The Life of Herod the Great is an audiobook by Zora Neale Hurston, narrated by Blair Underwood and Robin Miles. The unabridged Audible edition runs 12 hrs 7 mins.
Publisher’s Summary
A never before published novel from beloved author Zora Neale Hurston, revealing the historical Herod the Great—not the villain the Bible makes him out to be but a religious and philosophical man who lived a life of valor and vision.
In the 1950s, as a continuation of Moses, Man of the Mountain, Zora Neale Hurston penned a historical novel about one of the most infamous figures in the Bible, Herod the Great. In Hurston’s retelling, Herod is not the wicked ruler of the New Testament who is charged with the “slaughter of the innocents,” but a forerunner of Christ—a beloved king who enriched Jewish culture and brought prosperity and peace to Judea.
From the peaks of triumph to the depths of human misery, the historical Herod “appears to have been singled out and especially endowed to attract the lightning of fate,” Hurston writes. An intimate of both Marc Antony and Julius Caesar, the Judean king lived during the first century BCE, in a time of war and imperial expansion that was rife with political assassinations and bribery, as the old world gave way to the new.
Portraying Herod within this vivid and dynamic world of antiquity, little known to modern readers, Hurston’s unfinished manuscript brings this complex, compelling, and misunderstood leader fully into focus. Hurston shared her findings about Herod’s rise, his reign, and his waning days in letters to friends and associates. Text from three of these letters concludes the manuscript in an intimate way. Scholar-Editor Deborah Plant’s “”Commentary: A Story Finally Told”” assesses Hurston’s pioneering work and underscores Hurston’s perspective that the first century BCE has much to teach us and that the lens through which to view this dramatic and stirring era is the life and times of Herod the Great.
Audiobook Details
- Narrated by: Blair Underwood and Robin Miles
- Length: 12 hrs 7 mins
- Publisher: Amistad
- Release year: 2025
- Audible category: Literature & Fiction / Genre Fiction / Christian Fiction
Listener Ratings
The Life of Herod the Great holds an average listener rating of 4.5/5 from 33 Audible ratings.
On Audible, ratings for this title break down into narration performance and story separately:
- Performance (narration): 4.7/5
- Story: 4.4/5
- 5-star ratings: 70% of all ratings
What Audible Listeners Are Saying
5/5 stars — “So Glad this Lost Treasure was Found “
I have been a Hurston fan since my junior yr of HS in when my English class had to read "Their Eyes where Watching God" and later when my book club read "Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo", so when I say I was all to happy to have another one of her great works under my belt. Instant Classic!— A’Shanna Propst, Audible listener
5/5 stars — “Herod the Great was portrayed differently in the bible!”
I loved the fact that researchers showed that the bible had a different view about a man that was portrayed as a villain. This book showed that he was a fair and actually cared about his people. This book explored his ambitions, political intrigue,cultural preservation. Religion and power! Completely different then what was portrayed in the bible. Great read that makes you rethink what we were taught in the bible.— Gail Bernice Oberlander, Audible listener
5/5 stars — “so great!”
Zora Neale Hurtson is the epitomy of writing. So love her works!! Sad she died the way she did; she was the Harlem Renaissance!!!— katrice, Audible listener
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