Now about that time, King Herod stretched out his hands to oppress some of the assembly. He killed James, the brother of John, with the sword. When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This was during the days of unleavened bread. When he had arrested him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four squads of four soldiers each to guard him, intending to bring him out to the people after the Passover. Peter therefore was kept in the prison, but constant prayer was made by the assembly to God for him. The same night when Herod was about to bring him out, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains. Guards in front of the door kept the prison.
And behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side, and woke him up, saying, “Stand up quickly!” His chains fell off his hands. The angel said to him, “Get dressed and put on your sandals.” He did so. He said to him, “Put on your cloak and follow me.” And he went out and followed him. He didn’t know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he saw a vision. When they were past the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened to them by itself. They went out, and went down one street, and immediately the angel departed from him.
When Peter had come to himself, he said, “Now I truly know that the Lord has sent out his angel and delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from everything the Jewish people were expecting.” Thinking about that, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was called Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying. When Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer. When she recognized Peter’s voice, she didn’t open the gate for joy, but ran in, and reported that Peter was standing in front of the gate.
They said to her, “You are crazy!” But she insisted that it was so. They said, “It is his angel.” But Peter continued knocking. When they had opened, they saw him, and were amazed. But he, beckoning to them with his hand to be silent, declared to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. He said, “Tell these things to James and to the brothers.” Then he departed and went to another place.
Now as soon as it was day, there was no small stir among the soldiers about what had become of Peter. When Herod had sought for him, and didn’t find him, he examined the guards, then commanded that they should be put to death. He went down from Judea to Caesarea, and stayed there.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 17, 18 1. Here followeth new persecution raised by Herod. We…
1. Here followeth new persecution raised by Herod. We see that the Church had some short truce, that it might, as it were, by a short breathing, recover some courage against the time to come, and that it might then fight afresh. So at this day there is no cause why the faithful, having borne the brunts of one or two conflicts, should promise themselves rest, or should desire such a calling as old overworn soldiers use to have. Let this suffice them if the Lord grant them some time wherein they may recover their strength. This Herod was Agrippa the greater, [elder,] the son of Aristobulus, whom his father slew. Josephus doth no where call him Herod, it may be, because he had a brother who was king of Chalcis, whose name was Herod. This man was incensed to afflict the Church not so much for any love he had to religion, as that by this means he might flatter the common people which did otherwise not greatly favor him; or rather, he was moved hereunto with tyrannical cruelty, because he was afraid of innovation, which tyrants do always fear, lest it trouble the quiet estate of their dominion. Yet it is likely that he did shed innocent blood, that, according to the common craft of kings, he might gratify a furious people; because St. Luke will shortly after declare that Peter the apostle was put into prison that he might be a pleasant spectacle.
He killed James. Undoubtedly the cruelty of this mad man was restrained and bridled by the secret power of God. For assuredly he would never have been content with one or two murders, and so have abstained from persecuting the rest, but he would rather have piled up martyrs upon heaps, unless God had set his hand against him, and defended his flock. So when we see that the enemies of godliness, being full of fury, do not commit horrible slaughters, that they may mix and imbrue all things with blood, let us know that we need not thank their moderation and clemency for this; but because, when the Lord doth spare his sheep, he doth not suffer them to do so much hurt as they would. This Herod was not so courteous, that he would stick to win peace or the people’s favor with the punishment of an hundred men or more.
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Wherefore, we must think with ourselves that he was tied by one that had the rule over him, that he might not more vehemently oppress the Church. He slew James, as, when any sedition is raised, the heads and captains go first to the pot, that the common riff-raft may by their punishment be terrified. Nevertheless, the Lord suffered him whom he had furnished with constancy to be put to death, that by death he might get the victory as a strong and invincible champion. So that the attempts of tyrants notwithstanding, God maketh choice of sweet-smelling sacrifices to establish the faith of his gospel. Luke calleth this games which was slain the brother of John, that he may distinguish him from the son of Alpheus. For whereas some make him a third cousin of Christ’s, who was only some one of the disciples, I do not like of that, because I am by strong reasons persuaded to think that there were no more. Let him that will, repair to the second to the Galatians. Therefore, I think that the apostle and the son of Alpheus were all one, whom the Jews threw down headlong from the top of the temple, whose death was so highly Commended for his singular praise of holiness.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 12, 13, 17, 18 God giveth his Church a truce, but for a…
God giveth his Church a truce, but for a little time.
