This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. Searching, reading, printing, or downloading EEBO-TCP texts is reserved for the authorized users of these project partner institutions. Permission must be granted for subsequent distribution, in print or electronically, of this text, in whole or in part. Please contact project staff at eebotcp-info@umich.edu for further information or permissions.
THe kinds of Prophecy among the Jews; were, (1.) The Shechinah. (2.) The Ʋ∣rim and Thummim. (3.) Revelation by Visions and Dreams, or by Inspiration; for I shall not here distinguish these ways of Revelation, to consider them apart. And when these kinds of Prophecy ceased under the Second Temple, the Bath Kol, or Voice from Heaven, was the only way of Revelation: but of this there is little or nothing certain to be relyed upon.
1. The Sechina, was the sitting, or dwelling of God between the Cherubims, on the Mercy-Seat or Cover of the Ark, Psal. lxxxi. 1. and xcix. 1. from whence he gave out his Answers by an Articulate Voice, Exod. xxv. 22. and xxix. 42. Num. vii. 89.
2. The Ʋrim and Thummim upon the Breast∣plate of the High-Priest, Exod. xxviii. 30. was another standing Oracle, to be consulted upon all great occasions, Num. xxvii. 21.1 Sam. xxviii. 6. xxiii. 9. xxx. 7. Ezra ii. 63. and the Answers were returned by a visible signification of the Divine Will: and this Oracle was not only venerable amongst the Jews, but was famous amongst the Heathen (as Josephus assures us) for its infallible Answers, Mr. Mede (x) thinks Ʋrim and Thum∣mim to have been in use among the Patriarchs, before the Law was given; because the making of it is not spoken of amongst the other things of the Ephod. The common opinion is, that this Oracle was delivered by the shining of such Let∣ers of the Tribes Names, engraven on the Priests Breast-place, as express'd the Answer: but the same learned Author thinks, that the Ʋrim and the Thummim were distinct Oracles; the Thum∣mim shewing when their Sacrifices were accep∣ted; and the Ʋrim answering such Questions as were proposed upon any important occasion.
3. Revelations by Visions and Dreams, or by Inspiration, were the Revelations which proper∣ly denominated those, the whom they were made Prophets. For the Prophets were Persons sent
by God, with an extraordinary Commission, to declare his Will; and they were not confined to the Tribe of Levi, or to any one particular Tribe, but sometimes taken out of one Tribe, and sometimes out of another: for tho' the Jews had Colleges and Schools to prepare and qua∣lifie Men, by a vertuous and religious Educati∣on, for Divine Illuminations; yet divers others, who had not been educated in this manner, were endued with the Spirit of Prophecy; and some of them were but of very mean Employ∣ments, and others again of Royal Blood.
They reproved both their Kings and their Priests with a fearless and undaunted Free∣dom and Authority: and this Plain-dealing, such as became Men who spake and acted by a Divine Impulse, without Design, and without any Disguise, sometimes commanded great Re∣verence towards them from Princes, not easie to be well advised or directed. Rehoboam, a willful and rash Prince, at the head of an Army of an Hundred and fourscore thousand chosen Men, upon the Word of the Lord, deliver'd to him by Shemaiah, return'd home without attempting any thing, to regain the Tribes that had revol∣ted from him to Jeroboam, 1 King. xii. 21. Ahab, though an exceeding wicked King, after a signal Victory, bore the reproof of a Prophet, who de∣nounced a Judgment upon Him and his People for letting Ben-hadad go, and was much con∣cerned at it, 1 King. xx. 42, 43. and the same Ahab rent his Cloaths, and put on Sackcloth,
