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brance of their former injuries." The like slaughter was made at Gamala, " for no person escaped except two women who concealed themselves, and thereby avoided the rage of the Romans. They did not so much as spare young children; but every one, at that time, snatching up many, cast them down from the citadel."

According to the prophecy of Moses, the enemies of the Jews were to besiege and take their cities: And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down wherein thou trustedst, throughout all thy land. This was accordingly fulfilled, for Sennacherib, king of Assyria, came up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them, 2 Kings, xviii. 13. and Nebuchadnezzar and his captains took and spoiled Jerusalem, burnt the city and temple, and brake down the walls of Jerusalem round about, 2 Kings, xxv. 10.

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The Romans likewise (according to what we read in Josephus's history of the Jewish wars) demolished several fortified places before they besieged and destroyed Jerusalem. And the Jews who inhabited that city may very justly be said to have trusted in their high and fenced walls, for they seldom ventured a battle in the open field. They confided in the strength and situation of Jerusalem, as the Jebusites (the former inhabitants of the place) had done before them: Who shall come down against us? or who shall enter into our habitation? Jeremiah xxi. 13.

Jerusalem, indeed, was a very strong place, and (according to the description given of it by Tacitus and Josephus) was wonderfully fortified both by nature and art. And yet, how many times was it taken previous to its final destruction by Titus? It was taken by Shishak king of Egypt, by Nebuchadnezzar, by Antiochus Epiphanes, by Pompey, by Socius, and, lastly, by Herod.

The Jews, in these sieges, were to suffer great hardships, but more particularly by famine. Accordingly, when the king of Assyria besieged Samaria, there was a great famine in that city; and behold they besieged it, until an ass's head was sold for four pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cab of doves dung for five pieces of silver, 2 Kings vi. 25. When Nebuchadnezzar be

sieged Jerusalem, the famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land, 2 Kings, xxv. 3. And in the last siege of Jerusalem by the Romans, there was a most dreadful famine in the city, as appears by the following melancholy account given of it by Josephus: He saith particularly, "that, so great were the "distresses of the people, that women snatched the very "food out of the mouths of their husbands, and sons of "their fathers; and, what was most miserable, mothers "of their infants." In another place he says, " In every "house, if there appeared any semblance of food, a "battle immediately took place, and the dearest friends "and relations fought with each other, snatching away "the miserable provisions of life."-Thus was literally fulfilled the words of Moses, who says, the man's eye shall be evil towards his brother, and towards the wife of his bosom, and towards his children, because he hath nothing left him in the siege, and in the straitness wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee in all thy gates; and, in like manner, the woman's eye shall be evil towards the husband of her bosom, and towards her son, and towards her daughter. See Deut. xxviii. 54, &c.

According to another part of this prophecy, great numbers of the Jews were to be destroyed. And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude. Deut. xxviii. 62. Not to mention any other of the calamities and slaughters which they have undergone, there was in the last siege of Jerusalem (according to the account given by Josephus) an infinite multitude that perished by famine. He computes that, during the whole siege, the number of those who were destroyed by the famine and sword amounted to eleven hundred thousand, the people being then assembled from all parts to celebrate the passover. There certainly is not a nation upon the earth that hath been exposed to so many massacres and persecutions as the Jews. Their history abounds with them; and if God had not been pleased to have given them a promise of a numerous posterity, they must, many hundred years ago, have been totally extirpated.

The prophecy farther saith, that they should be carried into Egypt, and there sold for slaves. And the Lord shall bring thee into Egypt again, with ships: and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen. Deut. xxviii. 68. They had, indeed, come out of Egypt triumphant, but now they were to return thither as slaves. They had, on their coming out, walked through the sea as on dry land, but now they were to be carried thither in ships. They might be carried thither in the ships of the Tyrian or Sidonian merchants, or by the Romans, who had a fleet in the Mediterranean; and this was certainly a much safer way of conveying so many prisoners than sending them by land.

