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The Old Testament.

Q.     It may prove a Good Præparatory unto our Illustrations upon the Bible, to have the CHRONOLOGY of the Old Testament, briefly secured and explained, and exposed unto us?

A.     To be admired and Adored, is that Providence, of God, that ha's præserved, such a Chronology for us. A learned Man, whose Name is Mr. William Whiston, ha's lately given us, A Short View of the Chronology of the Old Testament; and, acknowledging the Favour of Heaven, in my being accommodated with such a Treasure of Good Thoughts, as there are in that Composure, I will endeavor in this Place, to produce many of them. How well had it been for him, & for the Church if no worse Thoughts, had since proceeded from the Author of these!²³

The Mathematical Canon composed by Ptolomy, the most learned Astronomer of all the Ancients, who ha's all along apply'd his Accounts unto the uncontested Æra of Nabonassar, and confirm'd them still from the Eclipses mention'd by the Ancient Astronomers before him; this is the surest Guide wee have, where the Sacred Historians are silent.²⁴ This Canon computes the Beginning of any of the Years of each Kings Reign, from the First Day of the First Month (called, Thoth,) of the Nabonassarean Year, which falls out in that Respective Year of his Reign. And tho' any King should Dy immediately after the First of Thoth, yett all the rest of that Year, till the next first of Thoth, is attributed unto his Reign in the Canon. And if any King, whose Reign was less than a Year, had never a first of Thoth within the Compass of his Reign, that King was omitted in the Canon, and his Reign added unto the Reign of his Predecessors. Now the Nabonassarean Year, was just 365 Dayes long, without the Intercalation of a Day every Fourth Year. So that after every Four Years, the first of Thoth would run back in the Julian Year, in such a Manner, as that 1461 Nabonassarean Years would be equal to 1460 Julian Ones: The first of Thoth in that time coming to its old Place in the Julian Years.²⁵

This Canon begins a considerable While before the Old Testament ends, and it reaches beyond the Times of the New Testament. It contains an uninterrupted Chronology of the whole Interval, between the Histories of the Old and New Testament. It contains the Kings of those Four Monarchies, and no others, which are so famous in the Prophecies of the Sacred Scripture. By the Comparison of this Canon, with Xenophon, and with the Sacred Writers, we have an exact Account of the Space during the 70 Years Captivity of the Jewes in Babylon, and of the Time of its Solution under the Crown of Persia; which otherwise we had been but very imperfectly acquainted withal. This Canon does exactly agree in every thing with the Chronology of the Old Testament. It is an Authentic Record alwayes to be relied upon. And, as Marsham observes Sanè canon iste multis compaginibus cum Sacro Textu aptissimé connectitur.²⁶

It is not amiss to introduce this Observation, as early as might be; because of the Use, which we shall have Occasion to make of it, in the Discourses that are now coming on.

It is Remarkable, That the Intire Summ of Years, from the Creation, till the Christian Æra, is not concerned in the greatest Number of the chronological Difficulties of the Old Testament. Most of the Disputes about the Chronology of the Old Testament, arise from the Particulars of Three Famous Periods. I. From the Ingress to the Exodus out of Egypt; II. From the Exodus to the Foundation of the Temple. III. From the Foundation of the Temple to the Captivity. But it ha's pleased the Divine Providence, most happily to prevent the Ill Consequences of any Mistake, & to secure the entire Summs unto us, by Three express Texts of Scripture. The First Period, is punctually, 430 Years. [Exod. 12.40, 41.] The Second Period, is punctually, 480 Years. [1. King. 6.1.] The Third Period, is adjusted thus; From the Beginning of Jeroboams Idolatry, to the last Captivity of the Reliques of the Ten Tribes, in the 23^d Year of Nebuchadnezzar, is expressly, 390 Years. [Ezek. 4.4, 5.] These Three Remarkable Texts, are the great Measures and Standards of the Chronology of these Periods.²⁷

Another thing that appears very Remarkable is; That the Chinese Chronology when rightly understood, is exactly agreeable, to what we draw from the Hebrew Text of the Old Testament. Fohi, the founder of the Chinese Monarchy, was the same with Noah. The Chinois tell us, he had no Father; no doubt the Memory of his Father was lost in the Deluge. They tell us, hissup class="content">