Exposition of the Whole Bible

345. rita; fo Livy; and to Sufa, and to the furthei patts of his dominions, as Yerom; or rather he betook himfelf to Antioch his capital city, called here the fort of bis own land, where he was obliged to continue: but he foall ftumble and fall, and not be found; the expences of the war which Antiochus agreed to pay being reckoned at fifteen thoufand Eubean talents, five hundred talents were to be paid down; two thotifand five hundred at the ratification of the treaty by the fenate of Rome; and the other twelve thoufand to be paid yearly, at a thoufand talents each year: now, being either in want of money, or thro’ covetoufnefs, he attempted to rob. the temple of Fupiter Elymeus, and went by night thither with his army for that purpofe; but the thing being betrayed, the inhabitants got together, and flew him with all- his foldiers, as Fuftin ' relates. Strabo™ fays, that Antiochus the Great endeavouring to rob the temple of Be/, the barbarians near to (Elymais) rofe of themfelves, and flew him; and fo never returned to Syria any more, but died in the province of Elymais, being flain by the Perfans there as related, and was never foiind more, or was buried; and this was the end of this great man, of whom fo many things are faid in this prophecy, and others follow concerning his fucceflors. He died in the thirty-feventh year of his reign, and the fifty-fecond of his age®.

¥. 20. Then fhall fiand up in his eftate a raifer of taxes in the glory of the kingdom, &c.| ‘This was not Antiochus Epiphanes, as Theodoret, he is defigned in the next verfe; nor Ptolemy Epiphanes, as Porphyry, for he did not fucceed Antiochus the Great; nor Irypbon tutor to Antiochus, as fome Fewifh writers; but Selewcus Philopator, the eldeft fon of Aztiochus the Great; who fucceeded him, and was fettled in his kingdom in his father’s room, and ftood upon his bafis; and might well be called a raifer of taxes, being not only a covetous man, and a lover of money above all'things; and therefore laid heavy taxes on his fubjeéts to gratify his avarice; but was indeed obliged to it, to raifé the thoufand talents yearly to pay the Romans, which his father had laid himfelf under obligation to do; and this took up the whole life of this his fucceffor; for as-there were twelve thoufand talents. to pay, a thoufand each year, and Se/ewcus reigned in all but twelve years at moft, he did nothing but raife taxes yearly to pay this tribute.’ It may be rendered, then fhall fland upon bis bafis, or, in bis room, as the Vulgate Latin verfion, in the room of Antiochus the Great, one that caufes the exaéors to pafs thro’the glory of the kingdom °; that caufes tax-gatherers to go thro’ the kingdom, and colleét the tax of the people, who are the glory of the kingdom, efpecially the rich, the nobility, and gentry; or money, which is the glory of a nation: or, all caufe the exatiors to pafs over to the glory of the kingdom; that is, caufe a tax-gatherer to go over from Syria to the glorious land, or the glorious part of his dominion, the land of ‘Fudéa; and. fo may have refpect: particularly to Heliodorus his- treafurer, whom he fent to Yerufalem to demand the treafure of money he heard was laid up in the temple there; fee 2 Maccad. iii. 7: but within few days he foall be deftreyed, neither in anger, nor in battel; or, within a few years, as Grotius and Prideaux render it; days being often put for years.