This name Herod was common to all them that came of the stock of Herod Ascalonites, whose surname was Magnus: but he that is spoken of here, was nephew to Herod the great son to Aristobulus, and father to that Agrippa who is spoken of afterward.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1–19 1 Now about that time Herod the king stretched…
1 Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church.
Ver. 1. Now about that time] That the famine lay sore upon the Church. Afflictions seldom come single. The saints usually fall into various temptations at once, Jas 1:2. Fluctus fluctum trudit. Job’s messengers tread one upon the heels of another.
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Herod the king] Nephew to Herod the Great, brother to Herodias, and father to that Agrippa, Act 25:13.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv1–19 There were several Herods mentioned in Scripture, being all…
There were several Herods mentioned in Scripture, being all of the family of Herod the Great, (by whose name they were called), as Herod that killed the children in Bethlehem, called Hecolonita; another that beheaded St. John, and derided our Saviour, this Herod was surnamed Antipas: the Herod here spoken of was called Agrippa; the son, or, as others think, the nephew, of Aristobulus, and was the father of that Agrippa we read of, Act 25:26, being viceroy, or king, under the Roman emperor. This Herod did not only kill some, but punished others with banishment and blows; and especially the governors of the church, knowing how much all suffer in them.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 11, 18 Observe here, 1. Satan, the grand enemy of the…
Observe here, 1. Satan, the grand enemy of the church of God, never wants instruments for carrying on his persecuting designs against the church; he had many Pharaohs in the Old Testament times, bitter oppressors of the Jewish church; and several Herods under the New Testament; as Herod Antipas, and Herod Agrippa, who were very warm in the worst works, namely, that of persecution. "Herod stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church;" that is, to kill some, and to imprison others.
Satan’s bloodhounds have such an insatiable thirst after the blood of the saints that they can never be satiated with it, nor satisfied without it. A tyrannical persecutor is like an hydropic person, the more he drinks, the more he thirsts.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On vv1, 5 Ever since the conversion of Paul, we have heard…
Ever since the conversion of Paul, we have heard no more of the agency of the priests in persecuting the saints at Jerusalem; perhaps that wonderful change wrought upon him, and the disappointment it gave to their design upon the Christians at Damascus, had somewhat mollified them, and brought them under the check of Gamaliel's advice - to let those men alone, and see what would be the issue; but here the storm arises from another point. The civil power, not now, as usual (for aught that appears) stirred up by the ecclesiastics, acts by itself in the persecution. But Herod, though originally of an Edomite family, yet seems to have been a proselyte to the Jewish religion; for Josephus says he was zealous for the Mosaic rites, a bigot for the ceremonies. He was not only (as Herod Antipas was) tetrarch of Galilee, but had also the government of Judea committed to him by Claudius the emperor, and resided most at Jerusalem, where he was at this time. Three things we are here told he did -
I. He stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church, Act 12:1. His stretching forth his hands to it intimates that his hands had been tied up by the restraints which perhaps his own conscience held him under in this matter; but now he broke through them, and stretched forth his hands deliberately, and of malice prepense. Herod laid hands upon some of the church to afflict them, so some read it; he employed his officers to seize them, and take them into custody, in order to their being prosecuted. See how he advances gradually. 1. He began with some of the members of the church, certain of them that were of less note and figure; played first at small game, but afterwards flew at the apostles themselves. His spite was at the church, and, with regard to those he gave trouble to, it was not upon any other account, but because they belonged to the church, and so belonged to Christ. 2. He began with vexing them only, or afflicting them, imprisoning them, fining them, spoiling their houses and goods, and other ways molesting them; but afterwards he proceeded to greater instances of cruelty. Christ's suffering servants are thus trained up by less troubles for greater, that tribulation may work patience, and patience experience.
