2 Chronicles · Chapter 36

Verse 1. Took Jehoahaz] It seems that after Necho had discomfited Josiah, he proceeded immediately against Charchemish, and in the interim, Josiah dying of his wounds, the people made his son king.

Verse 1. The people of the land took Jehoahaz, &c. — The principal contents of this chapter are explained in the notes on 2 Kings 23:31, and 24., and 25., to which the reader is referred. What is peculiar to this chapter shall be noticed here.

Verses 1-20 of this chapter contain a brief summary of the reigns of Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah, the fall of Jerusalem, the destruction of the temple, and the captivity of the Jews. These events are much more fully written in 2 Kings 23:30-25:21, where see the notes.

Verse 2, 3. Jehoahaz—the king of Egypt put him down at Jerusalem. Necho summoned him to Riblah, put him in irons, and made his elder brother Eliakim king in his room, and changed his name to Jehoiakim, which signifies appointed of God. In the third year of this calamitous reign, Nebuchadnezzar having just ascended the throne, and completely driven Pharaoh-necho into Egypt, came to Jerusalem, and put Necho’s viceroy into irons to carry him to Babylon; but on his good professions of obedience, he restored him again to the throne. From this time are to be reckoned the seventy years of captivity; for the king of Babylon carried whatever he would, both of persons and treasures to his capital. Among the persons were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.

Verses 1-20 of this chapter contain a brief summary of the reigns of Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah, the fall of Jerusalem, the destruction of the temple, and the captivity of the Jews. These events are much more fully written in 2 Kings 23:30-25:21, where see the notes.

Verse 3. The king of Egypt put him down] He now considered Judah to be conquered, and tributary to him and because the people had set up Jehoahaz without his consent, he dethroned him, and put his brother in his place, perhaps for no other reason but to show his supremacy. For other particulars, see the notes on 2 Kings 23:31-35.

Verse 2, 3. Jehoahaz—the king of Egypt put him down at Jerusalem. Necho summoned him to Riblah, put him in irons, and made his elder brother Eliakim king in his room, and changed his name to Jehoiakim, which signifies appointed of God. In the third year of this calamitous reign, Nebuchadnezzar having just ascended the throne, and completely driven Pharaoh-necho into Egypt, came to Jerusalem, and put Necho’s viceroy into irons to carry him to Babylon; but on his good professions of obedience, he restored him again to the throne. From this time are to be reckoned the seventy years of captivity; for the king of Babylon carried whatever he would, both of persons and treasures to his capital. Among the persons were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.

Verses 1-20 of this chapter contain a brief summary of the reigns of Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah, the fall of Jerusalem, the destruction of the temple, and the captivity of the Jews. These events are much more fully written in 2 Kings 23:30-25:21, where see the notes.

Verses 1-20 of this chapter contain a brief summary of the reigns of Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah, the fall of Jerusalem, the destruction of the temple, and the captivity of the Jews. These events are much more fully written in 2 Kings 23:30-25:21, where see the notes.

Verses 1-20 of this chapter contain a brief summary of the reigns of Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah, the fall of Jerusalem, the destruction of the temple, and the captivity of the Jews. These events are much more fully written in 2 Kings 23:30-25:21, where see the notes.

Verse 6. Came up Nebuchadnezzar] See Clarke’s notes on “2 Kings 24:1”. Archbishop Usher believes that Jehoiakim remained three years after this tributary to the Chaldeans, and that it is from this period that the seventy years’ captivity, predicted by Jeremiah, is to be reckoned.

Verse 6. And bound him in fetters to carry him to Babylon — But he did not carry him thither, for Nebuchadnezzar altered his mind, and permitted him to reign at Jerusalem as his tributary, though he carried away, as it follows, some of the vessels of the temple, and also certain principal persons, as we read in the first of Daniel.

Verses 1-20 of this chapter contain a brief summary of the reigns of Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah, the fall of Jerusalem, the destruction of the temple, and the captivity of the Jews. These events are much more fully written in 2 Kings 23:30-25:21, where see the notes.

