But when Herod’s birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod.
6. the daughter of Herodias ] Salome; she was afterwards married to her uncle Herod-Philip, the tetrarch, and on his death to Aristobulus, grandson of Herod the Great.
danced before them ] Some sort of pantomimic dance is meant. Horace notes as one of the signs of national decay that even highborn maidens learnt the voluptuous dances of the East. Herod would recall similar scenes at Rome. See note Mat 14:1.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
See also Mar 6:21-29. But when Herods birthday was come Kings were accustomed to observe the day of their birth with much pomp, and commonly, also, by giving a feast to their principal nobility. See Gen 40:20. Mark adds that this birthday was kept by making a supper to his lords, high captains, and chief estates in Galilee; that is to the chief men in office. High captains means, in the original, commanders of thousands, or of a division of 1,000 people.
The daughter of Herodias – That is, Salome, her daughter by her former husband. This was a violation of all the rules of modesty and propriety. One great principle of all eastern nations is to keep their females from public view. For this purpose they are confined in a particular part of the house, called the harem. See the notes at Mat 9:1-8. If they appear in public, it is always with a veil, so closely drawn that their faces cannot be seen. No modest woman would have appeared in this manner before the court, and it is probable, therefore, that she partook of the dissolute principles of her mother. It is also probable that the dance was one well known in Greece – the lascivious and wanton dance of the Ionics.
Mat 14:7
He promised with an oath – This a foolish and wicked oath.
To please a wanton girl, the monarch called the eternal God to witness his willingness to give her half his kingdom, Mar 6:23. It seems, also, that he was willing to shed the holiest blood it contained. An oath like this it was not lawful to make, and it should have been broken. See Mat 14:9.
Mat 14:8
Being before instructed of her mother – Not before she danced, but afterward, and before she made the request of Herod.
See Mar 6:24. The only appearance of what was right in the whole transaction was her honoring her mother by consulting her, but in this she only intended to accomplish the purposes of wickedness more effectively.
In a charger – The original word means a large platter on which food is placed. We should have supposed that she would have been struck with abhorrence at such a direction from her mother; but she seems to have been gratified. John, by his faithfulness, had offended the whole family, and here was ample opportunity for an adulterous mother and her dissolute child to gratify their resentment. It was customary for princes to require the heads of persons ordered for execution to be brought to them. For this there were two reasons:
- To gratify their resentment – to feast their eyes on the proof that their enemy was dead; and,
- To ascertain the fact that the sentence had been executed.
There is a similar instance in Roman history of a woman requiring the head of an enemy to be brought to her. Agrippina, the mother of Nero, who was afterward emperor, sent an officer to put to death Lollia Paulina, who had been her rival for the imperial dignity. When Lollias head was brought to her, not knowing it at first, she examined it with her own hands until she perceived some particular feature by which the lady was distinguished.
Mat 14:9
And the king was sorry – There might have been several reasons for this.
1. Herod had a high respect for John, and feared him. He knew that he was a holy man, and had observed him, Mar 6:20. In the margin (Mark) this is kept him, or saved him. In fact he had interposed and saved John from being put to death by Herodias, who had had a quarrel with John, and would have killed him but for Herod, Mar 6:19. Herod, though a bad man, had a respect and veneration for John as a holy and just man, as wicked people often will have.
2. John was in high repute among the people, and Herod might have been afraid that his murder might excite commotion.
3. Herod, though a wicked man, does not appear to have been insensible to some of the common principles of human nature. Here was a great and most manifest crime proposed – no less than the murder of an acknowledged prophet of the Lord. It was deliberate. It was to gratify the malice of a wicked woman. It was the price of a few moments entertainment. His conscience, though in feeble and dying accents, checked him. He would have preferred a request not so manifestly wicked, and that would not have involved him in so much difficulty.
For the oaths sake – Herod felt that he was bound by this oath; but he was not. The oath should not have been taken: but, being taken, he could not be bound by it. No oath could justify a man in committing murder. The true principle is, that Herod was bound by a prior obligation – by the law of God – not to commit murder; and no act of his, be it an oath or anything else, could free him from that obligation.
And them which sat with him at meat – This was the strongest reason why Herod murdered John. He had not firmness enough to obey the law of God and to follow the dictates of conscience against the opinions of wicked people. He was afraid of the charge of cowardice and want of spirit; afraid of ridicule and the contempt of the wicked. This is the principle of the laws of honor; this the foundation of dwelling. It is not so much for his own sake that one man murders another in a duel, for the offence is often a mere trifle – it is a word, or look, that never would injure him. It is because the men of honor, as they call themselves, his companions, would consider him a coward and would laugh at him. Those companions may be unprincipled contemners of the laws of God and man; and yet the duellist, against his own conscience, against the laws of God, against the good opinion of the virtuous part of the world, and against the laws of his country, seeks by deadly aim to murder another merely to gratify his dissolute companions. And this is the law of honor! This is the secret of duelling! This the source of that remorse that settles in awful blackness, and that thunders damnation around the duellist in his dying hours! It should be added, this is the course of all youthful guilt. Young men are led along by others. They have not firmness enough to follow the teachings of a father and of the law of God. They are afraid of being called mean and cowardly by the wicked; and they often sink low in vice and crime, never to rise again.