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II. He killed James the brother of John with the sword, Act 12:2. We are here to consider, 1. Who the martyr was: it was James the brother of John; so called to distinguish him from the other James the brother of Joses. This was called Jacobus major - James the greater; that, minor - the less. This who was here crowned with martyrdom was one of the first three of Christ's disciples, one of those that were the witnesses of his transfiguration and agony, whereby he was prepared for martyrdom; he was one of those whom Christ called Boanerges - Sons of thunder; and perhaps by his powerful awakening preaching he had provoked Herod, or those about him, as John Baptist did the other Herod, and that was the occasion of his coming into this trouble. He was one of those sons of Zebedee whom Christ told that they should drink of the cup that he was to drink of, and be baptized with the baptism that he was to be baptized with, Mat 20:23. And now those words of Christ were made good in him; but it was in order to his sitting at Christ's right hand; for if we suffer with him, we shall reign with him. He was one of the twelve who were commissioned to disciple all nations; and to take him off now, before he had removed from Jerusalem, was like Cain's killing Abel when the world was to be peopled, and one man was then more than many at another time. To kill an apostle now was killing he knew not how many. But why would God permit it? If the blood of his saints, much more the blood of apostles, is precious in his eyes, and therefore, we may be sure, is not shed but upon a valuable consideration. Perhaps God intended hereby to awaken the rest of the apostles to disperse themselves among the nations, and not to nestle any longer at Jerusalem. Or it was to show that though the apostles were appointed to plant the gospel in the world, yet if they were taken off God could do his work without them, and would do it. The apostle died a martyr, to show the rest of them what they must expect, that they might prepare accordingly. The tradition that they have in the Romish church, that this James had been before this in Spain, and had planted the gospel there, is altogether groundless; nor is there any certainty of it, or good authority for it. 2. What kind of death he suffered: He was slain with the sword, that is, his head was cut off with a sword, which was looked upon by the Romans to be a more disgraceful way of being beheaded than with an axe; so Lorinus. Beheading was not ordinarily used among the Jews; but, when kings gave verbal orders for private and sudden executions, this manner of death was used, as most expeditious; and it is probable that this Herod killed James, as the other Herod killed John Baptist, privately in the prison. It is strange that we have not a more full and particular account of the martyrdom of this great apostle, as we had of Stephen. But even this short mention of the thing is sufficient to let us know that the first preachers of the gospel were so well assured of the truth of it that they sealed it with their blood, and thereby have encouraged us, if at any time we are called to it, to resist unto blood too. The Old Testament martyrs were slain with the sword (Heb 11:37), and Christ came not to send peace, but a sword (Mat 10:34), in preparation for which we must arm ourselves with the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, and then we need not fear what the sword of men can do unto us.
III. He imprisoned Peter, of whom he had heard most, as making the greatest figure among the apostles and whom therefore he would be proud of the honour of taking off. Observe here, 1. When he had beheaded James, he proceeded further, he added, to take Peter also. Note, Blood to the blood-thirsty does but make them more so, and the way of persecution, as of other sins, is downhill; when men are in it, they cannot easily stop themselves; when they are in they find they must on. Male facta male factis tegere ne perpluant - One evil deed is covered with another, so that there is no passage through them. Those that take one bold step in a sinful way give Satan advantage against them to tempt them to take another, and provoke God to leave them to themselves, to go from bad to worse. It is therefore our wisdom to take heed of the beginnings of sin. 2. He did this because he saw it pleased the Jews. Observe, The Jews made themselves guilty of the blood of James by showing themselves well pleased with it afterwards, though they had not excited Herod to it. There are accessaries ex post facto - after the fact; and those will be reckoned with as persecutors who take pleasure in others' persecuting, who delight to see good men ill used, and cry, Aha, so would we have it, or at least secretly approve of it. For bloody persecutors, when they perceive themselves applauded for that which every one ought to cry shame upon them for, are encouraged to go on, and have their hands strengthened and their hearts hardened, and the checks of their own consciences smothered; nay, it is as strong a temptation to them to do the like as it was here to Herod, because he saw it pleased the Jews. Though he had no reason to fear displeasing them if he did not, as Pilate condemned Christ, yet he hoped to please them by doing it, and so to make an interest among them, and make amends for displeasing them in something else. Note, Those make themselves an easy prey to Satan who make it their business to please men. 3. Notice is taken of the time when Herod laid hold on Peter: Then were the days of unleavened bread. It was at the feast of the passover, when their celebrating the memorial of their typical deliverance should have led them to the acceptance of their spiritual deliverance; instead of this, they, under pretence of zeal for the law, were most violently fighting against it, and, in the days of unleavened bread, were most soured and embittered with the old leaven of malice and wickedness. At the passover, when the Jews came from all parts to Jerusalem to keep the feast, they irritated one another against the Christians and Christianity, and were then more violent than at other times. 