Mark 6:21 Study Bible: And then a convenient day came, that Herod on his birthday gave a supper for his nobles, the high officers, and the chief men of Galilee.

◄ Mark 6:21 ►

On Herod's birthday, her opportunity arose. Herod held a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee.

Study Bible

On Herod’s birthday,

Herod Antipas marked the occasion in the manner of a Hellenized ruler, reflecting the Romanized character of his court. The celebration provided a setting of public festivity, indulgence, and weakened restraint, while the imprisoned John remained a witness against Herod’s unlawful marriage.

Mat 14:6-11 On Herod’s birthday, however, the daughter of Herodias…
Gen 40:20-22 On the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday…

her opportunity arose.

Herodias had nursed resentment against John because he condemned her marriage to Herod, her former husband’s brother. The birthday feast supplied the moment she had sought to turn Herod’s troubled conscience and public pride against the prophet.

Est 5:6-8 And as they drank their wine, the king said to Esther,…
Luk 22:6 Judas consented, and began to look for an opportunity…

Herod held a banquet

Such feasts displayed a ruler’s wealth, influence, and generosity toward those whose support he needed. What began as a royal celebration became the setting for a grave injustice, showing how pride, sensuality, and fear of men can bring a ruler to violate what he knows is right.

Est 1:3-4 In the third year of his reign, Xerxes held a feast…
Luk 14:16-17 But Jesus replied, “A certain man prepared a great banquet…

for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee.

The gathering included Herod’s political allies, officers, and regional leaders, making his later promise difficult to retract without embarrassment. Before this influential audience, Herod chose reputation over righteousness and delivered John the Baptist to death.

Act 25:23 The next day Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp…
Dan 5:1-2 Later, King Belshazzar held a great feast…

Persons / Places / Events

1. Herod Antipas
The tetrarch of Galilee and Perea, son of Herod the Great. Known for his role in the execution of John the Baptist.

2. Herodias
The wife of Herod Antipas, previously married to his brother Philip. Herodias held a grudge against John the Baptist for condemning her marriage to Herod.

3. Salome
The daughter of Herodias, who danced at Herod's banquet, leading to the beheading of John the Baptist.

4. Nobles and Military Commanders
High-ranking officials and leaders in Herod's court, present at the banquet.

5. Galilee
The region over which Herod Antipas ruled, and the setting for this event.

Teaching Points

The Dangers of Pride and Power
Herod's banquet was a display of his power and status. Pride can lead to poor decisions, especially when trying to impress others.

The Consequences of Rash Promises
Herod's promise to Salome, made in a moment of pride and pleasure, led to the tragic execution of John the Baptist. We must be cautious with our words and commitments.

The Influence of Ungodly Counsel
Herodias's manipulation of Herod through her daughter shows the impact of ungodly counsel. We should seek wisdom from Godly sources.

Moral Courage vs. Compromise
John the Baptist stood firm in his convictions, even at the cost of his life. Believers are called to uphold truth and righteousness, regardless of the consequences.

The Role of Accountability
Herod's actions were influenced by those around him. Surrounding ourselves with Godly individuals can help us remain accountable and make wise decisions.

Bible Study Questions

1. How does Herod's decision-making during the banquet reflect the dangers of pride and the desire for approval from others?

2. In what ways can we guard against making rash promises or decisions in our own lives?

3. How can we ensure that we are receiving Godly counsel and not being swayed by ungodly influences?

4. What can we learn from John the Baptist's example of moral courage, and how can we apply this in our daily lives?

5. How does the account of Herod's banquet challenge us to consider the role of accountability in our personal and spiritual growth?

Connections to Other Scriptures

Matthew 14:6-11
Provides a parallel account of the events leading to John the Baptist's execution, offering additional details about Herodias and Salome's roles.

Leviticus 18:16
Discusses the prohibition against marrying a brother's wife, which John the Baptist cited in his condemnation of Herod's marriage to Herodias.

