Who was Herod Agrippa II?

Grandson of Herod the Great. His early years were passed as a spendthrift and a wanderer, but at length being at Rome he contrived to win the favour of Caligula who on coming to the throne in A.D. 37, declared Agrippa to be the successor of' Philip the Tetrarch, who had died three years previously. By preferring charges against Antipas, who had married his sister Herodias, Agrippa, got this prince deposed and banished, and in A.D. 39 he succeeded him in the territories of Galilee and Peraea. He was still a guest of Caligula at Rome when that tyrant was cut off in A.D. 41, and having used his influence in the election of Caligula's successor Claudius, this emperor not only confirmed the previous grants, but added those of Judaea, Samaria, and Abilene, so that his possessions were nearly identical with those of his grandfather Herod the Great. He was in these possessions when we read of him in the New Testament as 'Herod the king,' Acts 12. He killed James the brother of John with the sword, and because he saw it pleased the Jews he seized Peter also. This happened about A.D. 43, and within a year the king, allowing himself to be called a god, was smitten by the Almighty and died a miserable death. The account given by Josephus as to Agrippa's administrative qualities, his exertions for the Jews whilst at Rome, and his desires to strengthen and embellish Jerusalem, may be true; but his seizing the apostles to please the Jews stamps him as one unfitted to rule, while his overweening pride in the last scene of his life made him the just object of the wrath of Him who will not give His glory to another.

Son of Agrippa I. Being only 17 years old at his father's death, the emperor Claudius sent him to rule over the principality of Chalcis in the slopes of Lebanon until he should come of a age. He had been brought up at the court of Rome, and was attached to the Romans. At the age of 21 Claudius gave him the tetrarchies of Trachonitis, Abilene, and other parts of the North East of Palestine. Nero afterwards gave him various cities. He is introduced in Acts 25:26, as king Agrippa, before whom Paul made his defence. Paul said of him that he was expert in all customs and questions which were among the Jews. The things concerning Christ's death had not been done in a corner, and the king knew of them. Paul knew also that he believed the prophets. Agrippa said, "Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian." Paul, like a true evangelist, desired that Agrippa and all that heard him should be altogether such as he was, save his bonds. Agrippa had a long reign, and used his influence when the Jews were in rebellion against the Romans, to induce them to submit. While appealing to them at Gamala he was wounded by a stone cast from a sling. He survived the destruction of Jerusalem and died A.D. 100.

Now a new scene opens before us, consequent on the arrival at Cæsarea of King Agrippa and Bernice to salute the new procurator. Of these two we must speak.

Agrippa was the son of Herod Agrippa I, whose awful end is related in Acts 12. At the death of his father (AD 44), the Emperor Claudius, thinking him too young to succeed to all the territories that Herod Agrippa had recently received, appointed him King of Chalcis (AD 48 or 49). At the age of twenty-six he received from the Emperor an increase of territory, consequent on the death of his great-uncle Herod Philip. This included Trachonitis, Gaulanitis, Batanea, and Abilene, which last had originally been ruled over by the tetrarch Lysanias (Luke 3:1). On the accession of the Emperor Nero, Agrippa, who evidently played his cards well, received further extension of territory by the addition of the cities of Abila and Julias in Peræa, and of Tarichæa and Tiberias in Galilee. His residence was at Cæsarea Philippi. Besides this, he was invested with the prerogative of appointing the high priests, and with the wardenship of the Temple, and the disposition of the Corban, or sacred treasure. [91]

The next prominent ruler of this family is Herod Agrippa II. whom we meet in Acts 12 for a moment only. The moment is quite long enough: his passage is swift and devastating. "He stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church." And he "vexed" them to some purpose. He killed James and put Peter in prison, and would doubtless have continued "vexing" the Christians, as it pleased the Jews and did not cost so much as building temples, but that he had to go against Tyre and Sidon where he decked himself out magnificently and made a great oration from the throne at which the people rapturously applauded. But vox populi is not always vox Dei: God smote him and the worms ate him. Outside all glory and splendour: inside loathsome corruption.

