Herod's rash oath to the daughter of Herodias. 407 and pleased Herod, and condescension, so unusual in those days and SECT. them that sat with the king said countries, especially in persons of such high xxvii. unto the damsel, Ask dignity, was so exceedingly agreeable and Mark of me whatsoever thou pleasing unto Herod and his guests, that the king VI. 22. wilt, and I will give said before them all to the maiden in a kind of it thee. [MAT. XIV. —6.] transport, Ask of me whatever thou wilt, and I 23 And he [promi- will give it thee. And when she seemed sur-23 sed her with an oath, prised at such a declaration, to encourage her Whatsoever thou shalt to depend on what he said, he promised her with ask of me, I will give the solemnity of an oath, [and] profanely and it thee, unto the half foolishly sware unto her more than once", in, I will of my kingdom. [MAT. give thee whatsoever thou wilt ask of me, even though it should be to the [value of] half of my kingdom. and] sware unto her, XIV. 7.] 24 And she went forth, and said unto her mother, What shall I ask? And she said, The head of John the Baptist. her mother,] came in And, young as she was, she perceived this was 24 now grown a circumstance of high importance, and might be managed to considerable advantage; she therefore went out, and said to her mother, who was not in the assembly, What shall I ask? And she, struck with this unexpected opportunity of executing her revenge, eagerly replied, Ask the head of John the Baptist, who would have expelled and ruined us both; for nothing in the power of the king to grant could give me equal satisfaction. 25 And she [being And, though at first she hesitated at so shocking 25 belore instructed of a proposa', yet being thus before urged to it by straightway with haste her mother, and at length confirmed in the unto the king, and resolution", she immediately, after a very short asked, saying, will absence, came unto the king with speed in her [here] by and by, in motion and eagerness in her countenance, and a charger, the head made her demand, saying, I desire that, in acof John the Baptist. complishment of thy promise, thou wouldest give [MAT. XIV. 8.] that thou give me me, presently, the head of John the Baptist; and This instance of condescension, so unusual in those days, &c.] Dr. Lardner very justly observes that it was very unusual for ladies of a high rank to appear before the men (Esth. i. 10-12), and much less to dance at such banquets as these. See his Credibility of the Gospel History, part i. Vol. I. p. 23. m Sware unto her more than once.] This may be very well concluded, because both the evangelists use the plural ones, Mat. xiv. 9. and Mark vi. 26. n Being before urged to it by her mother, and at length confirmed in the resolution.] So the word wifilactuca seems to intimate, as Beza, with his usual accuracy, has observed; and there is indeed much And more reason to wonder that she was induced wg Mila omong immediately, and with • The head of John the Baptist in a charger.] It was well known that it was and 3 C 2 is 403 SECT. lxxvii. Herodias obtains the head of John the Baptist. And the king was exceedingly sorry, as well as greatly surprised, that she should prefer so Mark Strange a petition; nevertheless, as she persisted VI. 26. in it, for the sake of his repeated oaths, and out of regard to his guests, in whose presence they were made, he would not deny her, [but] granted what she asked, and ordered that it should be given her. 27 26 And the king was execeding sorry; [nevertheless] for his oath's sake, and for their sakes which sat with him [at meat,] her, [but commanded it to be given her.] [MAT. XIV. 9.] he would not reject 27 And immediately the king sent an exe cutioner, and commanded his head to be gave it to the damsel: And immediately, the king sent one of his guards as an executioner, that very night, and commanded his head to be brought into the assembly: and, as soon as the soldier had received brought: and he went his orders, he presently went, and without any in the prison. [MAT. and beheaded [John] further warning, beheaded John in the prison. XIV.-10.] 28 And brought his head in a charger, and gave it 28 And brought his to the maiden; and the maiden, forgetting the head in a charger, and tenderness of her sex 9, and the dignity of her and the damsel rank, with a steady cruelty, agreeable to her [brought it, and] gave relation to so ill a woman, brought [and] deli- it to her mother.vered it to her mother with her own hands. And thus, till the righteous judgment of God overtook them all, they gratified themselves in the indulgence of their lusts, and triumphed in the murder of this holy prophet. 