Matthew 14:3

3 For 1Herod had seized John and bound him and 2put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife,[a]

Matthew 14:3 Meaning and Commentary

Matthew 14:3

For Herod had laid hold on John
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 F4,

for Herodias's sake;
who was angry with him, had a bitter quarrel against him, and by whose instigation all this was done; who was

his brother Philip's wife.
This Herodias was the daughter of Aristobulus, son to Herod the Great F5, 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 F6; so that Philip was his brother by his father's side, but not by his mother's; the Evangelist Mark adds, "for he had married her": the case was this, Herod being sent for to Rome, called at his brother Philip's 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 wife's father, in which the former was beaten F7,


FOOTNOTES:

F4 Joseph. Antiqu. 1. 18. c. 7.
F5 Ib. c. 6.
F6 Joseph. Antiqu. 1. 18. c. 6. de Bello Jud. l. 1. c. 28. sect. 7.
F7 Joseph. Antiqu. 1. 18. c. 6.

Matthew 14:3 In-Context

1 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard about the fame of Jesus,
2 and he said to his servants, "This is John the Baptist. He has been raised from the dead; that is why these miraculous powers are at work in him."
3 For Herod had seized John and bound him and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife,
4 because John had been saying to him, "It is not lawful for you to have her."
5 And though he wanted to put him to death, he feared the people, because they held him to be a prophet.

Cross References 2

  • 1. Luke 3:19, 20
  • 2. Matthew 11:2; John 3:24

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Some manuscripts his brother's wife
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