Commentary on the Holy Bible

Verse 1. The burden of the tvord of the Lord to Israel by Malachi.] This prophet is undoubtedly the last of the Jewish prophets. He lived after Zechariah and Haggai; for we find that the temple, which was begun in their time, was standing complete in his. See chap. iii. 10. Some have thought that he was contemporary with Nehemiah; indeed, several have supposed that Malachi is no other than Ez7-a under the feigned name of angel of the Lord, or my angel. John the Baptist was the link that connected Malachi with Christ. According to Abp. Usher he flourished B. C. 416; but the authorized version, which we have followed in the margin, states this event to have happened nineteen years later. Both the Hebrew language and poetry had declined in his days.

3 And I hated Esau, and >■ laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.

I loved Jacob] My love to Jacob has been proved by giving him greater privileges and a better inheritance than what I have given to Esau.

Verse 3. And I hated Esau] I have shown him less love; Gen. xxi.\. 30, 31. I comparatively hated him by giving him an inferior lot. And now, I have not only laid waste the dwelling-place of the Edomites, by the mcursions of their enemies; but (ver. 4) they shall remain the perpetual monuments of my vengeance. On the subject of loving Jacob and hating Esau, see the notes on Gen. xxvii.,.and Rom. ix. 13. Let it be remembered, 1. That there is not a word spoken here concerning the eternal state of either Jacob or Esau. 2. That what is spoken concerns merely their earthly possessions. And, 3. That it does not concern the two brothers at all, but the posterity of each.

will return and build the desolate places; thus saith the Lord of hosts, They shall build, but I will throw down; and they shall call them. The border of wickedness, and, The people against whom the Lord hath indignation for ever.

5 And your eyes shall see, and yc shall say, " The Lord will be magnified f from? the border of Israel.

6 A son "^ honoureth his father, and a servant his master: ' if then \ be a. father, where is mine honour? and if I ie a master, where is my fear? saith the Lord of hosts unto you, 0 priests, that despise my name. '' And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?

7 ' Ye offer ■" polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say. Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, " The table of the Lord is contemptible.

8 And ° if ye offer the blind p for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if j'e offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or i accept thy person? saith the Lord of hosts.

9 And now, I pray you, beseech ' God that he will be gracious unto us: ^ this hath been

that would shut tlic doors /or naught 1 " neither do yc kindle yjre on mine altar for naught. I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of hosts, ' neither will I accept an offering at your hand.

1 1 For '^ from the rising of the sun even unto tiie going down of the same my name shall he great == among the Gentiles; ^ and in every place '• incense shall he offered unto my name, and a pure offering; " for my name shall he great among the heathen, saith the

12 But ye have profaned it, in that ye say, '' The table of the Lord is polluted; and the fruit thereof, even his meat, is contemptible.

13 Ye said also. Behold, what a weariness is it! " and ye have snuffed at it, saith the Lord of hosts; and ye brought that which was torn, and the lame, and the sick; thus ye brought an offering: '^ should I accept this of your hand? saith the Lord.

14 But;;ursed be "= the deceiver, ^ which hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing: for? I a?n a great King, saith the Lord of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen.

Verse 4. Theij shall build, but I tvill throw dotvn] We have already seen enough of the wickedness of the Edomites to justify the utmost severity of Divine justice against them. The pulling down predicted here was by Judas Maccabeus; see 1 Mac. v. 65; and by John Hyrcanus; see Joseph. Antiq., lib. xiii. c. 9i s. 1.

They shall call them, The border of wickedness] A wicked land. Among this people scarcely any trace of good could ever be noted.

The Lord unit be magnified] By his kindness in Israel, and his judgments beyond.

Verse G. A son honoureth his father] I am your Father — where, then, is my honour? Where your filial obedience?

Verse 7. Ye offer polluted bread] The priests, probably to ingratiate themselves with the people, took the refuse beasts, &c., and offered them to God; and thus the sacrificial ordinances were rendered contemptible.

Verse 8. Offer it now unto thy governor] nns pechath, a word signifying a lieutenant, or viceroy. among the Chaldeans, Syrians, and Persians; for neither at this time, nor ever after, was there a itng in Israel.

Verse 9. Beseech God] There were evident marks of God's displeasure in the land, and it was occasioned by the.se pollutions through the priests. And now he e.ichorts them to pray to God that they may be pardoned: for, if this practice be persisted in, God wiP not accept any offering made by them.

Verse 10. Who is — among you] From this we learn that there was not one sincere or honest pricsi among them. They were selfish and worldly; and so basely so, that not one of them would even kindle a fire on the hearth of the altar unless he were paid for it.

abolition of the Mosaic sacrifices, and the establishment of a spiritual worship over the whole eaith, is here foretold. The incense of praise, and the pure offering of the Lamb ivithout spot, and through him a holy, loving heart, shall be presented everywhere among the Gentiles; and the Jews and their mock offerings shall be rejected.

A"erse 12. Ye have prof aned it] Ye have desecrated God's worship; is it any wonder that God should cast vou off, and follow you with his judgments?

Verse 13. Ye have snuffed at U] A metaphor taken from cattle which do not like their fodder. They blow strongly through their nose upon it; and after this neither they nor any other cattle vvill eat it.

the sickl There had never been such abominations in the Divine worship before. What was of no worth in itself, and what could not be used by its ownier, was brought to God's altar, and offered for sacrifice! Was not the punishment of these wretches less than their crimes!

Verse 14. Cursed he the deceiver^ Those who act thus, as they cannot elude God's notice, so neither shall they escape his curse.

And voweth, and sacrificeth — a corrupt thing] The history of Ananias and Sapphira, Acts v. 1, &c., is a complete comment on this. It was high time to break up this corrupt service; and after this time God does not appear to have paid any regard to it, for he sent them no other prophet.

The priests reproved for their unfaithfulness in their office, for which they are threalcJied to be deprived of their share of the sacrifice, (the shoulder,) and rewarded only with ignominy and ordure, 1—3. The degeneracy of the order is then complained of, and they are again threatened, 4—9. The rest of the chapter reproves the people for marrying strange and idolatrous women; and multiplying divorces, with all their consequent distress, in order to make way for such illicit alliances, 10—17. See Neh. x. 30, and xiii. 33, tjc-

4 And ye shall know that I have sent thi.s commandment unto you, that my covenant might be with Levi, saith the Lord of hosts.

5 s My covenant was with him of life and

give glory unto my name, saith the Lord of

hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and

I will curse your blessings: yea, I have

cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart.

Verse 2. If ye will not hear] What I have spoken, lay it to heart, and let it sink down into your souls.

Give glory unto my name] That honour that is due to me as a Father, and. that _fea;' that belongs to me as a Master, chap. i. 6.

I will curse your blessing.^] Even that which ye have already shall not profit you. When temporal blessings are not the means of leading us to God and heaven, they will infallibly lead us to hell. In speaking of the abuse of temporal blessings, one of our old poets, in his homely phrase, expresses himself thus, — -

Thus God's best gifts, usurped by wicked ones,. To poison turn by their con-ta-gi-ons.

Yea, I have cursed them already] This may refer, generally, to unfruitful seasons; or, particularly, to a dearth that appears to have happened about this time..See Haggai i. 6-11.

Verse 3. Behold, I will corrupt your seed] So as to render it unfruitful. Newcome translates, — " I will take away from you the shoulder." This was the

• Or, it sJialt take you away to it. ^ 1 Kings xiv. 10.-

Spread dung upon your faces] Instead of receiving a sacrifice at your hands, I will throw your offerings back into your faces. Here God shows his contempt for them and their offerings.

Verse 4. This commandment] That in the first verse; to drive such priests from his presence and his service.

That my covenant might be ivith Levi] I gave the priesthood and the service of my altar to that tribe.

Verse 5. My covenant loas ivith him of life and peace] These are the tivo grand blessings given to men by the New Covenant, which was shadowed by the Old. To man, excluded from the favour of God, and sentenced to death because of sin, God gave n"13 bcrith, a covenant sacrifice, and this secured life — exemption from the death desened by transgressors; communication of that imvard spiritual life given by Christ, and issuing in that eternal life promised to all his faithful disciples. And, as it secured life, so it gave peace, prosperity, and happiness; peace between God and man, between man and man, and between man and his own conscience.

B. c'. dr. M?" PS^ce; and I gave iliem to liiin 01. cir. xcy. 4. h for llie fear wherewith he feared

6 ' The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his hps: he walked with me in peace and equity, and did ^ turn many away from iniquity.

7 ' For the priest's lips siiould keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: " for he is the messenger of the Lord of liosts.

8 But ye are departed out of the way; ye " have caused many to " stumble at the law; P ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith the Lord of hosts.

9 Therefore 'i have I also made you conteniplible and base before all the people, according as yc have not kept my ways, but ''have ' been partial in the law.

10 ' Have we not all one Father? " hath not

Verse 6. The laio of truth was in his mouth] See the qualifications of Levi: 1. " He feared me;" he was my sincere worshipper. 2. "He was afraid;" he acted as in the presence of a just and holy God, and acted conscientwusly in all that he did. 3. " My law of truth was ever in his mouth;" by this he directed his own conduct and that of others. 4. " No iniquity;"' nothing contrary to justice and equity ever proceeded " from his lips." 5. " He walked with me in peace;" he lived in such a way as to keep up union with me. 6. " He did turn many away from iniquity;" by his upright administration, faithful exhortations, and pious walk, he became the instrument of converting many sinners. This character suits every genuine mini.ster of God. And as the priest's lips should preserve knowledge, so the people should seek " the law at his mouth;" for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts, ver. 7.

A"crse 8. But yc are departed.out of the way] Ye are become impure yourselves, and ye have led others into iniquity.

Verse 9. Therefore have I also made you contemptible] The people despised you because they saw that you acted contrary to your functions. This has happened repeatedly since, to several classes of priests. Not maintaining, by purity of life and soundness of doctrine, tho dignity of the ministerial function, they became contemptible before the people; their meager preaching was disregarded, and their persons at last cast out as a general loathing to the universe! See what happened to the truly abominable priesthood of France and Rome, 1796-8. They one God created us? why do we ^ ^- <"^|' 3C07. deal treacherously every man oi. cir. X(;v. t.

1 1 Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the Loud which he " loved, "and hath married the daughter of a strange god.

12 The Lord will cut off the man that doeth this, ' the master and the scholar, out of the tabernacles of Jacob, y and him that offereth an offering unto the Lord of hosts.