29 [MAT. XIV. 11.] they came, and took And the next day, his disciples hearing [of it,] 29 And when his came to the prison, and having permission to do disciples heard of it, it, took up his corpse, and laid it with great up his corpse, and laid reverence, and due lamentation, in a sepulchre it in a tomb, and belonging to some of them, who were willing to went and told Jesus. pay this last act of duty to their master's memorv: and then they went and told Jesus what had happened, and remembering the repeated testimony which John had borne to him, continued their attendance upon him. is customary with princes in those eastern P One of his guards.] So shape q Fretting the tenderness of her sex] This may perhaps be intimated in the repetition of the word maiden. Jerom tells us that Herodias treated the Baptist's head in a very disdainful manner, pulling out the tongue whi h sne imagined had injured her, and pierced it with a needle, IMPROVE [MAT. XIV. 12.] r Till the righteous judgment of God overtook them all.] Dr. Whitby, after many others, observes, that Providence interested itself very remarkably in the revenge of this murder on all concerned. Herod's army was defeated in a war occa sioned by his marrying Herodias, which many Jews thought a judgment sent upon him for the death of John: Joseph. Antiq. lib. xviii. cap. 5 (al 7), § 1, 2.) Both he and Herodias, whose ambition occasioned his ruin, were afterwards driven from their kingdom with great regret, and died in banishment at Lyons in Gaul: (Joseph. ibid. cap. 7. (al. 9.) § 2.) And if any credit may be given to Nicephorus (Hist. lib. 1, cap. 20), Salome, the young lady who made this cruel request, fell into the ice, as she was walking over it, which closing suddenly, cut off her head. Reflections on the death of John the Baptist. 409 IMPROVEMENT. How dreadful a thing is it to have a guilty and accusing con- SECT. science and how remarkable was the force of it in the instance lxxvii. before us! Herod was a king, yet it addressed him in language of Mark terror, and made itself heard and felt amidst all the hurries and VI. flatteries of a court. Vain was the power of a prince; vain the 14, 16. caresses of a favourite mistress, basely gratified with the blood of a prophet; and vain the y t more besotting tenets of a Sadducee. In one instance at least a resurrection shall be believed; and if a prophet arise in Israel, Herod shall be among the first to say, It is John the Baptist, risen from the dead; and shall be ready to forbode the sad effects of his recovered life, and to prognosticate evil to himself from the mighty works he performed. Let us make it our care to preserve a conscience void of offence, that instead of a continual torment, it may be to us a continual feast! And if we really desire to preserve it, let us take heed that 22, 23 we be not excessively transported with the entertainments of life, or rashly enter ourselves into engagements which perhaps may plunge us into some degree of guilt, whether they be performed or violated. We see, in this dreadful instance of Herodias, what an implaca- 24 ble degree of malice may arise in the hearts of sinners on being reproved for the most scandalous and mischievous vices. Instead of owning the obligation to one that would have plucked her as a brand out of the burning, she thirsts insatiably for his blood and chooses rather to indulge her cruelty and revenge in taking away his life, than to gratify her avarice and ambition in demanding a gift that might have been equal to the half of a kingdom. But how mysterious was that providence, which left the life of 25, 27 so holy a man in such infamous hands, and permitted it to be sacriticed to the malice of an abandoned harlot, to the petulancy of a vain girl, and to the rashness of a foolish and perhaps an intoxicated prince, who made the prophet's head the reward of a dance! The ways of God are unsearchable! but we are sure he can never be at a loss to repay his servants in another world for the greatest sufferings they endure in this, and even for life itself, when given up in his cause. We may reasonably conclude, that death could never be an unseasonable surprise to this excellent saint. When the executioner came into the prison by night, perhaps breaking in upon his slumbers, and executed his bloody commission almost as soon as he declared it, a soul like his might welcome the stroke, as the means of liberty and glory; assured that the transient agony of a moment would 27 410 SECT. Ixxvii. SECT. 29 Jesus retires with his disciples to a solitary place." would transmit it to a kingdom where the least of its inhabitants would be in holiness, honour and felicity, superior to John in his most prosperous, and successful state on earth. His enemies might a while insult over him, while his disciples were mingling their tears with his dust, and lamenting the residue of his days cut off in the midst. His death was precious in the sight of the Lord, and the triumphing of the wicked was short. So will he ere long plead the cause of all his injured people, and give a cup of trembling and astonishment to those that have made themselves drunk with their blood. Let cruelty and tyranny do their worst, verily there is a reward for the righteous, verily there is a God that judgeth in the earth. (Psal. Iviii, 11. SECT. LXXVIII. When the apostles were returned from executing