be discovered by men; but they promised
him, that if he would explain to them what dream he had seen, they would
tell him its signification. Hereupon he threatened to put them to death,
unless they told him his dream; and he gave command to have them all put
to death, since they confessed they could not do what they were commanded
to do. Now when Daniel heard that the king had given a command, that all
the wise men should be put to death, and that among them himself and his
three kinsmen were in danger, he went to Arioch, who was captain of the
king's guards, and desired to know of him what was the reason why the king
had given command that all the wise men, and Chaldeans, and magicians should
be slain. So when he had learned that the king had had a dream, and had
forgotten it, and that when they were enjoined to inform the king of it,
they had said they could not do it, and had thereby provoked him to anger,
he desired of Arioch that he would go in to the king, and desire respite
for the magicians for one night, and to put off their slaughter so long,
for that he hoped within that time to obtain, by prayer to God, the knowledge
of the dream. Accordingly, Arioch informed the king of what Daniel desired.
So the king bid them delay the slaughter of the magicians till he knew
what Daniel's promise would come to; but the young man retired to his own
house, with his kinsmen, and besought God that whole night to discover
the dream, and thereby deliver the magicians and Chaldeans, with whom they
were themselves to perish, from the king's anger, by enabling him to declare
his vision, and to make manifest what the king had seen the night before
in his sleep, but had forgotten it. Accordingly, God, out of pity to those
that were in danger, and out of regard to the wisdom of Daniel, made known
to him the dream and its interpretation, that so the king might understand
by him its signification also. When Daniel had obtained this knowledge
from God, he arose very joyful, and told it his brethren, and made them
glad, and to hope well that they should now preserve their lives, of which
they despaired before, and had their minds full of nothing but the thoughts
of dying. So when he had with them returned thanks to God, who had commiserated
their youth, when it was day he came to Arioch, and desired him to bring
him to the king, because he would discover to him that dream which he had
seen the night before.
4. When Daniel was come in to the king, he excused himself first, that
he did not pretend to be wiser than the other Chaldeans and magicians,
when, upon their entire inability to discover his dream, he was undertaking
to inform him of it; for this was not by his own skill, or on account of
his having better cultivated his understanding than the rest; but he said,
"God hath had pity upon us, when we were in danger of death, and when
I prayed for the life of myself, and of those of my own nation, hath made
manifest to me both the dream, and the interpretation thereof; for I was
not less concerned for thy glory than for the sorrow that we were by thee
condemned to die, while thou didst so unjustly command men, both good and
excellent in themselves, to be put to death, when thou enjoinedst them
to do what was entirely above the reach of human wisdom, and requiredst
of them what was only the work of God. Wherefore, as thou in thy sleep
wast solicitous concerning those that should succeed thee in the government
of the whole world, God was desirous to show thee all those that should
reign after thee, and to that end exhibited to thee the following dream:
Thou seemedst to see a great image standing before thee, the head of which
proved to be of gold, the shoulders and arms of silver, and the belly and
the thighs of brass, but the legs and the feet of iron; after which thou
sawest a stone broken off from a mountain, which fell upon the image, and
threw it down, and brake it to pieces, and did not permit any part of it
to remain whole; but the gold, the silver, the brass, and the iron, became
smaller than meal, which, upon the blast of a violent wind, was by force
carried away, and scattered abroad, but the stone did increase to such
a degree, that the whole earth beneath it seemed to be filled therewith.
This is the dream which thou sawest, and its interpretation is as follows:
The head of gold denotes thee, and the kings of Babylon that have been
before thee; but the two hands and arms signify this, that your government
shall be dissolved by two kings; but another king that shall come from
the west, armed with brass, shall destroy that government; and another
government, that shall be like unto iron, shall put an end to the power
of the former, and shall have dominion over all the earth, on account of
the nature of iron, which is stronger than that of gold, of silver, and
of brass." Daniel did also declare the meaning of the stone to the
king (19)
but I do not think proper to relate it, since I have only undertaken to
describe things past or things present, but not things that are future;
yet if any one be so very desirous of knowing truth, as not to wave such
points of curiosity, and cannot curb his inclination for understanding
the uncertainties of futurity, and whether they will happen or not, let
him be diligent in reading the book of Daniel, which he will find among
the sacred writings.
