to* w ** Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2014 https://archive.org/details/observationsupon1733newt OBSERVATIONS UPON THE PROPHECIES DANIEL,O F AND THE APOCALYPSE O F St. y o H N. In Two Parts. By Sir ISAAC NEWTON. LONDON, T. in Barthohmew-Clofe. Printed by J. Darby and Browne in the And Sold by J.Roberts in Warwick-lane, J. Ton son Strand, W. Innys and R. Manby at the Weft End of St. in Pater- Paul's Church-Yard, J. Osborn and T. Longman Nofter-Row, J. Noon near Mercers Chapel in Cbeapfide, T. Hatchett at the Royal Exchange, S. Harding in St, lane, in Martin's J. Staog in JVeftminfter-Hall, J. Parker Pall-mall, and J. Brindley in New Bond-Jlreet, M,DCC,XXXIII. F rnJEoM.l V! bio }(1G 2 Y M W I .W ' hoc . .? t'jft»^ orb 1 T 3 H 3 T v<r.\ l'aV. oat 8 J c Uvv:$ kij»2[ .{.fane t PETERTo the Right Honourable Lord KING, Baron of Ockham, Lord High Chancellor of Great-Britain. My Lord, SHALL make no Apology for I addrejjing the following Sheets to Tour Lord/hip, who lived in a long Intercourfe of Friend/hip with the Au- thor ; and, like him, amidjl occupations A 2 of iv Dedication/ of # different nature, made Religion your voluntary Study ; and in all your Enquiries and Aftions, have Jhewn the fame inflexible Adherence to Truth and Virtue. 1 Jhall always reckon it one of the Advantages of my Relation to Sir Ifaac Newton, that it affords me an opportu- nity of making this publick acknowledg- ment of the unfeigned Refpeff of My Lord, Your Lordfliip's moft obedient, and mod humble Servant, Benj. Smith C O NTE NTS- P*A R T I. - OBfervations upon the Prophecies of Daniel. CHAP. \i Introdu&ion concerning the Com- the pilers of the Books of Old Teftament. o Tage i CHAP. II. Of the Prophetic Language. 1 6 CHAP. III. Of the vifion of the Image com- pofed of four Metals. 24 CHAP. IV. Of the viflon of the four Beafts. 28 CHAP. V. Of the Kingdoms reprefented by the feet of the Image compofed of iron and clay. 3 5 CHAP. VI. Of the ten Kingdoms reprefented by the ten horns of the fourth Beaft. 47 CHAP. VII. Of the eleventh horn of Daniel's fourth Beaft. 74 CHAP. VIII. Of the power of the eleventh horn of 'Daniels fourth Beaft, to change times and laws. 00 CHAP. IX. Of the Kingdoms reprefented in Daniel by the Ram and He-Goat. 1 1 5 C H A P. X. Of the Prophecy of the Seventy Weeks. 128 CHAP. XI. Of the Times of the Birth and Paflion of Chrift. 1 44 CHA P. CONTENTS. CHAP. XII. Of the Prophecy of the Scrip- ture of Truth. 1 69 C H A P. XIII. Of the King who did according to his will, and magnified himfelf above every God, and honoured Mahuzzimsy and regarded not the defire of women. 194 CHAP. XIV. Of the Mahuzz'ims-, honoured by the King who doth according to his will. 205 PART 11. OBfervations upon the Apoca of St. John. CHAP. I. Introduction, concerning the time when the Apocalypfe was written. 235 CHAP. II. Of the relation which the slpoca- Jypfe of John hath to the Book of the Law of Mojes, and to the worfhip of God in the Temple. 254 CHAP. III. Of the relation which the Pro- phecy of John hath to thofe of fDanief$ and of the Subject of the Prophecy. 276 PART F.RRAT, Pag. 145. Jin antepen. dele ar*. PART 1 OBSERVATIONS UPON THE PROPHECIES O F DANIEL. C i 3 OBSERVATIONS UPON THE Prophecies of DANIEL. CHAP. i. Introduction concerning the Compilers of the books of the Old Tefiament. Manajfes fct up a carved 2 chron; **xl 6 WHEN "' 5> ' image in the houfe of the Lord, and built altars in the two courts of the houfe, to all the hoft of Heaven, and us'd inchantments and witchcraft, and familiar fpirits, and for his great wickednefs was invaded by the army of Ajferhadon King of Ajfyria, and carried captive to "Babylon 5 the book of the Law was loft till the eighteenth year of his grand fon Jofiah. Then Hllkiah the * Chron. XXXIV' High Prieft, upon repairing the Temple, found it there : and the King lamented that their fathers had not done after the words of the B book, V 2 Observations upon the Part I. book, and commanded that it fliould be read to the people, and caufed the people to renew the holy covenant with God. This is the book of the Law now extant. 