Supplement 02 - The Herodians

FIRST GENERATION

Herod the Great, "king of the Jews" 37-4BC. Ruler of Samaria and Judea, Galilee and Perea, Iturea and Trachonitis. He had many wives and children, some of whom he murdered in his later years. It was this Herod the wise men visited when searching for the new-born Jesus;

SECOND GENERATION

Includes five of the sons of Herod the Great by four of his ten wives:

Aristobulus, mother Mariamne I, who was murdered by his father in 7BC. His son, Agrippa I later ruled the same territories as Herod the Great. Aristobulus' daughter was Herodias;

Philip, mother Mariamne II, a private citizen who married his niece Herodias. Their daughter was Salome;

Archelaus, mother Malthace, ethnarch of Samaria and Judea, 4BC-AD6. He was deposed partly because of his brutality. The territories reverted to the rule of Roman procurators until AD41;

Herod Antipas, mother Malthace, tetrarch of Galilee and Perea 4BC-AD39. His first wife was the daughter of King Aretas of Nabatea. It was this Aretas who ruled Damascus at the time the apostle Paul escaped in a basket (2 Corinthians 11:32).

Antipas later married his niece Herodias after she left his half-brother Philip and taken her daughter Salome with her. It was criticism of this marriage that led Antipas to arrest John the Baptist. In c AD30 Herod Antipas took part in the trial of Jesus;

Philip the tetrarch, mother Cleopatra of Jerusalem, tetrarch of Iturea and Trachonitis 4BC-AD34. He married his great niece Salome;

THIRD GENERATION

The children of Aristobulus included:

Herodias, originally married to her uncle Philip, then married uncle Herod Antipas. It was her daughter Salome who asked Antipas for the head of John the Baptist, c AD29;

Herod Agrippa I, king of the Jews, AD37-44. By AD41 he ruled the same territories as his grandfather, Herod the Great. Agrippa I had the apostle James, son of Zebedee executed, and arrested the apostle Peter;

FOURTH GENERATION

The children of Herod Agrippa I:

Herod Agrippa II was too young to succeed his dead father in AD44, and instead made king of Chalcis in AD50. In AD53 he exchanged this small territory for parts of Galilee and Perea, and Iturea and Trachonitis. He was present at the trial of Paul in Caesarea, c AD60. Siding with the Romans, he survived the Jewish war and died in Rome, c AD100, the last of the Herods;

Bernice - she and her brother Agrippa II had a close, possibly incestuous relationship;

Drusilla married Felix, procurator of Jude Both she and Bernice were present at Paul's trial -

.... and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene ....

Lysanias - Lysanias was ruler of Abilene at this time. In AD53 his territory was handed over to Agrippa II -

.... while Annas and Caiaphas were the High Priests) ....

High Priest - "Priest" from the Greek "presbyter" for an "elder". The head of the Jewish religious, and in earlier times, the civil nation, president of the Sanhedrin or council, and based in the Jerusalem Temple. They were usually appointed from the aristocratic Sadducees by the ruling Herod family, and from AD6-41 directly by the Romans. They included:

AD6-15 - Annas, who was actually deposed in AD15, but continued to rule indirectly through five of his sons and one of his son-in-laws for many years;

AD15-18 - A number of sons of Annas;

AD18-37 - Caiaphas, son-in-law of Annas. He took part in the trial of Jesus, in the questioning of Peter and the apostles after Pentecost, and probably prepared letters allowing Saul (later the apostle Paul) to persecute the Christians in Damascus. Even though Caiaphas had been in his position for many years, Annas exerted such influence he was still considered a "High Priest". Caiaphas was succeeded by another of Annas' sons;

AD37-47 - Various high priests;

AD47-59 - Ananias, the high priest who took part in the trials of Paul after his arrest in Jerusalem. Ananias was later killed in the Jewish War by Jewish Zealots -