and last year of the Captivity, Cyrus was Monarch, not only over Perfia, but alfo over Baby. lon, and almost all Afia; fo that he might well make use of thefe Words: The Lord God of Heaven hath given me all the Kingdoms of the Earth Ezr. 1. 2. 11. From thefe Characters we gather that the first year of the Captivity was the 4113 of the Julian Pepiod, Cycle . 25. . 9. and that the faid Interval ended in the year 4183 of the Julian Period.

III. if therefore 4113 or 4183 years be fubtracted from any certain year of the Julian Period, the Refidue fhews the year fince the Beginning or End of this Interval. And if the faid Numbers be added to the years of the Beginning or End of this Epocha, the Product will be correfponaent to the year of the Julian Period.

of the dif- §. 1. THere are fome who begin this Epocha of the ferences 70 years Captivity in the 13th year of foficoncerning the true beah, and end it with the first year of the Perfian Epoginning of cha, or the Reign of Cyrus. They were mif-led into bis Epocha this error, by Feremiah's mentioning the 13th year of Fofiah; and the apparent running of 70 years from thence to the beginning of the Perfian Epocha. But it being evident, that in the 70th year after the 13th of Jofiah, Cyrus (tho' at that time King of Perfia) was not Soveraign of Babylon; how could he without the approbation of the King of Babylon release the Fews from their Captivity?

Whether

vity began

§. 2. Behmius, Dionyfius Petavius, Robertus Baithe Capri- lius, Voffius, Simfon, and Beroaldus with his Followers, with the 3d fix the beginning of this Epocha in the 3d or 4th year or 4th year of King Jehoiakim; but it appears to me, that Fehoiof Jehoia-akim was never carried to Babylon as a Captive, but that he reigned eleven years, and was only tributary three years to Nebuchadnezzar, who alfo made War upon his Son, because the Father had refused to obey his Commands: fo that it was Jehoiachin, who, with the whole Royal Family, and many thousand other Fews

kim

Jews, were carried into Captivity, 2 Kings 24. v. 12. And before that time we read of no Captivity; neither does Jeremiah in his exact Lift of the Captivities made in Nebuchadnezzar's time, mention that of Fehoiakim, which is pretended to happen in the first year of Nebuchadnezzar. In fine, the Scripture fays no more than that Fehoiakim was fubdued by Nebuchadnezzar, and not that he was carried off in Captivity. There is but one Objection of any moment againit this advance; which is, that if the beginning of this Interval of 70 years be computed from the Captivity of Fehoiachin,the fame will not exactly correfpond in its Period with the Epocha of Cyrus, but this Objection fhall be answered hereafter in its proper place, when we come to treat of the Babylonian Epocha of Cyrus.

§. 3. Eufebius, Sulpitius Severus, Fohannes Func- Whether it cius and Hainlinus, begin this Epocha of 70 years began from from the time of the first deftruction of the City of the first de Ferufalem; but they have been fufficiently refuted by ftruction of Johannes Behmius Man. Chronel. p. 107. Befides that Jerufalem Funccius founds this Hypothefis upon another no lefs erroneous; to wit, that Nebuchadnezzar mentioned in Scripture, is the fame with Ptolomy's NabopoLaffar.

S. 4. Thofe who maintain that the beginning of the of the pre70 years Captivity is to be fixed in the fourth year of tended defJehoiakim, pretend the two Prophets Jeremiah and ference beEzekiel differ in their Computation, as to the begin- twixt Jere ning of this Captivity; to evince which, they have miah and invented four feveral transmigrations of the Jews: But Ezekiel. without entring upon a difpute concerning the reality of thefe feveral Captivities, it feems very improbable that Ezekiel who was contemporary with Feremiah, and writ his Prophefie after him, fhould have inferted a different Computation from the first, and have relinquished a certain established Epocha to introduce a new one, which could not but involve their Prophefies in great obfcurity and difficulties. The Character which Ezekiel fixes to his Epocha, when he calls it our Captivity, puts it beyond question, that he meant not a private but a general Captivity, which he plainly refers to the time of fehoiachin, fo that Jeremiah must be understood of the fame period of time. S. 5. There

the 70 years.

Of the paf S. 5. There is also some dispate concerning the 70 fage in Ze- years mentioned by Zechariah c. I. v. 12. The Words chariah áre as follows: O Lord of Hofts, how long wilt thou be concerning unmerciful to Jerufalem, and to the Cities of Judah, with whom thou hast been displeased these 70 years: And c. 7. v. 5. When ye fafted and mourned in the fifth and feventh Month, even these 70 years. Since Zacharias lived in the time of Darius, and in the 2d year of his Reign had this Vision c. 1. v. 1,7. and feems to fix the laft Period of the 70 years Captivity to his time, fome have from thence taken occafion to begin this Epocha from the total Deftruction of the City of Ferufalem. But if we confult the Original Text, it will be apparent, that the Prophet does not fpeak of the 70th year, but of 70 years which were elapsed before his time.

