COVER PAGE

Character Study

Herod the Great: The Rise and fall of a King

Setting: Ministerial Institute

Length of Delivery: 30 minutes for each lesson

Name of Student: Colette Adams Brown

Student ID: 22875409
Class: NBST 521
Instructor’s Name: Professor Charles Powell
Date Submitted: 09/11/2010
 Herod the Great: the Rise and fall of a King
Lesson one: In the beginning

I. The end of the Hasmonean Dynasty

A. Antipater, Herod’s father

B. Cypros the Arab, Herod’s mother

C. The second son of Antipater

II. Judea’s Civil war

A. Hrycanus’ appointed High Priest

B. Antipater becomes a Roman Citizen

C. Herod becomes Governor of Galilee

D. The Sanhedrin Trail

E. Death of Antipater

F. Retaliation for the death of Antipater

G. Herod rewarded with Hyranus’ granddaughter

III. Herod’s children by dominant wives

A. Alexander

B. Aristobulus

C. Antipater the eldest

IV. Herod and Phasael joint rulers of Judea

V. Herod flees to Masada

VI. Herod awarded throne of Judea

VII. Phasael in Rome

 Bibliography

Atkinson, Kenneth. 1999. On the Herodian origin of militant Davidic messianism at Qumran:
New light from psalm of Solomon 17. Vol. 118.

Ben-Sasson, H. H. A History of the Jewish People. Tel Aviv: Dvir Publishing House, 1969.

Carson, D.A., and Douglas J. Moo. An Introduction To The New Testament. Grand Rapid: Zondervan,
2005.

Elwell, Walter. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. Grand Rapids: Revell, a division of Baker
Publishing Group, 2009.

Frank, Glenda. 2001. Herod. Vol. 53.

Grant, Michael. Herod the Great. New York: American Hertiage Press, 1971.

Green, Robert. Herod the Great. Danbury: Grolier Publishing, 1966.

Garvey, John, and John Garvey. 2010. Herod is always with us. Vol. 137.

J.Julius Scott, Jr. Jewish Backgrounds of the New Testament. Grand Rapid: Baker Academics,
1995.

Jacobson, David M. 2001. Herod the great shows his true colors. Vol. 64.

Kennell, Nigel M. 1997. Herodes Atticus and the rhetoric of tyranny. Vol. 92.

Klammer, Siegfried, Frank Carroll, Audrey Carroll, Gerald M. Pauly, Mark Nielsen, and Harry Katz.
2009. Herod: The holy land's visionary builder. Vol. 215.

Lea, Beverly, and David Allan Black. The new Testament: Its background and message. Canada:
Broadman & Holman , 2003.

Magness, Jodi, and Jodi Magness. 2010. King Herod: A persecuted persecutor. A case study in
psychohistory and psychobiography. Vol. 72.

McCane, Byron R. 2008. Simply irresistible: Augustus, Herod, and the empire. Vol. 127.

McVann, Mark. 2008. The "passion" of john the Baptist and Jesus before Pilate: Mark's
warnings about kings and governors. Vol. 38.

Meier, John P. 2000. The historical Jesus and the historical Herodians. Vol. 119.

Mueller, Tom. 2008. Herod. Vol. 214.

———. 2008. Herod. National Geographic 214 (6) (December): 35-59.

Nolland, John. 1998. The sources for Matthew 2:1-12. Vol. 60.

Regev, Eyal, and Eyal Regev. 2010. Herod's Jewish ideology facing Romanization: On
intermarriage, ritual baths, and speeches. Vol. 100.

Yancey, Philip. 2007. A tale of five Herods. Vol. 51.

PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY

This is the first of a series of three lessons designed to examine the Rise and Fall of King

Herod. King Herod was a great politician, visionary builder and king. The bible briefly

mentions King Herod in Matthew. This study will focus on his historical background and focus

on his rule and reign in Judea. King Herod is widely known as the jealous king in the story

about the nativity of Jesus. However, this study will be broken down into three sessions which

will cover Herod’s life until his death. The first session we will learn about Herod’s family and

how he got his start in politics.

