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B.C.

Heb. text.

2188 Egypt by Misraim.

1921 Call of Abraham.

1896 Isaac born.

1825 Jacob and Esau born.

1729 Joseph sold into Egypt.

1571 Birth of Moses.

1491 Exodus.

1451 Death of Moses.

Entrance into Canaan.

1171 Birth of Samuel.

1079 Saul made king.

1055 David king.

1033 Solomon king.

980 Revolt of the ten tribes.

721 Destruction of Samaria, and ten tribes captive.

606 Beginning of the Babylonish captivity. Daniel and Ezekiel

captives.

588 Destruction of Jerusalem.

536 Return from the captivity.

445 Ezra restores the law.

428 Nehemiah rebuilds the city.

Haggai. Zachariah.

397 Malachi, the last prophet.

301 Battle of Ipsus, and division of Alexander's empire.

277 Translation of the Septuagint.

170 Antiochus Epiphanes shuts the temple.

166 Judas Maccabeus retakes Jerusalem.

135 Apocrypha ends.

44 Cæsar killed.

31 Augustus emperor.

18 Herod the Great begins to repair the temple.

Epochs of the New Testament history.

31 Augustus emperor.

6 Gabriel announces to Zachariah the birth of John.

5 And, six months after, to Mary, that of Jesus.

4 John the Baptist born. Christ the Saviour born, four years before the vulgar era.

A.D.

3 Death of Herod the Great. Archelaus reigns over half his domains, and is banished A.D. 6.

A.D.

6 Herod Antipas tetrarch of Galilee.

8 Christ in the temple at twelve years of age.

14 Death of Augustus. Tiberius emperor.

27 Pontius Pilate procurator of Judea.

27 John the Baptist preaches, and baptizes Christ. Christ begins his public ministry.

27 First passover. John cast into prison.

28 Second passover. Twelve apostles chosen. John beheaded. 29 Third passover. Third year of the seventieth week of Daniel. Seventy disciples sent out. Christ enters Jerusalem.

30 Fourth passover. Fourth year, i. e. day, or middle of Daniel's

seventieth and last week: see Dan. ix. 27.

crucified.

Pentecost, and gift of tongues.

34 Death of Stephen, and persecution.

35 Conversion of St. Paul.

Christ is

37 Caligula emperor. Matthew writes his gospel in Hebrew. 38 Conversion of Cornelius, and first call of the Gentiles.

41 Disciples first called Christians.

Claudius emperor. Mark writes his gospel.

Herod Agrippa the first, son of the tetrarch, beheads James

the greater.

54 Nero emperor. First persecution of Christians.

62 Herod Agrippa the second is almost converted by St. Paul. 67 Paul and Peter put to death.

68 Galba, Otho, Vitellius, emperors.

70 Vespasian emperor.

Jerusalem taken.

79 Titus emperor.

81 Domitian emperor.

93 Josephus died.

95 Date of the Apocalypse.

98 Trajan emperor.

100 Death of John and of Clement.

34. Καὶ μετεμορφώθη ἔμπροσθεν αὐτῶν, κτλ, Matt, xvii. 2.

By our Lord's transfiguration it was intended to disclose the beginning, or a specimen, of our Lord's glorious kingdom, agreeably to his promise in the last words of the preceding chapter: there be some here which shall not taste of death till they

see the Son of Man in his kingdom. His divinity and pre-existence were likewise had in view; for his Father then glorified him with the glory he had with him before the world began, John xvii. 5. But we here learn also the state of the world of spirits

that it is an intermediate state, and that it is a state of recognition; for as Moses and Elias spake to their Master there, we too shall know even as we are known (1 Cor. xiii. 12),—that it is a state likewise of intuitive knowledge; for the three apostles had not seen Moses and Elias, yet knew them, and, lastly, that it is a state where the saints of different, and of all ages of the world, shall dwell together in glorified and imperishable bodies eternally.

35. Boundaries of Galilee; and why Upper Galilee was called Galilee of the Gentiles.

Galilee contained four tribes: Issachar, Zabulon, Naphtali, Asher, and part of Dan. It likewise included a small part of Peræa beyond Jordan. It was bounded on the south by Samaria; on the west by the coasts of Tyre and Sidon; on the north by Mount Libanus; and on the east by Abilene, Ituræa, Trachonitis, and Decapolis. The northern parts, or Upper Galilee (partly that in Peræa), were called Galilee of the Gentiles, or nations (Is. ix. 1, 2, Matt. iv. 15, 16), because its mountainous nature enabled a mixed body of heathens to keep possession of its fastnesses. It is mentioned in the prophecy of Isaiah (ix. 1, 2), with reference to the Messiah, as a light to lighten the Gentiles; and in Mark (vii, 31), Jesus is recorded to have gone on one occasion through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis.

