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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mar_6:14-16
14And King Herod heard of it, for His name had become well known; and people were saying, "John the Baptist has risen from the dead, and that is why these miraculous powers are at work in Him." 15But others were saying, "He is Elijah." And others were saying, "He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old." 16But when Herod heard of it, he kept saying, "John, whom I beheaded, has risen!"
Mar_6:14 "King Herod" "King" was not the official title of Herod Antipas. He was called Tetrarch, which meant "a rule by four." He was the son of Herod the Great and a Samaritan woman. He ruled Perea and Galilee between 4 b.c. and a.d. 39 when he was exiled for asking Caesar to make him a King.
See Special Topic on The Family of Herod the Great at Mar_1:14.
▣ "people were saying John the Baptist has risen from the dead" This reflects the Pharisaic belief in a physical resurrection (cf. Act_23:6; Act_24:21; Heb_6:2). This was another attempt to explain away Jesus' power and authority (i.e., the religious leaders attribute it to Satan or the demonic; the hometown folks deny it because of their familiarity with Jesus' childhood; these people attribute it to John the Baptist or some other OT prophet).
Mar_6:15 "Elijah" This showed the Messianic implications of Jesus' ministry. This relates to the specific predictions in. Mal_3:1-2; Mal_4:5-6.
▣ "He is a prophet like one of the prophets of old" This shows the people sensed a new authority in His teaching that had not been in Israel for hundreds of years, since Malachi (or the author of Chronicles). It also reflects the Mosaic Messianic prophecy of Deu_18:15 ff about the coming of a prophet like Moses.
Mar_6:16 "whom I beheaded" This shows Herod's guilty conscience (cf. Mat_14:10; Luk_9:9) and lack of information about the relationship between John and Jesus.