Herod Philip is referred to only incidentally in the Gospels, once in the context of establishing the chronology of John the Baptist's ministry (Lk 3:1) and then in the accounts of John the Baptist's condemnation of Herod Antipas' sin of marrying "Herodias, his brother Philip's wife" (Matt 14:3; Mk 6:17) and of his later arrest and execution.
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We know very little about him. He was born to Herod the Great by Mariamme (II), the daughter of Simon the High Priest. He seemed to have been a successful but quiet businessman who had, or wanted, little to do with his brothers' political ambitions. Married to Herodias, who happened also to be his niece, they had a daughter named Salome. Once, Josephus tells us (Antiquities of the Jews, 18.5.1), when they were resident in Rome Philip's brother, Herod Antipas, came by on some business in the city. While there he confessed his love for Herodias and, quietly, they arranged to divorce their respective spouses to marry one another. John the Baptist's condemnation of their union was as much for their breach of trust against Philip as it was for the prohibition of Scripture against marrying a brother's wife.
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