Herods and Jameses

 Fourth Tuesday of Advent

Today we return to our Acts Bible Study. Please read Acts 12:1-5.

There are several Herods and several Jameses in the New Testament. Usually they are not identified by anything more than "Herod" or "James."

Let's start with Herods. The Herodian dynasty goes back before the NT. The Herodians are related to the Hasmonean dynasty, who are descendants of the Maccabees. The five Maccabee brothers fought guerrilla war against the ruling Seleucid Syrians, freed Jerusalem and established an independent kingdom of Judea. which lasted from 141 BC until 63 BC, when the Romans conquered and took control. 

Our first Biblical Herodian was Herod the Great, who ruled Judea from 37 BC till 4 BC. He governed entirely at the behest of Roman rulers. Initially those rulers were  the Roman Mark Anthony and his Hellenistic Egyptian consort, Cleopatra. After their suicides in 31 BC, Herod ingratiated himself to the new ruler Caesar Augustus. Augustus gave Herod most of the authority over Judea and allowed him to be titled King of Judea and Idumea. Herod himself added the title "the Great." 

Herod the Great was not loved by his people, who knew he was only half Jewish. Herod was a builder. He built the new capital city of Caesarea, on the coast, 35 miles from Jerusalem. He built the Antonia Fortress in Jerusalem. He built the city of Herodium and the fortress retreat Masada. For us his most important building project was his rebuilding of the second temple in Jerusalem. The second temple, originally completed in 515 BC, was a small, pale shadow of what had been Solomon's Temple, destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC. Herod wanted the redo the second temple as an exact copy of the first. He began this project in 19 BC. The building continued long after his death and was not completed until 62 AD. Construction was going on during the entire lifetime of Jesus. The Herodian Temple stood complete only eight years. It was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.

Herod the Great, known in the NT simply as King Herod, is infamous in the NT for one story, in Matthew 2. After the wisemen reported to him about the coming of Jesus, he had all the Jewish children, two years of age or younger, killed. Joseph, Mary, and infant Jesus escaped to Egypt.  Herod died not long after. He was paranoid insane, having murdered Mariamme, his favorite of his 15 wives, and murdered their two sons, whom he feared would challenge him for the throne.

After his death, Herod's kingdom was divided among his three sons. His son Archaelaeus ruled Judea (4 BC to 6 AD). His son Herod Antipas ruled Galilee (3 BC to 39AD). His son Philip ruled Transjordan. Archalaeus was incompetant and deposed by Caesar Augustus in 6 AD. He was replaced by a series of Romans administrators who served as governors. The first was Marcus Ambivulus (6-9AD). The fifth was Pontius Pilate (26-36 AD).

Meanwhile, Herod the Great's son Herod Antipas ruled Galilee. He is the Herod of our Acts text for today. He first appears in Luke 23:6-12. An issue has arisen about jurisdiction in Jesus' trial. His alleged crime and arrest occurred in Jerusalem, which is in Judea, Pilate's territory. Jesus' hometown was Nazareth of Galilee, Herod Antipas's territory. Pilate sends him to Herod. Herod sends him back. Throughout the NT Herod Antipas is simply called Herod, not Herod Antipas. This creates the confusion with his father, Herod the Great, who is simply called Herod. 

In Acts 12 King Herod (Antipas) has James, the brother of John, killed. The date is most likely 38 or 39 AD. No ambiguity here. Luke makes it clear which James it was. James thus became the second Christian martyr, Stephen being the first. There are several Jameses in the NT, but only two get more than a mention, James the brother of John, and James the brother of Jesus. In Mark 6:3 and Matthew 13:35 we find that Jesus had four brothers and at least two sisters. James is the oldest of Jesus' brothers. There are no stories in which James appears in the gospels. He does become a prominent character and leader of the Jerusalem church in Acts and in the letters of Paul. He will be martyred in 62 AD. 

So here is something I don't understand. Perhaps one of you can explain it to me--the name (in English)--James. In the Greek New Testament his name is Jacobos, Jacob. His name is Jacob in Hebrew, Aramaic, Latin, and Syriac, and Coptic. In the two modern languages I have some knowledge of, French and German, his name is Jacob. In no language that I know of other than English is his name James. This is made even stranger when in English history we have the Jacobites, who want to put James III on the throne instead of William and Mary. We also have Jacobean furniture, a style that first became popular during the reign of James II. So how do we get James out of Jacob. I would love for one of you to enlighten me on this. 

Tomorrow will be the Christmas edition of the High Church--Low Church series. Alas, this Christmas Eve it won't be high church or low church. It will be NO church. I hope, pray, and think that next Christmas Eve we will be there--in church, welcoming ourselves and Jesus into a post-Covid world.

Faithfully,

Christian