His head was brought will be an impossible structure in many languages. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch indicates the agent of the passive verb by making the last half of verse 10 and the first half of verse 11 into one sentence: “ He sent the executioner to the prison; he beheaded John and brought the head on a plate and gave it to the young girl.” It is not necessary to assume that the executioner is the one who brought the head in, though this is a valid assumption. One may also translate “ He sent his executioner to behead John the Baptist in prison. Then a servant brought….” Girl literally means “little girl,” though it is known that Salome was born in A.D. 10, which would mean that she was eighteen to twenty years old at this time. Matthew has previously used the word to describe the ruler’s daughter (9.24, 25), who was twelve years old, according to Mark (5.42).

And she brought it to her mother assumes that the mother was not in the same room with the guests; see Matthew 14.8. In some languages brought will have to be rendered “took.” The phrase may be followed by “and gave it to her.”

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 .