What "day of the Lord" is Malachi 4:5 referring to?

by JWB 6 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

  • JWB
    JWB

    WHAT "DAY OF THE LORD" IS MALACHI 4:5 REFERRING TO?

    In another thread a poster pointed to Isaiah 13:12-13, which got me thinking about the expression "the day of the Lord". This appears to have been a term used in the Bible with reference to times of divine judgement. In the case of the "day of the Lord" spoken of in Isaiah 13, the judgement was against Babylon. If you look at Malachi 4:5 you'll see mention again of "the day of the Lord". This speaks about Elijah the prophet being sent before that day came. If we are to accept Jesus' words at Matthew 11:13-14, that "He [John the baptist] is Elijah who is destined to come", what is "the day of the Lord" that he is connected with?

  • Phizzy
    Phizzy

    Reading Malachi on its own, it seems to me that he was concerned that the returned Jews were getting fed up with worshiping Yahweh as his promise of glory for them and a paradise on their return had not happened.

    He felt that a "Day of the Lord" in the sense of a judgement was close. Matthew and Mark both assert that "Elijah" had come, but seem to see this as a precurser to Jesus coming, hence Jesus' manifestation as the Messiah as the day of the Lord referred to by Malachi.

    Matthew was written to establish that lots of prophecies in the O.T were fulfilled by J.C, many of the prophecies so identified by the writer of Matthew are nothing of the sort, and perhaps here is another.

  • Vidqun
    Vidqun

    Here's some research on the subject, especially highlighting the difference between "the day of YHWH" and "the day of the Lord [Christ]" of the NT, something the Society sometimes ignore. Sorry it's somewhat longwinded, but it's quite comprehensive:

    In the LXX and CGS we encounter the phrase ?μ?ρα κυρ?ου “day of the Lord”. Contrary to common expectation, this phrase cannot always be equated with the “day of Jehovah”, i.e., Judgement Day. During this critical period, Jehovah will manifest his glory and might, destroy his enemies, and bring salvation to his people. This is an accute crisis, whereas “Christ’s day”, closely linked to his parousia, consists of an age or epoch. The following discussion has been extracted from TDOT, TLOT, and TDNT.

    Jehovah’s day

    The special period of time, not twenty-four hours, when Jehovah actively manifests himself against his enemies and in behalf of his people. With divine judgment executed against the wicked, Jehovah of armies comes off victorious over his opposers during this day. It is also a time of salvation and deliverance for the righteous, the day in which Jehovah himself is highly exalted as the Supreme One. Thus, in a double way it is uniquely and exclusively Jehovah’s great day.

    Jehovah God is lord of time, not only because he created the constant alternation between day and night, thus laying the foundation for the course of history, but because he also intervenes in the course of history. In the context of the theology of history, the most important expression of his activity is the genitive phrase yôm yhwh “the day of Jehovah”. When Jehovah is the nomen rectum associated with yôm he has a time to act, a time to intervene in “history”; what will take place then, he alone determines. The relative chronology is necessarily not uniquely defined (e.g., future), being defined in each instance by usage and context; but the future is most common. The most important element, however, is God’s acts. During this period, He will manifest his glory and might, destroy his enemies, and bring salvation to his people.

    Considerations of the significance of the expression yôm yhwh should pose the question of the meaning of the word yôm in this phrase before posing the question of the origin and development of the concept appropriate to tradition-critical examination. Formally, yôm yhwh belongs to a series of gen . combinations in which yôm is qualified by a proper name (see 3d on yôm midyan, etc.; cf. also 3h y e mê gib?â) and thus, in a pregnant, terse idiom refers to a significant event identified by the proper name, emphasizing the experiential character above the pure, rather indeterminate temporal designation (cf. S. Herrmann, Die prophetischen Heilserwartungen im A T [1965], 120f.). The qualitative determinacy of an act of Yahweh can be seen here both in the past (Ezek 13:5; 34:12; Lam 2:22; cf. Ezek 22:24; Lam 1:12; 2:1, 21) and in the future (thus most passages); one may have also originally thought of various “days of Yahweh” (cf. perhaps Job 24:1). “In the context of Israel’s generally future-oriented and preliminary historical thought and its faith in God’s guidance, which was shaped by its God and the nature of his activity in history, this term was increasingly and predominantly shifted to the future and thus only gradually became ‘the’ day of Yahweh that we encounter most and with which we are most familiar” (Preuss, op. cit. 172).

