King Herod and John the Baptist

[Chowder17]

Hello,
I may be posting my tread in the wrong place but I wasnt sure where to list it, so I apologize if Im. I have been reading the Bible for some time now and I have always been unsure and uncertain about this:
Is the King Herod who sent the 3 wise men to see Baby JESUS the same King Herod who killed John the Baptist? I noticed the Bible doesnt specify, and If it is the same King Herod how can this be so? Didnt he die before Joseph took Baby JESUS and Mary back to Jerusalem, Galilee? And if so how could he be alive while JESUS was an adult during the death of John the Baptist? Please someone clarify.

 

[Yekcidmij]

Hello,
I may be posting my tread in the wrong place but I wasnt sure where to list it, so I apologize if Im. I have been reading the Bible for some time now and I have always been unsure and uncertain about this:
Is the King Herod who sent the 3 wise men to see Baby JESUS the same King Herod who killed John the Baptist? I noticed the Bible doesnt specify, and If it is the same King Herod how can this be so? Didnt he die before Joseph took Baby JESUS and Mary back to Jerusalem, Galilee? And if so how could he be alive while JESUS was an adult during the death of John the Baptist? Please someone clarify.

Herod the Great was the Herod at Jesus' birth. Herod Antipas killed John the Baptist. There are also other members of the Herodian Dynasty in the New Testament. Paul goes before Herod Aggrippa.

Herod the Great ruled Israel from 37 BC until about 4 BC. Once he died his kingdom was divided among his 3 sons: Herod Archelaus, Herod Philip, and Herod Antipas. After Herod Philip died, his son Herod Aggrippa ruled his territory.

 

[Chowder17]

Thanks so much Yekcidmij,
It was driving me crazy, I was worried no one was going to be able to answer the question.

 

[Pilgrimer]

There is a tradition that John the Baptist was almost killed during the slaughter of the innocents when Herod sent his soldiers to Bethlehem and the surrounding area to try to kill the two-month old Jesus. John was eight months old at the time. John's parents, Zacharias and Elizabeth, lived in a small village called Ein Karem just southwest of Jerusalem, about 4 miles from Bethlehem. An old tradition has it that when the soldiers came seeking the young son of Zacharias and Elizabeth, that Elizabeth hid with John in a crevice of a rock, but Zacharias, refusing to give up the whereabouts of the baby, was run through with a sword standing in his courtyard where he bravely confronted the soldiers. Elizabeth fled to the wilderness with John where she lived out her days in seclusion and where John grew to manhood. Remember that Elizabeth was an old woman when John was born so she probably didn't live to see him grown, but who knows, the Lord can be very gracious about such things. Then one late summer, after John had passed his 30th year, he was called to begin the ministry he had been born for, to prepare the way for the One whose coming was at hand ...

In Christ,
Pilgrimer

 

[Goinheix]

There is a tradition that John the Baptist was almost killed during the slaughter of the innocents when Herod sent his soldiers to Bethlehem and the surrounding area to try to kill the two-month old Jesus. John was eight months old at the time. John's parents, Zacharias and Elizabeth, lived in a small village called Ein Karem just southwest of Jerusalem, about 4 miles from Bethlehem. An old tradition has it that when the soldiers came seeking the young son of Zacharias and Elizabeth, that Elizabeth hid with John in a crevice of a rock, but Zacharias, refusing to give up the whereabouts of the baby, was run through with a sword standing in his courtyard where he bravely confronted the soldiers. Elizabeth fled to the wilderness with John where she lived out her days in seclusion and where John grew to manhood. Remember that Elizabeth was an old woman when John was born so she probably didn't live to see him grown, but who knows, the Lord can be very gracious about such things. Then one late summer, after John had passed his 30th year, he was called to begin the ministry he had been born for, to prepare the way for the One whose coming was at hand ...

In Christ,
Pilgrimer

Dont get more confusion. This brother is new and trying to understand the Gospels. Do not confuse him with that tradition. That tradition started in the VI century, and can not be taken seriously at all. Is like me inventing a story about Columbus and have students of the XL century taking me seriously.

 

[Pilgrimer]

Dont get more confusion. This brother is new and trying to understand the Gospels. Do not confuse him with that tradition. That tradition started in the VI century, and can not be taken seriously at all. Is like me inventing a story about Columbus and have students of the XL century taking me seriously.

Not so fast my friend. My very first words stated clearly that I was relating a tradition. But this tradition about Elizabeth hiding with John behind a rock and thus escaping the slaughter of the innocents when Herod sent his soldiers to slay all the male children, not only in Bethlehem, but "in the coasts thereof" meaning in the region or district, actually dates back to the 2nd century and the gospel of James. It was also mentioned by Origen in the 3rd century.

What you are referring to was the first textual mention of the village of Ein Karem by name as the birthplace of the Baptist. Because of that some scholars have rejected the traditional site. But in 2004 Prof. Ronny Reich, an expert on Second Temple-period ritual baths and the chairman of the University of Haifa's archaeology department, verified that the "cistern" beneath the Church of St. John the Baptist in Ein Karem was in fact not a cistern at all but a mikveh dated to the 2nd Temple-period, which means that the traditional birthplace of John the Baptist was indeed the home of a priest during the 2nd Temple-period.

Many of our most important archaeological discoveries of the past century have relied on traditional sites to locate places recorded in the New Testament, so perhaps it would be a wiser choice to allow a little room for such ancient traditions for the historical support they can provide to the Scriptures and not simply reject them out of hand ...

In Christ,
Pilgrimer

 

[Steve Petersen]

Test...

Just spent an hour wrting a post and it disappeared. Will this one too?

I compose the long ones on Notepad then paste to the forums, just in case.

 

[midge121]

free christian book by paul c jong on internet shed light on john the bapist particulary in regard to his baptism of Jesus at the jordan river and why? to access the free books just type in "free christian books by paul c jong" and download or order free paperback copy

 

[steve53]

Herod Antipas, the youngest Royal son of Herod the Great, was responsible for the beheading of John the Baptist. Antipas was also the one to whom Pilate sent Jesus after he was arrested. Antipas could have saved Jesus, but he chose not to.

Archeology is very contentious in this period. Best to rely on Josephus, who was born only a year after Jesus' crucifixion and wrote extensively about the history of those times.