The Perspective of Herod

Jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame. –– Song of Solomon 8:6

Lord Acton of England once wrote, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” His is a particularly apt description of King Herod, the Edomite ruler who reigned over Judea at the time of the birth of Jesus.

It is not that Herod was the embodiment of evil. Like most of humanity, he possessed a mixture of good and bad traits. He was called Herod the Great with good reason. He was masterful at building both structures and cities. He expanded the area of Judea to its largest boundaries since the Babylonian captivity. He secured the most favorable of terms for Judea as a vassal state of Rome.

On the other hand, he was a cruel monarch, murdering all that were in his way to the attaining of personal power. He even killed his wife and two of her sons in fits of jealous rage. He slaughtered all but two of the Jewish Sanhedrin and ordered the mass extermination of prominent Jewish citizens who were under arrest at the time of his death so his funeral would not lack for mourners. As Augustus Caesar stated, “It is better to be Herod’s hog (Greek, hus) than his son (Greek, huios).”

The Herodian dynasty began in the middle of the first century before Christ with the appointment of Antipater, the founder of the dynasty, to be procurator, or governor, of Idumea (Edom). Judea at the time, was governed by the Hasmonean dynasty, successors to the Maccabees. The two dynasties ran parallel until 37 B.C. when Herod the Great, the third of six generations of rulers, overturned and executed the last of the Hasmonean rulers. Herod united the two dynasties by marrying Mariamne, a direct descendant of the Hasmoneans. Though emotionally in love with the beautiful Mariamne, Herod had both her and her sons killed in a fit of jealous rage. This heinous act haunted him all the days of his life.

At Jesus’ Birth

This, then, is the man who figured so prominently in the story of Jesus’ birth. The time was in the last year of his reign. It was only five years since he had killed Mariamne and her sons. His mind was set on retaining power at all costs. Having incurred the enmity of the Jewish population by the slaughter of Mariamne, a Jewess, he sat insecure on his throne.

It was at this juncture that the group of “wise men from the east” came to Jerusalem looking for the child whose birth was portended by the strange star that they had seen. These “magi” may have been sages educated in the ancient Babylonian and Persian schools headed by the Rabmag, or chief magi (Jeremiah 39:3,13). This position, filled by one of the two Nergalsharezers in the days of Jeremiah, may have been later taken by the prophet Daniel (Daniel 2:48). Daniel’s prophecy of the seventy weeks (Daniel 9:24-27) may have become part of the lore of this school and given rise to the journey of the wise men.

Either losing sight of the star for a season or being directed in a more general way to Judea, these magi did not go immediately to Bethlehem, their real destination, but to Jerusalem, the capital city. Being men of prominence, they were promptly granted an audience by Herod. The priests (descendants of the old Hasmonean royal dynasty) correctly directed them by the prophetic word to Bethlehem. At this time Herod became intensely interested in the inquiry. The king was particularly interested in the time they had first spotted the guiding star (Matthew 2:7). He then sought to enlist their aid as spies to report back to him where the new king was to be born.

Slaughter of the Innocents

When they failed to bring back a report, Herod ran true to form and ordered his soldiers to Bethlehem to kill all potential candidates for the Jewish throne. He ordered the death of all infants of two years of age and under “according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men” (Matthew 2:16). The implication is that the wise men had seen the star two years before the slaughter of the innocents by Herod. This would either mean that the wise men saw the star two years before the birth of Jesus or that Jesus was two years old at the time of their visit. The fact that Herod died around the Passover time in 1 B.C. is a strong indication that they had seen the star two years before the nativity. (See “The Year of Herod’s Death” in The Herald of Christ’s Kingdom, 1997/6.)

The extent of the slaughter is not given. The tradition of the Greek church is that there were 14,000 children slain. This does not appear reasonable for a village the size of Bethlehem. If the number were that large it could hardly have escaped a mention in the writings of such contemporaneous historians as Josephus. Whatever the number, it was tragic enough. It may seem odd that the birth of the life-giver of the entire human race should be marked by such an onslaught of death. On the other hand, it points out the sharp contrast between death and life; that the children here gave their life for him who would later give his life for them.

