or MAGIANS, a title which the ancient Persians gave to their wise
men, or philosophers. Magi, among the Persians, answers to σόφοι, or
φιλόσοφοι, among the Greeks; _sapientes_, among the Latins; druids,
among the Gauls; gymnosophists, among the Indians; and priests, among
the Egyptians.
The ancient magi, according to Aristotle and Laertius, were the sole
authors and conservators of the Persian philosophy; and the philosophy
principally cultivated among them was theology and politics; they being
always esteemed as the interpreters of all law, both divine and human;
on which account they were wonderfully revered by the people. Hence
Cicero observes that none were admitted to the crown of Persia, but such
as were well instructed in the discipline of the magi; who taught τὰ
βασιλικὰ, and showed princes how to govern. Plato, Apuleius, Laertius,
and others, agree that the philosophy of the magi related principally to
the worship of the gods: they were the persons who were to offer
prayers, supplications, and sacrifices, as if the gods would be heard by
them alone. But, according to Lucian, Suidas, &c, this theology, or
worship of the gods, as it is called, about which the magi were
employed, was little more than the diabolical art of divination; so that
μαγεί.ἁ, strictly taken, was the art of divination. These people were
held in such veneration among the Persians, that Darius, the son of
Hystaspes, among other things, had it engraven on his monument, that he
was the master of the magi. Philo Judæus describes the magi to be
diligent inquirers into nature, out of the love they bear to truth; and
who, setting themselves apart from other things, contemplate the divine
virtues the more clearly, and initiate others in the same mysteries. The
magi, or magians, formed one of the two grand sects into which the
idolatry of the world was divided between 500 and 600 years before
Christ. These abominated all those images which were worshipped by the
other sect, denominated Sabians, and paid their worship to the Deity
under the emblem of fire. Their chief doctrine was, that there were two
principles, one of which was the cause of all good, and the other the
cause of all evil. The former was represented by light, and the latter
by darkness, as their truest symbols; and of the composition of these
two they supposed that all things in the world were made. The sect of
the magians was revived and reformed by Zoroaster. This celebrated
philosopher, called by the Persians Zerdusht, or Zaratush, began about
the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Darius to restore and reform the
magian system of religion. He was not only excellently skilled in all
the learning of the east that prevailed in his time, but likewise
thoroughly versed in the Jewish religion, and in all the sacred writings
of the Old Testament that were then extant: whence some have inferred
that he was a native Jew both by birth and profession; and that he had
been servant to one of the prophets, probably Ezekiel or Daniel. He made
his first appearance in Media, in the city of Xix, now called Aderbijan,
as some say; or, according to others in Ecbatana, now called Tauris.
Instead of admitting the existence of two first causes, with the
magians, he asserted the existence of one supreme God, who created both
these, and out of these two produced, according to his sovereign
pleasure, every thing else. According to his doctrine, there was one
supreme Being independently and self-existing from all eternity. Under
him there are two angels: one the angel of light, the author and
director of all good; and the other the angel of darkness, who is the
author and director of all evil. These two, probably speaking
figuratively, out of the mixture of light and darkness, made all things
that are; and they are in a state of perpetual conflict; so that where
the angel of light prevails, there the most is good; and where the angel
of darkness prevails, there the most is evil. This struggle shall
continue to the end of the world; and then there shall be a general
resurrection, and a day of judgment: after which, the angel of darkness
and his disciples shall go into a world of their own, where they shall
suffer in everlasting darkness the punishment of their evil deeds; and
the angel of light and his disciples shall go into a world of their own,
where they shall receive in everlasting light the reward due unto their
good deeds: and henceforward they shall for ever remain separate.
Of the controversy as to Zoroaster, Zeratusht, or Zertushta, and the
sacred books said to have been written by him, called Zend or
Zendavesta, which has divided the most eminent critics, it would answer
no important end to give an abstract. Those who wish for information on
the subject are referred to Hyde’s _Religio Veterum Persarum_;”
Prideaux’s Connection;” Warburton’s Divine Legation;” Bryant’s
Mythology;” The Universal History;” Sir W. Jones’s Works, vol. iii, p.