Proverbs 31:4-5
Warns against the dangers of excessive drinking and poor judgment, which can be related to Herod's decision-making during the banquet.

Sermons

Conscience	C. Hedge, D. D.	Mark 6:14-29
Conscience Removes Illusions	A. Maclaren, D. D.	Mark 6:14-29
Herod -- a Startled Conscience	A. Maclaren, D. D.	Mark 6:14-29
Herod: the Disordered Conscience	R. Green	Mark 6:14-29
Herod's Conjectures	T. Gisborne, M. A.	Mark 6:14-29
John and Herod	E. H. Chapin.	Mark 6:14-29
John Baptist and Herod	A. H. Currier.	Mark 6:14-29
On the Character of Herod Antipas	T. Gisborne, M. A.	Mark 6:14-29
Remembrance of Past Sin		Mark 6:14-29
Results of Herod's Sin	R. Clover.	Mark 6:14-29
The Cause and Manner of the Baptist's Death	Expository Discourses.	Mark 6:14-29
The Murder of the Baptist	J.J. Given	Mark 6:14-29
The Sovereign Power of Conscience	H. Melvill, B. D.	Mark 6:14-29
The Storehouse of Memory	A. Maclaren, D. D.	Mark 6:14-29
A Soul's Tragedy	A.F. Muir	Mark 6:17-29
The Hero's Death	E. Johnson	Mark 6:17-29
The Murderers of John the Baptist	A. Rowland	Mark 6:21-28

People

Elias, Elijah, Herod, Herodias, James, Jesus, John, Joseph, Joses, Judas, Jude, Mary, Philip, Simon

Places

Bethsaida, Galilee, Genneseret, Jerusalem, Nazareth, Sea of Galilee

Topics

Banquet, Birthday, Birth-day, Captains, Chance, Chief, Chiefs, Chiliarchs, Commanders, Convenient, Court, Courtiers, Estates, Feast, Galilee, Grandees, Herod, Herodias, Holiday, Leading, Length, Lords, Making, Military, Nobles, Officers, Officials, Opportune, Opportunity, Principal, Seasonable, Strategic, Supper, Thousands, Tribunes

Dictionary of Bible Themes

Mark 6:21

5231 birthday
5261 commander

Mark 6:1-56

5357 journey

Mark 6:14-29

5098 John the Baptist

Mark 6:16-29

8450 martyrdom

Mark 6:17-28

5714 men

Mark 6:17-29

8828 spite

Mark 6:21-22

     4410   banquets
     5699   guests
     8642   celebration

Mark 6:21-28

     4476   meals
     5312   feasting
     5468   promises, human
     5803   carelessness

Library

January 6 Evening
The apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus, and told him all things they had done.--MARK 6:30. There is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.--The Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend.--Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. When ye shall have done …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

September 4. "Come Ye Yourselves Apart" (Mark vi. 31).
"Come ye yourselves apart" (Mark vi. 31). One of the greatest hindrances to spirituality is the lack of waiting upon God. You cannot go through twenty-four hours with two or three breaths of air, in the morning, as you sip your coffee. But you must live in the atmosphere, and you must breathe it all day long. Christians do not wait upon God enough. It needs hours and hours daily of spiritual communion with the Holy Spirit to keep your vitality healthful and full. Every moment should find you breathing …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

January 8. "It is I, be not Afraid" (Mark vi. 50).
"It is I, be not afraid" (Mark vi. 50). Someone tells of a little child with some big story of sorrow upon its little heart, flying to its mother's arms for comfort, and intending to tell her the story of its trouble; but as that mother presses it to her bosom and pours out her love, it soon becomes so occupied with her and the sweetness of her affection that it forgets to tell its story, and in a little while even the memory of the trouble is forgotten. It has just been loved away, and she has taken …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