and fasted at the reproof of Elijah, 1 King. xxi. 27. Amaziah, by the admonition of a Prophet, dis∣miss'd an Hundred thousand mighty men of valour, whom he had hired of the Israelites for an Hun∣dred Talents, being content to lose so many Talents, and to want their help in the War, and to venture the ravage that such an Army, who looked upon themselves as affronted, made in his Country; upon the Prophets assuring him, that God would give him the Victory if he would dismiss them, but not otherwise; and telling him, The Lord is able to give thee much more than this: and the Event proved the Truth of the Prediction, 2 Chron. xxv. The Children of Israel likewise, at the word of Oded the Prophet, sent back Two hundred thousand Persons of the Kingdom of Judah with great spoil, which they had taken, 2 Chron. xxviii. So ready and so ge∣neral a Compliance, in such cases, could arise from nothing but a certain Belief and Experience of the Truth of what the Prophets delivered; but at other times they were despised and per∣secuted; And the Truth of their Prophecies was not only attested by Miracles, and justified by the Event, and confessed by the Deference and Respect both of the Kings and People; but it was asserted by their Sufferings, and sealed by the Blood of the Prophets, and was at last ac∣knowledged by the Posterity of those who had slain them; they being most forward and zea∣lous to adorn the Tombs of the Prophets, whom their Fore-fathers had killed; and to die, in vin∣dication
of those Prophecies, for which they had been slain. There was a constant succession of Prophets, from the time of Moses, till the re∣turn of the Jews from their Captivity in Baby∣lon: some prophesied for many Years; Jere∣miah, for above One and forty Years; Eze∣k••el, about Twenty Years: the least time as∣signed to Hosea's Prophesying, is Forty three Years; Amos prophesied about Six and twenty Years; Micah, about Fifty; Isaiah, Jonah, and Daniel, a much longer time; so that they lived to see divers of their own Prophecies fulfilled; and to have suffered as False Prophets, if they had not come to pass. And though many Pro∣phecies were not to be fulfilled, till long after the death of the Prophets who deliver'd them; yet they wrought Miracles, or they foretold some things, which came to pass soon after, ac∣cording to their Predictions, to give evidence to their Authority, and confirm their Divine Mi••••ion.
The Prophets committed their Prophecies to writing, and left them to Posterity, Isa. xxx. 8. Per. xxx. 2. & xxxvi. 32. Hab. ii. 1, 2. And the wri∣ting of the Histories of the Jews belong'd to the Prophets, 1 Chron. xxix. 29. 2 Chron. xii. 15. & xiii. 22. & xx. 34. & xxvi. 22. & xxxii. 32. And both in their Prophetical and Historical Books they deal with the greatest plainness and sin∣cerity; they record the Idolatries of the Na∣tion, and foretell the Judgments of God which were to befall it upon that account; and they
leave to Posterity a Relation of the Miscarriages and Crimes of their best Princes; David, Solo∣mon, and others, who were Types of the Messias, and from whose Race they expected Him, and looked upon the Glories of their several Reigns to be presages of His, are yet described not on∣ly without flattery, but without any reserve or extenuation. They write as Men who had no regard to any thing but Truth, and the Glory of God, in telling it.
The Prophets were sometimes commanded to seal and shut up their Prophecies, that the Ori∣ginals might be preserved till the fulfilling of them, and then compared with the Event, Isai. viii. 16. Jer. xxxii. 14. Dan. viii. 26. & xii. 4. For when the Prophecies were not to be fulfill'd till many Years, and, in some cases, not till seve∣ral Ages afterwards, it was requisite that the Original Writings should be kept with all care; but when the time was so near at hand, that the Prophecies must be in every one's memory; or that the Originals could not be suspected or supposed to be lost, there was not the same care required, Rev. xxii. 10. It seems to have been customary (y) for the Prophers to put their Writings into the Tabernacle, or lay them up before the Lord, 1 Sam. x. 25. And there is a Tra∣dition, (z) That all the Canonical Books as well as the Law, were put into the side of the Ark.