At meat – That is, at supper. The word meat, at the time the Bible was translated, meant provisions of all kinds. It is now restricted to flesh, and does not convey a full idea of the original.
Mat 14:11
And his head was brought in a charger … – For the sake of these wicked people, the bloody offering – the head of the slaughtered prophet was brought and given as the reward to the daughter and mother.
What an offering to a woman! Josephus says of Herodias that she was a woman full of ambition and envy, having a mighty influence on Herod, and able to persuade him to things he was not at all inclined to. This is one of the many proofs that we have that the evangelists drew characters according to truth.
Mat 14:12
And his disciples … – The head was with Herodias.
The body, with pious care, they buried.
And went and told Jesus – This was done, probably, for the following reasons:
- It was an important event, and one particularly connected with the work of Jesus. John was his forerunner, and it was important that he should be made acquainted with his death.
- It is not unreasonable to suppose that in their affliction they came to him for consolation; nor is it improper in our affliction to follow their example, and go and tell Jesus.
- Their master had been slain by a cruel king. Jesus was engaged in the same cause, and they probably supposed that he was in danger. They therefore came to warn him of it, and he Mat 14:13 sought a place of safety.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 6. Herod’s birth-day] Either the day in which he was born, or the day on which he began to reign; for both were termed birth-days. See 1Sa 13:1, and Ho 7:5. The kings of Persia were accustomed to reject no petition that was preferred to them during the entertainment. See Herodotus in Calliope, and Es 5:3.
The daughter – danced] This was Salome, mentioned before. Danced: by a literal rendering of the saltavit of the Vulgate, in my old MS. of the English Bible, the whole of this business seems to be treated with sovereign contempt: for thus says the translator, Shee leped in the myddle.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Mark relates this more fully, but the sense is the same, Mat 6:21-23, And when a convenient day was come, that Herod on his birthday made a supper to his lords, high captains, and chief estates of Galilee; and when the daughter of the said Herodias came in, and danced, and pleased Herod and them that sat with him, the king said unto the damsel, Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it thee. And he sware unto her, Whatsoever thou shalt ask of me, I will give it thee, unto the half of my kingdom. Those who have got over the point of lawfulness in an action, have nothing to consult but convenience: therefore saith Mark, when a convenient day was come, when probably Herod should be over merry with wine, or should be busy with his company, and not so much at leisure to consider what he did. It so happened that the daughter of this Herodias danced before Herod upon his birthday. The keeping of birthdays was usual amongst the eastern kings; Pharaoh kept his birthday, Gen 40:20. Some by it understand the day of the princes coronation, or entrance upon his government, which some think is meant in Hos 7:5, by the day of our king, (when) the princes made him sick with bottles of wine. The Jews reckoned them both amongst the pagan festivals, but they had derived both this and many other usages from them. Dancing was much used amongst them at their festivals, It seemeth this daughter of Herodias pleased Herod more than ordinary; he sweareth that he would give her what she would ask, to the half of his kingdom. That phrase, by Est 5:3, seemeth to have been ordinary with princes when they made liberal promises.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
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, Ge 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 they p) are the feasts of idolaters; the “Calends”, and the “Saturnalia”, the time kept in memory of subduing a kingdom (or when a king takes possession of it, the day of his accession), , “and the birthday of kings” (when they are made and crowned, the day of coronation), and the day of birth, and the day of death.”
And it is a question, whether this day, that was kept, was the day of Herod’s natural birth, or of his civil government, being his accession, or coronation day: and it might also be a question, whether it was the then present Herod’s birthday, or whether it was not his father Herod’s, was it not that Mark says, Mr 6:21 it was his birthday; since it is the latter the poet q refers to, as kept by Jews, when he says, “At cum Herodis venere dies”; and the old Scholiast upon him observes, that
“Herod reigned over the Jews in Syria, in the times of Augustus; therefore the Herodians kept Herod’s birthday, as also the sabbath, on which day they set up candles in the windows lighted, and encircled with violets.”
This they did, believing him to be the Messiah: and it is further to be observed, that the word here used, is said r to be proper to the dead, and not to the living; and that he that uses it of the living, speaks very inaccurately: but however, it was a festival, and a time of great mirth and jollity; and a proper opportunity offered to Herodias, to execute her malicious designs against John the Baptist; for at this time,
the daughter of Herodias danced before them: in the original text it is, “in the midst”, in the middle of the hall; or in the midst of the company, the lords, high captains, and chief estates of Galilee, for whom Herod made a supper, Mr 6:21 and the Syriac renders it
, “before the guests”. Music and dancing were usual at such entertainments, they were the common appendages of a feast s: the daughter of Herodias, who danced before the company for their diversion, whether alone, or with others, was very probably Salome t, whom she had by her former husband; and therefore is called, not the daughter of Herod, but of Herodias:
and pleased Herod; and as Mark adds, “and them that sat with him”; so that the pleasure he had did not arise merely from the respect and honour shown to him and his birthday, by her appearing with so much cheerfulness on this occasion before him; who had taken her father’s wife from him, and defiled her mother; but from the airs, gestures, and motions of the lady in dancing; which were so extremely fine and regular, that she gave wonderful satisfaction and delight to Herod, and the whole company.
