Who was the historical King Herod?

At Christmas time we examine King Herod who ruled Judea on the time of Jesus’s birth, and he’s the villain of many Nativity plays. But King Herod was an actual historical character. This is the story …

End of the Davidic Dynasty

In the Old Testament the Kingdom of Israel the stories of the kings and queens of Israel and Judah are told in the primary and second book of Kings. The last king of Judah descended from King David was King Zedekiah, originally named Mattaniah (2 Kings 24:17–25:7), when Jeremiah was the prophet. After this Jerusalem was destroyed and the Babylonian exile began.

Hasmonean Dynasty

After the return from exile the Jewish kingdom was not restored, and the territory got here under Greek control. In 139 BC the Hasmonean family, often known as the Maccabees, defeated the Seleucid Greeks, they usually became the kings of Judea. They were Jews, not from the tribe of Judah, but were a priestly family from the tribe of Levi. They were popular because they reinstated Jewish independence they usually were Jewish. They conquered the territory of Idumea (Edom) and the Idumeans adopted the Jewish religion and have become Jews. The stories of the Maccabees are told in the primary and second book of Maccabees. In 67 BC Alexandra Salome, the reigning Queen of Judea, died and there was a civil war of succession between her sons.

Roman Rule

In the context of the civil war, the Roman General Pompey attacked Jerusalem and annexed Judea, which ended the independent Jewish state. In 47 BC an Idumean (Edomite) leader called Antiper was appointed as procurator of Judea, whose job was to gather taxes for the Romans. In about 72 BC, Antiper had a son Herod who later became friends with the Roman leader Mark Antony, who made him Governor of Galilee, where Herod earned a repute for cruelty. Antiper was assassinated in 43 BC and Mark Antony made Herod tetrarch of Galilee. 

When the Parthians attacked Jerusalem, Herod went to Rome for help and he was appointed king of the Jews by the Senate should he reconquer it. He returned and with Roman help overthrew the Parthians and from 37 BC ruled as a Roman client king for over thirty years. Much of what we learn about King Herod comes from a Jewish historian called Josephus who wrote a history of the Jewish people.

King Herod

Herod was unpopular with the Jews because he was seen as a usurper and hated for his collaboration with the Romans. To endear himself to the Jews, Herod married Princess Mariam (often spelt Mariamne) from the Hasmonean dynasty, and appointed his wife’s brother Aristobulus, who most Jews considered the true heir to the throne, as High Priest.

Herod had ambitious plans for Judea. Herod helped to develop the region and built amphitheatres, aqueducts, and fortresses similar to Masada, which was all paid for by heavy taxation. Perhaps attempting to make himself an amazing king like Solomon, in 20 BC he doubled the dimensions of the Temple Mount and adorned the Temple in Jerusalem with gold and marble making it a marvel. Judea had no natural harbour so he founded Caesarea Maritima in 9 BC, an amazing port which allowed Judea to trade with the Mediterranean world, with freshwater supplied by an aqueduct. Herod built himself palaces at Jericho and Herodium near Jerusalem.

However as his reign went on, he got crueller and have become a paranoid tyrant who eliminated any perceived rival to his throne, including surviving members of the Hasmonean dynasty, and even members of his circle of relatives. Caesar Augustus remarked, “I’d fairly be Herod’s pig than his son.” 

King Herod and Jesus

We first examine King Herod within the Bible at first of Matthew and Luke. Luke gives a passing reference to Herod the Great when he writes that the birth of John the Baptist was “through the time when Herod was king of Judea” (Luke 1:5). 

Then Matthew writes “Jesus was born within the town of Bethlehem in Judea, through the time when Herod was king” (Matthew 2:1). The reason that Joseph and Mary went to Bethlehem was a Roman registration or census (Luke 2:1-3) which King Herod, as a client king of the Romans, was administering.It was possibly a couple of yr after this that King Herod met the visiting smart men (Matthew 2:1-12) and was concerned a couple of recent king being born. The text says, “When Herod the king had heard these items, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him” (Matthew 2:3).

It was hardly surprising that every one of Jerusalem was troubled because people feared the reprisals of a possible rival. Herod became so frightened in regards to the prophesied Messiah that he ordered the slaughter of all of the infants who were under two years of age around Bethlehem (Matthew 2:16). In the context of knowing how Herod killed all perceived rivals, this massacre is in character and matches our knowledge of the historical Herod.

Having killed any potential claimants from the Hasmonean dynasty, it is sensible that he would wish to kill any potential claimants from the Davidic dynasty. Therefore, Joseph took Mary and Jesus and fled into exile to Egypt, where they were beyond the reach of Herod, until his reign ended when he died (Matthew 2:19).

Herod’s Death

Herod died in Jericho in about 4 BC, or 1 BC, depending which scholarship you like. He was buried at his palace fortress at Herodium. After Herod’s death, Caesar Augustus divided Herod’s kingdom between three of his sons. His son Archelaus governed Judea, Samaria, and Idumea (Edom) as ethnarch, while his son Herod Antipas was tetrarch of the provinces of Galilee and Perea, and his son Philip became tetrarch of territories of Iturea and Trachonitis to the north and east of Galilee.

King Archelaus

After that they had heard that Herod had died, Joseph and Mary would have hoped that it was protected to return to Judea from their exile in Egypt. Joseph should have waited for news in regards to the recent king Archelaus before deciding. Weeks after becoming king, Archelaus put down unrest, and Josephus says he killed 3,000 people and cancelled Passover. It is hardly surprising then that we read that “when Joseph heard that Archelaus had succeeded his father Herod as king of Judea, he was afraid to go there” (Matthew 2:22). Archelaus was regarded as cruel as, and even crueller than his father, but he only ruled Judea and Samaria.

Herod Antipas

Joseph due to this fact took Mary and Jesus (and another children they might need had in Egypt) and went to live within the province of Galilee at Nazareth. Nazareth was where they lived before, and was ruled by Herod Antipas, who was not feared like Archelaus was, although later Antipas would behead John the Baptist, and query Jesus and send him to Pilate before his crucifixion.

Legacy

After his death Herod became often known as Herod I or Herod the Great, to assist distinguish him from the opposite Herods of the Herodian dynasty who followed him. His descendants of the Herodian dynasty ruled the region for just a few generations after him. In AD 70 the Romans destroyed much of Jerusalem including the Temple, however the Western Wall of Herod’s Temple Mount survives and is a holy site for Jews today. In AD 73 Herod’s fortress of Masada became the last stand for Jewish rebels and today is a serious tourist site. In 2007 Herod’s tomb was discovered by archaeologists at Herodium. These days nonetheless, King Herod is best often known as the villain in Nativity plays.