interceding as they ought to have done for John, they became accomplices in his murder.
10. ' Avixetpd^iffs, he beheaded) Even this kind of death was a proof that John was not the Messiah : cf. John xix. 36. 1- 'ludnqv, John) a sudden and violent death, even by decapita tion, is not always miserable.
11. Tj5 (tyr pi aurric, to her mother) who without doubt treated it cruelly.
12. To suftct, his body) without the head. — JX0&Vs;, x.r.X., coming, etc.) From that circumstance the death of John was advantageous to his disciples.2 — dvnjyys/Xai/, announced) It is not said with what manifestation of feeling Jesus received this announcement ; doubtless lie received it as it befitted the Lord.
13. ' Axouffas, having heard) sc. those things which are men tioned in ver. 1— 12.3 — avt^pr^^ departed) The murderer of the Baptist was unworthy to hear or see the Lord : see ch. xxi. 23-27. Afterwards, indeed, he did see Him ; Luke xxiii. 8 ; not, however, coming of His own accord, but forced by the violence of His enemies ; and therefore Herod's seeing Him, on that occasion, was not a sign of favour. Cf. the case of Samuel and Saul, 1 Sam. xv. 35 and xix. 24. — -/.ar /<3/av, apart) no one being taken with Him, except His disciples. — xt'Qii on foot) See Eustathius.4
14. 'Ei-txduv, having come forth) sc. from His retreat into public.
15. 'o-\j//aj, evening) The evening has various degrees ; see ver. 23. — r\ upa, the hour) sc. for dismissing the people, of taking food and rest, or of going to search for food. — sauro?^
1 It was not fitting, to wit, that even a bone of Christ's body should be broken, much less His head taken off. — V. g.
2 That is, the death of their master was the means of leading them to Jesus — the greatest of all blessings. — ED.
8 Namely, that the fame of Himself had reached Herod. Comp. John iv. 13. — Harm., p. 331.
4 ECSTATHIUS, the grammarian, who flourished in the twelfth century, was Bishop of Thessalonica. He wrote commentaries on Homer, and on Uiony- sins the geographer. He must not be confounded with the amatory writer, Ettmathius the Macrcmbolite, who wrote under this name in the fifteenth century, and was an obscure grammarian. — (I. B.)