Bible Strands
Mark 6:24
Then she went out and asked her mother, “What should I request?” And her mother answered, “The head of John the Baptist.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The unnamed girl leaves the banquet hall to consult her mother after Herod swears to grant her any request up to half his kingdom. She asks her mother what she should demand, and her mother dictates the specific request.
The words — ἐξελθοῦσα (exelthousa) means “having gone out,” marking the girl’s physical departure from the royal presence to seek private counsel. εἶπεν (eipen) translates “she said,” recording her direct inquiry to her mother.
The thread — This dynamic of a mother directing a child’s actions echoes the maternal counsel in Genesis 27:8 and the mother’s role as a counselor in wickedness described in 2 Chronicles 22:3.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition of how a seemingly trivial question quickly escalates into a lethal decree, forcing the reader to confront the immediate consequences of manipulated requests and compromised authority.
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
And she went forth, and said unto her mother, What shall I ask? And she said, The head of John the Baptist.
Cross-references
- Genesis 27:8 Now, my son, listen to my voice and do exactly as I tell you.
- 2 Chronicles 22:3 Ahaziah also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother was his counselor in wickedness.
- Job 31:31 if the men of my house have not said, ‘Who is there who has not had his fill?’—
- Ezekiel 19:2 and say: ‘What was your mother? A lioness among the lions! She lay down among the young lions; she reared her cubs.
- Psalms 27:2 When the wicked came upon me to devour my flesh, my enemies and foes stumbled and fell.
- Psalms 37:12 The wicked scheme against the righteous and gnash their teeth at them,
- Psalms 37:14 The wicked have drawn the sword and bent the bow to bring down the poor and needy, to slay those whose ways are upright.
- Proverbs 27:3 A stone is heavy and sand is a burden, but aggravation from a fool outweighs them both.
- Matthew 14:8 Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.”
- Acts 23:12 When daylight came, the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul.