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❝tained, as they believed, in books kept by the priests, "by which it was foretold, that in this very juncture, "the power of the East would prevail over the nations, "and a race of men would go forth from Judea to ex"tend their dominion over the rest of the world. The "prediction, however, couched in ambiguous terms, "related to Vespasian and his son Titus; but the Jewish "mind was not to be enlightened.' With the usual

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propensity of men ready to believe what they ardently "wish, the populace assumed to themselves the scene "of grandeur which the fates were preparing to bring "forward. Calamity itself could not open their eyes.

Such were the portents which were said to overhang the city; and such the particulars of the intire destruction

(1)" Tacitus condemns the Jews for not rightly understanding a prophecy which he himself has misapplied; this cannot be wondered at, when it is considered that Josephus, willing, perhaps, to pay his court to the Imperial family, did not hesitate to say that the prophecy related to Vespasian."

Vide Bell. Jud. 6, v. 1.

Murphy.

(2) Evenerunt prodigia, quæ neque hostiis, neque votis piare fas habet gens superstitioni obnoxia, religionibus adversa. Visæ per cœlum concurrere acies, rutilantia arma, et subito nubium igne collucere templum. Expassæ repente delubri fores, et audita major humana vox, Excedere Deos; simul ingens motus excedentium. Quæ pauci in metum trahebant: pluribus persuasis inerat, antiquis sacerdotum litteris contineri eo ipso tempore fore, ut valesceret Oriens, profectique Judæa rerum potirentur quæ ambages Vespasianum ac Titum prædixerant. Sed Vulgus, more humana cupidinis, sibi tantum fatorum magnitudinem interpretati, ne adversis quidem ad vera mutabantur.-Hist. v. 13.

"Such is the testimony of Tacitus," says Bishop Newton, " and whether these prodigies were supernatural or not, they had all the effect of realities, and they were certainly fearful sights and great signs in heaven,' as much as if they had been created on purpose to astonish the earth."

AND FEARFUL SIGHTS AND GREAT SIGNS SHALL THERE BE FROM HEAVEN.

Luke, xxi. 11.

AND I WILL SHEW WONDERS IN THE HEAVENS AND IN THE EARTH, BLOOD, AND FIRE, AND PILLARS OF SMOKE.-Joel, ii. 30

tion of the Jewish Temple; an edifice which had been reared with so much pains and labour, and on which had been expended the wealth of a once great and unrivalled nation, the pride of Judea and the admiration of the world! Thus was it destroyed by the obstinacy of those who professed a profound veneration for it; and thus was it levelled to the ground by the permission of that God, who, to punish the unbounded impiety even of his chosen people; ordained a reviled and gentile nation to be the instruments of his vengeance.1

The Jews having fled into the city after leaving the Temple and the adjoining buildings in flames ; the Romans lodged their ensigns against the eastern gate, where they offered sacrifice to them; and with shouts and acclamations proclaimed Titus, IMPERATOR.

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(1) Bell. Jud, 6, iv. 5.

This dreadful catastrophe happened on the 10th of August, A. D. 70, emphatically called "The Day of Vengeance." The same day of the year on which the first temple, built by Solomon, was burnt to the ground by Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon, A. M. 3416, A. C. 580.

THESE BE THE DAYS OF VENGEANCE, THAT ALL THINGS WHICH ARE WRIT TEN MAY BE FULFILLED.-Luke, xxi. 22.

A DAY OF DARKNESS AND OF GLOOMINESS, A DAY OF CLOUDS AND A THICK DARKNESS, AS THE MORNING SPREAD UPON THE MOUNTAINS: A GREAT PEOPLE AND A STRONG; THERE HATH NOT BEEN EVER THE LIKE, NEITHER SHALL BE ANY MORE AFTER IT, EVEN TO THE YEARS OF MANY GENERATIONS. A FIRE DEVOURETH BEFORE THEM; AND BEHIND THEM A FLAME BURNETH: THE LAND IS AS THE GARDEN OF EDEN BEFORE THEM, AND BEHIND THEM A DESOLATE WILDERNESS; YEA, and nothing SHALL ESCAPE THEM.-See Joel, ii. 2—11, where the words of the Prophet apply in so many respects to this siege, though in their primary signification they refer to that of Sennacherib.

(2) The ensigns bore the images of the Roman Emperours, which Suetonius informs us, their subjects worshipped: Tacitus calls them, as we have already seen (Hist. iii. 10.) their Gods of war." Bellorum Dii."