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Seleucus reigned but twelve years at moft, which were but few in comparifon of. the long reign of his father, which was a reign of thirty-feven years; and he died not thro’ the rage of the populace, or thro’ the fedition and rebellion of his fubjects, nor in war with a foreign enemy; but thro’ the treachery of Heliedorus his treafurer, by whom he was poifoned, as is fuppofed; either tor the fake of Antiochus Epiphanes, who was at that very time returning from Rome, where he had been an hoftage ever fince the defeat of his father, the money being now paid, which was ftipulated; or rather on his own account, having a defign to feize the kingdom for himfelf. ¥. 21. And in his eftate foall fiand up a vile perfon, &c.] Upon his bafis or ftand, in the fame place where Seleucus Philopator ftood, fucceeded Antiochus Epipbanes his brother; called vile, being a very immoral man,. given to drunkennefs, lafcivioufnefs, uncleannefs and unnatural lufts, and a violent perfecutor of the church of God. The word fignifies de/picable’?; he was a-vile perfon, and juftly contemned for his vices, and -alfo. for that mean and ignoble life he had lived at Rome, having been an hoftage there for eleven or twelve years; and tho’ the other hoftages were »changed at three years end, yet he remained; which fhows what little account he was of even with his father; and was in no efteem with the people, among whom, by his freaks and. frolicks, he made himfelf very ridiculous; by rambling about ftreets with a fervant or two; converfing with tradefmen about their trades; drinking with ftrangers, and people of low life revelling at merry-bouts. with young people; putting on {trange habits; throwing away his money among the rabble, and {tones at thofe that followed him; wafhing at public baths among the common people; all which, and many others, are reported * of him by hiftorians; hence, he was called by fome Epimanes the madman tho’ he took to himfelf the title of Zpiphanes the iluftrious, the reverfe of his character., This is the little horn in ch. viii. 9. and who was an eminent type of antichrift, with whom his character agrees, as, well as other things: to whom.they fhall not give the, honour of the kingdom neither jhis father, nor his brother, nor the peers and people of the land of, the kingdom.of Syria; they never once thought, of;making him king;_ they neither chofe,him, nor-called him, nor crowned him: dat, he, hall come in: peaceably, and obtain the kingdom. by flatteries;, pretending to take it, not for himfelf, but for his nephew Demetrius, the fon of his brother Seleucus, now. an hoftage at Rome, in his ftead; fo that. the. ftates oppoied him not, but quietly admitted him, thinking all was fafe for the rightful heir and, fucceffor; and when he had got. poffeffion for his. nephew, he obtained it for himfelf by his flattering fpeeches to the nobles, and.his gifts among. the citizens, and his great pretenfions to clemency and, humanity: or thefe flatteries may refer, to the,artifices he ufed to gain Lumenes king of Pergamus, and —Attalus his brother, to.affit. him againtt, Hehodorus the ufurper; and the promifes of friendfhip and affiftance again{t the Romans he made-to them, and by whofe help he came peaceably to the kingom.) ing. 4 — ¥. 22, And with the arms of a flood foall they be everfiown from before him, and fhall be broken, &c. P "13 defpeus, Pagninus, Montanus;

