Arabia), next at Jerusalem, and throughout all Judea, and then to the Gentiles.'

No. XII. He found in every country great numbers, not only of his own nation, but of the Gentiles, whom the Jews had turned from idols.-Lardner has well illustrated this fact, Credib. vol. i. c. 3. by passages from Philo, Josephus, and other authors, of which the following are the principal.

Philo, in the book which he wrote against Flaccus, president of Egypt, in the beginning of Caligula's reign, says, "There is no less than a million of Jews in Alexandria and other parts of Egypt;" and adds, "For one country does not contain the Jewish people, they being extremely numerous; for which reason, there are of them in all the best and most flourishing countries in Europe and Asia, in the islands, as well as on the continent; all esteeming for their metropolis the holy city, in which is the sacred temple of the most high God.' The same Philo, De Legatione ad Caium, mentions a letter of Herod Agrippa the elder, to the emperor Caius, to dissuade him from setting up his statue at Jerusalem, in which he says, "Nor can I forbear to allege in behalf of the holy city, the place of my nativity, that it is the metropolis, not of the country of Judea only, but of many others, on account of the many colonies that have been sent out of it at different times, not only into neighbouring countries, Egypt, Phoenicia, both the Syrias; but also into places more distant, to Pamphylia, Cilicia, and many parts of Asia, as well as Bithynia, and the recesses of Pontus. They are in the same manner in Europe-in Thessaly, Boeotia, Macedonia, Ætolia, Argos, Corinth, in the most and best parts of Peloponnesus. Nor are the continents only full of Jewish colonies, but also the most celebrated islands-Euboea, Cyprus, Crete; not to mention those which are beyond the Euphrates. For excepting only a small part of Babylon, and some other lesser districts, scarce any country of note can be mentioned in which there are not Jewish inhabitants," &c. Lardner, vol. i. p. 232.

The zeal of the Jews in making proselytes is well known. Horace has taken notice of it, lib. i. sat. 4.

ver. ult.

Ac veluti te

Judai cogemus in hanc concedere turbam. Josephus likewise, in his second book against Apion, says, "We choose not to imitate the institutions of other people, but we willingly embrace all that will follow ours." And from various passages in the Acts it is evident, that many Gentiles, especially of the female sex, were brought to worship the one true God after the manner of the Jews. To conclude, when the men of Damascus (A. D. 66.) had formed a design to make away with all the Jews of that place, Josephus tells us, Bell. lib. ii. c. 20. § 2. They concealed their design very carefully from their wives, because all of them, except a very few, were devoted to the Jewish religion."

No. XIII. The proconsul of Cyprus, Sergius Paulus, resided. When Augustus obtained the supreme power, he gave the inland provinces to the people, and reserved those on the frontiers of the empire to himself, designing by that distribution to keep in his hand the whole power of the armies. Dio (quoted by Lardner, vol. i. p. 52.) tells us, that the governors sent by the emperor into the provinces were called lieutenants, or proprætors, though they were consular persons, that is, had served the office of consul in the city. But the governors sent by the senate into the provinces which belonged to them were called proconsuls; not only those who had been consuls, but those also who had been prætors only. The division of the provinces made at first by Augustus,

underwent many changes. For a province originally assigned to the senate, was afterwards given to the emperor; and on the contrary. Such a change happened with respect to the province of Cyprus, which, in the first partition, was one of the emperor's provinces, but was afterwards, together with Gallia Narbonnensis, given to the senate; instead of which he took Dalmatia, which formerly was theirs, as Dio informs us, lib. liv. p. 523. Wherefore, when Paul visited Cyprus, that island was one of the provinces which belonged to the senate; consequently, the proper title of its governor was that of proconsul. Accordingly, Sergius Paulus is so named by Luke; which shews his perfect knowledge of the state of the countries of which he writes.

