And the king was sorry: nevertheless for the oath’s sake, and them which sat with him at meat, he commanded [it] to be given [her.]
9. for the oaths’ sake ] “Because of the oaths; ” he had sworn repeatedly.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 9. The king was sorry] He knew John to be a righteous man, and at first did many things gladly which John told him it was his duty to perform: Mr 6:20.
Nevertheless, for the oath’s sake] The OATHS, – he had probably sworn again and again-one sin begets many.
And them which sat with him at meat] Who were probably such as himself, and would have considered it a breach of honour if he had not fulfilled his sworn promise: he therefore commanded it to be given!
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Mark relates it more largely, in Mar 6:26-28, And the king was exceeding sorry; yet for his oaths sake, and for their sake which sat with him, he would not reject her. And immediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded his head to be brought: and he went and beheaded him in the prison, and brought his head in a charger, and gave it to the damsel: and the damsel gave it to her mother. The king was exceeding sorry; he could have wished she had asked something else: he was troubled; for we heard before, that although he feared not God, yet he feared the people. Yet for his oaths sake; not out of any religion of his oath: Juramentum non petest esse vinculum iniquitatis. They must be sottishly ignorant, that think their calling God to witness that they will do a thing which God hath forbidden them to do, should oblige them in any measure to the doing of the thing. But for his oaths sake, in point of honour, because his word was gone out, that he might not appear guilty of any temerity or levity; and for the sake of those that were with him, that he might not seem before them to vary from his word, or it may be, as well to gratify them as to gratify the damsel and her mother; he sends an executioner, who took off John the Baptists head, and gave it to the damsel in a charger, who carried it to her mother. What could be more unjust, and inhuman, and bloody? John was not tried, nor condemned. It was a great festival, and should not have been profaned or defiled with blood. These things were nothing, when an unsatiable malice was to be gratified. Herodias will have her husband and his guests see that John Baptists head in a charger was to her as pleasing a dish as any was at Herods great feast. Thus died this great man, to satisfy the malice and lust of a lewd and imperious woman; and to teach us what we must expect, it we will be faithful to the trust which God reposes in us.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
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 so much affected to John, lest they should make an insurrection, and rebel against him; and likewise, because it was reckoned an ill omen with the Romans, to take away life on that day they received their own; and therefore carefully abstained, on such days, from executions.
Nevertheless for his oath’s sake; that he might not be guilty of perjury, chose rather to commit murder; though it would have been no iniquity in him, to have acted contrary to such a rash promise, and wicked oath; which would have been better to have been broke, than kept;
and them which sat with him at meat; lest he should be thought by them fickle and inconstant, and not a man of his word, and who had no regard to an oath: or it may be, they, either to curry favour with Herodias, or out of ill will they might bear to John; or in great respect to the damsel, who had so well pleased them with her dancing; instead of dissuading him from it, pressed him much to perform his promise: and therefore,
he commanded it to be given her; in the form and manner she requested it. Some have thought, that the whole of this affair was a concerted scheme; and that Herod himself was in it, though he pretended to be sorry and uneasy, having fixed on this season as a convenient time for it; and chose to have it done in this way, and in so public a manner, to lessen the odium of it; or otherwise, it is not easy to account for his extravagant promise, and his punctual performance of it.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Grieved (). Not to hurt, for in verse 5 we read that he wanted () to put him to death (). Herod, however, shrank from so dastardly a deed as this public display of brutality and bloodthirstiness. Men who do wrong always have some flimsy excuses for their sins. A man here orders a judicial murder of the most revolting type “for the sake of his oath” ( ). “More like profane swearing than deliberate utterance once for all of a solemn oath” (Bruce). He was probably maudlin with wine and befuddled by the presence of the guests.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
The oath ‘s sake [ ] . But the A. V. puts the apostrophe in the wrong place. The word is plural, and the Rev. rightly renders for the sake of his oaths. It is implied that Herod in his mad excitement had confirmed his promise with repeated oaths.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And the king was sorry:” (kai lupetheis ho basileus) “And the king being grieved,” being taken by grief, or conscious regret; Mr 6:26 reads, “And the king was exceeding sorry,” because of his rash oath promise, Pro 31:4-5.
2) “Nevertheless for the oath’s sake,” (kai tous orkous) “On account of the oaths,” which he had uttered, or impulsively made as a king, to the daughter of Herodias, his live-in companion, or mistress, and wife of his brother, Philip, Mat 14:23. Was it a less sin to break, than to keep, such a sinful oath? Ecc 5:2; Jud 11:31-34.