On the other hand, the killing could not have been too small, for the edict included not only the children of the village of Bethlehem but those in “all the coasts thereof” (Matthew 2:16). How broad this term is to be interpreted is uncertain. 

Probably it meant only the immediate environs that were sparsely populated.

However, the gospel writer quotes a prophecy from Jeremiah 31:15 in verse 18, “In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.”

While Jeremiah’s prophecy undoubtedly had its immediate fulfillment in the literal city of Rama (see Jeremiah 40), Matthew’s quotation of the prophetic words assure us that we are on safe ground in making a larger application of the prediction at the time of Jesus’ birth.

Rama is not near Bethlehem. While Bethlehem is south of Jerusalem, Rama is about the same distance to the north, at the border of the land allotted to the tribe of Judah and that of Benjamin. Apparently the tomb of Rachel at Zelzah was in the proximity of Rama (Cf. Jeremiah 31:15 with 1 Samuel 10:2). We suggest that the usage of Rama was to illustrate the lack of safety for the child in any of the territories under Herod, that is, throughout all Judea.

Also worthy of note is the biblical description of the fate of these children are: “they were not.” Nothing is suggested about their being in heaven or hell. “They were not.” Like all the dead, they had gone into oblivion, awaiting the future resurrection of the dead. It is then that the second half of Jeremiah’s prophecy will find its reality, not only for the babes of Bethlehem but for all of dead and dying humanity: “Thus saith the LORD; Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the LORD; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy” (Jeremiah 31:16). What a time that will be!

The Prophecy of Balaam

There is an obscure prophecy in the Old Testament by Balaam that bears investigation in our study. It is found in Numbers 24:17-19, “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not nigh: There shall come forth a star out of Jacob, And a scepter shall rise out of Israel, And shall smite through the corners of Moab, And break down all the sons of tumult. And Edom shall be a possession, Seir also shall be a possession, (who were) his enemies; While Israel doeth valiantly. And out of Jacob shall one have dominion, And shall destroy the remnant from the city” (ASV).

The connection of the “scepter” and the “star” is indicative that this may be a Messianic prophecy. If so, there is either a time gap of over 2,000 years in the middle of the prophecy or the prediction applies not to the literal appearance of the star, but the full significance of that event when Jesus shall assume his royal power.

The contrast is sharp. When the literal star appeared heralding forth the one who was to wield the kingly scepter, the Edomite immediately oppressed him. When Christ returns with regal authority, however, all Edom, with Seir as its capital, shall be his possession. Then he will be victorious not only over such surrounding enemies as Edom, but over all “the sons of tumult” (mistranslated “sons of Sheth” in many versions).

The narrative of Herod is reminiscent of that of another Edomite, Doeg, the chief herdsman of King Saul as told in 1 Samuel 22:9-22. David, the ancestor of Jesus, had been in flight from Saul. He and his men stopped at the home of the High Priest, Abimelech, in the Jerusalem suburb of Nob on the top of Mt. Scopus, to ask for food for their journey. The only food available was sacred bread taken from the table of shewbread in the Tabernacle. The High Priest gave to David this bread, along with the sword of Goliath. However, the entire transaction was observed by Doeg, an Edomite and the chief herdsman of King Saul. He, unlike the wise men at the time of Jesus’ birth, reported the incident to Saul and the king ordered the death of 86 priests, including Abimelech.

The Wrath of Man

“Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain” (Psalms 76:10).

The brief narratives of both Herod and Doeg illustrate the truth of this text. No measures, regardless of their severity, can stop the stately progress of God’s designs. While tragic for the moment, the ultimate outcome of these tragedies, after the resurrection, will result in a full acquittal of justice. As the Apostle Paul wrote, “Some men’s sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after” (1 Timothy 5:24).

–– The Herald of Christ’s Kingdom
1997/6