Philip (Husband of Herodias)

Biblical Record

Philip appears in the Gospels only by name, in the passages that recount the death of John the Baptist. According to Matthew 14:3 and Mark 6:17, Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee (a ruler of a portion of territory allotted by Rome), seized John the Baptist and put him in prison "for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife." Mark 6:18 records that John had rebuked Herod, saying, "It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife." Luke 3:19 reports the same event, although the Korean Revised Version (Gaeyeok) gives no name there and reads only "his brother's wife."

Scripture records no words or actions of Philip himself. Nor does it say anything about his character, the circumstances of his separation from Herodias, or his later life.

Significance Within Scripture

Philip is a background figure who explains why John issued his rebuke. Leviticus 18:16 and 20:21 forbid a man to take his brother's wife. John is understood to have objected that Herodias's marriage to Philip's brother while Philip was still living violated this law. The underlying Greek word denotes a brother in general, without specifying older or younger (the Korean Revised Version renders it as "younger brother"). The text alone therefore does not indicate whether Philip was older or younger than Antipas.

Interpretations and Debates

In his Antiquities of the Jews, the first-century Jewish historian Josephus calls Herodias's first husband "Herod." According to Josephus, he was the son of Herod the Great and Mariamne, daughter of the high priest Simon. Herod the Great is said to have once designated him as his heir but to have removed him from the succession after his mother was implicated in a palace intrigue. Because the Gospels call this man "Philip" while Josephus calls him "Herod," views differ.

• His full name was "Herod Philip": since the same names were common in the Herodian family, the Gospels and Josephus are thought to have each used a different one of his names. This is the traditional and widely accepted explanation, and it is the source of the alternative name "Herod Philip."
• The Gospel writers confused his name with that of his half-brother, Philip the tetrarch: some critical scholars hold this position.
• Herodias's first husband was in fact Philip the tetrarch of Luke 3:1: this is a minority view.

Philip the tetrarch was "tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis" (Luke 3:1). The place name Caesarea Philippi (Matthew 16:13) is believed to derive from his name. Herodias's husband is also distinct from Philip, one of the twelve disciples, and from Philip the evangelist of Acts 6 and 8.

In Mark 6:22, the girl who danced before Herod is identified in Scripture only as "the daughter of the said Herodias." The identification of her as Salome, the daughter of Philip (Herod), rests on Josephus's account and later tradition; it is not found in the Gospel text.

In the Korean Church

In Korean Protestant churches, Philip's name comes up in sermons and Bible studies on the martyrdom of John the Baptist, in explanations of the sin of Herod and Herodias. He is rarely treated as a subject in his own right. Because he is easily confused with the apostle Philip and with Philip the tetrarch, who share his name, Korean Bible study materials and reference works sometimes explain the distinctions among them.