“... The enumeration of the king's actions ends with a very general crime: he will kill anyone, without the least reserve. As often in the biblical literature polar concepts are juxtaposed in order to express inclusiveness. In this case, old and young are contrasted (major natu is the common Vulgate equivalent of πρεσβύτερος). The same contrast is used in Ps. Sol. 2:8; in connection with massive killing: Deut. 28:50; Ps. Sol. 17:11. These royal crimes are part and parcel of ancient despotism and cannot by themselves justify the identification of the petulant king with Herod. However, once this identification is made on the basis of 6:5, it is entirely possible to compare the description of 6:3-4 with some episodes from the life of king Herod, as described by Flavius Josephus. [...] During his last illness, Herod commanded the notables of the entire country to be executed at the hour of his death (Ant. Jud. XVII 178; Bell. Jud. I 659-660); Christian tradition of course accuses him of the massacre of the innocent children of Bethlehem (Matt. 2:16). As Smallwood noted, the last two stories are “typical tyrant-legends”, the former of which is elsewhere told in connection with Alexander Jannaeus. The emergence of such legends testifies to Herod's bad reputation, especially at the end of his reign, and confirms the possibility that As. Mos. 6:2-6 indeed deals with this king. ...”