To call this series defective and illogical is not correct. Satanic and anti-Judaeo-Christian is better.
Nevermind the inconsistency of the approach to David and Herod. There are numerous sources in history which indicate that Herod was every bit ruthless enough to commit such an act. Josephus failure to mention this means nothing. And the veracity of Josephus himself has been questioned many times by many people.
I thin this channel and this series are just another example of recent efforts by certain academics to destroy the Judaeo-Christian bedrock of America and demean western civilization and culture.
Josephus was a Roman sycophant when he did much of his writing, IIRC.
Remember, the wise men took a different route home to avoid Herod.
It was prophesied in the OT
Jeremiah 31:15
I don’t watch the History Channel anymore. They’ve always presented those ‘Mysteries of the Bible’ shows as a way to debunk the Bible. Also, every documentary is done in the same format these days. They show some re-enactment footage. Then various talking heads are shown putting in their 2 cents worth. No new facts are really presented. I am a history buff and read lots of history, and I think most of the History Channel documentaries have about as much info as the dust jacket flaps of the books I read.
Yes. Herod the 'Great' was a pretty brutal SOB by the time of his death. It is said that, knowing that he was hated by one and all, he had over one hundred members of the leading families (I believe this was in Hebron) imprisoned when he was nearing his death with the instructions that they should be killed when he died so that there would be mourning (and not just celebrations) when he died. Fortunately his minions did not follow his instructions. I presume they just had a 'ding-dong the witch is dead' hoe-down.
Slaughtering innocent infants certainly would've fit Herod's M.O.
We have to remember that Bethlehem had perhaps 300-400 residents at that time. As Herod had all boys under two years of age killed, the ‘masacre of the innocents’ may have only involved 20 little boys. In Roman (and much of ancient) history, that was a number of dead that was not even worthy of note, especially as they were children, not people of note.
Josephus was the David Gergen of his time.
The “King Herod” of our day is killing not only male babies but females also. And it is before they are even born!
The slaughter of the innocents really happened. I believe this King Herod (The Great, or The Butcher), who was an Idumean appointed puppet king of the Romans, not of the line of David, or even Judah, was aware of this coming king, via his religious advisors, to be a possible threat to his cozy position. The boys in Bethlehem were mere statistics in this paranoid creep’s rampage of killing those he felt were a threat to his kingship.
That, and the Bible says it happened, so it’s truth. Just like it says one day “every tongue will confess, and every knee shall bow...”
on wikipeadia and i recall this from some other source:
Herod later executed several members of his own family, including his wife Mariamne I.[23] a few babies is just another day in life of this guy.
also
Regarding the Massacre of the Innocents, although Herod was guilty of many brutal acts including the killing of his wife and two of his sons, no other source from the period refers to the massacre.[32] Since Bethlehem was a small village, the number of male children under the age of two might not exceed 20, and this may be the reason for the lack of other sources for this history.[33] Modern biographers of Herod tend to doubt the event took place.[34]
except there was no room at inn because everybody had to go back and get counted so there may have been more babies under two. still killing 20 babies is not a small thing. Whatever the channel was it can’t be called history. Socialists always rewrite it.