n Herodot. l. 1. c. 133. & 9. c. 109. o Plin. Ep. 1. 10. ep. 61. p Misn. Avoda Zara, c. 1. sect. 3. q Persius, Satyr. 5. prope finem. r Ammonius, &c. in lit. s Alex. ab Alex. Genial. Dier. l. 2. c. 25. t Joseph. Antiqu. l. 18. c. 6.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
When Herod’s birthday came ( H). Locative of time (cf. Mr 6:21) without the genitive absolute. The earlier Greeks used the word for funeral commemorations (birthdays of the dead), being the word for birthday celebrations of living persons. But that distinction has disappeared in the papyri. The word in the papyri (Fayum Towns, 114-20, 115-8, 119-30) is always a birthday feast as here in Matthew and Mark. Philo used both words of birthday feasts. Persius, a Roman satirist (Sat. V. 180-183), describes a banquet on Herod’s Day.
Danced in the midst ( ). This was Salome, daughter of Herodias by her first marriage. The root of the verb means some kind of rapid motion. “Leaped in the middle,” Wycliff puts it. It was a shameful exhibition of lewd dancing prearranged by Herodias to compass her purpose for John’s death. Salome had stooped to the level of an , or common dancer.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Birthday [] . Though some explain it as the anniversary of Herod ‘s accession. The custom of celebrating birthdays by festivities was not approved by the strict Jews; but it is claimed that the Herodian princes adopted the custom. The Roman satirist, Persius, alludes to a festival known as “Herod ‘s Day,” and pictures a banquet on that occasion.
“But when Come Herod ‘s day, and on the steaming panes The ranged lamps, festooned with violets, pour The unctuous cloud, while the broad tunny – tail Sprawled o’er the red dish swims, and snowy jars Swell with the wine.” Sat. 5 180 – 183.
Before [ ] . Rev., in the midst. Wyc., leaped in the middle.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “But when Herod’s birthday was kept,” (genomenois tou Herosou) “Then when the birthday of Herod was occurring,” or being held or celebrated; Whether it was Herod’s actual birthday, or the anniversary birthday that he came to his throne; is not clear; perhaps the former.
2) “The daughter of Herodias danced before them,” (orchesato he thugater tes Herodiados en to meso) “The daughter of Herodias danced, orchestrated, or turned and twisted rhythmically in the midst,” in the midst of and as an highlight of the celebration, before the guests at the birthday party, the festive occasion.
3) “And pleased Herod.” (kai eresen Heriode) “And it pleased Herod,” pleased his sensual, erotic, lustful, and egotistical impulses, before his lords, high captains, and chief estates, or principal persons, Mr 6:22,23.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
6. And when Herod’s birthday was kept. The Evangelists now begin to relate the stratagem by which Herodias at length succeeded in a design which she had long meditated, the taking away of John’s life. The opportunity was afforded to her by an annual festival, when Herod was celebrating his birthday. It is scarcely possible that such magnificent preparations should not draw luxury, pride, unbridled merriment, and other crimes, and likewise many other evils, along with them. Not that there is any thing wrong in the mere act of preparing an expensive banquet; but such is the tendency of the human mind to licentiousness, that when the reins are loosened, they quickly go astray. The ancient custom of observing a birthday every year as an occasion of joy cannot in itself be disapproved; for that day, as often as it returns, reminds each of us to give thanks to God, who brought us into this world, and has permitted us, in his kindness, to spend many years in it; next, to bring to our recollection how improperly and uselessly the time which God granted to us has been permitted to pass away; and, lastly, that we ought to commit ourselves to the protection of the same God for the remainder of our life.
But nothing is so pure that the world shall not taint it with its own vices. A birthday, which ought to have been held sacred, is profaned by the greater part of men with disgraceful abuses; and there is scarcely a single entertainment at all costly that is free from wicked debauchery. First, men drink more freely; next, the door is opened to filthy and immodest conversation; and, lastly, no moderation is observed. This was the reason why the patriarch Job was in the habit of offering sacrifices, while his sons were feasting alternately in each other’s houses, (Job 1:5.) It was because he thought that, when the guests invite one another to mirth, they are far from maintaining due moderation, and sin in a variety of ways.
Thus it happened that Herod, intending to give a rich entertainment to his guests, permitted his wife’s daughter to dance. Hence, too, it appears what sort of discipline existed at his court; for, though most people at that time thought themselves at liberty to dance, yet for a marriageable young woman to dance was a shameful display of the impudence of the strumpet. But the unchaste Herodias had moulded her daughter Salome to her own manners in such a manner that she might not bring disgrace upon her. (365) And what was the consequence? The wicked murder of a holy prophet. The heat of wine had such an influence on Herod, that, forgetting gravity and prudence, he promised to a dancing girl, that he would give her even to the half of his kingdom. A shameful example truly, that a drunken king not only permits himself to behold with approbation a spectacle (366) which was disgraceful to his family, but holds out such a reward! Let us therefore learn to be careful in anticipating and resisting the devil, lest he entangle us in such snares.
(365) “ Si elle eust mieux fallu que sa mere;” — “if she were more highly esteemed than her mother.”
