Herod the Great -- 73 BC to 4 BC

Herod the Great was the son of an Idumean named Antipater who had been appointed procurator of Judea by Julius Caesar. At the age of 25 Herod was appointed governor of the district of Galilee by his father. He soon gained control of all of Palestine. Herod was called "Great" not for nobility of character but for the length and breadth of his reign and for the greatness of his public works, most notably the rebuilding of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem.           Herod was the "king" of all the province of Palestine when Jesus was born. His reign was pock-marked by some of the basest brutality ever ordered by any ruler. His "slaughter of the innocents," in which he ordered the murder of all male babies (two years and younger) in the city of Bethlehem and its evirons, will forever be remembered as one of the most horrific acts in human memory. In addition he was said to have killed several members of his own family who threatened his kingship. As he was dying he called many of the region's noblemen to his bedside and ordered they be slain at the moment of his death so that his demise would be followed by almost-universal mourning. He died in horrible agony in Jericho in April, 4 BC.           Herod is mentioned several times in the scriptures. He is mentioned nine times just in Matthew 2. He is also mentioned in Luke 1: 5.