Verses 1-20 of this chapter contain a brief summary of the reigns of Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah, the fall of Jerusalem, the destruction of the temple, and the captivity of the Jews. These events are much more fully written in 2 Kings 23:30-25:21, where see the notes.

V. 8. Found in him-That crime of rebellion against the king of Babylon, which for a time he kept in his own breast, but when he saw fit, discovered it, and was convicted of it.

Verse 8. That which was found in him — That crime of rebellion against the king of Babylon, which for a time he kept in his own breast, but when he saw fit, discovered it and was convicted of it.

Ver. 8. Jehoiakim, and his abominations. He burnt Jeremiah’s prophecies, and imprisoned him. This was a profane deed, and showed that he was infatuated to his own destruction. He rebelled against the king of Babylon, who coming with an army against him, not only put him to death, but threw his body over the wall of the city, that he might have, as Jeremiah had said, an ass’s funeral: Jeremiah 22:18, 19. 36:30. The Seventy say, he was buried with his father in Ganoza, or Ganozan; probably, after awhile, his remains were interred with Uzziah.

Verses 1-20 of this chapter contain a brief summary of the reigns of Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah, the fall of Jerusalem, the destruction of the temple, and the captivity of the Jews. These events are much more fully written in 2 Kings 23:30-25:21, where see the notes.

Verse 9. Jehoiachin was eight] See on 2 Kings 24:6-15.

Verse 9. Jehoiachin was eight years old — See the note on 2 Kings 24:8, in which it is said that he was eighteen years old when he began to reign, which is probably the right reading.

Ver. 9. Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign. In 2 Kings 24:8, it is said that he was eighteen. The variation is reconciled by his beginning to reign in the eighth year of the captivity. This young prince, not pleasing his master, was dethroned when Nebuchadnezzar made his spring campaigns; and Zedekiah, who is said in the Septuagint to be his father’s brother, and consequently more likely to sway the sceptre, was put in his place. Ezekiel and Mordecai were now carried into captivity. Ezekiel 1:2. 40:1.

Verses 1-20 of this chapter contain a brief summary of the reigns of Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah, the fall of Jerusalem, the destruction of the temple, and the captivity of the Jews. These events are much more fully written in 2 Kings 23:30-25:21, where see the notes.

V. 10. Expired-Heb. at the return of the year: at the beginning of the next year, according to the sacred account of the Hebrews, at the spring of the year, the time when kings go forth to battle, as is elsewhere said, when Nebuchadnezzar, among others, went forth to settle and enlarge his conquests. His brother-Largely so called, for this was his uncle, or his father’s brother, being the son of Josiah.

Verse 10. Made Zedekiah-king] His name was at first Mattaniah, but the king of Babylon changed it to Zedekiah. See 2 Kings 24:17, and the notes there.

Verse 10. When the year was expired — Hebrew, At the return of the year. At the beginning of the next year, according to the sacred account of the Hebrews, at the spring of the year, the time when kings go forth to battle, as is elsewhere said, when Nebuchadnezzar, among others, went forth to settle and enlarge his conquests. His brother — Largely so called, for this was his uncle, or his father’s brother, being the son of Josiah.

Verses 1-20 of this chapter contain a brief summary of the reigns of Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah, the fall of Jerusalem, the destruction of the temple, and the captivity of the Jews. These events are much more fully written in 2 Kings 23:30-25:21, where see the notes.

Verses 1-20 of this chapter contain a brief summary of the reigns of Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah, the fall of Jerusalem, the destruction of the temple, and the captivity of the Jews. These events are much more fully written in 2 Kings 23:30-25:21, where see the notes.

Verse 12. Did that which was evil] Was there ever such a set of weak, infatuated men as the Jewish kings in general? They had the fullest evidence that they were only deputies to God Almighty, and that they could not expect to retain the throne any longer than they were faithful to their Lord; and yet with all this conviction they lived wickedly, and endeavoured to establish idolatry in the place of the worship of their Maker! After bearing with them long, the Divine mercy gave them up, as their case was utterly hopeless. They sinned till there was no remedy.

