IMPRISONING OF JOHN THE BAPTIST

St. John the Baptist in the Prison by Juan Fernández de Navarrete, 1565-70

Machaerus in the Autumn of 27 A.D.

(Matthew 14:3-5, Mark 6:17-20 and Luke 3:19-20)

But Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him [John the Baptist] for Herodias his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, for Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John and bound him and put him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife for he had married her.

This gets very convoluted. The Herod being spoken of here was Herod Antipas. He was the son of Herod the Great. His wife, Herodias, was the daughter of Herod Antipas’ stepbrother, Aristobulus. To even further complicate the matter, Herodias had been married to Philip (or Herod-Philip), who was another stepbrother of Herod Antipas and who was the father of Salome. To even add more to this alphabet soup, Herod the Great had yet another son, by Cleopatra, named Heroal-Philip, who was the husband of Salome. Whew! (Source: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, 1915)

Whatever the actual tangle of links in this mess of a family, John the Baptist had been taking Herod to task for marrying Herodias and committing adultery. This didn’t sit well with Herodias and she nagged Herod into having John arrested.

Added yet this above all, that he shut up John in prison for John had said to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife.”

Therefore Herodias had a quarrel against him, and would have killed him but she could not for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just man and a holy, and observed him and when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly. And when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet.

Herodias wanted to go even further and have John executed, but Herod still believed John was a holy man and feared doing anything to him. When Herod finally reached the place where he would have agreed to kill John, he hesitated now because he was afraid what the people might do. 

In the meantime, John languished in prison.

This is rather in conflict with the portrayal of John’s imprisonment in “The History Channel

Series The Bible,” where John is depicted being slapped around by Herod and his prison guards. 

The Scripture tells us Herod actually visited John and listened to him. Herodias, however, would have John killed; yet Herod was not willing to do this. Although Herod Antipas ruled over Judea and Perea, he was not really of Jewish heritage. He was aware of Jewish tradition and beliefs and may have been curious, just as others were whether John was the Messiah. He was certainly curious about John and wanted to learn more. We will see this same type of curiosity and interest shown in the future when Jesus is arrested and brought before him.

At any rate, Herod resisted his wife’s will to have John killed and it took an act of opportunity on Herodias’ part to trick him into the act.