Mark 6:14-16 describes how Herod hears of Jesus’s miracles and mistakenly assumes that Jesus is John the Baptist brought back to life. Others claim that Jesus is the prophet Elijah who has returned, or that Jesus was another prophet, as God used to send to Israel in the old days.
The parallel gospel accounts for Mark 6:14-16 are found in Matthew 14:1-2,Matthew 16:14, andLuke 9:7-9.
In Mark 6:14-16, Herod hears of Jesus’s growing fame and miraculous power, and while some speculate that Jesus is Elijah or a prophet, Herod becomes convinced that He is John the Baptist risen from the dead, whom he had beheaded.
Mark shifts the scene in his narrative, moving from Nazareth, where Jesus could perform only a few miracles due to the people’s unbelief, to the palace of King Herod.
And King Herod heard of it, for His name had become well known (v 14a).
Herod, also known as Antipas, was the son of Herod the Great, who had sought to kill the Messiah when Jesus was an infant (Matthew 2:1-3, 2:16). He was also the brother of Archelaus, who inherited rule over Judea after their father’s death (Matthew 2:22).
Unlike his father, Herod was never officially granted the title of king—he was only a nominal ruler. However, he was appointed tetrarch of Galilee and Perea by Caesar Augustus upon his father’s death in 4 B.C. Matthew and Luke refer to Herod as a “tetrarch” (Matthew 14:1,Luke 9:7). In the Roman political system, “tetrarch” referred to a ruler over a "fourth part" of a region.
Mark does not bother himself or his Roman audience with Herod’s technical title and just refers to him as king because this technicality was not important to his readers.
Herod's authority extended over the lands west of Galilee and Perea, the area east of the lower half of the Jordan River, reaching up to the northeastern mountains rising from the Dead Sea.
Herod the tetrarch had no official authority over Judea, including Jerusalem on the western side of the Dead Sea, or Samaria, which lay between Galilee and Judea, stretching from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River. Following the deposition of Archelaus in 18 B.C., these provinces fell under the jurisdiction of the Roman governor, Pilate. Likewise, Herod had no authority over the Decapolis, which lay between Galilee and Perea on the southeastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, or over the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, located on Galilee’s northeastern shore. Ituraea and Trachonitis, sometimes referred to as Gaulanitis, were ruled by Herod’s half—brother Philip (Luke 3:1).
Mark states that King Herod heard reports about Jesus, for His name had become well known. The news of the public miracles Jesus had performed among the poor in and around Galilee had reached the palace of the regional authorities.
And with these reports of Jesus’s miracles that Herod heard were also speculations and rumors about His identity. Mark includes some of the more relevant speculations:
People were saying, “John the Baptist has risen from the dead, and that is why these miraculous powers are at work in Him.” But others were saying, “He is Elijah.” And others were saying, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old” (vv 14b—15).
The first rumor that people were saying about Jesus’s identity was: “John the Baptist has risen from the dead.”
This is the first time Mark has mentioned that John the Baptist was dead. And Mark is about to explain how John the Baptist had died and why this rumor would have been troubling to King Herod (Mark 6:17-29).
Mark began his gospel account with John the Baptist—the prophesied Messianic forerunner who prepared the way for Jesus, the Messiah (Mark 1:2-8).
The second rumor that other people were saying about Jesus’s identity was: “He is Elijah.”
Elijah was a powerful prophet in Israel during the reign of King Ahab.
Elijah was known for his bold confrontation of idolatry and defense of the worship of the LORD. He first appeared in 1 Kings 17:1, declaring a drought as divine judgment. He later confronted 450 prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel in 1 Kings 18:20-40, calling down fire from heaven to demonstrate that the LORD is the true God.
Elijah performed powerful miracles, including raising a widow’s son (1 Kings 17:17-24) and parting the Jordan River (2 Kings 2:8). It was likely that, because Jesus also performed powerful miracles, that others were saying “He is Elijah.”
Elijah did not die a natural death but was taken up to heaven in a whirlwind with a chariot of fire, as recorded in 2 Kings 2:11. Elijah’s return was prophesied in Malachi 4:5-6, and he is later identified with John the Baptist in Matthew 11:13-14 andMark 9:11-13, who came in the “spirit and power of Elijah” (Luke 1:17).
