Chapter IX: Part 9

Αυτος δε στρατον ‛υβριστην Μηδων απερυκε
Τησδε πολευς, ‛ινα σοι λαοι εν ευφροσυνηι
Ηρος επερχομενου κλειτας πεμπωσ' ‛εκατομβας,
Τερπομενοι κιθαρη και ερατηι θαλιηι,
Παιανωντε χοροις, ιαχωσι τε, σον περι βωμον.
Η γαρ εγωγε δεδοικ', αφραδιην εσορων
Και στασιν ‛Ελληνων λαοφθορον· αλλα συ Φοιβε,
‛Ιλαος ‛ημετερην τηνδε φυλασσε πολιν.

_Thou _Apollo_ drive away the injurious army of the _Medes__
_From this city, that the people may with joy_
_Send thee choice hecatombs in the spring,_
_Delighted with the harp and chearful feasting,_
_And chorus's of _Pœans_ and acclamations about thy altar_.
_For truly I am afraid, beholding the folly_
_And sedition of the _Greeks_, which corrupts the people: but thou
_Apollo_,_
_Being propitious, keep this our city._

The Poet tells us further that discord had destroyed _Magnesia_, _Colophon_, and _Smyrna_, cities of _Ionia_ and _Phrygia_, and would destroy the _Greeks_; which is as much as to say that the _Medes_ had then conquered those cities.

The _Medes_ therefore Reigned 'till the taking of _Sardes_: and further, according to _Xenophon_ and the Scriptures, they Reigned 'till the taking of _Babylon_: for _Xenophon_ [422] tells us, that after the taking of _Babylon_, _Cyrus_ went to the King of the _Medes_ at _Ecbatane_ and succeeded him in the Kingdom: and _Jerom_, [423] _that _Babylon_ was taken by _Darius_ King of the _Medes_ and his kinsman _Cyrus__: and the Scriptures tell us, that _Babylon_ was destroyed by _a nation out of the north_, _Jerem_. l. 3, 9, 41. by _the Kingdoms of _Ararat Minni, or _Armenia__, and _Ashchenez, or _Phrygia minor___, _Jer_. li. 27. by the _Medes_, _Isa._ xiii. 17, 19. _by the Kings of the _Medes_ and the captains and rulers thereof, and all the land of his dominion_, _Jer_. li. 11, 28. The Kingdom of _Babylon_ was _numbred and finished and broken and given to the _Medes_ and _Persians__, _Dan._ v. 26. 28. first to the _Medes_ under _Darius_, and then to the _Persians_ under _Cyrus_: for _Darius_ Reigned over _Babylon_ like a conqueror, not observing the laws of the _Babylonians_, but introducing the immutable laws of the conquering nations, the _Medes_ and _Persians_, _Dan._ vi. 8, 12, 15; and the _Medes_ in his Reign are set before the _Persians_, _Dan._ ib. & v. 28, & viii. 20. as the _Persians_ were afterwards in the Reign of _Cyrus_ and his successors set before the _Medes_, _Esther_ i. 3, 14, 18, 19. _Dan._ x. 1, 20. and xi. 2. which shews that in the Reign of _Darius_ the _Medes_ were uppermost.

You may know also by the great number of provinces in the Kingdom of _Darius_, that he was King of the _Medes_ and _Persians_: for upon the conquest of _Babylon_, he set over the whole Kingdom an hundred and twenty Princes, _Dan._ vi. 1. and afterwards when _Cambyses_ and _Darius Hystaspis_ had added some new territories, the whole contained but 127 provinces.

The extent of the _Babylonian_ Empire was much the same with that of _Nineveh_ after the revolt of the _Medes_. _Berosus_ saith that _Nebuchadnezzar_ held _Egypt_, _Syria_, _Phœnicia_ and _Arabia_: and _Strabo_ adds _Arbela_ to the territories of _Babylon_; and saying that _Babylon_ was anciently the metropolis of _Assyria_, he thus describes the limits of this _Assyrian_ Empire. _Contiguous_, [424] saith he, _to _Persia_ and _Susiana_ are the _Assyrians_: for so they call _Babylonia_, and the greatest part of the region about it: part of which is _Arturia_, wherein is _Ninus [_or_ Nineveh;]_ and _Apolloniatis_, and the _Elymæans_, and the _Parætacæ_, and _Chalonitis_ by the mountain _Zagrus_, and the fields near _Ninus_, and _Dolomene_, and _Chalachene_, and _Chazene_, and _Adiabene_, and the nations of _Mesopotamia_ near the _Gordyæans_, and the _Mygdones_ about _Nisibis_, unto _Zeugma_ upon _Euphrates_; and a large region on this side _Euphrates_ inhabited by the _Arabians_ and _Syrians_ properly so called, as far as _Cilicia_ and _Phœnicia_ and _Libya_ and the sea of _Egypt_ and the _Sinus Issicus__: and a little after describing the extent of the _Babylonian_ region, he bounds it on the north, with the _Armenians_ and _Medes_ unto the mountain _Zagrus_; on the east side, with _Susa_ and _Elymais_ and _Parætacene_, inclusively; on the south, with the _Persian Gulph_ and _Chaldæa_; and on the west, with the _Arabes Scenitæ_ as far as _Adiabene_ and _Gordyæa_: afterwards speaking of _Susiana_ and _Sitacene_, a region between _Babylon_ and _Susa_, and of _Parætacene_ and _Cossæa_ and _Elymais_, and of the _Sagapeni_ and _Siloceni_, two little adjoining Provinces, he concludes, [425] _and these are the nations which inhabit _Babylonia_ eastward: to the north are _Media_ and _Armenia_, _exclusively_, and westward are _Adiabene_ and _Mesopotamia_, _inclusively_; the greatest part of _Adiabene_ is plain, the same being part of _Babylonia_: in same places it borders on _Armenia_: for the _Medes_, _Armenians_ and _Babylonians_ warred frequently on one another_. Thus far _Strabo_.

When _Cyrus_ took _Babylon_, he changed the Kingdom into a Satrapy or Province: whereby the bounds were long after known: and by this means _Herodotus_ [426] gives us an estimate of the bigness of this Monarchy in proportion to that of the _Persians_, telling us that _whilst every region over which the King of _Persia_ Reigned in his days, was distributed for the nourishment of his army, besides the tributes, the _Babylonian_ region nourished him four months of the twelve in the year, and all the rest of _Asia_ eight: so the power of the region_, saith he, _is equivalent to the third part of _Asia_, and its Principality, which the _Persians_ call a _Satrapy_, is far the best of all the Provinces_.

