As we point out above, At that time ties this account of John’s execution to the events in the previous chapter, but it does not indicate an exact time. Translators can say “In those days” or “Some time soon after that.”

Herod was Herod Antipas, one of the sons of Herod the Great.

Tetrarch (Good News Translation “ruler of Galilee”) transliterates a title which means “ruler of a fourth part.” Herod ruled only in Galilee (4 B.C.–A.D. 39), and so the basis for Good News Bible‘s rendering. Some translators who have followed Good News Bible in this have found it necessary to indicate that “Galilee” here refers to a province or region, not the lake. “The ruler of the region on the west side of Lake Galilee” will do this. Others have tried to keep more of the literal meaning of tetrarch and said “ruler of a part of the kingdom (of the Jewish people).” But this often results in an awkward sentence and gives too much prominence to the word. Another solution is to say “king over the region of Galilee.”

Heard about the fame of Jesus: New Jerusalem Bible has “heard about the reputation of Jesus” and Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, 1st edition “heard about the deeds of Jesus.” New English Bible restructures: “… reports about Jesus reached the ears of Prince Herod.” In the Greek text the verb heard has an object which comes from the same stem as the verb, and in such a context the noun would generally mean “account” or “report.” In this context it is legitimate to translate “about the things that Jesus had done and taught.”

There are some languages where it is necessary to indicate who was passing on reports to Herod. “Herod heard people tell about the things Jesus was doing” or “people told Herod about the things Jesus was doing” are possible.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .