by his son Herod Agrippa II and his daughters Bernice (Acts 25:13), Drusilla, the wife of Governor Felix, and Mariamne (III).—Acts 24:24.

4. Herod Agrippa II. Great-grandson of Herod the Great. He was the son of Herod Agrippa I and his wife Cypros. He was the end of the princes of the Herodian line, according to historians. Agrippa had three sisters by the names of Bernice, Drusilla and Mariamne (III). (Acts 25:13; 24:24) He was reared in the imperial household in Rome. When he was seventeen years of age his father died, but Emperor Claudius’ advisers thought him too young to assume rulership of the dominions of his father. Accordingly, Claudius assigned governors over the territories instead. After remaining in Rome for a time, Agrippa II was given the kingship over Chalcis, a small principality on the western slope of the Anti-Lebanon range, after his uncle (Herod king of Chalcis) died.

It was not long afterward that Claudius appointed him king over the tetrarchies formerly belonging to Philip and Lysanias. (Luke 3:1) He was also given oversight of the temple of Jerusalem, and about 48-66 C.E. was invested with the authority to appoint the Jewish high priests. His domains were further enlarged by Claudius’ successor Nero, who granted him Tiberias and Taricheae in Galilee and Julias in Perea with its dependent towns.

Later, Agrippa turned his attention to building an addition to the palace that had been erected by the Hasmonean kings in Jerusalem. Because he could now observe from this palace addition what went on in the temple courtyard, the Jews erected a wall blocking his view and also obstructing the view from a certain vantage point for the Roman guards. This displeased both Herod and Festus, but on appeal of the Jews to Nero, the emperor let the wall remain. Agrippa also beautified Caesarea Philippi (changing its name to Neronias in honor of Nero). Following his father’s pattern, he built a theater at Berytus, in Phoenicia, expending vast sums on shows there.

Agrippa carried on an incestuous relationship with his sister Bernice, who had left her husband the king of Cilicia. This unclean, unscriptural relationship with his own sister brought great scandal upon him.—Lev. 18:9, 29; Deut. 27:22.

When it became evident that the Jews’ rebellion against the Roman yoke (66-70 C.E.) would only spell national disaster, Agrippa tried to persuade them to take a more moderate course. His appeals being of no avail, he forsook the Jews and attached himself to the Roman army, getting wounded by a slingstone in the actual fighting.

PAUL’S DEFENSE BEFORE HIM

The Scriptures introduce King Herod Agrippa II and his sister Bernice at the time of their courtesy call on Governor Festus, probably in the year 58 C.E. (Acts 25:13) Festus had succeeded Governor Felix. It was during the governorship of Felix that the apostle Paul had been accused by the Jews, but Felix, upon leaving office, desired to gain favor with the Jews and left Paul bound. (Acts 24:27) Incidentally, Felix was a brother-in-law of Agrippa, having married his sister Drusilla. (Acts 24:24) While Paul was awaiting further action on his appeal to Caesar (Acts 25:8-12), King Agrippa voiced to Governor Festus his desire to hear what Paul had to say. (Acts 25:22) Paul was glad to make his defense before Agrippa, whom he referred to as being “expert on all the customs as well as the controversies among Jews.” (Acts 26:1-3) Paul’s powerful argument moved Agrippa to say: “In a short time you would persuade me to become a Christian.” To this Paul answered: “I could wish to God that whether in a short time or in a long time not only you but also all those who hear me today would become men such as I also am, with the exception of these bonds.” (Acts 26:4-29) Agrippa and Festus determined that Paul was innocent but that, since he had appealed to Caesar, he had to be sent to Rome for trial.—Acts 26:30-32; 25:11, 12.

Following the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 C.E., Herod Agrippa with his sister Bernice moved to Rome, where he was given the office of praetor. Agrippa died childless about 100 C.E.

5. Herod Philip. Son of Herod the Great by Mariamne (II), daughter of High Priest Simon. Philip was the first husband of Herodias, who divorced him to marry his half-brother Herod Antipas. He is mentioned incidentally in the Bible at Matthew 14:3; Mark 6:17, 18 and Luke 3:19.

The name “Herod Philip” is used to distinguish him from Philip the tetrarch, for the latter was also a son of Herod the Great by another wife, Cleopatra of Jerusalem, according to Josephus.

Philip was apparently in line for succession to his father’s throne, as next eldest after his half-brothers Antipater, Alexander and Aristobulus, all three of whom their father executed. Herod’s earlier will listed him as in line after Antipas. But he was passed over in Herod’s final will, the kingdom going to Archelaus. Josephus relates that Herod blotted Philip’s name out of his will because Mariamne (II), Philip’s mother, had been aware of the plot of Antipater against Herod, but had not revealed it.

Philip had a daughter, Salome, by Herodias. She was evidently the one who danced before Herod Antipas and, due to her mother’s coaching, asked for the head of John the Baptist.—Matt. 14:1-13; Mark 6:17-29.

6. Philip the Tetrarch. Son of Herod the Great by his wife Cleopatra of Jerusalem. He was brought up in Rome. He married Salome the daughter of Herod Philip and Herodias. When his father died, Augustus Caesar divided the kingdom, giving Philip the tetrarchy of Batanea, Trachonitis, Auranitis and certain territory about Jamnia, with a yearly revenue of 100 talents. (Perhaps Ituraea was added later and is therefore omitted by Josephus.) He ruled for more than thirty years. Josephus says: “He had shown himself a person of moderation and quietness in the conduct of his life and government; he constantly lived in that country which was subject to him.”—Josephus goes on to say that Philip sat in judgment wherever he happened to be and heard cases without delay. (Antiquities of the Jews, Book XVIII, chap. IV, par. 6) He died at Julias and was buried with great pomp. Since he left no sons, Emperor Tiberius added his tetrarchy to the province of Syria.

Philip’s name is mentioned once in the Bible in connection with the dating of John the Baptist’s ministry. (Luke 3:1) The text here, along with historical information about the reigns of Augustus and Tiberius, shows John’s ministry as beginning in 29 C.E.

HERODIAS

(He·roʹdi·as).

The wife of Herod Antipas, who, through her daughter Salome, requested and received the head of John the Baptist in 32 C.E. (Mark 6:22-28) Her father Aristobulus, son of Herod the Great by his second wife Mariamne (I), and her mother Bernice were first cousins. Her brother was Herod Agrippa I, who did away with the apostle James brother of John.—Acts 12:1, 2.

Herodias first married her half uncle, her father’s half brother, another son of Herod the Great (by his third wife, Mariamne II), that son commonly being called Herod Philip to distinguish him from Philip the district ruler of Ituraea and Trachonitis. (Luke 3:1) This uncle-husband of Herodias, Herod Philip, fathered Salome, apparently her only child. However, when Herod Philip was in Rome, Herodias divorced him and married his half-brother Herod Antipas, also a son of her grandfather Herod the Great, by his fourth wife, Malthace. Herod Antipas, who was district ruler (literally, “the tetrarch”) at the time, and whom Jesus Christ called “that fox” (Luke 13:31, 32), also divorced his first wife, a daughter of the Nabataean king Aretas of Arabia, in order to marry Herodias.

John the Baptist, therefore, had reason to condenm this marriage of Herodias and Herod Antipas,