    With reference to the concept of a comprehensive day of Yahweh’s judgment, tradition-critical investigation has revealed that the point of departure is not a cultic day of Yahweh, such as the hypothesized enthronement festival of Yahweh (so, among others, S. Mowinckel, Psalmenstudien 2 [1922]; id., NTT 59 [1958]: 1–56, 209–29; J. Lindblom, Prophecy in Ancient Israel [1962], 316ff.), but, in accordance with accompanying concepts, the experience of a historical act of Yahweh on behalf of his people consisting of a victory over God’s enemies. In particular, the traditions of the Yahweh war (→ ?aba?, → hmm) appropriated by the prophets would have influenced the development of expectations for the future (cf. G. von Rad, “Origin of the Concept of the Day of Yahweh,” JSS 4 [1959]: 97–108; id., Theol. 2:119–25; Schunck, op. cit. 320f., 330; with modifications, Preuss, op. cit. 173, 179, who places greater emphasis on the exodus; and H.-M. Lutz, Jahwe, Jerusalem und die Völker [1968], 130–46: “The day of Yahweh is also war, but not only war” [op. cit. 146]; on the relationship between the descriptions of theophany and the day of Yahweh, cf. J. Jeremias, Theophanie [1965], 97–100; according to M. Weiss, “The Origin of the ‘Day of the Lord’—Reconsidered,” HUCA 37 [1966]: 29–60, the expression was reshaped by Amos).

    The expression yôm yhwh “the day of Yahweh” occurs in this form only 16x in the HAS, all in the prophets (from the southern kingdom): Isa 13:6, 9; Ezek 13:5; Joel 1:15; 2:1, 11; 3:4(2:31); 4:14(3:14); Amos 5:18[twice], 20; Obad 15; Zeph 1:7, 14[twice]; Mal 3:23(4:5). In three passages the genitive is replaced by le: Isa. 2:12; Ezek. 30:3; and expanded by the addition of ba’, “comes”, Zech 14:1. In eight passages there is an additional qualification: yôm?ebrât yhwh (Ezek. 7:19; Zeph. 1:18) and yôm ?ap yhwh (Zeph. 2:2, 3; Lam. 2:22), “the day of the wrath of Yahweh”; yôm naqam leyhwh (Isa. 34:8), “the day of vengeance of Yahweh” (Jer. 46:10); zeba? yhwh (Zeph. 1:8), “the day of sacrifice of Yahweh”; also yôm mehûmâ…la’donay (Isa. 22:5), “a day of confusion…for the Lord Yahweh.” Apart from Lam. 2:22, which is retrospective, these citations also are from the prophets. Oddly enough, the expression does not occur in Daniel (see TDOT, vol. VI, p. 29).

    For the history of the concept, one can refer to the presentations in these studies. The earliest passage is Am. 5:18-20, which states metaphorically that Yahweh has appointed a “day” when he will intervene, from which no one can escape (cf. Wolff, Joel and Amos, Her m, 33f., 255–57): “Woe to you who seek the day of Yahweh? It is darkness and not ligh t!” This “day” will bring the opposite of what people hope for from Yahweh, namely disaster (“darkness”) rather than deliverance (“light”). His speech is a judgment discourse linked with history (v. 27); it constitutes an integral part of his general message of judgment, in which he proved in many ways to be breaking new ground (cf., e.g., what he says about qe?, “end,” of Israel in 8:2). Amos contested the contemporary expectation of salvation: since Israel is positioned with Yahweh’s enemies, it cannot consider itself to be the “remnant” (→ š?r) who will receive salvation on the day of Yahweh; rather, it must experience the extraordinary consequences of the inescapable intervention of Yahweh. The passage in Amos, similar to Isa 2:12–17 (Wildberger, Isa 1–12, C C, 112f.), focuses on only a few individual elements of the concept, in Amos the darkness, in Isaiah, Yahweh’s majesty above all the proud and arrogant. In like fashion, the form and phraseology of Isaiah’s discourse concerning the “day of Yahweh” in Isa. 2:(6-11), 12-17(18-22) is part of his proclamation of judgment for the people in the present day. The same is true in 22:5, where the mention of “day” is followed at once by “a concrete description with reference to his historical moment.” The “day of Yahweh” of which both Amos and Isaiah speak, each in his own historical setting, thus refers to the immediate future of the people, which will be radically altered.

