Shroro

The Syriac Orthodox Christian Digest - January, 2005

Bible Study - Matthew Chapter 2
Commentary: Verse 2

“saying: Where is the king of the Jews that is born ? For we have seen his star in the east, and have come to worship him”

The Jews believed that a King from David’s tribe would rise and liberate them from the slavery. They were looking forward to it. (Malachi 3:1 1 , Haggai 2:6-9; Daniel 9:24-25) They remembered the prophesy “The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his” (Gen 49:10 – fulfilled in Revelation 5:5-14). But the King’s rule ended. Though the Israelites had their own rulers, they had to give ransom to the Roman emperor. They did not have the right to execute someone or allow one to let go free. (Luke 2:1-6,Mathew 22:20,21;John 18:31). Even the laws regarding the high priest were in disarray. Herod changed high priest at his will. Even the gentiles were also expecting the Messiah. The 72 Jewish scholars had translated the Holy Books from Hebrew to Greek (Septuagint). And so it was accessible to the gentiles too. Historians like Tasitus have written about the hope of the gentiles.

Family History of Herod 37-25 B.C.

The last of the Maccabees dynasty were Hyrcanus, and Aristobulus. There arose a bloody civil war between the two Jewish princes. The Pharisees sided with Hyrcanus, the Sadducees with Aristobulus. The Roman politician Cnaeus Pompeius Magnus (106-48 BC ), better known as Pompey, was one of the greatest generals of this time. The war between the princess presented Pompi a great opportunity to annex Jerusalem. He entered into this scenario as invited by Aristobulus. But later he sided with Hyrcanus and Aristobulus was arrested taken to Rome. Thus fell to Pompi Jerusalem in BC 63. Pompi. When the Romans controlled the Temple, Pompey and his officers entered the Holy of Holies - according to the Jews a blasphemous act, because only the high priest was allowed to enter this room Next day, he ordered the cleansing of the Temple, and he appointed Hyrcanus as high priest, received the title ethnarch ('national leader') with very minimal powers. A civil war broke out in the Roman Empire. Pompey was defeated by Julius Caesar, Both Hyrcanus and Antipater (a governor of Idumea under Hyrcanus) sided with the Caesar, for which especially the courtier was rewarded: in 47, he was appointed epitropos ('regent') and received the Roman citizenship. Later he became the governor for entire Judea. He managed to secure the appointment of his young son Herod to the important task of governor of Galilee and Samaria (37 B.C) The boy, who was only sixteen years old, launched a small crusade against bandits, which made him very popular with the populace and unpopular with the Sanhedrin. But Jews resented his appointment first because he was not a Jew and. The Jews had always looked down upon the Idumeans ( where he was from ) as racially impure. To make matters worse his mother was an Arab. Because it was commonly held that one could only be a Jew when one was born from a Jewish mother. When war broke out between the Romans and the Parthians (in modern Iran and Iraq), the Jewish populace joined the latter. Herod was defeated. Herod managed to escape and went to Rome, where he persuaded Octavian and the Senate to order Mark Anthony to restore him. And so it happened. Now Herod could start his reign as sole ruler of Judea. He requested Persians to sent Hyrcanus back from Babylon, which they did. Mainly because he was very old and he was becoming dangerously popular among the Jews living in Babylonia. Although Hyrcanus was unfit to become high priest again, Herod kept his father-in-law in high esteem. The support of the old monarch gave an appearance of legality to his own rule.

Herod's position was still insecure. He killed very one who stood against him. Also He continued his building policy to win the hearts of his subjects. In Jerusalem, the king built a new market, an amphitheater, a theater, a new building where the Sanhedrin could convene, a new royal palace, and last but not least, in 20 BCE he started to rebuild the Temple. And there were other cities where he ordered new buildings to be placed: Jericho and Samaria are examples. Herod concluded ten marriages, all for political purposes. They were probably all unhappy. He appointed one Simon, Ben Bothus as the high priest in B.C.23. Herod married his daughter Mariamme I and later divorced her. After his death, the three sons became the High Priests. They are the high priests, which Herod assembled.

Herod had many sons in his 10 wives. Of these, the son of Mariamme I ( a Macabian ) killed another son. So Herod killed his father-in-law, Mariamme I and her mother too. Herod also hung his sons Alexander, Aristobulus. And killed another son Antipater.

Herod new that there will be no one to shed tear if he dies. Just before his death, Herod, realizing that when he died there would be no great mourning, sent letters to the principle heads of every family in Judaism demanding their presence on pain of death. Having got them to Jerusalem, Herod ordered them to be locked up in the horseracing ground. He then gave the orders to his sister that upon his death they were all to be executed. Thus making sure that the whole nation would mourn when he died, albeit not for him. Fortunately, when Herod died, his sister released the imprisoned Jews and allowed them to return home. He died in the Jeriho palace. Herod was buried in one of the fortresses he had built, Herodion. He had decided to make his son Archelaus born to his wife Malthace to succeed him in most of his kingdom. Her son Antipas (he was the one who beheaded John the Baptist) and a son Philip. Born to Cleopatra became rules in other regions.

During the time Archelaus there was a civil unrest among the Jews that killed 3000 people. Two popular teachers, Judas and Matthias, had incited their pupils to remove the golden eagle from the entrance of the Temple. After all, according to the Ten Commandments, it was a sin to make idols. The teachers and their pupils had been burned alive. This is what caused the unrest. This protest continued on. A big roman army from Syrian came to intervene. Two thousand people were crucified. And a peace was established. But the Jerusalem temple was robbed. Matthew implies that Jesus' parents Joseph and Mary were afraid to go to the territories ruled by Archelaus, and therefore settled in Galilee (Matthew 2.22). Herod Archelaus ruled so badly that the Jews and Samaritans together appealed to Rome to request that he should be deposed. In 6 CE, Archelaus was banished to Vienne. This caused Judea to be added to the Roman Empire. Ceasor appointed roman generals to rule Judea. One such perfect was Pontius Pilate.

The news of birth of a Jewish king troubled Herod and Jews. We discussed why Herod was feared. The people feared because their cruel king would do some gruesome act. Jewish historian Flavius Josephus has recorded that Herod killed all the Pharisees because of similar fear two year before.

Maps:
Herod's Great Kingdom
Herod's Temple