Why is the story of Herod killing the children in Bethlehem only recorded in Matthew (Matthew 2:16)? Why isn’t it in any historical records? The sad truth is that this was par for the course for Herod. He killed multiple Jewish nobles upon ascending the throne; he killed his own children; he killed his uncle, and he killed his wife. So killing innocent babies wasn’t a shocking thing for Herod to do. It is also likely that because the population of Bethlehem was relatively small (and infant mortality rates were high) that there were somewhere under 20 children under the age of two who were killed. Though this is the height of wickedness, the fact that the number was relatively low (compared to the hundreds of others Herod had already had killed) and that Bethlehem was a small, insignificant town would have made the news less likely to be written down by ancient record keepers. (Source 1, Source 2, Source 3)