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譯本參照AFV  A  Faithful Version 的希臘文 2009版本

1. At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus,

2. And said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead, and that is why these powerful deeds are at work in him.”

3. For Herod had arrested John, bound him and put him in prison, for the sake of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip;

4. Because John had said to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her as your wife.”

5. And he desired to put him to death; but he feared the multitude because they held him to be a prophet.

6. Now when they were celebrating Herod’s birthday, the daughter of Herodias danced before them; and it pleased Herod.

7. Therefore, he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask.

8. Then, being urged by her mother, she said, “Give me, here on a platter, the head of John the Baptist.”

9. And the king was grieved; but because of the oaths and those who were sitting with him, he commanded that it be given.

10. And he sent and beheaded John in the prison.

11. And his head was brought on a platter and given to the damsel, and she brought it to her mother.

12. Then his disciples came, and took the body, and buried it; and they went and told Jesus.

 (A Faithful Version)

1. 耶穌在出身地傳道時，希律這位分封王就聽聞耶穌的名聲，

2. 就對臣僕說：這位才是施水禮的約翰，難道是從死裡復活了，才能作這等大能的事。

3. 因為(前)希律為希羅底的緣故，她是兄弟腓力的妻子，便逮捕施水禮約翰，捆綁並關在牢裡。

4. 約翰是對那(前)希律說：娶這婦人並不合法。

5. 為此，(前)希律心想要除去他，會招惹眾人的不滿，為的是認識他是先知。

6. 就在(前)希律生日那天，希羅底的女兒在他們面前跳舞賀壽，希律極其歡喜。

7. 為此，(前)希律以起誓方式，答應這女兒，無論求什麼都必得著。

8. 她被母親不住纏繞，最後應允，她母親便說：把施水禮約翰的頭放在盤子，拿給我。

9. 這(前)希律聽後，極其憂心，只因曾起誓，同席的人都聽到，不失承諾，只有吩咐人把事辦了。

10. 為此派了手下，在牢裡把約翰斬首。

11. 把頭被放在盤子，遞給了持從，拿去給她母親希羅底。

12. 門徒來領了領取了施水禮約翰的屍身，埋葬後，再轉告耶穌。

這段記述在當時看書信的人會明白當中發生的事。若在翻譯時只按代名詞，很不容易明白當中各人物之間的關係，為此用多了點字眼去說明。而另外一處更為難明的地方，是希律是那個希律。這處有不同的許多觀點，在此用第2節的希律G2264 原文的解釋如下：

1. 大希律這名字，是當時代當中的基督和使徒時代，也是猶太人中一個興盛的王室家族。他兒子安提帕特是以東王。西元前40年，安東尼和屋大維共同提議，他被羅馬元老院任命為猶太國王。最終，他克服了全國的強烈反對，於公元前37年佔領了王國。阿克提烏姆海戰後，他得到了屋大維的認可，並一直受到屋大維的寵信。他英勇善戰，博學睿智；也極之多疑殘暴。因此，他摧毀了整個哈斯蒙尼王朝，處死了許多反對他統治的猶太人，甚至殺害了他摯愛的妻子——哈斯蒙尼家族的瑪麗安娜以及她所生的兩個兒子。(大)希律王因其血腥暴行，尤其是對羅馬習俗和製度的喜愛與效仿，以及對臣民徵收的沉重賦稅，徹底疏遠了猶太人，以至於他即便重建聖殿、施行其他慷慨之舉，也無法挽回猶太人的支持。享年七十歲，在位第三十七年，狄奧尼修斯紀元前第四年。施水禮約翰和基督在他晚年出生；馬太福音記載，他下令屠殺伯利恆所有兩歲以下的男嬰。

2. 希律王，又名安提帕斯，是大希律和撒瑪利亞女子瑪爾塔斯的兒子。他父親去世後，被羅馬人任命為加利利和比利亞的分封王。他的第一任妻子是阿拉伯國王亞里達斯的女兒。後來拋棄了她，娶了哥哥希律·腓力的妻子希羅底為妻；結果，他的岳父亞里達斯向他宣戰並戰勝。因施水禮約翰斥責他與希羅底的不正當關係而將約翰投入監獄；之後，在希羅底的唆使下，他下令將施洗約翰斬首。在希羅底的慫恿下，他也前往羅馬，試圖從皇帝那裡取得王位。但由於希律·亞基帕一世對他的指控，卡利古拉於公元39年將他流放到高盧的盧格杜努姆，他似乎在那裡去世了。他生性輕浮、好色且殘暴。

