DianneHough
Psalm 139:14
Registered: 01-2008
Posts: 2179
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Chapter 42—Herodias
Chapter 42—Herodias
Her Name, the Female Form of “Herod,” Means “Heroic”
Her Character: A proud woman, she used her daughter to manipulate her husband into doing her will. She acted arrogantly, from beginning to end, in complete disregard for the laws of the land.
Her Shame: To be rebuked by an upstart prophet for leaving her husband Philip in order to marry his half brother Herod Antipas.
Her Triumph: That her scheme to murder her enemy, John the Baptist, worked.
Key Scriptures: Matthew 14:3-12; Mark 6:14-29; Luke 3:19-20; 9:7-9
Matthew 14:3-12
3Now Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, 4for John had been saying to him: "It is not lawful for you to have her." 5Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of the people, because they considered him a prophet.
6On Herod's birthday the daughter of Herodias danced for them and pleased Herod so much 7that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. 8Prompted by her mother, she said, "Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist." 9The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted 10and had John beheaded in the prison. 11His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother. 12John's disciples came and took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.
Mark 6:14-29
John the Baptist Beheaded
14King Herod heard about this, for Jesus' name had become well known. Some were saying, "John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him."
15Others said, "He is Elijah."
And still others claimed, "He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago."
16But when Herod heard this, he said, "John, the man I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!"
17For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, whom he had married. 18For John had been saying to Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife." 19So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she was not able to, 20because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled; yet he liked to listen to him.
21Finally the opportune time came. On his birthday Herod gave a banquet for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. 22When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests.
The king said to the girl, "Ask me for anything you want, and I'll give it to you." 23And he promised her with an oath, "Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom."
24She went out and said to her mother, "What shall I ask for?"
"The head of John the Baptist," she answered.
25At once the girl hurried in to the king with the request: "I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter."
26The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her. 27So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John's head. The man went, beheaded John in the prison, 28and brought back his head on a platter. He presented it to the girl, and she gave it to her mother. 29On hearing of this, John's disciples came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.
Luke 3:19-20
19But when John rebuked Herod the tetrarch because of Herodias, his brother's wife, and all the other evil things he had done, 20Herod added this to them all: He locked John up in prison.
Luke 9:7-9
7Now Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was going on. And he was perplexed, because some were saying that John had been raised from the dead, 8others that Elijah had appeared, and still others that one of the prophets of long ago had come back to life. 9But Herod said, "I beheaded John. Who, then, is this I hear such things about?" And he tried to see him.
Her Story
Her grandfather, Herod the Great, had ruled Judea for thirty-four years. He had brought prosperity to a troubled region of the Roman Empire, building theaters, amphitheaters, and race courses, as well as a palace and a magnificent temple in Jerusalem. Despite such ambitious endeavors, he had even contrived to lower taxes of two occasions.
But Herod’s reign contained shadows that darkened as the years went on. Herodias knew the stories well—how her grandfather had slaughtered a passel of Jewish brats in Bethlehem, how he had murdered his favorite wife (her own grandmother) and three of his sons for real or imagined intrigues. Advancing age and illness did nothing to improve his character. Herod was determined, in fact, that his own death would produce a time of universal mourning rather than celebration. So, in a final, malevolent act, he commanded all the leading Jews to gather in Jericho. Then he imprisoned them in a stadium and ordered them to be executed at the moment of his death. But the king was cheated of his last wish: His prisoners had been set free as soon as he died in the spring of 4 B.C.
Not a nice man, her grandfather. But then, she though, kings were a rather different order of human beings.
Herodias’s husband and his half brother, Antipas, had been lucky survivors of Herod the Great’s bloody family, but Antipas had proved the luckier of the two. For while Philip and Herodias languished in Rome with no one to rule, Antipas had been appointed tetrarch of Galilee and Perea. She could feel the man’s power when he first visited them in Rome. And power was her favorite aphrodisiac.
Though Herod Antipas was married to the daughter of King Aretas IV, ruler of Nabatea, to the east, he quickly divorced her in favor of Herodias. In one dicey move, Antipas had stolen his brother’s wife, compromised his eastern border, and alienated his Jewish subjects, whose law forbade wife-swapping, especially among brothers. But with Herodias beside him, Herod Antipas must have thought himself powerful enough to manage the consequences.
But neither Antipas nor Herodias had expected their transgression to become a matter of public agitation. After all, who was there to agitate, except the usual ragtag band of upstarts? A real prophet had not troubled Israel for more than four hundred years.
