Herod "the Great"

Herod was succeeded by his son, Herod Archelaus, who was twice as wicked as his father, and deposed by the Romans after a few years of rule.

Edomite Ancestry

That Herod was indeed of the seed of Esau is fully apparent in the pages of the Judaean historian, Flavius Josephus, where it is attested to directly or indirectly at least five times.

Josephus, Antiquities, 14:8: But there was a certain friend of Hyrcanus, an Idumean, called Antipater, who was very rich, and in his nature an active and a seditious man; who was at enmity with Aristobulus, and had differences with him on account of his goodwill to Hyrcanus. [Antipater was the father of Herod.]

Josephus, Antiquities, 14:403: but Antigonus, by way of reply to what Herod had caused to be proclaimed, and this before the Romans, and before Silo also, said that they would not do justly if they gave the kingdom to Herod, who was no more than a private man, and an Idumean, i.e. a half Jew, whereas they ought to bestow it on one of the royal family, as their custom was...

Josephus, Wars, 1:123: Now, those other people which were at variance with Aristobulus were afraid, upon his unexpectedly obtaining the government; and especially this concerned Antipater, whom Aristobulus hated of old. He was by birth an Idumean, and one of the principal of that nation, on account of his ancestors and riches, and other authority to him belonging...

Josephus, Wars, 1:312-313: 312 And here a certain old man, the father of seven children, whose children, together with their mother, desired him to give them permission to go out, upon the assurance and right hand that was offered them, slew them after the following manner: he ordered everyone of them to go out, while he stood himself at the cave's mouth, and slew each son of his as went out. Herod was near enough to see this sight, and his bowels of compassion were moved at it, and he stretched out his right hand to the old man, and besought him to spare his children; 313 yet did not he relent at all upon what he said, but over and above reproached Herod on the lowness of his descent, and slew his wife as well as his children; and when he had thrown their dead bodies down the precipice, he at last threw himself down after them.

Now at Antiquities, 14:403 we see that Josephus called Herod a “half Jew”, but by that he did not mean that his mother was an Israelite, since here where Josephus is speaking of Antipater we shall see that Herod's mother was indeed an Idumaean, at Antiquities, 14:120-121:

120 and as he came back to Tyre, he went up into Judea also, and attacked Taricheae, and presently took it, and carried about thirty thousand Jews captives; and slew Pitholaus, who succeeded Aristobulus in his seditious practices, and that by the persuasion of Antipater, 121 who proved to have great interest in him, and was at that time in great repute with the Idumeans also: out of which nation he married a wife, who was the daughter of one of their eminent men, and her name was Cypros, {a} by whom he had four sons, Phasael, and Herod, who was afterward made king, and Joseph, and Pheroras; and a daughter, named Salome.

With this it is apparent that by “half-Jew” Josephus did not mean racially, but perhaps he used the term only as far as confession and appearance were concerned.

Gospel Narrative

Evil Reponse to Messiah's Birth

Matthew records that at the report of the magi, ”Herodas was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him”, which indicates that all of the court of Herod which heard the magi, the officers, the priests, and whoever else may have been present, were troubled about the announcement of a Messiah as much as Herod was. This stands in stark contrast to the joy of the Magi, or the reaction of the apostles recorded at John 1:35-51, or the profession of the woman at the well in John chapter 4, that she knew that the Messiah would soon come, and expected even to see Him in her lifetime. The apostles as portrayed by John also anticipated His coming. All of these people expected the Messiah and were full of joy to see Him. The people of Judaea should have been, if they were indeed His people. Rather, they were not, and for that reason they feared.

Slaying of Firstborns

Matthew 2:16 Then Herodas, seeing that he had been mocked by the magi, had been exceedingly angered, and sending he slew all the children who were in Bethlehem and in all of its borders from two years and below, according to the time which he exacted from the magi. 17 Then that which had been spoken through Ieremios the prophet had been fulfilled, saying: 18 “A voice was heard in Rama, much weeping and wailing; Rachel crying for her children. And she did not desire to be comforted, for they are not!”

There is no historical verification of this event, and especially in the pages of Josephus. For this reason many scoff, and they should all be ashamed of themselves. Bethlehem was a small pastoral community in the mountains about 10 kilometers south of Judaea. It was so small, that there is no archaeological evidence from the period which even can be used to verify its existence, so today the jews argue over whether it existed at all. There is no solid assurance that they are even looking in the right place. Some jews even claim that Christ was born at a different Bethlehem, in Galilee, an idea which flies in the face of Scripture. It cannot, therefore, be imagined that the population was very large. It may well be that, because of the relatively small population of this remote pastoral village, only a few dozen children perished in such an incident, if that many. Contrasted with the many other evil deeds of Herod, the murder of a few dozen children would hardly be worthy of notice!   Josephus says in Antiquities Book 15:

“since Herod had now the government of all Judea put into his hands, he promoted such of the private men in the city as had been of his party, but never stopped avenging and punishing everyday those who had chosen to be of the party of his enemies”.

When Herod secured power in Judaea, he put all of the principle men of the land to death, who were connected to the Hasamoneans (the Maccabees). Later, he murdered his own wife and several of his own sons. Not long before his own death, after a failed sedition against him, he again had all of the principle men of Judaea gathered into the Hippodrome, and had them all slain. This would have been right around the time of the birth of Christ, and surely would have been a distraction from any of his other misdeeds. Herod died in 1 B.C., only a little over a year or so after Christ was born.

Revelation

“Revelation 12:4 "And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, in order that when she should give birth he may devour her child.“

The dragon here is represented by the historical Herod the Great, for only he attempted to murder the Christ child as soon as he was born, as we find recorded in Matthew. The fact that Herod represents the dragon is quite profound once we discover that he was not an Israelite, but an Edomite by race. That Herod was indeed of the seed of Esau is fully apparent in the pages of the Judaean historian, Flavius Josephus, where it is attested to directly or indirectly at least five times.

It is fully evident that Herod, representative of the dragon, was fully an Edomite by blood. Remember, as it is mentioned in both Malachi chapter 1 and Romans chapter 9, Yahweh God hated Esau, Paul even referring to the Edomites as “vessels of destruction”.  

Character

Matthew 2:7 Then Herodas calling the magi secretly, exacted precisely from them the time of the appearance of the star, 8 and sending them to Bethlehem said: “Going, you inquire precisely concerning the child, and when you find Him, you report to me, that I also coming may worship Him.”

There is no doubt that Herod exhibits the cunning so manifestly prevalent among those of his own race, and which those known as jews today – the synagogue of satan - have been famous for throughout time.