For Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just man and an holy, and observed him; and when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly.
Ver. 20. For Herod feared John] Holiness is majestic. "Holy and reverend is God's name," Psalms 111:9; therefore reverend, because holy. He honoureth his saints in the consciences of their greatest enemies.
He did many things] Or, as some copies have it, πολλα ηπορει, multum haesitabat, " He doubted in many things;" he was often set at a stand, and knew not how to ward off the dry blows of the word, nor which way to look, it came so close to him.