{For John said unto him} (elegen gar I(9361)n(8873) aut(9369)).
Possibly the Pharisees may have put Herod up to inveigling John
to Machaerus on one of his visits there to express an opinion
concerning his marriage to Herodias (Broadus) and the imperfect
tense (elegen) probably means that John said it repeatedly. It
was a blunt and brave thing that John said. It cost him his head,
but it is better to have a head like John's and lose it than to
have an ordinary head and keep it. Herod Antipas was a politician
and curbed his resentment toward John by his fear of the people
who still held (eichon, imperfect tense) him as a prophet.