4. Here is an account of Peter's imprisonment (Act 12:4): When he had laid hands on him, and, it is likely, examined him, he put him in prison, into the inner prison; some say, into the same prison into which he and the other apostles were cast some years before, and were rescued out of it by an angel, Act 5:18. He was delivered to four quaternions of soldiers, that is, to sixteen, who were to be a guard upon him, four at a time, that he should not make his escape, nor be rescued by his friends. Thus they thought they had him fast. 5. Herod's design was, after Easter, to bring him forth unto the people. (1.) He would make a spectacle of him. Probably he had put James to death privately, which the people had complained of, not because it was an unjust thing to put a man to death without giving him a public hearing, but because it deprived them of the satisfaction of seeing him executed; and therefore Herod, now he knows their minds, will gratify them with the sight of Peter in bonds, of Peter upon the block, that they may feed their eyes with such a pleasing spectacle. And very ambitious surely he was to please the people who was willing thus to please them! (2.) He would do this after Easter, meta to pascha - after the passover, certainly so it ought to be read, for it is the same word that is always so rendered; and to insinuate the introducing of a gospel-feast, instead of the passover, when we have nothing in the New Testament of such a thing, is to mingle Judaism with our Christianity. Herod would not condemn him till the passover was over, some think, for fear lest he should have such an interest among the people that they should demand the release of him, according to the custom of the feast: or, after the hurry of the feast was over, and the town was empty, he would entertain them with Peter's public trial and execution. Thus was the plot laid, and both Herod and the people long to have the feast over, that they may gratify themselves with this barbarous entertainment.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv2–19 And he killed James the brother of John with…
And he killed James the brother of John with the sword. This was James, the son of Zebedee, whom our Lord told, that he should be baptized with the baptism he was baptized with, Mat 20:22 meaning the baptism of martyrdom; and he was the first martyr among the apostles: the death he was put to was one of the four capital punishments among the Jews, and was reckoned by them the most disgraceful of them all, and was inflicted upon deceivers of the people; and such an one James was thought to be (e).
(e) Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 7. sect. 1, 3. & 11. 4.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 19 About that time - So wisely did God mix…
About that time - So wisely did God mix rest and persecution in due time and measure succeeding each other. Herod - Agrippa; the latter was his Roman, the former his Syrian name. He was the grandson of Herod the Great, nephew to Herod Antipas, who beheaded John the Baptist; brother to Herodias, and father to that Agrippa before whom St. Paul afterward made his defense. Caligula made him king of the tetrarchy of his uncle Philip, to which he afterward added the territories of Antipas. Claudius made him also king of Judea, and added thereto the dominions of Lysanias.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 17, 19 Herod persecutes the Christians, 1.
CHAPTER XII.
Herod persecutes the Christians, 1.
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Kills James, 2.
And casts Peter into prison, 3, 4.
The Church makes incessant prayer for his deliverance, 5.
An angel of God opens the prison doors and leads him out, 6-10.
Peter rejoices, and comes to the house of Mary, where many were
praying, and declares how he was delivered, 11-17.
The soldiers who kept the prison are examined by Herod, and he
commands them to be put to death, 18, 19.
Herod is enraged against the people of Tyre, but is appeased by
their submission, 20.
He makes an oration to the people, receives idolatrous praises,
and an angel of the Lord unites him, and he dies a miserable
death, 21-23.
The word of God increases, 24.
Barnabas and Saul, having fulfilled their ministry, return from
Jerusalem accompanied by John Mark, 25.
NOTES ON CHAP. XII.
Verse 1. Herod the king] This was Herod Agrippa, the son of Aristobulus, and grandson of Herod the Great; he was nephew to Herod Antipas, who beheaded John they Baptist, and brother to Herodias. He was made king by the Emperor Caligula, and was put in possession of all the territories formerly held by his uncle Philip and by Lysanias; viz. Iturea, Trachonitis, Abilene, with Gaulonitis, Batanaea, and Penias. To these the Emperor Claudius afterwards added Judea and Samaria; which were nearly all the dominions possessed by his grandfather, Herod the Great. See Lu 3:1; see also an account of the Herod family, see in Clarke's note on "Mt 2:1".