The end of the Hasmonean Dynasty

During the time of King Herod, Jerusalem was capital of Judea; it was a very important

city for it was the center of both religion and politics. Leaders of the city during this time were

priest and kings. The position was passed down from father to son in a royal family or dynasty.

John Hyrcannus reigned as high priest and king from 134 to 104 BC. During his reign the Jews

conquered the land south of Judea called Idumaea; the bible refers to this land as Edom and its

inhabitants as Edomites.

Antipater, Herod’s father

Antipater, Herod’s father lived in Idumaea during the reign of King Hyracannus.

Herod’s mother was Cypros an Arab. Herod was born in 74 BC. Antipater was an Arab but

during the ruler of a Jewish king, Antipater and his family converted to Judaism.
Judea’s Civil war

In 63 BC Rome marched from Syria to the gates of Jerusalem (Green 1966). When Julius

Caesar defeated Pompey (Roman general), Antipater aided Caesar in Alexandria, and was made

chief minister of Judea, with the right to collect taxes. Caesar repaid Antipater by making him a

Roman citizen, Antipater was an Arab so he could not be promoted to the position of high priest,

the office did not always pass directly from father to son. The high priests, like all Jewish priests,

belonged to the Aaronic line (J.Julius Scott 1995). Hyrcannus was appointed high priest

however Antipater was the one who was really in charge.

Antipater eventually made his sons Phasael and Herod the Governors of Jerusalem and

Galilee respectively (Green 1966). Herod was twenty-five years old when he became governor.

Galilee was a very small region only approximately twenty five by thirty-five miles (Grant

1971). Even with its small statue Galilee was important because, detached from the parent

country, it formed a frontier zone along its entire circumference (Grant 1971). Galilee was a

very fertile land and played a large part in the Palestinian economy. During his region as

governor of Galilee, Herod showed his ability when he captured, Ezekias, a bandit who refused

to pay taxes and obey the Herodian administration (Green 1966). Herod killed the bandit and

his troops. This triumph caught the attention of Syrian leaders.

 Many of the Jews did not forget how ruthless Herod was during the revolt. Many of

Herod’s enemies claimed that Herod had no right to murder the Jewish rebels because they were

protected under religious laws. The Sanhedrin, which was the Jewish high court, summoned

Herod to answer the charges brought against him. The Sanhedrin could decide life or death, and

trails were a very serious affair. Most who appeared before this court humbled themselves and

showed respect to the judges. But not Herod he arrived at court with bodyguards and dressed in

very colorful clothing, he looked defiant (Green 1966). Herod would have most certainly been

found guilty however word came down from Rome not to find Herod guilty (Ben-Sasson 1969).

Herod left the court in triumph. The Herodians kept a close eye on politics; in 44 BC Caesar was

assassinated. Cassius and Brutus had led the group that killed Caesar (Green 1966). Marc

Anthony and Octavius sought to avenge Caesar’s murder; Cassuis appealed to Judea to money to

help finance a war against Marc Anthony and Octavuis (Ben-Sasson 1969). Antipater had little

choice in the matter so he ordered each of his governor’s to raise a portion of the money through

tax collection (Green 1966). Malichus, one of the tax collectors refused to raise his portion of

the taxes for Cassuis army. Malichus wanted to make Antipater look bad by not raising;

Antipater and Cassius were furious with Malichus and wanted to execute him; however

Hyrcanus took pity on Malichus and paid Antipater and Cassuis to stop the execution (Grant

1971). After all the taxes had been collected at a feast. Antipater drank from a goblet of poison

wine and died. It is rumored that Malichus poisoned Antipater in retaliation for the way he was

treated by Antipater and Cassuis. During the death of Herod’s father, the Roman commander

became very sympathetic. However, Herod desire was to avenge his father’s death. Cassuis

heard of the poisoning death of Herod’s father and ordered the Roman soldier’s to strike down

the assassin. This action strengthened Herod’s and Cassuis friendship. In 42 BC Cassuis was
defeated by Marc Anthony and Octavius, Cassuis could not take the defeat and threw himself on

his sword (Grant 1971).

