prince of their own, the Scepter is departed from them, neither is any facrifice offered by them, for the daily facrifice is ceafed; and though they were a people once very prone to idolatrous worship, there is not now an image among them. May the following words have the fame exact completion, which there is reason to believe will in God's own time! Afterwards fhall the children of Ifrael return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king; or as their own Targumist paraphrafes it, " And fhall hearken to the Meffiah the fon of David "their king, and fhall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days."

H

CHA P. IV.

Shewing the Lineage and Defcent of the MESSIAH.

Aving confidered the time of the Meffiah's coming into the world, it may now be proper to enquire into his lineage and defcent: from what nation he was to arife, in what tribe and family thereof he was to be born, of which the prophecies of the Old Teftament are not wanting to inform us. And,

First, It appears that he was to be of the nation and stock of Ifrael; no stranger might fit upon the throne of Ifrael, all their kings in common were to be of themselves, and much more the king Meffiah, of whom it is prophefied in fo many words: Their nobles, 1778 their noble one, fhall be of themselves, and their governor shall proceed out of the midst of them; which the Targum renders thus, their king shall be anointed from among themselves, and their Meffiab fhall be revealed from the midst of them; and fo it is appplied in the Talmud, "It is very well known, fays Kimchi on the text, that the king Meffiah shall "be of Ifrael ;" and it is as well known that Jefus was of the fame stock: and herein, principally, lies the glory and preferableness of that nation to the Gentiles; that of them, as concerning the flesh, Chrift came, who is over all, God blessed for ever; to which Jesus refers, when he said to the woman of Samaria, Salvation is of the Jews; and the author of The Difcourfe of the Grounds and Reafons, &c. himself thinks, that it "feems to fignify only, that the Meffias,

❝or faviour, or redeemer of Ifrael, should arife out of the Jerufalem Jews." The firft prophecy concerning the Meffiah, left it entirely undetermined as to what particular people, or nation, he should spring from; had he arofe from any nation, or any family, among men, it would have been fufficient to have verified that; but after the promise and oath were made to Abraham, it was neceffary that he should be of his feed, as Jefus is, who is therefore called the fon of Abraham, and is an Ifraelite indeed, in the fulleft and most extensive fenfe of that phrafe; hence it appears, that no one of any other nation could be the Meffiah, whatever pretenfions he might make unto it; Herod therefore. could not be the Meffiah, because he was an Idumean; this fome have thought to be the principal tenet of those called Herodians", though they feem rather to be Herod's courtiers, or his menial fervants; nor could it be Vefpafian, he being a Roman; though Jofephus, more out of flattery, perhaps, than from his real judgment, bestowed that title on him.

Secondly, It is also as plain, that the Meffiah was to be of the tribe of Judah; hence he is called Shi ob, his, that is, Judak's fon; on this fcore that tribe had the pre-eminence of the reft, for Judah prevailed above his brethren, because of him the chief ruler, the Nagid, the prince Meffiah, was to come; for which reason this tribe was preferved a distinct tribe until, and after, the times of Jefus, when the other tribes were not only carried captive, but fcattered among the nations, and never more returned as fuch. Now it is evident, as the apoftle fays', that our Lord fprang out of Judab; hence one of his famous titles is", the lion of the tribe of Judab.

Thirdly, It is no less manifeft from the prophecies of the Old Teftament, that the Messiah was to be of the house and family of David; hence,

ift, The Meffiah is called the root of Jeffe, and the rod which should come out of his stem, according to the prophecy in Isai. xi. 1. and there fhall come forth a rod out of the ftem of Jeffe, and a branch shell grow out of his roots; which the Targumift paraphrases thus, " And a king shall come forth from the fons "of Jeffe, and the Meffiah fhall be anointed from his childrens' children;" and is acknowledged to be a prophecy relating to the Meffiah, by many Jewish writers; as is alfo ver. to. where it is faid, and in that day there fhall be a

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root

* Matth. i. 1. Vid. Bafnage's Hiftory of the Jews, book 1. c. 14. fect. 4. i Ibid. fect. 5, 14 and book 4. c. 24. sect. 16. I Chron. v. 2. Heb. vii. 14. m Rev. v. 5' compared with Gen. xlix. 9. which in Raya Mehimna in Zohar in Exod. fol. 49. 3, 4. is explained of the Meffiah. n Vid. Talmud Sanhed. fol. 93. 2. Aben Ezra, Kimchi, & • Zohar in Exod. fol. 71.1.

