Questions and Answers

Questions and Answers

1. Is Herod the Great from Esau’s lineage?

Yes, Herod the Great was an Edomite. The Edom were descendents of Esau. That was one of the reasons why he was not accepted by the Jews and why he tried so hard (rebuilding the Temple) so gain their favour.

2. The mention of burning coals.. on it in John 21:9-so did Jesus actually barbecue fish?

John described that the fish were laid (Greek -epikeimai ) on burning coals. Jesus was cooking the fish- grilling or barbecuing?

3. Those who left for Egypt to Joseph were 75 (Acts 7:14) but in OT 70 was mentioned.

Stephen in making his defense to the Sanhedrin mentioned 75 which included Jacob and his whole family (Acts 7:14). Gen 46:26 and Exodus 1: 5 mentioned the number 70.

The Septuagint LXX:
Greek and English
by Sir Lancelot C.L. Brenton
published by Samuel Bagster & Sons, Ltd., London, 1851

And Jacob rose up from the well of the oath; and the sons of Israel took up their father, and the baggage, and their wives on the waggons, which Joseph sent to take them.
And they took up their goods, and all their property, which they had gotten in the land of Chanaan; they came into the land of Egypt, Jacob, and all his seed with him.
The sons, and the sons of his sons with him; his daughters, and the daughters of his daughters; and he brought all his seed into Egypt.
And these are the names of the sons of Israel that went into Egypt with their father Jacob -- Jacob and his sons. The first-born of Jacob, Ruben.
And the sons of Ruben; Enoch, and Phallus, Asron, and Charmi.
and the sons of Symeon; Jemuel, and Jamin, and Aod, and Achin, and Saar, and Saul, the son of a Chananitish woman.
And the sons of Levi; Gerson, Cath, and Merari.
And the sons of Judas; Er, and Aunan, and Selom, and Phares, and Zara: and Er and Aunan died in the land of Chanaan.
And the sons of Phares were Esron, and Jemuel. And the sons of Issachar; Thola, and Phua, and Asum, and Sambran.
And the sons of Zabulun, Sered, and Allon, and Achoel.
These are the sons of Lea, which she bore to Jacob in Mesopotamia of Syria, and Dina his daughter; all the souls, sons and daughters, thirty-three.
And the sons of Gad; Saphon, and Angis, and Sannis, and Thasoban, and Aedis, and Aroedis, and Areelis.
And the sons of Aser; Jemna, Jessua, and Jeul, and Baria, and Sara their sister. And the sons of Baria; Chobor, and Melchiil.
These are the sons of Zelpha, which Laban gave to his daughter Lea, who bore these to Jacob, sixteen souls.
And the sons of Rachel, the wife of Jacob; Joseph, and Benjamin.
And there were sons born to Joseph in the land of Egypt, whom Aseneth, the daughter of Petephres, priest of Heliopolis, bore to him, even Manasses and Ephraim. And there were sons born to Manasses, which the Syrian concubine bore to him, even Machir. And Machir begot Galaad. And the sons of Ephraim, the brother of Manasses; Sutalaam, and Taam. And the sons of Sutalaam; Edom.
And the sons of Benjamin; Bala, and Bochor, and Asbel. And the sons of Bala were Gera, and Noeman, and Anchis, and Ros, and Mamphim. And Gera begot Arad.
These are the sons of Rachel, which she bore to Jacob; all the souls eighteen.
And the sons of Dan; Asom.
And the sons of Nephthalim; Asiel, and Goni, and Issaar, and Sollem.
These are the sons of Balla, whom Laban gave to his daughter Rachel, who bore these to Jacob; all the souls, seven.
And all the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt, who came out of his loins, besides the wives of the sons of Jacob, even all the souls were sixty-six.
And the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in the land of Egypt, were nine souls; all the souls of the house of Jacob who came with Joseph into Egypt, were seventy-five souls.


Compare this with the NIV
“All those who went to Egypt with Jacob—those who were his direct descendants, not counting his sons’ wives—numbered sixty-six persons. With the two sons who had been born to Joseph in Egypt, the members of Jacob’s family, which went to Egypt, were seventy in all.” (Gen 46:26).

My personal interpretation is that someone had edited the number of Joseph’s children to 2: Manasseh and Ephraim who are the significant ones and not to confuse people with the record that Joseph has nine children in the copy of Genesis (that someone could not count 66+2 is not 70). The septuagint was more ancient and carries more weight. It listed 75 males which Stephen quoted correctly.


4. Herod mentioned in Matt. 14:3- is he the same as Antipas (Philip’s brother).

Yes, he is Antipas also known as Herod the tetrarch (Lk. 3:19, etc.). Herod the Great died in 4 BC and in his will he bequeathed his kingdom to three of his sons—Judaea and Samaria to Archelaus (Mt. 2:22), Galilee and Peraea to Antipas, and his NE territories to Philip (Lk. 3:1).

In the Gospels Antipas is conspicuous chiefly for his part in the imprisonment and execution of John the Baptist (Mk. 6:14-28) and for his brief encounter with Jesus when the latter was sent to him by Pilate for judgment (Lk. 23:7ff.). Jesus is recorded as having once described him as ‘that fox’ (Lk. 13:31f.). He was the ablest of Herod’s sons, and like his father was a great builder; the city of Tiberias on the Lake of Galilee was built by him (AD 22) and named in honour of the Emperor Tiberius.

He married the daughter of the Nabataean king Aretas IV, but divorced her in order to marry Herodias, the wife of his half-brother Herod Philip. According to the Synoptic Evangelists, John the Baptist incurred the wrath of Antipas for denouncing his second marriage as unlawful; Josephus says that Antipas was afraid that John’s great public following might develop into a revolt. Aretas naturally resented the insult offered to his daughter, and seized the opportunity a few years later to wage war against Antipas (AD 36). The forces of Antipas were heavily defeated, and Josephus says that many people regarded the defeat as divine retribution for Antipas’ killing of John the Baptist. In AD 39 Antipas was denounced to the Emperor Gaius by his nephew Agrippa as a plotter; he was deposed from his tetrarchy and ended his days in exile.