Sometime before this, Herod had arrested John, tied him up, and put him into prison. Herod did this because of Herodias, who had been the wife of Philip, Herod’s brother.
It was the fifteenth year of the rule of Tiberius Caesar. These men were under Caesar: Pontius Pilate, the ruler of Judea; Herod, the ruler of Galilee; Philip, Herod’s brother, the ruler of Iturea and Traconitis; and Lysanias, the ruler of Abilene.
Herod, the governor, heard about all the things that were happening and was confused, because some people said, “John the Baptist has risen from the dead.”