Herod's Feast and the Demand for John's HeadBible World
14:6Matthew 14:6
But when Herod’s birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod.
Herod Antipas held his birthday feast in the royal banqueting room, where the daughter of Herodias danced before him and his guests and pleased him, setting the scene for his rash oath and the demand that led to John's murder. John was in prison because he had faithfully rebuked Herod for unlawfully taking his brother's wife Herodias while her husband was still living. Herodias, who hated the reproof and waited for this opportunity, had looked to the birthday as an occasion of gluttony and intoxication, using costly feasting, stimulating drink, and her daughter's captivating dance to throw Herod off guard and weaken his judgment. Dulled by wine and eager to preserve his honor before his guests, Herod exalted his oath above God's commandment, Thou shalt not kill, and commanded the beheading of the prophet to gratify revenge, an act he thought maintained his honor but that branded him forever with dishonor. The feast therefore stands as a warning that revelry, dance, and free use of wine becloud the senses and destroy clear moral decision, and that rulers and all men must be temperate and self-governed lest intemperance pervert justice and mercy.
Feast and Its Context
Herod's birthday was kept in the royal banqueting room, where Herodias's daughter danced before Herod and his guests and pleased him. That dance and pleasure set the scene for his rash oath and the demand that led to John's murder, and the feast became part of the crime that later tormented Herod's conscience. The celebration forms the setting in which John's bold, fearless and pointed message against wrongdoing could cost him his life.
The verse belongs to the imprisonment and death of John the Baptist under Herod Antipas, after John faithfully rebuked Herod for unlawfully marrying his brother's wife Herodias while her husband was still living. It is part of the history of Herod's family crimes against God's servants, in which Herodias's influence led Herod to imprison John and ultimately to have him beheaded. It belongs also to the account of Herod punishing John the prophet for reproving him, without further explanation of the celebration and dance.
Herod knew John was a true prophet and had nearly become his disciple, but at the decisive moment he gave in to evil and Satan's snare and had John slain to gratify Herodias's revenge. He felt remorse for the killing for a time, but as he continued in sin and licentious life his conscience grew less sensitive and degraded his moral judgment until his sins seemed trivial to him.
John's death grieved the disciples and seemed an inglorious end amid hostility from scribes and Pharisees. It led some who had accepted Christ to doubt John's mission and whether Jesus was the expected Messiah, and made them fear Jesus might suffer the same fate. It was the approaching crisis Jesus sought to avoid stirring up prematurely by withdrawing to Galilee.
Intemperance and Murderous Plot
Herod had kept John in prison because John's truthful rebuke of his unlawful life with Herodias laid open the secrets of his heart, yet Herod honored and feared John as a true prophet, was convicted and terrified in conscience by the reproof, had reformed in many things, and purposed to release him. Herodias hated that reproof and could not rest until John's head was brought to her, so she waited for the birthday as her planned opportunity. She knew Herod's character and weak points and knew she could not obtain John's death while his intelligence controlled him, and therefore planned to accomplish her revenge by strategy through gratification of intemperate appetite.
She looked forward to the birthday as an occasion of gluttony and intoxication and made costly preparations for feasting and voluptuous dissipation. She counted on the king's love of luxurious food and stimulating drink and of pleasure and amusement to throw him off guard, excite the lower passions, and weaken his judgment, using her daughter's captivating dance, unusual for a woman of the court, with the guests' reaction helping to put him off guard. The banquet became feasting and drinking in which wine benumbed reason, debased the senses, paralyzed moral principle, and made all slaves to brute appetite. Overeating and drunkenness enervated mental powers, deadened moral and physical powers, lowered mental and moral tone, perverted ideas of justice and mercy, beclouded the senses, removed the fear of God, warred against the earnest appeals of the Spirit, and left minds in animal excitement unable to see facts clearly and make right decisions.