As a reward for his service, Herod was present Hyrcanus granddaughter, Mariamme.

Herod was already married to an Arab woman named Doris. Herod probably looked at the value

of being married to a Hasmonean princess. In Herod’s lifetime it is believed that he was married

ten times and fathered at least twelve children (Grant 1971).Mariamme and Doris played a bid

part in the life of Herod. Mariamme had two children, Alexander and Aristobulus, who were

considered royal princes of the Hasmonean blood line (J.Julius Scott 1995). Herod had one son

by Doris, his name was Antipater, and he was the eldest of the three sons. Antipater was sent to

the quiet countryside of Judea while his two brothers, Alexander and Aristobulus where very

close to there father and received a lot of his attention. Herod worked very hard to maintain his

power and establish a dynasty for his sons. Enemies of Herod sent ambassadors to convince

Anthony to reestablish the Hasmonean dynasty by throwing Herod out of Judea. Herod pleaded

his case to Anthony; however Anthony assured Herod he was his ally and friend. Anthony

appointed Herod and his elder brother Phasael joint ruler of all of Judea (Ben-Sasson 1969). As

soon as this appointment happened war broke out. Parthian invaded in 40 B.C. and Antigonus, a

rival Hasmonean, became king of Judea, and Herod had to flee (Green 1966). He left his family

in the fortress of Masada and went through Egypt to Rome. In Rome both Antony and Octavian,

the future Augustus, accepted him as a useful counter against the Parthians, and the Senate

named him king of Judea.

The Jews of course did not recognize Rome's right to choose their king for them, and

Herod, with Roman help, had to conquer his kingdom. Antigonus and his chief followers were
put to death (Grant 1971). Herod still had a problem, the office of the high priest; he himself had

not the blood to claim the office.

Herod the Great: the Rise and fall of a King

Lesson two: Tyrant and Humanitarian

This is the second of three lessons designed to examine the Rise and Fall of King Herod. King

Herod was a great politician, visionary builder and king. The bible briefly mentions King Herod

in Matthew. This study will focus on Herod as a Tyrant and Humanitarian. In the first session

we learned about Herod’s family and how he got his start in politics, now we will learn how he

reigned as King of Judea.

When the last session ended Herod had been awarded the throne of Judea. Herod had become

king of the Jews in title. While Herod was in Rome, Herod’s eldest brother Phasael and

Hyrcanus were captured by Antigious. However rather than face the humiliation of prison and

torture, Phasael smashed his head against the prison wall and fell to his death. Hyrcanus was

less fortunate he had his ears cut off by Antigious, and then he was sold to the Partians. In 39

BC Herod returned to Judea with an army of paid soldiers and roman legions (Green 1966).

Herod drove Antigonus’ forces from Judea and Herod enters in triumph. After Antigonus was

defeated and beheaded Herod was now king in title and in actuality (Green 1966). Herod began
his reign with an act of revenge. Herod remembered how the Sanhedrin had treated him during

the revolt in Galilee. When he became king he had 46 members of the seventy one Sanhedrin

killed (Ben-Sasson 1969). Herod was also incredibly treacherous however; jealous of his power,

suspicious of others who might take his power, and merciless. 

Artiobulus was the youngest surviving Hasmonean; Marianne brother was next in line for the

office of high priest. Herod invited the high priest out for a day of relaxation at a pool of water.

Because, the people really like Artiobulus and Herod fearing a threat to his throne, he had the

high priest Aristobulus drowned.

The people of Judea mourned the death of the high priest; Herod tried to tell the people it

was an accident. However, Alexandria, Aristobulus’ mother and others suspected Herod of

murder. Alexandria was against the marriage of Herod and Marianne, and tried to turn

Mariamme against Herod. Alexandria’s hatred for Herod drove her to seek the help of the

Egyptian queen Cleopatra. However, Herod had lots of spies and Alexandria plans were foiled.

Roman leader Octavian won a victory against the forces of Roman Mark Antony and Cleopatra,

queen of Egypt. Before their forces suffered final defeat, Antony and Cleopatra broke though the

enemy lines and fled to Egypt, where they would commit suicide the following year (Green

1966). To celebrate and congratulate Octavius victory over Anthony and Cleopatra Herod sailed

to the Mediterranean island of Rhodes, to win favor with Octavuis by giving him expensive gifts.

