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George Lamsa Translation
Matthew 14:9
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Although the king regretted it, he commanded that it be granted because of his oaths and his guests.
And the king was sorie: neuerthelesse for the othes sake, and them which sate with him at meate, he commanded it to be giuen her:
And the king was sorry: nevertheless for the oath's sake, and them which sat with him at meat, he commanded it to be given her.
And the king was sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he commanded it to be given.
And although he was grieved, the king commanded it to be given because of his oaths and his dinner guests.
Although King Herod was very sad, he had made a promise, and his dinner guests had heard him. So Herod ordered that what she asked for be done.
The king was distressed, but because of his oaths, and because of his dinner guests, he ordered it to be given her.
And the King was sorie: neuerthelesse because of the othe, and them that sate with him at the table, he commanded it to be giuen her,
Although he was grieved, the king commanded it to be given because of his oaths, and because of his dinner guests.
And although he was grieved, the king commanded it to be given because of his oaths, and because of his dinner guests.
The king was grieved, but because of his oaths and his guests, he ordered that her wish be granted
The king was sorry for what he had said. But he did not want to break the promise he had made in front of his guests. So he ordered a guard
The king became deeply upset; but out of regard for the oaths he had sworn before his dinner guests, he ordered that her wish be granted,
And the king was grieved; but on account of the oaths, and those lying at table with [him], he commanded [it] to be given.
King Herod was very sad. But he had promised to give the daughter anything she wanted. And the people eating with Herod had heard his promise. So he ordered what she asked to be done.
The king was sad, but because of the promise he had made in front of all his guests he gave orders that her wish be granted.
And although the king was distressed, because of his oaths and his dinner guests he commanded the request to be granted.
And the king was grieved, but because of the oaths, and those who reclined with him , he ordered it to be given.
And the king was grieved; but for the sake of his oaths, and of them that sat at meat with him, he commanded it to be given;
And the king was sad; but because of his oaths and because of his guests, he gave the order for it to be given to her;
The king was grieved, but for the sake of his oaths, and of those who sat at the table with him, he commanded it to be given,
Though the king was saddened at this, because of his oaths and his guests he ordered it to be given.
And the king sickened, yet, on account of the oath and the guests, he commanded that it should be given to her.
And it troubled the king: nevertheless, on account of the oath, and the guests, he commanded that it should be given her.
And the kyng was sory: Neuerthelesse, for the othes sake, and them which sate also at the table, he commaunded it to be geuen her:
And the king was grieved; but for the sake of his oaths, and of them which sat at meat with him, he commanded it to be given;
The king was grieved, but for the sake of his oaths, and of those who sat at the table with him, he commanded it to be given,
And the king was sorry; yet for the oath's sake, and them who sat with him at table, he commanded it to be given her.
The king was deeply vexed, yet because of his repeated oath and of the guests at his table he ordered it to be given her,
And the kyng was sorewful, but for the ooth, and for hem that saten to gidere at the mete, he comaundide to be youun.
And being grieved, the king, because of his oaths and because of those who sat to eat with him, he commanded it to be given;
And the king was sorry: nevertheless for the sake of the oath, and of them who sat with him at table, he commanded [it] to be given [her].
Although it grieved the king, because of his oath and the dinner guests he commanded it to be given.
And the king was sorry; nevertheless, because of the oaths and because of those who sat with him, he commanded it to be given to her.
Then the king regretted what he had said; but because of the vow he had made in front of his guests, he issued the necessary orders.
The king was sorry. But he said for it to be given because he had promised and because of those who were eating with him.
The king was grieved, yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he commanded it to be given;
And the king, though grieved, yet, because of the oaths and the guests, ordered it to be given;
And the king was struck sad: yet because of his oath, and for them that sat with him at table, he commanded it to be given.
And the king was sorry; but because of his oaths and his guests he commanded it to be given;
And ye kynge sorowed. Neverthelesse for his othes sake and for their sakis which sate also at ye table he comaunded yt to be geven hir:
and the king was grieved, but because of the oaths and of those reclining with him, he commanded [it] to be given;
And the kynge was sory. Neuertheles for ye ooth sake, & the yt sat with him at ye table, he comaunded it to be geuen her,
and the king relented: nevertheless out of regard to the oath, and to those who sat with him at table, he commanded it to be brought to her.
