New Living Translation
Matthew 14:4
4John had been telling Herod, “It is against God’s law for you to marry her.”
Matthew 14:4 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)For John said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her.
- New International Version (NIV)for John had been saying to him: “It is not lawful for you to have her.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)because John had been saying to him, "It is not lawful for you to have her."
- New King James Version (NKJV)Because John had said to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.”
Context of Matthew 14:4
2he said to his advisers, “This must be John the Baptist raised from the dead! That is why he can do such miracles.” 3For Herod had arrested and imprisoned John as a favor to his wife Herodias (the former wife of Herod’s brother Philip). John had been telling Herod, “It is against God’s law for you to marry her.” 5Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of a riot, because all the people believed John was a prophet. 6But at a birthday party for Herod, Herodias’s daughter performed a dance that greatly pleased him,
Read all of Matthew 14Matthew 14:4 word by word
ἔλεγεν γὰρ ὁ Ἰωάννης αὐτῷ· οὐκ ἔξεστίν σοι ἔχειν αὐτήν.Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Matthew 14:4
- Leviticus 18:16“Do not have sexual relations with your brother’s wife, for this would violate your brother.
- Leviticus 20:21“If a man marries his brother’s wife, it is an act of impurity. He has violated his brother, and the guilty couple will remain childless.
- Deuteronomy 25:5“If two brothers are living together on the same property and one of them dies without a son, his widow may not be married to anyone from outside the family. Instead, her husband’s brother should marry her and have intercourse with her to fulfill the duties of a brother-in-law.
- 2 Samuel 12:7Then Nathan said to David, “You are that man! The Lord, the God of Israel, says: I anointed you king of Israel and saved you from the power of Saul.
- 1 Kings 21:19Give him this message: ‘This is what the Lord says: Wasn’t it enough that you killed Naboth? Must you rob him, too? Because you have done this, dogs will lick your blood at the very place where they licked the blood of Naboth!’”
- 2 Chronicles 26:18They confronted King Uzziah and said, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord. That is the work of the priests alone, the descendants of Aaron who are set apart for this work. Get out of the sanctuary, for you have sinned. The Lord God will not honor you for this!”
- Proverbs 28:1The wicked run away when no one is chasing them, but the godly are as bold as lions.
- Isaiah 8:20Look to God’s instructions and teachings! People who contradict his word are completely in the dark.
- Mark 6:18John had been telling Herod, “It is against God’s law for you to marry your brother’s wife.”
- Acts 24:24A few days later Felix came back with his wife, Drusilla, who was Jewish. Sending for Paul, they listened as he told them about faith in Christ Jesus.
Commentaries on Matthew 14:4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4For John said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her. - Here is an instance of zeal, fidelity, and courage, highly worthy of imitation. Plainness, mildness, and modesty, are qualifications necessary to be observed when we reprove the great. The best service a subject can render his prince is to lay before him, in the plainest but most respectful manner, what the law of God requires of him, and what it forbids. How unutterable must the punishment…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3-5Verses 3-5 For Herod had laid hold on John - See Mark 6:17-20; Luke 3:19-20. This Herodias was a granddaughter of Herod the Great. She was first married to Herod Philip, by whom she had a daughter, Salome, probably the one that danced and pleased Herod. Josephus says that this marriage of Herod Antipas with Herodias took place while he was on a journey to Rome. He stopped at his brother‘s; fell in love with his wife; agreed to put away his own wife, the…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4John kept warning Herod about his sin (see Leviticus 18:6; 20:21).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-12The time of this alarm of Herod Antipas appears to have been during the mission of the Twelve, and shortly after the Baptist--who had been in prison for probably more than a year--had been cruelly put to death. Herod's Theory of the Works of Christ (Mt 14:1, 2). 1. At that time Herod the tetrarch--Herod Antipas, one of the three sons of Herod the Great, and own brother of Archelaus (Mt 2:22), who ruled as ethnarch over Galilee and Perea. heard of the fame…Read the comment
Topics related to Matthew 14:4
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Matthew 14
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Catena Aurea
- Illustrated New Testament
- Burkitt’s Expository Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Family Bible Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- John Lightfoot Commentary
- Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- The People’s New Testament
- Robertson’s Word Pictures
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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