Mark 6:14-29
6:14 King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’ name had become known. Some were saying, “John the baptizer has been raised from the dead; and for this reason these powers are at work in him.”
6:15 But others said, “It is Elijah.” And others said, “It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.”
6:16 But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.”
6:17 For Herod himself had sent men who arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because Herod had married her.
6:18 For John had been telling Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”
6:19 And Herodias had a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him. But she could not,
6:20 for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he protected him. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed; and yet he liked to listen to him.
6:21 But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers and officers and for the leaders of Galilee.
6:22 When his daughter Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it.”
6:23 And he solemnly swore to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom.”
6:24 She went out and said to her mother, “What should I ask for?” She replied, “The head of John the baptizer.”
6:25 Immediately she rushed back to the king and requested, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”
6:26 The king was deeply grieved; yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he did not want to refuse her.
6:27 Immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison,
6:28 brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl. Then the girl gave it to her mother.
6:29 When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.
[14]Καὶ ἤκουσεν ὁ βασιλεὺς ῾Ηρῴδης· φανερὸν γὰρ ἐγένετο τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ· καὶ ἔλεγεν ὅτι ᾿Ιωάννης ὁ βαπτίζων ἐκ νεκρῶν ἠγέρθη, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἐνεργοῦσιν αἱ δυνάμεις ἐν αὐτῷ.
[15]ἄλλοι ἔλεγον ὅτι ᾿Ηλίας ἐστίν· ἄλλοι δὲ ἔλεγον ὅτι προφήτης ἐστὶν ὡς εἷς τῶν προφητῶν.
[16]ἀκούσας δὲ ὁ ῾Ηρῴδης εἶπεν ὅτι ὃν ἐγὼ ἀπεκεφάλισα ᾿Ιωάννην, οὗτός ἐστιν· αὐτὸς ἠγέρθη ἐκ νεκρῶν.
[17]αὐτὸς γὰρ ὁ ῾Ηρῴδης ἀποστείλας ἐκράτησε τὸν ᾿Ιωάννην καὶ ἔδησεν αὐτὸν ἐν φυλακῇ διὰ ῾Ηρῳδιάδα τὴν γυναῖκα Φιλίππου τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ αὐτοῦ, ὅτι αὐτὴν ἐγάμησεν.
[18]ἔλεγε γὰρ ὁ ᾿Ιωάννης τῷ ῾Ηρῴδῃ ὅτι οὐκ ἔξεστί σοι ἔχειν τὴν γυναῖκα τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ σου.
[19]ἡ δὲ ῾Ηρῳδιὰς ἐνεῖχεν αὐτῷ καὶ ἤθελεν αὐτὸν ἀποκτεῖναι, καὶ οὐκ ἠδύνατο.
[20]ὁ γὰρ ῾Ηρῴδης ἐφοβεῖτο τὸν ᾿Ιωάννην, εἰδὼς αὐτὸν ἄνδρα δίκαιον καὶ ἅγιον, καὶ συνετήρει αὐτόν, καὶ ἀκούσας αὐτοῦ πολλὰ ἐποίει καὶ ἡδέως αὐτοῦ ἤκουε.
[21]καὶ γενομένης ἡμέρας εὐκαίρου, ὅτε ῾Ηρῴδης τοῖς γενεσίοις αὐτοῦ δεῖπνον ἐποίει τοῖς μεγιστᾶσιν αὐτοῦ καὶ τοῖς χιλιάρχοις καὶ τοῖς πρώτοις τῆς Γαλιλαίας,
[22]καὶ εἰσελθούσης τῆς θυγατρὸς αὐτῆς τῆς ῾Ηρῳδιάδος καὶ ὀρχησαμένης καὶ ἀρεσάσης τῷ ῾Ηρῴδῃ καὶ τοῖς συνανακειμένοις, εἶπεν ὁ βασιλεὺς τῷ κορασίῳ· αἴτησόν με ὃ ἐὰν θέλῃς, καὶ δώσω σοι.
[23]καὶ ὤμοσεν αὐτῇ ὅτι ὃ ἐάν με αἰτήσῃς δώσω σοι, ἕως ἡμίσους τῆς βασιλείας μου.
[24]ἡ δὲ ἐξελθοῦσα εἶπε τῇ μητρὶ αὐτῆς· τί αἰτήσομαι; ἡ δὲ εἶπε· τὴν κεφαλὴν ᾿Ιωάννου τοῦ βαπτιστοῦ.
[25]καὶ εἰσελθοῦσα εὐθέως μετὰ σπουδῆς πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα ᾐτήσατο λέγουσα· θέλω ἵνα μοι δῷς ἐξαυτῆς ἐπὶ πίνακι τὴν κεφαλὴν ᾿Ιωάννου τοῦ βαπτιστοῦ.
[26]καὶ περίλυπος γενόμενος ὁ βασιλεύς, διὰ τοὺς ὅρκους καὶ τοὺς συνανακειμένους οὐκ ἠθέλησεν αὐτὴν ἀθετῆσαι.
[27]καὶ εὐθέως ἀποστείλας ὁ βασιλεὺς σπεκουλάτωρα ἐπέταξεν ἐνεχθῆναι τὴν κεφαλὴν αὐτοῦ.
[28]ὁ δὲ ἀπελθὼν ἀπεκεφάλισεν αὐτὸν ἐν τῇ φυλακῇ, καὶ ἤνεγκε τὴν κεφαλὴν αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ πίνακι καὶ ἔδωκεν αὐτὴν τῷ κορασίῳ, καὶ τὸ κοράσιον ἔδωκεν αὐτὴν τῇ μητρὶ αὐτῆς.
[29]καὶ ἀκούσαντες οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ ἦλθον καὶ ἦραν τὸ πτῶμα αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἔθηκαν αὐτὸ ἐν μνημείῳ.
Comments
St Mark ‘s quoting of direct speech where we expect an oblique statement lends vividness. In. 22 the position of an intensive pronoun speaks volumes.
[14] καὶ ἔλεγεν ὅτι ᾿Ιωάννης ὁ βαπτίζων ἐκ νεκρῶν ἠγέρθη, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἐνεργοῦσιν αἱ δυνάμεις: ἔλεγεν ὅτι, ‘he said, he was saying that’ (impf.)– whereas the Engl. translation reads ‘some were saying’. The clauses introduced by ὅτι are in indirect discourse (or reported speech), but Mark retains the two vbs in the tenses as if Herod is being quoted verbatim: ‘John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and for this reason the powers are (i.e. must be) active in him’. This non-classical reporting of the original speaker’s words vividness. Cf. vv. 15, 16, & 23.
αἱ δυνάμεις, ‘miraculous powers’ (EDNT s.v., 6). Cf. Engl. dynamic.
[16] ὃν ἐγὼ ἀπεκεφάλισα ᾿Ιωάννην, οὗτός ἐστιν: the demonst. pron. οὗτός (‘this one’) is emphatic. The syntax shows this: ‘John, whom I beheaded, is THIS ONE …’.
ἀποκεφαλίζω, ‘I behead, decapitate’, attested for the first time in LXX (see Muraoka s.v.). In Greek myth Perseus decapitates the Gorgon Medusa. The classical Athenians resorted to impalement (a variation on crucifixion) οr the administration of hemlock as capital punishment but not beheading.
[18] οὐκ ἔξεστί σοι ἔχειν τὴν γυναῖκα τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ σου: the impers. vb ἔξεστι + inf. or + dat. pers. +inf., is cl. Gk for ‘it is allowed, it is possible (for someone) to do’ (LSJ s.v.). ‘It is not allowed for you to “have” the wife of your brother’ is a blunt prohibition.
[19] ἡ δὲ ῾Ηρῳδιὰς ἐνεῖχεν αὐτῷ καὶ ἤθελεν αὐτὸν ἀποκτεῖναι, καὶ οὐκ ἠδύνατο: ἐνέχω + dat. pers., ‘I have a grudge against someone’, LXX Gk (Muraoka, s.v.). Lit. ‘I have (bile) within me against someone’.
ἀποκτεῖναι, aor. inf. < ἀποκτείνω, Αttic (strength. form of κτείνω), ‘Ι kill, slay’; put to death (LSJ s.v.).
καὶ οὐκ ἠδύνατο, ‘and (καὶ) could not’, the conjunction ‘and’ is antithetical, the equivalent of ‘but’.
[22] τῆς θυγατρὸς αὐτῆς τῆς ῾Ηρῳδιάδος… καὶ ἀρεσάσης τῷ ῾Ηρῴδῃ καὶ τοῖς συνανακειμένοις: the intensive pronoun αὐτῆς (‘herself’), placed in the predicate position (i.e., either before or after the article-noun unit),[1] places unmistakable stress on the the identity of the daughter: ‘the daughter of Herodias herself’, ‘the daughter of the very Herodias’. A princess performed a risqué dance associated with a performer of inferior status. ἀρεσάσης τῷ ῾Ηρῴδῃ καὶ τοῖς συνανακειμένοις, ‘having pleased Herod and his guests’ refers literally to the girl but ad sensum to her dance.
τοῖς συνανακειμένοις, εἶπεν ὁ βασιλεὺς τῷ κορασίῳ: the cmpd vb συν + ανά+κειμαι, ‘I recline together (with others) at a dinner table’ (LXX: cf. Muraoka). The dat. pl. συνανακειμένοις is rendered simply as ‘(dinner) guests’ in English. Cf. v. 26, 26 συνανακειμένους.
Κοράσιον, ‘little girl, maiden’ a koine dimin. attested in LXX and other koine texts. Mark implicitly contrasts the young girl dancer to her mother. The noun is repeated twice in v. 28.
[23] καὶ ὤμοσεν αὐτῇ ὅτι ὃ ἐάν με αἰτήσῃς δώσω σοι, ἕως ἡμίσους τῆς βασιλείας μου: strictly speaking reported speech, but Mark quotes Herod’s original words.
[25] ἐξαυτῆς: ‘at once’ (lit. ‘on the spot’), which is used in Archaic & cl. poetry and post-cl. prose. Herodias wants John’s head without delay.
[27] σπεκουλάτωρα: σπεκουλάτωρ is a Latin loan-word from speculator, ‘executioner’.
[1] See Goodwin, Greek Grammar, par. 989.
Insights into Biblical Greek Grammar and Syntax 