Did Jesus want to overthrow Herod and become King of the Jews?

Herod Antipas

Tetrarch of Galilee and Perea

4 BC e.-39 year

Herod Antipas

on Wikimedia Commons
Jesus before Herod Antipas The Domain of Herod Antipas (purple color)
Herod Antipas

(
Herod Antipas
, English Herod Antipas, Herod Antipater, Greek
Ἡρῴδης Ἀντίπατρος
, Hebrew הורדוס אנטיפס) - ruler of Galilee and Perea from 4 BC. e. to 39[1].

[edit] Biography

Herod Antipas was born in 20 BC. e. His father is the Jewish king Herod I the Great (seventh son), his mother is Maltaka, a Samaritan by birth.

Like most other members of Herod the Great's family, Herod Antipas was raised in Rome, in close contact with the imperial court. The young man's life was typical of a patrician of that time, and Antipas was not distinguished by deep moral principles.

From two Greek inscriptions - one from Kos, the other from Delos, it becomes known that Herod Antipas traveled a lot [2]; although, however, it is impossible to establish to what period of life these trips belong.

When Antipater's plot against his father's life was discovered, Herod the Great appointed Antipas as his successor on the Jewish throne. But, dying, Herod ordered the division of Judea into several regions and in his will in 4 BC. e. left Antipas only the tetrarchy of Galilee and Pereia, which gave an annual income of 200 talents, while Archelaus received the title of “King of the Jews.”

Herod Antipas, however, was not satisfied with this division of his father's heritage. Accompanied by the rhetorician Irenaeus, he went to Rome and began to demand royal power, in accordance with the original desire of Herod the Great. Despite the fact that at the same time a deputation of 50 Jews arrived at the imperial court with a request to remove Archelaus, and at the same time also petitioned for the removal of Herod Antipas, Emperor Augustus approved the last will of Herod the Great.

Subsequently, Herod Antipas repeatedly, as a tetrarch, renewed his requests in Rome to expand the boundaries of his possessions. His last petition to Caligula hastened his death.

Jesus Christ is one of those babies whom Herod ordered to be killed in Bethlehem

King Herod and Jesus never met, but the Bible tells of the Bethlehem massacre of the infants, one of whom was the baby Jesus. The Gospel of Matthew says that Herod learned from the wise men that the true King of the Jews had been born, and they were going to worship him (Matthew 2). However, the wise men did not tell the king where the baby was.

Massacre of the Innocents in the mosaic of the Roman Temple of Santa Maria Maggiore. King Herod ordered to kill all the firstborn in Bethlehem, because he was afraid that the “new king”, i.e. the Christ child will dethrone him

Herod was afraid because he did not come from the family of King David and a new contender for power could remove him from the throne. That is why he decided to kill the newborn king. Since Herod did not know where the baby was, he ordered the killing of all Bethlehem children under the age of two, hoping that the mysterious “future king” would be among them.

The Gospel says that infants were beaten, but the exact number of deaths is not reported. The Byzantine tradition speaks of 14,000, and the Syrian about 64,000.

14 000

babies were killed in Bethlehem by order of King Herod

Some scholars doubt the number of deaths, and they also say that the famous historian of Israel and Judea says nothing about this event.

To this, Father Alexander Men notes that the order to send a detachment of soldiers to Bethlehem with the order to kill all babies under two years old there was most likely given by Herod in deep secrecy. The Orthodox Church honors the saints of the 14 thousand infants of Bethlehem, killed by order of King Herod on January 11.

[edit] Reign of Herod Antipas

The title “king” as applied to Herod Antipas appears only once, in the Gospel[3], and is explained either by the fact that they wanted to express great importance and authority to Herod Antipas, or by the fact that the royal title was generally worn by many members of Herod’s dynasty. Archelaus at that time no longer ruled. Typically, when Herod Antipas is spoken of in the New Testament, he is called a “tetrarch.” Josephus Flavius, who calls him in the first part of the “Jewish War” Antips, speaking about the division of Judea, calls him Herod; at the same time, Josephus adds to the name of Herod the words “the one who was called Antipas”[4], using the name of Herod throughout the rest of his book.

Although Herod was by nature cowardly and groveling before the stronger, sometimes he still showed a certain cruelty, but at the same time, apparently, he provided his subjects with some independence.

Like his father, Antipas was also involved in construction. He made efforts to decorate cities and build new ones. He rebuilt Beth Garan (Betarampta) in the south of Perea and named it Liviada. He then rebuilt and expanded his capital, Sepphoris; Having restored the fortress of Macheron (burned during the war with Var in 4 BC) on the eastern shore of the Dead Sea and erected a magnificent palace, he turned this fortified point into a city. It was probably in this palace that John the Baptist preached and was later imprisoned.

The main work of Herod Antipas was the construction in the year 14 of the city of Tiberias on Lake Gennesaret in Galilee. He rebuilt this city on the model of Greek cities; even city government was introduced according to the Greek model: a council of 600 members headed by an archon and an assembly of ten noble citizens (οί δέκα πρώτοι). The city received its name in honor of the ruling Roman emperor Tiberius. When the construction of Tiberias was completed, Herod Antipas moved his court there, after which Tiberias became the permanent capital of Galilee.

The relationship of Herod Antipas with the emperors of the Roman Empire and his representatives in Asia was not easy. Emperor Augustus expressed his contempt for the tetrarch, despite the fact that the marriage of Herod Antipas with the daughter of Aretas was concluded, probably, with the sole purpose of pleasing the emperor, who was especially favorable towards the marriages of Roman officials with native princesses.