This honourable and worthy person, like other proconsuls, had persons learned in the Roman law to assist him in judging causes. Also he had a council, (ovμ6x

), as Festus likewise had, Acts xxv. 12. to advise with in difficult matters of state, and an officer to collect the taxes paid by the province. Besides, the presidents appointed to govern the provinces, commonly brought with them from Rome the most intelligent and faithful of their friends. These composed their council, and to them were joined some of the most considerable of the Roman citizens who resided in the province: also some of the most respectable natives of the country, who could give information concerning the state of the province, the customs of its inhabitants, and the genius of their political constitution. All, or most of these respectable persons, we may suppose, were witnesses to the apostle's transactions in Paphos.

No. XIV. Should go up to Jerusalem, to the apostles.-From this passage of the history, and from Acts viii. 1. Gal. i. 17. it appears, that while the inferior teachers went to distant parts, whether to avoid persecution or to make disciples, the apostles of the circumcision usually resided at Jerusalem. This I suppose they did by the divine direction, that the brethren in distant parts, who had need of their advice and assistance in any difficult matter, might know where to apply to them: and also that they might establish a church under their own immediate inspection, as a pattern, according to which, those who were converted in distant countries might be formed into assemblies for the public worship of God, and for edifying themselves with the gospel doctrine, statedly dispensed to them by the ministers of the word in these

assemblies.

No. XV. The decree which they passed on the question, runs in the name of the whole church; for it begins in this manner, Acts xv. 22. Then it seemed good to the apostles and elders, with the whole church.' The historian, however, does not mean, that all the brethren in Jerusalem were gathered together on this occasion. For what house could have held so great a multitude?-Peter by one sermon converted three thousand, and by another no less than five thousand. And without doubt, many more on other occasions were added to the church of Jerusalem by the joint labours of the whole apostles, who commonly resided there. The Christians being so numerous in Jerusalem, Mosheim (De Reb. Christ. ant. Constant. p. 117.) conjectures, that the faithful in that city met in separate assemblies for worshipping God; and that all who ordinarily came together in one and the same house, considered themselves as more particularly united. And therefore, when the question concerning the Gentiles was to be determined, seeing they could not all be present, they naturally deputed some of their most esteemed members to meet with the apostles and elders, to deliberate on that important subject. And these delegates having signified their assent to James's proposi

tions, it was considered as the determination of the whole church.

This assembly hath long been denominated, very properly, The Council of Jerusalem; for the reason mentioned Pref. to the Galat. sect. 4. last paragr. which see.

Concerning this council I have further to add, that the brethren of Antioch having sent to consult, not the apostles singly, but the apostles and elders at Jerusalem, they, it seems, called the brethren of that church to assist them in the deliberation. It is evident, therefore, that in deciding this very important question, the apostles did not use their apostolical authority, but offered an opinion, which they supported by reasons drawn from facts, and from the testimony of the scriptures, with a view to convince those who sat with them as judges of the matter under deliberation; and who, being convinced by the reasons which the apostles offered, agreed to what was proposed; which thus became the unanimous decision of the whole assembly. This method of ending the controversy the Holy Ghost had pointed out as the most proper, by a revelation made, either to Paul, or to some of the prophets of Antioch. For, as was observed Gal. ii. 2. note 1. the unanimous opinion of such a numerous body of men, respectable for their knowledge of the gospel doctrine, and of the dispensations of God, and of the writings of the prophets, and who enjoyed the gifts of the Spirit in abundance, could not but have a greater influence in quieting the minds of the zealous Jewish believers, than if the matter had been decided only by a few, even although they were apostles divinely inspired. To conclude, the decision given by this numerous and respectable assembly, being founded on the testimony which the Holy Ghost had borne to the justification of the Gentiles without circumcision, by his gifts bestowed on them even as upon the Jewish converts, the whole assembly, in the way they worded their decree, bare evidence to the reality of that testimony, and rendered it indubitable by this their unanimous decision: Acts xv. 28. It seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us,' who have been witnesses of that declaration of his mind which the Holy Ghost made by communicating his gifts to the Gentiles.

