THE

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

THE OLD TESTAMENT.

THE Introduction,

An Account of the several Dispensations of God toward

Men,

PAGE.

1

2

Chap. I. The History of Mankind before the Flood,

namely, of Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel, Enoch, &c.

Chap. II. Of Noah, Abraham, and their Families after

the Flood,

Sect. 1. Of Noah and his Sons,

Sect. 2. Of Abraham and Lot, Ishmael and Isaac,

Sect. 3. Of Esau and Jacob, and their Posterity,

Chap. III. The Deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt

by Moses and Aaron,

Chap. IV. Of the Moral Law,

Chap. V. Of the Ceremonial Law of the Jews,

Sect. 1. Of the Ceremonies of Purification,

Sect. 2. Of the Holy Persons, namely, Priests, Le-

vites, Nazarites,

Of the Holy Places, particularly the Taber-

Sect. 3.

nacle,

Sect. 4. Of the Holy Things, namely, the Ark, Table,

Candlestick, Altars, Laver, Holy Garments, Sacrifi-

ces, Incense, Ointment, Water of Purification, &c.

Sect. 5. Of the Holy Times, Feasts and Fasts, the

Sabbaths, the New Moons, the Pass-over, Pentecost,

Feast of Tabernacles, Day of Atonement, &c.

Sect. 6. The Use of the Jewish Ceremonies, both to

the Jews and to Christians,

Chap. VI. Of the Political or Judicial Law of the Jews,

namely, of their Wars, Marriages, Food, Raiment,

Cattle, Sabbatical Year, Jubilee, &c.

Chap. VII. Of the Sins and Punishments of the Jews in

the Wilderness,

PAGE.

Chap. VIII. Of the Jews' Entrance into Canaan, and

their first Government by Judges,

Sect. 1. Of their Possession of Canaan, and destroying
the old Inhabitants,

·

Sect. 2. Of the Government of the Jews by Judges,

namely, Ehud, Shamgar, Deborah, Gideon, Jephthah,

Samson, &c...

Chap. IX. Of the Government of the Jews under their

Kings; and first of Saul and David,

Chap. X. Of the Reign of Solomon and Rehoboam over

all Israel, and the Division of the Nation into two

Kingdoms,

Sect. 3. The Jewish Affairs under the Ptolemies Kings

of Egypt. Of the great Synagogue, the Mishnah and

Talmud, and Septuagint, or Greek Translation of the

Bible,

52

Sect. 4. Of the Jewish Affairs under Antiochus the

Great, Seleucus, and Antiochus Epiphanes, Kings of

Syria,

58.

62

62

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75

Chap. XI. Of the Kings of Israel,

Chap. XII. Of the Kings of Judah,

Chap. XIII. Of the Return of the Jews from Captivity,

and the building the City of Jerusalem and the Tem-

ple, under the Conduct of Ezra and Nehemiah,

Chap. XIV. The History of Job,

Chap. XV. The History of Jonah,

Chap. XVI. The History of Jeremiah,

Chap. XVII. The History of Daniel,

Chap. XVIII. The History of Esther,

Chap. XIX. A Continuation of the Jewish History from

the End of the Old Testament to the Times of Christ, 137

Sect. 1. Of Nehemiah's further Reformation; of Syn-

agogues, Targums, Samaritans, Proselytes, &c.

Sect. 2. Of the Jewish affairs under the Persian and

Grecian Monarchies, and particularly under Alexan-

der the Great,

84

89

97.

108

117

120

122

128

133

138

144

147

154

⚫ Sect. 5.

Of Mattathias the great Reformer, the Father

of the Maccabees,

Sect. 6. Of the Jewish Government under the Asmo-

neans, or Maccabees; and first of the three Brothers,

Judas, Jonathan, and Simon,

Sect. 7. Of the Posterity and Successors of Simon,

and of the several Sects among the Jews, namely,

Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, Herodians, and Kara-
ites,

Sect. 8. Of the Government of Herod the Great, and

his Posterity,

PAGE.

Chap. XX. A Prophetical Connection between the Old

Testament and the New, by a View of the Prophecies

relating to Christ, and their Accomplishment,

THE NEW TESTAMENT.

Chap. XXI. Qf John the Baptist,

Chap. XXII. Of the Birth and Childhood of Jesus Christ,

Chap. XXIII. Of the public Life and Ministry of Christ,

Introduction. His Preparation for his public Work,

Sect. 1. Jesus Christ's Appearance, with the Charac-

ters of the Messiah,

Sect. 2. Of the Subjects of his Preaching, his Parables,

Disputes, &c.

Sect. 3. Of the Miracles of Christ,

Sect. 4. The Example of Christ,

Sect. 5. His calling the Apostles, and instructing them,

Sect. 6. His appointment or Institution of the two

Sacraments,

Sect. 7. Remarkable Occurrences or Transactions in

the Life of Christ,

Chap. XXIV. Of the Death, Resurrection, and Ascen-

sion of Christ,

Sect. 1. Of his Sufferings, Death, and Burial,

Sect. 2. Of the Resurrection of Christ, and his seve-

ral Appearances to his Disciples,

Sect. 3. Of his Ascension to heaven,

PAGE.

Chap. XXV. Of the Acts of the Apostles, chiefly Peter,

and John, and the Deacons Stephen and Philip,

Chap. XXVI. The Acts of Paul the Apostle, his Travels

and Sufferings, his Life and Death,

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273

THE INTRODUCTION.

THERE is no history in the world so ancient as the Bible, nor is there any which gives us so early an ac count of things. The Old Testament begins with the creation of the world, brings us into acquaintance with Adam and Eve, our first parents, informs us of their state of innocence, their sin against God, and their being driv en out of paradise; it recounts the first generations of men, and their multiplied iniquities, which provoked God to destroy them by a flood.

Then it treats of the character, circumstances and conduct of Noah and Abraham, and of their families after the flood, enlarging most upon the household of Jacob, or Israel, the grandson of Abraham, who, at the invitation of his son Joseph, went down with his family to dwell in Egypt, where they were enslaved by Pharaoh the king.

The history proceeds to the deliverance of the Israelites out of Egyptian bondage by Moses and Aaron, and their being set apart to be a peculiar people to God. It rehearses the laws and statutes which were given them, together with their sins and punishments while they were