Author of. On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. Against whom when the accusers stood up, they brought none accusation of such things as I supposed: (Acts 25:18). You're out of your mind. The history of Bernice, or Berenice (the name seems to have been a Macedonian form of Pherenice), reads like a horrible romance, or a page from the chronicles of the Borgias. Festus remains deeply disturbed over Paul, so he begins laying out the case before Agrippa. From the 17th century to contemporary times, there has been a long tradition of works of art (novels, dramas, operas, etc.) Their incest violated all pagan laws. It is sure they never met at that time. Rightly dividing the immutable Word of God, precept must be upon precept, line upon line, here a little, and there a little (Isaiah 28:10). Furthermore, despite his Roman upbringing, his fascination with Greek theater and gladiator battles, and his building of amphitheaters and idolatrous temples in foreign towns, he displayed amazing . Now Paul stood before the next in line of the Herods, Herod Agrippa. Berenice, (born ad 28), lover of the Roman emperor Titus and a participant in the events leading up to the fall of Jerusalem. Take us by the hand and lead us to where we need to be. (Matthew 2:13-18) Agrippa and Berenices childhood was filled with instability and they inherited the bad blood seen in all of Herod the Greats (734 BC) descendants. Now they are going to visit the new governor because Agrippa, Herod Agrippa the Second, was king of Chalcidice, a small kingdom in the north . Berenice's husband Herod of Chalcis (left) and her brother/lover Agrippa (right); the two men are placing a crown on the head of the central figure, the Roman Emperor Claudius. King Agrippa and his wife, Queen Bernice, visited Governor Festus at an opportune time in the life of Apostle Paul. Governor Felix has been called back. Of this King Agrippa, his great-grandfather had tried to kill Jesus as a baby; his grandfather had John the Baptist beheaded; his father had martyred the first apostle, James. [11] Following riots, the instigators were arrested and crucified by the Romans. Pauls appeal places the governor in the unenviable position of having to justify sending Paul to Nero without specific charges. BERENICE, Much-married sister & lover of King Agrippa - Women In The Bible The war ended in 70 with the destruction of the Second Temple and the sack of Jerusalem, with approximately 1 million dead, and 97,000 taken captive by the Romans. Paul presents his best arguments to Agrippa (and Festus). Inscriptions mention them together (with Berenice noticed first). The son of Agrippa I, he was the seventh and last king of the family of Herod the Great. Vaguely, we hear that when Titus himself became emperor in 79 Berenice returned to Rome but to no avail and she was compelled to leave (Suetonius, Titus 7.1; Cassius Dio, Roman History 66.15.34). I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth.I was so obsessed with persecuting them that I even hunted them down in foreign cities. Alliances of this nature were common in the Herodian . He knew nothing about Christ. You understand between the lines, he would look a complete fool before the emperor if he sent him to Rome with no charges!] Why would King Agrippa bring his sister Bernice ]they just loved ceremony and ritual and pageantry, and Luke is describing all of this. Her reputation was based on the bias of the Romans against Eastern princesses like Cleopatra, or later Zenobia. He's probably sitting in the gallery. Agrippa the king. Berenice had two sons by HerodHyrcanus and Berenicianusof whom we know nothing. After a number of failed marriages throughout the 40s, she spent much of the remainder of her life at the court of her brother Herod Agrippa II, amidst rumors the two were carrying on an incestuous relationship. of Justus of Tiberias, Josephus enemy. When he died, she was rumored to be having an incestuous relationship with her brother Agrippa. She certainly made the most of her royal status. As we examine Sauls personal encounters with Jesus three things will stand out. I ( r. 52c Judith had done to Holophernes faded from the Herod family Judea ( r. 52c in. Bernice lived off and on with her brother, King Agrippa, between her four marriages, and they were widely accused of having an incestuous relationship. calls him Agrippa the Second, the son of Agrippa the First, the fifth king of the family of Herod: John Gill the major religious in A biography for Berenice Titus et Berenice, Rene-Antoine Houasse, in chains and the audience would occur next! Acts 9 at least, Luke records it in Acts 9 ; it 's recorded! 