tion; whereby having secured himself in thorough possession of the kingdom, he held it forty-one years. h He is said to have beens the handsomest person of the age in which he lived, and to have been a prince b of a very mild and generous disposition; he is called by the Greek historians Maxgoxeig, or Longimanus (i. e. the long-handed) by reason of the more than ordinary length of his hands; for they were so long, that, on his standing upright, he could touch his knees with them. But in Scripture he hath the name of Ahasuerus, as well as that of Artaxerxes, and was the same who had Esther for his queen. I acknowledge there are two very great men, whose opinion differ from me herein, archbishop Usher, and Joseph Scaliger. The formerk holdeth that it was Darius Hystaspes that was the king Ahasuerus who married Esther; and that Atossa was the Vashti, and Artystona the Esther of the holy Scriptures. But all that is said of those persons by the historians who have written of them is wholly inconsistent herewith: for Herodotus positively tells us, that Artystona' was the daughter of Cyrus, and therefore she could not be Esther; and that m Atossa had four sons by Darius, besides daughters, all born to him by her after he was king; and therefore she could not be that queen Vashti, who was divorced from the king her husband" in the third year of his reign, nor he that Ahasuerus that divorced her. Furthermore, Atossa is said to have had that predominant interest with Darius even to the time of his death, that it was by her means that in the last act of his life," he was influenced to settle the succession of his crown on Xerxes her son, to the disinheriting of all his elder sons, who were born to him by a former wife; whereas the Ahasuerus of the book of Esther had removed Vashti both from his bed and from his presence by P an unalterable decree: and therefore never could admit her again to either all his life after. That which chiefly induced the learned archbishop to be of this opinion g Strabo, lib. 15, p. 735. i Plutarch, et Strabo, ib. h Plutarch. in Artaxerxe Mnemone, k In Annalibus veteris Testamenti, sub anno J. P. 4193. 1 Herodot. lib. 3, et lib. 7. Esther i, 3. m Herodot, lib. 7, sub initio. o Herodot. lib. 7. 435 was, that whereas it is said of Ahasuerus in the book of Esther, that he laid a tribute upon the land, and upon the isles, the same is also said of Darius Hystaspes by Herodotus; and therefore he thought, that they were both the same person. But Strabo, who is an author of as good, if not better credit, attributeth this to Longimanus. It must be acknowledged, that in the printed copies which we now have of that author, it is read Darius Longimanus in the place which I refer to. But the title Longimanus, and the description of the person after in that place added, can belong to none but to the Artaxerxes whom we now speak of; and therefore it is manifest, that there Darius is put instead of Artaxerxes, by the corruption of the text. 8 Scaliger's opinion is, that Xerxes was the Ahasuerus, and Hamestris, his queen, the Esther of the holy Scriptures. His main reason for it is, the similitude that is between the names of Hamestris and Esther. But how much more the dissimilitude of their characters proves the contrary, hath been already, shewn; and what will be hereafter said of her dealing with Inarus and the Greeks taken with him in Egypt, and her frequent adulteries, will be a farther confirmation of it. Furthermore it appears from" Herodotus, that Xerxes had a son by Hamestris that was marriageable in the seventh year of his reign; and therefore it is impossible she could be Esther; for Esther was not married to Ahasuerus till the seventh year of his reign, nor could possibly have been taken into his bed sooner than two years before. For, according to the sacred history, it was the fourth year of Ahasuerus, when the choice of virgins was made for him, and a whole year being employed in the purifications, whereby they were prepared for his bed, she could not be called thither till the fifth year of his reign; and therefore the sixth was the soonest that she could have a son by him. Besides Artaxerxes, the third son of Hamestris, being grown up to the state of a man at the death of his father, (which happened in the twenty-first year of his reign) he must have been born before the sixth year of Ꮓ s Strabo, lib. 15, p. 735. x Esther ii, 16. a Diod. Sic. lib. 11. his reign. All which put together, do sufficiently prove, how much soever the names Esther and Hamestris may be alike, the persons could not be the same. But there being no such objections as to Artaxerxes Longimanus, it is most probable that he was the person. The ancientest and best evidences that can be had of this matter, are from the Greek version of the sacred text, called the Septuagint, the apocryphal additions to the book of Esther, and Josephus; and all these agree for Artaxerxes Longimanus. For Josephusb positively tells us it was he; and the Septuagint, through the whole book of Esther, wherever the Hebrew text hath Ahasuerus, translate Artaxerxes; and the apocryphal additions to that book every where call the husband of Esther, Artaxerxes, who could be none other than Artaxerxes Longimanus; for there are several circumstances related of him, both in the canonical and apocryphal Esther, which can by no means be applicable to the other Artaxerxes, called Mnemon. And Severus Sulpitius, and many other writers, as well of the ancients as the moderns, come also into this opinion. And the extraordinary favour and kindness which Artaxerxes Longimanus shewed the Jews, beyond all the other kings that reigned in Persia, first in sending Ezra, and after, Nehemiah, for the repairing of the broken affairs of that people in Judah and Jerusalem, and the restoring of them again to their ancient prosperity, is what can scarce be accounted for on any other reason, but that they had in his bosom such a powerful advocate as Esther to solicit for them. But these, and the other transactions of this king, will be the subject of the next ensuing book. b Antiq. lib. 11, c. 6. C c There were two other kings of Persia, that shewed kindness to the Jews, Cyrus, and Darius Hystaspes. Each of them granted a decree in favour of the Jews: but Artaxerxes went beyond them both; for he granted two decrees, by virtue of which both the ecclesiastical and political state of the Jews were thoroughly restored: and therefore, where the Scripture names those kings of Persia by, whose favour this restoration was made, he is named among them in the order as he reigned; for it is said (Ezra vi, 14,) that this was done by the commandment of Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes. i. e. Cyrus, the founder of the Persian empire, Darius Hystaspes, and Artaxerxes Longimanus. For of these, and none other, is that text undoubtedly to be understood; and, no doubt, when the church and state were restored, much was done for the restoration of the temple also. END OF THE FIRST VOLUME. A. Ahaz king of Judah, his wicked Altar for burnt offerings described Amasis usurps the kingdom of E- Ammon king of Judah, his wicked Amos, his prophecy of the captivity Anointing of kings and priests 314. Arabs preserve and restore the an- cient names of places 185, 186. Arimanius the evil god of the Per- Aristides the Athenian, his exploits Ark of the covenant described 296, its history ib. 305. Artabasanes, son of Darius, yields Artaxerxes, third son of Xerxes, Askelon temple of Venus robbed by Babylon, confusion in that kingdom Persian kings of the Sabian sect to be a fiction, and why 205, 206. Belus, temple of, at Babylon 237, its Boccharis, king of Egypt, burnt Branchida, a Milesian family, be- Burial place of the kings of Judah Burial place, honourable, denied to Cadytis, Jerusalem so called by He- Calendar, Jewish, when made 350. Calves, golden, set up by Jeroboam, Cambyses son of Cyrus succeeds him Captivity, head of, an officer among Children, three, carried captives from Chinzerus, king of Babylon, his Chynilidanus succeeds his father Sa- Cimon, his descent 375, his relation Croesus succeeds his father Alyattes Cyaxares king of Media defeated by D. Damaratus, the Spartan, serviceable Daniel carried into captivity by Neb. |