Herodias — Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

Daughter of Aristobulus, the son of Herod the Great, and Berenice. Born between 9 and 7 BC, her older brother was Herod Agrippa I. In 6 BC, while still in her infancy, she was betrothed by her grandfather, Herod the Great, to his son by Mariamne II named Herod Philip. Herodias was the mother of Salome, born between AD 15 and 19.

Herodias and Herod Philip lived on the seacoast of Judea, possibly at Azotus or Caesarea. In AD 29 Herod Antipas visited Herodias’s (his niece) residence on his way to Rome. They were attracted to each other and Herodias agreed to marry him provided he would divorce his present wife, the daughter of Aretas IV, the Nebatean king of Petra. Herodias, being a Hasmonean, did not want to share the house with an Arab—longtime foes of the Hasmonean dynasty. When Aretas’s daughter got word of this plot, she secretly escaped to her father, and Herodias and Antipas were married. This incident was the beginning of hostilities between Antipas and Aretas, which eventually led to Aretas’s war against and defeat of Antipas in AD 36.

John the Baptist openly denounced this marriage (Mt 14:3-12; Mk 6:17-29; Lk 3:19-20) because Jewish law forbade marriage with one’s brother’s wife (Lv 18:16; 20:21), except in order to raise children for a deceased childless brother by a levirate marriage (Dt 25:5; Mk 12:19). In this case the brother, Herod Philip, was still alive and had a child, Salome. The bold denunciation by John the Baptist led to Antipas’s imprisoning him around AD 30 or 31. Herodias wanted more than this. She arranged, possibly at Herod Antipas’s birthday, to have her daughter dance before him and his magistrates. In appreciation, Herod Antipas promised Salome up to half of his kingdom. At her mother’s bidding, she asked for John the Baptist’s head on a platter.

Show passage in OET: MAT 14:3–12

OET-RV MAT 14:3

3 Herodes said this because he’d previously had Yohan (John; Grk. Yoannes) arrested and put in prison because of Herodias, his brother Filippos’s (Philip’s) wife.

OET-RV MAT 14:4

4 Yohan had been saying that it was against God’s law for Herodes to take his brother’s wife.

OET-RV MAT 14:5

5 Herodes had been wanting to have Yohan executed, but he was afraid of the crowd because they considered Yohan to be a prophet.

OET-RV MAT 14:6

6 However at Herodes’s birthday celebration, Herodias’s daughter had danced in front of them all and had pleased Herodes so much

OET-RV MAT 14:7

7 that he promised with an oath to give her anything she requested.

OET-RV MAT 14:8

8 The young woman was urged on by her mother to tell Herodes that she wanted Yohan-the-immerser’s head on a plate.

OET-RV MAT 14:9

9 The king was upset, but because of his oaths in front of the other guests, he commanded it to be so

OET-RV MAT 14:10

10 and sent his soldiers to behead Yohan in prison.

OET-RV MAT 14:11

11 So then his head was brought in on a plate and given to the young woman, who then took it to her mother.

OET-RV MAT 14:12

12 Hearing the news, Yohan’s apprentices went to the prison and collected his body and buried it. Then they went and told Yeshua (Jesus; Grk. Yesus).

OET-LV MAT 14:3

3 For/Because the Haʸrōdaʸs having _apprehended the Yōannaʸs, bound him and put_ him _away in prison, because _of Haʸrōidias, the wife of _Filippos, the brother of _him.

OET-LV MAT 14:4

4 For/Because the Yōannaʸs was _saying, to _him It _is_ not _permitting for _you to _be _having her.

OET-LV MAT 14:5

5 And wanting to _kill_ him _off, he _was _afraid the crowd, because they _were _having him as a_prophet.

OET-LV MAT 14:6

6 But for_the_birthday _celebrations of_ the _Haʸrōdaʸs having _become, the daughter of_ the _Haʸrōidias danced in the midst and brought _pleasure to_ the _Haʸrōdaʸs,

OET-LV MAT 14:7

7 whence with an_oath, he _promised to _give to _her whatever if she _may _request.

