Matthew 14:2

14:2 There was a rumor that John had been resurrected (see 16:14).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Mat 14:2. Παισὶν, servants) The friends of princes are for the most part yonng.[655] In time of fear, the great speak promiscuously with the small.—ΟὟΤΟς, this) Herod was tormented by his conscience.[656] It was not consistent with the character of such a king to arrive at an absolute decision. He concluded, but with doubt; see Luk 9:7; Luk 9:9. Herod was a Sadducee; but Sadduceeism wavers when anything strange occurs. Reason [mere human reason] prefers ascribing marvellous circumstances to ancient, or at least departed saints, rather than to those who are alive; and to those whom it has once begun to esteem highly rather than to others.[657]—ἸΩΆΝΝΗς, John) Herod had not heard of the works of Jesus before the death of John. John had not performed any miracles during his life; but because he had been a holy man, men now suppose that he must nevertheless have possessed miraculous power; cf. ch. Mat 16:14. So great power has the reputation of holiness even with those who are themselves unholy. Moreover, as the actions of Christ were ascribed to John even when dead, it was necessary that he should decrease in order that Christ might increase. The Greeks speak much and often of the things which our Lord’s forerunner, slain before Him, announced and preached to the dead; see Leo Allatius,[658] de libris ecclesiast. Gr. pp. 303, 304; and Wetstein[659] on the dialogue against the Marcionites, p. 33. So do the Latins also, quoted by Ittigius[660] in his dissertation on the gospel preached to the dead, § xi.; see also Ambrose on Luk 1:17, and Gerson’s[661] second lecture on St Mark.—ὁ βαπτιστής, the Baptist) This surname is given to John even by Herod, even by the daughter of Herodias, even by Josephus, so celebrated was it.—αὐτὸς, he) himself.—αἱ δυνάμεις, mighty works) He speaks of them as objective realities.—ἐν αὐτῷ in Him) sc. in Jesus.

[655] Alluding to two of the meanings of παὶς, the one implying youth, the other attendance on a superior.—(I. B.)

[656] So far was he from speaking thus in jest.—E. B.

[657] John most speedily attained the consummation of his course; but those who had deprived him of life, subsequently atoned most dearly for it.—V. g.

[658] LEO ALLATIUS (or ALLACCI). A laborious and indefatigable writer, of a vast memory, whose writings display great reading. Born in the Isle of Chios, of Greek parents, 1586. Having been admitted into the Greek College at Rome, he embraced the Roman Catholic religion, and was eventually appointed keeper of the Vatican library by Pope Alexander VII. Died 1669.—(I. B.)

[659] The author here intended is not J. J. Wetstein, Bengel’s great critical rival, but JOHN RUDOLPH WETSTEIN, son of the author of the same name. He was a native of Basle, and became a theologian and philologist of that Academy. He was born in 1647, and died in 1711. He published at Basle, in 1674, “Origen against the Marcionites,” in Greek and Latin, with notes.—(I. B.)

[660] THOMAS ITTIGIUS, a native of Leipsic, of which Academy he became a theologian and historian; was born 1643, and died 1710. He was the author of many learned works.—(I. B.)

[661] JOHN GERSON; born at Gerson, in France, in 1363; educated at Paris, where he became Canon and Chancellor of the Church. He greatly distinguished himself, at the Council of Constance, by many speeches, especially by one, in which he enforced the superiority of the Council over the Pope. He was one of the most illustrious men of his time, and obtained the surname of Doctor Christianissimus. Cave says that no one can be conversant with his works without very great benefit. His writings are very numerous.—(I. B.)

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat_14:2. Τοῖς παισὶν αὐτοῦ] to his slaves (comp. note on Mat_8:6), who, according to Oriental ideas, are no other than his courtiers. Comp. 1Sa_16:17; 1Ma_1:6; 1Ma_1:8; 1 Maccabees 3 Esdr. Mat_2:17; Diod. Sic. xvii. 36.

αὐτός] indicating by its emphasis the terror-stricken conscience: He, the veritable John.

