The Beheading Of St. John The Baptist On The Orders Of Herod Antipas
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Salome and the Apparition of the
Baptist's Head by Gustave Moreau,
Watercolor painting, c. 1876, (Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France) |
Most modern scholars consider the reference (e.g., in Book 18, Chapter 5 of Flavius Josephus’ work The Antiquities of the Jews [c. 94]) to the imprisonment and death of John the Baptist to be authentic. Although, a number of differences exist between the statements by Josephus regarding the death of John and the New Testament accounts, they bolster Josephus' passages as being free from interpolations (i.e., the insertion of something of a different nature into something else, since a Christian interpolator would likely have edited them to correspond to the synoptic gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark and Luke). Josephus' works are positioned next to the Bible as sources of ancient Palestine's history. John the Baptist, is not only hailed as the forerunner to Jesus, the Christ, but he also serves as an important reference point for the man Jesus in history. A number of religious scholars agree that the baptism of Jesus in the river Jordan by John, described in the synoptic gospels and by a number of other canonical and non-canonical sources, is almost certainly a historical event.
The martyrdom of St. John the Baptist by beheading came as a result of a vengeful request made by Herod Antipas' step-daughter Salome and her mother. Herod initially resisted killing John, precisely because he was known by all as a holy and highly respected man. He attracted hundreds, perhaps thousands, of followers from Jerusalem and Judea. Despite his renown, John humbly made it clear that he himself was not the Messiah. He foretold the coming of Jesus: “one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry” (Mt 3:11).
According to Josephus, sometime after baptizing Jesus, John the Baptist was killed at the palace-fortress of Machaerus, located near the Dead Sea in modern Jordan. The palace was occupied at the time by the son and successor of King Herod the Great, Herod Antipas. The gospels of Matthew (Mt 14:1-12) and Mark (Mk 6:14-29) recorded that Herod Antipas had John the Baptist arrested and imprisoned after the prophet condemned the king’s marriage to his wife, Herodias, as illegal, because she had previously been married to his own brother, Philip. In The Antiquities of the Jews (Book 18:116-19), Josephus confirmed that Herod Antipas “slew” John after imprisoning him at Machaerus. Josephus also identified Herodias’ daughter as Salome, albeit, the gospels do not mention the girl's name, and Josephus did not state that John was beheaded upon the girl's request. Fr. JM Manzano, SJ
According to Josephus, sometime after baptizing Jesus, John the Baptist was killed at the palace-fortress of Machaerus, located near the Dead Sea in modern Jordan. The palace was occupied at the time by the son and successor of King Herod the Great, Herod Antipas. The gospels of Matthew (Mt 14:1-12) and Mark (Mk 6:14-29) recorded that Herod Antipas had John the Baptist arrested and imprisoned after the prophet condemned the king’s marriage to his wife, Herodias, as illegal, because she had previously been married to his own brother, Philip. In The Antiquities of the Jews (Book 18:116-19), Josephus confirmed that Herod Antipas “slew” John after imprisoning him at Machaerus. Josephus also identified Herodias’ daughter as Salome, albeit, the gospels do not mention the girl's name, and Josephus did not state that John was beheaded upon the girl's request. Fr. JM Manzano, SJ
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