SEV Biblia, Chapter 14:3
Porque Herodes había prendido a Juan, y le había aprisionado y puesto en la crcel, por causa de Herodías, mujer de Felipe su hermano;
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Matthew 14:3
Verse 3. For Herodias' sake] This infamous woman was the daughter of Aristobulus and Bernice, and grand-daughter of Herod the Great. Her first marriage was with Herod Philip, her uncle, by whom she had Salome: some time after, she left her husband, and lived publicly with Herod Antipas, her brother-in-law, who had been before married to the daughter of Aretas, king of Arabia Petraea. As soon as Aretas understood that Herod had determined to put away his daughter, he prepared to make war on him: the two armies met, and that of Herod was cut to pieces by the Arabians; and this, Josephus says, was supposed to be a judgment of God on him for the murder of John the Baptist. See the account in Josephus, Antiq. lib. xviii. c. 7.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 3. For Herod had laid hold on John , etc.] By his servants, whom he sent to apprehend him: and bound him ; laid him in chains, as if he was a malefactor; and put him in prison , in the castle of Machaerus f825 , for Herodiass sake ; who was angry with him, had a bitter quarrel against him, and by whose instigation all this was done; who was his brother Philips wife . This Herodias was the daughter of Aristobulus, son to Herod the Great f826 , and brother to Philip, and to this Herod; so that she was niece to them both; and first married the one, and then the other, whilst the former was living. Philip and this Herod were both sons of Herod the Great, but not by the same woman; Philip was born of Cleopatra of Jerusalem, and Herod Antipas of Malthace, a Samaritan f827 ; so that Philip was his brother by his fathers side, but not by his mothers; the Evangelist Mark adds, for he had married her: the case was this, Herod being sent for to Rome, called at his brother Philips by the way, where he fell into an amorous intrigue with his wife, and agreed, upon his return, to take her with him and marry her; as he accordingly did, and divorced his own wife, who was daughter of Aretas, king of Arabia Petraea; which occasioned a war between Herod and his wifes father, in which the former was beaten f828 , Ver. 4. For John said unto him , etc.] John having heard of this incestuous marriage, went to Herod, and reproved him to his face for it; and, as Luke says, for all the evils he had done, ( Luke 3:19) for he was a very wicked man, and guilty of many flagitious crimes: John, in so doing, showed his zeal for holiness, his hatred of sin, his courage and faithfulness in reproving thus freely so great a man; and made it manifest, that he came in the spirit of Elijah: what he said to him was, it is not lawful for thee to have her , being forbidden, ( Leviticus 18:16) for though by another law it was right to marry a brothers wife, after his decease, when he left no issue, yet this was not the case here; Philip was now living, and, had he been dead, such a marriage would have been unlawful, because there was issue; she had a daughter, who afterwards is said to dance before Herod; and besides, he himself had another wife, whom he put away; so that his sin was a very aggravated and complicated one: lying with a brothers wife, was one of those sins which, according to the Jewish canons, deserved cutting off, or death by the hand of God.
Josephus gives another reason of the imprisonment and death of John, that Herod feared that the people of the Jews, through his means, would be moved to sedition, and revolt from his government; which might be what Herodias suggested to him, or what he gave out himself, to cover the true cause of his proceedings: but the true reason is, what is here given, and is to be confirmed by the testimony of Jewish writers. One of their chronologers delivers the account in these express words: Herod Antipater was a very wicked and pernicious man, many of the wise men of Israel he slew with the sword; and he took to wife, his brother Philips wife, whilst he was living; and because John the high priest (for so through mistake they call him) hz l[ wjykwh reproved him for this; ((see Luke 3:19)) he slew him with the sword, with many of the wise men of Israel.
And, says their historian f832 , also he, Herod, slew John, because he said unto him, it is forbidden thee to take the wife of Philip, and he slew him; this is that John that practised baptism.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 1-12 - The terror and reproach of conscience, which Herod, like other darin offenders, could not shake off, are proofs and warnings of a futur judgment, and of future misery to them. But there may be the terror of convictions, where there is not the truth of conversion. When me pretend to favour the gospel, yet live in evil, we must not favou their self-delusion, but must deliver our consciences as John did. The world may call this rudeness and blind zeal. False professors, or timi Christians, may censure it as want of civility; but the most powerfu enemies can go no further than the Lord sees good to permit. Hero feared that the putting of John to death might raise a rebellion amon the people, which it did not; but he never feared it might stir up his own conscience against him, which it did. Men fear being hanged for what they do not fear being damned for. And times of carnal mirth an jollity are convenient times for carrying on bad designs against God' people. Herod would profusely reward a worthless dance, whil imprisonment and death were the recompence of the man of God who sough the salvation of his soul. But there was real malice to John beneat his consent, or else Herod would have found ways to get clear of his promise. When the under shepherds are smitten, the sheep need not be scattered while they have the Great Shepherd to go to. And it is bette to be drawn to Christ by want and loss, than not to come to him at all.
Greek Textus Receptus
ο 3588 T-NSM γαρ 1063 CONJ ηρωδης 2264 N-NSM κρατησας 2902 5660 V-AAP-NSM τον 3588 T-ASM ιωαννην 2491 N-ASM εδησεν 1210 5656 V-AAI-3S αυτον 846 P-ASM και 2532 CONJ εθετο 5087 5639 V-2AMI-3S εν 1722 PREP φυλακη 5438 N-DSF δια 1223 PREP ηρωδιαδα 2266 N-ASF την 3588 T-ASF γυναικα 1135 N-ASF φιλιππου 5376 N-GSM του 3588 T-GSM αδελφου 80 N-GSM αυτου 846 P-GSM
Vincent's NT Word Studies
3. Put him in prison (en fulakh apeqeto). Lit., "put him away or aside" (apo). This prison was the fortress of Machaerus on the east side of the Dead Sea, almost on a line with Bethlehem, above the gorge which divided the Mountains of Abarim from the range of Pisgah. Perched on an isolated cliff at the end of a narrow ridge, encompassed with deep ravines, was the citadel. At the other end of this ridge Herod built a great wall, with towers two hundred feet high at the corners; and within this inclosure, a magnificent palace, with colonnades, baths, cisterns, arsenals - every provision, in short, for luxury and for defence against siege. The windows commanded a wide and grand prospect, including the Dead Sea, the course of the Jordan, and Jerusalem. In the detached citadel, probably in one of the underground dungeons, remains of which may still be seen, was the prison of John. "We return through what we regard as the ruins of the magnificent castle-palace of Herod, to the highest and strongest part of the defences - the eastern keep or the citadel, on the steep slope, one hundred and fifty yards up. The foundation of the walls all around, to the height of a yard or two above the ground, are still standing. As we clamber over them to examine the interior, we notice how small this keep is: exactly one hundred yards in diameter. There are scarcely any remains of it left. A well of great depth, and a deep, cemented cistern, with the vaulting of the roof still complete, and - of most terrible interest to us - two dungeons, one of them deep down, its sides scarcely broken in, 'with small holes still visible in the masonry where staples of wood and iron had once been fixed!' As we look down into its hot darkness, we shudder in realizing that this terrible keep had, for nigh ten months, been the prison of that son of the free wilderness, the bold herald of the coming kingdom, the humble, earnest, self-denying John the Baptist" (Edersheim, "Life and Times of Jesus").
Robertson's NT Word Studies
14:3 {For the sake of Herodias} (dia herwidiada). The death of John had taken place some time before. The Greek aorists here (edsen, apetheto) are not used for past perfects. The Greek aorist simply narrates the event without drawing distinctions in past time. this Herodias was the unlawful wife of Herod Antipas. She was herself a descendant of Herod the Great and had married Herod Philip of Rome, not Philip the Tetrarch. She had divorced him in order to marry Herod Antipas after he had divorced his wife, the daughter of Aretas King of Arabia. It was a nasty mess equal to any of our modern divorces. Her first husband was still alive and marriage with a sister-in-law was forbidden to Jews (#Le 18:16). Because of her Herod Antipas had put John in the prison at Machaerus. The bare fact has been mentioned in #Mt 4:12 without the name of the place. See #11:2 also for the discouragement of John en twi desm"tri"i (place of bondage), here en ti phulaki (the guard-house). Josephus (_Ant_. xviii. 5.2) tells us that Machaerus is the name of the prison. On a high hill an impregnable fortress had been built. Tristram (_Land of Moab_) says that there are now remains of "two dungeons, one of them deep and its sides scarcely broken in" with "small holes still visible in the masonry where staples of wood and iron had once been fixed. One of these must surely have been the prison-house of John the Baptist."On this high ridge Herod the Great built an extensive and beautiful palace" (Broadus). "The windows commanded a wide and grand prospect, including the Dead Sea, the course of the Jordan, and Jerusalem" (Edersheim, _Life and Times of Jesus_).
