Herod The Great

"In modern research on Herod, the most discussed issue concerns the impact of his reign on his Jewish subjects. Opinions vary. Some scholars paint a picture of a cruel tyrant, even a maniac suffering from a personality disorder, who introduced the ancient version of a Gestapo state with an extended spy network and imprisonment, torture, and execution of anyone falling under the slightest suspicion. His own family was far from exempt, and the list of Herod’s executions of family members included three of his sons, his Hasmonean wife Mariamne, and his wife’s mother and grandfather. In light of this, Solomon Zeitlin said with reference to Herod’s ancestry and his death from a painful disease: “He attained his kingdom as a fox, ruled as a tiger and died as a dog.”

Others claim that his cruelty should be evaluated against the standards of ancient rulers and not modern sentiments. Even Josephus admits that during a famine Herod relieved the nation by distributing food from his royal supplies, just as he cut taxes twice, gave the Jewish nation a beautiful temple, and generally created a period of peace and growing prosperity.

It has been suggested by Geza Vermes and others that the conflicting nature of Herod’s reign is best explained as an outcome of an impossible vision of raising the Jewish nation to new heights by incorporating it solidly within the new Roman world order. This would explain why Herod, on the one hand, tried to be “a Jew to the Jews” by complying with Jewish customs. For example, he produced mostly aniconic art and coins (as suggested by archaeological excavations of his palaces); he married into the old, royal Hasmonean family; and he rebuilt the temple in Jerusalem. On the other hand, he tried to be “a Roman to the Romans” by putting pressure on the Jewish nation to accept Roman customs such as Greek sporting games and temples dedicated to the emperor.

If Herod’s intent was to incorporate the Jewish state into the Roman world order, his dream collapsed. As Vermes stated, the discontentment with Herod planted seeds that eventually grew into the great rebellion against Rome some 70 years after his death. In this light, Herod was not only one of the most famous “kings of the Jews,” but also one of the most fatal."

Morten Hørning Jensen. Herod the Great. (Accessed December 15, 2023.)

https://www.bibleodyssey.org/articles/herod-the-great/