(1) Indeed, in 3:6 the narrator informs hearers that the Pharisees, who claim God's authority to interpret the law, u2018immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.u2019(2) Not only was the Herodian temple physically imposing, but it represented in physical construction and ritual activity the entire cosmos.(3) Only Herodian wrote of tattoos of patterns and animals on the naked bodies of the Britons, and he referred specifically only to the people of the most northern regions.(4) The Pharisees and Herodians who ask Jesus about paying taxes are also concerned with security.(5) After the creation of Israel in 1948, many Israeli military units ascended the summit of Masada, where the fortified Herodian palace once stood, to take their oath of loyalty.
