A paraphrase and annotations upon all the books of the New Testament briefly explaining all the difficult places thereof / by H. Hammond.

A PREMONITION Concerning the Interpretation OF THE APOCALYPSE.

HAving gone through all the other parts of the New Testament, I came to this last of the Apocalypse, as to a rock that many had miscarried and split upon, with a full resolution not to venture on the expounding of one word in it, but onely to perform one office to it, common to the rest, the review of the Translation: But it pleased God otherwise to dispose of it; for before I had read (with that designe of translating only) to the end of the first verse of the book,* 1.1 these words, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 which must come to passe presently, had such an impression on my mind, offering them∣selves as a key to the whole prophecie, (in like manner as, this generation shall not passe till all these things be fulfilled, Mat. 24. 34. have demonstrated infallibly to what coming of Christ that whole Chapter did belong) that I could not resist the force of them, but attempte presently a general survey of the whole Book, to see whether those words might not proba∣bly be extended to all thy prophecies of it, and have a literal truth in them, viz. that the things foretold and represented in the ensuing visions were presently, speedily, to come to passe, one after another, after the writing of them. But before I could prudently passe this judg∣ment, which was to be founded in understanding the subject-matter of all the Visions, some other evidences I met with, concurring with this, and giving me abundant grounds of confi∣dence of this one thing, that although I should not be able to understand one period of all these Visions, yet I must be obliged to think that they belonged to those times that were then immediately ensuing and that they had accordingly their completion, and consequently that they that pretended to find in those Visions the predictions of events in these later ages, and those so nicely defined as to belong to particular acts and* 1.2 persons in this and some other kingdomes (a farre narrower circuit also then that which reasonably was to be assigned to that one Christian prophecie for the Universal Church of Christ) had much mistaken the drift of it.

The arguments that induced this conclusion were these; First, that this was again imme∣diately inculcated,* 1.3 v. 3. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, for the time is nigh, and that rendred as a proof that these seven Churches, to whom the prophecie was written, were concerned to observe and consider the contents of it, Blessed is he that reads, and he that hears, &c. (〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, saith Arethas, that so hears as to practise) for the time, or season, the point of time is near at hand. Secondly, that as here in the front, so c. 22. 6. at the close, or shutting up of all these Visions, and of S. John's Epistle to the seven Churches, which contained them, 'tis there again added, that God hath sent his Angel to shew to his servants, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, the things that must be speedily, or suddainly; and immediatly upon the back of that are set the words of Christ, the Author of this prophecie,* 1.4 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Behold I come quickly, not in the notion of his final coming to judgment (which hath been the cause of a great deal of mis∣take, see Note on Mat. 24. b.) but of his coming to destroy his enemies, the Jews, &c. and then, Blessed is he that observes, or keeps, the prophecies of this book, parallel to what had been said at the beginning, c. 1. 3. Thridly, that v. 10. the command is given to John, not to seal the prophecies of the book, which that it signifies that they were of present use to those times, and therefore to be kept open, and not to be laid up as things that posterity was only or prin∣cipally concern'd in, appears by that reason rendred of it, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, because the time in nigh, the same which had here at the beginning been given, as the reason that he that consi∣dered the prophecies was blessed in so doing.

This being thus far deduced out of such plain words, so many times repeated, the next thing that offered it self to me was, to examine and search what was the designe of Christ's sending these Visions in a letter to the seven Churches. For by that somewhat might generally be col∣lected of the matter of them, What that designe was, appeared soon very visibly also from

