Bible Strands
Matthew 14:10
and sent to have John beheaded in the prison.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Herod issues a command to his subordinates immediately after yielding to the girl’s demand for John’s death. The order functions as the administrative step that moves the execution from reluctant consent to actual detention and killing.
The words — πέμψας (pempsas) means "having sent," denoting a delegated command, and ἀπεκεφάλισεν (apekephalisen) means "beheaded," specifying the exact method of execution. These verbs show the king’s reluctant decree being carried out through an official chain of custody.
The thread — The narrative of unjust execution reappears in Matthew 17:12, where the same pattern of mistreatment is applied to Elijah’s successor, and surfaces in Luke 9:9 as Herod’s own recorded admission of the killing. The structural parallel of violent interruption of prophetic testimony also aligns with Revelation 11:7.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to observe how public pressure and political self-preservation convert hesitation into irreversible violence. It asks for a clear accounting of how institutional fear overrides personal conscience and legal restraint.
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 he sent, and beheaded John in the prison.
Cross-references
- Matthew 17:12 But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him whatever they wished. In the same way, the Son of Man will suffer at their hands.”
- Luke 9:9 “I beheaded John,” Herod said, “but who is this man I hear such things about?” And he kept trying to see Jesus.
- Revelation 11:7 When the two witnesses have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will wage war with them, and will overpower and kill them.
- 2 Chronicles 36:16 But they mocked the messengers of God, despising His words and scoffing at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD against His people was stirred up beyond remedy.
- Jeremiah 2:30 “I have struck your sons in vain; they accepted no discipline. Your own sword has devoured your prophets like a voracious lion.”
- Matthew 21:35 But the tenants seized his servants. They beat one, killed another, and stoned a third.
- Matthew 22:3 He sent his servants to call those he had invited to the banquet, but they refused to come.
- Matthew 23:34 Because of this, I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and others you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town.
- Mark 6:27 So without delay, the king commanded that John’s head be brought in. He sent an executioner, who went and beheaded him in the prison.
- Mark 9:13 But I tell you that Elijah has indeed come, and they have done to him whatever they wished, just as it is written about him.”