Captivity

CAPTIVITY. God generally punished the vices and infidelities of his People, by different Captivities or Servitudes whereinto he permitted them to fall. The first of these Captivities or Bondages is that of Egypt, from which Moses delivered them, and should be considered rather as an effect of Providence, permitting it for the manifestation of his own Glory, than as a punishment of the sins whereof the Israelites were guilty. As to the Duration of this Captivity, see hereafter Exodus.

After this there are reckoned six Bondages or Captivities during the Government of Judges: the first under Chusham-Rishathaïm King of Mesopotamia, which continued about eight years: the second under Eglon King of Moab, from which they were delivered by Ehud: the third under the Philistines, out of which they were rescued by Shamgar: the fourth under Jabin King of Hazor, from which they were delivered by Deborah and Barak: the fifth under the Midianites, from which Gideon freed them: lastly, the sixth under the Ammonites and Philistines, during the Judicatures of Jephthah, Ibzan, Elon, Abdon, Eli, Samson, Samuel.

But the greatest and most remarkable Captivities of the Hebrews were those of Judah and Israel, which happened under 2 Kings xv. 29.the Kings of each of these Kingdoms.

Tiglath-pilezer, in the year of the world 3264, took several Cities belonging to the Kingdom of Israel, and carried away a great number of Captives, principally from the Tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half Tribe of Manasseh. Next to him Salmanesar took and destroyed Samaria, after a siege of three years, in 3283, and transplanted the Tribes, which had been spared by Tiglath-pileser, to the Provinces 2 Kings xxii. 6 xviii. 10, 11.beyond the Euphrates. It is generally believed, that there was no return from this Captivity, and that the ten Tribes never came back again after their dispersion. Josephus¹ assures us, that they never returned after their exile, and that in his time they were still known in the Provinces beyond the Euphrates, where, says he, they are so numerous, that there is no computing their multitude. And S. Jerom writing upon the following words of the Prophet Hosea², Call her name Lo-ruhamah; for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel, but I will utterly take them away, says, that the Captivity of the ten Tribes still continued, and that in his time they were subject to the King of Persia: Usque hodie Persarum regibus serviunt, & nunquam est eorum soluta captivitas.

Nevertheless when we examine carefully the Writings of the Prophets, we find the Return of Israel from the Captivity pointed out in a manner almost as clear as that of the Tribes of Judah and Benjamin. The same Hosea, who is cited to prove, that the ten Tribes did not return from Hosea i. 10.their Captivity, says elsewhere, The number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the Sea which cannot be measured nor numbred; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the Sons of the living God. Hosea xi. 11.And again, They shall tremble as a bird out of Egypt, and as a dove out of the land of Assyria, and I will place them in their houses, saith the Lord, &c. And Amos, Amos ix. 14.And I will bring again my people Israel from their Captivity, they shall build their ruined Cities and inhabit them, &c. Obadiah: Obadiah v. 18. & 20.The house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them and devour them. The captivity of this host of the Children of Israel shall possess that of the Canaanites even unto Zarephat, &c.

Jerem. iii. 18.The great Prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, are no less clear to the same If. xi. 13, 14. See likewise xxvii. 12, 13.purpose. Isaiah: The Lord shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim. Ezekiel received an order from God, to take two pieces of wood, and write on one, for Judah Ezek. xxxvii. 16.and for the Children of Israel. And upon the other, for Joseph and for all the house of Israel, to join these two pieces of wood, that so one might be made of them, and this to shew the re-union of Judah and Israel. Jeremiah is as express, The house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the North, to the land which I have given for an inheritance unto their fathers. See likewise Jeremiah xxxi. 7, 8, 9, 16 17, 20. xvi. 15. xlix. 2, &c. The Reader may consult Zachary ix. 13. x. 6, 10. and Micah ii. 12.

If with the Prophecies we join the historical Books of Scripture, we shall there see the Israelites as well as those of Judah and Benjamin, were to return from the Tobit. xiv. 6. Vide & xiii. 12, 17.Captivity. Tobit assures his Son, that the word of the Lord is not faln to the ground, that his Brethren of the ten Tribes, which were dispersed out of the land of Israel, should return thither. Among those who came back with Zerobabel from Captivity, those of Ephraim and Manasseh are reckoned, 1 Chron. ix. 34.who settled at Jerusalem, with others belonging to the Tribe of Judah. When Esdras numbred those who returned from the Captivity, he made no other enquiry than whether they were of Ezra ii. 59.the race of Israel: Utrum ex Israel essent. And at the first Passover, which was then celebrated in the Temple, there was a Sacrifice of twelve He-goats for the whole house of Israel according to the number of Ezra vi. 16, 17. viii. 35.the Tribes. Under the Maccabees, and in our Saviour’s time, we see all Palestine peopled with Israelites of all the Tribes indifferently. The Samaritan Chronicle³ asserts, that in the 35th year of the Pontificate of Abdelus, the Israelites by the permission of King Sauredius, returned from their Captivity to the number of three thousand, under the conduct of Adus Son of Simon.

