A is Agrippa

A is Agrippa, of the Herod bunch.
Eaten by worms, he made a tasty lunch.
Portia: It is difficult to keep track of all the Herods in the Bible.  There is Herod the Great, who sought to destroy young Jesus and instead “killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under” (Matthew 2:16).  After Herod the Great died, his son Herod Archelaus ruled Judea in his place (Matthew 2:22). Another son of Herod the Great, Herod Antipas ruled Galilee as Herod the Tetrarch. Antipas, manipulated by his wife Herodias and her daughter, ordered the beheading of John the Baptist (Matthew 14). Antipas also met Jesus, hoping to see him perform a sign (Luke 23). Herod Agrippa II is mentioned in Acts 26, giving audience to the Apostle Paul.

While many of the Herods meet the villainous requirement for Gruesome and Gorey Bible Stories, Herod Agrippa I, grandson of Herod the Great, was chosen for his gruesome demise. This member of the Herod bunch "laid violent hands upon some who belonged to the church (Acts 12:1). Agrippa had James (the brother of John) executed. He also had Peter imprisoned. When Peter miraculously escaped, Agrippa had the guards questioned and killed.

Though the author of Luke does not mention why, Agrippa was angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon. The people, however, sought to reconcile with the ruler as they depended on his territory for food. "On an appointed day," Acts records, "Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat on the platform, and delivered a public address to them. The people kept shouting, 'The voice of a god, and not of a mortal!' And immediately, because he had not given the glory to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died" (Acts 12:21-23).

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