 This was a reference of how Herod, as a Jew, would not kill pigs, but had three of his sons, and many others, killed.According to contemporary historians, Herod the Great "is perhaps the only figure in ancient Jewish history who has been loathed equally by Jewish and Christian posterity", depicted both by Jews and Christians as a tyrant and bloodthirsty ruler.The study of Herod's reign includes polarizing opinions on the man himself.