confessed and denied not, but confessed, I am not the Christ.” (John i. 20.) For as they asked him after, "What then, Art thou Elias? and he said, I am not: Art thou that prophet? and he answered, No:" (John i. 21.) so without question their first demand was, Art thou the Christ?'* and he answered, I au not:' from whence it clearly appeareth that there was a general expectation among the Jews of a Messias to come; nor only'so, but it was always counted among them an article of their faith,t which all were obliged to believe who professed the Law of Moses, and whosoever denied that, was thereby interpreted to deny the Law and the Prophets. Wherefore it will be worth our inquiry to look into the grounds upon which they built that expectation.

It is most certain that the Messias was promised by God, both before and under the Law. God said unto Abraham, “Iu Isaac shall thy seed be called:" (Gen. xxi. 12.) and we know that was a promise of a Messias to come, because St. Paul hath taught us, "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, unto seeds as of many, but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ." (Gal. iii. 16.) The Lord said unto Moses, "I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren like unto thee." (Acts iii. 22. vii. 37.) And St. Peter hath sufficiently satisfied us, that this prophet promised to Moses is Jesus the Christ. (Acts iii. 20.) Many are the prophecies which concern him, many the promises which are made of him but yet some of them very obscure; others, though plainer, yet have relation only to the person, not to the notion or the word Messias. Wheresoever he is spoken of as the Anointed, it may well be first understood of some other person; except one place in Daniel, where Messiah is foretold "to be cut off:" (Dan, ix. 26) and yet even there the Greek translation hath not the Messiah, but the Unction. It may therefore seem something strange, how so universal an expectation of a Redeemer under the name of the Messias should be spread through the church of the Jews.

But if we consider that in the space of seventy years of the Babylonish captivity the ordinary Jews had lost the exact understanding of the old Hebrew language before spoken in Judea, and therefore when the Scriptures were read unto them, they found it necessary to interpret them to the people in the Chaldee language, which they had lately learned as when Ezra the Scribe brought the book of the Law of Moses before the congregation, the Levites are said to have caused the people to understand the Law, because "they read in the book, in the Law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to

So Nonnus hath expressed, what in the evangelist is to be understood:
Μυστιπόλοι δ ̓ ἐρέεινον ὁμήλυδες ὀξέϊ μύθω,

Auctor Sepher Ikkarim, 1. iv. c. ult. Maimon. Tract. de Regibus. c 11.

understand the reading." (Neh. viii. 8.) Which constant interpretation begat at last a Chaldee translation of the Old Testament to be read every sabbath in the synagogues: and that being not exactly made word for word with the Hebrew, but with a liberty of a brief exposition by the way, took in, together with the text, the general opinion of the learned Jews. By which means it came to pass that not only the doctrine, but the name also, of the Messias was very frequent and familiar with them. Insomuch that even in the Chaldee paraphrase now extant, there is express mention of the Messias in above seventy places, besides that of Daniel. The Jews then informed by the plain words of Daniel,* instructed by a constant interpretation. of the Law and the Prophets read in their synagogues every sabbath-day, relying upon the infallible predictions and promises of God, did all unanimously expect out of their own. nation, of the tribe of Judah, of the family of David, a Messias or a Christ, to come.

Now this being granted, as it cannot be denied, our next consideration is of the time in which this promise was to be fulfilled: which we shall demonstrate out of the Scriptures to be past, and consequently that the promised Messias is already come. The prediction of Jacob upon his death-bed is clear and pregnant, "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and to him shall the gathering of the people be." (Gen. xlix. 10.) But the sceptre is departed from Judah, neither is there one lawgiver left between his feet. Therefore Shiloh, that is, the Messias, is already come. That the Jewish government hath totally failed, is not without the greatest folly to be denied: and therefore that Shiloh is already come, except we should deny the truth of divine predictions, must be granted. There then remains nothing to be proved, but that by Shiloh is to be understood the Messias: which is sufficiently manifest both from the consent of the ancient Jews, and from the description immediately added to the name. For all the old paraphrasts call him expressly the Messias,† and the words which follow, "to him shall the gathering of the people be," (Gen. xlix. 10.) speak no less; as giving an explication of his person, office, or condition, who was but darkly described in the name of Shiloh.

Celsus the Epicurean acknowledgeth that both the Jews and Christians did confess that the prophets did foretell a Saviour of the world. Οἴεται μηδὲν σεμνὸν εἶναι ἐν τῇ Ἰουδαίων καὶ Χριστιανῶν πρὸς ἀλλήλους ζητήσει· πιστευόντων μὲν ἀμφοτέρων, ὅτι ἀπὸ Θείου Πνεύματος προεφητεύθη τις ἐπιδημήσων Σωτὴρ τῷ γένει τῶν ἀνθρώπων. Orig. adv. Celsum, 1. iii. §. 1. And this Saviour, saith Origen, was to be called, xarà тà 'Ioudaiwv πάτρια, Χριστός.

Onkelos עד כי יבא שילה For instead of +

-and Jona עד דייתי מלכא משיחא renders it

Beside the Cabalists דייתי מלכא משיחא

than and the Jerusalem Targum,

did generally so interpret it, because

bw according to their computation, made the same number with the letters of nwn and in the Talmud, cod. Sanhedrim, Rabbi Johanan asking what was the name of the Messias, they of the school of R. Schila answer, w w his name is Shiloh, according to that which is written, until Shiloh come.

