Herod Archelaus

Archelaus (Archelaus,c. 23 BC - c. AD 18.) was ethnarch of Judea, Samaria and Idumea (4 BC - 6)

Herod Archelaus was the son of Herod I the Great and Maltace, brother of Herod Antipas, and half-brother of Herod Philip II.

Biography

The division of Herod's kingdom into his death; in light green, the ethnarchy of Herod Archaeal.

Archelaus received the kingdom of Judea as the last will of his father, despite in aid of an earlier will that had bequeathed it to his brother Antipas. He was proclaimed king by the army, but refused to assume the title until claims to him had been presented to Augustus in Rome. Before leaving, he put down with extreme cruelty a sedition of the Pharisees, killing about three thousand of them.

Nicholas of Damascus argued to Augustus that Archelaus had acted lawfully, and that Herod's testament, supposedly written a few weeks before his death, designating Archelaus as his successor in place of the executed Antipater was valid. Nicholas had been Herod's confidant for years, and was loyal to Rome.

Arquelaus, at the conclusion of the arguments, fell at the feet of Augustus, who raised him up and declared that "...he was worthy to succeed his father". C. Augusto, assigns Samaria, Judea and Idumea, most of the kingdom, but with the title of ethnarch.

Archelaus's first wife is mentioned by Flavius Josephus simply as Mariamne, perhaps Mariamna III (Mariamne ben Aristobulus), whom he divorced to marry Glaphyra, the widow of Archelaus's brother Alexander, despite the fact that the her second husband, Juba, King of Mauretania, was alive. This violation of the Mosaic law, together with his cruelty, caused Archelaus to arouse the wrath of the Jews, who complained to Augustus.

Arquelaus was deposed in the year 6 by Augustus and banished to Vienne, in Gaul. Judea, Samaria and Idumea were placed directly under Roman rule (see Quirinus' census) and were merged into the Roman province of Judea, under a Roman prefect.

Biblical references

There are several references to Archelaus in the New Testament.

Return from Egypt

Currency of Herod Archelaus.

In the Gospel of Matthew 2:13-23, Archelaus is mentioned when referring to the return of Joseph from Nazareth, Mary and the child Jesus from Egypt. According to Matthew, Joseph and Mary had fled to Egypt with the child Jesus, thus preventing him from being the victim of the slaughter of the innocents. When Herod the Great died, Joseph was warned by an angel in a dream to return to the land of Israel, because those who sought the child's life had died. However, upon learning that Archelaus had succeeded his father as king of Judea, he "was afraid to go there" (Matthew 2, 22), and warned in a dream he withdrew to the region of Galilee. This is Matthew's explanation of why Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, but raised in Nazareth. Raymond Edward Brown understood that there is no reason to doubt the historical accuracy of Matthew on this point.

In the Parable of the Talents

The beginning and the conclusion of the Parable of the Talents may refer to Archelaus' journey to Rome (as noted by Joaquim Jeremiah; Joseph A. Fitzmyer also refers to that point). Some biblical scholars They interpret Jesus' parables and preaching to often use people's familiar events as examples to bring their spiritual experience to life. Others read the allusion as the result of later adaptations of Jesus' parables to oral tradition, before the parables were recorded in the gospels. The biblical text says:

"A noble man went to a far country to receive a kingdom and return... But his fellow citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, We don't want this to reign over us."... But as for these enemies of mine, "he said the nobleman" who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and kill them before me."

Luke 19, 12.14.27 ESV

Joseph A. Fitzmyer analyzes the passage in the following terms:

At the death of Herod the Great, his eldest son, Archaeal, inherited half of the kingdom (Judea, Samaria and Idumea), according to the terms of a legacy included in his father's will. Arquelao also intended to take the title of "king" and traveled to Rome in order to achieve it (see Flavio Josefo, Ant17. 9,1-3 § 208-222; Bell2.2 § 18). In the case of Arquelao, a delegation of fifty notables from Palestine, both Jews and Samaritans, was sent to Rome to oppose the granting of the title and to advocate for the autonomy of the province (see Flavio Josefo, Ant17. 11,1-2 § 299-314; Bell2. 6.1-2 § 80-92). Finally, Emperor Augustus granted Arquelao the title of "etnarca".

For his part, Joaquim Jeremias interprets the following:

We probably have in these features a second parable of the pretender to the throne, autonomous in its origin, which links with the historical situation of the year 4 BC. Arquelao then left for Rome, to confirm his dominion over Judea; at the same time a Jewish embassy of 50 people traveled to Rome to try to prevent his appointment. It seems that Jesus used the bloody revenge that Archaeal took after his return and that the people had not forgotten, to prevent their listeners, in a parable of crisis, from false security. As unsuspecting as it was for their enemies the return and revenge of Archaeal, so unsuspecting will fall the perdition upon you.