the Week of Proper 27 / Ordinary 32
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Bible Dictionaries
Innocents, Slaughter of the
Holman Bible Dictionary
This incident is not mentioned elsewhere in the New Testament. However, it can be found in ancient nonbiblical documents, such as the Protoevangelium of James , Infancy Gospel of Thomas , and Gospel of Pseudo- Matthew . These sources no doubt relied on the biblical Gospel for the record.
Flavius Josephus, our chief ancient source on Herod, is surprisingly silent on this episode. Nonetheless, an act of such ruthlessness on Herod's part is entirely in keeping with his character as reported by Josephus. For example, when lying near death Herod ordered that all the Jewish leaders be captured and slaughtered upon his death, thus assuring grief at his passing. Fortunately, that order was not carried out. See Apocrypha, New Testament; Herod; Josephus; Magi .
Larry McKinney
These dictionary topics are from the Holman Bible Dictionary, published by Broadman & Holman, 1991. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Broadman & Holman.
Butler, Trent C. Editor. Entry for 'Innocents, Slaughter of the'. Holman Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/​dictionaries/​eng/​hbd/​i/innocents-slaughter-of-the.html. 1991.