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From: Jeremiah 26:11-16, 24

Jeremiah arraigned (continued)

[11] Then the priests and the prophets said to the princes and to all the people,
“This man deserves the sentence of death, because he has prophesied against
this city, as you have heard with your own ears.”

[12] Then Jeremiah spoke to all the princes and all the people, saying, “The
Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and this city all the words you have
heard. [13] Now therefore amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice
of the Lord your God, and the Lord will repent of the evil which he has pronoun-
ced against you. [14] But as for me, behold, I am in your hands. Do with me as
seems good and right to you. [15] Only know for certain that if you put me to
death, you will bring innocent blood upon yourselves and upon this city and its
inhabitants, for in truth the Lord sent me to you to speak all these words in your
ears.”

[16] Then the princes and all the people said to the priests and the prophets,
“This man does not deserve the sentence of death, for he has spoken to us in
the name of the Lord our God.”

[24] But the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah so that he
was not given over to the people to be put to death.

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Commentary:

26:1-24. This chapter deals with the same incident in the temple that was nar-
rated in 7:1-8:3 (see note), and which occurred in 608 BC. It contains a summa-
ry of what the prophet said on that occasion, and people’s reactions to it (vv. 7-
24). The religious life of the nation hinged on the temple, whose importance had
increased further as a result of Josiah’s recent reforms; but Jeremiah proclaims
that the temple will be destroyed; it will he reduced to rubble, like the old shrine
at Shiloh (vv. 2-6). This prophecy so angered people, priests and prophets that
they called for Jeremiah’s death (vv. 7-9), but the authorities managed to calm
them down and Jeremiah escaped with his life (vv. 10-19), probably because his
sincerity impressed the rulers: he was a man ready to risk his life in order to be
faithful to his prophetic mission. Although one cannot he sure where the New
Gate (v. 10) was, the rulers’ intervention clearly had a judicial character to it,
since legal proceedings took place at the city gates. The New Testament con-
tains clear echoes of this account — in the deliberations of the Sanhedrin on
what to do with Jesus after he was arrested (cf. Mt 26:5-68 and par.), in the sen-
tence handed down by Pilate (cf. Lk 23:22), and also in the account of the mar-
tyrdom of St Stephen (cf. Acts 6: 12-14).

This episode dramatically illustrates the sort of clashes that Jeremiah became
involved in when carrying out his mission from the Lord. He has harsh things to
say, and meets resistance from the people, who have even begun to think that
nothing that offends their sensibilities or contradicts their desires can come from
God. Even so, Jeremiah does not back down, for the Lord gives him the strength
to stay true to his calling (cf. 1:7-10).

26:18-24. In the course of these exchanges, some of the elders bring up the
case of the prophet Micah (quoting words from Micah 3:12), in order to save Jere-
miah’s life. However, the sacred writer recalls what happened in the case of Uriah,
who was put to death (vv. 17-24). These two prophets preached a message that
was very similar to Jeremiah’s. Because Hezekiah, the king, was very interested
in religious reform, he listened to the prophet Micah. Jehoiakim, however, had a
very different outlook: just as he killed Uriah, so he could kill Jeremiah. In other
words, it could have gone either way for Jeremiah; fortunately, he was defended
by a senior official of the late King Josiah, Ahikam, the father of Gedaliah, who
would be governor of Judah after the last deportation (cf. 39:14; 2 Kings 25:22-
26).

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

From: Matthew 14:1-12

The Death of John the Baptist

[1] At that time Herod the tetrarch heard about the fame of Jesus; [2] and he
said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist, he has been raised from the dead;
that is why these powers are at work in him.” [3] For Herod had seized John and
bound him and put him in prison, for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s
wife; [4] because John said to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” [5] And
though he wanted to put him to death, he feared the people, because they held
him to be a prophet. [6] But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Hero-
dias danced before the company, and pleased Herod, [7] so that he promised
with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. [8] Prompted by her mother,
she said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.” [9] And the
king was sorry; but because of his oaths and his guests he commanded it to be
given; [10] he sent and had John beheaded in the prison, [11] and his head was
brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. [12]
And his disciples came and took the body and buried it; and they went and told
Jesus.

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Commentary:

1. Herod the tetrarch, Herod Antipas (see the note on Mt 2:1), is the same He-
rod as appears later in the account of the Passion (cf. Lk 23:7ff). A son of Herod
the Great, Antipas governed Galilee and Perea in the name of the Roman empe-
ror; according to Flavius Josephus, the Jewish historian (”Jewish Antiquities”,
XVIII, 5, 4), he was married to a daughter of an Arabian king, but in spite of this
he lived in concubinage with Herodias, his brother’s wife. St. John the Baptist,
and Jesus himself, often criticized the tetrarch’s immoral life, which was in con-
flict with the sexual morality laid down in the Law (Lev 18:16;20:21) and was a
cause of scandal.

3-12. Towards the end of the first century Flavius Josephus wrote of these same
events. He gives additional information—specifying that it was in the fortress of
Makeronte that John was imprisoned (this fortress was on the eastern bank of
the Dead Sea, and was the scene of the banquet in question) and that Herodias’
daughter was called Salome.

9. St Augustine comments: “Amid the excesses and sensuality of the guests,
oaths are rashly made, which then are unjustly kept” (”Sermon 10”).

It is a sin against the second commandment of God’s Law to make an oath to do
something unjust; any such oath has no binding force. In fact, if one keeps it—as
Herod did—one commits an additional sin. The Catechism also teaches that one
offends against this precept if one swears something untrue, or swears needless-
ly (cf. “St Pius V Catechism”, III, 3, 24). Cf. note on Mt 5:33-37.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.