Prince

PRINCE, Princeps. This Name is sometimes taken for the Chief, the Principal. Thus we say, The Princes of the Families, of the Tribes, of the Houses of Israel; the Princes of the Levites, of the People, of the Priests; the Princes of the Synagogue, or Assembly; the Princes of the Children of Reuben, of Judah, &c. Also, it is often taken for the King, the Sovereign of the Country, and for his principal Officers. Thus we say, the Princes of the Army of Pharaoh, Phichol Prince of the Army of Abimelech. Potiphar was Prince or Chief of the Butchers, or of the Guards of the Kings of Egypt; and Joseph was in Prison with the Prince of the Bakers. And so of others.

Prince Prince of the Priests, sometimes expresses the High-Priest actually in Office¹, or he that had formerly possess’d this Dignity. And sometimes, he that was at the Head of the Priests, waiting in the Temple², or an Intendant of the Temple, or the Head of the Sacerdotal Families. Whence it comes, that often in the Gospel³ mention is made of the Princes of the Priests, in the Plural Number.

Prince of the City, Princeps Civitatis;⁴ he had in the City the same Authority as the Intendant of the Temple had in the Temple: He took Care of the Preservation of the Peace, and to keep good Order.

Prince of the Synagogue. In the Old Testament,⁵ this Term signifies, those that presided over the Assemblies of the People, the Chief of the Tribes and Families of Israel. But in the New Testament, the Prince of the Synagogue, is he that presides over the Religious Assemblies Luke viii. 41. Acts xiii. 15. & xviii. 17.held in the Synagogues. This is he that the Jews call Nasi of the Synagogue. He had several Associates, which were also call’d Princes or Chiefs of the Synagogue. Acts xiii. 8.

Prince of this World. St. John often gives this Name to the Devil, who boasts of having all the Kingdoms of the Earth John xii. 31. & xiv. 30. & xvi. 11.at his Disposal. Matth. iv. 9.

Prince of the Captivity. This is the Name that the Oriental Jews give to him, whom they acknowledge as their Chief, and whom they obey in the Provinces beyond the Euphrates, under the Dominion of the Persians. See Basnage, in his History of the Jews, t. 2. l. 4. c. 3.

Here is the Succession of the Princes of the Captivity, from the Destruction of the first Temple, taken out of the lesser Chronicon of the Jews, call’d Seder-clam- Zutha.

1. Jechoniah, carry’d away by King Nebuchadnezzar.

2. Salathiel his Son, under King Belteshazzar.

3. Zerubbabel Son of Salathiel, who brought the People back into Judea, under the Reign of Cyrus.

4. Meshullam Son of Zerubbabel. Prophecy ceased in his Time. He dy’d, as the Jews say, under Alexander the Great.

5. Hananiah, under the Reign of Salmon, Alascan, and Mapparis, Kings of the Grecians, Successors of Alexander the Great. (Salmon is Ptolemy Son of Lagus, Alascan is Seleucus, and Mapparis is Cassander.) Hananiah died in the Year 140 of the Greeks, or of the Seleucidæ.

6. Barachiah Son of Hananiah, under Ptolemy, who caus’d the Law to be translated into Greek; and under Antiochus, Acts iv. 6.who built Antioch. He died in the Year of the Greeks 170.

7. Hasadiah his Son, in the Year 175. The Jews being ill treated by Nicanor, made an Insurrection, and slew him, with his whole Army.

8. Esaiah his Son. 9. Abdiah his Son, who died under Herod the Great.

9. Shemaiah his Son, who makes the Tenth Generation of the House of David from the Captivity.

10. Shecaniah his Son, who died in the Year 166 from the Destruction of the Temple, or the 236th Year of the Christian Era.

11. Hezekiah his Son, who was buried at Arbeel.

12. Nathan, Posthumous. 14. Hana his Son. These four Heads or 15. Akob his Son. Princes had but one Chief or Master of the 16. Nahum his Son. Academy, whose 17. Jochanan his Son. Name was Nahaneel. 18. Shaphet his Son. 19. Anam, or Hona his Son. Samuel the Lunatick was his Counsel. Nahardea was taken in his Time. He procured himself to be buried in Judea, near Chaia.

13. Nathan his Son, with Ezekiel his Counsel. The Persians resolved to persecute the Jews, in the Year 245 from the Destruction of the Temple.

14. Nathan his Son, with the Doctor Sazbi.

15. Akabiah his Son, with the Rabbi Ada. He was buried in Judea. The King of Persia subdued Syria.

16. Marhona his Brother, with the Doctors Abal, and Joseph Son of Hama. Sapor took Nisibe.

17. Ocba his Brother, with the Doctor A. Henanel.

18. Aba his Nephew, with Rabba and Rabbena. The World was without a King in the Year 416 from the Destruction of Jerusalem.

19. Chana his Brother.

poteus.

28. Cahana his Son, with Rabbena.

29. Hona his Nephew. 30. Hona Unkle of the former. He marry’d the Daughter of Hanina Head of the Academy.

30. His Son was the Destruction of the House of David: For having abused Hanina, the Plague destroy’d the whole Family, except,

31. Zutra, Posthumous. Isaac Head of the Academy was kill’d under his Government. Mir the Great appear’d; he saw a Column of Fire; he rebell’d against the Persians, acted as a King for seven Years; was kill’d. Zutra also was hang’d.

33. Zutra his Son was forced to withdraw into Judea, and there to ask for the Presidence of some School. He was made President of the Senate 452 Years after the Destruction of Jerusalem, in the 522d Year of the Christian Era.

34. Guria his Son.

35. Zutra his Son.

36. Jacob his Son.

37. Migus his Son. 38. Nehemiah his Son. 39. Abdim his Son, who compleated 87 Generations.

38. Jacob Phinehas his Son, Master of Hatsab.

39. Azariah his Son, who made the 89th Generation.

This is a pompous Succession of the Princes of the Captivity; but those that have enquir’d nearly into it, find many Basnage’s Hist. of the Jews, t. 2. l. iv. c. 11.Errors and Anachronisms in it. They pretend, That the Princes of the Captivity were not establish’d in Babylonia ‘till the Beginning of the Third Century from Jesus Christ, in 220; That the Succession exhibited by the Author of the lesser Chronicle, which we have here given, is not supported by the Authority of any ancient Author; That neither Josephus, nor Justin Martyr, in his Dialogue against Tryphon, have known any thing of these pretended Princes of the Captivity beyond the Euphrates; That the Tradition of the Sages, upon which it is founded, is of very slender Authority in Matter of History. If Nathan, whom the Chronicon affirms to retire into Palestine, while Simeon, Father of Judas the Holy, was Patriarch there, had been Prince of his Nation beyond the Euphrates, he would hardly have quitted that Dignity, to accept of that of Father of the House of Judgment, in a small City of Palestine, such as Tiberias was. He return’d beyond the Euphrates, after he had continued a good while in Judea; and as he had there seen a Patriarch the Head of his Nation, he entertain’d an Ambition of doing the same at Babylon. He set up, therefore, his Son Huna, who may be reckon’d the first who had borne this Title beyond the Euphrates.

As to the Title of Prince, the Reader is not to be led into any Mistake by it. In Scripture and in Jewish Authors, it often means no more than a meer Head of a Family, or he that is appointed to preside over his Equals. The Heads of the Synagogues of Germany, and of some Provinces of Italy, take the Title of Duke, or of Princes of the Jews. This makes ‘em never the greater Men, nor gives them the greater Liberty. Gen. xxi. 33.Principes exercitus, in Genesis, signifies Generals of an Army, which might not be very numerous; or even the Captains of a Prince’s Guards. Abraham is call’d, Gen. xxiii. 6. & xl. 20.by those of Hebron, Princeps Dei, a great Prince. The Prince of the Bakers, was Pharaoh’s Chief Baker. The Princes of the Families of the Levites, were the Heads and the Chief of those Families. The Prince of the Priests, is the High-Priest. Nicodemus is John iii. 1. Vulg.call’d a Prince of the Jews; that is to say, he was of great Consideration among the Jews. A Prince of the Pharisees, is one that is much distinguish’d in that Sect; &c.

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