aken away," as
Josephus says, or, as the Book of Kings says, "burnt with fire, by
Josiah."

[8] This is a remarkable passage of chronology in Josephus, that
about the latter end of the reign of Josiah, the Medes and Babylonians
overthrew the empire of the Assyrians; or, in the words of Tobit's
continuator, that "before Tobias died, he heard of the destruction of
Nineveh, which was taken by Nebuchodonosor the Babylonian, and Assuerus
the Mede," Tob. 14:15. See Dean Prideaux's Connexion, at the year 612.
[9] This battle is justly esteemed the very same that Herodotus [B. II.
sect. 156] mentions, when he says, that "Necao joined battle with the
Syrians [or Jews] at Magdolum, [Megiddo,] and beat them," as Dr. Hudson
here observes.

[10] Whether Josephus, from 2 Chronicles 35:25, here means the book of
the Lamentations of Jeremiah, still extant, which chiefly belongs to
the destruction of Jerusalem under Nebuchadnezzar, or to any other like
melancholy poem now lost, but extant in the days of Josephus, belonging
peculiarly to Josiah, cannot now be determined.

[11] This ancient city Hamath, which is joined with Arpad, or Aradus,
and with Damascus, 2 Kings 18:34; Isaiah 36:19; Jeremiah 49:23, cities
of Syria and Phoenicia, near the borders of Judea, was also itself
evidently near the same borders, though long ago utterly destroyed.

[12] Josephus says here that Jeremiah prophesied not only of the return
of the Jews from the Babylonian captivity, and this under the Persians
and Medes, as in our other copies; but of cause they did not both say
the same thing as to this circumstance, he disbelieved what they both
appeared to agree in, and condemned them as not speaking truth therein,
although all the things foretold him did come to pass according to their
prophecies, as we shall show upon a fitter opportunity their rebuilding
the temple, and even the city Jerusalem, which do not appear in our
copies under his name. See the note on Antiq. B. XI. ch. 1. sect. 3.
[13] This observation of Josephus about the seeming disagreement of
Jeremiah, ch. 32:4, and 34:3, and Ezekiel 12:13, but real agreement at
last, concerning the fate of Zedekiah, is very true and very remarkable.
See ch. 7. sect. 2. Nor is it at all unlikely that the courtiers and
false prophets might make use of this seeming contradiction to dissuade
Zedekiah from believing either of those prophets, as Josephus here
intimates he was dissuaded thereby.

[14] I have her