Herod the Great
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This character does not appear directly in the scenes of the Gospel seen by Maria Valtorta, but his memory constantly shines through, especially in the childhood gospel.
A paranoid ruler, fearing this "king" Jesus who has just been born and who is announced to him by the mages[1], he has all the children of Bethlehem and the surrounding area aged two years and under killed.[2] Two thousand children perished thus, victims bear witness with trauma[3], but the number is tempered by Jesus in a dictation.[4] Nevertheless, the crimes committed by this despot at the end of his life shocked even the court of Rome.[5]
Character and Appearance
Caesar called him a "bloody pig"[6].
His Name
Name of Idumean origin (southern Judea).
Where is he mentioned in the work?
GRM 31 GRM 34 GRM 35 GRM 41 GRM 66 GRM 69 GRM 73 GRM 74 GRM 78 GRM 89 GRM 119 GRM 426 GRM 464
Notes and references
- ↑ GRM 464
- ↑ Mt 2,16-18
- ↑ GRM 73
- ↑ Regarding the number of holy Innocents who perished in Herod's massacre, Jesus says: "Between those from Bethlehem and those from the countryside, their number rises to three hundred and twenty. And I specify further that, among them, those from Bethlehem were one hundred and eighty-eight, while those from the countryside, struck in a wide radius by Herod's agents sent to exterminate the newborns, were one hundred and thirty-two. Among these killed, there were sixty-four little girls, whom the sicarii did not identify as such, because they killed in darkness, confusion, and frenzy to act quickly, before anything could intervene to stop the massacre." Maria Valtorta, Notebooks 1945-1950, dictation of February 28, 1947.
- ↑ GRM 426
- ↑ GRM 74
Notes and references
Note: Quotations from the work of Maria Valtorta on this page currently use machine-translated text and will gradually be replaced by the official English translation. Until then, the official translation may be consulted through the reference link provided with each quotation.