Matthew 14:4
2 And said unto his servants, This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead; and therefore mighty works do shew forth themselves in him.
3 For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison for Herodias’ sake, his brother Philip’s wife.
For John said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her.
5 And when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet.
6 But when Herod’s birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod.
Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- because John had been telling him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.”
- KJV
- For John said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her.
- WEB
- For John said to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.”
- ASV
- For John said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her.
- DARBY
- For John said to him, It is not lawful for thee to have her.
- BLB
- For John was saying to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.”
- ÅB
- For Johannes hadde sagt til ham: «Det er ikke tillatt for deg å ha henne.»
- OTB
- For Johannes hadde sagt til ham: "Det er mot loven for deg å ha henne."
- B1930
- For Johannes hadde sagt til ham: Det er dig ikke tillatt å ha henne.
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Leviticus 20:21
And if a man shall take his brother’s wife, it is an unclean thing: he hath uncovered his brother’s nakedness; they shall be childless.
Read in contextLeviticus 18:16
Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother’s wife: it is thy brother’s nakedness.
Read in contextMark 6:18
For John had said unto Herod, It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother’s wife.
Read in contextProverbs 28:1
The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion.
Read in contextDeuteronomy 25:5–6
If brethren dwell together, and one of them die, and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not marry without unto a stranger: her husband’s brother shall go in unto her, and take her to him to wife, and perform the duty of an husband’s brother unto her.
Read in context2 Samuel 12:7
And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;
Read in contextIsaiah 8:20
To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
Read in context2 Chronicles 26:18–19
And they withstood Uzziah the king, and said unto him, It appertaineth not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense unto the LORD, but to the priests the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense: go out of the sanctuary; for thou hast trespassed; neither shall it be for thine honour from the LORD God.
Read in context