1 tn Grk “was fearing,” “was respecting”; the imperfect tense connotes an ongoing fear or respect for John.
2 tn Grk “he”; the referent (John) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Herod) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
4 tc In place of ἠπόρει (hporei, “he was baffled”) the majority of mss (A C D Ë1 33 Ï lat sy) have ἐποίει (epoiei, “he did”; cf. KJV’s “he did many things.”) The best mss (א B L [W] Θ 2427 co) support the reading followed in the translation. The variation may be no more than a simple case of confusion of letters, since the two readings look very much alike. The verb ποιέω (poiew, “I do”) certainly occurs more frequently than ἀπορέω (aporew, “I am at a loss”), so a scribe would be more likely to write a more familiar word. Further, even though the reading ἐποίει is the harder reading in terms of the sense, it is virtually nonsensical here, rendering it most likely an unintentional corruption.
5 tn Grk “and.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “and yet” to indicate the concessive nature of the final clause.
6 tn Grk “him”; the referent (John) has been specified in the translation for clarity.