The first was, that the prophet should take him a wife, who should immediately on that marriage conceive a son, and that, before that son should be of age to discern between good and evil, both these kings should be cut off from the land; which accordingly came to pass: for the prophet f immediately after taking a wife, before Maher-shalal-hash-baz, the son born to him of that marriage, arrived at the age of discerning between good and evil, both these kings were slain; Rezin in the third year of Ahaz, and Pekah the next year after.

The other sign was, thats a virgin should conceive, and bear a son, who should be called Emmanuel, that is, God with us, the Messias that was promised, God manifested in our nature, and for a while here dwelling with us to accomplish the great work of our salvation. Which prophecy was then delivered to comfort and support the drooping and desponding spirits of the house of David; who seeing so great a force armed against them, and intending their destruction, were under terrible apprehensions, as if their utter extirpation were then at hand. From which despair this prophecy fully relieved them, in assuring them, that their house should stand, and continue, till this prediction should be accomplished, and the Messias born of their race, in such manner as was hereby foretold.

After this, the two kings, according to the words of the prophet, failing of their design, were forced to. raise the siege, and return home, without prevailing in the enterprise which they had undertaken.

Buth Ahaz, after this, instead of being reformed by the mercy, growing more wicked and perverse than before, in absolutely rejecting the God of Israel, and cleaving to the worst abominations of the heathen nations round him, even to the making of his sons pass through the fire to Molech; the next year Abaz 2. after, God brought again upon him the same two confederated kings, from whom he had delivered him the former year, who, coming with forces better

f Isa. viii.

g Isa. vii, 14. Matt. i, 23.

An. 741.

h 2 Chron. xxviii, 2—5.
i 2 Kings xvi. 2 Chron. xxviii.

appointed, and councils better concerted than before, divided themselves into three armies; the first under Rezin, king of Syria, the second under Pekah, king of Israel, and the third under Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim; and with these three armies, the more to distract him, they invaded him in three different parts of his kingdom at the same time. Rezin, in his ravage, having loaded his army with spoils, and taken a vast number of captives, returned with them to Damascus, thinking it his best interest there to secure what he had gotten. Pekah with his army marched directly against Ahaz, who had got together the main strength of his kingdom to oppose this invasion, and thereby for some time did put a stop to the progress of this part of the enemies forces; but at length being encouraged by the departure of Rezin to give them battle, he was overthrown with a most terrible destruction, an hundred and twenty thousand of his men being slain in that day. Of which blow Zichri taking the advantage, led his forces to Jerusalem, and took the royal city, where he slew Maaseiah the king's son, and most of the chief governours and great men of the kingdom, whom he found there. And both these armies of Israel, on their return, carried with them vast spoils, and above two hundred thousand persons, whom they had taken captive, with intention to have sold them for bond-men and bond-women But a prophet from God having severely rebuked them for this their excessive cruelty against their brethren, whom God had delivered into their hands, the elders of the land, fearing the like wrath upon themselves for the punishment hereof, would not permit them to bring the captives to Samaria; whereon they were clothed, and relieved out of the spoils, and again sent back unto their own homes.

And the land was no sooner delivered from these

Ahaz 3.

enemies, but it was again invaded by others, An. 740. who treated it with the same cruelty: for the Edomites and the Philistines, who next bordered on it, the former on the south, and the other on the west, seeing Judah brought thus low, took the advantage to seize on those parts which lay next unto

him, and, by ravages and inroads, did all the mischief to the rest that lay in their power.

But Ahaz, continuing still hardened in his iniquity, notwithstanding all this which he had suffered for the punishment of it, would not seek the Lord his God, or return unto him from his evil ways, but putting his confidence rather in man, pillaged the temple of all the gold and silver that was found therein, and sent it to Tiglath-Pileser, king of Assyria, to engage him to come to his assistance against his enemies, promising thereon to become his servant, and pay tribute unto him.

The king of Assyria, having an opportunity hereby offered unto him of adding Syria and Palestine to his empire, readily laid hold of the invitation, and marched with a great army into those parts; where, having slain Rezin in battle, he took Damascus, and reduced all that country under his dominion; and hereby he put an end to the kingdom of the Syrians in Damascus, after it had lasted there for ten generations, that is, from the time of Rezon, the son of Eliadah, who first founded it, while Solomon was king over Israel.