During the reign of Emperor Tiberius, due to the favor of the emperor, intrigues took place between Herod Antipas and other influential representatives of the Roman government. Characteristic in this regard is the case that led to the open hostility of the proconsul Vitellius towards Herod Antipas. This proconsul organized an expedition against the Parthian king Artaban III, but, having received an order from Tiberius to make peace with Artaban, he invited the Parthian to meet with the aim of concluding an agreement on a bridge built specifically for this purpose on the Euphrates. Here Herod Antipas ordered a magnificent tent to be built for them, in which he received and treated them both in the most luxurious manner. However, before Vitellius had time to notify the emperor about the negotiations with Artabanus, the tetrarch had already sent messengers to Rome with his report, which aroused the anger of Vitellius.

Herod Antipas constantly intrigued against the procurator Pontius Pilate.

Antipas himself was not popular among the Jews, despite the fact that he followed exactly all the smallest instructions of Judaism and appeared in Jerusalem on national and religious holidays. At the same time, he decorated the walls of the palace with figures of various animals, although he refrained from such images on minted coins; in addition, Herod Antipas clearly violated the law of Moses by marrying Herodias, the granddaughter of Herod the Great. Antipas was publicly reproached for this by John the Baptist[5], and Jesus Christ called him “that fox”[6].

In the history of Christianity, Herod Antipas played a very prominent role: he is the Herod of the Gospels who executed John the Baptist and who was partly responsible for the death of Jesus Christ. The head of the executed John was demanded on a platter by the daughter of Herodias. It is possible that the arrest and even the death of John were the work of Herodias, whom the Baptist accused of incest. According to the Apostle Mark, Antipas was against the execution of John, “knowing that he was a righteous and holy man” [7], and agreed to it only because he promised Herodias’ daughter (probably Salome) to fulfill any of her wishes. However, according to Matthew, Antipas himself “wanted to kill him, but was afraid of the people, because they revered him as a prophet”[8].

The role of Herod Antipas in the fate of Jesus was expressed in the fact that he subjected Jesus to preliminary interrogation, since Pontius Pilate, when he was informed about the charges brought against Jesus, handed him over to the tetrarch of Galilee, who was then in Jerusalem.

Apostle Luke is the only one of the evangelists who mentions the meeting of Herod Antipas with Jesus: when Jesus was detained, Pontius Pilate, “learning that He was from Herod’s region, sent Him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem these days. Herod, seeing Jesus, was very happy, for he had long wanted to see Him, because he had heard a lot about Him, and hoped to see some miracle from Him, and asked Him many questions, but He did not answer him. The chief priests and scribes stood and accused Him. But Herod and his soldiers, having humiliated Him and mocked Him, dressed Him in light clothes and sent Him back to Pilate”[9].

In 36, Herod Antipas waged an unsuccessful war with the Nabateans, also related to Herodias: Herod Antipas was married twice. His first wife was the daughter of Aretas VI, king of Nabatea. During one of his stays in Rome, Herod Antipas met there Herodias, his niece and wife of his only brother Philip, and convinced her to separate from her husband and follow him to Tiberias. Having learned about this, the Arab woman asked Herod Antipas for permission to leave for Macheron, which then belonged to her father Aret. From there, with the help of the Arab princes devoted to her, she reached her father's residence and convinced him to start a war with Antopa and attack his tetrarchy. The army of Herod Antipas was defeated, and his possessions were threatened with destruction (37).

Herod Antipas was forced to seek help from Vitellius against Aretus. But before Vitellius could leave Judea, the emperor died. Then Vitellius, taking revenge on Herod Antipas, abandoned the campaign. However, by that time Aretes himself left Herod's country.

Distinguished by her heightened ambition, Herodias prompted Herod to turn to Emperor Caligula with a request to grant him the royal title.

At this time, Agrippa I, whose functions as inspector of trade had significantly diminished the influence of Herodias and her husband, sent his confidant, Justinian, to Caligula, who was then in Baiae, accusing Herod Antipas of plotting against Rome, accusing Antipas of conspiring with the Parthians King Artabanus and complicity in the conspiracy of Sejanus. Herod Antipas could not deny that he did keep a considerable stock of weapons ready; in view of this, he was deprived of all his possessions, which Caligula transferred to Agrippa, exiling Herod to Lugdunum, in Gaul, where Herodias followed him (39). Soon after, Herod Antipas died.

Josephus reports that Herod died in Spain[10]. Cassius Dio claims that Caligula killed Herod[11].

Thus, in 39, Herod Antipas was exiled and died in exile, and his kingdom was annexed to the kingdom of Agrippa I.

Tsar Builder

Against the backdrop of new city buildings erected in the Hellenistic style, the Temple of Jerusalem looked like an old and dilapidated building. Herod ordered the building to be rebuilt. Construction work was carried out over 9 years, while the new building retained its previous name - the Second Temple. At the beginning of the 21st century. archaeologists managed to discover quarries from which material for the construction of the temple was extracted.

Second Temple of Jerusalem, rebuilt by King Herod (reconstruction)

In addition to religious buildings, palaces, fortified citadels and amphitheaters were erected in the main city of Judea. The theater, located on the outskirts of the city, hosted regular gladiator fights, horse races, and sports competitions.

The creative activity of Herod caused a mixed reaction among the Jewish people. On the one hand, the restoration of the Second Temple was received positively, but the construction of amphitheaters and pagan sanctuaries caused discontent among Orthodox Jews.

Interesting! Active urban construction was carried out in other Jewish cities. The cities of Samaria, Gaza and Massada were rebuilt in the Hellenistic style. The fortresses of Herodion and Yesevon were founded.