5. When Nebuchadnezzar heard this, and recollected his dream, he was
astonished at the nature of Daniel, and fell upon his knee; and saluted
Daniel in the manner that men worship God, and gave command that he should
be sacrificed to as a god. And this was not all, for he also imposed the
name, of his own god upon him, [Baltasar,] and made him and his kinsmen
rulers of his whole kingdom; which kinsmen of his happened to fall into
great danger by the envy and malice [of their enemies]; for they offended
the king upon the occasion following: he made an image of gold, whose height
was sixty cubits, and its breadth six cubits, and set it in the great plain
of Babylon; and when he was going to dedicate the image, he invited the
principal men out of all the earth that was under his dominions, and commanded
them, in the first place, that when they should hear the sound of the trumpet,
they should then fall down and worship the image; and he threatened, that
those who did not so, should be cast into a fiery furnace. When therefore
all the rest, upon the hearing of the sound of the trumpet, worshipped
the image, they relate that Daniel's kinsmen did not do it, because they
would not transgress the laws of their country. So these men were convicted,
and cast immediately into the fire, but were saved by Divine Providence,
and after a surprising manner escaped death, for the fire did not touch
them; and I suppose that it touched them not, as if it reasoned with itself,
that they were cast into it without any fault of theirs, and that therefore
it was too weak to burn the young men when they were in it. This was done
by the power of God, who made their bodies so far superior to the fire,
that it could not consume them. This it was which recommended them to the
king as righteous men, and men beloved of God, on which account they continued
in great esteem with him.
6. A little after this the king saw in his sleep again another vision;
how he should fall from his dominion, and feed among the wild beasts, and
that when he halt lived in this manner in the desert for seven years, (20)
he should recover his dominion again. When he had seen this dream, he called
the magicians together again, and inquired of them about it, and desired
them to tell him what it signified; but when none of them could find out
the meaning of the dream, nor discover it to the king, Daniel was the only
person that explained it; and as he foretold, so it came to pass; for after
he had continued in the wilderness the forementioned interval of time,
while no one durst attempt to seize his kingdom during those seven years,
he prayed to God that he might recover his kingdom, and he returned to
it. But let no one blame me for writing down every thing of this nature,
as I find it in our ancient books; for as to that matter, I have plainly
assured those that think me defective in any such point, or complain of
my management, and have told them in the beginning of this history, that
I intended to do no more than translate the Hebrew books into the Greek
language, and promised them to explain those facts, without adding any
thing to them of my own, or taking any thing away from there.
CHAPTER 11.
CONCERNING NEBUCHADNEZZAR AND HIS SUCCESSORS AND HOW THEIR
GOVERNMENT WAS DISSOLVED BY THE PERSIANS; AND WHAT THINGS BEFELL DANIEL
IN MEDIA; AND WHAT PROPHECIES HE DELIVERED THERE.
1. NOW when king Nebuchadnezzar had reigned forty-three years, (21)
he ended his life. He was an active man, and more fortunate than the kings
that were before him. Now Berosus makes mention of his actions in the third
book of his Chaldaic History, where he says thus: "When his father
Nebuchodonosor [Nabopollassar] heard that the governor whom he had set
over Egypt, and the places about Coelesyria and Phoenicia, had revolted
from him, while he was not himself able any longer to undergo the hardships
[of war], he committed to his son Nebuchadnezzar, who was still but a youth,
some parts of his army, and sent them against him. So when Nebuchadnezzar
had given battle, and fought with the rebel, he beat him, and reduced the
country from under his subjection, and made it a branch of his own kingdom;
but about that time it happened that his father Nebuchodonosor [Nabopollassar]
fell ill, and ended his life in the city Babylon, when he had reigned twenty-one
years; (22)
and when he was made sensible, as he was in a little time, that his father
Nebuchodonosor [Nabopollassar] was dead, and having settled the affairs
of Egypt, and the other countries, as also those that concerned the captive
Jews, and Phoenicians, and Syrians, and those of the Egyptian nations;
and having committed the conveyance of them to Babylon to certain of his
friends, together with the gross of his army, and the rest of their ammunition
and provisions, he went himself hastily, accompanied with a few others,
over the desert, and came to Babylon. So he took upon him the management
of public affairs, and of the kingdom which had been kept for him by one
that was the principal of the Chaldeans, and he received the entire dominions
of his father, and appointed, that when the captives came, they should
be placed as colonies, in the most proper places of Babylonia; but then
he adorned the temple of Belus, and the rest of the temples, in a magnificent
manner, with the spoils he had taken in the war. He also added another
city to that which was there of old, and rebuilt it, that such as would
besiege it hereafter might no more turn the course of the river, and thereby
attack the city itself. He therefore built three walls round about the
inner city, and three others about that which was the outer, and this he
did with burnt brick. And after he had, after a becoming manner, walled
the city, and adorned its gates gloriously, he built another palace before
his father's palace, but so that they joined to it; to describe whose vast
height and immense riches it would perhaps be too much for me to attempt;
yet as large and lofty as they were, they were completed in fifteen days.
(23)
He also erected elevated places for walking, of stone, and made it resemble
mountains, and built it so that it might be planted with all sorts of trees.
