# John the Baptist Imprisoned

Life of Jesus · Draft · BSB

Content revision: 61cfc7a9edc30c95 · No editorial review date recorded

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Date: Preparation and early ministry. A guided comparison of Gospel accounts, not a measured calendar or a claim that every parallel follows the same sequence.

John rebukes Herod Antipas over Herodias and is imprisoned. Matthew and Mark later recall the imprisonment while narrating Herod’s reaction to reports about Jesus.

Those retrospective openings mention the later death before explaining its background. This card focuses on imprisonment, not a second execution before the banquet account. The Gospel readings do not name the prison site.

## Primary Scripture

[Matthew 14:1–5 (BSB)](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2014%3A1%E2%80%935&version=BSB)

14:1 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the reports about Jesus

14:2 and said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead! That is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”

14:3 Now Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife,

14:4 because John had been telling him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.”

14:5 Although Herod wanted to kill John, he was afraid of the people, because they regarded John as a prophet.

[Mark 6:14–20 (BSB)](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%206%3A14%E2%80%9320&version=BSB)

6:14 Now King Herod heard about this, for Jesus’ name had become well known, and people were saying, “John the Baptist has risen from the dead! That is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”

6:15 Others were saying, “He is Elijah,” and still others, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.”

6:16 But when Herod heard this, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has risen from the dead!”

6:17 For Herod himself had ordered that John be arrested and bound and imprisoned, on account of his brother Philip’s wife Herodias, whom Herod had married.

6:18 For John had been telling Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife!”

6:19 So Herodias held a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she had been unable,

6:20 because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man. When he heard John’s words, he was greatly perplexed; yet he listened to him gladly.

[Luke 3:19–20 (BSB)](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%203%3A19%E2%80%9320&version=BSB)

3:19 But when he rebuked Herod the tetrarch regarding his brother’s wife Herodias and all the evils he had done,

3:20 Herod added this to them all: He locked John up in prison.

## Related Scripture

[Luke 3:19–20 · teaching](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%203%3A19%E2%80%9320&version=BSB)

Luke’s concise notice identifies the rebuke and imprisonment directly.

## Location evidence

The Gospel readings explain John’s imprisonment without naming the prison. No later traditional fortress location is presented as an explicit Gospel coordinate.

No event map marker is assigned. Do not infer an exact venue from related places.

## For the class

How do the retrospective passages affect our reading of the timeline?

## Interpretation and reuse

Narrative order is a reading arrangement, not a proven chronology. Dates retain their stated uncertainty. An identified locality does not establish the exact venue or prove an event. Region extents and routes are illustrative, not surveyed boundaries or ancient roads. Draft material has not completed editorial review.

Record source: theographic (276)

Record source: editorial

Events and places adapted from Theographic Bible Metadata (github.com/robertrouse/theographic-bible-metadata), CC BY-SA 4.0. This adapted data is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Place coordinates from OpenBible.info Bible Geocoding Data, CC BY 4.0.

Teaching stops, summaries and regional extents are original editorial content of this atlas.

Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain. https://berean.bible/licensing.htm

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