of it, which is an inftarice of his decei

That is, by the help of the forces of. Eusmenes and» Attalus, which were like an inundation of water, the party that were on the fide of Helodorus the ufurper, were bore down, crufhed and deftroyed;, and thereby Antiochus. had a peaceable fettlement in the kingdom: or, the arms of a flood hall be overflowed from before him, and be broken *s either. the arms of Helioderus, the forces. he- had got together; or the armies of the Egyptians, which, like an overflowing flood, had ufed to run over Judea, Celefyria, Phanicia, and other places, and earry all before them, now fhould be overflowed, and bore down themfelves; of which fee more on Ws 253 yea, alfo the prince of the covenant; which fome underftand of Fudas. Maccabeus, as Ferom and Face chiades; others more probably of Onias the highprieft, whom Antiochus depofed in the firlt year of his reign, and. fold the priefthood to Fa/on' his younger brother for 440 talents of filver; and whe - alfo promifed to give him 150 more for a licenfe to erect a place of exercife for the training up of youth, according to the fafhion of the Greeks; which Antiochus greedily embraced, the public-treafury being empty thro’ the large tribute paid to the Romans the lait twelve years; fee 2 Maccab. iv. 7, 8, 91 34, 35- Others think Seleucus Philopator his brother.is meant, which is not probable, his death being before defcribed; rather Demetrius his nephew; - with whom he covenanted to hold the kingdom for him, or thro’ whom the covenant and peace with the Romans was continued fo long, he being an hoftage at Reme; tho’ others are of opinion, that Trypbo a peer of the realm of Egypt is defigned, who was the principal perfon concerned in a covenant made between Antiochus and Ptolemy. Philometor king of Egypt; tho’ it is more’ likely that Ptolemy himfelf is the perfon pointed at. ¥. 23. And after the league made with bim, &c.] The. prince of the covenant; either. Demetrius his nephew, or Ptolemy Philometor king of Egypt, with whom. a league was made.in the life-time of Cleopatra the fitter of Antiochus, and mother of Pfolemy: he fhall work. deceitfully;. either with the princes and people of Syria, by good words and fair fpeeches, and by gifts and prefents to get the kingdom for himfelf, tho” he had eovenanted with his: nephew to hold it for him, and/refign it to him at his return; and with the Romans, and-among his friends in the fenate,, he artfully worked to%detain him: at Rome: ‘or elfe.with the-king of Egypt, pretending great friendfhip. to him, and to take the care,and tuition of him: during his minority;-and at his coronation he fent,.one Apollonius to be prefent at it, and to congratulate him upon it; fee 2 Maccab, iv. 21: for he foell come-up,and foall become firong with a {mall people; either, he went into the heart of Syvia,with a fmall number of men at firft, and. gathered together-a large atmy or into Phenicia with a handful of men; where ingratiated himfelf into the affections of the- Dec ple by. words and gifts, and mse: went up into Egypt accompanied -o vith a. left the Egyptians fhould be fufpicious. of him but thefe *tis faid were valiant men, whom ‘f placed in the forts of Egypt, and fo became n ing; and Swtorius an ancient hiftorian, as quotec by Ferom, fays that he fubdued Zeypt to himfel: with a very {mall number of people.

¥. 24. He shall enter peaceably even upon the fatteft places of the province, &c.] Or, into tranquillity, and the fatteft places of the province *; that is, into fuch places as were in great tranquillity, and men thought themfelves {afe and fecure, and had no fufpicion of his defigns upon them, and which abounded in wealth and riches: thefe were either the principal cities in the kingdom of Syria, which he vifited in order to eftablith himfelf in their good opinion of him; or the chief places of the province of Phenicia, where he endeavoured to make himfelf acceptable by his munificence; or it may be, the beft parts of the kingdom of Egypt are meant, the richeft of them, fuch as Memphis, and the places about it; where, as Suorius in Ferom fays, he went; and which places being fat, producing a large increafe, and abounding in wealth, invited him thither; and which wealth he took, and fcattered among his friends and foldiers, as in a following claufe: and he fhall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers fathers; none of his anceftors more near, or more remote; not Antiochus the Great, nor Seleucus Ceraunus, nor Seleucus Calltnicus, nor Antiochus Theos, nor Antiochus Soter, nor Seleucus Nicator, the founder of the Syrian empire; for however greater thefe might be in power or riches, they were inferior to him in fuccefs; tho’ they all, or moft of them however, had their eye upon Egypt, and would gladly have been matters of it; yet none of the kings of Syria prevailed over it, as Antiochus did, and this may alfo refer to what follows: he /hall fcatter among them the prey, and fpoil, and riches; which he took from the fat places or rich cities he entered into, and thefe he plentifully and liberally difperfed among his followers, his foldiers, the /imall people he became ftrong with, ¥. 23. whereby he gained their affections, and attached them to his intereft; and in this his liberality and munificence he is faid to abound above all the kings that were before him, 1 Mac. iii. 30. and the character Fofephus ‘ gives of him is, that he was a man of a large and liberal heart: yea, and he fhall forecaft bis devices againft the ftrong holds; the fortrefles of Egypt, as he got into the fat and richeft parts of it, and diftributed the wealth of them among his favourites and followers, which anfwered a good purpofe; fo he had his eye upon the fortified places of the kingdom, and contrived ways and means to get them into his poffeffion, as Pelufium, and other places; and how to keep them when he had got them, which he did: even for a time; till Ptolemy Philometor was at age, and freed himfelf from him; or till the Romans * put a ftop to his power.

