bernice Summary and Overview

bearer of victory, the eldest daughter of Agrippa I., the Herod Agrippa of Acts 12:20. After the early death of her first husband she was married to her uncle Herod, king of Chalcis. After his death (A.D. 40) she lived in incestuous connection with her brother Agrippa II. (Acts 25:13, 23; 26:30). They joined the Romans at the outbreak of the final war between them and the Jews, and lived afterwards at Rome.

BERNI'CE (victorious), was the eldest daughter of Agrippa, surnamed the Great, and sister to the younger Agrippa, kings of the Jews. Acts 25:13, Heb 12:23; Acts 26:30. Her first husband was her uncle Herod, the king of Chalcis. She appears in the Acts in connection with her brother, Agrippa II., with whom she lived in incestuous intercourse after Herod's death, a.d. 48. To put an end to the scandal she married Polemo, king of Cilicia, whom she persuaded to be circumcised. The bond was soon dissolved, and she returned to her brother. Subsequently, so remarkable were her powers of Bernice. (On a Coin of Polemo II) Bernice married Polemo II., king of a part of Cilicia. The coin was struck in 52 a.d., about the time when Paul was at Corinth with Aquila and Priscilla. attraction, and so well preserved her beauty, that she became mistress to both Vespasian and his son Titus.

BERENICE or BERNICE. (See BERENICE.)