ests should so oppress their brethren the priests, as to starve
the poorest of them to death. See the like presently, ch. 9. sect. 2.
Such fatal crimes are covetousness and tyranny in the clergy, as well as
in the laity, in all ages.

[22] We have here one eminent example of Nero's mildness and goodness
in his government towards the Jews, during the first five years of his
reign, so famous in antiquity; we have perhaps another in Josephus's own
Life, sect. 3; and a third, though of a very different nature here, in
sect. 9, just before. However, both the generous acts of kindness were
obtained of Nero by his queen Poppea, who was a religious lady, and
perhaps privately a Jewish proselyte, and so were not owing entirely to
Nero's own goodness.

[23] It hence evidently appears that Sadducees might be high priests in
the days of Josephus, and that these Sadducees were usually very severe
and inexorable judges, while the Pharisees were much milder, and more
merciful, as appears by Reland's instances in his note on this
place, and on Josephus's Life, sect. 31, and those taken from the New
Testament, from Josephus himself, and from the Rabbins; nor do we meet
with any Sadducees later than this high priest in all Josephus.

[24] Of this condemnation of James the Just, and its causes, as also
that he did not die till long afterwards, see Prim. Christ. Revived,
vol. III. ch. 43-46. The sanhedrim condemned our Savior, but could not
put him to death without the approbation of the Roman procurator; nor
could therefore Ananias and his sanhedrim do more here, since they never
had Albinus's approbation for the putting this James to death.

[25] This Ananias was not the son of Nebedeus, as I take it, but he who
was called Annas or Ananus the elder, the ninth in the catalogue,
and who had been esteemed high priest for a long time; and, besides
Caiaphas, his son-in-law, had five of his own sons high priests after
him, which were those of numbers 11, 14, 15, 17, 24, in the foregoing
catalogue. Nor ought we to pass slightly over what Josephus here says
of Annas, or Ananias, that he was high priest a long time before his
children were so; he was the son of Seth, and is set down first for
high priest in the foregoing catalogue, under number 9. He was made
by Quirinus, and continued till Ismael, the 10th in number, for about
twenty-three years, which long duration of his high priesthood, joined
to the successions of his son-in-law, and five