13 And this have ye done again, covering the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping, and with crying out, insomuch that he regardeth not the offering any more, or receiveth it with good will at your hand.

1 4 Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the Lord hath been witness between thee and ^ the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast

were the sole cause of that infidelity that brought about the revolution. They are now partially restored; and are endeavouring to supply by grimarc, paltry superstition, and Jesuitical cunning, what they want in purity of morals, soundness of doctrine, and unction from God. They must mend, or look for another revolution. Mankind will no longer put up with the chaff of puerile and fanatical ceremonies in place of the wheat of (Jod's word and worship.

A'^erse 10. Have we not all one Father ^ I'Vom this to ver. 16 the prophet censures the marriages of I.iraelites with strange women, which the law had forbidden, Deut. vii. 3. And also divorces, which seem to have been multiplied for the purpose of contracting these prohibited marriages. — Newcome.

Why do we deal treacherously] Gain the affections of the daughter of a brother Jew, and then profane the covenant of marriage, held sacred among our fathers, by putting away this same wife and daughter! How wicked, cruel, and inhuman!

Verse 1 1. Daughter of a strange god.] Of a man who worships an idol.

Verse 12. The master and the.scholar] He who teaches such doctrine, and he who follows this teaching, the Lord will cut off both the one and the other.

Verse 13. Covering the altar of the Lord with tear.t] Of the poor women who, being divorced by cruel husliands, coine to the priests, and make an appeal to God at the altar; and ye do not speak against this glaring injustice.

Verse 14. Ye say. Wherefore.'] Is the Lord angry with u$? Because ye have been witness of tho

seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and

let none deal ^ treacherously against the wife of

1 6 For ^ the Lord, the God of Israel, saith ^ that he hateth ' putting away: for one cover-

contract made between the parties; and when the lawless husband divorced his luife, the icife of his youth, his companion, and the iinfe of his covenant, ye did not execute on him the discipline of the law. They kept their wives till they had passed their youth, and then put them away, that they might get young ones in their place.

Verse 15. And did not he make one.'] One of each kind, Adam and Eve. Yet had he the residue of the Spirit; he could have made millions of pairs, and inspired them all with liviyig souls. Then icherefore one? He made one pair from whom aU the rest might proceed, that he might have a holy offspring; that children being a marked property of one man and o?ie looman, proper care might be taken that they should be brought up in the discipline of the Lord. Perhaps the holy or godly seed, CJ'nSs >ni zera Elohim, a seed of God, may refer to the Messiah. God would have the whole human race to spring from one pair, that Christ, springing from the.same family, might in his sufferings taste death for every man; because he had that nature that was common to the whole human race. Had there been several heads of families in the beginning, Jesus must have been incarnated from each of those heads, else his death could have availed for those only who belonged to the family of which he was incarnated.

17 ''Ye have wearied the Lord with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? When ye say. Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delighteth in them; or. Where is the God of judgment?

Take heed to your spirit] Scrutinize the motives which induce you to put away your wives.

Verse 16. For the Lord — hateth putting awayl He abominates all such divorces, and him that makes

Covereth violence iiiith his garment] And he also notes those who frame idle excuses to cover the violence they have done to the wives of their youth, by putting them away, and taking others in their place, whom they now happen to like better, when their own wives have been worn down in domestic services.

Verse 17. Ye have wearied the Lord] He has borne with you so long, and has been provoked so often, that he will bear it no longer. It is not fit that he should.

Every one that doeth evil] Ye say that it is right in the sight of the Lord to put away a wife, because she has no longer found favour in the sight of her husband. And because it has not been signally punished hitherto, ye blaspheme and cry out, " Where is the God of judgment V Were he such as he is represented, would he not speak out? All these things show that this people were horribly corrupt. The priests were bad; the prophets were bad; the Levites were bad; and no wonder that the people were irreligious, profane, profligate, and cruel.

In allusion to the custom of sending pioneers to prepare the way for the march of an eastern monarch, the coming of ChrisC s forerunner is described, and then the coming of Christ himself, 1; with the terrible judgments ivhich were to accompany that event, in order to refine and purify his people and his priests, 2-6. The following verses reprehend them for withholding the legal tithes and offerings, with large promises in case of their repentance and amendment, 7—12. The prophet expostulates with the people for their hard and profane speeches against the conduct of Providence, and declares God will one day make a fearful and final distinction between the righteous and the wicked, whose different characters are in the mean time carefully recorded, 13-18.

jgEHOLD, "I will send my messenger, and he shall '' prepare llie way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, " even the Messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, "^ he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.

2 But who may abide " the day of his coming? and '^who shall stand when he appeareth? for s lie is like a refiner's fire, and like fuller's soap.

3 And ^ he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may ' offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.

4 Then ^ shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in ' former years.

5 Aiid I will come near to you to judgment;

Verse I. Behold, I will send my messenger] OnSo Malachi, the very name of the prophet. But this speaks of John the Baptist. I, the Messiah, the Seed of God, mentioned above, will send my messenger, John the Baptist.

He shall prepare the ivay] Be as a pioneer before me; a corrector of civil abuses, and a preacher of righteousness.

And the Lord, whom ye seeh] The Messiah, whom ye expect, from the account given by the prophet Daniel, in his seventy weeks, chap. ix. 24.

Shall suddenly come to his temple] Shall soon be presented before the Lord in this temple; cleanse it from its defilement, and fill it with his teaching and his glory.

The Messenger of the covetiant] He that comes to fulfil the great design, in reference to the covenant made with Abram, that in his seed all the families of the earth should be Messed. See the parallel texts in the margin, and the notes on them.

Verse 2. But who may abide the day of his coming?] Only they who shall believe on his name; fur they that will not, shall be blinded, and the unbelieving nations shall be destroyed b)' the Romans the adulterers, ■" and against lalsc cir. annum swearers, and against those that ^^^'

" oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger /row his right, and fear not me, saith the Lord of hosts.

6 For I am the Lord, " I change not; ^ there fore ye sons of Jacob arc not consumed.

7 Even from the days of « your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept the7n. ' Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. ^ But ye said. Wherein shall we return?

8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say. Wherein have we robbed thee? ' In tithes and offerings.

9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.

ing of our Lord, a great number of the priests became obedient.do the faith, Acts vi. 7; and, as to the others that did not believe, this great Refiner threw them as dross into the Roman fire, that consumed both Jerusalem and the temple.

Verse 5. / will come near to you to judgment] And what fearful cases does he get to judge! Sorcerers, adulterers, false swearers, defrauders of the wages of the hireling, oppressors of widows and orphans, and perverters of the stranger and such as do not fear the Lord: a horrible crew; and the land at that time was full of them. Several were converted under the preaching of Christ and his apostles, and the rest the Romans destroyed or carried into captivity.

Verse 6. / am the Lord, J change not] The new dispensation of grace and goodness, which is now about to be introduced, is not the effect of any change in my counsels; it is, on the contrary, the fulfilment of my everlasting purposes; as is also the throwing aside of the Mosaic ritual, vvliich was only intended to introduce the great and glorious Gospel of my.Son.

And because of this ancient covenant, ye Jews are not totally consumed; but ye are now, and shall be still, preserved as a distinct people — monuments both to cleanse, any thing that deterges. Kali, or fern ashes, or such things. 1 doubt whether the composition which we call soap, was known in ancient times.

Verse 3. He shall sit as a refiner] Alluding to the ease of a refiner of metals, sitting at his fire; increasing it when he sees necessary, and watching the process of his work.

The sons of Levi] Those who minister in their stead under the New covenant, for the Old Levitical institutions shall be abolished; yet, under the preach-

Verse 7. Gone away from mine ordinances] Never acting according to their spirit and design.

Wherein shall we return?] Their consciences were seared, and they knew not that they were.tinners.

Verse 8. Will a man rob God?] Here is one point on which ye are guilty; ye withhold the tithes and offerings from the temple of God, so that the Divine worship is neglected.

me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the ■" windows of heaven, and " pour y you out a blessing, that there shall not he room enough to receive it.

1 1 And I will rebuke ^ the devourer for your sakcs, and he shall not " destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall yourvine cast her fruit before the lime in the field, saith the Lord of hosts.

12 And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be '' a delightsome land, saith the

1 3 "^ Your words have been stout against me, saith the Lord. Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against thee?

14 "^ Ye have said. It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept ^ his

Verse 10. Bring ye all the tithes] They had so withheld these that the priests had not food enough to support life, and the sacred service was interrupted. See Neh. xiii. 10.

And prove me now herewith'] What ye give to God shall never lessen your store. Give as ye should, and see wliether I will not so increase your store by opening the windoips of heaven — giving you rain and fruitful seasons — that your barns and granaries shall not be able to contain the abundance of your harvests and vintage.

Verse 11. 1 10 ill rebuke the devourer] The locusts, &c., shall not come on your crops; and those that are in the country I will disperse and destroy.

Neither shall your vine cast her fruit] Every blossom shall bear fruit, and every bunch of grapes come to maturity.

Verse 12. All nations shall call you blessed] They shall see that a peculiar blessing of God rests upon you, and your land shall be delightsome; like Paradise, the garden of the Lord.

Verse 13. Your words have been stout against me] He speaks here to open infidels and revilers.

What have we spohen] They are ready either to deny the whole, or impudently to maintain and defend what they had spoken!

Verse 14. Ye have said, It is vain to serve God] They strove to destroy the Divine worship; they asserted that it was vanity; that, if they performed acts of worship, they should be nothing the better; and if they abstained, they should be nothing the worse. This was their teaching to the people.

15 And now? we call the proud "^^- happy; yea, ihey that work wickedness ^ are set up; yea, they that ' tempt God are even delivered.

1 6 Then they ^ that feared the Lord ' spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and ™ a book of remembrance was written before iiim for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name.

1 7 And " they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my ° jewels; •" and 1 1 will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.

18' Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.

declared to be useless. This was a high pitch of ungodliness; but see what follows; behold the general conclusions of these reprobates —

Verse 15. And now we call the proud happy] Proud and insolent men are the only happy people, for they domineer everywhere, and none dares to resist them.

They that work loickedness are set up] The humble and holy are depressed and miserable; the proud and ivicked are in places of trust and profit. Too often it is so.

They that tempt God are even delivered^ Even those who despise God, and insult his justice and providence, are preserved in and from dangers; while the righteous fall by them.

