Bible Strands
Mark 6:17
For Herod himself had ordered that John be arrested and bound and imprisoned, on account of his brother Philip’s wife Herodias, whom Herod had married.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator explains the circumstances of John’s confinement at the moment Herod reacts to rumors about Jesus. Herod’s personal order places John under guard, establishing the immediate background for the events that follow.
The words — αὐτὸς (autos) = Himself isolates Herod as the direct agent of the arrest. ἐκράτησεν (ekratēsen) = he seized describes the physical act of taking John into custody.
The thread — The imprisonment is noted in Matthew 4:12 as the catalyst for Jesus’ withdrawal to Galilee, while Matthew 11:2 records John sending disciples from prison. Luke 3:19 identifies the rebuke regarding Herodias as the catalyst for the conflict, with the confinement detailed in Luke 3:20.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to see that a political marriage arrangement directly triggered prophetic imprisonment. It demands attention to how secular authority enforces its will against those who confront it.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John, and bound him in prison for Herodias’ sake, his brother Philip’s wife: for he had married her.
Cross-references
- Matthew 11:2 Meanwhile John heard in prison about the works of Christ, and he sent his disciples
- Luke 3:19 But when he rebuked Herod the tetrarch regarding his brother’s wife Herodias and all the evils he had done,
- Matthew 4:12 When Jesus heard that John had been imprisoned, He withdrew to Galilee.
- Luke 3:1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, while Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene,
- Matthew 14:3 Now Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife,