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„And the signal will be for you: you will find a little boy lying wrapped in a manger.“
(Luke, 2, 13.)
The king of Judea, Herod the Great, was as historical a figure as Jesus of Nazareth. The life history of the Hellenistic ruler, allied with Rome, as one of the most important kings in the history of ancient Israel, is relatively well documented.
However, the circumstances of Jesus’ birth are remembered only in the New Testament Scriptures as the only source, quite succinctly.
On the birth of Jesus among the four evangelists
The Gospel of Matthew and Luke writes in relatively more detail:
mentioning also the massacre ordered by the king of Judea. “Herod, seeing that the magicians had reflected on his mind, rose in great anger, dismissed his men and killed all the children under two years of age in Bethlehem and all those who were around him, according to the time he had learned of the magicians.“- Matthew writes about the murder of little children (Matt. 2:17).
Although Herod’s surviving chronicles do not mention the Bethlehem massacre, they do
who has become an unpredictable and cruel despot due to the overwhelmed mind in the last years of the king’s reign,
who ruthlessly murdered even those of his family whom he considered dangerous to his own power.
For this reason, Herod, who had gone mad at the end of his life, could not stay away from such a barbaric massacre, as recorded in the New Testament Scriptures, especially if he believed that he could secure his feared unhealthy power.
He became an unpredictable and bloodthirsty despot during the last years of his life.
The unpredictability and bloodthirsty personality of Herod the Great in the last years of his reign, that is, in the period when Jesus of Nazareth was born, is confirmed not only by the New Testament but also by other ancient sources that have survived the King. of Judea.
According to Herod’s blood, he was not considered Jewish because his father, Antipatros the Idumean, his mother, and Kufra, were of Nabataean descent, that is, of Arab nationality. Son of Herod, who was born around 74 BC. C., at the age of 26 years, Julio César personally granted the Roman civil rights and appointed him prefect of Galilee.
In 40 a. C., the party was invaded in Palestinian territory by the aggressive military power of the contemporary Middle East. Herod was unable to defend Galilee from the overwhelming oppressive force of the party,
therefore, temporarily yielding the province under his charge, he was forced to flee.
Upon reaching Rome, the senate added an army to him and named him king of Judea. Blessed with excellent military command, Herod, with the help of the Roman legions under his command, drove the Parthians from the territory of Israel and restored the unity of his kingdom.
Although he was not a Jew himself, he conscientiously obeyed Jewish law and duly respected the Great Council, which was the main forum for religious affairs. But he also recognized that to maintain his power, he must also take into account the wishes and interests of Rome.
In vain he ruled in an exemplary manner, intrigues entangled his life
Herod, who, by the grace of the Senate, held the throne of Judea from 37 BC. C., made his country flourish thanks to his excellent political talent. Although Judea was already a client of Rome at the time, Herod brought a new golden age for the Jewish kingdom by making the most of its internal political sovereignty.
His generosity not only extended to Jerusalem,
where he built the new church,
and, as a promoter of Hellenism, he beautified the city with large-scale constructions, but he founded new cities – Caesarea, Masada, Erodius – and, as king, he sought to please religious Jews in every way. Despite all this, Herod lived his life in a web of conspiracies and intrigues, which caused paranoia to prevail more and more in him.
The Pharisees staunchly opposed his pro-Rome policy, and the Maccabees viewed him as a usurper.
the ruler of non-Jewish descent. Herod increasingly resorted to the means of outright violence due to perpetual intrigues, and when he executed Hezekiah without the judgment of the Great Council, he also inflicted the wrath of the high priestly body, the Sanhedrin.
In the twilight of his life, madness took hold of him, of which many family members were also victims. By the time Jesus was born (around 7 BC), the once wise and prudent king had turned into a furious and unpredictable despot.
The wise come from East Jerusalem
According to the New Testament Scriptures, when Jesus was born in Bethlehem, three wise men came to Jerusalem from the east in search of their baby. Who they really were is one of the great mysteries of history. The three wise men are also known as three kings, but it is true that they were not rulers,
but most likely they were very astrologers.
In ancient terminology, the east meant an area east of the Jordan and extended into Mesopotamia.
Some hypothesized that the three kings may have been the astronomers of the Temple of Marduk in Babylon,
and astrologers. (Until the 18th century, astronomy and astrology were intertwined sciences.) The astrologers of the ancient Middle East, also known as magicians as educated people of their time, were very knowledgeable about the religious traditions of the area.
Therefore, the three sages were also able to know the prophecy of Daniel and Balaam about the coming of the Messiah, and the prophecy of the prophet Micah that the Messiah, the “king of the Jews”, would be born in Bethlehem.
The tragedy of the “little saints” may not just be a matter of faith
Knowing the customs of the time, it also seems completely realistic that the king, Herod the Great, wanted to see the famous magi who came to Jerusalem.
According to the Gospel of Matthew, when Herod learned that the wise men from afar were looking for a newborn, the “king of kings,” he summoned the high priests and scribes to find out where the “new king” might have been born.
„And they said to him, In Bethlehem of Judah, for that is what the prophet wrote.“(Matt. 2: 6). According to biblical tradition, Herod wanted to trick the three wise men into a spleen, asking them to show him where his baby was, because he also wanted to worship him.
However, the sages did not return to Herod as a result of a vision, but instead traveled directly home from Bethlehem.
Herod, who was standing in the jump, angrily ordered that a child under the age of two be killed in and around Bethlehem.
According to the gospel, Joseph in his dream was warned by an angel of danger,
who immediately fled to Mary, with Mary and the infant Jesus, to escape Herod’s murderers.
Although no ancient source other than the Gospels commemorates the massacre of children in Bethlehem, given Herod’s last years and the bloody customs of contemporary despots, it is highly probable that the story of the “little saints” may have real foundations beyond Faith.
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