King Herod: Mad Tyrant or Misunderstood Hero?

If you open a Bible to Matthew 2:16-18, you’ll encounter one of the most notorious stories in any religion. Suspicious of a prophesy about a new king, Herod the Great tricks the Magi into telling him where baby Jesus was born, then sends his soldiers to massacre every child under the age of two in Bethlehem. It’s a scene of shocking cruelty, one that has ensured King Herod’s name is still synonymous with evil today. →Subscribe for new videos four times per week. https://www.youtube.com/c/biographics?sub_confirmation=1 Visit our companion website for more: http://biographics.org Credits: Host - Simon Whistler Author - Morris M. Producer - Jennifer Da Silva Executive Producer - Shell Harris Business inquiries to biographics.email@gmail.com Other Biographics Videos: Bernie Madoff: The Greatest Con in History https://youtu.be/E3hceCMoTQY Nikita Khrushchev – The Man Behind the Missile Crisis https://youtu.be/gjGLD8bx7Qo Source/Further reading: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Herod-king-of-Judaea https://www.nationalgeographic.com/archaeology-and-history/magazine/2016/11-12/king-herod-judaea-holy-land-rome-new-testament/ https://www.livius.org/articles/person/herod-the-great/ (Original 1906 text, good for some details, but obviously outdated in others): http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/7598-herod-i (Interesting notes on why Josephus and others may not mention Massacre of Innocents – size of Bethlehem plays a key role): http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/history/herod.shtml Pompey’s siege of Jerusalem: https://www.livius.org/articles/concept/roman-jewish-wars/#Hyrcanus Hyrcanus II: https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Hyrcanus-II (A dissenting opinion): http://www.jvl.leverage.it/herod