74 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
At that time Herod the tetrarch,.... Not Herod the Great, in whose reign Christ was born, and who slew the infants of Bethlehem, but his son; this was, as the Jewish chronologer (c) rightly observes, "Herod Antipater, whom they call טיתרקי, "the tetrarch"; the son of Herod the First, and brother of Archelaus, and the third king of the family of...
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
John the Baptist had said concerning Christ, He must increase, but I must decrease, John iii. 30. The morning-star is here disappearing, and the Sun of righteousness rising to its meridian lustre. Here is, I. The martyrdom of John; his imprisonment for his faithfulness to Herod (ver. 1-5), and the beheading of him to please Herodias, ver. 6-12....
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And said unto his servants,.... Those of his household, his courtiers, with whom he more familiarly conversed; to these he expressed his fears, that it might be true what was suggested by the people, and he was ready to believe it himself; this is John the Baptist: some copies add, "whom I have beheaded", as in Mr 6:16 the guilt of which action...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For Herod had laid hold on John,.... By his servants, whom he sent to apprehend him: and bound him; laid him in chains, as if he was a malefactor; and put him in prison, in the castle of Machaerus (d), for Herodias's sake; who was angry with him, had a bitter quarrel against him, and by whose instigation all this was done; who was his brother...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For John said unto him,.... John having heard of this incestuous marriage, went to Herod, and reproved him to his face for it; and, as Luke says, "for all the evils he had done", Lu 3:19 for he was a very wicked man, and guilty of many flagitious crimes: John, in so doing, showed his zeal for holiness, his hatred of sin, his courage and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when he would have put him to death,.... As soon as he apprehended him, and put him into prison; being provoked by his reproving him, and being stirred up by Herodias, who was greatly incensed and enraged, and would have killed him herself, but could not, being hindered by Herod: who, though he had a good will and strong inclination to take...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But when Herod's birthday was kept,.... The birthdays of princes, both of their coming into the world, and accession to the throne of government, were kept by the Gentiles; as by the Egyptians, Genesis 40:20 and by the (n) Persians, and Romans (o), and other nations, but not by the Jews; who reckon these among the feasts of idolaters. "These (say...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Whereupon he promised with an oath,.... On account of her fine dancing, and being extremely pleased with it himself; and the more, that it gave such pleasure to the whole court: he first promised her, to give her whatsoever she would ask; and then repeating it, he confirmed it with an oath; adding, as Mark says, that he would give it her, even "to...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And she being before instructed of her mother,.... What request to make; for as Mark says, "she went forth" to her mother immediately, as soon as she had received the king's promise, and took advice of her, what she should ask; who bid her ask for the head of John the Baptist; and accordingly she went in, "straightway with haste unto the king", as...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the king was sorry,.... As he might be upon many accounts; partly on account of John, whom, notwithstanding his freedom in reproving him, he had a respect; and partly on his own account, his conscience dictating to him that it was an evil action, and would leave a brand of perpetual infamy upon him; as also on account of the people, who were...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he sent,.... "An executioner", as in Mr 6:27 where the Latin word "speculator", or as it is sometimes written "spiculator", is used; and is the name of an officer concerned in executions, and particularly in beheading of persons; and so is used by Latin writers. "In a civil war (says (x) Seneca), a servant hid his master that was proscribed;...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Ver. 11 And his head was brought in a charger,.... By the executioner that cut it off, to Herod, whilst he and his guests were at table; by which it should seem, that the prison was very near; and it is not improbable, that it was the castle of Macheerus that Herod made this entertainment in: and given to the damsel; the daughter of Herodias, who,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And his disciples came,.... To the prison where his body was left, and to which they had liberty of recourse before; see Matthew 11:2 and very probably, upon hearing what was done, might apply to Herod, as Joseph of Arimathea did to Pilate, for the body of Jesus; who might, as he did, give them leave to take it: and took up the body and buried it....
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
When Jesus heard of it,.... Of the death of John, and of the cruel usage he had met with; and particularly, that his fame had reached the court of Herod, and that he was talked of there, and said by Herod himself to be John the Baptist, that was risen from the dead; he departed thence by ship, into a desert place apart; to avoid Herod, though not...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
When Jesus heard of it, he departed thence by a ship into a desert place apart: It is well for us to get alone with God when he takes home the best and most faithful of his servants. Neither the Church nor the world could afford to lose such a man as John the Baptist; so it was well for Christ’s disciples to retire with him to a desert place that...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities. And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick. He needed quiet, but he could not get it; yet he was not “moved” with indignation against the crowd that had sought him out, but he “was moved with...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Jesus went forth,.... Either from the mountain where he sat with his disciples, John 6:3 or out of the desert, where he had retired for secrecy; or out of the ship, which seems best, the company having got thither before his landing: and saw a great multitude; for, there were about five thousand men, beside women and children, Matthew 14:21...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick. Different persons take different views of multitudes, according to the state of their minds. Many an officer when he sees a multitude considers how long it would take to march them from a certain place. Another man begins...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when it was evening,.... Mark says, "when the day was now far spent"; and Luke, "when the day began to wear away"; it was upon the decline of the day. The Jews, as Grotius rightly observes, had two evenings; the one began when the sun declined at noon, and the other at sun setting: now it was the former of these, and not the latter, that was...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals. Human compassion might have moved the disciples to say something more kind than that heartless request, “Send the multitude away.” Perhaps they...