Rafhi, in loc. Nachman. difputat. cum fratre Paulo, p. 53.

root of Feffe, which shall stand for an enfign of the people, &c. This manifeftly enough appears from the whole context, as might be easily argued and fufficiently proved, from the very great qualifications of this perfon, ver. 2, 3. from his work and office, in judging the world; and that righteousness and integrity with which he will perform it, ver. 4, 5. from the peaceableness of his kingdom, ver. 6-9. and from the prodigious gathering of the Gentiles to him, ver. 10—12. The prophecy in ver. 1. aptly enough expreffes the very low, poor, and mean condition of Jeffe's or David's family, at the time when the Meffiah fhould spring from thence, which should be like to a tree cut down to its roots, and have nothing left but a ftem or ftump under ground, from whence fhould arise a noble branch; and well agrees with the state of that family, when Jefus came of it, which, though it had been very confiderable and very flourishing, was now reduced very low; yet from thence, out of the very roots and stem of Jeffe, God brought forth his fervant the Branch. The Jews to this day pray for the Meffiah under the name of the Jon of fee. This prophecy cannot be understood of Hezekiah, as a late author fays, because Hezekiah was now born when this prophecy was given out; nay, must be then ten or twelve years of age.

Secondly, On this account he is alfo called the fon of David; this is a title which the Jews frequently give to the Meffiah, and was much used by them in the times of Jefus, who put this question to fome of them, faying, What think ye of Chrift? Whofe fon is be? to which they very readily reply, without any manner of hesitation, The Son of David, it being an opinion univerfally received among them, that the Meffiah fhould be of David's line; nor was this known only to the wife and learned, but even among the vulgar people; the poor blind man that begged by the way fide, faluted Jefus with this title, as believing him to be the Meffiah; nay, the very children in the temple cried, Hofanna to him, as the fon of David: and manifest enough it is he was of that family, for his fuppofed father Jofeph, and his real mother Mary, were both of that house.

"That it does not ap

The author of the Scheme of Literal Prophecy fays', 66 pear that the virgin Mary was of the line of David, but rather of fome "line in the tribe of Levi; and that Jefus could not be of the line of David, "as defcended from her, feems plain, fince St Matthew makes him to be of

"the

• Seder Tephillot, fol. 278. 1. & 285. 2. 9 Scheme of Literal Prophecy, p. 103, 137. See Ifa. vii. 1. compared with 2 Kings xvi. 2, and chap. xviii. 2.

t

• Matth. xxii. 42. + Page 308.