No. XVI. Had no relation to the idolatrous Gentiles at all.-See Preface to Galatians, sect. 4. where the arguments which prove that the decree of the council of Jerusalem had no relation to the idolatrous Gentiles, but only to the proselytes, are proposed at great length. See however Lardner's Life of Peter, in his 3d vol. on the Canon, where he contends, that there were no proselytes of the gate.

No. XVII. And passing through Phrygia and the Galatian country.-This is the first mention that is made in the book of the Acts of Paul's being in Galatia and Phrygia. But from his own writings we know, he made many journeys and voyages which are not recorded by Luke. And even of the transactions mentioned by that historian, some are passed over very slightly. Wherefore, though Luke has not mentioned it, we may believe that Paul was in Phrygia and Galatia before this, and that he planted many churches there. If so, what time can we assign for that work more probable, than when he and Barnabas fled from Iconium to Derbe and Lystra, and into the region that lieth round about;' for Phrygia and Galatia lay round about Lycaonia. Or, if the circumstances mentioned by Paul in his epistles lead us to think that he singly planted the churches of Galatia, we may suppose he performed that work during the five years which he spent in Cilicia and its neighbourhood, after he fled from Jerusalem. But of this, see more in the Preface to Paul's epistle to the Galatians, sect. 1.

No. XVIII. Philippi, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia, and a colony.-Livy, B. xlv. c. 9. tells us, that when Paulus Emilius conquered Macedonia, he divided it into four parts; of which the first was that which lay between the rivers Strymon and Nessus; and that the chief city of that first part was Amphipolis. To avoid contradicting the Roman historian, the following translation of Luke's words is proposed by some: And thence to Philippi, which is (Ten Tas uzidos The Maxedovias πολις κολωνα) the first city of that part of Macedonia which is a colony.' But B. Pearce, in his Commentary on the Acts, thinks the common translation ought to be retained, because Luke, who was with the apostle at this time, could not be mistaken in a fact so obvious. And therefore, although formerly Amphipolis was the chief city of that division of Macedonia, we may on Luke's authority believe, that at the time Paul passed into Macedonia, Philippi enjoyed that honour. I suppose, that when Augustus, after the defeat of Anthony, augmented the colony at Philippi by sending Anthony's adherents thither, he, in honour of the colony, transferred the courts of justice from Amphipolis to Philippi, whereby it became the chief city of that division of Macedonia. But in whatever manner it happened, the fact may be relied on, since Luke, who resided long at Philippi, has expressly asserted it.

Philippi being a colony, the greatest part of its inhabitants were Romans, and were governed by the laws of Rome. They also enjoyed the rights of Latium, and worshipped the gods thereof, and probably spake the Latin language, so that in many respects Philippi was a Latin city.-This is the account which A. Gellius gives of the colonies, Lib. xiii. c. 13. Et jura institutaque omnia, populi Romani, non sui imperii habent.' Quoted by Lardner, Credib. vol. i. p. 153.

No. XIX. Went out of the city by a river-side (ivoμigero Tgcowyn was) where a place for prayer was by law allowed.-From this it is evident, that Philippi was built beside a river, or near to one. Yet no such river is marked in the maps of this country, which is the more extraordinary, that Luke, who was long at Philippi, bath represented the river beside which it stood as navigable: Acts xx. 6. And we sailed from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread.' But Luke's geography is amply confirmed by the passage from Lucian, quoted page 731. who says, The walls of Philippi were washed by the river Hebrus.'

