Herod Agrippa I
| Portrait from a collection of biographies Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum (1553) |
||
|
||
|---|---|---|
| -44 years | ||
| Predecessor: | Herod Philip II | |
| Successor: | Herod II | |
| Birth: | 10 BC e. ( 0-10 ) | |
| Death: | 44 year ( 0044 ) | |
| Father: | Aristobulus IV | |
| Mother: | Cyprus | |
| Children: | 1. Drusus 2. 3. Berenice 4. Mariamne 5. Drusilla |
|
Biography
Agrippa the First was born in 10 BC. e. and was brought up in Rome with the son of Emperor Tiberius, Drusus. Grandson of Herod the Great. The Herods were a dynasty that ruled Judea. By origin they were Edomites, or Edomites. The Edomites were considered Jews because around 125 BC. e. they were forced to be circumcised. He made friends with various members of the imperial family. One of them was Gaius, better known as Caligula, who became emperor in 37 AD. e. Soon he proclaimed Agrippa king of Iturea, the Trachonite region and Abilene. Caligula later annexed Galilee and Perea to Agrippa's possessions. Agrippa was in Rome when in 41 AD. e. Caligula was killed. According to some reports, Agrippa played an important role in resolving the crisis that followed. He was directly involved in negotiations between the Roman Senate and Claudius, another of his influential friends. As a result, Claudius was proclaimed emperor, and thus a civil war was averted. To thank Agrippa for his mediation, Claudius expanded his royal domain by granting him Judea and Samaria, which had been under the control of Roman procurators since 6 AD. e. So Agrippa began to rule a territory the same size as Herod the Great. The capital of Agrippa's kingdom was Jerusalem, where he gained the favor of the religious leaders. They say he carefully observed Jewish law and traditions, such as making daily sacrifices in the temple, reading the Law to the people, and fulfilling “the role of a zealous defender of the Jewish faith.” But all his claims that he served God were in vain, because he staged gladiatorial fights and pagan performances in the theater. According to some, Agrippa was “cunning, frivolous, wasteful.”
At first Agrippa suffered various vicissitudes. Accustomed to a wasteful life, he squandered the fortune inherited from his mother, and was forced after the death of his friend Drusus (in 23) to return to Judea, then divided into several principalities under the rule of the descendants of Herod as Roman proteges, and take over from his brother-in-law his Antipas, prince of Galilee, a subordinate position. But he did not hold this post for long. Having fallen into unpayable debts (he owed the Roman treasury 40,000 denarii, for which he almost ended up in the debt tower), he decided to return to Rome to experience happiness there again.
At first, happiness did not smile on him. Due to one careless comment about Tiberius, he was thrown into prison, where he remained until the death of Tiberius, but with the accession of Guy Caligula to the throne (37 AD), his star began to shine. Caligula not only returned his freedom, but also showered him with favors. He returned the royal rank and crown to him, endowed him with the former possessions of the tetrarch Philip, Batanea and Trachonea, to which he subsequently added the lands of Herod Antipas, who was expelled in 39, Galilee and Perea, and Caligula’s successor, Emperor Claudius, also returned to him his own Judea and Samaria, so that under Agrippa Judea was again united and reached its former size.
Agrippa, having become the king of all Judea, decided to gain popularity among the Pharisees and began to fulfill all the prescriptions of Judaism, for which he is extolled in the Talmud (Ktubot 17a; Mishnah Sota, chapter 7, § 8).
But Agrippa did not reign for long. In 44 AD e. At a feast in Caesarea, he suddenly fell ill and died at the age of 54.
Mentions in the Bible
Literature
- // Jewish Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron. - St. Petersburg. , 1906-1913.
| Herodias (37 BC - 93 AD) | |
|---|---|
Wikimedia Foundation.
2010.