To vex certain of the Church.] That is, to destroy its chief ornaments and supports.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 5, 7, 11, 16, 18 Act 12:1-2. Now about that time — When Saul…
Act 12:1-2. Now about that time — When Saul and Barnabas were preparing to set out to Jerusalem, to carry thither what had been collected by the Christians at Antioch; Herod stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church — So wisely did God mix rest and persecution, in due time and measure succeeding each other. This was Herod Agrippa, as the Syriac version expressly names him, the former being his Syrian, and the latter his Roman name. He was the grandson of Herod the Great, nephew to Herod Antipas, who beheaded John the Baptist, brother to Herodias, and father to that Agrippa before whom St. Paul afterward made his defence. Caligula made him king of the tetrarchy of his uncle Philip, to which he afterward added the territories of Antipas. Claudius made him also king of Judea, and added thereto the dominions of Lysanias. And he killed James the brother of John — Thus was the prediction of our Lord fulfilled, that James should drink of his cup, (Mat 20:23,) and thus one of the brothers went to God the first, the other the last of the apostles. It is a just observation of a judicious writer, that “this early execution of one of the apostles, after our Lord’s death, would illustrate the courage of the rest in still going on with their ministry, as it would evidently show, that even all their miraculous powers did not secure them from dying by the sword of their enemies.”
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv1–19 Now about that time - That is, during the…
Now about that time - That is, during the time that the famine existed, or the time when Barnabas and Saul went up to Jerusalem. This was probably about the fifth or sixth year of the reign of Claudius, not far from 47 ad.
Herod the king - This was Herod Agrippa. The Syriac so renders it expressly, and the chronology requires us so to understand it. He was a grandson of Herod the Great, and one of the sons of Aristobulus, whom Herod put to death (Josephus, Antiq., 18, 5). Herod the Great left three sons, between whom his kingdom was divided - Archelaus, Philip, and Antipas. See the notes on Mat 2:19. To Philip was left Iturea and Trachonitis. See Luk 3:1. To Antipas, Galilee and Perea; and to Archclaus, Judea, Idumea, and Samaria. Archclaus, being accused of cruelty, was banished by Augustus to Vienna in Gaul, and Judea was reduced to a province, and united with Syria. When Philip died, this region was granted by the Emperor Caligula to Herod Agrippa. Herod Antipas was driven as an exile also into Gaul, and then into Spain, and Herod Agrippa received also his tetrarchy. In the reign of Claudius also, the dominions of Herod Agrippa were still further enlarged. When Caligula was slain, he was at Rome, and having ingratiated himself into the favor of Claudius, he conferred on him also Judea and Samaria, so that his dominions were equal in extent to those of his grandfather, Herod the Great. See Josephus, Antiq., book 19, chapter 5, section 1.
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Stretched forth his hands - A figurative expression, denoting that “he laid his hands on them, or that he endeavored violently to oppress the church.”
To vex - To injure, to do evil to - κακῶσαί kakōsai.
Certain - Some of the church. Who they were the writer immediately specifies.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 11, 12, 15, 17, 19 Herod. Agrippa, made king by the emperor Caius. See…
Herod. Agrippa, made king by the emperor Caius. See Josephus vi. 18. Jewish Antiquities, chap. viii. and lib. xix. chap. 5. put to death James the great, brother to John. (Witham) --- This man was the same as Agrippa, by which name he is most commonly known. He was brother to the famous Herodias, who was the cause of St. John the Baptists decollation, (Calmet) and son-in-law of Herod the Great, by his father Aristobulus. (Bible de Vence)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
John Nelson Darby 1862 · Public Domain On v1 Acts Chapter 12
Acts Chapter 12
Herod, to please the Jews, begins to persecute the assembly in that city. We may remark here, that the company of believers at Antioch are also called the assembly (church), which is the case nowhere else as yet. All were accounted as forming a part integrally of the work at Jerusalem, (18-) even as all Jews were in connection with that centre of their religious system, however numerous their synagogues or great the influence of their rabbis. Every Jew, as such, sprang from Jerusalem. Barnabas and Saul assemble with the church or assembly at Antioch. A local assembly, conscious of its existence-distinct from, while connected with, Jerusalem-has been formed; and assemblies without a metropolis begin to appear.
