included in brackets, to the page of Dr. Lardner's volume where the section, from which the abridgement is made, begins. The edition used is that of 1741. I. (p. 14.) Mat. xi. 22. "When he (Joseph) heard that Archelaus did reign in Judea, in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither; notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee." In this passage it is asserted, that Archelaus succeeded Herod in Judea; and it is implied, that his power did not extend to Galilee. Now we learn from Josephus, that Herod the Great, whose dominion included all the land of Israel, appointed Archelaus his successor in Judea, and assigned the rest of his dominions to other sons; and that this disposition was ratified, as to the main parts of it, by the Roman emperor.* St. Matthew says, that Archelaus reigned, was king in Judea. Agreeably to this, we are informed by Josephus, not only that Herod appointed Archelaus his successor in Judea, but that he also appointed him with the title of king; and the verb (basileuei) which the evangelist uses to denote the government and rank of Archelaus, is used likewise by Josephus.† The cruelty of Archelaus's character, which is not ob scurely intimated by the evangelist, agrees with divers particulars in his history, preserved by Josephus. "In the tenth year of his government, the chief of the Jews and Samaritans, not being able to endure his cruelty and tyrany, presented complaints against him to Cesar."t II. (p. 19.) Luke iii. 1. "In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Cesar-Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea, and of the region of Trachonitis-the word of God came unto John." By the will of Herod the Great, and the decree of Augustus thereupon, his two sons were appointed, one (Herod Antipas) tetrarch of Galilee and Peræa, and the other (Philip) tetrarch of Trachonitis and the neighbouring countries. We have therefore these two persons in the situations in which St. Luke places them; and also, that they were in these situations in the fifteenth year of Tiberius, in other words, that they continued in possession of their territories and titles until that time, and afterwards, appears from a passage of Josephus, which relates of Herod, Ant. lib. 17. c. 8. sec. 1. † De Bell. lib. 1. c. 33, sec. 7. Ant. lib. 17. c. 13. sec. 1 Ant. lib. 17. c. 8. sec. 1. that he was removed by Caligula, the successor of Tiberius;* and of Philip, that he died in the twentieth year of Tiberius, when he had governed Trachonitis, and Batanea, and Gaulanitis, thirty-seven years.† III. (p. 20.) Mark v. 17. "Herod had sent forth and laid hold upon John, and bound him in prison, for Herodias's sake, his brother Philip's wife; for he had married her." With this compare Jos. Ant. 1. 18. c. 6. sec. 1. "He (Herod the tetrarch) made a visit to Herod his brotherHere, falling in love with Herodias, the wife of the said Herod, he ventured to make her proposals of marriage."§ Again, Mark vi. 22. "And when the daughter of the said Herodias came in and danced." With this also compare Jos. Ant. l. 18. c. 6. sec. 4. "Herodias was married to Herod, son of Herod the Great. They had a daughter whose name was Salome; after whose birth, Herodias, in utter violation of the laws of her country, left her husband then living, and married Herod the tetrarch of Galilee, her husband's brother by the father's side." IV. (p. 29.) Acts xii. 1. "Now, about that time, Herod the king stretched forth his hands, to vex certain of the church." In the conclusion of the same chapter, Herod's death is represented to have taken place, soon after this persecution. The accuracy of our historian, or, rather, the unmeditated coincidence, which truth of its own accord produces, is in this instance remarkable. There was no portion of time, for thirty years before, nor ever afterwards, in which there was a king at Jerusalem, a person exercising that authority in Judea, or to whom that title could be applied, except the three last years of this Herod's life, within which period, the transaction recorded in the Acts is stated to have taken place. This prince was the grandson of Herod the Great. In the Acts he appears under his family name of Herod; by Josephus he is called Agrippa. For proof that he was a king, properly so called Ant. lib. 18. c. 8. sec. 2. Ant. lib. 18. c. 5. sec. 6. 1.13. Luke iii. 19. See also Mat. xiv. The affinity of the two accounts is unquestionable: but there is a difference in the name of Herodias's first husband, which, in the evangelist is Philip, in Josephus, Herod. The difficulty, however, will not appear considerable, when we recollect how common it was in thos times. for the same person to bear two names; Sinon, which is called Peter; Lebbeus, whose surname is Thaddeus; Thomas, which is called Didymus; Sime on, who was called Niger; Saul, who was also called Paul." The solution is likewise rendered easier in the present case, by the consideration, that Herod the Great had children by seven or eight wives; that Josephus mentions three of his sons under the name of Herod; that it is nevertheless highly probable, that the brothers bore some additional name, by which they were distinguished from one another. Lard. vol. II. p. 897. S we have the testimony of Josephus in full and direct terms:-"Sending for him to his palace, Caligula put a crown upon his head, and appointed him king of the tetrarchie of Philip, intending also to give him the tetrarchie of Lysanias."