New Testament Backgrounds - Part 5
Herod the Great

A reading of the New Testament finds a ruler among the Jews named Herod present when Jesus was born, during his trial before Pilate, during the early chapters of the book of Acts where James is beheaded, and when Paul appears before Herod at Caesarean before sailing for Rome.  These were not all the same man; they were actually four different men. To better understand these men and there contribution to New Testament history this article begins a overview of each of them.  We begin with the man known as Herod the Great.

Herod was born in 73 B. C.  He was half Idumaean, or Edomite, and half Jewish by descent.  His homeland was conquered at an earlier date by the Jews and “converted” to Judaism.  His father was a capable politician who was able to obtain Roman citizenship and appointed Procurator of Judah.

Over time, Herod served in various ruling positions in Palestine until he was appointed king after helping the Romans put down a Parthian invasion of Palestine.  He is called the Great because of his many building projects.  He had built or rebuilt several cities, including Caesarea on the Coast with a manmade harbor for shipping.  He built several fortresses on the wilderness borders and the Jerusalem fortress of Antonia.  He is also credited with building an arch across the Tyropeon valley outside of Jerusalem for foot traffic into Jerusalem. This arch is said to be the largest one in the Roman Empire.  He is best known for his rebuilding of the Jewish temple which was begun in 20 B.C. and finished in 64 A.D.

If this were all Herod was famous for he would go down as truly great. But for all his building he is also known for his extreme cruelty.  He was married to ten different women, divorcing them or killing them for political purposes.  A partial list of those he killed are as followed: an uncle Joseph who was accused of adultery with Herod’s wife Mariamne; his wife Mariamne (the only women he was said to have truly loved); a year later he had Alexandra, Mariamne’s mother killed for plotting to overthrow Herod; Alexander and Aristobulus, two of Herod’s sons with Mariamne were killed for plotting against him along with 300 army officers reported to support the sons; another son Antipater by his wife Doris was killed for plotting against him.  Josephus also reports he had several prominent Jews imprisoned before his death with orders to execute them when he died to assure the people would grieve his death.

Matthew, chapter 2, records that this man ordered the death of all the children around Bethlehem following the visit of the wisemen.  The execution of innocent children in the area around Bethlehem was no doubt easy for this man in an effort to save himself from what he perceived as one more rival to his throne.

—Denny