第 141 节
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s more heavy upon him than the other; for he was terribly disturbed; and continually cried out that he saw the ghosts of those whom he had slain standing before him。 Where upon he was not able to contain himself; but leaped out of his bed; as if both torments and fire were brought to him。 This his distemper grew still a great deal worse and worse continually; and his very entrails were so corroded; that they fell out of his body; and in that condition he died。 Thus he became as great an instance of Divine Providence as ever was; and demonstrated that God punishes wicked men。 5。 And here we shall put an end to this our history; wherein we formerly promised to deliver the same with all accuracy; to such as should be desirous of understanding after what manner this war of the Romans with the Jews was managed。 Of which history; how good the style is; must be left to the determination of the readers; but as for its agreement with the facts; I shall not scruple to say; and that boldly; that truth hath been what I have alone aimed at through its entire composition。
WAR BOOK 7 FOOTNOTES
(1) Why the great Bochart should say; (De Phoenic。 Colon。 B。 II。 ch。 iv。;) that〃 there are in this clause of Josephus as many mistakes as words;〃 I do by no means understand。 Josephus thought Melchisedek first built; or rather rebuilt and adorned; this city; and that it was then called Salem; as Psalm 76:2; afterwards came to be called Jerusalem; and that Melchisedek; being a priest as well as a king; built to the true God therein a temple; or place for public Divine worship and sacrifice; all which things may be very true for aught we know to the contrary。 And for the word; or temple; as if it must needs belong to the great temple built by Solomon long afterward; Josephus himself uses; for the small tabernacle of Moses; Antiq。 B。 III。 ch。 6。 sect。 4; see also Antiq。 B。 lit。 ch。 6。 sect。 1; as he here presently uses; for a large and splendid synagogue of the Jews at Antioch; B。 VII。 ch。 3。 sect。 3。
(2) This Tereutius Rufus; as Reland in part observes here; is the same person whom the Talmudists call Turnus Rufus; of whom they relate; that 〃he ploughed up Sion as a field; and made Jerusalem become as heaps; and the mountain of the house as the high Idaces of a forest;〃 which was long before foretold by the prophet Micah; ch。 3:12; and quoted from him in the prophecies of Jeremiah; ch。 26:18。
(3) See Ecclesiastes 8:11。
(4) This Berytus was certainly a Roman colony; and has coins extant that witness the same; as Hudson and Spanheim inform us。 See the note on Antiq。 B。 XVI: ch。 11。 sect。 1。
(5) The Jews at Antioch and Alexandria; the two principal cities in all the East; had allowed them; both by the Macedonians; and afterwards by the Romans; a governor of their own; who was exempt from the jurisdiction of the other civil governors。 He was called sometimes barely 〃governor;〃 sometimes 〃ethnarch;〃 and 'at Alexandria' 〃alabarch;〃 as Dr。 Hudson takes notice on this place out of Fuller's Miscellanies。 They had the like governor or governors allowed them at Babylon under their captivity there; as the history of Susanna implies。
(6) This Classicus; and Civilis; and Cerealis are names well known in Tacitus; the two former as moving sedition against the Romans; and the last as sent to repress them by Vespasian; just as they are here described in Josephus; which is the case also of Fontellis Agrippa and Rubrius Gallup; i; sect。 3。 But as to the very favorable account presently given of Domitian; particularly as to his designs in this his Gallic and German expedition; it is not a little contrary to that in Suetonius; Vesp。 sect。 7。 Nor are the reasons unobvious that might occasion this great diversity: Domitian was one of Josephus's patrons; and when he published these books of the Jewish war; was very young; and had hardly begun those wicked practices which rendered him so infamous afterward; while Suetonius seems to have been too young; and too low in life; to receive any remarkable favors from him; as Domitian was certainly very lewd and cruel; and generally hated; when Puetonius wrote about him。
(7) Since in these latter ages this Sabbatic River; once so famous; which; by Josephus's account here; ran every seventh day; and rested on six; but according to Pliny; Nat。 Hist。 31。 II; ran perpetually on six days; and rested every seventh; (though it no way appears by either of their accounts that the seventh day of this river was the Jewish seventh day or sabbath;) is quite vanished; I shall add no more about it: only see Dr。 Hudson's note。 In Varenius's Geography; i; 17; the reader will find several instances of such periodical fountains and。 rivers; though none of their periods were that of a just week as of old this appears to have been。
