Chapter # 6 Paragraph # 3 Study # 1
November 2, 2021
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
(256)
1901 ASV
14 And king Herod heard [thereof]; for his name had become known: and he said, John the Baptizer is risen from the dead, and therefore do these powers work in him.
15 But others said, It is Elijah. And others said, [It is] a prophet, [even] as one of the prophets.
16 But Herod, when he heard [thereof], said, John, whom I beheaded, he is risen.
17 For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John, and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife; for he had married her.
18 For John said unto Herod, It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife.
19 And Herodias set herself against him, and desired to kill him; and she could not;
20 for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and kept him safe. And when he heard him, he was much perplexed; and he heard him gladly.
21 And when a convenient day was come, that Herod on his birthday made a supper to his lords, and the high captains, and the chief men of Galilee;
22 and when the daughter of Herodias herself came in and danced, she pleased Herod and them that sat at meat with him; and the king said unto the damsel, Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it thee.
23 And he sware unto her, Whatsoever thou shalt ask of me, I will give it thee, unto the half of my kingdom.
24 And she went out, and said unto her mother, What shall I ask? And she said, The head of John the Baptizer.
25 And she came in straightway with haste unto the king, and asked, saying, I will that thou forthwith give me on a platter the head of John the Baptist.
26 And the king was exceeding sorry; but for the sake of his oaths, and of them that sat at meat, he would not reject her.
27 And straightway the king sent forth a soldier of his guard, and commanded to bring his head: and he went and beheaded him in the prison,
28 and brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the damsel; and the damsel gave it to her mother.
29 And when his disciples heard [thereof], they came and took up his corpse, and laid it in a tomb.
- I. Mark's Focus Upon Herod.
- A. Is entirely contained in 6:14-29 except for 8:15.
- B. Concerns Herod Antipas, one of three sons of the Herod who killed the babies of Jerusalem.
- 1. Herod the baby-killer was called "Herod the Great" and he died in early 4 B.C. a short while after his murderous actions in Bethlehem. His decree to kill all of the male babies in Bethlehem who were two years old, or younger, was rooted in what he learned from the Magi regarding the initial appearance of "the star" (Matthew 2:7 and 16). This strongly implies that "the exact time" was the actual "date" of the birth of Christ, but the two year period also implies that Herod was not sure that the appearance of the star coincided exactly with the date of His birth so He included a certain period of time before "the exact time" as well as a certain period after that "exact time". It is "reasonable" that the king expanded the time approximately the same amount before and after just to make sure the net he spread was sufficiently large to catch this "new born king". This signifies that those who argue for a certain "hour" are making assumptions that cannot be established.
- 2. This "Herod" of Mark's record was "king" over Galilee and Perea from 4 B.C. until A.D. 39.
- C. Has the distinction of making sure we understand that Herod was consumed with "guilt" over his murder of John.
- 1. This focus includes Mark's declaration that there were "those" who "were saying" that the One Whose "name" "became manifest" was actually John the Baptizer "raised from the dead". This claim ignores the fact that many knew that John and Jesus had once had overlapping ministries. There is no indication how this claim came to be an accepted explanation for the identity of Jesus as John raised from the dead. This is not a part of Mark's meaning; his meaning concerns how easily "the king" became convinced of this great error because of his guilty conscience.
- 2. This focus includes Mark's comments regarding Herod's "respect" for John and his "knowledge" that John was "a righteous man and holy" (6:20).
- 3. This account by Mark is, on the surface of it, in direct opposition to Matthew 14:5 where Matthew says "Herod wanted to put him to death" but he "feared the crowd".
- 4. The "resolution" of the differences between the texts is to be realized when we understand that this "Herod" was a complicated and evil man whose whims "bounced around".