b a weight. His credulity and uncommon regard for all sorts of oracles, are manifest in the character of his Olympiads given by Photius, and in the fragments of his works, published by Meursius. I would also refer to the article Tappaxv, in Stephanus Byzantinus, where Phlegon speaks of a child who was able to converse with others when it had been born not more than nine-andforty days; and to Salmasius's character of Phlegon's Olympiads in his notes upon Spartian's Life of Adrian. Fifthly, Origen is the only person that has mentioned this. I do not recollect any other ancient writer who has taken any notice of it. Consequently, I think we must say that upon the whole this citation is of no great moment. с III. But there is another passage of this author which may be reckoned more material, many learned men of late times having been of opinion that it relates to the darkness at the time of our Saviour's crucifixion. The Greek of Eusebius, in his Chronicle, which I must transcribe at large, is to this purpose: 'Jesus Christ the Son of God, our Lord, according to the prophecies concerning him, came to 'his passion in the nineteenth year of the reign of Tiberius: about which time we find these things related in other, even Gentile memoirs, in these very words: "the sun was eclipsed, "there was an earthquake in Bithynia, and many houses were overturned in Nice." All which things agree with what happened at the time of our Saviour's passion. So writes and says the author of the Olympiads, in the thirteenth book, in these words: " In the fourth year of the "two hundred and second olympiad there was an eclipse of the sun, the greatest of any known "before. And it was night at the sixth hour of the day, so that the stars appeared in the heaAnd there was a great earthquake in Bithynia, which overturned many houses in Nice." So writes the forementioned author." I shall also transcribe and translate this article as it appears in Jerom's Latin version of Eusebius's Chronicle. f Jesus Christ, according to the prophecies which had before spoken of him, came to his 'passion in the eighteenth year of Tiberius; at which time in other, even heathen memoirs, we 'find it written to this purpose: "There was an eclipse of the sun: Bithynia was shaken by an "earthquake, and in the city of Nice, many houses were overthrown.” All which things agree ⚫ with what happened at the time of our Saviour's passion. And so writes Phlegon, an excellent. compiler of the Olympiads, in his thirteenth book, saying: In the fourth year of the two hun"dred and second olympiad there was a great and extraordinary eclipse of the sun, distinguished among all that had happened before. At the sixth hour the day was turned into dark night, "so that the stars in the heavens were seen, and there was an earthquake in Bithynia which "overthrew many houses in the city of Nice." So writes the abovenamed author.' 66 g Phlegon is twice quoted, after the same manner, in the Paschal Chronicle composed in the seventh century. h Many learned men have supposed that Eusebius here speaks of another, beside Phlegon, who had borne witness to the darkness at the time of our Saviour's crucifixion. They think that Eusebius refers to Thallus, as well as Phlegon. I think that Eusebius speaks of one only. His * Και ἡ περι τας χρησμος ακαιρος φιλοπονία τε και φιλοτιμία, εις κόρον απάγεσα τον ακροατην-χρησμοις δε παντοιοίς ες ὑπερβολὴν ἐσι κεχρημένος. Phot. ibid. * Φλέγων ολυμπιάδι έκατοσῃ ογδοηκος η πρώτη. Ότι παίδιον, ἐκ δελής γενόμενον, τη εννατη και τεσσαρακοση της γενέσεως τον προσαγορεύσαντα αντιπροσαγόρευσαι. Steph. V. Ταρραχίνη. < Ex quo loco apparet, quale fuerit argumentum librorum Olympiadum Phlegontis. Nam sub quâque Olympiade, quid toto orbe gestum esset recensebat, prodigia præcipue et monstra, resque alias mirabiles, memorabilesque. Salmas. in Spartian. Hadrian. c. 16, p. 152. d De Domino etiam mentionem egit, si fides Origeni.Basnag. ann. 141, n. vii. • Ιησες ὁ Χρισος, ὁ υἱος τε Θε8, ὁ κύριος ήμων, κατα τας περί αυτό προφητειας, επί το πάθος προγεί, ετες ιθ' της Τιβέριο Καίσαρος βασιλειας· καθ' όν καιρον και εν άλλοις μεν Ελληνικοις ὑπομνήμασιν εύρομεν ίςορεμενα κατα λεξιν ταυτά· Ὁ ήλιος εκε λελιπεν· Βιθυνία εσεισθή Νικαιας τα πολλά επεσεν. Ὁ και συνάδει τοις περι το πάθος το σωτηρος ήμων συμβέβηκοσι. Γράφει δε και λεγει ὁ τας ολυμπιαδας.