Exegesis:

elegen gar hō Iōannēs tō Herōdē ‘for John said to Herod’: this clause gives the reason why Herod had imprisoned John.

elegen may be the equivalent of the pluperfect ‘had been saying’ in this context.

exestin (cf. 2.24) ‘it is right,’ ‘it is lawful.’

echein ‘to have,’ ‘to possess’ as wife.

eneichen (only here in Mark) ‘she was hostile to,’ ‘she bore a grudge against’: the American colloquialism ‘to have it in for someone’ corresponds to this use of the Greek verb enechō.

kai ēthelen … kai ouk ēdunato ‘and she wanted … but could not.’

Translation:

John said to Herod poses certain problems of sequence, for this is no longer in the reverse order, noted in the preceding verse, but fits between events 3 and 4. Only careful use of conjunctions and tense forms is likely to avoid confusion.

Not lawful is not always an easy expression, especially in the languages of people who have no formal written legal codes. In Chicahuaxtla Triqui the best equivalent seemed to be ‘God does not permit’ (a common way of referring to the highest sanctions of behavior). In Huastec one may say ‘you are not allowed,’ without reference to the one doing the allowing. In Tzeltal the proper expression is ‘this is against the command’ and in Sayula Popoluca one says ‘the law [a borrowing from Spanish] does not help you.’

Have your brother’s wife is better rendered as ‘to live with your brother’s wife’ than to say ‘to marry your brother’s wife,’ for the latter might be interpreted as meaning that Herod had married her after the death of Philip, his brother.

Had a grudge is often ‘was very angry with’ or ‘was mad at.’

In languages in which careful distinctions are made between primary and secondary agency, wanted to kill him may be translated as ‘wanted to cause him to be killed.’

She could not does not refer to her lack of strength (as some translators have rendered the passage), but her inability to get Herod to do what she wanted.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of Mark. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1961. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .