Matthew 14: What the Passage Says

The Chapter in a Sentence

Herod the tetrarch hears about Jesus and thinks John the Baptist has come back from the dead; the chapter then tells how Herod had John arrested and, trapped by an oath made at his birthday feast, had him beheaded. When Jesus hears the news he withdraws by boat, but crowds follow him, and he heals their sick and feeds more than five thousand people from five loaves and two fish. That night he sends the disciples ahead across the lake, prays alone on a mountain, then comes to them walking on the water; Peter walks out to him, begins to sink, and is caught, and the men in the boat call Jesus the Son of God. When they land at Gennesaret, people bring him all their sick to touch his cloak.

Claim by Claim

1. 14:1
   • At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the report about Jesus.
2. 14:2
   • Herod said to his servants that this is John the Baptist.
   • Herod said that John has been raised from the dead.
   • Herod said that because of this, miraculous powers are at work in him.
3. 14:3
   • Herod had seized John.
   • Herod had bound John.
   • Herod had put John in prison.
   • Herod did this on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip.
4. 14:4
   • John had been saying to Herod that it is not lawful for him to have her.
5. 14:5
   • Herod wanted to kill John.
   • Herod feared the crowd.
   • The crowd regarded John as a prophet.
6. 14:6
   • Herod's birthday celebration took place.
   • The daughter of Herodias danced in front of them.
   • Her dancing pleased Herod.
7. 14:7
   • Herod promised with an oath to give her whatever she should ask.
8. 14:8
   • The girl was prompted beforehand by her mother.
   • She said, Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.
9. 14:9
   • The king was grieved.
   • Because of the oaths and those reclining at table with him, he ordered that it be given.
   • The King James says he commanded it to be given to her.
10. 14:10
    • Herod sent and had John beheaded in the prison.
11. 14:11
    • John's head was brought on a platter.
    • The head was given to the girl.
    • The girl brought it to her mother.
12. 14:12
    • John's disciples came.
    • They took away the corpse.
    • They buried him.
    • They went and reported to Jesus.
13. 14:13
    • When Jesus heard it, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself.
    • The crowds heard of it.
    • The crowds followed him on foot from the towns.
14. 14:14
    • Jesus came out and saw a large crowd.
    • He was moved with compassion for them.
    • He healed their sick.
15. 14:15
    • When evening came, the disciples came to him.
    • The disciples said the place is deserted.
    • The disciples said the hour has already passed.
    • The disciples told him to dismiss the crowds.
    • The disciples said this was so the crowds could go into the villages and buy food for themselves.
16. 14:16
    • Jesus said to them that they have no need to go away.
    • Jesus told the disciples to give them something to eat.
17. 14:17
    • The disciples said to him that they have here only five loaves and two fish.
18. 14:18
    • Jesus said to bring them here to him.
19. 14:19
    • Jesus commanded the crowds to recline on the grass.
    • He took the five loaves and the two fish.
    • He looked up to heaven.
    • He blessed.
    • He broke the loaves.
    • He gave the loaves to the disciples.
    • The disciples gave the loaves to the crowds.
20. 14:20
    • They all ate.
    • They were satisfied.
    • They took up twelve baskets full of the leftover fragments.
21. 14:21
    • Those who ate were about five thousand men.
    • This count did not include women and children.
22. 14:22
    • Immediately Jesus compelled the disciples to get into the boat.
    • He compelled them to go ahead of him to the other side.
    • This was until he should dismiss the crowds.
23. 14:23
    • Having dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray.
    • When evening came, he was there alone.
24. 14:24
    • The boat was already many stadia away from the land.
    • The King James says the ship was in the midst of the sea.
    • The boat was being battered by the waves.
    • The wind was against it.
25. 14:25
    • In the fourth watch of the night Jesus came to them.
    • He was walking on the sea.
26. 14:26
    • The disciples saw him walking on the sea.
    • The disciples were terrified.
    • They said it is a phantom.
    • They cried out from fear.
27. 14:27
    • Immediately Jesus spoke to them.
    • Jesus told them to take courage.
    • Jesus said, It is I.
    • Jesus told them not to be afraid.
28. 14:28
    • Peter answered him.
    • Peter said, Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the waters.
29. 14:29
    • Jesus said, Come.
    • Peter got down out of the boat.
    • Peter walked on the waters.
    • Peter came toward Jesus.
30. 14:30
    • Peter saw the wind.
    • The King James says he saw the wind was boisterous.
    • Peter was afraid.
    • Peter began to sink.
    • Peter cried out, Lord, save me.
31. 14:31
    • Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand.
    • Jesus took hold of Peter.
    • Jesus said to him, You of little faith.
    • Jesus asked him why he doubted.
32. 14:32
    • They climbed into the boat.
    • The wind died down.
33. 14:33
    • Those in the boat worshiped him.
    • The King James says they came and worshipped him.
    • They said, Truly you are the Son of God.
34. 14:34
    • They crossed over.
    • They came to land at Gennesaret.
35. 14:35
    • The men of that place recognized him.
    • They sent word into all that surrounding region.
    • They brought to him all who were sick.
36. 14:36
    • They begged him that they might only touch the fringe of his garment.
    • As many as touched it were made completely well.

Words Worth Explaining

Every language note in this chapter, gathered. These explain what a word meant, never what it means for the reader.