_Babylon_ [427] was a square city of 120 furlongs, or 15 miles on every side, compassed first with a broad and deep ditch, and then with a wall fifty cubits thick, and two hundred high. _Euphrates_ flowed through the middle of it southward, a few leagues on this side _Tigris_: and in the middle of one half westward stood the King's new Palace, built by _Nebuchadnezzar_; and in the middle of the other half stood the Temple of _Belus_, with the old Palace between that Temple and the river: this old Palace was built by the _Assyrians_, according to [428] _Isaiah_, and by consequence, by _Pul_ and his son _Nabonassar_, as above: _they founded the city for the _Arabians_, and set up the towers thereof, and raised the Palaces thereof_: and at that time _Sabacon_ the _Ethiopian_ invaded _Egypt_, and made great multitudes of _Egyptians_ fly from him into _Chaldæa_, and carry thither their Astronomy, and Astrology, and Architecture, and the form of their year, which they preserved there in the _Æra_ of _Nabonassar_: for the practice of observing the Stars began in _Egypt_ in the days of _Ammon_, as above, and was propagated from thence in the Reign of his son _Sesac_ into _Afric_, _Europe_, and _Asia_ by conquest; and then _Atlas_ formed the Sphere of the _Libyans_, and _Chiron_ that of the _Greeks_, and the _Chaldæans_ also made a Sphere of their own. But Astrology was invented in _Egypt_ by _Nichepsos_, or _Necepsos_, one of the Kings of the lower _Egypt_, and _Petosiris_ his Priest, a little before the days of _Sabacon_, and propagated thence into _Chaldæa_, where _Zoroaster_ the Legislator of the _Magi_ met with it: so _Paulinus_,

_Quique magos docuit mysteria vana Necepsos_:

And _Diodorus_, [429] _they say that the _Chaldæans_ in _Babylonia_ are colonies of the _Egyptians_, and being taught by the Priests of _Egypt_ became famous for Astrology_. By the influence of the same colonies, the Temple of _Jupiter Belus_ in _Babylon_ seems to have been erected in the form of the _Egyptian_ Pyramids: for [430] this Temple was a solid Tower or Pyramid a furlong square, and a furlong high, with seven retractions, which made it appear like eight towers standing upon one another, and growing less and less to the top: and in the eighth tower was a Temple with a bed and a golden table, kept by a woman, after the manner of the _Egyptians_ in the Temple of _Jupiter Ammon_ at _Thebes_; and above the Temple was a place for observing the Stars: they went up to the top of it by steps on the outside, and the bottom was compassed with a court, and the court with a building two furlongs in length on every side.

The _Babylonians_ were extreamly addicted to Sorcery, Inchantments, Astrology and Divinations, _Isa._ xlvii. 9, 12, 13. _Dan._ ii. 2, & v. 11. and to the worship of Idols, _Jer._ l. 2, 40. and to feasting, wine and women. _Nihil urbis ejus corruptius moribus, nec ad irritandas illiciendasque immodicas voluptates instructius. Liberos conjugesque cum hospitibus stupro coire, modo pretium flagitii detur, parentes maritique patiuntur. Convivales ludi tota Perside regibus purpuratisque cordi sunt: Babylonii maxime in vinum & quæ ebrietatem sequuntur effusi sunt. Fæminarum convivia ineuntium in principio modestus est habitus; dein summa quæque amicula exuunt, paulatimque pudorem profanant: ad ultimum, honos auribus sit, ima corporum velamenta projiciunt. Nec meretricum hoc dedecus est, sed matronarum virginumque, apud quas comitas habetur vulgati corporis vilitas._ _Q. Curtius_, lib. v. cap. 1. And this lewdness of their women, coloured over with the name of civility, was encouraged even by their religion: for it was the custom for their women once in their life to sit in the Temple of _Venus_ for the use of strangers; which Temple they called _Succoth Benoth_, the Temple of Women: and when any woman was once sat there, she was not to depart 'till some stranger threw money into her bosom, took her away and lay with her; and the money being for sacred uses, she was obliged to accept of it how little soever, and follow the stranger.

The _Persians_ being conquered by the _Medes_ about the middle of the Reign of _Zedekiah_, continued in subjection under them 'till the end of the Reign of _Darius_ the _Mede_: and _Cyrus_, who was of the Royal Family of the _Persians_, might be _Satrapa_ of _Persia_, and command a body of their forces under _Darius_; but was not yet an absolute and independant King: but after the taking of _Babylon_, when he had a victorious army at his devotion, and _Darius_ was returned from _Babylon_ into _Media_, he revolted from _Darius_, in conjunction with the _Persians_ under him; [431] they being incited thereunto by _Harpagus_ a _Mede_, whom _Xenophon_ calls _Artagerses_ and _Atabazus_, and who had assisted _Cyrus_ in conquering _Crœsus_ and _Asia minor_, and had been injured by _Darius_. _Harpagus_ was sent by _Darius_ with an army against _Cyrus_, and in the midst of a battel revolted with part of the army to _Cyrus_: _Darius_ got up a fresh army, and the next year the two armies fought again: this last battel was fought at _Pasargadæ_ in _Persia_, according to [432] _Strabo_; and there _Darius_ was beaten and taken Prisoner by _Cyrus_, and the Monarchy was by this victory translated to the _Persians_. The last King of the _Medes_ is by _Xenophon_ called _Cyaxares_, and by _Herodotus_, _Astyages_ the father of _Mandane_: but these Kings were dead before, and _Daniel_ lets us know that _Darius_ was the true name of the last King, and _Herodotus_, [433] that the last King was conquered by _Cyrus_ in the manner above described; and the _Darics_ coined by the last King testify that his name was _Darius_.