plain words, which had no figure in them, viz. that they and all Christians of those times, being by the terrors of the then pressing persecutions from the Jewes, and by the subtle insi∣nuations of the Gnosticks (who taught it lawfull to disclaim and forswear Christ in time of per∣secution) in danger of lose their constancy, might be fortified by what they here find of the speedinesse of Gods revenge on his enemies, and deliverance of believers that continued con∣stant to him. This is the full importance of c. 1. 3. and the same again c. 22. 7. Blessed are they that keep,* 1.5 &c. for the time is nigh. So in the proeme, or salutation, by John prefix'd to this Epistle of Christ (which from v. 4. to v. 9. was the result of his observations upon the Visions, and was not any part of the Visions themselves, and so gives us his notion and inter∣pretation of this matter) we have these words, v. 7. Behold he cometh with clouds, &c. Where the coming of Christ being a known and solemn phrase to signifie remarkable judgment or ven∣geance on sinners (and in the first place on the Jewes that crucified him) and deliverance for persevering believers, (see Note on Mat. 24. b.) and the addition of the mention of clouds re∣ferring to Gods presence by Angels, the ministers of his power, whether in punishing or pro∣tecting, this 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉,* 1.6 or coming, in the Present, agrees perfectly and literally with what was before observed of the speedinesse of its approach at that time, & is an expresse signification what was the designe of sending the Visions to the Churches, viz. to fortifie them by that consideration.

Proceeding therefore by these degrees, it presently appeared by demonstrable evidences, that the first part of that which was thus suddenly to come to passe, was the illustrious destru∣ction of the Jewes (which was also, of all things imaginable, the surest and opportunest com∣fort and fortification to the Christians at that time, who were virulently persecuted by them, and indeed, as Tertullian saith, owed the beginning of all their persecutions to the Jewes.) This appeared first, by the latter part of the seventh verse of the first chapter, where the 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉,* 1.7 as many as pierced Christ, and 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 all the tribes of the land, most clearly denote the Jewes (as 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 the earth or the land hath been often shewed to sig∣nifie, and 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 the land among the Jewish writers, see Note on Mat. 24. b.) whose wailing (there mentioned in the very words that are used, Mat. 24. 31.) was to be for the miseries that came upon them, Jam. 5. 1. For although some few words in this seventh verse (as the looking on him whom they had pierced) would seem to make that seventh verse parallel to that of Zach. 12. 10. and so, that it should belong to the contrition or repentance of the Jewes for the cru∣cifying of Christ, as that seems to doe (and if it doe, may have had its completion at several times in many thousands of that nation, (see Act. 21. 20.) about three thousand being conver∣ted in one day, Act. 2. 39, and 41.) yet the whole frame of the words of this seventh verse to∣gether, Behold he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him, and all that had pierced him, & all the tribes of the land shall mourn over, or upon, him, doth much more fully agree with the like words, Mat. 24. 30. where in the destruction (or the coming of the Son of man to this destru∣ction) of the Jewes we have these words,* 1.8 And then shall all the tribes of the land mourn, and shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory, which clear∣ly belongs to the destruction of the Jewes. To which I shall only adde, that because that roy∣al coming of Christ consisted of two parts, to destroy the impenitent Jewes remarkably, and as remarkably to rescue or save the penitent believers (and therefore in that pace of Matthew it follows, v. 31. and his Angels shall gather the elect, &c. which belongs to that delivering of the penitent Christian Jewes) therefore that also of the Jewes repenting for the crucifixion of Christ (that is, of those Jewes that at any time did repent) may here be taken in, in the rich∣nesse of this divine writing; and so the ordinary sense of the word in Zachary also will not be left out by this interpretation, which applies this verse to the destruction of the Jewes. So c. 6, 9, 10, 11,* 1.9 the souls beneath the altar, that crie for vengeance of all the blood that was shed in the land, is just parallel to that of Mat. 23. 35. that on the Jews of that generation should come all the 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉,* 1.10 the blood that had been shed on the land, &c. And accordingly all the rest of that sixth chap. of the great earthquake, the sun become black, and moon as blood, and the stars falling from heaven, &c. are the very particulars mention'd in the immediate subsequent discourse of Christ, Mat. 24. So most especially c. 11. 8. that the scene of these tragedies is the city where our Lord was crucified, that is, certainly and literally Jerusalem, called Sodome there, but that only 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 mystically or spiritually (or in the vision) as the text specifies.* 1.11 So saith * 1.12 S. Jerome, Hierusalem ex eo tempore non appellatur civitas sancta, sed sanctitatem & pristinum nomen amittens, spiritualiter vocatur Sodoma & Aegyptus, Jerusalem is called Sodom and AE∣gypt, referring to that place of Apoc. c. 11. which must therefore in his opinion be understood of Jerusalem. And so that Comment, which Bishop Tunstall set out for S. Ambrose's, interprets the sixth chap. to be meant of the Jewes. And in Arethas on c. 6. 12. concerning the earthquake, we find these words, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, some expound this tropologically of Vespasian's siege, where the thing of which he makes doubt in that interpretation is the 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 the figurativenesse of the speech; (where∣as perhaps it may be understood of real earthquakes; see Note on c. 6. f.) but he objects not a∣gainst the interpretation or application of it to those times of Vespasian and the Jewes. So Ru∣pertus Tuitiensis interprets that chapter of the Jewes: and I shall not need make use of the suf∣frages

