expected from the Romans but signal and exemplary vengeance. A ceaseless cry of combatants was heard day and night, and yet the lamentations of mourners were still more dreadful. The consternation and terror which now prevailed, induced many of the inhabitants to desire that a foreign foe might come, and effect their deliverance. Such was the horrible condition of the place when Titus and his army presented themselves, and encamped before Jerusalem; but, alas! not to deliver it from its miseries, but to fulfil the prediction, and vindicate the benevolent warning of our Lord: "When ye see (he had said to his disciples) the abomination of desolation, spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place*, and Jerusalem surrounded by armies (or camps), then let those who are in the midst of Jerusalem depart and let not those who are in the country

Not only was the temple and mountain on which it stood accounted holy, but also the whole city of Jeru salem, and several furlongs of land round about it. Vide Neh. xi. 1; Isaiah liii. 1; Daniel ix. 24; and Mat. xxvii. 53.

;

enter into her," for "then know that the desolation thereof is nigh*." These armies, we do not hesitate to affirm, were those of the Romans, who now invested the city. From the time of the Babylonian captivity, idolatry had been held as an abomination by the Jews. This national aversion was manifested even against the images of their gods and emperors, which the Roman armies carried in their standards so that, in a time of peace, Pilate, and afterwards Vitellius, at the request of some eminent Jews, on this account avoided marching their forces through Judea. Of the desolating disposition which now gov erned the Roman army, the history of the Jewish war, and especially the final demolition of the holy city, presents an awful and signal example. Jerusalem was not captured merely, but, with its celebrated temple, laid in ruins. Lest, however, the army of Titus should not be sufficiently designated by this expression, our Lord adds, "Wheresoever the carcase is, there

* Mat. xxiv. 15, 21; Luke xxi. 20, 21.

will the eagles be gathered together*." The Jewish state, indeed, at this time, was fitly compared to a carcass. The sceptre

of Judah, i. e. its civil and political authority, the life of its religion, and the glory of its temple, were departed. It was, in short, morally and judicially dead. The eagle, whose ruling instinct is rapine and murder, as fitly represented the fierce and sanguinary temper of the Romans, and, perhaps, might be intended to refer also to the principal figure on their ensigns, which, however obnoxious to the Jews, were at length planted in the midst of the holy city, and finally on the temple itself.

The day on which Titus encompassed Jerusalem was the feast of the passover: and it is deserving of the very particular attention of the reader, that this was the anniversary of that memorable period in which the Jews crucified their Messiah!

Mat. xxiv. 28.

At this season multitudes came up from all the surrounding country, and from distant parts, to keep the festival. How suitable and how kind, then, was the prophetic admonition of our Lord, and how clearly he saw into futurity when he said, "Let not them that are in the countries enter into Jerusalem*." Nevertheless, the city was at that time crowded with Jewish strangers, and foreigners from all parts, so that the whole nation may be considered as having been shut up in one prison, preparatory to the execution of the Divine vengeance; and, according to Josephus, this event took place suddenly; thus, not only fulfilling the predictions of our Lord, that these calamities should come like the swift darting lightning "that cometh out of the east and shineth even unto the west," and "as a snare on all them (the Jews) who dwelt upon the face of the whole earth;" but justifying, also, his friendly direction, that those who fled from the

Luke xxi. 22. † Mat. xxiv. 27; and Luke xxi. 35.

place should use the utmost possible expedition.

On the appearance of the Roman army, the factious Jews united, and, rushing furiously out of the city, repulsed the tenth legion, which was with difficulty preserved. This event caused a short suspension of hostilities, and, by opening the gates, gave an opportunity to such as were so disposed to make their escape; which, before this, they could not have attempted without interruption, from the suspicion. that they wished to revolt to the Romans. This success inspired the Jews with confidence, and they resolved to defend their city to the very uttermost; but it did not prevent the renewal of their civil broils. The faction under Eleazer having dispersed, and arranged themselves under the two other leaders, John and Simon, there ensued a scene of the most dreadful contention, plunder, and conflagration: the middle space of the city being burnt, and