Off his guard and impaired by wine, pleasure, and desire to impress his lordly guests, Herod was entrapped by the dance into promising the daughter anything she asked, making a reckless oath on account of the guests when nothing was too sacred to profane. He was tested whether he would exalt his oath above God's commandment, Thou shalt not kill, to preserve his honor and dignity as king by violating God's law and sacrificing an innocent man, or humble himself to ask his guests to release him from his rash oath. He gave them opportunity to speak for John, but their tongues were paralyzed and no voice remonstrated, and under delusion he thought he must keep an oath made under intoxication and excitement to save his reputation and not appear fickle, rash, or dishonored. If he and his guests had preserved vigor of intellect, their minds would have been awake to the noble demands of justice and duty and calm reason would have recoiled with horror at beheading an innocent man and an exalted prophet.
If told at the start of the revelry that he would take John's life, Herod would have denied it, saying in effect is thy servant a dog that he should do this, yet the rash vow led to results he would regret as long as he lived. Herod's drunken revel and desire to please Herodias led him to command the executioner to behead John to gratify a licentious woman's revenge, and the head of the honored prophet whose lips had faithfully called Herod to reform and whose preaching Herod had heard was brought in before Herod and his guests. Herodias received it with fiendish satisfaction and exulted that his conscience would no more be disturbed, while the guests looked on with horror and the sight was more than Herod could endure. The very act Herod thought maintained his honor and dignity branded him forever with dishonor and made his name detestable, made Herodias notorious and abhorred and infamous, enshrined John in the hearts of disciples and many convinced hearers, left John's reproofs to extend through every generation to the close of time, and made the feast part of the crime that later tormented Herod's conscience.
Herod felt remorse for the killing for a time, but as he continued in sin and licentious life his conscience grew less sensitive and degraded his moral judgment until his sins seemed trivial to him. The feast proves that rulers and guardians of the people must be temperate law-keepers and men of self-government with unclouded intellect, lest intemperance pervert justice and mercy. It stands as a warning to pleasure-seekers and an exhortation to temperance because intemperance among men in authority helped bring about John's death.
Warning Against Alluring Pleasure
The birthday feast stands as a warning against self-indulgence and popular pleasure, bidding lovers of pleasure to beware. Festivities and amusements, dances and free use of wine becloud the senses, lower sensibility to moral improvement, remove the fear of God, and make it impossible for holy impulses to govern the passions. Overeating and drunkenness enervated Herod and his guests, perverting their ideas of justice and mercy, so that minds in animal excitement pronounced a decision costing the life of one of God's prophets. Herodias had waited for this occasion of gluttony and intoxication, making costly preparations for feasting and voluptuous dissipation because she knew Herod's character and weak points and knew she could not obtain John's death while his intelligence controlled him. Herod's love of luxurious food and stimulating drink, pleasure and amusement threw him off guard, excited the lower passions, deadened moral and physical powers, warred against the appeals of the Spirit, and left his deadened sensibilities unable to see facts clearly and make right decisions. Under the delusion of feasting, dancing, and revelry, when nothing was too sacred to profane, he treated an oath made in excitement as binding though the life of one of the greatest prophets hung in the balance, and would regret the rash vow as long as life should last.
Herod's being pleased and moved by the dancing shows that those who hear or watch can be influenced and impressed by such an act. The same kind of impression is made on hearers by cheap common talk, alluring talk and entertainment, flattering words, and foolish joking spoken to create a laugh. Such alluring and deceptive conduct leaves a lasting impression on those who witness it, just as the scene before Herod did.
Such foolish, flattering, or joking talk and alluring, deceptive conduct are Satan's merchandise and the alluring, deceptive working of the devil to entice and deceive toward ruin and the broad road and wide gate that opens to ruin. The tenor of conversation reveals the treasure of the heart. All such words, actions, and their influence are recorded in the books of heaven and will appear in their true light before the guilty at the judgment and last great day.
John's life was imperiled by his straight and proving testimony to Herod because of his sins, especially the unlawful marriage to Herodias. Those who reprove in the gate are hated, because plain God-given testimony cuts the fleshly heart to joints and marrow as a savor of life unto life or of death unto death. Such testimony must be given whether men will hear or refuse to hear, for the work of God will go forward and the third angel's message will triumph with all who voice it with heart and soul.
