Salome (Daughter of Herodias)

Salome was the daughter of Herodias and stepdaughter of Herod Antipas, ruler over Galilee and Perea in the first century. At a royal banquet, her dance so pleased Antipas that he impulsively swore an oath granting her any request up to half his kingdom. Prompted by her mother’s desire for revenge against John the Baptist, who had publicly condemned Herodias’s unlawful marriage, Salome asked for the prophet’s head on a platter, leading directly to his beheading. The Gospels of Matthew and Mark record this event to illustrate the cost of rash oaths, the hostility prophets faced, and the fulfillment of John’s role as the forerunner whose death preceded Jesus’s ministry.

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Biography

Father: Herod Philip I
Mother: Herodias
Spouse: Philip the Tetrarch
Era: New Testament (c. AD 28)
Nationality: Idumaean/Jewish

Family

Parents

Herod Philip I Herodias

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Salome (Daughter of Herodias) ⚭ Philip the Tetrarch

New Testament New Testament Era Woman Mark

Did You Know?

Although the Gospels never name her, the first-century historian Josephus identifies Herodias's daughter as Salome, a detail omitted by the biblical authors themselves.

Salome was both niece and stepdaughter to Herod Antipas, since her mother Herodias had previously been married to Antipas's half-brother Philip, a union the Jewish historian Josephus condemns as incestuous.

The Greek verb used for Salome's performance, orchēsato, suggests a professional or theatrical dance possibly influenced by Greco-Roman styles rather than traditional Jewish court entertainment.

Herod's rash vow to give the dancer anything she asked, even half his kingdom, parallels similar extravagant royal oaths recorded in the Book of Esther and other ancient Near Eastern texts.

The specific demand that John the Baptist's head be presented on a platter is recorded only in the Gospels and may reflect the Roman-Herodian practice of displaying executed enemies' heads at banquets as trophies.

Key Passages

Salome's Dance

Mark 6:21-28

This passage warns how unchecked anger and rash promises can destroy lives, urging us to guard our hearts with wisdom and integrity.

A²¹nd when a convenient day was come, that Herod on his birthday made a supper to his lords, high captains, and chief estates of Galilee;

²² And when the daughter of the said Herodias came in, and danced, and pleased Herod and them that sat with him, the king said unto the damsel, Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it thee. ²³ And he sware unto her, Whatsoever thou shalt ask of me, I will give it thee, unto the half of my kingdom. ²⁴ And she went forth, and said unto her mother, What shall I ask? And she said, The head of John the Baptist. ²⁵ And she came in straightway with haste unto the king, and asked, saying, I will that thou give me by and by in a charger the head of John the Baptist. ²⁶ And the king was exceeding sorry; yet for his oath’s sake, and for their sakes which sat with him, he would not reject her. ²⁷ And immediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded his head to be brought: and he went and beheaded him in the prison, ²⁸ And brought his head in a charger, and gave it to the damsel: and the damsel gave it to her mother.

Read full chapter: Mark 6 →

The Request for John's Head

Matthew 14:6-11

This passage warns how unchecked anger and rash promises can destroy lives, urging us to guard our hearts with wisdom and integrity.

B⁶ut when Herod’s birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod.

⁷ Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she would ask. ⁸ And she, being before instructed of her mother, said, Give me here John Baptist’s head in a charger. ⁹ And the king was sorry: nevertheless for the oath’s sake, and them which sat with him at meat, he commanded it to be given her. ¹⁰ And he sent, and beheaded John in the prison. ¹¹ And his head was brought in a charger, and given to the damsel: and she brought it to her mother.

Read full chapter: Matthew 14 →