с

were, began to be called Jews; and by that name they have all of them been ever since known all the world over.

.

This work was twenty years in finishing: for so many years were elapsed, from the second of Cyrus, when it was first begun, to the seventh of Darius, when it was fully finished. During the latter part of the reign of Cyrus, and through the whole reign of Cambyses, it met with such discouragements, through the fraudulent devices of the Samaritans, that it went but slowly on for all that time: and, during the usurpation of the Magians, and for almost two years after, it was wholly suppressed, that is, till towards the latter end of the second year of the reign of Darius. But then it being again resumed, on the preaching of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, and afterwards encouraged and helped forward by the decree of Darius, it was thenceforth carried on with that vigour, especially through the exhortations and prophecies of the two prophets I have mentioned, that, in the beginning of the seventh year of Darius, it was fully finished, and dedicated anew to the service of God, in the manner as hath been said. In this dedication, the 146th, the 147th, and the 148th Psalms seem to have been sung for, in the Septuagint versions, they are styled The Psalms of Haggai and Zechariah, as if they had been composed by them for this occasion; and this, no doubt, was from some ancient tradition: but, in the original Hebrew, these Psalms have no such title prefixed to them, neither have they any other to contradict it.

The decree whereby this temple was finished having been granted by Darius at his palace in Shushan, (or Susa, as the Greeks call the place,) in remembrance hereof, the eastern gate, in the outer wall of the temple, was from this time called the gate of Shushan, and a picture and draught of that city was portrayed in sculpture over it, and there continued till the last destruction of that temple by the Romans.

c Josephus Antiq. lib. 11, c. 5. Euseb. Demonst. Evang. lib. 8.

d In 1 Esdras v, 73, it is said, that the time of the stop which was put to the building was two years.

e See Lightfoot of the Temple, c. 3.

In the next month after the dedication, which was the month Nisan, the first of the Jewish year, the temple being now made fit for all parts of the divine service,f the passover was observed in it on the fourteenth day of that month, according to the law of God, and solemnized by all the children of Israel that were then returned from the captivity, with great joy and gladness of heart, because, saith the book of Ezra, g

The Lord hath made them joyful, and turned the heart of the king of Assyria unto them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel:" from whenceh archbishop Usher infers, that Babylon must necessarily have been reduced by Darius before this time; for otherwise, he thinks, he could not have been here styled king of Assyria, Babylon being then the metropolis of that kingdom.

And if we will add one stage more to the two above mentioned, of the captivity and restoration of Judah, and place the full completion of the captivity in the twenty-third of Nebuchadnezzar, according to the Jewish account (which was the twenty-first according to the Babylonish,) when Nebuzaradan carried away the last remainder of the land; and the full completion of the restoration at the finishing of the temple, and the restoration of the divine worship therein; this stage will have the like distance of seventy years for the dedication of this temple, and the solemnizing of the first passover in it, being in the seventh year of Darius, it will fall in the seventieth year from the k said twenty-third of Nebuchadnezzar, according to Ptolemy's canon. So that taking it which way you will, and at what stage you please, the prophecy of Jeremiah will be fully and exactly accomplished concerning this matter. And, here ending the rebuilding of the second temple, I shall herewith end this book.

f Ezra vi, 19-22.

g Ezra vi, 22.

h Annales Veteris Testamenti, sub. A. M. 3489. i Jer. lii, 30.

k That is, reckoning the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, according to the Jewish account, to be the twenty-first according to the Babylonish account, which Ptolemy went by.

THE

Old and New Testaments

CONNECTED, &c.

BOOK IV.

THE Samaritans, still carrying on their former spite and rancour against the Jews, gave them new trouble on this occasion. The tribute of Samaria An. 514. had been assigned firsta by Cyrus, and afterDarius 8. wardsb by Darius, for the reparation of the temple at Jerusalem, and the furnishing of the Jews with sacrifices, that oblations and prayers might there daily be offered up for the king, and the royal family, and for the welfare and prosperity of the Persian empire. This was a matter of great regret and heartburning to the Samaritans, and was in truth the source and the true original reason of all the oppositions which they made against them: for they thought it an indignity upon them to be forced to pay their tribute to the Jews; and therefore they did,d by bribes and other underhand dealings, prevail with the ministers, and other officers, to whose charge this matter belonged, during the latter part of the reign of Cyrus, and all the time of Cambyses, to put a stop to this assignment, and did all else that they could wholly to quash it. But the grant being again renewed by Darius, and the execution of it so strictly enjoined in the manner as hath been before related, the tribute was thenceforth annually paid, to the end for which it was assigned, without any more gainsaying, till this year.

a Joseph. Antiq. lib. 11, c. 1. b Joseph. lib. 11, c. 4.