He also erected what was called a pensile paradise, because his wife was
desirous to have things like her own country, she having been bred up in
the palaces of Media." Megasthenes also, in his fourth book of his
Accounts of India, makes mention. of these things, and thereby endeavors
to show that this king [Nebuchadnezzar] exceeded Hercules in fortitude,
and in the greatness of his actions; for he saith that he conquered a great
part of Libya and Iberia. Diocles also, in the second book of his Accounts
of Persia, mentions this king; as does Philostrates in his Accounts both
of India and of Phoenicia, say, that this king besieged Tyre thirteen years,
while at the same time Ethbaal reigned at Tyre. These are all the histories
that I have met with concerning this king.
2. But now, after the death of Nebuchadnezzar, Evil-Merodach his son
succeeded in the kingdom, who immediately set Jeconiah at liberty, and
esteemed him among his most intimate friends. He also gave him many presents,
and made him honorable above the rest of the kings that were in Babylon;
for his father had not kept his faith with Jeconiah, when he voluntarily
delivered up himself to him, with his wives and children, and his whole
kindred, for the sake of his country, that it might not be taken by siege,
and utterly destroyed, as we said before. When Evil-Mcrodach was dead,
after a reign of eighteen years, Niglissar his son took the government,
and retained it forty years, and then ended his life; and after him the
succession in the kingdom came to his son Labosordacus, who continued in
it in all but nine months; and when he was dead, it came to Baltasar, (24)
who by the Babylonians was called Naboandelus; against him did Cyrus, the
king of Persia, and Darius, the king of Media, make war; and when he was
besieged in Babylon, there happened a wonderful and prodigious vision.
He was sat down at supper in a large room, and there were a great many
vessels of silver, such as were made for royal entertainments, and he had
with him his concubines and his friends; whereupon he came to a resolution,
and commanded that those vessels of God which Nebuchadnezzar had plundered
out of Jerusalem, and had not made use of, but had put them into his own
temple, should be brought out of that temple. He also grew so haughty as
to proceed to use them in the midst of his cups, drinking out of them,
and blaspheming against God. In the mean time, he saw a hand proceed out
of the wall, and writing upon the wall certain syllables; at which sight,
being disturbed, he called the magicians and Chaldeans together, and all
that sort of men that are among these barbarians, and were able to interpret
signs and dreams, that they might explain the writing to him. But when
the magicians said they could discover nothing, nor did understand it,
the king was in great disorder of mind, and under great trouble at this
surprising accident; so he caused it to be proclaimed through all the country,
and promised, that to him who could explain the writing, and give the signification
couched therein, he would give him a golden chain for his neck, and leave
to wear a purple garment, as did the kings of Chaldea, and would bestow
on him the third part of his own dominions. When this proclamation was
made, the magicians ran together more earnestly, and were very ambitious
to find out the importance of the writing, but still hesitated about it
as much as before. Now when the king's grandmother saw him cast down at
this accident, (25)
she began to encourage him, and to say, that there was a certain captive
who came from Judea, a Jew by birth, but brought away thence by Nebuchadnezzar
when he had destroyed Jerusalem, whose name was Daniel, a wise man, and
one of great sagacity in finding out what was impossible for others to
discover, and what was known to God alone, who brought to light and answered
such questions to Nebuchadnezzar as no one else was able to answer when
they were consulted. She therefore desired that he would send for him,
and inquire of him concerning the writing, and to condemn the unskilfulness
of those that could not find their meaning, and this, although what God
signified thereby should be of a melancholy nature.
3. When Baltasar heard this, he called for Daniel; and when he had discoursed
to him what he had learned concerning him and his wisdom, and how a Divine
Spirit was with him, and that he alone was fully capable of finding out
what others would never have thought of, he desired him to declare to him
what this writing meant; that if he did so, he would give him leave to
wear purple, and to put a chain of gold about his neck, and would bestow
on him the third part of his dominion, as an honorary reward for his wisdom,
that thereby he might become illustrious to those who saw him, and who
inquired upon what occasion he obtained such honors. But Daniel desired
that he would keep his gifts to himself; for what is the effect of wisdom
and of Divine revelation admits of no gifts, and bestows its advantages
on petitioners freely; but that still he would explain the writing to him;
which denoted that he should soon die, and this because he had not learnt
to honor God, and not to admit things above human nature, by what punishments
his progenitor had undergone for the injuries he had offered to God; and
because he had quite forgotten how Nebuchadnezzar was removed to feed among
wild beasts for his impieties, and did not recover his former life among
men and his kingdom, but upon God's mercy to him, after many supplications
and prayers; who did thereupon praise God all the days of his life, as
one of almighty power, and who takes care of mankind. [He also put him
in mind] how he had greatly blasphemed against God, and had made use of
his vessels amongst his concubines; that therefore God saw this, and was
angry with him, and declared by this writing beforehand what a sad conclusion
of his life he should come to. And he explained the writing thus:"
MANEH. This, if it be expounded in the Greek language, may signify a Number,
because God hath numbered so long a time for thy life, and for thy government,
and that there remains but a small portion. THEKEL This signifies a weight,
and means that God hath weighed thy kingdom in a balance, and finds it
going down already.--PHARES. This also, in the Greek tongue, denotes a
fragment,. God will therefore break thy kingdom in pieces, and divide
it among the Medes and Persians."
