And said unto his servants, This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead; and therefore mighty works do shew forth themselves in him.

and said unto his servants, This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead; and therefore do these powers work in him.

and said to his servants, This is John the baptist: he is risen from the dead, and because of this these works of power display their force in him.

And said to his servants, This is John the Baptist; he hath risen from the dead; and therefore mighty works do show forth themselves in him.

and said to his servants, 'This is John the Baptist, he did rise from the dead, and because of this the mighty energies are working in him.'

and he said to his courtiers, "This is John the Baptist: he has come back to life - and that is why these miraculous Powers are working in him."

And he said to his servants, This is John the Baptist; he has come back from the dead, and so these powers are working in him.

And he said to his servants: "This is John the Baptist. He has risen from the dead, and that is why miracles are at work in him."

and said to his attendants, "This must be John the Baptist; he must be risen from the dead, and that is why these miraculous powers are active in him."

And said to his servants. From the words of Luke it may be inferred, that Herod did not of his own accord adopt this conjecture, but that it was suggested to him by a report which was current among the people. And, indeed, I have no doubt that the hatred which they bore to the tyrant, and their detestation of so shocking a murder, gave rise, as is commonly the ease, to those rumors. It was a superstition deeply rooted, as we have formerly mentioned, in the minds of men, that the dead return to life in a different person. Nearly akin to this is the opinion which they now adopt, that Herod, when he cruelly put to death the holy man, was far from obtaining what he expected; because he had suddenly risen from the dead by the miraculous power of God, and would oppose and attack his enemies with greater severity than ever. Mark and Luke, however, show that men spoke variously on this subject: some thought that he was Elijah, and others that he was one of the prophets, or that he was so eminently endued with the gifts of the Spirit, that he might be compared to the prophets. The reason why they thought that he might be Elijah, rather than any other prophet, has been already stated. Malachi having predicted (4:5,6) that Elijah would come to gather the scattered Church, they misunderstood that prediction as relating to the person of Elijah, instead of being a simple comparison to the following effect: "That the coming of Messiah may not be unknown, and that the people may not remain ignorant of the grace of redemption, there will be an Elijah to go before, like him who of old raised up that which was fallen, and the worship of God which had been overthrown. He will go before, by a remarkable power of the Spirit, to proclaim the great and dreadful day of the Lord." The Jews, with their usual grossness of interpretation, had applied this to Elijah the Tishbite, (1 Kings 17:1,) as if he were to appear again and discharge the office of a prophet. Others again conjecture, either that some one of the ancient prophets had risen, or that he was some great man, who approached to them in excellence. It was astonishing that, amidst the diversity of views which were suggested, the true interpretation did not occur to any one; more especially as the state of matters at that very time directed them to Christ. God had promised to them a Redeemer, who would relieve them when they were distressed and in despair. The extremity of affliction into which they had been plunged was a loud call for divine assistance. The Redeemer is at hand, who had been so clearly pointed out by the preaching of John, and who himself testifies respecting his office. They are compelled to acknowledge that some divine power belongs to him, and yet they fall into their own fancies, and change him into the persons of other men. It is thus that the world is wont, in base ingratitude, to obliterate the remembrance of the favors which God has bestowed. With respect to Herod himself, as I hinted, little ago, the conjecture that John had risen did not at first occur to himself; but as bad consciences are wont to tremble and hesitate, and turn with every wind, he readily believed what he dreaded. With such blind terrors God frequently alarms wicked men; so that, after all the pains they take to harden themselves, and to escape agitation, their internal executioner gives them no rest, but chastises them with severity. And therefore miracles work in him. We naturally wonder what reasoning could have led them to this conclusion. John had performed no miracle during the whole course of his preaching. There appears to be no probability, therefore, in the conjecture, that it was John whom they saw performing extraordinary miracles. But they imagine that miracles are now performed by him for the first time, in order to prove his resurrection, and to show that the holy prophet of God had been wickedly put to death by Herod, and now came forward with a visible and divine protection, that no man might afterwards venture to assail him. They think that miracles work (enezgousin) in him; that is, are powerfully displayed, so as to give him greater authority, and make it evident that the Lord is with him.

This is John the Baptist - Herod feared John. His conscience smote him for his crimes. He remembered that he had wickedly put him to death. He knew him to be a distinguished prophet; and he concluded that no other one was capable of working such miracles but he who had been so eminent a servant of God in his life, and who, he supposed, had again risen from the dead and entered the dominions of his murderer. The alarm in his court, it seems, was general. Herod's conscience told him that this was John. Others thought that it might be the expected Elijah or one of the old prophets, Mark 6:15.

This is John the Baptist - Ον εγω απεκεφαλισα, Whom I beheaded. These words are added here by the Codex Bezae and several others, by the Saxon, and five copies of the Itala. - See the power of conscience! He is miserable because he is guilty; being continually under the dominion of self-accusation, reproach, and remorse. No need for the Baptist now: conscience performs the office of ten thousand accusers! But, to complete the misery, a guilty conscience offers no relief from God - points out no salvation from sin.
He is risen from the dead - From this we may observe:
1. That the resurrection of the dead was a common opinion among the Jews; and
2. That the materiality of the soul made no part of Herod's creed.
Bad and profligate as he was, it was not deemed by him a thing impossible with God to raise the dead; and the spirit of the murdered Baptist had a permanent resurrection in his guilty conscience.

And said unto his servants, This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead; and therefore mighty (a) works do shew forth themselves in him.
(a) By works he means that force and power by which works are performed, and not the works which are often seen before.

And said unto his servants,.... Those of his household, his courtiers, with whom he more familiarly conversed; to these he expressed his fears, that it might be true what was suggested by the people, and he was ready to believe it himself;
this is John the Baptist: some copies add, "whom I have beheaded", as in Mark 6:16 the guilt of which action rose in his mind, lay heavy on him, and filled him with horror and a thousand fears:
he is risen from the dead; which if he was a Sadducee, as he is thought to be, by comparing Matthew 16:6 with Mark 8:15 was directly contrary to his former sentiments, and was extorted from him by his guilty conscience; who now fears, what before he did not believe; and what he fears, he affirms; concluding that John was raised from the dead, to give proof of his innocence, and to revenge his death on him:
and therefore mighty works do show themselves in him, or "are wrought by him"; for though he wrought no miracles in his lifetime, yet, according to a vulgar notion, that after death men are endued with a greater power, Herod thought this to be the case; or that he was possessed of greater power, on purpose to punish him for the murder of him; and that these miracles which were wrought by him, were convincing proofs of the truth of his resurrection, and of what he was able to do to him, and what he might righteously expect from him.

And said unto his servants--his counsellors or court-ministers.
This is John the Baptist: he is risen from the dead, &c.--The murdered prophet haunted his guilty breast like a specter and seemed to him alive again and clothed with unearthly powers in the person of Jesus.
Account of the Baptist's Imprisonment and Death (Matthew 14:3-12). For the exposition of this portion, see on Mark 6:17-29.

This is John the Baptist. Herod claimed to be a Sadducee, and hence held that there was no life whatever after death, but under the terrors of a guilty conscience his creed undergoes a change. Hence his first thought when he hears of the deeds of Jesus is that the murdered John has risen from the dead.
Therefore mighty works do shew forth themselves in him. During his life John wrought no miracles (John 10:41). Herod supposed that his resurrection had clothed him with new power. This opinion was shared by others (Matthew 16:14; Mark 8:28).

He is risen from the dead - Herod was a Sadducee: and the Sadducees denied the resurrection of the dead. But Sadduceeism staggers when conscience awakes.