Verse 16. They that feared the Lord] There were a few godly in the land, who, hearing the language and seeing the profligacy of the rebels above, concluded that some signal mark of God's vengeance must fall upon them; they, therefore, as the corruption increased, cleaved the closer to their Maker. There are three characteristics given of this people, viz.: —

1. They feared the Lord. They had that reverence for Jehovah that caused them to depart from evil, and to keep his ordinances.

2. They s^pake often one to another. They kept up the communion of saints. By mutual exhortation they strengthened each other's hands in the Lord.

3. They thought on his name. His name was sacred to them; it was a fruitful source of profound and edifying meditation. The name of God is God himself m the plenitude of his power, omniscience, justice, goodness, mercy, and truth. What a source for thinking and contemplation! See how God treats such persons: The Lord hearkened to their conversation, heard the meditations of their hearts; and so approved of the whole that a book of remembrance was written before the Lord — all their names were carefully registered in heaven. Here is an allusion to records kept by kings, Esth. vi. 1, of such as had [lerformed signal services, and who should be the first to be rewarded.

Verse 17. They shall be mine'] I will acknowledge them as my subjects and followers; in the day, especially, when I come to punish the wicked and reward the righteous.

When I make up my jewels] nbjD segullah, my peculium, my proper treasure; that which is a man's own, and mosi prized by him. '!iot jeioels; for in no part of the Bible does the word mean a gem or precious stone of any kind. The interpretations frequently given of the word in this verse, comparing saints to jewels, are forced and false.

I wilt.■spare them] When I come to visit the wicked, 1 will take care of them. I will act towards them as

Verse 18. Then shall ye return] To your senses when perhaps too late; and discern — see the diflerence which God makes, between the righteous and the wicked, which will be most marked and auful.

Betioeen him that serveth God] Your obedience to whom, ye said, would be unprofitable to you.

And him that serieth him not.] Of whom ye said his disobedience would be no prejudice to him. You will find the former received into the kingdom of glory; and the latter, with yourselves, thrust down into the bitter pains of an eternal death. Reader, ponder those things.

In the great day of the Lord, at least, if not long before, it will be full)' discovered who have been the truly wise people; those who took up their cross and followed Christ; or those who satisfied the flesh, with its affections and desires, following a multitude tc do evil.

God^s awful judgments on the wicked, 1. Great blessedness of the righteous, 2, 3. The prophet then, with a solemnity becoming the last of the prophets, closes the Sacred Canon with enjoining the strict observance of the laic till the forerunner already promised should appear, in the spirit of Elijah, to introduce the Messiah, and begin a new and everlasting dispensation, 4-6.

and all "^ the proud, yea, and all I eousness arise with healing in his cir. annum that do wickedly, shall be "^ stub- wings;' and ye shall go forth, and ^^' ble: and the day that cometh shall burn them grow up as calves of the stall.

up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall '' leave them neither root nor branch.

Verse 1. Behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven] The destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans.

And all the proud] This is in reference to ver. 15 of the preceding chapter.

The day that cometh shall burn them vp] Either by famine, by sword, or by captivity. All those rebels shall be destroyed,

// shall leave them neither root nor bra7tch.] A proverbial expression for total destruction. Neither >rta?i nor child shall escape.

Verse 2. You that fear my name] The persons mentioned in the sixteenth verse of the preceding chapter; ye that look for redemption through the Messiah.

The Sun of righteousness] The Lord Jesus, the promised Messiah; the Hope of Israel.

With healing in his wings] As the sun, by the rays of light and heat, revives, cheers, and fructifies the whole creation, giving, through God, light and life everywhere; so Jesus Christ, by the influences of his

3? And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your

everywhere invigorating the seeds of righteousness, and withering and drying up the seeds of sin. The rays of this Sun are the truths of his Gospel, and the influences of his Spirit. And at present these are universally diffused.

And ye shall go forth] Ye who believe on his name shall go forth out of Jerusalem when the Romans shall come up against it. After Cestius Callus had blockaded the city for some days, he suddenly raised the siege. The Christians who were then in it, knowing, by seeing Jerusalem encompassed with armies, that the day of its destruclion was come, when iheir Lord commanded them to flee into the mountains, took this opportunity to escape from Jerusalem, and go to Pella, in Coslesyria; so that no Christian life fell in the siege and destruction of this city.

Verse 3. Ye shall tread dnwn] This may be the grace and Spirit, shall quicken, awaken, enlighten, commission given to the Romans: Tread down the warm, invigorate, heal, purify, and refine every soul wicked people, tread down the wicked place; set it that believes in him; and, by his wings or rays, dif-: on fire, and let the ashes be trodden down under fuse these blessings from one end of heaven to another; [ your teet.

cir. annum 4 Kemember ye the " Jaw oi ^^^' Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him ' in Horeb for all Israel, with ^ the statutes and judgments.

5 Behold, I will send you ' Elijah the pro-

Verse 4. Remcmher ye the law of Moses] Where all these things are predicted. The Sepluagint, Arabic, and Coptic, place this verse the last.

Verse 5. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet'] This is meant alone of John the Bapti.st, as we learn from Luke i. 17, (where see the note,) in whose spirit and power he came.

Verse 6. And he shall turn (convert) the heart of the fathers (l)! al, with) the children] Or, together with the children; both old and young. Lest I come, and, finding them unconverted, smite the land with a curse, LDin cherem, utter extinction. So we find that, had the Jews turned to God, and received the Messiah at the preaching of John the Baptist and that of Christ and his apostles, the awful ain clierem of final excision and execration would not have been executed upon them. However, they filled up the cup of their iniquity, and were reprobated, and the Gentiles elected in their stead. Thus, the last was first, and the first was last. Glory to God for his unspeakable gift!

There are three remarkable predictions in this chapter; — 1. The advent of John Baptist, in the spirit and authority of Elijah. 2. The manifestation of Christ in the flesh, under the emblem of the Sun of righteousness. 3. The final destruction of Jerusalem, represented under the emblem of a burning oven, consuming every thing cast into it. These three prophecies, relating to the most important facts that have ever taken place in the history of the world, announced here nearly four thousand years before their occurrence, have been most circumstantially fulfilled.

In most of the Masoretic Bibles the fifth verse is repeated after the sixth — " Behold, I send unto you Elijah the prophet, before the great and terrible day of Jehovah come;" for the Jews do not like to let their sacred book end with a curse; and hence, in reading, they immediately subjoin the above verse, or else the fourth — " Remember ye the law of Moses my servant."

In one of my oldest M.SS. the fifth verse is repeated, and wrhten at full length: " Behold, I send you Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord." In another, only these words are added: " Behold, I will send you Elijah." It is on this ground that the Jews expect the reappearance of Elijah the prophet; and at their marriagefeasts always set a chair and knife and fork for this prophet, whom they suppose to be invisibly present. But we have already seen that John the Baptist, the forerunner of our Lord, was the person designed; for he came in the spirit and power of Elijah, (see on chap. iii. 1,) and has fulfilled this prophetic promise. John is come, and the Lord Jesus has come also; he has shed his blood for the salvation of a lost world; he

of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and ° smite the earth with p a curse.

has ascended on high; he has sent forth his Holy Spirit; he has commissioned his ministers to proclaim to all mankind redemption in his blood; and he is ever present with them, and is filling the earth with righteousness and true holiness. Hallelujah! The kingdoms of this world are about to become the kingdoms of God and our Lord Jesus! And now, having just arrived at the end of my race in this work, and seeing the wonderful extension of the work of God in the earth, my heart prays: —

Thy mercy make known, and sprinkle thy blood; Display thy salvation, and teach the new song, To every nation, and people, and tongue! In most MSS. and printed Masoretic Bibles there are only three chapters in this prophet, the fourth being joined to the third, making it twenty-four verses. In the Jewish reckonings the Tioelve Minor Prophets make but one book; hence there is no Masoretic note found at the end of any of the preceding prophets, with accounts of its verses, sections, &c.; but, at the end of Malachi we find the following table, which, though it gives the number of verses in each prophet, yet gives the total sum, middle verse, and sections, at the end of Malachi, thereby showing that they consider the whole twelve as constituting but one booh. Masoretic Notes On the Twelve Minor Prophets. Hosea has ------197 verses.

The sum of all the verses of the Twelve Minor Prophets is 1060. The middle verse is Micah, chap. iii. ver. 12. Number of Sections, 21. To God the Father, So.v, and Holv Ghost, be

1 have this day completed this Commentary, on which I have laboured above thirty years; and which, when I began, I never expected to live long enough to finish. May it be a means of securing glory to God in the highest, and peace and good will among men upon earth! Amen, Amen. Adam Clarke.

As many have wished to see an epitome of the Jewish history, from the days of tlie prophet Malachi to the advent of Christ, in order to comiect the history of the Old and New Testaments, I have prepared the following, which, in such a work as this, is as much as should be expected.

On all hands Madathi is allowed to have been the last prophet under the Old Testament; and he flourished about four hundred and nine years before the coming of Christ, according to the commonly received chronology; and Nehemiah, who was contemporary with him, was the last of those civU governors appointed by God himself. His last act of reformation is fixed by Prideaux, B. C. 409; soon after which it is supposed that he died, as at this time he could not be less than seventy years of age. For the administration of affairs m his times and in those of Ezra, whom he succeeded in the government of Judca, the reader is referred to the notes on Ezra, Nehemiah, and Daniel.

"We have seen, in the book of Nehemiah, that, on the return of the Jews from the Chaldean captivity, many of them brought strange mves and a spurious offspring with them, and refusing to put them away, were banished by Nehemiah. and went and settled in Samaria. Among those exiles there was a son of Jehoiada, the high priest, named Manasseh, who had married the daughter of Sanballat the Horonite, and put himself under the protection of his father-in-law, who was governor of the place. After the death of Nehemiah, Sanballat obtained a grant from Darius to build a temple on Mount Gcrizim, near Samaria, of which he made Manasseh, his son-in-law, high priest. This temple was begim to be built B. C. 408.

From the building of this temple, Samaria became the refuge of all refractory Jews: and though by this means the old superstition of the land was reformed to the worship of the God of Israel, they of Jerusalem would never consider the Samaritan Jews otherwise than apostates. On the other hand, the Samaritans maintained that Mount Gcrizim was the only proper place for the worship of God. This people rejected all traditions, and adhered only to the written word contained in the five books of Moses.

