'Considerations on The Prophesy of Daniel concerning the Messiah' (section 7.2g)

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Considerations on
The Prophesy of Daniel concerning the Messiah {illeg}. |I| |Romme|

By the Babylonian captivity, the kingdom of Iudah was dissolved & the Iews ceased to be \a/ body politick, & continued in this condition till the seventh year of Artaxerxes Longimanus, who then sent Ezra with a commission to restore the worship of God in the second Temple lately built by the commandment of Cyrus & Darius Hystaspis, & to set up Magstrates {sic} & Iudges that might judge \all/ the people & teach them them the laws of God & punish offenders against the Laws of God & the King & p with death or banishment or confiscation of goods or imprisonment. \This was done Anno Nabonass. 290./ And hereby the people of God became again a body politick called by Daniel a people & a holy city.|,| |& continued so till the death of Christ w^ch /was\ 490 years after.|

In the first year of \the reign of/ Darius the Mede the son of Achsuerus ({&}|th||at is \the \son/ of/ Ach{e}|s|eres, Axeres or| Cy – Axeres) over Babylon, \[Ann Nabonass. 2{7|6|}/ the Angel Gabriel appeared to Daniel & said to him Seventy weeks \are/ allotted upon thy people & \upon/ thy holy city |[|such weeks as Laban spake of when he said to Iacob, Fulfill her week)|]| to finish the transgression & \to/ make an end of sins & to make reconciliation for iniquity, & to seale up the vision & prophesy, & to annoint the most Holy. [All w^ch was done by the death & resurrection of Christ Anno Nabonass 780.]

Know also & understand that from the going forth of the commandment [at the end of the long captivity] to restore & to build Ierusalem unto [the [ {sic}coming of \him that was annointed/] the Messiah the Prince [to reign over it] shall be seven weeks.

Also threescore & two weeks \[or 434 years]/ the city sh \[unto his coming]/ the city shall be built & the wall [unto the coming of the Messiah \unto his coming viz^t/ |[|\viz^t {sic}/ from y^e 28^th of Artaxerxes Longimanus , according to {illeg} Iosephus] |unto his birth]| unto the coming of the Messiah] but this [not unto his coming in glory to reign ] \as at the end of the seven weeks but {sic}/, but] in troublesome times. And after the threescore & two weeks the Messiah shall \[not reign as Prince but]/ be cut off, & they [shall] not [be] his [people.] And the people of a Prince that shall come [the Romans] shall destroy the City & the sanctuary, & the end thereof shall be w^th a flood, & unto the end of the war desolations are determined. Yet [before they cease to be his people,] he shall keep the covenant w^th may|n|y for one week [viz^t untill the calling of Cornelius & the gentiles w^ch was seven years after he was cut off] & [after that] in half a week he shall besiege Ierusa [by the aforesaid war \under Nero & Vespatian/] cause the sacrifice & oblation to cease, & |[|further in the reign of Adrian \he shall fill the land/] w^th the overspreading of \the/ abominations he shall de{fill} \overflow & fill/ the land, &] make it desolate [of its old inhabitants,] even untill the consummation |[|of the times of the desolation] & {that]} \[untill/ all] that w^ch is determined be shall be {t}|p|oured upon the desolate, [& \untill/ \And the/ \untill/ the commandment go forth to restore cause the captivity to return, & to restore & to build Ierusalem \[the city of the great king. {sic}/. And from the going forth of this commandment unto the coming of the Messiah the Prince & \unto/ the coming of his kingdom shall be seven, pr shall be seven weeks of years, as was prefigured by Moses at the end in the Iubile w^ch he instituted at the end of 49 years seven weeks of years.

When The Ang prophetic Angel had in the third year of Cyrus had predicted to Daniel a perpetual series of events down from those days to \the great tribulation &/ the resurrection of the dead \(Dan XI & XII/; & \then/ added that when God should have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all those things should be finished: \&/ Daniel said that he under\stood/ not & asked the Angel what should be the end of these things? And the Angel answered that the words were closed up & sealed till the time of the end. –– And from the time that the dayly sacrice {sic} shall be taken away to set up the abomination w^ch maketh desolate [untill God shall have finished to scatter the power of the holy people] there shall be a thousand two hundred & ninety days. Blessed is he that waiteth & cometh to the thousand three hundred & five & thirty days. But go thy way Daniel for thou shall rest [in the dust & rise again from the dead & stand in thy lot at th |[|amongst those that awake out of the <1v> dust] at the end of the days. So then God will have finished to scatter the power of the holy people forty & five years fr days before the resurrection of the dead & the coming of Christ to judment {sic}.|;| And that is forty & five years: for all Daniels days are years. And if for|u|r years be allowed for the people to return from their captivity after the going forth of the commandment to cause them to retu|sto|r|e|n & to resto build Ierusalem: this commandment will go forth 49 years before the second coming of the Messiah to reign as a|P|rice|n|ce, for w^ch end he was annointed at the end of the seventy weeks at his first coming. And thus thus {sic}, this Prophesy will reach to the end of the {world &} |day of judgment like all the rest of Daniels Prophesies.|