The Captivities of Judah. They are generally reckoned to be four: the first falls out in the year of the world 3398, under King Jehoiakim, at which time Daniel and his companions were carried captive to 2 Kings xxiii. 36. 2 Chron. xxxv. 5, 6. Jerem. xxvi. 1, &c. 2 Kings xxiv. 2. Jerem. lii. 28.Babylon; the second in the 3401, in the seventh of Jehoiakim, when Nebuchadnezzar carried with him 3023 Jews to Babylon; the third in 3406, and in the fourth year of Jehoiachin, when this Prince together with part of his people was sent to Babylon; lastly, the fourth and last in the year of the world 3416. Under Zedekiah; from this Period begin the seventy years Captivity foretold by the Prophet JeremiahJerem. xxv. 11. xxix. 10. Jerem. xxxii. 4. xxxiv. 3. Ezek. xii. 13..

The Jews were removed to Babylon and Babylonia, by Nebuchadnezzar, who designing to make this City the Capital of the East, transplanted thither very great numbers of the several people subdued by him in different Countries, in order to the better peopling of it. The Jews had Judges and Elders there, who governed them, and decided juridically in all contests according to their Laws. A proof of this we see in the story of Susanna, who was tried and condemned to death by the Elders of her own Nation.

Dan. xiii. 41, &c.King Cyrus in the year of the world 3457, and in the first year of his reign at Babylon, permitted the Jews to return into their own Country; but they did not obtain leave to rebuild the Temple of Jerusalem, and the perfect completion of the Prophecies, which foretold the end of the Captivity after the expiration of seventy years, was not seen till the year of the world 3486, when Darius the Son of Hystaspes, by a particular Edict, allowed them to rebuild the Temple. Lastly in 3537 Artaxerxes Longimanus sent back Ezra vii. 1, 7, 8.Nehemiah to Jerusalem. The Jews assure us, that none but the bran, the refuse of their Nation return’d from the Captivity, the principal of them continued in the places where they had settled near Babylon, and the country belonging to it, where indeed they grew very numerous after the transplanting of them thither under Nebuchadnezzar.

Since the destruction of the Temple by the Romans, the Hebrews boast, that they have always had their Heads or particular Princes.

Princes of the Captivity in the East and West. The Prince of the Captivity in the East governed the Jews who dwelt at Babylon, in Chaldæa, Assyria, and Persia; and the Prince of the Captivity in the West governed those who dwelt in Judæa, Egypt, Italy, and in other parts of the Roman Empire⁴. The Jews make a great difference between the Patriarchs of Judæa and the Princes of the Captivity at Babylon. The first are called Rabban, and the other Rabbana; these descended from David in a direct line by the Males, whereas the Patriarchs descended from him only by the Females. They say moreover, that the house of David is in all its vigour, because there are illustrious persons of this Family at Bagdad, among whom the Princes of the Jewish Nation are chosen, as has been always the custom from time immemorial. This is the Story the Jews tell us.

The Prince of the Captivity who resided in Judæa, resided commonly at Tiberias, and assumed the title of Rosch-Abboth, Head of the Fathers or Patriarchs. He presided in Assemblies, and in the Synagogues; he decided the important affairs of the Nation, and cases of Conscience. He levied taxes to provide for the expences of his visits; he had Officers under him, who were dispatched through the Provinces for the execution of his orders. The Jews maintain, that the Institution of these Patriarchs preceded the destruction of the Temple by an hundred years; for they reckon, that thirty years before the Birth of Jesus Christ, Hillel sirnamed the Babylonian came to Jerusalem, was consulted concerning the celebration of the Feast of the Passover, which fell out this year upon Saturday, and that people were so well satisfied with his decision, as to make him Patriarch of their Nation, and that his posterity succeeded him till the fifth Age of the Christian Church, in which the Patriarchs of Judæa were abolished.

The Jewish Authors are not agreed concerning the number of these Patriarchs; some reckon thirteen from Hillel, others only ten. Their names are as follow:

1. Hillel the Babylonian. 2. Simeon his Son. 3. Gamaliel the Son of Simeon. 4. Simeon II. Son of Gamaliel. 5. Gamaliel II. Son of Simeon. 6. Simeon III. Son of Simeon II. 7. Judas Son of Simeon III. 8 Gamaliel III. Son of Judas.

