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!”

Mark 8:15

8:15 And Jesus ⁶  ordered them, ⁷  “Watch out! Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees ⁸  and the yeast of Herod!”

Luke 9:7-9

Herod’s Confusion about Jesus

9:7 Now Herod ⁹  the tetrarch ¹⁰  heard about everything that was happening, and he was thoroughly perplexed, ¹¹  because some people were saying that John ¹²  had been raised from the dead, 9:8 while others were saying that Elijah ¹³  had appeared, and still others that one of the prophets of long ago had risen. ¹⁴  9:9 Herod said, “I had John ¹⁵  beheaded, but who is this about whom I hear such things?” So Herod wanted to learn about Jesus. ¹⁶ 

Luke 13:31-32

Going to Jerusalem

13:31 At that time, ¹⁷  some Pharisees ¹⁸  came up and said to Jesus, ¹⁹  “Get away from here, ²⁰  because Herod ²¹  wants to kill you.” 13:32 But ²²  he said to them, “Go ²³  and tell that fox, ²⁴  ‘Look, I am casting out demons and performing healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day ²⁵  I will complete my work. ²⁶ 

Luke 23:8-12

23:8 When ²⁷  Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had long desired to see him, because he had heard about him and was hoping to see him perform ²⁸  some miraculous sign. ²⁹  23:9 So ³⁰  Herod ³¹  questioned him at considerable length; Jesus ³²  gave him no answer. 23:10 The chief priests and the experts in the law ³³  were there, vehemently accusing him. ³⁴  23:11 Even Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him. Then, ³⁵  dressing him in elegant clothes, ³⁶  Herod ³⁷  sent him back to Pilate. 23:12 That very day Herod and Pilate became friends with each other, ³⁸  for prior to this they had been enemies. ³⁹ 

Luke 23:15

23:15 Neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us. Look, he has done nothing ⁴⁰  deserving death. ⁴¹ 

Acts 4:27

4:27 “For indeed both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, assembled together in this city against ⁴²  your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, ⁴³ 

[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]).

[8:15]  ⁶ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:15]  ⁷ tn Grk “was giving them orders, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in English and has not been translated.

[8:15]  ⁸ sn See the note on Pharisees in 2:16.

[9:7]  ⁹ sn Herod refers here to Herod Antipas. See the note on Herod Antipas in 3:1.

[9:7]  ¹⁰ sn See the note on tetrarch in 3:1.

[9:7]  ¹¹ tn Or “was very confused.” See L&N 32.10 where this verse is given as an example of the usage.

[9:7]  ¹² sn John refers to John the Baptist, whom Herod had beheaded (v. 9).

[9:8]  ¹³ sn The appearance of Elijah would mean that the end time had come. According to 2 Kgs 2:11, Elijah was still alive. In Mal 4:5 it is said that Elijah would be the precursor of Messiah.

[9:8]  ¹⁴ sn The phrase had risen could be understood to mean “had been resurrected,” but this is only a possible option, not a necessary one, since the phrase could merely mean that a figure had appeared on the scene who mirrored an earlier historical figure. The three options of vv. 7-8 will be repeated in v. 19.

[9:9]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “John I beheaded”; John’s name is in emphatic position in the Greek text. The verb is causative, since Herod would not have personally carried out the execution.

[9:9]  ¹⁶ tn The expression ἐζήτει ἰδεῖν αὐτόν (ezhtei idein auton, “was seeking to see him”) probably indicates that Herod, for curiosity’s sake or more likely for evil purposes, wanted to get to know Jesus, i.e., who he was and what he was doing. See I. H. Marshall, Luke (NIGTC), 357. Herod finally got his wish in Luke 23:6-12, with inconclusive results from his point of view.

[13:31]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “At that very hour.”

[13:31]  ¹⁸ sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.

[13:31]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:31]  ²⁰ tn Grk “Go away and leave from here,” which is redundant in English and has been shortened to “Get away from here.”

[13:31]  ²¹ sn Herod refers here to Herod Antipas. See the note on Herod Antipas in 3:1.

[13:32]  ²² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[13:32]  ²³ tn The participle πορευθέντες (poreuqente") has been taken as indicating attendant circumstance.

[13:32]  ²⁴ sn That fox. This is not fundamentally a figure for cleverness as in modern western culture, but could indicate (1) an insignificant person (Neh 4:3; 2 Esd 13:35 LXX); (2) a deceiver (Song Rabbah 2.15.1 on 2:15); or someone destructive, a destroyer (Ezek 13:4; Lam 5:18; 1 En. 89:10, 42-49, 55). Luke’s emphasis seems to be on destructiveness, since Herod killed John the Baptist, whom Luke calls “the greatest born of women” (Luke 7:28) and later stands opposed to Jesus (Acts 4:26-28). In addition, “a person who is designated a fox is an insignificant or base person. He lacks real power and dignity, using cunning deceit to achieve his aims” (H. W. Hoehner, Herod Antipas [SNTSMS], 347).

[13:32]  ²⁵ sn The third day is a figurative reference to being further on in time, not a reference to three days from now. Jesus is not even in Jerusalem yet, and the events of the last days in Jerusalem take a good week.

[13:32]  ²⁶ tn Or “I reach my goal.” The verb τελειόω (teleiow) is a key NT term for the completion of God’s plan: See Luke 12:50; 22:37; John 19:30; and (where it has the additional component of meaning “to perfect”) Heb 2:10; 5:8-9; 7:28.

[23:8]  ²⁷ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[23:8]  ²⁸ tn Grk “to see some sign performed by him.” Here the passive construction has been translated as an active one in keeping with contemporary English style.

[23:8]  ²⁹ sn Herod, hoping to see him perform some miraculous sign, seems to have treated Jesus as a curiosity (cf. 9:7-9).

[23:9]  ³⁰ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the previous statements in the narrative about Herod’s desire to see Jesus.

[23:9]  ³¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Herod) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:9]  ³² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:10]  ³³ tn Or “and the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 5:21.

[23:10]  ³⁴ sn Luke portrays the Jewish leadership as driving events toward the cross by vehemently accusing Jesus.

[23:11]  ³⁵ tn This is a continuation of the previous Greek sentence, but because of its length and complexity, a new sentence was started here in the translation by supplying “then” to indicate the sequence of events.

[23:11]  ³⁶ sn This mockery involved putting elegant royal clothes on Jesus, either white or purple (the colors of royalty). This was no doubt a mockery of Jesus’ claim to be a king.

[23:11]  ³⁷ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Herod) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:12]  ³⁸ sn Herod and Pilate became friends with each other. It may be that Pilate’s change of heart was related to the death of his superior, Sejanus, who had a reputation for being anti-Jewish. To please his superior, Pilate may have ruled the Jews with insensitivity. Concerning Sejanus, see Philo, Embassy 24 (160-61) and Flaccus 1 (1).

[23:12]  ³⁹ tn Grk “at enmity with each other.”

[23:15]  ⁴⁰ sn With the statement “he has done nothing,” Pilate makes another claim that Jesus is innocent of any crime worthy of death.

[23:15]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “nothing deserving death has been done by him.” The passive construction has been translated as an active one in keeping with contemporary English style.

[4:27]  ⁴² sn The application of Ps 2:1-2 is that Jews and Gentiles are opposing Jesus. The surprise of the application is that Jews are now found among the enemies of God’s plan.

[4:27]  ⁴³ sn A wordplay on “Christ,” v. 26, which means “one who has been anointed.”