A.D. 37-40
A.D. 40-1
A.D. 41-44 whole scene was one of wailing and lamentation. The king himself, who lay in a chamber above, as he looked down and saw them falling on their faces, could not restrain his tears. For five days he was racked continuously by abdominal pains, and so departed this life in the fifty-fourth year of his age and the seventh of his reign. He reigned four years under Gaius Cæsar, during three of them over Philip's tetrarchy, while in the fourth he took over that of Herod[1] as well; and three more years under the Emperor Claudius Cæsar, having Judæa, Samaria and Cæsarea added to his former realm.—Ant. XIX. 8. 2 (343-351). (34) The Story of King Izates and his mother Helena
The pleasing story of the conversion to Judaism of Helena,
Queen of Adiabene (in the upper Tigris region), and her son Izates
in two particulars illustrates the narrative of the Acts. The famine
at Jerusalem which was the occasion of the charitable services of
the Queen was that "which came to pass in the days of Claudius"
(A.D. 41-54), and led the Antiochene Christians to send similar
relief by the hands of Barnabas and Saul (Acts xi. 28-30). Again,
it is interesting to read of the conflicting opinions of Jewish Rabbis
as to the necessity for circumcision in a proselyte to Judaism. The
same question, with relation to converts to Christianity, was soon
to come to the front in the councils of the infant church (Acts xv.).
Izates, on hearing that his mother found such great
delight in the Jewish observances, was eager on his
part to become a convert to that religion; and, supposing
that he could not be a thorough Jew unless he
were circumcised, he was prepared to take the necessary
action. His mother, however, on learning his intention,
tried to prevent him, and told him that he would bring
himself into peril. He was a king and would create
great ill-will among his subjects, when they learnt of his
devotion to customs that were strange and alien to them;
they would never tolerate a Jew as their king. Thus
she spoke, trying by every means to dissuade him from
- ↑ Antipas.