Herod Antipas held his birthday feast in the royal banqueting room, where the daughter of Herodias danced before him and his guests and pleased him, setting the scene for his rash oath and the demand that led to John's murder. John was in prison because he had faithfully rebuked Herod for unlawfully taking his brother's wife Herodias while her husband was still living. Herodias, who hated the reproof and waited for this opportunity, had looked to the birthday as an occasion of gluttony and intoxication, using costly feasting, stimulating drink, and her daughter's captivating dance to throw Herod off guard and weaken his judgment. Dulled by wine and eager to preserve his honor before his guests, Herod exalted his oath above God's commandment, Thou shalt not kill, and commanded the beheading of the prophet to gratify revenge, an act he thought maintained his honor but that branded him forever with dishonor. The feast therefore stands as a warning that revelry, dance, and free use of wine becloud the senses and destroy clear moral decision, and that rulers and all men must be temperate and self-governed lest intemperance pervert justice and mercy.
Feast and Its Context
Herod's birthday was kept in the royal banqueting room, where Herodias's daughter danced before Herod and his guests and pleased him. That dance and pleasure set the scene for his rash oath and the demand that led to John's murder, and the feast became part of the crime that later tormented Herod's conscience. The celebration forms the setting in which John's bold, fearless and pointed message against wrongdoing could cost him his life.
The verse belongs to the imprisonment and death of John the Baptist under Herod Antipas, after John faithfully rebuked Herod for unlawfully marrying his brother's wife Herodias while her husband was still living. It is part of the history of Herod's family crimes against God's servants, in which Herodias's influence led Herod to imprison John and ultimately to have him beheaded. It belongs also to the account of Herod punishing John the prophet for reproving him, without further explanation of the celebration and dance.
Herod knew John was a true prophet and had nearly become his disciple, but at the decisive moment he gave in to evil and Satan's snare and had John slain to gratify Herodias's revenge. He felt remorse for the killing for a time, but as he continued in sin and licentious life his conscience grew less sensitive and degraded his moral judgment until his sins seemed trivial to him.
John's death grieved the disciples and seemed an inglorious end amid hostility from scribes and Pharisees. It led some who had accepted Christ to doubt John's mission and whether Jesus was the expected Messiah, and made them fear Jesus might suffer the same fate. It was the approaching crisis Jesus sought to avoid stirring up prematurely by withdrawing to Galilee.
Intemperance and Murderous Plot
Herod had kept John in prison because John's truthful rebuke of his unlawful life with Herodias laid open the secrets of his heart, yet Herod honored and feared John as a true prophet, was convicted and terrified in conscience by the reproof, had reformed in many things, and purposed to release him. Herodias hated that reproof and could not rest until John's head was brought to her, so she waited for the birthday as her planned opportunity. She knew Herod's character and weak points and knew she could not obtain John's death while his intelligence controlled him, and therefore planned to accomplish her revenge by strategy through gratification of intemperate appetite.
She looked forward to the birthday as an occasion of gluttony and intoxication and made costly preparations for feasting and voluptuous dissipation. She counted on the king's love of luxurious food and stimulating drink and of pleasure and amusement to throw him off guard, excite the lower passions, and weaken his judgment, using her daughter's captivating dance, unusual for a woman of the court, with the guests' reaction helping to put him off guard. The banquet became feasting and drinking in which wine benumbed reason, debased the senses, paralyzed moral principle, and made all slaves to brute appetite. Overeating and drunkenness enervated mental powers, deadened moral and physical powers, lowered mental and moral tone, perverted ideas of justice and mercy, beclouded the senses, removed the fear of God, warred against the earnest appeals of the Spirit, and left minds in animal excitement unable to see facts clearly and make right decisions.
