army into Judea, to reduce that country likewise under his fubjection. These generals defeated Manaffeh, and having taken him prifoner, brought him to Efarhaddon, who put him in chains, and carried him with him to Babylon. But Manaffeh, having afterwards appeafed the wrath of God by a fincere and lively repentance, obtained his liberty, and return'd to Jerufalem.

41.

Mean time the colonies, that had been fent into 2 Kings Samaria, in the room of its ancient inhabitants, were xvii. 25--7 grievously infefted with lions. The king of Babylon being told, the caufe of that calamity was their not worshipping the God of the country, ordered an Ifraelitish priest to be fent to them from among the captives taken in that country, to teach them the worship of the God of Ifrael. But these idolaters, contented with admitting the true God amongst their ancient divinities, worshipped him jointly with their falfe deities. This corrupt worship continued afterwards, and was the fource of the averfion entertain'd by the Jews against the Samaritans.

Efarhaddon, after a profperous reign of thirtynine years over the Affyrians, and thirteen over the Babylonians, was fucceeded by his fon,

SAOSDUCHINU S.

This prince is call'd in fcripture Nabuchodonofor, An.Mun. which name was common to the kings of Babylon. 3335. BeTo diftinguifh this from the others, he is call'd Nabuchodonofor the first.

fore CHR.

669.

Tob. xiv.

Tobit was still alive at this time, and dwelt among other captives at Nineveh. Perceiving his end ap-5--13 . proaching, he foretold his children the fudden deftruction of that city; of which at that time there was not the least appearance. He advised them to quit the city, before its ruin came on, and to depart affoon as they had buried him and his wife.

The ruin of Nineveh is at hand, fays the good old man, abide no longer here, for I perceive the wickedD 2

nefs

Judith i.5,

6.

AN.MUN

nefs of the city will occafion its deftruction. Thefe laft words are very remarkable, the wickedness of the city will occafion its deftruction. Men will be apt to impute the ruin of Nineveh to any other reason, but we are taught by the Holy Ghoft, that her unrighteoufnefs was the true cause of it, as it will be with all other ftates, that will imitate her crimes.

Nabuchodonofor defeated the king of the Medes, in a pitch'd battle fought the twelfth year of his reign upon the plain of Ragau, took Ecbatane, the capital of his kingdom, and return'd triumphant to Nineveh. When we come to treat of the history of the Medes, we shall give a more particular account of this victory.

'Twas immediately after this expedition, that Bethulia was besieged by Holofernes, one of Nabucodonofor's generals; and that the famous enterprise of Judith was accomplished.

SARA CU S, otherwife call'd CHYNA-
LADAN U S.

This prince fucceeded Saofduchinus; and having 3356. Be-rendered himself contemptible to his fubjects, by his fore CHR effeminacy, and the little care he took of his domi648. Alex. Po- nions, Nabopolaffar, a Babylonian by birth, and lyhift. general of his army, ufurped that part of the Affyrian empire, and reigned over it one and twenty years.

AN.MUN.

NABOPOLASSAR.

This prince, the better to maintain his ufurp'd 3378. Be foveraignty, made an alliance with Cyaxares, king 626. of the Medes. They two with their joint forces

fore CHR:

laid fiege to Nineveh, took it, kill'd Saracus, and utterly destroy'd that great city: We shall speak more largely of this great event, when we come to the hiftory of the Medes. From this time forwards the city of Babylon became the only capital of the Affyrian empire.

The

The Babylonians and the Medes, having destroy'd Nineveh, became fo formidable, that they drew upon themselves the jealoufy of all their neighbours. Necho, king of Egypt, was fo alarm'd at their power, that to stop their progrefs he march'd towards the Euphrates at the head of a powerful army, and there made feveral confiderable conquefts. Look back to the history of the Egyptians for what con- Vol. 1. cerns this expedition, and the consequences that attended it.

IO. C. II.

Nabopolaffar finding, that after the taking of Berof. aCarchemish by Necho, all Syria and Palestine had pud Jofeph. revolted from him, and neither his age nor infirmi- Antiq. I. ties permitting him to go in perfon to recover them, & con.Ap. he made his fon Nabuchodonofor partner with him1. 1. in the empire, and fent him with an army, to reduce those countries to their former fubjection.

606.

From this time the Jews begin to reckon the years AN.MUN. of Nabuchodonofor, viz. from the end of the third 3398. Beyear of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, or rather from fore CHR. the beginning of the fourth. But the Babylonians compute the reign of this prince only from the death of his father, which happened two years later.