But trouble was edging toward them in the form of a new Elijah, whom God had been nurturing with locust and honey in the wilderness that bordered their realm. This prophet, John the Baptist, cared nothing for diplomacy. He could not be bought or bullied, and was preaching a message of repentance to all who would listen: “A voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’”
John the Baptist spared no one, not the ordinary people who flocked to him in the desert, not the self-righteous Pharisees nor the privileged Sadducees, and certainly not Herod Antipas or Herodias, whom he upbraided for their unlawful marriage. Herodias would have liked for Antipas to kill John, yet even he had to step carefully, lest he ignite an uprising among John’s ever-growing number of followers. That would be all the excuse his former father-in-law, Aretas, would need in order to attack Antipas’s eastern flank. So, according to Jewish historian Josephus, John was shut up in Machaerus, a fortress just east of the Dead Sea.
On Herod Antipas’s birthday a feast was held in his honor and attended by a “who’s who” list of dignitaries. During the evening, Herodia’s young daughter, Slaome, performed a dance for Herod Antipas and his guests which so pleased him that he promised his stepdaughter anything she desired, up to half his kingdom.
Ever the good daughter, Salome hastened to her mother for advice. Should she request a splendid palace or a portion of the royal treasury? But Herodias had one thing only in mind. When Salome returned to the banquet hall, Salome surprised Antipas with a gruesome demand: “I want you to give me, right now, the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”
Though Herod Antipas was distressed by her request, he was even more distressed at the prospect of breaking an oath he had so publicly made. Therefore, in complete disregard for Jewish law, which prohibited both execution without trial and decapitation as a form of execution, he immediately ordered John’s death.
That night, Herodias must have savored her triumph over the man whom Jesus referred to as the greatest who had yet lived. John had been sent as the last of the prophets, a new Elijah, whose preaching was to prepare the way for Jesus. Had Herodias heeded John’s call to repentance, her heart might have welcomed the gospel. Rather than being remembered as just one more member of a bloody dynasty, she could have become a true child of God. Instead of casting her lot with the great women of the Bible, however, she chose to model herself on one of the worst—Jezebel, her spiritual mother. By so doing, she sealed her heart against the truth and all the transforming possibilities of grace.
Her Life and Times
The Herods
Both husbands of Herodias were part of the Herodian family of rulers, as was Herodias herself. Her first husband, Herod Philip, as well as her second husband, Herod Antipas, were her uncles as well as her husbands.
The family of the Herods ruled in Judea and the surrounding areas for over 125 years. The first Herod, known as Herod the Great, was king of Judea from 37 to 4 B.C. His reign was marked by division and domestic troubles, but also by prosperity. While in power, he built amphitheaters, palaces, fortresses, Gentile temples, and the Temple of Herod in Jerusalem. This temple was his crowning achievement, noted by the historian Josephus as Herod’s most noble work. The literature of the rabbis of that time states: “He who has not seen the Temple of Herod has never seen a beautiful building.”
Herod’s five wives produced seven sons, most of whom went on to rule parts of the Near East for the Roman Empire. Herod’s son by Mariamne of Simon, Philip, was Herodias’s first husband. Herodias herself was a daughter of another of Herod’s sons. That made her Harod’s granddaughter as well as his daughter-in-law by marriage. Herodias wasn’t the only one of Herod’s children to form such relationships; Herod’s great-granddaughter, Bernice, became the consort of her brother, Herod Agrippa 11, also a great-grandchild of Herod.
The events at the birthday banquet described in Mark 6 are the culmination of years of corrupt living by a family who had power and knew how to use and misuse it. Herodias’s actions, though horrifying, are not really surprising. Each step along the way to requesting John the Baptist’s death was perhaps a small one, little noticed, but each step made its relentless way down a path to sin, until what would have been unconscionable years before now seemed acceptable and reasonable. Sin is like that. As your mother told you—and it is true—one small lay leads to another bigger lie that leads to another even bigger lie. The path of sin is strewn with small, seemingly insignificant decisions that lead nowhere but farther along the path away form truth and God.
Her Legacy in *****ure
Read Mark 6:17-18
1. Why do you think Herod had John put in prison? Because he wanted to please his wife or because he was angry and afraid of John himself?
2. When someone confronts you with something that is wrong in your life, how do you respond?
Read Mark 6:19-20
3. Note the different responses to John recorded in these verses. What do these responses tell you about Herod and Herodias?
4. Which response is more like yours when confronted with sin? Are you like Herodias—sulking and wanting to get even with those who reveal your sin or failings? Or are you like Herod—willing to listen, curious about what the other person has to say?