So before he left on the trip he sent his wife and mother-in-law to Alexandrium to wait for him.

While in Alexandrium, Mariamme plotted to poison her husband, however Herod’s spies found

out about her plans and told Herod. Herod had his wife but on trial and she was found guilty and
Herod had Marriamme put to death. Herod’s decision haunted him, because he was in love with

Mariamme, Herod would wake up screaming Mariamme’s name with cold chills and fever, this

drove him over the edge. Alexandria was devastated over her son’s and daughter’s death, she

tried to turn the people against him. Herod got tried of his mother-in-law and ordered her

execution. This execution drove the people of Judea farther from Herod; he became a mad man

and ruled by force and at the will of Octavius. In 27 BC Octopus proclaimed himself Emperor of

all the providence of Roman and took the new name of Augustus Caesar (Ben-Sasson 1969). To

celebrate this occasion Herod organized the Actian games. The games included wrestling,

chariot races, and musical competitions, these games were held every five years. The games

upset the Jews, for one the chariots were a symbol of war and the musical and comedy

performances upset the orthodox Jews with it content. Herod was infatuated with Greek and

roman culture and architecture.

Herod's palace was known as Antonia was known for its spender and grandeur was

named after Marc Anthony. Josephus (War 5.238-246) wrote that “The tower of Antonia lay at

an angle where two porticoes, the western and the northern, of the first court of the Temple met;

it was built on a rock fifty cubits high and on all sides precipitous.” (Grant 1971) Anthonio was

paterned in Graeco Roman style.

Herod rebuilt the temple out of marble and gold. The building was taller than a fifteen-

story building, and its foundation included limestone blocks weighing more than five hundred

tons. On the western hill of the city, he built a spectacular complex that contained reception

halls, apartments, fountains, gardens, baths, and a fortress for his personal guards. He also built a

Greek theater and hippodrome, paved the streets, and installed sewers.
 Herod builds Caesarea into one of the most amazing seaports of the ancient world.

Founded in 22 BC, the city housed a large theater, amphitheater, hippodrome, a massive temple

to Augustus, and an elaborate palace by the sea. Forty-acre, man-made harbor. A lighthouse

guided ships into the harbor that brought Roman legions, marble, granite, and the Hellenistic

culture of the region. From that harbor, ships also carried spices, olive oil, grain, and eventually

the gospel to the far reaches of the world.

Herod was also an ambitious builder. His projects included, among others, the fortress in

Massada, the building over the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, and the port city of Caesarea

also known as Stroto’s Towers. The city of Caesarea was one of the most important cities in

Israel during the time of Christ and the first few centuries of the early church. It was the home of

Cornelius, the first Gentile convert (Acts 10:1) and of Philip the evangelist (Acts 8:40). Herod

Agrippa was smitten by an angel of the Lord at Caesarea (Acts 12:21-23) and the apostle Paul

visited the city on many occasions (Acts 9:30; 23:23-35). But his most ambitious project by far –

which he embarked on in 19 BCE – was the renovation and expansion of the Temple, which was

dilapidated after 334 years. He undertook this renovation as atonement for all the rabbis he

killed.

Herod's Temple was made of white marble and covered with gold plates. According to

Josephus, "it reflected so fierce a blaze of fire that those who tried to look at it had to turn away,

as if they had looked straight at the sun. To approaching strangers it appeared in the distance like

a mountain covered with snow."

The visionary builder

Herod the Great rebuilt the city and named it after the emperor (Augustus' name in Greek

is Sebaste). Six hundred columns lined a half-mile street of Herodian Sebaste. The Roman forum

was a large open area where people assembled for commerce and governmental activity. On the

edge of the forum, archaeologists excavated a Roman basilica. Before being adopted by

Christians for church buildings, basilica-type buildings were used for economic and judicial

functions. Herod also built a large stadium on the northern slope of the city.

Aid to Judea
 Herod focused most of his attention to Rome, however he did not forget about the Jews.