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According to the vulgar interpretation nothing is predicted in this prophesy but the death of Christ & destruction of Ierusalem, nothing of moment is done at the end of the seven weeks or at either the beginning or end of the 62 weeks or at either the beginning of the week; Christ is annointed to reign but nothing is said of his coming to reign or of his kingdom; & the week ends a week before God ceased to keep his covenant w^th the nation of the Iews. According to the interpretation here proposed, every period of time beginns & ends with somet\h/ing of great moment; the birth & death of Christ, the calling of the Gentiles, the destruction of the Iews Ierusalem & the Temple, the \ bloody/ warrs by w^ch the Iews were wonderfully slaughtered & banished from Iudea & their land given entirely to the Gentiles, & the return of the Iews from their long captivity, & the coming of Christ to reign & judge the world, for w^ch \end/ he was annointed; are all of them predicted. The prophesy of the seventy weeks is \already/ confirmed by the event. That of the seven weeks is here proposed not as a certainty, but by way of enquiry untill it shall be either confirmed \corrected/ or confuted by the event. ☉

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☉It is already confirmed in part \made probable/ by the expulsion of the Iews from their own |&| land & their \very long/ dispersion into all nato|i|ons & \very/ long continuance in this state: in an \& very long continuance in that dispertion {sic}, an/ event so extraordinary & miraculous that it never happened to any other nation; & yet it was predicted by Moses above three thousand years ago.|,| And the same |&| Moses predicted that they should at length return out of all nations into their own land, Deut XXIX & XXX. |[|And so did Isaiah ch. LIX did {sic} the other Prophets. Isa. LIX, LX &, LXI, Ier LXVI.20. Ier XXIII.3, \6,/ 8. \Hosea III.4, 5. Ioel II.31. & III.1, 2, 17. Amos IX.14, 15. Luke XXI.24./ Acts Rom XI.25, 26. Ezek. XL.21, 22. & & {sic} XXXVI.24, 28 & XXXVII.12, 24.|,| |25| & XXXIX.27, 28.] And there can And when this comes to pass [these things will be better understood.] then many shall run to & fro & knowledge shall be encreased.] the wise shall understand.

Moses predicted the above three thousand years ago should {sic}

Moses above three thousand years ago predicted the dispersion of the Iews into all nations & their long continuance in that dispersion & at that they should at length return out of all nations into their own land \Deut XXIX & XXX XXVIII./ When this prophesy is comes to pass we shall understand better what is meant by the going forth of the Commandment to restore & to build Ierusalem.

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The time of the return of the Iews from their long captivity is not here predicted. Nor was it necessary seeing Daniel hath predicted it in the prophesy of the 390 days dated from a period not yet considered by Interpreters, & also in the prophesy of the 2300 days dated from the taking away of the dayly sacrifice when the place of the sanctuary was cast down, & from w^ch time the Iews were to remain without a daily sacrifice & without a sanctuary untill \cleansing of the sanctuary at/ the end of the end of the 2300 days the last end of the indignation & the cleansing of the sanctuary \w^ch was to be/ at the last end of the 2300 days, & this was to be at the time of the end & at the last end of the Indignation against the Iews. Dan. VIII.14, 17, 19.] at the end of w^ch the sanctuary was to be cleansed: And this was to be at the time of the end & at the last end of indignation against the Iews. Dan. VIII.14, 17, 19.

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|All| Daniels Prophesies usually \Visions/ consist of a Prophesy & an Interpretation. \explanation/ \& the times are set down in the Interpretations/ Here the Prophesy is of the seventy weeks & the seven weeks, & the interpretation is conteined \& {sic} then follows an explanation/ in the sixty two weeks, the week, the half week, & the desolation of the land untill the consummation thereof & that w^ch is determined be be {sic} poured upon the desolate people of the Iews & the commandment go forth \to put an end to the desolation/ to cause them /desolate people\ to return home & build Ierusalem to put an end to the desolation & to cause the desolate to return home & \people &/ {&} build Ierusalem.

All Daniels Visions consist of a Prophesy & an Explanation & the times are set down in the Explanation, & the like is done in the the {sic} Apocalyps. Here \And here in this/ the Prophesy \of the Messiah /is concerning the Messiah\/ of the|i||s| {de} coming of the Messiah first to be annointed & then to reign: & then follows the Explanation in the sixty & two weeks, the week, & the half weeks, & the \following/ desolation of the land between the two comings. untill the consummation of the desolation thereof & that w^ch is determined be poured upon the desolate people of the Iews, & the commandment go forth to put an end to the desolation & to cause the desolate to return home & build Ierusalem the city of the great king. I do not mean that Christ shall reign at Ierusalem like a mortal man. He shall reign \above/ w^th the sons of the sons of the resurrection in such a manner as is predicted in Scripture, & they shall rule the nations with a rod of iron, & with the breath of \his/ lips represented by a two edged sword coming out of his mouth, he shall slay the wicked, & the kings of the earth shall bring their glory & honour into the new Ierusalem.