This victory over _Darius_ was about two years after the taking of _Babylon_: for the Reign or _Nabonnedus_ the last King of the _Chaldees_, whom _Josephus_ calls _Naboandel_ and _Belshazzar_, ended in the year of _Nabonassar_ 210, nine years before the death of _Cyrus_, according to the Canon: but after the translation of the Kingdom of the _Medes_ to the _Persians_, _Cyrus_ Reigned only seven years, according to [434] _Xenophon_; and spending the seven winter months yearly at _Babylon_, the three spring months yearly at _Susa_, and the two Summer months at _Ecbatane_, he came the seventh time into _Persia_, and died there in the spring, and was buried at _Pasargadae_. By the Canon and the common consent of all Chronologers, he died in the year of _Nabonassar_ 219, and therefore conquered _Darius_ in the year of _Nabonassar_ 212, seventy and two years after the destruction of _Nineveh_, and beat him the first time in the year of _Nabonassar_ 211, and revolted from him, and became King of the _Persians_, either the same year, or in the end of the year before. At his death he was seventy years old according to _Herodotus_, and therefore he was born in the year of _Nabonassar_ 149, his mother _Mandane_ being the sister of _Cyaxeres_, at that time a young man, and also the sister of _Amyite_ the wife of _Nebuchadnezzar_, and his father _Cambyses_ being of the old Royal Family of the _Persians_.

* * * * *

CHAP. V.

_A Description of the _TEMPLE_ of _Solomon_._

[435] The Temple of _Solomon_ being destroyed by the _Babylonians_, it may not be amiss here to give a description of that edifice.

This [436] Temple looked eastward, and stood in a square area, called the _Separate Place_: and [437] before it stood the _Altar_, in the center of another square area, called the _Inner Court_, or _Court of the Priests_: and these two square areas, being parted only by a marble rail, made an area 200 cubits long from west to east, and 100 cubits broad: this area was compassed on the west with a wall, and [438] on the other three sides with a pavement fifty cubits broad, upon which stood the buildings for the Priests, with cloysters under them: and the pavement was faced on the inside with a marble rail before the cloysters: the whole made an area 250 cubits long from west to east, and 200 broad, and was compassed with an outward Court, called also the _Great Court_, or _Court of the People_, [439] which was an hundred cubits on every side; for there were but two Courts built by _Solomon_: and the outward Court was about four cubits lower than the inward, and was compassed on the west with a wall, and on the other three sides [440] with a pavement fifty cubits broad, upon which stood the buildings for the People. All this was the [441] _Sanctuary_, and made a square area 500 cubits long, and 500 broad, and was compassed with a walk, called the _Mountain of the House_: and this walk being 50 cubits broad, was compassed with a wall six cubits broad, and six high, and six hundred long on every side: and the cubit was about 21½, or almost 22 inches of the _English_ foot, being the sacred cubit of the _Jews_, which was an hand-breadth, or the sixth part of its length bigger than the common cubit.

The _Altar_ stood in the center of the whole; and in the buildings of [442] both Courts over against the middle of the _Altar_, eastward, southward, and northward, were gates [443] 25 cubits broad between the buildings, and 40 long; with porches of ten cubits more, looking towards the _Altar Court_, which made the whole length of the gates fifty cubits cross the pavements. Every gate had two doors, one at either [444] end, ten cubits wide, and twenty high, with posts and thresholds six cubits broad: within the gates was an area 28 cubits long between the thresholds, and 13 cubits wide: and on either side of this area were three posts, each six cubits square, and twenty high, with arches five cubits wide between them: all which posts and arches filled the 28 cubits in length between the thresholds; and their breadth being added to the thirteen cubits, made the whole breadth of the gates 25 cubits. These posts were hollow, and had rooms in them with narrow windows for the porters, and a step before them a cubit broad: and the walls of the porches being six cubits thick, were also hollow for several uses. [445] At the east gate of the _Peoples Court_, called the _King's gate_, [446] were six porters, at the south gate were four, and at the north gate were four: the people [447] went in and out at the south and north gates: the [448] east gate was opened only for the King, and in this gate he ate the Sacrifices. There were also four gates or doors in the western wall of the _Mountain of the House_: of these [449] the most northern, called _Shallecheth_, or the _gate of the causey_, led to the King's palace, the valley between being filled up with a causey: the next gate, called _Parbar_, led to the suburbs _Millo_: the third and fourth gates, called _Asuppim_, led the one to _Millo_, the other to the city of _Jerusalem_, there being steps down into the valley and up again into the city. At the gate _Shallecheth_ were four porters; at the other three gates were six porters, two at each gate: the house of the porters who had the charge of the north gate of the _People's Court_, had also the charge of the gates _Shallecheth_ and _Parbar_: and the house of the porters who had the charge of the south gate of the _People s Court_, had also the charge of the other two gates called _Asuppim_.

They came through the four western gates into the _Mountain of the House_, and [450] went up from the _Mountain of the House_, to the gates of the _People's Court_ by seven steps, and from the _People's Court_ to the gates of the _Priest's Court_ by eight steps: [451] and the arches in the sides of the gates of both courts led into cloysters [452] under a double building, supported by three rows of marble pillars, which butted directly upon the middles of the square posts, ran along from thence upon the pavements towards the corners of the Courts: the axes of the pillars in the middle row being eleven cubits distant from the axes of the pillars in the other two rows on either hand; and the building joining to the sides of the gates: the pillars were three cubits in diameter below, and their bases four cubits and an half square. The gates and buildings of both Courts were alike, and [453] faced their Courts: the cloysters of all the buildings, and the porches of all the gates looking towards the _Altar_. The row of pillars on the backsides of the cloysters adhered to marble walls, which bounded the cloysters and supported the buildings: [454] these buildings were three stories high above the cloysters, and [455] were supported in each of those stories by a row of cedar beams, or pillars of cedar, standing above the middle row of the marble pillars: the buildings on either side of every gate of the _People's Court_, being 187½ cubits long, were distinguished into five chambers on a floor, running in length from the gates to the corners or the Courts: there [456] being in all thirty chambers in a story, where the People ate the Sacrifices, or thirty exhedras, each of which contained three chambers, a lower, a middle, and an upper: every exhedra was 37½ cubits long, being supported by four pillars in each row, [457] whose bases were 4½ cubits square, and the distances between their bases 6½ cubits, and the distances between the axes of the pillars eleven cubits: and where two [458] exhedras joyned, there the bases of their pillars joyned; the axes of those two pillars being only 4½ cubits distant from one another: and perhaps for strengthning the building, the space between the axes of these two pillars in the front was filled up with a marble column 4½ cubits square, the two pillars standing half out on either side of the square column. At the ends of these buildings [459] in the four corners of the _Peoples Court_, were little Courts fifty cubits square on the outside of their walls, and forty on the inside thereof, for stair-cases to the buildings, and kitchins to bake and boil the Sacrifices for the People, the kitchin being thirty cubits broad, and the stair-case ten. The buildings on either side of the gates of the _Priests Court_ were also 37½ cubits long, and contained each of them one great chamber in a story, subdivided into smaller rooms, for the Great Officers of the Temple, and Princes of the Priests: and in the south-east and north-east corners of this court, at the ends of the buildings, were kitchins and stair-cases for the Great Officers; and perhaps rooms for laying up wood for the _Altar_.