(366) “ Non seulement prend plaisir a un fol passe-temps;” — “not only takes pleasure in a foolish pastime.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(6) Herods birthday.Some critics have looked on the feast as one commemorating Herods accessionhis birth-day as a ruler; but there seems no reason for not accepting the word in its simple natural sense. Such feasts were common enough in the imperial life at Rome, and that of Herods birthday had become proverbial even there (Persius, Sat. v., i. 180).
The daughter of Herodias danced before them.Dances in filmy garments that but half concealed the form, commonly of an impure or voluptuous nature, were common enough both at Eastern and Roman banquets, the guests being simply spectators. But the dancers were for the most part women who made it their calling, like the nautch-girls of India; and it was a new thing, at which every decent Jew would shudder, for the daughter of a kingly house to come-thus into a shameless publicity and expose herself to the gaze of the banqueters, including as they did the chief captains and chiliarchs of the Roman legions, as well as Herods own courtiers and the chief men of the province (Mar. 6:21). But Herodias, it would seem, knew the tetrarchs weak point as well as Madame du Barry knew that of Louis XV. of France, and sought to bend him to her will, even though it were by the sacrifice of her daughters modesty. She danced before themliterally, in the midst of themas they reclined on their couches indolently gazing. Her name is given by Josephus (Ant. xviii. 5, 4) as Salome.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
6. Herod’s birthday was kept According to Mark this was done with great magnificence; for “he made a great feast for his lords, high captains, and the chief persons of Galilee.” The nobility of Galilee must have come some distance for the occasion. For it is plain, from the rapidity with which John was executed, that this celebration took place at or near the fortress of Macherus, where John was imprisoned, in southern Perea, near the confines of Arabia. It is highly probable that Herod was at this time engaged in war with Aretas, king of Arabia, for reasons fully narrated in our note upon Mat 14:1. This is confirmed from the fact that the executioner of John is by Mark called by the Latin term spiculator, which implies a military officer. The adulterous Herodias, the guilty cause of the war, like another Helen, is present to cheer her champion and amuse his festal hours. Danced Female dancers in the East are a customary part of great entertainments. On this occasion the dancer was of high birth, being no other than the princess Salome, daughter of Herodias.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced among the people gathered (‘in the midst’), and pleased Herod.’
And then there had been an unfortunate occurrence for a man whose life was ruled by pleasure, drink and lust, and who ignored the Law of God. It had been his birthday. And at the gathering of those who came together to do him honour (a Hellenistic, not a Jewish custom) there was public dancing. And Salome, the daughter of Herodias, (probably about fourteen years of age), who was seemingly a slut at heart, had danced, no doubt suggestively (most such dancing was suggestive. That was a main purpose of it) and certainly effectively, in front of the gathering, and had stirred the drunken king’s desires. Such behaviour was not what would be expected of a Tetrarch’s daughter in Jewry, and the fact that he allowed it shows the depths to which he had sunk. But he had little regard for Jewish Law or Jewish feelings. Her dance had stirred him up emotionally, to such an extent that he wanted to please her. She was after all his daughter-in-law. He would not therefore feel that any request, made by someone with whom he probably had much familiarity, was likely to be a threat to his position.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The birthday feast:
v. 6. But when Herod’s birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod.
v. 7. Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she would ask.
v. 8. And she, being before instructed of her mother, said, Give me here John Baptist’s head in a charger. There was a great birthday celebration, with much luxury and costly show, the highest military and civil authorities and the most prominent citizens of the country having been invited. There was much eating and drinking, and various forms of entertainment, after the Oriental custom. The feast was nearing its close, most of the guests were probably in a state of half-intoxication, the excitement of revelry had risen to the greatest height, when a feature not on the program was introduced by the cunning Herodias with the aim of carrying out her design. Her daughter Salome suddenly appeared in the midst of the festive assembly. Leaping into the middle of the hall, she performed a dance, a lascivious performance calculated to incite the passions. Herod and his guests broke out into wild rounds of applause. And, carried away by the sensual appeal of the dance, Herod made ready to reward the princess handsomely, backing up his first offer with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. Then was the scheme revealed; for the girl had been instructed, or rather induced, instigated, impelled, brought up to that point by her mother’s precepts, and so made her appalling request. Here, in the very place of her recent indecent exhibition, she demanded, on a large serving-platter, the head of John the Baptist. Thus the vindictive persecution of Herodias reached its climax. “Thus the hypocrites in our days also do; they murder the innocent, pretending, meanwhile, that it must be done because the people refuse to remain with the Christian Church. Very well: Persecute thou the Word of God, blaspheme His holy name and kill the innocent, and adorn thyself afterwards and say, I have done this for the sake of God’s Word and name. Wilt thou know what thou art? Thou art a child of Herod; he is thy father.”
