Bern ice
Mariamne
Drusilla,
d young,
king of Trachonitis, m
. 1. Marcus ; i
m. 1. Archelsus ;
m. 1. AZJIUI;
d. A.D. 95.
2. Herod ol Chalclt;
2. Demetriu§.
2. Felix.
The laiti'flhe HeroJi.
3. Polemo.
1
Ajrrfrpfl.
d. A.D. 79.
by this their condition ; he does not define either the rest of their dignity or their number, nor whether or no they had ever been addicted to curious arts, nor in what part of the East they were born ; by which last omission he intimates the unrestricted universality of this great salvation. Magus is a word of ambi guous signification and of wide extent in the East. These Magi appear to have been descendants of Abraham, but not of Jacob ; for the name of Magi does not apply to Jews, and the mention of gold and frankincense directs our attention to Isa. Ix. 6, where he speaks of the coming in of the Gentiles, so that in this place already are seen the preludes of the Messiah being received rather by the Gentiles than by His own people. (See Luke iv. 26, etc.) The King of the Jews, they say, not, our king, showing thereby that they were not themselves Jews. If you make two classes, the one of those who received, the other of those who rejected our Lord, and observe the variety of men on either side, you will be able to draw many useful observa tions from the whole of the New Testament. — avb avarohuv, from the East) cf ch. viii. 11. The north and the south occur in Greek only in the singular number. The east and the west occur also in the plural. The rationale of this is clear : when we look either due north or due south, our eyes are always turned toward one precise spot, the North or South Pole, which is not the case when we look eastward or westward, since there is no stationary point of east or west longitude. — vapsyivovTo, arrived) After He had received the name " JESUS," and, con sequently after His circumcision.1 — ilg IspoaoXvpa, at Jerusalem)
1 Nay even we have no reason to doubt, that the arrival of the Magi, and i\ie flight into Egypt, which was intimately connected with it, took place after His 7r«/9«<rr«(7/?, presentation, as recorded in Luke ii. 22, 23. And, more over, this very order of events, whereby the -Tfotpotantaig in the temple, the arrival of the Magi, and the departure to Egypt, are in continuous succession, affords us most useful consequences. For 1) the poverty of Jesus' parents, (a fact, which is proved by their sacrifice in accordance with the law, Lev. xii. 6, 8, concerning those unable to make the more costly offering) was re lieved by the Fatherly providence of Gon, through the gifts of the Magi, so that they were thereby supplied with the means of livelihood during their exile. — 2.) We may observe the various features of Propriety ["Decorum"] which characterise this series of events. First of all Jesus, as being the First-begotten, was presented to the Lord : then next, the first-fruits of the