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Home , Herod Agrippa, Herod Antipas, Herod the Great, Philip the Tetrarch, Tiberius

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from several sources, including: men if they would circumcise their genitals and ob- serve Jewish law.” (God’s final whip against the , Flavius, Antiquities; and Wars of the Edomites was . For the Romans used 20,000 Jews of the Idumeans as allies in the siege of , Edersheim, Alfred, Sketches of Jewish Social Life; 70AD. But afterwards, the Romans annihilated the The Life and Times of the ; and The Idumeans, stating simply that they were a lawless Temple. and despicable race.) The Herod mentioned in and in Luke Herod’s grandfather, Antipas, had been ap- 1, is known to history as Herod the Great. His pointed as the governor of Idumea by the Romans. family was Jewish, by race, but the were actually He died in 78 BC, and Julius appointed Idumeans (Edomites). Herod’s father, Antipater, procurator of , who held the post from 47 to 43 BC. is the name of a country lying south of Ju- dah. It is bounded on the north by Moab, and it After Caesar’s death in 44 BC, Rome was ruled for extends from the to the Gulf of Aqaba. a time by a triumvirate, including , The people of Edom were descendants of Esau, and who appointed Herod the Great as the tetrarch the country has a prominence in the (along of in 37 BC. Herod increased the physi- with Moab) as the scene of the final destruction cal splendor of Jerusalem and erected the Temple, of the Gentile world-power in the Day of the Lord. which was the center of Jewish worship in the time Rev. 16:13-16; 19:17-21). of . Nebuchadnezzar ceded portions of Judah to the Herod’s slaughter of the infants at Edomites after the fall of Jerusalem. This fulfilled (Matt. 5:16) was in keeping with his cruel char- the prophecy of in Jeremiah 49; and ex- acter. plains why Jeremiah had been exhorting the Jews Four sons of Herod the Great are named in the New to destroy the Edomites. Lamentations 4:21, Amos Testament: 1:11,12, and Obadiah 8-10, all prophecy the de- struction of Edom by God. 1. Archelaus (Matt. 2:22). When Herod died The were the first of God’s whips in March of 4 BC, he was succeeded by against the Edomites; for the Nabataeans pushed Archelaus. the Edomites back up into a small parcel of land next to Judah. Then I, king- 2. (:14ff; Matt. 14:1; hierarch of Judea, 134-104 BC, subjugated Edom :1), who was the tetrarch of Galilee in fulfillment of the above prophecies, “that Jacob and , from 4 BC until he was banished shall lay Esau by the heel.” Hyrcanus “permitted in 39 AD. He was opposed by John the Bap- the Idumeans to remain in their country as free tist (Luke 3:19; Matt. 14; Mark 6:14ff); he