The third rumor that other people were saying about Jesus’s identity was: “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.”
Long ago, centuries earlier—in the days of old—God had sent prophets to Israel such as Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, etc. These prophets were bold messengers who often confronted kings, warned of judgment, and revealed God’s will with power and conviction.
Some people of Jesus’s day saw Him like one of the prophets ofold who spoke with divine authority, performed miracles, and called the people of Israel back to faithfulness to the LORD.
They claimed Jesus was another one of the prophets—but not a resurrected or returned prophet, like John the Baptist or Elijah or any other prophet who had already come. Rather Jesus was a new prophet of the LORD who had come in the same way that the prophets of old had come.
In the Gospel of Matthew, the disciples report to Jesus similar responses when He asked them who the people say that He is (Matthew 16:13-14).
Jesus was not John the Baptistrisen from the dead. Nor was HeElijah returned to earth. And He was much more than one of the prophets of old. Jesus was the one whom all of these prophets pointed to with their lives and prophetic utterances. Jesus was the Messiah and He is Son of the living God (Matthew 16:16-17).
WhenHerod heard about Jesus and the miracles He was performing, the evil ruler worried that Jesus was John the Baptist risen from the dead.
But when Herod heard of it, he kept saying, “John, whom I beheaded, has risen!” (v 16).
Herod appeared troubled by these reports. Luke writes that “he was greatly perplexed” (Luke 9:7). The evil King had recently ordered John the Baptist’s beheading as part of a grotesque bargain with his niece and her mother, Herodias, who was both his lover and sister—in—law (Matthew 14:6-11,Mark 6:17-29). It appears that Herod carried out the execution reluctantly (Mark 6:20, 6:26). Herod may have been feeling guilt or fear.
In any case, Herod mistakenly assumed that Jesus was the prophet he had just murdered, now risenfrom the dead and more powerful than ever.
In the next commentary, (Mark 6:17-29) we will discuss the circumstances of John’s beheading.
Mark 6:14-16
John's Fate Recalled
14 And King Herod heard of it, for His name had become well known; and people were saying, “John the Baptist has risen from the dead, and that is why these miraculous powers are at work in Him.”
15 But others were saying, “He is Elijah.” And others were saying, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.”
16 But when Herod heard of it, he kept saying, “John, whom I beheaded, has risen!”
Set to dark mode
Mark 6:14-16 meaning
The parallel gospel accounts for Mark 6:14-16 are found in Matthew 14:1-2, Matthew 16:14, and Luke 9:7-9.
In Mark 6:14-16, Herod hears of Jesus’s growing fame and miraculous power, and while some speculate that Jesus is Elijah or a prophet, Herod becomes convinced that He is John the Baptist risen from the dead, whom he had beheaded.
Mark shifts the scene in his narrative, moving from Nazareth, where Jesus could perform only a few miracles due to the people’s unbelief, to the palace of King Herod.
And King Herod heard of it, for His name had become well known (v 14a).
Herod, also known as Antipas, was the son of Herod the Great, who had sought to kill the Messiah when Jesus was an infant (Matthew 2:1-3, 2:16). He was also the brother of Archelaus, who inherited rule over Judea after their father’s death (Matthew 2:22).
Unlike his father, Herod was never officially granted the title of king—he was only a nominal ruler. However, he was appointed tetrarch of Galilee and Perea by Caesar Augustus upon his father’s death in 4 B.C. Matthew and Luke refer to Herod as a “tetrarch” (Matthew 14:1, Luke 9:7). In the Roman political system, “tetrarch” referred to a ruler over a "fourth part" of a region.
Mark does not bother himself or his Roman audience with Herod’s technical title and just refers to him as king because this technicality was not important to his readers.
Herod's authority extended over the lands west of Galilee and Perea, the area east of the lower half of the Jordan River, reaching up to the northeastern mountains rising from the Dead Sea.
Herod the tetrarch had no official authority over Judea, including Jerusalem on the western side of the Dead Sea, or Samaria, which lay between Galilee and Judea, stretching from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River. Following the deposition of Archelaus in 18 B.C., these provinces fell under the jurisdiction of the Roman governor, Pilate. Likewise, Herod had no authority over the Decapolis, which lay between Galilee and Perea on the southeastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, or over the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, located on Galilee’s northeastern shore. Ituraea and Trachonitis, sometimes referred to as Gaulanitis, were ruled by Herod’s half—brother Philip (Luke 3:1).