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Mat 14:6. But when Herod’s birth-day was kept If Herod’s resentment of the freedom which John the Baptist took with him was great, that of Herodias was much greater. The crime that she was guilty of was odious; she could not bear to have it named, and far less reproved. She was therefore enraged to the higher pitch, and nothing less than the Baptist’s head would satisfy her. Therefore Herodias had a quarrel against him, and would have killed him, but she could not; Mar 6:19. Ever since he offended her, she had been plotting against his life, but could not yet accomplish her purpose; for (Mat 14:20.) Herod feared, or reverenced John, &c. Great and powerful as the king was, he stood in awe of John, though in low life, and durst not attempt any thing against him; such force have piety and virtue sometimes upon the minds of the highest offenders. Herodias, therefore, finding that she could not prevail against the Baptist in the way of direct solicitation, watched an opportunity to destroy him by craft. At length one offered itself. Herod, on his birth-day, made a sumptuous entertainment for the great lords, generals, and other great persons of his kingdom; wherefore, as it was the custom in those countries, for princes to bestow favours at their feasts, sometimes of their own accord, sometimes in consequence of petitions which were then presented, Herodias thought the birth-day a fit opportunity to get the Baptist destroyed. With this view she proposed to Salome, her daughter by Philip, who was now of age, and had followed her mother’s fortunes, to dance before the company at the birth-day; pretending, no doubt, that it would turn out greatly to her advantage, because the king, in the excess of his good-humour, would probably bid her name what she would please to have, as the reward of her complaisance; or if he should not, she might, consistently enough with good manners, beg him to grant her the boon she was most desirous to obtain: only, before she named any particular favour, it would be proper to come out and consult with her mother. The Evangelists, indeed, do not absolutely speak of this previous agreement: but St. Mark gives the strongest hint of it, Mar 6:21, &c.; And when a convenient day , a favourable opportunity] was come, that Herod, &c.: for, as he had mentioned the attempts which Herodias had made, without success, to destroy the Baptist,by calling this a convenient day, on account of the feast, he insinuates, that she thought the entertainment afforded favourable opportunity to take away the Baptist’s life; consequently he directs us to consider all the favourable transactions of the birth-day, which have any reference to the Baptist’s death, as the effect of Herodias’s contrivance. Besides, a previous agreement between the mother and the daughter must be admitted, in order to account for the latter’s dancing before the company on the birth-day: the reason is, in ancient times it was so far from being the custom for ladies of distinction to dance in public, that it was reckoned indecent if they were so much as present at public entertainments: we need refer only to the instance of queen Vashti, who thought it so dishonourable, that rather than submit to it even when commanded by Ahasuerus, she forfeited her crown. We may likewise remark, that notwithstanding Herodias was a lady of no distinguished character for virtue, she had such a regard to decency and reputation, that she did not appear at this birth-day feast. We may therefore believe, that it was an extraordinary thing for young ladies of qualityto dance before large companies of men at public entertainments; and if so, the reader must be sensible, that this dance of Herodias’s daughter could not happen by accident, but must have been brought about by some contrivance or another. See Calmet, Macknight, and Lardner’s Credibility, part 1: vol. 1: p. 23.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Mat 14:6 ff. , Birthday celebration . Lobeck, ad Phryn . p. 103 f.; Suicer, Thes. I. p. 746; Loesner, Obss. p. 40. Others (Heinsius, Grotius, Is. Vossius, Paulus) interpret: a festival by way of commemorating Herod’s accession , because the latter is often compared to a birth, Psa 2:7 ; 1Sa 13:1 . An unwarranted departure from ordinary usage. Wieseler likewise takes the word as referring to the accession, but improperly appeals, partly to the fact of its being used to denote a celebration in memory of the dead (Herod. iv. 26), comp. Lex. rhet. p. 231, a figurative sense which only tells in favour of our interpretation, and partly to the Rabbinical (Avoda Sara i. 3), where, however, the royal birthdays are likewise meant. No instance is to be found in the Greek classics (for the Latin natalis, see Plin. Paneg. 82).
For the dative of time, see Winer, p. 205 [E. T. 276].
.] and of Philip. She was called Salome, and married her uncle, Philip the tetrarch. See Josephus, Antt. xviii. 5. 4. Her dancing was, doubtless, of a mimetic and wanton character. Hor. Od. iii. 6. 21. Wetstein on this passage. Moreover, this circumstance of the girl dancing is in keeping with the view that fixes the date of this scene as early as the year 29; while it is entirely at variance with Keim’s supposition, that it occurred in the year 34 35, by which time Salome had been long married, and, for aught we know, may already have been left a widow; for which reason Keim considers himself all the more justified in ascribing a legendary character to the narrative, though without interfering in any way with the historical nucleus of the story, which he believes has not been affected by the plastic influence of legend; while Volkmar again declares the whole to be a fabrication.
] In the centre of the banqueting hall. The subject of is still .
] as in Act 26:19 , frequently in the Epistle to the Hebrews, and common in classical writers.
] urged, induced, prevailed upon, not: instructed (neither is it to be so rendered in Exo 35:34 ). See Plat. Prot. p. 328 B; Xen. Mem. i. 5. 1; Polyb. iii. 59. 2, xxiv. 3. 7; Bremi, ad Aeschin. Ctesiph. 28; Khner, ad Xen. Mem. i. 2. 17.
] therefore without any delay.
] upon a plate.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
6 But when Herod’s birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod.
Ver. 6. But when Herod’s birthday was kept ] All this was a mere plot, as St Mark also intimateth, in those words of his, Mat 6:21 ; “And when a convenient day was come.” This birthday then was the day appointed long before by Herod and his harlot for the acting of this tragedy. a A great feast must be prepared, the states invited, the damosel must dance, the king swear, the Baptist thereupon be beheaded, that the Queen may be gratified. And this tragedy was new acted at Paris, A.D. 1572, when the French massacre was committed under pretence of a wedding royal. Cardinal Lorrain gave a great sum of money to him that brought the first news thereof to Rome, and the pope caused it to be painted in his palace.
