Mark 6:17-18
6:17 a imprison John: The Jewish historian Josephus (Antiquities 18.5.2) says that John was imprisoned in the fortress of Machaerus in Perea.• Josephus (Antiquities 18.5.1–4) states that Herodias was the wife of Herod Antipas’s half brother, Herod Philip.
6:18 b Mark gives the moral-religious reason for the imprisonment and execution of John the Baptist. Josephus refers to the political reason (fear that John’s great popularity might start a revolution; Josephus, Antiquities 18.5.2). Similarly, the religious reasons for Jesus’ condemnation (Mark 14:63-64 c) became political when he was brought before Pontius Pilate (15:2 d; Luke 23:2-3 e).
• It is against God’s law: Not only was the relationship adulterous (Lev 20:10 f), but it violated the further law against marrying a brother’s wife (Lev 18:16 g; 20:21 h).
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