6 kingdom, giving to him the tetrarchy which had been Philip's. (This is Batanea and Trachonitis, and Gaulanitis.) And he added moreover the kingdom of Lysanias, and the ' province that had been Varus's.'i Nero, in the first year of his reign, gave Agrippa a certain part of Galilee, ordering Tiberias and Taricheas to be subject to him. He gave him also Julias a city of Peræa, ' and fourteen towns in the neighbourhood of it.' St. Luke therefore is in the right in giving Agrippa the title of king at this time. The reader has, doubtless, observed, that when Paul was before Agrippa, he addressed himself to him as a Jew. Acts xxvi. 2, 3. “I think myself happy, king Agrippa, because I shall answer for myself this day before thee.--Especially because I know thee to be expert in all customs and questions which are among the Jews. Ver. 27. King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest.' From what hath been alleged, relating to Herod Agrippa, it is plain he was a zealous Jew, or at least appeared so at Jerusalem, and had educated all his children in the Jewish religion. This Agrippa, his son, undoubtedly maintained the same profession: and now he had, by the permission of the emperor, the direction of the sacred treasury, the government of the temple, and the right of nominating the high priests.' No wonder, therefore, that St. Paul told Agrippa, "he knew him to be expert in all customs and questions which were among the Jews." De B. lib. ii. c. xii. fin. * Ant. xx. c. vii. sect. 4. Josephus indeed says, Antiq. 1. xx. c. 1. sect. 3. that Herod [King of Chalcis, brother of Agrippa the Great] did, upon the death of his brother, request of Claudius Cæsar the power of the temple and of the sacred money, and the right of nominating the high priest, and that he obtained all these privileges and that from him this power continued to all his descendants, till the end of the war. Ητησατο δε και Ηρωδης, ὁ αδελφος μεν Αγριππε το τετελευτηκότος, Χαλκιδος δε την αρχην κατα τον χρονον εκείνον πεπιςευμενος, Κλαύδιον Καισαρα την εξεσίαν τε νεω, και των ιερων χρημάτων, και την των αρχιερέων χειροτονίαν, παντων τε επετυχεν' εξ εκείνε τε πασι τους απογόνοις αυτό παρέμεινεν ή εξωσία μέχρι της τε πολεμε τελευτης. But either there is some error here in the copies of Josephus, or else we do not understand him right. For none of the sons of Herod of Chalcis did nominate any high priests. But according to Josephus's own account, all the changes in the priesthood, after the death of the said Herod, [which happened in the 8th of Claudius,] to the time of the war, were made by Agrippa the younger, nephew of this Herod, king of Chalcis. See Ant. xx. c. vii. sect. 11. c. viii. sect. 1. And when the people of Jerusalem had a mind to apply the sacred money to any particular purpose, they addressed to Agrippa; and he gave the directions. Ibid. sect. 7. And Josephus says expressly, that the king [Agrippa] had been entrusted with the care or government of the temple, by Claudius Caesar. Ο βασιλευς δε, επεπιςευτο γαρ ύπο Κλαύδιο Καισαρος την επιμέλειαν τε ιερς, κ. λ. ibid. X. Bernice was a lady well known in those times. There are several reflections made upon her conduct by Josephus,m as well as other writers." But as St. Luke says nothing of her, beside her making a visit to Festus with Agrippa; and it has been shown already who she was, namely, the daughter of Herod Agrippa, and the sister of Agrippa the younger, I am not bound to add any farther concerning her. Ishall only say, the respect which Titus Vespasian showed her, gave occasion for much discourse; and that she had once hopes of being empress, but the murmurs of the people of Rome prevented it. XI. There are but two things more I shall take notice of in this chapter. They may be judged by some, too minute to be insisted on; but they appear to me instances of great exactness and propriety, and to afford a strong proof, that St. Luke was perfectly well acquainted with the matters of which he wrote. Paul and Barnabas, having preached the word of God at Salamis [in Cyprus] went through "the isle to Paphos, where they found Barjesus, which was with the Deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus ;" Acts xiii. 7. But in the Greek it is, with the Proconsul Sergius Paulus. P It is well known to the learned, that upon Augustus's becoming absolute master of the Roman commonwealth, there was a division made of the provinces of the empire; the most powerful, or at least, those which required the greatest number of troops, the emperor kept to himself, the rest were