2. Jofephus's hiftory of the Jewish War is an ample teftimony to the fulfillment of all the predictions of our Lord concerning the demolition of the temple and city of Jerufalem, and the miferies to be endured by the nation during the fiege, which were fuch as had never before happened to any people, nor were likely to happen again.

3. The fufferers in thefe calamities were, generally, men of the worft characters, Robbers and Sicarii, and others too much refembling them. It is reasonable to believe, that no Chriftians were then fhut up in the city, nor many other good men, to partake in the miseries of tha: long and grievous fiege. As St. Peter fays, having inftanced in the prefervation of Noah the eighth perfon, "when God brought in the flood upon the world of the ungodly, " and then delivering juft Lot, when the cities of Sodom and Go"morrah were turned into afhes," adds, with a view to other like cafes, and probably to the deftruction of Jerufalem itself, "The Lord "knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to re"ferve the unjuft unto the day of judgment to be punished." 2 Pet. ii. 5-9.

4. I think it ought to be obferved by us, that there was not now any peftilence at Jerufalem, but the Jews perifhed by the calamities. of war. It might have been expected, that the bad food, which they were forced to make ufe of in the ftraitnefs of the fiege, and the noisome smell of fo many dead bodies, lying in heaps, in the city itself, and in the vallies or ditches without the walls, fhould have produced a plague. But nothing of that kind appears * in the hiftory, which must have been owing to the fpecial interpofition of Divine Providence. Jofephus + in fome of the places, where he speaks of the putrefaction of the dead bodies, may use expreffions equivalent to peftilential. But he never fhews, that there was an infection. If there had, it would have equally affected the Romans and the Jews, and the fiege of the place must have been broke up, and the Romans would have gone off as fast as they could.

66

5. None can forbear to obferve the time when all these things came to pafs. Our Lord fays, Matt. xxiii. 36. " Verily, I fay unto you, "all these things fhall come upon this generation." And xxiv. 34. "Verily I fay unto you: This generation fhall not país, till all these "things fhall be fulfilled." So likewife Mark xiii. 30. and Luke xi. 32. So it was. All these things foretold by our Lord came to pafs, before the end of that generation of men. Jerufalem and the temple were no more, before the end of the year 70, of the Christian epoch, and within forty years after his crucifixion.

Concerning the time alfo our Lord faid: "And this Gospel of the 66 kingdom

Il eft difficile que tant de peuples renfermez dans une ville durant les chaleurs de l'été, «de fi méchants nourritures, et furtout la puanteur de tant de corps morts, n'aient joint la "pefte à la famine. Jofeph n'en parle néanmoins qu'en un endroit, en paffant. Ce qui marque qu'elle ne fut pas confidérable." Till. Ruine des Juifs, art. 67, p. 960.

Vid. De B. Jud. 1. 5. cap. xii, § 4.

kingdom fhall be preached in all the world, for a witness to all "nations." Matt. xxiv. 14. Compare Mark xiii. 10.

This we know from Chriftian writings, particularly the books of the New Teftament, moft of which were writ before the deftruction of Jerufalem. They bear witness, that the Gospel had been preached to Jews and Gentiles, in Judea, Syria, Afia, Greece, Macedonia, and Rome, and other places, and with great fuccefs. And the preaching of the gofpel throughout the world was a teftimony to all nations, that the calamities inflicted upon the Jewish people were juft and fit. They bear witness, that the Jewish nation had been called upon to repent, and were faithfully, and affectionately, and earneftly warned and admonished; but they refused to hearken. See the Acts of the Apostles, and Mark xvi. 20. Rom. x. 18. Col. i. 6. and 23.

Says Archbishop Tillotfon: "We have this matter related, not "by a Chriftian (who might be fufpected of partiality, and a de"fign to have paralleled the event with our Saviour's prediction), "but by a Jew, both by nation and religion, who feems defignedly "to have avoided, as much as poffibly he could, the very mention " of the Chriftian name, and all particulars relating to our Saviour, "though no hiftorian was ever more punctual in other things."

