Church History 2.10.1

Summary: Herod, acclaimed as a god at Caesarea, was struck by an angel and died, eaten by worms.

Greek text · Dindorf 4:56–57

Τὰ δέ γε τῆς κατὰ τῶν ἀποστόλων ἐγχειρήσεως τοῦ βασιλέως οὐκέτʼ ἀναβολῆς εἴχετο, ἀλλά γέ τοι αὐτὸν ὁ τῆς θείας δίκης τιμωρὸς διάκονος μετῄει, παραυτίκα μετὰ τὴν τῶν ἀποστόλων ἐπιβουλὴν, ὡς ἡ τῶν Πράξεων ἱστορεῖ γραφὴ, ὁρμήσαντα μὲν ἐπὶ τὴν Καισάρειαν, ἐν ἐπισήμῳ δʼ ἐνταῦθα ἑορτῆς ἡμέρᾳ λαμπρᾷ καὶ βασιλικῇ κοσμησάμενον ἐσθῆτι, ὑψηλόν τε πρὸ βήματος δημηγορήσαντα· τοῦ γάρ τοι δήμου παντὸς ἐπευφημήσαντος τῇ δημηγορίᾳ, ὡς ἐπὶ θεοῦ φωνῇ καὶ οὐκ ἀνθρώπου, παραχρῆμα τὸ λόγιον πατάξαι αὐτὸν ἄγγελον κυρίου ἱστορεῖ, γενόμενόν τε σκωληκόβρωτον ἐκψῦξαι.

English · Claude translation

The consequences of the king's attempt against the apostles were no longer delayed; the avenging minister of divine justice overtook him immediately after his plot against the apostles, as the scripture of the Acts relates. He went to Caesarea, and there, on a notable feast day, adorned in splendid royal clothing, he harangued the people from a high place before the tribunal; and when the whole people applauded the speech, as at the voice of a god and not of a man, the Word relates that an angel of the Lord immediately struck him, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last.

About this passage

Source

Dindorf 4:56–57 · Wilhelm Dindorf, ed., Eusebii Caesariensis Opera, vol. 4: Historiae ecclesiasticae libri I–X (Leipzig: Teubner, 1871) · Greek text: W. Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Leipzig: Teubner, 1871), digitized by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0

Text

As printed in Dindorf, Eusebii Opera 4. Manuscript variants and the editor's apparatus are not reproduced; no textual problem is noted in this passage.

Translation

Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.

Compare

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 1 (1890) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made)

Scripture

Acts 12:21–23 · allusion, high confidence

Cite this passage

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 2.10.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/2/10/1/).

Plain text

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 2.10.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/2/10/1/).

Greek text · Dindorf 4:56–57

English · Claude translation

About this passage

Notes

Translation notes

Cite this passage