36. Life and death of Pontius Pilate.

Pontius Pilate was appointed Roman governor of Judea A.D. 26, and commanded there ten years. Though convinced of Christ's innocence, he condemned him to death to avoid a charge of protecting a rebel, which would have ruined him. before Cæsar. For his oppression and cruelties he was recalled by Tiberius, and banished into Gaul, where he slew himself A.D. 37.

37. Prophecy of Christ's preaching first in Galilee.

As our Lord dwelt with his parents at Nazareth (in Zabulon), and with Peter at Capernaum (which was called his own city) in Naphtali, the prophecy of Isaiah (ix. 1, 2) was literally ful-filled the land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea (i. e. the sea of Galilee), beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; the people which sat in darkness saw a great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up, Matt. iv. 15, 16.

38. Miracles and prophecies: their difference.

Prophecies and miracles together form the external evidence of Christianity. Prophecy is the inspired prediction of future events a miracle is an effect produced contrary to the established constitution and course of things. Prophecy, when it stands alone, requires time to produce full conviction; for men cannot be sure, until the event foretold comes to pass, that the prophet spoke with the authority of God: miracle produces immediate conviction; but this mainly affects the actual beholders, for to all others it is matter of testimony. Prophecy addresses itself to posterity: miracle to the age and place where it is wrought. Prophecy, however, supported by miracle, gives immediate confidence in the teacher, and stamps divine authority on all his declarations. Jointly they present the highest evidence of supernatural communion with the Deity. Their efficacy with regard to posterity proves the wisdom of God in conjoining them as proofs of his truth; for as the evidence of miraculous facts is traditional to all but beholders, it is somewhat impaired by every age through which the tradition descends. The evidence of prophecy, on the other hand, increases with the progress of ages, as facts foretold are successively developed. Thus the evidences are preserved in equilibrio, and a harmony is maintained in this part of the Divine dispensations.

39. The flight into Egypt fulfilling a prophecy.

"Out of Egypt have I called my Son, is referred to by St. Matthew (ii. 15) as a prophecy of Hosea (xi. 11); but in this,

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and some other places, the words that it may be fulfilled, are to be taken as meaning," thus was fulfilled." "Iva, a conjunction, often denotes the event, and not the cause (Burton on Matt. i. 22) it is a particle, signifying "to the end that," and also so that." It does not appear that Hosea knew he was prophesying; but as events are developed, the inspired evangelist declares that the words were those of unconscious inspiration. The evangelist, however, does not apply them by accommodation, as the rationalists construe. They first, and literally, related to the Exodus; but, in a secondary sense and typical accomplishment, it is shewn that Christ is God's Son, his first-born, and Israel; as in Isaiah xlix. 3.

40. Καὶ εὐθέως ἀποστείλας ὁ βασιλεὺς σπεκουλάτωρα, κтλ, Mark vi. 27. Executioners called σπeкovλátwpes.

Burton is decidedly wrong in deriving σTεкovλárwp from spicula, a dart or javelin, like an ear of corn; for a javelin would not behead: σTEкOVλάTwp comes from the Hebrew -whence our words scope, sceptic, &c.; and the Greek σKÉTTOpa; but in Latin, by metathesis, specio and speculor, to look about; a word applied to body-guards, because their chief office was that of sentinels. See Wetstein, &c.

They were employed, likewise, as Turkish soldiers of the present day are, in capital punishments, and particularly in beheading.

41. Was St. Paul's fight with wild beasts in the theatre of Ephesus literal or figurative ?

Tertullian, Origen, and Cyprian, think that St. Paul's fighting with wild beasts at Ephesus is literal; and some modern divines consider 2 Cor. i. 8-10, to allude to some extreme peril at Ephesus. But St. Luke would not omit so singular a fact in writing the Acts; and Acts xix. 23 only alludes to the tumult raised by Demetrius, to which the above passage of 2 Cor. i. 8-10 may easily be attributed. The кar' avoрwTov limits the signification; and in the absence of all positive proof, the phrase must be construed figuratively, as describing the opponents of

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