made over to the people and senate. The officers sent by the emperor were called lieutenants, or proprætors, though they were consular persons; that is, though they had served the consulship in the city. The governors sent by the senate, into the provinces that belonged to their share, he appointed to be called proconsuls, a name more suitable to the peaceful state, which the provinces allotted to the senate were in. But the m Ant. lib. xx. c. vi. sect. 3. Sat. 6. v. 155. Tacit. Hist. 1. ii. c. 2. et 81. Juv. Βερενίκη δε ισχυρως τε ήνθει, και δια τετο και ες την Ρώμην μετα τε αδελφε το Αγριππα ηλθε—ἡ δε εν τῳ παλατιῳ ωκεσε, και τῳ Τιτῳ συνεγιγνετο. Προσεδοκατο δε γαμηθησεσθαι αυτή, και παντα ηδη ὡς και γυνη αυτε 8σα εποιεί ώς' εκείνον δυσχεραίνοντας τες Ρωμαίες επι τετοις ᾔσθημενον, αποπεμψασθαι αυτην. Dio ex Xiphil. lib. 66. p. 752. Nec minus libido, [suspecta in eo erat,]-propterque insignem reginæ Berenices amorem, cui etiam nuptias pollicitus ferebatur-præcipueque sumtam sibi Berenicen statim ab urbe dimisit invitus invitam. Suet. in Tit. c. 7. Ρ Ος ην συν τῳ ανθυπατῳ Σεργιῳ Παύλῳ. 9 Strabon. Geog. lib. 3. p. 166. Ed. Amst. 1707. et lib. xvii. fin. Suet. August. c. 47, 48. Dio. lib. Τις τε ετέρες ύπο τε εαυτε αιρείσθαι, και πρεσβευτας αυτό ονομαζεσθαι, καν εκ των υπατευκότων ωσι, διέταξε. Dio. lib. 53. p. 503. αντιςρατηγός τε 53. p. 504. D. division made at this time' underwent many changes. And a province, assigned at first to the senate, was afterwards made over to the emperor, and on the contrary. Such a change happened with reference to this province of Cyprus; which, in the first partition, was one of the emperor's provinces, but was afterwards together with Gallia Narbonensis, given to the senate; in the room of which he took Dalmatia, which at first was theirs. In this state the province continued, and the proper title of the governor of Cyprus was that of proconsul. It is true, Strabo says, Cyprus was a prætorian province;" and this has made this text a mighty difficulty with many learned men. Beza went so far into the opinion of the impropriety of this expression, as to attempt to correct it, in his translation of this text, and he put proprætor in the room of proconsul. And the solutions, which have been offered by divers other learned men, have, I believe, appeared unsatisfactory. But if Dio's whole account of this matter had been attended to, the difficulty had vanished." Cyprus was undoubtedly a prætorian province, as all the people's provinces were, except two. But the governors of all their provinces had the title of proconsul. It was de' creed, that two of their provinces, Asia and Africa, should be 'appropriated to senators that had been consuls: and all the rest were given to those which had been prætors.'* • But that they should be all called proconsuls, not only those ' which had been consuls, but those also which had been only 'prætors.' And Suetonius says, That Augustus took the 'most powerful provinces to himself, and gave the rest to proconsuls chosen by the senate." Examples also support this use of the word. Crete was a prætorian province, according to Strabo and Dio; yet Tacitus calls Cæsius Cordus, proconsul of Crete. There is also an s A. U. 727. before Christ, 27. vid. Basnage annal. Polit. Eccl. t -Κύπρος, και Αιγυπτιοι εν τῇ τε Καισαρος μερίδι τότε εγενοντο ύτερον γαρ την μεν Κυπρον και την Γαλατίαν την περι Ναρβωνα τῳ δημω απέδωκεν, κ. τ. λ. Dio. ibid. p. 504. Α. το τε δ' εν και την Κύπρον και την Γαλατιαν την Ναρβωνησίαν απέδωκε τῳ δημο -και ούτως, ανθύπατοι και EL EKEIVA TA εOVη пεμжεσdαι пρžavтo. id. lib. 54. ad A. U. 732. p. 523. B. " Εξ εκείνε δ' εγενετο επαρχία ἡ νήσος, καθαπερ και νυν εςι, σρατηγική. lib. 14. sub fin. ▾ Baron. A. Chr. 46. n. xi. Grot. in loc. &c. X Τη δε δη βέλη, ιδια μεν w Vid. Noris. Cenotaph. Pisan. p. 219. τοις τε ὑπατευκοσι την τε Αφρικήν και την Ασίαν, και τοις εςρατηγηκοσι τα λοιπα παντα απένειμε. Dio. p. 505. C. * Και ανθυπατος καλεῖσθαι μη ότε τες υπατευκότας, αλλά και τις αλλες, των ancient inscription of Caligula's reign, in which Aquius Scaura is called proconsul of Cyprus. b If I have done St. Luke justice in this place, it is chiefly owing to assistances borrowed from Cardinal Noris: and I think myself obliged to make a particular acknowledgment of it. XII. The last thing I shall take notice of, is the title given to GALLIO; who in our translation is called the deputy, but in the Greek, proconsul of Achaia. In this instance, St. Luke's accuracy appears more conspicuous than in the former, because this province had a more various