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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadCambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - Luke 3:20 - 3:20
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20. προσέθηκεν καὶ τοῦτο ἐπὶ πᾶσιν. ‘Added this also to all his crimes.’ The Jews as well as St Luke regarded the treatment of the Baptist by Antipas as the worst of his crimes, and the cause of his subsequent defeat and disgrace (Jos. Antt. XVIII. 5, 1–4).
κατέκλεισεν. The sentences are simply paratactic. In a more classical passage this clause would have been made subordinate, by ὥστε with the infinitive or some similar construction.
ἐν φυλακῇ. If the reading ἐν τῇ φυλακῇ were correct it would mean “in his prison.” Comp. Luk 7:18. This prison, as we learn from Josephus (Antt. XVIII. 5, § 2), was the stern and gloomy fortress of Makor or Machaerus, on the borders of Arabia to the north of the Dead Sea. It is situated among black basaltic rocks and was believed to be haunted by evil demons. Its ruins have been visited in recent years by Canon Tristram (Land of Moab, p. 259) and other travellers, and dungeons are still visible of which one may have witnessed the great prophet’s tragic end.