Lange Commentary - Mark 6:14 - 6:29

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Lange Commentary - Mark 6:14 - 6:29


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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:

2. Beheading of John the Baptist. Mar_6:14-29

(Parallels: Mat_14:1-12; Luk_9:7-9.)

      14And king Herod heard of him; (for his name was spread abroad;) and he said, That John the Baptist was risen from the dead, and therefore mighty works do show forth themselves [miraculous powers work] in him. 15Others said, That it is Elias. And others said, That it is a prophet, or as one of the prophets. 16But when Herod heard thereof, he said, It is John, whom I beheaded: he is risen from the dead. 17For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John, and bound him in prison for Herodias’ sake, his brother Philip’s wife; for he had married her. 18For John had said 19unto Herod, It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother’s wife. Therefore Herodias had a quarrel against him, and would have killed him; but she could not: 20For Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just man and an holy, and observed [protected] him; and when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly. 21And when a convenient [favorable] day was come, that Herod, on his birth-day, made a supper to his lords, high captains, and chief estates of Galilee: 22And 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. 23And he sware unto her, Whatsoever thou shalt ask of me, I will give it thee, unto the half of my kingdom. 24And she went forth, and said unto her mother, What shall I ask? And she said, The head of John the Baptist. 25And she came in straightway with haste unto the king, and asked, saying, I will that thou give me, by and by [immediately ] in a charger, the head of John the Baptist. 26And the king was exceeding sorry; yet for his oath’s sake, and for their sakes which sat with him, he would not reject her. 27And immediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded his head to be brought: and he went and beheaded him in the prison, 28And brought his head in a charger, and gave it to the damsel; and the damsel gave it to her mother. 29And when his disciples heard of it, they came and took up his corpse, and laid it in a tomb.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

See on the parallel passages of Matthew and Luke.—The time of this occurrence was the return of Jesus from the Feast of Purim at Jerusalem, in the year 781; that is, in the second year of His ministry. On His return from this feast, the disciples were once more gathered round Him at the Sea of Galilee. It is peculiar to Mark, that he connects the suspicious observation of Herod Antipas (see Matthew) with the work of Christ as extended by the twelve Apostles. And this is quite natural; since the fame of Jesus was not only extraordinarily increased by their means, but also invested with the semblance of a political import. With regard to Herod’s judgment of Jesus, Mark is more distinct than Luke; in exhibiting the relation in which Jesus stood to the Baptist, he is more distinct than Matthew. He is moreover very circumstantial in detailing the binding of John, the favorable crisis for Herodias, Herod’s promise to the dancer, the scheme concerted between mother and daughter, the daring urgency of the latter, and other similar traits. But he omits the circumstance, that the disciples of John carried intelligence of the event to the Lord.

Mar_6:14. King Herod.—The âáóéëåýò in the ancient and wide sense. Matthew and Luke say more precisely, the tetrarch (here equivalent to prince). Starke: “Luke calls him, after the manner of the Romans, a tetrarch; Mark, after the manner of the Jews, a king.”—Heard.—That is, that the disciples of Jesus preached and performed such miracles (Meyer), and that Jesus sent them forth. Hence what follows: for His name was spread abroad. Therefore, not (according to Grotius and others), he heard the name of Jesus.—John the Baptist.— Ὁ âáðôßæùí , substantively. Yet, perhaps, hinting an avoidance of the acknowledgment of his authority According to Luke, others declared that John was risen from the dead, and Herod was troubled at it. But the apparent contradiction is solved by our assuming that the idea was introduced by the courtiers, and that Herod, after slight hesitation, entered into their views with hypocritical superstitious policy (Leben Jesu, ii. 2). The expression might then be regarded as blending in itself a secret political meaning and a more popular one. According to the former it says, This new movement proceeds from the execution of John the Baptist; and if John was politically dangerous, the appearance of Jesus with His twelve Apostles is tenfold more so. Yet, at the same time, the expression might have been employed, in order to burden the conscience of the king and the people in reference to the execution of John.—Therefore mighty works do show forth themselves in him.—John had wrought no miracle; and the prince seems to have made this his excuse, the high legitimation of a prophet having been wanting to the Baptist. Now, in his new form, said the theologizing king, it is seen that he is actually a prophet; the miraculous powers at length manifest themselves in him.

Mar_6:15. As one of the prophets.—That is, of the old prophets, even if not so great as Elias. It is manifest, first, that the opinions which then prevailed concerning the Person of Jesus, agreed in a certain acknowledgment of His higher mission; secondly, they differed in regard to the more specific definition of His dignity; thirdly, they presented a descending scale of lessening honor paid to Him, starting from a point below the primary recognition that He was the Messiah. And thus they mark the time when the persecution of Jesus was beginning, although the people generally were, in a narrower sense, entirely absorbed with His works and words. Matthew introduces this index of public opinion in connection with another event, which, however, falls within the same year of persecutions, Mar_16:14; and now this wavering judgment has become the popular cry.

Mar_6:16. Whom I beheaded.—Meyer: “ Ἐãþ has the emphasis of a guilty conscience.” “Mark the urgent expression of confident assurance which the terrified man utters: This is he; he is risen.”

Mar_6:20. For Herod feared John.—Seeming discrepancy when compared with Matthew, as Meyer here and always urges. Compare, on the contrary, Ebrard, p. 384; Lange, Leben Jesu, ii. 2, p. 783. The èÝëåéí often indicates, in the New Testament, the natural willing in its weakness, the fain would, which, however, does not involve necessarily the full and perfect purpose of the will. Matthew, in his exhibition of the feeble, vacillating Herod, at the same time has in view his position on the side of Herodias as in opposition to the people; while Mark has in view his position on the side of the people in opposition to the thoroughly decided and resolute Herodias (see Macbeth).—And observed him, or Kept him.—Not, esteemed him highly (as Erasmus and others, with De Wette, contend), but he protected him a long time against the attempts of Herodias (as Grotius and Meyer). And this, at the same time, reveals the vacillation of the man, since, as prince, Herod might have set John free. “Herodias was instigated partly by revenge, but partly by fear that her present husband might, in consequence of the exhortations of the Baptist, repent of his sin, and separate from her.” Beda.

Mar_6:21. And when a convenient day was come; that is, favorable for Herodias.—Grotius: “Opportuna insidiatrici, quœ vino, amore et adulatorum conspiratione facile sperabat impelli posse nutantem mariti, animum.“—Lords, high captains, and chief estates.—The first two classes are servants of the state, civil and military officials; the third includes the great men of the land generally.

Mar_6:22. The king said unto the damsel.—The antithesis between “king and damsel” gives emphasis to his wicked folly.—To the half of my kingdom.—Starke: “This was a grand imitation of the great Ahasuerus; but in one without the supreme power, it was idle and boastful enough.”

Mar_6:25. I will that thou give me, by and by.—Strong emphasis, in the èÝëù ἵíá . Observe the boldness of the malignant girl.” Meyer.

Mar_6:26. Would not reject her.— Ἀèåôåῖí , to make anything an ἄèåôïí , illegal: therefore, to make invalid, or abolish, a decree, ordinance, covenant, or oath; and, in reference to persons, it means to deprive of a legal claim, or declare one unjustified: hence it involves the notion of humiliating, the repudiare. But the translation to “suffer her to ask in vain,” is much too weak.

Mar_6:27. An executioner, óðåêïõëÜôïñá : one of his body-guard.—To them was committed the execution of capital sentences (Seneca, De Ira, i. 16, Wetstein).” Meyer.

Mar_6:28. And the damsel gave it to her mother.—Salome, the dancer, afterwards married her father’s brother, the tetrarch Philip.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. See on the parallel passages in Matthew and Luke.

2. The institution of the apostolate, and the mission of the Apostles, were like a revelation of avenging spirits to worldly policy and despotism, cowardly and superstitious, suspicious and fearful from the beginning.

3. Herod a forerunner and confederate of Pilate in this, that he acknowledged the innocence and dignity of John, and yet had not the courage to set him free. He is also like Pilate in the vacillation of his weak character.

4. The opinions of those who surrounded Herod were like the verdicts of the great world concerning Christianity.

5. Herodias a typical character: woman in the demoniac grandeur of wickedness—the opposite of Mary. The New Testament Jezebel, as Herod is the New Testament Ahab. Herodias, the murderess of the greatest prophet, with whom the old covenant ended; Mary, the mother of the Lord, in whom the new covenant is sealed.

6. The intriguing woman, the courtezan in the royal court, an historical symbol. So also the dancer, and the vain festivity, and the sympathies of pride and presumption.

7. One sample of the influences of Grecian habits, as introduced into Palestine and spread there by the Herodians. Doubtless this influence could not but serve to efface the limits between Judaism and heathenism; but the true reconciliation between Greece and the theocracy could be effected only by Christianity.

8. The oath, and the word of honor, and the honorable deeds of the worldly-minded great, as they often clash with the eternal laws of God. In the godless oath there is a real and essential nullity; for God cannot be the avenger of a broken vow which was in itself impious. “But the breach of an ungodly oath demands an open confession.” Gerlach. “Herod should have said, Thou askest of me more than my kingdom, for what shall it profit a man? etc.

9. Fearful contrasts, in which are reflected the Satanic powers of wickedness: the head of the greatest preacher of repentance in the ancient world made a fee by an Israelite prince to a little Greek dancer at the court (a Jewess, who dances after the Greek fashion at the Israelite court); Christ, the Messiah of the Jews, betrayed by the kiss of a disciple to the hierarchy, condemned and given over to the Gentiles by the high-priests and the priesthood in Zion.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

See on the parallel passages in Matthew and Luke, and also the Reflections above.—Christ, with His twelve Apostles, described as John the Baptist risen from the dead: 1, How far this was a gross error, composed of a mixture of guilty conscience, superstition, policy, cunning, ignorance, and blindness; 2. how far, in another sense, a great truth, in which the living law of the kingdom of God found expression (ineffaceableness, growth, progress, consummation, “the blood of the martyrs, the seed of the Church”).—The internal conflict of Herod and Pilate: 1. Similarities: impotent striving, long delay, critical suspense, shameful surrender. 2. Differences: a Jew, a Gentile; Herodias in the one case, the warning devout woman in the other; the people against the evil deed, the people in favor of it.—John the Baptist dignified and self-consistent as the great, heroic preacher of repentance: 1. Confronting the prince of the land, Herod; 2. in prison, and with the fear of death before his eyes,—The good impressions, which Herod had lost: therefore, 1. He continued in the sin; 2. in vacillation between the right and wrong; 3. in self-deception; 4. under the power of temptation.—The conflict between good living and living good.—The convenient season; or, the feasts and banquets of the world, and those of the kingdom of God.—The world’s estimate of the value of things: the head of a prophet of less importance than a dance; a blasphemous, drunken oath more sacred than the eternal law of God.—How the weak and wavering characters, whilst they delay, are overcome by the bold and daring conduct of those who are resolute in their wickedness.—The judgment which followed the beheading of the Baptist: pierced conscience, further guilt touching Jesus, a death of misery.—The frightful abandonment by the Spirit, which, in the great world, may cloak itself under the disguise of brilliance and vigor of spirit.—The fidelity and troubles of the disciples of John figurative of the troubles of faith as held bound in legality: 1. The heroic courage with which they buried their master; 2. the lack of believing courage to attach themselves to Jesus.

Starke:—Even the great of this world have always been excited and moved by the Gospel of Christ.—Quesnel:—The sinner has no peace when he would seek it; because he rejected it when it was offered him by God.—Hedinger:—The judgments of this world are always out of square when they deal with spiritual things; therefore, dear fellow-Christian, inquire not about them.—Public teachers should without fear rebuke the sins and blasphemies even of the great; they may rely, in doing so, on the Divine help.—Lange:—O ye court-preachers, learn of John what your duty is: he was no court-preacher, and yet he bore fearless testimony to the truth.—Hedinger:—Devotion is always honorable, even in the eyes of the most frenzied children of the world.—Carnality befouls the best thoughts.—Quesnel:—The festivities of the world are the best appointed tables of sin.—Zeisius:—The poor have to give the rich their sweat and blood, and they riot in the proceeds, etc.—Vain swearing.—Promises made over the wine-cup.—Osiander:—At the court there are often heavy payments for ridiculous trifles.—A foolish promise brings repentance after it.—Quesnel:—The oath is sinful, and therefore null, when it cannot be carried out but with sin and injustice.—Lange:—No servant or official should let himself be made an instrument of injustice; rather should he let everything go.—Christians pay honor to the pious on their death, and carry them reverently to their tombs.—Gerlach:—Close connection between debauchery and cruelty.—Gossner:—Thus does the world deal with God’s ambassadors.—Bauer:—See, what a marriage this was!

Footnotes:

Mar_6:16.—The reading which drops ἐóôéí , áὐôüò (B., D., L., Ä ., &c.), is strongly authenticated; but the omission is explained here by the similarity of ïὕôïò and áὐôüò .—The omission of ἐê íåêñῶí (Tischendorf, after B., D., L., Ä .) is not sufficiently supported.

Mar_6:20.—The reading ðïëëὰ ἠðüñåé (“was often in doubt”) has B., L. in its favor. So Ewald and Meyer. But it is probably a modification of the strong ðïëëὰ ἐðïßåé .

Mar_6:22.—Instead of the Participle êáὶ ἀñåóÜóçò , the Codd. B., C., L., and others read ἤñåóåí , and åἶðå äὲ ὁ âáó . This construction loses the emphatic preparation of the words: “Then the king said unto the maiden.” But the Greek construction of the Recepta may seem to be simply a softening of the text.

He whom men call John the Baptist, i.e.—Ed.