In the eastern gate of the _Peoples Court_, sat a Court of Judicature, composed of 23 Elders. The eastern gate of the _Priests Court_, with the buildings on either side, was for the High-Priest, and his deputy the _Sagan_, and for the _Sanhedrim_ or Supreme Court of Judicature, composed of seventy Elders. [460] The building or exhedra on the eastern side of the southern gate, was for the Priests who had the oversight of the charge of the _Sanctuary_ with its treasuries: and these were, first, two _Catholikim_, who were High-Treasurers and Secretaries to the High-Priest, and examined, stated, and prepared all acts and accounts to be signed and sealed by him; then seven _Amarcholim_, who kept the keys of the seven locks of every gate of the _Sanctuary_, and those also of the treasuries, and had the oversight, direction, and appointment of all things in the _Sanctuary_; then three or more _Gisbarim_, or Under-Treasurers, or Receivers, who kept the Holy Vessels, and the Publick Money, and received or disposed of such sums as were brought in for the service of the Temple, and accounted for the same. All these, with the High-Priest, composed the Supreme Council for managing the affairs of the Temple.

The Sacrifices [461] were killed on the northern side of the _Altar_, and flea'd, cut in pieces and salted in the northern gate of the Temple; and therefore the building or exhedra on the eastern side of this gate, was for the Priests who had the oversight of the charge of the _Altar_, and Daily Service: and these Officers were, He that received money of the People for purchasing things for the Sacrifices, and gave out tickets for the same; He that upon sight of the tickets delivered the wine, flower and oyl purchased; He that was over the lots, whereby every Priest attending on the _Altar_ had his duty assigned; He that upon sight of the tickets delivered out the doves and pigeons purchased; He that administred physic to the Priests attending; He that was over the waters; He that was over the times, and did the duty of a cryer, calling the Priests or Levites to attend in their ministeries; He that opened the gates in the morning to begin the service, and shut them in the evening when the service was done, and for that end received the keys of the _Amarcholim_, and returned them when he had done his duty; He that visited the night-watches; He that by a Cymbal called the Levites to their stations for singing; He that appointed the Hymns and set the Tune; and He that took care of the Shew-Bread: there were also Officers who took care of the Perfume, the Veil, and the Wardrobe of the Priests.

The exhedra on the western side of the south gate, and that on the western side of the north gate, were for the Princes of the four and twenty courses of the Priests, one exhedra for twelve of the Princes, [462] and the other exhedra for the other twelve: and upon the pavement on either side of the _Separate Place_ [463] were other buildings without cloysters, for the four and twenty courses of the Priests to eat the Sacrifices, and lay up their garments and the most holy things: each pavement being 100 cubits long, and 50 broad, had buildings on either side of it twenty cubits broad, with a walk or alley ten cubits broad between them: the building which bordered upon the _Separate Place_ was an hundred cubits long, and that next the _Peoples Court_ but fifty, the other fifty cubits westward [464] being for a stair-case and kitchin: these buildings [465] were three stories high, and the middle story was narrower in the front than the lower story, and the upper story still narrower, to make room for galleries; for they had galleries before them, and under the galleries were closets for laying up the holy things, and the garments of the Priests, and these galleries were towards the walk or alley, which ran between the buildings.

They went up from the _Priests Court_ to the Porch of the Temple by ten steps: and the [466] House of the Temple was twenty cubits broad, and sixty long within; or thirty broad, and seventy long, including the walls; or seventy cubits broad, and 90 long, including a building of treasure-chambers which was twenty cubits broad on three sides of the House; and if the Porch be also included, the Temple was [467] an hundred cubits long. The treasure-chambers were built of cedar, between the wall of the Temple, and another wall without: they were [468] built in two rows three stories high, and opened door against door into a walk or gallery which ran along between them, and was five cubits broad in every story; So that the breadth of the chambers on either side of the gallery, including the breadth of the wall to which they adjoined, was ten cubits; and the whole breadth of the gallery and chambers, and both walls, was five and twenty cubits: the chambers [469] were five cubits broad in the lower story, six broad in the middle story, and seven broad in the upper story; for the wall of the Temple was built with retractions of a cubit, to rest the timber upon. _Ezekiel_ represents the chambers a cubit narrower, and the walls a cubit thicker than they were in _Solomon_'s Temple: there were [470] thirty chambers in a story, in all ninety chambers, and they were five cubits high in every story. The [471] Porch of the Temple was 120 cubits high, and its length from south to north equalled the breadth of the House: the House was three stories high, which made the height of the _Holy Place_ three times thirty cubits, and that of the _Most Holy_ three times twenty: the upper rooms were treasure-chambers; they [472] went up to the middle chamber by winding stairs in the southern shoulder of the House, and from the middle into the upper.

Some time after this Temple was built, the _Jews_ [473] added a _New Court_, on the eastern side of the _Priests Court_, before the _King's gate_, and therein built [474] a covert for the Sabbath: this Court was not measured by _Ezekiel_, but the dimensions thereof may be gathered from those of the _Womens Court_, in the second Temple, built after the example thereof: for when _Nebuchadnezzar_ had destroyed the first Temple, _Zerubbabel_, by the commissions of _Cyrus_ and _Darius_, built another upon the same area, excepting the _Outward Court_, which was left open to the _Gentiles_: and this Temple [475] was sixty cubits long, and sixty broad, being only two stories in height, and having only one row of treasure-chambers about it: and on either side of the _Priests Court_ were double buildings for the Priests, built upon three rows of marble pillars in the lower story, with a row of cedar beams or pillars in the stories above: and the cloyster in the lower story looked towards the _Priests Court_: and the _Separate Place_, and _Priests Court_, with their buildings on the north and south sides, and the _Womens Court_, at the east end, took up an area three hundred cubits long, and two hundred broad, the _Altar_ standing in the center of the whole. The _Womens Court_ was so named, because the women came into it as well as the men: there were galleries for the women, and the men worshipped upon the ground below: and in this state the second Temple continued all the Reign of the _Persians_; but afterwards suffered some alterations, especially in the days of _Herod_.

This description of the Temple being taken principally from _Ezekiel_'s Vision thereof; and the ancient _Hebrew_ copy followed by the Seventy, differing in some readings from the copy followed by the editors of the present _Hebrew_, I will here subjoin that part of the Vision which relates to the _Outward Court_, as I have deduced it from the present _Hebrew_, and the version of the Seventy compared together.

