AGRIPPA I (a-grĭp'a). Known in history as King Herod Agrippa I and in the NT, where he is mentioned in Acts.12.1-Acts.12.25, as Herod. He was the son of Aristobulus and Bernice and grandson of Herod the Great. Through friendship with the emperors Caligula and Claudius he gained the rulership first of Iturea and Trachonitis, then of Galilee and Perea, and ultimately of Judea and Samaria. He ruled over this reunited domain of Herod the Great from a.d. 40 until his death in 44 at the age of fifty-four. While owing his position to the favor of Rome, he recognized the importance of exercising great tact in his contacts with the Jews. Thus it was that his natural humanity gave way to expediency in the severe conflict between Judaism and the growing Christian movement. He killed James, an act that “pleased the Jews,” and imprisoned Peter with the intention of bringing him before the people for execution after the Passover (Acts.12.2-Acts.12.4). Agrippa’s sudden death shortly thereafter, noted