    The presentations in Zeph 1:7ff. and Ezek 7 (Zimmerli, Ezek, Her m, 1:201f.), where the day of Yahweh is directed exclusively at Israel, are more extensive; following the catastrophe of 587 (in Ezek 13:5; 34:12; Lam 1:12; 2:1, 21f., characterized retrospectively as “Yahweh’s day,” etc.), the judgment of Yahweh is predominantly but not exclusively (cf. Joel 1:15; 2:1, 11; Zech 14:1; Mal 3:23) directed at the foreign nations (esp. at Babylon in Isa 13:6, 9; at Egypt, Ezek 30:3; at Edom, Obad 15; cf. further Isa 34:8; 61:2; Jer 46:10; Joel 3:4; 4:14). The transferal of the concept from judgment prophecy to salvation prophecy and vice versa is facilitated by the essentially ambivalent nature of the day of Yahweh; it brings judgment upon the enemies of Yahweh and salvation for his people. The deciding factor depends upon the side to which Israel or the addressees belong. The concept of the day of Yahweh thus constitutes an essential point of contact between the prophetic proclamation of judgment and of salvation and demonstrates their inner unity (cf. TLOT, p. 539).

    In a sense the exile marked a turning point. Now – in Lam. 1:12; 2:1, 21f., for example – people look back upon the “day of the wrath of Yahweh.” With the fall of Jerusalem and the temple, the “day” has already come and the prediction has been fulfilled (cf. Ob. 8; Ps. 137:7). But the “history” of the “day of Yahweh” has not thereby come to an end. Obadiah declared: “For the Day of Yahweh is near for all the nations” (cf. Ob. 15a NJB).

    In postexilic prophecy, the formation of the didactic tradition continues. The “day of Yahweh” gradually becomes the nucleus around which crystallizes a complex eschatological drama, as we see above all in Joel 1-4(1-3) and Zech. 12-14. As will be seen, the former has been partially fulfilled. Only the latter, in its entirety, must still take place. The “day of Yahweh” can bring both disaster and deliverance; it can come to both Israel and the “nations”. The final stage is the apocalypticism of Daniel, where yôm yhwh “day of Yahweh” is replaced by qe?, “end”, and other fixed terminology.

    Later, through the prophet Malachi, another “great and fear-inspiring day of Jehovah” was foretold. At Pentecost of 33 CE Peter explained that they were experiencing the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy (2:28-32) concerning the outpouring of God’s spirit, and this too was due to happen before the “great and fear-inspiring day of Jehovah” (Acts 2:16-21). That “day” came in 70 CE when Jehovah caused the armies of Rome to execute divine judgment upon the nation that had rejected His Son (cf. John 19:15; Dan. 9:24-27).

    Although with the passage of time the eventful nature of the “day of Yahweh” came increasingly to be emphasized, along with other attributes, its temporal nature was still preserved. This is shown by the various words for time that cluster about the “day of Yahweh”. The divinely inaugurated period of time is denoted by “there are days coming” (Am. 4:2; 8:11; 9:13; Jer. 7:32; 9:24; 16:14; 19:6; 23:5, 7; 31:27, 31, 38; 33:14; 48:12; 51:47, 52), or “in those days” (Jer. 3:16, 18; 5:18; 31:29; 33:15f.; 50:4, 20; Ez. 38:17; Jl. 3:2; 4:1; Zech. 8:6, 23), or “at that time” (Amos 15:13; Is. 18:17; Mic. 3:4; Zeph. 1:12; 3:19f.; Jer. 3:17; 4:11; 8:1; 31:1; Ezek. 7:7, 12; Dan. 12:1).

    In the LXX, yôm is almost always rendered by heméra, which emphasizes the chronological character of the word. Here it acquires the meaning “time” more pronouncedly than elsewhere in Gk . under the influence of OT usage. There is, however, a return to pre-Christian thinking in the use of heméra theou, and also of heméra kuriou with reference to God, in non-Pauline literature, although here, too, we may discern a similar and materially perhaps even stronger influence of the Jewish apocalyptic. In 2 Pet. 3:12, as in Jewish conceptions, the heméra theou, which is an alternative for heméra kuriou in v . 10, is the time of the cosmic conflagration (cf. Sib., 3, 54) [Sibyllines, the Sibylline Oracles in 14 books, collected in the 5th or 6th century a.d. for the propagation of Judaism or Christianity, composed at various periods, and predominantly Jewish but partly Christian in derivation.] It may also be the time of the war of the true Ruler of the world against the kings of the earth (Rev. 16:14: heméra hei megalei tou theou; cf. Ac. 2:20, quoting Jl. 3:4). The absolute use of heméra (without genitival attribute) is used for the day of judgment at 1 Thes. 5:5; 1 Cor. 3:13 and Hebr. 10:25. This is to be explained in terms of OT terminology.

