King
Agrippa I resented the great hope that direct Roman control over the Land of
Israel would end and a semblance of Jewish sovereignty would be restored.
Agrippa was the grandson of despised Herod the Great and his wife Mariamme, a
princess from the line of the Maccabees. That Agrippa was alive was a miracle
in itself: Herod murdered Mariamme and most of her family. These Maccabees
posed a threat to the Idumean descendant of proselytes Herod and, in his
paranoia, led to their murder. Caesar Augustus once quipped, “I would rather be
Herod’s pig than his son.” But Agrippa managed to survive despite the cruelty
of his tyrant grandfather. Despite Agrippa’s dual identity – firmly in the
world of Rome and appointed to his monarchy by Emperor Claudius in 41 CE but a
proud Jew as well – he was a popular figure among the Jews in Judea. Read the complete article at -- http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/King-Agrippa-I-The-last-Maccabee-455481
The witnesses, laying their coats at the feet of Saul, were the men that would cast the first stones at Stephen in Acts 7. Why did they all lay their coats at Saul’s feet? The Talmud contains a very interesting account of the act of stoning that may provide the answer. “When the trial was over, they take him [the condemned person] out to be stoned. The place of stoning was at a distance from the court, as it is said, ‘Take out the one who has cursed.’ [i] A man stands at the entrance of the court; in his hand is a signaling flag [Hebrew sudarin = sudar , ‘scarf, sweater’]. A horseman was stationed far away but within sight of him. If one [of the judges] says, ‘I have something [more] to say in his favor,’ he [the signaler] waves the sudarin , and the horseman runs and stops them [from stoning him]. Even if [the condemned person] himself says, ‘I have something to say in my favor,’ they bring him back, even four of five times, only provided that there is some substance to what he
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