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Bible Encyclopedias
Herodians
The 1901 Jewish Encyclopedia
or Priestly party under the reign of King Herod and his successors; called by the Rabbis "Boethusians," as adherents of the family of Boethus, whose daughter Mariamne was one of the wives of King Herod, and whose sons were successively made high priests by him. They followed the Sadducees in their opposition to the Pharisees, and were therefore often identified with the former (see Grätz, "Gesch." 4th ed., 3:2,693; BOETHUSIANS). According to the Gospels, their plot against the life of Jesus was supported by the Pharisees (Mark 3:6, 12:13; Matthew 12:16); wherefore Jesus warned his disciples, saying "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the leaven of Herod" (Mark 8:15; Matthew 16:6 has "Pharisees" and "Sadducees"). "Leaven" is explained in Matthew 16:12 to mean "teaching," that is, "bad teaching" (comp. "se'or sheba-'isah" = "the leaven in the dough," corresponding to the "yeáºer ha-ra'"; Ber. 17a). This shows that the Herodians represented a religious party. In Luke 12:1 the Herodians have been omitted altogether, and the Pharisees alone are represented as the enemies of Jesus; and in Luke 20:19 the scribes and chief priests are mentioned in place of the Pharisees and the Herodians (see also Mark 12:13; Matthew 22:15-16).
- Cheyne and Black, Encyc. Bibl.;
- Hastings, Dict. Bible;
- Herzog-Hauck, Real-Encyc.;
- Riehm, Handwörterb. des Biblischen Alterthums (these offer explanations not in harmony with the Gospels or with the historic situation);
- Geiger, Das Judenthum und Seine Gesch. 1869, 1:172;
- idem. Jüd. Zeit. 6:256;
- Renan, Life of Jesus, ch.
These files are public domain.
Singer, Isidore, Ph.D, Projector and Managing Editor. Entry for 'Herodians'. 1901 The Jewish Encyclopedia. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tje/h/herodians.html. 1901.
