Bible Study Lesson for Acts 12:1: All the Herods of the Bible

Verses 1-19 describes Peter's arrest and miraculous escape from prison.
Verses 20-25 describes the death of King Herod Agrippa I

Though I mentioned last week that the current Roman Emperor, Claudius, was not involved in the persecution of Christians, that did not mean that there weren't other rulers involved in hunting down and killing believers. We are going to meet one now.

Read Acts 12:1. Who was King Herod? In order to understand this, we need to go on a bit of a rabbit trail. First off, we need to understand that "Herod" was a surname, like Sanders or Smith. There are several "King Herods" mentioned in the Bible. The Herods, in fact, make up a long and complicated line. They ruled as kings of Judea and tetrarchs of Galilee. (The term "tetrarch" means one who rules over the 4th part of a kingdom or province.) To understand the genealogy and lineage of the Herods, from what I can tell from my Bible dictionaries, you need a history degree! { Show excerpts from "Westminster Dictionary of the Bible" pg. 238-239, "Smith's Bible Dictionary" pg. 128 }

The first Herod we would have heard of in the Bible was Herod the Great. Read Matthew 2:1-3.

Herod the Great (37-4 B.C.), to be distinguished from the other Herods in the Bible. Herod was a non-Jew, an Idumean, who was appointed king of Judea by the Roman Senate in 40 B.C. and gained control in 37. His reign was also noted for splendor, as seen in the many theaters, amphitheaters, monuments, pagan altars, fortresses and other buildings he erected or refurbished--including the greatest work of all, the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem, begun in 20 B.C. and finished 68 years after his death. He had 10 wives, 2 of which were his nieces.

{ Read excerpt from "Westminster Dictionary of the Bible" pg. 239 about Herod the Great }

The next Herod we read about is Archealus, Herod the Great's son. Read Matthew 2:19-23. Archaelus' mother was a Samaritan, so he was half-Idumean, half-Samaritan, without a drop of Jewish blood in his veins. He was educated in Rome. He ruled over Judea and Samaria for 10 years, but was unusually cruel and tyrannical, so he was deposed in AD 6.

The next Herod we read about is Antipas, who was also Herod the Great's son, and Archaelaus' full blood brother. He was tetrarch over Galilee from 4 BC to AD 39. Read Matthew 14:1-12. Now this is where things get complicated (if you aren't already totally confused!) Herodias is Herod the Great's granddaughter! She first marries her half-uncle Philip, then, as we read here, leaves him to marry her half-uncle Antipas. As we see here with how she arranges for John the Baptist to be murdered, she is a nasty, conniving woman. It was under the rule of Herod Antipas, therefore, that Jesus was crucified. Read Luke 23:6-12. (Pilate was the Roman procurator of Judea.)

So now we've moved up to the time here in Acts 12. Which Herod are we talking about here? This is Herod Agrippa the I, Herod the Great's grandson, Herodias' full blood brother, and half-nephew to Archelaus, Antipas, and Philip. Herodias did not like him and was jealous that he was made king over her husband, Antipas. { Read excerpt from "Smith's Bible Dictionary", pg. 129 } Herod Agrippa will rule for only three years, AD 41-44.

The final Herod we will meet is in Acts 25:13-15. This is Herod Agrippa the II, Herod Agrippa the I's son, Herod the Great's grandson. Bernice is his full-blood sister and there is reason to believe they were lovers. (Not surprising since she was first married to her full-blood uncle, the King of Chalcis, then later widowed.) Later she is known to be the mistress of emperor Vespasian's son Titus. (He dumps her later. Big surprise.)

So this is the Herod family. Absolutely delightful, isn't it? Full of murderers, adulterers, incest, infanticide... The Westminster Dictionary of the Bible makes a note that Herod the Great had 7 other children (2 sons and 5 daughters) but they did not play a prominent part in the history. I would say with what the rest of their relatives are known for this is probably a very good thing!

To be continued.

Sources
Editors. Compton's Interactive Bible (software)
Philip Yancey and Tim Stafford (notes). The Student Bible. NIV Version
Editors. Smith's Bible Dictionary.
John D. Davis. The Westminster Dictionary of the Bible.