them, and whatsoever else they understood to be necessary for the prophet's preservation; and to draw him up immediately. So the Ethiopian took the men he was ordered to take, and draw up the prophet out of the mire, and left him in the prison. king let him go, and charged him to betray what they had resolved on to none of the citi zens, nor tell any of these matters to any of the rulers, if they should have learned that he had been sent for, and should inquire of him what it was that he was sent for, and what he had said to him; but to pretend to them, that he besought him that he might not be kept in bouds and in prison. And indeed But when the king had sent to call him privately, and inquired what he could say to him from God, which might be suitable to his present circumstances, and desired him to in-he said so to them; for they came to the proform him of it; Jeremiah replied, he had phet, and asked him what advice it was that somewhat to say; but that he should not be he came to give the king relating to them. believed, nor if he admonished him, should he be hearkened to." For," said he, "thy! friends have determined to destroy me, as though I had been guilty of some wickedness. And where are now those men that deceived us, and said that the king of Babylon would CHAP. VIII. OF THE REDUCTION OF JERUSALEM, AND THE REMOVAL OF not come and fight against us any more? But NOW the king of Babylon was very intent upon the siege of Jerusalem. And he erected towers upon great banks of earth; and from them repelled those that stood upon the walls. He also made a great number of such banks round about the whole city, whose height was equal to those walls. However, those that were within bore the siege with courage and patience. For they were not dismayed either by the famine, or by the pestilential distemper: but were of cheerful minds, in prosecution of the war; although those miseries within oppressed them also; and they did not suffer themselves to be ter I am afraid now to speak the truth; lest thou shouldst condemn me to die." And when the king had assured him upon oath, that he would neither himself put him to death, nor deliver him up to the rulers, he became bold upon that assurance, and gave him this advice that he should deliver the city up to the Babylonians and he said, that it was God that prophesied this by him, that he must do so, if he would be preserved, and escape out of the danger he was in; and that then neither should the city fall to the ground, nor should the temple be burned; but that if he disobeyed, herified, neither by the contrivances of the enewould be the cause of these miseries coming upon the citizens, and of the calamity that would befal his whole house. When the king When the king heard this, he said, he would willingly do what he persuaded him to, and what he declared would be to his advantage; but that he was afraid of those of his own country, that had fallen away to the Babylonians; lest he should be accused by them to the king of Babylon, and be punished. But the prophet encouraged him and said, he had no cause to fear such punishment: for that he should not have the experience of any misfortune, if he would deliver all up to the Babylonians; neither himself, nor his children, nor his wives; and that the temple should then continue unSo when Jeremiah had said this, the hurt. * Jeremiah xxxviii. 13. my, or by their engines of war; but contrived still different engines to oppose them; till there seemed to be an entire struggle between the Babylonians, and the people of Jerusalem, which had the greater sagacity and skill; the former party supposing they should be thereby too hard for the other, for the destruction of the city: the latter placing their hopes of deliverance in persevering in such inventions, in opposition to the other, as might demonstrate the enemies' engines were useless to them. And this siege they endured for eighteen months; until they were destroyed by the famine, and by the darts which the enemy threw at them from the towers. At length the city was taken, † on the ninth day of the fourth month, in the eleventh year 2 Kings xxv. 2, 3. of * of the reign of Zedekiah. They were in-us." And when he had used these words to deed only generals of the king of Babylon, to Zedekiah, he commanded his sons, and his whom Nebuchadnezzar committed the care of friends to be slain; while Zedekiah, and the the siege for he abode himself in the city of rest of the captains, looked on. He then put Riblah. The names of these generals who out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him, and ravaged and subdued Jerusalem, if any one carried him to Babylon. And these things ‡ desire to know them, were