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Now when Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody, He withdrew into Galilee;
Matthew 4:12 · New American Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB Now when Jesus heard that John was delivered up, he withdrew into Galilee.
  • KJV Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee;
  • BSB When Jesus heard that John had been imprisoned, He withdrew to Galilee.
  • NKJV Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee.
  • NLT When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he left Judea and returned to Galilee.

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

Hearing of John's arrest, Jesus withdraws into Galilee. It marks the transition from John's ministry to the launch of Jesus' public work.

Overview

John the Baptist's imprisonment signals that his preparatory role is ending, and Jesus moves into Galilee to begin His own public ministry. The withdrawal is not fear but providential timing, fulfilling God's plan for where and when the light would shine. The forerunner decreases as the One he announced increases.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 9

  • Mark 1:14Now after John was taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the Good News of God’s Kingdom,
  • Luke 3:20added this also to them all, that he shut up John in prison.
  • Matt 14:3For Herod had laid hold of John, and bound him, and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife.
  • Luke 4:14Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee, and news about him spread through all the surrounding area.
  • Mark 6:17For Herod himself had sent out and arrested John, and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, for he had married her.
  • John 3:24For John was not yet thrown into prison.
  • John 4:54This is again the second sign that Jesus did, having come out of Judea into Galilee.
  • Luke 4:31He came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. He was teaching them on the Sabbath day,
  • John 4:43After the two days he went out from there and went into Galilee.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Matthew videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Matthew 4:12YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on MatthewMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'

How Matthew 4:12 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.