See what “Herod Agrippa I” is in other dictionaries:
Herod Agrippa I, son of Aristobulus, grandson of see Herod the Great and his wife Mariamne from the Maccabean dynasty (see Maccabees); I.A.I's brother was Herod, king of Chalcis, sister, see Herodias. In the NT I.A.I is called King Herod (Acts 12). I.A.I was raised in Rome... ... Herod Agrippa II, son of Herod Agrippa I, brother of Berenice (see Bernice) and Drusilla (see Drusilla). In the NT he is called King Agrippa. I.A.II was born ca. 27 A.D., brought up in Rome. After the death of his father, 17 year old I.A.II was supposed to ascend the throne,... ...
Agrippa II (27 93), king of Judea, son of Herod Agrippa I, grandson of Herod Antipas, and great-grandson of Herod the Great. The fourth and last ruler of the Herodiad dynasty. Brought up in Rome, at the court of Emperor Claudius, after the death of his father he remained a 17-year-old youth,... ... Wikipedia Bible. Old and New Testaments. Synodal translation. Biblical encyclopedia arch. Nikifor.
Herod- 'Herod a) (Mat.2:1,3,7,12,15,16,19; Luke 1:5) Herod the Great, second son of the Edomite leader Antipater, head of the family of kings and rulers of the Herods who ruled in Palestine in 1 ·v. ·according to RH. At 47 ·before Christ, after the death of Antipater, he was appointed Julius... ... Complete and detailed Bible Dictionary to the Russian Canonical Bible
Herod Antipas, second son of see Herod the Great from the Samaritan woman Malphaca. I.A. was brought up in Rome with his older brother Archelaus (see Archelaus), half-brother see Philip and Manael, later a prophet and teacher in Christ. community of Antioch (Acts... ... Herod Agrippa II, son of Herod Agrippa I, brother of Berenice (see Bernice) and Drusilla (see Drusilla). In the NT he is called King Agrippa. I.A.II was born ca. 27 A.D., brought up in Rome. After the death of his father, 17 year old I.A.II was supposed to ascend the throne,... ...
Lua error in Module:Wikidata on line 170: attempt to index field "wikibase" (a nil value).
Lua error in Module:Wikidata on line 170: attempt to index field "wikibase" (a nil value).
2. Agrippa II
3. Berenice
4. Mariamne
5. Drusilla
Lua error in Module:Wikidata on line 170: attempt to index field "wikibase" (a nil value).
Biography
Agrippa the First was born in 10 BC. e. and was brought up in Rome with the son of Emperor Tiberius, Drusus. Grandson of Herod the Great.
He made friends with various members of the imperial family. One of them was Gaius, better known as Caligula, who became emperor in 37 AD. e. Soon he proclaimed Agrippa king of Iturea, the Trachonite region and Abilene. Caligula later annexed Galilee and Perea to Agrippa's possessions.
Agrippa was in Rome when in 41 AD. e. Caligula was killed. According to some reports, Agrippa played an important role in resolving the crisis that followed. He was directly involved in negotiations between the Roman Senate and Claudius, another of his influential friends. As a result, Claudius was proclaimed emperor, and thus a civil war was averted. To thank Agrippa for his mediation, Claudius expanded his royal domain by granting him Judea and Samaria, which had been under the control of Roman procurators since 6 AD. e. So Agrippa began to rule a territory the same size as Herod the Great. The capital of Agrippa's kingdom was Jerusalem, where he gained the favor of the religious leaders. They say he carefully observed Jewish law and traditions, such as making daily sacrifices in the temple, reading the Law to the people, and fulfilling “the role of a zealous defender of the Jewish faith.” But all his claims that he served God were in vain, because he staged gladiatorial fights and pagan performances in the theater. According to some, Agrippa was “cunning, frivolous, wasteful.”
At first Agrippa suffered various vicissitudes. Accustomed to a wasteful life, he squandered the fortune inherited from his mother, and was forced after the death of his friend Drusus (in 23) to return to Judea, then divided into several principalities under the rule of the descendants of Herod as Roman proteges, and take over from his uncle his Antipas, prince of Galilee, a subordinate position. But he did not hold this post for long. Having fallen into unpayable debts (he owed the Roman treasury 40,000 denarii, for which he almost ended up in the debt tower), he decided to return to Rome to experience happiness there again.
At first, happiness did not smile on him. Due to one careless comment about Tiberius, he was thrown into prison, where he remained until the death of Tiberius, but with the accession of Guy Caligula to the throne (37 AD), his star began to shine. Caligula not only returned his freedom, but also showered him with favors. He returned the royal rank and crown to him, endowed him with the former possessions of the tetrarch Philip, Batanea and Trachonea, to which he subsequently added the lands of Herod Antipas, who was expelled in 39, Galilee and Perea, and Caligula’s successor, Emperor Claudius, also returned to him his own Judea and Samaria, so that under Agrippa Judea was again united and reached its former size.
Agrippa, having become the king of all Judea, decided to gain popularity among the Pharisees and began to fulfill all the prescriptions of Judaism, for which he is extolled in the Talmud (Ktubot 17a; Mishnah Sota, chapter 7, § 8).
But Agrippa did not reign for long. In 44 AD e. At a feast in Caesarea, he suddenly fell ill and died at the age of 54.
Mentions in the Bible
Write a review of the article "Herod Agrippa I"
Notes
Literature
- Agrippa I // Jewish Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron. - St. Petersburg. , 1908-1913.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Herod Agrippa I
Herod Agrippa I, son of Aristobulus, grandson of see Herod the Great and his wife Mariamne from the Maccabean dynasty (see Maccabees); I.A.I's brother was Herod, king of Chalcis, sister - see Herodias. In the NT I.A.I is called "King Herod" (Acts 12). I.A.I was raised in Rome by Drusus, the son of Tiberius (see Tiberius), and after his death (23 AD), deprived of his means of subsistence, returned to Palestine. He was helped by see Herod Antipas, but over time the relationship between them was broken off. In 36, again finding himself in Rome, I.A.I became friends with Guy, the son of Germanicus, who later became emperor. Caligula. Having ascended the throne (37 AD), Caligula appointed I.A.I king over those regions that belonged to the tetrarch see Philip, his uncle. In 39 AD, after I.A.I provided Caligula with evidence of the guilt of Herod Antipas, the latter was sent into exile, and I.A.I received power over his kingdom - Galilee and the East. bank of the Jordan. During his next trip to Rome, I.A.I managed to dissuade the emperor from his intention to install his statue for worship in the Jerusalem Temple (40 AD). Next in January. years Caligula was killed; I.A.I acted as a mediator between the Senate and the Praetorians, who proclaimed Claudius (see Claudius), the son of Drusus, the new emperor. In gratitude for his services, I.A.I received Judea and Samaria. That. I.A.I united under his rule the kingdom of his grandfather, Herod the Great, and the office of Rome. the governor was abolished. By his persecution of Christians, he gained favor with the Jews. Polit. interests explain I.A.I’s attitude towards Christ. churches in Jerusalem. By his order, James, the brother of John and the son of Zebedee, was executed; He also ordered that Peter be imprisoned, who was freed by the Angel of the Lord(Acts 12:1-18)
. . Some time later, I.A.I favorably accepted the flattering worship of the crowd in Caesarea, the region, under the impression of his kingdoms. appearance and exquisite splendor of clothing, declared him a “god”. Following this, I.A.I suffered God's punishment - death. illness, and in 44 A.D. he died at the age of 54. Of his children mentioned in the NT, see Herod Agrippa II, see Bernice, and see Drusilla; cr. In addition, he had a son, Drusus, and a daughter, see Mariamne.. 1994 .
2010.
