- country of the Jews (with the exception of the districts to the east of the Jordan and in the north, which were assigned to Agrippa II.), came directly under the Roman sway. ‘The constitution was now quite the same as in Judea prior to Agrippa I., except that the Romans handed over the right of nominating the high priest first to Herod of Chalcis (44-48) and then to Agrippa 1. The regular order of things came to an end with the outbreak of the final war for freedom. The land was divided into various districts, each under a ruler invested with dictatorial authority. But this organization gave way before the advance of the Romans. The last high priest, Phannias, was chosen by lot by the Zealots. He was a man of humble extraction, who had lived all his life in the country, so that he understood nothing of the office (Jos. BJ Iv. iii. 8). After the Fall of Jeru- salem, the relative independence of the Jews was gone for ever. The high priests disappeared along with the temple, and the Sanhedrin along with them. Henceforward the cohesion of the Jews was dependent solely upon those spiritual factors which lent such invincible strength to the Jews of the Diaspora and had been the real life-principle even of the Palestinian Jews—the Law and the Messianic hope. :
From the foregoing sketch it will be evident that the whole of the properly Jewish administration throughout the period in question was concentrated in the high priest and the Sanhedrin (yepovota, later ovvédpioy, hence j7730). The sway exercised by these authorities underwent change, however, in the course of time. It reached its culminating point under the Hasmonzans, when the ‘high priest had become the ruler of an independent
* Of. Schiirer, GJV° ii. 181 f. _ t Jos. Ant. xvi. i. 1. On Lk 215 cf., above all, Schiirer, lc. i. 508 ff.
EXTRA VOL.—4
NEW TESTAMENT TIMES 49
State. It was weakest under Herod, who left little room for other authorities beside him (ef, Jos. Ant. XIV. ix. 4). Those periods during which the Jews were under foreign rulers marked the normal stage of the power of these institutions. Originally, the jurisdiction of the high priest and the Sanhedrin extended only to Judea. It was otherwise when the Hasmonzans enlarged the boundaries of the country, and it continued to be so during the following periods. But upon the partition of the land after the death of Herod, Judeea became once more the sphere of jurisdic- tion, the Samaritans being, of course, subject only to the Romans and not to the Jews, while in the other parts of the country the tetrarchs were the judicial heads (cf. Jos. Ant. xvi. iv. 6, and the expression ém iyyeudvas Kal Bacide’s in Mt 1038),
As to the functions of the Sanhedrin, there are a number of alkusions which enable us to form a pretty clear conception. In conjunction with the high priest it was the representative of the nation to foreign nations and princes (1 Mac 1123 126 13°), It decided on measures for the fortification and defence of the land (1 Mac 12%; Jos. BJ tv. iv. 33 ef. Jth 45). It granted dispensation in the matter of the sacred dues (Jth 114),’and made arrange- ments for the organization of the personnel of the temple (Jos. Ant. Xx. ix. 6). But, above alert was the supreme court of justice, all important cases being brought before it, and the decision lying with it when the inferior courts were not agreed (cf. Mt 5%, Ac 4% 521 612 2950 and the story of the Passion). In the earlier period no sentence of death could be carried out without the approval of the Sanhedrin (Jos. Ant. xiv. v. 3); but Herod, in order to make the Sanhedrin more pliable to his will, caused a number of its members to be put to death (id. xiv. v. 4); and when at a later period he appealed to this court, his action would appear to have been more pro forma (ib. XV. vi. 2). Under the direct rule of the Romans, the Sanhedrin lost, as was noted above, the right of condemning to death (Jn 18%! ; ef. Jos, Ant, XX. ix. 1, and Jerus. Sanhedrin i. 1). As long as the Jewish State subsisted, the head of the Sanhedrin was the high priest. This is clear from the concurrent testimonies of the NT and Josephus. The statements of the Talmud on this subject are based upon later theories, and cannot be brought either in whole or in part into har- mony with the reality. Thus the high priest had, at all times, a certain juridical and also political authority in addition to the functions he exercised in connexion with the cultus. Even in later times the members of the Sanhedrin were chosen by preference from the leading priestly families, a special fondness being shown for those who had net the office of high priest. But, as has already been said, the Pharisees succeeded, under queen Alexandra, in making their way into the Sanhedrin, and in maintaining their position there, a minority though they were, in the times that followed.
iv. SoctAL CoNDITIONS.—The principal occupa- tion of the Jews in the time of Christ, asin the earlier periods, was agriculture, with which cattle- breeding was generally combined. The Letter of Aristeas (107 ff.) properly emphasizes the fact that in Palestine the right relation was established between town and country, the land being fertile, yet in need of diligent culture, and thus requiring a dense population settled upon it, so that the great cities did not flourish here, as elsewhere, at the expense of the country population. ‘The land,’ says the author, ‘is thickly. planted with olives, covered with fields of grain and leguminous plants, rich in wine and honey; the other fruits and the dates cannot be numbered, while cattle of