Learned men are not agreed whether gown, the word in the original, denotes the act, or the place of prayer. Dr. Lardner, vol. i. p. 236. has produced the following passages, which may be of use in settling this point. The first is from Josephus, Ant. xiv. 10. § 24. where a decree of the city of Halicarnassus permitting the Jews to build (gw) oratories is cited; part of which decree runs thus: "We decree that the Jews who are willing, men and women, do observe the sabbaths, and perform sacred rites according to the Jewish laws, and build oratories by the sea-side, according to the custom of their country," &c. The next passage is from Tertullian, Ad. Nat. lib. i. c. 13. where, among other Jewish rites, he mentions orationes littorales, shore-prayers, that is, prayers by the sea-side, or a river-side: For the Jews esteemed these the most pure places for performing the worship of God in, as is plain from Philo's oration against Flaccus, p. 982. where speaking of the Jews, he says, "And early in the morning, flocking out of the gates of the city, they go to the neighbouring shores, for the (proseucha) oratories were destroyed; and standing in a most pure place, they lift up their voices with one accord." Of this Jewish custom we have an instance Acts xxi. 5. "They all brought us on our way,

with wives and children, till we were out of the city, and we kneeled down on the shore, and prayed.'

It is commonly said, that the difference between a proseuche or oratory, and a synagogue, was this :-The synagogue was a covered house, where the law was read, and prayers offered up to God, according to a set form, in name of the whole congregation: But the proseuche, or oratory, was a piece of ground enclosed with a wall, where individuals prayed each by himself apart, as in the courts of the temple. The Jews built their synagogues and proseuches on the banks of rivers, or on the sea-shore, because, according to the tradition of the fathers, they were obliged to wash their hands before they prayed; for which use they esteemed the rivers and sea-water by far the fittest. See Joseph. Ant. xii. c. 2. Elsner.

No. XX. Then departed, leaving Luke at Philippi.That Paul left Luke at Philippi, we know from the phraseology of his history. For before that event Luke carries on the narration in the following manner :-Acts xvi. 11. Loosing from Troas, we came with a straight course to Samothrace. 13. And, on the Sabbath-day, we went out of the city by a river-side. 16. And it came to pass as we went to prayer.' But after Paul and the rest departed from Philippi, Luke changes his style in this manner,--Acts xvii. 1. Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica.' Nor does he resume his former manner of writing, until, chap. xx. describing Paul's voyage to Syria, he thus writes: 5. These going before, tarried for us at Troas. 6. And we sailed from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and came unto them to Troas, where we abode seven days.' It is therefore more than probable, that when Paul, Silas, and Timothy departed from Philippi, after having gathered a church there, Luke remained with the new converts, until the apostle, in his way from Corinth to Syria the second time, came to Philippi and took him with them.

If the foregoing supposition is well founded, Luke must have remained several years at Philippi; and if he was the brother whose praise was in the gospel,' mentioned 2 Cor. viii. 18. he joined Paul on his coming into Macedonia, after the riot of Demetrius, and was sent by him to Corinth with Titus, who carried the apostle's second letter to the Corinthians. And having executed that commission, he returned to Philippi, and gave him an account of the success of that letter. And after the apostle set out for Corinth, Luke remained at Philippi till Paul returned. For there he joined him in his second voyage to Syria, as has been already observed.

No. XXI. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I to you.-Because Paul, on this occasion, told the Athenians, that the true God was he whom they ignorantly worshipped under the title of the unknown God, some learned men have supposed, that the altar he speaks of was raised to the God of the Jews, concerning whose power, in the destruction of the Egyptians and Canaanites, the ancient Athenians had received some obscure reports: But because the Jews carefully concealed his name, and had no image of him, the Athenians erected no statue to the God of the Jews, but worshipped him under the appellation of The unknown God. Others think this one of the altars which Diogenes Laertius speaks of in Epimenide. For he relates, that by the advice of Epimenides, the Athenians, when afflicted with a pestilence, brought a number of white and black sheep to Areopagus, and there let them go; appointing a man to follow each, that where any of them lay down it might be sacrificed (xx) to the God to whom sacrifices were due: after which the plague was staid. Hence, says he, there are among the Athenians various

altars without the name of any God. But this deliverance being wrought by the true God, the apostle justly affirms, that they worshipped him by these altars, though they knew him not. Dr. Wellwood, however, in the introduction to his translation of the Banquet of Xenophon, says these altars were erected by Socrates, to express his devotion to the one true God, of whom the Athenians had no idea, and whose nature, he insinuated by this inscription, was far above the reach of human comprehension. According to this account also of the Athenian altars, the apostle's interpretation of the inscription is still perfectly just.

