We thus obtain the following list of procurators of Judaja, with dates of their administration :
A.D.
A.D.
Pilate .
. 26-36
Ventidius Cumanus
. 48-52
(Marcellus) . .
. 36-37
Antonius Felix
. 52-60
Marullus . .
. 37-41
Porcius Festus
. 60-62
Cuspius Fadus
. 44-46
Albinus . . ,
. 62-64
Tiberius Alexander
. 46-48
Gessius Florus
. 64-70
2. The Herodian kings. — When Jesus Christ was crucified, Herod Antipas and Herod Philip were reigning simultaneously in accordance with the testamentary provision of their father, Herod the Great. Antipas held Galilee and Pereea ; Philip ruled over the region beyond Jordan. Both bore the title of tetrai'ch. Philip died in 34 without a successor. In 37 his place was filled by the appointment of his nephew, the son of Aristobulus and brother of Herodias, Herod Agrippa I., and this was done by Caligula, whom Agrippa had befriended. He did not, however, take active possession of his kingdom until 39. He lived for the most part in Rome, and engaged in intrigues with the politicians and secured the deijosition and banishment of Antipas. When the tetrarchy of Antipas was added to his {BJ ll. ix. 6), he took his place in Jewish national affairs, and by assist- ing Claudius to the Imperial throne after the assassination of Caligula, he so ingratiated himself into the favour of the new Emperor that the province of Judaea was added to his domains immedi- ately on the accession of Claudius (A.D. 41). Thus he came to unite the difi'erent sections of the kingdom of his grandfather, Herod tlie Great {BJ II. xi. 5f.). He issued coins from which itajjpears that he must have reigned until 44 or 45. These dates, given for the most part by Josephus, are corroborated by the incidental coincidence of the order of events in Acts. The death of Herod is recited in Ac 12. All that precedes must be dated before 44 ; all that follows, after that year. The appearance of Cornelius as the representative Roman military authority in Csesarea is probably prior to the elevation of Agrippa to the standing of Herod the Great (41).
When Agrip2)a I. died, his son, Herod Agrippa II. was deemed too young to succeed him, but in 49 he was given a portion of his father's kingdom (Chalcis), held by his uncle Herod. In 53 he exclianged this kingdom for another, made up of portions of Galilee and Persea, and thus reigned to his death in 100.
The following table exhibits the Herodian rulers during the Apostolic Age :
Antipas, a.d. 4-39 — Galilee and Persea.
Philip, A.D. 4-34 — bejond Jordan.
Agriippa I., A.D. 37, as tetrarch ; 39(41)-44, as king-.
Agrippa ii., a.d. 49-53 (of Chalcis),-100 (oJ Galilee, Peraea, etc).
VI. Pauline Dates.— 'YXie pre-eminence of St. Paul in the Apostolic Age and the leading part he took in the development of the earliest Church
DATES
DATES
279
have furnished the ground for the preservation, in his own Epistles and in the Book of Acts, of a double series of data regarding his work. These determine not only the general order of the facts of his ministry, but also many of the minuter details of time and place. The accuracy of the author of Acts has been questioned, especially on matters of remoter interest ; but his reports of the movements of St. Paul are coming to be more and more recognized as drawn from personal knowledge of, compauionsliip with, and participation in, the Apostle's ministry.*
A fixed starting-point for Pauline chronology is given in the year of the accession of Festus. This took place, as shown above, in A.D. 60. But, according to Ac 2i^, St. Paul was detained by Felix a prisoner at Caesarea for two years. His arrest must, therefore, have taken place in 58 (possibly as early as May). But he left Philippi 40 days earlier, late in March or about the begin- ning of April ('after the days of unleavened bread'). From Philippi his course is next trace- able backward to Corinth. His presence at Philippi was only incidental, his purpose being to journey into Syria (Ac 20^). At Corinth he had spent three months, arriving there in Januarj'^ of the year 58. This visit to Corinth immediately followed the memorable and troublous residence at Epliesus. From a comparison of 1 Co 16^"" and 2 Co 2'-*- with 2 Co 7^ it may be gathered that the continuation of the whole journey from Ephesus to Corinth through Macedonia was prolonged by circumstances not included in the record. A fair allowance for these yields the approximate estimate of nine months earlier, or the spring of 57, for the end of the stay at Ephesus. This stay, however, lasted nearly three full years.f This leads to the year 54. The departure from Antioch in the spring or summer of 54 marks the beginning of the third missionary journey.
The interval between the second and third missionary journeys is not given definitely. It in- cluded some sort of a visit to the churches in Gal- atia and Phrygia, and a sojourn of some length in Antioch (Ac 18-^ ' after he had spent some time there '). It is probable that this stay at Antioch was as long as one year ; but, assuming that it was not, there is still the period of three years to be assigned to the second missionary journey. One year and six months were probably consumed in the earlier part of the journey. This would bring the beginning of the journey to the spring of 51 ; or, if the sojourn at Antioch had occupied a whole year, to 50.