In 25 BC the farms began to dry up in Judea causing a famine. Herod moved quickly, he

collected money, grain from Egypt and distributed it the occupant of Judea. Herod even brought

in bakers and cooks to prepare food for the elderly and sick. Herod even gave the occupants

seed to sow the crops for the next year. Even though Herod was not a religious man, he had the

temple, which was destroyed in 586 BC rebuilt; the work was started in 19 BC. Herod thought

this gesture would win him favor with the Jews. Herod funded the project with his own money;

he even employed one thousand priests to rebuild the scared place. Herod financed his many

building projects, not only through taxes, but also through the spice trade. Herod controlled the

international trade routes for the spice trade. This trade was one of the reasons Herod warred

with the Nabateans and for his ties with them, as well as his penetration into Moab. He also

developed specialized agriculture, growing spices, medicinal plants, and dates in the Jordan

Valley. Dates provided the main sweetener of the day. "When Mark Antony wanted to give

Cleopatra a special gift and told her to choose any place in the East (within the Roman Empire),

she asked for Herod's farm in Jericho. Since she lacked the manpower to run it, however, she

leased it back to Herod, who calculated that even with the added expense of rent; it would still be

a lucrative operation for him." Augustus later returned the farm to Herod. It is speculated, that

the wealth from these endeavors helped Herod to finance all of his building projects (Beit-Arieh

1990).While thousands of other workers worked on the outside. In 10 BC Herod celebrated the

competition of the inside of the temple with a feast; he had hundreds of oxen killed to

commemorate the feast. However the entire project was not completed in its entirety until after

Herod’s death. It is recorded in the scared writing of the Jews the splendor of the building.
 Herod was also known for the help he gave the Diaspora Jews. Diaspora Jews were those

Jews who lived outside of the land of Israel. The Jews in Asia Minor were forced to serve in the

Roman military which was contrary to their religious teachings, so Herod appealed to King

Agrippa and the king excused the Jews from military service. While Herod was away in Asia

Minor things back home in Judea began to take a turn. Herod’s two sons by Mariamme had

learned the importance of their royal blood while in Rome. The information they learned made

them advocates of the Hasmonean rule and made them think their father was unworthy of being

the king of Judea. This only added fuel to the fire that had been lilt when their father had their

mother killed. Herod tried to frighten his son by having formal charges brought up against them

in 12 BC. Augustus was infuriated that Herod could not handle his own sons, and the trial

ended with a promise of Herod and his sons patching things up. However, things did not get

better and Herod called for his son Antipater to be his ally, but Antipater joined his brothers in

the plot to get rid their father. Antipater did not know that the plot to get rid of Herod included

him since Herod had made him heir to the throne. Herod shared the plots against his life with

Augustus, soon Augustus took the threats serious and granted Herod the right of patriarchy,

which by Roman law allowed Herod to have his son excited by strangulation in 7 BC after being

found guilty of treason by a judge. This angered the people that Herod was getting away with

having generation after generation of Hasmoean royals murdered. After the execution of his

sons, Herod became ill however this did not stop Antipater from plotting with Pheroras, Herod’s

last surviving brother to have him killed. Herod’s spies learned of the plot and Herod was

becoming extreme cruel and confused he changed his will three times and disinherited Antipater.

In 4 BC Herod had Antipater poisoned and burned several people alive, the only why Pheroras

was able to escape the wrath of Herod was he died a natural death before Herod got to him.
 Bibliography

Atkinson, Kenneth. 1999. On the Herodian origin of militant davidic messianism at Qumran:
New light from psalm of Solomon 17. Vol. 118.

Ben-Sasson, H. H. A History of the Jewish People. Tel Aviv: Dvir Publishing House, 1969.

Carson, D.A., and Douglas J. Moo. An Introduction To The New Testament. Grand Rapid: Zondervan,
2005.

Elwell, Walter. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. Grand Rapids: Revell, a division of Baker
Publishing Group, 2009.

Frank, Glenda. 2001. Herod. Vol. 53.

Grant, Michael. Herod the Great. New York: American Hertiage Press, 1971.

