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The Church History of Eusebius
Chapter XX.--The Relatives of our Saviour.
1. "Of the family of the Lord there were still living the grandchildren of Jude, who is said to have been the Lord's brother according to the flesh. 1
2. Information was given that they belonged to the family of David, and they were brought to the Emperor Domitian by the Evocatus. 2 For Domitian feared the coming of Christ as Herod also had feared it. And he asked them if they were descendants of David, and they confessed that they were. Then he asked them how much property they had, or how much money they owned. And both of them answered that they had only nine thousand denarii, 3 half of which belonged to each of them;
4. and this property did not consist of silver, but of a piece of land which contained only thirty-nine acres, and from which they raised their taxes 4 and supported themselves by their own labor." 5
5. Then they showed their hands, exhibiting the hardness of their bodies and the callousness produced upon their hands by continuous toil as evidence of their own labor.
6. And when they were asked concerning Christ and his kingdom, of what sort it was and where and when it was to appear, they answered that it was not a temporal nor an earthly kingdom, but a heavenly and angelic one, which would appear at the end of the world, when he should come in glory to judge the quick and the dead, and to give unto every one according to his works.
7. Upon hearing this, Domitian did not pass judgment against them, but, despising them as of no account, he let them go, and by a decree put a stop to the persecution of the Church.
8. But when they were released they ruled the churches because they were witnesses 6 and were also relatives of the Lord. 7 And peace being established, they lived until the time of Trajan. These things are related by Hegesippus.
9. Tertullian also has mentioned Domitian in the following words: 8 "Domitian also, who possessed a share of Nero's cruelty, attempted once to do the same thing that the latter did. But because he had, I suppose, some intelligence, 9 he very soon ceased, and even recalled those whom he had banished."
10. But after Domitian had reigned fifteen years, 10 and Nerva had succeeded to the empire, the Roman Senate, according to the writers that record the history of those days, 11 voted that Domitian's honors should be cancelled, and that those who had been unjustly banished should return to their homes and have their property restored to them.
11. It was at this time that the apostle John returned from his banishment in the island and took up his abode at Ephesus, according to an ancient Christian tradition. 12
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This Jude was the brother of James, "the brother of the Lord," who is mentioned in Jude 1, and is to be distinguished from Jude (Thaddeus-Lebbaeus), one of the Twelve, whose name appears in the catalogues of Luke (Luke vi. 14 and Acts i. 13) as the son of James (not his brother, as the A.V. translates: the Greek words are 'Ioudas 'Iakobou). For a discussion of the relationship of these men to Christ, see above, Bk. I. chap. 12, note 14. Of the son of Jude and father of the young men mentioned in this chapter we know nothing. ↩
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According to Andrew's Lexicon, "An Evocatus was a soldier who, having served out his time, was called upon to do military duty as a volunteer." This suspiciousness is perfectly in keeping with the character of Domitian. The same thing is told also of Vespasian, in chap. 12; but in his case the political situation was far more serious, and revolutions under the lead of one of the royal family might most naturally be expected just after the terrible destruction. The same act is also mentioned in connection with Trajan, in chap. 32, and there is no reason to doubt its truthfulness, for the Jews were well known as a most rebellious and troublesome people. ↩
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A denarius was a Roman silver coin, in value about sixteen, or, according to others, about nineteen, cents. ↩
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"Taxes or tributes were paid commonly in the products of the land" (Val.). ↩
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Most editors (including Valesius, Heinichen, Crusè, &c.) regard the quotation from Hegesippus as extending through §8; but it really ends here, and from this point on Eusebius reproduces the sense in his own words (and so Bright gives it in his edition). This is perfectly clear, for in the first place, the infinitive epideiknunai occurs in the next sentence, a form possible only in indirect discourse: and secondly, as Lightfoot has pointed out, the statement of §8 is repeated in chap. 32, §6, and there in the exact language of Hegesippus, which differs enough from the language of §8 to show that the latter is a free reproduction. ↩
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m?rturas. On the use of this word, see chap. 32, note 15. ↩
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Compare Renan's Les Evangiles, p. 466. ↩
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Tertullian, Apol. chap. 5. ↩
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ti suneseos. Lat. sed qua et homo. ↩
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Domitian reigned from Dec. 13, 81 a.d., to Sept. 18, 96. ↩
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See Dion Cassius, LXVIII. 1 sq., and Suetonius' Domitian, chap. 23. ↩
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Literally, "the word of the ancients among us" (ho ton par' hemin archaion logos). On the tradition itself, see chap. 1, note 6. ↩
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Kirchengeschichte (BKV)
20. Kap. Die Verwandten unseres Erlösers.
„Noch lebten aus der Verwandtschaft des Herrn die Enkel des Judas, der ein leiblicher Bruder des Herrn gewesen sein soll. Diese wurden als Nachkommen Davids gerichtlich angezeigt. Ein Evokatus1 führte sie vor Kaiser Domitian. Denn gleich Herodes fürchtete sich dieser vor der Ankunft Christi. Domitian fragte jene, ob sie von David abstammen. Sie bestätigten es. Sodann fragte er sie nach dem Umfange ihrer Besitzungen und nach der Größe ihres Vermögens. Sie antworteten, sie besäßen beide zusammen nur 9000 Denare, und davon gehöre jedem die Hälfte. Aber auch dieses Vermögen bestünde — so fügten sie bei — nicht in Geld, sondern im Werte eines Feldes von nur 39 Morgen, die sie mit eigener Hand bewirtschafteten, um davon die Steuern zu zahlen und ihren Lebensbedarf zu decken. Hierauf zeigten sie ihm ihre Hände und bewiesen durch die Härte ihrer Haut und durch die Schwielen, welche sie infolge ihrer angestrengten Arbeit an ihren Händen trugen, daß sie Handarbeiter waren. Als man sie über Christus und über die Art, den Ort und die Zeit seines Reiches fragte, antworteten sie, dasselbe sei nicht von dieser Welt und dieser Erde, es sei vielmehr ein himmlisches und englisches Reich, das erst am Ende der Welt kommen werde, wenn Christus in Herrlichkeit erscheinen wird, um die Lebenden und die Toten zu richten und jedem nach seiner Gesinnung zu vergelten. Daraufhin verurteilte sie Domitian nicht, sondern verachtete sie als gemeine Leute. Er setzte sie S. 125 in Freiheit und befahl, die Verfolgung der Kirche einzustellen. Sie aber erhielten nach der Freilassung, da sie Bekenner und Verwandte des Herrn waren, führende Stellungen in der Kirche. Nachdem Frieden geworden war, lebten sie noch bis Trajan.“ So berichtet Hegesippus.
Ähnlich berichtet auch Tertullian über Domitian. Er sagt:2 „Domitian, der mit Nero die Grausamkeit teilte, hatte einmal versucht, dessen Vorgehen nachzuahmen. Doch da er, wie ich glaube, noch etwas Verstand besaß, ließ er sehr rasch davon ab und rief die Verbannten wieder zurück.“ Als nach 15jähriger Regierung des Domitian Nerva die Herrschaft übernommen hatte, faßte der römische Senat den Beschluß, dem Domitian seine Ehrentitel zu entziehen und die ungerecht Verbannten nach Hause zurückzurufen unter Zurückerstattung ihres Vermögens. So berichten die damaligen Geschichtschreiber. Nach alter christlicher Überlieferung kehrte damals3 der Apostel Johannes aus seiner Verbannung auf der Insel zurück, um wieder seinen Aufenthalt in Ephesus zu nehmen.