omission, some learned men have imagined, that this massacre having been done privately from house to house by a few soldiers, it made no great noise, or else was not set to Herod's account. But it is most probable that Josephus knew nothing of it, since he found it not in the memoirs of Nicolaus Damascenus, an historian of those times; whom he himself charges with having palliated and disguised the most notorious and extravagant cruelties of Herode. It seems however not to have been unknown to a heathen author, who speaks of it (though confusedly,) in the following manner: "Augustus having been informed, that among some children, which Herod had ordered to be killed in Syria, (he should have said Judea) he did not spare one of his own sons, said, that it was much better to be Herod's swine than his son," alluding to the Jewish custom of not eating swine's flesh. However this be, as Herod was a Jew, he could not be the author of so barbarous a cruelty without making himself guilty of the utmost impiety, since he did it with a design to cut off the Messiah, being fully satisfied by the answer which he received from the chief priests and elders, that the new-born infant was the promised CHRIST.

His end, and a very dismal one, being a visible punishment of his wickedness, closely followed this horrid butchery. He died as he had lived, contriving nothing but mischief, and framing the most bloody and inhuman designs". His death was looked upon as a very happy deliverance, and the tidings of it received with the utmost joy and satisfaction; which that vile monster well foreseeing, he had ordered all the chief men of the city to be barbarously murdered before he died, that there might be a general mourning at his death. A Jewish

(d) Lami Harm. Evang. p. 54. (e) Jos. Ant. 1. xvi. p. 11. (f) Macrob. Saturn. ii. 4. (9) Matt. ii. 4, 5, 6. (h) Jos. Ant. 1. xvii. cap. 8. He was parched up with a faint, inward fever, that almost burnt his heart out, and yet scarce sensible to the touch. He was tormented with an insatiable appetite, ulcers and cholics in his bowels; phlegmatic tumors in his feet and groin; asthmas, cramps, &c. (i) Id. ibid.

doctor, supposed to be pretty ancient, affirms that the day of his death was kept by the Jews, as a festival'. The learned are not agreed about the year of his death; but thus much is certain, that he died 34 years after the expulsion of Antigonus, and in the 37th year from his being declared king of the Jews by the Romans'. We shall have occasion to examine this more particularly hereafter, when we come to treat of the chronology of the New Testament.

After having spoken of Herod the Great, it is proOf the poste- per that we should next give an account of rity of Herod. his sons and grandsons, as far as is requisite for the understanding the New Testament. We find three of his sons mentioned there, between whom, by his last will and testament, he divided his dominions; viz. Archelaus, to whom he gave the kingdom of Judea, together with Idumæa and Samaria; Herod Antipas, or Antipater, whom he appointed Tetrarch or governor of Galilee and Peræa; and Philip, whom he made likewise Tetrarch of Ituræa, Batanæa, Trachonitis, Auranitis, and some other countries. It was necessary that Herod's will should be ratified by Augustus Cæsar, and was accordingly done, excepting this, that he would not bestow upon Archelaus the title of king, but only that of Ethnarch, that is, prince or chief of the nationTM. This name, which had been given before to some of the high-priests, (as to Hyrcanus for" instance,) seems to denote a dignity superior to that of a Tetrarch, but inferior to that of a king, since Augustus refusing to confer this latter title upon Archelaus, was however willing to distinguish him from his brothers by that of Ethnarch. The learned are not agreed about the meaning of the word Tetrarch. But it may be inferred from what has been just now said, that it was reckoned less honourable than the name of king or

(k) Megillath Taanith ap. Usser. Ann. p. 535. Lami Appar. Chron. p. 73. (1) Josephus ubi supra. (m) Ibid. Ant. 1. xvii. p. 13. (n) Id. Antiq. 1. xiv. p. 22.

prince. In its primary and original signification it implies a governor of a fourth part of the country, and this seems to have been the first meaning that was affixed to it. But it was afterwards given to the governors of a province, whether their government was the fourth part of a country, or not: as it happened in the case now before us, for Herod divided his kingdom only into three parts. However, the Tetrarchs were looked upon as princes, and sometimes complimented even with the name of kings, but this was a misapplying of the word. Archelaus was acknowledged king by the people with vast expressions of joy; but though he had declared that he would not usurp that title, without the emperor's consent, yet he soon acted like a king, or rather a tyrant, that is, in a very absolute and arbitrary manner. Augustus had promised him the kingly power, whenever he should make himself worthy of that honour'; but he, instead of endeavouring to gain the favour of his sovereign, and the good-will of his subjects, exercised in the very beginning of his reign such cruelties towards them, that, not being able to bear his unjust and barbarous dealings, they complained of him to Augustus. It was un