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All the rest of Daniels Prophesies reach to the day of judgment & consist of two parts, \{––}/ a dark Prophesy & an Interpretation thereof \Explanation/ \a supplement for making \the Pr./ more full & plane/. And so doth the Apocalyps. And why should not this of the Messiah. \be like the rest./ The dark Prophesy is of of the Messiah|'s| coming \first/ to be annointed at the end of \the/ seventy weeks & \then/ to reign at the end of \the/ seven weeks. And the Explanation \supplemental explanation/ is to distinguish between the two comings by the periods of the sixty two weeks, the week & the half week & the ensuing desolation of the land & {that} untill the consumation thereof & untill all that w^ch is determined be poured upon the desolate people of the Iews; that is, untill the commandment go forth to put an end to the desolation by causing the desolate to return home \& to restore/ & |to| build Ierusalem|.| the city of the great king.

I do not meane that Christ shall reign at Ierusalem like a |mortal man.| mortal man. \The dead shall arise \immortal/ in spiritual bodies &/ The saints \that are there alive, (as many as are worthy)/ shal {sic} be changed {to}|&| caught up into the clouds to meet the Lord at his coming, & reign w^th him \above/ in such a manner \as is suitable to their spiritual bodies &/ as is predicted in y^e scripture; & they shall rule \have power over/ the nations \below & rule them/ with a rod of iron; & \Christ/ with the breath of his lips represented by a two edged sword coming out of his mouth, {Ch} shall slay the wicked, & the kings of the earth shall bring their glory & honour into the new Ierusalem below.

The dispersion of the Iews into all nations for a long time & in the end thereof their return into their own land was predicted by Moses three thousand years ago, Deut XXIX & XXX: & by Isaiah above 2400 years ago Isa I.IX, LX. And by Ieremiah ch XXIII.3, 8.

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Cyru According to Æschylus Cyrus was the third king of \who reigned over/ the Medes & Persian after the Monarchy began to grow potent. The first was Cy{-ax} Cy-Axerex that is Prince Axeres, Achs{e}|u|eres or Achsuerus. For Cy \or Kai/ in the language of the Medes signified a prince. This king according to Herodotus was the first who brought the army of The second was his son called by Daniel Darius the son of Achsuerus. Cyaxeres & Nebuchadnezzar conquered the Assyrians destroyed Nineveh & shared that monarchy between them. Darius sent Cyrus against Babylon & took it. Cyrus then next year revolted & by the assistance of the Persians beat Darius at Pasargadæ & succeeded him. His mother Mandane was the sister of Aha Astyages the father of Cyaxeres. Herodotus mentions a younger Astyages the son of Cyaxeres.

Æschylus who flourished in the reign of Darius Hystaspis & Xerxes, tells us tells us \about fifty years after the death of Cyrus wrote that {sic}/ that the first king who led the army & reigned over all Asia was a Mede & the next who was his son finished the work, & the third was Cyrus a happy man Cyrus succeeded Darius the Medes the son of Cy Achsuerus (according to Daniel) otherw|t|hat is \of/ Assuerus, Oxyares, Axeres, or Cy-Axeres \the son of Astyages./ This is that Assuerus who together with Nebuchadnezzar took & destroyed Nineveh according to Tobit: w^ch action is by the Greeks ascribed to Cyaxeres & by Eupolemus to Astybar{e}s. He & Nebuchadnezzar \overthrew Nineveh, &/ shared the kingdom of the Assyrians, & thereby erected two potent Empires, & his son Darius by conquering the kingdoms of Lydia & Babylonia finished the work. And the third king was Cyrus the son of Mandane the daughter of Astyages whom & sister of Cyaxe Cyaxeres \& daughter of Astyages. {sic}/. Cyrus being sent by Darius took Babylon in the year of Nabonassar 209 according to Ptolemy's Canon.|:| And in the first year of Darius over Babylon the Angel Gabriel appeared to Daniel & said to him & two years after by the      Seventy weeks assistance of the Persians beat Darius at Pasargadæ & succ|e|eded him & reigned seven years & \alone./ And then reigned his son Cambyses 8 years, Darius Hystaspis 36 years, Xexes 21 years, & Artaxerxes Longimanus 41 years \Darius Nothus 19 years Artaxerxes Mae{m}{n}on 46, Ochus 21, Arogus 2, & Darius Codomannus 4 y./ according to the Canon. |And Darius was conquered by Alexander the great, An Nabonass 416 And the reign of Artaxerxes began Anno Nabonass. 283|4.||

By the Babylonian captivity the kingdom of Iudah was dissolved & the Iews ceased to be a body polytic, & continued in this condition till the seventh year of Artaxerxes Longimanus who then sent Ezra with a commission to restore the worship of God in the second Temple lately built by the command of Cyrus & Darius Hystaspis, & to set up Magistrates & Iudges that might judge all the people & teach them the laws of God, & punish offenders against the laws of God & the king with death or banishment or confiscation of goods or imprisonment. This was done Anno Nabonass. 290. And hereby the people of God began again a body polytic called by Daniel a people & a holy city,|.| & continued so till the death of Iesus Christ w^ch was 490 years after. \And in the 28^th year of Artaxerxes, Anno Nabonass. 311, the wall of the city was finished & the Gates set up by Nehemiah according to Iosephus./

In the first year of Darius the Mede the son of {Aha} Achsuerus the Angel Gabriel appeared to Daniel, & said to him: Seventy weeks are allotted upon the|y| people & upon thy holy City [such weeks as Laban spake of when he said to Iacob, Fulfill her week] to finish the transgression & \to/ make an end of sins, & to make reconciliation for iniquity, & to seal up the vision & the prophesy & to annoint the most Holy. [All w^ch was done by the death & resurrection of Iesus Christ, Anno Nabonass.780.

