Antipas-Herod, or Herod-Antipas, was the son of Herod the
Great, and Cleopatra of Jerusalem. Herod the Great, in his first will,
declared him his successor in the kingdom; but he afterward named his
son Archelaus king of Judea, and gave to Antipas only the title of
tetrarch of Galilee and Peræa. Archelaus going to Rome, to persuade the
emperor to confirm his father’s will, Antipas also went thither. The
emperor bestowed on Archelaus one moity of what had been assigned him by
Herod, with the quality of ethnarch, and promised to grant him the title
of king when he had shown himself deserving of it by his virtues. To
Antipas, Augustus gave Galilee and Peræa; and to Philip, Herod’s other
son, the Batanæa, Trachonitis, and Auranitis, with some other places.
Antipas, returning to Judea, took great pains in adorning and fortifying
the principal places of his dominions. He married the daughter of
Aretas, king of Arabia, whom he divorced about A. D. 33, that he might
marry his sister-in-law, Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, who
was still living. John the Baptist, exclaiming against this incest, was
seized by order of Antipas, and imprisoned in the castle of Machærus.
Josephus says, that Antipas caused John to be taken, because he drew too
great a concourse after him; and Antipas was afraid he should use his
influence over the people to induce them to revolt. But Josephus has
reported the pretence for the true cause. The evangelists, who were
better informed than Josephus, as being eye witnesses of what passed,
and particularly acquainted with John and his disciples, assure us, that
the true reason of imprisoning John was the aversion of Herod and
Herodias against him, on account of his liberty in censuring their
scandalous marriage, Matt. xiv, 3, 4; Mark vi, 14, 17, 18; Luke iii, 19,
20. When the king was celebrating his birth day, with the principal
persons of his court, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and
pleased him so well that he swore to give her whatever she should ask.
She consulted her mother, who advised her to ask the head of John the
Baptist. Returning, therefore, to the hall, she addressed herself to the
king, and said, “Give me here John Baptist’s head in a charger.” The
king was afflicted at this request; but in consideration of his oath,
and of the persons at table with him, he sent one of his guards, who
beheaded John in prison. The head was brought in, and given to the young
woman, who delivered it to her mother, Matt. xiv, 5, 6, &c. Aretas, king
of Arabia, to revenge the affront which Herod had offered to his
daughter, declared war against him, and vanquished him in a very
obstinate contest. Josephus tells us, that the Jews attributed the
defeat of Herod to the death of John the Baptist. In the year of the
Christian æra 39, Herodias being jealous of the prosperity of her
brother Agrippa, who from a private person had become king of Judea,
persuaded her husband, Herod-Antipas, to visit Rome, and desire the same
dignity of the emperor Caius. She resolved to accompany him; and hoped
that her presents and appearance would contribute to procure the
emperor’s favour. However, Agrippa obtaining intelligence of this
design, wrote to the emperor and accused Antipas. The messenger of
Agrippa arrived at Baiæ, where the emperor was, at the very time when
Herod received his first audience. Caius, on the delivery of Agrippa’s
letters, read them with great earnestness. In these letters, Agrippa
accused Antipas of having been a party in Sejanus’s conspiracy against
Tiberius, and said that he still carried on a correspondence with
Artabanus, king of Partha, against the Romans. As a proof of this, he
affirmed that Antipas had in his arsenals arms for seventy thousand men.
Caius being angry, demanded hastily of Antipas, if it were true that he
had such a quantity of arms? The king not daring to deny it, was
instantly banished to Lyons in Gaul. The emperor offered to forgive
Herodias, in consideration of her brother Agrippa; but she chose rather
to follow her husband, and to share his fortune in banishment. This is
that Antipas, who, being at Jerusalem at the time of our Saviour’s
passion, ridiculed Jesus whom Pilate had sent to him, dressed him in
worn-out royalty, and sent him back to Pilate as a mock king, whose
ambition gave him no umbrage, Luke xxiii, 7, 11. The year of the death
of Antipas is unknown; but it is certain that he, as well as Herodias,
died in exile. Josephus says, that he died in Spain, whither Caius, on
his coming into Gaul the first year of his banishment, might order him
to be sent.
2. ANTIPAS, the faithful martyr or witness mentioned in the book of
Revelation, ii, 13. He is said to have been one of our Saviour’s first
disciples, and to have suffered martyrdom at Pergamus, of which he was
bishop. His Acts relate that he was burnt in a brazen bull. Though
ancient ecclesiastical history furnishes no account of this Antipas, yet
it is certain that, according to all the rules of language, what is said
concerning him by St. John must be understood literally, and not
mystically, as some interpreters have done.
Great, and Cleopatra of Jerusalem. Herod the Great, in his first will,
declared him his successor in the kingdom; but he afterward named his
son Archelaus king of Judea, and gave to Antipas only the title of
tetrarch of Galilee and Peræa. Archelaus going to Rome, to persuade the
emperor to confirm his father’s will, Antipas also went thither. The
emperor bestowed on Archelaus one moity of what had been assigned him by
Herod, with the quality of ethnarch, and promised to grant him the title
of king when he had shown himself deserving of it by his virtues. To
Antipas, Augustus gave Galilee and Peræa; and to Philip, Herod’s other
son, the Batanæa, Trachonitis, and Auranitis, with some other places.
Antipas, returning to Judea, took great pains in adorning and fortifying
the principal places of his dominions. He married the daughter of
Aretas, king of Arabia, whom he divorced about A. D. 33, that he might
marry his sister-in-law, Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, who
was still living. John the Baptist, exclaiming against this incest, was
seized by order of Antipas, and imprisoned in the castle of Machærus.
Josephus says, that Antipas caused John to be taken, because he drew too
great a concourse after him; and Antipas was afraid he should use his
influence over the people to induce them to revolt. But Josephus has
reported the pretence for the true cause. The evangelists, who were
better informed than Josephus, as being eye witnesses of what passed,
and particularly acquainted with John and his disciples, assure us, that
the true reason of imprisoning John was the aversion of Herod and
Herodias against him, on account of his liberty in censuring their
scandalous marriage, Matt. xiv, 3, 4; Mark vi, 14, 17, 18; Luke iii, 19,
20. When the king was celebrating his birth day, with the principal
persons of his court, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and
pleased him so well that he swore to give her whatever she should ask.
She consulted her mother, who advised her to ask the head of John the
Baptist. Returning, therefore, to the hall, she addressed herself to the
king, and said, “Give me here John Baptist’s head in a charger.” The
king was afflicted at this request; but in consideration of his oath,
and of the persons at table with him, he sent one of his guards, who
beheaded John in prison. The head was brought in, and given to the young
woman, who delivered it to her mother, Matt. xiv, 5, 6, &c. Aretas, king
of Arabia, to revenge the affront which Herod had offered to his
daughter, declared war against him, and vanquished him in a very
obstinate contest. Josephus tells us, that the Jews attributed the
defeat of Herod to the death of John the Baptist. In the year of the
Christian æra 39, Herodias being jealous of the prosperity of her
brother Agrippa, who from a private person had become king of Judea,
persuaded her husband, Herod-Antipas, to visit Rome, and desire the same
dignity of the emperor Caius. She resolved to accompany him; and hoped
that her presents and appearance would contribute to procure the
emperor’s favour. However, Agrippa obtaining intelligence of this
design, wrote to the emperor and accused Antipas. The messenger of
Agrippa arrived at Baiæ, where the emperor was, at the very time when
Herod received his first audience. Caius, on the delivery of Agrippa’s
letters, read them with great earnestness. In these letters, Agrippa
accused Antipas of having been a party in Sejanus’s conspiracy against
Tiberius, and said that he still carried on a correspondence with
Artabanus, king of Partha, against the Romans. As a proof of this, he
affirmed that Antipas had in his arsenals arms for seventy thousand men.
Caius being angry, demanded hastily of Antipas, if it were true that he
had such a quantity of arms? The king not daring to deny it, was
instantly banished to Lyons in Gaul. The emperor offered to forgive
Herodias, in consideration of her brother Agrippa; but she chose rather
to follow her husband, and to share his fortune in banishment. This is
that Antipas, who, being at Jerusalem at the time of our Saviour’s
passion, ridiculed Jesus whom Pilate had sent to him, dressed him in
worn-out royalty, and sent him back to Pilate as a mock king, whose
ambition gave him no umbrage, Luke xxiii, 7, 11. The year of the death
of Antipas is unknown; but it is certain that he, as well as Herodias,
died in exile. Josephus says, that he died in Spain, whither Caius, on
his coming into Gaul the first year of his banishment, might order him
to be sent.
2. ANTIPAS, the faithful martyr or witness mentioned in the book of
Revelation, ii, 13. He is said to have been one of our Saviour’s first
disciples, and to have suffered martyrdom at Pergamus, of which he was
bishop. His Acts relate that he was burnt in a brazen bull. Though
ancient ecclesiastical history furnishes no account of this Antipas, yet
it is certain that, according to all the rules of language, what is said
concerning him by St. John must be understood literally, and not
mystically, as some interpreters have done.