4. When Daniel had told the king that the writing upon the wall signified
these events, Baltasar was in great sorrow and affliction, as was to be
expected, when the interpretation was so heavy upon him. However, he did
not refuse what he had promised Daniel, although he were become a foreteller
of misfortunes to him, but bestowed it all upon him; as reasoning thus,
that what he was to reward was peculiar to himself, and to fate, and did
not belong to the prophet, but that it was the part of a good and a just
man to give what he had promised, although the events were of a melancholy
nature. Accordingly, the king determined so to do. Now, after a little
while, both himself and the city were taken by Cyrus, the king of Persia,
who fought against him; for it was Baltasar, under whom Babylon was taken,
when he had reigned seventeen years. And this is the end of the posterity
of king Nebuchadnezzar, as history informs us; but when Babylon was taken
by Darius, and when he, with his kinsman Cyrus, had put an end to the dominion
of the Babylonians, he was sixty-two years old. He was the son of Astyages,
and had another name among the Greeks. Moreover, he took Daniel the prophet,
and carried him with him into Media, and honored him very greatly, and
kept him with him; for he was one of the three presidents whom he set over
his three hundred and sixty provinces, for into so many did Darius part
them.
5. However, while Daniel was in so great dignity, and in so great favor
with Darius, and was alone intrusted with every thing by him, a having
somewhat divine in him, he was envied by the rest; for those that see others
in greater honor than themselves with kings envy them; and when those that
were grieved at the great favor Daniel was in with Darius sought for an
occasion against him, he afforded them no occasion at all, for he was above
all the temptations of money, and despised bribery, and esteemed it a very
base thing to take any thing by way of reward, even when it might be justly
given him; he afforded those that envied him not the least handle for an
accusation. So when they could find nothing for which they might calumniate
him to the king, nothing that was shameful or reproachful, and thereby
deprive him of the honor he was in with him, they sought for some other
method whereby they might destroy him. When therefore they saw that Daniel
prayed to God three times a day, they thought they had gotten an occasion
by which they might ruin him; so they came to Darius and told him that
the princes and governors had thought proper to allow the multitude a relaxation
for thirty days, that no one might offer a petition or prayer either to
himself or to the gods, but that he who shall transgress this decree shall
be east into the den of lions, and there perish."
6. Whereupon the king, not being acquainted with their wicked design,
nor suspecting that it was a contrivance of theirs against Daniel, said
he was pleased with this decree of theirs, and he promised to confirm what
they desired; he also published an edict to promulgate to the people that
decree which the princes had made. Accordingly, all the rest took care
not to transgress those injunctions, and rested in quiet; but Daniel had
no regard to them, but, as he was wont, he stood and prayed to God in the
sight of them all; but the princes having met with the occasion they so
earnestly sought to find against Daniel, came presently to the king, and
accused him, that Daniel was the only person that transgressed the decree,
while not one of the rest durst pray to their gods. This discovery they
made, not because of his impiety, but because they had watched him, and
observed him out of envy; for supposing that Darius did thus out of a greater
kindness to him than they expected, and that he was ready to grant him
pardon for this contempt of his injunctions, and envying this very pardon
to Daniel, they did not become more honorable to him, but desired he might
be cast into the den of lions according to the law. So Darius, hoping that
God would deliver him, and that he would undergo nothing that was terrible
by the wild beasts, bid him bear this accident cheerfully. And when he
was cast into the den, he put his seal to the stone that lay upon the mouth
of the den, and went his way, but he passed all the night without food
and without sleep, being in great distress for Daniel; but when it was
day, he got up, and came to the den, and found the seal entire, which he
had left the stone sealed withal; he also opened the seal, and. cried out,
and called to Daniel, and asked him if he were alive. And as soon as he
heard the king's voice, and said that he had suffered no harm, the king
gave order that he should be drawn up out of the den. Now when his enemies
saw that Daniel had suffered nothing which was terrible, they would not
own that he was preserved by God, and by his providence; but they said
that the lions had been filled full with food, and on that account it was,
as they supposed, that the lions would not touch Daniel, nor come to him;
and this they alleged to the king. But the king, out of an abhorrence of
their wickedness, gave order that they should throw in a great deal of
flesh to the lions; and when they had filled themselves, he gave further
order that Daniel's enemies should be cast into the den, that he might
learn whether the lions, now they were full, would touch them or not. And
it appeared plain to Darius, after the princes had been cast to the wild
beasts, that it was God who preserved (26)
for the lions spared none of them, but tore them all to pieces, as if they
had been very hungry, and wanted food. I suppose therefore it was not their
hunger, which had been a little before satisfied with abundance of flesh,
but the wickedness of these men, that provoked them [to destroy the princes];
for if it so please God, that wickedness might, by even those irrational
creatures, be esteemed a plain foundation for their punishment.