their commission, our Lord passes over the sea of Tiberias; and finding vast multitudes had followed him to the place of his intended retirement. he instructs and heals them; and, having miraculously fed above five thousand, retires afterwards to pray. Mat. XIV. 13-23. Mark VI. 30-46. Luke IX. 10-17. John VI. 1-15. MARK VI. 30. MARK VI. 30. xxv. AND quickly after this awful event of the AND the apostles [when they were Baptist's death, which has been just related, returned,] gathered 31 together unto Jesus, and told 31 And [when Je sus heard of it] be said unto them, Come Mark the twelve apostles, when they were returned from themselves VI. 30. their circuit, gathered together unto Jesus, and him all things, both told him all the occurrences of their late journey; what they had done, recounting to him, both what miracles they had and what they had done by his divine assistance, and what doctrine taught. [LUKE IX. 10.-] they had taught according to his direction. And when Jesus heard [of it,] and was informed (as we have just now seen) of the death of John, as well as of the event of the journey ye yourselves apart inwhich his apostles had been making, he said to to a desart place, and them, Come ye yourselves privately with me into rest awhile: for there a solitary place in the neighbouring desart, and going, and they had no repose yourselves a while after the fatigue of your leisure so much as to [MAT. XIV. journey, that we may there indulge such medi- eat. tations as are suitable to this awful dispensation. And it was necessary to give them this advice, for there were many continually coming and going to and from the public place in which they then were, so that they had no opportunity even 2 After this awful event of the Baptist's death.] Matthew, Mark, and Luke, are all so express in the connection of this story to were many coming and 13-] and The people follow him to the desart of Bethsaida. vately, into a desart 411 to eat without interruption, and much less had SECT. they leisure for religious retirement and recol- lxxviii. lection. LUKE IX.-10. And And accordingly, after these things, he took Luke [JOHN, after these them with him, and retired from the multitude: 1X. 10. things,] he took them and went aside,[MARK, and they departed from thence, (even from the they departed place where they had been so much crowded and [thence] by ship,] pri- hurried,) and setting out in a ship privately, they place, belonging to the withdrew into a lonely desart belonging to the city city called Bethsaida; called Bethsaida, which we have several times [JOHN, and Jesus went mentioned before. [And] as this desart was which is the sea of Ti divided from the place they set out from by a berias.] [MAT. XIV. creek or bay of the sea, Jesus in passing to it 13.-MARK VI. 32. went over a part of the sea of Galilee, which is JOHN VI. 1. also sometimes called [the sea] of Tiberias, because that is the most considerable place on its shore. over the sea of Galilee, them departing, and MARK VI. 33. And And when the people who had been attending Mark [when] the people saw on his ministry saw them departing, and, though VI. 33. many knew him, he was at some distance, many of them knew [and heard thereof,] him, and others thereabout heard of [it] a [JOHN, a great mul- great multitude following him; because they had because they saw his seen his miracles, which he had just before permiracles, which he did formed on them that were diseased, and, struck on them that were with the energy of them, were impatiently dediseased] and [they] ran a-foot thither out sirous still to hear so Divine a Teacher. And, of all [the] cities, and therefore, observing how he steered his course, outwent them, and and guessing right as to the place at which he him intended to land, they ran thither on foot, and came together unto b After these things.] I have before observed (in note on John v. 1, p. 250.) that Mr. Manne supposes this sixth chapter of John ought to be connected with the end of the fourth (see his Dissertations, p. 157.163); and the rather, because he fancies one may find a connection between John iv. 54, and vi. 1. the first of which texts tells us that Jesus was in Galilee; and the latter, that he went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias. But I cannot see the least force in the argument, considering how often Christ changed his place, and came back again to that which he had formerly visited: nor can he urge it with any consistence, because, according to his own scheme of the harmony, Christ had crossed the sea to Gergasa, and dispossessed the Legion, after the cure of the nobleman's son, and long before the passing over the sea, that is here referred to (which was plainly not to Gergasa, but to the desart of Bethsaida): so that there is no shadow of a reason for such an unexampled transposition, which has no copy or version to support it. increased Besides, that this requires another change e Sometimes called the sea of Tiberias.] d Many knew him.] It should seem that |