Herod --A Startled Conscience
'But when Herod heard thereof, he said, It is John, whom I beheaded: he is risen from the dead.'--Mark vi. 16. The character of this Herod, surnamed Antipas, is a sufficiently common and a sufficiently despicable one. He was the very type of an Eastern despot, exactly like some of those half-independent Rajahs, whose dominions march with ours in India; capricious, crafty, as the epithet which Christ applied to him, 'That fox!' shows; cruel, as the story of the murder of John the Baptist proves; sensuous …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Master Rejected: the Servants Sent Forth
'And He went out from thence, and came into His own country; and His disciples follow Him. 2. And when the Sabbath day was come, He began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing Him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? and what wisdom is this which is given unto Him, that even such mighty works are wrought by His hands? 3. Is not this the carpenter, the Son of Mary, the Brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon! and are not His sisters here with us? And they …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Martyrdom of John
'For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John, and bound him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife: for he had married her. 18. For John had said unto Herod, It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife. 19. Therefore Herodias had a quarrel against him, and would have killed him; but she could not: 20. For Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just man and an holy, and observed him; and when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly. 21. And when …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The World's Bread
'And the apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus, and told Him all things, both what they had done, and what they had taught. 31. And He said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat. 32. And they departed into a desert place by ship privately. 33. And the people saw them departing, and many knew Him, and ran afoot thither out of all cities, and outwent them, and came together …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Christ Thwarted
'And He could there do no mighty work, save that He laid His hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them. And He marvelled because of their unbelief.'--Mark vi. 5,6. It is possible to live too near a man to see him. Familiarity with the small details blinds most people to the essential greatness of any life. So these fellow-villagers of Jesus in Nazareth knew Him too well to know Him rightly as they talked Him over; they recognised His wisdom and His mighty works; but all the impression that these …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

On Attending the Church Service
"The sin of the young men was very great." 1 Sam. 2:17. 1. The corruption, not only of the heathen world, but likewise of them that were called Christians, has been matter of sorrow and lamentation to pious men, almost from the time of the apostles. And hence, as early as the second century, within a hundred years of St. John's removal from the earth, men who were afraid of being partakers of other men's sins, thought it their duty to separate from them. Hence, in every age many have retired from …
John Wesley—Sermons on Several Occasions

The Epistle of Saint Jude.
V. 1, 2. Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ, but a brother of James, to those that are called to be holy in God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, mercy unto you and peace and love be multiplied. This Epistle is ascribed to the holy Apostle, St. Jude, brother of the two Apostles, James the Less and Simon, by the sister of the mother of Christ, who is called Mary (wife) of James or Cleopas, as we read in Mark vi. But this Epistle cannot be looked upon as being that of one who was truly an Apostle, …
Martin Luther—The Epistles of St. Peter and St. Jude Preached and Explained

The First Sayings of Jesus --His Ideas of a Divine Father and of a Pure Religion --First Disciples.
Joseph died before his son had taken any public part. Mary remained, in a manner, the head of the family, and this explains why her son, when it was wished to distinguish him from others of the same name, was most frequently called the "son of Mary."[1] It seems that having, by the death of her husband, been left friendless at Nazareth, she withdrew to Cana,[2] from which she may have come originally. Cana[3] was a little town at from two to two and a half hours' journey from Nazareth, at the foot …
Ernest Renan—The Life of Jesus

The Chronology
45. The length of the public ministry of Jesus was one of the earliest questions which arose in the study of the four gospels. In the second and third centuries it was not uncommon to find the answer in the passage from Isaiah (lxi. 1, 2), which Jesus declared was fulfilled in himself. "The acceptable year of the Lord" was taken to indicate that the ministry covered little more than a year. The fact that the first three gospels mention but one Passover (that at the end), and but one journey to Jerusalem, …
Rush Rhees—The Life of Jesus of Nazareth

