Philip

Philip d. AD 34, tetrarch of Ituraea, son of Herod the Great. He was perhaps the ablest of the Herod dynasty. He is mentioned in the Gospel of St. Luke.

Philip A name borne by many biblical characters, from Philip, father of Alexander the Great, onwards (1 Macc. 1: 1; 6: 2). (1) Herod the Great had a son, by Mariamne, called Herod Philip, who married Herodias and had a daughter, Salome; this last married Herod Philip II, who was the son of Herod the Great by Cleopatra of Jerusalem. This Philip was tetrarch of Ituraea and Trachonitis (Luke 3: 1) from 4 BCE to 33 CE. (2)One of the Twelve who followed Jesus was named Philip (Mark 3: 18; John 1: 43) and was in Jerusalem after the Resurrection (Acts 1: 13). (3)Another Philip (‘the evangelist’) was one of the seven appointed to administer the Church's charity (Acts 6: 5) but afterwards he extended his ministry (Acts 8: 29) to baptizing a God-fearing Ethiopian. Later Philip lived at Caesarea (Acts 21: 8–9) with four daughters who prophesied.

Philip, Or Metacomet (also known as King Philip) (c. 1640–1676), Wampanoag sachem and leader in King Philip's War. Son of the powerful Massasoit, who had helped early Plymouth Colony survive, Metacom accepted the English name Philip when he replaced his deceased brother as the Wampanoags' principal sachem in 1662. His resistance to English territorial expansion and judicial authority offended Plymouth officials, who subjected him to accusations and humiliating rebukes before 1675, when Wampanoag warriors launched the raids that escalated into King Philip's War. The operational role that he played in this costly struggle is not clear; several capable leaders were involved in the guerrilla action that stunned the New England colonies. Philip did travel long distances through the forests, encouraging bands from various Algonquian tribes to join the desperate rebellion. A mixed force of Indians and English militiamen finally killed him in 1676. According to eyewitness Benjamin Church, an Indian executioner making a speech over Philip's body said that “he had been a very great man and had made many a man afraid of him.” Even in defeat, Philip remained a fearsome symbol of Native American resistance and military prowess.
[See also Native American Wars: Wars Between Native Americans and Europeans and Euro‐Americans.]

Bibliography

Russell Bourne , The Red King's Rebellion, 1990.
Jill Lepore , The Name of War: King Philip's War and the Origins of American Identity, 1998.

Patrick M. Malone