KING OF JUDAEA, UNDER ROME · BETWEEN THE TESTAMENTS

Herod the Great. King in Jerusalem when Jesus was born in Bethlehem.

RULEDi

Not given c. 37–4 BC (dates vary)

SEAT

Jerusalem

HOUSE

Herod's family 1st of 17 in Rome

SCRIPTURE SAYS

“Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea "in the days of Herod the king", when wise men came from the east to…”

PROPHETS

Micah · Jeremiah

ROME: 17 RULERS HEROD THE GREAT → PORCIUS FESTUS

THE HERODS

Which Herod this is

SUCCESSION

Before and after

WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYS

What Scripture says of him

  • Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea "in the days of Herod the king", when wise men came from the east to Jerusalem asking, "Where is he that is born King of the Jews?" Matthew 2:1–2
  • "When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him." He asked the chief priests and scribes where Christ should be born, and they answered, "In Bethlehem of Judaea." Matthew 2:3–6
  • He called the wise men privately, "enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared", and sent them to Bethlehem: "bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also." Matthew 2:7–8
  • Warned of God in a dream, the wise men did not return to Herod. An angel told Joseph, "Herod will seek the young child to destroy him", and the family fled into Egypt "until the death of Herod". Matthew 2:12–15
  • When he saw that he was mocked, he "was exceeding wroth" and "slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under", reckoning by the time the wise men had given him. Matthew 2:16
  • "But when Herod was dead", Matthew says, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt: "they are dead which sought the young child's life." Matthew 2:19–20
  • Luke dates the angel's announcement to Zacharias "in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea". Luke 1:5
  • From the textScripture gives Herod no regnal record: no length of reign, no verdict formula, no burial. Everything it says of him belongs to the accounts of the births of John the Baptist and Jesus. Matthew 2:1–22 Luke 1:5

THE KINGDOM

Jerusalem and the places of the reign

Rome. Only places Scripture names are shown, each where the Atlas puts it.

EVENTS

Wars, works and turning points

UNDATED IN SCRIPTURE

THE NATION

What the nation did

  • Herod gathered "all the chief priests and scribes of the people" to ask where Christ should be born. Matthew 2:4
  • The temple of Jesus' day had been "Forty and six years" in building, the Jews said to Jesus at Jerusalem. John does not name the builder. John 2:20
  • Scholars' viewSchürer (1890) dates the start of Herod's rebuilding to the end of 20 or the beginning of 19 BC; counting the forty-six years from then, he places that Passover of John 2 in AD 27 or, "more probably", AD 28. John 2:20 [7]

PROPHETS

Prophets of the reign

  • Mi Micah “And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.”
  • Je Jeremiah “In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.”

ON THE WORLD STAGE

The powers of the day

OUTSIDE THE BIBLE

OUTSIDE THE BIBLE · WRITTEN ABOUT FOUR CENTURIES AFTER HEROD

Macrobius, Saturnalia 2.4.11

DATES DIFFER

When was it?

SCRIPTURE'S NUMBERS

No years given

None. Matthew and Luke date events by his reign (Matthew 2:1; Luke 1:5) but give no years.

SCHÜRER (1890)

c. 37–4 BC[5][6][8]

Made king by the Roman Senate late in 40 BC; took Jerusalem in 37 BC; died at Jericho shortly before the Passover of 4 BC.

A LATER DEATH: 3 BC OR 1 BC (MINORITY, AS LISTED BY SCHÜRER)

No years given[8]

Quandt and Kellner put his death in 3 BC; Caspari and Riess in 1 BC (Schürer, 1890, p. 466, lists them without their reasons).

3 BC

Quandt and Kellner, as listed by Schürer (1890)

Schürer names them as placing the death a year later; he does not set out their reasons.[8]

1 BC

Caspari and Riess (1880), as listed by Schürer (1890)

Schürer names them as diverging further, to 1 BC (and Seyffarth further still, to AD 1); he does not set out their reasons.[8]

IN SCRIPTURE

Every passage

CHAPTERS · 4

Matthew 2 Luke 1 John 2 Acts 23

PASSAGES · 4

Matthew 2:1–23 Luke 1:5 John 2:20 Acts 23:35

WHAT SCRIPTURE DOES NOT SAY

  • Scripture never calls him "the Great".
  • Scripture gives no length of reign, no verdict formula and no burial for Herod.
  • Matthew does not say how many children died at Bethlehem.
  • Scripture does not say how Herod died or where he was buried.
  • The Gospels do not say who rebuilt the temple of Jesus' day; John 2:20 gives only its forty-six years of building.
  • Matthew does not say how long after the birth the wise men came; Herod's "two years old and under" is reckoned from the time of the star.

IDENTIFICATIONS THIS PAGE RELIES ON

  • From the textMatthew calls him only "Herod the king" and Luke "Herod, the king of Judaea". Matthew ties him to the rest of the family in one phrase: Archelaus reigned "in the room of his father Herod". Matthew 2:1 Luke 1:5 Matthew 2:22
  • Scholars' view"Herod's judgment hall" at Caesarea, where Paul was kept, is taken by commentators to be the palace Herod the Great had built there and the governors later used (Poole, 1683; Meyer, English translation 1877–1879; Vincent, 1887). Acts does not say which Herod built it. Acts 23:35 [32][21][30]