frages and consent of many more, who have been forced to acknowledge that truth. But I must suppose that it will be objected and pretended, that this destruction of Jerusalem was past at the time of John's receiving and writing this Vision, because' tis affirmed by Eusebius, out of Irenaeus, that twas received or seen (* 1.13 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 it was seen) 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, at the end of Domitian's reigne. To this I might reply from the opinion of† 1.14 S. Augustine, & some others, that these Visions were not all predictions of what was future, but the descripti∣on of what had passed from the first coming of Christ; and from venerable* 1.15 Bede, that John recapitulates from the suffering of Christ; and† 1.16 Rupertus Tuitiensis, that the Apocalypse com∣prehends what had been, what is, and what should be the state of the Church; and this to very good purpose, by what was past to confirm Christians in what was future, and now farther to be de∣clared. And 'twould be no great objection against this, that 'tis all set down as a prophecie, for 'tis no new thing for prophecies sometimes to speak in the future tense of things that are past; as Dan. 7. 17. These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth, where yet the Chaldaean Monarchy was long before risen, and now near expiration. But to passe this over, I answer more distinctly to the testimony of Irenaeus; First, that what he af∣firms concerning John's vision at the end of Domitian, is not of all, but particularly of that Vision of the number of the beast, c. 13. 18. Thus will Eusebius's words be understood, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , &c. If the name of Antichrist ought to be proclaimed openly now, it would have been declared by him that saw the revelation, for it was not seen any long time agoe. Where 'tis clear that 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 was seen may belong to 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 the name of the beast, as before 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, declared, did. And that it not only may, but must be so understood, appears by the Latine of Irenaeus (which only is extant) which reads it thus, Antichristi nomen per ipsum utique editum fuisset, qui & Apocalypsin viderat; neque enim ante multum temporis visum est, sed pené sub nostro seculo ad finem Domitiani imperii, The name of Antichrist would have been pub∣lished by him, who saw the Apocalypse; for it was not seen any long time since, but almost under our age at the end of Domitian's Empire. Where the word visum in the neuter, seen, not visa in the feminine, belongs apparently to the name, not to the Apocalypse. Secondly, I answer, that al∣though it should still be acknowledged to be the opinion of Irenaeus, that John received the Re∣velation and all his Visions at the end of Domitian; yet on the other side 'tis the affirmation of * 1.17 Epiphanius, that John prophesied in the time of Claudius Caesar, when, saith he, he was in the Ile Patmus. And that which may give authority to Epiphanius's testimony is this, First, that Epiphanius in that place is a writing against the Montanists, about the authority of the Apoca∣lypse, and that the later it were seen or written, the more it would have been for his turn toward confuting or answering them, whose objection it was, that the Church of Thyatira, mentioned in the Apocalypse, was not yet a Church when that was said to be revealed. And therefore if it had been but uncertain whether it were written so early or no, he would without all question have made use of this as some advantage against his adversaries, whom he was then in confu∣ting. Secondly, that Epiphanius is so farre from doing this, that he doth twice in the same place expresly affirm, first, that his being in the Isle of Patmus, secondly, that his seeing these Visi∣ons there, yea and his return from the Island, were in the time of Claudius. Having said this for the confirming this assertion of Epiphanius to have as much authority as his testimony can give it, four arguments I shall adde for the truth of it. The first negative, to the disparagement of that relation that affirmes him banish'd by Domitian, and returned after his death in Nerva's reign. For of the persecution by Domitian there be but two authors mentioned by* 1.18 Eusebius, Tertullian and Hegesippus: but of Tertullian he hath these words, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Domitian went about to do as Nero had done, being a part of his cruelty, or, as Tertullian's words are, portio Neronis de crudelitate, a portion of Nero for cruelty: sed facile coeptum repressit, restitutis etiam quos relegaverat, but he ceased from it presently, and recalled those whom he had banished: which no way agrees with his banishing John, and not recalling him all his life, as is supposed in the other relation, and affirmed by* 1.19 Eusebius. And there∣fore Baronius, that is for his banishment under Domitian, in the tenth year of his reign, is forced fairely to* 1.20 reject Tertullian's authority in this matter, giving for it his proof out of Dio, viz. that Nerva released those who were condemned of impiety, and restored those who were banished. Which affirmation of Dio's being granted, as far as belongs to those who were in exile, or stood condemned at Nerva's coming to the Empire, doth no way prejudice the truth of Tertullian's words, of Domitian's having repress'd his severity against the Christi∣ans, and revoked the banished, (wherein he is much a more competent witness then Ba∣ronius.) No more doth his killing of his unckle Clemens, and banishing his cosin Fla∣via Domitilla; for that was five years after this time of John's supposed banishment, in the fifteenth or last year of Domitian's reign. In the relation of Hegesippus (a most an∣tient writer, that lived in those times) there is no more but this, that Domitian had made a decree for the putting to death all that were of the linage of David; that some delators had accused some of the children of Jude, the kinsman of our Saviour, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉,

