📖 Biblical Definition
Herod Antipas was the tetrarch of Galilee and Perea (4 BC-AD 39) — son of Herod the Great by his Samaritan wife Malthace, brother of Archelaus, half-brother to Philip. He is the Herod who beheaded John the Baptist for naming his unlawful marriage to Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife (Matthew 14:1-12; Mark 6:14-29; Luke 9:7-9). When Jesus came to trial, Pilate sent Him to Antipas (then visiting Jerusalem for Passover); Antipas questioned Him eagerly hoping to see a miracle, but Christ answered nothing, and Antipas mocked Him and sent Him back to Pilate (Luke 23:6-12). Christ called him "that fox" (Luke 13:32). Eventually he was exiled to Gaul by Caligula in AD 39 after Herodias’s envy of her brother Agrippa I’s rise — and disappeared from history there.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Tetrarch of Galilee and Perea (4 BC-AD 39); beheaded John the Baptist; mocked Jesus during the trial.
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Son of Herod the Great by Malthace the Samaritan; received Galilee and Perea after his father's will and Roman ratification. Married Phasaelis (an Arabian princess), divorced her, married Herodias (his half-brother Philip's wife). John the Baptist's rebuke of this marriage cost his head (Mt 14:1-12).
Christ called him that fox (Lk 13:32). The Herod-Pilate diplomatic warming after Christ's trial (Lk 23:12) is a wry footnote: and the same day Pilate and Herod were made friends together: for before they were at enmity between themselves.
📖 Key Scripture
Matthew 14:10 — "And he sent, and beheaded John in the prison."
Luke 13:32 — "And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow."
Luke 23:11 — "And Herod with his men of war set him at nought, and mocked him, and arrayed him in a gorgeous robe, and sent him again to Pilate."
Acts 4:27 — "For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Modern Christianity often blurs the Herods; Antipas is the one who killed John, mocked Jesus, and represents a type of religious-political ruler at home with neither.
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Christ's tell that fox (Lk 13:32) is one of His sharpest political descriptions. Antipas was crafty, cowardly, sensual, and finally judged by Caligula in AD 39 (banished to Gaul). The household's warning: those who play religious figures while consorting with sin lose, finally, on both sides.
His relationship to John was complicated (Mk 6:20: Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just man and an holy, and observed him; and when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly). He listened, was disturbed, did not repent, eventually killed. The fascination-without-obedience pattern.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Greek transliteration of Idumean / Edomite name.
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Greek Hêrôdês — possibly Idumean/Edomite origin; the dynasty was Edomite by background.
Greek Antipas — short for Antipater; like-the-father.
Usage
"Tell that fox."
"Heard him gladly — and killed him."
"Religious-political ruler at home with neither."