Herod the Great was the ruler of Judea at the time of Jesus' birth, reigning in Jerusalem when the Magi arrived seeking the newborn King; he ordered the slaughter of the male children in Bethlehem two years old and under.
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Herod the Great (Ἡρῴδης, Strong's G2264), known in the Gospels simply as Herod the king, was the ruler of Judea during the events surrounding the birth of Jesus. According to Matthew's account, Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king. Wise-men from the east came to Jerusalem inquiring where the one born king of the Jews might be found, for they had seen his star in the east and had come to worship him. Disturbed by this news and by the prophecy that the ruler of Israel would come from Bethlehem (Micah 5:2), Herod gathered the chief priests and scribes to learn where the Christ was to be born, then secretly summoned the Magi and carefully learned from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem, asking them to report back so that he too might come and worship the child. Warned in a dream not to return to Herod, the Wise-men departed to their own country by another route. Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the Wise-men (ἐνεπαίχθη, Strong's G1702, meaning to be tricked or made a fool of), was exceeding wroth and sent forth soldiers who slew all the male children in Bethlehem and in all its borders, from two years old and under, according to the time he had exactly learned from the Magi (Matthew 2:16). Before this decree could touch the holy family, Joseph had been warned in a dream to take the young child and his mother and flee into Egypt, where they remained until the death of Herod. The flight and the slaughter together form one of the most poignant episodes of the Infant narratives, contrasting the cruelty of political power with the hidden providence of God. Herod's reign spanned the decisive years of the Nativity, and his role in the Gospel story sets him as a representative of worldly authority confronting the kingdom of God. His action in Bethlehem, later reflected upon in connection with Rachel's weeping (Matthew 2:18) and echoed in later reflections on innocent suffering (Isaiah 59:7), has made his name a lasting biblical symbol of tyrannical jealousy and the violence that power can inflict upon the vulnerable.