as such who were of Davids seed; that Jocatus brought these to Domitian, but upon exami∣nation being found to be plain men, and such as believed not Christs kingdome to be 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, or 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, of this world, or earthy, but heavenly, and Angelical, to begin at the end of the world, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, he set them free, and by Edict took off the per∣secution against the Church, and they being released became Bishops in the Church, and continued peaceably, and live till Trajanus's daies. And this certainly agrees very little with the other relation, nor can any account probably be rendered why, when the persecution of Christians was taken off by the Edict, and 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 peace restored to the Church of Christ, and when the profession of Christianity, in the sonnes of Jude, being by the them avowed to the Em∣peror, was not yet thought fit to be punished in the least, yet John should be banished, and continue in his exile till Nerva's reign, for no other crime but that of being a Christian. Where by the way Baronius's artifice much failes him; Tertullian, saith he, fell into his error by following Hegesippus's authority, but Hegesippus, saith he, spake apparently de ea persecutione quae mota est in Judaeos, of that persecution that was raised against the Jewes, not against the Christians. How true that is, will now appear, when the express words are, that by that Em∣perors Edict the persecution against the Church (sure that was not of Jewes, but Christians) ceased. Secondly, that about the ninth year of Claudius the Christians were pursued, and banished by the Roman Powers. That at that time Claudius banished the Jewes out of Rome, is evident by Josephus, and acknowledged by all; and that by the Jewes the Christians are meant, appears by Sueonius in the life Claudius, c. 25. Judaeos impulsore Chresto assiduè tumultuants Româ expulit, He banished the Jewes out of Rome for the tumults which they daily raised by the impulsion of Chrestus. By Chrestus it is certain that the Roman writers meant Christ calling him Chrest, and his followers Chrestians, as Terutllian observes Apol. c. 3. And so they that were acted by the impulson of Chrest, in that narration, must, though called Jewes, necessarily be resolved to be Christians: And what was done at Rome, is to be suppo∣sed to have been done also in other parts of the Emperors dominions; and so that edict, men∣tioned Act. 18. 2. was in reason to reach to Ephesus, and may justly be thought to have in∣volved S. John there. And accordingly Chronologers have placed this banishment of his to Patmus in that year. Thirdly, that about Claudius's time it was that the unbelieving Jewes be∣gan and continued to oppose and persecute the Christian Jewes, and thereupon the Gnosticks compliances (and making as if they were Jewes, to avoid persecutions) are so oft taken notice of by S. Paul, Gal. 6. 12. and elsewhere. And by all the Epistles both of him and the rest of the Apostles, written from about that time of Claudius, the Gnosticks are every where touch'd on, as the pests that were creeping into the Churches, against which they endevoured to for∣tifie the believers, and assure them that those persecutions of the Jewes should be shortly ended by their destruction (that night of sadnesse farre spent, and the day of deliverance and refreshment at hand, Rom. 13. 12. and c. 16. 20.) and that then the complying Gnosticks, which were so sollicitous to save their lives, should lose them, that is, should perish with them. Ac∣cordingly, to the very same purpose is most of the Vision here, that concerned the seven Churches, c. 2. 2, 4, 9, 14, 20. and c. 3. 9, 10 &c. and much of the following prophecie, to assure them that god would take revenge on these impenitent and impure professors, and re∣scue the constant Christians. And that makes it very reasonable to believe, that this Vision was received about the same time also. A fourth argument will be taken from the account of the eight Kings, or Emperors, c. 17. 10. which cannot, I believe, otherwise be made intelligi∣ble, but by beginning the account from Claudius, so that he, and Nero, Galba, Otho, Vitellius, shall be the five that were faln,* 1.21 and then Vespasian (in whose time I suppose these Visions were committed to writing by S. John) being the sixth, shall be the one is, and Titus the seventh, that is not yet come,* 1.22 and when he comes shall stay but a little while, reigning but two years and two moneths, and then the beast that was and is not, and is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goes to destruction, will fall out to be Domitian, to whom (and to whom only of all the Empe∣rors, nay of all men in any story) all those distinctive characters will appertain, as that he ex∣ercised the office of the Emperor, and was called Emperor at Rome, when Vespasian was gone into Judaea, and after his return became a private man again, delivered up the Empire to him, and so was, and is not, and then was the eighth (reckoning from Claudius as the first) and the son of one of the seven, viz. of Vespasian, and should be a bloody persecutor, and accordingly punish'd, and so go to destruction. This seems to me to be a demonstrative character of the time wherein the first of these Visions was delivered, and will father yield some answer to the authority of Irenaeus, by interpreting his words 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 of the con∣clusion of that reign of his at Rome, when his father Vespasian was in Judaea, in respect of which it is said of him,* 1.23 that he was and is not, that is, that reign of his was come to its 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 or end was now concluded; making this not improbably that Authors meaning, that John did first (in this time of Claudius) receive some Visions concerning this destruction of the Jewes, and the other attendants of it, and afterward in Vespasian's time, while he was in Judaea, and Domitian reigned at Rome, receive more visions, that particularly of the number of the beast.

For I suppose the several visions of this book were (as those of Isaiah c. 1. 1. Jeremiah 1. 2, 3. Hosea 1. 1. Amos 1. 1. Micah 1. 1. in the reigns of several Kings) received at several times, not all at once, or in one day. And if against that presumption it be objected, that they were here sent all together to the Churches of Asia, and therefore were all received and written at the same time, to this the answer is most obvious, from what we see done in the forementio∣ned prophecies of Isaiah, &c. in the Old Testament, which though clearly received in seve∣ral Kings reigns, and each sent to that King or the people under him to whom they belonged, as 'tis evident that of Hezekiah was, (and not concealed and reserved till after their death who were concerned in them) were yet long after the time of receiving the first of them, put into a book, and a title, comprehending them all, prefix'd to them. And accordingly there is no difficulty to conceive that John, having first received the Vision of the seven Churches, and, according to direction, c. 1. 11. speedily sent it to them, did after that, (as 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, c. 4. 1. literally imports) receive more visions, at several times, and after all, put them together into a book or volumne, and dedicate them anew to the seven Churches, c. 1. 3. and this about the forementioned end of Domitians reigning in his Father stead, that is, Vespasian's time, when he was returning from Judaea to resume his power again. I can forsee but one farther objection against this date of these Visions, viz. that in the Epistle to the Church of Pergamus, c. 2. 13. there is the mention and very name of Antipas the Martyr,* 1.24 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 who was kil∣led, which may be thought to imply that this Vision was received after that part of Domiti∣an's reign wherein Antipas is affirmed to have been slain. To this I answer,* 1.25 that this naming of Antipas by way of prophecie may be as easily and probably believed of the Spirit of God, before the time of his suffering, as the naming of Cyrus before he was born, which we know was done in the Old Testament, nay as Christ's telling. S. Peter that he should be put to death, and particularly crucified, or as Agabus telling S. Paul what should befall him at Jerusalem, Act. 21. 10. or, as I conceive, Simeon's telling the mother of Christ, that a sword should passe through her soul, Luk. 2. 35. Saint Hilary, in his Prologue to the Psalmes offers instances of this; As, saith he, when in some of the Psalmes, of which Moses was the author, there is yet men∣tion of things after Moses, viz. of Samuel, Psal. 99. 6. before he was born, nulli mirum aut difficile videri oprtere, this ought not to seem strange or hard to any, when in the books of the Kings, Josias is by name prophesyed of before he was born, 1 King. 13. 2. And if Zacharias the son of Barachias, Mat. 23. be that Zachary the son of Baruch that was killed close before the siege of Jerusalem, (of which there is little reason to doubt) there is then a direct exam∣ple of what is here thus said of Antipas,* 1.26 the 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 ye have killed being there said of him, as 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 he was killed here (see Note on Mat. 23. g.) That Antipas was a contemporary of the Apostles, and when he died, was extreme old, will hereafter appear out of the Menologie, and therefore at what time soever this Vision were written, 'tis certain there was such a man as Antipas, and no doubt a Christian, if not Bishop of Pergamus then; And so 'tis lesse strange that he should be here mentioned by name, then that Cyrus should, before he was born; and no more strange then for any other living person to have his Martyrdome particularly fore∣told. As for the sense of 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 was killed, which may be thought to conclude him already killed, sure that is of little weight, it being very ordinary for prophecies to be delivered in words which signifie the time past. All this may serve for a competent satifaction to the grand difficulty. And howsoever in a matter of some uncertainty we may possibly mistake in the particularity of time, wherein the Visions were received, yet that they belong (much of them) to the businesse of the destruction of the Jewes, there will be little question, when the particulars come to be viewed.