¥. 25. And be fhail ftir up his power, and bis courage againft the king of the fouth, with a great army, &c.] That is, Antiochus fhall aroufe himfelf, and exert his courage, and gather a large and powerful army, and fet out with them to fight with Ptolemy Philometor king of Egypt: this is his fecond expedition into Egypt, as is obferved, 2 Mac. v. 1. before he went into Egypt more privately, with a few men, under a pretence of friendfhip; but now more openly as an enemy, with a large army; fo it is faid in 1 Mac. i. 18. and he entered into Egypt with a great multitude, with chariots and with elephants, and with horfes, and with a great fleet; which account exaétly agrees with this prophecy, and ferves to illuftrate it: aud the king of the fouth foall be ftirred up to battel with a very great and mighty army; this is Ptolemy. Philometor king of Egypt, who, hearing of the preparations of Antiochus, and of his defign to enter his kingdom, gathered a large army together to give him battel: but bé foall not ftand, the king of Egypt could not ftand againft Antiochus, the two armies met between mount Cafius and Pelufium, where they came to a battel, and Antiochus got the victory: upon his fecond victory over the forces of Prolemy, he took Pelufium, and led his army into the very heart of the kingdom, and had it in his power to have cut off all the Egyptians to a man; he made himfelf mafter of Memphis, and all the reft of Ezypr, except Alexandria, which held out againft him ”: for they foall forecaft devices againft him; Antiochus, and thofe that affifted him with their counfels, formed fchemes againft Ptolemy, which fucceeded: the lofs of the battel was not owing to want of the neceffary preparations for it; or to an infufficient number of rhen; or to a defect of military fkill and courage; but to the treachery of his own courtiers and commanders, particularly Euleus and Lenneus, to whom the blame was laid, and to the defertion of Ptolemy Macron, which is more clearly exprefféd in the following verfe.

W. 26, Yea, they that feed of the portion of his meat fhall deftroy him, &c.] Thofe of his own houfhold, his familiar friends, his courtiers and counfellors, and the generals of his army; his deftruction, or the lofs of the battel, was owing either to the bad counfels they gave him, or to their defertion of him, being corrupted by Antiochus: and bis army fhall overflow, that is, the army of Antiochus, like a mighty inundation of water, which carries all before it, fhould overflow, or bear down and. deftroy the army of Ptolemy, and overrun all Egypt, as it did, as before related; no more refiftance being to be miace to it, than to a rapid flood of water: and many fball fall down flain, of the army of the king of Egypt. The account given of this affair in 1 Mac. i. 19. is, that Ptolemy was afraid of him( Antiochus) and fled, and many wounded fell; and they feized the fortified cities in the land of Egypt, and took the fpoils of the land of Egypt. Fofephus {ays *, that Antiochus ‘* being *¢ with a great army at Pelufium, and circumventing Ptolemy Philometor by fraud, feized on Egypt, and being in the parts near to Memphis, and “¢ taking it, he haftened to Mexandria to befiege it, and got Péolemy, reigning there, into his ‘¢ hands.”

y¥. 27. And both thefe kings hearts fhail be to do mifchief, &c.| Antiochus Epipbanes king of Syria, and Ptolemy Philometor king of Egypt, the latter being now in the hands of the former; whether he was taken by him, or voluntarily cane to him, is not certain; but tho’ they feemed to carry it very friendly to one another, yet at the fame time they were contriving in their minds to do as much mifchief to each other as they could: and they hall Speak lies at one table, at an entertainment at Memphis, where they met to eat food together, which fhows great familiarity; or at the council-table, where they pretended to confult each other’s good, and to fecure the peace of both kingdoms, but impofed on each other with lies.. datiochus pre-