ἀπὸ τῶν νεκρῶν] from the dead, among whom he was dwelling in Hades. The supposition of Wetstein and Bengel, that Herod was a Sadducee (erroneously founded upon Mar_8:15, comp. Mat_16:6), is no less inconsistent with what he here says about one having risen from the dead, than the other supposition that he believed this to be a case of metempsychosis (Grotius, Gratz, von Cölln); for he assumes that not merely the soul, but that the entire personality of John, has returned. Generally speaking, we do not meet with the doctrine of transmigration among the Jews till some time after; see Delitzsch, Psychol. p. 463 f. [E. T. 545 f.]. Herods language is merely the result of terror, which has been awakened by an evil conscience, and which, with the inconsistency characteristic of mental bewilderment, believes something to have happenedthough contrary to all expectationwhich, in ordinary circumstances, was looked upon as theoretically impossible; while, again, the opinions that were circulating respecting Jesus (Luk_9:7 f.) would suggest, in the case before us, the particular idea to which Herod here gives expression. The Pharisaic belief in the resurrection, which was not unknown to Herod, became, in spite of himself, the psychological starting-point.

διὰ τοῦτο] on this account, because he is no ordinary man, but one risen from the dead.

αἱ δυνάμεις] the powers manifesting themselves in his miracles.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat 14:2 . παισὶν αὐτοῦ : not his sons, but his servants, i.e. , the courtiers, great men in their way, not the menials in the palace. The king would propound his odd theory in familiar talk, not in solemn conclave. αὐτός ἐστιν , etc. It is this theory we have to thank for the narrative following, which in itself has no special connection with the evangelic history, though doubtless Christians would naturally read with interest the fate of the forerunner of Jesus. The king has the Baptist on the brain; and remarkable occurrences in the religious world recall him at once to mind. It is John! he ( αὐτὸς ) is risen; theory begotten of remorse; odd enough, but better than Pharisaic one begotten of malevolence; both witnessing to the extraordinary in Christ’s career. διὰ τοῦτο : the living John did no miracles, but no saying what a dead one redivivus can do? ἐνεργοῦσιν , not: he does the mighty works, but: the powers ( δυνάμεις ) work in him, the powers of the invisible world, vast and vague in the king’s imagination.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

By works he meaneth that force and power, whereby works are wrought and not the works, as is seen oft before.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

And said unto his servants--his counsellors or court-ministers.

This is John the Baptist: he is risen from the dead, &c.--The murdered prophet haunted his guilty breast like a specter and seemed to him alive again and clothed with unearthly powers in the person of Jesus.

Account of the Baptist's Imprisonment and Death (Mat 14:3-12). For the exposition of this portion, see on Mar 6:17-29.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 2. This is John the Baptist] ον εγω απεκεφαλισα, Whom I beheaded. These words are added here by the Codex Bezae and several others, by the Saxon, and five copies of the Itala. - See the power of conscience! He is miserable because he is guilty; being continually under the dominion of self-accusation, reproach, and remorse. No need for the Baptist now: conscience performs the office of ten thousand accusers! But, to complete the misery, a guilty conscience offers no relief from God - points out no salvation from sin.

He is risen from the dead] From this we may observe:

1. That the resurrection of the dead was a common opinion among the Jews; and

2. That the materiality of the soul made no part of Herod's creed.

Bad and profligate as he was, it was not deemed by him a thing impossible with God to raise the dead; and the spirit of the murdered Baptist had a permanent resurrection in his guilty conscience.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(2) This is John the Baptist.—In Mat_16:14, Luk_9:7-9, this is given as one of the three opinions that were floating among the people as to our Lord’s character, the other two being, (1) that He was Elijah, and (2) that He was one of the old prophets who had risen again. The policy of the tetrarch connected him with the Sadducean priestly party rather than with the more popular and rigid Pharisees, and a comparison of Mat_16:6 with Mar_8:15 at least suggests the identity of the “leaven of Herod” with that of the Sadducees. On this supposition, his acceptance of the first of the three rumours is every way remarkable. The superstitious terror of a conscience stained with guilt is stronger than his scepticism as a Sadducee, even though there mingled with it, as was probable enough, the wider unbelief of Roman epicureanism. To him the new Prophet, working signs and wonders which John had never worked, was but the re-appearance of the man whom he had murdered. It was more than a spectre from the unseen world, more than the metempsychosis of the soul of John into another body. It was nothing less than John himself.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2. he] The Greek is emphatic, “he himself,” “in his own person.”

risen from the dead] A proof that Herod did not hold the Sadducean doctrine, that there is no resurrection.

and therefore] In consequence of having risen from the dead he is thought to be possessed of larger powers. Alford remarks that this incidentally confirms St John’s statement (ch. Mat_10:41), that John wrought no miracle while living.