Ezekiel chap. xl. ver. 5, &c.

[476] _And behold a wall on the outside of the House round about_, at the distance of fifty cubits from it, aabb: _and in the man's hand a measuring reed six cubits long by the cubit, and an hand-breadth: so he measured the breadth of the building, _or wall_, one reed, and the height one reed. _[477]_ Then came he unto the gate _of the House_, which looketh towards the east, and went up the seven steps thereof, _AB_, and measured the threshold of the gate, _CD_, which was one reed broad, and the _Porters_ little chamber, _EFG_, one reed long, and one reed broad; and the arched passage between the little chambers, _FH_, five cubits: and the second little chamber, _HIK_, a reed broad and a reed long; and the arched passage, _IL_, five cubits: and the third little chamber _LMN_, a reed long and a reed broad: and the threshold of the gate next the porch of the gate within, _OP_, one reed: and he measured the porch of the gate, _QR_, eight cubits; and the posts thereof _ST_, _st_, two cubits; and the porch of the gate, _QR_, was inward, _or toward the inward court_; and the little chambers, _EF_, _HI_, _LM_, _ef_, _hi_, _lm_, were _outward, or_ to the east; three on this side, and three on that side _of the gate_. There was one measure of the three, and one measure of the posts on this side, and on that side; and he measured the breadth of the door of the gate, _Cc_, or _Dd_, ten cubits; and the breadth of the gate _within between the little chambers, Ee or Ff_, thirteen cubits; and the limit, or margin, or step before the little chambers, _EM_, one cubit on this side, and the step, _em_, one cubit on the other side; and the little chambers, _EFG_, _HIK_, _LMN_, _efg_, _hik_, _lmn_, were six cubits _broad_ on this side, and six cubits _broad_ on that side: and he measured _the whole breadth of_ the gate, from the _further_ wall of one little chamber to the _further_ wall of another little chamber: the breadth, _Gg, or Kk, or Nn_, was twenty and five cubits _through_; door, _FH_, against door, _fh_: and he measured the posts, _EF_, _HI_, and _LM_, _ef_, _hi_, and _lm_, twenty cubits _high_; and at the posts there were gates, _or arched passages, FH, IL, fh, il_, round about; and from the _eastern_ face of the gate at the entrance, _Cc_, to the _western_ face of the porch of the gate within, _Tt_, were fifty cubits: and there were narrow windows to the little chambers, and to the porch within the gate, round about, and likewise to the posts; even windows were round about within: and upon each post were palm trees._

_Then he brought me into the Outward Court, and lo there were chambers, and a pavement with pillars upon it in the court round about, _[478]_ thirty chambers _in length_ upon the pavement, supported by the pillars, _ten chambers on every side, except the western_: and the pavement butted upon the shoulders or sides of the gates below, _every gate having five chambers or exhedræ on either side_. And he measured the breadth _of the Outward Court_, from the fore-front of the lower-gate, to the fore-front of the inward court, an hundred cubits eastward._

_Then he brought me northward, and there was a gate that looked towards the north; he measured the length thereof, and the breadth thereof, and the little chambers thereof, three on this side, and three on that side, and the posts thereof, and the porch thereof, and it was according to the measures of the first gate; its length was fifty cubits, and its breadth was five and twenty: and the windows thereof, and the porch and the palm-trees thereof _were_ according to the measures of the gate which looked to the east, and they went up to it by seven steps: and its porch was before them, _that is inward_. And there was a gate of the inward court over against _this_ gate of the north, as _in the gates_ to the eastward: and he measured from gate to gate an hundred cubits._

* * * * *

_A Description of THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON_

ABCD. _The Separate Place in which stood the Temple._

ABEF. _The Court of y^{e} Priests._

G. _The Altar._

DHLKICEFD. _A Pavement compassing three sides of the foremention'd Courts, and upon which stood the Buildings for the Priests, with Cloysters under them._

MNOP. _The Court of the People._

MQTSRN. _A Pavement compassing three sides of the Peoples Court, upon which stood the Buildings for the People, with Cloysters under them._

UXYZ. _The Mountain of the House._

aabb._ A Wall enclosing the whole._

c. _The Gate Shallecheth._

d. _The Gate Parbar._

ef. _The two Gates Assupim._

g. _The East Gate of the Peoples Court, call'd the Kings Gate._

hh. _The North and South Gates of the same Court._

iiii. _The chambers over the Cloysters of the Peoples Court where the People ate the Sacrifices, 30 Chambers in each Story._

kkkk. _Four little Courts serving for Stair Cases and Kitchins for the People._

l. _The Eastern Gate of the Priests Court, over which sate the Sanhedrin._

m. _The Southern Gate of the Priests Court._

n. _The Northern Gate of the same Court, where the Sacrifices were flea'd &c._

opqrst. _The Buildings over the Cloysters for the Priests, viz six large Chambers (subdivided) in each Story, whereof _o_ and _p_ were for the High Priest and Sagan, _q_ for the Overseers of the Sanctuary and Treasury, _r_ for the Overseers of the Altar and Sacrifice and _s_ and _t_ for the Princes of the twenty four Courses of Priests._

uu. _Two Courts in which were Stair Cases and Kitchins for the Priests._

x. _The House or Temple which (together with the Treasure Chambers _y_, and Buildings _zz_ on each side of the Separate Place) is more particularly describ'd on the second Plate._

* * * * *

_A Description of the Inner Court & Buildings for the Priests in Solomons Temple._

ABCD. _The Separate Place._

ABEF. _The Inner Court, or Court of the Priests, parted from the Separate Place, and and Pavement on the other three sides, by a marble rail._

G. _The Altar._

HHH. _The East, South, & North Gates of the Priests Court._

III. _&c. The Cloysters supporting the Buildings for the Priests._

KK. _Two Courts in which were Stair Cases and Kitchins for the Priests._

L. _Ten Steps to the Porch of the Temple._

M. _The Porch of the Temple._

N. _The Holy Place._

O. _The most Holy Place._

PPPP. _Thirty Treasure-Chambers, in two rows, opening into a gallery, door against door, and compassing three sides of the Holy & most Holy Places._

Q. _The Stairs leading to the Middle Chamber._

RRRR. _&c. The buildings for the four and twenty Courses of Priests, upon the Pavement on either side of the Separate Place, three Stories high without Cloysters, but the upper Stories narrower than the lower, to make room for Galleries before them. There were 24 Chambers in each Story and they opend into a walk or alley, _SS._ between the Buildings._

TT. _Two Courts in which were Kitchins for the Priests of the twenty four Courses._

* * * * *

_A Particular Description of one of the Gates of the Peoples Court, with part of the Cloyster adjoyning._

uw. _The inner margin of the Pavement compassing three sides of the Peoples Court._

xxx. _&c. The Pillars of the Cloyster supporting the Buildings for the People._

yyyy. _Double Pillars where two Exhedræ joyned, and whose interstices in the front _zz_ were filled up with a square Column of Marble._

Note _The preceding letters of this Plate refer to the description in pag. 344 345._

* * * * *

CHAP. VI.