OET-LV MAT 14:8

8 And which having _been _urged _on by the mother of _her:
Give to _me, she _is _saying:
here on a_platter, the head of _Yōannaʸs the immerser.

OET-LV MAT 14:9

9 And the king was _sorrowed but because _of the oaths and the ones reclining, he _commanded it to _be _given.

OET-LV MAT 14:10

10 And having _sent, he _beheaded Yōannaʸs in the prison.

OET-LV MAT 14:11

11 And the head of _him was _brought on a_platter, and it _was _given to _the little _girl, and she _brought it to _the mother of _her.

OET-LV MAT 14:12

12 And having _approached, the apprentices/followers of _him took _away the corpse and buried him, and having _come, they _reported to_ the _Yaʸsous/(Yəhōshūˊa).

Show passage in OET: LUK 3:19–20

OET-RV LUK 3:19

19 He scolded King Herodes (Herod) (who was the ruler of the Galili quarter) about marrying his own brother Filippos’s (Philip’s) wife Herodias. Herodes had also been scolded by him about many other evil things that he’d done,

OET-RV LUK 3:20

20 and then he added to his evils by having Yohan locked up in prison.

OET-LV LUK 3:19

19 But the Haʸrōdaʸs the quarter _ruler, being _rebuked by him concerning Haʸrōidias, the wife of _the brother of _him, and concerning all evil which the Haʸrōdaʸs did,

OET-LV LUK 3:20

20 also added this to all things:
he _locked _up the Yōannaʸs in prison.

Show passage in OET: LEV 18:16

OET-RV LEV 18:16

16 Don’t flirt with your sister-in-law, because her naked body is the realm of your brother.

OET-LV LEV 18:16

16 The _nakedness _of the _wife _of your(ms)_brother/kindred not you _will _uncover is_the _nakedness _of your(ms)_brother/kindred it.

Show passage in OET: LEV 20:21

OET-RV LEV 20:21

21 If a man marries his brother’s wife, it’s indecent. He’s exposed his nakedness and they’ll be childless.

OET-LV LEV 20:21

21 And_a _man who he _will _take DOM the _wife _of his/its_brother is_impurity it the _nakedness _of his/its_brother he _has _uncovered childless they _will _be.

Show passage in OET: DEU 25:5

OET-RV DEU 25:5

5 If some brothers live on the same property and one of them dies without leaving a son, then the widow mustn’t marry outside of the family. Her brother-in-law must take her as a wife for himself and perform the duty of a brother-in-law.

OET-LV DEU 25:5

5 If/because brothers they _will _dwell together and_ one from_them _he _will _die and_a _son there_belongs_not to_him/it not the _wife _of the _dead_man she _will _belong to_the_outside to_a _man strange brother _of_her _husband’s he _will _go on/upon_it(f) and_he_will _take _her to_him/it to/for_(a)_woman and_he_will _act _as _a _husband’s _brother _for _her.

Show passage in OET: MRK 12:19

OET-RV MRK 12:19

19 “Teacher, Mosheh (Moses) wrote that if a man’s married brother should die before his wife without having any children, then his brother should marry her to produce descendants in his brother’s name.

OET-LV MRK 12:19

19 Teacher, Mōsaʸs/(Mosheh) wrote to _us, that if A_brother of _anyone may _die _off, and may _leave a_wife and may_ not _leave children, that the brother of _him may _take the wife, and may _raise _up seed for _the brother of _him.

Jump to OET MAT 14:3–12 section.

Jump to OET LUK 3:19–20 section.

Jump to OET LEV 18:16 section.

Jump to OET LEV 20:21 section.

Jump to OET DEU 25:5 section.

Jump to OET MRK 12:19 section.

Herodias last appears in history involved in an intrigue between her brother, Agrippa I, who had been designated king by the emperor Caligula, and her husband Antipas, who had long wanted such a title. Antipas, at his wife’s insistence, went to Rome to plead his case, but he lost and was banished. Herodias, however, did remain faithful and followed him into exile, even though Caligula would not have punished her because she was Agrippa’s sister.