Herod was an exceedingly complex person. What made him complex and irrational?
He was racially an Edomite Arab. Oh yes, he was...not the modern Arab though!
His father was from an Arab tribe in the southern part of the Holy land called Idumea.
Herod’s mother was from Petra, the capital of the Nabatean kingdom in the southern part of what is known today as Jordan in the first century.
The Nabataeans were one among several nomadic Bedouin tribes that roamed the Arabian deserts and moved with their herds to wherever they could find pasture and water.
Herod had 2 brothers Faisal (Phasael) and Yusef, and a sister called Salama. The only child with a Greek name in the family was Herod himself.
Now, this is where it got wonky!
Religiously, Herod was Jewish.
In 135BC thereabout, Hyrcanus, the Jewish ruler also known as John the High Priest, he was also a nephew of Judas Maccabaeus, he invaded the Idumeans, and on the point of death, he forced them to become Jews!
Hyrcanus then appointed Herod’s grandfather, Antipater the elder as governor of the province. That made Herod a Jew at birth.
Now, the caveat!
Herod was also Greek culturally speaking. Greek culture had spread widely throughout the holy land by that time, and Greek was the lingua franca of the international community.
Herod’s name was Greek. His first language was Greek. He totally made himself culturally Greek. In fact, he was noted for his various attempts to flip Jerusalem into a Greek City after dubiously outsmarting the Hasmonean dynasty.
So Herod, culturally Greek, religiously Jewish and racially Arab was also politically Roman!
How did he rise politically?
His father!
Antipater became a powerful official under the later Hasmonean kings and subsequently became a client of the Roman general Pompey who conquered Judea in the name of Roman Republic.
Antipater flipped from answering to the Jewish high priest-kings to answering the new Roman lords. When Julius Caesar defeated Pompey, Antipater rescued Caesar in Alexandria, lined up behind him and he was made chief minister of Judea, with the right to collect taxes.
That’s how a former servant became the master!
Antipater eventually made his sons Faisal (Phasael) and Herod the Governors of Jerusalem and Galilee.
After the assassination of Julius Caesar, Antipater sided with Gaius Cassius Longinus against Mark Anthony. His son Herod supported Mark Anthony.
The pro-Roman politics of Antipater led to his increasing unpopularity among the devout, non-Hellenized Jews. He died by poison.
His son nonetheless had learnt the diplomacy and artful politics of his father, as well as his insinuation into the Hasmonean court which paved the way for him to use this position to marry the Hasmonean princess Mariamne the first to endear himself to Rome and become king of Judea under Roman influence.
In all major conflicts, Herod sided with the Romans. He personally led his army to the battlefield in ten different wars.
He was described as being powerfully built and good looking. In the battle for the soul of the Roman Empire, Herod sided with his personal friend Anthony and Cleopatra against Octavian who later became Caesar Augustus.
Octavian won decisively and traveled to Rhodes to plan his next move. Herod quickly made his way there to seek the new emperor’s audience.
Herod, with his crown in his hand admitted boldly and confessed he had remained loyal to Anthony even in his defeat. He concluded his bold move by saying “What I ask of you is to consider not whose friend, but what a good friend, I was.
That sealed his fate. Octavian, now Caesar Augustus decided to trust him. He asked him to put his crown back on his head and was returned to the Holy land with a more secured throne.
Fast forward....
Herod became more insecure as the Jewish scribes continued to spread the whispers that their Messiah would soon arrive the scene.
This scared the chill out of him. He has paid too many prices to secure the throne to himself. He has expanded the Jerusalem temple and made it a beauty...he had married one of their princesses who was a true blood, he also believed that by law he was a Jew as well. Yet, the Jews were not content with him. He went brutal and gaga!
It was a case of a very shrewd but brilliant man who suddenly went paranoid for the fear of someone greater than him.
He disintegrated before everyone. He became paranoid and very ill. At the time, he tried to commit suicide, because of the painful illness. He got his own son the crown prince arrested in a dungeon. When a rumour went round he had died, the son was screaming from the dungeon to let him out so he could take over from his father.
Herod had barely survived his own suicide attempt than he ordered for the execution of his own crown prince. 5 days later, on his death bed, knowing he would not be mourned, for the last time he passed a sweeping order that all notable noblemen in his kingdom be rounded up to Jericho.
Herod gave an order that they should be killed at the time of his death so that the displays of grief that he craved would take place. But his son Herod Archelaus and sister Salama did not carry out this wish. They probably remembered that 4 to 5 years earlier, all children under the age 2 were brutally murdered, and they were not ready to cause another public mourning that the Caesar would frown at.
Herod married 10 wives in all. He banished Doris the first wife and her young son. He executed his second and favourite wife Mariamne l to spite the Jews. He executed his own sons Alexander and Aristobulus IV born to him by this Jewish woman for flimsy reasons.
His 3rd wife was also called Mariamne. She was implicated in a 4BC plot against Herod her husband. She escaped with her life through divorce issued by Herod himself. Her only son Herod II was removed from Herod’s will in the line of succession. His 4th wife was Malthace the Samaritan. Her sons for Herod were the popular Herod Archelaus and Herod Antipas (Antipater/Tetrarch).
It was the fear of the new king Herod Archelaus that made Joseph and Mary head towards Nazareth upon their return from Egypt. Herod Antipas was the one who beheaded John the Baptist.
According to Josephus, Herod ruled for 37 years, 34 of them after capturing Jerusalem.
A man that could kill his very own sons will find no other person’s son as untouchable. So you can see why Herod did not think twice before passing the order to kill all children under the age of 2.
If he could banish his very first born son, recall him, make him crown prince, and then got him executed after having his 2nd and 3rd born strangled in front of him, you can safely conclude that this evil monster went to bed to sleep without a hoot on the night he issued the order to kill all children under the age of 2.
Compendium Saturnalia (compiled by Macrobius) that Augustus remarked "It is better to be Herod's pig than his son."
So you see, you can now have an idea of what transpired between the Herod’s clan who believed they should be acceptable as full Jews but were not, and in so doing exacted their revenge. Herod’s sons by a Samaritan woman ruled in his stead. Jews hated this fact that these Roman-empire supporting Idumean-Arab Samaritan blood were the ones occupying what should be called the throne of David.
So when Jesus came to the scene, he didn’t come as the political messiah they were waiting for, he called himself God. They were tired and were not having it again.
They saw Jesus as a blasphemy. They could still accommodate the Roman sense of many gods which they can deal with later, than allow someone make himself a god among then.
The distinct upkeep and maintenance of their religion was more important to them than the temporary political office occupied by the Romans. They knew they would always outlive every evil regime like before. Jesus matter is the pressing one must be dealt with first and they did...using the enemies they despise.
For Herod, who died in great pain as the angel predicted, we know we can’t find him in heaven by virtue of his atrocities. The summary above was just a glimpse into his life. He did more evil.
So if you are a witch or wizard, and you hear a prayer against the spirit of Herod directed at you and your enterprise, do know that you have been checkmated....because you won’t die well if you don’t urgently repent.
©️Amostiasis
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