these; Nergal happened as § Jeremiah and Ezekiel had Sharezer, Samgar Nebo, Rabsaris, Sarsechim, foretold to him that he should be caught, and Rabmag. And when the city was taken, and brought before the king of Babylon, and about midnight, and the enemy's generals were should speak to him face to face ; and should entered into the temple: † and when Zedekial: see his eyes with his own eyes. And thus far was sensible of it, he took his wives, his chil- did Jeremiah prophecy. He was also made dren, his captains, and his friends, and fled blind and brought to Babylon, but did not see out of the city, through the fortified ditch, and it: according to the prediction of Ezekiel. through the desert. And when certain of the deserters had informed the Babylonians of this, at break of day they pursued after Zedekiah, and overtook him not far from Jericho, and encompassed him about. But for those friends and captains of Zedekiah, who had fled out of the city with him, when they saw their enemies near them, they left him, and dispersed | themselves some one way, and some another: every one endeavouring to save himself. So the enemy took Zedekiah alive; when he was deserted by all but a few, with his children and his wives, and brought him to the king. We have said thus much, because it is sufficient to shew the nature of God to such as are ignorant of it; that it is various, and acts many different ways, and that all events happen after a regular manner, in their proper season, and that it foretels what must come to pass. It is also sufficient to shew the ignorance and incredulity of men, whereby they are not permitted to foresee any thing that is future; and are without any guard, exposed to calamities; so that it is impossible for them to avoid the experience of those calamities. reigned five hundred and fourteen years, six months, and ten days. Of whom Saul, who was the first king, retained the government twenty years; though he was not of the same tribe with the rest. When he was come, Nebuchadnezzar began After this manner have the kings of David's to call him a wicked wretch, and a covenant race ended their lives, being in number twenbreaker; and one that had forgotten his for-ty-one, until the last king; who altogether mer words, when he promised to keep the country for him, He also reproached him for his ingratitude; that when he had received the kingdom from him, who had taken it from Jehoiachin, and given it him, he made use of his power against him that gave it. "But," said he, "God is great, who hateth that conduct of thine, and hath brought thee under 2 Kings xxv. 2, 8. †The temple was burnt, from the time that it was built, four hundred years, says Sir John Marsham; four hundred and twenty-four years three months and eight days, says Primate Usshur; four hundred and thirty years, says Abarbinel, and other learned Jews: but Josephus computes the thing still higher: for he tells us, that the temple was burnt four hundred and seventy years six months and ten days, from the building of it; one thousand and sixty years six months and ten days, from the Israelites coming out of the land of Egypt; one thousand nine hundred and fifty years and six months and ten days from the deluge; and three thousand five hundred and thirty years six months and ten days from the creation of the world. Josephus stands amazed, that the second temple should be burnt by the Romans in the same Now the king of Babylon sent Nebuzaradan, the general of his army, to Jerusalem, to pillage the temple who had it also in month, and on the very same day of the month, that this This observation of Josephus's, about the seeming disagreement of Jeremiah, xxxii. 4, xxxiv. 3, and Ezekiel, xii. 13, but real agreement at last, concerning the fate of Zedekiah, is very true, and very remarkable. See chap. 7. Nor is it at all unlikely that the courtiers and false prophets might make use of this seeming contradiction to dissuade Zedekiah from believing either of those prophets; as Josephus here intimates. * command to burn it, and the royal palace, and to lay the city even with the ground, and to transplant the people into Babylon. Accordingly he came to Jerusalem in the eleventh year of king Zedekiah, and pillaged the temple, and carried out the vessels of God, both gold and silver; and particularly that large laver which Solomon dedicated. ; as also the pillars of brass, and their chapiters, with the golden tables, and the candlesticks. And when he had carried these off, he set fire to the temple in the fifth month, the first day of the month, in the eleventh year of the reign of Zedekiah, and in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. He also burnt the king's palace, and