KJV: For John said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her.
YLT: for John was saying to him, 'It is not lawful to thee to have her,'
Darby: For John said to him, It is not lawful for thee to have her.
ASV: For John said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her.
| ἔλεγεν | Had been saying |
|
Parse: Verb, Imperfect Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular Root: λέγω Sense: to speak, say. |
|
| ὁ | - |
|
Parse: Article, Nominative Masculine Singular Root: ὁ Sense: this, that, these, etc. |
|
| Ἰωάννης» | John |
|
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular Root: Ἰωάννης Sense: John the Baptist was the son of Zacharias and Elisabeth, the forerunner of Christ. |
|
| αὐτῷ | to him |
|
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Dative Masculine 3rd Person Singular Root: αὐτός Sense: himself, herself, themselves, itself. |
|
| ἔξεστίν | it is lawful |
|
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular Root: ἔξεστι Sense: it is lawful. |
|
| σοι | for you |
|
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Dative 2nd Person Singular Root: σύ Sense: you. |
|
| ἔχειν | to have |
|
Parse: Verb, Present Infinitive Active Root: ἔχω Sense: to have, i.e. to hold. |
|
| αὐτήν | her |
|
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Accusative Feminine 3rd Person Singular Root: αὐτός Sense: himself, herself, themselves, itself. |
|
Greek Commentary for Matthew 14:4
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 (ελεγεν 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 (ειχον eichon imperfect tense) him as a prophet. [source]