Mark states that King Herod heard reports about Jesus, for His name had become well known. The news of the public miracles Jesus had performed among the poor in and around Galilee had reached the palace of the regional authorities.
And with these reports of Jesus’s miracles that Herod heard were also speculations and rumors about His identity. Mark includes some of the more relevant speculations:
People were saying, “John the Baptist has risen from the dead, and that is why these miraculous powers are at work in Him.” But others were saying, “He is Elijah.” And others were saying, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old” (vv 14b—15).
The first rumor that people were saying about Jesus’s identity was: “John the Baptist has risen from the dead.”
This is the first time Mark has mentioned that John the Baptist was dead. And Mark is about to explain how John the Baptist had died and why this rumor would have been troubling to King Herod (Mark 6:17-29).
Mark began his gospel account with John the Baptist—the prophesied Messianic forerunner who prepared the way for Jesus, the Messiah (Mark 1:2-8).
To learn more about John the Baptist, see The Bible Says article: “Who was John the Baptist?”
The second rumor that other people were saying about Jesus’s identity was: “He is Elijah.”
Elijah was a powerful prophet in Israel during the reign of King Ahab.
Elijah was known for his bold confrontation of idolatry and defense of the worship of the LORD. He first appeared in 1 Kings 17:1, declaring a drought as divine judgment. He later confronted 450 prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel in 1 Kings 18:20-40, calling down fire from heaven to demonstrate that the LORD is the true God.
Elijah performed powerful miracles, including raising a widow’s son (1 Kings 17:17-24) and parting the Jordan River (2 Kings 2:8). It was likely that, because Jesus also performed powerful miracles, that others were saying “He is Elijah.”
Elijah did not die a natural death but was taken up to heaven in a whirlwind with a chariot of fire, as recorded in 2 Kings 2:11. Elijah’s return was prophesied in Malachi 4:5-6, and he is later identified with John the Baptist in Matthew 11:13-14 and Mark 9:11-13, who came in the “spirit and power of Elijah” (Luke 1:17).
The third rumor that other people were saying about Jesus’s identity was: “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.”
Long ago, centuries earlier—in the days of old—God had sent prophets to Israel such as Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, etc. These prophets were bold messengers who often confronted kings, warned of judgment, and revealed God’s will with power and conviction.
Some people of Jesus’s day saw Him like one of the prophets of old who spoke with divine authority, performed miracles, and called the people of Israel back to faithfulness to the LORD.
They claimed Jesus was another one of the prophets—but not a resurrected or returned prophet, like John the Baptist or Elijah or any other prophet who had already come. Rather Jesus was a new prophet of the LORD who had come in the same way that the prophets of old had come.
In the Gospel of Matthew, the disciples report to Jesus similar responses when He asked them who the people say that He is (Matthew 16:13-14).
Jesus was not John the Baptist risen from the dead. Nor was He Elijah returned to earth. And He was much more than one of the prophets of old. Jesus was the one whom all of these prophets pointed to with their lives and prophetic utterances. Jesus was the Messiah and He is Son of the living God (Matthew 16:16-17).
When Herod heard about Jesus and the miracles He was performing, the evil ruler worried that Jesus was John the Baptist risen from the dead.
But when Herod heard of it, he kept saying, “John, whom I beheaded, has risen!” (v 16).
Herod appeared troubled by these reports. Luke writes that “he was greatly perplexed” (Luke 9:7). The evil King had recently ordered John the Baptist’s beheading as part of a grotesque bargain with his niece and her mother, Herodias, who was both his lover and sister—in—law (Matthew 14:6-11, Mark 6:17-29). It appears that Herod carried out the execution reluctantly (Mark 6:20, 6:26). Herod may have been feeling guilt or fear.
In any case, Herod mistakenly assumed that Jesus was the prophet he had just murdered, now risen from the dead and more powerful than ever.
In the next commentary, (Mark 6:17-29) we will discuss the circumstances of John’s beheading.