Verse 12. And humbled not himself — By repentance for his past errors and obedience to God’s express commands, which he would not yield to, through the pride of his heart, as is intimated by this phrase, and expressed Jeremiah 38:19.

Verses 1-20 of this chapter contain a brief summary of the reigns of Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah, the fall of Jerusalem, the destruction of the temple, and the captivity of the Jews. These events are much more fully written in 2 Kings 23:30-25:21, where see the notes.

V. 13. By God-Who had required him to swear fealty and constant obedience to him by the true God, whom he called upon to be a witness against him if he broke his oath. So his rebellion was aggravated with perjury, and horrid contempt of God.

Verse 13. Who had made him swear by God — Who had required him to swear fealty and constant obedience to him, by the true God, whom he called upon to be a witness against him if he broke his oath. So his rebellion was aggravated with perjury and horrid contempt of God. But he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart — He added obstinacy and incorrigibleness to his sins.

Verses 1-20 of this chapter contain a brief summary of the reigns of Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah, the fall of Jerusalem, the destruction of the temple, and the captivity of the Jews. These events are much more fully written in 2 Kings 23:30-25:21, where see the notes.

Verses 14, 15. The people transgressed very much — They were universally corrupt, and therefore God justly brought upon them a general destruction. Rising up betimes, and sending them — Sending them early and diligently, as a careful householder, who rises betimes about his business. God sent them many prophets and messages, some at the very beginning of their apostacy, and others afterward, till the very day of their captivity.

Verses 1-20 of this chapter contain a brief summary of the reigns of Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah, the fall of Jerusalem, the destruction of the temple, and the captivity of the Jews. These events are much more fully written in 2 Kings 23:30-25:21, where see the notes.

V. 15. Rising-Sending them early and diligently, as a careful house-holder, who rises betimes about his business. God sent them many prophets and messages, some at the very beginning of their apostacy, and others afterward, ‘till the very day of their captivity.

Verses 14, 15. The people transgressed very much — They were universally corrupt, and therefore God justly brought upon them a general destruction. Rising up betimes, and sending them — Sending them early and diligently, as a careful householder, who rises betimes about his business. God sent them many prophets and messages, some at the very beginning of their apostacy, and others afterward, till the very day of their captivity.

Verses 1-20 of this chapter contain a brief summary of the reigns of Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah, the fall of Jerusalem, the destruction of the temple, and the captivity of the Jews. These events are much more fully written in 2 Kings 23:30-25:21, where see the notes.

V. 16. No remedy-Because the people would not repent, and God would not pardon them.

Verse 16. But they mocked the messengers of God — Of which see instances Ezekiel 11:3, and 20:49. Misused his prophets — Imprisoning and persecuting them as they did Jeremiah; or, seduced themselves by his prophets; that is, by the prophecies of his prophets, which they perverted, or misconstrued. An eminent instance of which we have in this, that because Jeremiah prophesied that Zedekiah should be led to Babylon, (Jeremiah 32:5,) and Ezekiel, that he should not see Babylon, (Ezekiel 12:13,) and therefore they believed neither, as the Hebrew writers relate. Till there was no remedy — Because the people would not repent, and God would not pardon them without repentance.

Ver. 16. Misused his prophets; stoned them, as they did Zechariah and his brothers. They were “sawn asunder,” and put in prison, as were Micaiah, Jeremiah, and others.

Verses 1-20 of this chapter contain a brief summary of the reigns of Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah, the fall of Jerusalem, the destruction of the temple, and the captivity of the Jews. These events are much more fully written in 2 Kings 23:30-25:21, where see the notes.

V. 17. Chaldees-Abraham was called out of Ur of the Chaldees, when God took him into covenant with himself. And now his degenerate seed are carried into that country again, to signify that they had forfeited all that kindness wherewith they had been loved for their father’s sake, and the benefit of the covenant into which he was called.

