in Herod's Stead.--"At his death Herod [the Great]
left a will according to which his kingdom was to be divided among his
three sons. Archelaus was to have Judea, Idumea, and Samaria, with the
title of king (Matt 2:22). Herod Antipas was to receive Galilee and
Perea, with the title of tetrarch; Philip was to come into possession of
the trans-Jordan territory with the title of tetrarch (Luke 3:1). This
will was ratified by Augustus with the exception of the title given to
Archelaus. Archelaus, after the ratification of Herod's will by
Augustus, succeeded to the rule of Judea, Samaria, and Idumea, having
the title of ethnarch, with the understanding that, if he ruled well, he
was to become king. He was, however, highly unpopular with the people,
and his reign was marked by disturbances and acts of oppression. The
situation became finally so intolerable that the Jews appealed to
Augustus, and Archelaus was removed and sent into exile. This accounts
for the statement in Matt. 2:22, and possibly also suggested the point
of the parable (Luke 19:12, etc.)."--_Standard Bible Dictionary_, Funk
and Wagnalls Co., article "Herod." Early in his reign he wreaked summary
vengeance on the people who ventured to protest against a continuation
of his father's violence, by slaughtering three thousand or more; and
the awful deed of carnage was perpetrated in part within the precincts
of the temple. (Josephus, Antiquities xvii, 9:1-3.)

2. Herod Antipas.--Son of Herod I (the Great) by a Samaritan woman, and
full brother to Archelaus. By the will of his father he became tetrarch
of Galilee and Perea (Matt. 14:1; Luke 3:19; 9:7; Acts 13:1; compare
Luke 3:1). He repudiated his wife, a daughter of Aretas, king of Arabia
Petrea, and entered into an unlawful union with Herodias, the wife of
his half-brother Herod Philip I (not the tetrarch Philip). John the
Baptist was imprisoned and finally put to death, through the anger of
Herodias over his denunciation of her union with Herod Antipas. Herodias
urged Antipas to go to Rome and petition Caesar for the title of king
(compare Mark 6:14, etc.). Antipas is the Herod most frequently
mentioned in the New Testament (Mark 6:17; 8:15; Luke 3:1; 9:7; 13:31;
Acts 4:27; 13:1). He was the Herod to whom Pilate sent Jesus for
examination, taking advantage of Christ being known as a Galilean, and
of the coincident fact of Herod's presence in Jerusalem at the time in
attendance at the Passover (Luke 23:6, etc.).