Section 14:1–12

The story about how John the Baptist died

In this section, Matthew wrote how John the Baptist was killed. This section can be difficult to translate because the events are not in chronological order.

Verses 1–2 refer to events that happened after John the Baptist died. But verses 3–12 refer back to events that had happened before John the Baptist died, and they include the story of his death. You will need to clearly indicate the change in time at 14:3.

Here are some other possible headings for this section:

The Death of John the Baptist (Good News Translation)
-or-
John the Baptist Beheaded (New American Standard Bible)

There are parallel passages for this section in Mark 6:14–29 and Luke 9:7–9.

Paragraph 14:1–2

14:1

At that time: This phrase refers to the time of the events in chapter 13. It was the time when Jesus was teaching people and doing miracles. It was the time when people were hearing about the things Jesus was saying and doing.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

In those days
-or-
During that time

Herod: Herod was the government leader of the Jewish district of Galilee. His full name was Herod Antipas. He was one of the sons of King Herod the Great who was ruler when Jesus was born (in 2:1). Both the father and the son had the name Herod.

In some languages, it may be necessary to distinguish this Herod from the Herod in chapter 2. If that is true in your language, you can:

• Include his full name in the text. For example:

Herod ⌊Antipas⌋

• Explain it in a footnote. Here is a sample footnote:

This refers to Herod Antipas, one of the sons of King Herod the Great (2:1).

the tetrarch: This word is the title of a government leader who ruled one fourth of a country. This Herod ruled over one fourth of the land that his father, King Herod the Great, had ruled over.

A tetrarch is a higher title than governor, but it is lower than king. In spite of that, Herod is called the king in 14:9a.

Here are some other ways to translate this title:

the ruler of Galilee (Good News Translation)
-or-
the king
-or-
the ruler/chief
-or-
the governing one

heard the reports about Jesus: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as reports refers to the news/stories that people were telling about Jesus and his miracles.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

heard about the fame of Jesus (English Standard Version)
-or-
heard the news about Jesus (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
heard about Jesus (Good News Translation)

-or-

heard news of the ⌊deeds and words⌋ of Jesus

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