F. Rinecker, G. Mayer
Herod Agrippa I, son of Aristobulus, grandson of see Herod the Great and his wife Mariamne from the Maccabean dynasty (see Maccabees); I.A.I's brother was Herod, king of Chalcis, sister, see Herodias. In the NT I.A.I is called King Herod (Acts 12). I.A.I was raised in Rome... ... Herod Agrippa II, son of Herod Agrippa I, brother of Berenice (see Bernice) and Drusilla (see Drusilla). In the NT he is called King Agrippa. I.A.II was born ca. 27 A.D., brought up in Rome. After the death of his father, 17 year old I.A.II was supposed to ascend the throne,... ...
Agrippa I ... Wikipedia
Agrippa II (27 93), king of Judea, son of Herod Agrippa I, grandson of Herod Antipas, and great-grandson of Herod the Great. The fourth and last ruler of the Herodiad dynasty. Brought up in Rome, at the court of Emperor Claudius, after the death of his father he remained a 17-year-old youth, ... ... Wikipedia
Agrippa I (10 BC 44) son of Aristobulus and grandson of Herod the Great, king of Judea from 37 to 44. n. e. Born in 10 BC. e. and was raised in Rome with the son of Emperor Tiberius Drusus. At first, Agrippa suffered various vicissitudes.... ... Wikipedia
Herod Antipas ... Wikipedia
Hebrew הוֹרדוֹס, lat. Herodus ... Wikipedia
- 'Herod a) (Mat.2:1,3,7,12,15,16,19; Luke 1:5) Herod the Great, second son of the Edomite leader Antipater, head of the family of kings and rulers of the Herods who ruled in Palestine in 1st century according to RH. In 47 BC, after the death of Antipater, he was appointed Julius Caesar... ... Bible. Old and New Testaments. Synodal translation. Biblical encyclopedia arch. Nikifor.
Herod- 'Herod a) (Mat.2:1,3,7,12,15,16,19; Luke 1:5) Herod the Great, second son of the Edomite leader Antipater, head of the family of kings and rulers of the Herods who ruled in Palestine in 1 ·v. ·according to RH. At 47 ·before Christ, after the death of Antipater, he was appointed Julius... ... Complete and detailed Bible Dictionary to the Russian Canonical Bible
Herod Antipas, second son of see Herod the Great from the Samaritan woman Malphaca. I.A. was brought up in Rome with his older brother Archelaus (see Archelaus), half-brother see Philip and Manael, later a prophet and teacher in Christ. community of Antioch (Acts... ... Herod Agrippa II, son of Herod Agrippa I, brother of Berenice (see Bernice) and Drusilla (see Drusilla). In the NT he is called King Agrippa. I.A.II was born ca. 27 A.D., brought up in Rome. After the death of his father, 17 year old I.A.II was supposed to ascend the throne,... ...
- Herod, m. (colloquial, abusive). Tormentor, monster (more often in circulation). And how did I marry you, Herod? (On behalf of the king of Judea, portrayed in the gospel as cruel.)
Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary
Herod M. Up-down- 1. Monster, tormentor. 2. Usage like a swear word.
Explanatory Dictionary by Efremova
Agrippa Henry Cornelius of Nettesheim- (1486-1535) - German mystic, Neoplatonist. In his essay “On Secret Philosophy,” he outlined the doctrine of magic, based on the idea of the interconnection of all things. Combined........
Political dictionary
Herod- -A; m. Contempt. Tormentor, monster. Straight and..., not a person. ● By the name of King Herod of Judea, who is depicted in the Gospel as very cruel.
◁ Irodov, -a, -o. And the soul.
Kuznetsov's Explanatory Dictionary
Agrippa- (Agrippa) (c. 63 - 12 BC) - Roman commander, associate of Augustus. Known for buildings in Rome (plumbing, Pantheon, baths) and in Gaul.
Herod I- The Great (c. 73-4 BC) - king of Judea from 40 (actually from 37), seized the throne with the help of Roman troops. Suspicious and power-hungry, he destroyed everyone in whom he saw rivals; in Christian........
