Mark 6:16-26

6:16 But when Herod heard this, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised!” 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 ¹  had married her. 6:18 For John had repeatedly told ²  Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” ³  6:19 So Herodias nursed a grudge against him and wanted to kill him. But ⁴  she could not 6:20 because Herod stood in awe of ⁵  John and protected him, since he knew that John ⁶  was a righteous and holy man. When Herod ⁷  heard him, he was thoroughly baffled, ⁸  and yet ⁹  he liked to listen to John. ¹⁰ 

6:21 But ¹¹  a suitable day ¹²  came, when Herod gave a banquet on his birthday for his court officials, military commanders, and leaders of Galilee. 6:22 When his daughter Herodias ¹³  came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests. The king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you want and I will give it to you.” 6:23 He swore to her, ¹⁴  “Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom.” ¹⁵  6:24 So ¹⁶  she went out and said to her mother, “What should I ask for?” Her mother ¹⁷  said, “The head of John the baptizer.” ¹⁸  6:25 Immediately she hurried back to the king and made her request: ¹⁹  “I want the head of John the Baptist on a platter immediately.” 6:26 Although it grieved the king deeply, ²⁰  he did not want to reject her request because of his oath and his guests.

Acts 24:24-27

Paul Speaks Repeatedly to Felix

24:24 Some days later, when Felix ²¹  arrived with his wife Drusilla, ²²  who was Jewish, he sent for Paul and heard him speak ²³  about faith in Christ Jesus. ²⁴  24:25 While Paul ²⁵  was discussing ²⁶  righteousness, self-control, ²⁷  and the coming judgment, Felix ²⁸  became ²⁹  frightened and said, “Go away for now, and when I have an opportunity, ³⁰  I will send for you.” 24:26 At the same time he was also hoping that Paul would give him money, ³¹  and for this reason he sent for Paul ³²  as often as possible ³³  and talked ³⁴  with him. 24:27 After two years ³⁵  had passed, Porcius Festus ³⁶  succeeded Felix, ³⁷  and because he wanted to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison. ³⁸ 

[6:17]  ¹ tn Grk “he”; here it is necessary to specify the referent as “Herod,” since the nearest previous antecedent in the translation is Philip.

[6:18]  ² tn The imperfect tense verb is here rendered with an iterative force.

[6:18]  ³ 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.

[6:19]  ⁴ tn Grk “and.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[6:20]  ⁵ tn Grk “was fearing,” “was respecting”; the imperfect tense connotes an ongoing fear or respect for John.

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

[6:20]  ⁷ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Herod) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:20]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Grk “and.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “and yet” to indicate the concessive nature of the final clause.

[6:20]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “him”; the referent (John) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:21]  ¹¹ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[6:21]  ¹² tn Grk “a day of opportunity”; cf. BDAG 407 s.v. εὔκαιρος, “in our lit. only pert. to time than is considered a favorable occasion for some event or circumstance, well-timed, suitable.”

[6:22]  ¹³ tc Behind “his daughter Herodias” is a most difficult textual problem. The reading adopted in the translation, τῆς θυγατρὸς αὐτοῦ ῾Ηρῳδιάδος (th" qugatro" aujtou Jerwdiado"), is supported by א B D L Δ 565 pc; it is also the most difficult reading internally since it describes Herodias as Herod’s daughter. Other readings are less awkward, but they do not have adequate external support. The reading τῆς θυγατρὸς αὐτῆς τῆς ῾Ηρῳδιάδος (th" qugatro" auth" th" &erwdiado", “the daughter of Herodias herself”) is supported by A C (W) Θ Ë¹³ 33 Ï, but this is also grammatically awkward. The easiest reading, τῆς θυγατρὸς τῆς ῾Ηρῳδιάδος (“the daughter of Herodias”) is supported by ˹ pc, but this reading probably arose from an accidental omission of αὐτῆς in the previous reading. The reading τῆς θυγατρὸς αὐτοῦ ῾Ηρῳδιάδος, despite its historical difficulties, is most likely original due to external attestation and the fact that it most likely gave rise to the other readings as scribes sought to correct it.