The daughter of Herodlas danced ] Tripudiabat tripped on the toe in a most immodest manner, as they used to do in their bacchanals, as the word signifieth. b This old fornicator seemed to be taken and tickled with the sight, that like a madman he swears to give her her request, to the half of the kingdom, which yet was more than he could do, the kingdom being not his, but the Emperor of Rome’s, to dispose of. So as Robert, Duke of Normandy, passed through Falaise, he beheld among a company of young maids dancing, one Arlet, a tanner’s daughter, whose nimbleness in her dance so enamoured the Duke, that he took her for his concubine, and on her begat our William the Conqueror. Such and no better commonly are the effects of mixed dancings, which made Chrysostom say, Ubi est saltatio, ibi eat diabolus, Where dancing is, there the devil is. And another ancient calleth dancing a circle, whose centre is the devil, blowing up the fire of concupiscence in the hearts both of the actors and spectators. Augustine saith, Omnis motus et saltus petulantice est saltus in profundum cloacae, Every caper in the dance is a leap into a deep outhouse. No sober man doth dance, saith Cicero.
And pleased Herod ] Who was now well heated with wine as an oven, Pro 23:31 ; Pro 23:33 , for then his eyes were apt to behold strange women, and his heart to utter perverse things. Gula Veneris vestibulum: Et Venus in vinis ignis ut igne furit. The throat of Venus into the court, and Venus is the firey wine as wild by fire. But what a monstrous thing it is to behold green apples on a tree in winter, to find youthful lusts in old decrepit goats!
a Res tota ex composito gesta est. Par.
b , , a vinearum ordinibus. from a type of wine.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
6. ] the birthday. This name was given in classical Greek to an anniversary celebration of the memory of the dead . So Herod., iv. 26, having described such a celebration among the Issedones, adds, . Phrynichus, Hesych [134] , and Ammonius lay it down that is not to be used for , a birthday . But the adj. was certainly so used in later Greek: e.g. . . , Jos. Antt. xii. 4. 7 (in Dio Cassius xlvii. 18, lvi. 46, lxvii. 2, usually cited, the , though bearing this meaning, are in each case in honour of a dead person). See Suicer, Thes. under , and Lobeck’s note, Phryn. p. 103. Heins., Grot., a [135] ., hold that the word here means the feast of Herod’s accession: but they give no proof that it ever had such a meaning. Among the seasons kept by the Gentiles, enumerated in the Rabbinical work Avoda Sara, we have : see Lightfoot in loc. [On the dative “compare the examples quoted by Jelf, 699.” Moulton’s Winer, p. 276, note 1.]
[134] Hesychius of Jerusalem, cent y . vi.
[135] alii = some cursive mss.
A great feast was given to the nobility of Galilee, Mar 6:21 . The damsel’s name was Salome (Jos. Antt. xviii. 5. 4), daughter of Herodias by her former husband Philip. She afterwards married her uncle Philip, tetrarch of Itura and Trachonitis: and he dying childless, she became the wife of her cousin Aristobulus, son of Herod king of Chalcis, by whom he had three sons, Herod, Agrippa, and Aristobulus. The dance was probably a pantomimic dance.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 14:6 . : one expects the genitive absolute as in T.R., which just on that account is to be suspected. The dative of time. But cf. Mar 6:21 , where we have and occurring together, and vide Weiss, Mk.-Evang., p. 221, on the literary connection between the two texts. Most commentators take as referring to Herod’s birthday. Some, e.g. , Grotius, think of the anniversary of the accession to the throne = birthday of his reign . In classic Greek it means a feast in honour of the dead on their birthday, being the word for a birthday feast, vide Lobeck, Phryn., 103. Loesner, Observ. ad N. T. e. Phil. Alex., cites instances from Philo of the use of both words in the sense of a birthday feast. . .: Salome by name. , implies a festive assembly, as fully described in Mk.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mat 14:6-12
6But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod, 7so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. 8Having been prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” 9Although he was grieved, the king commanded it to be given because of his oaths, and because of his dinner guests. 10He sent and had John beheaded in the prison. 11And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. 12His disciples came and took away the body and buried it; and they went and reported to Jesus.
Mat 14:6 “But when Herod’s birthday came” There is some archaeological, linguistic evidence that this may refer to an annual feast recognizing his inauguration. Judging from the available historical evidence, it was simply his birthday. On these occasions great feasts were the rule of the day.
“the daughter of Herodias danced before them” Salome’s dance (see Josephus, Antiq. 18.5.4) must have greatly surprised everyone present because in this day and time dancing women were considered to be immoral. For a princess to dance before a group of drunken guests, particularly at this young age, must have been astonishing. The implication of the context is that it was a sensual dance instigated by her mother to win Herod’s approval.
Mat 14:8 “Having been prompted by her mother” The word ” prompted” was the strong Greek term “urged.” This shows that this young girl was not only manipulated by her mother, but also controlled by her in an obviously premeditated plan to secure the death of John the Baptist (cf. Mar 6:22-25).
