Mark 6:18

6:18 For John had repeatedly told ¹  Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” ² 

Mark 6:17

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 ³  had married her.

[6:18]  ¹ tn The imperfect tense verb is here rendered with an iterative force.

[6:18]  ² 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.

[6:17]  ³ tn Grk “he”; here it is necessary to specify the referent as “Herod,” since the nearest previous antecedent in the translation is Philip.