overthrew the city. † Now the temple was burnt four hundred and seventy years, six months, and ten days, after it was first built. It was then one thousand, sixty-two years, six months, and ten days, from the departure of Egypt; and from the deluge, to the destruction of the temple, the whole interval was one thousand, nine hundred, fifty-seven years, six months, and ten days; but from the generation of Adam, there were three thousand, five hundred, and thirteen years, six months, and ten days. So great was the number of years hereto belonging. And what actions were done during those years, we have particularly related. But the BabyBut the Babylonish general now overthrew the city, to the very foundations, and removed the people, and took for prisoners the high-priest, Seraiah, and Zephaniah the priest that was next to him; and the rulers that guarded the temple, who were three in number; and the eunuch who was over the armed men; and seven friends of Zedekiah, and his scribe, and sixty other rulers; all of whom, together with the vessels which they had pillaged, he carried to the king of Babylon, to Riblah, a city of Syria. So the king commanded the heads of the high-priest and of the rulers to be cut off there. But he himself led all the captives, and Zedekiah to Babylon. He also led Jo The twelfth, Heb. and Septuag. +2 Kings xxv. 9. I have here inserted, this high-priest Azarias, though he be omitted in all Josephus's copies, out of the Jewish chronicle, Seder Olam: of how little authority soever I generally esteem such later Rabbinical historians; because we know from Josephus himself, that the number sedek, the high-priest, away bound. He was the son of Seraiah, the high-priest, whom the king of Babylon had slain in Ziblab, a city of Syria, as we have just now related. And now, because we have enumerated the succession of the kings, and who they were, and how long they reigned; I think it necessary to set down the names of those who succeeded one another in the high-priesthood, under the kings. The first high-priest then at the temple, which Solomon built, was Zadok. After whom his son Achimas received that dignity. After Achimas was Azarias. His son was Joram, and Joram's son was Isus. After him was Axioramus. His son was Phideas, and Phideas's son was Sudeas, and Sudeas's son was Juelus, and Juelus's son was Jotham, and Jotham's son was Urias, and Urias's son was Nerias, and Nerias's son was Odeas, and his son was Sallumus, and Sallumus's son was Elicias, and his son was Azarias, and his son was Sareas, and his son was Josadoc, who was carried captive to Babylon. All these received the high-priesthood, by succession, the sons from their fathers. When the king was come to Babylon, he kept Zedekiah in prison until he died; and then buried him magnificently. He also dedicated the vessels he had pillaged out of the temple of Jerusalem to his gods; and planted the people in the country of Babylon ; but freed the high-priest from his bonds. CHAP. IX. OF THE APPOINTMENT OF GEDALIAH, AS GOVERNOR OF THE JEWS LEFT IN JUDEA; HIS ASSASSINATION BY ISHMAEL; THE REMOVAL OF THE PEOPLE INTO EGYPT; AND THEIR SUBSEQUENT CAPTIVITY. NOW the general of the army, NebuzaraNow dan, when he carried the people of the Jews into captivity, left the poor, and those that had deserted, in the country; and appointed for their governor one Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, a person of a noble family, and of a gentle and righteous disposition. He commanded that they should cultivate the of the high-priests belonging to this interval was eighteen, Antiq. XX. 10, whereas his copies have here but seventeen. And note, that so many of these names are spelled differently from those that occur in our Bible. 1 Chron. vi-15. Ezra vii. 1-5. 1 Esd. viii. 1, 2, that I have here, contrary to my usual method, set them all down from the Greek Spelling in Josephus. ground, ground, and pay an appointed tribute to the king. He took Jeremiah the prophet out of prison, and would have persuaded him to go along with him to Babylon; for that he had been enjoined by the king to supply him with whatever he wanted; and if he did not like to do so, he desired him to inform him where he resolved to dwell; that he might signify the same to the king. But the prophet had no inclination to follow him, nor to dwell any where else but expressed a wish to live in the ruins of his country, and in the miserable remains of it. When the general understood what his purpose was, he enjoined Gedaliah, whom he had left behind, to take all possible care of him, and to supply him with whatever he wanted. So when he had given him rich presents, he dismissed him. Accordingly Jeremiah abode in