Says Mr. Tillemont † : "God has been pleased to choose for our "information in this hiftory, not an Apoftle, nor any of the "chief men of the church, but an obftinate Jew, whom neither "the view of the virtue and miracles of the Chriftians, nor the "knowledge of the Law, nor the ruin of his religion and country,

could induce to believe in and love the Meffiah, who was all the "expectation of the nation. God has permitted it fo to be, that the "teftimony which this hiftorian gave to an event of which he did "not comprehend the myftery, might not be rejected, neither by "Jews nor heathens, and that none might be able to fay, that he "had altered the truth of things to favour Jefus Chrift and his dif"ciples."

Dr. W. Wotton fays of Jofephus: "He is certainly an author very juftly to be valued, notwithstanding all his faults. His "Hiftory of the Jewish War' is a noble demonftration of the truth of the Chriftian Religion, by fhewing, in the most lively manner, "how the prophecies of our bleffed Lord concerning the deftruction "of Jerufalem were literally fulfilled in their fullest extent."

And Dr. Doddridge, in his notes upon the xxivth chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel, fays: "§ Chriftian writers have always with great "reafon reprefented Jofephus's Hiftory of the Jewish War' as the "best commentary upon this chapter. And many have justly re"marked it, as a wonderful inftance of the care of Providence for "the Chriftian Church, that he, an eye-witness, and in these things

* Vol. II. p. 563. ferm. 186. the feventh fermon upon 2 Cor. iv. 3, 4. Ruine des Juifs, art. i. p. 722.

" of

Preface to his Mifcellaneous Difcourfes relating to the Traditions and Ufages of the Scribes and Pharifees, p. xlix. The faults which he obferves in Jofephus, may be feen at p. xxxiii. &c.

The Family Expofitor, $160. Vol. II. p. 373.

"of fo great credit, fhould (especially in fo extraordinary a manner) "be preserved, to tranfmit to us a collection of important facts, "which fo exactly illuftrate this noble prophecy, in almoft every par❝ticular circumftance. But as it would fwell my notes too much to enter into a particular detail of those circumftances, I muft content myself with referring to Dr. Whitby's excellent notes upon the " xxivth of Matthew, and to Archbishop Tillotfon's large and accu<< rate discourse on the fame fubject, in the fecond volume of his "pofthumous works, Serm. 183-187."

*

Ifidore of Pelufium, who flourished about the year 412, in one of his epiftles, has thefe expreffions: "If you have a mind to know "what punishment the wicked Jews underwent, who ill-treated the "Chrift, read the hiftory of their deftruction, writ by Jofephus, a "Jew indeed, but a lover of truth, that you may fee the wonderful "ftory, fuch as no time ever faw before fince the beginning of the "world, nor ever fhall be. For that none might refufe to give credit

to the hiftory of their incredible and unparalleled fufferings, truth "found out not a ftranger, but a native, and a man fond of their in"ftitutions, to relate them in a doleful ftrain."

Eufebius often quotes Jofephus, and in his Ecclefiaftical Hiftory has tranfcribed from him feveral articles at large. Having rehearsed from the Gofpels divers of our Lord's predictions of the evils then coming upon Jerufalem, and the Jewish people, he adds: "Who"foever + fhall compare these words of our Saviour with the history "of the whole war, published by the above-mentioned writer, muft "admire our Lord's great wifdom, and acknowledge that his forefight was divine."

86

In his Chronicle, as we have it from Jerome in Latin, Eufebius fays: "In fubduing Judea, and overthrowing Jerufalem, Titus

flew fix hundred thoufand people. But Jofephus writes, that ele66 ven hundred thousand perished by famine and the fword, and that "another hundred thousand were publicly fold, and carried captives. "And he fays, that the occafion of there being fo great a multitude "of people at Jerufalem was this, that it was the time of Paffover. For which reafon, the Jews having come up from all parts to worfhip at the temple, they were fhut up in the city, as in a prifon. "And indeed, it was fit they fhould be flain at the fame time, in "which they crucified our Saviour."

