Open Bible Data Home About News OET Key
OET OET-RV OET-LV ULT UST BSB MSB BLB AICNT OEB WEBBE WMBB NET LSV FBV TCNT T4T LEB BBE Moff JPS Wymth ASV DRA YLT Drby RV SLT Wbstr KJB-1769 KJB-1611 Bshps Gnva Cvdl TNT Wycl SR-GNT UHB BrLXX BrTr Related Topics Parallel Interlinear Reference Dictionary Search
InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
Mat C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21 C22 C23 C24 C25 C26 C27 C28
Mat 14 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V19 V20 V21 V22 V23 V24 V25 V26 V27 V28 V29 V30 V31 V32 V33 V34 V35 V36
OET (OET-LV) And the king was_sorrowed but because_of the oaths and the ones reclining, he_commanded it to_be_given.
OET (OET-RV) The king was upset, but because of his oaths in front of the other guests, he commanded it to be so
In this section, Matthew wrote how John the Baptist was killed. This section can be difficult to translate because the events are not in chronological order.
Verses 1–2 refer to events that happened after John the Baptist died. But verses 3–12 refer back to events that had happened before John the Baptist died, and they include the story of his death. You will need to clearly indicate the change in time at 14:3.
Here are some other possible headings for this section:
The Death of John the Baptist (GNT)
John the Baptist Beheaded (NASB)
There are parallel passages for this section in Mark 6:14–29 and Luke 9:7–9.
The king was grieved,
The king was very sad,
King Herod regretted making the oath,
The king: This phrase refers to Herod. In 14:1 he was called “the tetrarch.” So it is likely that the term king here is used in a general sense of “ruler.” You can use the same title here as in 14:1.
Here are some other ways to translate this word:
The ruler
King Herod
was grieved: The Greek word that the BSB translates as was grieved means “became sad, sorrowful, or distressed.” Herod was distressed about killing a holy man (Mark 6:20).
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
was very sad (NCV)
regretted his promise (GW)
was sorry for what he had said (CEV)
but because of his oaths and his guests,
but because he did not want to break his oaths/vows in front of his guests,
but he had made oaths and his dinner guests had heard them,
but because of his oaths and his guests: This phrase indicates the reasons why Herod ordered that John be killed (in 14:9c–10). He did not want to break his oaths in front of his guests.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
but because he had made oaths and his guests had heard them
But he did not want to break the promise he had made in front of his guests. (CEV)
his guests: The Greek word that the BSB translates as his guests is literally “those reclining at the table with (him).” These are the people Herod had invited and were eating with him at the feast.
Here are some other ways to translate this word:
the people whom he had invited
those sitting at the feast with him
he ordered that her wish be granted
he commanded his men to do what she had asked.
so he ordered his soldiers to give her the thing that she had asked for.
he ordered that her wish be granted: This clause means that Herod ordered that John’s head be given to the daughter of Herodias. Herod told one of his soldiers to do as the daughter asked.
The verb be granted is passive. Here are some other ways to translate this entire clause:
Use a passive verb. For example:
he gave orders that she should be given what she had asked (JBP)
Use an active verb. For example:
he commanded one of his men to do as she asked
he ordered that they bring the girl the thing that she had asked for
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
ἐλυπήθη
˓was˒_sorrowed
If your language does not use this passive form, you could express the idea in active form or in another way that is natural in your language. Alternate translation: [felt very sorry]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
διὰ τοὺς ὅρκους καὶ τοὺς συνανακειμένους
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἐλυπήθη ὁ βασιλεύς διά δέ τούς ὅρκους καί τούς συνανακειμένους ἐκέλευσεν δοθῆναι)
Matthew indicates two reasons why Herod kept his word. First, he had made oaths that he did not want to break. Second, he had promised in front of the ones reclining to eat with him, and it would be embarrassing and shameful to break his promise when everyone had heard it. You could include this information if that would be helpful to your readers. Alternate translation: [but because he had used oaths and because the ones reclining to eat with him had heard what he promised]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
τοὺς συνανακειμένους
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἐλυπήθη ὁ βασιλεύς διά δέ τούς ὅρκους καί τούς συνανακειμένους ἐκέλευσεν δοθῆναι)
In Jesus’ culture, people would usually recline, or lie on one side, at a table when they were eating. If it would be helpful in your language, you could refer to the position in which people eat in your culture, or you could just refer to eating. Alternate translation: [the ones sitting down to eat with him] or [the ones eating with him]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
ἐκέλευσεν δοθῆναι
˱he˲_commanded_‹it› ˓to_be˒_given
If your language does not use the passive form in this way, you could express the idea in active form or in another way that is natural in your language. If you must state who would do the action, Matthew implies that one of Herod’s soldiers would do it. Alternate translation: [he commanded that one of his soldiers give it]
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
ἐκέλευσεν δοθῆναι
˱he˲_commanded_‹it› ˓to_be˒_given
Matthew means that Herod commanded someone to do what Herodias’ daughter asked. You could include this information if that would be helpful to your readers. Alternate translation: [commanded that someone give her what she had requested]
OET (OET-LV) And the king was_sorrowed but because_of the oaths and the ones reclining, he_commanded it to_be_given.
OET (OET-RV) The king was upset, but because of his oaths in front of the other guests, he commanded it to be so
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.