Herodias - Her Life And Times

Herodias - Her Life And Times

THE HERODS

Both husbands of Herodias were part of the Herodian family of rulers, as was Herodias herself. Her first husband, Herod Philip, as well as her second husband, Herod Antipas, were her uncles. The family of the Herods ruled in Judea and the surrounding areas for over 125 years. The first Herod, known as Herod the Great, was king of Judea from 37 to 4 BC. His reign was marked by division and domestic troubles, but also by prosperity. While in power, he built amphitheaters, palaces, fortresses, Gentile temples, and the temple of Herod in Jerusalem. This temple was his crowning achievement, noted by the historian Josephus as Herod’s most noble work. The literature of the rabbis of that time states: “He who has not seen the Temple of Herod has never seen a beautiful building.”

Herod the Great’s five wives produced seven sons, most of whom went on to rule parts of the Near East for the Roman Empire. Philip, Herod’s son by Mariamne of Simon, was Herodias’s first husband. Herodias herself was the daughter of another of Herod’s sons. That made her Herod’s granddaughter as well as his daughter-in-law by marriage. Herodias wasn’t the only one of Herod’s children to form such relationships; Herod’s great-granddaughter, Bernice, became the consort of her brother, Herod Agrippa II, also a great-grandchild of Herod.

The events at the birthday banquet described in Mark 6 are the culmination of years of corrupt living by a family who had power and knew how to use and misuse it. Herodias’s actions, though horrifying, are not really surprising. Each step along the way to requesting John the Baptist’s death was perhaps a small one, little noticed, but each step made its relentless way down a path to sin, until what would have been unconscionable years before now seemed acceptable and reasonable. Sin is like that. As your mother told you — and it’s true — one small lie leads to another bigger lie that leads to another even bigger lie. The path of sin is strewn with small, seemingly insignificant decisions that lead nowhere but farther along the path away from truth and God.