Get confused by all of the Herods in the Bible? Me too. But, the family of King Herod is actually an important cast of characters for the New Testament story. Here’s an excerpt from my Luke Commentary that breaks down who’s who. You can download the whole commentary here (a dynamic document as a current work in progress).
The following is taken from the notes on Luke 1.5.
“Herod was king”
· Aka ‘Herod the Great’ (cf. Mt 2.1-23)
o Ruled from c. 40/37BC to 4 BC
o Asked the wise men to report the whereabouts of the newborn King of the Jews to him
§ Had all male children in Bethlehem under 2 killed
o Died of an incurable disease at Jericho in 4BC; people then turned to Archelaus as their king
· Other Herodian Family Members:
o Herod Antipas: Ruler of Galilee (Lk 3.19)
§ Son of Herod the Great
§ Most-often-mentioned Herod in the NT b/c he ruled over the areas where Jesus and John concentrated their ministries
· Mentioned 3x in relation to Christ: Mt 14.1-2; Lk 13.31-33; Lk 23.6-12
§ Tried Christ just before crucifixion
§ Married his brother Philip’s (Lk 3.1) wife, Herodias (cf. Lv 18.16; 20.21)
§ Had John the Baptist beheaded at the request of his niece (Mt 14.1-12)
o Archelaus
§ Son of Herod the Great
§ (brutal) Ruler of Judah when Jesus’ family returned from Egypt (Mt 2.22)
o Herodias
§ Left Philip (Mt 14.3; Lk 3.1; Mk 6.17) to marry his brother, Herod Antipas
o Philip the Tetrarch
§ Brother of Herod Antipas; married to Herodias until she left him for Herod Antipas
§ Built Caesarea Philippi (Mt 16.13-20) and enlarged Bethsaida into Julias (Mk 8.22-26)
o Herod Agrippa 1st
§ Judean King who persecuted the church and executed James, son of Zebedee (Acts 12.1f)
o Herod Agrippa 2nd
§ Governor of Judah when Paul was imprisoned in Jerusalem (Acts 25.1-26.32)
§ Brother-in-law to Felix
o Felix
§ Husband of Drusilla; son-in-law to Herod Agrippa 1st
§ Govern in Caesarea who heard Paul’s case Acts 23.23f
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