That this part of the prophecy was fulfilled evidently appears from the account given us by Josephus, who says, that in the reign of the two first Ptolemies many of the Jews were sent into Egypt as slaves. And when Jerusalem was taken by Titus, he sent the greater part of those captives who were upwards of seventeen years of age to the works in Egypt: such as were under that age he sold for slaves, but so little care was taken of them that no less than eleven thousand perished for want. This is confirmed by St. Jerome, who says, that "after

their last overthrow many thousands of them were "sold; that those who could not be sold were transported "into Egypt, and perished by shipwreck or famine, or "were massacred by the inhabitants."

And ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it, Deut. xxviii. 63. This was amply fulfilled when the ten tribes were carried into captivity by the king of Assyria, and other nations were planted in their stead; and when the two other tribes were carried away captives to Babylon, besides other captivities and transportations of the people at different periods. Afterwards, when the emperor Adrian had subdued the rebellious Jews, he published an edict, in which he not only forbade them, on pain of death, from setting foot in Jerusalem, but prohibited them from even entering into the country of Judea. From that time to the present Judea has been in the possession of foreign lords and masters, few of the Jews dwelling in it, and those only

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of a very low and servile condition. This has been clearly proved by several modern travellers, and particularly Mr Sandys, who, in speaking of the Holy Land, says, "it is for the most part now inhabited by Moors “and Arabians; the one possessing the vallies, and the "other the mountains. Turks there be few; but many "Greeks with other Christians of all sects and nations, "such as impute to the place an adherent holiness. Here are also some Jews, yet they inherit no part of the land, "but live as aliens in their own country."

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Thus have the Jews been plucked from off the land which they possessed. But this was not all, for, according to the prophecy, they were to be dispersed into all nations. And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from one end of the earth unto the other. Deut. xxviii. 64. These words were partly fulfilled in the Babylonish captivity; but they have been more amply fulfilled since the great dispersion of the Jews by the Romans. What people, indeed, have been scattered so far and wide as they? and where is the nation which is a stranger to them, or to which they are strangers? They swarm in many parts of the East, and are spread through most of the countries in Europe and Africa. In short, they are to be found in all places where there is a circulation of trade and money, and may, properly speaking, be called the brokers of the whole world.

It was likewise foretold by Moses, that though they should be so dispersed, yet they should not be totally destroyed, but should still subsist as a distinct people, And yet for all that, when they be in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them, Levit. xxvi. 44. This part of the prophecy hath been most strictly fulfilled, for (as Mr Basnage says) the Jewish nation, like the bush of Moses, hath been always burning, but never consumed. And what an astonishing thing it is to think, that after so many wars, battles and sieges; after so many fires, famines and pestilences; after so many rebellions, massacres and persecutions; after so many years of captivity, slavery and misery, they have not been utterly destroyed, but are

still scattered among all nations, and subsist as a distinct people?

They were to suffer greatly in their dispersion, and not to rest long in any place. And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest, Deut. xxxiii. 65. This likewise hath been amply fulfilled; for so far have they been from finding rest that they have been banished from city to city, and from country to country. In many places they have been banished, and recalled, and then banished again. Of these there are numerous instances; but we shall here only mention their great banishments in modern times, and from countries well known. Towards the latter end of the thirteenth century they were banished from England by Edward I. and were not permitted to return and settle again till Cromwell's time. In the latter end of the fourteenth century they were banished from France by Charles VI; and ever since they have been only tolerated, they have not enjoyed entire liberty, except at Mentz, where they have a synagogue. In the latter end of the fifteenth century they were banished from Spain by Ferdinand and Isabella; and (according to Mariana the Spanish historian,) there were an hundred and seventy thousand families, or (as some say) eight hundred thousand persons who left the kingdom. They paid dearly to John II. for a refuge in Portugal, but within a few years were expelled from thence also by his successor Emanuel. And in our own time, within these few years, they were banished from Prague by order of the queen of Bohemia.

But they were not only to be banished from their own country, and dispersed into various parts throughout the world, but likewise, wherever they went, were to be oppressed and spoiled evermore, and their houses and vineyards, their oxen and asses to be taken from them, Deut. xxviii. 29, &c. That this has been strictly fulfilled will evidently appear when we consider the very frequent and great seizures that have been made of their effects in almost all countries. How often have heavy fines been laid on them by the princes of the different nations in which they have dwelt; and how often have they been obliged

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