Vincent's Word Studies, by Marvin R. Vincent, [1886], at sacred-texts.com
Matthew Chapter 14
Tetrarch
A ruler of a fourth part. Archelaus had obtained two-fourths of his father's dominions, and Antipas (this Herod) and Philip each one-fourth.
The fame (ἀκοὴν)
Better as Rev., report. Lit., hearing.
Put him in prison
(ἐν φυλακῇ απέθετο). Lit., "put him away or aside" (ἀπὸ). This prison was the fortress of Machaerus on the east side of the Dead Sea, almost on a line with Bethlehem, above the gorge which divided the Mountains of Abarim from the range of Pisgah. Perched on an isolated cliff at the end of a narrow ridge, encompassed with deep ravines, was the citadel. At the other end of this ridge Herod built a great wall, with towers two hundred feet high at the corners; and within this inclosure, a magnificent palace, with colonnades, baths, cisterns, arsenals - every provision, in short, for luxury and for defence against siege. The windows commanded a wide and grand prospect, including the Dead Sea, the course of the Jordan, and Jerusalem. In the detached citadel, probably in one of the underground dungeons, remains of which may still be seen, was the prison of John. "We return through what we regard as the ruins of the magnificent castle-palace of Herod, to the highest and strongest part of the defences - the eastern keep or the citadel, on the steep slope, one hundred and fifty yards up. The foundations of the walls all around, to the height of a yard or two above the ground, are still standing. As we clamber over them to examine the interior, we notice how small this keep is: exactly one hundred yards in diameter. There are scarcely any remains of it left. A well of great depth, and a deep, cemented cistern, with the vaulting of the roof still complete, and - of most terrible interest to us - two dungeons, one of them deep down, its sides scarcely broken in, ' with small holes still visible in the masonry where staples of wood and iron had once been fixed!' As we look down into its hot darkness, we shudder in realizing that this terrible keep had, for nigh ten months, been the prison of that son of the free wilderness, the bold herald of the coming kingdom, the humble, earnest, self-denying John the Baptist" (Edersheim, "Life and Times of Jesus").
Birthday (γενεσίοις)
Though some explain it as the anniversary of Herod's accession. The custom of celebrating birthdays by festivities was not approved by the strict Jews; but it is claimed that the Herodian princes adopted the custom. The Roman satirist, Persins, alludes to a festival known as "Herod's Day," and pictures a banquet on that occasion.
"But when
Comes Herod's day, and on the steaming panes
The ranged lamps, festooned with violets, pour
The unctuous cloud, while the broad tunny-tail
Sprawled o'er the red dish swims, and snowy jars
Swell with the wine."
Sat. v., 180-188.
Before (ἐν τῷ μέσῳ)
Rev., in the midst. Wyc., leaped in the middle.
He promised (ὡμολόγησεν)
Lit., confessed; conveying the idea of acknowledging the obligation of his oath. Salome had degraded herself to perform the part of an almeh or common dancer, and could claim her reward.
Being before instructed (προβιβασθεῖσα)
Wyc., monestid, with warned in explanation. Both wrong. Rev., rightly, being put forward. Compare Act 19:33, where the right meaning is, they pushed Alexander forward out of the crowd; and not as A. V., drew out. The correct rendering slightly relieves Salome of the charge of wanton cruelty, and throws it wholly upon Herodias.
Here (ὧδε)
She demanded it on the spot, before Herod should have had time to reflect and relent; the more so, as she knew his respect for John (compare was sorry, Mat 14:9). The circumstances seem to point to Machaerus itself as the scene of the banquet; so that the deed could be quickly done, and the head of the Baptist delivered while the feast was still in progress.
In a charger (ἐπὶ πίνακι)
The Revisers cannot be defended in their retention of this thoroughly obsolete word. A charge is originally a burden; and a charger something loaded. Hence, a dish. Wyc., dish. Tynd., platter.
The oath's sake (διὰ τοὺς ὅρκους)
But the A. V. puts the apostrophe in the wrong place. The word is plural, and the Rev. rightly renders for the sake of his oaths. It is implied that Herod in his mad excitement had confirmed his promise with repeated oaths.
To the damsel (τῷ κορασίῳ)
Diminutive, the little girl, Luther gives mgdlein, little maid.
On foot (πεζῇ)
Rev., by land in margin, which is better; for the contrast is between Jesus' journey by ship and that of the multitude by land.
Desert (ἔρημος)
In the Greek order standing first as emphatic. The dominant thought of the disciples is remoteness from supplies of food. The first meaning of the word is solitary; from which develops the idea of void, bereft, barren.
Both meanings may well be included here. Note the two points of emphasis. The disciples say, Barren is the place. Christ answers, No need have they to go away.
Give (δότε)
The disciples had said, "Send them away to buy for themselves." Christ replies, Give ye.
Brake
As the Jewish loaves were thin cakes, a thumb's breadth in thickness, and more easily broken than cut.
Were filled (ἐχορτάσθησαν)
See on Mat 5:6.
Baskets (κοφίνους)
Wyc., coffins, a transcription of the Greek word. Juvenal, the Roman satirist, describes the grove of Numa, near the Capenian gate of Rome, as being "let out to the Jews, whose furniture is a basket (cophinus) and some hay" (for a bed), "Sat." iii., 14. These were small hand-baskets, specially provided for the Jews to carry levitically clean food while travelling in Samaria or other heathen districts. The word for basket used in relating the feeding of the four thousand (Mat 15:37) is σπυρίς, a large provision-basket or hamper, of the kind used for letting Paul down over the wall at Damascus (Act 9:25). In Mat 16:9,Mat 16:10, Christ, in alluding to the two miracles, observes the distinctive term in each narrative; using κοφίνους in the case of the five thousand, and σπυρίδας in the other. Burgon ("Letters from Rome") gives a drawing of a wicker basket used by the masons in the cathedral at Sorrento, and called cffano. He adds, "Who can doubt that the basket of the gospel narrative was of the shape here represented, and that the denomination of this basket exclusively has lingered in a Greek colony, where the Jews (who once carried the cophinus as a personal equipment) formerly lived in great numbers?"
Constrained
Implying the disciples' reluctance to leave him behind.
Tossed (βασανιζόμενον)
Rev., better, distressed. See on Mat 4:24.
A spirit (φάντασμα)
Of which our word phantasm is a transcription. Rev., rather stiffly, apparition. Wyc., phantom.
To go to (ἐλθεῖν πρὸς)
But some of the best texts read καὶ ἦλθεν πρὸς, and went toward.
He was afraid
"Although," says Bengel, "a fisherman and a good swimmer" (Joh 21:7).
Ceased (ἐκόπασεν)
A beautiful word. Lit., grew weary; sank away like one who is weary.
Were made perfectly whole (διεσώθησαν)
The preposition διά, through or through, indicates complete restoration.
The Rev. omits perfectly, because whole, in itself, implies completeness.