1 Luke Handout – Two Herods Herod the Great and Herod Antipas, the Tetrarch Herod the Great (Luke 1:5) was appointed king of the Jews by the Roman senate in 40 BC and took control of Jerusalem in 37 BC after defeating the Hasmonean king Antigonus. He reigned for the rest of his life as a client-king of Caesar Augustus. Since he was the son of an Idumean father and an Arabian mother, he was considered a half Jew at best and certainly not a king in the line of David! Famous for his building projects, he expanded the Jerusalem temple complex; constructed the city of Caesarea, where Paul was later held in custody (Acts 25:4); and built or rebuilt fortresses such as Herodium near Bethlehem, Masada on the western shore of the Dead Sea, and Machaerus on its eastern shore, where John the Baptist was later imprisoned by Herod Antipas (Luke 3:19–20). Herod was notorious for his cruelty, killing three of his sons because of fear of conspiracies and uncertainty about his heir. When he died, his kingdom was divided among his sons Archelaus (Matt 2:22; deposed in AD 6 by the Romans), Herod Antipas, and Philip (Luke 3:1). The consensus since the end of the nineteenth century for the date of Herod’s death is 4 BC. However, several recent studies of the first-century Jewish historian Josephus’s many references to Herod, as well as of ancient inscriptions and coins, propose that he died later, in 1 BC or AD 1. The date has implications for dating Jesus’ birth, which was one or two years earlier (Matt 2:16). Herod Antipas was tetrarch of Galilee throughout Jesus’ public ministry, a position he maintained until his exile in AD 39. “Herod” in Luke’s Gospel refers to him, except the initial reference to King Herod (1:5). Like his father, Antipas engaged in building projects—for example, in his capitals Sepphoris and Tiberias. Since Antipas arrested and killed John the Baptist, Jesus had to be wary of him (9:7–9; 13:31–33). The two finally met during his trial in Jerusalem (23:6–15). (Ibid. Gadenz p 36.)