A Chronology of the Herods

Charting the dates and lives of the Herods concerning the birth of Christ and making sense of the differences between competing histories.

Herod the Great was a living character described by the Bible narrators about the birth of Christ,1 therefore the reign dates of this leader and his family are of particular value.

a picture of Herod the Great
Herod the Great, founder of a family dynasty in the Middle East.

However, there are different timeframes in the significant historical sources, especially between the first century Jewish-Roman historian Josephus and several ancient church accounts. This work aims to define what Josephus and the church authorities wrote on the subject, compare the dates, find common patterns, and, hopefully, reconcile the differences.

The original writers of the Gospels never related time in relation to the Herod dynasty. This omission was likely done on purpose because the Gospels were for a universal audience that viewed the Herod family as minor players in a big act. Neither did the Christian writers want to parallel the Herods with time because they were so cruel and barbarous. This action would be too honorific.

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