fatigues of his voyage, and in the difgraceful circumftances of his appearance. But when he was prefented to the Emperour, no man ftood by him. But all men forfook him. And these are the men, whom he intends: these, and other Chriftians then at Rome. None of them had courage to appear in his favour, and plead in his behalf, as they might have done. But all drew back, and left him alone. Notwithstanding the Lord ftoood with me, and ftrengthened me.

Let me now represent the progreffe of this affair, as it appears to me, after having confulted (b) Lightfoot, and others.

When the prisoners from Judea were brought to Rome, they were all delivered to the Captain of the Guard, or Prefect of the Prætorium. At the fame time Julius the Centurion, to whose charge they had been committed, and who had all along courteously entreated Paul [Acts xxvii. 3.] spoke honorably of him to the Prefect, or delivered in a written memorial of his voyage, and the feveral prisoners, whom he had brought with him, inferting, particularly, fome things in favour of this prisoner, and alfo put into his hands the Governour's letter to the Emperour concerning Paul. The tenour of which, as may be concluded from the letter of Lyfias to Felix, ch. xxiii. 25... 30. and from other things afterwards recorded in the Acts, omitting the ufual forms, not needful to be mentioned here, was to this purpose: "My Lord, when I came into this "province, committed to my charge by thy favour, I found a prisoner, "named Paul, left bound by my predeceffor Felix, after he had been two "years in cuftodie. In a fhort time grievous complaints were made "againft him by the chief men of the nation, defiring me to pass sen"tence of condemnation upon him. Whereupon I appointed them a "a hearing. And being fat on the judgment-feat, I commanded the <c man to be brought forth. But when the accusers stood up, they al"leged no proofs of any thing that could render him criminal in the eye "of our laws. They had only certain questions against him of their own religion, and concerning one Jefus, who had died, and whom "Paul affirmed to be alive. At this time the man expreffed a defire to "be heard at thy tribunal. And having conferred with my Council, and "confidering, that he is a citizen of Rome, his appeal was allowed to "be valid. Whereupon I refolved to fend him unto thee, as foon as "I could.

(b) "Fulius, the Centurion, that had brought Paul, and the rest of the prifoners from Judea, had been his friend and favorer from his first fetting out, and fo continued, till his fettling at Rome. . . . His accufers, that were come from Judea, to lay in the charge against him, [for we can hardly fuppofe, but that fome were come :] would be urgent to get their bufineffe difpatched, that they might be returning to their own homes again. And fo would bring him to his trial, as foon as they could. And that his trial was early this year, appears by his own words in the fecond epistle to Timothie, where he fpeaketh of his anfwer, that he had been at, and requireth Timothie to come to him before winter. 2 Tim. iv. 16. 21.

As he appealed to Nero himfelf, fo Nero himself heard his caufe. Philip. i. 13. 2 Tim. iv. 16. And here it was poffible for Paul and Seneca to fee each other. At which time all that had owned him before, withdrew themselves for fear, and dared not ftand by him, or appear with him in his danger." Lightfoot, as before, p. 322.

"I could. In the mean time King Agrippa and Bernice came to the "place of my refidence. refidence. Who being Jews by nation and religion, and "willing to hear the man, I fet him before them, that I might be the "better informed concerning him myfelf. In their prefence, and be"fore Me, and many others, Roman Officers, and principal men of "this city, he without referve declared his doctrine, and his concern to promote it, and indeed his whole life from the begining. After "which, when the affemblie, (as honorable as can be expected to be "seen in any of the provinces:) were gone afide, they talked between "themselves. And they were all agreed, faying: This man doth no"thing worthie of death, or of bonds: and he might have been set at "liberty, if he had not appealed to Auguftus. To thee therefore I now fend him. And to thy cognizance his caufe is referred."

