Posted on 04/17/2022 11:35:53 AM PDT by nickcarraway
Jesus was a descendent of David, and so was a royal. The last King of the Jews. Herod, had died and there was not an official current king of the Jews. Jesus could easily have claimed that title if he wanted to.
Scoffers.
Luke
Chapter 16
28For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.
29Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.
30And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
31And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
(2) Polybius, The Rise of the Roman Empire (c. 110 BC)
If the Roman soldier is found guilty (of falling asleep on duty), he is punished by fustuarium. This is carried out as follows. The tribune takes a cudgel and lightly touches the condemned man with it, whereupon all the soldiers fall upon him with clubs and stones, and usually kill him...
If large groups desert their posts under extreme pressure, the officers reject the idea of beating to death or executing all who are guilty, but the solution they adopt is as effective as it is terrifying. The tribune calls the legion on parade... he chooses by lot... about a tenth of those who have shown themselves guilty of cowardice. Those on whom the lot has fallen are clubbed to death.
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The killing of the tenth of the soldiers was the original meaning of “decimate”. Modern usage of decimate has changed to mean completely destroyed.
bump
Better yet.
Pilate told the Jewish priests that it was their problem, not his, and to use their own guards, which means that Pilate was not concerned w/ them or what happened.
The priests, on the other hand, had much to lose if the guarded tomb was empty, so they paid the soldiers to go with the “I fell asleep” story (which is implausible, but which met the immediate purpose of the priests).
Since the soldiers didn’t violate Pilate’s command, they weren’t under his authority on the matter, i.e. no decimation (which, btw, begs the matter if there were only a few guards... decimate a limb?)
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