A feaft and lighted, that, Philo tells us, they instituted an annual faft kept in feast in memory of it, and made a yearly vifit, in folemn memory of proceffion, to the ifle of Pharos, where it had been made

that ver

fion.

Samaritans lay claim to it.

by the seventy-two Ifraelitish elders: whereas, the more zealous Hebraizing Jews, who looked upon it as a vile prophanation of their holy religion, conceived fuch a horror against it, that they inftituted a faft in memory of it. These even add, that the day on which it was began, proved as fatal to the Ifraelites, as that on which Jeroboam fet up the golden calves at Dan and Beth-el, and that the fky was covered with thick darkness three days fucceffively. The Samaritans have likewife laid claim

r In lib. Sopherim. Vid. Scaliger. Not. in

(1) Du Pin. Script. Ecclefiaft. part i. chap. vi. fect. 3. Simon. Hift. Crit. V. T. lib. ii. cap. 2. Uffer. Hoddy, Prid. Connect, sub A. C. 277. Calmet fub voce Septante, & al.

to the glory of this version, and pretend that their highprieft, as well as that of the Jews, having been invited by Ptolemy to come at the head of a number of learned men to carry on the work, upon a review of both translations, that of the Samaritans had been preferred to the Jewish verfion, and placed in the library of the Egyptian monarchs.

But whether all the books of the Old Teftament were translated at once, and by the fame fet of men, or, as fome affirm, only the five books of Mofes, we have no fufficient, ground to affirm: the latter fuppofition doth, however, appear the more probable of the two, from the difference of style and exactnefs, which manifeftly appears in them; for that of the Pentateuch is not only more faithful and agreeable to the original, but seems somewhat more ancient, and in the Alexandrian dialect; whereas that of the other books is more loose and incorrect, and fometimes renders the fame Hebrew word differently from that of the Mofaic books, which seems to intimate that they had been done by different hands, and at fome distance of time. Upon the whole, it is probable, that if the firft verfion went no farther than the Pentateuch, the Hellenist Jews, who found fo great a benefit from it, did not go long without having all the reft of the facred volume translated into the fame tongue.

Our next remark is, that the learned Ufher has fixed the time of this version to this year, as he believed the main part of the history, which we have under the name of Arifteas, to be true and genuine; for, had he placed it later, it could not have coincided with the time of Eleazar, who is there mentioned as the Jewish high-priest, who fent the feventy-two translators into Egypt, and who died about the beginning of the following year; and, had he placed it earlier, it would have been before Ptolemy had married his fifter Arfinoe; whereas the Jewish pontiff is there introduced as complimenting that piincess, in his letter to the king, as his fifter and queen.

We return now to the reign of Ptolemy, under whofe Jews benign influence the Jews, enjoying all the tranquillity highly fa they could with, made use of that interval to study and voured by explain the facred books. They kept open schools, and Ptolemy; Antigonus Sochæus was at the head of them: he died in great esteem of his nation, though Sadoc, and another disciple, named Baithus, forfook him and his doctrine,

* Lib. Jofue fub citat.

by Antio

to fpread their own new-fangled Epicurifm. He had two fucceffors, namely, jaiph the fon of Joazer, who took the title of naffi, or prince, and Jofeph, the fon of John, who affumed that of ab-beth-din, or father or prefident of the fanbedrim; and thefe jointly read their public lectures at Jerufalem. The Jewish chronologers laft quoted, place Antigonus's death about the end of the twentieth year of Ptolemy's reign.

On the other hand, fome other contending monarchs chus Theos. fhewed no lefs a defire to ingratiate themselves with the Jews; particularly Antiochus, furnamed Theos, or the God, and grandfon of Seleucus, granted to thofe of Ionia the fame privileges and franchifes with the Greeks. This prince maintained a long and bloody war against Ptolemy Philadelphus, which was, at length, terminated by a treaty of marriage, wherein the former was to marry Berenice the daughter of the latter, and to repudiate his first wife Laodicea; but he having broken his contract by a series of enormous murders, was become fo odious to all his fubjects every where, that Ptolemy Euergetes, who had fucceeded his father in Egypt, eafily difpoffeffed him of the provinces of Syria and Cilicia, befides feveral other cities of Afia. Euergetes, in his return from all these conquefts, paft through Judæa in his way to Egypt, and, vifiting Jerufalem, offered a great number of facrifices at the temple, as an acknowlegement of his late fucceffes " (F). Soon after this period Eleazar died, and Onias, though above thirty years of age, was, for what reafon does not appear, fet afide from the high-priesthood to make way for his great uncle Manaffes, the fon of Jaddua, the uncle of Simon the Juft. Manaffes being then very old, enjoyed it but a little while; and left it to Onias, who afcended the pontifical chair in the thirty-fecond year of his age, and in the thirty-fixth of Ptolemy Philadelphus, but in an unlucky hour for the Jews. Onias, being of a base fordid spirit, high priest. neglected every thing but hoarding up of treasure, and was like to have ruined the Jewish ftate by his avarice, had not a near relation of his found out a notable expedient to fave it w.

Manafes made high prieft Yr. of Fl.

2015.