Know also & understand that [after the most Holy is annointed,] from the going forth of the commandment |[|to [cause thy \scattered/ people to return from captivity &] to restore & to build Ierusalem, unto [the coming of him that was annointed] the Messiah \[to be]/ the Prince [to be their Prince /of thy people\ & reign of over them \them/, for w^ch end he was annointed] shall be seven weeks.

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Considerations
on the Prophesy of Daniel
concerning the Messiah. |II| |Ch{illeg}|

Æschylus about fifty years after the death of Cyrus wrote that the first king who led the army & reigned over all Asia was a Mede, & the next who was his son, finished the work, & the third was Cyrus a happy man. Cyrus succeeded Darius the Mede the son of Achsuerus according to Daniel, that is, of Assuerus, Oxyares, Axeres \Prince Axeres/ or Cy-Axeres, the son of Astyages. This is that Assuerus who together with Nebuchadnezzar took & destroyed Nineveh according to Tobit: w^ch action is by the Greeks ascribed to Cyaxeres & by Eupolemus to Astýbares, a name perhaps corruptly written for Assueres. He & Nebuchadnezzar shared the kingdom of the Assyrians, & thereby erected two potent empires, & his son Darius by conquering the kingdoms of Lydia & Babylonia finished the work of erecting one Monarchy over all Asia. And the third king of this Monarchy was Cyrus the son of Mandane the sister of Cyaxeres & daughter of Astyages. \☉/ < insertion from lower down f 5r > ☉ Herodotus makes \represents/ Astyages the father of Mandane & grandfather of Cyrus, to have been the son & successor of Astyages Cyaxeres, & Cyaxeres to have been the son & successor of Phraortes the son & successor of Dejoces: & by this recconing he has inverted the order of the kings Astyages & Cyaxeres, & \made Astyages of the same age with his grandson Cyrus &/ attributed to Astyages what{illeg} he should have attributed to Darius the son of Cyaxeres \& grandson of Astyages. {sic}/. Let the true order be restored & the kings of the Medes will have reigned in this order: Dejoces, Phraortes, Astyages, Cyaxeres, Darius, Cyrus: whereof Cyaxeres (according to Herodotus) much excelled his ancestors & was the first who ordered the military affairs of the kingdom & distinguished the Monarchy into provinces. His predecessors reigned only over Media, he extended the dominion into Per Armenia, Capp\ad/ocia, Persia & Parthia & his son \Darius |(|by the conduct of Cyrus,) extended it/ into Lydia & Babylonia|.| \by the conduct of Cyrus/ & then Cyrus set the Persians above the Medes by the conduct of Cyrus For Cyrus being sent by Darius took Babylon in the year of Nabonassar 209, according to the Canon of Ptolomy, &c < text from f 3r resumes > Cyrus being sent by Darius took Babylon in the year of Nabonassar 209 according to the Canon of Ptolomy, & after two years by the assistance of the Persians beat Darius at Pasargadæ & succeeded in the throne \& set the Persians above the Medes/ & reigned seven years .|o||ver them.| And then reigned his son Cambyses eight years, Darius Hystaspis thirty & six years, Xerxes twenty & one years, {&} Artaxerxes Longimanus forty & one years & \Darius Nothus. 19 years/ according to the Canon.|,| |& the rest of the kings of Persia till the conquest of Persia by the Greeks seveny {sic} & four years. #| |See y^e paper inclosed in y^e {illeg}| < insertion from f 4r > # In the book of Ezra these kings Cyrus, Darius, Ahasuerus {Axeres} or Xerxes, & Artaxerxes are named in order Ezra IV.5, 6, 7. And in the reign of this Artaxerxes \And in the book of Nehemiah the next king, Darius Nothus, is called Darius y^e Persian Nehem. XII. 22./

