King Herod is the king portrayed in the New Testament as ordering the slaughter of young boys in order to kill Jesus, who supposedly escaped by going to Egypt.

However, research shows that the reputation he has had throughout history as being evil and ruthless is probably unfounded, unfair, and libellous. There is no other historical record of a slaughter of babies at the time and in the area. Such a major event would surely have caused some of the historians who are always quoted as supporting the Bible to at least mention it.

This is the knowledge that always comes in handy to me when someone states an opinion in direct contrast to my own and cites the Bible as evidence.

"The Devil can quote scripture for his purpose."
-William Shakespeare

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