- Herod was the name of a succession of kings and of the dynasty in place before, during, and after the earthly life of Jesus – roughly 37 BC to 100 AD. (Think of “the house of Herod” during this time as being like “the house of Windsor” in modern British times; you can also think of “Herod” as a title like “Pharoah,” which can be applied to more than one individual.) This Herodian dynasty was created by the Romans when they appointed Herod the Great as “King of the Jews” in 37 BC. When he died in 4 BC, the Romans divided his kingdom among his sons; that was when the name tetrarch (see below) was applied. The family of these rulers was from Idumea (the territory immediate to the south of Israel, home to the Edomites) and lacked an ancestral tie to King David. For this reason a Herod was considered an illegitimate ruler by many Jews, and for this same reason they would feel threatened by Jesus as a true “son of David” being proclaimed as Israel’s next king. Because the line of Herod was probably Edomite rather than Jewish, any Herod could rightly be called a “pretender” king.
- Tetrarch – When the Romans conquered a territory and divided into four regions, as they did with the area in and around Israel, the ruler of each of those four sub-territories was called a tetrarch; “tetra” was the Greek word for “four” and “arch” was from the Greek word for “rule” and thus “tetrarch” meant the rule of four, just as “monarch” meant the rule of one. The Herodian Tetrarchy began in 4 BC when Herod the Great died and his kingdom was divided among his sons.
- Herodians – a group that supported King Herod and the Herodian dynasty.
- Herod and Luke – “Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward” (Lk 8:3) may have been the source for some of the unique information Luke reports about Herod – such as how Herod and Pilate went from enemies to friends on the day Jesus was crucified.
- King Herod Agrippa I – This is a grandson of Herod the Great. He is the “Herod” mentioned 5 times in Act 12, including his death. That he died in the way Luke describes is confirmed by Flavius Josephus in his Antiquities of the Jews 19.8.2.
- King Herod Agrippa II – This is the son of King Herod Agrippa I. His name – as “Agrippa” or “King Agrippa” is mentioned 11 times in Acts 25-26.
- Notable distinctions:
- “Herod the Great” – the one that killed the infants at the time of Jesus’ birth (Matt 2)
- “Herod Antipas” aka “Herod the tetrarch” – the one that killed John the Baptist (Mark 6)
- “Herod Agrippa” – the one that killed James, the brother of John (Acts 12).
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