Death of st john the baptist

Biblical event and Christian holy day

This article is about the biblical event and its liturgical commemoration. For other uses, see Beheading of John the Baptist (disambiguation).

The beheading of John the Baptist, also known as the decollation of Saint John the Baptist or the beheading of the Forerunner, is a biblical event commemorated as a holy day by various Christian churches.

Death of st john the baptist

According to the New Testament, Herod Antipas, ruler of Galilee under the Roman Empire, had imprisoned John the Baptist because he had publicly reprovedHerod for divorcing his first wife and unlawfully taking his sister-in-law (his brother's wife) as his second wife Herodias.

He then ordered him to be killed by beheading.

As a non-Biblical source, Jewish historian Josephus also recounts that Herod had John imprisoned and killed due to "the great influence John had over the people", which might persuade John "to raise a rebellion".

Josephus also writes that m