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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
Mark C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16
Mark 6 V1 V3 V5 V7 V9 V11 V13 V15 V17 V19 V21 V23 V25 V27 V29 V31 V33 V35 V37 V39 V41 V43 V45 V47 V49 V51 V53 V55
OET (OET-LV) But having_heard, the Haʸrōdaʸs was_saying, that Yōannaʸs whom I beheaded, this was_raised.
OET (OET-RV) But hearing about Yeshua, Herod was telling people, “That Yohan who I had beheaded, he must have come back to life!”
Here Mark interrupted his story of how Jesus sent his disciples to preach, expel demons, and heal people. The story about Jesus and his disciples starts again in 6:30. In Section 6:14–29, Mark inserted a different story. He told what King Herod thought about Jesus and why he thought these things. He told the story of how Herod killed John the Baptizer, and how Herod thought that Jesus must be John, alive again.
Here is another possible heading for this section:
The death of John the Baptist
There are parallel passages for this section in Matthew 14:1–12; Luke 9:7–9 (see also Luke 3:19–20).
This paragraph gives background information about the thoughts that different people had about Jesus. First, Mark showed how the information was connected to what he was telling about Jesus and his disciples. Then he told some of the wrong ideas that people had about who Jesus was, and who Herod thought Jesus was.
But when Herod heard this, he said,
But when Herod heard what all the people were saying, he said,
When Herod heard these opinions/ideas, he said that
But: The Greek conjunction that the BSB translates as But here introduces who Herod thought Jesus was. This idea agrees with the first idea mentioned in 6:14d. It does not contrast with all the other ideas. So some English translations do not translate the conjunction But. The NCV, for example, leaves it untranslated. Connect Herod’s idea in 6:16a to the other ideas in 6:14–15 in the way that is natural in your language.
when Herod heard this: Just as in 6:14a, the word this is not in the Greek. Most English versions add the word “this” or “it” to make the meaning clearer. The word this refers back to all the things the people were saying about who Jesus was. You may need to use a specific expression instead of this, such as:
when Herod heard their opinions
when Herod heard these ideas
when Herod heard what the people were saying
“John, whom I beheaded, has risen from the dead!”
“He is John the Baptizer! I myself had his head cut off, but he has come back to life!”
“This is the man they beheaded at my orders, John the Baptizer! Now he’s alive again!”
Jesus was John the one who baptized people, whom he had killed by having his head cut off. He said that John had been raised from the dead.
John, whom I beheaded, has risen from the dead!: Herod believed what the first group of people (6:14c) were saying. He had personal reasons to believe this, since he had given the order to kill John (6:17–29).
It is not explicitly stated that Herod thought that Jesus was John. You may need to make this clear. For example:
He is John the Baptist! I had his head cut off, but he has come back to life! (GNT)
Jesus must be John, the man I beheaded! He has been raised from the dead.
John: It may be necessary to say “John the Baptist” (as in the GNT) to make the reference clear.
In Greek, John’s name is stated at the end of the clause “the man I beheaded.” This emphasizes John and makes him the focus of this passage. To emphasize John you could translate:
He is John the Baptist! (GNT)
This must be John! (CEV)
whom I beheaded: The phrasewhom I beheaded here means that Herod had ordered someone to cut off John’s head. Herod himself did not cut off John’s head. One of his soldiers did that.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
I caused his head to be cut off
I myself ordered him to be beheaded
I: In Greek, the word I is emphasized. If possible, you should make this word emphatic in your translation. For example:
It was I who had him beheaded!
has risen from the dead: The Greek verb that the BSB translates as has risen from the dead is more literally “has been raised from the dead,” as in the NIV. This is a passive clause. In some languages it may be more natural to use an active verb, as the BSB does. Here are some other ways to say this in active form:
he has come back to life
God raised him from the dead
Some languages use an impersonal third person plural “they” to show a passive. For example:
they raised him from the dead
from the dead: Not all Greek manuscripts include the phrase from the dead. Some manuscripts say “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised” (as in the RSV). But even in these texts, the idea of from the dead is clearly implied. So it is recommended that you include this phrase in your translation if it is natural.
In some languages it may be natural to translate Herod’s comments as indirect speech. For example:
Herod heard what the people were saying. He decided that John the Baptizer, whom he had beheaded, must have been raised from the dead.
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / explicitinfo
ὃν ἐγὼ ἀπεκεφάλισα, Ἰωάννην οὗτος ἠγέρθη
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἀκούσας Δέ ὁ Ἡρῴδης ἔλεγεν ὅτι ὅν ἐγώ ἀπεκεφάλισα Ἰωάννην οὗτος ἠγέρθη)
Here, the phrase this one refers directly back to The one whom I beheaded, John. Herod expresses the idea in this way to introduce the person he is talking about and then explain what he thinks has happened to that person. If stating the topic and then referring back to it with the phrase this one would be redundant in your language, you could omit the redundant information. Alternate translation: [The one whom I beheaded, John, has been raised]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
ὃν ἐγὼ ἀπεκεφάλισα, Ἰωάννην οὗτος ἠγέρθη
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἀκούσας Δέ ὁ Ἡρῴδης ἔλεγεν ὅτι ὅν ἐγώ ἀπεκεφάλισα Ἰωάννην οὗτος ἠγέρθη)
Herod is implying that Jesus is actually John, who has been raised and now goes by the name Jesus. If it would be helpful in your language, you could make that idea more explicit. Alternate translation: [This man Jesus is actually the one whom I beheaded, John, who has been raised] or [The one whom I beheaded, John, this one has been raised and is now called Jesus]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
ἐγὼ ἀπεκεφάλισα
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἀκούσας Δέ ὁ Ἡρῴδης ἔλεγεν ὅτι ὅν ἐγώ ἀπεκεφάλισα Ἰωάννην οὗτος ἠγέρθη)
Here Herod implies that he had his soldiers behead John. If it would be helpful in your language, you could make that idea more explicit. Alternate translation: [my soldiers beheaded] or [I had my soldiers behead]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom
οὗτος ἠγέρθη
this ˓was˒_raised
See how you expressed the similar phrase in [6:14](../06/14.md). Alternate translation: [has been restored to life]
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
οὗτος ἠγέρθη
this ˓was˒_raised
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. If you need to say who did the action, Herod could be implying that: (1) God did it. Alternate translation: [God has raised this one] (2) John himself did it. Alternate translation: [this one has risen]
6:14-29 The account of John the Baptist’s death, sandwiched between the sending out and the return of the disciples, continues the theme of Jesus’ authority and power (see 6:7, 14). John’s fate and the warning given to the disciples in their missionary charge (6:11) also foreshadowed Jesus’ death. The one greater even than John (1:8) would soon be handed over to religious and political leaders and put to death (8:31; 9:31; 10:33).
OET (OET-LV) But having_heard, the Haʸrōdaʸs was_saying, that Yōannaʸs whom I beheaded, this was_raised.
OET (OET-RV) But hearing about Yeshua, Herod was telling people, “That Yohan who I had beheaded, he must have come back to life!”
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.