Herod the Great

"(Matt. 2:1-22; Luke 1:5; Acts 23:35), the son of Antipater, an" "Idumaean, and Cypros, an Arabian of noble descent. In the year" "B.C. 47 Julius Caesar made Antipater, a "wily Idumaean," "procurator of Judea, who divided his territories between his" "four sons, Galilee falling to the lot of Herod, who was" "afterwards appointed tetrarch of Judea by Mark Antony (B.C. 40)," and also king of Judea by the Roman senate. "He was of a stern and cruel disposition. "He was brutish and a "stranger to all humanity." Alarmed by the tidings of one "born" "King of the Jews," he sent forth and "slew all the children that" "were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years" "old and under" (Matt. 2:16). He was fond of splendour, and" lavished great sums in rebuilding and adorning the cities of his "empire. He rebuilt the city of Caesarea (q.v.) on the coast, and" "also the city of Samaria (q.v.), which he called Sebaste, in" "honour of Augustus. He restored the ruined temple of Jerusalem," "a work which was begun B.C. 20, but was not finished till after" "Herod's death, probably not till about A.D. 50 (John 2:20)." "After a troubled reign of thirty-seven years, he died at Jericho" "amid great agonies both of body and mind, B.C. 4, i.e.," "according to the common chronology, in the year in which Jesus" was born. "After his death his kingdom was divided among three of his sons. "Of these, Philip had the land east of Jordan, between Caesarea" "Philippi and Bethabara, Antipas had Galilee and Peraea, while" Archelaus had Judea and Samaria.

Related Bible Dictionary Terms:
Alexander the Great    Herod Agrippa I    Herod Antipas    Herod Archelaus    Herod Arippa II    Herod Philip I    Herod Philip II