The Diocese of Phoenix recently marked the Feast of the Holy Innocents, a Christian feast in remembrance of the massacre of young children in Bethlehem by King Herod the Great in his effort to kill the baby Jesus, according to Britannica. 

According to Learnreligions.com, at about the time of the birth of Jesus, King Herod learned that a “king of the Jews” had been born, and he had urged the Wise Men to return to him with the infant’s location. The Wise Men, according to the website, were warned against trusting Herod, and after the king learned they had misled him, he ordered all of the young boys under the age of two to be slain. According to Britannica, the slain children were considered by the church to be the first martyrs. The story is recounted in the New Testament. 

“When the magi had departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, 'Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you,'" the Diocese of Phoenix said on its Facebook page, quoting Matthew 2:13-14. “Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him.”

According to learnreligions.com, the angel warned Joseph, who fled with Mary and the baby Jesus to Egypt, only to return to Israel after King Herod had died.  

Herod’s reign wasn’t without its merits. According to World History Encyclopedia, during his 33 years in power, he saw the completion of many projects, including the reconstruction of the Temple of Jerusalem, the Herodium fortress and several aqueducts. 

Still, beyond Herod’s infamy stemming from the New Testament, there were other dark chapters in the rule of Herod, who is believed to have lived from about 75 to 4 BCE, according to the encyclopedia’s website. During his rule, he put his wife to death after suspecting that she had been unfaithful, according to World History Encyclopedia, and when he later believed that three of his sons had been disloyal to him, he also had them executed.