Part 1 — CHAPTER VII. EXTENT OF THE SIXTH AGE OF THE WORLD.
Reading edition
1.
Table XIV. Hierarchal Eras and Intervals, from Usher and Cuninghame—Determination of the Intervals from Scripture—Period of the Seventy years Captivity—Period of the Seventy prophetic weeks of Daniel—Table XV. Date of the Crucifixion determined—Truth of the Ancient Tradition respecting the First Advent of the Messiah demonstrated.
The extent of the Sixth, or Hierarchal age, is ascertained from chronological notices interspersed in the Historical and Prophetical Books of Scripture, and confirmed by the Astronomical Canon of Ptolemy.[27] The difference between the Hebrew and Septuagint chronologies in this period, amounts only to two years, its length, according to Usher’s “Chronologia,” p. 44, being 583 years, and, according to the following table, 585 years. This table, in which we have taken the Hebrew dates and intervals from Usher’s “Annals,” because they are wanting in the Chronologia, exhibits only the Scriptural intervals 80of the Hierarchal eras, and the corresponding years of the world, according to both systems:—
TABLE XIV.
Hierarchal Hebrew. Septuagint.
Eras. Intervals. A.M. Intervals. A.M.
From the Destruction of Solomon’s Temple 0 3416 0 4891
The Edict of Cyrus 52 3468 52 4943
The Commission of Ezra *69 3537 *78 5021
The Commission of Nehemiah 13 3550 13 5034
The Return of Nehemiah 12 3562 12 5046
To the Birth of Christ *437 3999 *430 5476
The Sixth Age 583 years. 585 years.
The first interval in this table is determined from the following texts:—Jeremiah xxv. 12, and xxix. 10; 2 Kings xxiv. 1, and xxv. 2; 2 Chron. xxxvi. 21; and Daniel ix. 2; from these, it appears that the seventy years’ captivity in Babylon commenced in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, and the first of Nebuchadnezzar; and, that it preceded the destruction of the Temple by eighteen years. Consequently, it terminated exactly fifty-two years after that epoch, namely, in the first year of Cyrus, when, by his permission, the Jews “went up out of the Captivity,” in A.M. 4943. The second interval is determined in the following manner:—from Zechariah vii. 5, it appears that in the fourth year of Darius, 81seventy years had elapsed from the destruction of the Temple; consequently, eighteen years must have elapsed from the first of Cyrus. This computation agrees with that of Ptolemy’s Canon, which gives seven years to Cyrus, and eight to Cambyses, or Ahasuerus, making, with the three complete years of Darius, the same amount. Again, we find, from Ezra vii. 8, that in the seventh year of Artaxerxes, A. M. 5021, Ezra received a commandment from that king, to establish the Jews in their own land, and to beautify the Second Temple. Now, Ptolemy’s Canon gives thirty-three years for the rest of Darius’s reign, and twenty-one for that of Xerxes, making, with the six complete years of Artaxerxes, the amount of sixty years; consequently, the whole interval, from the first of Cyrus to the seventh of Artaxerxes, is seventy-eight years. That the epoch of Ezra’s commission is the commencement of the prophetic period of seventy weeks, or 490 years, is evident from Daniel ix. 24–27. Hitherto, the Jews had been hindered in the building of the city and temple; the latter was indeed built and dedicated; but the walls of the city were still in ruins, and the inhabitants were exposed to the insults and inroads of their enemies! Now, by the liberal decree of Artaxerxes, Ezra was furnished with money and means to forward the work at Jerusalem; and their enemies were not only silenced, 82but compelled to assist in carrying the king’s order into execution. This was, therefore, the epoch of “the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem,” and the beginning of the period “determined upon the people and the holy city,” until the time, when “the Messiah, the Prince,” should “be cut off, but not for himself;” when “the transgression should be finished or consummated” in his crucifixion; and, when “reconciliation” should be made “for iniquity,” by his death and resurrection.
