iffued out that decree in favour of them, by which they were permitted, not only to return to their own land, but also to rebuild their temple at Jerufalem, renew the divine worship, and tranfport thither all the facred utenfils which Nebuchadnezzar had brought away from thence. These last he ordered to be delivered by Mithridath, his high treasurer, to Shefhbazzar, whom we take to be the fame with Zerubbabel, who, being the grandfon of Jehoi akim, or Jeconiah, king of Judah, was then the first prince of the royal blood, and therefore appointed head governor of Judæa, under the title of Tirfhata. He likewife gave directions concerning the dimenfions of the temple, which was to be fixty cubits in height and breadth, built upon a ftrong foundation, with three rows of great ftones, and a row of timber; the expence of the whole to be furnished out of the king's house. To all these the king added a full permiffion to all the Jews that were difpofed, to return into Judæa; and to those who preferred ftaying behind, perfect liberty to contribute, as liberally as they pleased, gold, filver, or any other precious ftuffs, towards the building and adorning that edifice. Immediately upon the publishing of this edict, the chiefs of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, together with the priests and Levites, affembled; and as many as retained ftill a love for their country, and a zeal for the God of Ifrael, difpofed themselves to return. As for the rest, who were the far greater number, and preferred the land of Babylon to it, they contented themfelves with furnishing their brethren with gold, filver, cattle, and other conveniencies, either for their journey, or for the building of the temple and city. At the head of these were Zerubba- The heads bel mentioned above, and Jefhua the high-prieft (B). of those The next in rank were Nehemiah and Mordecai, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Bilsham, Mifpar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah, all heads of families, and affiftants to Zerubbabel, in the re-establishment of the Jewish affairs, both in church and ftated. The reft amounted to about forty-two thousand three hundred and fixty, including those that came afterc Conf. Ezram i. 8. 11 ii. 2. iii. 8. 10. v. 16. See Ezra vi. 3, 4. d Ezra ii. 2. Nehem. vii. 7. (B) This office belonged to him by a lineal defcent, he being the fon of Jozadak, whofe father Seraiah, high-priest at the taking of Jerufalem, had been put to death at Riblah. As for Jozadak, he was carried B 2 wards that returned. The total of them. Priefts that returned. wards with Nehemiah; befides their fervants and flaves of ez Chron. xi. 16. xv. 9. & al. 29. Talmud Hierof. in Taanith. Vide Prid. dred dred and ninety Nethinims, the pofterity of those Gibeonites, whom Solomon did afterwards dedicate to the fervice of the temple; fo fmall was the number of those of unquestionable defcent, who returned either with Zerubbabel or Nehemiah. And hence it is, that, ever fince this time, the number of Jews that dwelt in Palestine, was always vaftly inferior to those that were dispersed in Chaldea, Perfia, &c. The priests, Levites, fingers, Nethinims, and other officers of the temple, fettled in or near Jerufalem, that they might readily wait on the fervice of God, by rearing up his altar, and preparing all other things against the next grand folemnity: as for the reft, the greater part of them difperfed themselves in the neighbouring cities and country, where fome of them had formerly dwelt, and where they probably found also some of their brethren, whom Nebuchadnezzar had left. By this time the month Tifhri, the firft of the civil, The feaft and seventh of the ecclefiaftical year, was at hand. The of trumfirst day of it was the feaft of the trumpets, because the pets. new year was to be proclaimed by the found of that inftrument. It ushered in moreover two other great folemnities, namely, the expiation-day, or grand fast, which was to be kept on the tenth; and the feast of tabernacles, which began on the fifteenth, and ended on the twentyfecond of the month inclufive. The greatest part of that Expiationof expiation, they were forced to omit, for want of a fafi. temple however, they failed not to come from all parts to the folemnity, and to faft, pray, and to offer the proper facrifices on the altar, which they had by that time repaired; fo that from this day they ceafed not to offer the morning and evening, and all other facrifices prefcribed by the law of Mofes. The feaft of tabernacles coming Feaft of tafive days after that of expiation, they erected booths at Jerufalem, and celebrated that feftival with the ufual folemnities, and fo fet about to restore in good earnest the worship of God in that metropolis. In this folemn affembly, it was refolved to begin the rebuilding the temple, towards which every one chearfully contributed according to their power. The whole fum amounted to fixty-one thousand drachms of gold, and five thousand minas of filver (C), besides an hundred vestments (C) Every drachm of gold being computed to be worth about ten fhillings of our money; and every mina of filver, about nine pounds sterling; the B 3 for bernacles celebrated. Yr. of Fl. 1814. 