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    ascertain wfhere particular prophecies begin and end , and even at what precise ' time they : were written . This is

    of it is adopted by Rauimohun Roy f the celebrated Hindoo Reformer , who has lately embraced Christiarf

    Unitahappily the case with the prophecy now before us . It begins at the 1 st verse of the 7 * h chapter , and ends , according to Lowth , at the 7 th verse of the 9 th ,, <> r according ta Dr . John Taylor , at the 4 th verse of the 10 th chapter . At all events , it embraces the passage which forms the subject

    of the present paper . This prophecy is introduced by a declaration that it was delivered in the reign of Ahaz ( vii . J ) , and by cornparing this declaration with 2 Kings xvi ., we find that it must have been

    very nearly at the commencement of his reign ; probably in the year 742 B . C . The child whose birth is predicted is generally supposed to have been Jesus Christ . " I have no doubt myself / ' says Mr . Christie , in his able / discourses on the Divine Unity 9 ( 3 rd f

    ed . p . 125 , ) < that this prophecy respects the Messiah , " meaning of course Jesus , whom he regards as the Messiah ; " and there is no difficulty / ' he adds , " in explaining it upon Unitarian principles / ' Mr . Lindsey adopts the same interpretation . ( Eaxiniination of Robmsotf s Plea for the Divinity of Christ pp . 37 , 39 . ) Dr . Carpenter does the same , both in the Appendix to his XJnitarianism the Doctrine of the Gos » pel , and in his Sermon delivered at Bristol on Christmas - Day 1816 , in

    which he makes it his object to shew that the titles contained in this passage are tf strictly applicable to Jesus Christ , and perfectly consistent with the absolute Unity and unrivalled Supremacy of Jehovah . " In short , Unitarian writers have taken it for granted , almost without a single exception , that this prophecy relates to Jesus Christ ; and in their attempts to prove that , with this view of it , the titles in question contain nothing derogatory to the Unity and Supremacy of God , many of them have been eminently successful . Bat wfyen they have gone on to shew that these titles are particularly descriptive of Jesus

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    Christ , there lias always appeared to me a lamentabte falling off in the strength of the argument . Some writers , both Jewish and Christian , have applied this prophecy to King fitezekiah , This applicatioa

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    nanism , and written with uncommon ability and learning in its defence ? and Grotius , although he refers il in a secondary sense to Jesus Christ , admits that its primary application is to Hezekrah . To this application it is objected by AUix that Hezekiah was nine years of age when the prophecy was uttered by Isaiah ; and this objection is repeated by Lowth , who says that Hezekiah * ' was certainly born nine or ten years before the delivery of this prophecy , ' although he admits , in effect , that , if this difficulty could be obviated , the prophecy migUt be applied to him , for he says , € t No one of that age answered to this character , except Hezekiah ; ' * meaning , of course , that Hezekiah did answer to it , and that there would be no difficulty in applying to him the prophetical titles contained in it , if any means could be suggested of obviating the chronological difficulty already stated . If then we can shew that Hezekiah was not born at the

    time when the prophecy was delivered , and that his birth took place exactly ten years later than the period usually assigned for it , this objection will instantly fall to the ground . It is well known that the dates in

    the books of Kings and Chronicles are often very confused and contradictory ; and it is evident that they have in many instances undergone very material alterations . The present is clearly a case of this nature . We are told , ( 2 Kings xvi . 2 , ) that Ahaz was

    twenty years old when he began to reign , and that he reigned sixteen years , from which it is evident that he ceased to reign at the age of thirty- * six . We are likewise informed , ( 2 Kings xviii . 2 , ) that his son Hezekiah succeeded him at the age of twenty - five . Consequently , deducting these twenty-five years from thirty-six , the age of Ahaz when he ceased to rei gi * we have eleven remaining , which , according to the received Hebrew text , must have been the age of Ahaz at the birth of his son Hezekiah . The

    attempts made by Bochart , Capellus and others , to account for this extraordinary birth , reflect great credit upoa their ingenuity , but fail to produce any thing like a rational conviction

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    22 Jljftv Wallacfk Remark ® on Isazali vL 6 ; 7 » i I .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1824, page 22, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2520/page/22/