7. When therefore those that had intended thus to destroy Daniel by
treachery were themselves destroyed, king Darius sent [letters] over all
the country, and praised that God whom Daniel worshipped, and said that
he was the only true God, and had all power. He had also Daniel in very
great esteem, and made him the principal of his friends. Now when Daniel
was become so illustrious and famous, on account of the opinion men had
that he was beloved of God, he built a tower at Ecbatana, in Media: it
was a most elegant building, and wonderfully made, and it is still remaining,
and preserved to this day; and to such as see it, it appears to have been
lately built, and to have been no older than that very day when any one
looks upon it, it is so fresh (27)
flourishing, and beautiful, and no way grown old in so long time; for buildings
suffer the same as men do, they grow old as well as they, and by numbers
of years their strength is dissolved, and their beauty withered. Now they
bury the kings of Media, of Persia, and Parthia in this tower to this day,
and he who was entrusted with the care of it was a Jewish priest; which
thing is also observed to this day. But it is fit to give an account of
what this man did, which is most admirable to hear, for he was so happy
as to have strange revelations made to him, and those as to one of the
greatest of the prophets, insomuch, that while he was alive he had the
esteem and applause both of the kings and of the multitude; and now he
is dead, he retains a remembrance that will never fail, for the several
books that he wrote and left behind him are still read by us till this
time; and from them we believe that Daniel conversed with God; for he did
not only prophesy of future events, as did the other prophets, but he also
determined the time of their accomplishment. And while prophets used to
foretell misfortunes, and on that account were disagreeable both to the
kings and to the multitude, Daniel was to them a prophet of good things,
and this to such a degree, that by the agreeable nature of his predictions,
he procured the goodwill of all men; and by the accomplishment of them,
he procured the belief of their truth, and the opinion of [a sort of] divinity
for himself, among the multitude. He also wrote and left behind him what
made manifest the accuracy and undeniable veracity of his predictions;
for he saith, that when he was in Susa, the metropolis of Persia, and went
out into the field with his companions, there was, on the sudden, a motion
and concussion of the earth, and that he was left alone by himself, his
friends fleeing away from him, and that he was disturbed, and fell on his
face, and on his two hands, and that a certain person touched him, and,
at the same time, bid him rise, and see what would befall his countrymen
after many generations. He also related, that when he stood up, he was
shown a great rain, with many horns growing out of his head, and that the
last was higher than the rest: that after this he looked to the west, and
saw a he-goat carried through the air from that quarter; that he rushed
upon the ram with violence, and smote him twice with his horns, and overthrew
him to the ground, and trampled upon him: that afterward he saw a very
great horn growing out of the head of the he-goat, and that when it was
broken off, four horns grew up that were exposed to each of the four winds,
and he wrote that out of them arose another lesser horn, which, as he said,
waxed great; and that God showed to him that it should fight against his
nation, and take their city by force, and bring the temple worship to confusion,
and forbid the sacrifices to be offered for one thousand two hundred and
ninety-six days. Daniel wrote that he saw these visions in the Plain of
Susa; and he hath informed us that God interpreted the appearance of this
vision after the following manner: He said that the ram signified the kingdoms
of the Medes and Persians, and the horns those kings that were to reign
in them; and that the last horn signified the last king, and that he should
exceed all the kings in riches and glory: that the he-goat signified that
one should come and reign from the Greeks, who should twice fight with
the Persian, and overcome him in battle, and should receive his entire
dominion: that by the great horn which sprang out of the forehead of the
he-goat was meant the first king; and that the springing up of four horns
upon its falling off, and the conversion of every one of them to the four
quarters of the earth, signified the successors that should arise after
the death of the first king, and the partition of the kingdom among them,
and that they should be neither his children, nor of his kindred, that
should reign over the habitable earth for many years; and that from among
them there should arise a certain king that should overcome our nation
and their laws, and should take away their political government, and should
spoil the temple, and forbid the sacrifices to be offered for three years'
time. And indeed it so came to pass, that our nation suffered these things
under Antiochus Epiphanes, according to Daniel's vision, and what he wrote
many years before they came to pass. In the very same manner Daniel also
wrote concerning the Roman government, and that our country should be made
desolate by them. All these things did this man leave in writing, as God
had showed them to him, insomuch that such as read his prophecies, and
see how they have been fulfilled, would wonder at the honor wherewith God
honored Daniel; and may thence discover how the Epicureans are in an error,
who cast Providence out of human life, and do not believe that God takes
care of the affairs of the world, nor that the universe is governed and
continued in being by that blessed and immortal nature, but say that the
world is carried along of its own accord, without a ruler and a curator;
which, were it destitute of a guide to conduct it, as they imagine, it
would be like ships without pilots, which we see drowned by the winds,
or like chariots without drivers, which are overturned; so would the world
be dashed to pieces by its being carried without a Providence, and so perish,
and come to nought. So that, by the forementioned predictions of Daniel,
those men seem to me very much to err from the truth, who determine that
God exercises no providence over human affairs; for if that were the case,
that the world went on by mechanical necessity, we should not see that
all things would come to pass according to his prophecy. Now as to myself,
I have so described these matters as I have found them and read them; but
if any one is inclined to another opinion about them, let him enjoy his
different sentiments without any blame from me.