3.46 tended a great refpect for Ptolemy, and that he had nothing more at heart than to take care of his affairs, and defend him-againft his brother Euergetes, whom the Mlexandrians had fet up for king, when his defign was no other than to feize the kingdom of Egypt for himfelf: on the other hand, Ptolemy feemed greatly fatisfied with his uncle’s protection, and to place great confidence in him; when his view was to difappoint his {cheme, and come to an agreement with his brother; neither of them meant what they faid: but it fhall not profper; the confultations they held, the {chemes they laid, fucceeded not; the peace made between.

them did not laft: for yet the end foall be at the time appointed, by the Lord, by whom. all events are pre-determined; whofe counfel fhall ftand, notwithftanding all the devices in the hearts of men, and of kings themfelves: the end of this peace between thefe two kings, and the end of the wars between them, yea the end of the two kingdoms, when they fhould ceafe, and come into other hands; all was fixed to a time appointed of God, and fhould furely come to pafs, as he had decreed.

¥. 28. Then fhall he return into his land with great riches, &c.] That is, Antiochus, with the fpoils of Hgypt, and the gifts and prefents he had received there; fo the author of the firft book of Maccabees fays, ch. i. 20, 21. be took the fpoils of the land of Egypt, and Antiochus returned after be had {mote Egypt, in the hundred and forty-third year; that is, of the zra of the Seleucide, and the fifth or fixth year of his reion: and his heart fhall be againft the boly covenant, not the covenant he had made with Ptolemy, which was a fraudulent one; but the covenant between God and the Fews; whereby they became a diftinét and peculiar people, having a religion, laws, and ordinances. different from all others; for which reafon they were hated by other nations, and particularly by Antiochus and his heart was the more enraged againft them at this time, for the following reafon; a falfe rumour being fpread in Fudea that Antiochus was dead, Fe/on took the opportunity to recover the office of high-prieft from his brother Menelaus; and with a thoufand men took the city of Feru/alem, drove his brother into the caftle, and flew many he took for his enemies. Autiochus hearing of this, concluded the whole nation of the Jews had revolted from him; and therefore took Fudea in his way from Egypt, in order to fupprefs this rebellion; fee 2 Maccab, v. 5, 6, 11: and he shall do exploits; in Yerufalem, very wicked ones indeed! he ordered his foldiers to flay all they met without mercy, ‘old and young, women and children, virgins“and young men; and in three days time eighty thoufand were flain, forty thoufand bound, and no lefs fold: he went into the temple, and took all the veffels in it, and all the gold and filver, and hidden treafures of it, to the value of a thoufand and eight hundred talents, 2 Maccab. v. 12, 13, 14415, 16, 21. 1 Maccab. i. 23, 24, 25: and veiurn to his own land, having done thefe exploits, he made what hafte he could to Autioch with the {poils of Egypt, and the plunder of the temple at Ferifalem, 1 Maccab, i. 24. 2 Maccab..v. 21.

