What Does Matthew 14:6 Mean?
But when Herod's birth-feast came, the daughter of Herodias danced in the midst of them and pleased Herod.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
But when Herod’s birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod.THE KEY
Herod’s pleasure is more than a reaction: the Greek word belongs to the same family as “people-pleaser,” making approval a force in the scene.
THE MEANING
A powerful person’s pleasure sets the room’s terms. The dance happens before the court, but Herod’s response is the hinge: what delights him gains weight for everyone there.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie is that approval is only a private feeling; when the person pleased holds power, that approval can set events in motion.
THE ROOT
ἤρεσεν
ēresen
GROWS FROM
ἀρέσκω
areskō
To be agreeable, please, or satisfy.
The word translated “pleased” belongs to a Greek word family that includes “people-pleaser.” That connection makes approval visible as a force: Herod’s delight is part of how this scene turns.
ALSO GROWS
anthrōpareskos: People-pleaser; one who seeks to please people.
ἀνθρωπάρεσκος
This compound uses the same pleasing word family, showing how the pursuit of approval can become a defining motive.
euarestos: Well-pleasing; acceptable.
εὐάρεστος
This related form shows that the same word family describes what wins approval, whether from a ruler or another audience.
THE PATTERN
When human approval becomes the measure, it can direct choices made under power.
Many seek the face of a ruler, but a man's judgment goes out from the LORD.And when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he went further to seize Peter also. Then were the days of unleavened bread.For now, do I persuade people or God? Or do I seek to please people? If I were still pleasing people, I would not be a servant of the Anointed One.THE THREAD
For now, do I persuade people or God? Or do I seek to please people? If I were still pleasing people, I would not be a servant of the Anointed One.Matthew uses a form of the Greek verb meaning “please”; Galatians uses that same verb when it asks whether a person seeks to please people. One verse shows approval moving through a ruler’s court, while the other makes visible the allegiance that approval can demand.
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