Topics

Introduction

Herod’s Line

Herod and His Descendands

Herod Antipas

Herod Phillip II

Antipas

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Antipater

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Herod the Great

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Herod Antipas Herod Philip (Bösthos) Herod Philip Aristobulus Arch-Elavs │

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                                                 Herodias Herod Agrippa I

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                                                            Salome Herod Agrippa II Drusilla Bernice

This was taken from Luke 1 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

The History of Herod the Great

Translation: It came about in the days of Herod, the king of Judæa,...

This would have been Herod of Herod’s Temple (there are 4 men called Herod in the New Testament). This is the man who decided to kill all of the young male Jewish children, which would cause Mary and Joseph to leave Judæa.

Luke 1:5a In the days of Herod, king of Judea,...

Before 586 b.c., Judah (the southern kingdom) was independently ruled by Jewish kings, descendants of David. But when Judah was invaded by Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon, that ended the independence of Israel. The Jewish people were eventually returned to the land—70 years later—but they were no longer an autonomous nation.

At least twice in the Lord’s biography, Luke will set the secular historical stage for the events of His life.

There are about 6 different Herod’s in history (all related) and as many as 5 of them are found in the Bible. The Herod of v. 5 is the big dog, so to speak, known as Herod the Great. The other Herod’s are his sons and grandsons.

His life is a fascinating study. He rules over the Jews as a part of the Roman empire, although he is from Edom where his family was forcibly converted to Judaism. This makes Herod a Jew by religion, but he is not accepted as truly Jewish by the Hebrew people.

Edom, if you will recall, is at the southern tip of the Dead Sea, a region founded by Esau, Jacob’s twin brother (recall that Jacob was a Jew and Esau was not; and that Esau was often a nicer person than Jacob).

Herod ruled over Palestine between 37–4 b.c., and actually did what he could to try to make things work with the Jews in Judah. He apparently built the Temple of Judea with his own money, where the Jews worshiped, yet they do not appear to give Herod any credit for this.

I have studied a variety of opinions on the Temple, and I have heard, over and over again, that the Temple was built twice: first by Solomon and then by Zerubbabel. I cannot tell you in how many places I have read about these two Temples. But Herod either built or fixed up the 2^nd Temple; but it seems like Jewish historians refuse to give him any credit for this.

At the end of his life, Herod apparently suffered from mental problems (it is suggested that his body was riddled with venereal diseases), and the Herod whom most Christians view as a great villain (which he was at the end of his life) is not necessarily representative of Herod’s entire life. However, as you may understand, there are things that you can do in your life—sometimes just one volitional choice—and you will be forever defined by that choice. I am not an apologist for Herod the Great; but it is important that you realize that there was more to him what we find in the Word of God.

For instance, we have had presidents in the past who are known for Tear Down this wall; one who admitted having lust in his heart, one who said, “Read my lips, no new taxes;” one who said, “The American people have a right to know if their president is a crook, and I am not a crook;” and one who said, “I did not have sex with that woman.” For people who lived through those years, you know exactly who these presidents are (you may differ with me on what defined those men as president); but my point is, it can be a single quote, and that quote might be how almost everyone remembers the man. For some of you, those quotes virtually define the way that you remember that particular president—despite the fact that each of those presidents had a myriad of successes and failures, good and bad choices, which they made while in the oval office. The more you know about Richard Nixon, the more you might be angry about him being remembered for saying, “I am not a crook!” He was a very accomplished president, as were the others suggested (again, many of them had failures and successes throughout their lives). It should be obvious that the lives and presidency of these men can be dramatically colored by the quotes or incidents which I have suggested; whereas, the truth about their lives is far more complex.

The same is true of Herod. On the one hand, he will desire to kill Jesus as an infant, believing that this infant will take from Herod his kingdom. As a result of this paranoia, Herod will kill hundreds if not thousands of infants, hoping to protect his kingdom (by that time, he is protecting his kingdom for his sons). What man, outside of a monster, could do such a thing?

However, earlier in his reign, Herod built/rebuilt the Temple for his people the Jews. He did not have to do that. He did not have to commit men and materials and time to such a massive project like that. He could have taken these same resources and made his own palace bigger and better. He could have told the Jewish people, “If you want to improve your Temple, then do it yourselves!” In fact, their opinion of him would like have not been any different.

It might be instructive to know a little about the history of Judæa at this time and how Herod the Great became ruler. Herod was born an Idumæan, which was an Arab group of people who were descendants of Esau, living in Edom, south of Judæa. However, not too long before Herod was born, the Hasmonæans, the nationalist party of the Jews, had conquered Idumæa and they made them all Jews—the males were circumcised, they were to follow Jewish customs and laws. So, Herod was brought up by religion a Jew. However, he was also the son of one of the smartest and wealthiest Idumæans, Antipater II. But, genetically speaking, Herod was descended from the wrong brother. Since he was descended from Esau, racially Herod was an Arab; had he been descended from Esau’s twin brother Jacob, then Herod would have been Jewish by religion and by blood. Consequently, Herod would grow up conflicted; just as the Jews would have been conflicted about this group of Arabs.

