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Philip the Tetrarch provides a refreshing contrast to the general character of Herod's
family, keeping aloof from the family intrigues, and discharging his duties faithfully. For
37 years he devoted himself to the well-being of his dominion and people, and died
without issue in A.D.34 at Bethsaiada Julius--a city which he named after the profligate
daughter of Augustus. He also rebuilt Paneas, calling it Cęsarea Philippi.
Herod Antipas, the Tetrarch, occupies a more conspicuous place in the N.T. It was
this man to whom the Lord referred as "that fox" in Luke 13: 32, and whom
John the Baptist rebuked. He it was also who granted Salome's request for John's head
in a charger, and to whom the Saviour was sent by Pilate at the time of His trial. His
great friend was the Emperor Tiberius, in whose honour he built the city called Tiberias,
on the shores of the Lake of Galilee. The building of this city brought Herod into conflict
with the Jews, for in digging the foundations the workmen came across an old cemetery.
The Rabbis therefore pronounced the site unclean, so that no Jew could enter or leave it
without seven days purification.
Another fact that should be mentioned in connection with Herod is that he began an
adulterous intrigue with Herodias, his brother's wife, promising to divorce his Arabian
wife, and marry Herodias. This naturally caused ill-feeling between Herod and the
country of his wife's people at Petra.
We shall have to say more about Herod in connection with the Lord's trial, when we
come to deal with Roman law, but for the moment, after a few brief notes concerning his
end, we must pass on to other members of the same family.
At the death of Tiberius, Caligula, who was a great friend of Herod's half-brother,
Agrippa, made him (Agrippa) king. Herodias was fiercely indignant to think that one
who had depended upon their charity for his very bread, should have surpassed them in
honour and dignity, and she therefore urged her husband to go to Rome and beg for
kingship himself. He was followed, however, by a freedman of Agrippa, who charged
him with planning rebellion, and made great capital out of the fact that Herod had
accumulated enough arms to equip 70,000 men. As a result of these representations
Caligula bestowed the wealth and tetrarchy upon Agrippa and banished Herod to Lyons
(A.D.39). With all her crime and passion, Herodias demands of us at this point the
acknowledgment of one act that was magnanimous. Hearing that Herodias was
Agrippa's sister, Caligula restored to her own possessions and exempted her from exile.
She replied, however: "It is not just that I, who have been partner in his prosperity,
should forsake him in his misfortunes" and so she went into exile with the man whom she
had virtually ruined.
The life story of Herod Agrippa is a romantic one, passing rapidly "from squalor to
splendour". At one time he is loaded with wealth; at another, his poverty prompts him to
suicide. Some idea of the marriage tangle that seems to be characteristic of Herod's
family, can be gathered from Farrar's attempt to define his relationships. "Agrippa, son
of two first cousins, married another cousin, the daughter of his own aunt, who had
married her uncle." During the reign of Tiberius Herod was under suspicion, and was