Herod Agrippa II

Herod Agrippa II (lived c. 27—100 AD) was the ruler over territories outside of Judea as a Roman client and an infamous persecutor of Jesus, Jesus’s followers, and the early Christian church. Herod was a tetrarch, one of four rulers of a Syrian kingdom called Chalcis. Herod was also responsible for supervising the Jewish temple in Jerusalem.

After the birth of Jesus, Herod is recorded as learning that the Messiah had been born in Jerusalem. After searching and failing to find the baby Jesus, Herod ordered that all boys in Bethlehem who were aged 2 and under be killed. But an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him to flee with Mary and Jesus to Egypt, thereby avoiding the massacre (Matthew 2:1–18).

Herod is also recorded as ordering the beheading of John the Baptist at the request of Herodias, his brother’s wife, after he had sworn to give her anything she wanted (Matthew 14:6–12).