mighty works do shew forth themselves] Literally, works of power are active in him.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And said unto his servants,.... Those of his household, his courtiers, with whom he more familiarly conversed; to these he expressed his fears, that it might be true what was suggested by the people, and he was ready to believe it himself;

this is John the Baptist: some copies add, "whom I have beheaded", as in Mar 6:16 the guilt of which action rose in his mind, lay heavy on him, and filled him with horror and a thousand fears:

he is risen from the dead; which if he was a Sadducee, as he is thought to be, by comparing Mat 16:6 with Mar 8:15 was directly contrary to his former sentiments, and was extorted from him by his guilty conscience; who now fears, what before he did not believe; and what he fears, he affirms; concluding that John was raised from the dead, to give proof of his innocence, and to revenge his death on him:

and therefore mighty works do show themselves in him, or "are wrought by him"; for though he wrought no miracles in his lifetime, yet, according to a vulgar notion, that after death men are endued with a greater power, Herod thought this to be the case; or that he was possessed of greater power, on purpose to punish him for the murder of him; and that these miracles which were wrought by him, were convincing proofs of the truth of his resurrection, and of what he was able to do to him, and what he might righteously expect from him.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

2 And said unto his servants, This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead; and therefore mighty works do shew forth themselves in him.

Ver. 2. And said unto his servants] So seeking a diversion of his inward terrors and torments. Perplexed he was and could find no way out, as St Luke’s word {Luk 9:7} importeth. (Διηπορει, de iis dicitur qui ita perplexi, et impediti quasi in luto tenentur, ut πορον μη ευρισκουσι, exitum non inveniant, Beza.) Conscience will hamper a guilty person, and fill him often with unquestionable conviction and horror. As those that were condemned to be crucified, bare their cross, that should soon after bear them: so God hath laid upon evildoers the cross of their own consciences, that thereon they may suffer afore they suffer; and their greatest enemies need not wish them a greater mischief. For assuredly, a body is not so torn with stripes, as a mind with the remembrance of wicked actions. And here Cain runs to building of cities, Saul to the delight of music, Belshazzar to quaffing and carousing, Herod to his minions and catamites; {a} so to put by, if possible, that melancholy dumps and heartqualms, as they count and call inward terrors. But conscience will not be pacified by these sorry anodynes of the devil. Wicked men may skip and leap up and down for a while, as the wounded deer doth; sed haeret lateri lethalis arundo, the deadly dart sticks fast in their sides, and will do without true repentance, till it hath brought them, as it did Herod, to desperation and destruction, so that he laid violent hands upon himself at Lyons in France, whither he and his courtezan were banished by Augustus. {b}

This is John the Baptist] Herod had thought to have hugged his Herodias without control when once the Baptist was beheaded; but it proved somewhat otherwise. Indeed so long as he played alone, he was sure to win all. But now conscience came in to play her part, Herod is in a worse case than ever; for he imagined still that he saw and heard that holy head shouting and crying out against him, staring him also in the face at every turn; as that tyrant thought he saw the head of Symmachus, whom he had basely slain, in the mouth of the fish that was set before him on the table. And as Judge Morgan, who gave the sentence of condenmation against the Lady Jane Grey, shortly after he had condemned her, fell mad, and in his raving cried out continually to have the Lady Jane taken away from him, and so ended his life.

{a} τοις παισιν αυτου, to his boys, which haply were his serious loves.

{b} Nam non multo post haec, secutum est tyranni exilium et exitium. Joseph. lib. 18, cap. 9.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

This is John the Baptist - Herod feared John. His conscience smote him for his crimes. He remembered that he had wickedly put him to death. He knew him to be a distinguished prophet; and he concluded that no other one was capable of working such miracles but he who had been so eminent a servant of God in his life, and who, he supposed, had again risen from the dead and entered the dominions of his murderer. The alarm in his court, it seems, was general. Herod’s conscience told him that this was John. Others thought that it might be the expected Elijah or one of the old prophets, Mar 6:15.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Risen from the dead. St. Jerome thinks these words are spoken by Herod ironically; but they are generally supposed to be his real sentiments, the dictates of a guilty conscience. For he respected John, as appears from ver. 9, and was afraid he was returned to avenge his unjust murder. (Jansenius) --- Mighty works shew forth themselves in him,[1] or work in him. (Witham)

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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]

Operantur in eo, Greek: energousin en anto; which shews that operantur is taken actively, not passively, as in some places.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

2. Said unto his servants — Why Herod should thus express himself to his servants, so likely to have been skeptical and dissolute men, seems at first view difficult to say. But one or two apparently accidental allusions elsewhere in the Gospels afford, perhaps, some explanation. We learn from Luk_8:3, that among those who administered to Jesus of their substance was Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward. And again in Act_13:1, we are told that among other distinguished converts was Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch; that is, was his foster brother. We see then, that as at a later period there were saints in Cesar’s household, so there were also believers in the household of Herod. Through these the solemn reports of the deeds and teachings of Jesus doubtless reached the guilty king. Consequently “he was desirous of seeing him, because he had heard many things of him.” And to such servants he could doubtless express the believing sentiments attributed to him.

