Comments on: Polygyny in NT Times

By: Kevin Barney

Kevin Barney — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 15:59:44 +0000

Based on the information we have, it appears that Herod had ten wives and 16 children. He did not have all ten wives at the same time, so there was some sequencing involved. But they were not all “one at a time” sequenced, either, so there was also some polygamy involved, especially as you get later down the chain. The precise contours of this are not known.

By: TT

TT — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 15:26:13 +0000

As I read this passage more closely, I realized that the 10th wife was Miriamne I, who was executed. I agree that Josephus does seem to mean that he had all of these nine wives at the same time.

By: TT

TT — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 15:21:56 +0000

Yes Kevin, thanks. The question I had about this passage and others was whether the nine (10 elsewhere) marriages were all at the same time. In some cases, the answer is clearly no because we know that Miriamne I (Antipater’s mother) was executed in 29 BCE. So when he says Herod had 9 wives, he doesn’t necessarily mean at the same time, but total throughout his life.
Josephus isn’t necessarily interested in recording divorces, but rather establishing genealogies. Here, the primary point of the passage is about the children of the marriages, not the marriages per se. Given that this is not his interest, for me it is unclear if he was married to these women at the same time.

By: Kevin Barney

Kevin Barney — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 02:53:02 +0000

Josephus, Antiquities 17.1.3 is one example of a passage where he talks about Herod’s wives:

3. Now Herod (1) the king had at this time nine wives; one of them Antipater’s mother, and another the high priest’s daughter, by whom he had a son of his own name. He had also one who was his brother’s daughter, and another his sister’s daughter; which two had no children. One of his wives also was of the Samaritan nation, whose sons were Antipas and Archelaus, and whose daughter was Olympias; which daughter was afterward married to Joseph, the king’s brother’s son; but Archelaus and Antipas were brought up with a certain private man at Rome. Herod had also to wife Cleopatra of Jerusalem, and by her he had his sons Herod and Philip; which last was also brought up at Rome. Pallas also was one of his wives, which bare him his son Phasaelus. And besides these, he had for his wives Phedra and E1pis, by whom he had his daughters Roxana and Salome. As for his elder daughters by the same mother with Alexander and Aristobulus, and whom Pheroras neglected to marry, he gave the one in marriage to Antipater, the king’s sister’s son, and the other to Phasaelus, his brother’s son. And this was the posterity of Herod.

By: Kevin Barney

Kevin Barney — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 02:51:16 +0000

Herod had ten wives and 16 children. He didn’t have all ten at once; there was some sequencing involved, and we don’t know the full details. But they weren’t all sequential; there was certainly some polygamy going on there. (Josephus says that Herod practiced polygamy like the ancients did.)

Here’s one example of a passage where Josephus talks about Herod’s wives, in Antiquities 17.1.3, from the CCEL site:

By: TT

TT — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 02:06:23 +0000

found this interesting link that quotes many of the primary sources on this issue:
http://www.christian-thinktank.com/polygame.html

By: TT

TT — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 01:51:23 +0000

Kevin,
Are you sure? I can find only very few of the dates of Herod’s marriages. Are you just presuming that he was married to more than one wife at the same time, or is there a specific passage that says so?

By: Kevin Barney

Kevin Barney — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 14:48:33 +0000

Andrew, yes, Herod was a polygamist (according to Josephus). He had ten wives (not all at once, but certainly more than one at once).

By: Clark Goble

Clark Goble — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 03:02:33 +0000

Ben – any sources beyond that 1901 Jewish Encyclopedia?

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 02:13:29 +0000

Didn’t Herod the Great practice polygamy?