For John said to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”
Parallel translations
- KJV For John had said unto Herod, It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother’s wife.
- BSB For John had been telling Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife!”
- NKJV Because John had said to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”
- NASB For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”
- NLT John had been telling Herod, “It is against God’s law for you to marry your brother’s wife.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
John had told Herod it was unlawful for him to have his brother's wife.
Overview
John courageously confronted Herod's sin, applying God's law without flinching before royal power. His faithful rebuke cost him his freedom and ultimately his life. John models the prophet's calling to speak truth to authority, pointing ahead to the costly faithfulness of Christ himself.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Lev 20:21“‘If a man takes his brother’s wife, it is an impurity. He has uncovered his brother’s nakedness. They shall be childless.
- Lev 18:16“‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife. It is your brother’s nakedness.
- Ezek 3:18–19When I tell the wicked, ‘You will surely die;’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but I will require his blood at your hand.
- 1 Kgs 22:14Micaiah said, “As Yahweh lives, what Yahweh says to me, that I will speak.”
- Acts 24:24–26But after some days, Felix came with Drusilla, his wife, who was a Jewess, and sent for Paul, and heard him concerning the faith in Christ Jesus.
- Matt 14:3–4For Herod had laid hold of John, and bound him, and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife.
- Acts 20:26–27Therefore I testify to you today that I am clean from the blood of all men,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Mark drives urgently to the cross, showing Jesus the Son of God as the suffering Servant who 'came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'
How Mark 6:18 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.