* And that Judea was at last, but not until the last included in his dominions, appears by a subsequent passage of the same Josephus, wherein he tells us, that Claudius by a decree confirmed to Agrippa the dominion which Caligula had given him, adding also Judea and Samaria, in the utmost extent, as possessed by his grandfather Herod.t V. (p. 32.) Acts xii. 19, 23. "And he (Herod) went down from Judea to Cesarea, and there abode. And upon a set day, Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them; and the people gave a shout, saying, it is the voice of a god and not of a man; and immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory; and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the Ghost." Jos. Ant. lib. xix. c. 8. sec. 2. "He went to the city Cesarea. Here he celebrated shows in honour of Cesar. On the second day of the shows, early in the morning, he came into the theatre, dressed in a robe of silver, of most curious workmanship. The rays of the rising sun, reflected from so splendid a garb, gave him a majestic and awful appearance. They called him a god, and entreated him to be propitious to them, saying, Hitherto we have respected you as a man, but now we acknowledge you to be more than mortal. The king neither reproved these persons, nor rejected the impious flattery. Immediately after this he was seized with pains in his bowels, extremely violent at the very first. He was carried therefore with all haste to his palace. These pains continually tormenting him, he expired in five days time." The reader will perceive the accordancy of these accounts in various particulars. The place, (Cesarea) the set day, the gorgeous dress, the acclamations of the assembly, the peculiar turn of the flattery, the reception of it, the sudden and critical incursion of the disease, are circumstances noticed in both narratives. The worms mentioned by St. Luke are not remarked by Josephus, but the appearance of these is a symptom, not unusually, I believe, attending the disease, which Josephus describes, viz. violent affections of the bowels. * Ant. xviii. c. vii. sec. 10. Ib. xix. c. v. sec. 1. VI. (p. 41.) Acts xxiv. 24. " And after certain days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, which was a Jewess, he sent for Paul." Jos. Ant. lib. xx. c. 6. sec. 1, 2. "Agrippa gave his sister Drusilla in marriage to Azizus, king of the Emesenes, when he had consented to be circumcised-But this marriage of Drusilla with Azizus was dissolved in a short time after in this manner: when Felix was procurator of Judea, having had sight of her, he was mightily taken with her— She was induced to transgress the laws of the country, and marry Felix.” Here the public station of Felix, the name of his wife, and the singular circumstance of her religion, all appear in perfect conformity with the evangelist. VII. (p. 46.) "And after certain days king Agrippa and Bernice came to Cesarea to salute Festus." By this pas sage we are in effect told, that Agrippa was a king, but not of Judea; for he came to salute Festus, who at this time administered the government of that country at Cesarea. Now how does the history of the age correspond with this account? The Agrippa here spoken of, was the son of Herod Agrippa, mentioned in the last article; but that he did not succeed to his father's kingdom, nor ever recovered Judea, which had been a part of it, we learn by the information of Josephus, who relates of him, that, when his father was dead, Claudius intended at first to have put him immediately in possession of his father's dominions; but that Agrippa being then but seventeen years of age, the emperor was persuaded to alter his mind, and appointed Cuspius Fadus prefect of Judea and the whole kingdom;* which Fadus was succeeded by Tiberius Alexander, Cumanus, Felix, Festus. But that, though disappointed of his father's kingdom, in which was included Judea, he was nevertheless rightly styled king Agrippa; and that he was in possession of considerable territories bordering upon Judea, we gather from the same authority; for after several successive donations of country, "Claudius, at the same time that he sent Felix to be procurator of Judea, promoted Agrippa from Chalcis to a greater kingdom, giving to him the tetrarchie which had been Philip's; and be added moreover the kingdom of Lysanias, and the province that had belonged to Varus." Saint Paul addresses this person as a Jew: * Ant. xix. c. ix. ad sin. + Ib. xx. de Bell. lib. ii. De Bell. lib. ii, c. xii. ad sin. "King Eleazar, the son of Ananias the high priest, a young man of a bold and resolute disposition, then captain, persuaded those who performed the sacred ministrations, not to receive the gift or sacrifice of any stranger.” XIII. (p. 225.) Acts xxv. 12. “Then Festus, when he had conferred with the council, answered, Hast thou appealed unto Cesar? unto Cesar shalt thou go." That it was usual for the Roman presidents to have a council, consisting of their friends, and other chief Romans in the province, appears expressly in the following passage of Cicero's oration against Verres :-" Illud negare posses, aut nunc negabis, te, concilio tuo dimisso, viris primariis, qui in concilio C. Sacerdotis fuerant, tibique esse volebant, remotis, de rejudicatà judicasse!" XIV. (p. 235.) Acts xvi. 13. “ And (at Philippi) on the Sabbath, we went out of the city by a river-side, where prayer was wont to be made,” or where a proseucha, oratory, or place of prayer, was allowed. The particularity to be remarked, is the situation of the place where prayer was wont to be made, viz. by a river-side. Philo, describing the conduct of the Jews of Alexandria upon a certain public occasion, relates of them, that, "early in the morning, flocking out of the gates of the city, they go to the neighbouring shores, (for the proscucha were destroyed) and standing in a most pure place, they lift up their voices with one accord."* Josephus gives us a decree of the city of Halicarnassus, permitting the Jews to build oratories, a part of which decree runs thus :-"We ordain that the Jews, who are willing, men and women, do observe the Sabbaths, and perform sacred rites according to the Jewish laws, and build oratories by the sea-side." Tertullian, among the Jewish rites and customs, such as feasts, sabbaths, fasts, and unleavened bread, mentions orationes litorales, that is, prayers by the river-side.‡ XV. (p. 255.) Acts xxvi. 5. "After the most straitest sect of our religion, I lived a Pharisee." Jos. de Bell. 1. 1. c. 5. sec. 2. "The Pharisees were reckoned the most religious of any of the Jews, and to be the most exact and skilful in explaining the laws." In the original there is an agreement, not only in the sense but in the expression, it being the same Greek adjective, which is rendered "strait" in the Acts, and "exact" Josephus. Philo in Flacc. p. 382. Jos. Ant. lib. 14. c. 10. sec. |