Matthew 14:6-8

The day of celebration may have been Herod’s birthday or the anniversary of his accession to the throne (Gr. genesia). [Note: Edersheim, 1:672.] Herodias’ daughter, by her previous marriage to Philip I, was Salome who was then between 12 and 14 years old. [Note: Hoehner, Herod Antipas, pp. 151-56.] The popular idea that her dance was sensuous does not come from the text but from the reputation of the Herodians for low morals and from the low status of dancing girls. [Note: Carson, "Matthew," p. 338.] Antipas was only a petty monarch, but he acted like one of the powerful Persian kings (cf. Esther 5:3; Esther 5:6; Esther 7:2).