[6:23]  ¹⁴ tc ‡ The witnesses here support several different readings: αὐτῇ πολλά (auth polla, “to her insistently”) is found in D Θ 565 700 it; πολλά is the reading of Ì^45vid 28; both words are lacking in L pc; and א A B C^2vid ˹³ 33 2427 Ï lat have just αὐτῇ. The best candidates for authenticity, on external grounds, are αὐτῇ πολλά and αὐτῇ. So the issue revolves around whether πολλά is part of the text. On the one hand, πολλά used adverbially is a distinctive Markanism (10 of the 16 NT instances are found in Mark; of the other Gospels, Matthew alone adds a single example [Matt 9:14]). It could be argued that such an unremarkable term would go unnoticed by the scribes, and consequently would not have been inserted in imitation of Mark’s style observed elsewhere. On the other hand, the largest cluster of instances of an adverbial πολλά are in Mark 5-6, with the most recent example coming just three verses earlier (Mark 5:23, 38, 43; 6:20). Scribes may well have imitated the usage so recently and so frequently seen. Further, the best Alexandrian witnesses, as well as good representatives of the Western and Byzantines texts, lack πολλά. On the whole, though a decision is difficult, it is probably best to read the text without πολλά. NA²⁷ places the word in brackets, indicating some doubt as to its authenticity.

[6:23]  ¹⁵ sn The expression up to half my kingdom is a proverbial comment meaning “great wealth.”

[6:24]  ¹⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.

[6:24]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “She said”; the referent (the girl’s mother) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:24]  ¹⁸ tn While Matthew and Luke consistently use the noun βαπτίστης (baptisths, “the Baptist”) to refer to John, as a kind of a title, Mark employs the substantival participle ὁ βαπτίζων (Jo baptizwn, “the one who baptizes, the baptizer”) to describe him (though twice he does use the noun [Mark 6:25; 8:28]).

[6:25]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “she asked, saying.” The participle λέγουσα (legousa) is redundant and has not been translated.

[6:26]  ²⁰ tn Grk “and being deeply grieved, the king did not want.”

[24:24]  ²¹ sn See the note on Antonius Felix in 23:24.

[24:24]  ²² sn It is possible that Drusilla, being Jewish, was the source of Felix’s knowledge about the new movement called Christianity. The youngest daughter of Herod Agrippa I and sister of Agrippa II, she would have been close to 20 years old at the time. She had married the king of a small region in Syria but divorced him at the age of 16 to marry Felix. This was her second marriage and Felix’s third (Josephus, Ant. 19.9.1 [19.354], 20.7.2 [20.141-144]). As a member of Herod’s family, she probably knew about the Way.

[24:24]  ²³ tn The word “speak” is implied; BDAG 32 s.v. ἀκούω 1.c has “ἤκουσεν αὐτοῦ περὶ τῆς…πίστεως he heard him speak about faith Ac 24:24.”

[24:24]  ²⁴ tn Or “Messiah Jesus”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[24:25]  ²⁵ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[24:25]  ²⁶ tn Or “speaking about.”

[24:25]  ²⁷ tn Grk “and self-control.” This καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[24:25]  ²⁸ sn See the note on Felix in 23:26.

[24:25]  ²⁹ tn Grk “becoming.” The participle γενόμενος (genomenos) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[24:25]  ³⁰ tn Or “when I find time.” BDAG 639 s.v. μεταλαμβάνω 2 has “καιρὸν μ. have an opportunity = find time…Ac 24:25.”

[24:26]  ³¹ tn Grk “he was hoping that money would be given to him by Paul.” To simplify the translation, the passive construction has been converted to an active one.

[24:26]  ³² tn Grk “him”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[24:26]  ³³ tn “As often as possible” reflects the comparative form of the adjective πυκνός (puknos); see BDAG 897 s.v. πυκνός, which has “Neut. of the comp. πυκνότερον as adv. more often, more frequently and in an elative sense very often, quite frequently…also as often as possible…Ac 24:26.”

[24:26]  ³⁴ tn On this term, which could mean “conferred with him,” see BDAG 705 s.v. ὁμιλέω.

[24:27]  ³⁵ tn Grk “After a two-year period.”

[24:27]  ³⁶ sn Porcius Festus was the procurator of Palestine who succeeded Felix; neither the beginning nor the end of his rule (at his death) can be determined with certainty, although he appears to have died in office after about two years. Nero recalled Felix in a.d. 57 or 58, and Festus was appointed to his vacant office in a.d. 57, 58, or 59. According to Josephus (Ant. 20.8.9-10 [20.182-188]; J. W. 2.14.1 [2.271-272]), his administration was better than that of his predecessor Felix or his successor Albinus, but Luke in Acts portrays him in a less favorable light: He was willing to sacrifice Paul to court Jewish favor by taking him to Jerusalem for trial (v. 9), regardless of Paul’s guilt or innocence. The one characteristic for which Festus was noted is that he dealt harshly with those who disturbed the peace.

[24:27]  ³⁷ tn Grk “Felix received as successor Porcius Festus.”

[24:27]  ³⁸ tn Grk “left Paul imprisoned.”