By the Babylonian captivity the kingdom of Iudea was dissolved – – – a people & a holy city. But the people of the land still troubled them & wrote a letter to Artaxerxes \that/ the Iews who came up from him were building the city Ierusalem & setting up the walls thereof, & that if this was done the|y| king would lose revolt; whereupon the king gave order that the city should not be built till another commandment should be given from him. \Ezra IV.7, 12, 13, 16, 21./ Then nehemiah haring {sic} that the Iews were in affliction & that the wall of Ierusalem was broken down, became sorrowfull & the king asking him why he was sad, \he/ replied because the city of his fathers sepulchers lay west & the gates thereof were burnt, & \thereupon he/ obteined leave of the king to go {home} unto Iudah & build the city \Nehem. I.3 & II.2, 3, 5. {sic}/. And in the 28^th year of the king (Anno Nabonass. 311) the wall of the city was finished & the gates set up by Nehemiah, according to Iosephus. And the Rulers dwelt in Ierusalem and|but| the rest of the people cast lots to dwell bring one in ten to dwell at Ierusalem & \leave/ nine parts in the other cities; Nehem. XI.1. And in the two & thirtith year of this king Nehemiah went back from Ierusalem to the king, & after certain days Nehemiah returned & continued as governour of Iudea till the reign of Darius nothus called Darius the Persian in Scripture Nehem XII.22.

|Now| In the first year of the reign of Darius the Mede the

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Cyrus \in the beginning of his reign/ sent Zerubbabel to rebuild the Temple, & he laid the foundation but the people of the land hindred it till the reign of Darius weakened the hands of the people of Iudah, & troubled them in building & hired Counsellours against them to frustrate the|ir| work purpose all the days of Cyrus untill the reign of Darius ki. So \Then/ ceased the work [not of the wall of the city but] but of the house of God. So it ceased unto the second year of Darius the reign of Darius king of Persia & then was finished by the prophesying of Haggai & Zechriah {sic}. Ezras {sic} IV.2, 3, 4, 5, 24. \/ < insertion from lower down f 4v > And this was about seventy years after the destruction of the Temple of Solomon by Nebuchadnezzar (Zechary {sic} I.12 & IVII.1, 3, 5) & by consequence in the reign of Darius Hystaspis. But in the beginning of the reign of Ahasuerus or Xerxes the people of the land wrote a new accusation against the inhabitants of Iudah & Ierusalem (Ezra IV.6) & thenceforward them \Iews/ continued in distress till the reign of Arta Artaxerxes Longimanus. < text from higher up f 4v resumes >

By the Babylonian captivity the kingdom of Iudea was dissolved \But in the beginning of the reign of Ahasuerus or Xerxes the people of the land wrote a new accusation against the inha/ bitants of Iudah & Ierusalem. Ezra IV.6. And so they continued in distress till the reign of Artaxerxes.

By the Babylonian captivity the kingdom of Iudea was dissolved &c.

And thenceforward Ierusalem & Iudea were peopled by the Iews till the Romans expelled them.

< text from f 3r resumes >

By the Babylonian captivity the kingdom of Iudea was dissolved & the Iews ceased to be a body politick, & continued in this condition till the seventh year of Artaxerxes \Longimanus,/ who then sent Ezra with a commission to restore the worship of God in the second Temple lately built by the command of Cyrus & Darius Hystaspis, & to set up Magistrates & Iudges who might judge all the people & teach them the laws of God, & punish offenders against the laws of God & the king with death or banishment or confiscation of Goods or imprisonment. This was done Anno Nabonass. 290. And hereby the people of God became again a people & a holy city. And the twenty eighth year of Artaxexes {sic} (Anno Nabonass. 311,) the wall of the city was finished & the gates set up by Nehemiah according to Iosephus. |In the two & thirtith year of this king Nehemiah went ‡ {illeg}| < insertion from f 5r > ‡ to th \back/ from Ierusalem to the King & after certain days returned & continued governour of Iudea till the reign of Darius Nothus called Darius the Persian in scripture Nehem XII.22. < text from f 3r resumes >

In the first year of \the reign of/ Darius the Mede the son of Achsuerus, over Babylon, the Angel Gabriel appeared to Daniel & said to him: Seventy weeks are allotted upon thy people & upon thy holy city [such weeks as Laban spake of when he said to Iacob, Fulfill her week,] to finish the transgression & to make an end of sins, & to make reconciliation for iniquity, & to seal up the vision & the prophesy, & to annoint the most Holy. All which was done by the death & resurrection of Iesus Christ, Anno Nabonass. 780; that is 490 years after the government of the Iews was set up by the commission of Artaxerxes.

Know also & understand that from the going forth of the commandment [to cause thy scattered people to return from captivity and] to restore & to build Ierusalem \[for thy scattered people then returning from captivity]/ unto [the coming of him that was annointed] the Messiah [to be] the Prince [of thy people & reign over them, for w^ch end he was annointed] shall be seven weeks.