He was the grandson of Herod the Great and left his power to his son Herod Agrippa II. whose life was a public scandal. But all the Herods were in their way capable men, having a good knowledge of what king James called "king-craft." This Agrippa II. was a scholar of considerable repute, and Festus refers the difficult case of the apostle Paul's indictment to him for advice. (In Acts 25; 26.) He hears Paul's long defence with a scholar's impartiality and patience of detail, candidly acknowledging with a kind of friendly raillery to the apostle that he has nearly convinced him. He was very far however from being "almost a Christian." He was too intelligent and learned a man to be a bigot, and he acknowledges that there was no reason why Paul should not be set free, only that [he adds to avoid committing himself] as he has appealed to Caesar, he must go to Rome. And so having calmly and adroitly extricated himself and his friend Festus from an awkward position, he turns from the light of the apostolic gospel, charmed though with the eloquent discourse, back to his licentious life with that fair Sin that accompanied him to palace or judgment-seat, or wherever he went. At the end he fought against Jerusalem under Titus. He was the last of the Herods.

Before this august assembly, the elite of the province, with the king, too, and his sister as listeners, Paul had the privilege and the honour of announcing the Divine purpose of ministering to men wholly unworthy of it everlasting blessing, but only in connection with the Lord Jesus - i.e., by faith in Him (Acts 26:18). Agrippa had watched the flowing tide at Rome to ingratiate himself with the Emperors Claudius and Nero, and was rewarded with territory over which he ruled as king. Small, however, very small, was his kingdom compared with that of the Emperor's; and poor in wealth was he compared with many who had borne on earth the title of king. Now he heard, and all the Romans assembled heard, of an inheritance in which they could have part, compared with which that of the Cæsars was as nothing. Transient, too, was the possession of the Imperial throne. Everlasting was the inheritance to which Paul referred. What blessings for Gentiles to hear about, and to know of being within their reach!

The rule of the Herods was subservient to Rome. Several members of the Herod family are mentioned in the New Testament history, but most were enemies to Christ and to those who bore His name. (1) Herod the Great, one of the worst tyrants of all time, massacred the children of Bethlehem (Matt. 2:16). (2) Archelaus was the son of Herod the Great whom Joseph feared (Matt. 2:22). (3) Herod Antipas executed John the Baptist (Matt. 14:1-12), and mocked Jesus (Luke 23:11). (4) Herod Agrippa I. executed James, the brother of John (Acts 12:1-2). (5) Herod Agrippa II. had Paul brought before him as prisoner (Acts 25:13-27).

Grandson of Herod the Great, and son of Aristobulus and Berenice. He was appointed by the emperor Caligula to the government of Ituraea and Abilene, with the title of king. Eventually he had the government of Judaea and Samaria given to him by Claudius. He was an observer of the law of Moses, and added to the extent of Jerusalem by a wall on the north of the city. It was he who put to death James the son of Zebedee to please the Jews, and imprisoned Peter, who was miraculously delivered. His miserable end is recorded in Acts 12.

The new procurator (Acts 25) was equally unscrupulous. For at Caesarea he proposed to send Paul to Jerusalem, which he had before refused to the Jews; thereon Paul appealed unto Caesar, which compelled Festus to act on it. But the arrival of king Agrippa with Bernice furnished a new occasion for testimony before the dignities of this age; and Festus was glad, not only to give these members of the Herod family a hearing of interest, but to gather matter for a report to the emperor.

'Now when certain days passed, Agrippa the king and Bernice arrived at Caesarea to salute (or, having saluted) Festus. And as they were spending several days there, Festus set Paul's case before the king, saying, There is a certain man left prisoner by Felix, about whom when I was in Jerusalem the chief priests and the elders of the Jews filed information, asking for condemnation against him. Unto whom I answered, that it is no custom for Romans to give up any man before that the accused have the accusers face to face, and have had opportunity of defence concerning the complaint. When therefore they came together here, I made no delay but next day sat on the judgment-seat and commanded the man to be brought; concerning whom when the accusers stood up, they were bringing no charge of such evil things as I supposed, but had certain questions of their own religion, and of one Jesus dead as He is, Whom Paul affirmed to be alive. And I, being perplexed in the inquiry concerning these things, asked whether he would go to Jerusalem and there be judged of these things. But when Paul appealed to be kept for the decision of Augustus, I commanded him to be kept till I should send him to Caesar. And Agrippa [said] to Festus, I also should wish to hear the man myself. Tomorrow, saith he, thou shalt hear him' (vers. 13-22).

