Mark 6:21-23

‘And when an opportune day was come, that Herod on his birthday made a feast for his court officials and military officers and the chief men of Galilee, and when Herodias' daughter herself came in and danced, she pleased Herod and those who sat at meat with him, and the king said to the young woman, “Ask of me whatever you will and I will give it to you”. And he swore to her, “Whatever you will ask of me, I will give it to you, to as much as half of my kingdom”.

Unexpectedly an opportune day came for Herodias to achieve her end. It is quite probable that she knew of Herod's propensity, when drunk on such occasions, to make rash promises to dancing girls, and she plotted accordingly. She sent in her own daughter (by Herod Philip, probably the beautiful and seductive Salome. She may well have noted Herod's glances at her), to dance before the king and all the important people with him. Such dances were expected to be lewd and suggestive, and this girl's would be no exception, and it raised Herod's excitement to such an extent that he offered her as much as half his kingdom as a reward.

Such an extreme offer was presumably made because it was his stepdaughter and nothing less would have been seen as sufficient (she had all she could want already), and also probably because Herod had in mind another occasion when such an offer had been made (Esther 5:3; Esther 7:2). It was not intended to be taken literally (he was under Rome and could not give half his kingdom away) but if considered at all in his drunken state it was basically a willingness that if she wished she could rule half his kingdom (either Peraea or Galilee) under him.

‘When an opportune day was come.' This could mean simply a suitable day for Herod to hold a feast, that is, on his birthday. But more probably it refers to Herodias' wish to kill John the Baptiser.

‘On his birthday.' Little did he realise that on this day of celebration he would do that which would blight his life thereafter.

‘Court officials' (literally ‘lords'). ‘Military officers' (literally ‘chiliarchs'), leaders of a thousand men' but here with a more general meaning to include all high ranking officers.

‘The leading men of Galilee.' This has led some to posit that the event may have occurred at Tiberias, but this interpretation is not necessary. Herod's entourage would go wherever he went, especially for his birthday celebrations, and the leading men of Peraea would also be there. The specific mention here of the leading men of Galilee is rather to tie them in with the evil deed. They too were responsible for what happened to John the Baptiser.

‘The daughter of Herodias herself.' The manuscripts are divided here, the main difference being between whether we read 'autes or 'autou. The former means in context ‘herself' the latter would mean ‘of him', that is Herod. The latter would be using ‘daughter' loosely as meaning stepdaughter and may have arisen to emphasise the appalling fact that he allowed her to perform such a dance at all (in Mark 6:24 she is clearly Herodias' daughter'). It could, however, indicate that he had a daughter, also called Herodias (possibly like Herod a family name)

‘Came in.' No respectable princess would have considered entering such a gathering of half-drunk men. Queen Vashti gave up her position rather than do so (Esther 1:12). And Jews would have been appalled. But Herod regarded neither. He was used to Roman orgies.

‘Danced.' Dances at such gatherings were lewd and highly suggestive to fit in with men's propensities. They were usually performed by experienced professional prostitutes and few rulers (or their wives) would have allowed their daughters to take part in such dances. But the Herods had a reputation for moral depravity. Some women love exposing themselves and shocking people, and Herodias' daughter was clearly such a one, and her mother had a deeper motive in mind for which she did not mind a ‘little' impropriety, while Herod, although possibly taken aback, no doubt enjoyed the opportunity for seeing his seductive stepdaughter in such a guise (she was not after all his blood daughter).

‘Ask of me whatever you will.' This was no doubt Herod's regular drunken response to an act that pleased and stirred him so that his emotions were deeply aroused. But money or jewellery was usually in mind. However, because it was his stepdaughter he extended the offer, in his drunken pride possibly even seeing himself as like Ahasuerus and not wishing to be outdone by a past foreign king (Esther 5:3; Esther 7:2).

There are undoubted parallels between this account and events in the book of Esther, not because of deliberate copying but partly because of Herod's own reference and partly because Mark probably intended a deliberate contrast between the chaste woman there and this immoral strumpet; a contrast between the one whose actions destroyed an evil man, who was set to destroy God's people, and this one whose actions resulted in the death of a holy man of God (see Esther 2:9 LXX; Mark 5:3; Mark 5:6).