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desired to see Christ (:9); he was rec- Antigonus to Antony for execution, killed all the onciled to Pilate (:6-12). He is the Jewish leaders who had supported the puppet gov- Herod of :27. ernment, and entered into one of the most colorful reigns in history, from 37 to 4 B.C. 3. Herod Philip (Boethos), mentioned in Mark 6:17 as Philip (cf. also Matt. 14:3; Luke Herod possessed intellect without morals, ability 3:19). without scruple, and courage without honor. He was like the Caesars in many respects. He over- 4. Herod Philip (Luke 3:1), the tetrarch of ter- laid freedom with dictatorial order enforced by the ritory east of Jordan from 4 BC to 33 AD. military. He beautified Jerusalem with Greek archi- tecture and sculpture. He enlarged his realm and [A tetrarch is the ruler of the “fourth” part of a made it prosper, achieving more by subtlety and in- territory.] trigue than by force of arms. He was broken by the treachery of his offspring. He married many women Herod the Great had another son, Aristobulus, and unwisely; and he knew every good fortune but who is not mentioned in . Two of Aristo- happiness. bulus’ children are mentioned, however: According to Josephus, Herod had great physical bravery, strength, and martial skill. He was a 1. (Mark 6:17ff; Matt. 14:3). She perfect marksman with javelin and bow, a mighty had been married to her uncle, Herod Philip hunter who killed forty wild beasts in one day. He (Boethos); but she left him to live with an- was always able to wind up on top of the heap other uncle, Herod Antipas, the rule rebuked even though enemies sought to discredit him with by . It was Herodias’ daugh- Antony, , or . From every crisis ter who danced for Herod Antipas (Mark he emerged richer, more powerful than before. 6:22ff; Matt. 14:6-11). We know from histori- cal sources that the daughter’s name was Sa- Augustus judged Herod too great a soul for so small lome. ’s first husband was her great a kingdom and restored all the cities of the Has- uncle, the Herod Philip of Luke 3:1. moneans to him and wanted him to rule over and as well. He had become king by the help 2. Herod Agrippa I (:1, 6; 18-24). and money of Rome; and the Jewish people were working night and day to free themselves from Ro- Three other descendants of Herod the Great are man rule. So they hated Herod. Also, the fragile mentioned in the , three children of economy of the country bent and broke under the Herod Agrippa I. strain of the taxes used by the luxurious court and ambitious building program. He enlarged the Tem- 1. Herod Agrippa II (:13ff; 26:1,2,27- ple of Zerubbabel, calling it too small, and enraging 32) the people. His own Temple was destroyed by in 70 A.D. 2. Drusilla (:24) Herod’s sister persuaded him that his favorite wife, 3. (Acts 25:13; 26:30) , sister of Aristobulus, and granddaugh- ter of Hyrcanus II, was trying to poison him. He had Mariamne tried and executed. Thereafter he All told, then, two or more names from each of the was faced by continual plots by his family, and he three successive generations after Herod the Great jailed some and executed others. As an old man are mentioned in the New Testament. he broke down with sickness and grief. He suffered from dropsy, ulcers, convulsions, and probably can- Herod the Great cer. He died at the age of 69 hated by all his people. It was said of him that he stole to the throne like a fox, ruled like a tiger, and died like a dog. The Caesar Augustus (Octavian), now (first Jewish kingdom was divided among his three sons citizen) of the after the death of Philip, Herod Antipas, and Archelaus. , appointed Herod, the son of An- tipater, king of Judea, and financed his Jewish The following paragraphs, to the end of the article, army with Roman money. Herod drove out the are reproduced from Conybeare and Howson, The Parthians, protected Jerusalem from pillage, sent Life and of St. Paul.

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At first Herod the Great espoused the cause of After Herod’s death the same influences still contin- Antony; but he contrived to remedy his mistake by ued to operate in Judea. Archelaus persevered in paying a prompt visit, after the , his father’s policy, though destitute of his father’s to Augustus in the island of . This singu- energy. The same may be said of the other sons, lar interview of the Jewish prince with the Roman Antipas and Philip, in their contiguous principali- conqueror in a Greek island was the beginning of ties. All the Herods were great builders and eager an important period for the Hebrew nation. An ex- partisans of the Roman ; and we are fa- otic civilization was systematically introduced and miliar in the with that Philippi, extended. Those Greek influences, which had been which one of them built in the upper part of the begun under the Seleucids, and not discontinued valley of the Jordan and named in honor of Augus- under the Hasmoneans, were now more widely dif- tus; and with on the banks of the lake of fused; and the Roman customs, which had hitherto Gennessaret which bore the name of his wicked suc- been comparatively unknown, were now made fa- cessor. But while Antipas and Philip still retained miliar. Herod was indeed too wise, and knew the their dominions under the protectorate of the em- Jews too well, to attempt, like Antiochus, to in- peror, Archelaus had been banished and the weight troduce foreign institutions without any regard to of the Roman power had descended still more heav- their religious feelings. He endeavored to ingrati- ily on Judea. It was placed under the direct juris- ate himself with them by rebuilding and decorat- diction of a governor, residing at Caesarea by the ing their national temple; and a part of that mag- Sea, and depending, as we have seen above, on the nificent bridge which was connected with the great governor of Syria at . southern colonnade is still believed to exist – re- And now we are made familiar with those features maining, in its vast proportions and Roman form, which might be adduced as characterizing any other an appropriate monument of the Herodian period province at the same epoch – the (John of Judea. 28:28), the publicans (Luke 3:12; 19:2), the tribute- money (Matt. 22:19), soldiers and centurions re- The period when Herod was reigning at Jerusalem cruited in , Caesar the only king (:15), under the protectorate of Augustus was chiefly re- and the ultimate appeal against the injustice of the markable for great architectural works, for the pro- governor (Acts 25:11). In this period the ministry, motion of commerce, the influx of strangers, and death, and of Jesus Christ took place, the increased diffusion of the two great languages the first preaching of His apostles, and the conver- of the heathen world. The names of places are sion of St. Paul. But once more change came over themselves a monument of the spirit of the times. the political fortunes of Judea. Herod Agrippa was As Tarsus was called Juliopolis from Julius Cae- the friend of , as Herod the Great had been sar, and Soli Pompeiopolis from his great rival, so the friend of Augustus; and when died, he was called Sebaste after the Greek name received the grant of an independent principality in of Augustus, and the new metropolis, which was the north of 125 built by Herod on the seashore, was called Cae- sarea in honor of the same Latin ; while . He was able to ingratiate himself with , on the road (:31) between the , the succeeding emperor. Judea was old capital and the new, still commemorated the added to his dominion, which now embraced the name of the king’s Idumean father. We must not whole circle of the territory ruled by his grandfa- suppose that the internal change in the minds of ther. by this time St. Paul was actively pursuing the people was proportional to the magnitude of his apostolic career. We need not, therefore, ad- these outward improvements. They suffered much, vance beyond this point in a chapter which is only and their hatred grew towards Rome and toward intended to be a general introduction to the Apos- the Herods. A parallel might be drawn between the tle’s history. state of Judea under Herod the Great, and that of Egypt under Mahomet Ali, where great works have been successfully accomplished, where the spread Herod Agrippa I of ideas has been promoted, traffic made busy and prosperous, and communication with the civilized Herod Agrippa I , original name Marcus Julius works wonderfully increased, but where the mass Agrippa, lived from 10 BC to 44 AD. He was a of the people has continued to be miserable and king of the Jews, the grandson of Herod the Great, degraded. and the son of Aristobulus IV and Berenice. He