115; M. Du Perron, and Richardson’s Dissertation,” prefixed to his
Persian and Arabic Dictionary. But whatever may become of the authority
of the whole or part of the Zendavesta, and with whatever fables the
history of the reformer of the magian religion may be mixed, the learned
are generally agreed that such a reformation took place by his
instrumentality. Zeratusht,” says Sir W. Jones, reformed the old
religion by the addition of genii or angels, of new ceremonies in the
veneration shown to fire, of a new work which he pretended to have
received from heaven, and, _above all, by establishing the actual
adoration of the supreme Being_;” and he farther adds, The reformed
religion of Persia continued in force till that country was conquered by
the Musselmans; and, without studying the Zend, we have ample
information concerning it in the modern Persian writings of several who
profess it. Bahman always named Zeratusht with reverence; he was, in
truth, a pure Theist, and strongly disclaimed any adoration of the fire
or other elements; and he denied that the doctrine of two coëval
principles, supremely good and supremely bad, formed any part of his
faith.” The Zeratusht of Persia, or the Zoroaster of the Greeks,” says
Richardson, was highly celebrated by the most discerning people of
ancient times; and his tenets, we are told, were most eagerly and
rapidly embraced by the highest in rank, and the wisest men in the
Persian empire.” He distinguished himself by denying that good and evil,
represented by light and darkness, were coëval, independent principles;
and asserted the supremacy of the true God, in exact conformity with the
doctrine contained in a part of that celebrated prophecy of Isaiah in
which Cyrus is mentioned by name: I am the Lord, and there is none else,
there is no God beside me,” no coëval power. I form the light, and
create darkness, I make peace,” or good, and create evil, I the Lord do
all these things.” Fire, by Zerdushta, appears to have been used
emblematically only; and the ceremonies for preserving and transmitting
it, introduced by him, were manifestly taken from the Jews, and the
sacred fire of their tabernacle and temple.
The old religion of the Persians was corrupted by Sabianism, or the
worship of the host of heaven, with its accompanying superstition. The
magian doctrine, whatever it might be at first, had degenerated; and two
eternal principles, good and evil, had been introduced. It was therefore
necessarily idolatrous also, and, like all other false systems,
flattering to the vicious habits of the people. So great an improvement
in the moral character and influence of the religion of a whole nation
as was effected by Zoroaster, a change which is not certainly paralleled
in the ancient history of the religion of mankind, can scarcely,
therefore, be thought possible, except we suppose a divine
interposition, either directly, or by the occurrence of some very
impressive events. Now as there are so many authorities for fixing the
time of Zoroaster or Zeratusht not many years subsequent to the death of
the great Cyrus, the events connected with the conquest of Babylon may
account for his success in that reformation of religion of which he was
the author. For, had not the minds of men been prepared for this change
by something extraordinary, it is not supposable that they would have
adopted a purer faith from him. That he gave them a better doctrine, is
clear from the admission of even Dean Prideaux, who has very unjustly
branded him as an impostor. Let it then be remembered, that as the Most
High ruleth in the kingdoms of men,” he often overrules great political
events for moral purposes. The Jews were sent into captivity to Babylon
to be reformed from their idolatrous propensities, and their reformation
commenced with their calamity. A miracle was there wrought in favour of
three Hebrew confessors of the existence of one only God, and that under
circumstances to put shame upon a popular idol in the presence of the
king and all the rulers of the provinces,” that the issue of this
controversy between Yahweh and idolatry might be made known throughout
that vast empire.--Worship was refused to the idol by a few Hebrew
captives, and the idol had no power to punish the public affront:--the
servants of Yahweh were cast into a furnace, and he delivered them
unhurt; and a royal decree declared that there was no god who could
deliver after this sort.” The proud monarch himself also is smitten with
a singular disease;--he remains subject to it until he acknowledges the
true God; and, upon his recovery, he publicly ascribes to him both the
justice and the mercy of the punishment. This event takes place, also,
in the accomplishment of a dream which none of the wise men of Babylon
could interpret. It was interpreted by Daniel, who made the fulfilment
to redound to the honour of the true God, by ascribing to him the
perfection of knowing the future, which none of the false gods, appealed
to by the Chaldean sages, possessed; as the inability of their servants
to interpret the dream sufficiently proved. After these singular events,
Cyrus takes Babylon, and he finds there the sage and the statesman,
Daniel, the worshipper of the true God, who creates both good and evil,”
who makes the light, and forms the darkness.” There is little doubt but
that he and the principal Persians throughout the empire would have the
prophecy of Isaiah respecting Cyrus, delivered more than a hundred years
before he was born, and in which his name stood recorded, along with the
predicted circumstances of the capture of Babylon, pointed out to them.
