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PHASAEL

(Gk. Phasaḗlos)

Older brother of Herod I the Great. Their father Antipater, procurator over the Jewish territories (Josephus Ant. 14.143), appointed Phasael as governor of Judea and made Herod governor over Galilee.

According to Josephus Phasael’s governorship was peaceful and marked with restraint (Ant. 14.158-62). Phasael and his father prevented Herod from attacking Jerusalem after the latter had been incensed by the Sanhedrin’s attempt to pronounce sentence on Herod for military actions in Galilee (Ant. 14.168-85). However, the Antipatrids were viewed by Jews as usurpers of the Hasmonean dynasty, whose heirs (Aristobulus II and his sons Antigonus and Alexander) were the focus of several rebellions throughout the 50s and 40s b.c. Various Jewish delegations called for the removal of Antipater and his sons. The murder of Antipater in 43 renewed these calls, but Antony supported Phasael and Herod, appointing them tetrarchs in 42 (Ant. 14.326).

Parthian invasions in 40 gave opportunity to Antigonus, the sole surviving son of Aristobulus, to reclaim the Hasmonean kingdom. The invasion forced Phasael, Herod, and Hyrcanus II on the defensive. Trapped in Jerusalem, Phasael and Hyrcanus sought a negotiated settlement and traveled to Ptolemais to meet with the Parthians. Both were placed under arrest; realizing that escape was impossible, Phasael committed suicide (Ant. 14.366-69). Herod fled to Rome, where the Senate ratified his nomination by Antony as king of the Jews.

Herod later commemorated the memory of his brother by naming the largest of the three towers north of his palace in Jerusalem Phasael (BJ 5.166). Known in Byzantine times as David’s tower, it was one of the few structures to survive Titus’ destruction of Jerusalem in a.d. 70.

Thomas V. Brisco

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

PHASAEL

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)