The third and fourth intervals in the table are clearly pointed out in Nehemiah ii. 1; v. 14; and xiii. 6; the date, indeed, recorded in the latter text, being the last note of time to be found in the present Hebrew text. At this period, or very soon afterwards (according to Mr. Cuninghame, in A.M. 5055),[28] the Old Testament Canon was closed by the prophecy of Malachi, and a long night of darkness reigned, “until at length the Day-spring from on high” visited the world. Thus we have proved, from Scripture evidence alone, that at the date of Ezra’s commission, which was upwards of 5000 years from Creation, and even before that period, the Jews were in possession of a prophecy extending nearly 500 years into futurity, and pointing to the Advent of a mighty Saviour who should restore all things, 83and “bring in everlasting righteousness.” The date of the passion of Christ is fixed and determined as in the following table:—
TABLE XV.
The Date of Ezra’s Commission A.M. 5021
The period of seventy weeks, or 490 years 490
The Date of the Crucifixion, A.M. 5511
Hence, it is clearly demonstrated that the general belief among all nations, that the Messiah should appear in the middle of the Sixth Millenary from Creation, had its real origin in a knowledge of the true chronology of the sacred Scriptures! In arriving at this conclusion, we have been obliged, in order to establish the exact lengths of the Critarchal and Hierarchal ages, to borrow twelve years from the writings of the ancient chronographers, and seventy-eight from the canon of Ptolemy, amounting only to ninety years in all,—a period which may be considered as almost evanescent in the long range of 5500 years. Probably the Scriptures originally contained notices even of these intervals, and in the course of ages, they may have been either lost, through the negligence of transcribers, or omitted through the wilfulness of enemies to the truth.
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Determination of the Epoch of the Birth of Christ—Labours of Mr. Cuninghame on this point—Coincidence of the extent of the period of Patriarchal pilgrimage with that of Hierarchal Bondage—Table XVI. Extent of the Six Ages of the World—Difference between the true and vulgar dates of the Nativity—Mr. Cuninghame’s dates of the Nativity and Public Ministry of Christ, deduced from the chronology of the Septuagint.
The determination of the dates of the Nativity and Passion of our Lord, is a question of considerable difficulty, and of great importance in the true system of chronology; but much has been written upon it to very little purpose. We agree, however, with Mr. Cuninghame, in the conclusion to which he has arrived, after a very laborious and complete investigation, in his “Fulness of the Times,” part i. pp. 60–107, and part ii. pp. 1–27, and in his “Season of the End,” pp. 73–90, where he refutes the opinions of Newton, Hales, Gresswell and others, and demonstrates that the Passion of Christ took place in the thirty-fifth year of his age, that is, according to the vulgar reckoning in A. D. 33: and, that consequently, the true date of his Nativity was B. C. 3. The Scriptural evidence for this conclusion recommends itself to the mind, both by its simplicity and sufficiency. It appears from Luke iii. 23, that Christ was baptized when he was thirty years of age; and from Luke iv. 16–24, that soon after that period, he began his public ministry. Moreover, from the whole of 85the Gospel history, particularly that of John, it appears that he was present at four, if not five, public celebrations of the Passover; and consequently, that his thirty-fifth year was coincident with the date of the Crucifixion. Hence, it clearly follows, that the epoch of the birth of Christ was coincident with the 455th year of the prophetic period of seventy weeks, this being the difference between 35 and 490 years. Again, the intervals of thirteen years between the commissions of Ezra and Nehemiah, and of twelve between that of the latter and his return to the court of Artaxerxes,—amounting to twenty-five years in all,—being deducted from the 455 years, gives the last interval of 430 years to the Nativity. Thus, we perceive a singular coincidence in the period of the pilgrimage and afflictions of the Hebrews in Canaan and Egypt, till the time of Moses; and that of the persecution and sufferings of the Jews in Syria and Egypt, till the Advent of the Messiah! The following table exhibits, according to the two systems, the extent of the six ages of the world:—
TABLE XVI.
Ages of the World. Hebrew. Years. Septuagint. Years.