It is certainly very fit, that Chriftians fhould attend to the fulfillment of our Lord's predictions relating to the Jewish people; which are fo frequent, fo folemn, and affectionate. The teftimony of Josephus is the most confiderable of all. It is the moft full, and particular

*Lib. 4. ep. 75. Vid. et ep. 74.

I

H. E. 1. 3. cap. 3. p. 81. D.

"Titus Judæa captâ, et Jerofolymis fubverfis, Dc millia virorum interfecit. Jofephus "vero fcribit undecies centena millia fame et gladio periiffe, et alia centum millia captivorum publice verundata. Ut autem tanta multitudo Jerofolymis reperirentur, cauffam Azy"morum fuifle refert: ob quam ex omni genere Judæi ad templum confluentes urbe quafi carcere funt reclufi. Oportuit enim in iifdem diebus eos interfici, in quibus Salvatorem crucifixerant." Chron. p. 162.

cular, and exact of any we have, or have the knowledge of. And he was an eye witness. And he was manifeftly zealous for the honour of his country. He had a great refpect for the temple and its worship, and for all the peculiarities of the Mofaic law. And he continued to have the fame to the laft, as appears from his own life, and his books against Apion.

OTHER ANCIENT WRITERS BEARING WITNESS TO THE SAME EVENTS.

X. Jofephus, in the preface to his own work, intimates, that fome hiftories of the war had been before written by others. But he reprefents them as partial, and defective, and composed by men who were not well informed. Undoubtedly none of these remain now. They have been loft long fince.

Juftus of Tiberias, contemporary with Jofephus, between whom there were many differences, alfo wrote a hiftory of the war. Jofephus, in his Life, chargeth him with falfhood, and blames him for not publishing his work until after the death of Vefpafian and Titus and king Agrippa. Jofephus owns that Juftus was well skilled in Greek learning. And he plainly fays, that he wrote of the

war.

I do not clearly perceive Eufebius + to have known any thing of Juftus, but what he learned from the teftimonies of Jofephus above referred to by me.

Juftus is in Jerome's catalogue of Ecclefiaftical writers. He feems to afcribe to him two books.

Photius §, I think, fpeaks of but one work of this author, which he calls a Chronicle. He fays, it began with Mofes, and ended at the death of Agrippa. He alfo takes notice of Jofephus's cenfures both of the author himself and his work.

Stephanus Byzantinus, in his article of Tiberias, fays: "Of this "city was Juftus, who wrote of the Jewish War in the time of Vefpafian ||.'

c

Diogenes Laertius **, in his Life of Socrates, quotes a paffage from Juftus of Tiberias; and feems to quote the fame book that was read by Photius.

Several learned moderns †† are of opinion, that Juftus, like Jofephus, wrote two books, one of the Jewish War, another of the

Jewish

* Καὶ γὰρ ἐδ ̓ ἄπειρος ἦν παιδείας τῆς σας Ἕλλησιν, ἡ θάῤῥων ἐπεχείρησεν καὶ τὴν ἱςορίαν τῶν πραγμάτων τέτων αναγράφων. κ. λ. Jofeph. Vit. § 9. Vid. et 5 65.

H. E. 1. 3. cap. x. p. 86. B.

Juftus Tiberienfis de provincia Galilæa, conatus eft ipfe Judaicarum rerum hiftoriam texere, et quofdam commentariolos de Scripturis componere:" &c. De V. I. cap. 14. ̓Ανεγνώσθη έςε Τιβερέως χρόνικον. κ. λ. Cod. 33. p. 20,

Ἐκ ταύτης ἦν Ἰάφος, ὁ τὸν Ἰεδαϊκὸν πόλεμον τὸν κατὰ Ουεσπασιανῖ ἱςορήσας. Steph. Βyz. ** Φησὶν 1ᾶςος ὁ Τιβερεὺς ἐν τῷ σέμματι. Diog. La. 1. 2. § 41.

tt" Unde colligo (ex Hieronymi Catalogo), ut Jofephus, ita et Juftum, non modo de "Antiquitatibus Judaicis, fed feorfum etiam de Bello Judaico fcripfiffe." Voff. de H. Gr. Vid. et Valef. An. in Eufeb. 1. 3. cap. x. Tillem. Ruine des Juifs, art. 82.

