the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive singular masculine
head
κεφαλὴkephalē
G2776
the head (as the part most readily taken hold of) · noun — nominative singular feminine
brought
ἠνέχθηēnechthē
G5342
to "bear" or carry (in a very wide application · verb — aorist passive indicative, 3rd person singular
in
ἐπὶepi
G1909
properly · preposition
charger
πίνακιpinaki
G4094
a plate · noun — dative singular masculine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
given
ἐδόθηedothē
G1325
to give (used in a very wide application · verb — aorist passive indicative, 3rd person singular
damsel
κορασίῳ,korasiō
G2877
a (little) girl · noun — dative singular neuter
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
brought
ἤνεγκενēnegken
G5342
to "bear" or carry (in a very wide application · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
to
μητρὶmētri
G3384
a "mother" (literally or figuratively · noun — dative singular feminine
her
αὐτῆς.¶autēs
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive singular feminine
mother
μήτηρmḗtēr
G3384
a "mother" (literally or figuratively
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
Revelation 16:6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.
Genesis 49:7 Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.
Proverbs 27:4 Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?
Proverbs 29:10 The bloodthirsty hate the upright: but the just seek his soul.
Jeremiah 22:17 But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do…
Ezekiel 16:3-4 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto Jerusalem; Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mot…
Ezekiel 19:2-3 And say, What is thy mother? A lioness: she lay down among lions, she nourished her whelps among young lions.
Ezekiel 35:6 Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will prepare thee unto blood, and blood shall pursue thee: sith thou hast not hated blood, even…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Matthew 14:1-12
We have here the story of John's martyrdom. Observe,
I. The occasion of relating this story here, Mat 14:1, Mat 14:2. Here is,
1. The account brought to Herod of the miracles which Christ wrought. Herod the tetrarch or chief governor of Galilee heard of the fame of Jesus. At that time, when his countrymen slighted him, upon the account of his meanness and obscurity, he began to be famous at court. Note, God will honour those that are despised for his sake. And the gospel, like the sea, gets in one place what it loses in another. Christ had now been preaching and working miracles above two years; yet, it should seem, Herod had not heard of him till now, and now only heard the fame of him. Not…
And said unto his servants--his counsellors or court-ministers.
This is John the Baptist: he is risen from the dead, &c.--The murdered prophet haunted his guilty breast like a specter and seemed to him alive again and clothed with unearthly powers in the person of Jesus.
Account of the Baptist's Imprisonment and Death (Mat 14:3-12). For the exposition of this portion, see on Mar 6:17-29.
John Gill on Matthew 14:11
By the executioner that cut it off, to Herod, whilst he and his guests were at table; by which it should seem, that the prison was very near; and it is not improbable, that it was the castle of Macheerus that Herod made this entertainment in:
and given to the damsel; the daughter of Herodias, who, by her mother's instigation, had asked it, and who received it out of the hands of Herod himself; or however, it was delivered to her by his orders:
and she brought it to her mother; who had put her upon it, than which, nothing could be a more agreeable dish to her; and who, as Jerome says (c), because she could not bear truth, that tongue which spoke truth; she plucked out, and pierced it throug…
(Liv. xxxix. 43.) We read in Roman history, that Flaminius, a Roman general, sitting at supper with his mistress, on her saying that she had never seen a man beheaded, gave permission that a man under sentence for a capital crime should be brought in and beheaded during the entertainment. For this he was expelled the senate by the censors, because he had mingled feasting with blood, and had employed death, though of a criminal, for the amusement of another, causing murder and enjoyment to be joined together. How much more wicked Herod, and Herodias, and the damsel who danced; she asked as her bloody reward the head of a Prophet, that she might have in her power the tongue that reproved the unlawful nuptials.
(Verse 11.) And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. We read in Roman history that Flamininus, a Roman general, agreed to have a certain accused of a capital crime be beheaded at a banquet because he was lying next to a prostitute who claimed to have never seen a decapitated man before. He was expelled from the Senate by the censors because he mixed food with blood during the feast, and he preferred the death of a guilty man to the enjoyment of another person, so that lust and murder were mixed together. How wicked Herod and Herodias and the girl who danced demand the prophet's head as the price of blood, so that she may have power over the tongue that condemned unlawful marriages. This happened exactly as written; but we still see to this day, the Jews having lost Christ, who is the head of the prophets, in the person of John the Baptist. And his disciples came and took his body and buried it. Josephus reports in a certain town of Arabia that John was beheaded. And what follows: His disciples came and took the body, both of him (John) and of the Savior, we can understand.
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
Antipas — (1.) Herod Antipas, a son of Herod the Great by his Samaritan wife Malthace. He was tetrarch of Galilee and Peraea during the whole period of our Lord’s life on earth (Luke 23:7). He was a frivolous…
Behead — A method of taking away life practised among the Egyptians (Gen. 40:17-19). There are instances of this mode of punishment also among the Hebrews (2 Sam. 4:8; 20:21, 22; 2 Kings 10:6-8). It is also…
Charger — A bowl or deep dish. The silver vessels given by the heads of the tribes for the services of the tabernacle are so named (Num. 7:13, etc.). The “charger” in which the Baptist’s head was presented was…
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…
John the Baptist — The “forerunner of our Lord.” We have but fragmentary and imperfect accounts of him in the Gospels. He was of priestly descent. His father, Zacharias, was a priest of the course of Abia (1 Chr.…
Charger · General references — General references
Entertainments · Men and women did not usually meet at — Men and women did not usually meet at
Herod · .Beheads — .Beheads
John · him, and beheads him — him, and beheads him
Murder · Exemplified: Herodias and her daughter — Exemplified: Herodias and her daughter
Politics · .Herodias, in inf — .Herodias, in inf
Prisoners
Matthew 14:3-12
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…
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).