Nehemiah's death was also attended with a change of the Jewish government at Jerusalem. Judea had no longer a governor of its own. It was united to the prefecture of Si/na; the rulers of which committed the administration of both civil and ecclesiastical affairs to the high priest for the time being.

By this means the high priesthood became an office under ihe heathen; and towards the latter end of Artaxerzes Mnemon's reign, B. C. 40.5, who succeeded his father Darius Nothus, B. C. 423, the office was conferred by the governor of Syria and Phcrnicia. For Basoses, the governor, took upon himself to displace Johanan the high priest, in favour of the said priest's brother Joshua; which nomination, though it did not take place, (for Johanan slew his brother Joshua in I the inner court of the temple, as he endeavoured by force to I usurp the high-priest's office by virtue of the governor's com mission, B. C. 366,) was attended with this bad consequence — that Bagoses, hearing of the murder, came in great wrath to Jerusalem, and laid a hea^y fine upon the nation, which lasted seven years, or during the whole of his government.

Artaxcrxes Mnemon died B. C. 359, with grief at the brutality of his son Ochus, who had so terrified his eldest brother Ariaspes, that he poisoned himself, and had his younger brother Harpa/es assassinated. So that Ochtis succeeded to the dignity and empire of his father.

In the third year of Ochus, about 356 before Christ, Alexander the Great was bom at Pella in Macedonia. Ochus, having reigned twenty-ojie years, was poisoned by liis favourite Bagoas, in hopes of getting the whole govonunent into bis own hands, and to put the crown on the head of Arses, his youngest son, whom he also poisoned soon after, and raised Codomannus, a distant relation of the late king, to the throne. This new king took the name of Darius; and when Bagoas had also prepared a poisonous draught for him, he obliged Bagoas to drink it himself; by which means he saved his own life, and punished the traitor.

It was about the year B. C. 336 that Alexander Ihe Great succeeded to the kingdom of Macedon, on the death of his father Philip, who was slain by the noble Macedonian Patisanias, as he celebrated the marriage of his daughter with Alexander, king of Epirus, before he set out upon the Grecian expedition against Persia, being chosen captain-general of the united forces of Greece.

Alexafuler also succeeded to that command by a new election. In one campaign he overran all Asia Minor; vanquished Darius in two battles; took his mother, wife, and children prisoners; and subdued all Syria as far as Tyre, B. C. 332.

During the seige of Tyre, he demanded the submission of the neighbouring provinces of Galilee, Samaria, and Judea. Tile two former submitted to him; hut Judea would not renounce then- allegiance to Darius so long as he lived. This brought upon them the WTath of the conqueror; who. having taken Tyre, by carrying a bank from the continent through the sea to the island on which the city stood, and burned it down to the ground, destroyed and slew all the inhabitants in a barbarous manner, both in the sackage of the town, and afterwards in cold blood; and then marched to Jerusalem to wreak liis vengeance upon the Jews. I'poii his approach, and the report of his having crucified tiro thousand of the Tyrian prisoners, the high priest Jaddua and all the city were under dreadful a))prehensions. They had nothing hut God's protection to depend upon. They fasted and prayed: and iioA in a vi.sion directed the high priest to go in hi.s pontifical robes, attended by the priests in their proper habits, and all the people in white ganncnts, and meet Alexander out of the city.

him, and the high priest in the front, he was overawed, drew near, bowed down, and saluted hini in a religious manner; alleging that he did so in regard to that God whose priest he was; adding, moreover, that the high priest so habited had appeared to him in a dream at Dio m Macedonia, assuring liim of success against the Persians.

Jadditu conducted him into the city; and, having offered sacrifices in the temple, showed him the prophecies of Daniet-, concerning the overtlirow of the Persian empire by a Grecian king.

Alexander was well satisfied with his reception at Jerusalem; and at his departure granted the Jcics a toleration of their religion, and an exemption from tribute every seventh year. And the Jews were so well pleased with the conqueror's behaviour, that, upon his signifying that he would receive asmany of them as would enlist into his service, great multitudes entered under his banner, and followed him in his other expeditions.

The Samaritans met him with great pomp and parade, as he left Jerusalem, and invited him to their city. But Alexander deferred botli the invitation, and petition for certain privileges, till his return from Egypt; and left his favourite Andromachu-s governor of Syria and Palestine.

Andrmnachns, coming some time after to Samaria upon busmess, was burned to death in liis house, as it was thought on purpose, by the Samaritans, in revenge of the slight which they apprehended Alexander had shown them. But as soon as Alexander heard it, he caused those to be put to death who had acted any part in the murder, banished all the other inhabitants from Samaria, planted therein a colony of Macedonians, and gave the residue to the Jews.

Upon the ruin of the Persians, Alexander had erected the Grecian or Macedonian monarchy. But coming to Babylon, after the conquest of the most part of the then known world, he gave himself up so much to drunkenness and gluttony, that he soon put an end to his hfe, B. C. 323.

Here it cannot be amiss to observe, that Alexander was of a bold and enterprising spirit; but more full of fire than discretion. His actions, though successful, were furious and extravagantly rash. His few virtues were obscured with more and greater vices. Vainglory was his predoirhnant passion; and the fables of the ancient Greek heroes were the only charts by which he steered his conduct. His dragging Balis round Gaza, his expedition into hulia, his drunken procession through Caramania, and taking to himself the name of the son of Jupiter, are so many vouchers of this assertion. And, were all his actions duly considered and estimated, he would be properly characterized the great eid-throat of the age in which he lived; as all they are who delight in bloodshed, and will forfeit all to obtain universal vwnarchy; whereas those only are the tnie heroes who most benefit the world, by promoting the peace and welfare of mankind. In a righteous cause, or a just defence of a man's country, all actions of valour are worthy of praise; but in all other cases victory and conquest are no more than murder and robbery. Therefore Alexander's heroism is to be avoided, and not to be followed, as the surest way to honour and glory.

Alexander was no sooner dead, than Ptolemy Soter seized upon Egypt; and having in vain endeavoured to gain Syria, Phoinicia, and Judea from Laomcdon, whom Alexander had appointed governor instead of Andromaehus, who was burnt, invaded them by sea and land, took Laomedmi prisoner, and got possession of those provinces also, except Jadea; wliich, upon the account of their allegiance to the surviving governor, refusing to yield, felt the severity of the conqueror; for, understanding that the Jews would iiot so much as defend themselves on the Sabbath day, he stormed Jerusalem, took it without resistance on that day, and carried above one hundred thmisand of them captives into Egypt.

From tliis time we may date the Jews'' subjection to the khigs of Egypt. And it was in the fifth year of this Ptolemy's reign that Onias the Jewish high priest died, and was suc"- ceeded by his son Simon the Just, on whom an eulogium may be found in Ecclus. 1. 1, &,c., B. C. 292.

Simon the Just was high priest nine years, and is supposed to have completed the canon of the Old Testament by adding the books of Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, 'Malachi, and the two books of Chronicles, with the aid and assistance of the great synagogue. He was succeeded by his brother Eleazar, his son Onias being a minor, B. C. 291.

Ptolemy Soter was succeeded by his son Ptolemy Philadelphus, B. C. 285, who completed the college or museum of learned men, and the famous library at Alexandria in Egypt, which was begun by his father, and contained seven hundred thousand volmnes, and placed in that hbrary an authentic translation of the book of the law. This translation was finished under the inspection of Eleazar the high priest, and is called the Septuagmt, on account of the joint labour of seventy-two translators employed in it, B. C. 254.

Ptolemy Philadelphus died in the thirty-ninth year of his reign, and in the sixty-third of his age, B. C. 247. He was a learned prince, and a great patron of learning; so that men of learning flocked to his court from all parts, and partook of his favour and bomity. Among these were the poeis Theocritus, Callimachus, Lycophron, and Aratus, and Manelho, the Egyptian historian.

B. C. 247, Ptolemy Euergetes succeeded his father Ptoleviy in Egypt. He found Onias, the son of Simon the Just, in the pontificate at Jerusalem, who was very old, w eak, inconsiderate, and covetous. -\nd Euergetes, perceiving that the high priest had for many years kept back the annual tribute, sent one Athenian, an officer at court, to Jerusalem, to demand it, being a very large sum, with threats of sending an army to dispossess them of the country upon refusal.

This demand and threatening threw the whole nation into great confusion; and one Joseph, the high priest's nephew by his sister's side, rebuked his uncle sharply for his injustice and ill management of the public interest, proposed Onias's journey to Alexandria, as the best expedient, and, upon his uncle's refusal, offered to go in person to pacify the king's wrath, which was accepted by the high priest, and approved by the people, B. C. 226.

Joseph all this time had entertained Athenion in a most elegant manner at his own house, and at his departure loaded him with such valuable gifts, that when he arrived at Alexandria, he found the king prepared much in his favour to receive lum, and made liimself more acceptable by informing liim concerning the revenues of Cwlcsyria and Pha:nicia, whose value he had inquired more perfectly from their farmers, with whom he had travelled to court part of the way; and was thereupon admitted the king's receiver general of Caelesyria, Phoenicia, Judea, and Samaria. He immediately satisfied the king for his uncle's arrears with five hundred talents he borrowed at Alexandria on the credit of liis new office, which he enjoyed twenty-two years, though he met with great opposition at his first collecting, till he had brought some of the ringleaders to exemplary punishment.

B. C. 221. All things were agaui composed at Jerusalem; and Philopater having succeeded his father Ptolemy Euergetes in Egypt, and defeated the army of Antiochns the Great, he in the fifth year of his reign took the tour of Jerusalem while he visited liis conquests. But this was very unfortunate for the Jews. For Philopater being led by a vain curiosity to enter into the sanctuary and the holy of holies on the great day o{ expiation, B. C. 217, where no one but the high priest was allowed to enter, he was opposed by the deprecations and lamentations of the people; and w-hen he would still advance beyond the inner court, he was seized with such a terror and consternation, that he was obliged to be carried back in a manner half dead. He recovered; but when he left the city, he vowed revenge. And accordingly, he was no sooner returned to 'Alexandria than he deprived the Jews of all their rights and privileges; ordered them to be stigmatized with a burn representing an ivy leaf, under pain of death, in honour of his god Bacchus; and excluded all persons from his presence that would not sacrifice to the god he worsliipped. Then he commanded as many Jews as he could seize in Egypt to be brought and shut up in the Hippodrome, or place for horse-races, at Alexandria, to be destroyed by elephants. But God turned the wild beasts upon those that came to see the dreadful massacre, by which numbers of the spectators were slain; and so terrified the king and his subjects with other tokens of his displeasure and power, that Philopater immediately not only released the Jews from the Hippodrome, but restored the whole nation to their privileges, reversed every decree against them, and put those Jews to death who for fear of persecution had apostatized from their religion.