Around 48 b.c., Julius Cæsar finds himself in Egypt, with too small an army, in somewhat of a jam. Herod, at 26 years old, raises an army and gets Cæsar and his small army safely out of Egypt, getting him out of this jam. Initially, it seemed like a smart move to be the friend of Julius Cæsar.

There continued to be civil unrest in the Rome (Cæsar was assassinated in 44 b.c.); while there was also civil unrest in Palestine. It appears that the family of Herod was in opposition to the Hasmonæans. Since Herod backing Cæsar did not work out well (given that Cæsar was assassinated), Herod financially backed Cassius, who allied himself with Brutus, and they fought against Octavius the grand nephew of Julius Cæsar (he adopted Octavius as his son), and Mark Anthony. Again, Herod had backed the wrong man. Roman leadership would fall to Octavius and Mark Anthony and not to Cassius or Brutus.

Despite backing the wrong man, Herod went boldly to Rome and spoke directly to Octavius, and said that he was a friend of Cassius and also a friend to the Roman empire; and he hoped to continue this friendship. Mark Anthony actually knew Herod as a youth and liked him. So Herod returned to Palestine, having solidified a friendship with Octavius and renewed his friendship with Mark Anthony. As a result, Herod again was a friend of the Roman empire (which was very important to his continued rulership of Palestine).

When Herod’s returned to Palestine, another revolt broke out with the Hasmonæans, and Herod tried to fix this by marrying the last Hasmonæan woman, Mariamne. Herod is said to have made two great mistakes at this time: (1) he married Mariamne and (2) he fell in love with her. She apparently did not feel the same way, and she betrayed him.

You have no doubt heard of Mark Anthony and Cleopatra, but Herod was in that mix as well. Anthony gave some of Herod’s land to Cleopatra, Herod balked, and he got some of his land back. Furthermore, when Cleopatra tried to seduce Herod, he turned her down and she apparently hated him for it.

In case you do any independent reading on Herod, there is another Cleopatra in his life; different from the Queen of Egypt previously mentioned.

Anyway, soon after Cleopatra decided that she hated Herod, Octavius and Mark Anthony were at war with each other, and again, Herod backed the wrong horse. He helped Anthony raise money for his defense, but Octavius defeated Anthony and Cleopatra.

Again, Herod goes to Rome; he speaks directly to Octavius, and tells him exactly what he did. Octavius respected his honesty and his pledge of loyalty; and allowed Herod to continue as king over the Jews. In fact, Octavius is said to have two great friends in the world at this time: Agrippa, who handled all of the administration, and Herod.

Over and over again, Herod fought to maintain control over his kingdom in Palestine; and he managed to continue in this position, despite all of the unrest around him and despite backing the wrong man over and over again.

What made Herod quite valuable to Rome is, he established law and order throughout most of his land, despite the opposition of the Jews (they hated him because he was an Arab by race).

Not long before Jesus was born, Herod established peace and safety in the Galilean area, removing the bandits which plagued that area. As a result, Jesus was raised in an area where there was relative peace and safety—which apparently continued throughout His life—despite the great turmoil in the world. In the narratives of the gospels, Jesus moves about the land in relative safety, apart from the animosity of the Jewish religious class.

R. B. Thieme, Jr., based upon his extensive knowledge of ancient history, described some aspects of Herod’s reign like this: Herod never had a statue or a picture made and never had his face on coins, so there is no way of knowing what he looked like from the usual archaeological sources, simply for this reason: Herod knew that he would offend the Jews is an image was set up. He always catered to the Jews, to the nationalist party, and never did he allow his image to be on a coin or a statute to be put up, so our only descriptions come from people of the ancient world. He was tall, very handsome, athletic with a very strong body. He had great charm of address and he was one of the greatest conversationalists of the ancient world. He was a famous hunter and horseman and a championship wrestler. Being of Arab stock he had black hair and a golden skin, with brown eyes, a moulded nose and small ears. He was never worth less than $50,000,000, except when he went bankrupt twice. He went bankrupt once feeding the Jews in a time of economic decline. He spent his whole fortune feeding the Jews by buying grain in Egypt, and they repaid him very shortly thereafter by revolting against him. This all goes to show that the monster Herod that we know wasn’t the monster in his early life.

Most of us know the famous names of Julius Cæsar, Cassius, Brutus, Octavius, Mark Antony, and Cleopatra (especially if you have read Shakespear). Fewer people realize that Herod was right there in the midst of all of them, just as famous and probably far more consequential than some on that list. It is very likely that his refusal to put his visage on everything—in deference to the faith of the Jews—which kept him below the radar, historically speaking.

This was taken from Luke 1 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

The actual history of these men is far more complex than the summaries provided below.

