is the letter, denoting the year (the first) of the reign of Simon Maccabeus. 22 The reverse has the budding rod, and no Jerusalem the holy. § 9.-COIN OF CÆSAREA PHILIPPI.-Matt. xvi. 13. The more common name of this city was Cæsarea Panias, from the worship of the tutelar deity Pan, who is figured on many of its coins, of which specimens exist from the time of Augustus to the days of Elagabalus. It was comprised in the tetrarchy of Iturea, and was anciently called Dan; but Philip, having enlarged and improved it, gave it the name of Cæsarea, in honour of the emperor: and, to distinguish it from other cities of the same name, it was called Cæsarea Philippi, though, on the coins of Augustus, as in the specimen here given, the city is indicated by the letters CA, Cæsarea Augusta. These coins must have been in circulation at the time of our Lord's visit to that district. SALSADAY A CA 22 Maccab. xiv. This coin was erroneously ascribed to Cæsaraugusta in Spain, by the earlier numismatic writers. § 10. "THERE WILL THE EAGLES BE GATHERED TOGETHER."-Matt. xxiv. 28. Nothing can illustrate the force and significance of this metaphor better than the type of many of the coins struck by the Romans in the various cities subject to them. Jerusalem was soon to become the prey of a nation, whose thirst for blood and conquest was insatiable. It will be seen by the two tetradrachms of Tyre and Sidon, that the eagle, being a type of kingly power, was a favourite badge of the Syrian monarchs. There is a whole series of the legionary denarii of Antony bearing representations of the Roman ensigns surmounted by the eagle; and as they are to this day very common, and are found repeatedly in the East, there can be no doubt that they were circulating in Judæa in the days of our Lord's ministry, bearing the appropriate symbols of conquest and possession. 23 These ensigns were objects of especial horror and disgust to the Jews, not only as evidence of their subjection and degradation, but, also as the idols of the legions, by whom they were regarded with the greatest veneration.24 23 The legionary eagles are a perpetual type of Roman colonial coins. 24 See Josephus Bell. Jud. lib. ii. c. ix. § 3, for an account of the tumult on Pilate's bringing the legionary ensigns to Jerusalem. § 11. "THE COUNTRY OF THE GADARENES." In Matthew 25 χώραν τῶν Γεργεσηνῶν, but in Mark and Luke,26 χώραν τῶν Γαδαρηνῶν. Notwithstanding the remarks and conjectures of some commentators, it seems probable that Gergesenes in the Gospel of Saint Matthew is an incorrect reading. Lightfoot says that there was a city called Gergesa; but it is not found in Strabo, Pliny, or Stephanus. The "country of the Gergesenes" was doubtless the metropolis of Perea, in Decapolis, 27 of which city many coins exist, the types shewing that the people were heathens, their tutelary divinity being Astarte, as seen on this coin of Nero, which bears, on the obverse, the bust of the Emperor, and NEPON (KAI)EAP. Reverse, TAAAPA; Astarte holding a garland and a cornucopiæ: a star and a branch in the field, and the date, L.AMP. Wiclif, and the translators of the Rhemish Bible, apparently perplexed by this discrepancy in the two Evangelists, have used Gerasa (Tepaonvov being found in several MSS.); but a reference to the maps will at once shew, that Gadara was much more likely to be the town which gave the name to the district. Tadapnvov is now found in the most approved texts. 25 Matt. viii. 28. 27 Josephus, Bell. Jud. lib. iv. c. vii. § 3. 26 Luke viii. 26. § 12.-COIN OF HEROD ANTIPAS.-Mark vi. 14. The prince mentioned in this chapter was Antipas, the son of Herod the Great, nominated in the will of that tyrant Tetrarch 28 of Galilee and Petrea. His sway appears to have been mild, especially when compared with that of his brother Archelaus: hence Joseph found a refuge when "he turned aside into Galilee." 29 He enlarged and improved several places within his dominions; among others Bethsaida, to which he gave the name of Julias, in honour of the empress; and Cinnereth, which he called Tiberias, in compliment to Tiberius, then Cæsar, and afterwards Emperor. The coin here engraved is of Antipas, and was struck in the newly endowed city of Tiberias. The Obverse bears HP(sic) woov TETPAρkov, i.e. (money) of Herod, Tetrarch: the Reverse has the name of the city TIBЄPIAC, within a garland. 28 See the remarks on the titles of Basileus and Tetrarch in § 1. There appears to be much misconception regarding the office or rank of Tetrarch. In the "table of offices and conditions of men," appended to our version of the New Testament, Tetrarchs are erroneously described as having "kingly power in four provinces.” Whatever might have been its original signification, it certainly did not imply at this time the rule of a fourth part of a kingdom, for Herod the Great divided his kingdom into three parts only. Lightfoot (Harmony, part 1.) appears to give the best definition of the title: "a tetrarch," he says, "seemeth rather to be one that was in the fourth rank or degree of excellency and government in the Roman empire: the emperor, that was lord of all the empire, being first; the pro-consul, that governed a province, the second; a king, the third; and a tetrarch, the fourth. So D and in the Hebrew signify a man second or third to the king." 29 Matt. ii. 22. D § 13.-COIN OF PHILIP.-Mark vi. 17. The Evangelist calls this prince Philip, but Josephus speaks of him as Herod.30 Both Lardner and Paley, remarking on this discrepancy, account for it by supposing that the sons of Herod "bore some additional name, by which they were distinguished from one another." Of this there can be no doubt; and it appears equally clear, that Herod, like Caesar, was the common name of the family as rulers. Its absence on the coins of Philip may be connected with the appearance of the emperor's head and titles, which are not found on the money of the earlier Judæan princes. The example here engraved is ill preserved, and bears the head of the Emperor Augustus; reverse, a temple, and the legend IAIN(HOY) ΤΕΤΡΑΧΟΥ (sic). § 14.-" THE TABLES OF THE MONEY-CHANGERS."Mark xi. 15. Τραπέζας τῶν κολλυβιστών. Lightfoot seems to be somewhat in doubt as to the precise nature of the office of moneychanger; but the term appears to explain itself. Suetonius tells us, that Augustus was said to be the grandson of a 30 Ant. lib. xviii. c. vi. § 1, 4. |