Grace Notes, a ministry of Austin Bible Church http://gracenotes.info/ The Family of Herod the Great 4 was the brother of Herodias, who was responsible Judean territory of , along with for John the Baptist’s death. the of Lysanius. The also gave him the honorary rank of (Guardian Agrippa was considered a black sheep by the Hero- of the State), and soon after than gave him the dian family; he led a careless and extravagant life, rank of a . and he accumulated many debts. After the murder of his father, Agrippa was sent In 38 AD Agrippa went to Palestine to see his to Rome to the court of the emperor, Tiberius. new domain. This provoked the jealousy of An- Tiberius liked Agrippa very much, and Tiberius’ tipas, who had coveted the kingship for a long time. son Drusus and Agrippa were close friends. Agrippa’s sister Herodias was also very angry that Agrippa had become king, so she persuaded An- When Drusus was poisoned by in 23AD, tipas to ask the emperor for the title; Antipas left Agrippa lost the support of the emperor and was for Rome early the next year. obliged to leave Rome and go back to Judea. When Agrippa heard what Antipas was doing, he After a brief period of seclusion in Judea, his uncle, sent one of his own servants to Rome to accuse An- Herod the Tetrarch, the husband of Herodias, made tipas of a conspiracy against Rome. This effort was Agrippas ajgoravnomo~ , the Overseer of Mar- successful and led to Antipas’ downfall; Agrippa kets, in Tiberius’s government; and he gave him a was given all of Antipas’ territory and possessions. large sum of money. However, after a short time, his uncle got tired of supporting him, and Agrippa When Caligula was murdered in 41 AD, Agrippa was forced to leave Judea. He went first to Antioch, happened to be in Rome, and he helped Claudius then back to Rome. Tiberius welcomed him back, ascend to the throne. Claudius confirmed Agrippa and Agrippa became a close companion of Caligula, in his rulership in Palestine, and he added Judea who, before he became emperor himself, was quite and Samaria to his domains. Agrippa now ruled popular. over all the territory that his grandfather, Herod the Great, had ruled. One day, Agrippa was talking to someone and said that he wished that Tiberius would die so that Agrippa returned to Judea and governed it to the Caligula could be emperor. One of his servants great satisfaction of the Jews. He had a great zeal overheard this remark, told the authorities, and for , and therefore a great hatred for Chris- Agrippa was arrested and cast into prison. He tians. He killed James the son of , probably stayed in prison until Tiberius’ death six months by beheading, and he imprisoned Peter. He was the later (37 AD). most popular of all the Herods, with the Jews. When Caligula became emperor, he released Agrippa died suddenly in 44 AD. He was attend- Agrippa from prison and gave him a huge chain ing a public gathering and was being cheered and of , equal in weight to the chain Agrippa had flattered by the crowd, who called him a god. He worn in prison. More importantly, he gave him was seized with a great pain in the abdomen, and the title of King of the Jews, and he gave him the he died a few days later.

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