—περι των αυτών εν τω ιγ', ρήμασιν αυτοις τάδε· τω δ ετει της C B ολυμπιαδος εγένετο εκλειψις ήλιο μεγιση των εγνωρισμένων προτερον, και νυξ ώρα τ της ημερας εγενετο, ωςε και αςέρας εν ουρανῳ φανηναι, σεισμός σε μεγας κατα Βιθυνίαν γενομένος τα πολλά Νίκαιας κατε σρέψατο. Και ταύτα μεν ὁ δηλωθεις ανηρ. Euseb. Chr. p. 77. f Jesus Christus, secundum prophetias, quæ de eo fuerant prolocuta, ad passionem venit anno Tiberii xviii. quo tempore etiam in aliis Ethnicorum commentariis hæc ad verbum scripta reperimus. Solis facta defectio; Bithynia terræ motu concussa; et in urbe Nicæâ ædes plurimæ corruerunt.' Quæ omnia his congruunt, quæ in passione Salvatoris acciderant. Scribit vero super his et Phlego, qui Olympiadum egregius supputator est, in tertio decimo libro ita dicens: Quarto autem anno ccii. Olympiadis magna et excellens inter omnes, quæ ante cam acciderant, defectio solis facta: dies horâ sextâ in tenebrosam noctem versus, ut stellæ in cœlo visæ sint; terræque motus in Bithyniâ Nicææ urbis multas ædes subverteret. Hæc supradictus vir. Euseb. Chr. p. 158. first expressions are general. He observes that, what is said by prophets and by the evangelists, there are heathen authors who have borne testimony to this darkness. Nevertheless he means one only. And, having given a general account of what was to be found in other memoirs, beside the sacred, he produces distinctly the passage of Phlegon, and concludes, so writes the forenamed man.' I need not enlarge farther. To me it appears exceeding manifest that Eusebius speaks of one writer only, meaning Phlegon the compiler of Olympiads. The two quotations in the Paschal Chronicle, as well as St. Jerom's version, are all to be understood in the like manner. Before making any remarks upon this passage of Phlegon, I would take notice of some authors more ancient than Eusebius, who have referred to Phlegon, or are supposed to have referred to him. a Of these, undoubtedly, Tertullian is the most ancient. At the same time,' says he, at noonday there was a great darkness. They thought it to be an eclipse, who did not know that this also was foretold concerning Christ. And some have denied it, not knowing the cause of such darkness. And yet you have that remarkable event recorded in your ' archives.' I think that Tertullian refers not to Phlegon, or any other author, whose testimony could be no other than a private record, but to some public acts of the Romans, and probably those in which was kept registered the Relation of Pontius Pilate, sent to the emperor Tiberius, concerning the crucifixion of our Saviour, and the wonderful circumstances of it. d Huet understands Tertullian to refer to some public acts: and in like manner Grotius. And Dr. Clarke, in the first edition of his sermons at Mr. Boyle's lecture, where he quoted Phlegon, and in the eighth edition, where he omitted Phlegon, represents the sense of this place of Tertullian after this manner, and in the same words: And divers of the most remarkable cir⚫cumstances attending our Saviour's crucifixion, such as the earthquake, and miraculous dark⚫ness, were recorded in the public Roman registers, commonly appealed to by the first Christians, as what could not be denied by the adversaries themselves.' с What Tertullian says here has a great resemblance with what is said by the martyr Lucian, in his Apology, as represented by Rufinus in an addition to Eusebius's Ecclesiastical History, where he says: Look into your own annals; there you will find that in the time of Pilate, • when Christ suffered, the sun was obscured, and the light of the day was interrupted with darkness.' 