No. XXII. Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome.-That the emperor Claudius banished all the Jews from Rome, is testified by Suetonius in his life of Claudius, c. 25. "Judæos, impulsore Chresto, assidue tumultuantes, Roma expulit." The origin of the tumults which occasioned the banishment of the Jews from Rome, Suetonius, in the above passage, hath related in such a manner, as to make his readers imagine Chrest or Christ was then in Rome, and that the tumults were owing to his instigation. But the true state of the fact seems to have been this :-The Jews, whose darling object was to make proselytes to their religion, shewed the same malicious disposition at Rome, which their brethren shewed in the other great cities where the gospel was preached with success. Being extremely displeased with the heathens for embracing the gospel, they published a number of calumnies against the gospel itself, and against its abettors, by which they enraged the idolatrous multitude at Rome to such a degree, that they assisted the unbelieving Jews in their tumultuous attacks upon the Christians. Wherefore the Jews being the ringleaders in these tumults, the emperor, to preserve the peace of the city, found it necessary to banish all the Jews from Rome; and among the rest such of them as had embraced the Christian faith.

Claudius's edict against the Jews, according to the best chronologers, was published in the eleventh year of his reign; which year began January 24, A. D. 51. Now, supposing Claudius to have published his edict in the beginning of that year, he certainly would allow the proscribed some months at least to settle their affairs, and take themselves away. Wherefore Aquila and Priscilla could not well leave Italy before the end of the spring A. D. 51. Besides, their voyage to Corinth would take up some time; and, when they arrived, a month or two must have passed before they could settle themselves in such a manner as to be carrying on their business of tent-making when Paul came to Corinth. His arrival, therefore, cannot be fixed sooner than the autumn of A. D. 51.

Having in this manner fixed one date in Paul's his tory, let us next consider, how it may be applied for de termining the time of some important events connected with his arrival at Corinth.-After the council of Jerusalem Paul came down to Antioch, where he abode several months; then departed with Titus to confirm the churches of Cilicia, Galatia, and Phrygia. This office he performed by delivering them the decrees of the council to keep. And as he remained no longer in any place than was necessary for that purpose, we may suppose he finished his progress through the churches in four or five months from his leaving Antioch: Then he went over to Macedonia, where, and in Greece, he preached indeed a considerable time, probably ten or twelve months, before he came to Corinth. These, added to the months he spent in Antioch after the council, and in confirming the churches in Cilicia, Galatia, and Phrygia, may have made in all a year and nine months. Wherefore, if these are counted backwards, from the

autumn of A. D. 51, when Paul arrived at Corinth, they will bring us to the end of A. D. 49, or the beginning of A. D. 50, as the date of the council of Jerusalem. And seeing that council was held about 14 years after Paul's conversion, (Gal. ii. 1.), perhaps 14 years wanting some months, his conversion will thus be fixed to the end of A. D. 36, or to the beginning of A. D. 37, a date which is likewise confirmed by the rest which the churches of Judea, Samaria, and Galilee enjoyed, through the publication of Caius's order to set up his statue in the temple of Jerusalem in the end of A. D. 39, or the beginning of A. D. 40, three years after Paul's conversion, as hath been shewn No. V.

