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street and wall. See now if our narrative would not be unforced, beginning from Cyrus himself, in whose time Daniel prophesies, as we count up the times. For he was the first to issue the response concerning the rebuilding of Jerusalem, according to the writing in Ezra, which is in this manner: And in the first year 154 of Cyrus king of the Persians, that the word of the Lord from the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of the Persians, and he made a proclamation by voice throughout all his kingdom, and also in writing, saying, Thus said Cyrus the king of the Persians: All the kingdoms of the earth the Lord God of heaven has given to me, and he himself has charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judea. Who is there among you of all his people? And his God shall be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem; and so forth; to which is added: And king Cyrus brought forth the vessels of the house of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem and put them in the house of his god. And Cyrus the king of the Persians brought them forth by the hand of Mithridates and numbered them to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah. Upon these things, the scripture relates how the first ones who went up laid the foundations of the temple, and how they were hindered from their work in the time between, until the seventh week of years; for forty-six years are described from Cyrus to the sixth year of Darius, in which the building of the temple came to an end; whence with good reason the oracle set apart the first 7 weeks from the rest, wishing to signify the time between the first laying of the temple's foundations and its utter completion. For Cyrus, having reigned for thirty-one years, hands over the rule to his son Cambyses; when he had passed nine years, Darius, having taken over the kingdom, again after 155 Cyrus, by means of the edict, commands Jerusalem to be built. And indeed, in the sixth year of his reign, which was the forty-sixth from Cyrus, the works of the building are completed; whence, taking their starting point, they said to our Savior, ‘This temple was built in forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?’ But according to Josephus, 49 years exactly are counted from Cyrus to the ninth year of Darius, in which he says in the eleventh book of the Antiquities that an end was put to the building of the temple, declaring in his own words that the temple would be built in the 7th (sic) month of the ninth year of the reign of Darius; to which he also adds, saying, and they dwelt in Jerusalem, using an aristocratic constitution with an oligarchy; for the