3. Preparation

Despite having left Philip to live with Herod, Herodias remains Philip's wife in the eyes of God.

Matthew 19:9

"And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, is committing adultery."

LSJ

ἔξεστι
it is allowed, is possible

Recall that Herod, while perhaps having adopted the practice of Judaism, is not in fact a Jew, but a gentile of Arab descent. (See Appendix: Herod.) God's law of marriage applies to all the descendants of Adam and Eve.

Matthew 19:4-6

"Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, 'Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate."

Local Context

Matthew 12:1-2, 7

At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, "Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath."
"And if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless."

Matthew 12:10-12

And a man was there with a withered hand. And they asked him, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"--so that they might accuse him. He said to them, "Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."

In this example, the Pharisees clearly wish to argue the Law of Moses allows divorce without regard to its causes:

Matthew 19:3, 7

And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, "Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?"
They said to him, "Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?"

Certainly Roman law allows paying taxes. It is difficult to imagine where the Law of Moses might forbid such a thing:

Matthew 22:17

"Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?"

Finally, in this shocking display of irresponsibility, the leaders are more concerned about the criminal source of the funds than they are about having committed the crime in the first place:

Matthew 27:6

But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, "It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since it is blood money."

Remote Context

The example below demonstrates the word is not strictly applied to the term "law." The Law of Moses of course does provide for the death penalty, but under Roman rule only Rome was allowed to impose the death penalty.

John 18:31

Pilate said to them, "Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law." The Jews said to him, "It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death."

These passages demonstrate both uses of this term--what is allowed and what is legal:

Acts 21:37

As Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he said to the tribune, "May I say something to you?" And he said, "Do you know Greek?"

Acts 22:25

But when they had stretched him out for the whips, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, "Is it lawful for you to flog a man who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned?"

This example shows equivocation on Romans 14, comparing food to sex:

Romans 14:14

I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean.

1 Corinthians 6:12-13

"All things are lawful for me," but not all things are helpful. "All things are lawful for me," but I will not be dominated by anything. "Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food"--and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.

And here is the proper use of the Romans 14 idea:

1 Corinthians 10:23-26

"All things are lawful," but not all things are helpful. "All things are lawful," but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. For "the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof."

Finally, these passages show that some things are forbidden for humankind to know--the ultimate "unlawful" expression:

2 Corinthians 12:2-4

I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven--whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. And I know that this man was caught up into paradise--whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows-- and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter.

Revelation 10:4

And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down."

It is important to note that human laws may allow things God will not allow. In this case, Roman law allowed Herod to marry the divorced Herodias. The law of God, however, does not allow divorced persons to marry again. The fact they had been married in the eyes of the law does not remove their spiritual guilt in the eyes of God.

Mark 10:11-12

And he said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery."

The Greek for "reproved" (ἐλέγχω) has two basic meanings: "disgrace" and "refute".

On the one hand, Herod's actions brought disgrace upon his office; on the other, John reasoned with Herod to show him where he was wrong. Herod may well have tried to defend or justify his actions, but he found he could not answer John's assertions.

2 Timothy 4:2

Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.