This being thus farre evident, it follows to be observed, that the destruction of Jerusalem under Titus was but one part of this coming of Christ, I mean of the judgments upon the Jewes. Many other bloody acts there were of this Tragedy still behind when that was over. Not to mention Domitian's edict of killing all David's kin, (Eusebius l. 3. c. 19.) The first I shall in∣sist upon is that under Trajan, till whose reign S. John himself lived (saith Eusebius l. 3. c. 23. out of Irenaeus l. 2. c. 39. and l. 3. c. 3. and out of Clemens Alexandrinus) though not to this part of it. In this Emperors time it went very heavily with the Jewes,* 1.27 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , saith he, their calamities came tumbiling in upon them, one of the] back of another; For both in Alexandria, and the other parts of Aegypt, and even in Cyrene, many Jewes behaving themselves seditiously, and at last breaking out into open warres and horrid cruelties, described by Dion and Spartianus, as well as Eusebius, and once having worsted the Grecians, they of Aegypt, and they of Cyrene joyning together under the conduct of Lu∣cuas, and overrunning all Aegypt, the issue of it was, that Trajan sent Marcius Turbo with an army by sea and land, horse and foot, who in a long continued warred killed great multitudes of them; and lest they in Mesopotamia should, or suspecting that they had already joyned with them, the Emperor sent to Quintus Lucius Aemilius, that he should destory them all utterly out of that province; and for his care in obeying that command, he was, saith Eusebius, consti∣tued 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Ruler of Judaea under the Emperor. These passages we find in Eusebius l. 4. c. 2. and, saith he, all the Greek writers of the Heathens, who set down the stories of those

times, have the same verbatim; and so indeed they have. See Dio, as also Spartianus. And the number of the slain Jewes in that calamity is reckoned to be no lesse then two hundred thou∣sand in that reign of Trajan's: this, if there had been none before, and if there were no more behind, might well be styled a coming of Christ in the clouds against his crucifiers, a lamenta∣ble judgment on all the tribes of that land, and so might own the expressions in that seventh verse, and some part of the after Visions.

