- Born:
- 21 bce
- Died:
- after 39 ce
Herod Antipas
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Who was Herod Antipas?
Herod Antipas (born 21 BCE, died after 39 CE) was the son of Herod the Great and became tetrarch of Galilee and Peraea. He ruled during Jesus' ministry, who referred to him as "that fox" in Luke 13:32.
Around 4 BCE, Antipas inherited part of his father's kingdom and restored towns, renaming one in honor of the Roman imperial family. He divorced his Nabataean wife to marry Herodias, which offended his former father-in-law and Jewish subjects. At Herodias's urging, he imprisoned and beheaded John the Baptist.
Pilate sent Jesus to Antipas, but Antipas returned him, unwilling to judge. Antipas built Tiberias, a Greek-style city, and supported the Herodians. After Caligula became emperor, Antipas was banished to Gaul following accusations from Agrippa I. Herodias accompanied him, and Agrippa I added the tetrarchy to his domains.
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What area did Herod Antipas rule?
Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great, ruled as tetrarch of Galilee in northern Palestine, and Peraea, east of the Jordan River and Dead Sea. He ruled these areas throughout Jesus of Nazareth’s ministry, beginning in 4 BCE.
Antipas was also a builder, having rebuilt Sepphoris and Tiberias. However, in 39 CE, Emperor Caligula banished Antipas on the grounds that he had conferred with Rome’s enemies.
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When did Herod Antipas live and rule?
Herod Antipas, son of Herod I the Great, was born in 21 BCE and died after 39 CE. Around 4 BCE, he became the tetrarch, a ruler of a minor principality in the Roman Empire, of Galilee in northern Palestine, and Peraea, east of the Jordan River and Dead Sea. He ruled throughout Jesus of Nazareth’s ministry. After Caligula became emperor in 37 CE, Herodias persuaded her husband, Antipas, to denounce Agrippa I before the emperor. However, Caligula banished Antipas to Gaul, where Herodias accompanied him, and Agrippa I added the tetrarchy to his domains.
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How did Herod Antipas become ruler of Galilee?
Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great, became tetrarch of Galilee and Peraea in northern Palestine around 4 BCE. This came about after Herod the Great's death, when the Roman emperor Augustus adjusted Herod's will and divided his kingdom among his sons. Although Antipas was given a lesser title than king, as tetrarch, he was sovereign within his domain, provided he remained loyal to Rome and maintained peace.
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What role did Herod Antipas play in the events of the New Testament?
Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great, ruled Galilee and Peraea during Jesus' ministry. He divorced his wife to marry Herodias, which John the Baptist publicly criticized. Yielding to Herodias's pressure, Antipas imprisoned and then beheaded John.
In the New Testament, Antipas is mentioned in connection with Jesus. [Jesus called Herod] "that fox". When [Jesus was] arrested, Pilate sent him to Antipas, who was in Jerusalem for Passover, because Jesus was from Antipas’s region. Eager to see Jesus perform miracles, Antipas questioned him but, receiving no response, sent him back to Pilate.
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How did Herod Antipas lose his power, and what happened to him afterward?
Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great, ruled Galilee and Peraea until 39 CE. His downfall began when Herodias, envious of her brother Agrippa I's success, pushed Antipas to denounce Agrippa before Emperor Caligula. However, Agrippa, a close friend of Caligula, turned the tables and leveled accusations against Antipas. Consequently, Caligula banished Antipas to Gaul. Herodias accompanied him, and Agrippa I acquired Antipas's tetrarchy, adding it to his own domains. Little is known of Antipas’s life after exile.
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Herod Antipas (born 21 bce—died after 39 ce ) was the son of Herod I the Great who became tetrarch (ruler of a minor principality in the Roman Empire) of Galilee, in northern Palestine, and Peraea, east of the Jordan River and Dead Sea, and ruled throughout Jesus of Nazareth’s ministry. In the Gospel According to Luke (13:32), Jesus is reported as having referred to him with contempt as “that fox.”
About 4 bce Herod Antipas inherited part of his father’s kingdom after the Roman emperor Augustus adjusted his father’s will. He restored the damage caused in the period between his father’s death and the approval of the will, restoring two towns, one of which he renamed in honour of the Roman imperial family.
He divorced his Nabataean wife, the daughter of Aretas IV, king of the desert kingdom adjoining his own, to marry Herodias, formerly the wife of his half brother. The marriage offended his former father-in-law and alienated his Jewish subjects. According to Mark 6 and the parallel accounts in Matthew 14 and Luke 3, when John the Baptist, one of his subjects, reproached Herod for this marriage, Herodias goaded her husband into imprisoning him. Still unmollified, she inveigled her daughter, Salome, to ask for the Baptist’s head in return for dancing at her stepfather’s birthday feast. Antipas reluctantly beheaded John, and later, when Jesus’ miracles were reported to him, he believed that John the Baptist had been resurrected. When Jesus was arrested in Jerusalem, according to Luke 23, Pilate, the Roman procurator of Judaea, first sent him to Antipas, who was spending Passover in the capital, because Jesus came from Antipas’s realm. The tetrarch was eager to see Jesus, expecting more miracles, but soon returned him to Pilate, unwilling to pass judgment.
Sometime earlier Antipas had built the city of Tiberias on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, partly modeling it after a Greek city, but, though he erected statues in the Greek manner in his palace, his coins bore no images. He also encouraged the Herodians, well-to-do Jews who supported him and were tolerant of Roman authority.
Herod’s closeness to the imperial family resulted in his choice as a mediator in the Roman-Parthian talks of 36. To his credit the conference was a success, but Antipas’s haste to report the news to Rome aroused the hostility of Aulus Vitellius, legate of Syria, later emperor. About 37 the Nabataean king Aretas IV, whose daughter Antipas had repudiated, attacked Herod’s realm, inflicting severe damage. When the tetrarch appealed to Rome, the emperor sent Vitellius, who, still nursing his resentment, availed himself of every possible delay. After Caligula became emperor in 37, Herodias, envious of her brother Agrippa I’s success, persuaded her husband to denounce him before the emperor, but the intended victim, Caligula’s close friend, anticipated Antipas and levied charges, partially true, against him. Caligula banished Antipas to Gaul, where Herodias accompanied him, and her brother added the tetrarchy to his domains. Little is known of Antipas’s life following his exile.