14:2a

his servants: This word refers to assistants who advised rulers about their decisions. This is a different Greek word than the word translated as slaves.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

advisers (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
officials (Good News Translation)
-or-
aides/helpers/workers

This is John the Baptist: Herod mistakenly thought that Jesus was John the Baptist. The words that Herod said in this verse were his opinion. They were not the truth.

Here are some ways to make this clear:

he ⌊mistakenly⌋ said to his servants, “This man is John the Baptist.
-or-

⌊He thought that Jesus was John the Baptist. So⌋ he said to his servants, “That man is John the Baptizer.

John the Baptist: You should translate this phrase as you did in 3:1a.

14:2b

he has risen from the dead!: Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

He has come back from the dead
-or-
He has returned from the place of the dead
-or-
He has become alive again.

The text does not say who Herod thought raised John. So you should avoid saying that “God” raised him from the dead.

14:2c

That is why: This phrase introduces the result part of a reason-result pair of clauses. The reason is “he has risen from the dead” (in 14:2b). Herod believed that if someone came back from the dead, he would have special powers. So he believed that the miracles that he heard about were the result of John coming back from the dead.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

that is the reason why
-or-
for this reason
-or-
and as a result

miraculous powers are at work in him: This clause means that John had the power to do miracles.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

he has the power to perform these miracles (God’s Word)
-or-
he can do such miracles (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
he has received the power to do those miracles

-or-

he is able to do those miracles

miraculous powers: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible here translates as miraculous powers is the same word as in 13:54d. You can translate both passages using the same term.

General Comment on 14:2b–c

The clause “he has risen from the dead” (14:2b) is the reason clause. The clause “That is why miraculous powers are at work in him” (14:2c) is the result clause. In some languages, it may be natural to change the order of the reason and result clauses. For example:

2cHe has the power to do these miracles 2bbecause he has been raised from the dead.

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