Ethnarch of Judea, Samaria, and Idumea
Herod Archelaus
AR-kuh-LAY-us · Also called Archelaus
Son of Herod the Great whose harsh and unstable rule over Judea after his father's death caused Joseph to avoid settling there with Mary and Jesus, choosing Nazareth in Galilee instead.
Life and work
Archelaus was the son of Herod the Great and his Samaritan wife Malthace, and full brother of Herod Antipas. When Herod the Great died in 4 BC, his will named Archelaus as successor to the bulk of the kingdom — Judea, Samaria, and Idumea — with the title of king, while Antipas and Philip received smaller tetrarchies to the north. Archelaus's reign began badly: Josephus records that he sent troops into the Jerusalem temple to suppress a protest during Passover, and roughly 3,000 people were killed (Antiquities 17.9.3; Jewish War 2.1.3).
Because Herod's will required Roman ratification, Archelaus traveled to Rome to secure the title of king from Augustus, while a Jewish delegation simultaneously petitioned Augustus to be rid of Herodian rule altogether. Augustus granted Archelaus the territory but withheld the royal title, making him 'ethnarch' instead, with a promise of kingship later if he ruled well (Antiquities 17.11.4). This is the political backdrop for Matthew 2:22, where Joseph, returning from Egypt, hears that 'Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod' and is afraid to go there, withdrawing instead to the district of Galilee and settling in Nazareth.
Archelaus's rule proved as harsh as his father's without the political skill to sustain it. Both Josephus and, briefly, the Roman historian Strabo describe continued oppression of his Jewish and Samaritan subjects. In AD 6, a joint delegation of Jewish and Samaritan leaders complained to Augustus about his misgovernment, and Augustus deposed him, banishing him to Vienne in Gaul and confiscating his property. His territory was then reorganized as the Roman province of Judea, administered directly by Roman prefects — the office Pontius Pilate would later hold (Antiquities 17.13.1-2).
- Occupation
- Ethnarch (ruler) of Judea, Samaria, and Idumea, 4 BC-AD 6
- Places
- Jerusalem, as capital of his territory, until his banishment to Vienne in Gaul
Questions and debates
His violent suppression of the Passover protest at the very start of his reign, and the broader reputation for cruelty that led Joseph to avoid Judea in Matthew 2:22.
Extra-biblical evidence
Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 17.9.3 (213-218); 17.11.4 (317-320); 17.13.1-2 (339-344)
Josephus narrates Archelaus's violent start to his reign, his trip to Rome to contest the succession against a Jewish delegation, Augustus's decision to grant him the ethnarchy rather than full kingship, and his eventual deposition and exile to Gaul in AD 6 after joint Jewish-Samaritan complaints about his misrule.
Weight: The principal near-contemporary historical source for Archelaus's reign; Josephus had access to Herodian court records and is broadly considered reliable on the political outline of these events, even where his tone toward the Herodians varies.
Josephus, The Jewish War 2.1.3-3.1 (8-13); 2.6.1-3 (80-100); 2.7.3 (111-113)
A parallel, somewhat more compressed account covering the same events — the Passover massacre, the Roman hearing over the succession, and the deposition — written earlier in Josephus's career than the Antiquities.
Weight: An independent narrative from Josephus's own earlier work, useful for cross-checking details against the Antiquities account.
Scripture references
- Matthew 2:22 — Joseph avoids Judea upon hearing Archelaus reigns there, settling in Nazareth instead
Further reading
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