Every reason, religious and political, urged the Jews to make the
prediction a matter of notoriety; and from Cyrus’s decree in Ezra it is
certain that he was acquainted with it; because there is in the decree
an obvious reference to the prophecy. This prophecy, so strangely
fulfilled, would give mighty force to the doctrine connected with it,
and which it proclaims with so much majesty:--
I am YAHWEH, and none else,
Forming LIGHT, and creating DARKNESS,
Making PEACE, and creating EVIL;
I YAHWEH am the author of all these things.”
Here the great principle of corrupted magianism was directly attacked;
and, in proportion as the fulfilment of the prophecy was felt to be
singular and striking, the doctrine blended with it would attract
notice. Its force was both felt and acknowledged, as we have seen, in
the decree of Cyrus for the rebuilding of the temple. In that Cyrus
acknowledged the true God to be supreme, and thus renounced his former
faith; and the example, the public example, of a prince so beloved, and
whose reign was so extended, could not fail to influence the religious
opinions of his people. That the effect did not terminate in Cyrus, we
know; for, from the book of Ezra, it appears that both Darius and
Artaxerxes made decrees in favour of the Jews, in which Yahweh has the
emphatic appellation repeatedly given to him, the God of heaven,” the
very terms used by Cyrus himself. Nor are we to suppose the impression
confined to the court; for the history of the three Hebrew youths, of
Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, sickness, and reformation from idolatry, of the
interpretation of the hand writing on the wall by Daniel the servant of
the living God, of his deliverance from the lions, and the publicity of
the prophecy of Isaiah respecting Cyrus, were too recent, too public,
and too striking in their nature, not to be often and largely talked of.
Beside, in the prophecy respecting Cyrus, the intention of almighty God
in recording the name of that monarch in an inspired book, and showing
beforehand that he had chosen him to overturn the Babylonian empire, is
expressly mentioned as having respect to two great objects, first, the
deliverance of Israel, and, second, the making known his supreme
divinity among the nations of the earth. We again quote Lowth’s
translation:--
For the sake of my _servant Jacob_,
And of Israel my chosen,
I have even called thee by thy name,
I have surnamed thee, though thou knewest me not.
I am YAHWEH, and none else,
Beside me there is no God;
I will gird thee, though thou hast not known me,
_That they may know, from the rising of the sun_,
And from the west, that there is NONE BESIDE ME.”
It was therefore intended by this proceeding on the part of Providence
to teach, not only Cyrus, but the people of his vast empire, and
surrounding nations, 1. That the God of the Jews was Yahweh, the
self-subsistent, the eternal God; 2. That he was God alone, there being
no deity beside himself; and, 3. That good and evil, represented by
light and darkness, were neither independent nor eternal subsistences,
but his great instruments, and under his control.
The Persians, who had so vastly extended their empire by the conquest of
the countries formerly held by the monarchs of Babylon, were thus
prepared for such a reformation of their religion as Zoroaster effected.
