of Nehemiah? Answer. We find not any more particular governors of Judea, made by the kings or emperors of Persia ; but Judea seems to be made subject to those whom the Persian kings made governors of Syria; and that, under them, the regulation of affairs was committed to the high-priest: so that he had all the sacred authority, and the civil power also, in a good measure, under the Syrian governor.

2. Q. Did the high-priests continue their regular succession as the eldest of Aaron's family? A. This succession was sometimes interrupted by the emperors of the world, or their deputed governors of the provinces, appointing another person to take that office.

3. Q. What is the first remarkable instance of that kind? A. When Johanan, or Jonathan, the son of Joiada; Nehem. xii. 11. had possessed the royal priesthood several years, Bagoses, the governor of Syria, appointed his younger brother Jeshua to depose him, and take the priesthood; upon which there was a tumult in the inner court of the temple, and Johanan slew Jeshua there.

4. Q. How did Bagoses, the governor, resent this? A. He entered into the inner court of the temple, though the Jews forbid him, as being unclean; but he told them, he was purer than the dead carcase of him whom they had slain there; and imposed on the priests a fine of about thirty one shillings, for every lamb that was offered throughout the year.

5. Q. What was the next more famous difficulty and deliverance which the Jews met with? A. They were most remarkably saved from the oppression and resentment of Alexander the great, who was king of Macedonia in Greece, when they had refused to assist him in the siege of Tyrus.

6. Q. In what manner were they delivered? A. When Alexander marched against Jerusalem, designing to punish the Jews on this account, Jaddua the high-priest, the son of Johanan, being directed by a night-vision, met the conqueror in his priestly robes, with the other priests attending him in proper habits, and all the people in white garments: Alexander being struck with this sight, saluted the high-priest with a religious veneration, embraced him, entered Jerusalem in a friendly manner, and offered sacrifice to God in the temple, for his late victories.

7. Q. How came Alexander so suddenly to change his purpose, and behave himself with so much mildness? A. Alexander declared that he himsef, in Macedonia, had seen this very same person, thus habited, in a night-vision, encouraging him to pursue his expedition against the Persians, and promising

him success.

8. Q. What further favours did Alexander shew the Jews? A. When Jaddua, the high-priest, had shewn him the prophecies

of Daniel; particularly Chap. viii. 21. where the he-goat is interpreted to be the king of Grecia, who should conquer the Medes and Persians; and Chap. xi. 3. He bid the Jews ask what they had to desire of him: And, according to their request he granted them the liberty of their own laws and religion, and a freedom from tribute or taxes every seventh year, because then they neither neither sowed nor reaped.

9. Q. Did Alexander succeed in his following wars, and his attempts against the Persian empire, according to the Jewish prophecy? A. When he departed out of Judea and Palestine, he marched into Egypt, which speedily submitted to him: There he builded the city Alexandria, and peopled it with several nations, among whom were many Jews, to whom he gave the same privileges as to his own Macedonians. The next spring he hastened to find out Darius Codomanus king of Persia, whom he had routed once before, and he now vanquished him in a final decisive battle near Arbela, and became master of the Persian empire.

10. Q. How long did he reign after this battle? A. He went on and conquered India; but in five years time he fell into such a riot and drunkenness, that put an end to his life; though others say he was poisoned.

11. Q. What became of the Jews after Alexander's death? A. A little after the death of Alexander, four of his generals divided his empire, who were the four horns of the he-goat, mentioned by the prophet Daniel, which grew up after breaking of the first horn; Dan. viii. 22. and xi. 4. And the Jews fell under the dominion of Ptolemy, afterwards surnamed Soter, who had Egypt, Arabia, Cœle-Syria, and Palestine or the land of Israel for his share.

Here it may be observed, that as Ptolemy had Egypt, Palestine, &c. for his share, so Cassander had Macedonia and Greece; Lysimachus had Thrace and Bithynia, and some other provinces thereabout; Seleucus had Syria, and the northern and eastern provinces in Asia. Thus was the empire of Alexander the great divided among his generals.

SECT. III. Of the Jewish affairs under Ptolemy Soter, Ptolemy Philadelphus, and Ptolemy Philopater, Kings of Egypt. Of the great Synagogue, the Jewish traditions, their Mishnah and Talmud; and of the Septuagint Translation of the Bible into Greek.

1. Question. How did Ptolemy, king of Egypt, deal with the Jews? A. Ptolemy designed to make Alexandria, which was built by Alexander, in Egypt, his captital city, he persuaded a multitude of Jews to settle there, granting them the same privileges as Alexander had done before him: Whence it came to pass, that Alexandria had a great number of Jews still flocking to it.

2. Q. What remarkable story is is related of one Mosollam, a Jew, who followed Ptolemy about this time? A. When a certain soothsayer, or cunning-man, advised a Jewish troop of horse, in which Mosollam rode, to stand still, upon the sight of a bird in the way, and told them they should go either backward or forward, as that bird took its flight; the Jew being a great archer, immediately shot the bird with an arrow, and said, "how could that poor wretched bird foreshew us our fortune, which knew nothing of its own?" hereby he designed to expose and condemn the superstition of the heathens.

3. Q. How did it fare with the Jews that were dispersed about Babylon? A. Seleucus, another of Alexander's generals, who ruled in the greater and lesser Asia, builded many cities; sixteen of which he called Antioch, from Antiochus his father; nine were called Seleucia, from his own name; six Loodicea, from the name Laodice, his mother; others Apamea and Stratonice, from his wives: In all which he planted Jews, and gave them equal privileges with the Greeks or Macedonians, especially at Antioch in Syria, where they settled in great numbers.