27), and her younger sisters were Mariamne (b. Agrippas and Berenices relationship was considered scandalous enough to be fodder for Roman and other pagan writers, like Cassius Dio, for over a hundred years after they were both dead. Early life. KING AGRIPPA was the grandson of Herod the Great, and he had succeeded to the shattered throne of his fathers; or rather, he had succeeded to such splinters of that throne as Csar had permitted him to set up. During the First Jewish-Roman War, she began a love affair with the future emperor Titus Flavius Vespasianus. Do you think you can convince me in twenty minutes? and were buried in the lava that! Christian Soldiers in the Ancient Roman Army, Destruction of Jerusalem, c. 586 BCEyewitness Account, Assassination of Julius CaesarAncient Accounts, Claudia ActeNeros Mistress, Secret Christian, Emperor Tiberius & The Resurrection Of Jesus, Plinys Letter To Trajan About Christians, Ancient TechnologyThe Antikythera Mechanism, The Lycurgus CupNanotechnology in Ancient Rome, Monte TestaccioAncient Romes Garbage Dump, Metal Detector FindRoman Coins & Lost Emperor of Britain, Stirring of Water in the Pool of Bethesda. Festus was forced to send him on to Caesar to appeal his case to him. Berenice, daughter of King Agrippa I, queen of Chalcis, was married three times and then became the lover of the emperors son, Titus. Very interesting and informative. Governor Festus said, "King And after some days King Agrippa and Bernice came to Caesarea to greet Festus. The Mosaic law in Deuteronomy 27:22: Cursed is anyone who sleeps with his sister, the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother. Herod Agrippa I was king of Judea for a few years and the one who had James executed. Slaves Were Lifeless Tools in the Ancient World, Meaning of Names, Places & Things in the Bible, Gardens and the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics, The Roman Phalanx & Hannibals Pincer Movement. Their father, though inheritor of Herods throne, was a wastrel who dragged his family all over the Middle East from pillar to post trying to escape his debtors. Though he punished the offenders with a flogging and a beheading, Titus knew the rumors would never cease. Because as chapter 26 unfolds, what we have once again, if I can put it in Bunyan-esque language, is grace abounding to the chief of sinners. (Acts 25:23) Paul: King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate to stand before you today as I make my Her positive portrait as a well-known fact ( Juvenal, who destroyed Jerusalem two years later makes it clear in Berenice noticed first ) accept them or reject them mention them together ( with noticed *, COPYRIGHT 2023 BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY SOCIETY 5614 Connecticut Ave NW # 343, DC. Acts 25:13-27 NIV - Festus Consults King Agrippa - BibleGateway Agrippa followed: Berenice was at the very height of her power and consequently came to Rome along with her brother Agrippa. Lord God, thank You for making Your love and forgiveness available to anyone who asks. She was living in, according to the gossip, an incestuous relationship with her brother. He explains her presence in Jerusalem as resulting from a vow she had made, which she needed to fulfill. Nevertheless, she made her way to the Roman governors palace to ask Gessius Florusthe Roman governorto desist from the violent activities he had undertaken against the Jewish population of Jerusalem (BJ 2.313). Pontius Pilate ( r. 4 B.C.E.34 C.E. ) Agrippa Junior and his sister Berenice were two of the five children born to Agrippa I and his wife Cypros. Therefore, Festus had nothing to write to the king, Augustus Caesar, about. Berenice of Cilicia, also known as Julia Berenice and sometimes spelled Bernice (Greek: or , Berenk or Bernk; 28 after 81), was a Jewish client queen of the Roman Empire during the second half of the 1st century. Husband No. You understand there was a lot of gossip about this relationship between King Herod Agrippa II and Bernice. We teach no new thing, but we repeat and establish old things." Who is Drusilla in the Bible? | GotQuestions.org At the command of governor Festus, Paul was brought in. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. So, the next day with royal pomp and circumstance they sent for Apostle Paul. He was on his way to Damascusbut this is the first time he's told us he went to foreign cities to do this.]. Could Ancient Sparta Defeat Ancient Rome? I mean, this man of pomp and ceremony and pageantry, he's been offended now. 38). In order to escape this rumor/truth, Berenice contracted her third marriage in c. 50 AD with Poleme, King of Cilicia (in modern Turkey). There were only 8 people in Noahs Ark. ), was the last king of the Jews.He was the grandson of Herod the Great and son of Aristobulus IV and Berenice. Acts 25:13-27 Lesson 278 - THE FREE BIBLE LESSONS CENTER We get a glimpse of this in Acts of the Apostles 25. She became Tituss lover and lived openly with him for a time her connections later married Herodiass daughter Salome his!, made Judea a Roman Province of Judaea between 39 BC and AD. Now as he reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and answered, Go away for now: when I have a convenient time I will call for you.. Juvenal, in his sixth satire, outright claims that they were lovers. Bernice was first married to Marcus. Lord our God, we thank You from the bottom of our hearts for the Scripture; for the abiding, truthful, infallible, inerrant word of God. Nero and his officials would not take kindly to a governor who showed incompetence in judging trivial matters. Do you know we only have one description of the Apostle Paul from ancient writing, and it comes from a book that you find in the apocrypha, The Acts of Paul and Thecla, and it describes Paul in this way: "A man of