In

for the gratification of his own excessive vanity, by a pompous display of his greatness, before he permitted them a truce, gave a public audience to the embassy sent him on this occasion, and was desirous to impress them with an idea of his abilities, magnificence, and power'. The fidelity and accuracy of St. Luke as an historian are confirmed by Josephus in every particular of the narration that now follows. the third year of Herod's being king of all Judæa, "upon a set day," he appeared in a robe made all of silver tissue, of admirable workmanship. As the sun was then rising, the rays of it coming upon his robe, made it shine so bright, that, with all the pomp of sovereignty around him, the thoughtless mob, to give him pleasure, cried out, Forgive us if we have hitherto reverenced you only as a man; for from this time we must acknowledge you to be something superior to what is mortal.

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Arrayed in royal apparel he sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them and the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man." The king did not reprove them, nor reject this impious flattery ;" and immediately the Angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory:" and before he left the theatre, he was seized with pains of the bowels, so as to cry

Dr. Robinson.

out, I, whom ye called a god, am going to die. From thence he was immediately carried to his palace, and in the space of five days he died of those pains ;-" he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost"." Thus is the Almighty Sovereign of the universe known by the judgments which He executes upon the mighty upon earth, who are no greater in His eyes than the humblest of their subjects. The applause of the servile multitude was vain and impious; but the infatuation of the mind that could receive it was wretched. Never is a mortal nearer to destruction than when he forgets that he is mortal'.

SECT. CCIII.—Barnabas and Saul go to the Gentiles.— Acts xii. 24, 25; xiii. 1-3.

THE divine historian has hitherto pursued the story of the Church and the Gospels, as it was addressed to the circumcision by the Apostles and Peter; he now follows up the planting and progress of the Gospel among the Gentiles, more especially as it was extended by the hand of Paul'. He and Barnabas returned from Jerusalem, when they had delivered into the hands of the proper persons the sums they had brought from Antioch for the relief of the Christian brethren there': and it is recorded, that they

Bishop Pearce.
Dr. Lightfoot.

brought back in

Dr. Doddridge.

2 Bishop Pearce.

was

their company 66 John, whose surname Mark." "Now there were in the Church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers." These were probably the leaders of the Church planted here. Barnabas and Saul we know were chiefs: "Simeon, that was called Niger," is also mentioned as one; a father of the Church, a writer of the fourth century, declares him to have been one of the seventy disciples3. Manaen, "which had been brought up with Herod," is also named as one of them; the expression is thought to signify that he was his foster-brother, (as it is said in the margin,) or the son of Herod's nurse, a relation far more intimate and endearing in the East, than it usually is in Europe. Rich persons, and especially princes, had not only preceptors and attendants, but particular companions assigned to them3. "Lucius of Cyrene" is also regarded as one of the chiefs he is held by some, not without good ground, to be Luke the Evangelist, thus speaking of himself. He is supposed to be again spoken of by the same Latin name, in the Epistle to the Romans, and by his Greek name, in that to the Colossians, and in the second Epistle to Timothy, whilst in that to Philemon he is called Lucas. He is not once named in any of the Gospels; but as he uses the first person plural, when relating some of the travels of St. Paul, in the Acts of the Apostles, it is Pictorial Bible. Archbishop Newcome.

* Dr. Whitby.

3

inferred that he was at those times with that Apostle, and, at all events, was a leader of the infant Church. Antiquity has generally held Luke to be of Antioch; but Cyrene was the capital of an ancient kingdom in Africa, at this time reduced to a Roman province: and, as it had been originally colonized from Greece, it may be presumed that the Septuagint version of the Scriptures was read there, whilst St. Luke himself records, that "they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution of Stephen were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus:" all which appears to support the opinion that St. Luke himself was alluded to, as of Cyrene; Barnabas is known to be of Cyprus: and these persons, thus named together, were of "the prophets and teachers in the Church that was at Antioch." The Congregation or Church at Antioch, of which these men were the chiefs, may probably have continued to observe the weekly fasts of the Jewish Church; but whether at this time there was a public fast of the whole Church, or whether it were a more private one among the elders only', as they ministered to the Lord," in a course of devotion and fasting, "the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them." In what way the Holy Spirit designated 6 Bishop Tomline. ' Dr. Lightfoot.

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this appointment, whether by a vision to some, or by an audible voice to all, or by internal suggestions, it is not stated; Saul had been already pronounced to be "a chosen vessel," an instrument, a minister "unto Me, to bear My name before the Gentiles;" and Barnabas is always most highly spoken of. In some way, then, Simeon, Lucius, and Manaen, understood what the Lord meant, and having employed another day in fasting, and in prayer, "laid their hands on them," and set them apart by solemn ordination, according to a custom at that time existing among the Jews, to ordain an elder by a triumvirate of three elders. This is the second imposition of hands since the Gospel began, which did not confer the Holy Ghost with it; for these two were full of the Holy Ghost before. Thus it pears that the election of these two supernumerary Apostles was equally valid with the election of Matthias, and was even distinguished above that by the more immediate appointment of the Holy Spirit Himself, signifying His pleasure by express declaration, and not by lot. Both Saul and Barnabas were therefore already Divinely inspired; and yet it was necessary that they should be outwardly called and ordained before they were sent forth to preach the Gospel and this is a full and undeniable argument for the necessity of persons being Dr. Lightfoot.

" Dr. Hales.

ap