From the Captivity unto the coming of Christ, (which time is thought[4] to have been five hundred thirty six years) the state of the _Jewes_ became very confused. Sometimes they were ruled by _Deputies_ and _Vicegerents_, who had not supream authority in themselves, but as it pleased the _Persian Monarchs_ to assigne them; they were termed[5] ראשי גליות _Rasche galiuth_, αἰχμαλωτάρχαι _Heads of the Captivity_. Of this sort was _Zorobabel_ and his successors, who are reckoned in the _Hebrew_ Chronicles[6] to be these, _Mesullam_, _Hananiah_, _Berachiah_, and _Hosadiah_. All which are thought to have reigned under the _Persian Monarchy_, and to have been of the Posterity of _David_: as likewise the other succeeding ten chief Governours after _Alexander_ the Great. In the last of these ten, the government departed from the House of _David_, and was translated to the _Macchabees_, who descended from the Tribe of _Levi_. They were called _Maccabæi_, from _Judas Maccabeus_,[7] and he had this name מכבאי _Macchabæus_, from the Capital Letters of this Motto, written in his Ensigne or banner, מי כמוך באלים יהוה _Quis sicut tu inter Deos, O Domine?_ Where the first letters are, _M_, _C_, _B_, _A_, _I_. Among the _Maccabees_, soveraign authority continued until _Herod_ the _Askalonite_ his reign, at what time our Saviour Christ was born, according to _Jacobs_ prophecy: The Scepter shall not depart from _Judah_, nor a _Law-giver_ from between his feet, untill _Shiloh_, that is, the[8] _Messias_ come, _Gen. 49. 10._
[5] _Maimon. in Iad. lib. vit. tract. Sanedr. in c. 4. sect. 13._
[8] _Targum Uziel. eadem pæne verba habet Targum Jerosolym._
For the right understanding of this Prophecy, We must note two things; 1. The time when the Scepter was given to _Judah_: 2. When taken from him. But first we must observe how these two words, _Judah_, and the _Scepter_, are distinguished.
1. For the particular _Tribe of Judah_[9]: but this seemeth flat contrary to Scripture, for many of the _Judges_ were of other Tribes, and all the _Maccabees_ of the Tribe of _Levi_.
2. For the _Two Tribes_[10] which cleaved to _Rehoboam_; because in that division of the People, these Two Tribes alone were called _Jews_, and that from _Judah_, and that never before this division.