Herod Agrippa I

Agrippa was a grandson of Herod the Great (Josephus, Antiquities 19.274–275). He was brought up at Rome in the circle of the imperial family, where he ran through his money (Josephus, Antiquities 18.143–146). When Gaius became emperor in AD 37 he was made king of the former tetrarchy of Philip, and he was later given the territory of Herod Antipas as well (Josephus, Antiquities 18.237) (Josephus, Antiquities 18.252). In AD 41 Claudius added Judea and Samaria, so that he ruled all that his grandfather had held (Josephus, Antiquities 19.274–275). Josephus praises his generosity and says that he lived by choice in Jerusalem and observed the law scrupulously (Josephus, Antiquities 19.328–331).

Acts, which calls him “King Herod”, says that he put James Son of Zebedee to death and imprisoned Peter (Acts 12:1–4). He died at Caesarea Maritima after being hailed as a god on a public occasion, in the fifty-fourth year of his age and the seventh of his reign (Acts 12:20–23) (Josephus, Antiquities 19.343–351). From those figures his birth falls in 11 or 10 BC. See Herod Agrippa Kills James and Dies at Caesarea. He was the father of Herod Agrippa II, the “King Agrippa” before whom Paul later spoke (Josephus, Antiquities 19.360) (Acts 25:13).