6 For the present I pass by Africanus. The author therefore that next offers himself to our consideration is Origen, who, in his books against Celsus, says: But of the eclipse, which happened in the time of Tiberius, in whose reign Jesus was crucified, and of the great earthquakes 'which were at that time, Phlegon writes in the thirteenth, or, as I think, the fourteenth, book of his Chronicle.' Afterwards in the same work: But Celsus thinks both the earthquake and the darkness to be only fictitious wonders. To which we have already answered according to our ability," says Origen, alleging Phlegon, who relates that such things happened at the time of our Savi• our's passion.' In the first of these two passages, Origen refers to the book, but does not quote the words of Phlegon. This second reference is not more distinct nor more accurate. a Eodem momento dies, medium orbem signante sole, subducta est. Deliquium utique putaverunt, qui id quoque super Christo prædicatum non scierunt: ratione non deprehensâ negaverunt. Et tamen eum mundi casum relatum in arcanis [al. archivis] vestris habetis. Apol. c. 21, p. 22. b Merito itaque Christianorum causam apud Ethnicos agens in Apologetico [cap. 21.] Tertullianus miraculi hujus testes citat tabularia ipsorum, et publica instrumenta, sive quæ a rectoribus provinciarum, sive quæ ex instituto Cæsaris Romæ conficiebantur, in quæ diurna referebantur Acta Populi et Senatus. Huet. Dem. Evang. Prop. 3, sect. viii. p. 30. Exstabant olim et libri, tum privatorum, ut Phlegontis, tum et acta publica, ad quæ Christiani provocabant, quibus constabat de eo sidere, quod post Christum natum apparuit, de terræ motu, et solis deliquio, contra naturam, plenissimo luna orbe, circa tempus, quo Christus crucis supplicio affectus est. Grot. de Verit. Rel. Christ. 1. 3, c. xiv. See the first edition, p. 325; and the eighth edition, p. 357. f 1 Περί δε της επι Τιβέριο Καισαρος εκλείψεως, ο βασιλεύοντος και ο Ιησες εοικεν εσαυρωσθαι, και περι των μεγάλων τότε γενομένων σεισμων της γης, ανεγραψε και Φλέγων εν τῳ τρισκαι δεκατῳ η τῳ τεσσαρεσκαιδεκατῳ, οίμαι, των χρονικών. Contr. Cels. 1. 2, p. 80, Cant. al. sect. 33. 8. Οίεται δε τερατείαν είναι και τον σεισμόν και το σκότος" περὶ ὧν κατα δυνάτον, εν τοις ανωτέρω απελογήσαμεθα, παρα θέμενοι τον Φλεγοντα, ισορήσαντα, κατα τον χρόνον το πάθος το σωτήρος τοιαυτα απηντηκέναι. Ib. 1. 2. p. 96. al. sect. 59. a There is another long passage of Origen in his Commentaries upon St. Matthew's Gospel, which it may be expected I should transcribe here: and I shall do so. But, considering that we have it only in a Latin translation, which is obscure, I suppose I may be excused from attempting to translate it at length. ' The substance of what Origen says may be reduced to a few observations. • He proposeth ⚫ an objection of unbelievers against the evangelical history. They said that an eclipse of the ⚫sun never happens at full moon, as the darkness mentioned by the evangelists did: and that if ⚫ there had been an eclipse, or other darkness, over all the earth, lasting three hours, from six till • nine, it would have been mentioned by many authors, and especially by writers of chronicles. 