Herod was plumb tore up about this and didn't know what to do. He'd given his word and he couldn't back down from that.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
the king: Matthew 14:1, Mark 6:14
sorry: Matthew 14:5, Matthew 27:17-26, Daniel 6:14-16, Mark 6:20, Mark 6:26, Luke 13:32, John 19:12-16, Acts 24:23-27, Acts 25:3-9
the oath's: Numbers 30:5-8, Judges 11:30, Judges 11:31, Judges 11:39, Judges 21:1, Judges 21:7-23, 1 Samuel 14:24, 1 Samuel 14:28, 1 Samuel 14:39-45, 1 Samuel 25:22, 1 Samuel 25:32-34, 1 Samuel 28:10, 2 Kings 6:31-33, Ecclesiastes 5:2
Reciprocal: Leviticus 5:4 - to do evil Jeremiah 44:25 - We will Matthew 19:22 - he went Luke 23:20 - General
Gill's Notes on the Bible
And the king was sorry,.... As he might be upon many accounts; partly on account of John, whom, notwithstanding his freedom in reproving him, he had a respect; and partly on his own account, his conscience dictating to him that it was an evil action, and would leave a brand of perpetual infamy upon him; as also on account of the people, who were so much affected to John, lest they should make an insurrection, and rebel against him; and likewise, because it was reckoned an ill omen with the Romans, to take away life on that day they received their own; and therefore carefully abstained, on such days, from executions.
Nevertheless for his oath's sake; that he might not be guilty of perjury, chose rather to commit murder; though it would have been no iniquity in him, to have acted contrary to such a rash promise, and wicked oath; which would have been better to have been broke, than kept;
and them which sat with him at meat; lest he should be thought by them fickle and inconstant, and not a man of his word, and who had no regard to an oath: or it may be, they, either to curry favour with Herodias, or out of ill will they might bear to John; or in great respect to the damsel, who had so well pleased them with her dancing; instead of dissuading him from it, pressed him much to perform his promise: and therefore,
he commanded it to be given her; in the form and manner she requested it. Some have thought, that the whole of this affair was a concerted scheme; and that Herod himself was in it, though he pretended to be sorry and uneasy, having fixed on this season as a convenient time for it; and chose to have it done in this way, and in so public a manner, to lessen the odium of it; or otherwise, it is not easy to account for his extravagant promise, and his punctual performance of it.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
See also Mark 6:21-29. But when Herod’s birthday was come Kings were accustomed to observe the day of their birth with much pomp, and commonly, also, by giving a feast to their principal nobility. See Genesis 40:20. Mark adds that this birthday was kept by making a supper to his “lords, high captains, and chief estates in Galilee;” that is to the chief men in office. “High captains” means, in the original, commanders of thousands, or of a division of 1,000 people.
The daughter of Herodias - That is, “Salome,” her daughter by her former husband. This was a violation of all the rules of modesty and propriety. One great principle of all eastern nations is to keep their females from public view. For this purpose they are confined in a particular part of the house, called the harem. See the notes at Matthew 9:1-8. If they appear in public, it is always with a veil, so closely drawn that their faces cannot be seen. No modest woman would have appeared in this manner before the court, and it is probable, therefore, that she partook of the dissolute principles of her mother. It is also probable that the dance was one well known in Greece - the lascivious and wanton dance of the Ionics.
Matthew 14:7
He promised with an oath - This a foolish and wicked oath.
To please a wanton girl, the monarch called the eternal God to witness his willingness to give her half his kingdom, Mark 6:23. It seems, also, that he was willing to shed the holiest blood it contained. An oath like this it was not lawful to make, and it should have been broken. See Matthew 14:9.
Matthew 14:8
Being before instructed of her mother - Not before she danced, but afterward, and before she made the request of Herod.
See Mark 6:24. The only appearance of what was right in the whole transaction was her honoring her mother by consulting her, but in this she only intended to accomplish the purposes of wickedness more effectively.
In a charger - The original word means a large platter on which food is placed. We should have supposed that she would have been struck with abhorrence at such a direction from her mother; but she seems to have been gratified. John, by his faithfulness, had offended the whole family, and here was ample opportunity for an adulterous mother and her dissolute child to gratify their resentment. It was customary for princes to require the heads of persons ordered for execution to be brought to them. For this there were two reasons:
- To gratify their resentment - to feast their eyes on the proof that their enemy was dead; and,
- To ascertain the fact that the sentence had been executed.
