Tyrant vs. True King:

The Life King Herod Missed

King Herod was a mentally unstable tyrant whose paranoia led him to murder anyone he viewed as a threat to his throne. He not only murdered all the baby boys of Bethlehem under the age of two in his attempt to kill Baby Jesus (Matthew 2:16), but he also murdered one of his wives, her sons, and other members of her extended family. In his later years, he even killed his own firstborn son, Antipater (Perowne). King Herod was not a fictional character, yet writers will recognize that his life fits the character arc of a Tyrant, one of the shadow arcs of the King, perfectly.

In her book, Writing Archetypal Character Arcs: The Hero’s Journey and Beyond, K.M. Weiland says, “Because the King Arc is all about surrendering power and prestige as a preparation for the descent into the underworld of elderhood (and, eventually, the end of life), the Tyrant’s rejection of this arc is ultimately an attempt to reject his own mortality” (133). If we apply this to King Herod, we see that he rejected his own mortality by destroying his living legacy, thereby descending ever more deeply into madness as he did.

Rather than groom the next generation to follow in his footsteps, he tried to ensure that no one would ever succeed him on the throne. Perhaps this is why he tried to take his own life just before his death. I wonder if he finally realized he wouldn’t live forever and attempted to leave this world on his own terms. I don’t know this to be a fact, of course. Still, I wonder.

I also find it interesting that Jesus entered the world as a newborn baby during the reign of this troubled tyrant king. Note the contrast: rather than fight for his throne, Jesus left it behind to become one of us. 

He entered the world as a vulnerable baby who had to be nurtured and protected. He had to grow up—"in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man” (Luke 2:52). Jesus is God become man: fully human, fully God, humbly identifying with us in our human weakness and yet our only hope for salvation from our sin.

Jesus did not deny his mortality. Rather, he embraced it so that He could conquer death once and for all.

That’s why He now reigns as our eternal king.

Herod wasn’t the only tyrant in the Bible. Rulers such as Pharaoh (Exodus 1-14), Saul (1 Samuel 15), and Hezekiah (2 Kings 20:12-19) all lost their legacies to selfish concerns. None of them won their battle against death.

But Jesus did.

He came to love and to serve the people He came to save. When we follow His example, we nurture others into His Kingdom. We participate with God in building Jesus’ legacy. Paul says such a life makes his joy complete (Philippians 2:1-4). It will make our lives complete as well.

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^“ In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—
        even death on a cross!” –Philippians 2:5-8, NIV

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Works Cited

New International Version. Biblica, 2011, https://www.biblegateway.com/versions/New-International-Version-NIV-Bible/.

Perowne, Stewart Henry. “Herod: King of Judaea.” Britannica, 4 Dec. 2025, www.britannica.com/biography/Herod-king-of-Judaea. Accessed 19 Dec. 2025.

Weiland, K. M. Writing Archetypal Character Arcs: The Hero’s Journey and Beyond. PenForASword, 2023.

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Photo by Jon Carlson on Unsplash