Suetonius

The soldiers were now laden with the spoils of the general plunder of the Temple, and so great was the number and worth of them, that gold was reduced in Syria to half its former value. During this time, the priests, who were driven from the Temple, came down to the walls, with a fixed determination to resist the encroachments of the Romans: but a few days afterwards they were compelled, by extreme necessity and hunger, to abandon their resolution, and to throw themselves upon the mercy of the enemy. The Roman guard now brought them into the presence of Titus, where casting themselves at his feet, they intreated that protection and kindness, which they had hitherto refused. These were both instantly denied; " because," said he, "you should have solicited mercy at "a much earlier period of the war. The Temple, by "your insuperable obstinacy, no longer exists; it would "therefore be unreasonable in me to permit its neglectful 'priests to survive it."

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Suetonius says, that "Titus having been left in Judea to complete the reduction of that country, he, in the last siege of Jerusalem, killed seven of the enemy with as many darts: and that he took the city on his daughter's birth day, and was then saluted by the soldiers with the title of Imperator."-" Et ad perdomandam Judæam relictus, novissima Hierosolymorum oppugnatione viri propugnatores totidem sagittarum confecit ictibus: cepitque eam natali filiæ suæ, tanto militum gaudio ac favore, ut in gratulatione IMPERATOREM eum consalutaverint." In vitâ Tit. v.

"The title of Imperator during the times of the republic, did not bear the least relation to that idea which is affixed to it in modern language; but was merely honorary and occasional. It was conferred on the Roman Generals by the acclamations of their army in the field, after some signal advantage gained by their courage and conduct; and it was immediately dropped again as soon as they entered Rome." Melmoth.

(1) Bell. Jud. 6, vi. 1,2.

DESTRUCTION COMETH; AND THEY SHALL SEEK PEACE, AND THERE SHALL DE NONE.-Ezek. vii. 25.

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John and Simon finding themselves no longer able to contend against famine within, or the sword without, solicited a conference with Titus, which he not only granted, but made the offer of protecting their city and people, provided they would lay down their arms and surrender themselves up to him. To which they replied, "that they could not deliver themselves up upon any promise or assurance he could give, because they were under an oath to the contrary; but they "would go with their wives and families into the desert, and leave the town to the Romans." Titus consented to spare their lives, but refused to compromise the war on any other terms; and was so offended at the presumption of prisoners remonstrating and imposing conditions on their conquerors, that he made a proclamation, declaring in future, that no quarter should be given by his army to any Jew whatever. Upon this, the Romans again attacked the Jews, and commenced the ransack of the city; but in their first endeavour to effect this purpose they were routed out of the royal palace, in which the most valuable treasures were concealed; and the insurgents, by their determination to secure to themselves so great a spoil, killed eight thousand four hundred of their own countrymen before they gained complete possession of it.

At this time it happened, that the Jews having taken two Roman soldiers, prisoners, determined to revenge on them, their own, as well as their national afflictions. With this view one of them was murdered, and his body drawn through every street of the city; while the other, blindfolded, was led to be publicly executed in

the

(1) Bell. Jud. 6, vi. 3.

the sight of the enemy's army: but at the instant the executioner was in the act of drawing his sword to accomplish this deliberate slaughter; the victim eluded. his grasp, and escaped in safety to his companions. The result furnishes a circumstance which shews in a striking manner the height to which the military discipline of the Romans was carried. Titus, upon this man appearing before him, in consideration of his activity in effecting his escape under such peculiar circumstances, disarmed and broke him; instead of sacrificing that life which was forfeited to martial law, when a soldier was taken alive by his enemy.

On the following day, the Romans set fire to the lower city multitudes now deserted to them, without either the hope, or even the desire of mercy: the streets were covered with the dead bodies of those whom the seditious had starved or murdered.' The guilty members of the faction sought concealment in the recesses of common sewers, and in hiding holes of the most horrid description, where they proceeded to quarrel among themselves for food; " and I cannot but think," says Josephus, "that had not their destruction pre"vented it, their barbarity would certainly have made "them feed upon each other."

(1) Bell. Jud. 6, vii. 2.

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I WILL NO MORE PITY THE INHABITANTS OF THE LAND, SAITH THE LORD: BUT, LO, I WILL DELIVER THE MEN, EVERY ONE INTO HIS NEIGHBOUR'S HAND. -Zech. xi. 6.

Had the Prophet actually witnessed these calamities, he could not have uttered language more appropriate or feeling, than that, in which he bewailed these, or such as these, so many years before their occurrence.-" Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people !”—Jer. ix. 1.

See the whole chapter.

(2) Bell. Jud. 6, vii. 3.

Daughters of Jerusalem! weep not for me, but weep for yourselves and

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