How many were massacred by King Herod after the birth of Jesus Christ?

Answer 1

AnswerThe famous 'Slaughter of the Innocents' is in Matthew's Gospel, where King Herod feared the prophesied King of the Jews. At the very least, he would have needed to kill all the baby boys in Bethlehem and the surrounding region, but to be sure of success, he would have killed all the Jewish infants in his entire kingdom. Depending on this thoroughness, the number could vary from less than 100 to tens of thousands. However, it should be remembered that Matthew's Gospel is our only source on this evil act, and that most scholars do not believe that it really happened.

King Herod was extremely unpopular among the Jews, first because he was imposed on them by the Romans, secondly because he was not really a Jew, and thirdly because he worshipped the Roman gods while in Caesarea. It can be expected that the first-century Jewish historian, Josephus would have reported any unsavoury conduct by Herod that was known to him, yet he was silent on the supposed mass killing.

According to Luke's Gospel, Joseph and Mary took the baby Jesus from Bethlehem to Jerusalem to be presented at the Temple, just a few weeks after his birth, and then returned home peacefully to Nazareth, leaving no room for the flight to Egypt or the King Herod's massacre.

John Shelby Spong (Born of a Woman: A Bishop Rethinks the Birth of Jesus) says that Matthew was clearly writing Christian midrash. Matthew's story of Herod killing the innocents was intended to draw a parallel between Jesus and Moses, who in the Old Testament also luckily escaped the slaughter of the young boys under two years old.