Also threescore & two weeks [or 434 years] the city shall be built & the wall [viz^t from the 28^th year of Ataxerxes {sic} Longimanus.] But this [not unto <3v> his coming in glory to reign as at the end of the seven weeks]|,| but \unto his birth {&}/] in troublesome times. And after the threescore & two weeks the Messiah shall [not reign as Prince but] be cut off, & they shall not be his [people.] And the people of a Prince that shall come [the Romans] shall destroy the city & the sanctuary, & the end thereof shall be with a flood, & unto the end of the war desolations are determined. Yet [before they cease to be his people] he shall keep the covenant with many for one week [viz^t untill the calling of Cornelius & the gentiles w^ch was seven years after he was cut off] and [after that] in half a week he shall [by the aforesaid war under Nero & Vespasian] cause the sacrifice & oblation to cease, and [further in the reign of Adrian] with the overspreading of abominations he shall [overflow the land and] make it desolate |[|of its old inhabitants] even untill the consummation [of the times of desolation] & [untill all] that which is determined be poured upon the desolate, [& untill the commandment go forth to cause the captivity to return & to restore & to build Ierusalem the city of the great king And from the going forth of this commandment unto the coming of of {sic} his kingdom shall be seven weeks of years, as was præfigured by Moses in the Iubile which he int|s|tituted at the end of seven such weeks.

The prophetic Angel in the third year of Cyrus predicted to Daniel a perpetual series of events down to the great tribulation & the resurrection of the dead, |(|Dan XI & {illeg} XII,) & added that when God should have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all those things should be finished; & Daniel said that he understood not & asked the Angel what should be the end of those things. And the Angel answered that the words were closed up & sealed to the time of the end. And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away to set up the abomination w^ch maketh desolate [untill \the end when/ God shall have finished to scatter the power of the holy people] there shall be a thousand two hundred & ninety days. Blessed is he that waiteth & cometh to the thound {sic} three hundred & five & thirty days. But go thou thy way Daniel, for thou shalt |rest| & stand in thy lot [amongst those that awake out of the dust] at the end of the days. So then God will have finished to scatter the power of the holy people forty & five days before the resurrection of the dead & the coming of Christ to judgment; that is forty & five years. For all Daniels days are years. And if four years be allowed for the people to return from their captivity after g the going forth of the commandment to cause them to restore & to build Ierusalem: this commandment will go forth 49 years before the coming of the Messiah to reign as Prince, for which end he was annointed at his first coming. And thus the|is| Prophesy will reach to the day of judgment like the rest of Daniels prophesies.

All Daniel's prophesies consist of two parts, a prophesy & a supplement for making the prophesy more full & plane. And so doth the Apocalyps. And why should not this of the Messiah be like the rest? The prophesy is of the double coming of the Messiah; his coming first to be annointed at the end of the seventy weeks, & then \next/ to reign at the end of the seven weeks. And the supplemental explanation is to distinguish between the two comings by the periods of the sixty two weeks, the week & the half week, & the ensuing desolation of the land untill the consummation thereof & untill all that which is determined to be poured upon the desolate people of the Iews; that is untill the commandment go forth to put an end to the desolation by causing the desolate to return home & to restore & to build Ierusalem.

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|NB|According to the vulgar interpretations, nothing is predicted in this Prophesy but the death of Christ & destruction of Ierusalem, nothing of moment is done at the end of the seven weeks, or at either the beginning or end of the 62 weeks, or at the beginning of the week; Christ is annointed to reign but nothing is said of his coming to reign or of his kingdom; & the week ends a week before God ceased to keep his covenant with the nation of the Iews. According to the interpretation here proposed, every period of time begins & ends with something of great moment, the birth & death of Christ, the calling of the Gentiles, the destruction of Ierusalem & the Temple, the b|bl|oody warrs in the reign of Adrian by w^ch the Iews were wonderfully slaughtered & banished from Iudea, & their Land given entirely to the Gentiles, & the return of the Iews from their long captivity, & the coming of Christ to reign & judge the world, w^c for w^ch end he was annointed, are all of them predicted. The \interpretation of the/ prophesy of the seventy weeks is already confirmed by the event, that of the seven weeks is here proposed not as a certainty, but by way of enquiry \& to be examined amended & improved by the event of things untill {sic}/ untill it shall be either confirmed, corrected, or confuted by the event. can be \further/ examined by the \further/ event of things the Iews shall return from their long captivity as Moses & the Prophets have predicted, & untill the coming of the kingdom for which we daily pray. For these \Daniels/ visions were \are/ sealed up unto the time of the end. And then many shall run too & fro & knowledge shall be encreased. And the wise (those that fear God & keep his believe his prophesies) shall understand, but none of the wicked shall understand Learning is not sufficient to make those understand who do not believe are prejudiced by unbelief.

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\Sect VI./ Of the Prophesy of Daniel
concerning the Messiah. |III.| |IV|