It is certain, that the Books of the Law, and the Writings of the ancient Prophets, were care∣fully preserved, during the Captivity, and are
frequently referr'd to, and cited by the latter Prophets: The Pentateuch has been already spo∣ken of; and this is as evident of the Books of the Prophets. The Prophecy of Micah is quoted, Jer. xxvi. 18. a little before the Captivity; and un∣der it, the Prophecy of Jeremiah is cited, Dan. ix. 2. and all the Prophets, v. 6. and so the Prophets in general are mention'd, Neh. ix. 26, 30. And Zechariah not only cites the former Prophets, Zech. i. 4. but supposes their Writings well known to the People: Should you not hear the words which the Lord hath cried by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited, and in prosperity? chap. vii. 7. The Prophet Amos is likewise cited, Tob. ii. 6. and Jonas, and the Prophets in general, chap. xiv. 4, 5, 8. There can then be no reason to question, but that Ezra, Nehemiah, Daniel, Ze∣chariah, and the other Prophets in the time of the Captivity, were very careful to keep the Books of the former Prophets; for they fre∣quently cite them, and appeal to them; and ex∣pected Deliverance out of their Captivity, by the accomplishment of them. And perhaps, from the Originals themselves, or however, from Copies taken by Ezra the Scribe, or by some of the latter Prophets, or at least acknowledged for genuine, and approved of by them, the an∣cient Prophecies, and other Inspired Writings, were preserved; and those of the latter Pro∣phets were added to them; and all together, make up the Book of the Prophets, mention'd, Act. vii. 42. which was read, as well as the Law,
every Sabbath-day, Act. xiii. 27. The Books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings, have the Title of the former Prophets, in the Hebrew Bibles, to distinguish them from the Books which they set out under the Title of the latter Prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, &c. The Books of Joshua and Judges have been already spoken of. The Books of Samuel, were written by Samuel, Nathan, and Gad, 1 Chron. xxix. 29. from whence we may conclude that the first Book of Samuel, to the 25th. Chapter, was written by Samuel himself; and the rest of that, and the whole Second Book, by Nathan and Gad: but Samuel being a Person so much concerned in the former part of the History, and having written so much of it, out of respect to him the whole Two Books go under his Name: though, indeed, the Jews anciently reckon'd both the Books of Samuel as one Book; and Aquila (as Theodorit has observed) made no distinction between the First and Second Books of Samuel, following the Hebrew Copies of his time: and in our Hebrew Bibles, though they are distinguished, yet they are not distin∣guished in the same manner as the two Books of Kings and of Chronicles are: and it is no won∣der that a Book begun by Samuel, and continued by other Prophets, should bear the Name only of Samuel. From 1 Chron. xxix. 29. we may like∣wise learn, that the beginning of the First Book of Kings must be written by one of these Pro∣phets. Both the Books of Kings, as far as Heze∣kiah's Reign, were written before Josiah's time;
for, 2 Kin. 18.5. it is said of Hezekiah, That he trusted in the Lord God of Israel: so that after him was none like him of all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him: And of Josiah, it is said, 2 King. xxiii. 25. That like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the Lord with all his heart, &c. For it is evident, that Josiah, in his Reformation, exceeded Hezekiah; and from hence it appears, that the History of Hezekiah must be written before Josiah's time; or else it could not have been with truth, said of Hezekiah, That there was no King after him who was like him, or equalled him, of all the Kings of Judah. From 1 Chron. iv. 43. it ap∣pears, that it was written before the Captivity; though the Genealogies were transcribed after∣wards out of the Records, as we learn from 1 Chron. ix. 1. That the Second Book of Chro∣nicles, as well as the First Book of Kings, was written before the Captivity we may conclude from 2 Chron. v. 9. 1 King. viii. 8. for the Ark was not remaining after the Captivity. The last Chapter of the Second Book of Kings, gives so particular an account of the manner of car∣rying them away Captive in every material circumstance, that it seems to have been writ∣ten at that very time; and is an argument, that Memorirs were constantly taken and pre∣served of all that happened. The Second Book of Chronicles concludes with the First Year of Cyrus, in the same words with which the Book of Ezra begins, being added by him at the time
when Cyrus gave out his Proclamation: for the Prophets, from time to time, made Continua∣tions to the Histories of their Predecessors, by inserting what related to their own Times; and it was no unusual thing, among the Ancients, (as Grotius observes) to begin one Book with the Conclusion of another.
