till some years after his accession. And if not Darius Hystaspis, Artaxerxes Longimanus, being in Scripture his successor, that he must have been Xerxes.

4th. That by the supposition that Xerxes was the Darius who built the temple, the extraordinary ages of many who are spoken of in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah are brought within the ordinary compass of human life.

5th. That we collect from the chronicle of the seventy Jewish seniors, that the king who rebuilt the temple, could be no other than Xerxes.

Such is my own conviction, after much investigation of the subject, and proceeding, therefore, upon this conclusion, I shall now go on to show in what way it tends to simplify and facilitate the explanation of the prophecy of the Seventy Weeks.

CHAPTER IV.

LET us first determine the point from which the Seventy Weeks, or four hundred and ninety prophetic years, are to be computed.

This is very distinctly stated in the twenty-fifth verse to be, "from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem :" and we have already seen, that there are four decrees recorded in Scripture of the kings of Persia, relating to the restoration either of the city or temple of Jerusalem, each of which has been adopted by different interpreters as the predicted command.

It has been observed, however, with regard to the decrees of Cyrus and Da

rius, that they merely have reference to the restoration of the temple, and do not, therefore, bear out the words of the prophet, "to restore and to build Jerusalem." That in the seventh year of Artaxerxes Longimanus, merely authorises the reestablishment of the Mosaic law in Judæa, which figuratively only can refer to the words of the prophet. And with regard to the commission of Nehemiah, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes, the only one of the four which relates to the building of the literal city, if we compute sixty-nine weeks, or four hundred and eighty-three years from that date, according to the received chronology, we are carried many years beyond the death of Christ. From neither of these decrees therefore, do I suppose the prophecy to take its date.

The decree which I would propose to adopt, as the true point from which to compute the Seventy Weeks, and which will be found literally to bear out the

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words of the prophet "to build Jerusalem," is one which has hitherto been set aside as of spurious origin; but which in my opinion is a most genuine and important decree. It is mentioned in the apocryphal book of Esdras (21), and also in Josephus's history, and the account is as follows:-Zerubabel having reminded the king of his vow to build Jerusalem," then Darius the king stood up, and kissed him, and wrote letters for him unto all the treasurers and lieutenants, and captains, and governors, that they should safely convey on their way both him and all those that go up with him to build Jerusalem. wrote letters also unto the lieutenants that were in Celosyria and Phenice, and unto them in Libanus, that they should bring cedar wood from Libanus unto Jerusalem, and that they should build the city with him. Moreover, he wrote for all the Jews that went out of his realm up into Jewry, concerning their freedom, that no officer, no ruler, no lieutenant, nor trea

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surer, should forcibly enter into their doors, and that all the country which they hold should be free without tribute : and that the Edomites should give over the villages of the Jews which then they held; yea, that there should be yearly given twenty talents to the building of the temple, until the time that it were built and other ten talents yearly, to maintain the burnt offerings upon the altar every day, as they had a commandment to offer seventeen; and that all they that went from Babylon to build the city, should have free liberty, as well they as their posterity, and all the priests that went away. He wrote also concerning the charges, and the priests' vestments wherein they minister and likewise for the charges of the Levites, to be given them until the day that the house were finished, and Jerusalem builded up. And he commanded to give all that kept the city pensions and wages. He sent away also the vessels from Babylon, that Cyrus