¥. 29. At the time appointed he fhall return, and come toward the fouth, &c.| At the time appointed of God, he fhould return from Syria again to Egypt; which was his third expedition thither, and was occafioned by the Aexandrians fetting up the brother of Ptolemy Philometor for king; wher he haftened to Egypt with a large army, under a pretence of reftoring the depofed king; but in reality to feize the kingdom. for himfelf ’: dut it foall not be as the former, or as the latter; this expedition fhould not fucceed fo well as the two former, as.it did not; he could not carry his point, neither fubdue Egypt, nor get any of the two brothers into his hands, as.he had done before; the reafon of which follows.: rod ¥. 30. For the fhips of Chittim fhall come againgt him, &c.| Ptolemy king of, Egypt, and his brother being come to an agreement, fent.an embafiy to the fenate of Rome. to implore their help and affiftance again{t Antiochus, who..was preparing te befiege them in Alexandria; upon which they fent their embafladors Caius Popillius Lenas, Caius Decimus, and Caius Hoftilius in thips from Macedonia = or Greece, to Antiochus, to require him to defi | from making war upon Piolemy, and that he quit the land of Egypt; fee-.Numb. xxiv. 24. Macedonia, is called the land of Cittim, + Maccab. i. 1, and vill. 5. Farchi, Aben Ezra, Saadiak, and Facchiades interpret it, of the Romans; and according to Gorionides *, Cittim are the Romans; and Ferom |here interprets them of them; and, Bochart has, proved at large >, that they are meant. The word feems to be ufed both of Grecians and Romans, and | here of Romans in Grecian fhips: therefore be shall | be grieved and return, being obliged to it fore againft his will: as foon as he faw Popil/ius,* with whom he had contracted a friendthip whilft he was an hoftage at Rome, he offered his hand to kifs; but Popillius refufed it, and obferved that private. friendfhip fhould give way to public intereft; and then produced the decree of the fenate, and delivered it to him, and required his anfwer; but Antiochus delaying, telling him he would confule his friends; Popillius with a rod in his hand drew a circle round him, and bid him confult his friends directly; adding that he fhould not ftir from that circle till he had. given a pofitive anfwer; which roughnefs ftruck him,. and hefitating a little, he replied he would obey the fenate, as Juin °, Livy *, Velleius Paterculus *, and other hiftorians, relate 5 and upon which he at once departed with his army, tho’ fretted and vexed to the lait. degree: and have indignation againft the holy covenant; the Jews, God’s covenant-people; on whom he gratified his revenge, fending Apollonius with an army of twenty-two thoufand men, to whom he gave orders to flay the men, and fell women and children; and who committed many outrages in the city and temple: now it was, the daily facrifice was made to ceafe, and the abomination of defolation fet up, as im the following verfe, and all that done predicted ch. viii. 10,11, 12. this was two years after his former ex- _ pedition into Egypt, andthe havock he made upon his return from thence, and in the eighth year of © his reign, and 145th of the Seleucide; fee 1 Mac. i, 30. 2 Mac. v. 24: fo foall he doy fach wicked deeds as before declared, in his wrath and fury — againft the Jews, being provoked at his difap- -pointment in Egypt: be fhall even return, and have intelligence with them that forfake the holy covenant 5 — apoftate Jews, who had renounced their forfook the law of God, and the ordinance his worfhip, and turned heathens; of whom Be » > gn 4 faid, agreeably to the language of this prophecy, | and feemingly with a view to it, that they, made | themfelves uncircumcifed, and departed from the holy covenant, 1 Maccab. i. 16. with thefe Antiochus kept an intelligence, and held a correfpondence, in order not only to know the affairs of the Jews from time to time, but to draw them off from their religion, and propagate heathenifm among them; fuch as Fa/on, Menelaus, and others; fee 1 Maccad. 1. 12, 13314, 15,43) 44545. |

¥. 31. And arms foall fiand on his part, &c.| Powerful armies fent by him into Fudea; garrifons of foldiers placed in Ferufalem;, mighty generals and commanders who fought.for him, as Ly/as, Philip the Phrygian, Andronicus, Apollonius, Bacchides, and others: and they fball pollute the fanciuary of firengib;, the temple, which ftood in Feru/alem, a fortified city, and was itfelf a building ftrong and {table; and efpecially it was fo called, becaufe here the mighty God had his refidence, the fymbol of which was the ark of his ftrength, and here he gave ftrength unto his people: this holy place, facred to his worfhip and fervice; the commanders and foldiers of Antiochus defiled, by entring into it, who were men unholy and unclean; by making it a place of luxury and rioting, of whoredom, and all manner of uncleannefs; by bringing things into it which were not lawful, and filling'the altar with what was abominable, 2 Maccad, vi. 4, 5. particularly by erecting an high place upon the altar, and facrificing fwine upon it, as Fofephus ‘ relates; with which agrees what‘is faid of Antiochus, 1 Maccab. i. 49, 50. he ordered ‘* the holy place and holy *¢ people to be defiled, and to build altars, tem- €¢ ples, and places for idolatry, and to offer wine’s