The royal personage here introduced was son of Herod Agrippa I., whose awful fate was described in Acts 12. Too young to reign at his father's death, he was by Claudius given Chalcis, the principality of his uncle, with certain privileges in Jerusalem; and Philip's old tetrarchy and more were added by the same emperor soon after, with the title of King. Bernice was his elder sister, Drusilla his younger, and each of them famous or infamous in that day with reason too grave. As Felix and Drusilla had a most solemn warning from the prisoner, so now were Agrippa and Bernice with Festus to hear an appeal which leaves no soul as it is found. The truth before the conscience carries with it a responsibility which eternity, not to say the judgment-seat of Christ, will fully manifest. Yet the man involuntarily forced to feel its power can ask, What is truth? and goes out hard and wretched from His presence Who alone can give the adequate answer. But wisdom is justified of all her children; as she learnt, who had been till then a child of folly: Jesus was of God made to her wisdom and every other good she lacked (Luke 7:35-50). Why was it not so with these high estates?

The governor's motive for bringing Paul before Agrippa appears to have been his own doubt what to report to the emperor. Festus was just a man of the world. Of grace, of truth, he had no notion. The invisible and eternal realities were to him only imaginative ideas. Present things, changeable and fleeting as they are, were his life and all. God was in none of his thoughts, apart from the Lord Jesus He remains unknown.

King Agrippa and Bernice paid a visit to the new governor. The father of this king was known as Herod Agrippa, and died under awful circumstances (chapter 12) in the year 44. When his father died Agrippa was in Rome. He was too young to receive the kingdom of his father Herod. Eight years later, Herod, King of Chalcis, the uncle of Agrippa, died. He had married Agrippa's sister Bernice, and Caesar gave Chalcis to Agrippa. Later Agrippa received the title as king. Agrippa I had left three daughters besides this son--Bernice, Marianne and Drusilla, the wife of Felix. Bernice, who was the wife of her uncle, after his death joined her brother Agrippa in Rome. She married a Celician ruler, but deserted him and joined again her brother, in whose company she paid this visit to Caesarea. And Paul appeared before the King. A great audience had gathered and much pomp was displayed. Then the prisoner was brought in. What a contrast! Perhaps they looked upon him with pity as they saw the chain. But more pity must have filled the heart of the great servant of Christ as he saw the poor lost souls bedecked with the miserable tinsel of earth. Festus addressed the King and the whole company. He frankly states what troubled him and that he expects the King to furnish the material for the statements he had, as governor, to send to Rome.

King Agrippa is now brought into the picture. He was a professed Jew, having Jewish blood in his lineage, though given his title by the Romans and therefore concerned about maintaining good relations with the Roman governors. His visit to Festus no doubt had this in view. It was natural that Festus should acquaint Agrippa with the circumstances of Paul's imprisonment, knowing that he was conversant with Jewish laws and customs. Bernice was the sister of Agrippa. Festus in giving the information says that the charges against Paul were nothing such as he had supposed would be the case of a man so strongly condemned by the Jews, but were merely questions connected with their own religious superstition and of some disagreement as to Jesus, a man who had died, yet whom Paul affirmed to be alive. He does not even concede the possibility of resurrection.

Agrippa's interest was awakened by this and he asked if he might hear what Paul had to say. This was fully agreeable to Festus, for he thought Agrippa might shed a little light on the problem he faced. The next day Agrippa and Bernice were conducted to the place of hearing with great pomp and ceremony, together with the chief captains and principal men of the city. God was certainly behind this, to bring about an auspicious occasion in which Paul the prisoner could bear a witness to the Lord Jesus with many in attendance. How unusual a situation, where an assemblage of great men is brought together to hear an address by a prisoner!