Person in the New Testament
Herod the king
Herod the king: the ruler of the birth account who dies in Matthew 2
Portrait: an AI-generated artistic interpretation, not evidence of how Herod looked.
Who Herod is
This Herod is called Herod the king, and Jesus is born in Bethlehem in his days. When wise men arrive in Jerusalem asking where the one born King of the Jews is, Herod is troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. He gathers the chief priests and scribes and demands of them where Christ should be born, and they answer with a prophecy naming Bethlehem. He then calls the wise men privately, asks exactly when the star appeared, and sends them to search and bring him word, saying he means to come and worship as well. When the wise men are warned in a dream and do not return, and when Joseph has already gone into Egypt, Herod sees that he has been mocked, becomes exceeding wroth, and has the children of Bethlehem and its coasts killed from two years old and under, according to the time he had enquired about. The narrator then reports his death, and Joseph is told to return because those who sought the child's life are dead. His son Archelaus is said to reign in Judea in his place. Luke uses him only as a time marker, placing the priest Zacharias in the days of Herod, the king of Judea.
Cited passages: Matthew 2:1, Matthew 2:3, Matthew 2:4, Matthew 2:7, Matthew 2:8, Matthew 2:12, Matthew 2:13, Matthew 2:15, Matthew 2:16, Matthew 2:19, Matthew 2:20, Matthew 2:22, Luke 1:5
Historical setting
The text calls him Herod the king and places him in Judea, and it reports his death inside Matthew 2, with Archelaus reigning in Judea in the room of his father Herod. He is therefore a different man from the Herod called the tetrarch who imprisons John in Matthew 14 and who is still ruling in Luke 3. Luke 1:5 uses him as a dating device only, without giving any action to him. Acts 23:35 names Herod's judgment hall as the place where Paul is kept, and that verse names a building rather than a person, so nothing there states which Herod is meant. Matthew gives no year, no reign length and no account of how he died, only that he died. The number of children killed is not given, and the narrator states the age limit and the reason for it without naming any of them.
Cited passages: Matthew 2:1, Matthew 2:19, Matthew 2:22, Matthew 14:1, Luke 1:5, Acts 23:35, Matthew 2:16
How the story is told
Matthew gives him exactly one speech, and it is a lie in the making. He sends the wise men to search and asks them to bring him word so that he may come and worship him also, the same verb the wise men use for what they actually do. Every other move he makes is reported by the narrator rather than spoken: he is troubled, he gathers, he demands, he enquires privily, he is exceeding wroth, he sends forth. The chapter keeps him a step behind the information he wants, since the wise men take another road and Joseph leaves at night. His death is announced in a half sentence, and the angel's report of it is put in the plural, they are dead which sought the young child's life, without naming anyone else.
Cited passages: Matthew 2:8, Matthew 2:11, Matthew 2:3, Matthew 2:7, Matthew 2:12, Matthew 2:14, Matthew 2:16, Matthew 2:20
Story moments
- Troubled by the question (Matthew 2:3). Herod hears the wise men's question and is troubled, and Jerusalem with him.
- Demanding the place (Matthew 2:4). Herod gathers the chief priests and scribes and demands where Christ should be born.
- The private enquiry (Matthew 2:7). Herod calls the wise men privately and asks when the star appeared.
- Bring me word again (Matthew 2:8). Herod sends the wise men to search and asks them to report back.
- The children killed (Matthew 2:16). Seeing he has been mocked, Herod orders the killing of Bethlehem's young children.
- His death reported (Matthew 2:19). The narrator states that Herod is dead and an angel tells Joseph to return.
- A time marker in Luke (Luke 1:5). Luke places the priest Zacharias in the days of Herod, the king of Judea.
Key passages
Matthew 2:1
Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,
Matthew 2:3
When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
Matthew 2:7
Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.
Matthew 2:12
And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.
Matthew 2:13
And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.
Matthew 2:15
And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.
King James Version. 11 indexed passages in total.
For reflection
The only words this Herod speaks are the instructions he gives the wise men. What does the reader make of a figure whose single recorded speech is the one thing he does not mean?
Books Herod appears in
Related people
Names and references are adapted from STEPBible TIPNR. A person listed with a verse is named or indexed there; it does not mean they wrote or spoke it.