sway of Augustus, under which, in the language o f Philo, no one throughout the Empire

dared to molest the Jews.12 The only innovations to which Israel had then to submit were,

the daily sacrifices for the Emperor and the Roman people, offerings on festive days,

prayers for them in the Synagogues, and such participation in national joy or sorrow as

their religion allowed.13

It was far other when Tiberius succeeded to the Empire, and Judæa was a province.

Merciless harshness characterised the ad ministration of Palestine; while the Emperor

himself was bitterly hostile to Judaism and the Jews, and that although, personally,

openly careless of all religion.  14 Under his reign the persecution of the Roman Jews

occurred, and Palestine suffered almost to the verge of endurance. The first Procurator

whom Tiberius appointed over Judæa, changed the occupancy of the High -Priesthood

four times, till he found in Caiaphas a sufficiently submissive instrument of Roman

tyranny. The exactions, and the reckless disregard of all Jewish feelings and interests,

might have been characterised as reaching the extreme limit, if worse had not followed

when Pontius Pilate succeeded to the procuratorship. Venality, violence, robbery,

persecutions, wanton malicious insults, judicial murders without even the formality of a

legal process - and cruelty, such are the charges brought against his administration.  15 If

former governors had, to some extent, respected the religious scruples of the Jews, Pilate

set them purposely at defia nce; and this not only once, but again and again, in

Jerusalem,16 in Galilee,17 and even in Samaria,18 until the Emperor himself interposed.19

Such, then, was the political condition of the land, when John appeared to preach the near

Advent of a Kingdom with which Israel associated all that was happy and glorious, even

beyond the dreams of the religious enthusiast. And equally loud was the call for help in

reference to those who held chief spiritual rule over the people. St. Luke significantly

joins together, as the highest religious authority in the land, the names of Annas and

Caiaphas.20 The former had been appointed by Quirinius. After holding the Pontificate

for nine years, he was deposed, and succeeded by others, of whom the fourth was his son-

in- law Caiaphas. The character of the High-Priests during the whole of that period is

described in the Talmud21 in terrible language. And although there is no evidence that 'the

house of Annas'22 was guilty of the same gross self- indulgence, violence,23 luxury, and

even public indecency,  24 as some of their successors, they are included in the woes

pronounced on the corrupt leaders of the priesthood, whom the Sanctuary is represented

as bidding depart from the sacred precincts, which their presence defiled.25 It deserves

notice, that the special sin with which the house of Annas is charged is that of

'whispering' - or hissing like vipers - which seems to refer26 to private influence on the

judges in their administration of justice, whereby 'morals were corrupted, judgment

perverted and the Shekhinah withdrawn from Israel.'27 In illustration of this, we recall the

terrorism which prevented Sanhedrists from taking the part of Jesus,28 and especially the