4. Q. What considerable person arose among the Jews at Jerusalem about this time? A. Simon the just who is spoken of so honourable in the fiftieth of Ecclesiasticus: He was a high-priest of the Jews about this time, who merited the surname of the just, by his great holiness toward God, and justice toward men; and he was the last of the men of the great synagogue.

5. Q. What was this great synagogue, and who were the men that composed it? A. A hundred and twenty elders, who in a continued succession, after the return of the Jews from Babylon, laboured in restoring the Jewish church and state; and made it their chief care to publish the scriptures to the people with great accuracy.

6. Q. What part of this work is attributed to Simon? A. It is supposed, by some learned men, that he added the two books of Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, and the prophecy of Malachi, to the canon of scripture; which books were scarce supposed to be inserted by Ezra, because several of them are thought to be written by Ezra himself; and the books of Nehemiah and Malachi were most likely written after Ezra's time.

7. Q. Did the Jews, after this time, when the Old Testament was completed, religiously confine themselves to the directions of scripture? A. After this time, their traditions began to prevail; that is, the sayings of the ancients delivered down by tradition.

Note. Though traditions prevailed about this time, yet the mishnab, which is their secondary law, or a collection of tradi

tions, and which they pretend to be dictated from God to Moses, was not compiled and put together till above a hundred years after the time of Christ, by Rabbi Judah Hakkadesh: And this mishaah, together with their comments on these things, are called the talmud.

Note, There are two talmuds; that of Jerusalem, which was complete about three hundred years after Christ; and that of Babylon, about five hundred years: But each of them have the same mishnah, though with different comments, which comments are called the gemara.

8. Q. Who were the chief teachers of this secondary law or traditions? A. Antigonus of Socho was the first of them, who being an eminent scribe in the law of God, was president of the sanhedrim, or senate of the elders at Jerusalem, great master of the Jewish school, and a teacher of righteousness to the people, and of these traditions. Afterward all the teachers or doctors of the Jewish law were, in the New Testament, sometimes called scribes, sometimes lawyers, or those who sat in Moses's seat.

9. Q. What special honour was paid to these men? A. Besides other respects shewed them by the people, who called them Rabbi, and highly esteemed them, it was out of these doctors, that the great sanhedrim, or council of seventy-two, was chosen to govern the whole nation; and the lesser council of twenty-three, which was in every city of Judea.

Note, These were called rulers, or elders, or counsellors; such were Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea, and Gamaliel.

Note, here also That in the Jewish talmudical books, or their fabulous writings, on which we cannot depend, we are told, that about this time one Sadoc mistook the doctrine of Antigonus of Socho, his master, who taught, that "we ought not to serve God in a servile manner, merely with respect to the reward: And inferred from hence, that there were no rewards after this life, and begun the sect of the Sadducees; though it may be justly doubted whether this, and other dangerous doctrines of this sect, arose so early among the Jews.

10. Q. Since the Jews were dispersed into so many countries, did they not acquaint the Gentiles with their religion? A. Yes; for Ptolemy Soter set up a college of learned men at Alexandria, in Egypt, and began a library there; which Ptolemy Philadephus, his youngest son and successor, improved to one hundred thousand volumes: This prince is reported to have commanded the Hebrew law to be translated into Greek, to add to this library of his, that the gentiles might read it, and accordingly it was done.

Note, This college of learned men was encouraged, and the library increased by several Ptolemies successively, till it arose to seven hundred thousand books; both these things made Alexandria a famous place of residence and resort for learned

inen for several ages. It happened that the larger half of this library was burned by Julius Cæsar in his Alexandrian war: The other part was by continual recruits, enlarged to a vaster number than the whole library before but it was finally burned and destroyed by the Saracens, in the year of our Lord 642.

11. Q. In what manner is this translation reported to be made? A. Aristeas, the most ancient writer on this subject, and Josephus the historian, who follows him, acquaint us, that after this Ptolemy had gained the favour of the Jews, by paying the ransom of a hundred thousand of their countrymen, who were enslaved in Egypt, he procured six elders out of every tribe of Israel, which were in all seventy-two, to come to his court; and after a trial of their wisdom, by some particular question being put to each of them, he appointed them to translate the law of Moses, by conferring together about the sense of it, in the isle of Pharos: Which being afterwards read to him, and approved by him, he gave them a liberal reward. Upon this account, this translation is called the Septuagint, that is, the translation of the seventy, or seventytwo elders.

12. Q. But did not this story, in following times grow much more fabulous? A. Philo the Jew, who lived about our Saviour's time, reports, that each of these seventy-two elders were put into a distinct cell, and were required to translate the whole bible apart; and that they performed it so exactly alike, word for word, that it was approved as miraculous and divine: And even several fathers of the christian church, being too credulous and fond of miracles, have received this story, and conveyed it down in their writings.

13. Q. How doth it appear to be a fable? A. The great imperfection of this translation, discovers that it was no divine work, nor performed by miracle: Besides, the several contradictions, and the uncertainties that are mingled up and down with this story, do utterly overthrow the credit of it.

14. Q. Upon the whole view of things, what is the best account of this translation? A. In the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus, there was such a version made of the five books of Moses, by the Jews of Alexandria, into the Greek language, probably for their own use, and for the use of their countrymen: For the Jews in their dispersions had used themselves to the Greek tongue, the conquests of Alexander and his Grecian army having spread their language through the world: And when Ptolemy Philadelphus erected such a noble library, he was desirous to have this book deposited there. Whether his request or command gave any occasion to this translation, is hard to determine.

15. Q. Were not the other sacred writings translated into Greek also, as well as the five books of Moses? A. When the