«¢ flefh and unclean cattel:” and fhall take away the daily facrifice; the facrifice of the lamb in the morning, and in the evening, which the priefts were hindered from offering, by the crouds of heathens in the temple; or prohibited by the order of Antiochus; for he forbad burnt-offerings, facrifice, and libation to be made in the temple, 1 Maccab. i. 47. and Fo/fepbus * exprefsly fays, that he forbad the daily facrifices to be offered, which were ufed to be offered to God, according to the law: and they foall place the abomination that maketh deflate; either a garrifon of heathen foldiers in the temple, which drove the priefts and people from it, and } made it defolate; or rather an idol in it, it being ufual in feripture to call idols abominations, as. they are to God and all good men; the image of upiter Olympius, as is thought, which was: placed upon the altar of God by Antiochus, on the fifteenth day of the month Cifleu, in the hundred and fortyfifth year of the Seleucide, and is called the abomination of defolation, 1 Maccab. i. 57. and the temple itfelf was ordered to be called the temple of Fupiter Olympius, 2 Maccab. vi. 2. and what with this and other things that were done, the temple and city were left defolate; for it is faid, ‘* Feru- «¢ falem was uninhabited as a defert, there were *© none that went in or out, of its children; and ** the holy place was trodden down; and the fons * of ftrangers were in the tower, and it became *¢ an habitation for Gentiles,” 1 Maccab. iii. 45. it may be rendered, the abomination that maketh aftonifoed®, for it ftruck the people of the ews with aftonifhment; it amazed and ftupified them, when they faw fuch an idol placed in their temple. The Karaite Jews, who by the others are called Sad- qua obftupefaciet, Calvin.

ducees, give a very foreign interpretation of this paflage, which Aben Ezra oblerves: ‘* it is. mar ** vellous, fays he, that the wife men of the Sad- “< duces fhould explain this of future time, and fay ** that this /ané?uary is Mecca, where the Jbmaelites “* or Lurks keep a featt; rhe daily facrifice, to be re- ‘* moved, their five prayers; and the abomination fet ** up,.is their idolatrous worfhip.” Sir J/zac Newton underftands all this of the Romans, and their building a temple to Yupiter Capitolinus, where the temple in Ferufalem had ftood.

¥.. 32. And fuch as do, wickedly againft the covenant, foall be corrupted by flatteries, 8c.) That forfook the law of God, the book of the covenant, and did things contrary to it; and particularly violated the covenant of circumcifion, drawing on the foreikin, and becoming uncircumcifed; as well as rejected other ordinances of religious worthip, the Fews by. covenant were obliged to obferve: thefe apoftates Antiochus corrupted by good words and fair fpeeches, by gifts and prefents; and they became his tools, to do his pleafure, and were his inftruments to feduce the Fews to renounce their religion, and give in to his idolatry; fuch as Fa- Jon, Menelaus, and others; fee 1 Maccab. i. 16, 2 Maccad. iv. 13. and v. 15. and vi. 21: but the people that do know their God, fhall be firong, and do exploits; fuch who knew. the Lord God of J/- rael to be the true God, and owned and acknowledged him as fuch; and not only profeffed him, but ferved and worfhipped him, having a fpiritual knowledge of him, and communion with him; and therefore could not be drawn off from him and his worfhip, by flatteries or frowns, by promifes or menaces: thefe were ftrong in the Lord, and in the power of his might; they held faft their religion, and the profeffion of it, and were proof againft all allurements or threatenings, and endured racks and tortures, all forts of punifhment, and death in every fhape, with the greateft conftancy and courage; fuch as E/eazar, the mother and her feven fons, and others; as well as others did many valiant actions in, the defence of themfelves and country, as Mattathias, fudas Maccabeus, and his brethren; to which heroic actions the apoftle refers in Heb. xi. 34-—37. fo Fofephus' fays, ** that many “¢ of the Fews indeed, fome willingly, and others through fear of punifhment, obeyed the king’s commands; but the more approved, and thofe of generous minds, had a greater regard to the cuftoms of their country, than to the punifhment threatened to the difobedient; and for this being continually harafled, and enduring grievous purifhments, died; fome were fcourged, and their bodies mutilated, and being yet alive and breathing, were crucified; women and their children, whom they crucified, were by the king’s orders ftrangled, and hanged about the necks of their parents that were crucified;” fee 1 Maccab. i. 63, 64, 65, 66.