The Friend of Men 223 in Nothing Does the Contrast Between Jesus and John the Baptist Appear More Clearly than in their Attitude Towards Common Social
I The Friend of Men 223. In nothing does the contrast between Jesus and John the Baptist appear more clearly than in their attitude towards common social life. John had his training and did his work apart from the homes of men. The wilderness was his chosen and fit scene of labor. From this solitude he sent forth his summons and warning to his people. They who sought him for fuller teaching went after him and found him where he was. They then returned to their homes and their work, leaving the prophet …
Rush Rhees—The Life of Jesus of Nazareth

Twelve Baskets Full of Fragments Gathered from the Miracle of Christ Feeding the Multitude.
1.--MAN NEEDS HELP. "They have nothing to eat." (Mark vi. 36.) 2.--GOD IS BETTER THAN GOOD MEN. "Send them away," said the disciples. (Mark vi. 36.) "They need not depart," the Lord replied. (Matt. xiv. 16.) 3.--MINISTERS SHOULD ALWAYS BE ON THE LOOK-OUT FOR THE CHILDREN, THEY GIVE HELP AS WELL AS TROUBLE. Andrew said, "There is a lad here." (John vi. 9.) 4.--YOUTH CAN GIVE TO JESUS WHAT NO ONE ELSE POSSESSES. "There is a lad here which hath five barley loaves." (John vi. 9.) 5.--UNBELIEF …
Thomas Champness—Broken Bread

The Historical Books. 1 the New Testament...
CHAPTER XXIX. THE HISTORICAL BOOKS. 1. The New Testament, like the Old, is not an abstract system of doctrines and duties, but a record of facts involving doctrines and duties of the highest import. This record does not constitute an independent history, complete in itself, and to be explained in its own light. It is rather the necessary sequel to the record of the Old Testament. It interprets the Old Testament, and is itself interpreted by it. The two constitute together an organic whole, and can …
E. P. Barrows—Companion to the Bible

The Right to Privacy
"There were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat."--Mark 6:31 "But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion for them."--Matthew 9:36 I had just come back from a strenuous month in the country. Mr. and Mrs. Sprightly, the young married couple who were in charge of the mission station, and I were relaxing around the tea table. I told about the work I had been doing, and answered interested questions. Finally the talk drifted into lighter channels, and …
Mabel Williamson—Have We No Rights?

Set at Liberty.
(MARK VI. 27.) "Hush my soul, and vain regrets be stilled; Now rest in Him who is the complement Of whatsoe'er transcends our mortal doom, Of baffled hope and unfulfilled intent; In the clear vision and aspect of whom All longings and all hopes shall be fulfilled." ARCHBISHOP TRENCH. The Genesis of a Great Crime--The Strength of Evil Influences--An Accomplice of Satan--The Triumph of Hate--The Baptist Beheaded--A Place of Repentance The evangelist Mark tells us, in the twenty-first verse of this …
F. B. Meyer—John the Baptist

The King's Courts
(MARK VI.) "The number of thine own complete, Sum up and make an end; Sift clean the chaff, and house the wheat; And then, O Lord, descend. "Descend, and solve by that descent This mystery of life; Where good and ill, together blent, Wage an undying strife." J. H. N. Under Royal Surveillance--"It is not Lawful."--The Revenge of Herodias--The Upbraidings of Conscience--Devotion to Truth--"A Sin unto Death." Our story brings us next to speak of the Baptist's relations with Herod Antipas, son of the …
F. B. Meyer—John the Baptist

Rejected in his Own Country
"And He went out from thence; and He cometh into His own country; and His disciples follow Him." MARK 6:1-6 (R.V.) WE have seen how St. Mark, to bring out more vividly the connection between four mighty signs, their ideal completeness as a whole, and that mastery over nature and the spiritual world which they reveal, grouped them resolutely together, excluding even significant incidents which would break in upon their sequence. Bearing this in mind, how profoundly instructive it is that our Evangelist …
G. A. Chadwick—The Gospel of St. Mark

Links

Mark 6:21 NIV
Mark 6:21 NLT
Mark 6:21 ESV
Mark 6:21 NASB
Mark 6:21 KJV

Mark 6:21 Commentaries

Bible Hub