'Origen allows that if the evangelists had mentioned such a thing in all those circumstances, and had said it was general all over the world, it would be reasonable to expect to find the mention of it in many writers, both Greeks and barbarians. But he says the evangelists speak only of a darkness in the land of Judea; nor do they call it an eclipse. Other extraordinary things, ' which are related by the evangelists to have happened at the time of our Saviour's sufferings, he says, were at Jerusalem, or near it. There" the veil of the temple was rent," there "the "earth quaked and the rocks were rent," there, or near it, "the graves were opened." So likewise it is to be understood, that at Jerusalem, or near it, or over the whole land of Judea, was "darkness from the sixth to the ninth hour." Finally, Origen observes and allows that Phlegon • did not say that the eclipse mentioned by him happened at the time of a full moon.' say b Tillemont, arguing upon this testimony of Phlegon, observes: Nevertheless, he did not that this obscurity, which he took for an eclipse, happened at full moon, when it is impossible 'to happen, according to the ordinary course of nature. For which reason Origen says, very wisely, that we must not too positively maintain against heathen people that Phlegon spoke of the darkness which happened at the death of Jesus Christ.' We are now coming to a main point. I suppose my readers to be well acquainted with the gospels, and to know that it is there related that "from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour," Matt. xxvii. 45; or, "when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth "hour," Mark xv. 33; or, "and it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the "earth [or land] until the ninth hour. And the sun was darkened," Luke xxiii. 44, 45. 1. In the first place, then, it appears to me very plain that the evangelists, by the earth, or * Matt. xxvii. 45. Ad hunc textum quidam calumniantur evangelicam veritatem, dicentes, quomodo secundum textum potest esse verum quod dicitur, quia factæ sunt tenebræ super omnem terram a sextâ horâ, usque ad nonam, quod factum nulla refert historia? Et dicunt, quia, sicut solet fieri in solis defectione, sic facta est tunc defectio solis. Defectio autem solis, quæ secundum consuetudinem temporum ita currentium fieri solet, non in alio tempore fit, nisi in conventu solis et lunæ in tempore autem, quo passus est Christus, manifestum est, quoniam conventus non erat lunæ ad solem, quoniam tempus erat paschale, quod consuetudinis est agere, quando luna solis plenitudinem habet, et in totâ est nocte. Quomodo ergo poterat fieri defectio solis, cum luna esset plena, et plenitudinem solis haberet ?-Pone, quia extra consuetudinem facta est illa defectio solis in tempore non antiquo, sub principatu Romanorum, ita ut tenebræ fierent super omnem terram usque ad horam nonam: quomodo hoc factum tam mirabile nemo Græcorum, nemo Barbarorum factum conscripsit in tempore illo, maxime qui Chronica conscripserunt, et notaverunt, sicuti aliquid novum factum est aliquando, sed soli hoc scripserunt vestri auctores? Et Phlegon quidem in Chronicis suis scripsit, in principatu Tiberii Cæsaris factum, sed non significavit in lunâ plenâ hoc factum. Vide ergo, ne fortis est objectio hæc, et potens movere omnem hominem sapientem, qui nec illis dicentibus, nec istis scribentibus consentit, sed omnino cum ratione et judicio audit-Dicimus ergo, quod Matthæus et Marcus non dixerunt, defectionem solis tunc factam fuisse, sed neque Lucas, secundum pleraque exemplaria, habentia sic: Et erat hora fere sexta, et tenebræ factæ sunt super omnem terram usque ad horam nonam, et obscu'ratus est sol.'- --Arbitror ergo, sicut cætera signa, quæ facta sunt in passionem ipsius, in Jerusalem facta sunt: sic et tenebræ tantummodo super omnem terram Judæam usque ad horam nonam. Quæ autem dico, in Jerusalem tantummodo hæc facta sunt: quod velum templi scissum est, quod terra contremuit, quod petræ diruptæ sunt, quod monumenta aperta sunt. Nec enim extra Judæam petræ diruptæ sunt, aut monumenta aperta sunt alia, nisi ea tantum, quæ in Jerusalem erant, aut forte in terrâ Judæâ. Nec alia terra tremuit tunc, nisi terra Jerusalem. Nec enim refertur alicubi, quod omne elementum terræ tremuerit in tempore illo, ut sentirent, verbi gratiâ, et qui in Æthiopia erant, et