The principles he advocated had been previously adopted by Cyrus and
other Persian monarchs, and probably by many of the principal persons of
that nation. Zoroaster himself thus became acquainted with the great
truths contained in this famous prophecy, which attacked the very
foundations of every idolatrous and Manichean system. From the other
sacred books of the Jews, who mixed with the Persians in every part of
the empire, he evidently learned more. This is sufficiently proved from
the many points of similarity between his religion and Judaism, though
he should not be allowed to speak so much in the style of the Holy
Scriptures as some passages in the Zendavesta would indicate. He found
the people, however, prepared of the Lord” to admit his reformations,
and he carried them. This cannot but be looked upon as one instance of
several merciful dispensations of God to the Gentile world, through his
own peculiar people, the Jews, by which the idolatries of the Heathen
were often checked, and the light of truth rekindled among them. In this
view the ancient Jews evidently considered the Jewish church as
appointed not to preserve only but to extend true religion. God be
merciful to us and bless us; that thy way may be known upon earth, thy
saving health unto all nations.” This renders Pagan nations more
evidently without excuse.” That this dispensation of mercy was afterward
neglected among the Persians, is certain. How long the effect continued
we know not, nor how widely it spread; perhaps longer and wider than may
now distinctly appear. If the magi, who came from the east to seek
Christ, were Persians, some true worshippers of God would appear to have
remained in Persia to that day; and if, as is probable, the prophecies
of Isaiah and Daniel were retained among them, they might be among those
who waited for redemption,” not at Jerusalem, but in a distant part of
the world. The _Parsees_, who were nearly extirpated by Mohammedan
fanaticism, were charged by their oppressors with the idolatry of fire,
and this was probably true of the multitude. Some of their writers,
however, warmly defended themselves against the charge. A considerable
number of them remain in India to this day, and profess to have the
books of Zoroaster.
2. The term _magi_ was also anciently used generally throughout the
east, to distinguish philosophers, and especially astronomers. Pliny and
Ptolemy mention Arabi as synonymous with magi; and it was the opinion of
many learned men in the first ages of Christianity, that the magi who
presented offerings to the infant Saviour, Matt. ii, 1, came from
southern Arabia; for it is certain that gold, frankincense, and myrrh,”
were productions of that country. They were philosophers among whom the
best parts of the reformed magian system, which was extensively
diffused, were probably preserved. They were pious men, also, who had
some acquaintance, it may be, with the Hebrew prophecies, and were
favoured themselves with divine revelations. They are to be regarded as
members of the old patriarchal church, never quite extinguished among
the Heathen; and they had the special honour to present the homage of
the Gentile world to the infant Saviour.
MAGICIAN not unfrequently occurs in Scripture. Generally it signifies a
diviner, a fortune teller, &c. Moses forbids recourse to such on pain of
death: The soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and
after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face
against that soul, and even cut him off from among his people,”
Leviticus xix, 31; xx, 6. The Hebrew is אל-האבת ואל-הידענים, which
signify literally,--the first, those possessed with a spirit of Python,
or a demon that fortels future events;--the second, knowers, they who
boast of the knowledge of secret things. It was such sort of people that
Saul extirpated out of the land of Israel, 1 Sam. xxviii, 3. Daniel also
speaks of magicians and diviners in Chaldea, under Nebuchadnezzar,
Daniel i, 20, &c; לחרטמים ולאשׁפים ולמכשׁפים ולכשדים. He names four
sorts: _Chartumim_, _Asaphim_, _Mecasphim_, and _Casdim_, Daniel ii, 2.
The first, _Chartumim_, according to Theodotion, signifies enchanters;”
according to the LXX, sophists;” according to Jerom, _hariolas_,
diviners, fortune tellers, casters of nativities.” The second word,
_Asaphim_, has a great resemblance to the Greek word σοφὸς, wise man;”
whether the Greeks took this word from the Babylonians, or _vice versâ_.
Theodotion and Jerom have rendered it magicians;” the LXX,
philosophers.” The third word, _Mecasphim_, by Jerom and the Greeks, is
translated _malefici_, enchanters;” such as used noxious herbs and
drugs, the blood of victims, and the bones of the dead, for their
superstitious operations. The fourth word, _Casdim_, or Chaldeans, has
two significations: first, the Chaldean people, over whom Nebuchadnezzar
was monarch; the second, a sort of philosophers, who dwelt in a separate
part of the city, who were exempt from all public offices and
employments. Their studies were physic, astrology, divination,
foretelling of future events by the stars, interpretation of dreams,
augury, worship of the gods, &c. All these inquisitive and superstitious
arts were prohibited among the Israelites, as founded on imposture or
devilism, and as inconsistent with faith in God’s providence, and trust
in his supremacy.
men, or philosophers. Magi, among the Persians, answers to σόφοι, or
φιλόσοφοι, among the Greeks; _sapientes_, among the Latins; druids,
among the Gauls; gymnosophists, among the Indians; and priests, among
the Egyptians.
