522 A SflORT VIEW Of SCRIPTURE TIMMY. He was guilty of many and great instances of tyranny, for which he was deposed, and banished to a townin France by the Roman emperor, when he had reigned in. Judea between nine and ten years. 36. Q. Howwas Judea governed afterwards ? A. The Romans were so much displeased with the evil practices of Archelaus, that they reduced Judea to the form of a Roman pro- vince, and ruled it afterward by procurators or governors, who were sent thither, and recalled at their pleasure : the power of life and death was taken out of the hands of the Jews, and placed in the Roman governor, and their taxes were paid more directly to the Roman emperor, and gathered by the publicans. 37. Q. How did the Jews resent this ? A. The Pha- risees, and the people under their influence, thought it unlawful to acknowledge a king who was not a Jew ; Deut. xvii. 15. " From among thy brethren shalt thou set a king over thee." And therefore, though they were constrained to pay tribute to Cesar, yet they scarce allowed it to be lawful : upon this account they looked upon these publicans with greater detestation than any of the tax-gatherers in former ages, whiletheir governor was of the Jewishnation or religion. Note, Though Herod was an Idumean by nation, yet all the Idumeans having received the Jewish religion, Herod was so far counted a lawful governor, as that they did not scruple paying taxes to him. 38. Q. IIow was the high priesthood carried on at this time ? A. As Herod had done before, so the Roman governors continued to make high-priests, and to depose them as often as they pleased, to answer their own purposes. 39. Q. Who washigh-priest when our blessed Saviour was put to death ? A. Caiaphas, who was son-in -law to Annas, who had been himself high-priest for fifteen years, and was deposed by one of their governors. Note, Caiaphas was not immediate successor to Annas, for there were' three high- priests came between them, who had been constituted in that office, and deposed by the Romans : Hence it may come to pass, that in the history of the gospels we frequently read of several chief priests at the same time, and of Annas and Caiaphas being high -priests at the beginning of John the $aptist's ministry ; Luke in. 2. For, whether they had any concurring power given them by the Romans or no, yet being still aliveafter they had been in that office, they might have their title given them by the people, and some of them had probably considerable influence in the Jewish affairs. In the case of Annas and Caiaphas, some suppose one to have been head of the san- hedrim, and tohave chiefly managed in civil affairs, the other in sacred ; others fancy one to have been the high-priest,. and the other the deputy-high-priest, or saga», who was always ready to
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=