When Burrhus, the Prefect of the Prætorium, brought Paul before the Emperour, and delivered the Governour's letter; it is not improbable, that he might add some hints in favour of the prifoner, from the character given of him by Julius, either by word, or in his memorial. At this audience must have been prefent, befide ++ Burrhus, divers other courtiers, of the greatest eminence and diftinction, and perhaps Seneca. It may be likewife fuppofed, that fome Jews delegated by the Council at Jerufalem, appeared, to plead against Paul. If there were none, it must have been understood to be a difrefpect to the Emperour, and a great prejudice to the cause of the accufers. If there were any fuch here, it would fhew the reasonableneffe of Paul's expectation, that fome of the Christians at Rome fhould have attended likewife.

At this time, (unless there was another audience foon after,) the Emperour pronounced sentence upon Paul, and figned the order of his confinement: fuch as is related by St. Luke. Acts xxviii. 16. 30. 31. And though Paul was not acquitted, nor fet at liberty, it may be esteemed a favourable decifion.

It was after this audience of the Emperour, and this sentence, that Paul fent for the Jews at Rome, to come to him. But when he laid before them his cafe, and spoke of the proceedings against him in Judea, and of his appeal to Cæfar; they were very humble, and even low-fpirited, and did not choose to enter into discourse upon the matter.

Paul fays: Acts xxviii. 19. But when the Jews fpake against it, I was constrained to appeal to Cæfar not that I had ought to accufe my nation of. These last words may be understood by fome, as if he had faid: "Not that I have any cause of complaint against my nation." Which would be great complaifance indeed, after he had received fo much hard usage from the Jews. But the words may be thus rendered: Not that I have a design to accuse my nation of any thing." And in that manner they are rendered by (i) Le Clerc, and (k) Lenfant, in their French tranflations.

++ Burrbus is computed to have died in the year of Chrift 62. and Seneca in the year 65. Vid. Bafn. Ann. 62. num. i. et Ann. 65. num. iv.

(i) Mais les Juifs s'y oppofant, j'ai été contraint d' en appeller à Cefar: fans que j'aye neanmoins deffein d'accuser ma nation, en quoi que ce foit. Cl. (k)... fans que j'aye deffein neanmoins d'accuser ma nation, en quoi que ce foit. Lenf.

flations. And it is agreeable to (1) Beza's annotation upon the place, who is another good judge. This fenfe is very becoming Paul, and was very suitable to his circumftance and fituation at that time. It was very proper to pacify the Jews at Rome, who might have been apprehenfive of Paul's making ufe of his intereft in the Emperour's Court against them, after he had been fo ill ufed in Judea. But all he aimed at was the vindication of his own innocence, that he might with greater liberty preach the gospel.

Here we fee the ground of the difference between Paul's imprisonment in Judea, and at Rome. The difference is manifeft. Whilft in Judea, it does not appear, that he had any communication with other churches out of it. He is wholly engaged in his own defense, and does but just fecure his life against the violence of the unbelieving Jews, and their Council. But when he came to Rome, and his apologie was over, he was permitted to live by himself, in his own hired houfe. There he receives intelligence by meffengers of the churches, who come to him from divers parts. He makes converts, and writes letters, and has fellowlaborers, whom he fends abroad, as he pleaseth. We now fee the ground of this. As (m) Jerome fays, "The Apostle being fent to prifon by the Emperour, he becomes acquainted with the Emperour's family, and makes the perfecutor's houfe a church." Referring to Philip. iv. 22. When Paul was in Judea, he was the Governour's prifoner, whofe goodwill was reftrained by the influence of the people of the countrey. Now he is the Emperour's prifoner, who allows' what liberty he pleaseth. And when granted, none dare to controll, or abridge it in any measure. Hence all the advantages of this imprisonment, and the happy conclufion of it. Having fo much, liberty, and being able to receive all who came to him, he makes many converts, and many friends, fome in the Emperour's own family, and near his perfon, Says the Apostle in this very Epiftle iv. 16. 17. At my first answer no man flood with me. . . . NotwithStanding the Lord stood with me, and ftrengthened me, that by me the preaching might be fully known, and all the Gentils might hear. It is a cafe much refembling that of our Apoftle before, at Corinth. Acts xviii. 9. II. Then fpake the Lord unto Paul in the night, by a vifion: Be not afraid, but Speak, and hold not thy peace. For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee, to hurt thee. For I have much people in this city. And he continued there a year and fix months, teaching the word of God among them. And though he was brought before Gallio the Governour, and accufed; he was acquitted, and continued there yet a good while. In like manner here, the Lord ftood by Paul, ftrengthened him, and delivered him. And he afterwards dwelt two whole years at Rome, preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things, which concern the Lord Jefus, no man forbidding him. Acts xxviii. 30. 31.

