BibleWay
⌕

← People

Person

Bernice

Woman living at the time of the New Testament

Bernice, a Jewish princess and sister of King Agrippa II, heard Paul's defense.

🗺 Places mentioned alongside Bernice on the map →

Bernice was a Jewish princess and the sister of King Agrippa II. She was present with her brother when the apostle Paul made his defense before Agrippa in Caesarea (Act. 25:13, 23; 26:30). Bernice and Agrippa were the great-grandchildren of Herod the Great and the children of Herod Agrippa I. As a member of the Herodian dynasty, Bernice held a position of influence and power in the region. Her presence at Paul's hearing demonstrates the attention his case had attracted from the highest levels of society. After listening to Paul's defense, Bernice and Agrippa concluded that he had done nothing deserving of death or imprisonment (Act. 26:31-32).

Connections

Part of: Paul's Circle · The Herods

Paul before Festus, Agrippa II, and Bernice

RoleStated in the text

After two years under Felix, Paul appealed to Caesar before Festus. King Agrippa and Bernice came to Caesarea and heard him in a formal audience, and Agrippa said Paul might have been set free had he not appealed to Caesar.

PaulAn apostleFestusRoman governor of Judea; heard Paul's case; sent him to Rome.AgrippaA TetrarchBerniceJewish princess, sister of King Agrippa II
Where the text shows it: Acts 25:11-12 — Paul appeals to CaesarActs 25:13 — Agrippa and Bernice arriveActs 26:28-32 — Almost persuaded; could have been freed

Sources: Scripture

Agrippa I's three children in Acts

FamilyWidely accepted

Josephus says Agrippa I was the father of Agrippa II, Bernice, and Drusilla. The NT names Agrippa, Bernice, and Drusilla in Acts 24-26 without spelling out that they are siblings.

HerodA TetrarchAgrippaA TetrarchBerniceJewish princess, sister of King Agrippa IIDrusillaJewish wife of Felix, the Roman governor
Where the text shows it: Acts 24:24 — Drusilla, wife of FelixActs 25:13 — King Agrippa and BerniceActs 12:1 — Herod the king (Agrippa I)

Sources: Scripture · Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews

More background: search Wikipedia ↗

Bible dictionary

Bernice Easton Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897)

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.

Read the full entry →

Bernice, Or Berenice Smith Smith’s Bible Dictionary (1863)

(bringing victory), the eldest daughter of Herod Agrippa I. (Acts 12:1) etc. She was first married to her uncle Herod, king of Chaleis, and after his death (A.D. 48) she lived under circumstances of great suspicion with her own brother, Agrippa II., in connection with whom she is mentioned, (Acts 25:13,23; 26:30) as having visited Festus on his appointment as procurator of Judea.

Read the full entry →

Bernice Hitchcock Hitchcock’s Bible Names Dictionary (1869)

one that brings victory

Read the full entry →

Bernice, or Berenice Hastings Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible (1898)

BERNI'CE, OR BEREN'ICE (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.

Read the full entry →

Bernice Schaff Schaff’s Dictionary of the Bible

BERNI'CE, OR BEREN'ICE (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.

Read the full entry →

Easton (1897), Smith (1863), Hitchcock (1869), Hastings (1898) and Schaff are in the public domain. Parsed text: neuu-org/bible-dictionary-dataset (CC BY 4.0). Headwords and whitespace normalised for this site.

Where Bernice appears

3 verses in 1 book · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s G0959

Acts3

Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.