Person New Testament
Herodias
Herodias was the wife of Herod Antipas, who had John the Baptist beheaded at her request. Mentioned in 6 verses across 3 books, first at Matthew 14:3.
Why it matters. Wife of Herod Antipas who had John beheaded.
- Primary passages
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-30 by the FaithGraph team
About Herodias
Herodias was the wife of Herod Antipas, the tetrarch of Galilee during the time of Jesus' ministry. She was originally married to Herod Philip, the half-brother of Herod Antipas, but later divorced him to marry Herod Antipas (Mat.14.3; Mrk.6.17; Luk.3.19). John the Baptist openly condemned this marriage as unlawful, which led to his imprisonment by Herod Antipas (Mat.14.3-4; Mrk.6.17-18; Luk.3.19-20). Herodias held a grudge against John and wanted to have him killed, but Herod Antipas feared the multitude who regarded John as a prophet (Mat.14.5; Mrk.6.19-20). On Herod Antipas's birthday, Herodias's daughter danced before the guests, pleasing Herod Antipas, who promised to give her whatever she asked (Mat.14.6-7; Mrk.6.21-23). Prompted by her mother Herodias, the daughter asked for the head of John the Baptist on a platter (Mat.14.8; Mrk.6.24-25). Although reluctant, Herod Antipas fulfilled the request and had John beheaded in prison (Mat.14.9-11; Mrk.6.26-28).
Description from STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0, lightly reformatted. This is background reference material, not Scripture and not a FaithGraph editorial claim.
Connections
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Family
Family links from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0). Where the dataset marks an identification as uncertain, the mark is kept. Matthew and Luke give different genealogies for Jesus; see the Lineage page, which never merges them.
- Siblings
- Herod
- Spouses
- Herod AntipasPhilip
- Children
- Salome
Appears in Scripture
Named in 6 verses across 3 books. Occurrence data from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0); references only, no translation text.