"the line of David only on account of Jofeph, who was not his father, and "at the time of Jefus's birth only betrothed to the virgin Mary; (which "should seem an extraordinary method of proceeding in St Matthew, if Jefus, "had been of the line of David by Mary) and fince the Jews never reckon "families by females." To which I reply, that Jofeph, the hufband of Mary, was of the line and family of David, is not difputed, and that Mery was of the fame line and family may be easily collected from her being taxed and enrolled in the fame city with him, Luke ii. 3—5. And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Jofeph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, (because he was of the house and lineage of David) to be taxed with Mary his efpoufed wife, being great with child. Now, as Grotius upon the place obferves", had not Mary been of the house and family of David, fhe ought to have been taxed or enrolled in the city of her own family, and not in this; befides, she is exprefsly faid to be of the house of David, Luke i. 27. where the angel Gabriel is directed to go to a virgin (espoused to a man whose name was Jofeph) of the houfe of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. Those words, of the house of David, are to be connected with the virgin, and not with Joseph; for the defign of the words is not to give an account of Jofeph, to whom the virgin was espoused, but of the virgin herself, who is here described by the place of her abode, Nazareth; her relation to Jofeph, being efpoufed to him; her lineage and descent, being of the boufe of David; and by her name, which was Mary; and this sense and reading of the words the grammatical conftruction of them will eafily admit of, as feveral learned men have observed ". What our author feems to have a regard to, as what would ferve to fupport this his hypothefis, "That it does not appear that the virgin Mary was of the line of David, but "rather of some line in the tribe of Levi," is, Luke i. 5, 36 which he cites in his margin, in which place Elizabeth, who was of the tribe of Levi, is faid to be cousin to the virgin Mary; from whence, I fuppose, he would conclude, that they were both of a family; to which I answer, that though Elizabeth's father was of the house of Aaron in the tribe of Levi; yet, her mother might be of the house of David, in the tribe of Judah; and fo Mary and the be coufins

Aperte fatis oftendit Lucas etiam Mariam ex genere Davidis fuiffe: nam alioqui ipfa in familiæ fuæ urbe profiteri debuit. Grot. in Luc. ii.

5.

w Imo etiam iftud ex domo David, tam poteft ad ipfam Mariam quam ad Jofephum, grammatica conftructione referri, Beza in Luc. i. 27. Kidder's Demonftration of the Meffiah, par. 2.p. 151. Chryfoftom, & Nicetas in ibid.

coufins; nor can our author well object to me, that it was either unlawful or unusual to marry out of their tribes and families, for, according to his own hypothefis, Jofeph of the houfe of David, in the tribe of Judah, must marry Mary, of the houfe of Aaron, in the tribe of Levi.

Again, whereas the fame author fays, "That Jefus could not be of the line "of David, as defcended from her, (the virgin) feems plain, fince St Matthew "makes him to be of the line of David, only on account of Jofeph who was "not his father, and at the time of Jefus's birth only betrothed to the virgin Mary." I reply, that St Matthew makes Jefus to be of the line of David, on the account of Jofeph is certain; but how this makes it plain that he could not be of the line of David, as defcended from the virgin, I cannot fee; for if Jofeph and Mary were both of one house and family, as I think has been already proved, then St Matthew's making Jefus to be of the line of David on the account of Jofeph, who was the reputed father of Jefus, and was betrothed to his real mother Mary, makes him alfo to be of the fame line, ast defcended from her. I perceive that this author thinks it to be an extraordinary method of proceeding in St Matthew, in tracing the genealogy of Jefus down to Jofeph, and not to Mary, if Jefus had been of the line of David by her, which I think need not feem fo, fince, as he himself obferves, the Jews never reckoned families by females; for it is a common maxim with them лndup NS ON лn Matris familia, non familia, and therefore the genealogy of Jefus is reckoned not by Mary, but by Jofeph, to whom he was espoused; befides, Jofeph was the reputed father of Jefus, the Jews knew no other, and had fofeph been of any other family than that of David, they would have rejected Jefus on that very score; therefore it need not be wondered that St Matthew, in order to remove this ftumbling block out of their way, gives us the genealogy of Jefus by Jofeph; and it deferves to be obferved, that it is not fo much the defign of St Matthew to give us the natural defcent of Jefus as St Luke does, but to fhew us the royal line of Jefus, and that being the legal heir of Jofeph, as he certainly was, being born of his wife, and that not in adultery, whilft he himself was living, had an undoubted right to the crown and throne of David. For if a child begotten of a woman, after death of her husband, by his next brother, was, according to the law, in Deut. xxv. to be accounted the fon and rightful heir and fucceffor of the deceased; much more might Jefus, who was born of the wife of Joseph whilft he was living, and that not begotten by another man, be accounted the fon of Jofeph, of the fame

× Juchafin, fol. 55.