(8) Vespasian and his two sons; Titus and Domitian。
(9) See the representations of these Jewish vessels as they still stand on Titus's triumphal arch at Rome; in Reland's very curious book de Spoliis Ternpli; throughout。 But what; things are chiefly to be noted are these: (1。) That Josephus says the candlestick here carried in this triumph was not thoroughly like that which was used in the temple; which appears in the number of the little knobs and flowers in that on the triumphal arch not well agreeing with Moses's description; Exodus 25:31…36。 (2。) The smallness of the branches in Josephus compared with the thickness of those on that arch。 (3。) That the Law or Pentateuch does not appear on that arch at all; though Josephus; an eye…witness; assures us that it was carried in this procession。 All which things deserve the consideration of the inquisitive reader。
(10) Spanheim observes here; that in Graceia Major and Sicily they had rue prodigiously great and durable; like this rue at Macherus;
(11) This strange account of the place and root Baaras seems to have been taken from the magicians; and the root to have been made use of in the days of Josephus; in that superstitious way of casting out demons; supposed by him to have been derived from king Solomon; of which we have already seen he had a great opinion; Antiq。 B。 VIII。 ch。 2。 sect。 5。 We also may hence learn the true notion Josephus had of demons and demoniacs; exactly like that of the Jews and Christians in the New Testament; and the first four centuries。 See Antiq。 B。 I。 ch。 8。 sect。 2; B。 XI; ch。 2。 sect。 3。
(12) It is very remarkable that Titus did not people this now desolate country of Judea; but ordered it to be all sold; nor indeed is it properly peopled at this day; but lies ready for its old inhabitants the Jews; at their future restoration。 See Literal Accomplishment of Prophecies; p。 77。
(13) That the city Emmaus; or Areindus; in Josephus and others which was the place of the government of Julius Africanus were slain; to the number of one thousand seven hundred; as were the women and the children made slaves。 But as Bassus thought he must perform the covenant he had made with those that had surrendered the citadel; he let them go; and restored Eleazar to them; in the beginning of the third century; and which he then procured to be rebuilt; and after which rebuilding it was called Nicopolis; is entirely different from that Emmaus which is mentioned by St。 Luke 24;13; see Reland's Paleestina; lib。 II。 p。 429; and under the name Ammaus also。 But he justly thinks that that in St。 Luke may well be the same with his Ammaus before us; especially since the Greek copies here usually make it sixty furlongs distant from Jerusalem; as does St。 Luke; though the Latin copies say only thirty。 The place also allotted for these eight hundred soldiers; as for a Roman garrison; in this place; would most naturally be not so remote from Jerusalem as was the other Emmaus; or Nicopolis。
(14) Pliny and others confirm this strange paradox; that provisions laid up against sieges will continue good for a hundred ears; as Spanheim notes upon this place。
(15) The speeches in this and the next section; as introduced under the person of this Eleazar; are exceeding remarkable; and oil the noblest subjects; the contempt of death; and the dignity and immortality of the soul; and that not only among the Jews; but among the Indians themselves also; and are highly worthy the perusal of all the curious。 It seems as if that philosophic lady who survived; ch。 9。 sect。 1; 2; remembered the substance of these discourses; as spoken by Eleazar; and so Josephus clothed them in his own words: at the lowest they contain the Jewish notions on these heads; as understood then by our Josephus; and cannot but deserve a suitable regard from us。
(16) See B。 II。 ch。 20。 sect。 2; where the number of the slain is but 10;000。
(17) Reland here sets down a parallel aphorism of one of the Jewish Rabbins; 〃We are born that we may die; and die that we may live。'
(18) Since Josephus here informs us that some of these Sicarii; or ruffians; went from Alexandria (which was itself in Egypt; in a large sense) into Egypt; and Thebes there situated; Reland well observes; from Vossius; that Egypt sometimes denotes Proper or Upper Egypt; as distinct from the Delta; and the lower parts near Palestine。 Accordingly; as he adds; those that say it never rains in Egypt must mean the Proper or Up