Verse 17. Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees — The king of the Chaldeans marched against them out of some political view; but we are taught in the Holy Scriptures to ascribe all these events to the agency of the Divine Providence, and therefore it is said here, not that the king of the Chaldeans went against them, but that the Lord brought upon them the king of the Chaldeans. Who slew their young men in the house of their sanctuary — Either in Jerusalem, which was the dwelling-place of God’s sanctuary, or in the house which was their sanctuary. It is probable they killed some of them in the very courts and house of God, to which they had fled for refuge, such places being esteemed sacred and inviolable by the heathen themselves. He gave them all into his hand — To be carried captive into Chaldea. Abraham was called out of Ur of the Chaldees, when God took him into covenant with himself. And now his degenerate seed are carried into that country again, to signify that they had forfeited all that kindness wherewith they had been loved for their father’s sake, and the benefit of the covenant into which he was called.

Verses 1-20 of this chapter contain a brief summary of the reigns of Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah, the fall of Jerusalem, the destruction of the temple, and the captivity of the Jews. These events are much more fully written in 2 Kings 23:30-25:21, where see the notes.

Verse 18. And the treasures of the king, and of his princes — The treasures of the temple, by a special providence of God, were preserved, and restored, in the reign of Cyrus, to the house of the Lord: but the other, it is likely, were looked upon as spoil, and spent by the king and his great men.

Verses 1-20 of this chapter contain a brief summary of the reigns of Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah, the fall of Jerusalem, the destruction of the temple, and the captivity of the Jews. These events are much more fully written in 2 Kings 23:30-25:21, where see the notes.

Verse 19. They burnt the house of God] Here was an end to the temple; the most superb and costly edifice ever erected by man. Brake down the wall of Jerusalem] So it ceased to be a fortified city. Burnt all the palaces] So it was no longer a dwelling-place for kings or great men.

Destroyed all the goodly vessels] Beat up all the silver and gold into masses, keeping only a few of the finest in their own shape. See 2 Chronicles 36:18.

Verses 1-20 of this chapter contain a brief summary of the reigns of Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah, the fall of Jerusalem, the destruction of the temple, and the captivity of the Jews. These events are much more fully written in 2 Kings 23:30-25:21, where see the notes.

Verse 20. Where they were servants to him and his sons — They do not seem to have been made captives to private persons, but to have been taken in one body, and made the servants of the king; that is, to have been employed by him, in one way or other, to his private advantage, which we are not now acquainted with. Until the reign of the kingdom of Persia — Until the reign of the king of Persia, Houb. Respecting the proclamation of Cyrus, see the beginning of the next book. From these words, we may conclude that this book was written after the return from captivity.

Verses 1-20 of this chapter contain a brief summary of the reigns of Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah, the fall of Jerusalem, the destruction of the temple, and the captivity of the Jews. These events are much more fully written in 2 Kings 23:30-25:21, where see the notes.

V. 21. Sabbaths-Had rested from the labour of the husbandman in plowing and harrowing it; the people that should have managed it being destroyed. Many a time had they ploughed and sowed their land in the seventh year, when it should have rested: and now it lay unploughed and unsown for ten times seven years. Yet even this might encourage them to hope, that they should in due time return to it again. Had others come and taken possession of it, they might have despaired of ever recovering it. But while it lay desolate, it, as it were, waited for them, and refused to acknowledge any other owners.

Verse 21. To fulfill the word of the Lord] See Jeremiah 25:9, 12; 26:6, 7; 29:12. For the miserable death of Zedekiah, see 2 Kings 25:4, &c.

Verse 21. Until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths — “God had commanded them to let their land rest every seventh year; and because the Jews had violated this, as well as other precepts, God gave their land a long sabbath, or rest, for no less than ten times seven years, which Jeremiah threatened, as in the margin. If it be true, that they had neglected this law for the space of four hundred and ninety years, having ploughed their ground in the seventh as well as in other years, then the judgment of God upon them was very remarkable, in causing their ground to rest, and be free from tillage, just as long as it should have been if they had observed his law. For in those four hundred and ninety years, says Procopius Gazæus, when they were under the government of kings, there were seventy years to be kept as sabbaths, which, that the land might enjoy its sabbath, were spent in the captivity of Babylon. Their punishment, too, was made more remarkable in this particular, if it be true, as some have observed, that both the kingdom of Samaria and the kingdom of Judah were destroyed in a sabbatical year; and that immediately after a jubilee, the city and temple were destroyed by Titus, according to Scaliger’s computation.” See Patrick, Calmet, and Dodd.

