{"id":18063,"date":"2025-02-11T07:00:20","date_gmt":"2025-02-11T12:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblicalarchaeology.org\/?p=18063"},"modified":"2025-02-10T12:10:13","modified_gmt":"2025-02-10T17:10:13","slug":"herod-antipas-in-the-bible-and-beyond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblicalarchaeology.org\/daily\/people-cultures-in-the-bible\/people-in-the-bible\/herod-antipas-in-the-bible-and-beyond\/","title":{"rendered":"Herod Antipas in the Bible and Beyond"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Although he ruled as tetrarch over Galilee in Jesus\u2019 time, we hear relatively little about Herod Antipas in the Bible and other ancient sources of the period. Was Herod Antipas (depicted in a painting above) an aggressive tyrant like his father, Herod the Great, or was he simply a perplexed ruler who didn\u2019t know what to do about Jesus and his followers? Photo: SEF\/Art Resource, NY.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Herod Antipas<\/a> is known mostly as the Herod for whom Salome danced and who ordered John the Baptist to be beheaded<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Herod Antipas ruled Galilee in Jesus\u2019 time. He succeeded his father, Herod the Great<\/a>, and served as tetrarch (appointed by the emperor Augustus to rule over one quarter of his father\u2019s kingdom) from 4 B.C. until 39 A.D., almost exactly the lifetime of Jesus. Yet there is relatively little about Antipas in the Bible.<\/p>\n

According to Biblical scholar Morten H\u00f8rning Jensen in \u201cAntipas\u2014The Herod Jesus Knew<\/a>\u201d in the September\/October 2012 issue of BAR<\/strong><\/a>, in the three synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke), Herod Antipas\u2019s attitude toward Jesus is somewhat vague and indecisive:<\/p>\n

In Matthew and Mark, Herod Antipas is ambivalent with regard to Jesus. Both gospels quote Herod Antipas as saying, after he has had John the Baptist<\/a> executed, that Jesus is actually John resurrected (Matthew 14:1\u20132; Mark 6:14\u201316). Both gospels state that Antipas was actually saddened by Salome\u2019s request to have John beheaded (Matthew 14:9; Mark 6:26), and they seem to blame Salome and her mother, Herodias, for John\u2019s execution. Bound by his own oath, Antipas is nevertheless forced to fulfill his promise to Salome.<\/p>\n

At the same time, however, we get the feeling in Matthew and Mark that Antipas is a shadow of death over Jesus. When Jesus hears that John has been killed, \u201che withdrew from there in a boat to a lonely place,\u201d apparently fearful of Antipas (Matthew 14:13). In Mark 3:6, the Herodians counsel about how to kill Jesus, just as Jesus in Mark 8:15 warns against \u201cthe leaven of Herod.\u201d<\/p>\n

Luke\u2019s account differs from Matthew\u2019s and Mark\u2019s by concentrating mostly on the trial of Jesus<\/a>, for which Luke skillfully prepares his reader by references to Antipas along the way that build up an intense question in the reader\u2019s mind: Is Antipas interested in Jesus or is he trying to kill him? (See Luke 3:19\u201320, 9:7\u201310, 13:31\u201333.)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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FREE ebook: The Galilee Jesus Knew<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t