The Herods of Scripture

1.       Herod the Great was famous for his many building projects, including that of the Jewish Temple (it appears that he restored and greatly improved upon the second Temple, which had been originally built by Zerubbabel, who was the Achaemenid-appointed governor over Judæa). Herod was also famous for his attempt to kill his rival king, the Messiah of Jerusalem, by killing all of the male children born at the time that Jesus was born (Matt. 2).

2.       Herod II, also called Herod Philip I, was married to Herodias, who later divorced Herod II and married Herod Antipas, Herod II’s half brother. John the baptizer condemned that was wrong (Matt. 14:3–4).

          1)       Herod the Great executed his 2 sons by his Hasmonean wife Mariamne, which left Herodias an orphaned minor. Herod then engaged her to Herod II, her half-uncle.

          2)       The union of Herod II and Herodias produced a daughter, Salome.

          3)       At one time, Herod II was considered to be the natural heir to Herod the Great. However, he lived as a private citizen in Rome with Herodias, and thus survived Herod the Great’s deathbed purges.

3.       One of Herod’s sons is Herod Antipas (or Antipater), who was also know as Herod the tetrarch (Matthew 14:1; Luke 3:1). Tetrarch means that he governed a fourth part of the kingdom.

          1)       He reigned over Galilee and Perea.

          2)       He ruled over this area 4 b.c.–39 a.d., throughout nearly the entire human life of Jesus.

          3)       Herod Antipas reluctantly executed John the baptizer (Matt. 14:1–12).

          4)       Because Jesus was from Galilee, during His trials, He was sent to Herod Antipas, when Pilate was trying to extricate himself from making a decision regarding Jesus. Luke 23:1–12

4.       Herod Archelaus (23 b.c.–18 a.d.) was ruler over Samaria, Judea, and Idumea (or, Edom) between 4 b.c. and 6 a.d.

          1)       Mary and Joseph temporarily moved to Egypt to escape Herod the Great’s attacks upon the newborn males in his realm. When Herod died, they returned from Egypt, but moved up to the Galilee area rather than to Judæa, having been warned in a dream about Herod Archelaus reigning in his father’s stead. Matt. 2:19–23

          2)       He was given the title Ethnarch from Cæsar, which means that he was a non-king who ruled over an ethnic group (this would have limited his authority; apparently, he could not have people executed).

          3)       He was deposed from his reign in a.d. 6, as a result of the Jewish people petitioning Cæsar Augustus for his removal. There was a great deal of animosity between the Jews and Herod Archelaus, which went both ways (near the end of his reign, Archelaus killed 3000 people at the Temple).

          4)       There were 16 or 17 Roman administrators (governors) who followed Herod Archelaus until the destruction of Jerusalem in a.d. 70.

          5)       Herod Archelaus, although not officially recognized as governor of Judæa, Samaria and Idumea, his 10 year reign was among the top 3 reigns with regards to length of time over a period of 135 years.

          6)       Pontius Pilate was the Roman prefect in Judæa between 26–36 a.d.

5.       Philip the Tetrarch, also called Herod Philip II, was the son of Herod the Great and Cleopatra of Jerusalem. He ruled over the northeastern portion of his father’s kingdom from 4 b.c. until he died in a.d. 34.

          1)       His kingdom included Iturea and Trachonitis; and possibly Gaulanitis and Paneas.

          2)       Philip is not mentioned in Scripture, as his kingdom is just east of Galilee.

          3)       On the other hand, his wife (and niece), Salome, is.

          4)       There seems to be some disagreement in this regard, and Wikipedia suggests that there may be some historic confusion here, as Philip would have been nearly 40 years older than Salome (I don’t know that would really be a problem).

          5)       Salome had asked her father (Herod Antipas) for the head of John the baptizer. Matt. 14:1–11 (she is simply called the daughter of Herodias in this passage, as Philip was not her actual father).

6.       Herod Agrippa I was the grandson of Herod the Great (Acts 12). It was he who persecuted the church in Jerusalem and had the apostle James, the brother of John and son of Zebedee, put to death by the sword. By the hand of Herod Agrippa I, James became the first apostle to be martyred. Two of Agrippa I’s daughters were Bernice and Drusilla, mentioned in Acts 24 and Acts 25.

7.       Agrippa’s son, Herod Agrippa II, was instrumental in saving Paul from being tried and imprisoned in Jerusalem by the Jews who hated his testimony of Jesus as the Messiah. King Agrippa, out of consideration for Paul being a Roman citizen, allowed Paul to defend himself, thereby giving Paul the opportunity to preach the gospel to all who were assembled (Acts 25—26). Agrippa II was the last of the line of Herods. After him, the family fell out of favor with Rome.

When we come across these men later on in Scripture, I will provide the background for them. But this is quite fascinating, as this is a period of nearly 200 years where the descendants of Esau ruled over the descendants of Jacob.

Quotations taken from Got Questions?; accessed April 12, 2019.

Additional references:

Wikipedia; Wikipedia; Wikipedia; Wikipedia; Reasonable Theology. Org; Bible Study.org;

All of these accessed April 12, 2019