28 Bible Verses about Named Gentile Rulers

Now when some days had gone by, King Agrippa and Bernice came to Caesarea and went to see Festus. And as they were there for some days, Festus gave them Paul's story, saying, There is a certain man here who was put in prison by Felix: Against whom the chief priests and the rulers of the Jews made a statement when I was at Jerusalem, requesting me to give a decision against him.read more.
To whom I gave answer that it is not the Roman way to give a man up, till he has been face to face with those who are attacking him, and has had a chance to give an answer to the statements made against him. So, when they had come together here, straight away, on the day after, I took my place on the judge's seat and sent for the man. But when they got up they said nothing about such crimes as I had in mind: But had certain questions against him in connection with their religion, and about one Jesus, now dead, who, Paul said, was living. And as I had not enough knowledge for the discussion of these things, I made the suggestion to him to go to Jerusalem and be judged there. But when Paul made a request that he might be judged by Caesar, I gave orders for him to be kept till I might send him to Caesar. And Agrippa said to Festus, I have a desire to give the man a hearing myself. Tomorrow, he said, you may give him a hearing. So on the day after, when Agrippa and Bernice in great glory had come into the public place of hearing, with the chief of the army and the chief men of the town, at the order of Festus, Paul was sent for. And Festus said, King Agrippa, and all those who are present here with us, you see this man, about whom all the Jews have made protests to me, at Jerusalem and in this place, saying that it is not right for him to be living any longer. But, in my opinion, there is no cause of death in him, and as he himself has made a request to be judged by Caesar, I have said that I would send him. But I have no certain account of him to send to Caesar. So I have sent for him to come before you, and specially before you, King Agrippa, so that after the business has been gone into, I may have something to put in writing.

And Agrippa said to Paul, You may put your cause before us. Then Paul, stretching out his hand, made his answer, saying:

For the king has knowledge of these things, to whom I am talking freely; being certain that all this is common knowledge to him; for it has not been done in secret. King Agrippa, have you faith in the prophets? I am certain that you have. And Agrippa said to Paul, A little more and you will be making me a Christian.read more.
And Paul said, It is my prayer to God that, in little or great measure, not only you, but all those hearing me today might be even as I am, but for these chains. And the king and the ruler and Bernice and those who were seated with them got up; And when they had gone away they said to one another, This man has done nothing which might give cause for death or prison. And Agrippa said to Festus, This man might have been made free, if he had not put his cause before Caesar.

But when it came to his ears that Archelaus was ruling over Judaea in the place of his father Herod, he was in fear of going there; and God having given him news of the danger in a dream, he went out of the way into the country parts of Galilee.

Now when the birth of Jesus took place in Beth-lehem of Judaea, in the days of Herod the king, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is the King of the Jews whose birth has now taken place? We have seen his star in the east and have come to give him worship. And when it came to the ears of Herod the king, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.read more.
And he got together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, questioning them as to where the birth-place of the Christ would be. And they said to him, In Beth-lehem of Judaea; for so it is said in the writings of the prophet, You Beth-lehem, in the land of Judah, are not the least among the chiefs of Judah: out of you will come a ruler, who will be the keeper of my people Israel. Then Herod sent for the wise men privately, and put questions to them about what time the star had been seen. And he sent them to Beth-lehem and said, Go and make certain where the young child is; and when you have seen him, let me have news of it, so that I may come and give him worship.

Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, was very angry; and he sent out, and put to death all the male children in Beth-lehem and in all the parts round about it, from two years old and under, acting on the knowledge which he had got with care from the wise men.

In the days of Herod, king of Judaea, there was a certain priest, by name Zacharias, of the order of Abijah; and he had a wife of the family of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.

At that time news of Jesus came to Herod the king; And he said to his servants, This is John the Baptist; he has come back from the dead, and so these powers are working in him. For Herod had taken John and put him in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife.read more.
Because John had said to him, It is not right for you to have her. And he would have put him to death, but for his fear of the people, because in their eyes John was a prophet. But when Herod's birthday came, the daughter of Herodias was dancing before them, and Herod was pleased with her. So he gave her his word with an oath to let her have whatever she might make request for. And she, at her mother's suggestion, said, Give me here on a plate the head of John the Baptist. And the king was sad; but because of his oaths and because of his guests, he gave the order for it to be given to her; And he sent and had John's head cut off in the prison.

