If Herod died before Jesus was born then how could he order the death boys of under 2 years old hunting Jesus?

Question

reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herod_the_Great

Answer 1

Excellent research.

However its resolvable.

Historians are actually not certain when Jesus was born. The date 1 AD (Jesus birth) was an arbitrary number decided by someone in the early church based on a great deal of argument over centuries.

However, below is a referenced excerpt from Wikipedia on the subject.

To summarize - no one actually knows when Jesus was born. Dates as early as 18 B.C. as well as later than 1 A.D. have been postulated, with some degree of valid documentation.

Obviously if the date is later than Herod the Greats death then questions regarding the validity of Matthew's account (not mentioned elsewhere) is suspect and should perhaps be considered more suggestive morally, than historically accurate retelling.

Quote:

"Although scholars generally believe that Christ was born some years before A.D. 1, the historical evidence is too sketchy to allow a definitive dating" (Doggett 1992, 579). According to the Gospel of Matthew (2:1,16) Herod the Great was alive when Jesus was born, and ordered the Massacre of the Innocents in response to his birth. Blackburn & Holford-Strevens fix Herod's death shortly before Passover in 4 BC (2003, 770), and say that those who accept the story of the Massacre of the Innocents sometimes associate the star that led the Biblical Magi with the planetary conjunction of 15 September 7 BC or Halley's comet of 12 BC; even historians who do not accept the Massacre accept birth under Herod as a tradition older than the written gospels (p. 776).

The Gospel of Luke (1:5) states that John the Baptist was at least conceived, if not born, under Herod, and that Christ was conceived while John's mother was in the sixth month of her pregnancy (1:26). Luke's Gospel also states that Christ was born during the reign of Augustus and while Quirinius was the governor of Syria (2:1-2), . Blackburn and Holford-Strevens (2003, 770) indicate Quirinius' governorship of Syria began in AD 6, which is incompatible with conception in 4 BC, and say that "St. Luke raises greater difficulty....Most critics therefore discard Luke" (p. 776). Some scholars rely on John's Gospel to place Christ's birth in c.18 BC (Blackburn and Holford-Strevens 2003, 776)."

So anyway - its a matter of contention as to whether or not Jesus was even alive when the purported massacre took place... which makes the whole thing a tad iffy.

-dh

Answer 2

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
If Herod died before Jesus was born then how could he order the death boys of under 2 years old hunting Jesus?

Answer 3

1

Answer 4

King Herod Jesus

Answer 5

The Herod who ordered the death of boys from 2 years down, was Herod the Great. He died in the year 4 BC. People made a mistake in counting the birth of Jesus as on 1 AD. It is proven by history now that Jesus could not have been born on the 25th of December of the year 1 AD. He must have been born either in Autumn of 3 BC or Spring of 4 BC.
The Herod who killed John the Baptist was Herod Anipas. He was the same Herod who met Jesus during the trial.
There was another Herod, Herod Agrippa I, who eaten by worm. He was the one who killed James, the apostle.
The Herod was confronted by the Apostle Paul was still another Herod, who iwas called Herrod Agrippa II.
So if you study the history of the Roman Empire as testified by Josephus, the historian during those days, you will find out that there is no discrepancies in the account of the Herods in the Bible.

Answer 6

Matt. 2:13-18. Better read it again, Herod died after Jesus was born. Joseph and Mary fled to Egypt by God's warning and command. They were called back to Nazareth by God after King Herod the Great was dead.
Herod knew from the information the wise men gave him that Jesus , the Christ/Messiah/King of the Jews, was about 2 years old when he ordered the massacre of any boy 2 and under. If Herod hadn't known for a fact that the King of the Jews had indeed been born -as verified by the testimony of the wise men and the fulfilled prophecy of Micah 5:2 and as verified by the "Star"- having the boys aged 2 years and younger butchered would have been no benefit whatsoever to King Herod.
"Whoever is worthy of death shall be put to death on the testimony of two or three witnesses, but he shall not be put to death on the testimony of one witness" -Deut. 17:6
Above you have 3 witnesses that the Christ/Messiah/Son of the Living God had indeed been born and was alive and well. That is more than sufficient evidence to intelligently know that Herod knew Jesus was alive and about 2 years old when he ordered the Slaughter of the Innocence. Furthermore; Herod had scientifically based evidence upon which to base his belief regarding the birth of the King of the Jews -the astronomical evidence of wise men from The East whom had been following no ordinary star and were well versed in astronomy -astrology, too, unfortunately.
The Bible has far more evidence to support all It states. It has always, only been proved to be the most accurate ancient book of human history and the history of the universe by archaeology, medicine and every other true science.
The grass withers and the flowers fadeth, but the Word of God Endureth forever. Let God be true and every man a liar

Answer 7

Here is the big issue. According to the bible, Jesus was born during the 15th year of the reign of emperor Tiberius, who reigned from 14 BC to 37 AD. This would place Jesus birth in AD, as we measure it today. Herod the Great died in 4 BC. 4-5 years before Jesus was born.

