Page:Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius Pamphilus, 1842.djvu/70

38 husband Alexander. "I know," said he, "that the Jews will rejoice at my death; but I may be lamented by means of others, and have splendid funeral rites, if you are willing to perform my commands. As soon as I have expired, surround these men that are now under guard with soldiers, as soon as possible, and slay them, that all Judea and every house, though against their will, may be compelled to weep at my death." And soon after, he adds, " again he was so tortured, partly by the want of food and by a convulsive cough, that, overpowered by his pains, he contemplated anticipating his fate. Having taken an apple, he also asked for a knife, for he was accustomed to use one in eating apples. Then, looking around, lest there should be any person to hinder him, he raised his right arm as if to strike himself." The same author, in addition to these, says, " that he slew another of his own sons before his death, being the third that had already been slain by his orders, and that immediately after this, he breathed out his life, not without excessive torture."

Such, then, was the end of Herod, who thus suffered the just punishment for the crimes that he committed in the murder of the children of Bethlehem, when he designed the destruction of our Saviour. After this, an angel appearing in a dream to Joseph, who was then in Egypt, directed him to return with the child and his mother, revealing to him that they were dead who had sought the life of the infant. To this account the Evangelist adds: " But he hearing that Archelaus reigned in Judea, in the place of Herod, his father, was afraid to go thither, and being warned in a dream, he retired into the parts of Galilee."

The same historian also agrees with the statements respecting the government of Archelaus after Herod's death; and relates in what manner he succeeded to the kingdom of the Jews, by the will of Herod, his father, and the confirmation of it by Cesar Augustus;