    The Qumran literature uses yôm without significant change from OT usage. On the further history of the concept of the “day of Yahweh” with new terminology (“day of God,” “day of the Lord,” etc.) in early Judaism and in the NT, cf. e.g., P. Volz, Die Eschatologie der jüdischen Gemeinde im ntl. Zeitalter (1934), 163–65 (cf. Mal. 3:19: ??????? ). See also TDNT, vol. II, pp. 945-947, 951- 953; TDOT, vol. VI, p. 19, 28-32; TLOT, pp. 537-539.

    Summary : The future expression yôm yhwh “the day of Jehovah” therefore starts with the great tribulation (cf. Dan. 12:1; Joel 2:2; Matt. 24:21, 22) and ends with Armageddon (cf. Zech. 14:1-7; Rev. 16:14, 16).

    Christ’s day

    The heméra kuriou of 1 Thes. 5:1-5 points to Jehovah’s day. Mention is made of a “thief”, as well as “sudden destruction”. This reminds one of 2 Pet. 3:10 and Rev. 16:15.

    In Luk. 17:24, however, Jesus describes the day of the Son of Man when He shall appear in the glory of the kingdom. Instead of the “day of the Elect” of Eth. En . 61:5 [Ethiopian Enoch, ed. A. Dillmann, 1851]; R. Charles (1906), here has the “day of the Son of Man” . If this is indeed the case, this implies a mere shift in terminology by Jesus on the basis of the equation of the Son of Man and the Elect in Enoch itself (cf. Nestle, E., Nestle, E., Aland, K., Aland, B., & Universita¨t Mu¨nster. Institut fu¨r Neutestamentliche Textforschung. (1993). Novum Testamentum Graece (27. Aufl., rev.) Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelstiftung). In Jn. 8:56, too, His day is the day of the definitive revelation of His glory (cf. 4 Esr. 13:52, which is perhaps post-Christian).

    In Paul, on the other hand, the “day” plays an essential part as the day of world judgment for the community (1 Cor. 1:8; Phil. 1:6, 10 [1 Cor. 5:5?]), for the apostle himself (2 Cor. 1:14; Phil. 2:16) and also, of course, for non-Christians. [It is hard to understand why Kabisch, 266 sees an equation of the “day” and the millennium in Paul. Certainly no passage gives grounds for the assumption that Paul understood the day of judgment as also “day as the time of light in antithesis to night” (Kabisch, 236).] In the passages above its main importance is as an ethical incentive.

    In 2 Thes. 2:1, 2 the primary concern is the parousia of Christ and therefore the definitive manifestation of his glory. Obviously in Paul, as in the Gospels, and Revelation, Christ is the Lord of this ?μ?ρα . It is true that in Thes. we find only heméra kuriou, but in 1 and 2 Cor. this is sometimes enlarged to heméra tou kuriou heimen Ieisou, while in Phil. we have the simpler heméra Xristou [ Ieisou ] (cf. TDNT, vol. II, pp. 951, 952).

    Finally, in Rev. 1:10a we discover the phrase en tei kuriakei heméra “in the Lord’s day”. Contrary to common opinion, this phrase does not refer to the “day of Jehovah”, i.e., Judgement Day. The context points to Jesus Christ as the Lord whose “day” this is. Immediately after coming “in the Lord’s day,” John heard, not the voice of Almighty God, but that of His resurrected Son (cf. Rev. 1:10-18). This day would be closely connected to Christ’s parousia (cf. 2 Thes. 2:1, 2).

    Summary : “Christ’s day” begins with his coronation (cf. Ezek. 21:25-27; Dan. 4:17, 25; 7:13, 14), and ends with him handing back the kingdom to his Father. This is to occur after the Millennium (cf. 1 Cor. 15:24-26; Rev. 6:1, 2; 20:7-10).


  • JWB
    JWB

    Thanks Vidqun for the post. I did read through it all. For the sake of myself and others who may not know, please would you be so kind as to tell us what TDOT, TLOT, and TDNT are? It would be informative also for us to know whose opinions the text represents. Thanks.