doubtedly upon account of the tyrannical temper of this prince, that Joseph and Mary, when they came back from Egypt, and heard that he reigned in Judea, in the room of his father Herod, were afraid to go thither ; and therefore came and dwelt in a city of Galilee called Nazareth, which was under the jurisdiction of Antipas, a good and mild governor. We cannot exactly tell whether this return of Joseph and Mary happened before, or after Archelaus's journey to Rome to have his father's will confirmed. However, when he came back to Jerusalem, he acted in as tyrannical a manner as ever, so that the chief men of the Jews and Samaritans joined in such grievous complaints against him, that Cæsar banished him to Vienne, a city in Gaul, where he died. From (0) Harpocrat. Lexic. p. 330. (p) Matt. xiv. 9. (q) Joseph. Antiq. 1. xvii. p. 13. (r) Matt. ii. 22. (s) Joseph. Antiq. 1. xvii. p. 15.

D

that time Judea was made a province of the Roman empire, and as well as Samaria and Idumæa, governed by Roman magistrates, who had the name of Procurators, the first of whom was Coponius of the equestrian order'. These Procurators depended upon the president of Syria, to which Judea and Samaria also were annexed, after Augustus had reduced them into provinces. Quirinus, a Roman senator, was then governor of Syria, and he it was who, with the assistance of Coponius, put the emperor's commands in execution, by thus reducing Judea and Samaria into provinces. This is the same Quirinus whom St. Luke and Josephus" call Cyrenius, who, by Cæsar's order, made a taxing in Judea and Syria.

Josephus mentions only this last taxing. But it is unquestionably manifest from St. Luke, that there was another ten years before, that is, at the time of our Saviour's birth. It is therefore to distinguish this first taxing from the second, that the Evangelist says, that this, which happened at the birth of our Saviour, was made before that of Quirinus, which the same divine author makes also mention of in the Acts of the apostles". It is true that St. Luke's words are obscure and ambiguous, for one would think at first sight that they should be rendered, This first taxing was made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria. But this translation of them cannot be reconciled with the history of those times; for it appears that, at the time of our Saviour's nativity, it was either Sentius Saturninus or Quintilius Varus, that was president of Syria, and not Quirinus“. It may however be supposed, that as it happened sometimes, Quirinus was sent by the emperor into Syria with an extraordinary commission to make his first taxing,

(t) Joseph. de Bello Jud. 1. ii. p. 7. (u) Luke ii. 2. Joseph. Antiq. 1. xviii. p. 1. For an account of the nature of the Procurator's office, see Bp. Pearson on the Creed, upon these words, Under Pontius Pilate. (x) Luke ii. 2. (y) Acts v. 37. (2) Αὕτη ἡ ἀπογραφὴ πρώτη ἐγένετο ήγεμον εύοντος τῆς Συρίας Κυηρνίου. (α) Tertull. adv, Marc. l. iv. p. 19.

and was perhaps invested with the title of governor or procurator, these two names being often promiscuously used by sacred and profane writers'.

But, in short, there is no occasion for having recourse to this supposition, if we do but render the words. of St. Luke thus, This taxing was made before Cyrenius was governor of Syria. The original will admit of this sense, as well as the other, and therefore we have followed it in our translation after several learned critics'. Quirinus's taxing had made so much noise, and the memory of it was so fresh in men's minds, when St. Luke wrote his gospel, that he had reason to suppose it had caused the other to be forgotten, since it had been, in all likelihood, less taken notice of, as being no more than a bare enrolling of the citizen's names, without taking an estimate of their estates, as was done by Quirinus; therefore the Evangelist thought fit to distinguish them one from another. For it is to be observed, that when JESUS CHRIST was born Judea was not tributary to the Romans, as it had been before in the time of Pompey, because Augustus had given it to Herod ; but when, after the banishment of Archelaus, it was again reduced into a province, it became of course tributary to the Roman empire, and accordingly an estimation of it was made in order to settle and regulate the taxes and tribute. The reason why Josephus doth not speak of the first taxing mentioned by St. Luke, is, in all likelihood, because it being only an enrolling of the people's names, he did not meet with it in the acts of Nicolaus Damascenus, as having no relation to the life of Herod, which that author wrote. It is probable that this taxing was made according to Augustus's survey of the Roman empire, which he had taken, that he might readily know, how many forces, and what sums of money he could raise in his provinces.

(b) Lami Appar. cap. 10. sec. iii. (c) See Perizonius, Dissertat. de Aug. Descript. And Dr. Whitby, in his Comment on this place. (d) Tacit. Annal. 1. i. p. 11. Sueton. Vit. Augusti, cap. ult.