Some may fay, that during this space several of the Apoftle's friends and fellow-laborers were apprehended, and imprisoned. Which feems

incon

(4) Eft autem hoc additum a Paulo, ne putarent Judæi ipfum conftituiffe criminari gentem fuam apud Cæfarem: cum hoc unum potius ageret, ut nullo hoftium incommodo cauffam Chrifti et innocentiam fuam tueretur. Bez.

(m) A Cæfare miffus in carcerem, notior familiæ ejus factus, perfecutoris domum Chrifti fecit ecclefiam. In ep. ad Philem. T. 4. p. 445. in.

inconfiftent with the fuppofition of his being committed by the Emperour, with an order for allowing him all the liberty, which he enjoyed. For Ariftarchus is fpoken of, as his fellow-prifoner. Col. iv. 10. and Epaphras,. Philem. ver. 23. And Timothie is faid to have been fet at liberty. Hebr.

xiii. 23.

Who therefore must have been confined.

To which I anfwer, that thefe imprisonments of fome of Paul's friends and fellow-laborers do not at all weaken our fuppofition, but confirm it: forafmuch as Paul's liberty was not abridged, but continued the fame all along, until he was quite enlarged. Which affords reason to think, that the method of his confinement was appointed, and ordered by an authority above controlle. And it is eafie to conceive, how it came to pass, that fome of Paul's friends were imprisoned: when it is confidered, that he must have had many enemies, and fome of his friends acted imprudently, and there were others, who from envie and illwill were prompted to behave irregularly, with a view of bringing him and his best friends into danger, by expofing them to general refentment, and especially the refentment of men in power. As we learn from Philip. i. 15... 17. And yet it does not appear, that any of Paul's fellowlaborers endured a long imprisonment. It is not unlikely, that they were taken up, and imprisoned by fome inferior officers, to gratify the furie of the common people, who did not dare to keep them long in cuftodie, nothing material appearing against them. As Jerome (n) obferves, fuch frequent fhort imprisonments and speedy releases were common at the first rise of the Chriftian religion, before Nero became an open perfecutor, and before the publication of fuch edicts, as affected the lives of the followers of Jefus.

All these confiderations cannot but be of great weight, to determine the time of this epiftle. However, there are some difficulties, that ought to be taken notice of.

1. Obj. For I am now ready to be offered up, and the time of my departure is at hand. 2 Tim. iv. 6.

Thefe expreffions led (0) Eufebius of Cefarea and (p) Jerome, who followed him, and (q) Chryfoftom, though he did not follow either, to say, that this was the laft epiftle of St. Paul, writ only a small space of time, before his martyrdom. And many learned moderns have been of the fame opinion, as is well known.

But let us attend to Lightfoot. "There (r) is one paffage, fays he, in "this epiftle, which has caused fome to doubt about the time of it's "writing.

(n) Quod autem crebro Paulus in carcere fuerit, et de vinculis liberatus fit, ipfe in alio loco dicit: in carceribus frequenter: de quibus nonnunquam Domini auxilio, crebro ipfis perfecutoribus nihil dignum in eo morte invenientibus dimittebatur. Necdum enim fuper nomine Chriftiano fenatus confulta præcefferant: necdum Chriftianum fanguinem Neronis gladius dedicarat. Sed pro novitate prædicationis, five a Judæis invidentibus, five ab his qui fua videbant idola deftrui, ad furorem populis concitatis, miffi in carcerem, rurfum impetu et furore depofito, laxabantur.... id agente Domino, ut in toto orbe nova prædicatio diffeminaretur. In Philem. ver. 22. T. 4. p. 453. (0) H. E. 1. 2. cap. 22. (p) Quoted Vol. x. p. 111. from De V. I. cap. v. (4) Quoted likewife, before. Vol. x. p. 232, 233. (r) Vol. i. p. 324.