No. XXIII. Having shorn his head in Cenchrea, for he had a vow.-This is thought to have been the vow of the Nazarite, whereby Paul, from the time he made it, until he offered the sacrifices prescribed by the law, bound himself to abstain from wine and all fermented liquors. See Numb. vi. 1-21. That this vow was in use in Paul's days, is evident from what Josephus has related of Bernice, Bell. ii. c. 15. init. "She was then (A. D. 66) at Jerusalem, performing a vow to God. For it is customary for those who have been afflicted with some distemper, or have laboured under any other difficulty, to make a vow, thirty days before they offer sacrifice, to abstain from wine and shave the hair of their head." By the law, the Nazarite was to shave his head at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. But as there were a vast number of Jews in the Gentile countries, who lived at a great distance from Jerusalem, they were obliged to dispense with the exactness of many things required in the law. Lardner, vol. i. p. 461. has mentioned a passage of a Jewish book, quoted by Reland, which says, "They who make the vow of the Nazarite out of the land of Israel, shall go into it to complete the vow." This accounts for Paul's concern to keep the next feast at Jerusalem, Acts xviii. 21.

The vow of the four brethren, mentioned Acts xxi. 23. is likewise thought to have been the vow of the Nazarite. There is a passage in Josephus, concerning Herod Agrippa, which shews that it was no unusual thing now for zealous men, who had it in their power, to bear the whole, or a part of the charges of the sacrifices which the Nazarites were obliged to offer at the expiration of their vow. The passage I refer to is Ant. xix. 6. initio, where, having told that Claudius made Herod king of all Judea, he adds, " And he, as it was very likely for one to do who had had so considerable an advancement, made all the expedition he could into his kingdom. And coming to Jerusalem, he offered up sacrifices of thanksgiving, and omitted nothing that was prescribed by the law; for which reason he also ordered a good number of Nazarites to be shaved." That was the common phrase for completing the vow of the Nazarite, by offering the prescribed sacrifices; and therefore the brethren at Jerusalem, when they advised Paul to assist the four men in discharging their vow, did not say, Be at charges with them that they make their offerings, but that they may shave their heads. An action of this kind being extremely popular, and shewing great zeal for the law, the brethren at Jerusalem very prudently advised Paul to it, to shew that he did not contemn the institutions of Moses. Besides, it was one of those popular actions by which Agrippa recommended himself to the Jews when he took possession of the kingdom, as appears from the foregoing quotation.

No. XXIV. On the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread. From this pas sage, and from 1 Cor. xvi. 1, 2. John xx. 19. 26. it appears to have been the custom of the disciples, after our

Lord's resurrection, to observe the first day of the week in honour of that event, by assembling thereon for the worship of God, and for celebrating the Lord's Supper. Accordingly, Justin Martyr, who wrote forty-four years after the death of the apostle John, tells us, Apologet. ii. p. 98. "On Sunday, all Christians in the city and country meet together, because it is the day of our Lord's resurrection, and then we hear read to us the writings of the prophets and apostles. This done, the president makes an oration to the assembly, to exhort them to imitate and do the things they hear and then we all join in prayer; and after that we celebrate the sacrament, and they that are willing and able give alms," &c. Whitby's note on Acts xx. 7.

No. XXV. Teaching all men everywhere against the people.-Lardner, Credib, vol. i. p. 553. observes, that the Jews in Judea considered it as their due to have particular regard paid to them by their countrymen in the provinces, and by all the Gentiles who worshipped the true God, and who for that purpose assembled themselves with the Jews in their synagogues. And, in fact, the Jews out of Judea, and all the proselytes, shewed great regard to the people of Jerusalem and of Judea, and were very ready to assist them in every difficulty. Thus, the disciples at Antioch, when they heard that there was to be a dearth in the land of Judea, Acts xi. 29. every man, according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judea.' And in this resolution, not the Jews by birth alone, but the just proselytes also, and even the religious proselytes, joined: And having made a liberal collection, they sent it to the elders at Jerusalem by the hands of Barnabas and Saul. In like manner, when that famine actually happened, Helene, queen of Adiabene, and Izates her son, both of them proselytes to Judaism, contributed largely for the relief of the inhabitants of Jerusalem and of Judea, Joseph. Ant. xx. c. 2. § 6. when the apostles at Jerusalem agreed that Paul should go among the Gentiles, they recommended it to him 'to remember the poor; which very thing he also made haste to do,' Gal. ii. 10. Wherefore, the collections which Paul afterwards made, among all the churches of the Gentiles, for the saints in Judea, was no novelty. It had been often practised, and was founded in the best reason. For, as Paul writing to the Romans on this subject observed, they were bound to do this both in justice and in gratitude:-Rom. xv. 27. They have been pleased, verily, and their debtors they are. For, if the Gentiles have partaken of their spiritual things, they ought certainly to minister to them in carnal things.' And considering, that in the persecution the brethren of Judea were often spoiled of their goods, (Heb. x. 34.), these collections were the more neces

