1. Herod the Great

2. Herod http://www.bible-history.com/herod_the_great/

3. Herod the Great Ruled 37BCE – 4 BCE
He was a despot and a murderer, but he built nice buildings
31BCE Earthquake in Palestine kills 30,000. Massive relief effort.
Had ten wives. He executed Mariamme and three sons.
Hated by Pharisees and Sadducees
Begins Temple rebuilding in 20BCE
Sadducees hated him because he displaced much of the aristocracy.

4. Israel under Herod the Great

5. Herod’s Buildings

6. Fortresses: Masada

7. מערת המכפלה

8. Caesarea – City on the Water

9. Fortress: Herodium

15. Ehud Netzer

16. Herod the Great Executioner
36BCE appointed Aristobulus III, his brother-in-law as high priest. Herod has him drowned soon after his inauguration.
30BCE puts Hyrcanus II to death for plotting with the enemy.
29BCE Puts his wife Mariamne on trial for adultery and executes her.
28BCE Kills Alexandra his mother-in-law without trial.
7BCE Accuses two sons by Mariamne of treason and executes them.
4BCE Accuses his son Antipater III of plotting against his life and executes him.
4BCE Has Judas and Matthias and their pupils burned alive after they took down the golden eagle Herod placed at the entrance to the Temple.
The Emporer Augustus said: It is better to be Herod’s pig than his son.

17. Kiddushin 70b
‘Whoever says: "I am descended from the house of the Hasmoneans is a slave.’

18. Bavli Taanit 23a
Likewise we find happened in the days of Herod when the people were occupied with the rebuilding of the Temple. [At that time] rain fell during the night but in the morning the wind blew and the clouds dispersed and the sun shone so that the people were able to go out to their work, and then they knew that they were engaged in sacred work.

19. Baba Batra 3b
It used to be said: He who has not seen the Temple of Herod has never seen a beautiful building. Of what did he build it? Rabbah said: Of yellow and white marble. Some say, of blue, yellow and white marble. Alternate rows [of the stones] projected, so as to leave a place for cement. He originally intended to cover it with gold, but the Rabbis advised him not to, since it was more beautiful as it was, looking like the waves of the sea.

20. Baba Batra 3b
Herod was the slave of the Hasmonean house, and had set his eyes on a certain maiden [of that house]. One day he heard a Bath Kol say, ‘Every slave that rebels now will succeed.’ So he rose and killed all the members of his master's household, but spared that maiden. When she saw that he wanted to marry her, she went up on to a roof and cried out, ‘Whoever comes and says, I am from the Hasmonean house, is a slave, since I alone am left of it, and I am throwing myself down from this roof.’ He preserved her body in honey for seven years. Some say that he had intercourse with her, others that he did not. According to those who say that he had intercourse with her, his reason for embalming her was to gratify his desires. According to those who say that he did not have intercourse with her, his reason was that people might say that he had married a king's daughter.

21. Herodian Dynasty

22. Herodian Dynasty
Herod Archelaus, son of Herod and Malthace the Samaritan, was given the main part of the kingdom, Judea, Edom and Samaria. He ruled for ten years until 6 CE when he was banished. Killed 3,000 seditious Pharisees.
Herod Philip I, son of Herod and his fifth wife Cleopatra of Jerusalem, was given jurisdiction over the northeast part of his father's kingdom; he ruled there until his death in 34.
Herod Antipas, another son of Herod and Malthace, was made ruler of the Galilee and Perea; he ruled there until he was exiled to Spain by emperor Caligula in 39.
Agrippa I was the grandson of Herod; thanks to his friendship with emperor Caligula he was appointed by him as ruler of the territories of Herod Philip after his death in 34, and in 39 he was given the territories of Herod Antipas. In 41 emperor Claudius added to his territory the parts of Iudea province that previously belonged to Herod Archelaus. Thus Agrippa re-united his grandfather's kingdom under his rule. He died in 44.
His son Agrippa II was appointed King and ruler of the northern parts of his father's kingdom. He was the last of the Herodians, and with his death in 92 the dynasty was extinct.

23. Philo of Alexandria 20BC-50CE Philosopher Biblical Commentator
Politician