Herod the Great was the Roman-appointed King of the Jews from 39 BC until his death in 4 BC, despite being Idumean and not Hebrew by birth. As King, he ruled over Judea for 37 years and built lavish structures like the Herodium palace fortress. However, his paranoia and brutal tactics to maintain power earned him little love from the Jewish people. It was during his reign that the wise men came from the East to Jerusalem seeking the newborn King of the Jews, Jesus, prompting Herod to order the Massacre of the Innocents in Bethlehem in an attempt to kill the potential rival to his throne.

1. Kin g of
e J ews
th
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2. Herod the Great
• Idumean, not Hebrew
• Family “converted” to Judaism during
Maccabean period
• Named tetrarch of Galilee in 42 B.C.
• Named “King of the Jews” by the
Roman senate in 39 B.C. — ruled for
37 years
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3. What’s so great
about Herod?
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4. The Herodium
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5. O little town…
Bethlehem probably had fewer
than 300 inhabitants
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6. O little town…
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7. Matthew 2:1-12
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8. Where is
the one who
has been born
king of the Jews?
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9. 9

10. Matthew 2:13-18
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11. 11

12. 12

13. “…at the name of Jesus
every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth
and under the earth,
and every tongue
confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord…
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14. King of
the Jews
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15. King of
all creation!
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