534, for the priests to officiate in. This was indeed a small fum toward fuch a vaft and expenfive undertaking; and therefore we fuppofe it to have been a free-will addition of their own to a much greater, which had been contributed by their brethren, who chose to stay in the places of their difperfion. This money was put into the hands of proper officers, who were to overfee the work: thefe immediately hired workmen, fent to Tyre and Sidon for cedars from Libanus, purfuant to Cyrus's decree, and employed the first year in preparing the materials for the building. In the fecond month of the following year, which was the third of Cyrus's reign, and the fecond from their reAnte Chr. turn, they began to lay the foundation of the temple with great folemnity, in the prefence of Zerubbabel the governor, of Jefhua the high-prieft, and of the whole congregation. It was accompanied with the found of their trumpets, and other mufical inftruments, the priests and muficians finging fome pfalms proper to the occafion, and all the people fhouting for joy. But whilft the younger fort were thus expreffling their fatisfaction, many of the priests, Levites, and heads of families, who had seen that famous building in its fplendor, fifty-three years before, could not forbear uttering the loudeft lamentations, when they confidered the plan of this which they were now going to build; infomuch that the acclamations of the one, and the fighs and groans of the other, were fo intermixed, that it was not eafy to distinguish them from each other' (D). The foun dation of the temple laid. Whilft the work was carrying on, the Samaritans (E) came to Zerubbabel, and the Jewish congregation; and 1 Ezra iii. 5, & feq. (D) This difference, however, cannot be understood of *its largenefs, fince the new was built upon the foundation of the old. Of the two, the decree of Cyrus feems to allow this new one three times the breadth of that of Solomon; this being but twenty, and that fixty cubits broad; but Prideaux has fufficiently proved, that the dimenfions were the fame, only differently taken, to wit, the one from in to in, and the other from out to out; the grief of the old men, there ex fore, must have arifen from the meannefs of the materials now used, fo different from those that had been provided by Solomon, and the want of innumerable ornaments fupplied by that prince and his fucceffors. (E) These were not of the feed of Ifrael, but the pofte, rity of that mixed multitude, whom Shalmanezer king of Affyria fent from Cuthah, Ava, Hamath, Sepharvaim, and other provinces, to inhabit those parts, out of which he had expreffed an earnest defire to join their affiftance in it, seeing they had worshipped the fame God ever fince the time of Efarhaddon, king of Affyria, who had fettled them there. But whether the Jews fufpected their fin cerity; or despised a people who were not of the feed of Ifrael, but only imperfect worshipers of God; Jefhua, Zerubbabel, and the whole congregation, refufed to let them bear any part in the undertaking, alleging, that the decree of Cyrus being only directed to those who were of Ifraelitish descent, it would be a dishonour to their nation to admit any ftrangers as partners in the work ". This Why obrefufal proved the fource of a bitter and irreconcilable fructed by hatred between these two nations, the fad effects of which the Jews foon felt in the immediate obftruction of their undertaking, and numberless ill offices which they underwent from the incensed Samaritans. The first ftep they took was to bribe underhand some of the king's head ministers and officers, to represent the Jews as a rebellious nation, and their rebuilding of the temple as dangerous, and tending to fhake off their obedience to his crown. They failed not to carry their point, and the work was accordingly stopped, in a great measure, not only during the remaining five years of Cyrus's life, but alfo during the reign of his fucceffor. However, while Cyrus lived, the Jews ftill continued gathering materials for their work, in hopes of better times: they were affifted by the Tyrians and Sidonians, who furnished them with cedars from Libanus, with mafons, carpenters, and other workmen ; and these received in return a proportionable quantity of corn, wine and oil from the Jews, as their ancestors had formerly done from king Solomon ". But Cyrus was no fooner dead, than the Samaritans, encouraged by the ill difpofition of his fucceffor Cambyfes, called in Scripture Ahafuerus, instead of their former clandeftine practices, declared themselves openly against the Jews, and wrote in the most preffing terms to that monarch to put an immediate ftop to their undertaking. Cambyfes, however, probably out of refpect to his father's decree, would not seem to revoke it, but privately gave m Ezra iv. 1 & feq. iii. 7. Conf. 1 Kings v. 8. & feq. & Ezra the Sama ritans. |