Mat 14:9 “although he was grieved” He was sorry-not because he was going to commit the premeditated murder of an innocent man, but because he had made an oath (secular use of “confess,” cf. Luk 22:6) and he was embarrassed to break it before his drunken guests (cf. Mar 6:26).
Mat 14:11 “and his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother” We do not know what the mother did with the head. There is a tradition, first mentioned by Jerome in the 4th century A.D., that she pulled out his tongue and stuck a pin through it.
The Greek term “girl” was used both of Jairus’daughter (cf. Mar 5:41-42 where she is said to be twelve) and Salome, therefore, she was probably a teenager.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
kept = being celebrated.
the daughter. Salome (Josephus, Antiquities xviii. 5. 4).
Herodias. See App-109.
before them = in the midst of them: i.e. in public.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
6. ] the birthday. This name was given in classical Greek to an anniversary celebration of the memory of the dead. So Herod., iv. 26, having described such a celebration among the Issedones, adds, . Phrynichus, Hesych[134], and Ammonius lay it down that is not to be used for , a birthday. But the adj. was certainly so used in later Greek: e.g. . . , Jos. Antt. xii. 4. 7 (in Dio Cassius xlvii. 18, lvi. 46, lxvii. 2, usually cited, the , though bearing this meaning, are in each case in honour of a dead person). See Suicer, Thes. under , and Lobecks note, Phryn. p. 103. Heins., Grot., a[135]., hold that the word here means the feast of Herods accession: but they give no proof that it ever had such a meaning. Among the seasons kept by the Gentiles, enumerated in the Rabbinical work Avoda Sara, we have : see Lightfoot in loc. [On the dative compare the examples quoted by Jelf, 699. Moultons Winer, p. 276, note 1.]
[134] Hesychius of Jerusalem, centy. vi.
[135] alii = some cursive mss.
A great feast was given to the nobility of Galilee, Mar 6:21. The damsels name was Salome (Jos. Antt. xviii. 5. 4), daughter of Herodias by her former husband Philip. She afterwards married her uncle Philip, tetrarch of Itura and Trachonitis: and he dying childless, she became the wife of her cousin Aristobulus, son of Herod king of Chalcis, by whom he had three sons, Herod, Agrippa, and Aristobulus. The dance was probably a pantomimic dance.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 14:6. ) Either the day on which he was born, as the LXX. use the word in Gen 40:20, or that on which he began to reign. Remarkable days of high festival are accompanied with great danger of falling into sin.[665]-, she danced) A light matter; the handle of a most weighty matter.-, daughter) Salome by name.- , in the midst) in the sight of all during the banquet.
[665] Of this kind are, for instance, dedication-festivals, market-days, etc.; for, when these are celebrated according to custom, often weariness and lamentations succeed to vain rejoicings. And yet the world does not allow itself to be advised to better things.-V. g.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
birthday: Gen 40:20, Est 1:2-9, Est 2:18, Dan 5:1-4, Hos 1:5, Hos 1:6, Mar 6:21-23
the daughter: Mat 22:24
danced: Est 1:10-12
before them: Gr. in the midst
Reciprocal: Jdg 16:25 – their hearts Est 2:4 – the thing Ecc 7:2 – better Hos 7:5 – the day Mar 6:22 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
14:6
But an unexpected event gave her the opportunity she wanted to accomplish her, wicked purpose that was prompted by an adulterous heart. Herod celebrated his birthday by a banquet to which he invited the high men of rank in his estate. The text does not state that his program included the following performance, but for some reason the daughter of his wife by a previous marriage danced before him and his guests. The word for dance is ORCHEOMAI which Thayer defines simply, “to dance.” Robinson defines it, “to lift up, to raise aloft; to leap, to dance.” Young’s definition is, “to lift up (the feet), dance.” There is no intimation of any display of musical rhythm, but on the other hand from the definitions of the word in the lexicons, and also from the effects her dancing had on the adulterous mind of Herod, the conclusion is clear that the girl exposed herself before the eyes of that lustful king. It says it pleased Herod, and that pleasure overcame his better judgment.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
But when Herod’s birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod.
[And when Herod’s birthday was kept.] The Jewish schools esteem the keeping of birthdays a part of idolatrous worship: perhaps they would pronounce more favourably and flatteringly of thine, O tetrarch, because thine.
These are the times of idolaters: the Kalends; the Saturnalia;…the birthday of the kingdom; and the day of a man’s birth…
[The daughter of Herodias danced.] Not so much out of lightness, as according to the custom of the nation, namely, to express joy and to celebrate the day. The Jews were wont in their public and more than ordinary rejoicings, and also in some of their holy festivals, to express their cheerfulness by leaping and dancing. Omitting the examples which occur in the holy Bible, it is reported by the Fathers of the Traditions, that the chief part of the mirth in the feast of Tabernacles consisted in such kind of dancing: the chief men, the aged, and the most religious, dancing in the Court of the Women; and by how much the more vehemently they did it, so much the more commendable it was. The gesture, therefore, or motion of the girl that danced took not so much with Herod, as her mind and affection: namely, because hereby she shewed honour towards his birthday, and love and respect towards him, and joy for his life and health: from whom, indeed, Herod had little deserved such things, since he had deprived her father Philip of his wife, and defiled her mother with unlawful wedlock and continual incest.