ENDNOTE
(1)
This title of great king, both in our Bibles, 2 Kings 18:19; Isaiah 36:4,
and here in Josephus, is the very same that Herodotus gives this Sennacherib,
as Spanheim takes notice on this place.
(2)
What Josephus says here, how Isaiah the prophet assured Hezekiah that "at
this time he should not be besieged by the king of Assyria; that for the
future he might be secure of being not at all disturbed by him; and that
[afterward] the people might go on peaceably, and without fear, with their
husbandry and other affairs," is more distinct in our other copies,
both of the Kings and of Isaiah, and deserves very great consideration.
The words are these: "This shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat
this year such as groweth of itself, and the second year that which springeth
of the same; and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards,
and eat the fruit thereof," 2 Kings 19:29; Isaiah 37:30; which seem
to me plainly to design a Sabbatic year, a year of jubilee next after it,
and the succeeding usual labors and fruits of them on the third and following
years.
(3)
That this terrible calamity of the slaughter of the 185,000 Assyrians is
here delivered in the words of Berosus the Chaldean, and that it was certainly
and frequently foretold by the Jewish prophets, and that it was certainly
and undeniably accomplished, see Authent. Rec. part II. p. 858.
(4)
We are here to take notice, that these two sons of Sennacherib, that ran
away into Armenia, became the heads of two famous families there, the Arzerunii
and the Genunii; of which see the particular histories in Moses Chorenensis,
p. 60.
(5)
Josephus, and all our copies, place the sickness of Hezekiah after the
destruction of Sennacherib's army, because it appears to have been after
his first assault, as he was going into Arabia and Egypt, where he pushed
his conquests as far as they would go, and in order to despatch his story
altogether; yet does no copy but this of Josephus say it was after that
destruction, but only that it happened in those days, or about that time
of Hezekiah's life. Nor will the fifteen years' prolongation of his life
after his sickness, allow that sickness to have been later than the former
part of the fifteenth year of his reign, since chronology does not allow
him in all above twenty-nine years and a few months; whereas the first
assault of Sennacherib was on the fourteenth year of Hezekiah, but the
destruction of Sennacherib's army was not till his eighteenth year.
(6)
As to this regress of the shadow, either upon a sun-dial, or the steps
of the royal palace built by Ahaz, whether it were physically done by the
real miraculous revolution of the earth in its diurnal motion backward
from east to west for a while, and its return again to its old natural
revolution from west to east; or whether it were not apparent only, and
performed by an aerial phosphorus, which imitated the sun's motion backward,
while a cloud hid the real sun; cannot now be determined. Philosophers
and astronomers will naturally incline to the latter hypothesis. However,
it must be noted, that Josephus seems to have understood it otherwise than
we generally do, that the shadow was accelerated as much at first forward
as it was made to go backward afterward, and so the day was neither longer
nor shorter than usual; which, it must be confessed agrees best of all
to astronomy, whose eclipses, older than the time were observed at the
same times of the day as if this miracle had never happened. After all,
this wonderful signal was not, it seems, peculiar to Judea, but either
seen, or at least heard of, at Babylon also, as appears by 2 Chronicles
32:31, where we learn that the Babylonian ambassadors were sent to Hezekiah,
among other things, to inquire of the wonder that was done in the land.
(7)
This expression of Josephus, that the Medes, upon this destruction of the
Assyrian army, "overthrew" the Assyrian empire, seems to be too
strong; for although they immediately cast off the Assrian yoke, and set
up Deioces, a king of their own, yet it was some time before the Medes
and Babylonians overthrew Nineveh, and some generations ere the Medes and
Persians under Cyaxares and Cyrus overthrew the Assyrian or Babylonian
empire, and took Babylon.
(8)
It is hard to reconcile the account in the Second Book of Kings (ch. 23:11)
with this account in Josephus, and to translate this passage truly in Josephus,
whose copies are supposed to be here imperfect. However, the general sense
of both seems to be this: That there were certain chariots, with their
horses, dedicated to the idol of the sun, or to Moloch; which idol might
be carried about in procession, and worshipped by the people; which chariots
were now "taken away," as Josephus says, or, as the Book of Kings
says, "burnt with fire, by Josiah."
(9)
This is a remarkable passage of chronology in Josephus, that about the
latter end of the reign of Josiah, the Medes and Babylonians overthrew
the empire of the Assyrians; or, in the words of Tobit's continuator, that
"before Tobias died, he heard of the destruction of Nineveh, which
was taken by Nebuchodonosor the Babylonian, and Assuerus the Mede,"
Tob. 14:15. See Dean Prideaux's Connexion, at the year 612.
