Images de page
PDF
ePub

in Nineve as he had done in Samaria. God had afflicted him with blindness; but the angel Raphael,1 (Ra'-pha-el,) under the appearance of a young Israelite, had conducted the son of Tobias on a journey, and on his return Tobias recovered his sight, by applying a remedy 2 given to his son by the angel. The spirit of prophecy fell upon the elder Tobias after the angel had left him and his family; and he foretold the glory of Jerusalem, and that the time would come when the Gentiles would worship the Lord God of Israel.

During the seventy years of the captivity in Babylon, the proud spirit of the rebellious house of Juda was broken; and the thoughts of the people were brought back to the God of their fathers, and they lamented their disobedience and past forgetfulness of God's favours.

And God gave them prophets, as He had done before, to be guides and comforters to His people during this period of probation.

CHAPTER XX.

DANIEL, one of the children of the captivity of the two tribes of Juda, B.C. 605, was taken at an early age, with three other young Hebrews, Ananias, (An-a-ni'-as,) Misael, (Mis'-a-el,) and Azarias, (Az-a-ri'-as,) and brought up at the court of Nabuchad

onosor.

Daniel interpreted a dream for the king, and was made ruler over the whole province of Babylon; and he gave to his three friends, Ananias, Misael, and Azarias, posts of honour under him, and their names were changed to Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenego, (Ab-de'-ne-go.)

Now the king having set up a statue of gold to be worshipped on the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon, Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenego, would not worship the golden image, and they were thrown, by order of Nabuchadonosor, into a burning fiery furnace. But an angel came to them in the furnace, and the fire touched them not at all, nor did them any harm.

Now Nabuchadonosor was not sufficiently 3 admonished ;4 his 1 Raphael, Whom God healed. Sufficit, it is enough.

2 Re, again; medeor, I mend, or heal. Ad, to; moneo, I advise.

pride was displeasing to God, who afflicted him with madness, and he fled from men, and did eat grass as oxen. He continued in this state for seven years. Then he understood the power of the Most High, and he glorified the God of heaven, and ordered his people to do likewise.

Another king, Darius Artaxerxes, son of Hystaspes, (Hy-sta ́spes,) called in Scripture, Assuerus, (As-su-e'-rus,) had married a young Israelitish woman named Esther, whom her uncle, Mardocheus, (Mar-do-che'-us,) had brought up, and still aided by his advice. Aman, a favourite of the king, having remarked that Mardocheus did not bow to him, or shew him the reverence 2 he received from others, determined to revenge himself, and to bring about a general massacre 3 of the Jews throughout the kingdom. Esther was told of this by Mardocheus; and, after having prayed and humbled herself before God, she sought Assuerus, and made suit for her own life and that of her people. Assuerus granted all her requests,5 and Aman was hanged on the gibbet which he had prepared for Mardocheus the Jew. About this time the empire of the Assyrians passed into the hands of the Medes and Persians.6

Baltassar, (Bal-tas'-sar,) the last king of Babylon, was guilty of many crimes, and added to them that of the profanation7 of sacred things. He made a great feast to a thousand of his lords; and he had the golden and silver vessels brought, which Nabuchadonosor had taken out of the temple at Jerusalem, and the king and his guests drank in them.

In the same hour a hand appeared writing on the wall of the palace, and none of the wise men could read the writing.

1 Esther was her Persian name, meaning fortune, star, happiness. Her Hebrew name was Hadassa.-Gesenius.

2 Re, again; vereor, I fear.

Humilis, from humus, the ground. 5 Re, back; quæro, I seek. Demands.

3 Massacre (Fr.) means slaughter. Syn.-lowered.

Media was situated between the Caspian Sea, Armenia, Assyria, and Persia. It was divided into Great Media and Media-Atropatene. Ecbatana was its capital. It was at length subdued by Persia. Persia was an ancient empire, containing Assyria, Armenia, Media, Syria, and Asia. At the height of its power it contained twelve provinces.

Persia proper, the original province from which the Persians issued to invade the neighbouring countries, was situated south of Media, near the Persian Gulf. Its capital was Persepolis, burnt by Alexander the Great, king of Macedon, who conquered the Persian empire, and divided it among his generals, about B.C. 323.

7 Pro, before (not allowed to enter); fanum, the sanctuary.

C

Daniel was now called, and he read what was written, and this is the interpretation:-" God hath numbered thy kingdom and finished it. Thou art weighed in the balance1 and found wanting. Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians."