in Indiâ, et in Scythia. Quod si factum fuisset, sine dubio inveniretur in historiis aliquibus eorum, qui in Chronicis scripserunt nova aliqua facta. Sicut ergo quod dicitur, terra contremuit,' refertur ad terram Jerusalem, aut, si latius voluerit quis extendere, ad terram Judæam; sic et tenebræ factæ sunt ab horâ sextâ usque ad 'nonam super omnem terram,' intellige, quod super omnem terram Judæam sunt factæ, aut certe super Jerusalem tantum. Origen. in Matt. Tr. 35, p. 922, 923. Tom. 3. Bened. Il ne marquoit pas néanmoins que cette obscurité, qu'il prenoit pour une eclipse, fût arrivée dans là pleine lune, où il est impossible selon l'ordre de la nature qu'il en arrive jamais. C'est pourquoi Origène remarque fort sagement, qu'il ne faut pas s'opiniâtrer à soutenir contre les Payens, que Phlégon a parlé de ce qui est arrivé à la mort de J. C. Note 35. sur N. S. J. C. p. 449. M. E. C the land, mean Judea. So the original word is sometimes used, as Luke iv. 25; Matt. xxiv. 30. So it was understood in these texts by that great critic Origen, as we have seen. So likewise says that eminent man G. J. Vossius, and divers other learned moderns of very good judgment. And Beza, for preventing ambiguity, useth the word region, or country, instead of land, or earth; and upon Mark xv. 33, has a good note, justifying that version. Indeed, it is so pertinent, that I am tempted to write out a good part of it below. This, I think, must be right. The evangelists speak of things that happened in the land of Judea, the place of their residence, and within the extent of their knowledge. How should they know what happened abroad, throughout the whole world? There was darkness at Jerusalem, and near it, and in that whole country where Christ was crucified, and among that people who had been taught by his ministry, who had seen his miracles, and now triumphed in his crucifixion. But there might be the light and brightness of the sun in other countries, as probably there were. A. Bynæus, after having carefully examined this point, expresseth himself to the same purpose. с 2. There are such inaccuracies, and such differences, in the quotations of Phlegon by several authors, as very much diminish the credit and authority of this testimony. Origen says no more than that Phlegon speaks of an eclipse and earthquakes in the reign of Tiberius, without mentioning what year of his reign. Eusebius, and Jerom, and the Paschal Chronicle, speak of an eclipse of the sun, and an earthquake, in the fourth year of the two hundred and second olympiad, meaning the eighteenth or nineteenth year of Tiberius, and the thirty-second or thirty-third year of our Lord, according to the common computation. But they do not say in what part, or what month of the year, those things happened: which would be very material, and tend to decide a reference to the darkness at our Saviour's passion, if it had been said that the eclipse was in the spring, or such a month of the spring part of the year. I now add some other quotations to those just mentioned. J. Philoponus, who lived near the end of the sixth, and the beginning of the seventh, century, writes to this purpose: Phlegon also, in his Olympiads, makes mention of this darkness, or rather this night: for he says that in the second year of the one hundred and second olympiad there was the greatest eclipse of the sun that had been known before, and night came on at the sixth hour of the day; insomuch that the stars appeared in the sky.' Afterwards the same Philoponus speaks of Phlegon, as saying that the eclipse happened in the two hundred and second olympiad. Some may think this to be an inconsistency: but, perhaps, there were different ways of computing the olympiads, or the years of each olympiad. h In the Chronicle of George Syncellus, who flourished in the eighth century, Africanus is a Putamus autem, per universam terram solam signari Judæam. Quod et Erasmus arbitratur in cap. xxvii. Matt. G. Voss. Harm. Ev. 1. 