First Five Ages 3416 4891
Sixth Age 583 585
The Six Ages 3999 5476
86Usher states in his “Chronologia Sacra,” p. 45, that the true period from Creation to the Birth of Christ, is 3999 years, two months, four days, and six hours; but, according to the vulgar reckoning 4003 years, two months, eleven days, and six hours! Hence, according to his computation, the true date of the Nativity in current years is A.M. 4000, and the vulgar date A.M. 4004. It is indeed admitted by all chronologers that an error of two or three years was committed by Dionysius Exiguus, who first introduced the Christian era, in A.D. 532; and, by Bede, who followed him, in A.D. 720. Accordingly, Mr. Cuninghame very properly places the commencement of the vulgar era in A.M. 5478; and that of the Public Ministry of Christ, in A.M. 5508, which was in fact the true period of his appearance to the world! In the whole of this interesting inquiry, now approaching a close, we must candidly acknowledge the invaluable assistance we have received from the learned and original works of Mr. Cuninghame, which have been, as it were, our guide through the labyrinth of chronological difficulties, till we have at last arrived at the open field of well-known History.
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SECTION II. CONFIRMATION OF THE GREAT EPOCHS.
The epochs of the Nativity and Epiphany of Christ, determined in the preceding Section, receive very strong confirmation from the histories and chronicons of ancient writers both sacred and profane, from the writings of the early Fathers, and from the prophetic arrangement of “the Times and the Seasons” by the Great Θεος, or Supreme “Disposer” of all human events. It is plain, however, that a multiplicity of views both of the Hebrew and the Septuagint chronology may be taken, according as more or fewer of the errors, which we have pointed out in the computation of the different ages of the world, are either adopted or rejected. Dr. Hales, in his “Analysis,” vol. i. pp. 3–7, gives a list of more than a hundred and twenty different dates of the birth of Christ, under the title of “Epochs of the Creation;” and he adds that the list might be swelled to the number of three hundred! In such a multitude of discordant dates we might, at first sight, despair of 88ever arriving at the truth; but let us remember that error is a hydra-headed monster, which in chronology as well as in more sacred subjects, can only be successfully destroyed by the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
It is easy to see the source of the differences of opinion among the learned, in regard to the point under consideration. Instead of taking the sacred Scriptures as their guide, men have chosen rather to follow their own fancies; and, because discrepancies were found to exist in the ancient texts, they have with one consent agreed to abandon the light of internal evidence, and to take refuge in the obscure glimmerings of heathen tradition or the doubtful testimony of Jewish writers and Christian fathers. Hence, we have all varieties of dates, from the bold conjecture of Alphonsus, king of Castile, who supposed that the Mundane Cycle of 7000 years had nearly expired at the birth of Christ, to the traditionary epoch of the Chronicle of Axum in Abyssinia, which, according to Bruce, places that event in the year of the world 5500; and, from the Alexandrian or Constantinopolitan era, which, according to the computation of the Greeks, places it in A. M. 5508, to the Jewish epoch of the “Seder Olam Rabba,” which according to Ganz, dates it in A.M. 3751.
The following Table of the extent of the different ages of the world according to the three texts, will serve the double purpose of showing 89the leading varieties in the computation of the date of the Nativity from Creation, and of bringing before our readers, at a single glance, a condensed view of the result of our investigations in the preceding pages. As the Samaritan text comprehends only the chronology of the first two ages, the extent of the remaining four ages is borrowed from the Hebrew.
TABLE XVII.
Ages of the World. Hebrew. Years. Septuagint. Years. Samaritan. Years.
1. Antediluvian age 1656 2262 1307
2. Postdiluvian age 427 1147 1017
3. Patriarchal age 430 431 430
4. Critarchal age 480 612 480
5. Monarchal age 424 439 424
6. Hierarchal age 583 585 583
Birth of Christ A.M. 4000 5476 4241
Error in the Sixth age 2 0 2
Error in the Vulgar date 2 2 2
Extent of the Six ages 4004 5478 4245
In the preceding Table we have reckoned the date of the Birth of Christ in current years, and included the year of Abraham’s sojourning in Egypt in the Patriarchal age of the Septuagint computation.—See page 66 of this Dissertation.
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