fortune than the other. In the original partition, they were assigned to the people and senate. In the reign of Tiberius they were, at their own request, made over to the emperor.f In the reign of Claudius, when L. Quinctius Crispinus and M. Statilius Taurus were consuls, A. U. 797. À. D. 44. they were again restored to the senate. And therefore from that time [as Dio says upon Augustus's giving Cyprus to the senate] proconsuls were sent into this country.' St. Paul was brought before Gallio in the year of our Lord 52, or 53; consequently Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, as St. Luke calls him. h k And perhaps it will not be amiss to observe, that afterwards Nero made the Achaians a free people. The senate therefore lost this province again. However, that they might not be sufferers, Nero gave them the island of Sardinia in the room of it. Vespasian made Achaia a province again.m There is likewise a peculiar propriety in the name of the province of which Gallio was proconsul. The country subject to him was all Greece; but the proper name of the province among the Romans was Achaia. This is evident from some passages already set down in the margin, and has been particularly observed by Pausanias." tundis. Ad A. U. 774. Ann. l. iii. cap. 38. b P. Aquius Scaura— C. CESARE PRO CONSULE CYPRUM OBTINUIT. Gruter. Inscript. pag. 360. 3. laudat. a Noris. Cenotaph. Pisan. Dissert. ii. p. 219. c Of Gallio see more, Ch. viii. sect. 1. e Dio. p. 503. fin. 4 Ανθυπατεύοντος της Αχαΐας. f Achaiam ac Macedoniam, onera deprecantes, levari in præsens proconsulari imperio, tradique Cæsari placuit. Tacit. An. lib. 1. cap. 76. 8 Provincias Achaiam et Macedoniam, quas Tiberius ad curam suam transtulerat, senatui reddidit. Sueton. in Claud. cap. 25. Tŋv τε Αχαίαν και την Μακεδονίαν απέδωκεν ὁ Κλαύδιος τότε τῳ κληρῳ. Dio. lib. 60. p. 680. E. Basnage Ann. P. E. i Pearson. Ann. Paul. h k Universæ Achaia libertatem Domitius Nero dedit. Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. 4. cap. 6. 1 Και ελευθερον ὁ Νερων αφίησιν ἁπαντων, αλλαγην προς δημον ποιησαμενος των Ρωμαίων Σαρδω γαρ την νήσον ες τα μαλισα ευδαιμόνα αντι Ελλαδος σφισιν αντεδωκεν. Pausan. p. 428. Hanov. 1613. m Achaiam-libertate ademptâ, in provinciarum formam redegit. Sueton. in Vespas. c. 8. * Καλεσι δε εχ Ελλαδος, αλλ' Αχαιας ἡγεμονα οι CHAP. II. OF THE STATE OF THE JEWS IN JUDEA, DURING THE MINISTRY OF OUR SAVIOUR AND HIS APOSTLES. I. The religious state of the Jews, according to the writers of the New Testament. II. According to other ancient writers. III. The method of considering their civil state, in four periods, proposed. IV. Three preliminary observations. V. Their civil state, in the first period, according to the writers of the New Testament. VI. Some difficulties relating to it considered. VII. Their state, in the second period, according to the same writers. VIII. In the third. IX. In the fourth period. X. Some difficulties relating to this last period. XI. The civil state of Judea, in the first and last periods, according to other ancient writers. XII. In the second. XIII. In the third period. XIV. The chief captain at Jerusalem. XV. The captain of the temple. XVI. Festus's council, IN considering the state of the Jews in their own country, two things are to be regarded, their religious and their civil state. I. That they had, according to the sacred writers, the free exercise of their religion, is evident from the whole tenor of the history contained in the gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. They had their synagogues, the law and the prophets were read there; our Saviour taught in the synagogues. Whenever he healed any lepers, he "bid them go and shew themselves to the priests," Matt. viii. 4. "and offer the gift that Moses commanded," Luke v. 14. There appears to have been a great resort to the temple at Jerusalem, from Galilee, and other parts, at all their usual great feasts. They were at full liberty to make what contributions they saw fit to their sacred treasury; Mark xii. 41, 44, Luke xxi. 1; and so secure were they, that they used indirect practices to enrich it; Matt. xv. 5, Mark vii. 11, 12. There is no mention made in the history of our Saviour's ministry, of any restraint, or obstruction they met with in their worship, save that one of the "Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices," Luke xiii. 1. II. That they might thus freely perform all the services of Ρωμαίοι, διοτι εχειρώσαντο Ελληνας δι' Αχαιων, τότε το Ελληνικό προεςηPausan. Descript. lib. vii. p. 563. κοτων |