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To return to Jerusalem. Herod, an impious king, and in certain respects a type of the adversary-king at the end, begins to persecute the faithful remnant at Jerusalem. It is not only the Jews who are opposed to them. The king-whom, as Jews, they detested-unites himself to them by his hatred to the heavenly testimony, thinking to win their favour by this means. He kills James, and proceeds to take Peter and put him in prison. But God preserves His servant, and delivers him by His angel in answer to the prayers of the saints. He allows some to be slain (happy witnesses to their heavenly portion in Christ), and preserves others to carry on the testimony on earth, in spite of all the power, apparently irresistible, of the enemy-a power which the Lord baffles by the manifestation of that which belongs to Him and to Him alone, and which He employs when He will and how He will. The poor saints, although praying fervently (they had prayer-meetings in those days), can hardly believe, when Peter comes to the door, that God had really granted their prayer. The desire presents itself sincerely to God; faith can scarcely reckon upon Him.
Herod, confounded by the power of Him whom he resisted, condemns the instruments of his hatred to death, and goes away to the Gentile seat of his authority. There displaying his glory, and accepting the adulatory homage of the people, as thoughhe were a god, God Himself smites him, and shews that He is the governor of this world, however great the pride of man. But the word of God extends through His grace; and Barnabas and Saul, having fulfilled their ministry, return to Antioch, taking with them John whose surname was Mark.
John Nelson Darby — Synopsis of the Books of the Bible: the New Testament (c. 1857–1862) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v1 Acts 12
SECTION V
THE PERSHE EXTENSION OF THE CHECUTION OF THE CHURCH IN JERUSALEM BY HEROD, AND THE EXECUTION OF JAMES; PETER IS MIRACULOUSLY DELIVERED FROM PRISON, AND WITHDRAWS FROM JERUSALEM; THE PERSECUTION IS TERMINATED BY A JUDGMENT OF GOD, WHICH OVERTAKES THE PERSECUTOR
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Acts 12
1Now [But] about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands1 to vex [maltreat] certain [some] of the church. 2And he killed [caused] James the brother of John [to be executed] with the sword. 3And because he saw [seeing that] it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take [seize] Peter also. (Then were the2 days of unleavened bread). 4And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of [to four times four] soldiers to keep [guard] him; intending after Easter [the Passover] to bring him forth to the people. 5Peter therefore was [Now Peter was indeed] kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing3 of the church unto God [but continued prayer was made to God by the church] for4 him. 6And [But] when Herod would have brought [was about to bring] him forth, the same [in that] night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keepers before the door kept [guarded] the prison. 7And, behold, the [an] angel of the Lord came upon [to] him, and a [om. the article] light shined in the prison [chamber]: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up [awakened him], saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands. 8And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself5 and bind on thy sandals: and so [thus] he did. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment [cloak] about thee, and follow me. 9And he went out, and followed him6 ; and wist [knew] not that it was true which was done by the angel; but thought he saw a vision. 10When they were past [But after they had passed through] the first and second ward [guard], they came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto [into] the city; which opened to them of his [its] own accord: and they went out, and passed on through one [along a] street; and forth-with [suddenly] the angel departed from him. 11And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety [truly], that the Lord hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews. 12And when he had considered the thing [had become aware of this], he came to the house of Mary the mother of John, whose surname was Mark; where many were gathered together praying. 13And as Peter [But when he]7 knocked at the door of the gate, a damsel [maid-servant] came to hearken [listen]8 , named Rhoda [Rhode]. 14And when she knew [recognized] Peter’s voice, she opened not the gate for gladness [joy], but ran in, and told how [announced that] Peter stood before the gate. 15And they said unto her, Thou art mad [Thou ravest]. But she constantly [confidently] affirmed that it was even so [was so]. Then said they, It is his angel. 16But Peter continued knocking [remained standing, and knocked continually]: and when they had opened the door, and saw him, they [they saw him, and] were astonished. 17But he, beckoning unto them with the hand to hold their peace [to be silent], declared [related] unto them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, Go shew [Announce] these things unto James, and to the brethren. And he departed, and went into [And going out of the city, he departed unto] another place. 18Now [But] as soon as it was day, there was no small stir [commotion] among the soldiers, what was [had] become of Peter. 