Dancing to Get Ahead

When ascetic, camel hair-clad John the Baptist appeared in the Judean wilderness (c. 30 A.D.) preaching "a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins," even Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great and tetrarch (governor) of Galilee, considered him "a righteous and holy man." This opinion was not shared by Antipas' wife Herodias, however, when John attacked their incestuous marriage. "It is not lawful," John told Herod Antipas, "for thee to have thy brother's wife."

Herodias was not only Herod Antipas' sister-in-law but his niece (being the daughter of Antipas' half-brother Aristobulus). Even the gospel writers got confused by this incestuous family. Herodias' previous husband, according to the Jewish historian Josephus, was not (as biblically stated) Herod Antipas' half-brother Philip, tetrarch of the region east of Galilee, but Herod Philip, another half-brother, in Rome. It was Salome, Herodias' daughter from the marriage to Herod Philip, who eventually married the tetrarch Philip, both Salome's and her mother's uncle.

Herod Antipas had John imprisoned in the fortress of Macherus, not so much to punish him as to protect him from Herodias, who wanted "to kill him." But then, at a birthday banquet for Herod Antipas, young Salome danced for her stepfather and his guests. The only gospel description of the dance is that it "pleased Herod" (the so-called dance of the seven veils is of modern origin), but Herod Antipas' words of appreciation suggest a remarkable performance indeed. "Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will grant it," he told Salome. "Whatever you ask for I will give you, even half of my kingdom."

Salome consulted with her mother Herodias, who told her to ask for the head of John the Baptist on a platter. Salome duly made the request, and Herod Antipas, not wanting to renege on a promise before his guests, reluctantly gave the order. John's head, we are told in Matthew (14:11), "was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother."

Gustave Moreau's The Apparition
1876
Le Musee Gustave Moreau, Paris

The tetrarch Philip, who may have been at the banquet, married his young niece Salome. By 34 A.D. he was dead. Herodias, meanwhile, proved to be the ruin of Herod Antipas. She goaded Antipas into seeking from the Roman emperor Caligula the title of king of Galilee. (Caligula, after all, had made Herodias' brother, Herod Agrippa I, king of Philip's tetrarchy following Philip's demise.) Herod Antipas accordingly sought the royal title, only to be banished by Caligula to Gaul. Herodias followed Herod Antipas into exile, where he died around 39 A.D.

Copyright 2002-2007 by Ronald L. Ecker

Contact:
postmaster at ronaldecker dot com

Top | Home | The Herods and the Christ | Resources and Links