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The Conversation USA

Was King Herod the Great really so 'great'? What history says about the bad guy of the Christmas story

  • Written by Aaron Gale, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, West Virginia University
imageHerod the Great − though in the Gospel of Matthew, he wasn't so great.Hulton Archive via Getty Images

King Herod will sound familiar to anyone who’s heard the Christmas story. King of Judea when Jesus of Nazareth was born, the ruler attempts to find and kill the baby after hearing that the “King of the Jews” has just been...

Read more: Was King Herod the Great really so 'great'? What history says about the bad guy of the Christmas...

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