Large encyclopedic dictionary
Agrippa- (Acts 25.13,22-26; 26.1,2,7,19,27,28,32) -Herod 2, son of Herod Agrippa 1, ruler over virtually all of Palestine from 48 to 100 (See Herod, and)
Historical Dictionary
Agrippa Marcus Vipsanias- (about 63-12 BC) - Roman commander. Born in Dalmatia. While studying at a rhetoric school in Rome, Agrippa met Octavian, the future Emperor Augustus. During........
Historical Dictionary
Herod- -a) (Matthew 2.1,3,7,12,15,16,19; Luke 1.5) - The Great, second son of the Edomite leader Antipater, head of the family of kings and rulers who ruled in Palestine in the 1st century. according to RH. In 47 BC after death........
Historical Dictionary
Herod I the Great- (about 73-4 BC) - king of Judea from 40 BC. (actually since 1937). Seized the throne and established control in the country with the help of Roman troops. Being in political dependence........
Historical Dictionary
Agrippa— see Vipsaniy.
Vipsanius Agrippa— Mark (Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa) (c. 63-12 BC) - Rome. commander of the 1st century Don. e., companion of Augustus. Unknown origin. V. A.’s naval victories at Milakh and Navlokh (36) played a decisive role........
Soviet historical encyclopedia
Herod I- Herod the Great (c.73 - 4 BC), - king of Judea (40-4 BC). The son of the Judaized Edomite Antipater, who helped Julius Caesar in the Alexandrian War. Active conductor of the Roman........
Soviet historical encyclopedia
Herod- I the Great (Herodes) (c. 73-4 BC), son of Antipater, procurator of Judea, took possession of the throne with the help of Rome. troops. Suspicious and power-hungry, he destroyed everyone in whom he saw rivals.........
Sexological encyclopedia
Agrippa- Ancient philosopher (1st-2nd centuries), representative of later skepticism. Nothing is known about his life. A. is credited with five arguments (tropes) about the unknowability of the world.........
Philosophical Dictionary
Agrippa of Nettesheim- - see Nettesheim.
Philosophical Dictionary
Herod I the Great- (c. 73-4 BC) - Jud. king (40-4 BC). Seized the throne with the help of the Romans. troops, destroying the last representatives of the Maccovean dynasty. This caused opposition from........
Philosophical Dictionary
Nettesheim Agrippa- (born September 14, 1486, Cologne - died February 18, 1535, Grenoble) - German. writer, doctor and philosopher. In his op. "De occulta philosophia" (1510) preached Neoplatonic philosophy, permeated with alchemy,......
Philosophical Dictionary
HEROD- HEROD, -a, m. (simple, contemptuous). Monster, tormentor [named after the cruel ancient Jewish king].
Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary
King Herod gave the order to kill the Bethlehem babies, and Pontius Pilate sent Jesus to King Herod before sending Him to be crucified, and King Herod also killed the Apostle James. Only these were three completely different people. Moreover, two more Herods are mentioned in the New Testament, so their total number reaches five, and there were seven kings and rulers with this name in total. Only two of them do not play any role in biblical history (and in world history too), so they need not be mentioned at all.
It would be worth understanding this, but first we need to understand where these kings came from - perhaps the strangest dynasty in the entire Bible.
Less than a hundred years before the birth of Christ, the independent kingdom of Judah was ruled by the Hasmonean dynasty, which came to power as a result of the Maccabean revolt. Among their other deeds, the Hasmoneans conquered the neighboring country of Idumea (Edom) at the end of the 2nd century, and then forcibly converted to Judaism all the inhabitants of this country, whom they considered their close relatives (their ancestor Esau was the twin brother of Jacob, the ancestor of the Israelites). Having become fellow believers of the Jews, the Edomites disappeared into their midst, and noble people took their place among the nobility of the kingdom of Judah.
Once upon a time, the main task of the Maccabees was to defend their independence before the powerful Hellenistic states, the heirs of Alexander the Great, but by the middle of the 1st century. BC e. the picture has completely changed. The Hellenistic states themselves were rapidly losing their independence under the onslaught of Judea's allied state, Rome. Until recently, it seemed to the Jews that in the Romans they had found ideal helpers and patrons: they themselves live far away, do not interfere in anything, but instill fear in their ancient enemies, the Hellenic Seleucid dynasty, and all the surrounding peoples.
