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MATTHEW 14:10 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
Matt 14:9Matt 14:11
“And he sent, and beheaded John in the prison.”
He sent and had John beheaded in the prison. The execution — brief and brutal — is narrated without ceremony. The greatest figure of the old covenant era (Matthew 11:11) is killed in prison by a political ruler's rash oath and a woman's vendetta. The beheading in the prison communicates the degrading character of the death: not the execution of a criminal after a trial but the silent disposal of an inconvenient prophet.

Church Fathers on Matthew 14:10

The Evangelist having related John’s imprisonment, proceeds to his putting to death, saying, 'But on Herod’s birthday, the d aug hter of Herodias danced in the midst.

Gloss (Glossa Ordinaria) · medieval compilation · non occ.

We find no others keeping their birthday besides Herod and Pharaoh, that they who were alike in their wickedness might be alike in their festivities.

Jerome · 4th century

It should be known that it is customary not for rich only but for poor mothers also, to educate their d aug hters so chastely, that they are scarce so much as seen by strangers. But this unchaste woman had so brought up her d aug hter after the same manner, that she had taught her not chastity but dancing. Nor is Herod to be less blamed who forgot that his was a royal palace, but this woman made it a theatre; 'And it pleased Herod, so that he swore with an oath that he would…

Remigius · 9th century
Read all 21 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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Matthew 14:10 — Community Reflections | HolyStudy