Grandson of Herod the Great and eventually ruler of the entire kingdom of his grandfather. He is referred thrice in the NT as "Herod tetrach of Galilee" (Lk 3:1) and as "King Herod" in Acts 12-13).
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Agrippa was the son of Aristobulus, whom Herod had put to death in 7 BC on suspicion of plotting against the throne. Agrippa, then a child of four, was sent to Rome where he grew up making friends with the children of the imperial family and developing a lifestyle he could not afford. In 23 AD he was forced to leave Rome because of his heavy debts. He stayed for a while with Herod Antipas, his uncle and brother-in-law, with whom he eventually quarreled (over money, of course) and returned to Rome in 36 AD.
There he fell into more debts, and then offended Emperor Tiberius, who had him thrown in prison. He was released from prison the next year upon the death of Tiberius by his bosom-friend Gaius-Caligula and honoured with the appointment of "King" of the territories once ruled by his uncle Philip (who had died three years previously) together with the more northen territory of Abilene, which had previously been the tetrachy of Lysanias. Galilee and Peraea was added to his realm when Herod Antipas was banished in 39 AD. When Claudius—another of Agrippa's childhood friend—succeeded Gaius in 41 AD, Agrippa was further honoured with the control of Judea and Samaria, making his realm as coextensive as those of his grandfather.
Agrippa worked well with the Jewish authorities, and is well remembered in the Talmud. Agrippa makes his first appearance in the pages of Scriptures—where he is referred to simply as "King Herod"—when he decided to act against the Church, imprisoning Peter and putting James son of Zebedee to death (Acts 12:1-19a). Soon afterwards, however, he died a painful death, recorded in corelating narratives by Luke (Acts 12:19b-25) and Josephus (Click here to read Josephus's account of Agrippa's death).
He left one son, Agrippa II, and tthree daughters; Bernice (mentioned in Acts 25:13ff), Miriamme, and Drusilla, who became the third wife of the procurator Felix (Acts 24:24).
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