1. the name of a royal family that flourished among the Jews in the times of Christ and the Apostles. Herod the Great was the son of Antipater of Idumaea. Appointed king of Judaea B.C. 40 by the Roman Senate at the suggestion of Antony and with the consent of Octavian, he at length overcame the great opposition which the country made to him and took possession of the kingdom B.C. 37; and after the battle of Actium, he was confirmed by Octavian, whose favour he ever enjoyed. He was brave and skilled in war, learned and sagacious; but also extremely suspicious and cruel. Hence he destroyed the entire royal family of Hasmonaeans, put to death many of the Jews that opposed his government, and proceeded to kill even his dearly beloved wife Mariamne of the Hasmonaean line and his two sons she had borne him. By these acts of bloodshed, and especially by his love and imitation of Roman customs and institutions and by the burdensome taxes imposed upon his subjects, he so alienated the Jews that he was unable to regain their favour by his splendid restoration of the temple and other acts of munificence. He died in the 70th year of his age, the 37th year of his reign, the 4th before the Dionysian era. In his closing years John the Baptist and Christ were born; Matthew narrates that he commanded all the male children under two years old in Bethlehem to be slain.

• Herod surnamed “Antipas” , was the son of Herod the Great and Malthace, a Samaritan woman. After the death of his father he was appointed by the Romans tetrarch of Galilee and Peraea. His first wife was the daughter of Aretas, king of Arabia; but he subsequently repudiated her and took to himself Herodias, the wife of his brother Herod Philip; and in consequence Aretas, his father-in-law, made war against him and conquered him. He cast John the Baptist into prison because John had rebuked him for this unlawful connection; and afterwards, at the instigation of Herodias, he ordered him to be beheaded. Induced by her, too, he went to Rome to obtain from the emperor the title of king. But in consequence of the accusations brought against him by Herod Agrippa I, Caligula banished him (A.D. 39) to Lugdunum in Gaul, where he seems to have died. He was light minded, sensual and vicious.

這是耶穌回在自己出生地，當時管治該地的分封王是一位希律，可以這位希律是誰叫什麼名字，倒沒有說清楚。這個不清楚是對今日讀經的外邦人而言，當時讀經的人相信知道是那位。若按以上的說明去理解，似乎不是同一位希律。

https://www.gotquestions.org/Herods.html    第一位希律王通常被稱為“大希律”，他在《馬太福音》第二章中試圖殺害耶穌，屠殺了所有男嬰。這位希律王也試圖誘使東方三博士透露嬰孩耶穌的下落。根據猶太歷史學家記載，這位大希律，也被稱為亞實基路德的希律，是安提帕特的兒子，安提帕特是希爾卡努斯國王的朋友和副手。他被羅馬元老院擁立，取代其主人希爾卡努斯成為國王。

大希律的兒子希律安提帕被稱為分封王希律（太 14:1；路 3:1）。 「分封王」一詞指的是統治王國四分之一領土的人。他的父親大希律將他龐大的王國分成四份，分別傳給他的兒子們，這一舉動得到了羅馬元老院的確認。這位希律·安提帕是加利利的分封王，加利利是分配給他的王國領土。祂就是耶穌受審和最終被釘十字架時被派去見的那個人（路加福音 23）。這位希律安提帕就是殺害施洗約翰的希律王（太 14）。

馬太似乎是在此，將耶穌的出生行事，重申一次，讓猶太人明白當中的轉承起合，知道耶穌其實就是他們專稱的耶和華，受差而來，叫他們真正回歸一個身份：因信稱義，不單是亞伯拉罕之後，更是亞伯拉罕因相信耶和華而得的福氣。不再是雅各之後的以色列，是亞伯拉罕之後的信心一族，與世界共容，是天國底下的一群。

馬太在此重提耶穌覆述施水禮的約翰事件，相對於之前的說法，是多了一點線索。從這一章起，記述的事像是歷史的回顧，將耶穌的事蹟，他的出生和時間轉移當中如何成長再讓猶太人從新去思考。