Æschylus about fifty years after the death of Cyrus, wrote that the first king who led the army & reigned over all Asia was a Mede, & the next who was his son finished the work, & the third was Cyrus a happy man. Cyrus succeeded Darius the Mede according to the son of Achsuerus according to Daniel, that is, of Assuerus, Oxyares, Axeres, Prince Axeres, or Cy-Axeres, the son of Astyages. This is that Assuerus who together with Nebuchadnezzar took & destroyed Nineveh according to Tobit: which action is by the Greeks ascribed to Cyaxeres, & by Eupolemus to Astybares, a name perhaps corruptly written for Assuerus. He & Nebuchadnezzar shared the kingdom of the Assyrians, & thereby erected two potent empires, & his son Darius by conquering the kingdoms of Lydia & Babylonia finished the work of erecting one Monarchy over all Asia. And the third king of this Monarchy was Cyrus the son of Mandane the sister of Cyaxeres & daughter of Astyages. Herodotus represents Astyages to have been the son & successor of Cyaxeres, & Cyaxeres to have been the son & successor of Phraortes the son & successor of Dejoces. And by this representation he hath inverted the order of the kings Astyages & Cyaxeres, & made Astyages of the same age with his grandson Cyrus, & attributed to Astyages what he should have attributed to Darius the son of Asty Cyaxeres & grandson of Astyages. Let the true order be restored & the kings of the Medes will have reigned in this order: Dejoces, Phraortes, Astyages, Cyaxeres, Darius, Cyrus. Cyaxeres (according to Herodotus) much excelled his ancestors, & was the first who ordered the military affairs of the kingdom, & distinguished the Monarchy into Provinces. His predecessors reigned only over Media, he extended the dominion into Armenia Cappadocia Persia & Parthia, & his son Darius (by the {C}{c}onduct of Cyrus) extended it over the kingdoms of Lydia & Babylonia. Cyrus being sent by Darius took Babylon in the year of Nabonassar 209, according to the Canon of Ptolomy, & after two years, by the assistance of the Persians beat Darius at Pasargadæ, & succeeded in the throne & set the Persians above the Medes, & reigned seven years over them. And then reigned his son Cambyses eight years, Darius Hystaspis thirty & six years, Xerxes twenty & one years, Artaxerxes Longimanus forty & one years, & Darius Nothus nineteen years according to the Canon; & the rest of the kings of Persia till the conquest of Persia by the Greeks reigned Ahasuerus or Xerxes, & Artaxerxes are named in continual order, (Ezra IV.5, 6, 7) & in the book of Nehemiah, the next king Darius Nothus is called Darius the Persian (Nehem XII.22) by|u||t| Darius the last king of Persia was much later.

Cyrus in the beginning of his reign sent Zerubbabel to rebuild the Temple, & he laid the foundation: but the people of the Land weakened the hands of the people of Iudah & troubled them in building & hired counsellours against them to frustrate their purpose all the days of Cyrus untill the reign of Darius. Then ceased the work [not of the wall of the city, but] of the house of God. So it ceased unto the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia; & then it was finished by the prophesying |of| Haggai & Zechariah. Ezra IV.2, 3, 4, 5, 24. And this was about seventy years after the destruction of the Temple <6v> of Ierusalem by Nebuchadnezzar (Zech. 1.12 & VII.1, 3, 5) & by consequence in the reign of Darius Hystaspis. But in the beginning of the reign of Ahasuerus or Xerxes, the people of the land wrote a new accusation against the inhabitants of Iudah & Ierusalem (Ezra IV.6) & thenceforward the Iews continued in distress till the reign of Artaxerxes Longimanus & the coming of Ezra.

By the Babylonian captivity the kingdom of Iudea was dissolved & the Iews ceased to be a body politick & continued in this condition till the seventh year of Artaxerxes Longimanus, who then sent Ezra with \many Iews &/ a commission to restore the worship of God in the second Temple, & to set up Magistrates & Iudges who might judge all the people & teach them the laws of God, & punish offenders against the laws of God & the king with death or banishment or confiscation of Goods or imprisonment. This was done Anno Nabonass. 290. And hereby the people of God became again a people & a holy city. But the people of the land still troubled them & wrote a letter to Artaxerxes that the Iews who came up from him were building the city Ierusalem & setting up the walls thereof, & that if this were done they would revolt. Whereupon the king gave order that the city should not be built till another commandment be given should be given from him Ezra. IV.7, 12, 13, 16, 21.

Then Nehemiah hearing that the Iews were in affliction, & that the wall of Ierusalem was broken down, became sorrowfull. And the king asking him why he was sad, he replied, because the city of his fathers sepulchres lay wast, & the gates thereof were burnt. And thereupon he obteined leave of the king to go unto Iudea & build the city Nehem. I.3, & II.2, 3, 5. And in the 28^th year of the King, according to Iosephus, |(|Anno Nabonass. 311) the wall of the city was finished & the gates set up by Nehemiah. And thence forward the Gates were kept, & the Rulers dwelt in Ierusalem, & the rest of the people cast lots to bring one in ten to dwell at Ierusalem & nine parts in the other cities Nehem VII.10 & XI.1. And in the two & thirtith year of this king Nehemiah went back from Ierusalem into Persia & after certain days returned & continued governour of Iudea till the reign of the King Darius Nothus. Nehem. XII.2. And thenceforward Ierusalem & Iudea were peopled by the Iews till the Romans expelled them.

Now in the first year of the reign of Darius the Mede the son of Ahasuerus over Babylon, the Angel Gabriel appeared to Daniel & said to him: Seventy weeks are allotted upon thy people & upon thy holy city [such weeks as Laban spake of when he said to Iacob, Fulfill her week,] to finish transgression & make an end of sins, & to make a reconciliation for iniquity & to seal up the vision & the prophesy, & to annoint the most Holy. All w^ch came to pass by the death & resurrection of Iesus Christ, Anno Nabonass. 780, that is 490 years after the government of the Iews was set up in Iudea by the commission of Artaxerxes to Ezra, as above.