After this, Tiglath-Pileser1 marched against Pekah, and seized all that belonged to Israel beyond Jordan, and also all the land of Galilee, and then went forward towards Jerusalem, but rather to get more money of Ahaz, than to afford him any real help; for he assisted him not for the recovery of any of those places which had been taken from him during the war, either by the Philistines, Edomites, or other enemies, but when he had got from him all that he could, (for the raising of which Ahaz cut the vessels of the temple into pieces, and melted them down,) he marched back to Damascus, and there wintered, without doing any thing more for him; so that, in reality, he was rather distressed, than any way helped by this alliance, the land being almost as much exhausted by the presents and subsidies, which were extorted from him by this his pretended friend and ally, as it was by the ravages and pillages of his open enemies. And, moreover, two lasting mischiefs followed hereon: For, 1st, k 1 Kings xi, 23-25.

12 Kings xvi. 2 Chron. xxviii.

Instead of two petty princes, whom he had afore for his neighbours, and with either of which he was well able to cope, he had now this mighty king for his borderer, against whom no power of the land was sufficient to make any resistance; and the ill effect hereof both Israel and Judah did afterwards sufficiently feel; for it became at length to both of them the cause of their destruction. 2dly, From this time the Jews were excluded all their traffic into the southern sea, which had hitherto been one of the chiefest foundations of their riches.

This they had long carried on through the Red sea, and the straits of Babelmandel, not only to the coasts of Africa on the west, but also to those of Arabia, Persia, and India, on the east, and reaped a prodigious profit from it. King David was the first who began it; for having conquered the kingdom of Edom, and reduced it to be a province of his empire, he thereby became master of two sea-port towns on the Red sea, Elath and Esion-geber, which then belonged to that kingdom; and, seeing the advantage which might be made of the situation of these two places, he wisely took the benefit of it, and there begun this traffic. There are two places mentioned in Scripture, to which it was from thence carried on, that is, Ophir and Tarshish. From the former of these David in his time drew great profit; for the three thousand talents of gold of Ophir, which he is said (1 Chron. xxix, 4,) to have given to the house of God, seem to be of that gold of Ophir, which he himself had by his fleets in several voyages brought to him from thence: for what he had reserved for this work out of the spoils of war, the tributes of the conquered nations, and the public revenues of his kingdom, is before mentioned (c. xxiv, 14,) and amounted top a prodigious sum. The three m Eupolemus apud Euseb. Præp. Evang. lib. 9.

n 2 Sam. viii, 14. 1 Kings xi, 15, 16. 1 Chron. xviii, 13.

o 1 Kings ix, 26. 2 Chron. viii, 17.

p This sum is so prodigious, as gives reason to think that the talents, whereby that sum is reckoned were another sort of talents of a far less value than the Mosaic talents, of which an account is given in the Preface. For what is said to be given by David (1 Chron. xxii, 14-16, & xxix, 3—5,) and contributed by his princes (xxix, 6-8,) toward the building of the temple at Jerusalem, if valued by these talents, exceeded the value of eight hundred millions of our money, which was enough wherewith to have built all that temple of solid silver.

thousand talents of the gold of Ophir, which he added, was over and above this, and out of his own proper goods, or private estate, which he had besides what belonged to him as a king. And how he could increase that so far, as out of that only to be able to give so great a sum, can scarce any other way be accounted for, than by the great returns, which were made him from this traffic: for the gold alone amounted to above one and twenty millions of our money, besides the seven thousand talents of refined silver, which were included in the same gift. After Davids Solomon carried on the same traffic to Ophir, and had from thence in one voyaget four hundred and fifty talents of gold. And if Solomon got so much in one voyage, well might David have gained the sum above mentioned, in the several voyages which were made thither for him, from the time that he had subdued the land of Edom, to the time of his death, which was at least twenty-five years. But it must be acknowledged, that Solomon much improved this trade, not only by his greater wisdom, but also by his great application to all the business of it. For, not being perplexed and incumbered with such wars as his father David was, he had more leisure to attend thereto. And therefore, for the better settling of it, he went " in person to Elath and Esion-geber, and there took care by his own inspection for the building of his ships, the fortifying of both those ports, and the settling of every thing else, which might tend to the successful carrying on of this traffic, not only to Ophir, but to all other parts, where the sea, on which these ports lay, opened a passage. But his chiefest care was to plant those two towns with such inhabitants, as might be best able to serve him in this design. For which purpose he brought thither from the seacoasts of Palestine as many as he could get of those who had been there used to the sea, especially of the

q For three thousand Hebrew talents of gold, reduced to our money, amount to twenty-one millions and six hundred thousand pounds sterling. r 1 Chron. xxix, 4.

s 1 Kings ix, 26—28; and x, 11, 22. 2 Chron. viii, 17, 18; and 10—21. t 2 Chron. viii, 18. The 450 talents here mentioned amount to three millions two hundred and forty thousand pounds of our present sterling money. u 2 Chron. viii, 17.