14:1

Herod the tetrarch is Herod Antipas, a son of the Herod who rules in Matthew 2. "Tetrarch" literally means ruler of a fourth; Rome used it for a minor ruler who governed one part of a divided kingdom under Roman oversight. Antipas ruled Galilee and Perea, not Jerusalem.

14:2

John the Baptist is John the baptizer of Matthew 3, the desert preacher who baptized Jesus and was known as a prophet. The King James "mighty works do shew forth themselves in him" means that miraculous powers are at work through him.

14:3

Herodias had been married to a half brother of Antipas and left that marriage to marry Antipas. She was herself a granddaughter of Herod the Great, so the family relationships were tangled by blood as well as by marriage. Matthew names her first husband Philip.

14:4

"Not lawful" refers to the law of Moses, which forbade a man to take his brother's wife (Leviticus 18:16 and 20:21). John's objection is a legal and religious one, not a matter of Roman law.

14:5

A prophet was understood to speak on God's behalf, so executing one in public risked a riot. Herod's hesitation is described here as political calculation, not conscience.

14:6

Matthew does not give the girl's name; the first century historian Josephus calls her Salome. Solo dancing before a room of male banquet guests was normally the work of hired entertainers, which is part of why the scene was striking.

14:7

An oath called on God as a witness to the promise. Made out loud in front of guests, it was public, and going back on it in that setting would cost the ruler standing in front of everyone who heard it.

14:8

A "charger" in 1611 English is a large flat serving dish, a platter of the kind food was carried in on at a banquet. The word has nothing to do with horses or with modern chargers.

14:9

Rome never granted Antipas the title of king, but ordinary people commonly called him one, and Matthew follows that usage here. "Them which sat with him at meat" means the guests reclining with him at the dinner; "at meat" in the King James simply means at a meal, whatever the food.

14:11

"Damsel" is the King James word for a girl. The Greek is a diminutive form, used of a young girl rather than a grown woman.

14:12

"His disciples" here are John's followers, not Jesus's. John had his own circle of students, as teachers commonly did.

14:13

A "desert place" in the King James is not sand dunes. It means open, unsettled country with no towns in it. The "ship" is a fishing boat on the lake, the sort a few men could row or sail.

14:15

"Victuals" means food supplies. "The time is now past" means the day is far gone and the hour is late, so the crowd would need to reach a village before dark.

14:17

The loaves are round flat barley cakes about the size of a small plate, closer to pita bread than to a modern loaf. The fish would likely be small ones, salted or dried, eaten as a relish with the bread.

14:19

The King James "he blessed" can sound as though Jesus blessed the food. The customary Jewish blessing at a meal is spoken to God, thanking him for providing bread, which is why the plain rendering says he gave thanks. The Greek word for sitting down means to recline, the normal posture for eating.

14:20

The basket here is a kophinos, a stiff wicker basket a traveler carried his own provisions in. It is a personal size container, not a large hamper.

14:21

Crowd sizes in this period were normally counted by adult men only. Matthew's note that women and children are not included is his way of saying the real number present was considerably higher than five thousand.

14:22

"Straightway" means immediately, and "constrained" in the King James is stronger than persuading: Jesus made them go. "The other side" is the far shore of the Sea of Galilee.

14:23

Hills rise up all around this lake. Climbing one was a good way to be alone and quiet.

14:24

The "sea" is the Sea of Galilee, a freshwater lake roughly thirteen miles long and eight wide, ringed by hills that funnel sudden violent squalls down onto the water. Some ancient manuscripts read "many stadia from the land" rather than "in the midst of the sea"; either way the boat is well out from shore.

14:25

Romans divided the night, sunset to sunrise, into four watches of about three hours each. The fourth watch runs roughly from three to six in the morning, the last stretch before dawn.

14:26

The Greek word here is phantasma, an apparition or ghost, not the ordinary word for spirit. Sailors' lore treated such a sighting at sea as an omen of death, which is why the disciples are described as terrified rather than merely puzzled.

14:27

"Be of good cheer" in the King James means take courage, not be cheerful. "It is I" translates two Greek words that literally read "I am"; they are the ordinary way to say "it's me" in Greek, and they are also the words the Greek Old Testament puts in God's mouth when he names himself. Both senses sit in the phrase, and the Greek does not decide between them.

14:28

Peter was one of Jesus's closest friends. He was a fisherman before he followed Jesus. He often spoke up first.

14:30

"Boisterous" in 1611 English means violent or forceful, describing a strong gale, not a noisy one.

14:31

"O thou of little faith" renders a single Greek adjective, roughly "little faith one", used as a mild rebuke rather than a dismissal. "Wherefore" simply means why.

14:33

The Greek verb behind "worshipped" means to bow down or fall prostrate. It was used both for homage paid to a king or superior and for the worship of God, and the gesture itself does not settle which is meant.

14:34

Gennesaret is a small fertile plain on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee, near Capernaum, densely farmed and thickly settled, which explains the crowds that gather so quickly.

14:36

The "hem" is the tassel on the corner of a Jewish man's outer cloak, worn in obedience to Numbers 15:38 to 39 as a reminder of God's commands. Touching it meant reaching for the edge of his clothing, not a decorative border. "Made perfectly whole" translates a verb that means both healed and rescued, carrying the sense of being brought completely through the illness.