1. Luke omits Mark's account of the dance of Herod's daughter and its grim outcome. That omission accords better with the ancient historian Josephus, who says Herod executed the Dunker for being a troublemaker (probably at the prodding of Jewish authorities who took him as an upstart). Still, one can easily imagine John publicly condemning Herod's marriage to Herodias, who divorced Herod II in order to wed his brother Herod Antipater (or Antipas). Such a public denunciation would have been taken as a political threat in those violent times.
Though Luke bypasses the story of Herodias's revenge, everyone has heard the proverb, "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned."
New World Encyclopedia tells us:
Herod II (ca. 27 BC – 33/34 AD) was the son of Herod the Great and Mariamne II, the daughter of Simon Boethus the high priest. For a brief period he was his father's heir. Some writers call him Herod Philip I (not to be confused with Philip the Tetrarch, whom some writers call Herod Philip II).For further information, see the article on Herodias in the
Around the year a.d. 1 or 2, Herodias married her uncle, Herod II, also called Herod Boethus, a son of Herod the Great and Mariamne II, the daughter of the high priest Simon Boethus. The Gospel of Mark calls Herod II "Philip," but this is probably an error, Philip being another son of Herod who was tetrarch of the territories east of the Sea of Galilee. Although seen for a while as the successor of Herod the Great, Herod II fell from grace after his mother was suspected of treason, and he was thus not included in Herod the Great's will as part of the plan to divide his kingdom among his other sons.
Herod II and Herodias nevertheless lived in luxury somewhere on the Mediterranean coast of the Levant as well as at Rome, where they enjoyed considerable influence. Herodias had a daughter, born around 14 C.E., whom she named Salome after her maternal grandmother.
Around 23, Herodias divorced Herod II and married another uncle, Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee and Peraea. It is traditionally believed that Herod Antipas and Herodias truly loved each other, but political considerations were no doubt important considerations as well. Herodias's Hasmonean descent was a vital asset for Antipas' s ambition to rise to the position of king and unite his lands with those of Judaea, which were now governed directly by the Romans after his brother Archelaeus proved incompetent. For Herodias, her marriage with Antipas improved her social status significantly and she was close to being a queen, a position she might have hoped for ever since her betrothal to her first husband when he was still the heir-apparent of Herod the Great.
New World Encyclopedia of Philosophy:
https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Herodias
1a. Mark 1:2-3 also quotes from
Malachi 3:1-4.
1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.
2 But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap:
3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.
4 Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years.
2. Matthew is citing
Isaiah 9:2
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. They who dwell in the land of the shadow of death, on them has the light shined.
3. The synoptic books have Jesus begin his public ministry in earnest after John's ministry is brought to an end.
z1. The reign of Antipas, writes A.H.M. Jones in The Herods of Judaea (Oxford 1938), was disrupted by the religious revival led by
John, the son of a priest named Zacharias, who went about the Peraea proclaiming the imminent arrival of the kingdom of God. His doctrine was to all appearances harmless; he only urged the people to repent of their sins and he washed them in the Jordan in token of their change of heart, whence he was popularly nicknamed John the Dipper. But Antipas knew only too well what these religious revivals led to -- the kingdom of God was an ambiguous phrase and for the Zealots and the majority of the lower classes had distinctly revolutionary implications. Moreover John was so bold as to urge Antipas himself to repentance for his illegal marriage, and this savoured of treason. So Antipas had him arrested and incarcerated in the fortress of Machaerus on the extreme edge of his dominions.
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