19And [But] when Herod had sought for him, and found him not, he examined the keepers [subjected the keepers to a trial], and commanded that they should be put to death [executed]. And he went down from Judea to Cesarea, and there abode [tarried]. 20And Herod [He]9 was highly displeased with [exceedingly hostile towards]10 them of Tyre and Sidon [the Tyrians and Sidonians]: but they came with one accord to him, and, having made Blastus the king’s chamberlain11 their friend [having gained over B. etc.], desired [sued for] peace; because their country was nourished [supplied with provisions] by the king’s country. 21And [But] upon a set [on an appointed] day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel [having put on a royal garment], sat upon his throne [seated himself on the tribunal], and made an oration [address] unto them. 22And [But] the people gave a shout [cried out to him], saying [om. saying], It is the voice of a god [of God], and not of a man.12 23And [But] immediately the [an] angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the13 glory: and he was eaten of [by] worms, and gave up the ghost [worms, and in consequence thereof died]. 23 But the word of God grew and multiplied. 24And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem, when they had fulfilled their ministry14 , and15 took with them [also taking with them] John, whose surname was Mark.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Act_12:1. a. About that time, that is, when Barnabas and Saul were sent from Antioch to Jerusalem; it is, at least, evident from Act_12:25, that Luke assigns their return to Antioch to a later period than that of the execution of James, and the arrest and miraculous deliverance of Peter.
b. Herod the king; he is Herod Agrippa I., the son of Aristobulus and Berenice, the grandson of Herod the Great, and the nephew of Herod Antipas. He was born about ten years before the Christian era, and was educated at Rome. After many adventures, some of which were by no means of an honorable character, he received as a gift from Caius Caligula, soon after the accession of the latter to the throne, the tetrarchy of Philip (Batanea, Trachonitis and Auranitis), which had been vacant for several years, and also the tetrarchy of Lysanias, together with the title of king. Soon afterwards he obtained also the tetrarchy of Herod Antipas (Galilee and Peræa), when the latter was banished by Caligula to Gaul. And, lastly, the emperor Claudius, soon after the commencement of his reign (A. D. 41), gave him, in addition, Samaria and Judea, so that, like his grandfather at an earlier period, he ruled over all Palestine; his annual revenues amounted, according to Josephus (Antiq. xix. 8. 2) to twelve millions of drachmæ. Comp. Ewald’s Gesch. d. Apost. Zeitalt., 1858, p. 288 ff; p. 313 ff. [History of the Apostolical Age].
c. After Judea had been granted to this prince, he usually resided in Jerusalem. The Christian congregation of that city was now exposed to his persecutions. He laid on hands with violence, or, in a hostile manner (ἐπέβαλε τὰς χεῖρας, not ἐπεχείρησε, (Kuinoel) [who so understands the original phrase, i.e., in the sense of cœpit, conatus est]), so that he maltreated some of the members. Thus several of them were at first compelled to endure severe punishments, probably corporeal chastisements. He afterwards caused one of the apostles, James the elder, the brother of John, to be executed with the sword. [This James, the son of Zebedee, was probably older than the other apostle who bore the same name, James, the son of Alpheus, who is called “the less,” that is, the younger, in Mar_15:40; μικροῦ; the comparative, in very nearly the same manner, is employed in Rom_9:12.—Tr.] It appears that when he perceived how well this course pleased the Jews, he continued to pursue it, and now arrested Peter. This circumstance occurred during the Passover week, when, according to the Mosaic law, unleavened bread was eaten Hence the execution of James the elder probably occurred a short time before the passover week of the year 44, since Agrippa soon afterwards died (Act_12:19 ff.). Without doubt, however, the procedure adopted in the case of Peter, as well as the punishment of certain members of the church, and the execution of James, originated in the consideration which was paid to the sentiments of the people and their most influential leaders. The increased imperial favor which Agrippa enjoyed, and the additions which were made to his power and his honors, had imparted new strength to the national feelings of the Jews, and new confidence to their hierarchical chiefs. And although Agrippa was a patron of heathen games, musical festivals, and gladiatorial contests, he, nevertheless, observed externally at least, the Mosaic institutions, and personally represented, as well as vigorously protected the Israelitic religion in its external relations. It may, hence, readily be conceived that a new impulse was given to the fanatical sensitiveness and the intolerant arrogance with which Israel treated the Christians, who were gradually recovering from the earlier persecutions. (Comp. Ewald, loc cit. p. 316 ff.). Agrippa yielded the more readily to this spirit of the times, in proportion as he perceived that he could secure the popular favor by adopting violent measures against the Christians, and promote his personal interests at their expense. He had, indeed, at a much earlier period, acquired the art, principally in Rome, of directing his course successfully amid the conflicts of hostile parties of every description, and of availing himself of events in such a manner, as to advance his own selfish interests.
