King Herod: A Persecuted Persecutor

Aryeh Kasher, Karen Gold

• Publisher: De Gruyter
• Year: 2008
• ISBN:
  9783110200874
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Biography

The enigma of King Herod as a cruel bloodthirsty tyrant on the one hand, and a great builder on the other is discussed in a systematic modern historical and psychological study. It seeks to unravel the contradictory historic mystery of the man and his deeds. After A. Schalit's König Herodes, this study is a new comprehensive, pioneering study on the intriguing personality of Herod, also using the insights of psychology. Herod's mental state reached an acute level, consistent with the DSM-IV diagnosis for "Paranoid Personality Disorder". He grew up with an ambiguous identity and suffered from feelings of inferiority. Haunted by persecutory delusions, he executed almost any suspect of treason, including his wife and three sons.

The Hebrew original text was Winner of the Ya'acov Bahat Prize for Non-Fiction Hebrew Literature for 2006.

Table of contents

• Frontmatter
• Table of Contents
• Foreword
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Chapter 1. Residues of Childhood in the Late Hasmonaean Period (73/72–63 BCE)
• Chapter 2. Adolescence in the Shadow of the Roman Conquest (63–42 BCE)
• Chapter 3. From the Utmost Depths to the Conquest of Jerusalem (41–37 BCE)
• Chapter 4. Herod in the First Year of His Reign (37 BCE)
• Chapter 5. Roots and Ramifications of the Hasmonaean Trauma (37–34 BCE)
• Chapter 6. Cleopatra VII’s Influence on Relations between Herod and Antony (34–31 BCE)
• Chapter 7. Elimination of Herod’s Hasmonaean Family Members (30–28 BCE)
• Chapter 8. Construction and Prosperity in the Shadow of Oppression (27–10 BCE)
• Chapter 9. Herod’s Address in Preparation for the Building of the Holy Temple (22/23 BCE)
• Chapter 10. Hidden Motivations for Building the Holy Temple: “Rivalry” with the Hasmonaeans and a Desire to Flaunt His Grandeur
• Chapter 11. Return to Daily Reality amid New Tensions (18–14 BCE)
• Chapter 12. A Turn for the Worse at Home and Continued Activity Abroad (14–10 BCE)
• Chapter 13. Further Deterioration in Herod’s Mental State and Worsening Relations with his Hasmonaean Sons (10–9 BCE)
• Chapter 14. A Downward Spiral at Home and Abroad (9–7 BCE)
• Chapter 15. Lead-Up to the Great Explosion (8–7 BCE)
• Chapter 16. The Tragic End of Alexander and Aristobulus (7 BCE)
• Chapter 17. Antipater’s Subversion in the Royal Court of Jerusalem (7–5 BCE)
• Chapter 18. The Bitter Fate of Antipater
• Chapter 19. Descent into Oblivion (4 BCE)
• Chapter 20. Post-Mortem
• Afterword
• Backmatter