You have to remember that Herod was hated among Jews, and it was common for religious writers to add people as villains to demonize them. Many scholars hold that the year of Jesus birth is 1 AD, but that Herod was added, despite being dead, as a villain who tries to kill him.

There is no historical record of Herod the Great ordering the murder of children. It is only found in the bible. There is also no record of Ramses II, the Pharoh of Exodus ordering Hebrew chidren to death.

Answer 8

Jesus was indeed born when King Herod ordered the slaying of all male babies in Bethlehem,but Joseph had been warned by an Angel to leave and take Jesus and Mary into Egypt for safety.
When Herod died his Son Archelaus took over and the Holy Family was then able to return.

Answer 9

Many Herod's from the house of Herod.
Herod the Great 37-4 B.C. he wanted to kill Jesus but they went to Egypt and returned after he died.
Herod Antipas killed John the Baptist
Herod Phillip II 4 B.C. - 34 A.D.
Herod Agrippa I 37 A.D. - 44 A.D. Killed James
Herod Agrippa II was the one who tried Paul
Looks like they were all alive to do something from what I read. The dates are what my Bible show. So, Herod the Great was still alive. I not sure when Jesus was Born, somewhere around 6-5 B.C. I see from Astrology it was probably around 6 B.C. when Jesus was born, this was when there was a conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn that many believe the wise men saw, but, it not explain the Star, it may have been a Comet I guess I was not there.

Answer 10

Herod died in March 4bc at about the same time of an eclipse.. This is documented by Jospehus and is one of the primary sources for the Wikipdia article. As far as primary sources, Josephus is as good as it gets, and the date of the death of Herod is rarely disputed in academic circles. But Jesus was not born in 1 bc, but rather before 4bc. What happened was that Dionysus Exiguus - the Catholic monk who helped establish the Church’s calendar got the year wrong on when Christ started his ministry. He thought that Tiberius became emperor at the death of Augustus in 14ad and placed the events of Luke 3 in early 30... but according to the historian Seutonius (see Wikipedia's article on Tiberius) he was already "co-princeps" by 12 and the events of Luke 3 are most likely in late 26 and early 27ad. In John 2 Jesus and his disciples celebrate Passover at the temple where the Pharisees make an offhand comment about the temple taking 46 years to build. However, construction at the temple did not end – again Josephus – until much later than… but it had started in 20bc (Jewish Encyclopedia)…. Roll forward 46 years and where do you land… remember no year zero…. Passover 27ad…. Luke 3:23 also mentions that Jesus started his ministry about 30 years of age… when he called his disciples. So, if he calls his disciples in either the fall of 26 or Spring of 27, roll back 30 years and this will put you in either late 5bc or early 4bc. So, the Bible does not conflict with the date of the death of Herod…. Dionysus just got it wrong… but I do not fault him. The man was quite brilliant and he did a pretty good job for someone living in the late 5th and early 6th century. … If I had to guess when Jesus physically lived I would say that he was born on the Day of Atonement or the beginning of the Feast of Tabernacles in 5bc and died at Passover in 30ad – a period of 33 ½ years. Luke says he was 30 years old and Jesus makes reference to his ministry as being 3 ½ years (Luke 3:25). And this becomes a very important symbol in Revelation. So, what would those dates would be…. according to the Julian calendar…. Sep 10th 5bc to Apr 6th (Gregorian would be Sep 8th 5bc and Apr 4th 30ad)– a Thursday, not Friday because the Sabbath referred to by the Gospels is the day of convocation after Passover, not a Saturday… (John 19:31) … Then he rose from the dead on the 9th (Julian calendar, Apr 7th Gregorian) and ascended into heaven on May 17th – (Julian, May 15th Gregorian). No, Christ was not born on the 25th of December. Also, Daniel 9 collaborates the 30ad date as well…Yes, I would basically need to write a book to give a proper defense of these arguments, but Yahoo Answers is probably not the best venue for that. The Bible does give clues about the date of the birth, death, and resurrection of Christ, but it’s not an easy conversation.