a city of that country which was called Mispah; and desired of Nebuzaradan that he would set at liberty his disciple Baruch, † the son of Neriah; one of a very eminent family, and exceedingly Jeremiah xl. 5. + Of this character of Baruch, the son of Neriah, and the genuiness of his book that stands now in our apo crypha, and that it is really a canonical book, and an appendix to Jeremiah, see Authent. Rec. Part I. page 1. —11. Baruch, the son of Neriah, and grandson of Maaseiab, was of an illustrious birth, and of the tribe of Judah. Seraiah, his brother, had a considerable employment in the court of king Zedekiah, but himself kept close to the person of Jeremiah, and was his most faithful' disciple, though his adherence to his master drew upon him several persecutions, and a great deal of bad treatment. After the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, Baruch and his master were permitted to stay in the land of Judea; but when the remains of the people which were left behind, after having slain their governor Gedeliah, were for retiring into Egpyt, they compelled Jeremiah and his disciple to go along with them, where the prophet died, and Baruch soon after made his escape to his brethren in Babylon, where, according to the tradition of the Rabbins, he likewise died in the twelfth year of his captivity. But of what authority the book, which goes under his name, is, or by whom it was written, and whether any thing related therein be historically true, or the whole of it a fiction, is altogether uncertain. Grotius, in his Commentary upon it, thinks it an entire fiction of some Hellenistical Jew, under the name of Baruch. And St. Je-j rom, long before him, (in the preface to his Exposition of Jeremiah,) tells us, that the reason why he did not make a comment on this book, though, in the edition of the Septuagini, it be joined with Jeremiah, was, because it was not deemed canonical among the Hebrews, and contains an epistle which falsely bears the name of Jeremiah. This epistle is annexed to the book, and, in the common di 1 skilful in the language of his country.— When Nebuzaradan had done thus, he made haste to Babylon. But as to those that fled away during the siege of Jerusalem, and had been scattered over the country; when they heard that the Babylonians were gone away, and had left a remnant in the land of Jerusalem, and those such as were to cultivate the same; they came together from all parts to Gedaliah to Mispah. Now the rulers that were over them, were Johanan, the son of Kareah; and Jezaniah, and Seraiah, and others besides them. Now there was of the royal family one Ishmael, a wicked man, and very crafty; who during the siege of Jerusalem, fled to Baalis, the king of the Ammonites, and abode with him during that time. And Gedaliah persuaded them now they were there, to stay with him, and have no fear of the Babylonians; for that if they would cultivate the country, they should suffer no harm. This be assured them of by oath, and said, that they should have him for their vision of it, makes the last chapter. But the main subject of the book itself is likewise an epistle, either sent, or feigned to be sent, by king Jehoiakim, and the Jews who were in captivity with him in Babylon, to their brethren the Jews who were still left in Judah and Jerusalem: wherein they recommend to their prayers the Emperor Nebuchadnezzar and his children, that, under his dominion, they may lead quiet and peaceable lives; wherein they confess their sins, and ask pardon for what is past, take notice of the threats of the prophets, which they had so long despised, and acknowledge the righteousness of God in what he had brought upon them: wherein they remind them of the advantage which the Jews had in their knowlege of the law of God, and of true wisdom, above all other nations, and thereupon exhorted them to reform their manners, and forsake their evil customs, which would be the only means to bring about their deliverance from the captivity under. which they groaned. The whole is introduced with an historical preface, wherein it is related, that Baruch, being then at Babylon, did, in the name of the captive king, and his people, draw up the same epistle and afterwards read it to them for their approbation; and that, together with it, they sent a collection of money to the highpriest at Jerusalem, for the maintenance of the daily sacrifices. This is the substance of the book itself: and in the letter annexed to it, which goes under Jeremiah's name, the vanity of the Babylonish idols and idolatry is set forth at large, and with liveliness enough. Of the whole there are but three copies; one in Greek, and the other two in Syriac, whereof one