St Mark Chapter VI : Verses 14-29
[14] And king Herod heard, (for his name was made manifest,) and he said: John the Baptist is risen again from the dead, and therefore mighty works shew forth themselves in him.
[15] And others said: It is Elias. But others said: It is a prophet, as one of the prophets.
[16] Which Herod hearing, said: John whom I beheaded, he is risen again from the dead.
[17] For Herod himself had sent and apprehended John, and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias the wife of Philip his brother, because he had married her.
[18] For John said to Herod: It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife.
[19] Now Herodias laid snares for him: and was desirous to put him to death, and could not.
[20] For Herod feared John, knowing him to be a just and holy man: and kept him, and when he heard him, did many things: and he heard him willingly.
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| Salome danced and pleased Herod. J-J Tissot |
[22] And when the daughter of the same Herodias had come in, and had danced, and pleased Herod, and them that were at table with him, the king said to the damsel: Ask of me what thou wilt, and I will give it thee.
[23] And he swore to her: Whatsoever thou shalt ask I will give thee, though it be the half of my kingdom.
[24] Who when she was gone out, said to her mother, What shall I ask? But she said: The head of John the Baptist.
[25] And when she was come in immediately with haste to the king, she asked, saying: I will that forthwith thou give me in a dish, the head of John the Baptist.
[26] And the king was struck sad. Yet because of his oath, and because of them that were with him at table, he would not displease her:
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| Herodias pierces the tongue of St John the Baptist. J-J Tissot |
[28] And he beheaded him in the prison, and brought his head in a dish: and gave it to the damsel, and the damsel gave it to her mother.
[29] Which his disciples hearing came, and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.
[14] Et audivit rex Herodes ( manifestum enim factum est nomen ejus), et dicebat : Quia Joannes Baptista resurrexit a mortuis : et propterea virtutes operantur in illo. [15] Alii autem dicebant : Quia Elias est; alii vero dicebant : Quia propheta est, quasi unus ex prophetis. [16] Quo audito Herodes ait : Quem ego decollavi Joannem, hic a mortuis resurrexit. [17] Ipse enim Herodes misit, ac tenuit Joannem, et vinxit eum in carcere propter Herodiadem uxorem Philippi fratris sui, quia duxerat eam. [18] Dicebat enim Joannes Herodi : Non licet tibi habere uxorem fratris tui. [19] Herodias autem insidiabatur illi : et volebat occidere eum, nec poterat. [20] Herodes enim metuebat Joannem, sciens eum virum justum et sanctum : et custodiebat eum, et audito eo multa faciebat, et libenter eum audiebat. [21] Et cum dies opportunus accidisset, Herodes natalis sui œnam fecit principibus, et tribunis, et primis Galilææ : [22] cumque introisset filia ipsius Herodiadis, et saltasset, et placuisset Herodi, simulque recumbentibus, rex ait puellæ : Pete a me quod vis, et dabo tibi : [23] et juravit illi : Quia quidquid petieris dabo tibi, licet dimidium regni mei. [24] Quæ cum exisset, dixit matri suae : Quid petam? At illa dixit : Caput Joannis Baptistae. [25] Cumque introisset statim cum festinatione ad regem, petivit dicens : Volo ut protinus des mihi in disco caput Joannis Baptistæ. [26] Et contristatus est rex : propter jusjurandum, et propter simul discumbentes, noluit eam contristare : [27] sed misso speculatore præcepit afferri caput ejus in disco. Et decollavit eum in carcere, [28] et attulit caput ejus in disco : et dedit illud puellæ, et puella dedit matri suæ. [29] Quo audito, discipuli ejus venerunt, et tulerunt corpus ejus : et posuerunt illud in monumento.
Notes
14. King Herod: “King” by courtesy only, since Herod was but a Tetrarch, that is, a governor of the fourth part of a kingdom or province. Jesus warned His disciples to beware of Herod, saying : Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the leaven of Herod (viii. 15).
heard : of the fame of Jesus, which the Apostles by their miracles and preaching had helped to spread.
John the Baptist is risen again from the dead. He must have suffered martyrdom during or after the Apostles’ first mission, and before the fourth Pasch after our Lord’s baptism.
is risen again. Evidently Herod was no Sadducee, who said there is no resurrection , neither angel nor spirit (Acts xxiii. 8), or his guilty conscience and superstitious fears had obscured his religious belief.
mighty works: miracles. St John the Baptist had worked no miracles during his lifetime. And many resorted to him, and they said: John indeed did no sign (St John x. 41). Herod seems to have imagined that John the Baptist having risen would necessarily do mighty works.