2. Judas II. Son of Gamaliel III. 10. Hillel II. Son of Judas. 11. Judas III. Son of Hillel II. 12. Hillel III. Son of Judas.

3. Gamaliel IV. Son of Hillel. See Basnage’s History of the Jews, l. iv. c. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. where he gives a very large account of these Princes of the Captivity in the West, and examines particularly whatsoever the Jews relate of them, shewing that in the whole there is a great deal false and dubious.

As to the Princes of the Captivity of Babylon or the East⁵, we know neither the original nor succession of them; it appears only, that they were not in being before the end of the second Century. They did not concern themselves about making Princes of the Captivity while the Temple subsisted; the Eastern Jews as well as Western continued subject to the High Priest. No Historian has said any thing of these supposed Princes of the Captivity before the destruction of the Temple. The first of these Princes who appeared upon the stage, was Huna, who did not live till the close of the second Century, and from Huna to the perfection of the Talmud, that is to say, for the space of three hundred years, they scarce produce three. The Jews affirm, that among these Princes of the Captivity of Babylon, who were all of the tribe of Judah and race of David, was found the Scepter of Judah mentioned by the Patriarch Jacob, and that in Judæa, among the Gen. xlix. 10.Patriarchs spoken of above, was found the Law-giver taken notice of in the same place.

The Jewish Authors describe very pompously the manner of appointing the Prince of the Captivity in the East⁶. The Heads of the neighbouring Universities, the Senators and People came in crowds to Babylon. The Prince of the Captivity was seated on a Throne, and the Head of the University of Syria harangued him, exhorting him not to abuse his power. The Thursday following the Heads of the several Universities laid their hands on him in the Synagogue. On Saturday morning he was conducted in great Ceremony to the Synagogue ; there he made a sermon, and gave the blessing to the people. Some days after he went to the King of Babylon’s Audience, who did him very great honours.

The Princes of the Captivity in the East have sometimes dwelt at Mahazia, but their residence was transferr’d from thence to Babylon or Bagdad.

There there were ten Courts of Justice in which he presided. There were likewise eight and twenty Synagogues, among which that of the Prince was distinguished by the beauty and magnificence of the Structure. Before the press, wherein the Law was shut up, was a Pew raised ten steps from the ground, in which seats were placed for the Prince of the Captivity and his Family. His Dominion extended over all the Jews dispersed throughout Assyria, Chaldæa, and the whole Kingdom of the Parthians. Benjamin of Tudela, who lived in the twelfth Century, says, that he found even in his time a Prince of the Captivity there. But there have been none known there since, and perhaps they were suppressed before.

It were to be wished, that the Succession and History of these Princes of the Captivity, both in the East and West, were better proved, and more connected: the Jewish Historians are very unaccurate, and Historians that are not of their Nation say nothing at all relating to these Princes of the Captivity. I except the Patriarch of the West, of Palestine, or Egypt, of whom the Emperor Adrian, Origen, S. Jerom, and the Theodosian Code make mention ; but they take no notice of the Prince of the Captivity at Babylon, because he lived under the dominion of the Persians.

After the first intelligence brought to Portugal, of the discovery which had been made of Prestejan or King of Ethiopia, which reported this Prince to be of the race of Solomon⁷, that all his subjects were circumcised, that they observed the Sabbath, and abstained from swine’s flesh, and had diverse other Jewish customs, it was immediately believed, that these people were Jews. As there were two Jews chosen among others to make this discovery, they did not fail to aggravate all these circumstances to those of their own Nation. This was sufficient without any thing more to persuade them that there was a Jewish King in Africk: from whence they drew all the consequences that might most favour their prejudices.

Rabbi Abarbanel who was then at Lisbon, in some places of his Comments on the Prophets, made use of the first relations given by the Portugueze, concerning the great number of Jews found by them in the Indies. They of Constantinople had a Spanish Translation printed of a suppostitious Letter from Prestejan in Hebrew characters, and it was every where dispersed in several languages. But it was not long before the falsity of this opinion of the Jews was discovered ; for the Portugueze having got admittance into Ethiopia, discovered, that notwithstanding these people had many Jewish practices, for which some modern Authors have in vain endeavoured to justify them, they were nevertheless Christians. Thus the whole system which had been built on this foundation, to prove that the Scepter was not yet departed from Judah, of itself fell to the ground.

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