54 Dimensions of Baptism
at John for having exhorted 'the Jews to lead righteous lives, to practise
justice towards their fellows and piety towards God, and so doing to join
in baptism' (Ant. 18.117). It was the combination of John's widespread
popularity and his condemnation of the tetrarch's marriage to Herodias
that resulted in imprisonment and execution. Herod Antipas knew that he
would have trouble with Aretas; he therefore could not accommodate
disaffection at home. Josephus's statement that Herod feared sedition makes
sense in light of the Joshua typology. Accordingly, the cause of Herod's
fears may have involved more than the political and moral awkwardness
brought on by marrying Herodias. John's symbolism of being dipped in
the Jordan and being reminded of the stones commemorating the crossing
of the river by the twelve tribes would have been readily perceived by the
Jewish public as anticipatory of major social and political change. The
tetrarch's violent response is therefore hardly surprising.^9
Malachi's bald statement, 'I hate divorce', is the only occurrence in the
Hebrew Scriptures where divorce is condemned.^10 Not only does this cate-
gorical statement stand alone; it stands somewhat in tension with Mosaic
legislation in which divorce is permitted and even regulated (as in Deut.
24 and implicitly in other passages).^11 John's condemnation of Herod's
divorce and remarriage may very well have been inspired in part by the
condemnation of divorce and adultery found in Malachi. Other parallels
make this suggestion almost certain.- Josephus provides no clear reason for Herod' s action against John; the political
realities and context, however, are sufficiently clear. Josephus studiously avoids men-
tion of Jewish messianism and eschatology, of which John's message was a part.
Because he avoids this topic, Josephus does not allow himself to explain the thrust of
John's message. Accordingly, Josephus's readers, who know nothing of Palestinian
Jewry and Jewish ethics and eschatology are left quite uncertain as to why exactly
Herod Antipas reacted the way he did. - Although it is disputed, the most probable meaning of the words n bti KDC? in
Mai. 2.16 is 'I hate divorce' (lit. 'He hates sending away'). On this, see R.L. Smith,
Micah-Malachi (WBC, 32; Dallas: Word Books, 1984), pp. 319-20, 323-24. - One important passage is Deut. 17.14-17, in which Israel's king is commanded
not to multiply wives (v. 17). Moreover, the rule of the Idumean Herodians would have
been viewed as in tension with the prohibition against having a foreigner rule over
Israel (v. 15). Returning to Mai. 2.16, we should not be surprised that the LXX ('But if
you hate her, send her away, says the Lord'), the Targum ('But if you hate her, divorce
her, says the Lord'), and the Peshitta (omits the clause) modify the passage to bring it
into alignment with Deut. 24. On this, see L. Kruse-Blinkenberg, 'The Peshitta of
Malachi', ST 20 (1966), pp. 95-119, here pp. 103-104.