Read Mark 6:21-23
5. What do you think Salome’s dance must have been like to produce such an extravagant promise form her stepfather?
6. Have you ever promised something to someone that you later wished you hadn’t? What did you do?
Read Mark 6:24-25
7. Have you ever plotted, like Herodias, to get your own way? How does that make you feel about yourself? Are you pleased when you get your won way, or is the result less than satisfying?
Read Mark 6:26-29
8. What other response could Herod have given? Was he obligated in some way to fulfill his promise or could he have told her to come with another, more reasonable request?
9. When have you done something you later wished you hadn’t simply because of the pressure of those around you to do it? What would have been a better response?
Her Promise
As negative as it sounds, the lesson or promise learned form Herodias can only be that sin will devour us. If sin always has its way in our lives, it will eventually consume us. There is only one way out: If we abandon our sin and repent, we will find forgiveness and a new life in Christ. He promises to forgive even the most horrific sins, the most depraved lifestyles, the most abandoned behaviors. We may still face the consequences of our sin, but we will no longer have to fear its judgment. With Christ as our mediator, we become as clean as if we had never sinned.
Promises in *****ure
Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD "—and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Psalm 32:5
He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. Psalm 103:10-12
"Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. Isaiah 1:18
Her Legacy of Prayer
For John had been saying to Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife." So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. Mark 6:18-19
Reflect On: Mark 6:14-29
Praise God: That he gives us opportunities to repent and turn back to him.
Offer Thanks: For the men and women in your own life who have had the courage to tell you the truth.
Confess: Any tendency to respond defensively to constructive criticism
Ask God: For the grace to respond to correction with humility.
Lift Your Heart
Most of us hate criticism. Part of our defensiveness stems from our inability to see the connection between brokenness and grace. How differently we would respond if we understood that repentance is like a garden hoe breaking up the soil to make it ready for the seed. If we want to cultivate the fruit of the Spirit in our lives—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control—we must cherish the truth, however it comes to us. Being receptive to criticism doesn’t mean we become women with low self-esteem. It simply means that we will be open about our sins and faults, believing in God’s desire to forgive and help us to change. This week, take some time for a little soul-searching. Is God trying to get your attention about something that is off-kilter in your own life? Is he raising up a prophet in our own family—a child or husband who is trying to tell you the truth? If so, listen, and then pray about what you hear. Resist the temptation to make the person pay for his or her words by sulking, holding a grudge, or criticizing him or her in turn. Instead, be the first to say you’re sorry. A habit of repentance will make you heart fertile soil for God’s grace.
Father, I know how deceitful the human heart can be. Please give me the courage to be honest and the faith to believe in your forgiveness. May my heart become a place of brokenness, where grace and truth can flourish.
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7/16/2008, 9:18 am
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DianneHough
Psalm 139:14
Registered: 01-2008
Posts: 2179
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Re: Chapter 42—Herodias
Her Legacy in Scripture
Read Mark 6:17-18
1Why do you think Herod had John put in prison? Because he wanted to please his wife or because he was angry and afraid of John himself?
Herod had John put in prison because he wanted to please his wife.
2 When someone confronts you with something that is wrong in your life, how do you respond?
I try to listen with an open mind and then take the other person’s advice and if it is Godly try to follow through.
Read Mark 6:19-20
3 Note the different responses to John recorded in these verses. What do these responses tell you about Herod and Herodias?
These responses tell me that Herodias was a stubborn man that only wanted what he wanted and wouldn’t listen to anyone else, while Herod would at least listen to others opinion.
4 Which response is more like yours when confronted with sin? Are you like Herodias—sulking and wanting to get even with those who reveal your sin or failings? Or are you like Herod—willing to listen, curious about what the other person has to say?
I am more like Herod willing to listen, curious about what the other person has to say.
Read Mark 6:21-23
5What do you think Salome’s dance must have been like to produce such an extravagant promise form her stepfather?
Salome’s dance must have been beautiful and elegant to produce such an extravagant promise from her stepfather.
6Have you ever promised something to someone that you later wished you hadn’t? What did you do?
Yes but I went through with the promise anyhow as hard it was.
Read Mark 6:24-25
7Have you ever plotted, like Herodias, to get your own way? How does that make you feel about yourself? Are you pleased when you get your won way, or is the result less than satisfying?
I don’t think that I have ever plotted to get my own way.
Read Mark 6:26-29
8What other response could Herod have given? Was he obligated in some way to fulfill his promise or could he have told her to come with another, more reasonable request?
Herod could of told her that the request was not applicable and asked to come up with a more reasonable request.
9When have you done something you later wished you hadn’t simply because of the pressure of those around you to do it? What would have been a better response?
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