THE GENUINE WORKS OF FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS, THE JEWISH HISTORIAN; CONTAINING TWENTY BOOKS OF THE JEWISH ANTIQUITIES, AND THE LIFE OF JOSEPHUS. WRITTEN BY HIMSELF. TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL GREEK, ACCORDING TO TOGETHER WITH EXPLANATORY NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS, PARALLEL TEXTS OF SCRIPTURE; THE TRUE CHRONOLOGY OF THE SEVERAL EMBELLISHED WITH SUPERB ENGRAVINGS. BY THE LATE WILLIAM WHISTON, M. A. Professor of Mathematics in the University of Cambridge, &c. &c. REVISED, AND ILLUSTRATED WITH NOTES, BY THE REV. SAMUEL BURDER, A M. Of Clare Hall, Cambridge; Lecturer of the United Parishes of Christ Church, IN FOUR VOLUMES. VOL. III. %©0- NEW-YORK. PUBLISHED BY WILLIAM BORRADAILE, No. 130 Fulton-street. Johnstone & Van Norden, Printers. 1824. THE ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. BOOK XVI. Containing an Interval of Twelve Years. CHAP. I. FROM THE FINISHING OF THE TEMPLE BY HEROD, TO THE DEATH OF ALEXANDER AND ARISTOBULUS. AS king Herod was very zealous in the administration of his government, and desirous to put a stop to particular acts of injustice, which were committed by criminals about the city and country; he made a law,* no way like our original laws, and which he enacted of himself, to expose house-breakers to be ejected out of his kingdom. This punishment was not only grievous to be borne by the offenders, but contained in it a dissolution of the customs of our forefathers. For this slavery to foreigners, and such as did not live after the manner of the Jews; and this necessity that they were under to do whatsoever such men should command, was an offence against our religious settlement, rather than a punishment to such as were found to have offended: such a punishment being avoided in our ori * This seems to be the first law pretended to be enacted by any Jewish king, that was not an idolater. ginal laws. For those laws ordain, that the thief shall restore fourfold and that if he have not so much, he shall be sold, but not to foreigners, nor so that he be under perpetual slavery; for he must have been released after six years. But this law, thus enacted, in order to introduce a severe and illegal punishment, seemed to be a piece of insolence in Herod; when he did not act as a king, but as a tyrant; and thus contemptuously, and without any regard to his subjects, did he venture to introduce such a punishment. Now this penalty, thus brought into practice, was like Herod's other actions; and became a part of his accusation, and an occasion of the hatred he lay under. About this time he sailed to Italy; being very desirous to meet with Cæsar, and to see his sons who lived at Rome. And Cæsar was not only very obliging to him in other respects, but delivered him his sons again; that he might take them home with him; as having already completed their studies in the sciences. But as soon as the young men were come from Italy, the multitude were very desirous to see them; and they became conspicuous among them all; as adorned with great blessings of fortune, and having the countenances of persons of royal dignity. So they soon appeared to be the objects of envy to Salome, the king's sister; and to such as had raised calumnies against Mariamne. For they were suspicious, that when these came to the government, they should be punished for the wickedness they had been guilty of against their mother. So they made this fear of their's a motive to raise calumnies against them also. They gave it out that they were not pleased with their father's company, because he had put their mother to death; as if it were not agreeable to piety to appear to converse with their mothers murderer.* Now by carrying these stories, that had indeed a true foundation in the fact, but were only built on * Murder is, in every instance, a most atrocious crime, and deserving of signal vengeance. But it becomes peculiarly aggravated in the degree of guilt attached to it, when its victim is allied by nature to the wretch who imbrues his hand with human blood. Justly, therefore, should such be avoided and shunned, as well as abandoned to the punishment awarded to the crime. B. |