There is a similar instance in Roman history of a woman requiring the head of an enemy to be brought to her. Agrippina, the mother of Nero, who was afterward emperor, sent an officer to put to death Lollia Paulina, who had been her rival for the imperial dignity. When Lollia’s head was brought to her, not knowing it at first, she examined it with her own hands until she perceived some particular feature by which the lady was distinguished.
Matthew 14:9
And the king was sorry - There might have been several reasons for this.
1. Herod had a high respect for John, and feared him. He knew that he was a holy man, and had “observed him,” Mark 6:20. In the margin (Mark) this is “kept him,” or “saved him.” In fact he had interposed and saved John from being put to death by Herodias, who had had a quarrel with John, and would have killed him but for Herod, Mark 6:19. Herod, though a bad man, had a respect and veneration for John as a holy and just man, as wicked people often will have.
2. John was in high repute among the people, and Herod might have been afraid that his murder might excite commotion.
3. Herod, though a wicked man, does not appear to have been insensible to some of the common principles of human nature. Here was a great and most manifest crime proposed - no less than the murder of an acknowledged prophet of the Lord. It was deliberate. It was to gratify the malice of a wicked woman. It was the price of a few moments’ entertainment. His conscience, though in feeble and dying accents, checked him. He would have preferred a request not so manifestly wicked, and that would not have involved him in so much difficulty.
For the oath’s sake - Herod felt that he was bound by this oath; but he was not. The oath should not have been taken: but, being taken, he could not be bound by it. No oath could justify a man in committing murder. The true principle is, that Herod was bound by a prior obligation - by the law of God - not to commit murder; and no act of his, be it an oath or anything else, could free him from that obligation.
And them which sat with him at meat - This was the strongest reason why Herod murdered John. He had not firmness enough to obey the law of God and to follow the dictates of conscience against the opinions of wicked people. He was afraid of the charge of cowardice and want of spirit; afraid of ridicule and the contempt of the wicked. This is the principle of the laws of honor; this the foundation of dwelling. It is not so much for his own sake that one man murders another in a duel, for the offence is often a mere trifle - it is a word, or look, that never would injure him. It is because the “men of honor,” as they call themselves, his companions, would consider him a coward and would laugh at him. Those companions may be unprincipled contemners of the laws of God and man; and yet the duellist, against his own conscience, against the laws of God, against the good opinion of the virtuous part of the world, and against the laws of his country, seeks by deadly aim to murder another merely to gratify his dissolute companions. And this is the law of honor! This is the secret of duelling! This the source of that remorse that settles in awful blackness, and that thunders damnation around the duellist in his dying hours! It should be added, this is the course of all youthful guilt. Young men are led along by others. They have not firmness enough to follow the teachings of a father and of the law of God. They are afraid of being called mean and cowardly by the wicked; and they often sink low in vice and crime, never to rise again.
At meat - That is, at supper. The word “meat,” at the time the Bible was translated, meant provisions of all kinds. It is now restricted to flesh, and does not convey a full idea of the original.
Matthew 14:11
And his head was brought in a charger ... - For the sake of these wicked people, the bloody offering - the head of the slaughtered prophet was brought and given as the reward to the daughter and mother.
What an offering to a woman! Josephus says of Herodias that “she was a woman full of ambition and envy, having a mighty influence on Herod, and able to persuade him to things he was not at all inclined to.” This is one of the many proofs that we have that the evangelists drew characters according to truth.
Matthew 14:12
And his disciples ... - The head was with Herodias.
The body, with pious care, they buried.
And went and told Jesus - This was done, probably, for the following reasons:
- It was an important event, and one particularly connected with the work of Jesus. John was his forerunner, and it was important that he should be made acquainted with his death.
- It is not unreasonable to suppose that in their affliction they came to him for consolation; nor is it improper in our affliction to follow their example, and go and tell Jesus.
- Their master had been slain by a cruel king. Jesus was engaged in the same cause, and they probably supposed that he was in danger. They therefore came to warn him of it, and he Matthew 14:13 sought a place of safety.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Matthew 14:9. The king was sorry — He knew John to be a righteous man, and at first did many things gladly which John told him it was his duty to perform: Mark 6:20.
Nevertheless, for the oath's sake — The OATHS, ορκους - he had probably sworn again and again-one sin begets many.
And them which sat with him at meat — Who were probably such as himself, and would have considered it a breach of honour if he had not fulfilled his sworn promise: he therefore commanded it to be given!