14, 15. In these verses three opinions are given concerning our Lord. He is St John the Baptist risen from the dead, or Elias, or another prophet.
It is Elias. According to the prophecy, Behold I will send you Elias the prophet , before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord (Mal. iv. 5). Elias had not died, but had been taken up to heaven while conversing with Eliseus. And as they went on , walking and talking together , behold a fiery chariot, and fiery horses parted them both asunder : and Elias went up by a whirlwind into heaven (4 Kings ii. 11). There was therefore an expectation among the Jews that Elias should return to earth as the forerunner of the Messiah. This tradition that Elias will return is confirmed in Apoc. xi. 3, where the witnesses referred to are supposed to be Elias and Henoch. Moses had said, a Prophet should be raised up by God (Deut. xviii. 15), but this refers to Christ Himself.
16. John whom I beheaded. Herod fears to meet his victim again.
17. Herod .... had apprehended John, etc. St Mark here refers to a preceding event. Herod had had St John the Baptist bound and then imprisoned him, probably in Machærus (the Black Fortress ), which Herod the Great had built, and which was situated east of the Dead Sea.
This castle had been in the possession of Aretas, father-in-law to Herod Antipas, and Emir of Arabia Petræa. Probably Herod had seized this castle when his lawful wife, hearing of his approaching marriage with Herodias, had fled to her father at Petra. Machærus was both a palace and a prison. At this period Herod was probably living there with an armed retinue, on account of the war with Aretas in which he was engaged. Herod lost the day, and the Jews considered this defeat as a punishment for the beheading of St John the Baptist.
for the sake of Herodias. Herod’s sister-in-law and niece. (See The Herodian Dynasty, Part IV.)
he had married her. This was unlawful for four reasons :
(1) Herodias’ first husband, Herod Philip I. (not the Tetrarch), was still living.(2) The daughter of Aretas, Herod’s wife, was also alive.(3) Herodias was niece to Herod, being the daughter of Aristobulus, his eldest half- brother.(4) Herod Antipas was a convert to Judaism, and hence bound to observe the Jewish law. This distinctly forbade marriage with a deceased brother’s wife (Lev. xx. 21) unless that brother died without issue which was not the case, since Salome was the child of Herodias and Herod Philip I.
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| Herod : Genealogical table, showing four of Herod the Great's ten wives. |
it is not lawful for thee, etc. St John boldly rebuked vice even in the great. As our Lord said, when speaking of him, St John was no reed shaken with the wind ; he was a prophet and more than a prophet, and spoke with a prophet’s fearlessness. St Luke tells us that St John also reproved all the evils which Herod had done (St Luke iii. 19).
19. Herodias laid snares. Naturally his boldness in rebuking Herod would arouse her anger and resentment, which was all the keener because she perceived that St John had a great influence over Herod, who feared John.
20. kept him. Preserved him from Herodias’ vengeance, at least for a time.
when he heard him, did many things. Herod was awed by St John’s virtue. He feared and esteemed him, and did many things to please the Precursor, but not the one thing against which St John’s rebukes were chiefly directed. Herod would not put away Herodias.
heard him willingly. Herod had his better moments, but he had not the courage to conquer his vices and to amend. It was easier to listen than to yield, and the many things evidently did not cost him so much as the one necessary sacrifice would have done. They were matters of less moment than his sinful marriage. In like manner, Felix coming with Drusilla (a daughter of Herodias), his wife, who was a Jew, sent for Paul, and heard of him the faith that is in Christ Jesus (Acts xxiv. 24).
21. a convenient day, — i.e. for the vengeance of Herodias, that she might win by stratagem, where she had failed by direct petition.
made a supper. Probably at the castle of Machærus.
for his birthday. Herod, like the Roman emperors, made a great banquet on his birthday. The Jews disliked the observance of birthdays, as being connected with idolatry and favouring it, since at these banquets libations and sacrifices were frequently offered to the gods.
princes. High civil or military officials.
tribunes. Doubtless here military tribunes are referred to, of whom there were four or six in each legion. Ten Roman civil tribunes were chosen by the people to protect them from the oppression of the senate and nobles. These tribunes would hardly be living in Palestine.
chief men of Galilee. The local authorities, the great landowners.