Ver. 21. Until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths. From the time of Jeroboam to the captivity was four hundred and ninety years, which included seventy sabbatical years, in which the Jews were forbidden to sow; yet the idolaters disregarded this law. See Ezekiel 20.

21. The word of the Lord by… Jeremiah — Jeremiah 25:9-12; 29:10; and the note on Ezra 1:1. Until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths — See Leviticus 26:34, 35, 43. We need not assume that the observance of the sabbatic years had been neglected exactly seventy times in succession, or for the period of four hundred and ninety years preceding this exile. But it is probable that during the thousand years between Moses and the Babylonish exile as many as seventy sabbatic years had been neglected, and, at last, judgment that had seemed to slumber long, exacted all.

THE PROCLAMATION OF CYRUS, 22-23.

For exposition of these verses, see notes on Ezra 1:1-4. As the books of Kings end with a notice of Jehoiachin’s release from prison, thus shedding a ray of light on Judah’s future, (see note on 2 Kings 25:30,) so these Chronicles close with a recital of the proclamation of Cyrus, the Lord’s anointed shepherd, of whom Isaiah (Isaiah 44:28; 45:1) had prophesied long years before as “saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built, and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.” It was a sound of grace, the trumpet blast that shook the dry bones of fallen Israel, (Ezekiel 37:1-14,) and raised the nation to a new and purer life. It was the opening of a new age, and our author felt he could not close his work without directing the eye of his reader across the dark gulf of his people’s exile to the dawn of a brighter era.

Verse 22. Now in the first year of Cyrus] This and the following verse are supposed to have been written by mistake from the book of Ezra, which begins in the same way. The book of the Chronicles, properly speaking, does close with the twenty-first verse, as then the Babylonish captivity commences, and these two verses speak of the transactions of a period seventy years after. This was in the first year of the reign of Cyrus over the empire of the East which is reckoned to be A.M. 3468. But he was king of Persia from the year 3444 or 3445. See Calmet and Usher.

Verse 22. Now in the first year of Cyrus — Kennicott thinks that the last two verses of this book belong properly to the book of Ezra, and were subjoined to the Chronicles through the inadvertency of some transcriber. And thus ends the history of the kingdom of Judah, as governed by the successors of the illustrious King David, with the destruction of Jerusalem, the temple, and the whole Jewish monarchy, by the conquest of the Babylonian king: which, in the course of a righteous providence, in punishment of the idolatry and other sins of this people, fell out about nine hundred and three years after their deliverance from Egypt; eight hundred and sixty-three from their first entrance into the land of Canaan; four hundred and sixty-eight from David’s reign; four hundred and seventeen after the building of the temple; and one hundred and thirty-four after the destruction of the kingdom of the ten tribes.

It is justly observed by a late writer, that the propriety of this dispensation of Divine Providence toward this people will appear, if we reflect, 1st, That this dreadful calamity came upon them gradually, by a succession of judgments, from less to greater, for the space of twenty-two years; in which the lenity of God was very apparent, and which should have been a warning to them, that the threatenings denounced by the prophets would certainly be executed; but which effected no amendment of the religion or morals of the nation; Zedekiah, the last king, being as bad as his predecessors.

2d, That it was a just punishment of their sins, particularly of their idolatry, whereby they forsook God, and therefore God justly forsook them, and delivered them into the hands of their enemies, as Moses had foretold, Leviticus 36:30-36.

3d, That this terrible overthrow was the most effectual means to work their reformation, which was the end proposed by the divine wisdom. Now, in their captive, disconsolate state, they had time, and their calamities had a natural tendency to give them a disposition, to reflect upon the long series of iniquity and perverseness which had brought them under the heaviest of God’s judgments. Now their own wickedness corrected them, and their backslidings reproved them: now they must know and see that it was an evil thing and bitter, that they had forsaken the Lord their God, and that his fear had not been in them, Jeremiah 2:19. In the land of their captivity, the sermons of the prophets, declaiming with the highest authority against their profane and vicious practices, would be still sounding in their ears, and their abject, wretched condition, the consequence of such practices, would cause these discourses to sink deep into their hearts, and produce an utter detestation of what they very well knew was the cause of all their grievous sufferings.

