Matthew 2:1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,
Who was Herod?
He was also known as Herod the Great, was a Roman client king of Judea, referred to as the Herodian kingdom. The emperor Augustus gave Herod the title King of the Jews and his connections with Rome, He would have been deeply offended by the Magi who were (Matthew 2:2) Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? …
Was Herod a Jew?
Herod was born in southern Palestine. His father, Antipater, was an Edomite (a Semitic people, identified by some scholars as Arab, who converted to Judaism in the 2nd century BCE). Antipater was a man of great influence and wealth who increased both by marrying the daughter of a noble from Petra (in southwestern Jordan), at that time the capital of the rising Arab Nabataean kingdom. Thus, Herod was of Arab origin, although he was a practicing Jew.
Why did Herod kill Baby boys 2 years and under?
Matthew 2:16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men.
After consulting with his chief priests and scribes, he determined the child might be as old as two years and living in or around Bethlehem.
Matthew 2:4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.
No outsider was going to overthrow Him as King of the Jews.
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