Mat 14:3-12 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for Matt 14:3-12: 14:3-12 The popular appeal of John’s message posed a political threat (see Josephus, Antiquities 18.5.2). Years after John’s execution, the Jews viewed Herod’s military defeat at the hands of Aretas ( AD 36) as a just recompense for putting an innocent man to death.

a14:3-12►

cLev 18:6►

‏ Matthew 14:3-12

Summary for Matt 14:3-12: 14:3-12 ^a The popular appeal of John’s message posed a political threat (see Josephus, Antiquities 18.5.2). Years after John’s execution, the Jews viewed Herod’s military defeat at the hands of Aretas (AD 36) as a just recompense for putting an innocent man to death.
14:4 ^b John had continually warned Herod of his sin (see Lev 18:6 ^c; 20:21 ^d).
14:6 ^e Herodias’s daughter was probably Salome, a daughter from Herodias’s previous marriage to Philip. Sexually provocative dances such as this were a regular occurrence for depraved royalty.
14:7 ^f Such an extravagant, foolish oath was consistent with Herod Antipas’s character.
14:8 ^g The practice of bringing a head ... on a tray was not unknown in the ancient world (see Josephus, Antiquities 13.4.8; 14.15.13; 18.5.1; 20.5.1).