King Herod the Great: Ruler living at the time of the New Testament
Herod the Great
King Herod the Great, who ruled Judea when Jesus was born (Matthew 2:1; Luke 1:5). When wise men from the east asked, “Where is he who is born King of the Jews?” he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; he asked where the Christ was to be born, and secretly sent the wise men to find the child. When they did not return, he sent soldiers to kill all the boys two years old and under in Bethlehem and its countryside (Matthew 2:1–18). An angel told Joseph in Egypt that he was dead (Matthew 2:19–20). The temple that Herod began rebuilding was still under construction in Jesus’ day (John 2:20).
Ruled all the land that his sons later divided. Named king by the Roman Senate in 40 BC, he took Jerusalem in 37 BC and died in 4 BC, shortly after the wise men's visit and his massacre of Bethlehem's boys (Matthew 2:16–19).
Family
- Children
- Archelaus, Herod Antipas, Philip, Philip the tetrarch
Show on the timelineFamily treeRead the 11 verses that name him