_Of the Empire of the _Persians_._

_Cyrus_ having translated the Monarchy to the _Persians_, and Reigned seven years, was succeeded by his son _Cambyses_, who Reigned seven years and five months, and in the three last years of his Reign subdued _Egypt_: he was succeeded by _Mardus_, or _Smerdis_ the _Magus_, who feigned himself to be _Smerdis_ the brother of _Cambyses_.

_Smerdis_ Reigned seven months, and in the eighth month being discovered, was slain, with a great number of the _Magi_; so the _Persians_ called their Priests, and in memory of this kept an anniversary day, which they called, _The slaughter of the _Magi__. Then Reigned _Maraphus_ and _Artaphernes_ a few days, and after them _Darius_ the son of _Hystaspes_, the son of _Arsamenes_, of the family of _Achæmenes_, a _Persian_, being chosen King by the neighing of his horse: before he Reigned his [479] name was _Ochus_. He seems on this occasion to have reformed the constitution of the _Magi_, making his father _Hystaspes_ their Master, or _Archimagus_; for _Porphyrius_ tells us, [480] that _the _Magi_ were a sort of men so venerable amongst the _Persians_, that _Darius_ the son of _Hystaspes_ wrote on the monument of his father_, amongst other things, _that he had been the Master of the _Magi__. In this reformation of the _Magi_, _Hystaspes_ was assisted by _Zoroastres_: so _Agathias_; _The _Persians_ at this day say simply that _Zoroastres_ lived under _Hystaspes__: and _Apuleius_; _Pythagoram, aiunt, inter captivos Cambysæ Regis _[ex Ægypto Babylonem abductos]_ doctores habuisse Persarum Magos, & præcipue Zoroastrem, omnis divini arcani Antistitem_. By _Zoroastres_'s conversing at _Babylon_ he seems to have borrowed his skill from the _Chaldæans_; for he was skilled in Astronomy, and used their year: so _Q. Curtius_; [481] _Magi proximi patrium carmen canebant: Magos trecenti & sexaginta quinque juvenes sequebantur, puniceis amiculis velati, diebus totius anni pares numero_: and _Ammianus_; _Scientiæ multa ex Chaldæorum arcanis Bactrianus addidit Zoroastres_. From his conversing in several places he is reckoned a _Chaldæan_, an _Assyrian_, a _Mede_, a _Persian_, a _Bactrian_. _Suidas_ calls him [482] a _Perso-Mede_, and saith that he was _the most skilful of Astronomers, and first author of the name of the _Magi_ received among them_. This skill in Astronomy he had doubtless from the _Chaldæans_, but _Hystaspes_ travelled into _India_, to be instructed by the _Gymnosophists_: and these two conjoyning their skill and authority, instituted a new set of Priests or _Magi_, and instructed them in such ceremonies and mysteries of Religion and Philosophy as they thought fit to establish for the Religion and Philosophy of that Empire; and these instructed others, 'till from a small number they grew to a great multitude: for _Suidas_ tells us, that _Zoroastres gave a beginning to the name of the _Magi__: and _Elmacinus_; that _he reformed the religion of the _Persians_, which before was divided into many sects_: and _Agathias_; that _he introduced the religion of the _Magi_ among the _Persians_, changing their ancient sacred rites, and bringing in several opinions_: and _Ammianus_ [483] tells us, _Magiam esse divinorum incorruptissimum cultum, cujus scientiæ seculis priscis multa ex Chaldæorum arcanis Bactrianus addidit Zoroastres: deinde Hystaspes Rex prudentissimus Darii pater; qui quum superioris Indiæ secreta fidentius penetraret, ad nemorosam quamdam venerat solitudinem, cujus tranquillis silentiis præcelsa Brachmanorum ingenia potiuntur; eorumque monitu rationes mundani motus & siderum, purosque sacrorum ritus quantum colligere potuit eruditus, ex his quæ didicit, aliqua sensibus Magorum infudit; quæ illi cum disciplinis præsentiendi futura, per suam quisque progeniem, posteris ætatibus tradunt. Ex eo per sæcula multa ad præsens, una eademque prosapia multitudo creata, Deorum cultibus dedicatur. Feruntque, si justum est credi, etiam ignem cœlitus lapsum apud se sempiternis foculis custodiri, cujus portionem exiguam ut faustam præisse quondam Asiaticis Regibus dicunt: Hujus originis apud veteres numerus erat exilis, ejusque mysteriis Persicæ potestates in faciendis rebus divinis solemniter utebantur. Eratque piaculum aras adire, vel hostiam contrectare, antequam Magus conceptis precationibus libamenta diffunderet præcursoria. Verum aucti paullatim, in amplitudinem gentis solidæ concesserunt & nomen: villasque inhabitantes nulla murorum firmitudine communitas & legibus suis uti permissi, religionis respectu sunt honorati_. So this Empire was at first composed of many nations, each of which had hitherto its own religion: but now _Hystaspes_ and _Zoroastres_ collected what they conceived to be best, established it by law, and taught it to others, and those to others, 'till their disciples became numerous enough for the Priesthood of the whole Empire; and instead of those various old religions, they set up their own institutions in the whole Empire, much after the manner that _Numa_ contrived and instituted the religion of the _Romans_: and this religion of the _Persian_ Empire was composed partly of the institutions of the _Chaldæans_, in which _Zoroastres_ was well skilled; and partly of the institutions of the ancient _Brachmans_, who are supposed to derive even their name from the _Abrahamans_, or sons of _Abraham_, born of his second wife _Keturah_, instructed by their father in the worship of ONE GOD without images, and sent into the east, where _Hystaspes_ was instructed by their successors. About the same time with _Hystapes_ and _Zoroastres_, lived also _Ostanes_, another eminent _Magus_: _Pliny_ places him under _Darius Hystaspis_, and _Suidas_ makes him the follower of _Zoroastres_: he came into _Greece_ with _Xerxes_, and seems to be the _Otanes_ of _Herodotus_, who discovered _Smerdis_, and formed the conspiracy against him, and for that service was honoured by the conspirators, and exempt from subjection to _Darius_.