priests presided over affairs, until it came to pass that the descendants of Asamoneus reigned. These 7 weeks, then, mentioned in the prophecy, being limited to the aforementioned year of Darius, it is therefore evident for what reason they have received their separation from the rest. But let us also see to what times the remaining 62 are limited. Indeed, the ninth year of Darius, according to the sixty-seventh Olympiad, is presented from the history of the chronographers among the Greeks; from this, then, to the one hundred and sixteenth Olympiad, during which Seleucus, after the death of Alexander, gained control of all Syria and Babylonia, is 6 years; and from thence to the death of Simon, high priest of the Jews, of the rule in Syria, the first 156 book of what are called the Maccabees signifies that 177 passed, describing the history up to this point; and again from thence, Josephus, noting the successions of the priests most accurately, says that after the aforementioned Simon, John, who was also Hyrcanus, led the people for 29 years; and that Aristobulus succeeded him, who also reigned for one year; and after him Alexander for 27 years, after whom his wife Alexandra, up to whom all the years from the ninth year of Darius amount to 434, however many would come from the 62 weeks in which the anointed were leaders, and these would be the high priests,

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πλατεία καὶ τεῖχος. Ὅρα δὴ εἰ μὴ ἀβίαστος γένοιτ' ἂν ἡμῖν ἡ διήγησις ἐξ αὐτοῦ Κύρου, καθ' ὃν ὁ ∆ανιὴλ προφητεύει, τοὺς χρόνους ἀπαριθμουμένοις. Οὗτος γὰρ οὖν πρῶτος τὴν περὶ τοῦ ἀνεγεῖραι τὴν Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἀπόκρισιν ἐξενήνοχε κατὰ τὴν ἐν τῷ Ἔζρᾳ γραφὴν, τοῦτον ἔχουσαν τὸν τρόπον· Καὶ ἐν τῷ πρώτῳ ἔτει 154 Κύρου βασιλέως Περσῶν, τοῦ τελεσθῆναι λόγον Κυρίου ἀπὸ στόματος Ἱερεμίου, ἐξήγειρε Κύριος τὸ πνεῦμα Κύρου βασιλέως Περσῶν, καὶ παρήγγειλε φωνὴν ἐν πάσῃ βασιλείᾳ αὐτοῦ, καί γε ἐγγράπτως, λέγων, Οὕτως εἶπεν Κύρος ὁ βασιλεὺς Περσῶν· Πάσας τὰς βασιλείας τῆς γῆς παρέδωκέ μοι Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, καὶ αὐτὸς ἐπεσκέψατο ἐπ' ἐμὲ τοῦ οἰκοδομῆσαι αὐτῷ οἶκον ἐν Ἱερουσαλὴμ τῇ ἐν Ἰουδαίᾳ. Τίς ἐν ὑμῖν ἀπὸ παντὸς τοῦ λαοῦ αὐτοῦ; καὶ ἔσται ὁ Θεὸς αὐτοῦ μετ' αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἀναβήσεται εἰς Ἱερουσαλήμ· καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς· οἷς ἐπιφέρεται· Καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς Κύρος ἐξήνεγκε τὰ σκεύη οἴκου Κυρίου, ἃ ἔλαβεν Ναβουχοδονόσορ ἀπὸ Ἱερουσαλὴμ καὶ ἔδωκεν αὐτὰ ἐν οἴκῳ Θεοῦ αὐτοῦ. Καὶ ἐξήνεγκεν αὐτὰ Κύρος ὁ βασιλεὺς Περσῶν ἐπὶ χεῖρα Μιθριδάτου καὶ ἠρίθμησεν αὐτὰ τῷ Σαμανασσὰρ ἄρχοντι τοῦ Ἰούδα. Ἐπὶ τούτοις ἱστορεῖ ἡ γραφὴ ὡς ἀνελθόντες