14:5a–b
Although Herod wanted to kill John, he was afraid of the people: There is some implicit information here.
Here is the implicit information:
aEven though Herod wanted to kill John, b⌊he did not give orders to kill him at that time, because⌋ he feared the people.
-or-
aHerod wanted to kill John, b⌊but he did not do it at that time, because⌋ he feared the people.
14:5a
Although Herod wanted to kill John: In Greek, this clause is literally “wanting to kill him.” This means that Herod wanted to kill John.
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
Herod wanted ⌊to order his men⌋ to kill John
14:5b
he was afraid of the people: Herod was afraid that if he killed John, the people would become angry. They might riot or try to remove him from the government. So Herod did not kill John at that time. In some languages, it may be natural to make some of this information explicit. For example:
he was afraid that the people ⌊might rebel⌋
-or-
⌊but he did not kill him at that time, because⌋ he was afraid that the people ⌊might riot⌋
the people: The word people refers to the people that Herod ruled. They were mostly Jewish people, but there were also other kinds of people living in the land he ruled.
Here are some other ways to translate this word:
the people ⌊he ruled⌋
-or-
his subjects
14:5c
they regarded John as a prophet: This clause means that the people “believed that” or “considered” John to be a prophet. For example:
they considered John to be a prophet (Good News Translation)
-or-
they thought John was a prophet (God’s Word)
-or-
they believed John was a prophet (New Century Version)
prophet: For help in translating the word prophet, see the note in 1:22.
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