Jewish Antiquities. Menage*, in his notes upon Diogenes Laertius, afcribes to Juftus three books, that is, Memoirs, befide the two before mentioned. I rather think, there was but one: and that what Juftus wrote of the war was comprised in the Chronicle. Menage's argument from Suidas is of no value. For Suidas expreffeth himself inaccurately. Nor does he mention more than two works. The Memoirs, ouruara, are the fame with Jerome's "Commentarioli "de Scripturis." Indeed, Suidas only transcribes Jerome, or his interpreter Sophronius, and has done it inaccurately.

Some + learned men lament the lofs of this work. Others think it was of little value. I cannot but wifh, that the work, which was in being in the time of Photius, had alfo reached us. It must have been of fome ufe. Perhaps the cenfure paffed upon it by Jofephus, who was in great credit, has been a prejudice to it.

I have allowed myself to enlarge in my notice of this writer, who lived at the time, and was an actor in the Jewish war with the Romans. Though his work is not extant, he is a witness to that important tranfaction.

year

Paufanias, who lived in the fecond century, and wrote after the of our Lord 180, fpeaks || of a monument of queen Helena at Jerufalem, which (city) an emperor of the Romans had destroyed to the foundation.

"Minucius Felix refers** the Heathen people, not only to Jofe"phus, but also to Antonie Julian, a Roman author, from whom "they might learn that the Jews had not been ruined, nor aban"doned of God, till they had firft abandoned him and that their "prefent low condition was owing to their wickedness, and obftinacy "therein, and that nothing had happened to them but what had been "foretold."

Who that Julian was, cannot be faid. There have been several of that name, one ++ of whom was Procurator of Judea, and was prefent with Titus at the fiege of Jerufalem, as we know from Jofephus. Tillemont fays, ‡‡ that poffibly he wrote a history of the fiege of Jerufalem,

*"Scripfit ille Hiftoriam Judaicam, eodem tempore quo Jofephus, a quo mendacii arguitur. Scripfit præterea inμvara, quorum meminit Suidas. Scripfit et Chronicon Regum Judæorum, qui coronati fuere: Ut eft apud Photium. Quod opus fignat hic Laertius." Menag. in loc. p. 94.

"Jofephus, in Vitâ fuâ, et alibi, quafi parum fido fcriptori convitiatur. Sed de ini"mico, non magis ei crediderim, quam Jufto de Jofepho crederem, fi hiftoria ejus exftaret, atque in ea æmulo ab eo detractum viderem. Utinam vero, quæcumque fuerit, ad nos "ufque perveniffet." Cleric. H. E. A. C. C. cap. vii.

66

Tillem. as above, art. 80.

§ See Tillem. L'Emp. Marc. Aurele, art. xxxii. Εβραιος δὲ Ἑλένης γυναικὸς ἐπιχωρίας τάφος ἐςὶν ἐν πόλει Σολύμοις, ἣν ἐς ἔδαφος κατέβαλεν ἱ Pojdiav Bacinεús. Paufan. 1. 8. cap. 16, p. 633.

**Scripta eorum relege. Vel fi Romanis magis gaudes, ut tranfeamus veteres, Flavii "Jofephi, vel Antonii Juliani, de Judæis require. Jam fcies, nequitiâ fuâ, hanc eos meruiffe fortunam : nec quidquam accidiffe, quod non fit his, fi in contumaciâ perfeverarent, "ante prædictum. Ita prius eos deferuiffe comprehendes, quam effe defertos: nec, ut impie loqueris, cum Deo fuo effe captos, fed a Deo, ut difciplinæ transfugas deditos."' Minuc. cap. 33. Conf. cap. 10.

++ Καὶ Μάρκος Αντώνιος Ιελιανὸς, ὁ τῆς Ιεδαίας ἐπίτροπος. Jof. de B. J. l. 6. cap. iv. 3 Ruine des Juifs, art. 72.