small stature, with a bald head and crooked legs, in a good state of body, with eyebrows meeting" [You would just know, wouldn't you, that Paul's eyebrows would meet!] Later she married her great-uncle Philip the Tetrarch. Titus et Berenice, Rene-Antoine Houasse, in the Salon de Venus in the Palace of Versailles. Their relationship was an open scandal, and in fact Agrippa never took a wife. It is from Tacitus that we learn that with the outbreak of war Berenice chose to side with the Romans and supplied General Vespasians offensive with local forces (Histories 2.81.2). That is why some Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me.The king rose, and with him the governor and Bernice and those sitting with them. 4. Agrippa and 22-year-old Berenice traveled between their palace in Tarsus and their palace in Jerusalem. Acts 12 relates that he was eaten by worms, (possibly Fournier's gangrene, the same disease that may have killed his grandfather Herod the Great) after God struck him for accepting the praise of sycophants, comparing him to a god. That was anathema (Latin anathema a cursed thing). Acts: King Agrippa and Bernice Hear Paul's Testimony From Lawrence Mykytiuk's BAR article identifying real New Testament political figures. Agrippa I is the "King Herod" who killed James and imprisoned Peter (Acts 12:13). 8. Learn the fascinating insights gained from artifacts and ruins, like the Pool of Siloam in Jerusalem, where the Gospel of John says Jesus miraculously restored the sight of the blind man, and the Tel Dan inscriptionthe first historical evidence of King David outside the Bible. pp. In her He's offended, you understand. Who was Herod Agrippa I? | GotQuestions.org Almost immediately widowed, she then married her uncle Herod, King of Chalcis. Julia Berenice, Princess of Judaea, Queen of Chalcis [7] According to Josephus, Berenice requested this marriage to dispel rumors that she and her brother were carrying on an incestuous relationship, with Polemon being persuaded to this union mostly on account of her wealth. Photo: ABRAHAM GRAICER / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0. The son of Agrippa I was King Herod Agrippa II, also known as Julius Marcus Agrippa; he was the brother of Bernice and Drusilla and heard Paul's defense of the gospel in Acts 26. Who were Jesus' twelve (12) disciples / apostles? [16] He was later joined at Ptolemais by his son Titus, who brought with him the Fifteenth legion. Herod Agrippa I is one of the Roman-appointed rulers in Israel from the Herod dynasty. 3. But he has a problem. Princes Berenice (daughter of Herod Agrippa I). Some days king Agrippa and his sister Bernice had come to hear these cases the! Finally, Paul affirmed to Festus and the Jews that Jesus Christ was dead but hes alive. "I wish not only you, but all who hear me would become as I am" a Christian in love with Jesus "except for these chains.". When faced with spiritual truths, do you accept them or reject them? Berenice was forced to go back again to her brother Agrippa. outlines Berenices life with all its complexities and identity crises. Christian Truth. She was the eldest daughter of Herod Agrippa I, and was married at an early age to her uncle the king of Chalets. Paul, so he begins laying out the case before Agrippa. Agrippa II had quite a lot of power in Jewish religious affairs, for he had been given custodianship of the temple and the authority to appoint the high priest. Herod Antipas was king during the ministries of John the Baptist and Jesus. Two ancient sources, Josephus and Juvenal, recorded the growing rumors about their relationship, openly hinting they were incestuous lovers. The son of Agrippa I was King Herod Agrippa II, also known as Julius Marcus Agrippa; he was the brother of Bernice and Drusilla and heard Paul's defense of the gospel in Acts 26. Many sources indicate that they were often found together in official capacities. All this intrigues Agrippa, so he wishes to hear the apostle for himself. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. She returned to Judea in time for the outbreak of the Great Jewish Revolt in 66 CE. Our history, our roots, go all the way back to Abraham and the prophets. Paul, Festus, and King Agrippa - harmonycc.org This meant she now had the title of Queen. 8 years of Archaeology Odyssey online, exploring the ancient roots of the Western world in a scholarly and entertaining way, The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land. 15 When I went to Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of . King Agrippa and his sister Bernice had come to visit. Agrippa was then sent to Rome for safety and . Jewish Women's Archive. Their grandfather was Herod the Great. Not much shocked the Romans, but this was prohibited in all the laws of the ancient world. Antonius Felix, Roman procurator of Judea (r. 52c. The Sadducees were the major religious group in that council. She went back to her brother Agrippa. And now it is because of my hope in what God has promised our ancestors that I am on trial today. Even his unflattering description of Berenices incestuous relationship with her brother appears only in his later work, Jewish Antiquities, composed after Titus died. And Drusilla 's life is in the balance here king Agrippa and Cyprus, before her father became in! Berenice was probably born in Rome to Agrippa and Cyprus, before her father became king in 36 C.E. [18] The Herodians sided with the Flavians during the conflict, and later in 69, the Year of the Four Emperorswhen the Roman Empire saw the quick succession of the emperors Galba, Otho and VitelliusBerenice reportedly used all her wealth and influence to support Vespasian on his campaign to become emperor. As a young teen Drusilla married King Aziz. 13 After some days had passed, King Agrippa 52-92. and Bernice arrived in Caesarea and paid a courtesy call on Festus. Acts is my favorite bookespecially Acts 2! They had a foot in two territories. 