Mark 6:18-20

Context
6:18 For John had repeatedly told¹ Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”² 6:19 So Herodias nursed a grudge against him and wanted to kill him. But³ she could not 6:20 because Herod stood in awe of⁴ John and protected him, since he knew that John⁵ was a righteous and holy man. When Herod⁶ heard him, he was thoroughly baffled,⁷ and yet⁸ he liked to listen to John.⁹

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

[6:18] ²sn 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.

[6:19] ³tn Grk “and.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[6:20] ⁴tn Grk “was fearing,” “was respecting”; the imperfect tense connotes an ongoing fear or respect for John.

[6:20] ⁵tn Grk “he”; the referent (John) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:20] ⁶tn Grk “he”; the referent (Herod) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:20] ⁷tc 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.

[6:20] ⁸tn Grk “and.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “and yet” to indicate the concessive nature of the final clause.

[6:20] ⁹tn Grk “him”; the referent (John) has been specified in the translation for clarity.