This is John the Baptist — Herod Antipas did not identify Jesus as the newborn King of the Jews announced to his father’s house by the Magi. That fear had long since been dismissed and forgotten. Nor did he seem distinctly to understand that Jesus claimed Messiahship. Antipas was king by descent from his Herodian paternity, and maternally from the more noble Asmonean line; but how feebly could both these compare with an heirship like that of Jesus from the ancient line of David and Solomon. Herod was Edomite; but purely national was the blood of the family of Nazareth.

Jesus did at last appear before Herod, (Luk_23:6-12;) sent in bonds by Pilate to Herod as the subject of his jurisdiction. Herod was at first interested to see Jesus, in hopes of beholding some display of that miraculous power by which he is at the present time so much perplexed and harrowed in conscience. But when Jesus maintained an impenetrable silence, the irritated Antipas arrayed him in tawdry robes in mockery of his royalty, and remanded him to Pilate. Risen from the dead — His conscience seemed to conjure up the murdered John from his grave. Luke adds that the tyrant was “perplexed;” and when it was rumoured that Jesus was the risen John, and one courtier suggested that he was Elias, and another that he was some one of the ancient prophets reappearing, Herod Antipas finishes with: “John have I beheaded, but who is this of whom I hear such things?” These conjectures imply, not a belief in a transmigration of souls, but simply in extraordinary resurrections. The whole account furnishes a vivid picture of a profligate set of men, interrupted in the midst of their riot and wickedness by supernatural rumours and horrors of conscience. A comparison of Mar_8:15, with Mat_16:6. furnishes reason to suppose that Herod was a Sadducee. For in the one passage the leaven or doctrine of Herod appears to be the same as the leaven of the Sadducees, and Luke tells us (Luk_9:7) that he was “perplexed because it was said of some that John was risen from the dead; and of some that Elias had appeared; and of others that one of the old prophets was risen again.” So thickly did these rumours come that he seems to have given in the point that the murdered John had reappeared from the grave. Though a Sadducee, yet guilt made him a cowardly sort of a believer. So true it is that irreligious men are often tremblingly superstitious. Being unconsoled by the truths of religion, they are exposed to be frightened by any form of horror suggested to the imagination by a guilty conscience. Therefore mighty works — The implication is that John had acquired a miracle-working power after rising from the dead. This is a striking incidental confirmation of Joh_10:41, that John wrought no miracles while living.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And said unto his servants. According to Luke, the following assertion was brought forward by some, but was, it would seem, summarily rejected by Herod; (Luk_9:7, Luk_9:9) according to Mark (elegon , Westcott and Hort, text) it was common talk, and agreed to by Herod. (Mar_6:14, 16) If a reconciliation of so unimportant a verbal disagreement be sought for, it may perhaps lie in Luke representing Herod"s first exclamation, and Matthew, with Mark, his settled belief. Clearly Herod did not originate it, as the summary account in our Gospel would lead us to suppose. This is John the Baptist. (Mat_3:1 and 4:12, notes) (For this opinion about our Lord, compare, besides the parallel passages referred to in the last note, also Mat_16:14) He (autov , Mat_1:21, note) is risen from the dead. The other dead still lie in Hades (apo twn nekrwn). Plumptre, on Mark, adduces a curious passage from Persius, 5:180-188, which he thinks is based on a story that when Herod celebrated another of his birthdays (cf. ver. 6) in Rome, in A.D. 39, he was terrified by a Banquo-like appearance of the murdered prophet. The superstition that already suggested to Herod the resurrection of John might well act more strongly on the anniversary of the murder, and after he had connived at the death of the One who, by his miracles, showed that he possessed greater power than John. And therefore; "because he is no ordinary man, but one risen from the dead" (Meyer). Mighty works do show forth themselves in him (ai dunameiv energousin en ai tw) do these powers work in him (Revised Version). "These" (ai , the article of reference), i.e. these which are spoken of in the report (ver. 1). Ai dunameiv may be