"writing. This is what he fays iv. 6. I am now ready to be offered up, "and the time of my departure is at hand. Which would make one think, "that he was now ready to be martyred, and taken away. And it has "made fome believe, this was the last epistle that ever he wrote. But "when we compare his own words again, ver. 17. 18. and Philip. i. 25. ❝and Philem. ver. 22. it maketh paft controverfie, that he fpeaketh not of "his fudden martyrdom, but that he is to be understood in some other fenfe... And indeed the refolution of the difficulty lies open and confpi"cuous in the very text itself. Paul looked upon Timothie, as the prime "and choice man, that was to fucceed him in the work of the gospel, when " he himself should be dead and gone: as being a young man, not only "of fingular qualifications for that work, but of whom there had been "special prophecies to fuch a purpose. 1 Tim. i. 18. He exhorts him therefore in this place, to improve all his pains and parts to the ut "moft, to do the work of an Evangelift, to make full proof of his miniftrie: "ch. iv. 5. for that himself could not last long, being now grown old, * and worn out with travail, and befide all that, in bonds at present, and "fo in continual danger. Therefore muft Timothie be fitting himself daily to take his work, when he is gone."

So Lightfoot, and, as it feems to me, very properly. To the like purpofe Eftius upon the fame text. Whom (s) I transcribe below.

I likewife place below (†) a part of Baronius's solution of the same difficulty, which appears to me very fufficient.

That Paul had now no certain and prophetic view of fuffering martyrdom immediatly, is apparent from feveral things in this epiftle: particularly, from his defiring Timothie to come to him, and to bring Mark with him, as profitable to him for the miniftrie. He fuppofed therefore, that he should have an opportunity to employ him in the fervice of the

gofpel.

(s) Quare quæ hic ab Apoftolo dicuntur non ita funt accipienda, quafi plane fentiat fefe jam jam rapiendum ad martyrium: præfertim cum alia quædam ejufdem epiftolæ repugnent huic intellectui.... Sed tantum fignificant, ipfum, etfi de tempore mortis et paffionis incertum, tamen per carceres et tribunalia parari ad victimam. . . . Quocirca non apparet hæc a Paulo dicta fuiffe per revelationem aliquam de inftante martyrio fibi factam. . . . Illud etiam confiderandum eft, Paulum loqui, ut jam fenem, et laboribus confectum, qui proinde non multum vitæ tempus fibi reliquum arbitretur. Ac quoniam non dubitat, fe martyrio finiendum, idcirco, et de eo tanquam brevi futuro loquitur: Ego enim, inquit, jam delibor. . . . Senfus et connexio eft: Idcirco, cum tam feria obteftatione te difcipulum meum officii tui admoneo, quod jam fenex fim, et incertus quamdiu futurus fuperftes. Jam enim tanquam victima Chrifto deftinata, per hos carceres, et graviffimos quos patior adverfariorum impetus immolari incipio. Eft. ad 2 Tim. iv. 6.

(t) ... eo enim fenfu hæc putant accipienda effe verba, quafi proxime effet Paulus martyrio coronandus, ficque ab eo fpiritu prophetico effe pronunciata... Sed dicant velim: Nonne idem ipfe Paulus in eadem teftatur epiftola, fibi Dominum apparuiffe, dum in fummo illo difcrimine verfaretur, hortatumque effe, ac fore prædixiffe, ut per ipfum in omnes Gentes prædicatio impleretur? Quomodo igitur hæc fibi cohærent, ut inftans Pauli confummatio effet, idemque ipfe fic a periculo liberandus, in omnes Gentes prædicationem evangelii propagaturus effet? Et reliqua. Ann. 59. n. xiii.

xiv.