And she went forth, and said unto her mother, What shall I ask? And she said, The head of John the Baptist.

Who when she was gone out, said to her mother, What shall I ask? But she said: The head of John the Baptist.

And she, having gone forth, said to her mother, 'What shall I ask for myself?' and she said, 'The head of John the Baptist;'

And she went out and said to her mother, What is my request to be? And she said, The head of John the Baptist.

And when she had gone out, she said to her mother, "What shall I request?" But her mother said, "The head of John the Baptist."

The girl went out, and said to her mother "What must I ask for?" "The head of John the Baptizer," answered her mother.

And she went out, and said to her mother We need not wonder that Herodias attached so much importance to John's death. [1] The conjecture thrown out by some--that she was actuated by revenge,--is not at all probable. It was rather the dread of being cast off that inflamed and tormented her; as it usually happens that, when adulterers are visited with feelings of uneasiness, they become ashamed of their own lust. But she hoped that this crime would bind Herod more closely to her than ever, if the disgrace of a pretended marriage were washed out by the blood of the prophet. That her power might be more secure for the future, she longed for the death of that man whom she imagined to be her only opponent; and this shows us the wretched anxiety by which a bad conscience is always tormented. John was detained in prison, and the haughty and cruel woman might have issued orders that no man should converse with or approach him; and yet she has no rest, but is oppressed with anxiety and alarm, till the prophet be removed out of the way. This likewise serves to show the power of the word of God, that the voice of the holy man, even when shut up in prison, wounds and tortures in the keenest manner the mind of the king's wife. [2]

Footnotes

1 - "De ce qu' Herodias a estime un grand avantage pour elle de faire mourir Iean;" -- "that Herodias reckoned it a great advantage to her to put John to death."

2 - "Ne laisse pas d'espouvanter asprement, et navrer au vif le coeur de ceste femme;" -- "fails not vehmently to alarm and cut to the quick the heart of the woman."

And (p) she went forth, and said unto her mother, What shall I ask? And she said, The head of John the Baptist.
(p) For women did not used to eat with men.

And she went forth and said unto her mother,.... The king having made such a promise to her, and annexed his oath to it, she thought proper before she asked any thing of him, to withdraw from the hall and company, and consider with herself, and consult with her mother, who was not at the entertainment; it being not usual in those eastern countries, for women to sit at table, at any grand festival: to whom she reported the offer the king had made, and desired she would be pleased to direct her, what request to make saying,
what shall I ask? To which her mother made answer, without taking any further time to think of it, being prepared for it, and determined in her mind, whenever she had an opportunity of asking a favour of the king, what it should be:
and she said, the head of John the Baptist. So sweet is revenge, that to have her will on that great and good man, was more to her, than to have half the king's dominions.

And she said, The head of John the Baptist--Abandoned women are more shameless and heartless than men. The Baptist's fidelity marred the pleasures of Herodias, and this was too good an opportunity of getting rid of him to let slip.