sary.

Also,

Such being the principles and the expectations of the Jews in Judea, no wonder that the bigots among them were enraged, when they heard that Paul, instead of enjoining the converted Gentiles to observe the law of Moses, taught that they were entirely free from that law; for this was to break the tie by which the Jews held those heathens in subjection who had turned from idols to worship the true God. And therefore the outcry of the Jews against Paul, though wholly unjust, was every word of it expressive and popular, especially at Jerusalem: This is the man who teacheth all men everywhere against the people,' Acts xxi. 28.

No. XXVI. Tidings came to the chief captain of the legion.-Xingx@ The Orrigus. The word uga is used with considerable latitude. It signifies any gathering of soldiers, without determining their number:

hence it is applied to a legion. At other times, it signifies a much smaller number of soldiers. The other word, xxs, properly signifies the commander of a thousand men; but it is likewise used for a Roman military Tribune. Wherefore as there was always a legion stationed in Jerusalem, we may suppose that Lysias was the eldest or first Tribune, and, by consequence, that he was the commander of the garrison, and was intrusted by the governor, Felix, with the power which the chief officer under him at Jerusalem usually possessed. But the word xgxs is likewise used to signify the captain of the temple, John xviii. 12. who is thought to have been a Jewish officer. And Luke speaks of reary, the captains of the temple, Luke xxiii. 52. These, I suppose, were the persons who presided over the divisions of the priests and Levites employed in different ministrations in the temple; but the xgx, or captain of the temple, was he who had the command of the whole.

No. XXVII. Commanded him to be carried into the castle. This was the castle Antonia, which was built by John Hyrcanus, high-priest and prince of the Jews, on a rock which stood at the angle of the northern and western porticos of the outer court of the temple. It was at first named Baris. But Herod the great rebuilt it, and raised it so high as to command the temple, and afford a sight of what passed in the two outer courts. On the side where it joined the porticos of the temple, there were stairs which reached to each portico, by which the soldiers descended to keep guard in several places of the porticos, especially during the great festivals, to suppress any disorders which might happen. Further, to render this fortress inaccessible, Herod faced the rock on which it stood with white polished marble; and having completed the fortress, he named it Antonia, in honour of his friend Mark Antony. Afterward, when Judea was made a Roman province, the Romans always kept a strong garrison in that castle. And at the festivals, when the people flocked to Jerusalem in great multitudes, bodies of armed soldiers went down from this castle, and watched in several places of the porticos of the temple, to prevent tumults: for on such occasions, more especially, the multitude was disposed to make disturbances.