Green, Robert. Herod the Great. Danbury: Grolier Publishing, 1966.

Garvey, John, and John Garvey. 2010. Herod is always with us. Vol. 137.

J.Julius Scott, Jr. Jewish Backgrounds of the New Testament. Grand Rapid: Baker Academics,
1995.

Jacobson, David M. 2001. Herod the great shows his true colors. Vol. 64.

Kennell, Nigel M. 1997. Herodes Atticus and the rhetoric of tyranny. Vol. 92.

Klammer, Siegfried, Frank Carroll, Audrey Carroll, Gerald M. Pauly, Mark Nielsen, and Harry Katz.
2009. Herod: The holy land's visionary builder. Vol. 215.

Lea, Beverly, and David Allan Black. The new Testament: Its background and message. Canada:
Broadman & Holman , 2003.

Magness, Jodi, and Jodi Magness. 2010. King Herod: A persecuted persecutor. A case study in
psychohistory and psychobiography. Vol. 72.

McCane, Byron R. 2008. Simply irresistible: Augustus, Herod, and the empire. Vol. 127.

McVann, Mark. 2008. The "passion" of john the Baptist and Jesus before Pilate: Mark's
warnings about kings and governors. Vol. 38.

Meier, John P. 2000. The historical Jesus and the historical Herodians. Vol. 119.

Mueller, Tom. 2008. Herod. Vol. 214.

———. 2008. Herod. National Geographic 214 (6) (December): 35-59.

Nolland, John. 1998. The sources for Matthew 2:1-12. Vol. 60.

Regev, Eyal, and Eyal Regev. 2010. Herod's Jewish ideology facing Romanization: On
intermarriage, ritual baths, and speeches. Vol. 100.

Yancey, Philip. 2007. A tale of five Herods. Vol. 51.

 Herod the Great: the Rise and fall of a King
Lesson Three: The End of the Reign of Terror

This is the third and final of three lessons designed to examine the Rise and Fall of King

Herod. King Herod was a great politician, visionary builder, madman and king. The bible

briefly mentions King Herod in Matthew. This study will focus on The Massacre of the Innocent

and the death of Herod. In the first session we learned about Herod’s family and how he got his

start in politics, now we will learn how he reigned as King of Judea, the second session focused

on him being a tyrant and hummantian.

The Romans also gave Herod the title 'King of the Jews' because of the Jewish population

he ruled. The title of 'King of the Jews' begins to explain the impression we have of Herod from

the Bible. The Bible shapes the popular conception we now have of Herod as a King who was

proud of his title and would do anything to keep it.

The massacre of the innocents

If the soothsayers of the time were correct, the birth of a new King of the Jews was

imminent and threatened Herod's position. In the massacre of newborn babies of Bethlehem

found in the Nativity story, King Herod is portrayed as a tyrant prepared to kill infants who could

eventually challenge him.

However, the historical evidence for the event is only Biblical and in fact only one verse

in Matthew mentions it. The event is notably absent from the other gospels.
 It seems difficult to imagine such a massacre was not mentioned by Josephus, a first-

century historian who described other events in Herod's life. One could be a skeptical of

Matthew's account of a massacre of infants.

Bethlehem was a small village, with a population between three hundred and a thousand

(Jackson n.d.). It was estimated that the number of babies under the age of two would have been

only between seven and twenty. Josephus does not mention the murders (Lardnar 1750). Two

accounts in the New Testament describe Jesus as born in Bethlehem. According to the Gospel of

Luke, Jesus' parents lived in Nazareth but traveled to Bethlehem for the census of AD 6 (J.Julius

Scott 1995), and Jesus was born there before the family returned to Nazareth.

Matthew 2:1-12:

"After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from

the east came to Jerusalem and asked, 'Where is the one who has been born king of the

Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.' When King Herod

heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all

the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to

be born. 'In Bethlehem in Judea,' they replied, 'for this is what the prophet has written:

"But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of

Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel." '

"Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star

had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, ‘Go and make a careful search for the

child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.' After
 they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east

went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw

the star, they were overjoyed.

"On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down

and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold

and of incense and of myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to

Herod, they returned to their country by another route."

