Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Mark 6:21

"And when a convenient day was come, that Herod on his birthday made a supper to his lords, and the high captains, and the chief men of Galilee;" — Mark 6:21 (ASV)

Herodias finally got the opportunity she was waiting for. At a banquet for Herod’s birthday, attended by military and political leaders, Herodias’s daughter went before the guests to dance. Likely Herodias sent her into the banquet hall to dance as part of her scheme to get rid of John the Baptist. The dance was probably a lewd one. Herod and his dinner guests were pleased with her performance—so much so that Herod offered her virtually anything she wanted as a reward.