Ptolemy Philopater was succeeded, B. 0. 204, by his son Ptolemy Epiphanes, then only five years old. This niinoritT gave Anliochis the Great an opportunity to regain Cahmjria and Palestine: in which expedition the Jews had show-n so much favour to Antiochus, that ho <jrantcd them many favours, a hbcrty to live according to their own laws and rclif]jion, a prohibition to strangers to enter within the sept of the temple, &c. But as soon as Ptolemy was marriageable, he made peace with him, and gave him his daughter, with Calesyria and Palestine for her portion. On this occasion Joseph, who had been Ptolemy's receiver general in those provinces, and displaced by Aiitiochiis, was restored.

Ptolemy in a short time had a son; and it being customary on such occasions for all the great ofliccrs of state to congratulate the king and queen, and to carry them presents, Joseph, whose age would not permit him to take so long a journey, sent his son Hyrrnnus, B. C. 187, who, upon an unlimited credit given him liy his father, when he was arrived at Aleirandria, borrowed a thousand talents, or two hundred thousand pounils sterling, with which, buying a hundred beautiful boys for the king, and as many beautiful young maids for the queen, at the price of a talent per head, and presenting them each with a talent in their hands, and disposing of the remaining sum among the courtiers and great officers, he so obliged the king and queen, and all the co\irt, that he found it easy to supplant his father, and obtained the king's commission for collecting the royal revenues in all the country beyond Jordan.

Hyreanus, having thus abused his trvist, went with a strong guard to execute his office; and being met by his brothers, killed two of therm. He came to Jerusalem; but his father would not admit liim to his presence, and he was shunned by ever)' body. Upon the death of his father, which happened soon after, he endeavoured by force of arms to oust his brethren from the patermi! estate. This disturbed the peace of Jerusalem for a while; till at last his brothers, being assisted by the high priest and the generality of the people, drove him over Jordan, where he lived in a strong castle, till he fell upon his own sword and killed himself to avoid the punishment with which Antlochus Epiphanes, upon his succeeding to the throne of Syria, threatened him. B. C. 175.

Antioehifs the Great being slain by the inhabitants of Elymais, as he attempted by night to plunder the temple of Jupiter Belus, thereby to pay the Romans according to his agreement, his son Selcuats Philopater succeeded him in the provinces of Syria, Judea, &c., and resided at Aniioch.

Seleueus, at his first advancement to the dominion of these provinces, continued his father's favours to the Jev'S; but being afterwards infonned by ofie Simon a Benjamite that there was great treasure in the temple, he sent one Hcliodonis to seize it. and to bring all the riches he could find therein to Aniioch. Hcliodorus attempted to execute this commission; but he was so terrified at the sight of an armed host of angels that appeared to defend the entrance of the sacred treasury, that he fell speechless to the ground; nor did he recover till the high priest interceded to God for him.

This same Hrliodorms poisoned his sovereign Sclcucus, hoping to obtain the kingdom; hut his design was frustrated by Eumenes, king of Pcrgamus. and his brother Attains, who set Antiorhus Epiphanes, another son of Antiochus the Great, on the throne of Syria.

Epiphanes, at his accession to the throne, finding himself hard pressed by the Romans, endeavoured to raise their heavy tribute by all manner of exactions. Amongst other means he deposed the good and pious high priest. Ojiias, and sold the pontificate to his brother Jason for the yearly sum of three hundred and sirty talents; and afterwards he deposed Jason, and sold it to his brother Menclaus for three hundred talents more, B. C. 174.

Menclaus, having invaded the pontificate by these unjust means, and finding himself straitened to raise the annual payment according to contract, by the means of Lysimaehus, another of his brothers, he robbed the temple of many gold vessels, which, being turned into money, he paid to the king; and bribed Andronicus, the goVemor of Antioch, to murder his brother Onias, lest at any time he should stand in his way. It is true that at the instance of the people A ndronievs was seized and executed for his villany and murder, and Lysimaehus was put to death by the mob at Jerusalem; yet Menclaus found menus liy bribery, not only to acrpiit himself, but to obtain sentence against, and even the execution of, the three delegates that went from Jerusalem to prosecute liim m tli« name of the sanhedrin.

But while Antiochus was engaged in the Etiyptian war, Ja.ion, on a false report that the king was dead, ujarched with a thousand men, surprised the city of Jerusalem, drove Menclaus into the castle, and cruelly put to the sword and to other kinds of death all those that he thought were his adversaries.

Inmiediately the news of this revolution and massacre reached Antiochus, he hastened to reduce the Jcics to their obedience; and in his Way, being infonned that the inhabitants o{ Jeru.ialem hai made great rejoicings at the report of his death, he was so provoked, that, taking the city by storm, B. C. no, he s\c\v forty thmi.<:and persons, and sold as many more for slaves to the neighbouring nations. He entered the holy of holies, sacrificed a sow upon the altar of burnt-offerings, and caused the broth or liqvior thereof to be sprinkled all over the temple. He plundered the temple of as much gold and furniture as amounted to ei^ht hundred talents of gold. Then, returning to AnticKh, he made one Philip, a most barbarous and cruel man. governor of Judea; Andronicus, as bad a man, governor of Samaria; and continued Menclaus, the worst of all. in the jiontificate. And, as if this was not sufficient to satisfy his rage, he not long after sent an army of t7P0 and twenty thousand men, under Apollonius his general, with conunission to put all the men o( Jeni.ialem to the sword, and to make slaves of the women and children; which was rigorously executed on a Sabbath day, so that none escaped but such as could hide themselves in caves, or reach the mountains by flight.

This cruelty soon after pursued the Jars, wherever dispersed: for by a General decree to oblige all people in his dominions to conform to the religion of the king, one Athcnteus, a Grecian idolater, was pitched upon to receive and instruct all the Jeirs that would turn idolaters, and to punish with the most cruel deaths those who refused. It was at this time that the temple was dedicated to Jupiter Olympius; the books of the law were burned; and women, accused of having their children circumcised, were led about the streets with these children tied about their necks, and then both together cast headlong over the steepest part of the wall, B. C. 167; for many of them chose rather to die than to renounce their God; as the holy zeal and religious fortitude of the very aged and pious Eleazar, a chief doctor of the law, and of the heroine Salomona and her seven sons, do testify'; whom neither the instniments of death could terrify, nor the allurements of the tvTant could persuade, to forfeit their interest with the Almightv, either bv idolatry or dissimulation. <

Matthias, great grandson of Asmouteus, attd a priest of the first course, retired with his five sons, John, Simon, Judas, Eleazar, and Jonathan, from the persecution at Jerusalem, to a little place called Modin, in the tribe of Dan. But as soon as they were discovered. Antiochus sent one Appelles to that place, to oblige all the inhabitants, on pain of death, to turn idolaters. This officer delivered his commission by endeavouring to persuade Matthias to embrace idolatry, tendering to him the king's favour, and promising him great riches; which the good priest not only scornfully rejected, but slew the first Jcv that dared to approach the idolatrous altar; and then, turning upon the king's commissioner, he despatched him and all his attendants, with the assistance of his sons and those that were with them. After this he put himself at the head of as manv Jews as he could collect; and, having broken down the idols and the altars of the heathens, retired with them into the mountains. Here, as he took measures for their defence, he was joined by a nvimeroiis party o[ Assidtrans; a valiant people, who practised great hardships and mortifications, and were resolved to lay down their lives for the recovery of the temple. Bv these, and the accession of great numbers of other Jews, Matthias found himself in a capacity to take the field; but as their mistaken notion about resting on the,'^ahbalh day had been one great cause of their being surjirised bv their enemies, and brought many great misfortunes upon them, because they would not defend themselves on that day from their enemies, he caused it to be unanimously agreed and decreed, that it was lawful, and that they might defend themselves, and repel force by force, on the Sabbath day, should thev be attacked.

After this decree had passed, with the approbation of the priests and elders, Matthias left his lurking-places, marched round the cities of Judah, pulled down the heathen altars, restored the true worship and circumcision, and cut off both the apostates and persecutors that fell in his way, till death summoned him to immortality, in the hu-ndred and fortyseventh year of his age.

"When he found death approaching, he exhorted his five sons to persevere in the cause of God, as he had begun; and he appointed his son Judas his successor in the conmiand of the army; and Simmi to be their counsellor, B. C. 166. He was buried at Modin with great lamentation of all Israel.

Judas, who had signalized himself on former occasions for his great valour, was distinguished by the title Maccabeus; and having taken the command of his people upon him, he prosecuted the good work of reformation begun by his father, and took all the measures he was able, by fortifymg towns, building castles, and placing strong garrisons, to maintain the liberty and religion of his country against all opposition.

Apollonms was sent by Antiochus to march an army of Samaritans against him; but he was killed, and his troops defeated and entirely routed, after a great slaughter, by our young general, who, finding Apollmiius's sword among the spoils, took it for his own use, and generally fought with it ever after.

This news having reached Calosyria, Seron, deputygovernor of that province, marched with all the forces he could collect to revenge the death of Apollonms; but he met with the same fate.

Antiochus was so enraged at these defeats, that he immediately ordered forty thousand foot, seven thousand, horse, and a great number of auxiharies, made up of the neighbouring nations and apostate Jeivs, to march against Judea, under the command of Ptolemy Macron, Nieanor, and Gorgias, three eminent commanders, B. C. 162.

Upon their advancing as far as Eminaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, Judas, who may be supposed at that time besieging or at least blocking up Jerusalem, then in the hands of the heathen, retired to Mizpch. Here the whole army addressed themselves to God. Judas exhorted them most pathetically to fight for their religion, laws, and liberties; but at last, giving those leave to withdraw from his army that had built houses, or betrothed wives within the year, or that were in any degree fearful, he presently found hunself at the head of no more than three thousand men.