Ante Chr.

243.

Onias

t Pirke, Abboth. Juchafin, & al. fup. citat.
Apion. lib. ii.
w Id. Antiq. lib. xii. cap. 3.

(F) And yet he lived and
died a heathen; therefore his
facrificing in the temple muft

" Jofeph. cont.

have been an impious pollution according to the religion of the Hebrews.

Judæa

grew

Judæa had till then been taxed at the yearly tribute of twenty talents of filver, which fum his predeceffors had constantly paid to the kings of Egypt; but Onias growing more covetous, as he older, had funk that money His fordidinto his own coffers, inftead of fending it to the king's nefs like to treasury. How long he had gone on in arrears, our au- have been thor doth not tell us; but they were grown to fuch a fatal to the Jews. height, that Ptolemy Euergetes thought fit to fend Athenion, one of the officers of his court, to demand them of that pontiff, threatening him at the fame time, that if they were not immediately paid, he would drive all the Jews out of their country, and re-people it with new colonies of his own. This unexpected demand put the whole city into the utmost confternation; and Onias, who valued neither his dignity nor nation, in comparison of his money, was the only perfon who remained insenfible of the danger; refolved to facrifice both to the refentment of that prince, rather than refund any part of his ftolen pelf. His fifter had then a fon by her husband Tobias, who, though young, was highly esteemed for his piety, juftice, and prudence: he was then at his countryfeat, whither his mother fent him word of the peril in which her brother's fordid disposition was like to involve the whole nation. Jofeph (that was the noble youth's Jofeph's name) loft no time to come and expoftulate with his uncle. policy to He upbraided him in the strongest terms for bafely prefering his ill-gotten riches to the facred nature of his func- country. tion, the fafety of his country, and efpecially his friends and relations; and finding him deaf to all he urged, advised at him at leaft to take a journey into Egypt, and endeavour to obtain a remiffion, either of the whole, or part of the debt. All the anfwer he could obtain from the refty old pontiff was, that he never coveted either his dignity or government; and that he was refolved to forego them both, rather than take fuch a long journey. There being no remedy left, Jofeph offered to go and deprecate Egypt. the wrath of the Egyptian monarch. His uncle relishing His fuccess the propofal, he convened the people, and communicated there, his defign, which was univerfally applauded. Then he invited Athenion to his house, where he entertained him fumptuoufly, and by dint of fome valuable presents secured his good offices with the king his master. Accordingly that minifter, on his return to court, prepoffeffed Ptolemy very much in favour of Jofeph. This young Jew, in a little time, fet out for Alexandria, where he not only prevailed upon the king to mitigate his demand

of

fave his

Goes into

of the arrears of the tribute; but alfo by his address obtained the farm of the revenues of Cœlefyria, Phoenicia, and Judæa. Having procured this profitable contract, and borrowed a confiderable sum of his Egyptian friends, he returned to Jerusalem, attended with an escort of two thousand men, to affift him in collecting the royal tribute, and to punish those who should refuse to pay it: the fuccefs of his commiffion the reader may fee in the note (G).

Ptolemy In the interim, Ptolemy, furnamed Philopator, fucPhilopator. ceeded his father Euergetes in Egypt, not without ftrong

(G) The Afcalonites were the first who felt the fevere effects of his authority. They had not only disobeyed his commands, but had even loaded him with bitter invectives, fo that, to prevent the infection fpreading farther, he was forced to make a fevere example of them to the reft. He caufed twenty of the ringleaders to be hanged, and confifcated their eftates, out of which he fent a thousand talents to the king, with an account of what he had done. He treated the inhabitants of Scythopolis after the fame manner: the rest being all over-awed, did willingly open their gates, and pay their taxes; and Jofeph, at the fame time that he remitted them into Egypt, did from time to time fend fome prefents to his friends there, to keep up his intereft at court. As for the king, he was fo pleafed with fuch a confiderable augmentation of his revenue, that he continued him in his office two-and-twenty years, during which time he gained an immenfe treasure, under the reigns of three Ptolemies, namely, Euergetes, Philopator, and Epiphanes, the fon of Philometor, which laft

was difpoffed of those provinces by Antiochus the Great, as will appear in its proper place. Epiphanes having recovered them in the fequel, by a marriage with Antiochus's daughter, Jofeph was also restored to his farms, and enjoyed them many years after, even, as our Jewish historian tells us, to the day of his death.

Jofeph by this time had seven fons by one of his wives, and an eighth named Hyrcan, by the daughter of his brother Selinus, who artfully fubstituted her in the room of a beautiful Egyptian dancer, whom he had promised to procure for Joseph's pleasure. When the cheat was discovered, Selinus fo well expoftulated the matter with him, that he easily convinced. him, he had acted a friendly part in preventing his expofing himself to the contempt of the Egyptians, by cohabiting with fuch a public actress. Jofeph, fatisfied with his reasons, took his new wife home, and had this Hyrcan by her, who proved fuch a promifing youth, that he foon ingroffed his affection from all his other brethren; and the fequel will fhew, that he really deferved it (1).

(1) Jofeph. Antiq. lib, xii. cap. 4.

fufpicion