2, cap. x. b Matt. xxvii. 45. "Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land [of Judea] until the ninth hour." Whitby.sur tout le païs. Le Clerc. Apparemment sur Ja Judée, comme Luc. iv. 25; Matt. xxiv. 30. Lenfant. See also Basnage ann. 33, n. cxviii. c‹ super universam regionem.' waσav тyy yyy, i. e. Xwpav. Vulgata, et Erasmus, universam terram, quasi omnes mundi plagæ fuerint obscurate, Bez. ad Matt. xxvii. 45. d Quæritur autem a multis, an de Judæâ duntaxat, an vero potius de universo orbe terrarum, hæc sint accipienda. Quod posterius videtur amplecti Tertullianus Ap. c. xxi. hoc solis deliquium vocans' muadi casum,' quem Romani in suis ar chivis habeant. Sed ego iis potius assentior, qui de Hierosolymis et totâ vicinâ regione hoc dictum accipiunt. Nam in Árchivis annotari justius etiam prodigium illud potuit, quonian fuit Judææ peculiare. Familiare etiam est sacris scriptoribus, terræ appellatione, etiamsi nihil adjiciatur, intelligere terram Chanaan. Et y pro xwpav, id est, terram,' pro ' regione,' reperimus alibi: ut Matt. ix. 26, et Luc. iv. 25. Confert autem hoc ad prodigii novitatem, si intellexerimus non modo die Paschæ, id est in plenilunio, accidisse hanc solis eclipsin, sed etiam reliquum orbem illustrante sole, atque adeo in ipso meridie hunc unum orbis terrarum angulum, in quo tantum facinus patrabatur, in densissimis tenebris delituisse. -Et si universale fuisset hoc prodigium, esset proculdubio omnium astrologorum monumentis celebratum. Bez. in Mark xv. 33. e Profecto credibilius nihil est, quam scriptores sacros ortas hasce tenebras επι πασαν την γην, super omnem terram,' vel ɛø' óλŋu tyy yy, super totam terram,' dixisse, ut designarent, occupâsse eas non Hierosolymam tantum, locumque, in quo Jesus suffixus cruci fuit, sed Judæam, vel terram Israëliticam universam. De orbe toto enim nequit hic cogitari. Sed nec orbis intelligi Romanus potest, ad quem Lucas, dum res describit in Judæâ gestas, utique non attendit. &c. Ant. Bynæus. de morte J. C. 1. 3, c. 8. sect. ii. p. 410. Λεγει γαρ, ότι τῳ δευτερῳ ετει της διακοσίοσης δεύτερας ολυμπιάδος εγένετο ήλιο εκλειψις μεγιση των [ουκ] εγνωσμένων πρότερον· και νυξ ώρᾳ έκτη της ημερας εγενετο ώςε και αςέρας Ey spare parniai. Philop. de Mundi Creatione. 1. 2, cap. 21. Β ́ Την δε εκλειψιν γεγονεναι εν τῷ τεταρτῳ ετεί της διακοπής δευτερας ολυμπιαδος. Philop. Ibid. h Vide Pagi ann. 32, n. xii. xiii. quoted in this manner: Phlegon relates that in the reign of the emperor Tiberius, at the time of the full moon, there was a total eclipse of the sun from the sixth hour to the ninth. b It is obvious to observe here-it is not easy to believe that Africanus said Phlegon had mentioned an eclipse with those circumstances, because Fhlegon is not so quoted by any other writer. And Origen assures us that Phlegon had omitted that circumstance, that the eclipse mentioned by him was in the time of the full moon.' с Maximus, of the seventh century, in his Scholia upon the pretended Dionysius the Areopagite, says: Phlegon the Gentile chronographer, in the thirteenth book of his Chronography, at the two hundred and third olympiad, mentions this eclipse, saying that it happened in an un⚫ usual manner: but does not say in what manner. And our Africanus in the fifth book of his Chronography, and Eusebius Pamphili likewise in his Chronicle, mention the same eclipse.' J. Malala, in the sixth or seventh century, in his Chronicle, writes to this purpose: ' And 'the 'sun was darkened, and there was darkness upon the world. Concerning which darkness, Phlegon, that wise Athenian, writes thus: "In the eighteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Cæsar, there was a great eclipse of the sun, greater than those that had been known before: and it be'came night at the sixth