Matthew 14:7

With an oath] cp. the rash vow of Jephthah, Judges 11:31. In the OT. Ahasuerus makes exactly the same promise to Esther (href='190 5:3'>Est 5:3). Whatsoever she would ask] St. Mark adds, 'even to the half of my kingdom,' a rhetorical expression for a very great reward. The incident is in accordance with Eastern manners. 'Shah Abbas (Shaft of Persia) being one day drunk, gave a woman who danced much to his satisfaction the fairest khan in all Ispahan, which yielded a great revenue to the shah (to whom it belonged) in chamber-rents. The vizier having put him in mind of it next morning, took the liberty to tell him that it was unjustifiable prodigality, so the shah ordered her to be given a hundred “tomans,” with which she was forced to be content' (Thevenot).