Off his guard and impaired by wine, pleasure, and desire to impress his lordly guests, Herod was entrapped by the dance into promising the daughter anything she asked, making a reckless oath on account of the guests when nothing was too sacred to profane. He was tested whether he would exalt his oath above God's commandment, Thou shalt not kill, to preserve his honor and dignity as king by violating God's law and sacrificing an innocent man, or humble himself to ask his guests to release him from his rash oath. He gave them opportunity to speak for John, but their tongues were paralyzed and no voice remonstrated, and under delusion he thought he must keep an oath made under intoxication and excitement to save his reputation and not appear fickle, rash, or dishonored. If he and his guests had preserved vigor of intellect, their minds would have been awake to the noble demands of justice and duty and calm reason would have recoiled with horror at beheading an innocent man and an exalted prophet.
If told at the start of the revelry that he would take John's life, Herod would have denied it, saying in effect is thy servant a dog that he should do this, yet the rash vow led to results he would regret as long as he lived. Herod's drunken revel and desire to please Herodias led him to command the executioner to behead John to gratify a licentious woman's revenge, and the head of the honored prophet whose lips had faithfully called Herod to reform and whose preaching Herod had heard was brought in before Herod and his guests. Herodias received it with fiendish satisfaction and exulted that his conscience would no more be disturbed, while the guests looked on with horror and the sight was more than Herod could endure. The very act Herod thought maintained his honor and dignity branded him forever with dishonor and made his name detestable, made Herodias notorious and abhorred and infamous, enshrined John in the hearts of disciples and many convinced hearers, left John's reproofs to extend through every generation to the close of time, and made the feast part of the crime that later tormented Herod's conscience.
Herod felt remorse for the killing for a time, but as he continued in sin and licentious life his conscience grew less sensitive and degraded his moral judgment until his sins seemed trivial to him. The feast proves that rulers and guardians of the people must be temperate law-keepers and men of self-government with unclouded intellect, lest intemperance pervert justice and mercy. It stands as a warning to pleasure-seekers and an exhortation to temperance because intemperance among men in authority helped bring about John's death.
Warning Against Alluring Pleasure
The birthday feast stands as a warning against self-indulgence and popular pleasure, bidding lovers of pleasure to beware. Festivities and amusements, dances and free use of wine becloud the senses, lower sensibility to moral improvement, remove the fear of God, and make it impossible for holy impulses to govern the passions. Overeating and drunkenness enervated Herod and his guests, perverting their ideas of justice and mercy, so that minds in animal excitement pronounced a decision costing the life of one of God's prophets. Herodias had waited for this occasion of gluttony and intoxication, making costly preparations for feasting and voluptuous dissipation because she knew Herod's character and weak points and knew she could not obtain John's death while his intelligence controlled him. Herod's love of luxurious food and stimulating drink, pleasure and amusement threw him off guard, excited the lower passions, deadened moral and physical powers, warred against the appeals of the Spirit, and left his deadened sensibilities unable to see facts clearly and make right decisions. Under the delusion of feasting, dancing, and revelry, when nothing was too sacred to profane, he treated an oath made in excitement as binding though the life of one of the greatest prophets hung in the balance, and would regret the rash vow as long as life should last.
Herod's being pleased and moved by the dancing shows that those who hear or watch can be influenced and impressed by such an act. The same kind of impression is made on hearers by cheap common talk, alluring talk and entertainment, flattering words, and foolish joking spoken to create a laugh. Such alluring and deceptive conduct leaves a lasting impression on those who witness it, just as the scene before Herod did.
Such foolish, flattering, or joking talk and alluring, deceptive conduct are Satan's merchandise and the alluring, deceptive working of the devil to entice and deceive toward ruin and the broad road and wide gate that opens to ruin. The tenor of conversation reveals the treasure of the heart. All such words, actions, and their influence are recorded in the books of heaven and will appear in their true light before the guilty at the judgment and last great day.
John's life was imperiled by his straight and proving testimony to Herod because of his sins, especially the unlawful marriage to Herodias. Those who reprove in the gate are hated, because plain God-given testimony cuts the fleshly heart to joints and marrow as a savor of life unto life or of death unto death. Such testimony must be given whether men will hear or refuse to hear, for the work of God will go forward and the third angel's message will triumph with all who voice it with heart and soul.