Lk 9:7-9
7Herod the tetrarch heard about all that [Jesus was doing], and he was greatly perplexed because some were saying, “John has been raised from the dead”; 8others were saying, “Elijah has appeared”; still others, “One of the ancient prophets has arisen.” 9But Herod said, “John I beheaded. Who then is this about whom I hear such things?” And he kept trying to see him.
Herod the Tetrarch: Herod the tetrarch is Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great and Malthace, a Samaritan princess. At his father’s death, Antipas got Galilee and Peraea, while his full-brother Archelaus (Mt 2:22) got Judea, Samaria, and Idumaea. Their half-brother Philip (Lk 3:1) reigned over the northern region of Iturea and Trachonitis. The brothers owed their inheritance to the Roman emperor, for Rome was the world power at this time. Although he is sometimes referred to as “King Herod,” “tetrarch” really means a ruler of a fourth part.
Antipas was sly, ambitious, and luxury-loving. He divorced his first wife, a Nabataean princess, to marry Herodias, his niece and the wife of another half-brother, Herod Philip, a resident of Rome. When John the Baptist took the couple to task for their adulterous union, Herod had him arrested and executed. In 36 AD, war broke out between Antipas and Aretas, the Nabatean king whose daughter Antipas had repudiated. Antipas’ army was destroyed and people interpreted it as God’s punishment for the killing of the Baptist. In 39 AD, Antipas was summoned to Rome to answer charges against him. He ended up banished to Lyons in France, and Herodias joined him there.
In the Gospel, Herod makes the arrogant claim that he has already eliminated John the Baptist. In reality, however, he is “greatly perplexed” when he hears about Jesus whom some people consider as John redivivus. Herod probably thinks that John has returned to haunt him and render him judgment for his crimes. He desires to see Jesus to make sure who he really is and to assuage his fears.