Agrippa
Agrip'pa
(Α᾿γρίππας, a frequent Roman name, signif. unknown [see Smith's Dict. of Class. Biog. s.v.]), the name of two of the members of the Herodian family (q.v.).
1. Grandson of Herod the Great, and son of Aristobulus and Berenice (Josephus, Ant. 17, 1, 2; War, 1, 28, 1). After various fortunes in Rome and Judaea (Josephus, Ant. 18, 6; War, 2, 9, 5), he received from Caligula, soon after his accession, the original territories of Philip (Batanaea, Trachonitis, and Auranitis) and the tetrarchy of Lysanias, with the title of king (Josephus, Ant. 18, 6, 10.; Wars, 2, 9, 6; Philo, Opp. 2, 520). Returning to Palestine in the second year of Caligula (Josephus, Ant. 18, 6, 11), A.D. 38, he was soon afterward invested likewise with the tetrarchy of the banished Antipas (Galilee and Peraea), and finally by Claudius (to whom he had rendered important services at Rome during the changes of succession, Josephus, Ant. 19, 4; Wars, 2, 11) also with Samaria and Judea (Josephus, Ant. 19, 5, 1; 19, 6, 1; War, 2, 11, 5 [see Dahl, Exc. in his Chrestom. Philon. p. 377 sq.]; comp. Dio Cass. 60, 8), so that he became monarch of all Palestine, and enjoyed great celebrity (Josephus, Ant. 19, 8, 2). He sought to conciliate the Jews (Josephus, Ant. 19, 7, 3) not only by public munificence, but also by persecuting bigotry, as instanced by his murder of James and imprisonment of Peter (Ac 12:1 sq.). His death at Caesarea (Josephus, War, 2, 12, 6), in a terrible agony caused by worms (σκώληκες, Ac 12:23; not vermin, see WORM, ) is related by Josephus (Ant. 19, 8, 2) in almost the same terms. (See Ernesti, De morte Herodis Agrippae, Lips. 1745; Ranisch, De Lucce et Josephi in morte Agr. consensu, Lips. 1745; Guericke, Beitr. z. N.T. Einleit. p. 189 sq.; comp. Eusebius, His'. E'ccl. 2, 10; and see Heinecken, Excurs. in Euseb. 3, 356 sq.) SEE HEROD.
⇒Bible concordance for AGRIPPA.
2. The Agrippa before whom Paul was brought (Ac 25:13,26) was the son of the foregoing, who died when he was only seventeen years old (Josephus, Ant. 19, 9, 1), and hence he did not succeed to his father's dominions (Joseph. Ant. 19, 9, 2); but he was allowed by Claudius (A.D. 48) to enjoy the principality of Chalcis, which his uncle Herod had held (Josephus, Ant. 20, 5, 2; War, 2, 12, 1), together with the superintendence of the Temple at Jerusalem, and the privilege of nominating the high-priest (Josephus, Ant. 20, 1, 3), and four years afterward he was instated into the sovereignty of the former tetrarchy of Philip and Lysanias, with the title of king (Josephus, Ant. 20, 7, 1; War, 2, 12, 8) — an appellation that is applied to him likewise in the Mishna (Sotah, 7, 8). Still later Nero added Tiberias, Tarichesa, Julias, and fourteen neighboring villages to his jurisdiction (Josephus, Ant. 20, 8, 4). Agrippa contributed much to the adornment of Jerusalem and other cities (Josephus, Ant. 20, 8, 11; 9, 4); but yet he was held in no special esteem by the Jews, on account of his arbitrary appointment and deposition of the high-priests, and other mistakes in his administration (Josephus, War, 3, 17, 1). When the last war with the Romans broke out, he firmly joined their cause. He died at the age of nearly seventy years, in the fifty-first year of his reign (Phot. Bibl. 33). SEE HEROD.
3. A son of Felix by Drusilla, who perished in an eruption of Vesuvius (Josephus, Ant. 20, 7, 2).