οἱ πρῶτοι καταβάλλονται τοὺς τοῦ ἱεροῦ θεμελίους, καὶ ὡς εἴργονταί γε ἐν τῷ μεταξὺ χρόνῳ τῆς σπουδῆς, ἕως ἐπὶ ἑβδόμην ἐτῶν ἑβδομάδα· τεσσαράκοντα γοῦν καὶ ἓξ ἔτη ἀπὸ Κύρου καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ ∆αρείου ἕκτον ἔτος περιγράφεται, ἐν ᾧ πέρας ἴσχει τὰ τῆς τοῦ ναοῦ οἰκοδομῆς· ὅθεν εἰκότως ἀπὸ τῶν λοιπῶν ἑβδομάδας ζʹ τὰς πρώτας ὁ λόγος ἀφωρίσατο, τὸν μεταξὺ χρόνον τῆς πρώτης καταβολῆς τῶν τοῦ ναοῦ θεμελίων καὶ τῆς εἰς ἄκρον αὐτοῦ ἀναπληρώσεως ἐμφῆναι βουλόμενος. Κύρος μὲν γὰρ ἔτη τριάκοντα καὶ ἓν βασιλεύσας, Καμβύσῃ τῷ παιδὶ παραδίδωσι τὴν ἀρχήν· οὗ ἐπὶ ἐννέα διαγενομένου ἔτεσι, ∆αρεῖος τὴν βασιλείαν παραλαβὼν, αὖθις μετὰ 155 Κύρον διὰ τοῦ προγράμματος τὴν Ἱερουσαλὴμ οἰκοδομηθῆναι προστάττει. Καὶ δὴ κατὰ τὸ ἕκτον αὐτοῦ τῆς ἀρχῆς ἔτος, ὅπερ ἦν ἀπὸ Κύρου τεσσαρακοστὸν καὶ ἕκτον, τὰ τῆς οἰκοδομῆς ἀποπληροῦται· ὅθεν ὁρμώμενοι τῷ Σωτῆρι ἡμῶν ἔλεγον, μʹ καὶ ἓξ ἔτεσιν ᾠκοδομήθη ὁ ναὸς οὗτος, καὶ σὺ ἐν τρισὶν ἡμέραις ἐγερεῖς αὐτόν; Κατὰ δὲ τὸν Ἰώσηπον οʹ θʹ καὶ μʹ ἔτη ἀκριβῶς τὰ ἀπὸ Κύρου ἐπὶ τὸ ∆αρείου ἔνατον ἔτος συνάγεται, ἐν ᾧ τέλος ἐπιθεῖναι τῇ τοῦ ναοῦ οἰκοδομῇ ἐν τῷ ἑνδεκάτῳ τῆς Ἀρχαιολογίας φησὶν αὐτολεξεὶ δηλῶν οἰκοδομηθήσεσθαι τὸν ναὸν ζʹ (sic) μηνὶ τοῦ ἐνάτου τῆς ἐπὶ ∆αρείου βασιλείας ἔτους· οἷς καὶ ἐπιφέρει λέγων, κατῴκισαν δὲ ἐν τοῖς Ἱεροσολύμοις πολιτείᾳ χρώμενοι ἀριστοκρατορικῇ μετὰ ὀλιγαρχίας· οἱ γὰρ ἱερεῖς προεστήκεσαν τῶν πραγμάτων, ἄχρι οὗ τοὺς Ἀσαμωναίου συνέβη βασιλεύειν ἐγγόνους. Ἅιδε μὲν οὖν αἱ ἐν τῇ προφητείᾳ φερόμεναι ζʹ ἑβδομάδες εἰς τὸ προδεδηλωμένον ἔτος ∆αρείου περιοριζόμεναι, πρόδηλον οὖν δι' ἣν αἰτίαν τῶν τὸν ἀπὸ τῶν λοιπῶν ἀφορισμὸν εἰλήφασιν. Ἴδωμεν δὲ καὶ τὰς λοιπὰς ξβʹ ἐπὶ ποίους περιορίζονται χρόνους. Τὸ μὲν δὴ ἔνατον ἔτος ∆αρείου κατὰ τὴν ἑβδόμην καὶ ἑξηκοστὴν Ὀλυμπιάδα ἐκ τῆς τῶν παρ' Ἕλλησι χρονογράφων παρίσταται ἱστορίας· ἀπὸ δὴ οὖν ταύτης ἐπὶ τὴν ἑκατοστὴν ἑκκαιδεκάτην Ὀλυμπιάδα, καθ' ἣν Σέλευκος μετὰ τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρου τελευτὴν Συρίας ἁπάσης καὶ Βαβυλωνίας ἐκράτησεν, ἔτη γίνεται ςʹ· ἐντεῦθεν δ' ἐπὶ τὴν τελευτὴν Σίμωνος Ἰουδαίων ἀρχιερέως τῆς κατὰ Συρίαν ἀρχῆς ζʹ καὶ οʹ καὶ ρʹ διαγενέσθαι ἡ πρώτη 156 τῶν καλουμένων Μακκαβαϊκῶν σημαίνει γραφὴ, μέχρι τούτου περιγράφουσα τὴν ἱστορίαν· πάλιν δ' ἐντεῦθεν τὰς τῶν ἱερέων διαδοχὰς ἀκριβέστατα ἐπισημαινόμενος ὁ Ἰώσηπος μετὰ Σίμωνα τὸν προδεδηλωμένον φησὶ καθηγήσασθαι τοῦ λαοῦ Ἰωάννην τὸν καὶ Ὑρκανὸν ἔτεσιν θʹ καὶ κʹ· τοῦτον δὲ διαδέξασθαι Ἀριστόβουλον, ὃν καὶ βασιλεῦσαι ἐνιαυτόν· μετὰ δὲ τοῦτον Ἀλέξανδρος ἔτεσι κζʹ, μεθ' ὃν τὴν γυναῖκα Ἀλεξάνδραν, ἐφ' ἣν τὰ πάντα ἀπὸ ἐνάτου ἔτους ∆αρείου ἔτη συνάγεται υλδʹ, ὁπόσα δ' ἂν γένοιτο ἐκ τῶν ξβʹ ἑβδομάδων ἐν αἷς οἱ χριστοὶ ἡγούμενοι, οὗτοι δ' ἂν εἶεν οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς,