4. 3. 1. emperor of Rome, the Saviour of mankind was born of the Virgin Mary, of the lineage of David, in the city of Bethlehem of Judea (m), according to the word of prophecy. Herod, misled by the opinion, which was then common among the Jews, that the Messiah was to appear as a temporal prince, and judging from the inquiries of "the wise men of the East," that the child was actually born, sent to Bethlehem, and ordered that all the children of two years old and under" should be put to death, with the hope of destroying one whom he considered as the rival of himself, or at least of his family. He was soon after smitten with a most loathsome and tormenting disease, and died, a signal example of divine justice, about a year and a quarter after the birth of our Saviour, and in the thirty-seventh year of his reign, computing from the time he was declared king by the Romans (n). Herod made his will not long before his death, but left the final disposal of his dominions to Augustus. The emperor ratified this will in all its material points, and suffered the countries, over (m) Our Saviour was born four years before the common æra. Bethlehem was originally the mother city of the tribe of Judah: it was about five miles south-west of Jerusalem. (n) Joseph. Ant. lib. 17. over which Herod had reigned, to be divided After the banishment of Archelaus, Augustus sent Publius Sulpitius Quirinius (who, according to the Greek way of writing that name, is by St. Luke called Cyrenius (p), president of Syria, (0) Luke c. 3. v. 1. to (p) Three years before the birth of Christ, Augustus issued a decree for the making a general survey Q 2 of the whole A. D. 7. to reduce the countries over which Archelaus had reigned, to the form of a Roman province; and appointed Coponius, a Roman of the equestrian order, to be governor, under the title of procurator of Judæa, but subordinate to the president of Syria. The power of life and death was now taken out of the hands of the Jews, and taxes were from this time paid immediately to the Roman emperor. Justice was administered in the name and by the laws of Rome; though in what concerned their religion, their own laws, and the power of the high priest, and sanhedrim, or great council, were continued to them; and they were allowed to examine witnesses, and exercise an inferior jurisdiction in other causes, subject to the control of the Romans, to whom their tetrarchs or kings were also subject; and it may be remarked, that "at this very period of time our Saviour (who was now in the twelfth year of his age) being at Jerusalem with whole Roman empire, including every dependent state, with the design of raising a general tax. Sentius Saturninus, being then president of Syria, was charged with the execution of this decree in Judæa, and it was to render an account of their property that Joseph and Mary went up to Bethlehem with a multitude of other people; but the tax was not laid or levied till Judæa became a Roman province, subject to Cyrenius, the president of Syria. Vide Prideaux, part 2. book 9. with Joseph and Mary upon occasion of the passover, appeared first in the Temple in his prophetic office, and in the business of his Father, on which he was sent, sitting among the doctors of the Temple, and declaring the truth of God to them (q)." After Coponius, Ambivius, Annius Rufus, Valerius Gratus, and Pontius Pilate, were successively procurators; and this was the species of government to which Judæa and Samaria were subject during the ministry of our Saviour. Herod Antipas was still tetrarch of Galilee, and it was he to whom our Saviour was sent by Pontius Pilate. Lardner is of opinion that there was no procurator in Judæa after Pontius Pilate, who was removed A.D. 36, but that it was governed for a few years by the presidents of Syria, who occasionally sent officers into Judæa. Philip continued tetrarch of Trachonitis thirty-seven years, and died in the twentieth year of the reign of Tiberius. Caligula gave his tetrarchy to Agrippa, the grandson of Herod the Great, with the title of king; and afterwards he added the tetrarchy of Herod Antipas, whom he deposed and banished after he had been tetrarch forty-three The years. him Judæa, 40. Claudius emperor gave Samaria, the southern parts of Idumæa, and Abilene; and thus at last the dominions of Herod (q) Home, vol. 1. p. 254. Agrippa 37. Agrippa became nearly the same as those of his grandfather, Herod the Great. It was this Agrippa, called also Herod Agrippa, and by St. Luke (r) Herod only, who put to death James the brother of John, and imprisoned Peter. He died in the seventh year of his reign, and left a son called also Agrippa,then seventeen years old; and Claudius, thinking him too young to govern his father's extensive dominions, made Cuspus Fadus governor of Judæa. Fadus was soon succeeded by Tiberius, and he was followed by Alexander Cumanus, Felix, and Festus; but Claudius after wards gave Trachonitis and Abilene to Agrippa, and Nero added a part of Galilee and some other cities. It was this younger Agrippa, who was also called king, before whom Paul pleaded at Cæsarea, which was at that time the place of residence of the governor of Judæa. Several of the Roman governors severely oppressed and persecuted the Jews; and at length, in the reign of Nero, and in the government of Florus, who had treated them with greater cruelty than any of his predecessors, they openly revolted from the Romans. Then began the Jewish war, which was terminated, after an obstinate defence, and unparalleled sufferings on the part of the Jews, by the total destruction of the city and temple of Jerusalem ($), (r) Acts, c. 12. v. 1, &c. by (s) By Titus, son of Vespasian, emperor of Rome. |