Who is agrippa

And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme , and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities. At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me.

And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language ,. It is hard for you to kick against the goads. But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God , that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.

For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead , he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.

For the king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly. In 39 C. During this period Agrippa used his connections in Rome to intercede with Caligula on behalf of the Jews. They wished Caligula to retract an order to erect his statue in the Temple in Jerusalem.

Shortly afterward Caligula was murdered. Agrippa, who was in Rome at the time, was among those who supported the succession of Claudius. He was rewarded in 41 C. The event was celebrated with great ceremony, and an official covenant of friendship was concluded between Agrippa and Claudius, the deed of the covenant being placed in the Capitol.

With the acquisition of these territories, Agrippa now reigned over the whole area of his grandfather Herod's kingdom and the procuratorship of Judea was temporarily suspended.

There was little to differentiate Agrippa's foreign policy as a client king of Rome from that of other Hellenistic monarchs. Agrippa gave financial help to foreign cities, and built several public buildings, including a theater and amphitheater in Berytus Beirut. Because of his connections with Rome, Agrippa was regarded as the leading vassal king of the East, and once managed to bring several other kings together in Tiberias.

The meeting was broken up by Marsus, the governor of Syria, possibly because he suspected a conspiracy with the king of Parthia. The three years of Agrippa's reign were a period of relief and benefit for the Jewish people of Judea.

The residents of Jerusalem were exempted from the impost on houses. Agrippa also made an attempt to fortify the walls of the city, until prevented by Marsus. When the rebellion began, more he and Bernice sought to stop the rebels, knowing that Rome would not tolerate a rebellion in a minor province.

He is, therefore, the highest ranking political authority in Palestine. It is appropriate that he present himself before the new Roman procurator Festus. He was in Egypt when the Jewish revolt broke out in A. He returned to Jerusalem and attempted to stop the rebellion. When this failed, he stayed with Vespasian and Titus during the war JW 2. He was given a sizeable military force JW 2. He used this force to lay siege to the town of Gamala for seven months.

Josephus himself was in charge of defense of the town JW 4. I call to witness your sanctuary, and the holy angels of God, and this country common to us all, that I have not kept back anything that is for your preservation; and if you will follow that advice which you ought to do, you will have that peace which will be common to you and to me; but if you indulge your passions, you will run those hazards which I shall be free from.

Bibliography: David C.