The Life of Jesus in Harmony |
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Herodians
HERO'DIANS (he-ro'di-anz).
A party among the Jews of the apostolic age, and were opposed to
Jesus (Mt 22:16; Mk 3:6; 12:13) but of which no explicit information is given by
any of the
gospel writers.
The party was probably formed under
Herod the Great and appears to have held that it was right to pay homage to a sovereign who
might be able to bring the friendship of Rome and other advantages, but who had
personally no title to reign by law and by religion. On this question they
differed from the
Pharisees (Matt. 22:16-17), although they joined forces with them in disguised
opposition, or in open union against Jesus, in whom they saw a common enemy. The
Herodians were obviously something more than a political party and something less
than a religious sect.