The ancient magi, according to Aristotle and Laertius, were the sole
authors and conservators of the Persian philosophy; and the philosophy
principally cultivated among them was theology and politics; they being
always esteemed as the interpreters of all law, both divine and human;
on which account they were wonderfully revered by the people. Hence
Cicero observes that none were admitted to the crown of Persia, but such
as were well instructed in the discipline of the magi; who taught τὰ
βασιλικὰ, and showed princes how to govern. Plato, Apuleius, Laertius,
and others, agree that the philosophy of the magi related principally to
the worship of the gods: they were the persons who were to offer
prayers, supplications, and sacrifices, as if the gods would be heard by
them alone. But, according to Lucian, Suidas, &c, this theology, or
worship of the gods, as it is called, about which the magi were
employed, was little more than the diabolical art of divination; so that
μαγεί.ἁ, strictly taken, was the art of divination. These people were
held in such veneration among the Persians, that Darius, the son of
Hystaspes, among other things, had it engraven on his monument, that he
was the master of the magi. Philo Judæus describes the magi to be
diligent inquirers into nature, out of the love they bear to truth; and
who, setting themselves apart from other things, contemplate the divine
virtues the more clearly, and initiate others in the same mysteries. The
magi, or magians, formed one of the two grand sects into which the
idolatry of the world was divided between 500 and 600 years before
Christ. These abominated all those images which were worshipped by the
other sect, denominated Sabians, and paid their worship to the Deity
under the emblem of fire. Their chief doctrine was, that there were two
principles, one of which was the cause of all good, and the other the
cause of all evil. The former was represented by light, and the latter
by darkness, as their truest symbols; and of the composition of these
two they supposed that all things in the world were made. The sect of
the magians was revived and reformed by Zoroaster. This celebrated
philosopher, called by the Persians Zerdusht, or Zaratush, began about
the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Darius to restore and reform the
magian system of religion. He was not only excellently skilled in all
the learning of the east that prevailed in his time, but likewise
thoroughly versed in the Jewish religion, and in all the sacred writings
of the Old Testament that were then extant: whence some have inferred
that he was a native Jew both by birth and profession; and that he had
been servant to one of the prophets, probably Ezekiel or Daniel. He made
his first appearance in Media, in the city of Xix, now called Aderbijan,
as some say; or, according to others in Ecbatana, now called Tauris.
Instead of admitting the existence of two first causes, with the
magians, he asserted the existence of one supreme God, who created both
these, and out of these two produced, according to his sovereign
pleasure, every thing else. According to his doctrine, there was one
supreme Being independently and self-existing from all eternity. Under
him there are two angels: one the angel of light, the author and
director of all good; and the other the angel of darkness, who is the
author and director of all evil. These two, probably speaking
figuratively, out of the mixture of light and darkness, made all things
that are; and they are in a state of perpetual conflict; so that where
the angel of light prevails, there the most is good; and where the angel
of darkness prevails, there the most is evil. This struggle shall
continue to the end of the world; and then there shall be a general
resurrection, and a day of judgment: after which, the angel of darkness
and his disciples shall go into a world of their own, where they shall
suffer in everlasting darkness the punishment of their evil deeds; and
the angel of light and his disciples shall go into a world of their own,
where they shall receive in everlasting light the reward due unto their
good deeds: and henceforward they shall for ever remain separate.
Of the controversy as to Zoroaster, Zeratusht, or Zertushta, and the
sacred books said to have been written by him, called Zend or
Zendavesta, which has divided the most eminent critics, it would answer
no important end to give an abstract. Those who wish for information on
the subject are referred to Hyde’s _Religio Veterum Persarum_;”
Prideaux’s Connection;” Warburton’s Divine Legation;” Bryant’s
Mythology;” The Universal History;” Sir W. Jones’s Works, vol. iii, p.