The Gospel of Matthew account implies that the family already lived in Bethlehem when

Jesus was born, and later moved to Nazareth. Matthew reports that Herod the Great, told that a

'King of the Jews' has been born in Bethlehem, ordered the killing of all the children aged two

and under in the town and surrounding areas. Jesus' earthly father Joseph is warned of this in a

dream, and the family escapes this fate by fleeing to Egypt and returning only after Herod has

died. But being warned in another dream not to return to Judea, Joseph withdraws the family to

Galilee, and goes to live in Nazareth (Jackson n.d.).

The Gospel of Luke claims (2.1-2) that Jesus was born during a census that we know

from the historian Josephus took place after Herod the Great died, and after his successor,

Archelaus, was deposed. But Matthew claims (2.1-3) that Jesus was born when Herod the Great

was still alive--possibly two years before he died (2:7-16). Other elements of their stories also

contradict each other. Since Josephus precisely dates the census to 6 A.D. and Herod's death to 4

B.C., and the sequence is indisputable, Luke and Matthew contradict each other (Carrier 2006).
 The Protevangelion of James is an historical accounts of the birth of Christ, and the

perpetual Virgin Mary, his mother, by James the lesser, cousin and brother of the lord Jesus, a

chief apostle and first bishop of the Christians in Jerusalem.

King Herod is usually thought of as a paranoid and cruel leader. Now doctors believe he

may have become even more ill-tempered towards the end of his life because of kidney disease

and rotting genitalia. Based on two accounts by a Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, "Herod the

Great expired from chronic kidney disease probably complicated by Fournier's gangrene."

Herod's personality problems predated his illness, "but it might have made them worse. Chronic

kidney disease can lead to depression; Herod attempted suicide during his illness, paranoia, and

irritability (Retief 2005)."

"Josephus lists several major features of the disease that caused his death - among them,

intense itching, painful intestinal problems, breathlessness, convulsions in every limb, and

gangrene of the genitalia (Retief 2005)."

Chronic kidney disease often causes ulcerations of the intestinal tract and one possible

mechanism of Fournier's gangrene in Herod was perforation of the intestine, with infection

extending into the scrotum and penis.

Once back at his palace in Jericho, Herod devised a monstrous plan. Since he knew his

death was not far off, and realizing that most of the Jewish people had a vehement hatred of him,

he decided on a scheme which would have the whole nation in mourning at the time of his death.

He had many prominent Jewish elders from all areas of his kingdom assemble at Jericho.

Without the elders realizing his intention, Herod’s plot was to place them in custody, and then on
the day of his death, they were to be executed. In Herod’s warped reasoning this would guarantee

that the entire Jewish nation would go into a state of mourning (Grant 1971).

This heinous plan was put into action. Messengers were sent from Jericho to all parts of

Herod’s realm bearing orders for the elders of the cities and villages to appear at Jericho on pain

of death for their refusal. Since the northern cities of Herod’s kingdom were at least 130 miles

away, a period of 3 days for the couriers to reach the elders, a day or so for them to prepare for

the trip, and then 3 or 4 days for the elders to reach Jericho would occupy, at the very least, a

week’s time. Josephus said these municipal elders with other Jewish dignitaries finally arrived at

Jericho and were locked up in the hippodrome (Lardnar 1750).

Josephus said that after this, letters came from Augustus in Rome giving Herod

permission to kill his son Antipater. The king had him executed immediately and Herod died 5

days later (Green 1966).

Josephus said that Herod ordered his funeral to be the grandest ever bestowed on a king.

And Archelaus carried out his father’s wish. Josephus shows that the arrangements for the

official procession were begun only after Herod died. In no way was it possible for a royal

funeral to be arranged in a single day. The final burial place of Herod was to be at the Herodian

about 8 miles south of Jerusalem (Green 1966).

Nothing of such grandeur was given to the funerals of ordinary people. They were

usually buried within a day and that was the end of the matter. But with kings it was different.

An elaborate procession was designed by Archelaus for the grandest kind of funeral that any man

had ever had. It was majestic indeed (Green 1966).

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