Marcos 6:17

For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John, and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife; for he had married her.

Part of the sordid history of the Herods comes to view in this verse. A more particular look at the principal actors in this sad affair is in order.

HEROD ANTIPAS

He was the son of Herod the Great by the Samaritan Malthace, and a full brother of Herod Archelaus. He received as his share of his father's dominion the provinces of Galilee and Perea with the title of tetrarch, but he was popularly called "king." He reigned from 4 B.C. to 39 A.D. He founded Tiberias on the western shore of Galilee. This is the ruler that Jesus referred to as "that fox" (Luke 13:32); and it was to him that Pilate sent Jesus during the trials prior to the crucifixion. His first marriage was to a daughter of Aretas, the Arabian king; but on a visit to Rome he met Herodias his brother's wife (Philip, not the tetrarch), whom he seduced and married. The outrage of this union was compounded by the element of incest. Aretas took vengeance upon Herod by defeating him in a war. Herod applied to Caesar for a crown but was banished to Lugdunum, in which exile Herodias shared.[20]

HERODIAS

This woman was a daughter of Herod I's son, Aristobulus. She first married her uncle Philip who was living as a private citizen in Rome, and by him she had Salome. When Herod Antipas was visiting in Rome, she left Philip and married his brother Herod Antipas.[21] As Barclay noted: "Herodias was the daughter of her husband's brother and therefore his niece; and she was the wife of his brother and therefore his sister-in-law."[22] She was a woman of ruthless ambition, no moral restraint, utter selfishness, and implacable hatred of anyone who dared to question her conduct. When John the Baptist denounced her marriage, she never rested until she had his head on a platter. The picture of her that emerges in the sacred text is one of lust, cruelty, and uninhibited evil.

SALOME

Herod the Great had five wives, two of them named Mariamne, and two sons named Philip, one of whom was born of Cleopatra of Jerusalem and became a tetrarch. This Philip married Salome, who as the daughter of Herodias was his niece and his grand-niece at the same time. As Barclay said, "Seldom in history can there have been such a series of matrimonial entanglements as existed in the Herod family."[23] No less than ten members of the Herodian dynasty are mentioned in the New Testament, their names recurring in it like a sour note in a symphony. See below for a list of these. One can have little regard for the opinions of some who question the accuracy of Mark on the premise that a royal princess would not have performed such a dance as that attributed to Salome. Such opinions are founded in ignorance of the typical conduct of the Herods. As Barclay wrote:

The daughter of Herodias danced ... the fact that she did so at all is an incredible thing. Solo dances in that society were disgusting and licentious pantomimes ... such dances being the art of professional prostitutes. That she did so dance is a grim commentary on the character of Salome, and of the mother who allowed and encouraged her to do it.[24]

THE HERODS IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

Herod the Great, the ruler when Jesus was born.

Herod Antipas, the Herod of this passage in Mark.

Herod Archelaus (Herod the Great's son by Malthace) (Matthew 2:22; Luke 19:12-17).

Herod Philip I, called Herod by Josephus and Philip in the New Testament, distinguished from Philip the tetrarch of Ituria and Trachonitis. This Philip was son of Herod the Great by the second Mariamne, married Herodias who left him for Herod Antipas.

Herod Philip II, known as Philip the tetrarch, was son of Herod the Great and Cleopatra of Jerusalem (Luke 3:1). He was the best of the Herods.

Herodias. See the notes above.

Herod Agrippa I was the son of Aristobulus and Bernice and a grandson of Herod the Great. He lived in Rome and was a close friend of both Caligula and Claudius. When Caligula became emperor, he gave Agrippa the tetrarchy of Philip who had died in 34 A.D.; and in 38 A.D. added the domain of Herod Antipas after the latter's banishment. In 41 A.D., in return for services given to Caligula, he received Judaea and Samaria with the title of king, thus ruling over the whole domain of Herod the Great. He persecuted the church (Acts 12). Three of his posterity are mentioned in the New Testament: Herod Agrippa II, Bernice, and Drusilla.

Herod Agrippa II. This prince became king under Nero and lived to the year 100 A.D. He sided with the Romans in the war which ended in the destruction of the temple in 70 A.D. (Acts 25-26). He led (like practically all of his family) a vicious life.

Bernice, sister of Herod Agrippa II (Acts 25:13).

Drusilla, sister of Bernice (Acts 24:24).

This evil family would have been little remembered except for their lives having touched those of the principal persons of the New Testament. A knowledge of what the Herods were sheds light upon the vicious actions recorded in the paragraph before us. It is not to be thought that John the Baptist had deliberately denounced the incestuous marriage of the dissolute Herod Antipas, the situation calling for such a denunciation having in all probability been set up and precipitated by the Pharisees. We know that they repeatedly tried to entangle the Lord in such difficulties without success; and, although the Scriptures record no such Pharisaical instigation in the downfall of John the Baptist, it may be assumed in the light of all they tried to do to Jesus.

MACHAERUS

The ancient fortress of Machaerus east of the Dead Sea is usually cited as the place where John the Baptist was beheaded, Josephus having written that as the place. There is some doubt, however, that Josephus was correct in this, due to the fact that he also wrote that Herod's first wife, the daughter of Aretas, escaped to this fortress because it was in the power of her father, the king of Arabia. He outlined the intrigue by which Aretas' daughter, having secretly learned of Herod's intention of marrying Herodias, journeyed to Machaerus. Perhaps Josephus' apparent contradiction is resolved by supposing that the fortress, situated on the border, was controlled at one time by Herod, and at another time by Aretas. There is the further consideration that there does not seem to have been any great distance between the birthday festival of Herod and the prison where John was beheaded. Tiberius or Machaerus would either one have provided the combination of palace and fortress suggested by the New Testament narrative.