Excerpt from The Old and New Testament Connected, in the History of the Jews and Neighbouring Nations, Vol. 2: From the Declension of the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah, to the Time of Christ; Part I We find the prophet Haggai complaining of the Jews at Jerula lem, a That they dwelt in cieled houfes, while they let the houfe of God lie wafte. From all this it plainly appears, that Jerufalem, after its having been deftroyed by the Babylonians, was again rebuilt, by virtue of the decree which Cyrus grant ed, in' the firll year of his reign, for the releafe and refloration of the Jews. And therefore, if thefe words of the prophecy, To rig/fore and ezlz'ldyerufalem, are to be underlined in a literal fenfe, they can be underflood of no other refioring and buildingof that city, than that which was aecomplifhed by virtue of that de.. Cree and the computation of the 7 Degrees weeks mull begin from the granting and going forth thereof. But if the computation. Be begun fo high, the 490 years of the (aid 70 weeks cannot come low enough to reach any of thofe events which are pie-s die'ted by this. Prophecy for, from the firft of Cyrus, to the: death of Chrifl, were 68 years; and therefore, if the faid 490 years be computed from thence; they will be expired a great many years either before the cutting oil or the coming of the Mefiiah, which ought both to fall within the compafs of them, acording to the exprefs words of this prophecy. It evidently, therefore, follows from hence, that the words of this prophecy, To flare and [mild yez'u/alem, cannot be underflood in a lite-a ral fenfe for the furn of the whole argument is thus If the words are to be underflood in a literal fenfe, they muft be ur.n derfiood of thatrebuilding of Jerufalem which was accompltn ed by virtue ocyrus's decree, and the computation of the 70 weeks, or the 490 years thereof, muft begin from the going forth or iffuing out of that decree. But it cannot begin from thence, for the reafon mentioned; and therefore thefe words can: not be underfio'od in a literal fenfe, but mull: be interpreted to mean figuratively the relioring and rebuilding the church and {late of the Jews at Jerufalem. And this Ezra effected, by Vir tue of the command or decree which was granted to him, for' this purpofe, in the feventh year of Artaxerxes L'ongimanus and therefore here the beginning of thefe weeks mull be placed. And this will be farther proved, if we confider, ' About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.