Aretas IV Philopatris

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

Aretas IV Philopatris

Aretas IV Philopatris was the King of the Nabataeans

Rulers of Nabatea

The Rulers of Nabataea, reigned over the Nabataean kingdom , inhabited by the Nabateans, located in present-day Jordan, southern Syria, southern Israel and north-western Saudi Arabia....
from roughly 9 BC to AD 40.

His full title, as given in the inscriptions, was "Aretas, King of the Nabataeans, Friend of his People." Being the most powerful neighbour of Judea

Judea

Judea or Jud?a is the name given to the mountainous southern part of the historic Land of Israel , an area now divided between Israel and the West Bank ....
, he frequently took part in the state affairs of that country, and was influential in shaping the destiny of its rulers. While on not particularly good terms with Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
- as intimated by his surname, "Friend of his People", which is in direct opposition to the prevalent f?????µa?? ("Friend of the Romans") and f????a?sa? ("Friend of the Emperor") - and though it was only after great hesitation that Augustus recognized him as king, nevertheless he took part in the expedition of Varus

Varus

Varus can refer to:*in anatomy, a varus deformity.*Publius Quinctilius Varus , an ancient Roman politician.*Quinctilius Varus , his son.*Alfenus Varus, 1st century Roman jurist and possibly consul...
against the Jews in the year 4 BC, and placed a considerable army at the disposal of the Roman general.

His daughter Phasaelis married Herod Antipas

Herod Antipas

Herod Antipas After inheriting his territories when the kingdom of his father Herod the Great was divided upon his death in 4 BC, Antipas ruled them as a client state of the Roman Empire....
(4 BC – AD 39), otherwise known as Herod the Tetrarch.

Discussion

Ask a question about 'Aretas IV Philopatris'

Start a new discussion about 'Aretas IV Philopatris'

Answer questions from other users

Full Discussion Forum

Encyclopedia

Aretas IV Philopatris was the King of the Nabataeans

Rulers of Nabatea

Judea

Rome

Varus

Herod Antipas

Herodias

Herodias was a Jewish princess of the Herodian Dynasty....
, mother of Salome

Salome

Salome or Salom? the Daughter of Herodias , is known from the New Testament in connection with the death of John the Baptist. Another source from Antiquity, Flavius Josephus' Jewish Antiquities, gives her name and some detail about her family relations....
, in 36, Phaesalis fled to her father. Relations between Herod and Aretas IV were already strained over border disputes, and with his family honour shamed, Aretas IV invaded Judea

Judea

Judea or Jud?a is the name given to the mountainous southern part of the historic Land of Israel , an area now divided between Israel and the West Bank ....
, and captured territories along the West Bank

West Bank

The West Bank is the eastern Part of the Palestinian territories on the west bank of the River Jordan in the Middle East. To the west, north, and south the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel....
of the Jordan River

Jordan River

The Jordan River is a river in Southwest Asia which flows into the Dead Sea. It is considered to be one of the world's most sacred rivers. It is 251 kilometers long....
, including the areas around Qumran

Qumran

Qumran is located on a dry plateau about a mile inland from the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea in the West Bank, just next to the Israeli kibbutz of Kalia, West Bank....
.

The classical author Josephus

Josephus

Josephus , also known as Yosef Ben Matityahu and, after he became a Roman citizenship, as Titus Flavius Josephus, was a first-century Jewish historian and apologist of priestly and royal ancestry who survived and recorded the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70....
connects this battle, which occurred during the winter of AD 36/37, with the beheading of John the Baptist

John the Baptist

John the Baptist was a mission preacher and a major religious figure who led a movement of baptism at the Jordan River in expectation of a divine apocalypse that would restore occupied Israel....
, which occurred about the same time.

Herod Antipas

Herod Antipas

Tiberius

Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus, born Tiberius Claudius Nero , was the second Roman Emperor, from the death of Augustus in AD 14 until his own death in 37....
, who dispatched the governor of Syria to attack Aretas. But because of the emperor's death in AD 37 this action was never carried out.

The Christian Apostle, Paul, mentions that he had to sneak out of Damascus in a basket through a window in the wall to escape King Aretas. (2 Corinthians

Second Epistle to the Corinthians

The Second Epistle to the Corinthians is a book in the New Testament, written by Paul the Apostle....
11:32, 33, cf Acts

Acts of the Apostles

The Acts of the Apostles is a book of the Bible, which now stands fifth in the New Testament. It is commonly referred to as simply Acts. The title "Acts of the Apostles" was first used by Irenaeus in the late second century, but some have suggested that the title "Acts" be interpreted as "the Acts of the Holy Spirit" or even "the Acts...
9:23, 24). Because the Jews of Damascus are mentioned as lying in wait for Paul, it is very probable that Aretas made the attempt to capture Paul at the request of the Jews. From this it follows that the Jews must have been influential in the Nabataean kingdom; otherwise the Nabataeans would have been careful to avoid any interference with Paul, who was a Roman citizen.