to cause to be ("gen"-erate) · verb — second aorist middle deponent participle, genitive singular feminine
Herod
ἩρῴδηςHērōdēs
G2264
heroic · noun — nominative singular masculine, a proper name
his
αὐτοῦautou
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive singular masculine
birthday
γενεσίοιςgenesiois
G1077
birthday ceremonies · noun — dative plural neuter
made
ἐποίησενepoiēsen
G4160
to make or do (in a very wide application · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
supper
δεῖπνονdeipnon
G1173
dinner · noun — accusative singular neuter
his
αὐτοῦautou
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive singular masculine
lords
μεγιστᾶσινmegistasin
G3175
grandees · noun — dative plural masculine
captains
χιλιάρχοιςchiliarchois
G5506
the commander of a thousand soldiers ("chiliarch" · noun — dative plural masculine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
chief
πρώτοιςprōtois
G4413
foremost (in time · adjective — dative plural masculine
Galilee
ΓαλιλαίαςGalilaias
G1056
Galilæa (i.e. the heathen circle) · noun — genitive singular feminine, a place
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Esther 2:18 Then the king made a great feast unto all his princes and his servants, even Esther’s feast; and he made a release to the provinces, and gav…
Genesis 40:20 And it came to pass the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast unto all his servants: and he lifted up the head of th…
Genesis 27:41 And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him: and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my fathe…
2 Samuel 13:23-29 And it came to pass after two full years, that Absalom had sheepshearers in Baal-hazor, which is beside Ephraim: and Absalom invited all the…
Esther 1:3-7 In the third year of his reign, he made a feast unto all his princes and his servants; the power of Persia and Media, the nobles and princes…
Esther 3:7 In the first month, that is, the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of king Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that is, the lot, before Haman from day…
Psalms 37:12-13 The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth.
Proverbs 31:4-5 It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink:
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Mark 6:14-29
Here is, I. The wild notions that the people had concerning our Lord Jesus, Mar 6:15. His own countrymen could believe nothing great concerning him, because they knew his poor kindred; but others that were not under the power of that prejudice against him, were yet willing to believe any thing rather than the truth - that he was the Son of God, and the true Messias: they said, He is Elias, whom they expected; or, He is a prophet, one of the Old Testament prophets raised to life, and returned to this world; or as one of the prophets, a prophet now newly raised up, equal to those under the Old Testament.
II. The opinion of Herod concerning him. He heard of his name and fame, of what he said an…
Lords - Μεγιστασιν, probably governors of particular districts.
High captains - Χιλιαρχοις; literally, chiefs or captains over a thousand men, military chiefs.
Chief estates - Πρωτοις; probably such as might be called nobles by title only, having no office civil or military; probably magistrates. See Kypke an the place.
John Gill on Mark 6:21
And when a convenient day was come,.... For Herodias; who had long sought and watched for an opportunity of avenging herself on John, and such a time Herod's birthday proved; though some think, that this phrase is the same with , "a good day"; often used by the Jews for a festival, any one of their feast days; there is a tract in their Misna which bears this name; and that such a day was this. But not one of the festivals of the Jews was this, as either their passover, or pentecost, or feast of tabernacles, which Herod had no regard to; but his own birthday, which he kept as a festival, in eating, and drinking, and dancing; and so was a very opportune and seasonable time for Herodias to take…
Mark 6:17-29
Matthew 14:3-12
Mark 6:17-29
3. For Herod had seized John, and bound him, and put him in prison, on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. 4. For John said to him, It is not lawful for thee to have her. 5. And though he wished to put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they accounted him a prophet. 6. But when Herod's birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company, and pleased Herod. 7. And therefore he promised with an oath, that he would give her whatever she would ask. 8. But she, after having been instructed by her mother, said Give me here in a dish the head of John the Baptist. 9. And the king was sorry, yet on account of…
The Church Fathers
(ubi sup.) The only men whom we read of, as celebrating their birthdays with festive joys are Herod and Pharaoh, but each, with an evil presage, stained his birthday with blood; Herod, however, with so much the greater wickedness, as he slew the holy and guiltless teacher of truth, and that, by the wish, and at the instance of a female dancer. For there follows. And when the daughter of the said Herodias came in, and danced, and pleased Herod and them that sat with him, the king said unto the damsel, Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it thee.
And when a convenient day had come, Herod on his birthday made a supper for his lords, etc. Herod and Pharaoh alone among mortals are read to have celebrated their birthdays with joyful festivities; but each king defiled his own festival with blood under ill-omened auspices. However, Herod with much greater impiety, since he killed a holy and innocent teacher of truth, and the herald of life and the heavenly kingdom, and this at the request and petition of a dancer, neither was he ashamed to present the head of the slain man before the guests. For Pharaoh is not read to have committed such madness, but only ordering a sinful eunuch to be deprived of life. So far as he strayed from the cult of true religion, so much lighter is his transgression in violating his own festival. Nevertheless, from the example of both it is proven, it is more useful to us to recall frequently in fear and chaste behavior the day of future death, rather than to celebrate the day of birth in revelry. For man is born to labor in the world (Job 5), and the elect pass unto rest through death from the world.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Herodias — (Matt. 14:3-11; Mark 6:17-28; Luke 3:19), the daughter of Aristobulus and Bernice. While residing at Rome with her husband Herod Philip I. and her daughter, Herod Antipas fell in with her during one…
Machaerus — The Black Fortress, was built by Herod the Great in the gorge of Callirhoe, one of the wadies 9 miles east of the Dead Sea, as a frontier rampart against Arab marauders. John the Baptist was probably…
Salome — Perfect. (1.) The wife of Zebedee and mother of James and John (Mat. 27:56), and probably the sister of Mary, the mother of our Lord (John 19:25). She sought for her sons places of honour in Christ’s…
Supper — The principal meal of the day among the Jews. It was partaken of in the early part of the evening (Mark 6:21; John 12:2; 1 Cor. 11:21). (See LORD’S SUPPER.)
Entertainments · Given on occasions of: Birthdays — Given on occasions of: Birthdays
Feasts · .Men alone present at — .Men alone present at
Galilee · .Herod (Antipas), tetrarch of — .Herod (Antipas), tetrarch of
Herod · .Beheads — .Beheads
John · him, and beheads him — him, and beheads him
Martyrdom · . — .
Politics · .Herodias, in inf — .Herodias, in inf
Revenge · .By Herodias — .By Herodias
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Herodias’s role in the murder of John the Baptist recalls the story of Jezebel (1 Kgs 19:1-2). Herod succumbed to pressure (Mark 6:26-28), which foreshadows the later story of Pontius Pilate, who put Jesus to death against his better judgment (cp. 6:20, 25-28 with 15:6-15).
