Matthew 14:4
in Matthew 14because John had been telling him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For John said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her.
KJV
For John said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her.
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This verse in Matthew 14
Commentary
15 notes on this verseIt is not lawful for thee to have her - It was not lawful indeed for either of them to have her. For her father Aristobulus was their own brother. John's words were rough, like his raiment.
This site's exposition
for Herodias' sake
on Matthew 14:3-5
Herod had laid hold on John for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife, and Matthew names the marriage that John had publicly condemned as unlawful under Leviticus 18:16 and 20:21, since Philip was still living. The bench notes a genuine identification question here, since Josephus names Herodias's first husband Herod, not Philip, likely a half-brother distinct from Philip the tetrarch of 16:13; the family carried multiple sons named similarly, and the confusion belongs to the historical record rather than to any error in the Gospel's own account of the marriage's unlawfulness. He feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet explains why Herod held John rather than killing him outright despite wanting to.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
John aroused Herod by his moral admonitions, not by any formal accusation. He wanted to correct, not to suppress. Herod, however, preferred to suppress rather than be reconciled. To those who are held captive, the freedom of the one innocent of wrongdoing becomes hateful. Virtue …
(De Cons. Ev. ii. 44.) Luke does not give this in the same order, but where he is speaking of the Lord's baptism, so that he took beforehand an event which happened long afterwards. For after that saying of John's concerning the Lord, that His fan is in His hand, he straightway adds this, which, as we may gather from John's Gospel, did not follow immediately. For he relates that after Jesus was baptized, He went into Galilee, and thence returned into Judæa, and baptized there near to the Jordan before John was cast into prison. But neither Matthew nor Mark have placed John's imprisonment in that order in which it appears from their own writings that it took place; for they also say that when John was delivered up, the Lord went into Galilee, and after many things there done, then by occasion of the fame of Christ reaching Herod they relate what took place in the imprisonment and beheading of John. The cause for which he had been cast into prison he shows when he says, On account of Herodias his brother's wife. For John had said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her.
A commentator
JosephusAntiquities of the Jews - Book XVIII, Chapter 5, Section 2 · Written before 100.
proposed
Now some of the Jews thought that the destruction of Herod's army came from God, and that very justly, as a punishment of what he did against John, that was called the Baptist: for Herod slew him, who was a good man, and commanded the …
(vv. 3, 4.) For Herod had arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife. Because John had said to him, 'It is not lawful for you to have her.'
The old history tells us, that Philip the son of Herod the greater, the brother of this Herod, had taken to wife Herodias daughter of Aretas, king of the Arabs; and that he, the father-in-law, having afterwards cause of quarrel with his son-in-law, took away his daughter, and to grieve her husband gave her in marriage to his enemy Herod. John the Baptist therefore, who came in the spirit and power of Elias, with the same authority that he had exerted over Ahab and Jezebel, rebuked Herod and Herodias, because that they had entered into unlawful wedlock; it being unlawful while the own brother yet lives to take his wife. He preferred to endanger himself with the King, than to be forgetful of the commandments of God in commending himself to him.
8 more voices on this verse
The Church Fathers2 voices
(vv. 3, 4.) For Herod had arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife. Because John had said to him, 'It is not lawful for you to have her.'
A commentator
John ChrysostomHomily on the Gospel of Matthew 48 · Written in the 5th century.
proposed
Then his narrative proceeds thus: "For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison, for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife. For John said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her. And when he would have put him to death, he feared the people, because they counted him as a prophet." And wherefore doth he not address his discourse at all to her, but to the man? Because it depended more on him. But see how inoffensive he makes his accusation, as relating a history rather than bringing a charge.
The Medieval Church3 voices
For he said to Herod: it is not lawful for you to have her. It should be known that Antipater, the father of Herod the king, was a foreigner, but he was a proselyte, hence his sons were Jews. But it was commanded in the …
In what has gone before, Matthew has not given an account of John, as it was his intent to write only about Christ. Nor would he have mentioned it now if it did not relate to Christ. John had rebuked Herod for unlawfully taking the …
(ord.) And perhaps he observed the Jewish Law, according to which John forbade him this adultery.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
For this sin John reproved him; not by tacit and oblique allusions, but in plain terms, It is not lawful for thee to have her. He charges it upon him as a sin; not, It is not honourable, or, It is not safe, but, It is not lawful; the sinfulness of sin, as it is the transgression of the law, is the worst thing in it.
For John said unto him,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
For John said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her. - Here is an instance of zeal, fidelity, and courage, highly worthy of imitation. Plainness, mildness, and modesty, are qualifications necessary to be observed when we reprove the great. The best service a subject can render his prince is to lay before him, in the plainest but most respectful manner, what the law of God requires of him, and what it forbids.
The words behind it
10 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ἔλεγεν | elegen | Were saying | G3004 → | 1325 times |
| γὰρ | gar | for | G1063 → | 1039 times |
| ὁ | ho | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| Ἰωάννης | ioannes | John | G2491 → | 134 times |
| αὐτῷ· | auto | to him; | G846 → | 5565 times |
| οὐκ | ouk | Not | G3756 → | 1664 times |
| ἔξεστίν | exestin | it is lawful | G1832 → | 31 times |
| σοι | soi | for you | G4771 → | 2973 times |
| ἔχειν | echein | to have | G2192 → | 707 times |
| αὐτήν. | auten | her. | G846 → | 5565 times |
ἔλεγενWere saying
elegenG3004 →1325 times
γὰρfor
garG1063 →1039 times
ὁ<the>
hoG3588 →19766 times
ἸωάννηςJohn
ioannesG2491 →134 times
αὐτῷ·to him;
autoG846 →5565 times
οὐκNot
oukG3756 →1664 times
ἔξεστίνit is lawful
exestinG1832 →31 times
σοιfor you
soiG4771 →2973 times
ἔχεινto have
echeinG2192 →707 times
αὐτήν.her.
autenG846 →5565 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 8:20To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.
it leads to
- 2 Peter 1:19
We also have the word of the prophets as confirmed beyond doubt. And you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day…
- 2 Timothy 3:15–17
From infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
- Psalms 119:130
The unfolding of Your words gives light; it informs the simple.
- John 5:39
You pore over the Scriptures because you presume that by them you possess eternal life. These are the very words that testify about Me,
- Acts 17:11
Now the Bereans were more noble-minded than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if these teachings were true.
- 2 Peter 1:19
Through
Leviticus 20:21If a man marries his brother’s wife, it is an act of impurity. He has uncovered the nakedness of his brother; they shall be childless.
it leads to
- Leviticus 18:16
You must not have sexual relations with your brother’s wife; that would shame your brother.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Matthew 14:3–4
Now Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Leviticus 18:16
Through
Mark 6:18For John had been telling Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife!”
it leads to
- Leviticus 20:21
If a man marries his brother’s wife, it is an act of impurity. He has uncovered the nakedness of his brother; they shall be childless.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Leviticus 20:21
Where this verse is studied
About Matthew
This page draws on 15 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Gospels; Augustine of Hippo, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book XVIII; Glossa Ordinaria, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Jerome, Commentary on Matthew; Jerome, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; John Chrysostom, Homily on the Gospel of Matthew 48; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews - Book XVIII, Chapter 5, Section 2; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Peter Chrysologus, SERMONS 127.6-7; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Matthew and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Matthew.