However, he was resolved to give the enemy battle. In the mean time God ordained him an easy victory; for while Gorgias was detached with fire thousand foot and one thousand horse to surprise his little army by night, Judas, being informed of the design, marched by another way, fell upon the camp in the absence of Gorgias, killed three thousand men, pnt the rest to flight, and seized the camp. Gorgias, not finding the Jews in their camp, proceeded to the mountains, supposing they were fled thither for safety. But not meeting v.ith them there, he was much surprised in his return at what had happened in Ills absence; and his army, hearing that Judas waited to give them a warm reception in the plains, flung down their arms and fled. Judas in the pursuit killed six thousand more, and wounded and maimed most of the rest. This victory opened to him the gates of Jerusalem, where he and his army celebrated the next day, which was a Sabbalh, with groat devotion and thanksgiving.

Timotheu^s and Bacchides, governors or lieutenants under Antiochus, marched immediately to the assistance of Gorgias; but they fell a sacrifice to the valour and conduct of Judas, who, by the spoils taken from the enemy, was enabled the better to carry on the war.

This defeat was succeeded by another of Lysias, the governor of all the country beyond the Euphrates. He had penetrated as far as Belhzura, a strong fortress about twenty miles from Jerusalem, threatening to destroy the country with an army of sixty thousand foot and five thousand horse. But he was defeated also by JucUi^ with ten tJwusand men only.

This vicWry gave him some respite; and accordingly he restored the temple to the true worship of God, removed all the profanations, built an altar of unhewn stones, and replaced the furniture that Antiochus had carried away, out of the gold and other rich spoils taken in this war. Tiius he dedicated the temple again, and ordained that a feast of dedication should be kept annually, in commemoration thereof for ever, about the 30th of November.

His next care was to subdue the fortress on Mount Aero, which Apollonius had erected to command the temple; and being yet in the power of the heathens, gave them great opportunities to annoy the Jcir:s that went to worship in the temple. But not having men enough to spare to form a blockade, he silenced it by another fortification, which he erected on the mountain of the temple.

When this revolt and success of the Jejvs reached Antiochus, in his expedition into Persia, he threatened utterly to destroy the whole nation, and to make Jerusalem the common place of burial to all the Jews. But God insited him with a sudden and sore disease. He at first was afflicted with grievous torments in his bowels; his privy parts were ulcerated and filled with an innumerable quantity of vcnnin; and the smell was so offensive that he beoame nauseous to himself and all about him. Then his mind was so tonnented with direful spectres and apparitions of evil spirits, and the remorse of his wicked life and profanations gnawed him so grievously, that he at last acknowledged the justice of God in his punishment, and offered up many vows and promises of a full reparation in case he recovered. But God would not hear hhn; therefore, when his body was almost half consumed with abominable ulcers, he died under the most horrid torments of body and mind, in the twelfth year of his reign.

Judas Maccabeus began now to consider how the government should be fixed, and therefore, in a general assembly held at Maspha, he revived the ancient order, and appointed rulers over thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. And it is also probable that he constituted the high court of sanhedrin, in which was a settled Nasi, president or prince, who was the high priest for the time being; an Abbethdin, or father of the house of judgment, who was the president's dcpH^y; and a Chacan, or the wise man, who was sub-deputy. The other members were called elders or senators, men of untainted birth, good learning, and profound knowledge in the law% both priests and laymen. And they in particular were empowered to decide all private difficult controversies, all religious ali'au-s, and all important matters of state.

This was properly the senate or great council of the nation, which grew into great power under the administration of the Asmonean princes, and was in great authority in the days of our Saviour's ministry.

Lysias, who had been so shamefully routed by Judas, having the care of Antiochus' s son, who was called Antiochus Eupater, and only nine years old, set him on the throne, and seized the government and tuition of the young king into his own hands, and immediatelycombined with the neighbouring Idumeans and other nations, enemies to Judah, to unite in an attempt utterly to destroy and exturpate the whole race of

When Judas was informed of this confederacy, he resolved to prevent their intentions, and to carry the war into Idumca. Thus he entered their country by Acrabatene, a canton of Judea, near the southern extremity of the Dead Sea, and slew there twenty thousand of them. Then falling upon the children of Bean, another tribe of the Idumeans, he killed twenty thousand more, routed their army, and took their strong holds. Hence passing over Jordan into the land of the Ammonites, he defeated them in several engagements, slew great numbers of them, and took the city Jahazah, at the foot of Mount Gilead, near the brook Jazah; and so returned home.

After his return into Judea, one Tinwthcus, a governor in those parts, pretended to follow him with a numerous anny. But Judas fell upon him; and having overthrown him with a very great slaughter, pursued him to the city Gazara, in the tribe of Ephraim, which he took; and he slew both Timotheus and his brother Chereas. governor of that city, and Apollophanes, another great captain of the Syrian forces.

This success stirred up the jealousy of the heathen nations about Gilead, who fell upon the Jews in the land of Tob; and, having slain one thousand, took their goods, carried their wives and children captives, and drove the residue to seek for refuge and security in the strong fortress Dathema, in Gilead. But Timotheus, the son of him slain at Gazara, shut them up with a great army, and besieged them, while the inhabitants of Tyre, Sidon, and Ptolcmais, were contriving to cut off all the Jews that lived in Galilee.

Judas, in this critical juncture, by the advice of the sanhedrin, dividing his army into three parts, he and his brothes

Jonathan marched with eight thousand men to the relief of the Gtlcadites; his brother marched with three thousand into Galilee; and his brother Joseph was left with the command of the remainder to protect Jerusalem and the country round, and to remain wholly on the defensive, till Judas and Simon should return.

In their march to Gilead, Judas and Jonathan attacked Bossora, a town of the Edmnilcs, slew all the males, plundered.t, released a great number of Jews resened to be put to death as soon as Dathnna should be taken, and burned the city. Wlien they arrived before Dathema, which was by a forced march in the night, the brothers gave Timothcus so sudden and violent an assault, that they put his army to fliglit, and slew eight thousand in the pursuit. And wherever he came and found any Jetrs oppressed or imprisoned, he released them in the same manner as he did at Bossora.

At the same time Simon defeated the enemy several times in Galilee, drove them out of the countr)', and ])ursued them with very great slaughter to the gates of Ptolemais. But Joseph, contrary to his orders, leaving Jerusalem, was put to flight by Gorgias, governor of St/ria, and lost two thousand men in that ill-projectcd expedition, against Jamnia, a seaport on the Mediterranean.

Lijsias by this time had assembled an army of eight hundred thousand men, eighty elephants, and all the horse of the kingdom, and marched in person against the Hebrew conqueror. Judas met him at the siege of Bcthzuna, gave him battle, slew eleven thousand foot, one thousand six hundred horse, and put the rest to flight.

This victory was happily attended with a peace between Judas and Lysias, in the name of the young king; by which the heathen decree of uniformity made by Epiphanes was rescinded, and the Jews permitted to live according to their own laws.

However, this peace was soon broke by the people of Joppa and Jamnia; but Judas was no sooner informed that they had cruelly treated and murdered the Jews that lived amongst them, but he fell upon Joppa by night, burned their shipping, and put all to the sword that had escaped the fire; and he set fire to the haven of Jamnia. and burned all the ships in it.

Timolheus also, who had fled before this conqueror, was discontented with the peace, and gathered an army of one hundred and twenty thousand foot, and two thousand Jive hundred horse, in order to oppress the Jews in Gilead. But when the news of this armament reached Judas, he marched against him; and after he had defeated a strong party of wandering Arahs, and made peace with them; taken the city Caspis, which was Heshbon in the tribe of Reuben; slain the inhabitants; destroyed the place; taken Caraca also, and put its garrison of ten thousand men to the sword, he came up with Timolheus near Raphon on the river Jabhoh, gave him battle, slew thirty thousand of his men, took him prisoner, pursued the remainder of his army to Camion in Arabia; took that city also, and slew tu-enty-fire thousand more of Timolheus' s forces; but gave him his life and liberty, on the promise that he would lelease all the Jewish captives ttiroughout his dominions.

As he returned to Jerusalem ho stormed the strong city of Ephron, well garrisoned by Lysias, put twentif-jive thousand people to the sword; plundered it, and razed it to the ground; because the people refused to grant liim a passage through it. This campaign was concluded with a day of thanksgiving in the temple at Jerusalem.

Thus Judas, finding himself disengaged from the treaty of peace by these hostilities, carried the war into the south of Idumea; dismantled i/f/iro«, the metropolis thereof; passed into the land of the Philistines, took Azolus or Ashdod, destroyed their idols, plundered their country-, and returned to Judea, to reduce the fortress of Aera, which was still in the hand* of the king of Syria, and was very troublesome in time of war to those that resorted to the temple.

Judas prepared for a regular siege: but Antioehus, being informed of its distress, marched to its relief with an army of one hundred and ten thousand foot, twenty thousand horse, thirty-two elephants with castles on their backs full of archers, and ihrer hunlred armed chariots of war. In his way through Idumea, he laid siege to Bethzura, which at last was forced to surrender, after Judas, who had marched to its relief, had killed four thousand of the enemy by surprise in the night; lort his brother Ekuzar in battle, crushed to death by an elephant that he had stabbed; and was forced to retreat and shut himself and his friends up in the temple.

The king and Lysias were both present in this anny of the Syrians; and would have compelled Judas to surrinder, had not Philip, whom Epiphanes had upon his death-bed appointed guardian of his son, taken this opportunity of their absence to seize upon.inlioeh, and to take upon him the govcnunent of the Syrian empire.

Upon this news Lysias struck up a peace immediately with Judas, upon honourable and advantageous tenns to the Jewish nation. But though it was ratified by oath, Eupater ordered the fortifications of the temple to be demolished.

It was in this war that Menclaus, the wicked high priest, fell into disgrace with Lysias, while he was prompting the heathen barbarity to destroy his own people: for bein" accused and convicted of being the author and fomentor of this Jewish expedition, Lysias ordered him to be earned to Bcrrhaa, a town in Syria; and there to be cast into a high tower of ashes, in which there was a wheel which continually stirred up and raised the ashes about the criminal, till he was suffocated, and died. This was a punishment among the Persians for criminals in high life. This wicked high priest was succeeded at the promotion of AiUiochus Eupater, by one Alcimus, a man altogether as wicked as his immediate predecessor.

Eupater returned home, and by an easy battle killed the usurper Philip, and quelled the insurrection in his favour. But it was not so with Demetrius, the son of ISclcucus Philopater, who, being now come to maturity, claimed the kingdom in right of his father, elder brother to Epiphanes.

