Book of the Bible with reduced description of Herod? (8)
I believe the answer is:
ruthless
'description of herod?' is the definition.
(Herod is a ruthless figure in the Bible)
'book of the bible with reduced' is the wordplay.
'book of the bible' becomes 'ruth'.
'with' says to put letters next to each other.
'reduced' becomes 'less'.
'ruth'+'less'='RUTHLESS'
(Other definitions for ruthless that I've seen before include "Without pity or compassion" , "Showing no compassion" , "devoid of compassion" , "Unsparing" , "Without pity, merciless" .)