22. when the daughter .... had danced. Salome here dishonours herself and family by performing the part of a hired scenic dancer. Moreover these oriental dances were generally immodest. It was customary to give some such entertainment at the close of the banquet. Herod and his guests, from their couches, would have a full view of the performers.
Ask me what thou wilt. It would seem as though Salome hesitated as to what request to proffer, since Herod reiterates his offer, and enforces it with oaths, as the original expression indicates.
23. though it be the half, etc. Not to be taken literally, but meaning that Herod was willing to bestow great gifts on her. It was a boastful assertion made in presence of his flatterers ; possibly he was not sober when he made it. Assuerus had promised Esther the half of his kingdom, but at least it was his to give (Esther v. 3).
24. What shall I ask ? Herodias does not hesitate as to her reply ; she had long since decided what she wished to obtain.
25. immediately with haste. Herodias feared delay, lest she should ultimately meet with a refusal. When Herod was sober, he might again refuse to accede to the request of Salome.
26. struck sad. St Mark’s graphic expression for denoting Herod’s consternation. The original Greek word indicates great sorrow and grief. Herod feared to keep his rash oath, yet had not the manliness to break it, by refusing to commit a crime. To take a rash oath is a sin against the Second Commandment. Herod, by keeping his oath, broke the Fifth Commandment also.
27. an executioner, literally a spiculator, which signifies either (1) a scout, (2) a special adjutant, (3) a soldier of the guard. The spiculators formed a special division of the legion, and each emperor had a body of them to guard his person and execute his orders. They were often employed as instruments to execute the emperor’s private vengeance. As Herod was at war with Aretas, these spiculators would be in attendance.
28. the damsel gave it to her mother.
The crime is now accomplished. St Jerome says that Herodias glutted her vengeance by piercing the saint’s tongue with needles (as Fulvia did to her enemy Cicero). Nicephorus states that Salome met with a terrible death as a punishment for her share in the sacrilegious crime. When crossing the ice it broke under her, and the fragments drifting together severed her head from her body.
29. his disciples .... took his body. St Jerome tells us they buried their master in Sebaste (Samaria). Herod allowed them to perform this act of respect. They buried the headless corpse only. St Matthew adds that these disciples “ came and told Jesus” Possibly some of St John’s disciples now attached themselves to Christ, while others in outlying districts entered the Church later, through the ministry of the Apostles (see Acts xix. 1-7). In this narrative four details are given by St Mark alone :
(1) Herodias was St John the Baptist’s enemy rather than Herod, who esteemed him.(2) Herod “ kept him ” for a time at least from her vengeance.(3) Salome consulted her mother regarding the request.(4) Herod sent a special executioner to behead St John.
Additional Notes
Herod’s opinion concerning Christ. There seems to be a slight discrepancy in the Synoptic Gospels as to Herod’s opinion of our Lord. Compare the following statements : —
To reconcile these passages commentators have made three different suggestions : —
(1) The words in St Matthew should be put interrogatively, “Is this John the Baptist ?” “ Is he risen from the dead ? ”(2) Herod may have made the statement ironically.(3) He may have expressed the doubt in public, and his real opinion to his intimate friends (MacEvilly).
Note on Herod’s character. Herod was evidently a worldly, sensual man, who had his better moments, but who in general was governed by his vices. His court must have been most profligate if we judge from the monarch, for we find him cringing before the multitude, imprisoning the Baptist unjustly, swearing rashly, living in adultery, and finally committing murder. His better moments may have been due to the influence of Manahen his foster-brother, who certainly later was a follower of Christ ( Acts xiii. 1), if not at the time of St John’s martyrdom. Moreover, Chusa (Herod’s steward) with his wife Joanna were disciples of our Lord (St Luke viii. 3), and it may have been through their influence that Herod, that fox, as Jesus called him, was induced to listen to John the Baptist. Whether he allowed the Martyr to be buried by his own disciples, or whether, in accordance with a local tradition, the disciples reverently took up the headless trunk which Herodias had caused to be flung over the battlements, is an open question.
Character of St John the Baptist. What a total contrast he presents to the voluptuous, pleasure-seeking monarch ! The greatest among the children of men, who merited our Lord’s striking eulogy, and won the martyr’s crown for his dauntless courage and fearlessness in rebuking vice. In him there was a noble blending of deep humility with a consciousness of his dignity. He sacrificed ease and comfort, and led a penitential life, that by his example and zeal he might win disciples for Christ. It is not astonishing that “Herod feared John,” for even the godless can respect virtues which they have not the courage to imitate.
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
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