Demetrius had been sent to A'onie as a liostage, in exchange for his uncle Antioehus Epiphanes, in the very year that his father died. Antioehus, returning in the very nick of time, was declared king, in prejudice to the right of Demetrius. And though Demetrius had often solicited the assistance of the Roman senate, under whom he was educated, to restore him to his kingdom, reasons of state swayed with them rather to confirm Eupater, a minor, in the government, than to assert the right of one of a mature understanding. Yet, though he failed in this application, Demetrius resolved to throw himself upon Providence. To which end, leaving iifomc ineog., Demetrius got safe to Tripolis, in Syria; where he gave out that he was sent, and would be supported by the Romans, to take possession of his father's kingdom. This stratagem had its desired eff'ect; every one deserted from Eupater to Demetrius; and the very soliliers seized on Eupater and Lysias, and would have delivered them into Itis hands. But Demetrius thought it more politic not to see them; and having ordered them to be put to death, was presently settled in the possession of the whole kingdom.

During this intcr\'al the Jews enjoyed a profound peace, but having refused to acknowledge Aleimus their high priest, because he had apostatized in the time of the persecution, Aleimus addressed the new king, Demetrius, implored his protection against Jada.*f Maceaheus, and so exasperated him against the whole body of his party by false representations, that Demetrius ordered Baechides to march an army into Judea, and to confirm Aleimus in the pontificate.

Aleimus was also commissioned with Bacehides to carry on the war in Judea, who upon the promise of a safe conduct, having got the scribes and doctors of the law into their power, put sixty of them to death in one day. Baechides left liim in possession with some forces for his support; with which he committed many murders, and did much mischief; and at last ol)taincd another anny from Demetrius, under ttie command of Nicanor, to destroy Judas; to disperse his followers, and the more effectually to support the said Aleimus in his post of high priest.

Niranor, who had experienced the valour of Judas, pro posed a compromise: but Aleimus, expecting more advantage to himself by a war, beat the king off it; so that Nieanor was obliged to execute the first orde'r. Tlie war was carried on with various success, till Nicanor was slain in a pitched battle near a village called Bcthoron; and his whole anny of thirtyfwe thousand men, casting down their arms, were to a man cut ofi' in the flight.

Tliis victory was followed with a day of thanksgiving, which was established to be continued every year under the name of the anniversary day of solemn thanksgiviiig.

treaties, thought that, by making a league with tlie Romans, his nation would be much better secured agamst such a perfidious people. Therefore he sent Jdson and Ewpolcmits to Rome, who soon obtained the ratification of a league of mutual defence between them, and a letter to Demetrius, requirmg him, upon the peril of having war denounced against liim, to desist from giving the Jews any more uneasiness and trouble.

This, however, proved of no service. For while this league was negotiating, Dcmelrhis sent Bacehidcs and Akimus a second time into Juiea with a numerous army to revenge the defeat and death of Nicanor. At this time Judas had no more than three thousand men to oppose them; and of these all but eight hundred deserted their general, at the report of the number and strength of their enemies. Yet Judas refused to yield up the cause of God; and being followed by that handful of brave men, he charged and broke the right wing, where Bacehidcs commanded in person, and pursued them as far as the mountains of Azotus; and must have gained a complete victor)', had not his little army been followed and encompassed by the left wing. But being surrounded with an exceeding gi'eat force, the Jcics sold their lives at a dear rate; Judas was killed, and then such as siurived him were forced lo flee away.

His body was carried off by his brothers Simon, and Jonathan, and buried in the sepulchres of his ancestors, at Modin, with great funeral honour, as he deserved.

Bacehidcs, after his success, seized on the whole country, and used the adherents of the Maccabees so inhumanly, that Jonathan was necessitated to retire at the head of his distressed countrymen to the wilderness of Tekoa. This little army encamped with a morass on one side, and the river Jordan on the other. Bacehidcs pursued them; secured the pass of their encampment; and, though he attacked them on the Sahhalh day, he lost a thousand men in the assault, before the Maccabees broke; and then, being overpowered by numbers, they threw themselves into the river, and escaped by swimming to the other side, without being pursued.

About this time (B. C. 160) Aleimus, the wicked pontifT, died suddenly of a palsy; and Demetrius, having received the senatorian letter from Rome, coirunanding him to desist from vexing the Jews, recalled Bacehidcs; so that Jonathan found himself in a condition to bring liis affairs into better order. But this state of rest lasted only for two years; for the malcontents invited Bacehidcs to return with his army, under a promise to support his enterprise, and to seize Jonathan. But before this association could take place, Jonathan had information of it, took fifty of the principal conspirators, and put them to death. And when Bacchides arrived with his gi*eat array, Jonathan and his brother Shnon gave him such uneasiness, and so artfully distressed and harassed his army, without giving him any pitched battle, that Bacchides grew weary of his undertaking, put several of those that invited him to that expedition to death, and at last made peace with the Maaahccs, restored all his prisoners, and swore never more to molest the Jrn-s, B. C. 158.

Allien Jonathan found himself in quiet possession of Judca, and that there was no more to fear from Bacchides, he punished the apostate Jews with death, reformed the Church and state, and rebuilt the walls about the temple and city of Jerusalem. And soon after, the high priesthood having been vacant seven years, he put on the pontifical robe, at the nomination of Alexander, who, by the assistance of the Roman senate, and the management of one HeracUdes, claimed the crown of Syria in right of his pretended father Antioclms Epiphanes.

Jonathan, though Demetrius made him more advantageous offers, suspected that these promises were not real, but only to serve the present purpose, and accepted Alexander's proposals; which was so acceptable to the new king, that when he had beaten and slain Demetrius, and made himself master of the whole Syrian monarchy, he invited Jonathan to his marriage with Cleopatra, daughter oi Ptolemy, king of Egypt; and, besides great personal honours, conferred on him the post of general of all his forces in Judea, and chief sewer of his household, B. C. 153.

However, this prosperity was soon disturbed by Apollonius, governor of Coilosyria, who, taking part with Demetrius, the son of Demetrius the late king, who had concealed himself with his brother Antiochus in Crete, during the late troubles, was now landed in Cilicia with au aimy of mercenaries, and had marched with an army as far as Jamnia, challenging Jonathan to give him battle. Jonathan marched out with a body of ten thousand men; took Joppa in sight of the enemy; gave Apollonius'hatde, beat Itim, and pursued his broken forces to Azotus, where he destroyed eight thousand men, the temple of Dagon, and the city, with fire and sword, which engaged Alexander's affections so much, that he gave him the golden buckle, (a distinguished mark of the royal family of Persia,) and the city and territories of Ecron.

After this succeeded a surprising revolution in Syria. Alexander had called to his assistance his father-in-law Ptolemy Philometer, who, suspecting that his son Alexander had conspired his death, carried off his daughter Cleopatra; gave her to Demetrius, Alexander's competitor; then, turning his arms upon Alexander, settled Demetrius upon the throne of his ancestors; and, after gaining a complete victory, forced him to flee into Arabia, where Zabdiel, the king of the country, cut off his head, and sent it to Ptolemy, B. C. 146.

This Demetrius took the style of fficanor, or Conqueror; and though he summoned Jonathan to appear before him to answer certain accusations, the high priest found means to gain his favour; and not only a confirmation of former, but a grant of additional privileges; which, with the promise to withdraw the heathen garrison from Acra, so recommended him to Jonathan, that, when Demetrius was in danger of being murdered by the inhabitants of Antioch, he marched three thousand men to the king's assistance, burned a great part of the city, slew one hmulred thousand of the inhabitants with fure and sword, and obliged the rest to throw themselves upon the king's mercy. Yet this service, and his promise also, was presently forgot by Demetrius, when he thought the storm was blown over; and, he would, on the contrary, have certainly obliged him, under pain of mihtary execution, to pay the usual taxes and tribute paid by his predecessors, had he not been prevented by the treason of a discontented courtier, whose name was Tryphon.

Tryphon (B. C. 144) at first declared for, and set Antiochus Theos, the son of the late Alexander, on the throne of Syria, after he had vanquished Demetrius, and forced him to retire into Selcucia. Jonathan, for his own interest, declared for the new king; by which he obtained a confirmation of the pontificate, &c., and liis brother Simon was made commander of all his forces from Tyre to Egypt.

As soon as Demetrius heard of Jonatlian's revolt, he marched to chastise him for it; but it turned to his loss; for he was repulsed twice, and lost Gaza, with all the country as far as Damascus, and Joppa in the land of the Philistines.

Tryphon intended now to pull off the mask: but not daring to attempt so foul a crime till Jonathan could be removed, prevailed with him to disband his army, and to accompany him with one thousand men only to Ptolemais; where he was no sooner entered, but his men were put to the sword, and Jonathan put under an arrest. Then, marching his army into Judea, he proposed to restore him, on condition of one hundred talents; and that his two sons should be given for hostages of their father's fidehty. Jonathan was persuaded to comply with this deraajid: but the vfllain not only caused them and their father to be put to death, but having also murdered Antiochus privately, he assumed the title of king of Syria.

Simon, (B. C. 143,) hearing that his brother was murdered, and buried at Bascama, in Gilcad, sent and brought liim thence, and buried him under a curious monument of white wrought and pohshed marble, at Modin. And after he was admitted governor in his stead, he offered his service to Demetrius, then at Laodicca; who, on condition that the Jews would assist him in the recovery of his crown, conceded to him the high priesthood and principaUty, and granted the people many privileges.

But Demetrius being about this time persuaded to head the Elymcran, Parthian, and Bactrian revolters against Mithridates, king of Parthia, Simon applied himself to fortifying his cities; and reduced the fortress of Acra; which he not only took, but even levelled the mount on which it was built.

Mithridates (B. C. 141) vanquished Demetrius; and after he had taken him prisoner, gave him his daughter Rhodaguna in marriage; which so exasperated his wife Cleopatra, then shut up in Selcucia, that she offered herself and the kmgdom to AntiQchns,\as, brother, B. C. 139, then in Cc£(£. Antiochus accepted tlie proposal; and upon liis landing in Syria with an army of mercenaries, he was so strengthened with deserters from TrypUons forces, tliat he drove him into Apamca, near the mouth of the Orontrs, and took him and put him to death.

Thus AiUiochiis became possessed of his father's throne; though not without the assistance of Simon, whom he had promised to reward with many new privileges. But he no sooner found himself delivered from all opposition, than he forgot liis promises; and, on the contrary, demanded the restoring of Joppa and Gazara, &c., or a thousand talents in lieu of them.