2 chron. xii. When Shifhak came out of Egypt and fpoil'd &xv%'fjs. the temple, and brought Judah into fubjection to the monarchy ofEgypt, (which was in the fifth year of Rehoboam) the Jews continued under great troubles for about twenty years being 5 without the true God, and without a teaching ^Priejt, and without Law : and in thofe times there was no peace to him that <went out, nor to him that came in, hut great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the countries, and nation was dejlroyed of nation, and city of city, for Gqd did vex them with all adverfity. But 2 chron.xiv. when Shifhak was dead, and Egypt fell into trou- j^tf, 7, 8, kjeg u^a jj j^j Uj ec ten years and in that ^ y q 5 time Afa built fenced cities in Judah, and got up an army of 5 80000 men, with which, in the 15 th year of his reign, he met and overcame Zerah the Ethiopian , who had conquered Egypt and Lybia, and Troglodytica, and came out with an army of 1000000 Lybians and Ethio- pians^ to recover the countries conquered by Sefac. 2 Chron. xv. And after this victory Afa dethroned his mother 1<y > for idolatry, and he renewed the Altar, and brought new veflels of gold and filver into the Temple 3 and he and the people entred into a new Chap. i. Prophecies of Daniel. ^ new covenant to feek the Lord God of their fathers, upon pain of death to thofe who wor- fliiped other Gods -> and his fon Jehofaphat took away the high places, and in the third year of his reign fent (ome of his Princes, and of the Priefts and Levites, to teach in the cities of Judah : and they had the book of the Law with them, and went about throughout all the cities of Judah, and taught the people. This is that book of the Law which was afterwards loft in the reign of Manajfes, and found again in the reign of Jojiah, and therefore it was written before the third year of Jehofaphat. The fame book of the Law was preferred and handed down to pofterity by the Samaritans, and therefore was received by the ten Tribes be- fore their captivity. For when the ten Tribes 4 Kings 7 ' Prieft 33*. were captivated, a of the captivity was fent 32, back to Bethel, by order of the King of Affyria, to inftruct the new inhabitants of Samaria, in the manner of the God of the land; and the Samaritans had the Pentateuch from this Prieft, as containing the law or manner of the God of the land, which he was to teach them. For they % Kings perfevered in the religion which he taught them, 34> joining with it the worfhip of their own Gods $ and by perfevering in what they had been taught, they prelerved this book of their Law in the ori- ginal character of the Hebrews, while the two ( B 2 Tribes,' Observations upon the Part I. Tribes, after their return from Babylon, changed the character to that of the Chaldees, which they had learned at 'Babylon. And fince the 'Pentateuch was received as the book of the Law, both by the two Tribes and by the ten Tribes, it follows that they received it before they became divided into two Kingdoms. For after the divifion, they received not laws from one another, but continued at variance. Judah could not reclaim Ifrael from the fin of Jero~ hoam, and Ifrael could not bring Judah to it. The 'Pentateuch therefore was the book of the Law in the days of ^Davtd and Solomon. The affairs of the Tabernacle and Temple were or- < dered by Darv'td and Solomon, according to the Law of this book $ and T>amd'm the 78th Pfalm, admonifhing the people to give ear to the Law of God, means the Law of this book. For in de- fcribing how their forefathers kept it not, he quotes many hiftorical things out of the books of Exodus and Numbers. The race of the Kings of Edom, before there reigned any King over Ifrael, is fet down in the book of Genejis and therefore that book was not written entirely in the form now extant, be- fore the reign of Saul. The writer fet down the race of thole Kings till his own time, and there- fore wrote before Damd conquered Edom. The 'Pentateuch is compofed of the Law and the. hit tory Chap, i . Trophecies of Daniel. tory of God s people together 3 and the hiftory hath been collected from feveral books, fuch as were the hiftory of the Creation compofed by Mofes, Gen. ii. 4. the book of the genera- tions of Adam, Gen. v. 1 . and the book of the wars of the Lord, Num.