How to re

S. 6. It appears from the Fragment of Berofus, that concile the the fews were under fervitude to Nebuchadnezar, EProphecy vilmerodach, Nerigliffor, Balthafar and Darius: Jer. 27.7. Whereas the Prophet Jeremiah feems to infinuate that

they ferved only three Kings, in these words; fer. 27. 7. And all Nations fhall ferve him and his Son, and his Sons Son, until the very time of his Land come allo But the truth of the Prophecy may be vindicated without invalidating the Fragment, for 'tis a ftanding Rule, Unius pofitio non eft alterius exclufio; befides that there were but three Hereditary Kings, to whom the Jews were fubject, namely Nebuchadnezar, Evilmerodach and Balthafar; for Nerigliffor was only Balthafar's Guardian, and Darius the Median was a Foreigner.

CHAP.

Of the Epocha of the Destruction of the Tem ple of Solomon.

RULES.

1. The Destruction of this Temple hapned; 1. in the 11th and last year of King Zedekiah, 2 Kings 25. v. 2. Jer. 34. V. 2. C. 52. V. 5. 2. In the 11th of the Captivity of Jehoiachin, when Ezekiel was likewife carried away to Babylon, who in the next year, being the 12th of the Captivity, was informed of the Destruction of the City, Ez. 33. V. 21. 3. In the 19th year of the Reign of Nebuchadnezzar, 2 Kings 25. v. 8. Jer. 32. V. 1. C. 52. V. 12. 4. The year of the DeftruEtion of the Temple was the last of the Interval of the 390 years of the Iniquity of the Houfe of Ifrael, Ez. 4. v. 5. 5. In the fame year the Jews made á Covenant to obferve the Sabbatic year, and proclaimed Liberty to their Men Servants and MaidServants, according to God's Inftitution, Deut. 15. v. 13. Jer. 34. 6. The year of the Destruction of the Temple is coincident with the third year of the 57th Olympiad,according to Eufebius Chron. lib. poft. 7. By the unanimous confent of the moft authentick Hiftorians and Chronologers, whofe Computations are founded upon the true Connexion of the before enumerated Epocha's, and the Catalogue of the Kings of Judah, the Destruction of the Temple of Solomon hapned in the 428th year after it was first built. 8. It hapned at the time when AP HRES whom Herodotus calls Apries, reigned in Egypt, according to Clemens Alexandrinus and Eufebius. The Fall of this King is defcribed by Herodotus confonant to the Τ

Pre

Prediction of Jeremiah, who calls him King Pharoah-hophra, c. 44. V. 30. 9. The Temple of Jerufalem was laid in Ashes betwixt the 9th and 10th day of the Month Ab, the fifth Month in the Ecclefiaftical year, Jer. 52. v. 12. 10. The firft Deftruction of the Temple hapned on the fame day of the Month that the second Temple was burnt by the Roman Soldiers, Jof. 1. 7. c. 9,10. II. From thefe Characters we gather that the DeftruEtion of the Temple of Solomon hapned in the year of the Julian Period 4124, Cycle O. 8. . 1. on the first day of Auguft, being the 6th

Feria.

III. If therefore 4123 years and 7 Months be fubtracted from any certain year of the Julian Period, the Refidue fhews the year fince this Epocha. And if the Number of 4123 years and 7 Months be ad ded to the known year of this Epocha, the Product will be correfpondent to the year of the Julian Pe

riod.

The Deftru-S. 1..AS it is evident out of feremiah, Chap. 34, &tion of the that the year of the Destruction of the TemTemple ple was a Sabbatic year: So Laurentius Codomannus, hapned in Michael Maftlinus and Facobus Hainlinus, make the the Sabba fame year a fubilean year: But their Hypothefis being tick year. founded upon the Manumiffion of Servants, which ac

cording to the Mofaic Law was not only performed in the Jubilean, but alfo in the Sabbatic year, is not convincing enough to make us adhere to their Opinion : For it is exprefly faid in Deut. 15. 1. 12. And if thy Brother, a Hebrew Man or Hebrew Woman, be fold unto thee, and ferve thee fix years; then in the feventh thou shalt let him go free from thee. See Behmius L. 1. Manud. Chron. p. 79.

of Vaphres S. 2. Concerning the Synchronifm of the Egyptian the Egypti-King VAPHRES, and the deftruction of Jerufaan King. Lem, both Clemens Alexandrinus and Eufebius do a gree: For the first makes the fecond year of this King coincident with the feventh year of the Reign of Ne buchadnezzar; and the fecond makes the feventh year

of