3) “And them which sat with him at meat,” (kai tous sunanskeimenous) “And on account of those (guests) reclining at the birthday dinner party with him,” the popular, influential leaders of his territory, guests of the occasion, Mat 14:21.
4) “He commanded it to be given her.” (ekeleusen dothenai) “He commanded it (the head of John the Baptist) to be-given,” to her on a platter, to fulfill his soul-damning pledge, and to save face , with his guests, Mat 14:22; Luk 9:9.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(9) The king was sorry.It was the last struggle of conscience. In that moment there must have come before his mind his past reverence for the prophet, the joy which had for a time accompanied the strivings of a better life, possibly the counsels of his foster-brother Manaen. Had there been only the personal influence of Herodias these might have prevailed against it, but, like most weak men, Herod feared to be thought weak. It was not so much his regard for the oath which he had taken (that, had it been taken in secret, he might have got over), but his shrinking from the taunt, or whispered jest, or contemptuous gesture of the assembled guests, if they should see him draw back from his plighted word. A false regard for public opinion, for what people will say or think of us in our own narrow circle, was in this, as in so many other instances, an incentive to guilt instead of a restraint.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
9. The king was sorry Though he had before desired and plotted John’s death, yet is he now appalled at such a bloody request from this young girl. It was a fearful story to be told to the people whose reverence for John was so profound. Besides, the tyrant himself shared the religious awe for the Baptist’s character and mission.
Oath’s sake Might he not as well be a perjurer as a murderer? Them which sat with him A point of honour rises here. He must not flinch, but keep his pledge before his honourable fellows. A duellist or a gambler is the very model of such faith.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And the king was grieved, but for the sake of his oaths, and of those who sat at meat with him, he commanded it to be given.’
The king was ‘grieved’. He might hate John but he respected him and was even afraid of him. This was the last request that he had expected. But because of the strength of his oath, which he no doubt now regretted, and in order to maintain face in front of all the great and prominent men who had heard his oath, he commanded that it should be done as she said. Legally he could have withdrawn from his oath under Jewish Law, but his guests were not Jewish, and to them a prophet would not have been worth bothering about, so that Herod may well have recognised that they might well despise someone who counted an odd prophet as being worth more than a man’s oath.
‘The king.’ An honorary title (see above). Matthew may well have intended it to be sardonic. This man wanted to be king, and yet he behaved like this.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The reaction and its result:
v. 9. And the king was sorry; nevertheless for the oath’s sake, and them which sat with him at meat, he commanded it to be given her.
v. 10. And he sent, and beheaded John in the prison.
v. 11. And his head was brought in a charger, and given to the damsel; and she brought it to her mother.
v. 12. And his disciples came, and took up the body, and buried it, and went and told Jesus. Although Herod, here called king by courtesy, was sorry, touched for a moment with regret, and because, for the once, he realized that he had been tricked, yet his foolish, rash, repeated oaths had been heard by the guests, and the cowardly tyrant feared their criticism. He yielded, with something like a sigh of relief. The adulterer became a murderer. And Herodias, no less guilty, could celebrate her triumph when her daughter brought her the head of John on the platter, as it had been cut off the body in prison. A gruesome sight, no less in the private room of the mother than in the banquet-hall. The young woman truly was a match for her mother in depravity: Her indecent, sensual dance is paralleled by her cool acceptance of the horrible gift. The closing chapter of John’s career: His disciples took the dead body and buried it, after which they notified Jesus, probably with the intention of warning Him.
The lessons of the story are evident. “Now this is the most important point, that we learn two things from John. The first is for the preachers. Whoever is in the office of preacher should not esteem his life dearly, but do the work of his calling, and freely, without dread, rebuke whatever is offensive. That is well-pleasing to God, and therewith, as we read in the prophet Ezekiel, every one saves his own soul; for else he must give account for the sins of those whom he does not rebuke, as he should do by reason of his office. The other point is not only for preachers, but for all Christians, that we may learn especially from this example that God is not evilly inclined toward us, even though He permits us to be persecuted, to come under the cross, and to suffer all distress. He that wants to be in the kingdom of Christ dare not be afraid of cross and death. For such is the testament of the Lord Christ, and He, Christ Himself, has entered thus into the Kingdom.”