Simon refused to comply; and Antiochus sent Cendcbeus with an army to force hirn. Simon, now very old, attended by liis sons Judun and Juhii Hyrcanus, put him to flight at the first onset, and killed a great number of the enemy in the pursuit. After tliis, Simon, and his sons Juda.i and Mnllathias, B. C. 135, being perfidiously murdered by Ptolemy, Simon's son-in law, whom he had made governor of the plains of Jericho, at an entertainment prepared for them in the castle of Jericho, with a design to usurp the government of Judca to himself, sent a party to Gaziira to seize John Hyrcanus also. But he was informed, and so prepared to receive them, that he despatched the intended murderers; and hastening to Jerusalem, secured both the city and the temple, where he was declared liis father's successor in the pontificate and principahty of the Jews.

Antiochus thought to serve himself of these distractions, and accordingly marched a large anny into Judca; and after he had driven Hyrcanus into Jerusalem, obliged liim to accept of a peace upon the hard terms of deUvering up their arms, dismantling Jerusalem, paying a tribute for Joppa, &c., held by the Jcics out of Judea, and Jicc hundred talents to buy off the rebuilding of Acra.

Hyrcanus accompanied Antiochus to the Parthian war, in wliich he signaUzcd hunself with great renown. He returned home at the end of the year. But Antiochus, who chose to winter in the East, was with his whole army destroyed in one night by the natives, who, taking the advantage of their separate quarters all over the countrv-, rose on them, and cut their throatu in cold blood: so that Antiochus himself was slain, and out of four hundred thousand persons, of which his anny consisted, scarce a man escaped to carry home the news of this massacre.

Phraortes, the king of Parthia, having suffered much by this invasion of Antiochus, endeavoured to get quit of him by sending liis prisoner Demetrius Nicanor into Syria, to recover his o\vn kingdom; so that when the news came of Antiochus's death, he was without more delay reinstated on the throne. But his tyrannical proceedings presently raised him up a new pretender to the crown, (B. C. 127,) one Alexander Zahina, the pretended son of Alexander Balas, who. by the assistance of Ptolemy Physcon, king of E^ypt, defeated hira in the field; and, taking him prisoner in Tyre, put him to death.

Zahina being raised to the throne of Syria by the king of Egypt, Ptolemy expected that he should hold it in homage from him; and, upon his refusal, gave his daughter Tryphieua to Antiochus Gryphus, the son of Ntcanor, whom he made king of Syria, and pursued Zahina till he got him into his hands, and put him to death.

Hyrcanus, in the midst of these revolutions, shook off the Syrian yoke. He buUt the famous tower of Baris upon a steep rock. He took several cities on the borders of Judca, amongst which was Shechem, the chief seat of the Sanuiritans,\B. C. 130,) and destroyed the temple on Mount Gerizim. He extended his conquests over the Idumcayis, (B. C. 129,) who were prevailed on to embrace the Jeicish religion; so that from this time they exchanged the name of Idumcans or Edomites for that of jacs. He renewed the alliance with the senate of Rome, and obtained greater privileges and advantages than his nation ever had before; and concluded his militar)' operations with the siege and utter destniction of Samaria, under the conduct of his sgns Aristohuius and Antigonus.

After these great actions, Hyrcanus enjoyed full quiet from all foreign wars; and had nothing to trouble him at home, but the false insinuations of the Pharisee Eleazar, who declared that his mother was a captive taken in the wars, and that, tijerefore, he was incapable of holding the high priesthood. Hyrcanus had been educated in this sect: but one Jonathan, an intimate friend of his, and a Sadducee, took tiiis opportu nity to draw him over to his own sect; which he effected so sincerely, that Hyrcanus renounced the Phari.9cc3 for ever, abrogated their traditional constitutions, and made it penal for any one to observe them. Yet he was an excellent governor; and, dying in the thirtieth year of his administration, left Jive sons: but the high priesthood and sovereignty he left to Judaa Aristobulus, his eldest son, B. C. 107.

Aristohulus (B. C. 107) was the first since the captivity that put on the diadem, and assumed the title of king: but he was of that suspicious and cruel disposition, that he cast his own mother into prison, and stan'ed her to death, imprisoned all his brethren except Antigonus, whom at last he ordered t(t bo murdered in a fit of jealousy, B. C. 106: of wliich, however, he repented, and gave up the ghost in great anxiety of mind, after a reign of no more than one year; though in that time Antigonus had reduced the Iturcans to his obedience, and forced them to confonn to the religion of the Jeics. At this time Pompey and Cicero were bom.

Alexander jannceus, his third brother, was released from his confinement by Salome, Aristobulus's widow. The like favour was also extended to his two other brothers. But as soon as Junnaus was settled on the throne, he put one of them to death under a suspicion of treason, and he took Absalom the younger into his favour.

This Alexander (B. C. 105) attempted to extend his dominions by new conquests. But in his attempts against Ptolcmais and Ptolemy Lalhyrus, who came to the assistance of Zoilus and the Gazceans, he lost a fine army, and was reduced to sue for protection from Cleopatra, who had seized upon Egypt, and obliged her son Lathyrus to be contented with tlie island of Crete.

Cleopatra, at first, was inclined to take advantage of Alexander's misfortunes, and to seize upon him and his dominions; but Ananias, one of her generals, by birth a Jew, and a rcia tion to Alexander, dissuaded her from so unjust a design, and obtained her protection for him.

Nevertheless Alexander's martial spirit sought out new employments. His country being clear of foreign forces, he attacked and look Gadara and Amathus in Syria. But being followed by Theodoras, prince of Philadelphia, who had laid up his treasure at Amathus, he lost his plunder, tc7i thousand men, and all his baggage, B. C. 101.

This did not deter iiini from attempting the reduction of Gaza; which, however, he could not have taken, liad it not been treacherously surrendered to liiin by Lysimachus, the governor's brother. Here Alexander, ordering his soldiers to kill, plunder, and destroy, was the author of a sad scene of barbarity, and reduced that ancient and famous city to ruin and desolation.

After his return from this carnage, he was grossly insulted by a mob at home, while he was offering the usual sacrifices on the feast of tabernacles. But he made the people pay dearly for it; for he fell upon them with liis soldiers, and slew six thousand. And from this time he took into his pay ' six thousand mercenaries from Pisidia and Cilicia, who always attended his person, and kept off the people while he officiated.

B. C. 101. All being again quieted at home, Alexander marched against the Moabites and Ammonites, and made them tributaries. In his return he took possession of Amathus, which Thcodorus had evacuated; but he lost most of his army, and was verv near losing his own lit'e in an ambuscade which Thedus, an Arabian king, had laid for him near Gadara. This raised fresh discontents among his subjects, and new troubles at home, which were attended with the most unheardof barbarities. They were not able to overpower him; but his wickedness had so provoked them that nothing but his blood could satisfy them; and at length, being assisted by Demetrin.1 Enchants, king of Damascus, they entirely routed him, so that he was forced to consult his own safety by fleeing to the mountains.

His misfortune was the cause of six thousand of his rebel subjects deserting him; wliich, when Demetrius perceived, he withdrew, and left the revolters to fight their own battle. After this separation Alexander gained several advantages; and at last, having cut the major part off in a decisive battle, he took eight hundred of the rebels in Betlmme, whom he carried to Jerusalem; and having first killed their wives aiul cliildien before their faces, he ordered them all to be crucified in one day, before him and his wives and concubines, whom he had invited to a feast at the place of execution. Then, resolving to revenge himself on the king of Damascus, he made war on him for three years successively, and took several places; when, returning home, he was received with great respect by his subjects.

His next expedition was against the castle of Ragaba, in the country of the Gerasens, where he was seized with a quartan ague, which proved his death, B. C. 79. His queen Alexandra, by his own advice, concealed it till the castle was taken; and then, carrying him to Jentsalciii,.she gave his body to the leaders of the Pharisees, to be disposed of as thev should think proper; and told them, as her husband haS appointed her regent (luring the minority of her children, she would do nothing m the administration without their advice and help.

This address to the Pharisees so much gained their esteem that they not only settled the queen dowager in the government, but were very lavish in their encomiums on her deceased husband, whom they honoured with more than ordinary pomp and solemnity at his funeral.

The Pharisees having now the management of the queen regent, and of Hyrcanus and Aristohulus, her sons by Alexander, had all the laws against Pharisaism repealed and abolished, recalled all the exiles, and demanded justice against those that had advised the crucifixion of the eight hundred rebels.

The queen made her eldest son, Hyrcanus, high priest. But Aristohulus was not contented to live a private life; and therefore, as soon as his mother seemed to decline, he meditated in what manner he might usurp the sovereignty from his brother, at her decease; and he had taken such measures beforehand, that upon the death of his mother he found himself strong enough to attempt the crown, though Alexandra had declared Hyrcanns her successor. The two armies met in the plains of Jericho; but Hi/reanus, being deserted by most of his forces, was obliged to resign his crown and pontificate to Aristohulus, and promise to live peaceably upon his private fortune.

This resignation w^as a subject of great discontent to some of Hyrcanus's courtiers, among whom was Anlipafer, father to Herod the Great, who persuaded Hyrcanus to fly to Arctas, king of Arabia, who, on certain conditions, supplied him with fifty thousand men, with which Hyrcanus entered Judea, and gained a complete victory over Aristohulus. But while he besieged him in the temple, Aristohulus, with the promise of a large sum of money, engaged Pompry. the general of the Roman army, then before Damascus, to oblige Aretas to withdraw his forces; but Aristohulus, though he was for the present delivered from his brother's rage, prevaricated so with Pompey, that he at last confined Aristohulus in chains, took Jerusalem sword in hand, retrenched the dignitv and power of the principality, destroyed the fortifications, orilered an annual tribute to be paid to the Romans, and restored Hyrcanus to the pontificate, and made him prince of the country, but would not permit him to wear the diadem.

Pompey, having thus settled the government of Judea, returned in his way to Rome with Aristohulus, his sons Alexander and Antigonus, and two of his daughters, to adorn his triumph.

Alexander found means to escape, by the way, and about three years after arrived in Judea, and raised some disturbance; but he was defeated in all his attempts by Gahinius, the Roman governor in fiyria, who, after this, coming to Jerusalem, confirmed Hyrcanus in the high priesthood, but removed the civil administration from the sanhedrin into five courts of justice of his own erecting, according to the number of five provinces, into which he had divided the whole land.