¥. 33. And they that underfiand among the people Joall injirué many, 8c.) Such as had a better underftanding of divine things than others, had more light and knowledge in the facred fcriptures, in

‘the law of God, and in his mind and will, and were capable of teaching others; and fuch as thefe the Lord raifes up among his people in the worft of times, in the times of the greateft apoftacy and declenfion; and thefe are enabled to perform their duty, to inftruct the people in their’s, teach them what they fhould do, and how they fhould behave, exhort them to retain the doétrines and ordinances of their hely religion, and not embrace the doctrines and inventions of men, will-worfhip, fuper- {tition and idolatry; and fo they inftructed the ignorant, ftrengthened the weak, and eftablifhed the wavering; fuch were Mattathias the prieft of Modin, and Eleazar one of the chief fcribes, 1 Maccad. ii. 1. 2 Maccad. vi. 18. Cocceius applies this to the times of the apoftles, who he thinks are here meant; fo Sir J/aac Newton: yet they foall fall by the fword; by the fword of Antiochus and his {oldiers; as multitudes of the ews did, even both the inftruétors and the inftruéted, whe would not comply with his orders: and by flame, {ome were burnt alive in caves, where they fled for fhelter; and others, as the mother and her feven fons, were caft into heated caldrons of brafs; fee 2 Maccab. vi. 11. and vii. 3, 5: by captivity; fo it is exprefsly faid of Antioches, that he carried captive women and children; and at another time ordered the women and children to be fold for flaves, 1 Maccab. i. 33. 2 Maccab.v. 24: and by fpoil many days; being plundered of their fubftance, their houfes rifled, and their goods carried away; and this diftrefs lafted days, a fhort time only, ‘ofephus © reckons it at three years and a half. All this Cocceius interprets of the perfecutions of the chriftians by the Romans; and likewife Sir J/aac Newton.

¥. 34. Now when they fhall fall, they foall be holpen with a little help, &c.| When the Fews fhall be thus harrafled and diftreffed by Antiochus and his armies, to the ruin of many, by the feveral jorts of punifhments inflicted on them, they fhould be helped and eafed a little by Mattathias, a prieft of Modin, and his five fons, commonly called the Maccabees; Porphyry himfelf interprets this of Mattathias: now the help and affiftance which he and his fons gave to the Fews was but Uittle; if we confider they were perfons of a {mall figure, began with a handful of men, and could do but Kttle, efpecially at firft; and tho’ great exploits were done by them, confidering their number and ftrength, yet they were not able to reftore the land to its former glory and liberty; nor did this help of theirs laft long, but the enemy returned with great fiercenefs and cruelty, and fadly afflicted the people of the ‘Fews. |‘ Cocceius underftands this of the help the chriftians had under Conftantius Chlorus, and Conjlantine the Great; and fo does Sir J/aac Newton, who agrees with him in interpreting this and the preceding verfe; he interprets arms in ¥. 31. of the Romans, and fo Facchiades; and makes this to be the beginning of the fourth kingdom that fhould fiand, (31D after him, that is, after Antiochus; fo the particle, he obferves, is ufed in y. 8. and it muft be owned, this is the fenfe in which ‘it is fometimes ufed, of which No/dius' has given in- {tances: and this feems to agree with the thread of hiftory, and introduces the Romans, who muft have a place in this prophecy, in a very proper manner; and carries on the account of things, through the times of Chrift, his apoftles, the firft ages of chri- {tianity under perfecution, until the rife of antichrift, ¥. 36. and throws light upon the text in Matt. xxiv. 15. the language of which feems beft to agree with ¥. 31. and if fo, muft refpect fome-