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Mat 14:9. And the king was sorry Sudden horror, no doubt, seized every heart on hearing Salome’s request; the king’s gaietyvanished; he was confounded and vexed; but being unwilling to appear either rash, or fickle, or false, before a company of the first persons in his kingdom for rank and character, he commanded her request to be granted; not one of the guests being so friendly as to speak the least word to divert him from his mad purpose, though he gave them an opportunity to do it,by signifying to them that he performed his oath out of regard to the company:perhaps they dreaded the resentment of Herodias. Thus, out of a misplaced regard to his oath and his guests, king Herod committed the most unjust and cruel of actions, which will ever reflect the deepest dishonour and disgrace upon his memory. See Macknight, and the note on Num 30:2.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Mat 14:9 . ] he was annoyed , , , Euth. Zigabenus, comp. Mat 14:5 ; Mar 7:20 . Altogether, he was deeply pained at finding matters take this sudden and tragic turn, which is not inconsistent with Mat 14:5 , but may be accounted for psychologically as arising out of that disturbed state of the conscience which this unlooked-for catastrophe has occasioned; consequently, we must not, with Schneckenburger, suppose (comp. Weiss and Holtzmann) that Matthew has failed to notice Mark’s statement that Herodias was desirous to see John put to death. This circumstance is involved in what Matthew says in Mat 14:8 . Bengel appropriately observes: “Latuerat in rege judicii aliquid.”
.] The . in Mat 14:6 represents a series of oaths that had been given, one at one time and another at another.
] to whom he did not wish to appear as perjured. A case of unlawful adhering to an oath, similar in its character to what was done by Jephthah .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
9 And the king was sorry: nevertheless for the oath’s sake, and them which sat with him at meat, he commanded it to be given her .
Ver. 9. And the king was sorry ] John’s innocence might haply so triumph in Herod’s conscience, as to force some grief upon him at the thought of so foul a fact. But I rather think otherwise, that all was but in hypocrisy, Luk 13:31 . For lasciviousness usually sears up the conscience (till the time of reckoning for all comes) and brings men to that dead and dedolent disposition, Eph 4:19 . Only this fox feigns himself sorry for John, as his father feigned himself willing to worship the Lord Christ, Mat 2:8 ; as Tiberius (Herod’s lord and master) would seem very sorry for those whom for his pleasure’s sake only, he put to death, Gallius Germanicus, Drusus, &c. a And as Andronicus the Greek Emperor, that deep dissembler, would weep over those whom he had for no cause caused to be executed, as if he had been the most sorrowful man alive, Dissimulat mentis suae malitiam artifex homicida. This cunning murderer craftily hides his malice, saith St Jerome, and seeming sad in the face is glad at heart to be rid of the importunate Baptist, that he may sin uncontrolled.
For the oath’s sake, and them which sat ] All this was but pretended to his villany, and that he might have somewhat to say to the people, whom he feared, in excuse for himself. As that he beheaded the Baptist indeed, but his guests would needs have it so, because he had promised the damosel her whole desire, and she would not otherwise be satisfied. Besides, it was his birthday, wherein it was not fit he should deny his nobles anything, who minded him of his oath, &c. But the oath was wicked, and therefore not obligatory. b He should have broken it, as David in like case did, 1Sa 25:33 , when he swore a great oath what he would do to Nabal. But Herod, for the avoiding of the sands, rusheth upon the rocks, prevents perjury by murder, not considering the rule, that no man is held so perplexed between two vices, but that he may find an issue without falling into a third. c
And them which sat with him at meat ] These he had more respect to than to God. A hypocrite’s care is all for the world’s approval and applause. They should have showed him his sin, and opposed his sentence. But that is not the guise of godless parasites, those Aiones et Negones aulici, qui omnia loquuntur ad gratiam, nihil ad veritatem. These court parasites and parrots know no other tune or tone, but what will please their masters, quorum etiam sputum lingunt, as one saith, soothing and smoothing, and smothering up many of their foul facts, that they thereby may the better ingratiate. d Principibus ideo amicus deest quia nihil deest: there is a wonderful sympathy between princes and parasites. But David would none of them,Psa 101:7Psa 101:7 , and Sigismond, the emperor, cussed them out of his presence. And surely if wishing were anything (said Henricus Stephanus), like as the Thessalians once utterly overthrew the city called Flattery, so I could desire, that above all other malefactors, court parasites were utterly rooted out, as the most pestilent persons in the world.
a Commiserabatur cos in quos graviter animadvertebat. Dio.
b Iuramenta contra bonos mores facta non sunt obligatoria: est regula in utroque iure.
c Nemo ita perplexus tenetur inter duo vitia, quin exitus pateat absque tertio.
d Apud principes , ut sensit quidam Croesi conciliarius.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
9. ] was a title which Herod never properly possessed. Subsequently to this event, Herodias prevailed on him to go to Rome to get the title, which had been granted to his nephew Agrippa. He was opposed by the emissaries of Agrippa, and was exiled to Lugdunum. See note on Mat 14:1 , and Josephus there cited.