4th, The law of God, written by Moses, as the rule of their conduct in all affairs, civil and religious, and the ground of their happiness, they had so far neglected, that once it was almost unknown and lost among them, 2 Kings 22:8-12. This contempt of the divine law the prophets had frequently and strongly protested against, and publicly declared that it would be their ruin. And in their ruined state this would be remembered as the primary reason of all their sufferings; and they would be made thoroughly sensible that a due regard to the law of God was the only way to recover his favour and their own prosperity; and accordingly would be disposed to attend to it; which, in some measure, was the case. This was another good effect of this dispensation, and may justly be given as one good reason of their being so strongly fixed against idolatry ever after the Babylonish captivity. 5th, This dispensation was also calculated to produce good effects among the nations whither they were carried into captivity. For wherever they were dispersed, in the eastern countries, they would bring with them the knowledge of the true God, now seriously impressed upon their hearts. But Divine Providence, by such signal circumstances of his interposition as were published and known over all the vast extent of the eastern empire, raised some of the captive Jews to the highest posts of dignity and power in the courts of Assyria and Persia, (Daniel 1:19, 20,) insomuch that the most haughty monarchs openly confessed the living and true God, (Daniel 2:47-49, and 4:34, &c.,) and made decrees, which were published throughout their spacious dominions, in favour of the profession and worship of him. Daniel 3:29; 6:25, &c. From all this, it is clear, that the Jews, notwithstanding their depravity in their own country, during the captivity of seventy years, must have been the means of diffusing a blessed light all over the eastern countries. And thus, in this dispensation also, God, the Father and Governor of mankind, was working for the reformation and improvement of the world, in that which is the true excellence of their nature, and the only foundation of their happiness. See Dodd and Taylor’s Scheme of Scripture Doctrine.

Verse 23. The Lord his God be with him] “Let the WORD of the Lord be his helper, and let him go up.”-Targum. See the notes on the beginning of Ezra. See Clarke “Ezr 1:1”.

THUS ends the history of a people the most fickle, the most ungrateful, and perhaps on the whole the most sinful, that ever existed on the face of the earth. But what a display does all this give of the power, justice, mercy, and long-suffering of the Lord! There was no people like this people, and no God like their God.

MASORETIC NOTES

The sum of the verses in both books of Chronicles is 1656. Middle verse, 1 Chronicles 27:25. Its Masoretic sections, twenty-five. Having made particular remarks on every thing which I judged of importance in these and the preceding historical books, and in the course of this work having often found the want of a chronological list of the kings of Israel and Judah, in the consecutive order of their reigns; for the reader’s information I have brought all the facts into a synopsis or general view, so that he may see at once the contemporary reigns in those two kingdoms, as well as the leading facts by which their reigns were distinguished. In this table will be seen, at one view, the year of the world; the year before Christ; the year before and after the First Olympiad; the year before and from the building of Rome; and under them the Jewish history, from its first kings till the time in which its regal state was entirely abolished, and both kingdoms led into captivity, never more to arise to any political consequence till they acknowledge the Lion of the tribe of Judah, and take Jesus the Christ, the son and only legitimate heir of David, for their Saviour and their Lord. I hope that the table which is here subjoined will be found, in every point of view, both interesting and instructive. A. CLARKE.

Millbrook, December 7, 1819.

Finished correcting the two books of Chronicles, March 28th, 1828.-A. CLARKE.

Ver. 23. Charged me to build him a house. Daniel the prophet had now lived to be a hundred years of age, and was spared to show Cyrus the forty fourth and forty fifth chapters of his prophecies, in which both his name, and the particulars of the siege of Babylon were foretold two hundred years before. Parchments so ancient could not be forgeries.