King Herod

King Herod the Great was the Rome-appointed king of Judea at the time of Christ's birth — a brilliant, ruthless builder who rebuilt the Temple and, hearing of a newborn "king of the Jews," ordered the slaughter of the infants of Bethlehem.

Overview

• Herod the Great (reigned c. 37–4 BC) was the Roman client king of Judea — an Idumean of convert descent, not of David's line, who held his throne by Rome's backing and by force.
• He was a great builder (his enlargement of the Jerusalem Temple made it a wonder of the ancient world) and notoriously cruel and paranoid, executing even his own wife and sons.
• In Matthew 2 he is the "King Herod" who receives the magi, is "troubled" by news of a newborn king, and orders the massacre of the boys of Bethlehem — the Holy Innocents — driving the Holy Family to flee to Egypt.

Summary

Herod the Great ruled Judea for Rome during the years surrounding the Nativity. An Idumean whose family had converted to Judaism, he owed his crown entirely to Rome, which proclaimed him king and secured his throne with its legions.[^jant] He proved an extraordinary and ruthless ruler — expanding and beautifying the kingdom, above all rebuilding the Jerusalem Temple on a magnificent scale, while ruling by repression and killing members of his own family out of paranoia (the emperor Augustus reportedly quipped that it was safer to be Herod's pig than his son).[^jant] The Gospel of Matthew shows this same character at the Nativity: alarmed by the magi's report of a newborn "king of the Jews," he tries to trick them into revealing the child, and when they evade him, slaughters the infant boys of Bethlehem (Matthew 2) — an atrocity fully in keeping with his historical reputation. He should be distinguished from his sons, also called Herod, who appear later in the Gospels — especially Herod Antipas, who beheaded John the Baptist and questioned Jesus at His trial. Cross-link The Nativity of Christ, Maccabean Revolt, The Temple, St. John the Baptist.

Sources

[^1]: Matthew 2 (WEB) — Herod, the magi, and the massacre of the infants of Bethlehem. [^jant]: The Jewish Annotated New Testament (eds. Amy-Jill Levine & Marc Zvi Brettler, Oxford Univ. Press), essay "Jewish History, 331 BCE–135 CE" (Martin Goodman) — Herod the Great as Rome's Idumean client king, his rebuilding of the Temple, and his repressive, paranoid rule (the "better to be Herod's pig than his son" tradition) — consistent with Matthew's portrait, (in-copyright scholarly reference; paraphrased).