agreeth with the Greek, though the other very much differs from it: but in what language it was originally written, or whether one of these be not the original, or which of them may be so, it is next to impossible to tell. Prideaux's Connec. anno 595, and Cal niet's Preface sur Baruch. B. patron; and, that if any disturbance should || arise, they should find him ready to defend them. He also advised them to dwell in any city, as every one of them pleased; and to send men along with his own servants, and rebuild their houses upon the old foundations, and dwell there. And he admonished them beforehand, that they should make preparation while the season lasted, of corn, and wine, and oil; to subsist during the winter. When he had thus discoursed to them, he dismissed them; that every one might dwell in what part of the country he pleased. When this report was spread abroad as far as the nations that bordered on Judea, that Gedaliah kindly entertained those that came to him, after they had fled away, upon condition, that they should pay tribute to the king of Babylon; they also came readily to Gedaliah, and inhabited the country. And when Johanan, and the rulers that were with him, observed the country, and the humanity of Gedaliah, they were exceedingly in love with him, and told him, that Baalis, the king of the Ammonites, had sent Ishmael to kill him by treachery, and secretly; that he might have the dominion over the Israelites, as being of the royal family; and they said that he might deliver himself from this treacherous design, if he would give them leave to slay Ishmael, and nobody should know it. For they told him they were afraid, that when he was killed by the other, the entire ruin of the remaining strength of the Israelites would ensue. But he professed, that he did not believe what they said, when they told him of such a treacherous design in a man that had been well treated by him; because it was not probable that one who, under such a want of all things, had failed of nothing that was necessary for him, should be found so wicked and ungrateful towards his benefactor, that when it would be an instance of wickedness in him not to save him, had he been treacherously assaulted by others, to endeavour to kill him with his own hand. That, however, if he ought to suppose this information to be true, it was better for himself to be slain by the other than to destroy a man who fled to him for refuge, and intrusted his own safety to him, and committed himself to his disposal. So Jobanan and the rulers that were with him, not being able to persuade Gedaliah, went away. But after an interval of thirty days, Ishmael came again to Gedaliah, to the city Mispab, and ten men with him; and, when he bad feasted Ishmael, and those that were with him, in a splendid manner at his table, and had given them presents, he became disordered in drink, while he endeavoured to be merry with them. And when Ishmael saw him in that case, and that he was drowned in his cups to a degree of insensibility, and fallen asleep, he rose up on a sudden, with his ten friends, and slew Gedaliah, and those that were with him at the feast. And when he had slain them, he went out by night, and slew all the Jews that were in the city, and those soldiers also that were left therein by the Babylonians. But the next day eighty men came out of the country with presents to Gedaliah, none of them knowing what had befallen him. When Ishmael saw them he invited them in to Gedaliah; and, when they were come in, he shut up the court, and slew them, and cast their dead bodies into a certain deep pit, that they might not be seen. But of these eighty men Ishmael spared those that intreated him not to kill them, till they had delivered up to him what riches they had concealed in the fields; consisting of their furniture, garments, and corn. But he took captive the people that were in Mispah, with their wives and children; among whom were the daughters of king Zedekiah, whom Nebuzaradan the general of the army of Babylon had left with Gedaliah. And when he had done this, he came to the king of the Ammonites. But when Johanan, and the rulers with him heard of what was done at Mispah, by Ishmael, and of the death of Gedaliah, they had indignation at it, and every one of them took his own armed men, and came suddenly to fight with Ishmael; and overtook him at the fountain of Hebron. And when those that were carried away captives, by Ishmael saw Johanan and the rulers, they were very glad, and looked upon them as coming to their assistance. So they left him that had carried them captives, and came over to Johanan. Then Ishmael, with eight men, fled to the king of the Ammonites. But Johanan took |