Know also & understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore & to build Ierusalem [for thy scattered people then returning from captivity,] unto [the coming of him that was annointed] the Messiah [to be] the Prince [of thy holy people & reign over them, for w^ch end he was annointed] shall be seven weeks.

Also threescore & two weeks [or 434 years] the city shall be built & the wall [viz^t from the 28^th year of Artaxerxes Longimanus] but this [not unto his coming in glory to reign as at the end of the seven weeks, but unto his birth] in troublesome times. And after the <7r> threescore & two weeks the Messiah shall [not reign as Prince but] be cut off, & they shall not be his [people.] And the people of a Prince that shall come [the Romans] shall destroy the city & the sanctuary, & the end thereof shall be with a flood, & unto the end of the war desolations are determined. Yet [before they cease to be his people] he shall keep the covenant with many for one week [viz^t untill the calling of Cornelius & the gentiles w^ch was seven years after he was cut off.] & [after that] in half a week he shall [by the aforesaid war under Nero & Vespatian] cause the sacrifice & oblation to cease, and [further in the reign of Adrian] with the overspreading of abominations he shall ~ |[|overflow the land &|]| make it desolate [of its old inhabitants] even untill the consummation [of the times of desolation,] and [untill all] that w^ch is determined to be poured upon the desolate; [and untill the commandment go forth to restore & to build Ierusalem, the city of the great king. And from the going forth of this commandment unto the coming of his kingdom, shall be seven weeks of years, as was prefigured by Moses in the Iubile w^ch he instituted at the end of seven such weeks.]

The prophetic Angel in the third year of Cyrus predicted to Daniel a perpetual series of events down to the great tribulation & the resurrection of the dead (Dan. XI & XII,) & added that when God should have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people all those things should be finished; & Daniel said that he understood not & asked the Angel what should be the end of those things. And the Angel answered that the words were closed up & sealed to the time of the end. And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away to set up the abomination w^ch maketh desolate [{until}{untill} the end when God shall finished to scatter the power of the holy people] there shall be a thousand two hundred & ninety days. Blessed is he that waiteth & cometh to the thousand three hundred & five and thirty days. But go thou thy way Daniel for thou shalt rest, & stand in thy lot [amongst those that awake out of the dust] at the end of the days. So then God will have finished to scatter the power of the holy people forty & five days before the resurrec{tion} of the dead & the coming of Christ to judgment; that is, forty & five years. For all Daniel's days are years. And if four years be allowed for the people to return out of all nations from their captivity after the going forth of the commandment to cause them to restore & build Ierusalem: this commandment will go forth 49 years before the coming of the Messiah to reign as Prince, for which end he was annointed at his first coming. And thus this Prophesy will reach to the day of judgment like all the rest of Daniel's prophesies.

All Daniels prophesies consist of two parts, a prophesy & a supplement for making the prophesy more full & plane. And so doth the Apocalyps. And why should not this of the Messiah be like the rest? The prophesy is of the double coming of the Messiah: his coming first to be annointed at the end of the seventy weeks, & then to reign at the end of the seven weeks. And the supplemental explanation is to distinguish between the two comings by the periods of the sixty two weeks the week & the half week & the ensuing desolation of the land untill the consumation thereof, & untill all that which is determined be poured upon the desolate people of the Iews; that is, untill the commandment go forth to put an end to the desolation by causing the Iews to return home & to restore & <7v> to build Ierusalem

According to the vulgar interpretations nothing is predicted in this Prophesy but the death of Christ & destruction of Ierusalem, nothing of moment is done at the end of the seven, or at either the beginning or end of the 62 weeks, or at the beginning of the week; Christ is annointed to reign but nothing is said of his coming to reign or of his kingdom, & the week ends a week before God ceased to keep his covenant w^th the nation of the Iews. According to the interpretation here proposed every period of time begins & ends with something of great moment. The birth & death of Christ, the bloody warrs calling of the Gentiles, the di|e|struction of Ierusalem & the Temple, the bloody warrs in the reign of Adrian by w^ch the Iews were wonderfully slaughtered & banished from Iudea, & their Land given entirely to the Gentiles, & the return of the Iews from their long captivity, & the coming of Christ to reign & judge the world, for w^ch end he was annointed, are all of them predicted.

The interpretation of the prophesy of the seventy weeks is already confirmed by the event. That of the seven weeks is here proposed, not as certainty, but by way of enquiry, & to be examined amended & improved by the event of things, untill the Iews shall return from their long captivity as Moses & the Prophets have predicted & untill the coming of the kingdom for w^ch we daily pray. For Daniels visions are sealed up unto the time of the end. And then many shall run to & fro, & knowledge shall be encreased. And the wise (those that feare God & believe his prophesies) shall understand but none of the wicked shall understand. Learning is not sufficient to make those understand who are prejudiced through unbelief.