115; M. Du Perron, and Richardson’s Dissertation,” prefixed to his
Persian and Arabic Dictionary. But whatever may become of the authority
of the whole or part of the Zendavesta, and with whatever fables the
history of the reformer of the magian religion may be mixed, the learned
are generally agreed that such a reformation took place by his
instrumentality. Zeratusht,” says Sir W. Jones, reformed the old
religion by the addition of genii or angels, of new ceremonies in the
veneration shown to fire, of a new work which he pretended to have
received from heaven, and, _above all, by establishing the actual
adoration of the supreme Being_;” and he farther adds, The reformed
religion of Persia continued in force till that country was conquered by
the Musselmans; and, without studying the Zend, we have ample
information concerning it in the modern Persian writings of several who
profess it. Bahman always named Zeratusht with reverence; he was, in
truth, a pure Theist, and strongly disclaimed any adoration of the fire
or other elements; and he denied that the doctrine of two coëval
principles, supremely good and supremely bad, formed any part of his
faith.” The Zeratusht of Persia, or the Zoroaster of the Greeks,” says
Richardson, was highly celebrated by the most discerning people of
ancient times; and his tenets, we are told, were most eagerly and
rapidly embraced by the highest in rank, and the wisest men in the
Persian empire.” He distinguished himself by denying that good and evil,
represented by light and darkness, were coëval, independent principles;
and asserted the supremacy of the true God, in exact conformity with the
doctrine contained in a part of that celebrated prophecy of Isaiah in
which Cyrus is mentioned by name: I am the Lord, and there is none else,
there is no God beside me,” no coëval power. I form the light, and
create darkness, I make peace,” or good, and create evil, I the Lord do
all these things.” Fire, by Zerdushta, appears to have been used
emblematically only; and the ceremonies for preserving and transmitting
it, introduced by him, were manifestly taken from the Jews, and the
sacred fire of their tabernacle and temple.
The old religion of the Persians was corrupted by Sabianism, or the
worship of the host of heaven, with its accompanying superstition. The
magian doctrine, whatever it might be at first, had degenerated; and two
eternal principles, good and evil, had been introduced. It was therefore
necessarily idolatrous also, and, like all other false systems,
flattering to the vicious habits of the people. So great an improvement
in the moral character and influence of the religion of a whole nation
as was effected by Zoroaster, a change which is not certainly paralleled
in the ancient history of the religion of mankind, can scarcely,
therefore, be thought possible, except we suppose a divine
interposition, either directly, or by the occurrence of some very
impressive events. Now as there are so many authorities for fixing the
time of Zoroaster or Zeratusht not many years subsequent to the death of
the great Cyrus, the events connected with the conquest of Babylon may
account for his success in that reformation of religion of which he was
the author. For, had not the minds of men been prepared for this change
by something extraordinary, it is not supposable that they would have
adopted a purer faith from him. That he gave them a better doctrine, is
clear from the admission of even Dean Prideaux, who has very unjustly
branded him as an impostor. Let it then be remembered, that as the Most
High ruleth in the kingdoms of men,” he often overrules great political
events for moral purposes. The Jews were sent into captivity to Babylon
to be reformed from their idolatrous propensities, and their reformation
commenced with their calamity. A miracle was there wrought in favour of
three Hebrew confessors of the existence of one only God, and that under
circumstances to put shame upon a popular idol in the presence of the
king and all the rulers of the provinces,” that the issue of this
controversy between Yahweh and idolatry might be made known throughout
that vast empire.--Worship was refused to the idol by a few Hebrew
captives, and the idol had no power to punish the public affront:--the
servants of Yahweh were cast into a furnace, and he delivered them
unhurt; and a royal decree declared that there was no god who could
deliver after this sort.” The proud monarch himself also is smitten with
a singular disease;--he remains subject to it until he acknowledges the
true God; and, upon his recovery, he publicly ascribes to him both the
justice and the mercy of the punishment. This event takes place, also,
in the accomplishment of a dream which none of the wise men of Babylon
could interpret. It was interpreted by Daniel, who made the fulfilment
to redound to the honour of the true God, by ascribing to him the
perfection of knowing the future, which none of the false gods, appealed
to by the Chaldean sages, possessed; as the inability of their servants
to interpret the dream sufficiently proved. After these singular events,
Cyrus takes Babylon, and he finds there the sage and the statesman,
Daniel, the worshipper of the true God, who creates both good and evil,”
who makes the light, and forms the darkness.” There is little doubt but
that he and the principal Persians throughout the empire would have the
prophecy of Isaiah respecting Cyrus, delivered more than a hundred years
before he was born, and in which his name stood recorded, along with the
predicted circumstances of the capture of Babylon, pointed out to them.
