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| Herod and the Baptist.
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21. Herod and
the Baptist.
The narrative of Matthew is as
follows,—“for Herod had laid hold on John and bound him
in the prison.”5312
In reference
to these things, it seems to me, that as the law and the prophets were
until John,5313
after whom the
grace of prophecy ceased from among the Jews; so the authority of those
who had rule among the people, which included the power to kill those
whom they thought worthy of death, existed until John; and when the
last of the prophets was unlawfully killed by Herod, the king of the
Jews was deprived of the power of putting to death; for, if Herod had
not been deprived of it, Pilate would not have condemned Jesus to
death; but for this Herod would have sufficed along with the council of
the chief priests and elders of the people, met for the purpose.
And then I think was fulfilled that which was spoken as follows by
Jacob to Judah: “A ruler shall not depart from Judah, nor a
leader from Israel, until that come which is laid up in store, and he
is the expectation of the Gentiles.”5314
And perhaps also the Jews were
deprived of this power, the Providence of God arranging for the spread
of the teaching of Christ among the people, so that even if this were
hindered by the Jews, the opposition might not go so far as the slaying
of believers, which seemed to be according to law. “But
Herod laid hold on John and bound him in prison and put him
away,”5315
by this act
signifying that, so far as it depended on his power and on the
wickedness of the people, he bound and imprisoned the prophetic word,
and prevented him from continuing to abide a herald the truth in
freedom as formerly. But this Herod did for the sake of Herodias,
the wife of his brother Philip. For John said unto him, “It
is not lawful for thee to have her.”5316
Now this Philip was tetrarch of the
region of Ituræa and of Trachonitis. Some, then, suppose
that, when Philip died leaving a daughter, Herodias, Herod married his
brother’s wife, though the law permitted marriage only when there
were no children. But, as we find nowhere clear evidence that
Philip was dead, we conclude that a yet greater transgression was done
by Herod, namely, that he had induced his brother’s wife to
revolt from her husband while he was still living.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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