Mark 6:20

6:20 because Herod stood in awe of ¹  John and protected him, since he knew that John ²  was a righteous and holy man. When Herod ³  heard him, he was thoroughly baffled, ⁴  and yet ⁵  he liked to listen to John. ⁶ 

Mark 6:26

6:26 Although it grieved the king deeply, ⁷  he did not want to reject her request because of his oath and his guests.

[6:20]  ¹ tn Grk “was fearing,” “was respecting”; the imperfect tense connotes an ongoing fear or respect for John.

[6:20]  ² tn Grk “he”; the referent (John) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:20]  ³ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Herod) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:20]  ⁴ tc In place of ἠπόρει (hporei, “he was baffled”) the majority of mss (A C D ˹ 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]  ⁵ tn Grk “and.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “and yet” to indicate the concessive nature of the final clause.

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

[6:26]  ⁷ tn Grk “and being deeply grieved, the king did not want.”