John Calvin Commentary Mark 6:24

"And she went out, and said unto her mother, What shall I ask? And she said, The head of John the Baptizer." — Mark 6:24 (ASV)

And she went out, and said to her mother. We do not need to wonder that Herodias attached so much importance to John’s death.³⁶⁷

The conjecture proposed by some—that she was motivated by revenge—is not at all probable. It was, rather, the fear of being abandoned that inflamed and tormented her; for it usually happens that when adulterers are troubled by feelings of uneasiness, they become ashamed of their own lust.

But she hoped that this crime would bind Herod more closely to her than ever, if the disgrace of a sham marriage were washed out by the blood of the prophet. So that her power might be more secure for the future, she longed for the death of the man whom she imagined to be her only opponent; and this shows us the wretched anxiety by which a bad conscience is always tormented.

John was detained in prison, and the haughty and cruel woman could have ordered that no one should speak with or approach him. Yet, she had no rest and was oppressed with anxiety and alarm until the prophet was removed from the way. This also serves to show the power of the word of God. The voice of the holy man, even when shut up in prison, keenly wounds and tortures the mind of the king’s wife.³⁶⁸

³⁶⁷ “De ce qu’ Herodias a estime un grand avantage pour elle de faire mourir Iean;” — “that Herodias reckoned it a great advantage to her to put John to death.”;” — “that Herodias reckoned it a great advantage to her to put John to death.”

³⁶⁸ “Ne laisse pas d’espouvanter asprement, et navrer au vif le coeur de ceste femme;” — “fails not vehmently to alarm and cut to the quick the heart of the woman.”;” — “fails not vehmently to alarm and cut to the quick the heart of the woman.”