Mark 6:14-16

The Death of John the Baptist

6:14 Now ¹  King Herod ²  heard this, for Jesus’ ³  name had become known. Some ⁴  were saying, “John the baptizer ⁵  has been raised from the dead, and because of this, miraculous powers are at work in him.” 6:15 Others said, “He is Elijah.” Others said, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets from the past.” 6:16 But when Herod heard this, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised!”

[6:14]  ¹ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[6:14]  ² sn Herod was technically not a king, but a tetrarch, a ruler with rank and authority lower than a king. A tetrarch ruled only with the approval of the Roman authorities. This was roughly equivalent to being governor of a region. In the NT, Herod, who ruled over Galilee, is called a king (Matt 14:9, Mark 6:14-29), reflecting popular usage rather than an official title.

[6:14]  ³ tn Grk “his”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:14]  ⁴ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[6:14]  ⁵ tn While Matthew and Luke consistently use the noun βαπτίστης (baptisths, “the Baptist”) to refer to John, as a kind of a title, Mark prefers the substantival participle ὁ βαπτίζων (Jo baptizwn, “the one who baptizes, the baptizer”) to describe him (only twice does he use the noun [Mark 6:25; 8:28]).