Bible Commentaries

Tetrarch

A ruler of a fourth part. Archelaus had obtained two-fourths of his father's dominions, and Antipas (this Herod) and Philip each one-fourth.

The fame ( ἀκοὴν )

Better as Rev., report. Lit., hearing.

Put him in prison

( ἐν φυλακῇ απέθετο )Lit., “put him away or aside ” ( ἀπὸ ). 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 foundations 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”).

Birthday ( γενεσίοις )

Though some explain it as the anniversary of Herod's accession. The custom of celebrating birthdays by festivities was not approved by the strict Jews; but it is claimed that the Herodian princes adopted the custom. The Roman satirist, Persins, alludes to a festival known as “Herod's Day,” and pictures a banquet on that occasion.

“But when

Comes Herod's day, and on the steaming panes

Swell with the wine.”

Sat. v., 180-188.

Before ( ἐν τῷ μέσῳ )

Rev.,in the midst. Wyc., leaped in the middle.

He promised ( ὡμολόγησεν )

Lit., confessed; conveying the idea of acknowledging the obligation of his oath. Salome had degraded herself to perform the part of an almehor common dancer, and could claim her reward.

Give ( δότε )

The disciples had said, “Send them away to buy for themselves. ” Christ replies, Give ye.

Brake

As the Jewish loaves were thin cakes, a thumb's breadth in thickness, and more easily broken than cut.

Were filled ( ἐχορτάσθησαν )

See on Matthew 5:6.

Baskets ( κοφίνους )

Wyc., coffins, a transcription of the Greek word. Juvenal, the Roman satirist, describes the grove of Numa, near the Capenian gate of Rome, as being “let out to the Jews, whose furniture is a basket (cophinus ) and some hay” (for a bed )“Sat. ” iii., 14. These were small hand-baskets, specially provided for the Jews to carry levitically clean food while travelling in Samaria or other heathen districts. The word for basket used in relating the feeding of the four thousand (Matthew 15:37) is σπυρίς , a large provision-basket or hamper, of the kind used for letting Paul down over the wall at Damascus (Acts 9:25). In Matthew 16:9, Matthew 16:10, Christ, in alluding to the two miracles, observes the distinctive term in each narrative; using κοφίνους in the case of the five thousand, and σπυρίδας in the other. Burgon (“Letters from Rome”) gives a drawing of a wicker basket used by the masons in the cathedral at Sorrento, and called cóffano. He adds, “Who can doubt that the basket of the gospel narrative was of the shape here represented, and that the denomination of this basket exclusively has lingered in a Greek colony, where the Jews (who once carried the cophinus as a personal equipment) formerly lived in great numbers?”

Constrained

Implying the disciples' reluctance to leave him behind.

Tossed ( βασανιζόμενον )

Rev., better, distressed. See on Matthew 4:24.

A spirit ( φάντασμα )

Of which our word phantasm is a transcription. Rev., rather stiffly, apparition. Wyc., phantom.

To go to ( ἐλθεῖν πρὸς )

But some of the best texts read καὶ ἦλθεν πρὸς , and went toward.

He was afraid

“Although,” says Bengel, “a fisherman and a good swimmer” (John 21:7).

Ceased ( ἐκόπασεν )

A beautiful word. Lit., grew weary; sank away like one who is weary.

Were made perfectly whole ( διεσώθησαν )

The preposition διά , through or through, indicates complete restoration.