Every reason, religious and political, urged the Jews to make the
prediction a matter of notoriety; and from Cyrus’s decree in Ezra it is
certain that he was acquainted with it; because there is in the decree
an obvious reference to the prophecy. This prophecy, so strangely
fulfilled, would give mighty force to the doctrine connected with it,
and which it proclaims with so much majesty:--
I am YAHWEH, and none else,
Forming LIGHT, and creating DARKNESS,
Making PEACE, and creating EVIL;
I YAHWEH am the author of all these things.”
Here the great principle of corrupted magianism was directly attacked;
and, in proportion as the fulfilment of the prophecy was felt to be
singular and striking, the doctrine blended with it would attract
notice. Its force was both felt and acknowledged, as we have seen, in
the decree of Cyrus for the rebuilding of the temple. In that Cyrus
acknowledged the true God to be supreme, and thus renounced his former
faith; and the example, the public example, of a prince so beloved, and
whose reign was so extended, could not fail to influence the religious
opinions of his people. That the effect did not terminate in Cyrus, we
know; for, from the book of Ezra, it appears that both Darius and
Artaxerxes made decrees in favour of the Jews, in which Yahweh has the
emphatic appellation repeatedly given to him, the God of heaven,” the
very terms used by Cyrus himself. Nor are we to suppose the impression
confined to the court; for the history of the three Hebrew youths, of
Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, sickness, and reformation from idolatry, of the
interpretation of the hand writing on the wall by Daniel the servant of
the living God, of his deliverance from the lions, and the publicity of
the prophecy of Isaiah respecting Cyrus, were too recent, too public,
and too striking in their nature, not to be often and largely talked of.
Beside, in the prophecy respecting Cyrus, the intention of almighty God
in recording the name of that monarch in an inspired book, and showing
beforehand that he had chosen him to overturn the Babylonian empire, is
expressly mentioned as having respect to two great objects, first, the
deliverance of Israel, and, second, the making known his supreme
divinity among the nations of the earth. We again quote Lowth’s
translation:--
For the sake of my _servant Jacob_,
And of Israel my chosen,
I have even called thee by thy name,
I have surnamed thee, though thou knewest me not.
I am YAHWEH, and none else,
Beside me there is no God;
I will gird thee, though thou hast not known me,
_That they may know, from the rising of the sun_,
And from the west, that there is NONE BESIDE ME.”
It was therefore intended by this proceeding on the part of Providence
to teach, not only Cyrus, but the people of his vast empire, and
surrounding nations, 1. That the God of the Jews was Yahweh, the
self-subsistent, the eternal God; 2. That he was God alone, there being
no deity beside himself; and, 3. That good and evil, represented by
light and darkness, were neither independent nor eternal subsistences,
but his great instruments, and under his control.
The Persians, who had so vastly extended their empire by the conquest of
the countries formerly held by the monarchs of Babylon, were thus
prepared for such a reformation of their religion as Zoroaster effected.
