Chapter XLIII.—Of the Mutual Consistency of the Accounts Which are Given by Matthew, Mark, and Luke of What Was Said by Herod on Hearing About the Wonderful Works of the Lord, and of Their Concord in Regard to the Order of Narration.

91. Matthew continues: “At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus, and said unto his servants, This is John the Baptist: he is risen from the dead; and therefore mighty works do show forth themselves in him.”541    Matt. xiv. 1, 2. Mark gives the same passage, and in the same manner, but not in the same order.542    Mark vi. 14–16. For, after relating how the Lord sent forth the disciples with the charge to take nothing with them on the journey save a staff only, and after bringing to its close so much of the discourse which was then delivered as has been recorded by him, he has subjoined this section. He does not, however, connect it in such a way as to compel us to suppose that what it narrates took place actually in immediate sequence on what precedes it in the history. And in this, indeed, Matthew is at one with him. For Matthew’s expression is, “at that time,” not “on that day,” or “at that hour.” Only there is this difference between them, that Mark refers not to Herod himself as the utterer of the words in question, but to the people, his statement being this: “They said543    Dicebant; so that the reading ἔλεγον is followed instead of ἔλεγεν in Mark vi. 14. [Westcott and Hort give the plural in their text, following the Vatican codex and some other authorities.—R.] that John the Baptist was risen from the dead;” whereas Matthew makes Herod himself the speaker, the phrase being: “He said unto his servants.” Luke, again, keeping the same order of narration as Mark, and introducing it also indeed, like Mark, in no such way as to compel us to suppose that his order must have been the order of actual occurrence, presents his version of the same passage in the following terms: “Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by Him: and he was perplexed, because that it was said of some, that John was risen from the dead; and of some, that Elias had appeared; and of others, that one of the old prophets was risen again. And Herod said, John have I beheaded: but who is this of whom I hear such things? And he desired to see Him.”544    Luke ix. 7–9. In these words Luke also attests Mark’s statement, at least, so far as concerns the affirmation that it was not Herod himself, but other parties, who said that John was risen from the dead. But as regards his mentioning how Herod was perplexed, and his bringing in thereafter those words of the same prince: “John have I beheaded: but who is this of whom I hear such things?” we must either understand that after the said perplexity he became persuaded in his own mind of the truth of what was asserted by others, when he spoke to his servants, in accordance with the version given by Matthew, which runs thus: “And he said to his servants, This is John the Baptist: he is risen from the dead; and therefore mighty works do show forth themselves in him;” or we must suppose that these words were uttered in a manner betraying that he was still in a state of perplexity. For had he said, “Can this be John the Baptist?” or, “Can it chance that this is John the Baptist?” there would have been no need of saying anything about a mode of utterance by which he might have revealed his dubiety and perplexity. But seeing that these forms of expression are not before us, his words may be taken to have been pronounced in either of two ways: so that we may either suppose him to have been convinced by what was said by others, and so to have spoken the words in question with a real belief [in John’s reappearance]; or we may imagine him to have been still in that state of hesitancy of which mention is made by Luke. Our explanation is favoured by the fact that Mark, who had already told us how it was by others that the statement was made as to John having risen from the dead, does not fail to let us know also that in the end Herod himself spoke to this effect: “It is John whom I beheaded: he is risen from the dead.”545    [Augustin gives the reading followed in the Revised Version (“John whom I beheaded, he is risen”). The translator gives the words of the Authorized Version.—R.] For these words may also be taken to have been pronounced in either of two ways,—namely, as the utterances either of one corroborating a fact, or of one in doubt. Moreover, while Luke passes on to a new subject after the notice which he gives of this incident, those other two, Matthew and Mark, take occasion to tell us at this point in what way John was put to death by Herod.

CAPUT XLIII. Quemadmodum inter se conveniant Matthaeus, Marcus et Lucas de verbis Herodis cum audisset de mirabilibus Domini, vel de ipso narratiotionis ordine.

91. Sequitur Matthaeus: In illo tempore audivit Herodes tetrarcha famam Jesu, et ait pueris suis: Hic est Joannes Baptista; ipse surrexit a mortuis, et ideo virtutes operantur in eo (Matth. XIV, 1, 2). Marcus hoc idem et eodem modo dicit, sed non eodem ordine (Marc. VI, 14-16). Nam posteaquam discipulos Dominus misit, dicens eis ne quid in via ferrent, nisi virgam tantum, terminato eo sermone, quantum ab illo commemoratum est, etiam hoc subjecit, nulla tamen facta necessitate, qua hoc etiam consequenter gestum esse intelligere cogeremur: sicut nec Matthaeus; In illo enim tempore dixit, non, In illo die, vel hora: nisi quod Marcus non quod Herodes dixerit, sed, Dicebant, inquit, quia Joannes Baptista surrexit a mortuis: Matthaeus vero de ipso Herode, Ait, inquit, pueris suis. Lucas etiam eum narrandi ordinem, quem Marcus, tenens, nec ipse sane etiam rerum gestarum eumdem ordinem fuisse credi cogens, ita hoc idem commemorat: Audivit autem, inquit, Herodes tetrarcha omnia quae fiebant ab eo, et haesitabat, eo quod diceretur a quibusdam quia Joannes surrexit a mortuis; a quibusdam vero, quia Elias apparuit; ab aliis autem, quia propheta unus de antiquis surrexit. Et ait Herodes: Joannem ego decollavi; quis est autem iste de quo ego audio talia? Et quaerebat videre eum (Luc. IX, 7-9). In his verbis Lucas quoque Marco attestatur, ad hoc duntaxat quod alii dixerint, non Herodes, Joannem a mortuis surrexisse. Sed quia haesitantem commemoravit Herodem, verbaque ejus ita postea posuit dicentis, Joannem ego decollavi; quis est autem iste de quo audio ego talia? intelligendum est aut eum post hanc haesitationem confirmasse in animo suo quod ab aliis dicebatur, cum ait pueris suis, sicut Matthaeus narrat, Et ait pueris suis: Hic est Joannes Baptista; ipse surrexit a mortuis, et ideo virtutes operantur in eo: aut ita pronuntianda sunt haec verba, ut haesitantem adhuc indicent. Si enim diceret, Numquidnam hic est, aut, Numquid forte hic est Joannes Baptista? non opus esset admonere aliquid de pronuntiatione, qua dubitans atque haesitans intelligatur. Nunc quia illa verba desunt, utroque modo pronuntiari potest; ut aut confirmatum eum ex aliorum verbis, credentem dixisse 1123 accipiamus; aut adhuc, sicut Lucas commemorat, haesitantem: praesertim quia et Marcus, qui superius dixerat, ab aliis fuisse dictum quod Joannes a mortuis resurrexit, in extremo tamen ipsum Herodem dixisse non tacet, Quem ego decollavi Joannem, hic a mortuis resurrexit. Quae item verba duobus modis pronuntiari possunt, ut aut confirmantis, aut dubitantis intelligantur. Cum autem Lucas posteaquam hoc commemoravit, in aliud transeat; duo isti, Matthaeus et Marcus ex hac occasione narrant quemadmodum sit ab Herode Joannes occisus.