For this is the same character by which he was signified unto Abraham; "In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed" (Gen. xxii. 18.) by which he is deciphered in Isaiah; "In that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek, and his rest shall be glorious:" (Isa. xi. 10.) and in Micah, "The mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established on the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills, and people shall flow unto it." (Mic. iv. 1.) And thus the blessing of Judah is plainly intelligible: "Judah thou art he, whom thy brethren shall praise; thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies, thy father's children shall bow down before thee." (Gen. xlix. 8.) Thou shalt obtain the primogeniture of thy brother Reuben, and by virtue thereof shalt rule over the rest of the tribes: the government shall be upon thy shoulders, and all thy brethren shall be subject unto thee. And that you may understand this blessing is not to expire until it make way for a greater, know that this government shall not fail, until there come a son out of your loins, who shall be far greater than yourself: for whereas your dominion reacheth only over your brethren, and so is confined unto the tribes of Israel; his kingdom shall be universal, and all nations of the earth shall serve him. Being then this Shiloh is so described in the text, and acknowledged by the ancient Jews to be the Messias; being God hath promised by Jacob the government of Israel should not fail until Shiloh came; being that government is visibly and undeniably already failed, it followeth inevitably, that the Messias is already come.

In the same manner the prophet Malachi hath given an express signification of the coming of the Messias while the Temple stood. "Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me; and the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant whom ye delight in." (Mal. iii. 1.)* And Haggai yet more clearly, "Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Yet once it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; and I will shake all nations; and the desire of all nations shall come; and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts. The glory of this latter house shall be greater than the glory of the former, saith the Lord of hosts." (Hag. ii. 6, 7. 9.) It is then most evident from these predictions, that the Messias was to come while the second Temple stood. It is as certain that the second Temple is not now standing. Therefore, except we contradict the veracity of God, it cannot be denied but the Messias is already come. Nothing can be objected to enervate this argument, but that these prophecies concern not the Messias; and yet the ancient Jews confessed they did, and that they do so cannot be denied. For, first,

.Kimchi on the place האדון הוא מלך המשיח

those titles, the angel of the covenant,' the delight of the Israelites,'' the desire of all nations,' are certain and known characters of the Christ to come. And, secondly, it cannot be conceived how the glory of the second Temple should be greater than the glory of the first, without the coming of the Messias to it. For the Jews themselves have observed that five signs of the divine glory were in the first Temple, which were wanting to the second: as the Urim and Thummim, by which the high-priest was miraculously instructed of the will of God; the ark of the covenant, from whence God gave his answers by a clear and audible voice; the fire upon the altar, which came down from heaven, and immediately consumed the sacrifice; the divine presence or habitation with them, represented by a visible appearance, or given, as it were, to the king and highpriest by anointing with the oil of unction; and, lastly, the spirit of prophecy, with which those especially who were called to the prophetical office were endued. And there was no comparison between the beauty and glory of the structure or building of it, as appeared by the tears dropped from those eyes which had beheld the former, (" For many of the priests and Levites, and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice;" Ezra iii. 12.) and by those words which God commanded Haggai to speak to the people for the introducing of this prophecy, "Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? And how do you see it now? Is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing?" (Hag. ii. 3.) Being then the structure of the second Temple was so far inferior to the first, being all those signs of the divine glory were wanting in it with which the former was adorned; the glory of it can no other way be imagined greater, than by the coming of Him into it in whom all those signs of the divine glory were far more eminently contained: and this person alone is the Messias. For he was to be the glory of the people Israel, yea, even of the God of Israel; he the Urim and Thummim, by whom the will of God, as by a greater oracle, was revealed; he the true ark of the covenant, the only propitiatory by his blood; he which was to baptize with the Holy Ghost and with fire, the true fire which came down from heaven; he which was to take up his habitation in our flesh, and to dwell among us that we might behold his glory; he who received the Spirit without measure, and from whose fulness we do all receive. In him were all those signs of the divine glory united, which were thus divided in the first Temple; in him they were all more eminently contained than in those: therefore his coming to the second Temple was, as the sufficient, so the only means by which the glory of it could be greater than the glory of the first. If then the Messias was to come while the second Temple stood, as appeareth by God's prediction and

promise; if that Temple many ages since hath ceased to be, there being not one stone left upon a stone; if it certainly were before the destruction of it in greater glory than ever the former was; if no such glory could accrue unto it but by the coming of the Messias: then is that Messias already come.

Having thus demonstrated out of the promises given to the Jews, that the Messias who was so promised unto them must be already come, because those events which were foretold to follow his coming are already past; we shall proceed unto the next particular, and prove that the man Jesus, in whom we believe, that Messias who was promised. First, it is acknowledged, both by the Jew and Gentile, that this Jesus was born in Judea, and lived and died there, before the commonwealth of Israel was dispersed, before the second Temple was destroyed; that is, at the very time when the prophets foretold the Messias should come. And there was no other beside him, that did with any show of probability pretend to be, or was accepted as, the Messias. Therefore we must confess he was, and only he could be, the Christ.

Secondly, All other prophecies belonging to the Messias were fulfilled in Jesus, whether we look upon the family, the place, or the manner of his birth; neither were they ever fulfilled in any person beside him: he then is, and no other can be, the Messias. That he was to come out of the tribe of Judah and family of David, is every where manifest. The Jews, which mention Messias as a son of Joseph or of Ephraim, do not deny, but rather dignify, the Son of David, or of Judah, whom they confess to be the greater Christ.* "There shall come forth a rodt out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots, and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him," saith the prophet Isaiah, (xi. 1, 2.) And again, " In that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people to it shall the Gentiles seek, and his rest shall be glorious." (Isa. xi. 10.) Now who was it but Jesus of whom the elders spake," Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David?" (Rev. v. 5.) Who but he said, "I am the root and offspring of David, and the bright and morning star?" (Rev. xxii. 16.) The Jews did all acknowledge it, as appears by the question of our Saviour, "How say the scribes that Christ is the son of David?" (Mark xii. 35.)" What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The Son of David :" (Matt. xxii. 42.) and that of the people, amazed at the seeing