The Psalms are quoted under the Title of the Prophets, Mat. xiii. 35, & xxvii. 35. and from the first penning, they were used in the Publick Ser∣vice of God, 1 Chron. xvi. 7. 2 Chron. v. 13. & vii. 6. & xx. 21. Jer. xxxiii. 11. Ezra iii. 10, 11. This was known, even to their Enemies, in their Capti∣vity, Psal. cxxxvii. 3. and some of them were written by the Prophets under it. And Lessons out of the Law and the Prophets, with Hymns out of the Psalms, and Prayers, made up the Jewish Form of Worship. Moses and the Pro∣phets, are put for the whole Old Testament, Luke xvi. 29. Acts xiii. 15.
And if both the Law and the Prophets, com∣prehending all the Books of Scripture written before the Captivity, were still extant, and well known, and made use of by Pious Men, during all that time, and the People had Copies of them, or had means and opportunities of being acquainted with them, as the Prophet Zecha∣riah supposes, Zech. vii. 7. there is no reason to imagine, that they had not sufficient knowledge of the Hebrew Tongue at their Restoration, many being still alive, who were first carried a∣way Captive: and the Writings of the Pro∣phets,
during the Captivity, shew that the Peo∣ple did understand it; for they all wrote in the Hebrew Language, except upon some particular occasions, where their Prophecies more imme∣diately concerned the Babylonian Affairs. Both Men and Women could understand Ezra, when he read the Law; And the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law, Neh. viii. 3. And it was not the Language, unless in some Particulars, which in all Languages will want explication to the Vulgar, who are Natives, but the Sence and Meaning, that was interpreted, ver. 7, 8. And in the same manner, the Letter of Artaxerxes was both written in the Syrian tongue, and interpreted in the Syrian tongue, Ezra iv. 7. Nehemiah particularly complains, that the Children of those who had married strange Wives, could not speak in the Jews lan∣guage? which supposes that the Children of other Parents, as well as the Parents themselves, were taught to speak the Hebrew Tongue, Neh. xiii. 24. And the Decree of Ahasuerus in favour of the Jews, was written unto every province, according unto the writing thereof; and unto every people, after their language; and unto the Jews, according to their writing, and according to their language, Est. viii. 9. which seems to im∣ply, that the Jews still retained not only their Language, but their manner of Writing it, or the form and fashion of their Letters, under the Captivity.
Not long after the Captivity, the Scriptures were translated into the Greek Tongue; and were dispersed into so many hands, among the Jews and Proselytes, that the Copies could not be destroyed, either in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes, or at any other time, by the malice of Perscutors, or any other accident. And though the Jews were so fond of their Tradi∣tions, as to make the Word of God of none effect by them; yet they never added any Books to the Canon of Scripture, in favour of those Tra∣ditions which they were so zealous for; but when they had no longer any Prophets among them, they durst not place any other Books in the same Rank and Authority with those which the Prophets had left behind them. All the Canonical Books were written by Inspired Authors, and have been in constant use among the People of the Jews, in their private Houses, and publick Assemblies, even from the first writing them; for they were preserved during the Captivity, and both understood and used by the People: but their other Books, written under the Second Temple, though never so useful and pious, were never received with the like esteem and veneration; they pretended to no more than Humane Composition, and were never ranked with those of Divine Au∣thority.
Mede's Discourse 35.
〈◊〉〈◊〉 An••••quit. l. 11. c. 1. 〈◊〉〈◊〉 l. 6. c. 5▪
Epi∣phan. de Ponderib. & Meas•••• c. 4.