In the sacred commentary of the _Persian_ rites these words are ascribed to _Zoroastres_; [484] ‛Ο Θεος εστι κεφαλην εχων ‛ιερακος. ‛ουτος εστιν ‛ο πρωτος, αφθαρτος, αιδιος, αγενητος, αμερης, ανομοιοτατος, ‛ηνιοχος παντος καλου, αδωροδοκητος, αγαθων αγαθωτατος, φρονιμων φρονιμωτατος· εστι δε και πατηρ ευνομιας και δικαιοσυνης, αυτοδιδακτος, φυσικος, και τελειος, και σοφος, και ‛ιερου φυσικου μονος ‛ευρετης. _Deus est accipitris capite: hic est primus, incorruptibilis, æternus, ingenitus, sine partibus, omnibus aliis dissimillimus, moderator omnis boni, donis non capiendus, bonorum optimus, prudentium prudentissimus, legum æquitatis ac justitiæ parens, ipse sui doctor, physicus & perfectus & sapiens & sacri physici unicus inventor_: and the same was taught by _Ostanes_, in his book called _Octateuchus_. This was the Antient God of the _Persian Magi_, and they worshipped him by keeping a perpetual fire for Sacrifices upon an Altar in the center of a round area, compassed with a ditch, without any Temple in the place, and without paying any worship to the dead, or any images. But in a short time they declined from the worship of this Eternal, Invisible God, to worship the Sun, and the Fire, and dead men, and images, as the _Egyptians_, _Phœnicians_, and _Chaldæans_ had done before: and from these superstitions, and the pretending to prognostications, the words _Magi_ and _Magia_, which signify the Priests and Religion of the _Persians_, came to be taken in an ill sense.

_Darius_, or _Darab_, began his Reign in spring, in the sixteenth year of the Empire of the _Persians_, _Anno Nabonass._ 227, and Reigned 36 years, by the unanimous consent of all Chronologers. In the second year of his Reign the _Jews_ began to build the Temple, by the prophesying of _Haggai_ and _Zechariah_, and finished it in the sixth. He fought the _Greeks_ at _Marathon_ in _October_, _Anno Nabonass._ 258, ten years before the battel at _Salamis_, and died in the fifth year following, in the end of winter, or beginning of spring, _Anno Nabonass._ 263. The years of _Cambyses_ and _Darius_ are determined by three Eclipses of the Moon recorded by _Ptolemy_, so that they cannot be disputed: and by those Eclipses, and the Prophesies of _Haggai_ and _Zechariah_ compared together, it is manifest that the years of _Darius_ began after the 24th day of the eleventh _Jewish_ month, and before the 24th day of _April_, and by consequence in _March_ or _April_.

_Xerxes_, _Achschirosch_, _Achsweros_, or _Oxyares_, succeeded his father _Darius_, and spent the first five years of his Reign, and something more, in preparations for his Expedition against the _Greeks_: and this Expedition was in the time of the Olympic Games, in the beginning of the first year of the 75th Olympiad, _Callias_ being _Archon_ at _Athens_; as all Chronologers agree. The great number of people which he drew out of _Susa_ to invade _Greece_, made _Æschylus_ the Poet say [485]:

Το δ' αστυ Σουσων εξεκεινωσεν πεσον.
_It emptied the falling city of _Susa_._

The passage of his army over the _Hellespont_ began in the end of the fourth year of the 74th Olympiad, that is in _June_, _Anno Nabonass._ 268, and took up a month; and in autumn, after three months more, on the 16th day of the month _Munychion_, at the full moon, was the battel at _Salamis_; and a little after that an Eclipse of the Moon, which by the calculation fell on _Octob._ 2. His first year therefore began in spring, _Anno Nabonass._ 263, as above: he Reigned almost twenty one years by the consent of all writers, and was murdered by _Artabanus_, captain of his guards; towards the end of winter, _Anno Nabonass._ 284.

_Artabanus_ Reigned seven months, and upon suspicion of treason against _Xerxes_, was slain by _Artaxerxes Longimanus_, the son of _Xerxes_.

_Artaxerxes_ began his Reign in the autumnal half year, between the 4th and 9th _Jewish_ months, _Nehem._ i. 1. & ii. 1, & v. 14. and _Ezra_ vii. 7, 8, 9. and his 20th year fell in with the 4th year of the 83d Olympiad, as _Africanus_ [486] informs us, and therefore his first year began within a month or two or the autumnal Equinox, _Anno Nabonass._ 284. _Thucydides_ relates that the news of his death came to _Athens_ in winter, in the seventh year of the _Peloponnesian_ war, that is _An._ 4. Olymp. 88. and by the Canon he Reigned forty one years, including the Reign of his predecessor _Artabanus_, and died about the middle of winter, _Anno Nabonass._ 325 _ineunte_: the _Persians_ now call him _Ardschir_ and _Bahaman_, the Oriental Christians _Artahascht_.

Then Reigned _Xerxes_, two months, and _Sogdian_ seven months, and _Darius Nothus_, the bastard son of _Artaxerxes_, nineteen years wanting four or five months; and _Darius_ died in summer, a little after the end of the _Peloponnesian_ war, and in the same Olympic year, and by consequence in _May_ or _June_, _Anno Nabonass._ 344. The 13th year of his Reign was coincident in winter with the 20th of the _Peloponnesian_ war, and the years of that war are stated by indisputable characters, and agreed on by all Chronologers: the war began in spring, _Ann._ 1. Olymp. 87, lasted 27 years, and ended _Apr._ 14. _An._ 4. Olymp. 93.

The next King was _Artaxerxes Mnemon_, the son of _Darius_: he Reigned forty six years, and died _Anno Nabonass._ 390. Then Reigned _Artaxerxes Ochus_ twenty one years; _Arses_, or _Arogus_, two years, and _Darius Codomannus_ four years, unto the battel of _Arbela_, whereby the _Persian_ Monarchy was translated to the _Greeks_, _Octob._ 2. _An. Nabonass._ 417; but _Darius_ was not slain untill a year and some months after.