The Median and Persian army, under Cyrus, had for two years besieged2 Babylon, and that very night, while the king and the inhabitants were revelling, the great work of turning off the waters of the river Euphrates, which ran through Babylon, was finished, and the besieging army marched through the dry bed of the river, and the city was taken. Baltassar was surprised at his banquet, and slain, and Darius 3 the Median took the kingdom.

This terminated the seventieth year of the Jewish captivity, from the fall of Jerusalem, and the carrying away of Jechonias into Babylon, fulfilling the period predicted by Jeremias, who said, that "the desolation of Juda and the triumph of Babylon should last seventy years." Moreover, Isaias, 200 years before, had named Cyrus as the deliverer of Israel. And Cyrus, having conquered Babylon, permitted the captives to return into their country, giving them back the sacred vessels which Baltassar had profaned.

1 Bis, double; lanx, a dish.

2 Be, by; siége (Fr.), a sitting down.
3 Darius (Hystaspes) reigned B.C. 521.

FROM

PERIOD VIII. BEGINS WITH THE RETURN FROM CAPTIVITY,
AND ENDS WITH THE BIRTH OF JESUS CHRIST.
B.C. 536 TO A.D. 1, VULGAR ERA.

[blocks in formation]

JERUSALEM was not rebuilt, because the neighbouring people feared to see it rise again into power. But Nehemias obtained of Artaxerxes 1 permission to build its walls, and thus to protect the temple (which had been rebuilt by Zorobabel and Esdras, B.C. 515,) as well as the dwellings of the Jews.

This name of Jew2 was at length given to the Hebrews because the tribe of Juda formed the principal part of those who returned, whilst the ten tribes remained and were dispersed in Asia and Egypt. The name of Juda was also retained. The rebuilding of the walls by Nehemias occurred the year B.C. 445, and Daniel had announced that, counting from that time, the Messias would accomplish His work after seventy weeks of years. It is easy to reckon and to ascertain that the prophecy was verified.3

1 There were three kings of Persia of this name. The Artaxerxes here alluded to was surnamed Longimanus, long-handed. B.C. 464.

2 Jew, or rather Juda; the name means famous, celebrated.-Gesenius. 3 Verum, true; fio, I make.

The Jewish republic1 remained unmolested 2 for some years, under the protection 3 of the kings of Persia. Alexander the Great, the conqueror of Darius, passing by Jerusalem, visited the high priest, and made rich offerings to the temple. Alexander died at the age of thirty-three, and his generals divided his vast empire into four separate kingdoms-Greece, Asia Minor, Syria, and Egypt. Seleucus Nicanor made himself king of Syria, and permitted the Jews to live according to their laws, and to be governed by their high priests.

After the death of Seleucus, Palestine fell under the rule of Egypt. Ptolemy Philadelphius 4 wished a Greek translation 5 of the sacred writings of the Hebrews. This translation is called the Septuagint version.7

The Jews were at first favoured by Seleucus Philopator, (Phil-o'-pa-tor,) who, after Antiochus (Ant-ti'-o-chus) the Great, and Ptolemy Epiphanes, united Palestine to his own dominions;8 but false reports were brought to him respecting the treasures hidden in the temple. He sent Heliodorus to force an entrance into it, notwithstanding the opposition of the high priest Onias, but scarcely had he done so, when he was thrown down and struck by two angels armed with rods: his life was spared at the prayer of Onias.

The Jews were now much corrupted by their intercourse with the refined 9 but immoral Greeks; and Antiochus Epiphanes, the king of Syria, thought that by undermining and destroying their religion, he should consolidate 10 his empire—he found, however, more resistance than he anticipated.11

Eleazar, one of the chief of the scribes, refused to submit to the edicts12 of this prince, and was cruelly put to death because he would not eat of things forbidden by the law of Moses. Seven brothers and their mother were likewise most cruelly tortured and put to death by the tyrant, because they would not break the law of the only true God.

1 Res publica, common wealth. 2 Un, not; molior, I move, attack, or destroy. 3 Pro, before; tectus, a roof, a covering.

4 Philadelphius, loving his brother-so called ironically because he killed one of his brothers, king of Egypt-died 246 B.C.

5 Trans, over; latus, carried.

Seventy. From the seventy doctors (or seventy-two).

7 Versio, turning, or change. Refined, polished.

8 Dominus, lord, lordship.

10 Con, together; solidus, solid. Strengthened.

11 Ante, before; capio, I take.

12 E, out of; dico, I say, Decisions, laws.

« PrécédentContinuer »