And when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet.
All Commentaries on Matthew 14:5 Go To Matthew 14
Theophylact of Ochrid
AD 1107
. In what has gone before, Matthew has not given an account of John, as it was his intent to write only about Christ. Nor would he have mentioned it now if it did not relate to Christ. John had rebuked Herod for unlawfully taking the wife of his brother. For the law decreed that a man should take the wife of his brother only when that brother had died childless. But in this case Philip had not died childless, for the dancing girl was his child. Some say that Herod had seized both wife and tetrarchy from Philip while he was still living. Whether the former or the latter is correct, what was done was a transgression of the law. He postponed the murder because he feared the multitude, not because he feared God; yet the devil found the opportune moment for him.