Ezra vi, 8-10.

d Ezra iv, 5. Joseph. Antiq. lib. 11, c. 2.

• Ezra vi.

But now, on pretence that the temple was finished, (though the out-buildings still remained unrepaired, and were not finished till many years after,) they f refused to let the Jews any longer have the tribute; alleging, that it being assigned them for the repairing of their temple, now the temple was repaired, the end of that assignment was ceased, and that consequently the payment of the said tribute was to cease with it, and for this reason would pay it no longer to them. Whereon the Jews, to right themselves in this matter, sent Zerubbabel the governour, with Mordecai and Ananias, two other principal men among them, with a complaint to Darius of the wrong that was done them, in the detaining of his royal bounty from them, contrary to the purport of the edict which he had in that behalf made. The king, on the hearing of the complaint, and the informing of himself about it, issued out his royal order to his officers at Samaria, strictly requiring and commanding them to take effectual care, that the Samaritans observe his edict, in paying their tribute to the temple of Jerusalem, as formerly, and no more, on any pretence whatsoever, give the Jews any cause for the future to complain of their failure herein. And after this we hear no more of any opposition or contest concerning this matter, till the time of Sanballat; which was many years after.

From the time of the reduction of Babylon, Darius had set himself to make great preparations for a war against the Scythians, that inhabited those countries which lie between the Danube and the Tanais: his pretence for it was to be revenged on them for their having invaded Asia, and held it in subjection to them twenty-eight years, as hath been afore related. This was in the time of Cyaxares, the first of that name, king of Media, about one hundred and twenty years before. But for want of a better colour for that which his ambition and thirst for conquest only led him to, this was given out for the reason of the war. In order whereto, having drawn together an army of seven hundred thousand men, he marched with them to the

f Joseph. Antiq. lib. 11, c. 4.

g Herodotus, lib. 4. Justin, lib. 2, c. 5. Cornelius Nepos in Miltiade.

An. 513.

Darius 9.

Thracian Bosphorus, and having there passed over it on a bridge of boats, he brought all Thrace in subjection to him; and then marched to the Ister or Danube, where he appointed his fleet to come to him, (which consisted mostly of Ionians, and other Grecian nations, dwelling in the maritime parts of Asia, and on the Hellespont;) he there passed over another bridge of boats into the country of the Scythians, and having there, for three months time, pursued them through several desert and uncultivated countries, where they drew him by their flight of purpose to harass and destroy his army; he was glad at last to return with one half of them, having lost the other half in this unfortunate and ill-projected expedition. And, had not the Ionians, by the persuasion of Hestiæus, prince of Miletus, (or tyrant, as the Grecians call him,) contrary to the opinion of others among them, staid with the fleet to afford him a passage back, he and all the rest must have perished also. Miltiades, prince of the Thracian Chersonesus, which lies at the mouth of the Hellespont, being one of those who attended Darius with his ships, was earnest for their departure, and the first that moved it, telling them, that, by their going away and leaving Darius and his army to perish on the other side of the Danube, they had a fair opportunity of breaking the power of the Persians, and delivering themselves from the yoke of that tyranny which would be to the advantage of every one of their respective countries. This was urged by him in a council of the chief commanders; and would certainly have taken place, but that Hestiæus, in answer hereto, soon made them sensible, what a dangerous risk they were going to run; for he convinced them, that if this were done, the people of each of their cities, being freed from the fear of the Persians, would immediately rise upon them to recover their liberties; and this would end in the ruin of every one of them, who now, with sovereign authority, under the protection of Darius, securely reigned over them: which being the true state of their case, this argument prevailed with them; so that they all resolved to stay: and this gave Darius the