St Matthew Chapter XIV : Verses 1-12
Contents
- Matt. xiv. 1-12. Douay-Rheims text & Latin text (Vulgate).
- Notes on the text.
Matt. xiv. 1-12
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| Salome pleases Herod. J-J Tissot. Brooklyn Museum. |
In illo tempore audivit Herodes tetrarcha fama Jesu :
2 And he said to his servants: This is John the Baptist: he is risen from the dead, and therefore mighty works shew forth themselves in him.
et ait pueris suis : Hic est Joannes Baptista : ipse surrexit a mortuis, et ideo virtutes operantur in eo.
3 For Herod had apprehended John and bound him, and put him into prison, because of Herodias, his brother's wife.
Herodes enim tenuit Joannem, et alligavit eum : et posuit in carcerem propter Herodiadem uxorem fratris sui.
4 For John said to him: It is not lawful for thee to have her.
Dicebat enim illi Joannes : Non licet tibi habere eam.
5 And having a mind to put him to death, he feared the people: because they esteemed him as a prophet.
Et volens illum occidere, timuit populum : quia sicut prophetam eum habebant.
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| And his head was brought in a dish. J-J Tissot. Brooklyn Museum. |
Die autem natalis Herodis saltavit filia Herodiadis in medio, et placuit Herodi :
7 Whereupon he promised with an oath, to give her whatsoever she would ask of him.
unde cum juramento pollicitus est ei dare quodcumque postulasset ab eo.
8 But she being instructed before by her mother, said: Give me here in a dish the head of John the Baptist.
At illa præmonita a matre sua : Da mihi, inquit, hic in disco caput Joannis Baptistae.
9 And the king was struck sad: yet because of his oath, and for them that sat with him at table, he commanded it to be given.
Et contristatus est rex : propter juramentum autem, et eos qui pariter recumbebant, jussit dari.
10 And he sent, and beheaded John in the prison.
Misitque et decollavit Joannem in carcere.
11 And his head was brought in a dish: and it was given to the damsel, and she brought it to her mother.
Et allatum est caput ejus in disco, et datum est puellæ, et attulit matri suae.
12 And his disciples came and took the body, and buried it, and came and told Jesus.
Et accedentes discipuli ejus, tulerunt corpus ejus, et sepelierunt illud : et venientes nuntiaverunt Jesu.
Notes
Herod is called ” king ” by St Mark, but this title is given only by courtesy, since Herod was but a tetrarch, that is, a governor of the fourth part of a kingdom or province.
heard of the fame of Jesus. Which the apostles, by their miracles and preaching, had helped to spread. In consequence, Herod sought to see him, but in vain, until the day when Pilate sent Jesus bound to him.
2. This is John the Baptist. He must have suffered martyrdom during or after the apostles’ first mission, and before the second Pasch after our Lord’s Baptism.
risen from the dead. 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. Herod feared to meet his victim again.
mighty works shew forth, etc. Better, with the Revised Version, “do these powers work in him” (αἱ δυνάμεις ἐνεργοῦσιν ἐν αὐτῷ). 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, and the tetrarch testifies here to the truth of Christ’s miracles.
3. Herod had apprehended John. St Matthew here refers to a preceding event. Herod Antipas 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.
put him into prison. “ Put him away in prison ” (ἀπέθετο). Machærus was some distance from Tiberias, where Herod usually dwelt. The imprisonment and subsequent murder of the Precursor were considered by the Jews as Herod’s greatest crime (see Jos., xviii. 5. 2.).
Josephus’ statement about St John being imprisoned by Herod on account of his ascendency over the people confirms the Evangelist’s words (St Mark vi. 15). This was put forth as the State reason, for the tyrant would not have disclosed his secret motives. A further proof of the Baptist’s power is given us by St Mark : For Herod feared John, knowing him to be a just and holy man, and kept him (i.e. from the vengeance of Herodias, at least for a time), and when he heard him, did many things (vi. 20).
his brother's wife. Herod’s sister-in-law and niece.
he had married her. This was unlawful, for four reasons : —
(1) Herodias’ first husband, Herod Philip I. (not the tetrarch), was still living.
(2) Herod’s wife, the daughter of Aretas, was also alive.
(3) Herodias was niece to Herod, being the daughter of Aristobulus, his eldest halfbrother.
(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.
4. It is not lawful, 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).
5. having a mind to put him to death. Yet at times he 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).
6. But on Herod! s birthday. Lit. “Herod’s birthday having come” (γενεσίοις δὲ γενομένοις⸃ τοῦ Ἡρῴδου). 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.
the daughter of Herodias danced, etc. 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.
7. he promised with an oath. He said to her : Ask of me what thou wilt, and I will give it thee. And he swore to her : Whatsoever thou shalt ask I will give it thee, though it he the half of my kingdom (St Mark).
Salome doubtless hesitated as to what request to proffer, since Herod reiterates his offer, and enforces it with an oath. The words though it he half, etc. are not to be taken literally ; they mean simply 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).
8. But she being instructed, etc. Lit. “but she being urged on” (ἡ δὲ προβιβασθεῖσα) Salome seems to have been unwilling to comply with her mother’s wish. St Mark adds here, that when she was gone out, she said to her mother : What shall I ask ? But she said : The head of John the Baptist. She then came in immediately with haste to the king and proffered her inhuman request. Herodias feared delay ; when Herod was sober he might refuse to accede to the request of Salome.
in a dish. A wooden charger or trencher.
9. struck sad. St Matthew’s graphic expression for denoting Herod’s consternation. The original Greek word indicates great sorrow and grief (λυπηθεὶς). 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 the oath, broke the fifth Commandment also. This verse appears to contradict verse 5, but the Baptist having been in prison some months, Herod had seen and talked with him, and thus had had reason to change his mind,
them that sat with him. Herod’s guests were the princes, and tribunes, and chief men of Galilee, i.e. the high civil and military officials.
10. And he sent, etc. Herod sent an executioner. Cf. But sending an executioner, he commanded that his head should he brought in a dish (St Mark).
11. to the damsel. Salome was about seventeen or eighteen years of age at this time.
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.
12. his disciples .... took the body. St Jerome tells us they buried the headless corpse of their master in Sebaste (Samaria). Herod allowed them to perform this act of respect. 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).
came and told Jesus. Observe their confidence in our Blessed Lord. It is good to tell Jesus all, to carry our joys and sorrows to Him.
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
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