Why does the timeline of John the Baptist being imprisoned differ in John 3.24 differ from the other three Gospels?

Answer 1

According to the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke), John was imprisoned shortly after Jesus was baptised, with Mark 1:14 appearing to say that the imprisonment took place shortly after Jesus spent forty days in the wilderness and before he even began his mission. According to tradition, this would place his imprisonment in 29 CE.

In John 3:24, we are told that John was not yet cast in prison at a time when Jesus had become well enough known to attract the attention of Nicodemus and had already travelled to Jerusalem. John's Gospel does not actually talk of John the Baptist's imprisonment and execution, although verse 10:41 has people speak of him in the past, indicating that this had already happened.

First we should attempt to establish when John the Baptist was really imprisoned and see whether this accords either with the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) or with John.

The gospels agree that John was imprisoned because of his public criticism of Herod Antipas' marriage to his own brother's former wife, Herodias. The first-century Jewish historian, Josephus places the marriage at the same time as, or shortly after, the death of Philip II, who he says died in the twentieth year of the reign of Tiberius (34 CE). John was highly critical of this marriage, causing Antipas to fear that he would cause an insurrection:

"Herod, who feared lest the great influence John had over the people might put it into his power and inclination to raise a rebellion, (for they seemed ready to do any thing he should advise) thought it best, by putting him to death, to prevent any mischief he might cause, and not bring himself into difficulties, by sparing a man who might make him repent of it when it would be too late. Accordingly he was sent a prisoner, out of Herod's suspicious temper, to Macherus, the castle I before mentioned, and was there put to death."

It appears from the testimony of Josephus that John was imprisoned and executed in 35 or 36 CE, with further passages in Josephus' account confirming this date range. On this evidence, not only were the synoptic gospels seriously in error as to when John was imprisoned, so also was John's Gospel. However, the ambiguity in John's Gospel could suggest that the author realised the error in the earler gospels but was unwilling to contradict them directly. He simply suggests that the imprisonment was somewhat later than in the other accounts and uses ambiguity to minimise the error.