THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW - Chapter 14 - Verse 10
Verse 10. And he sent, and beheaded John. For the sake of these
wicked men, the bloody offering, the head of the slaughtered prophet, was
brought and given as the reward to the daughter and mother. What an
offering to a woman! Josephus says of her, that "she was a woman full
of ambition and envy, having a mighty influence on Herod, and able
to persuade him to things he was not at all inclined to."
This is one of the many proofs that we have that the evangelists drew
characters according to truth.