(1) specifically miracles, (cf. Mat_13:58) in which case they are regarded as potentially active in John before their completion in history; or

(2) the powers of working miracles, as perhaps in 1Co_12:28. Observe that this passage confirms the statement of Joh_10:41, that John performed no miracle. Observe that it is also an indirect witness to the fact of our Lord performing miracles. For Herod"s utterance is not such as a forger would have imagined.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He is risen from the dead - Herod was a Sadducee: and the Sadducees denied the resurrection of the dead. But Sadduceeism staggers when conscience awakes.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

2. This is John the Baptist. Herod claimed to be a Sadducee, and hence held that there was no life whatever after death, but under the terrors of a guilty conscience his creed undergoes a change. Hence his first thought when he hears of the deeds of Jesus is that the murdered John has risen from the dead. Therefore mighty works do shew forth themselves in him. During his life John wrought no miracles (John 10:41). Herod supposed that his resurrection had clothed him with new power. This opinion was shared by others (Matt. 16:14; Mark 8:28).

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

2. αὐτός. Emphatic, ‘he himself,’ ‘in his own person.’

ἠγέρθη ἀπὸ τῶν νεκρῶν. A proof that Herod did not hold the Sadducaan doctrine, that there is no resurrection.

διὰ τοῦτο. In consequence of having risen from the dead he is thought to be possessed of larger powers. Alford remarks that this incidentally confirms St John’s statement (ch. Mat 10:41), that John wrought no miracle while living.

αἱ δυνάμεις. ‘The works of power’ of which Herod had heard. δυνάμεις, miracles regarded as marks of divine power; as proofs or signs of the divine presence they are σημεῖα, as exciting wonder they are τέρατα. The latter word is never used alone of miracles: this is not the side on which the Gospel dwells. Trench. Syn. of N.T. 177 foll.

ἐνεργοῦσιν. Not ‘shew themselves forth,’ A.V., but, ‘are active in him.’ The verb is frequent in Aristotle, the substantive ἐνέργεια is an important philosophical term in relation to δύναμις. The same contrast is suggested here. In Polybius ἐνεργεῖν is sometimes (1) transitive, as πάντα κατὰ δύναμιν ἐνεργεῖν, 18:14; 18:8. Sometimes (2) intransitive, as τῶν αἰτίων ἐνεργούντων κατὰ τὸ συνεχές, 4:40, 4. Both these uses are found in N.T. (1) ὁ αὐτὸς θεὸς ὁ ἐνεργῶν τὰ πάντα ἐν πᾶσιν, 1Co 12:6. (2) τοῦ νῦν ἐνεργοῦντος ἐν τοῖς υἱοῖς τῆς ἀπειθείας. Eph 2:2.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2.] παῖς = δοῦλος.

αὐτός] emphatic; equivalent in English to “it is he, that” … In Luk 9:7 it is said that Herod διηπόρει διὰ τὸ λέγεσθαι ὑπό τινων ὅτι Ἰωάνν. ἐγήγ. κ.τ.λ. There is no inconsistency in these accounts: the report originated with others: but if Herod διηπόρει concerning it, he, in the terrors of a guilty conscience, doubtless gave utterance to these words himself. There is no evidence that Herod was a Sadducee, or a disbeliever in the resurrection as then held by the Pharisees. See also note on Mar 8:14.

There is no allusion here to metempsychosis, but to the veritable bodily resurrection, and supposed greater power acquired by having passed through death. This is an incidental confirmation of Joh 10:41, where we read that John wrought no miracle while living.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2. And he said to his servants, This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead; and therefore the powers are active in him.] Mk. has: “And he said (ἔλεγεν, א A C L S1) that John the Baptizer has risen from the dead, and therefore the powers are active in him. But others were saying that it is Elijah. And others were saying that he is a prophet as one of the prophets. But Herod heard, and said, John whom I beheaded, he is risen.” Mt. seems to have had ἔλεγεν in 14.—βαπτιστής] for βαπτίζων, cf. the same change in 3:1. Mt. abbreviates Mk.’s double statement of Herod’s opinion and the surmises of other people.—αἱ δυνάμεις] elsewhere in this Gospel means “miraculous actions.” Here, as in Mar_14, it seems to denote the supernatural powers who operated through the risen Baptist.

(M)

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.