Herod was grieved because he heard John gladly ( Mar 6:20 ), and from policy did not wish to put him to death on so slight a cause. This is not inconsistent with his wishing to put him to death: his estimate of John was wavering and undecided, and he was annoyed at the decision being taken out of his hands by a demand, compliance with which would be irrevocable.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 14:9 . : participle used concessively, though grieved he granted the request, the grief quite compatible with the truculent wish in Mat 14:5 . : only by courtesy. , plural, singular in Mat 14:7 ; spoken in passion, more like profane swearing than deliberate utterance once for all of a solemn oath.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
the oath’s = his great or solemn oath.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
9.] was a title which Herod never properly possessed. Subsequently to this event, Herodias prevailed on him to go to Rome to get the title, which had been granted to his nephew Agrippa. He was opposed by the emissaries of Agrippa, and was exiled to Lugdunum. See note on Mat 14:1, and Josephus there cited.
Herod was grieved because he heard John gladly (Mar 6:20), and from policy did not wish to put him to death on so slight a cause. This is not inconsistent with his wishing to put him to death: his estimate of John was wavering and undecided, and he was annoyed at the decision being taken out of his hands by a demand, compliance with which would be irrevocable.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 14:9. , was grieved) Conscience was not yet entirely banished from the monarchs breast. The sudden necessity of executing an evil purpose startles even the worst. The joys of this world are accompanied by sadness.- , the king) strictly tetrarch; see Mat 14:1.-, reclining at his table) The king feared the guests, the guests the king. By not interceding as they ought to have done for John, they became accomplices in his murder.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
the king: Mat 14:1, Mar 6:14
sorry: Mat 14:5, Mat 27:17-26, Dan 6:14-16, Mar 6:20, Mar 6:26, Luk 13:32, Joh 19:12-16, Act 24:23-27, Act 25:3-9
the oath’s: Num 30:5-8, Jdg 11:30, Jdg 11:31, Jdg 11:39, Jdg 21:1, Jdg 21:7-23, 1Sa 14:24, 1Sa 14:28, 1Sa 14:39-45, 1Sa 25:22, 1Sa 25:32-34, 1Sa 28:10, 2Ki 6:31-33, Ecc 5:2
Reciprocal: Lev 5:4 – to do evil Jer 44:25 – We will Mat 19:22 – he went Luk 23:20 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
14:9
The king was not expect-ing such a request as this and he was doubtless genuinely sorry because of it. But he had bound his promise with an oath in the knowledge of his royal guests, and pride as well as a ‘false notion of the sacredness of an oath, though a sinful one, prevailed over his personal sentiments so that he commanded the wish to be granted and gave orders to the executioner to behead the righteous man.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mat 14:9. And the king was grieved. Grieved rather than sorry. Disturbed rather than penitent. The emotion was in keeping with his character and feelings toward John but was of no avail; compliance with the murderous request was the more criminal because he was grieved. Herod is called the king by Mark also, although he did not really possess the title.
But because of his oaths. The oath was foolish, and was sinfully kept. Better break our word than Gods Word. Herod was scrupulous on this point, and yet an adulterer and murderer.
And them that sat with him. His courtiers were probably hostile to John. In any case the fear of men, so powerful for evil, influenced him.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Antipas was wrong to give his oath, which he evidently repeated more than once (Mat 14:7), and he was wrong to keep it. He feared losing face with his guests. The Romans practiced decapitation. That form of execution was not Jewish. Likewise the Romans executed certain prisoners without a trial whereas Jewish law required one. [Note: Ibid., p. 339.] The gore of this scene testifies to the hardhearted condition of the Roman royal family and their courtiers. As the last of the Old Testament prophets, John suffered a martyr’s death, as did many of his predecessors.
"Death, the temporary end of physical life, is not the worst enemy of humanity. Alienation from God is. And thus those who murdered John are far more pitiable than is John himself." [Note: Donald A. Hagner, Matthew 14-28, p. 413.]