But beside this, yet farther, within few years more, in the time of Adrian, Trajan's imme∣diate successor, (who began his reign An. Dom. 118.) there befell more sad destructions upon the Jewes, and particularly upon Jerusalem it self, occasioned by the rising of Barchocheba, who being but a villain, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, one that lived by robbing and killing, took upon him to come as a Messiah, as a light from heaven to the Jewes, and therefore styled him∣self Son of a starre. And with those that he thus raised, a great warre there was waged by the Romans in the eighteenth year of Adrian, at the town Bethek, not farre from Jerusalem; and the issue was, that the Jewes were under a most miserable siege, and Rufus governour of Ju∣daea, on occasion of this rising, without any mercy destroyed all he could come to, men, wo∣men and children, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, saith Eusebius l. 4. c. 6. whole myriads together; and, to conclude, there came out an Edict of Adrian's, after the death of the ring-leader, interdicting all Jewes, and forbidding them to return to their city Jerusalem again, or so much as to look toward it: to which end the foundations of the Temple were ploughed up by Rufus, (and so Christ's prophecie not till now exactly fulfilled, of not one stone upon another) the city inha∣bited by the Romans, new built, and named Aelia, from Aelius Adrianus, and (they say) the statue of a Swine set over the gate of it, reproach the Jewes, and banish their very eyes from it. And this was another passage which might well be referred to in that place, as matter of mournful spectacle to all the Tribes of Judaea, and as mournfully represented in some of the Visions. To which must be farther added, that the unbelieving Jews are not the only men to whom the destruction here reveal'd in these Visions did belong, but as notably also, and wel∣nigh as soon, the erroneous vile Christians of those times (which were many of them Jewes also, and (those that were not) Judaizers, or compliers with the Jewes) viz. the Gnosticks, so oft spoken of in S. Paul's Epistles, and by S. Peter, and S. James, S. Jude, and S John also, with intimation of their approaching destruction, which here is visible in the Vision of, and the causes of the several destructions that lighted on the seven Churches of Asia, (if not whol∣ly yet) at least on the Gnosticks and other hereticks among them; of whom saith Eusebius, after the enumerating of their heresies, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, they vanished to nothing in a moment, and this saith he, in Trajan's time, l. 3. c. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. And then in the second place, the other enemies of Christ, partakers in the crucifying of him, and afterward eminent persecuters of Christians, those of heathen Rome, as will appear in the exposition of the Vi∣sions. And then thirdly, as in a parenthesis, Gog and Mogog, c. 20. 8. which after the peaceable flourishing of Christianity for a thousand years, should waste the Church again, the Turks in the East, &c. And then all the enemies of God, at the fatall last day of doom, c. 20. 11.

That this was the summary matter of these ensuing Visions, the most serious pondering of every part soon made unquestionable to me. And of it the Reader may here before-hand re∣ceive this short scheme, viz. that, after the Preface, in the first Chapter, to v. 10. and the Vi∣sions about the seven Churches of Asia, each of them set down distinctly, c. 2, and 3. this book contains, First, the proceedings of God with the Jewes, from the fourth to the twelfth chapter: Secondly, the infancy and growth of the Church of Christ in order to the heathen world, till it came through great oppositions to get possession of the Roman Empire, partly by destroying, partly by converting the heathen and villanous, impure Idol-worshippers, from the twelfth to the twentieth chapter: Thirdly, the peaceable, flourishing state of the Church for a thousand years, (and after that the breaking out of the Turk, and harassing the Eastern Churches, briefly touch'd, together with their destruction, and the end of the world) most rhetorically described from chap. 20^th to the 6^th verse of chap. 22. and from thence to the end of the Book a formal conclusion of the whole matter. All which it somewhat proportio∣nable to that which old Tobit prophetically spoke of the times that were to follow him, c. 14. 5. which he divided into three distinct spaces; First, the re-building of the Temple, which was now long past, and this Book hath nothing to doe with that: Secondly, the consummations of the seasons of the age, that is, the destruction of the Jewish state, which is the first main pe∣riod here. This is not so clearly set down in out ordinary English version as in the Greek it is: for that reads not as the English doth, untill the time of that age be fulfilled, confining the con∣tinuance of the second Temple to the time of that age; but, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, till the seasons of the age be fulfilled, a phrase near of kin to those many which are used in the New Testament, for the destruction of this people, the latter days, or seasons, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 the consummation, or conclusion, of the age, Mat. 24. 3. But in the Hebrew copie set out, and ren∣dred by Paulus Fagius, (which appears to be translated skilfully by some Jew out of the Ori∣ginal Chaldee) there is a very considerable addition to this purpose, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, And again they shall go into a long and captivity, noting the greatnesse and duration of