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Mat 14:6. Herods birthday. Probably the anniversary of his accession to power. The nobility of Galilee were at the feast (Mar 6:21). The dancing seems to have taken place late in the entertainment, when all were more or less intoxicated
The daughter of Herodias. Salome, the daughter of Herod Philip. She married her uncle Philip the Tetrarch, and after his death her cousin Aristobulus. Comp. Mar 6:22.
Danced in the midst. She had been sent by her mother to gain an opportunity for killing John (Mar 6:21). The dance was a pantomime probably of a voluptuous character, and was performed in the midst, with the intoxicated party forming a circle about her. Such conduct was deemed immodest by Jews, Greeks, and Romans; in this case there was added a criminal purpose, and a sin against her own forsaken father. Public dancing (and often private dancing) calls forth evil passions, even if not designed to do so.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Several observables are here to be taken notice of.
1. The time of this execrable murder: it was upon eastern kings to celebrate their birth-days: Pharaoh’s birth-day was kept, Gen 40:20. Herod’s here; both with blood; yet these personal stains do not make the practice unlawful. When we solemnize our birth-day with thankfulness to our Creator and Preserver, for life and being, for protection and preservation to that moment, and commend ourselves to the care of his good providence for the remainder of our days, this is an act of piety and religion. But Herod’s birth-day was kept with revelling and feasting, with music and dancing: not that dancing which is itself, is a set, regular, harmonious motion of the body, can be unlawful, and more than walking or running: circumstances may make it sinful.
But from this, although disorderly banquet on Herod’s birth-day, we learn, that great men’s feasts and frolics are too often, a season of much sin.
Observe, 2. The instigator and promoter of the Holy Baptist’s death, Herodias and her daughter: that good man falls a sacrifice to the fury and malice, to the pride and scorn, of a lustful woman, for being a rub in the way of her licentious adultery. Resolute sinners, who are mad upon their lusts, run furiously upon their gainsayers, though they be the prophets of God themselves, and resolve to bear down all opposition they meet with in the gratification of their unlawful desires.
Observe, 3. With what reluctance Herod consented to this villainy: The king was sorry: wicked men oft-times sin with a troubled and disturbed conscience: they have a mighty struggle with themselves before they commit their sins: but at last their lusts get the mastery over their consciences. So did Herod’s here; for:
4. Not withstanding his sorrow. He commands the fact: He sent and beheaded John in the sorrow. And a three-fold cord tied him to this performance.
1. The conscience of his oath. See his hypocrisy: he made conscience of a rash oath, who made no scruple of real murder.
2. Respect to his reputation, Them that sat with him heard his promise, and will be witness of his levity, if he do not perform. Insisting upon punctilio of honour has hazarded the loss of millions of souls.
3. A loathness to discontent Herodias and her daughter. O vain and foolish hypocrite, who dreaded the displeasure of a wanton mistress, before the offending of God and conscience!
Observe, 5. These wicked women not only require the Baptist to be beheaded, but that his head be brought in a charger to them. What a dish is here to be served up at a prince’s table on his birth-day! A dead man’s head swimming in blood! How prodigiously insatiably is cruelty and revenge! Herodias did not think herself safe till John was dead; she could not think him dead till his head was off; she could not believe his head was off till she had it in her hand.
Revenge never thinks it has made sure enough. O how cruel is a wicked heart, that could take pleasure in a spectacle of so much horror! How was that holy head tossed by impure and filthy hands! That true and faithful tongue, those pure eyes, those mortified cheeks are now insultingly handled by an incestuous harlot, and made a scorn to the drunken eyes of Herod’s guest.
From the whole, learn, 1. That neither the holiest of prophets, nor the best of men, are more secure from violence, than from natural death. He that was sanctified in the womb, conceived and born with so much miracle, lived with so much reverence and observation, is now at midnight obscurely murdered in a close prison.
Learn, 2. That it is as true a martyrdom to suffer for duty, as for faith: he dies as tryly a martyr that dies for doing his duty, as he that dies for professing the faith, and bearing witness to the truth.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
14:6 But when Herod’s birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased {b} Herod.
(b) There were three Herods: the first of them was Antipater’s son, who is also called Ascalonius, in whose reign Christ was born, and it was he that caused the children to be slain. The second was called Antipas, Magnus his son, whose mother’s name was Malthaca or Martaca, and he was called Tetrarch, because he enlarged his dominion, when Archelaus was banished to Vienna in France. The third was Agrippa, Magnus his nephew by Aristobulus, and it was he that slew James.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The day of celebration may have been Herod’s birthday or the anniversary of his accession to the throne (Gr. genesia). [Note: Edersheim, 1:672.] Herodias’ daughter, by her previous marriage to Philip I, was Salome who was then between 12 and 14 years old. [Note: Hoehner, Herod Antipas, pp. 151-56.] The popular idea that her dance was sensuous does not come from the text but from the reputation of the Herodians for low morals and from the low status of dancing girls. [Note: Carson, "Matthew," p. 338.] Antipas was only a petty monarch, but he acted like one of the powerful Persian kings (cf. Est 5:3; Est 5:6; Est 7:2).