And king Herod had news of him, because his name was on the lips of all; and he said, John the Baptist has come back from the dead, and for this reason these powers are working in him. But others said, It is Elijah. And others said, It is a prophet, even like one of the prophets. But Herod, when he had news of it, said, John, whom I put to death, has come back from the dead.read more.
For Herod himself had sent men out to take John and put him in prison, because of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, whom he had taken for himself. For John said to Herod, It is wrong for you to have your brother's wife. And Herodias was bitter against him, desiring to put him to death; but she was not able; For Herod was in fear of John, being conscious that he was an upright and holy man, and kept him safe. And hearing him, he was much troubled; and he gave ear to him gladly. And the chance came when Herod on his birthday gave a feast to his lords, and the high captains, and the chief men of Galilee; And when the daughter of Herodias herself came in and did a dance, Herod and those who were at table with him were pleased with her; and the king said to the girl, Make a request for anything and I will give it you. And he took an oath, saying to her, Whatever is your desire I will give it to you, even half of my kingdom. And she went out and said to her mother, What is my request to be? And she said, The head of John the Baptist. And she came in quickly to the king, and said, My desire is that you give me straight away on a plate the head of John the Baptist. And the king was very sad; but because of his oaths, and those who were with him at table, he would not say 'No' to her. And straight away the king sent out one of his armed men, and gave him an order to come back with the head: and he went and took off John's head in prison, And came back with the head on a plate, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother.

Now in the fifteenth year of the rule of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being ruler of Judaea, and Herod being king of Galilee, his brother Philip king of the country of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias king of Abilene,

But Herod the king, because John had made a protest on account of Herodias, his brother's wife, and other evil things which Herod had done,

Now Herod the king had news of all these things: and he was in doubt, because it was said by some people that John had come back from the dead; And by some, that Elijah had come; and by others, that one of the old prophets had come back to life. And Herod said, I put John to death: but who is this, of whom such stories are given to me? And he had a desire to see him.

And when he saw that he was under the authority of Herod, he sent him to Herod, who was in Jerusalem himself at that time. Now when Herod saw Jesus he was very glad, having for a long time had a desire to see him, for he had had accounts of him, and was hoping to see some wonders done by him. And he put a great number of questions to him, but he said nothing.read more.
And the chief priests and the scribes were there, making statements against him violently. And Herod, with the men of his army, put shame on him and made sport of him, and dressing him in shining robes, he sent him back to Pilate. And that day Herod and Pilate became friends with one another, for before they had been against one another.

For, truly, in this town, against your holy servant, Jesus, who was marked out by you as Christ, Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, came together,

And Herod is of the same opinion, for he has sent him back to us; for, you see, he has done nothing for which I might put him to death.

Now, about that time, Herod the king made cruel attacks on the Christians. And he put James, the brother of John, to death with the sword. And when he saw that this was pleasing to the Jews he went on to take Peter in addition. This was at the time of the feast of unleavened bread.

And Herod, when he sent for him, and he was not there, after questioning the watchmen, gave orders that they were to be put to death. Then he went down from Judaea to Caesarea for a time. Now he was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon: and they came to him, all together, and having made friends with Blastus, the controller of the king's house, they made a request for peace, because their country was dependent on the king's country for its food. And on the day which had been fixed, Herod, dressed in his robes and seated in his place, made a public statement to them.read more.
And the people, with loud cries, said, It is the voice of a god, not of a man. And straight away the angel of the Lord sent a disease on him, because he did not give the glory to God: and his flesh was wasted away by worms, and so he came to his end.

This was the first numbering, which was made when Quirinius was ruler of Syria.

They put the kings of Midian to death with the rest, Evi and Reken and Zur and Hur and Reba, the five kings of Midian: and Balaam, the son of Beor, they put to death with the sword.

And all the towns of the table-land, and all the kingdom of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who was ruling in Heshbon, whom Moses overcame, together with the chiefs of Midian, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, the chiefs of Sihon, who were living in the land.

And they took the two chiefs of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; and they put Oreb to death at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they put to death at the place of the grape-crushing in Zeeb, and they went after Midian; but the heads of Oreb and Zeeb they took across Jordan to Gideon.

God has given into your hands the chiefs of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; what have I been able to do in comparison with you? And when he said this, their feeling about him became kinder.

Rehum, the chief ruler, and Shimshai the scribe, sent a letter against Jerusalem, to Artaxerxes the king;

Then the king sent an answer to Rehum, the chief ruler, and Shimshai the scribe, and their friends living in Samaria, and to the rest of those across the river, saying, Peace to you:

At the same time, Tattenai, ruler of the land across the river, and Shethar-bozenai, and their men, came to them and said, Who gave you orders to go on building this house and this wall?

This is a copy of the letter which Tattenai, the ruler of the land across the river, and Shethar-bozenai and his friends the Apharsachites, living across the river, sent to Darius the king:

So now, Tattenai, ruler of the land across the river, and Shethar-bozenai and your people the Apharsachites across the river, keep far from that place:

Then Tattenai, the ruler across the river, and Shethar-bozenai and their people, because of the order given by King Darius, did as he had said with all care.