Mark 6:18

For John had said unto Herod, It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife. FOR JOHN HAD SAID UNTO HEROD, IT IS NOT LAWFUL FOR THEE TO HAVE THY BROTHER'S WIFE. Noble fidelity! It was not lawful, because Herod's wife and Herodias' husband were both living; and further, because the parties were within the forbidden degrees of consanguinity (see ); Herodias being the daughter of Aristobulus, the brother of both Herod and Philip (Josephus 18: 5, 4)....

14-29 Herod feared John while he lived, and feared him still more when he was dead. Herod did many of those things which John in his preaching taught him; but it is not enough to do many things, we must have respect to all the commandments. Herod respected John, till he touched him in his Herodias. Thus many love good preaching, if it keep far away from their beloved sin. But it is better that sinners persecute ministers now for faithfulness, than curse them eternally for unfaithfulness. The ways of God are unsearchable; but we may be sure he never can be at a loss to repay his servants for what they endure or lose for his sake. Death could not come so as to surprise this holy man; and the triumph of the wicked was short....

See this account of the death of John the Baptist fully explained in the notes at Matthew 14:1. Mark 6:20 FOR HEROD FEARED JOHN - That is, he stood in awe of him on account of his sanctity, and his boldness and fearlessness in reproving sin. KNOWING THAT HE WAS A JUST MAN AND AN HOLY - A holy, pious, upright, honest man - a man who would not be afraid of him, or afraid to speak his real sentiments. AND OBSERVED HIM - Margin, “kept him, or saved him.” This does not mean that he “observed” or obeyed his teachings, but that he kept him in safe custody in order to preserve him from the machinations of Herodias. He was willing to show his respect for John, a

EXPOSITION MARK 6:1 Our Lord now left the neighbourhood of Capernaum, and came INTO HIS OWN COUNTRY, the district of Nazareth, where he had been, not born indeed, but brought up, and where his kinsfolk after the flesh still lived. Nazareth would be about a day's journey from Capernaum. This was not the first public exercise of his ministry at Nazareth. Of that and its results St. Luke gives us the account (Luke 4:16). It would seem reasonable to suppose that, after the fame which he had now acquired, he should again visit the place where he had been brought up. His sisters were still living there. St. Mark here again uses the historical present ἔρχεται, "he cometh," for which there is better authority than for ἧλθεν_. _HIS

FOR JOHN HAD SAID UNTO HEROD,.... He had been personally with him, and had plainly and freely told him of his sin, and faithfully reproved him for it; alleging what he had done was contrary to the law of God: IT IS NOT LAWFUL, FOR THEE TO HAVE THY BROTHER'S WIFE: Matthew 14:4....

CHAPTER 6 _ 1. The Servant rejected in Nazareth. (Mark 6:1. Matthew 13:54; Luke 4:16)_ 2. The Servant sends forth the Twelve. (Mark 6:7 .Matthew 10:5; Luke 9:1) 3. King Herod troubled. (Mark 6:14. Matthew 14:1; Luke 9:7)...

HEROD AND JESUS. THE END OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. Wellhausen, J. Weiss, and Klostermann would begin a new period with this section the period of constant wandering, in which Jesus is mostly outside Galilee, _e.g._ in the districts of Tyre and Sidon (Mark 7:24), Decapolis (Mark 7:31), Bethsaida (Mark 8:22), Cæ sarea Philippi (Mark 8:27). The restless journeying across the lake, and the avoidance of Galilee, would be explained by the fact that the suspicions of Herod have been aroused. This characterisation of the period is correct and the hint as to its cause is also probable (_cf._ L

WITHOUT HONOR IN HIS OWN COUNTRY (Mark 6:1-6)...

HAD SAID. kept saying....

_For John had said_ Herod was probably on his way to meet his father-in-law, when he first encountered the Baptist, who, in the presence of the Galilean king, proved himself no "reed shaken by the wind" (Luke 7:24), but boldly denounced the royal crimes (Luke 3:19), and declared the marriage unlawful. For this outspoken faithfulness he was flung into prison, probably in the castle of Machærus or "the Black Fortress," which Herod's father had built in one of the most abrupt wâdys to the east of the Dead Sea, to overawe the wild Arab tribes of the neighbourhood. Though originally in the possession of Aretas, Herod had probably seized the fortress after the departure of his first wife to her father's stronghold at Petra (Jos. _Ant_. xviii. 5. 2)....