But Rome had its own goal - expansion. For them, the Jewish rulers of the Hasmoneans were too unreliable and independent; Rome needed not an independent ruler, but a faithful governor who would owe everything to Roman support and would remember this very well. It is also very desirable that for the Jews he would not be entirely one of their own, so that they would never be able to gather around him and oppose themselves to the power of the Roman legions. And then the Romans caught the eye of a young man named Herod, a descendant of a noble Idumean family who had already served them faithfully... Julius Caesar, and then the Senate, decided to install him as ruler in Judea.
The Romans, in fact, did not care what exactly the ruler of this region was called, and they did not object at all when Herod appropriated the title of king to himself. He, of course, had no right to do this, not being a descendant of King David and generally a Jew by birth, since the Hasmoneans once took the throne not by law, but by the right of the victors. This is how the Herod dynasty came to power, whose name would become a household name in many languages. The name of the founder of the dynasty, Herod, who eventually received the nickname “The Great,” will become the name for the entire dynasty, a kind of surname for his descendants.
By the way, it should be noted here that the Romans as conquerors behaved completely differently than the Assyrians and Babylonians - apparently, that’s why their empire lasted much longer. They reserved for the conquered peoples the right to live as they pleased, and they themselves only appointed supreme rulers, collected taxes and strictly monitored loyalty and observance of order. The riots were suppressed with maximum cruelty, but the obedient inhabitants lived quite tolerably. In addition, the Romans provided protection from external enemies; the lands they conquered were included in the single economic and cultural space of the empire.
But still, these were foreign invaders, and among the Jews there were always enough people who wanted to expel them from their land. Many associated these expectations with the Messiah, and when, after the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Jesus did not proclaim himself king or declare war on the Romans, they turned away from Him. Apparently, this is partly why people shouted to Pilate “Crucify Him!” shortly after Jesus was welcomed. In the year 66, a rebellion against Rome will be launched, which will end in disaster.
All this was still far away in the era of Herod the Great, but without knowing these facts we will not understand much in his history. We will talk about it next time.
Herod the Great and his sons
This man is mentioned in the Gospel in connection with one single episode - the extermination of the Bethlehem infants after the Nativity of Jesus, and only Matthew talks about this. He wrote primarily for the Jews, and they remembered very well who King Herod the Great was! It turns out that this particular king did not stop in the face of obvious villainy and killed many innocent children in order to get rid of an imaginary competitor.
Here an interesting question arises: we know nothing or almost nothing about most of the heroes of the New Testament from historical sources, while ancient historians tell us a lot about the famous King Herod. And among these stories there is not even a mention of the Bethlehem atrocity! Why?
But before we make an assumption, let's talk about what Herod became famous for. He was a truly effective ruler and knew how to get his way. With Roman help, he successfully repelled attacks from external enemies, the Parthians and Arabs, and dealt with internal opposition without hesitation. He married the granddaughter of the high priest Hyrcanus II to give legitimacy to his dynasty. But most of all he is known for his construction program: under him, new quarters of Jerusalem, reliable fortresses, luxurious palaces, and modern theaters were erected (the theaters, however, offended the extreme zealots of the Jewish religion).
The most important thing is that the Temple was rebuilt during his time. When Herod came to power, the same modest building stood on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, which was erected by immigrants from Babylonia immediately after returning to Jerusalem. The Romans were ashamed of this small, dilapidated building... Herod in 22 BC. e. begins a radical restructuring of the entire temple complex, which lasts nine years - and all this time the services do not stop. The Western Wall, which can still be seen in Jerusalem today, is just part of the platform built by Herod to expand the space for the Temple. You can imagine how magnificent its construction itself was! It is to this Temple that Jesus will then come... but the Temple will stand for less than a century and will be destroyed by the very Roman legions that brought Herod to power.