The principles he advocated had been previously adopted by Cyrus and
other Persian monarchs, and probably by many of the principal persons of
that nation. Zoroaster himself thus became acquainted with the great
truths contained in this famous prophecy, which attacked the very
foundations of every idolatrous and Manichean system. From the other
sacred books of the Jews, who mixed with the Persians in every part of
the empire, he evidently learned more. This is sufficiently proved from
the many points of similarity between his religion and Judaism, though
he should not be allowed to speak so much in the style of the Holy
Scriptures as some passages in the Zendavesta would indicate. He found
the people, however, prepared of the Lord” to admit his reformations,
and he carried them. This cannot but be looked upon as one instance of
several merciful dispensations of God to the Gentile world, through his
own peculiar people, the Jews, by which the idolatries of the Heathen
were often checked, and the light of truth rekindled among them. In this
view the ancient Jews evidently considered the Jewish church as
appointed not to preserve only but to extend true religion. God be
merciful to us and bless us; that thy way may be known upon earth, thy
saving health unto all nations.” This renders Pagan nations more
evidently without excuse.” That this dispensation of mercy was afterward
neglected among the Persians, is certain. How long the effect continued
we know not, nor how widely it spread; perhaps longer and wider than may
now distinctly appear. If the magi, who came from the east to seek
Christ, were Persians, some true worshippers of God would appear to have
remained in Persia to that day; and if, as is probable, the prophecies
of Isaiah and Daniel were retained among them, they might be among those
who waited for redemption,” not at Jerusalem, but in a distant part of
the world. The _Parsees_, who were nearly extirpated by Mohammedan
fanaticism, were charged by their oppressors with the idolatry of fire,
and this was probably true of the multitude. Some of their writers,
however, warmly defended themselves against the charge. A considerable
number of them remain in India to this day, and profess to have the
books of Zoroaster.
2. The term _magi_ was also anciently used generally throughout the
east, to distinguish philosophers, and especially astronomers. Pliny and
Ptolemy mention Arabi as synonymous with magi; and it was the opinion of
many learned men in the first ages of Christianity, that the magi who
presented offerings to the infant Saviour, Matt. ii, 1, came from
southern Arabia; for it is certain that gold, frankincense, and myrrh,”
were productions of that country. They were philosophers among whom the
best parts of the reformed magian system, which was extensively
diffused, were probably preserved. They were pious men, also, who had
some acquaintance, it may be, with the Hebrew prophecies, and were
favoured themselves with divine revelations. They are to be regarded as
members of the old patriarchal church, never quite extinguished among
the Heathen; and they had the special honour to present the homage of
the Gentile world to the infant Saviour.
MAGICIAN not unfrequently occurs in Scripture. Generally it signifies a
diviner, a fortune teller, &c. Moses forbids recourse to such on pain of
death: The soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and
after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face
against that soul, and even cut him off from among his people,”
Leviticus xix, 31; xx, 6. The Hebrew is אל-האבת ואל-הידענים, which
signify literally,--the first, those possessed with a spirit of Python,
or a demon that fortels future events;--the second, knowers, they who
boast of the knowledge of secret things. It was such sort of people that
Saul extirpated out of the land of Israel, 1 Sam. xxviii, 3. Daniel also
speaks of magicians and diviners in Chaldea, under Nebuchadnezzar,
Daniel i, 20, &c; לחרטמים ולאשׁפים ולמכשׁפים ולכשדים. He names four
sorts: _Chartumim_, _Asaphim_, _Mecasphim_, and _Casdim_, Daniel ii, 2.
The first, _Chartumim_, according to Theodotion, signifies enchanters;”
according to the LXX, sophists;” according to Jerom, _hariolas_,
diviners, fortune tellers, casters of nativities.” The second word,
_Asaphim_, has a great resemblance to the Greek word σοφὸς, wise man;”
whether the Greeks took this word from the Babylonians, or _vice versâ_.
Theodotion and Jerom have rendered it magicians;” the LXX,
philosophers.” The third word, _Mecasphim_, by Jerom and the Greeks, is
translated _malefici_, enchanters;” such as used noxious herbs and
drugs, the blood of victims, and the bones of the dead, for their
superstitious operations. The fourth word, _Casdim_, or Chaldeans, has
two significations: first, the Chaldean people, over whom Nebuchadnezzar
was monarch; the second, a sort of philosophers, who dwelt in a separate
part of the city, who were exempt from all public offices and
employments. Their studies were physic, astrology, divination,
foretelling of future events by the stars, interpretation of dreams,
augury, worship of the gods, &c. All these inquisitive and superstitious
arts were prohibited among the Israelites, as founded on imposture or
devilism, and as inconsistent with faith in God’s providence, and trust
in his supremacy.