Charles Spurgeon Commentary Matthew 14:9

"And the king was grieved; but for the sake of his oaths, and of them that sat at meat with him, he commanded it to be given;" — Matthew 14:9 (ASV)

A fine sorrow! A crocodile is said to shed tears over those it snaps in two. “The King” was afraid of the consequences. Poor king! He may have felt a dying struggle of conscience, for Herod had some sort of reverence for John, yet his grief could not have been very deep, for he had already resolved to kill him. The king feared that his courtiers and comrades at the drinking bout would think him weak and perhaps jeer at him for being too religious to touch a prophet.

Such fear of being thought weak proved that he was weak indeed. In addition to this, Herodias would consider him to be not nearly as fond of her as he had professed to be, and how could he endure her passionate grief? Moreover, he was “a man of honor,” and for the oath’s sake, he must not go back on his word. With the regret which a wolf feels because he must eat the lamb, he gave orders for the murder of John and the handing of his head to the young girl.

Rash promises and even oaths are no excuse for doing wrong. The promise was in itself null and void, because no man has a right to promise to do wrong. Wicked oaths ought to be repented of and not acted out, but this cruel tyrant commanded the murder and so went through with his horrible promise.