Greatness is not always associated with morality, and it often turns out that rulers who achieved tremendous success shed rivers of blood. So under Herod the Great, torture and execution for the most insignificant reasons became the norm. He exterminated all the descendants of the previous dynasty, the Hasmoneans. At different times, he sentenced his own beloved wife and two sons to execution on mere suspicion. Being seriously ill, a few days before his death, he ordered to gather all the Jewish nobility in the circus and kill them without exception - however, this will was never fulfilled. Against the backdrop of such high-profile atrocities, the quiet murder of unknown babies in the small town of Bethlehem may simply not have worried the historians of that time, because Herod’s record included much more striking crimes. And here are just babies... But the Christian Church honors these babies as saints, and not the great king who rebuilt the Temple, and not even his innocently murdered sons - a lesson for future generations, who will more than once yearn for earthly greatness and a strong hand.
It is difficult to name the exact date of the beginning of Herod's reign, because... He gained power over Judea gradually; usually the beginning of his sole rule is considered to be 37 BC. e. We know the date of his death exactly: it is 4 BC. e. But then it turns out that Herod died before the birth of Christ? Only if we take the 1st year AD as the date of this Christmas. e. (1st year A.D., as they wrote before). Indeed, “our era” dates back to Christmas, but its estimated date was calculated inaccurately in the early Middle Ages - after all, neither in the Bible nor in any other ancient authoritative sources there are clear indications of it, and the calculations were very approximate. And now everyone has become accustomed to just such a chronology, and even if someone is confused by the fact that Christmas took place several years before the beginning of a new era, no one is going to change the chronology system.
Herod's kingdom did not survive its ruler. Before his death, with the consent of Rome, he divided it between his sons: Herod Archelaus, Herod Antipas and Herod Philip. That is why they were called tetrarchs, i.e. "tetrarchs". Strictly speaking, there were now four parts in the state, but Archelaus received control of two at once, such was the wish of the Roman Emperor Octavian Augustus. Over time, Augustus even promised to make Archelaus king. However, the moods of the rulers are changeable: quite soon Augustus sent Archelaus into exile, and included the territory under his control (including Jerusalem) into the Roman province of Syria, now it was ruled by Roman governors.
Antipas, who inherited Galilee and Transjordan, and Philip, whose region lay east of Lake Galilee, ruled their lands much longer, although they sometimes came into conflict with each other and with Roman appointees. Evangelist Luke even notes that Herod Antipas and the Roman governor Pilate, who were previously at enmity with each other, made peace during the “trial” of Jesus.
But we will talk about these rulers and their successors mentioned in the book of Acts next time.
Herods: Antipas, Agrippa I, Agrippa II
It is Herod Antipas who is mentioned in the Gospels (except for the story of the Nativity) under the name Herod. We are talking about one of the sons of King Herod the Great, who ruled Galilee from 4 to 39 AD. e. He got along well with Rome and even named his residence on Lake Galilee Tiberias in honor of the Roman emperor Tiberius (present-day Tiberias in Israel).
His “family chronicle” is also quite typical for the rulers of that time. Herod Antipas took the wife of his half-brother Philip - for exposing this illegal union, John the Baptist paid with his head. But this marriage did not bring happiness to Herod himself. When the extravagant Emperor Caligula ascended the Roman throne instead of Tiberius, Herodias forced Herod to go to the emperor in search of new honors and titles. However, Herod’s own nephew, Agrippa, immediately sent a denunciation against him, and instead of honors, he was exiled to distant Gaul, where he died, possibly a violent death. Herodias went into exile with her husband, and Herod's titles and possessions passed to his nephew Agrippa, who sent a denunciation at the right time.
But all this will happen after the gospel story. So far, everything was fine with Herod Antipas, at least from the outside. He enjoys life (the Gospel mentions how widely he celebrated his birthday), he is not averse to listening to the sermons of John the Baptist, and if not for the intrigues of his wife, perhaps he would not have ordered his execution.
