John Gill Commentary Matthew 14:11

"And his head was brought on a platter, and given to the damsel: and she brought it to her mother." — Matthew 14:11 (ASV)

Ver. 11 And his head was brought in a charger
By the executioner that cut it off, to Herod, whilst he and his guests were at table; by which it should seem, that the prison was very near; and it is not improbable, that it was the castle of Macheerus that Herod made this entertainment in:

and given to the damsel ;
the daughter of Herodias, who, by her mother's instigation, had asked it, and who received it out of the hands of Herod himself; or however, it was delivered to her by his orders:

and she brought it to her mother ;
who had put her upon it, than which, nothing could be a more agreeable dish to her; and who, as Jerome says ^F3 , because she could not bear truth, that tongue which spoke truth; she plucked out, and pierced it through and through with a needle, as Fulvia did Cicero's:

but this triumph over the faithful reprover of her, and Herod's vices, did not last long; for quickly after this, they were stripped of their honours and riches, and deprived of the kingdom, and banished to Lyons in France, where they died ^F4 . A Jewish chronologer says ^F5 , Herod was driven out of the land by Tiberius, and fled to Spain, and died there.

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FOOTNOTES:

• F3: Adv. Ruffin. Tom. 2. fol. 82. K.
• F4: Joseph. Antiqu. l. 18. c. 8.
• F5: Ganz. Tzemach David, par. 1. fol. 25. 2.