No. XXVIII. Leddest out into the wilderness four thousand men (тwv omgiv) of the Sicarii.-The men of whom the Tribune spake were named Sicarii, from the small crooked swords or daggers (called by the Romans Sica) which they carried under their garments. With these they committed horrible murders in Jerusalem about this time: For their custom was to mix in the crowd at the great festivals, and to stab their enemies, even in the day-time; and to conceal their wickedness, they affected great indignation against the authors of the slaughter. Nay, to such a pitch did they carry their cruelty, that they would kill any person whatever for hire. Thus Josephus, Ant. xx. 7. 5. tells us, that one Dora, at the instigation of Felix the governor, hired some of these miscreants, who murdered the high-priest Jonathan. The same historian informs us, (ibid. c. 6.), that when Felix was procurator, a certain Egyptian came to Jerusalem, and pretending to be a prophet, persuaded the people to follow him to Mount Olivet, promising that they should see the walls of Jerusalem fall down at his command, and have a free entrance into the city over the ruins but that Felix attacked them with an army, killed four hundred of them, and took two hundred cap. tives; and that the Egyptian himself, having fled, disappeared. This, it is thought, was the impostor of whom the Tribune spake, when he asked Paul if he was that

Egyptian who before these days made an insurrection,' &c. The Tribune added that the followers of the Egyp tian were Sicarii. Perhaps, besides the Sicarii, many of this impostor's followers were Zealots, who were very forward in all the tumults against the Romans. Josephus, indeed, has not told us what sort of people the followers of the Egyptian were; only, by relating the affair after giving an account of the Sicarii, he seems to insinuate that they were mostly of that description. In the other account which Josephus has given of this affair, Bell. ii. c. 13. he says, the Egyptian gathered thirty thousand; that, after bringing them round out of the wilderness up to the Mount of Olives, he intended from thence to attack Jerusalem, and, beating the Roman guards, to bring the people in subjection to him. But Felix, coming suddenly upon him with the Roman soldiers, prevented the attack; and that all the people joined with Felix in their own defence; so that, when they came to engage, the Egyptian fled, followed only by a few; that the greatest part of those who were with him were either slain or taken prisoners; the rest of the multitude being scattered. This account of the numbers which followed the Egyptian being very different from the former, no objection can be drawn from either against the number mentioned by the Tribune. The truth is, Josephus needs more to be reconciled with himself, than Luke to be reconciled with him; for it should be remembered, that Luke is not answerable for the Tribune's numbers; all that was incumbent on him was, to relate faithfully what he said.

No. XXIX. Felix the Governor.-Judea, though sometimes called a province, was properly a branch of the province of Syria, as Lardner observes, Credib. vol. i. p. 161. Nevertheless it had a Roman governor residing in it with supreme authority, which was a very uncommon thing. The proper title of this governor was Procurator; a name that was given to the officer who took care of the Emperor's revenue in the provinces belonging to him; whereas, in the provinces belonging to the senate, that officer was named Quæstor. But though the governors of Judea were properly procurators, they had, as was just now observed, the power of presidents. Hence the sacred writers give to Pilate, Felix, and Festus, the title of Governors; which is a general word, and very proper according to the usage of the best writers.

No. XXX. Felix was himself a great oppressor of the nation.-Antonius Claudius Felix, with his brother Pallas, were freed-men of the Emperor Claudius, with whom Pallas being in high favour, he procured for his brother Felix the procuratorship of Judea. But in his government Felix shewed the meanness of his disposition and former condition, by exercising his power in the most wanton acts of cruelty and oppression. So Tacitus tells us, Hist. lib. v. c. 9. "Claudius, defunctis Regibus, aut ad modicum redactis, Judæam provinciam Equitibus Romanis, aut libertis permisit. E quibus Antonius Felix per omnem sævitiam ac libidinem, jus regium servili ingenio exercuit, Drusilla, Cleopatræ et Antonii nepte (grand-daughter) in matrimonium accepta; ut ejusdem Antonii, Felix progener, Claudius nepos esset."-Felix married two ladies of the name of Drusilla. The one was the grand-daughter of Cleopatra and Antony. She is the lady of whom Tacitus speaks. The other was Drusilla, mentioned Acts xxiv. 24. where she is called a Jewess, to distinguish her from the Roman lady of that name. This Drusilla was the daughter of Herod Agrippa, (whose death is related Acts xii. 23.), and the sister of Herod Agrippa the younger, before whom Paul pleaded his cause. He gave her to Azizus, king of the Emes