NABUCHODONOSOR II.

This prince defeated Necho's army near the Eu- Jer. xlvi.z. phrates, and retook Carchemish. From thence he 2 Kings march'd towards Syria and Palestine, and re-united xxiv. 7. thofe provinces to his dominions.

He likewife enter'd Judea, befieg'd Jerufalem, and Dan. i. 1--took it: He caus'd Jehoiakim to be put in chains, 7. with a defign to have him carry'd to Babylon; but 2 Chron. being moved with his repentance and affliction, he xxxvi.6,7.

restored him to his throne. Great numbers of the Jews, and, among the rest, some children of the royal family were carried captive to Babylon, whither all the treasures of the king's palace, and a part of the facred veffels of the temple were likewife tranfported. Thus was the judgment God denounc❜ḍ

Can. Ptol.

by the prophet Ifaiah to king Hezekiah accomplifhed. From this famous epocha, which was the fourth year of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, we are to date the captivity of the Jews at Babylon, so often foretold by Jeremiah. Daniel, then but eighteen years old, was carried captive among the reft; and Ezekiel fome time afterwards.

Towards the end of the fifth year of Jehoiakim Berof. a died Nabopolaffar, king of Babylon, after having pud Jofeph. An- reign'd one and twenty years. Affoon as his fon tiq. 1. 10. Nabuchodonofor had news of his death, he fet out c. 11. & with all expedition for Babylon, taking the nearest con.Ap. 1. way through the defart, attended only with a small

10.

retinue, leaving the bulk of his army with his generals, to be conducted to Babylon with the captives and fpoils. On his arrival, he received the government from the hands of thofe that had carefully preferv'd it for him, and fo fucceeded to all the dominions of his father, which comprehended ChalAN.MUN.dea, Affyria, Arabia, Syria, and Palestine, over fore CHR. Which, according to Ptolomy, he reign'd forty-three

3401. Be

603.

years.

Dan. c. ii. In the fourth year of his reign he had a dream, at which he was greatly terrified, tho' he could not call it again to mind. He thereupon confulted the wife men and diviners of his kingdom, requiring of them to make known to him the fubftance of his dream. They all anfwer'd, that it was beyond the reach of their art to divine the thing itself; and that the utmoft they could do, was to give the interpretation of his dream, when he had made it known to them, As abfolute princes are not accustomed to meet with oppofition, but will always be obey'd, Nabuchodonofor, imagining they dealt infincerely with him, fell into a violent rage, and condemned them all to die. Now Daniel and his three companions were included in the fentence, as being ranked among the wife men. But Daniel, having firft invoked his God, defired to be introduced to the king, to whom he revealed

the

66

the whole fubftance of his dream.
"The thing
"thou faweft (fays he to Nebuchadnezzar) was an
image of an enormous fize, and a terrible counte-
The head thereof was of gold, the breaft
"and arms of filver, the belly and thighs of brass,
"and the feet part of iron and part of clay. And
"as the king was attentively looking upon that vi-

"nance.

fion, behold a ftone was cut out of a mountain "without hands, and the ftone fmote the image up"on his feet, and brake them to pieces; the whole image was ground as small as duft, and the stone "became a great mountain, and filled the whole "Earth." When Daniel had related the dream, he gave the king likewife the interpretation thereof, fhewing him how it fignified the three great empires, which were to fucceed that of the Affyrians, namely, the Perfian, the Grecian, and the Roman, or (according to fome) that of the fucceffors of Alexander the great. "After thefe kingdoms (conti"nued Daniel) fhall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which fhall never be deftroyed; and "this kingdom fhall not be left to other people, but "fhall break in pieces and confume all these king"doms, and fhall ftand for ever." By which Daniel plainly foretold the kingdom of Jefus Chrift. Nebuchadnezzar, quite ravish'd with admiration and astonishment, after having acknowledged and loudly declared, that the God of the Ifraelites was really the God of gods, advanced Daniel to the highest offices in the kingdom, made him chief of

the
governours over all the wife men, ruler of the
whole province of Babylon, and one of the principal
lords of the council, that always attended the court.
His three friends were also promoted to honours and
dignities.

At this time Jehoiakim revolted from the king of 2 Kings Babylon, whofe generals, who were ftill in Judea, xxiv. 1, 2. marched against him, committed all kinds of hostilities upon his country, fhut him up in Jerufalem,

D 4

and