(10)
This battle is justly esteemed the very same that Herodotus (B. II. sect.
156) mentions, when he says, that "Necao joined battle with the Syrians
[or Jews] at Magdolum, [Megiddo,] and beat them," as Dr. Hudson here
observes.
(11)
Whether Josephus, from 2 Chronicles 35:25, here means the book of the Lamentations
of Jeremiah, still extant, which chiefly belongs to the destruction of
Jerusalem under Nebuchadnezzar, or to any other like melancholy poem now
lost, but extant in the days of Josephus, belonging peculiarly to Josiah,
cannot now be determined.
(12)
This ancient city Hamath, which is joined with Arpad, or Aradus, and
with Damascus, 2 Kings 18:34; Isaiah 36:19; Jeremiah 49:23, cities of Syria
and Phoenicia, near the borders of Judea, was also itself evidently near
the same borders, though long ago utterly destroyed.
(13)
Josephus says here that Jeremiah prophesied not only of the return of the
Jews from the Babylonian captivity, and this under the Persians and Medes,
as in our other copies; but of cause they did not both say the same thing
as to this circumstance, he disbelieved what they both appeared to agree
in, and condemned them as not speaking truth therein, although all the
things foretold him did come to pass according to their prophecies, as
we shall show upon a fitter opportunity their rebuilding the temple, and
even the city Jerusalem, which do not appear in our copies under his name.
See the note on Antiq. B. XI. ch. 1. sect. 3.
(14)
This observation of Josephus about the seeming disagreement of Jeremiah,
ch. 32:4, and 34:3, and Ezekiel 12:13, but real agreement at last, concerning
the fate of Zedekiah, is very true and very remarkable. See ch. 7. sect.
2. Nor is it at all unlikely that the courtiers and false prophets might
make use of this seeming contradiction to dissuade Zedekiah from believing
either of those prophets, as Josephus here intimates he was dissuaded thereby.
(15)
I have here inserted in brackets this high priest Azarias, though he be
omitted in all Josephus's copies, out of the Jewish chronicle, Seder Olam,
of how little authority soever I generally esteem such late Rabbinical
historians, because we know from Josephus himself, that the number of the
high priests belonging to this interval was eighteen, Antiq. B. XX. ch.
10., whereas his copies have here but seventeen. Of this character of Baruch,
the son of Neriah, and the genuineness of his book, that stands now in
our Apocrypha, and that it is really a canonical book, and an appendix
to Jeremiah, see Authent. Rec. Part I. p. 1--11.
(16)
Herodotus says, this king of Egypt [Pharaoh Hophra, or Apries] was slain
by the Egyptians, as Jeremiah foretold his slaughter by his enemies, Jeremiah
44:29, 30, and that as a sign of the destruction of Egypt [by Nebuchadnezzar].
Josephus says, this king was slain by Nebuchadnezzar himself.
(17)
We see here that Judea was left in a manner desolate after the captivity
of the two tribes and was not I with foreign colonies, perhaps as an indication
of Providence that the Jews were to repeople it without opposition themselves.
I also esteem the latter and present desolate condition of the same country,
without being repeopled by foreign colonies, to be a like indication, that
the same Jews are hereafter to repeople it again themselves, at their so
long expected future restoration.
(18)
That Daniel was made one of these eunuchs of which Isaiah prophesied, Isaiah
39:7, and the three children his companions also, seems to me plain, both
here in Josephus, and in our copies of Daniel, Daniel 1:3, 6-11, 18, although
it must be granted that some married persons, that had children, were sometimes
called eunuchs, in a general acceptation for courtiers, on account that
so many of the ancient courtiers were real eunuchs. See Genesis 39:1.
(19)
Of this most remarkable passage in Josephus concerning the "stone
cut out of the mountain, and destroying the image," which he would
not explain, but intimated to be a prophecy of futurity, and probably not
safe for him to explain, as belonging to the destruction of the Roman empire
by Jesus Christ, the true Messiah of the Jews, take the words of Hayercamp,
ch. 10. sect. 4: "Nor is this to be wondered at, that he would not
now meddle with things future, for he had no mind to provoke the Romans,
by speaking of the destruction of that city which they called the Eternal
City."
