1180 MATTHEW
AFTER EXILE
ERA 5
HEROD THE GREAT
Matthew 2:1–12
SYNOPSIS
HEROD THE GREAT
Age
25
?
32–35
41?
43–44
48?
Second son of Herod
Antipater II; becomes
governor of Galilee in 47 BC
Appointed as
governor
of Syria
BACKGROUND
Becomes
king of
Judea
Defeats Arabs despite
opposition by Cleopatra
and Octavian
Executes his wife
(Mariamne), mother-in-law
and brother-in-law
Rebuilds Samaria,
Jerusalem, Jericho and
Caesarea
48 Builds royal palace
for himself
52 Begins reconstruction of
the temple, a magnificent
building project
64 Kills his two sons
Alexander and Aristobulus
Sends the Magi to search
for Jesus, but they do not
return to him
67
Herod the Great (73 BC—4 BC ) oversaw
the transition of Palestine from Hasmo-
nean rule to a Roman province. Though
a capable administrator, Herod alienat-
ed his conservative Jewish subjects and
heightened expectations for the entrance
of a legitimate Jewish king who would fill
the throne of David.
Kills all the male babies in
and near Bethlehem
Becomes ill just before his
death in 4 BC; leaves
kingdom to his three sons:
Antipas, Philip and
Archelaus
The autonomous Jewish Hasmonean
kingdom established by the Maccabean
revolt (see article, p. 1154) came to an
end when the Roman general Pompey
(see article, p. 1159) invaded Palestine to
put an end to the civil war between two
Hasmonean rulers. After Pompey cap-
tured Jerusalem (63 BC), he left Judea
a Roman subsidiary under the author-
ity of Antipater, 1 and the Roman Senate
later appointed Antipater’s son Herod as
“king” of all Palestine (37 BC). Herod was
an Idumean (i.e., Edomite), a descendant
of Isaac’s son Esau. Esau and his descen-
dants were not chosen by the Lord to in-
herit the Abrahamic covenant (see article,
p. 37), and thus tensions had existed be-
tween the Israelites and the Edomites for
centuries. 2 Furthermore, during the Has-
monean period, Idumeans like Herod were
forced to convert to Judaism, but the Jews
viewed them as false converts. Herod at-
tempted to gain Jewish acceptance by
marrying a Jewish Hasmonean princess
and by completely renovating the temple
of Jerusalem (see article “The Second
Temple,” p. 1260), but he would never be
accepted by the people as a true king.
PERSONALITY TRAITS
Though Herod proved to be an extraordinary administrator, he was pathologically suspi-
cious of political threats to his power and could resort to extreme brutality. He murdered
his wife, the Hasmonean Mariamne, and several of their own children, when he suspected
their Hasmonean roots were raising expectations among the people for a legitimately Jewish
king. Throughout Herod’s rule, any possibility of revolt was treated with utter ruthlessness.
ROLE WITHIN THE BIBLICAL STORY
As a military leader, Herod subjugated Palestine to Roman rule. Whenever Hasmonean
partisans attempted to throw off foreign subjugation, Herod remained steadfastly loyal to the
Roman senate. With the blessing of Caesar Augustus, Herod swept through Galilee, Judea,
and Idumea, defeated resistant forces, and established permanent control of Jerusalem.