KJV: And immediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded his head to be brought: and he went and beheaded him in the prison,
YLT: and immediately the king having sent a guardsman, did command his head to be brought,
Darby: And immediately the king, having sent one of the guard, ordered his head to be brought. And he went out and beheaded him in the prison,
ASV: And straightway the king sent forth a soldier of his guard, and commanded to bring his head: and he went and beheaded him in the prison,
εὐθὺς | immediately |
Parse: Adverb Root: εὐθέως Sense: straightway, immediately, forthwith. |
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ἀποστείλας | having sent |
Parse: Verb, Aorist Participle Active, Nominative Masculine Singular Root: ἀποστέλλω Sense: to order (one) to go to a place appointed. |
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βασιλεὺς | king |
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular Root: βασιλεύς Sense: leader of the people, prince, commander, lord of the land, king. |
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σπεκουλάτορα | an executioner |
Parse: Noun, Accusative Masculine Singular Root: σπεκουλάτωρ Sense: a spy, scout. |
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ἐπέταξεν | he commanded |
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular Root: ἐπιτάσσω Sense: to enjoin upon, order, command, charge. |
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ἐνέγκαι | to be brought |
Parse: Verb, Aorist Infinitive Active Root: φέρω Sense: to carry. |
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κεφαλὴν | head |
Parse: Noun, Accusative Feminine Singular Root: κεφαλή Sense: the head, both of men and often of animals. |
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αὐτοῦ | of him |
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular Root: αὐτός Sense: himself, herself, themselves, itself. |
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ἀπελθὼν | having gone |
Parse: Verb, Aorist Participle Active, Nominative Masculine Singular Root: ἀπέρχομαι Sense: to go away, depart. |
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ἀπεκεφάλισεν | he beheaded |
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular Root: ἀποκεφαλίζω Sense: to cut off the head, behead, decapitate. |
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φυλακῇ | prison |
Parse: Noun, Dative Feminine Singular Root: φυλακή Sense: guard, watch. |
Greek Commentary for Mark 6:27
Latin word speculator. A spy, scout, lookout, and often executioner. It was used of the bodyguard of the Roman emperor and so for one of Herod‘s spies. He was used to do errands of this sort and it was soon done. It was a gruesome job, but he soon brought John‘s head to the damsel, apparently in the presence of all, and she took it to her mother. This miserable Tetrarch, the slave of Herodias, was now the slave of his fears. He is haunted by the ghost of John and shudders at the reports of the work of Jesus. [source]
One of Mark's Latin words, speculator. A speculator was a guardsman, whose business it was to watch or spy out (speculari )It came gradually to denote one of the armed body-guard of the Roman emperor. Thus Suetonius says of Claudius that he did not dare to attend banquets unless his speculatores with their lances surrounded him. Seneca uses the word in the sense of executioner. “He met the executioners (speculatoribus )declared that he had nothing to say against the execution of the sentence, and then stretched out his neck.” Herod imitated the manners of the Roman court, and was attended by a company of speculatores, though it was not their distinctive office to act as executioners. Wyc. renders man-killer, and Tynd. hangman. [source]