At that time Herod the tetrarch Not Herod the Great, in whose reign Christ was born, and who slew the infants of Bethlehem, but his son; this was, as the Jewish chronologer [[2]] rightly observes, “Herod Antipater, whom they call (טיתרקי) , “the tetrarch”; the son of Herod the First, and brother of…

And said unto his servants Those of his household, his courtiers, with whom he more familiarly conversed; to these he expressed his fears, that it might be true what was suggested by the people, and he was ready to believe it himself; this is John the Baptist: some copies add, “whom I have…

For Herod had laid hold on John By his servants, whom he sent to apprehend him: and bound him; laid him in chains, as if he was a malefactor; and put him in prison, in the castle of Machaerus [[3]], for Herodias’s sake; who was angry with him, had a bitter quarrel against him, and by whose…

For John said unto him John having heard of this incestuous marriage, went to Herod, and reproved him to his face for it; and, as Luke says, “for all the evils he had done”, for he was a very wicked man, and guilty of many flagitious crimes: John, in so doing, showed his zeal for holiness, his…

And when he would have put him to death As soon as he apprehended him, and put him into prison; being provoked by his reproving him, and being stirred up by Herodias, who was greatly incensed and enraged, and would have killed him herself, but could not, being hindered by Herod: who, though he had…

But when Herod’s birthday was kept The birthdays of princes, both of their coming into the world, and accession to the throne of government, were kept by the Gentiles; as by the Egyptians, and by the [[12]] Persians, and Romans [[13]], and other nations, but not by the Jews; who reckon these among…

Whereupon he promised with an oath On account of her fine dancing, and being extremely pleased with it himself; and the more, that it gave such pleasure to the whole court: he first promised her, to give her whatsoever she would ask; and then repeating it, he confirmed it with an oath; adding, as…

And she being before instructed of her mother What request to make; for as Mark says, “she went forth” to her mother immediately, as soon as she had received the king’s promise, and took advice of her, what she should ask; who bid her ask for the head of John the Baptist; and accordingly she went…

And the king was sorry As he might be upon many accounts; partly on account of John, whom, notwithstanding his freedom in reproving him, he had a respect; and partly on his own account, his conscience dictating to him that it was an evil action, and would leave a brand of perpetual infamy upon him;…

And he sent “An executioner”, as in where the Latin word “speculator”, or as it is sometimes written “spiculator”, is used; and is the name of an officer concerned in executions, and particularly in beheading of persons; and so is used by Latin writers.

And his head was brought in a charger By the executioner that cut it off, to Herod, whilst he and his guests were at table; by which it should seem, that the prison was very near; and it is not improbable, that it was the castle of Macheerus that Herod made this entertainment in: and given to the…

And his disciples came To the prison where his body was left, and to which they had liberty of recourse before; see and very probably, upon hearing what was done, might apply to Herod, as Joseph of Arimathea did to Pilate, for the body of Jesus; who might, as he did, give them leave to take it: and…

When Jesus heard of it Of the death of John, and of the cruel usage he had met with; and particularly, that his fame had reached the court of Herod, and that he was talked of there, and said by Herod himself to be John the Baptist, that was risen from the dead; he departed thence by ship, into a…

And Jesus went forth Either from the mountain where he sat with his disciples, or out of the desert, where he had retired for secrecy; or out of the ship, which seems best, the company having got thither before his landing: and saw a great multitude; for, there were about five thousand men, beside…

And when it was evening Mark says, “when the day was now far spent”; and Luke, “when the day began to wear away”; it was upon the decline of the day. The Jews, as Grotius rightly observes, had two evenings; the one began when the sun declined at noon, and the other at sun setting: now it was the…

But Jesus said unto them the disciples, they need not depart; meaning so long as he was with them, who had power enough to provide a sufficient meal for them, as well as by a word speaking, to heal their diseases; however, to try their faith, and make way for the working of the following miracle,…

And they say unto him In order to excuse themselves, and to show the impossibility of feeding such a large number of people; we have here but five loaves; and these barley ones, coarse bread; and two fishes; small ones, which were dried and salted, and fit for present eating; which they either…

He said, bring them hither to me. ] The loaves and the fishes, signifying that they were sufficient; or that he would make them so: this he said, to try their faith in him, their obedience to him, and their liberality to others: and indeed, the best way to have an increase of temporal supplies, is…

