Herod the Great rules as king of Judea
Matthew 2:1–3, 16–19; Luke 1:5
Herod, an Idumean whose family had risen under the Hasmoneans, was named king of Judea by the Roman Senate and, with a Roman army, took Jerusalem three years later. He reigned 34 years as a brilliant builder and a ruthless, suspicious tyrant.
Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying
Matthew 2:1 (World English Bible)
Herod's father Antipater was an Idumean, from the Edomite people whom the Hasmoneans had forced to convert to Judaism. With Mark Antony's backing the Senate declared Herod king in 40 BC, and in 37 BC he and the Roman general Sosius took Jerusalem after a five-month siege. He married the Hasmonean princess Mariamne to strengthen his claim, and later had her, her brother the high priest, her grandfather, and three of his own sons put to death.
He also built on a vast scale: the harbor city of Caesarea, the fortresses of Masada, Herodium, and Machaerus, the city of Sebaste, and above all a rebuilt temple in Jerusalem. It was this king, old, ill, and jealous of any rival, whom the wise men asked, “Where is he who is born King of the Jews?” (Matthew 2:2).
Places
Ancient witnesses outside the Bible
Historical sources, not Scripture.
- Antiquities 14.16.1–4 — Herod and Sosius take Jerusalem
- War 1.18.1–3
Dating notes
Ussher: named king by the Senate in 40 BC; Jerusalem fell to Herod and Sosius in 37 BC. Ussher dates Herod's death to 4 BC, shortly after the lunar eclipse of 13 March that Josephus mentions; most historians agree, though some argue for 1 BC. Herod's death and the events of Jesus' birth belong to the next era.