23 The next day Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp and entered the audience room with the high-ranking military officers and the prominent men of the city. 26. However, it is for her tumultuous love life that she is primarily known from the Renaissance. She also had an affair with Vespasian, then his son Titus. His Books are available for purchase wherever books are sold. Amen. She returned to Judea in time for the . Berenice was the daughter of King Agrippa I, the grandson of Herod the Great and client king of Judea. It is hard for you to kick against the goads (a spiked stick used for driving cattle). I mean, you can think of the worst incidents in the sixteenth or seventeenth century, where we read of terrible things that were done to Christians and forcing them to blaspheme their God, and that's what Saul of Tarsus was. Titus had fallen in love with Berenice during his command in Judaea (6770), which culminated in the capture of Jerusalem. The Jewish leaders requested that Festus moved Paul from Caesarea to Jerusalem. ), was a Jewish client queen of the Roman Empire during the second half of the 1st century. He was in Rome at the time and was favored by Emperor Claudius. Herod Agrippa II was only seventeen when his father, Herod Agrippa I, died. It was during this time that Berenice met and fell in love with Titus, who was eleven years her junior. Acts 26:19-23 King Agrippa. Then all the people shall say, Amen!Article by Sandra Sweeny Silver, Slaves Were Lifeless Tools in Ancient Rome, The Exotic Animal Business in Ancient Rome. Yet did not this matrimony endure long; but Berenice left Poleme, and, as was said, with licentious intentions. Josephus, Antiquities 20.7.3. [22] The ancient historian Cassius Dio writes that Berenice was at the height of her power during this time,[22] and if it can be any indication as to how influential she was, Quintilian records an anecdote in his Institutio Oratoria where, to his astonishment, he found himself pleading a case on Berenice's behalf where she herself presided as the judge. 15 When I went to Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews brought charges against him and asked that he be condemned. [9], Like her brother, Berenice was a client ruler of the parts of the Roman Empire that lie in the present-day Israel. //jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/berenice > Julius Marcus was. Became king in 36 C.E. ) Jesus sent out 70 Disciples to preach His Good News. The gospel has come, and you can almost hear his conscience. Title: Herod Agrippa II. Bernice accompanied Agrippa on this trip and their relationship as reported by Flavius Josephus and others at the time suggesed an incestuous relationship between the two. Modern Persecution of Christians in China, Patriarch Jacobs Well & St. Philoumenous, Slaughter of the Theban Legion C. 286 AD, LapsiChristians Who Lapse/Abandon Their Faith, Evodias Named Followers of Christ Christians. When he died, she was rumored to be having an incestuous relationship with her brother Agrippa. To him chapter of my first book for free after which she needed fulfill Judea a Roman Province of Judaea between 39 BC and 92 AD are marked *, 2023 36 C.E. ) Dr. Malka Z. Simkovich. King Agrippa and his wife, Queen Bernice, visited Governor Festus at an opportune time in the life of Apostle Paul. The latter was given the rank of Praetor (municipal administrator), while Berenice dwelt in the palace, cohabiting with Titus. Articles W, Copyright | Under the Lights Foundation, Mobile Homes For Rent In Cumberland County, Nc. 59 C.E. And Paul is saying why should you think that is impossible, if you believe in God in the first place? Her husband was Marcus, nephew of the philosopher Philo. Educated in Rome, the younger Agrippa was still a teenager when his father died in AD 44. certain Jesus, who had died, whom Paul affirmed to be alive". Mobile Homes For Rent In Cumberland County, Nc, Bernice was Agrippa's sister. She later returned to Rome, but they did not renew their relationship. (Viewed on March 1, 2023) . About whom, when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews informed me, desiring to have judgment against him (Acts 25:15). Below, see a visualization of the Herodian family tree and key events in the New Testament related to members of the Herodian family.Ed. Enduring Word Bible Commentary Acts Chapter 25 Berenice was now 32 and her brother/ lover Agrippa was 33. In 75 Berenice and her brother went to Rome.
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