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[163]
But now the principal men among the Jews, when they saw Antipater
and his sons to grow so much in the good-will the nation bare to them,
and in the revenues which they received out of Judea, and out of Hyrcanus's
own wealth, they became ill-disposed to him; for indeed Antipater had contracted
a friendship with the Roman emperors; and when he had prevailed with Hyrcanus
to send them money, he took it to himself, and purloined the present intended,
and sent it as if it were his own, and not Hyrcanus's gift to them. Hyrcanus
heard of this his management, but took no care about it; nay, he rather
was very glad of it. But the chief men of the Jews were therefore in fear,
because they saw that Herod was a violent and bold man, and very desirous
of acting tyrannically; so they came to Hyrcanus, and now accused Antipater
openly, and said to him, "How long wilt thou be quiet under such actions
as are now done? Or dost thou not see that Antipater and his sons have
already seized upon the government, and that it is only the name of a king
which is given thee? But do not thou suffer these things to be hidden from
thee, nor do thou think to escape danger by being so careless of thyself
and of thy kingdom; for Antipater and his sons are not now stewards of
thine affairs: do not thou deceive thyself with such a notion; they are
evidently absolute lords; for Herod, Antipater's son, hath slain Hezekiah,
and those that were with him, and hath thereby transgressed our law, which
hath forbidden to slay any man, even though he were a wicked man, unless
he had been first condemned to suffer death by the Sanhedrim 1
yet hath he been so insolent as to do this, and that without any authority
from thee."
1 It is here worth our while to remark, that none could be put to death in Judea but by the approbation of the Jewish Sanhedrim, there being an excellent provision in the law of Moses, that even in criminal causes, and particularly where life was concerned, an appeal should lie from the lesser councils of seven in the other cities to the supreme council of seventy-one at Jerusalem; and that is exactly according to our Savior's words, when he says, "It could not be that a prophet should perish out of Jerusalem," Luke 13:33.
Flavius Josephus. The Works of Flavius Josephus. Translated by. William Whiston, A.M. Auburn and Buffalo. John E. Beardsley. 1895.
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