And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, &c.] The other evangelists say, that he ordered the disciples to cause the people to sit down; both no doubt were done: the multitude were commanded to sit down by Christ, which, without his orders, they would never have done; and the…

And they did all eat Christ and his twelve disciples, and the five thousand men, with the women and children, of the five loaves and two fishes; everyone had their portion, and were filled; they were satisfied, they had a full meal, they had enough, and to spare; see which the Targumist paraphrases…

And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, &c.] The word “about”, is omitted in the Vulgate Latin, in Munster’s Hebrew Gospel, and in the Syriac, Arabic, and Persic versions, which expressly say there were so many.

And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples As soon as ever he had wrought the above miracle, and perceived that the people were so convinced by it, of his being the Messiah, that they were determined, whether he would or not, to set him up for a temporal king, to deliver them from the Roman…

And when he had sent the multitudes away Had ordered them at least to go away; for, it seems, according to that they did not in general disperse: there was a large body of them that continued upon the spot all night, expecting his return; in which being disappointed, they took shipping, and came to…

But the ship was now in the midst of the sea That is, the ship in which the disciples were put into, to go on the other side, had by this time got into the midst of the sea: the Syriac and Persic versions say, it was “many furlongs from land”; and the Arabic expressly says, “about twenty five…

And in the fourth watch of the night This is said, according to the division of the night into four watches, by the Jews; who [[13]] say, that “there are four watches in the night, and four watches in the day.” It is true indeed, that it is disputed among them, whether there were four watches, or…

And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea It being now morning, and perhaps might have moon light; and besides, there is always more light upon the water than land; they were able to discern something like a man, walking upon the surface of the sea, but had not light enough to distinguish…

But straightway Jesus spake unto them Directly, the very moment, as soon as ever they cried out, and he perceived the consternation they were in, as one truly affected towards them, and concerned for their welfare; he called out aloud unto them, not coming with any intention to fright them, but to…

And Peter answered him and said Who knew his voice, and was ready to believe it might be Christ; and having more courage, and being more forward than the rest of the disciples, ventured to speak to him; saying, Lord, if it be thou; for he was not fully assured that it was he: he might consider that…

And he said, come This he said, partly to assure them who he was; for had he denied him, he and the rest might have concluded, it was none of Jesus; and partly to commend his love, and confirm his faith, by giving a further instance of his power, in enabling him to walk upon the water, as he did:…

But when he saw the wind boisterous Or “strong”, blowing hard against him, and raising up the waves, which beat with great violence upon him, he was afraid; though Christ was so nigh him, and he had had such an instance of his power in bearing him up, causing him to walk upon the waters thus far;…

And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand The Syriac reads it, (וברשעתה) , “and in that very moment”; for his case requires immediate assistance, and Christ readily gave it; he reached out his hand at once, being just by him, and caught him; as he was sinking to the bottom, and lifted him up,…

And when they were come into the ship Christ and Peter. The Arabic and Persic versions, and Munster’s Hebrew Gospel read, “when he ascended”, or “was come into the ship”; but there is no doubt but Peter went with him into it, though the following effect is only to be ascribed to Christ’s coming…

Then they that were in the ship Not only the rest of the disciples, who remained in it, whilst Peter came forth out of it, to walk upon the sea, to go to Christ: but the mariners also, the owners of the vessel, and their servants that managed it, came and worshipped him: not merely in a civil, but…

And when they were gone over That is, “the sea”, as Munster’s Hebrew Gospel adds, the sea of Tiberias, or Galilee; they came into the land of Gennesaret; the same with Cinnereth, or Chinnereth, or Cinnerot, in all which places, the Chaldee paraphrase renders it by (גינוסר) , “Ginusar”, the same…

And when the men of the place had knowledge of him Not merely by report, but by face, having seen, and heard him before; see . They sent out into all that country round about, and brought unto him all that were diseased; which not only expresses their faith in him, that he was able to heal all…

And besought him that they might touch the hem of his garment As the woman with the bloody issue did; . This they desired, partly to show the strength of their faith in him, that they doubted not of a cure, could they be admitted so near his person; and partly, to signify the sense of their…