    Anyway, taking just the view of the authors of the text reproduced by Vidqun, it would seem that they view Malachi's "day of the Lord" as finding fulfillment in the destruction of Jerusalem, 70 CE:

    "Later, through the prophet Malachi, another 'great and fear-inspiring day of Jehovah' was foretold. At Pentecost of 33 CE Peter explained that they were experiencing the fulfillment of Joel's prophecy (2:28-32) concerning the outpouring of God’s spirit, and this too was due to happen before the 'great and fear-inspiring day of Jehovah' (Acts 2:16-21). THAT 'DAY' CAME IN 70 CE WHEN JEHOVAH CAUSED THE ARMIES OF ROME TO EXECUTE DIVINE JUDGMENT UPON THE NATION THAT HAD REJECTED HIS SON (cf. John 19:15; Dan. 9:24-27)."

    This is interesting because Luke 21:22 explains that the time period to which the gospel refers was marked as "days for meting out justice, that all the things written may be fulfilled" (NWT).

  • Vidqun
    Vidqun

    Sorry JWB, I should have written them out: TDOT: Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament (15 volumes); TDNT: Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (10 volumes) otherwise known as "Big Kittel", somewhat dated but still relevant; TLOT: Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament (2 volumes). All have been edited by mainly German theologians and are viewed as authorities on the subject. The latter is more recent. Take note: These are dictionaries and discuss each word separately.

  • Larsinger58
    Larsinger58

    Daniel definitely links the "great tribulation" to the end times and clearly notes it is a one-time event, "that never happened before nor would happen again."

    This is interesting because Luke 21:22 explains that the time period to which the gospel refers was marked as "days for meting out justice, that all the things written may be fulfilled" (NWT).

    The days for meting out justice as noted above is a reference to the Holocaust, when 2/3rds of the Jewish population in their resettled lands in Eastern Europe would be exterminated, and then a remnant of 1/3 would be restored to Israel (Zech 13:8)

    OTOH, when "the Lord's day" is a reference to Jesus Christ's 2nd coming it indeed would be his entire "parousia" which began in 1874 and continues to this day. 1874 is when "Michael stands up" (Daniel 12:1) to begin the work of preparing for the 2nd coming.

    LS

  • JWB
    JWB

    Vidqun, thanks for that.

    Larsinger58 thanks for letting us know your interpretation. 1874 seems to ring a bell! Didn't CTR proclaim that as a special year and then much later the WTS pointed out his 100 year calculation error (which I understand ended up being 'repackaged' as the autumn of 1974 for the end of six thousand years of man's existence on this earth).
    ___

    Matthew 24:19-22 and Mark 13:14-20 connect the "great tribulation" with the time period when those who heeded Jesus' warning would "begin fleeing to the mountains" (verse 16). For the benefit of any readers not familiar with the writings of Jewish historian Josephus, I've included some extracts below that deal with events surrounding the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE. These are taken from chapters 5 and 6 of "The Wars of the Jews". I've added some highlighting to show how the author viewed the situation.
    ___

    Extracts from Josephus' writings

    "It is therefore impossible to go distinctly over every instance of these men's iniquity. I shall therefore speak my mind here at once briefly:- That neither did any other city ever suffer such miseries; nor did any age ever breed a generation more fruitful in wickedness than this was, from the beginning of the world. Finally, they brought the Hebrew nation into contempt, that they might themselves appear comparatively less impious with regard to strangers. They confessed what was true, that they were the slaves, the scum, and the spurious and abortive offspring of our nation, while they overthrew the city themselves, and forced the Romans, whether they would or no, to gain a melancholy reputation, by acting gloriously against them, and did almost draw that fire upon the temple, which they seemed to think came too slowly; and, indeed, when they saw that temple burning from the upper city, they were neither troubled at it, nor did they shed any tears on that account while yet these passions were discovered among the Romans themselves; which circumstances we shall speak of hereafter in their proper place, when we come to treat of such matters." (The Wars of the Jews 5.10.5 [www.earlyjewishwritings.com/text/josephus/war5.html])

