28 — DEATH OF HEROD THE GREAT
At what time did Herod the Great die? I would like to know from the Bible or history, or both. C. M. D. We have no record in the Bible as to when Herod the Great died. We must not confound Herod the Great with other Herods that followed. Herod really was the family name, and the Herodian family included not only Herod the Great, but Archelaus, Herod Antipas, Philip, Herod Agrippa I, and Herod Agrippa II. Herod the Great was placed in power by Rome. His whole career was one of cruelty and bloodshed. His father died by poison, and he assassinated the poisoner. His equally wicked or more wicked sister, Salome, urged him to crime. He gave orders that his own wife Mariamne, the Asmonean, should be put to death if he did not return when he went to meet Mark Antony. Two men, learning of this secret, were both executed. One of his wives he murdered, another he cast aside. Mariamne learned of his order concerning her, and hated him intensely as a result. Not daring to dispose of her secretly, he charged her with adultery, and she was executed. Two of Herod's sons, becoming too popular after they had been educated in Rome, were charged with treason, which resulted in their death. Augustus left the sentence of his last son to Herod. The son was put to death. His son Antipater was put to death five days before the father died, upon which it is said that the Roman emperor remarked, "I had rather be Herod's sow than Herod's son." He died at the age of sixty-nine, a few days before the Passover, B. C. 4. His death scene, it is reported, was awful as regards both his mind and his body. See any good Bible encyclopedia.