hour of the day, so that the stars appeared.' Such are the principal quotations of Phlegon in ancient writers. We may wish they had been more distinct and accurate, and that there had been a nearer agreement between them; but we must take them as they are. Nor do they all place the eclipse, which they speak of, in the same year of the same olympiad. However, I do not chuse to enlarge on this particular; it is rather too critical for my present work: I therefore refer to Pagi, who has spoken to the point with great learning and judgment, and must be of use to remove difficulties of this sort. Wherefore proceed. I 44 3. Phlegon says nothing of Judea. What he says is, that in such an olympiad, there was an eclipse in Bithynia, and an earthquake at Nice.' 4. Phlegon does not say that the earthquake happened at the same time with the eclipse. 5. Phlegon mentions not any extraordinary circumstances of the darkness at the time of our Saviour's sufferings. We cannot perceive from the quotations that have been made of him, that it is reasonable to believe he said that the eclipse mentioned by him happened at the time of a 'full moon,' or that it lasted three hours.' These circumstances could not have been omitted by him if he had known any thing of them. The acute Mr. Bayle, in his article of Phlegon, has enlarged upon this point, and as it seems to me with good reason. Never was there a man more intent than Phlegon to collect marvellous events, and to observe the supernatural circumstances of them. How then was it possible that a man of this temper should omit to remark that which was most extraordinary in this eclipse, I mean that it happened at the time of a full moon.' 6. Phlegon speaks of an ordinary eclipse of the sun. Therefore he cannot intend the darkness mentioned by the evangelists, which happened when the moon was full: at which time an eclipse of the sun is impossible. Nor do any of the evangelists use the word eclipse in their history of this darkness. Phlegon speaks of a total, or very near total eclipse of the sun, so that the stars were seen; which is common when there is a total eclipse, and the air is clear; but could not have been if there had been clouds, which would have hid the stars also. G. J. Vossius was clearly of opinion that Phlegon speaks of an ordinary and natural eclipse of the sun: for which and other reasons he concludes that Phlegon did not intend the darkness in Judea at the time of our Saviour's passion. - Φλεγων ίσορει, επι Τιβέριο Καισαρος εν πανσεληνων εκλειψιν ηλια γεγονεναι τελείαν από ώρας έκτης μέχρις εννάτης. Vid. G. Syncell. p. 322, 323. b By all means see Tillemont, M. E. Tom. i. note 35. sur Jesus Christ, p. 449, 450. • Μέμνηται μεν και Φλέγων ο Ελληνικός χρονογράφος, εν τρισκαιδεκάτῳ χρονογραφιων εν τη σιγ' ολυμπιάδι, της εκλείψεως ταυτής, παρά το ειωθος αυτην λεγων γενεσθαι, ου μην τον τρόπον averpate. x. λ. Maxim. ap. Dionys. Areop. T. 2, p. 97.. J. Malal...Chronogr. lib. 10. p. 310. e * Pagi ann, 32, num. xixiv. Phlegon. note D. Diction. Critic. Phlego tamen pro naturali habuit eclipsi -Dixeris, vi deri eamdem, quia Evangelistæ dicunt, fuisse eo tempore terræ motum: ac Phlego itidem dicat, tempore eclipseos ejus, de quâ agit, terræ motum fuisse in Bithyniâ, maximeque Nicææ. Scio.. Sed scrupulum injicit, quod sileat de terræ motu in Palæstinâ. At, inquias, potuit hoc ignorare: nec levem videri nobis auctoritatem Patrum debere, qui eamdem faciunt eclipsim illam Evangelistis,ac Phlegonti.memoratam. Movit Patres, quod eumdem in annum utraque incideret. Sed falsos esse, arguit, quod si miraculosa eclipsis variis conspecta terris foret, non solus ejus Phlegon meminisset. Quid enim magis in naturâ stupendum, quam solem deficere in plenilunio? Ut jam mittam, quod ante dicebam, Phlegonti sermonem esse de eclipsi naturali, quæ solum in novilunio. G. J. Voss. Harmon. Evang. 1. 2, c. x. |