    "3. Now the number [*] of those that were carried captive during this whole war was collected to be ninety-seven thousand; as was the number of those that perished during the whole siege eleven hundred thousand, the greater part of whom were indeed of the same nation [with the citizens of Jerusalem], but not belonging to the city itself; for they were come up from all the country to the feast of unleavened bread, and were on a sudden shut up by an army, which, at the very first, occasioned so great a straitness among them, that there came a pestilential destruction upon them, and soon afterward such a famine, as destroyed them more suddenly. And that this city could contain so many people in it, is manifest by that number of them which was taken under Cestius, who being desirous of informing Nero of the power of the city, who otherwise was disposed to contemn that nation, entreated the high priests, if the thing were possible, to take the number of their whole multitude. So these high priests, upon the coming of that feast which is called the Passover, when they slay their sacrifices, from the ninth hour till the eleventh, but so that a company not less than ten [**] belong to every sacrifice, (for it is not lawful for them to feast singly by themselves,) and many of us are twenty in a company, found the number of sacrifices was two hundred and fifty-six thousand five hundred; which, upon the allowance of no more than ten that feast together, amounts to two millions seven hundred thousand and two hundred persons that were pure and holy; for as to those that have the leprosy, or the gonorrhea, or women that have their monthly courses, or such as are otherwise polluted, it is not lawful for them to be partakers of this sacrifice; nor indeed for any foreigners neither, who come hither to worship." (The Wars of the Jews 6.9.3 [www.earlyjewishwritings.com/text/josephus/war6.html])

    "Now this vast multitude is indeed collected our of remote places, but the entire nation was now shut up by fate as in a prison, and the Roman army encompassed the city when it was crowded with inhabitants. Accordingly the multitude of those that therein perished exceeded all the destructions that either men or God ever brought upon the world; for, to speak only of what was publicly known, the Romans slew some of them, some they carried captives, and others they made search for underground, and when they found where they were, they broke up the ground and slew there above two thousand persons, partly by their own hands, and partly by one another, but chiefly destroyed by the famine; but then, the ill savor of the dead bodies was most offensive to those that lighted upon them, insomuch that some were obliged to get away immediately, while others were so greedy of gain, that they would go in among the dead bodies that lay in heaps, and tread upon them; for a great deal of treasure was found in these caverns, and the hope of gain made every way of getting it to be esteemed lawful. Many also of those that had been put in prison by the tyrants were now brought out; for they did not leave off their barbarous cruelty at the very last; yet did God avenge himself upon them both, in a manner agreeable to justice. As for John, he wanted food, together with his brethren, in these caverns, and begged that the Romans would now give him their right hand for his security, which he had often proudly rejected before; but for Simon, he struggled hard with the distress he was in, till he was forced to surrender himself, as we shall relate hereafter; so he was reserved for the triumph, and to be then slain: as was John condemned to perpetual imprisonment; and now the Romans set fire to the extreme parts of the city, and burnt them down, and entirely demolished its walls." (The Wars of the Jews 6.9.4 [www.earlyjewishwritings.com/text/josephus/war6.html])
    ___
    Footnotes from William Whiston's translation

    * "The whole multitude of the Jews that were destroyed during the entire seven years before this time, in all the countries of and bordering on Judea, is summed up by Archbishop Usher, from Lipsius, out of Josephus, at the year of Christ 70, and amounts to 1,337,490. Nor could there have been that number of Jews in Jerusalem to be destroyed in this siege, as will be presently set down by Josephus, but that both Jews and proselytes of justice were just then come up out of the other countries of Galilee, Samaria, Judea, and Perea and other remoter regions, to the passover, in vast numbers, and therein cooped up, as in a prison, by the Roman army, as Josephus himself well observes in this and the next section, and as is exactly related elsewhere, B. V. ch. 3. sect. 1 and ch. 13. sect. 7."

    ** "This number of a company for one paschal lamb, between ten and twenty, agrees exactly with the number thirteen, at our Savior's last passover. As to the whole number of the Jews that used to come up to the passover, and eat of it at Jerusalem, see the note on B. II. ch. 14. sect. 3. This number ought to be here indeed just ten times the number of the lambs, or just 2,565,(D0, by Josephus's own reasoning; whereas it is, in his present copies, no less than 2,700,(D0, which last number is, however, nearest the other number in the place now cited, which is 3,000,000. But what is here chiefly remarkable is this, that no foreign nation ever came thus to destroy the Jews at any of their solemn festivals, from the days of Moses till this time, but came now upon their apostasy from God, and from obedience to him. Nor is it possible, in the nature of things, that in any other nation such vast numbers should be gotten together, and perish in the siege of any one city whatsoever, as now happened in Jerusalem."

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