Mark 6:17-18

6:17 For Herod himself had sent men, arrested John, and bound him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because Herod ¹  had married her. 6:18 For John had repeatedly told ²  Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” ³ 

¹ tn Grk “he”; here it is necessary to specify the referent as “Herod,” since the nearest previous antecedent in the translation is Philip.

² tn The imperfect tense verb is here rendered with an iterative force.

³ sn It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife. This was a violation of OT law (Lev 18:16; 20:21). In addition, both Herod Antipas and Herodias had each left marriages to enter into this union.