Archelaus (meaning “ruler of the people”) was the son of Herod the Great and his Samaritan wife, Malthace. While not a figure who interacted directly with Jesus Christ during His ministry, his brief and brutal reign over Judea had a direct and significant influence on the young Messiah’s upbringing, forcing the Holy Family to settle in the obscure region of Galilee.
Heir to Herod’s Kingdom
Upon the death of his father, Herod the Great (who had ordered the slaughter of the infants in Bethlehem), his vast kingdom was divided among three of his sons, as ratified by the Roman Emperor Augustus Caesar. Archelaus inherited the largest and most important portion, which included:
- Judea
- Samaria
- Idumea (Edom)
Though his father had willed him the title of king, Augustus only granted him the lesser title of Ethnarch (ruler of a people). Nevertheless, the Gospel of Matthew rightly refers to his authority in the region:
“But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judæa in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee:” — Matthew 2:22 (KJV)
The Source of Fear
The Gospel account provides a stark portrait of Archelaus’s character through the immediate fear he inspired. Joseph’s reluctance to return to Bethlehem (in Judea) upon coming back from Egypt was not mere caution, but a prudent response to the known temperament of the new ruler.
Historical accounts confirm that Archelaus was as cruel, if not more so, than his infamous father. Immediately after Herod’s death, Archelaus’s reign began with a mass slaughter. He brutally suppressed a disturbance at the Temple during the Passover festival, resulting in the massacre of approximately 3,000 people. This act of violence was well-known, and Joseph’s apprehension was entirely justified.
This fear, coupled with divine guidance, was instrumental in shaping the early geography of Jesus’s life. Instead of settling in Judea, the prophetic birthplace of the Messiah, Joseph was directed to Galilee, a region ruled by Archelaus’s brother, Herod Antipas, who was viewed as a less immediate threat at the time.
“And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.” — Matthew 2:23 (KJV)
Downfall and Banishment
Archelaus’s tyranny was short-lived. His oppression of the Jews and Samaritans grew so intolerable that, within a decade, both groups set aside their historic animosity and sent a joint delegation to Rome to lodge a formal complaint against him.
In A.D. 6, Emperor Augustus, responding to the widespread accusations of misrule and cruelty, deposed Archelaus and banished him to Vienne in Gaul (modern France), bringing his rule to a definitive end. Upon his removal, Judea was placed directly under the control of a Roman governor (a Procurator), thus setting the stage for the political climate in which Jesus would later begin His public ministry.