What Was the End of Herod, the Murderer of the 14,000 Infants?

The commemoration of the Holy 14,000 infants slain in Bethlehem at the command of King Herod is one of the most moving chapters in our Church’s tradition. The Church, honoring these infants as proto-martyrs, reminds us that Christ entered the world in an atmosphere of violence, envy, and madness, to abolish death and grant life.

A central question arises: what was the end of Herod, the murderer of the infants? The answer is not merely historical but above all theological and pastoral. The death of Herod, as described by the historians Josephus and Eusebius, reveals divine judgment and the tragedy of a man who lived estranged from God.