Massacre of the Holy Innocents



Dear Catholic Exchange:

Joseph took the baby Jesus and Mary and fled to Egypt as King Herod was looking for the child. When Herod ordered the massacre of the innocent why was John the Baptist spared? He was only a few months older than Jesus, so he must have fallen in the category of those children who were killed?

Vincent Mercieca

Dear Mr. Mercieca

Peace in Christ!

On an historical level, the atrocity of Herod poses some difficulties since it is attested nowhere else in the Bible or any other historical source. It is consistent with Josephus’ historical portrait of Herod as a wicked tyrant though the fact that no historian ever mentions the murderous decree itself suggests that on an historical level it was locally confined and only sporadically enforced. Otherwise, the event would certainly have been recorded in profane historical sources. Since Matthew tells us that the decree was carried out “in Bethlehem and in all that region,” (Mt. 2:16) we ought not to suppose that the decree affected all Herod’s realm. Moreover, John the Baptist lived in the house of Zechariah which was “in the hill country in a city in Judah” (cf. Lk. 1:39). The hill country of Judah is the region south and southeast of Bethlehem. We are not told the city where Zechariah and Elizabeth lived but we may suppose that it was not in Bethlehem which is probably why John the Baptist was not affected by the decree of Herod.

United in the Faith,



Pete Brown

Information Specialist

Catholics United for the Faith

827 North Fourth Street

Steubenville, OH 43952

800-MY-FAITH (800-693-2484)


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