I have hitherto stated the times of this Monarchy out of the _Greek_ and _Latin_ writers: for the _Jews_ knew nothing more of the _Babylonian_ and _Medo-Persian_ Empires than what they have out of the sacred books of the old Testament; and therefore own no more Kings, nor years of Kings, than they can find in those books: the Kings they reckon are only _Nebuchadnezzar_, _Evilmerodach_, _Belshazzar_, _Darius_ the _Mede_, _Cyrus_, _Ahasuerus_, and _Darius_ the _Persian_; this last _Darius_ they reckon to be the _Artaxerxes_, in whose Reign _Ezra_ and _Nehemiah_ came to _Jerusalem_, accounting _Artaxerxes_ a common name of the _Persian_ Kings: _Nebuchadnezzar_, they say, Reigned forty five years, 2 _King._ xxv. 27. _Belshazzar_ three years, _Dan._ viii. 1. and therefore _Evilmerodach_ twenty three, to make up the seventy years captivity; excluding the first year of _Nebuchadnezzar_, in which they say the Prophesy of the seventy years was given. To _Darius_ the _Mede_ they assign one year, or at most but two, _Dan._ ix. 1. to _Cyrus_ three years incomplete, _Dan._ x. 1. to _Ahasuerus_ twelve years 'till the casting of _Pur_, _Esth._ iii. 7. one year more 'till the _Jews_ smote their enemies, _Esth._ ix. 1. and one year more 'till _Esther_ and _Mordecai_ wrote the second letter for the keeping of _Purim_, _Esth._ ix. 29. in all fourteen years: and to _Darius_ the _Persian_ they allot thirty two or rather thirty six years, _Nehem._ xiii. 6. So that the _Persian_ Empire from the building of the Temple in the Second year of _Darius Hystaspis_, flourished only thirty four years, until _Alexander_ the great overthrew it: thus the _Jews_ reckon in their greater Chronicle, _Seder Olam Rabbah_. _Josephus_, out of the sacred and other books, reckons only these Kings of _Persia_; _Cyrus_, _Cambyses_, _Darius Hystaspis_, _Xerxes_, _Artaxerxes_, and _Darius_: and taking this _Darius_, who was _Darius Nothus_, to be one and the same King with the last _Darius_, whom _Alexander_ the great overcame; by means of this reckoning he makes _Sanballat_ and _Jaddua_ alive when _Alexander_ the great overthrew the _Persian_ Empire. Thus all the _Jews_ conclude the _Persian_ Empire with _Artaxerxes Longimanus_, and _Darius Nothus_, allowing no more Kings of _Persia_, than they found in the books of _Ezra_ and _Nehemiah_; and referring to the Reigns of this _Artaxerxes_, and this _Darius_, whatever they met with in profane history concerning the following Kings of the same names: so as to take _Artaxerxes Longimanus_, _Artaxerxes Mnemon_ and _Artaxerxes Ochus_, for one and the same _Artaxerxes_; and _Darius Nothus_, and _Darius Codomannus_, for one and the same _Darius_; and _Jaddua_, and _Simeon Justus_, for one and the same High-Priest. Those _Jews_ who took _Herod_ for the _Messiah_, and were thence called _Herodians_, seem to have grounded their opinion upon the seventy weeks of years, which they found between the Reign of _Cyrus_ and that of _Herod_: but afterwards, in applying the Prophesy to _Theudas_, and _Judas_ of _Galilee_, and at length to _Barchochab_, they seem to have shortned the Reign of the Kingdom of _Persia_. These accounts being very imperfect, it was necessary to have recourse to the records of the _Greeks_ and _Latines_, and to the Canon recited by _Ptolemy_, for stating the times of this Empire. Which being done, we have a better ground for understanding the history of the _Jews_ set down in the books of _Ezra_ and _Nehemiah_, and adjusting it; for this history having suffered by time, wants some illustration: and first I shall state the history of the _Jews_ under _Zerubbabel_, in the Reigns of _Cyrus_, _Cambysis_, and _Darius Hystaspis_.

This history is contained partly in the three first chapters of the book of _Ezra_, and first five verses of the fourth; and partly in the book of _Nehemiah_, from the 5th verse of the seventh chapter to the 9th verse of the twelfth: for _Nehemiah_ copied all this out of the Chronicles of the _Jews_, written before his days; as may appear by reading the place, and considering that the Priests and Levites who sealed the Covenant on the 24th day of the seventh month, _Nehem._ x. were the very same with those who returned from captivity in the first year of _Cyrus_, _Nehem._ xii. and that all those who returned sealed it: this will be perceived by the following comparison of their names.

The Priests who returned. The Priests who sealed.

_Nehemiah._ _Ezra_ ii. 2. _Nehemiah._

_Serajah._ _Serajah._

* _Azariah._

_Jeremiah._ _Jeremiah._

_Ezra._ _Ezra._ _Nehem._ 8.

* _Pashur._

_Amariah._ _Amariah._

_Malluch_: or _Melicu_, _Neh._ _Malchijah._ xii. 2, 14.

_Hattush_. _Hattush._

_Shechaniah_ or _Shebaniah_, _Shebaniah._ _Neh._ xii. 3, 14.

* _Malluch._

_Rehum_: or _Harim_, _ib._ 3, _Harim._ 15.

_Meremoth._ _Meremoth._

_Iddo._ _Obadiah_ or _Obdia_.

* _Daniel._

_Ginnetho_: or _Ginnethon_, _Ginnethon._ _Neh._ xii. 4, 16.

* _Baruch._

* _Meshullam._

_Abijah._ _Abijah._

_Miamin._ _Mijamin._

_Maadiah._ _Maaziah._

_Bilgah._ _Bilgai._

_Shemajah._ _Shemajah._

_Jeshua._ _Jeshua._

_Binnui._ _Binnui._

_Kadmiel._ _Kadmiel._

_Sherebiah._ שרביה. _Shebaniah._ שבניה.

_Judah_: or _Hodaviah_, _Hodijah._ _Ezra_ ii. 40. & iii. 9. Ωδουια; _Septuag._

The _Levites_, _Jeshua_, _Kadmiel_, and _Hodaviah_ or _Judah_, here mentioned, are reckoned chief fathers among the people who returned with _Zerubbabel_, _Ezra_ ii. 40. and they assisted as well in laying the foundation of the Temple, _Ezra_ iii. 9. as in reading the law, and making and sealing the covenant, _Nehem._ viii. 7. & ix. 5. & x. 9, 10.