Mark 6:24 (AV)
And she¹ went forth²,
and said unto her mother,
What shall I ask³?
And she said,
The head⁴ of John the Baptist.
¹) The daughter (some say her name was Salome, but I couldn’t find that in the Bible)
²) Go out, of those who leave a place of their own accord.
³) To ask, beg, call for, crave, desire, require.
⁴) Since the loss of the head destroys life, this word is used in the phrases relating to capital and extreme punishment.
Other translations
Then she left the room and said to her mother, What shall I ask for [myself]? And she replied, The head of John the Baptist! [AMP] And she went out and said to her mother, "For what should I ask?" And she said, "The head of John the Baptist." [ESV] Excited, she ran back to the king and said, "I want the head of John the Baptizer served up on a platter. And I want it now!" [MSB] And she went forth, and said unto her mother, What shall I ask? And she said, The head of John the Baptist. [KJV] She went out and said to her mother, "What shall I ask for? The head of John the Baptist," she answered. [NIV] She went out and asked her mother, "What should I ask for?" Her mother told her, "Ask for John the Baptist's head!" [NLT] So she went out and said to her mother, "What shall I ask?" And she said, "The head of John the Baptist!" [NKJV]
Some further information
And she went forth,
For women were not used to eat together with men.
And she said, The head of John the Baptist
Abandoned women are more shameless and heartless than men.
The Baptist’s fidelity marred the pleasures of Herodias, and this was too good an opportunity of getting rid of him to let slip.
The plot to take off John’s head came into action. Maybe Herod was himself in the plot, notwithstanding his pretences to be displeased and surprised, and that the thing was concerted between him and Herodias; for it is said “when a convenient (or strategic) day was come” (Mark 6:21), a day fit for such a purpose.
The daughter, being instructed by Herodias her mother, asked the head of John the Baptist; and she must have it brought her in a charger, as a pretty thing for her to play with (Mark 6:24, 25); and there must be no delay, no time lost, she must have it immediately.
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There must have been a ball at court, upon the king’s birth-day, and a supper prepared for his lords, high captains, and chief estates of Galilee, and they saw their opportunity.
The daughter of Herodias had to dance publicly, to entertain his guests, and Herod and his guests were wonderfully charmed with her (probably sensual or erotic) dancing. (Mark 6:22)
The king hereupon must make her an extravagant promise, to give her whatever she would ask, even to the half of the kingdom (Mark 06.23); and yet, that, if rightly understood, would not have reached the end designed, for John Baptist’s head was worth more than his whole kingdom.
This promise is bound with an oath, that no room might be left to fly off from it; He sware unto her, Whatsoever thou shalt ask, I will give. I can scarcely think he would have made such an unlimited promise, but that he knew what she would ask.
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After Herod swore to her that he would give her whatever she asked of him (Mark 6:23), the daughter went to her mother.
Herodias was outside the hall where the banquet was being held. In connection with this, Marcus writes here that Salome went outside. She went to her mother to consult with her.
This could indicate that they had not agreed on anything beforehand. Nevertheless, we get the strong impression from the whole course of events that the two did indeed conspire, and that Herod himself was possibly also involved in the plot. The daughter’s departure from the banquet hall to consult her mother may well have been in order to pretend otherwise to the guests.
When her daughter came to her mother, to take the case to her, Herodias seized her opportunity to get revenge. She told her daughter to ask the king for the head of John the Baptist.
By doing so, she manipulated her daughter. In this respect the history of John’s suffering and death resembles that of the Lord Jesus.
In the history of His suffering and death, the high priests did the same to the people (see Mark 15:11).
Now let us reflect on this
The rumor of Jesus also reaches Herod, who rules Galilee.
His conscience does not settle, and no wonder. After all, he had put John to death. The woman with whom he lived in sin, had prompted it.
John had to be silent because he had dared to mention his sin by name. But it was not comfortable for Herod; he had something with John.
But one sin provokes another.
Herod gets entangled in his own sinful nature.
A moment of thoughtlessness can make you cry for years!
John is put to death by beheading.
Herod hears from Jesus.
Could He be John raised from the dead?
The similarity is striking, in more ways than one.
John was killed innocently.
And Jesus will soon likewise …
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