SOURCES

Where this page comes from

  • A. B. Bruce, The Expositor's Greek Testament: Luke (1897), note on Luke 19:12–27 (read on Bible Hub).
  • A. C. McGiffert, Notes to Eusebius, Church History (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 1) (1890), book 2, chapter 10, notes 7 and 8, pp. 111–112.
  • C. J. Ellicott (ed.), A Bible Commentary for English Readers (c. 1878–1884), note on Acts 26:28 (read on Bible Hub).
  • C. J. Ellicott (ed.), A Bible Commentary for English Readers (c. 1878–1884), note on Luke 19:12 (read on Bible Hub).
  • E. Schürer, A History of the Jewish People in the Time of Jesus Christ, Division I, vol. 1 (tr. J. Macpherson) (1890), §14, p. 393 and note 3 (Herod made king by the Senate).
  • E. Schürer, A History of the Jewish People in the Time of Jesus Christ, Division I, vol. 1 (tr. J. Macpherson) (1890), §15, pp. 400–401 (heading 'Herod the Great, B.C. 37–4'; sources).
  • E. Schürer, A History of the Jewish People in the Time of Jesus Christ, Division I, vol. 1 (tr. J. Macpherson) (1890), §15, pp. 409–410 and note 12 (the temple begun in B.C. 20–19).
  • E. Schürer, A History of the Jewish People in the Time of Jesus Christ, Division I, vol. 1 (tr. J. Macpherson) (1890), §15, pp. 463–466 and note 165 (the last will, death and date).
  • E. Schürer, A History of the Jewish People in the Time of Jesus Christ, Division I, vol. 2 (tr. J. Macpherson) (1890), §17a, pp. 10–16 (Philip, B.C. 4 – A.D. 34).
  • E. Schürer, A History of the Jewish People in the Time of Jesus Christ, Division I, vol. 2 (tr. J. Macpherson) (1890), Excursus I, pp. 131–133 (the census and Herod's lifetime).
  • E. Schürer, A History of the Jewish People in the Time of Jesus Christ, Division I, vol. 2 (tr. J. Macpherson) (1890), §18, pp. 150–165 and notes (Herod Agrippa I, A.D. 37, 40, 41–44).
  • E. Schürer, A History of the Jewish People in the Time of Jesus Christ, Division I, vol. 2 (tr. J. Macpherson) (1890), §17b, pp. 17–20 (Antipas: title, territory, cities).
  • E. Schürer, A History of the Jewish People in the Time of Jesus Christ, Division I, vol. 2 (tr. J. Macpherson) (1890), §19 Supplement, pp. 191–206 and notes (Agrippa II, A.D. 50–100).
  • E. Schürer, A History of the Jewish People in the Time of Jesus Christ, Division I, vol. 2 (tr. J. Macpherson) (1890), §17b, pp. 21–28 and notes (Herodias; John the Baptist).
  • E. Schürer, A History of the Jewish People in the Time of Jesus Christ, Division I, vol. 2 (tr. J. Macpherson) (1890), §17b, pp. 29–32 (Jesus and Antipas; the chronology).
  • E. Schürer, A History of the Jewish People in the Time of Jesus Christ, Division I, vol. 2 (tr. J. Macpherson) (1890), §17b, pp. 32–38 and notes (Aretas; banishment).
  • E. Schürer, A History of the Jewish People in the Time of Jesus Christ, Division I, vol. 2 (tr. J. Macpherson) (1890), Appendix II, pp. 356–358 (Aretas IV, B.C. 9 – A.D. 40).
  • E. Schürer, A History of the Jewish People in the Time of Jesus Christ, Division I, vol. 2 (tr. J. Macpherson) (1890), §17c, pp. 38–42 and notes (Archelaus, B.C. 4 – A.D. 6).
  • Eusebius, tr. A. C. McGiffert, Church History (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 1) (1890), 2.10.1–10, pp. 111–112.
  • F. W. Farrar, The Gospel according to St Luke (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges) (1880), note on Luke 19:12 (read on Bible Hub).
  • H. A. W. Meyer, Critical and Exegetical Handbook to the Acts of the Apostles (English translation) (1877–1879), note on Acts 23:35 (read on Bible Hub).
  • H. A. W. Meyer, Critical and Exegetical Handbook to the Acts of the Apostles (English translation) (1877–1879), note on Acts 26:28 (read on Bible Hub).
  • H. A. W. Meyer, Critical and Exegetical Handbook to the Gospels of Mark and Luke (English translation) (1880), note on Luke 19:12–13 (read on Bible Hub).
  • H. A. W. Meyer, Critical and Exegetical Handbook to the Gospels of Mark and Luke (English translation) (1880), note on Mark 6:14 (read on Bible Hub).
  • H. D. M. Spence and J. S. Exell (eds.), The Pulpit Commentary (quoting F. W. Farrar, The Life of Christ, 1874) (1880–1897), note on Matt 2:16 (read on Bible Hub).
  • J. A. Bengel, Gnomon of the New Testament (Latin 1742; English translation) (1742), note on Acts 26:28 (read on Bible Hub).
  • J. R. Lumby, The Acts of the Apostles (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges) (1882), note on Acts 26:28 (read on Bible Hub).
  • John Gill, An Exposition of the New Testament (1746–1748), note on Acts 26:28 (read on Bible Hub).
  • John Gill, An Exposition of the New Testament (1746–1748), note on Matt 2:16 (read on Bible Hub).
  • M. R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887), note on Acts 23:35 (read on Bible Hub).
  • Macrobius (Latin text, ed. L. von Jan), Saturnalia (1852), 2.4.11 (our translation of the Latin).
  • Matthew Poole, Annotations upon the Holy Bible (1683–1685), note on Acts 23:35 (read on Bible Hub).
  • R. Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and D. Brown, A Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Whole Bible (1871), note on Acts 26:28 (read on Bible Hub).
  • Suetonius, tr. J. C. Rolfe, The Lives of the Caesars: Titus (1914), Titus 7.1–2.
  • W. M. Ramsay, Was Christ Born at Bethlehem? (1898), pp. 201, 219–221, 245.

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