Charles Ellicott Commentary Matthew 14:5

"And when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet." — Matthew 14:5 (ASV)

He feared the multitude — Mark, whose account is the most detailed of the three, adds that Herod himself feared John, knowing him to be a just and holy man, and was greatly perplexed—this, rather than “did many things,” is the true reading—and heard him gladly (Mark 6:20). There was still a struggle of conscience against passion in the weak and wicked tetrarch, just as there was in Ahab in his relationship with Elijah. In Herodias, as in Jezebel, there was no halting between two opinions, and she, in the bitterness of her hatred, thirsted for the blood of the prophet who had dared to rebuke her guilt.