this beyond all the former. That these words in that Hebrew copy are the true reading, ap∣pears by the subsequent mention of a return, which cannot be sense, without this precedent mention of a captivity. And that it belongs to that destruction of them by the Romans, ap∣pears by another passage, added also in that Hebrew copie, and directly parallel to Mat. 24. 31. For as there after the destruction of Jerusalem, v. 29. is mention of the Angels sent to gather the elect Jewes from the four windes, (parallel to the vision of the sealing, Rev. 7.) so it fol∣lows in Tobit, but God, holy and blessed, shall remember them, and gather them from the four cor∣ners of the world. After which follows thirdly, the state of Christianity, the glorious building of Jerusalem, and the house of God, foretold by the prophets, (and that building set down, c. 13. 16, 17. with Sapphires, Emrods, precious stones, pure gold, Beryll, Carbuncle, stones of Ophir, in the same manner as 'tis described in these Visions, c. 21. 18, 19.) and that to continue for ever or, as the Hebrew reads, for ever and ever; and as a prime branch of that period the con∣verting of the nations, and burying their idols, (which is here the second main period) v. 6, 7. This parallel prediction in Tobit may be of some force to authorise the interpretation of these Visions; in all which, as there may be several particular passages either so obscure (from the nature of prophetick style) as not to be easily explicated, or so copious, (and capable of more then one explication) as to render it uncertain which should be preferr'd (in which respect I hope, and expect that much more light may be added to it by more strict survaies, and com∣paring the expressions in this Book with the like phrases or passages in the Prophets of the Old Testament) so for the general matter of these Visions, I suppose, upon pondering the whole, there will be little doubt but these are the true lineament of it.

And it hath been matter of much satisfaction to me, that what hath upon sincere desire of finding out the truth, and making my addresses to God for his particular directions in this work of difficulty (without any other light to go before me) appeared to me to be the meaning of this prophecie, hath, for the main of it, in the same manner represented it self to several persons of great prety and learning (as since I have discerned,) none taking it from the other, but all from the same light shining in the prophecie it self. Among which number I now also find the most learned Hugo Grotius, in those posthumous notes of his on the Apocalypse, lately publish'd.

And this is all that seemed useful to be here premised concerning the interpretation of this Book.

Notes

• * 1.1

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• * 1.2

  Thomas Cromwell & C••anmer c. 14. 18. Qu. Eliza∣beth, Chem∣nitius, Lord Treasurer Cecill, the three first Angels, c. 16. 1, 3, 4. Brightman Apoc. Apo••.
• * 1.3

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• * 1.4

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• * 1.5

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• * 1.6

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• * 1.7

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• * 1.8

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• * 1.9

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• * 1.10

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• * 1.11

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• * 1.12

  Ep 100. qu. 8.
• * 1.13

  Eccl. Hist l. 3. cap. 〈◊〉〈◊〉
• † 1.14

  Apocalypsis complectitue totum tempus à prim•• ad∣vertu Chirsti De Civ. Dei, l. 20. c. 8.
• * 1.15

  Johannem à pas••i••ne Christi reca∣pitula••e.
• † 1.16

  Apocalypsis compleatuur qualis fuisse••, qualis est, & qualis futa∣rus est Eccle∣siae status.
• * 1.17

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Haer. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 51. & 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Ib.
• * 1.18

  〈◊〉〈◊〉. 3. c. 10 Apol. c. 5.
• * 1.19

  l. 3. c.〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉
• * 1.20

  Sed plan•• error•• lapsus cognosc••tur, dum vult eum quasi facti poeni∣tentem exules revocasse. An. 93. n. 5.
• * 1.21

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• * 1.22

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• * 1.23

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• * 1.24

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• * 1.25

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• * 1.26

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• * 1.27

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