And then the ruler Herod had to decide the fate of another Righteous Man. The Roman governor Pilate sent the arrested Jesus to him, because He was from Galilee and was formally subject to him as the ruler of this region. As the Evangelist Luke reports, 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.
He really wanted Jesus to somehow decorate his endless holiday of life, and when he didn’t get what he wanted, he at least had fun mocking Him and sent Him out of sight. Pilate at least made a gesture of washing his hands, supposedly distancing himself from making a decision on an unjust execution - the ruler Herod did not do this either. Everything seemed to him a reason for fun and ridicule, and very soon the new Roman emperor and his own nephew would laugh at him in the same way.
Another ruler, in 37 AD. e. who replaced his uncle Antipas after a well-written denunciation, is mentioned in the book of Acts. His name was Herod Agrippa, and it was on his orders that the Apostle James was killed and the Apostle Peter was thrown into prison at the very beginning of the apostolic sermon. The Book of Acts also describes his own death: his pagan subjects began to honor him as a god (for a pagan this is a completely normal form of flattery, the Roman emperors were considered gods by their position), and he accepted these honors - and an angel of God struck him with a painful illness , from which he died. What is allowed to a pagan is in no way suitable for a person who professes faith in the One God, and Agrippa considered himself just that.
There is one significant coincidence in his fate: he considered the preaching of the apostles to be blasphemy, but... when blasphemous praises were addressed to him, he accepted them without a twinge of conscience. Double standards were not invented yesterday, this is true, but something else is also true: sometimes a person becomes a victim of the very sin of which he falsely accuses others. He died in 44 AD. e.
Another preacher of Christianity, the Apostle Paul, also talked with King Agrippa, and the book of Acts also talks about this. We are talking about Herod Agrippa II, the son of Agrippa I and the last ruler of the Herod dynasty. This meeting took place in the seaside city of Caesarea, apparently in 59 AD. e. Agrippa had just arrived there with his sister Bernice, with whom he was inseparable (many said, and, apparently, not without reason, that they lived as spouses) to visit the Roman governor Festus. He told him about a strange prisoner whom he was to send to the Roman emperor for trial (Paul himself wished so, but this is a separate story), but for now he could have fun talking with him.
The Book of Acts cites the sermon that Paul preached to Agrippa on this occasion and even personally addressed him: “Do you believe, King Agrippa, the prophets? I know that you believe.” And if so, Paul believed, then the king must admit: in Jesus the most important prophecies given in the Old Testament were fulfilled. Agrippa answered with a grin to Paul that he seemed to be trying to make him a Christian... Well, how can one imagine that a king would join some small and, moreover, persecuted religious group! He has so many philosophical books at his disposal, he has no shortage of either Jewish priests or Greek orators... Why, why does he also need a new teaching?
Agrippa II, the last in the Herodian dynasty, as far as we know, did not execute any Christians, but did not prevent those who wished from persecuting and killing them. And most importantly, he did not pay much attention to Pavel’s speech, which seemed to him an amusing curiosity. And then everything went somehow wrong... His subjects suddenly did not want to obey him and drove him out together with his sister Bernice in 66, on the eve of the great war with the Romans, in which Jerusalem and the temple built by Herod the Great would be destroyed, and the Jewish people will lose all ability to dispose of the land of Canaan until the middle of the 20th century, when the new state of Israel is created. In this war, Agrippa and his detachment participated on the side of the Romans; after its end, he lived in Rome with the same Bernice and died around 100 AD. e.
For almost a century and a half, representatives of the Herodian dynasty ruled in Judea, gradually losing everything that its founder had acquired at such a bloody price, and stubbornly not noticing the main thing that arose in it during this time. Your house is left empty for you, Jesus spoke prophetically about the Temple rebuilt by Herod the Great, but the same words can also be applied to the state that the Herods tried with all their might to preserve, the greatness of which they cared so much about and which so quickly collapsed to the ground, including through their efforts .
