e wrote his
history of the Jewish war some time after the destruction of Jerusalem,
which happened in the year of our Lord LXX, that is, thirty-seven years
after the ascension; and his history of the Jews he finished in the year
xciii, that is, sixty years after the ascension. At the head of each
article I have referred, by figures included in brackets, to the page of
Dr. Lardner's volume where the section from which the abridgment is made
begins. The edition used is that of 1741.
I. [p. 14.] Matt. ii. 22. "When he (Joseph) heard that Archclaus 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."
II. In this passage it is asserted that Archclaus 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 (Ant. lib. xvi. c. 8, sect. 1.).
Saint Matthew says that Archclaus reigned, was king, in Judea. Agreeably
to this, we are informed by Josephus, not only that Herod appointed
Archclaus his successor in Judea, but that he also appointed him with
the title of King; and the Greek verb basileuei, which the evangelist
uses to denote the government and rank of Archclaus, is used likewise by
Josephus (De Bell. lib. i. c. 3,3, sect. 7.).
The cruelty of Archelaus's character, which is not obscurely 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
tyranny, presented complaints against him to Caesar." (Ant, lib. xii.
13, sect. 1.)
II. [p. 19.] Luke iii. 1. "In the fifteenth year of the reign of
Tiberius Caesar--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 Antipus) tetrarch of Galilee and
Peraea, and the other (Philip) tetrarch of Trachonitis and the
neighbouring countries. (Ant. lib. xvii. c. 8, sect. 1.) We have,
therefore, t
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