(20)
Since Josephus here explains the seven prophetic times which were to pass
over Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 4:16) to be seven years, we thence learn how
he most probably must have understood those other parallel phrases, of
"a time, times, and a half," Antiq. B. VII. ch. 25., of so many
prophetic years also, though he withal lets us know, by his hint at the
interpretation of the seventy weeks, as belonging to the fourth monarchy,
and the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in the days of Josephus,
ch. 2. sect. 7, that he did not think those years to be bare years, but
rather days for years; by which reckoning, and by which alone, could seventy
weeks, or four hundred and ninety days, reach to the age of Josephus. But
as to the truth of those seven years' banishment of Nebuchadnezzar from
men, and his living so long among the beasts, the very small remains we
have any where else of this Nebuchadnezzar prevent our expectation of any
other full account of it. So far we knew by Ptolemy's canon, a contemporary
record, as well as by Josephus presently, that he reigned in all forty-three
years, that is, eight years after we meet with any account of his actions;
one of the last of which was the thirteen years' siege of Tyre, Antiq.
B. XI. ch. 11., where yet the Old Latin has but three years and ten months:
yet were his actions before so remarkable, both in sacred and profane authors,
that a vacuity of eight years at the least, at the latter end of his reign,
must be allowed to agree very well with Daniel's accounts; that after a
seven years' brutal life, he might return to his reason, and to the exercise
of his royal authority, for one whole year at least before his death.
(21)
These forty-three years for the duration of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar
are, as I have just now observed, the very same number in Ptolemy's canon.
Moses Chorenensis does also confirm this captivity of the Jews under Nebuchadnezzar,
and adds, what is very remarkable, that sale of those Jews that were carried
by him into captivity got away into Armenia, and raised the great family
of the Bagratide there.
(22)
These twenty-one years here ascribed to one named Naboulassar, in the first
book against Apion, or to Nabopollassar, the father of the great Nebuchadnezzar,
are also the very same with those given him in Ptolemy's canon. And note
here, that what Dr. Prideaux says, at the year, that Nebuchadnezzar must
have been a common name of other kings of Babylon, besides the great Nebuchadnezzar
himself is a groundless mistake of some modern chronologers rely, and destitute
of all proper original authority.
(23)
These fifteen days for finishing such vast buildings at Babylon, in Josephus's
copy of Berosus, would seem too absurd to be supposed to be the true number,
were it not for the same testimony extant also in the first book against
Apion, sect. 19, with the same number. It thence indeed appears that Josephus's
copy of Berosus had this small number, but that it is the true number I
still doubt. Josephus assures us, that the walls of so much a smaller city
as Jerusalem were two years and four months in building by Nehemiah, who
yet hastened the work all he could, Antiq. B. XI. ch. 5. sect. 8. I should
think one hundred and fifteen days, or a year and fifteen days, much more
proportionable to so great a work.
(24)
It is here remarkable that Josephus, without the knowledge of Ptolemy's
canon, should call the same king whom he himself here (Bar. i. 11, and
Daniel 5:1, 2, 9, 12, 22, 29, 39) styles Beltazar, or Belshazzar, from
the Babylonian god Bel, Naboandelus also; and in the first book against
Apion, sect. 19, vol. iii., from the same citation out of Berosus, Nabonnedon,
from the Babylonian god Nabo or Nebo. This last is not remote from the
original pronunciation itself in Ptolemy's canon, Nabonadius; for both
the place of this king in that canon, as the last of the Assyrian or Babylonian
kings, and the number of years of his reign, seventeen, the same in both
demonstrate that it is one and the same king that is meant by them all.
It is also worth noting, that Josephus knew that Darius, the partner of
Cyrus, was the son of Astyages, and was called by another name among the
Greeks, though it does not appear he knew what that name was, as having
never seen the best history of this period, which is Xenophon's. But then
what Josephus's present copies say presently, sect. 4, that it was only
within no long time after the hand-writing on the wall that Baltasar was
slain, does not so well agree with our copies of Daniel, which say it was
the same night, Daniel 5:30.
(25)
This grandmother, or mother of Baltasar, the queen dowager of Babylon,
(for she is distinguished from his queen, Daniel 5:10, 13,) seems to have
been the famous Nitocris, who fortified Babylon against the Medes and Persians,
and, in all probability governed under Baltasar, who seems to be a weak
and effeminate prince.
(26)
It is no way improbable that Daniel's enemies might suggest this reason
to the king why the lions did not meddle with him and that they might suspect
the king's kindness to Daniel had procured these lions to be so filled
beforehand, and that thence it was that he encouraged Daniel to submit
to this experiment, in hopes of coming off safe; and that this was the
true reason of making so terrible an experiment upon those his enemies,
and all their families, Daniel 6:21, though our other copies do not directly
take notice of it
(27)
What Josephus here says, that the stones of the sepulchers of the kings
of Persia at this tower, or those perhaps of the same sort that are now
commonly called the ruins of Persepolis, continued so entire and unaltered
in his days, as if they were lately put there, "I (says Reland) here
can show to be true, as to those stones of the Persian mansoleum, which
Com. Brunius brake off and gave me." He ascribed this to the hardness
of the stones, which scarcely yields to iron tools, and proves frequently
too hard for cutting by the chisel, but oftentimes breaks it to pieces.
Antiquities of the Jews
War of the Jews
Autobiography
Hades
Against Apion