Mark 6:20

(20) For Herod feared John.—The full description of Herod’s feelings towards the Baptist is peculiar to St. Mark.

A just man and an holy.—The two words indicate—the first, righteousness as seen in relation to man; the second, the same element of character in relation to God.

Observed him.—The word has been differently interpreted, but Luke 2:19, where it is translated “kept,” seems decisive as to its meaning that Herod had a certain reverence for his prisoner. In English, however, to “keep” a man is ambiguous, and the “observed” of our version seems on the whole preferable to any other.

He did many things.—The better MSS. give, “he was much perplexed.”