of Josiah's sons, in room of his brother; and imposed an annual tribute on the land of an hundred talents of silver and one talent of gold. This being done, he returned in triumph to Egypt. * Herodotus, mentioning this king's expedition, and the victory gained by him at & Magdolus, as he calls it, says, that he afterwards took the city Cadytis, which he represents as situated in the mountains of Palestine, and equal in extent to Sardis, the capital at that time not only of Lydia, but of all Asia Minor. This description can suit only Jerusalem, which was situated in the manner above described, and was then the only city in those parts that could be compared to Sardis. It appears, besides, from scripture, that Nechao, after his victory, won this capital of Judea; for he was there in person, when he gave the crown to Jehoiakim. The very name Cadytis, which in Hebrew signifies the Holy, points clearly to the city of Jerusalem, as is proved by the learned dean Prideaux.h • The Hebrew silver talent, according to Dr. Cumberland, is equiva lent to 3531. 11s. 10 1-2d.; so that 100 talents h From the time that Solomon, by means of his temple, had made Jeru salem the common place of worship to all Israel, it was distinguished from the rest of the cities by the epithet Holy; and in the Old Testament was called Air Hakkodesh, i. e. the city of holiness, or the holy city. It bore this title upon the coins, and the shekel was inscribed Jerusalem Kedusha, i. e. Jerusalem the holy. At length Jerusalem, for brevity's sake, was omitted, and only Kedusha reserved. The Syriac being the pre. vailing language in Herodotus's time, Kedusha, by a change in that dia fect of sh into th, was made Kedutha; and Herodotus giving it a Greek termination, it was writ Kadur, or Cadytis. Prideaux's Connection of the Old and New Testament, Vol. I. part i. p. 80, 81, 8vo edit. Nabopolasser, king of Babylon, observing, that since the taking of Carchemish by Nechao, all Syria and Palestine had shaken off their allegiance to him, and that his years and infirmities would not permit him to march against the rebels in person, he therefore associated his son Nabuchodonosor, or Nebuchadnezzar, with him in the empire, and sent him at the head of an army into those countries. This young prince vanquished the army of Nechao near the river Euphrates, recovered Carchemish, and reduced the revolted provinces to their allegiance, as Jeremiah had foretold. Thus he dispossessed the Egyptians of all that belonged to them, from the "little river of Egypt to the Euphrates, which comprehended all Syria and Palestine. Nechao dying, after he had reigned sixteen years, left the kingdom to his son. PSAMMIS. • His reign was but of six years, and history has left us nothing memorable concerning him, except that he made an expedition into Ethiopia. It was to this prince that the Eleans sent a splendid embassy, after having instituted the Olympic games. They had established the whole with such care, and made such excellent regulations, that, in their opinion, nothing seemed wanting to their perfection, and envy 1 A. M. 3397. Ant. J. C. 607. 12 Kings xxiv. 7. *Jer. xlvi. 2, &c. This little river of Egypt, so often mentioned in scripture as the boundary of Palestine towards Egypt, was not the Nile, but a small river, which, running through the desert that lay betwixt those two nations, was anciently the common boundary of both. So far the land which had been promised to the posterity of Abraham, and divided among them by ot, extended. n A rivo Egypti. • A. M. 3404. Ant. J. C. 600. Herod. 1. ii. c. 160. itself could not find any fault with them. However, they did not desire so much to have the opinion, as to gain the approbation of the Egyptians, who were looked upon as the wisest and most judicious people in the world. Accordingly the king assembled the sages of his nation. After all things had been heard, which could be said in favour of the institution, the Eleans were asked if the citizens and foreigners were admitted indifferently to these games; to which answer was made, that they were open to every one. To this the Egyptians replied, that the rules of justice would have been more strictly observed, had foreigners only been admitted to these combats; because it was very difficult for the judges, in their award of the victory and the prize, not to be prejudiced in favour of their fellowcitizens. APRIES. In scripture he is called Pharaoh Hophrah; and succeeding his father Psammis, reigned twenty five years. During the first years of his reign, he was as happy as any of his predecessors. He carried his arms into Cyprus; besieged the city of Sidon by sea and land; took it, and made himself master of all Phenicia and Palestine. So rapid a success elated his heart to a prodigious degree, and, as Herodotus informs us, swelled him with so much pride and infatuation, that he boasted, it was not in the power of the gods themselves to dethrone him; so great was the idea he had formed to himself of the firm establishment of his own power. P Herod. c. 160. A. M. 3410. Ant. J. C. 594. Jer. xliv. 30. Herod. l. ii. c. 161. Diod. 1. ii. p. 72. It was with a view to these arrogant conceits, that Ezekiel put the vain and impious words following into his mouth: ""My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself." But the true God proved to him afterwards that he had a master, and that he was a mere man; and he had threatened him long before, by his prophets, with all the calamities he was resolved to bring upon him, in order to punish him for his pride. A little after Hophrah had ascended the throne, Zedekiah, king of Judah, sent an embassy, and concluded a mutual alliance with him; and the year following, breaking the oath of fidelity he had taken to the king of Babylon, he rebelled openly against him. Notwithstanding God had so often forbid his people to have recourse to Egypt, or put any confidence in the people of it; notwithstanding the repeated calamities in which they had been involved, for their having relied on the Egyptians, they still thought this nation their most sure refuge in danger, and accordingly could not forbear applying to it. This they had already done in the reign of the holy king Hezekiah, and which gave occasion to God's message to his people, by the mouth of his prophet Isaiah: "Wo to them that go down to Egypt for help, and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; but they look not unto the holy One of Israel, neither seek the Lord. The Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit: when the Lord shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth shall fall, and he that is holpen shall fall down, and they all shall fail together." But neither the prophet nor the king were heard; and Ezek. xxix. 3. VOL. 1. * Chap. xvii. 15. Isai. xxxi. 1-3. nothing but the most fatal experience could open their eyes, and make them see evidently the truth of God's threatenings. The Jews behaved in the very same manner on this occasion. Zedekiah, notwithstanding all the remon strances of Jeremiah to the contrary, resolved to conclude an alliance with the Egyptian Monarch, whoj puffed up with the success of his arms, and confident that nothing could resist his power, declared himself the protector of Israel, and promised to deliver it from the tyranny of Nabuchodonosor. But God, offended that a mortal had thus dared to intrude himself into his place, expressedhis mind to another prophet as follows: "Son of man, set thy face against Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against all Egypt. Speak and say, Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh, king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself. But I will put hooks in thy jaws," &c. God, after comparing him to a reed, which breaks under the man who leans upon it, and wounds his hand, adds, Behold, I will bring a sword upon thee, and cut off man and beast out of thee. And the land of Egypt shall be desolate, and they shall know that I am the Lord; because he hath said, The river is mine, and I have made it." The " same prophet, in several succeeding chapters, continues to foretell the calamities with which Egypt was going to be overwhelmed. Zedekiah was far from giving credit to these predictions. When he heard of the approach of the Egyp Ezek. xxix. 2, 3, 4. Chap. xxix. 8. 9. w Chap. xxix. xxx. xxxi. xxxÏÏ |