Act_12:2. And he killed James, etc.—It is, under all circumstances, somewhat surprising that Luke mentions the execution of James so very briefly, employing only two words: ἀνεῖλε—μαχαίρα. He had furnished all the details of the martyrdom of Stephen, who was, nevertheless, only one of Seven. But when one of the Twelve, for the first time, meets with a bloody death, (and he, too, is the only apostle whose death is mentioned in the Acts,) the account is, nevertheless, given with such laconic brevity! Tradition supplies the circumstance which is here apparently wanting: viz., the accuser of James was converted while listening to the defence of the latter, and was then beheaded with him (Clemens Alex., quoted by Eusebius, Eccl. Hist. II. 9.). But how is this singular brevity to be explained? Was it intentionally chosen, or unconsciously adopted? Attempts have been made to assign a particular motive to Luke; he had, for instance, in order to adhere to his plan of giving a history of the development of the church, omitted all notices of the death of an apostle (Lekebusch). But it would have been quite consistent with such a plan to have added a few words to those which he does employ. Baumgarten supposes that Luke’s account corresponds precisely to the reality, since James suffered that bloody death in total silence (I. 282 ff.). But he himself (p. 284) describes the whole event with considerable fulness, and, if his description is correct, Luke would have approached still nearer to the reality, if he had also related the details. Meyer conjectures that certain considerations, not known to us, may have influenced Luke; he may, for instance, have intended to compose a third historical work, in addition to the Gospel and the Acts. But nothing that is positive can be ascertained on this point, and it is our most candid course to say at once that the reason does not appear.
Act_12:3-4. And because he saw, etc.—After James had been slain, and Agrippa had observed how acceptable his course was in the eyes of the people, he at once caused Peter also to be apprehended. (Προςέθετο συλλαβεῖν is obviously a Hebraizing mode of expression [fully illustrated in Winer’s Gram. N. T. § 54. 5; and see Schleusner’s Thes. etc. Vet. Test. ad v. προςτίθημι, and Robinson’s Hebr. Lex. ad v. יָםַף, No. 3.—Tr.]; it suggests the existence of an original Hebrew account of these transactions.). Agrippa apprehended or held Peter fast (πιέζω, stricta manu tenere), and put him in prison, delivering him to four quaternions of soldiers, that is, to four companies, (each company consisting of four men), which regularly relieved one another, according to the Roman usage [the night being divided into four watches, each continuing three hours.—Tr.]. The Jewish rule: Non judicant die festo, did not allow Peter’s trial to take place, until after the expiration of the passover-week, which had already commenced, Act_12:3. Agrippa, who was exceedingly fond of theatrical shows, intended to convert that trial into an exhibition for the amusement of the people. (ʼΑναγεῖν is applied to the act of conducting any one before the public on an elevated stage.)
Act_12:5. Peter therefore was [Now Peter was indeed], etc. This verse very graphically describes the contrast presented, on the one hand, by the unremitted watchfulness of Peter’s guards, and, on the other, by the unceasing intercessions offered to God by the church in his behalf; it is introduced with eminent propriety between the account of his apprehension and that of his deliverance. Luke evidently intends to convey the thought that the rescue of the apostle from imprisonment and the danger of death, was the result of the prayers which were heard and accepted.
Act_12:6-11. a. And when Herod.—The time was the night which preceded the day on which Peter was to be exhibited to the people. He slept between two soldiers, to each of whom he was attached with a chain, although the Romans usually chained a prisoner only to one sentinel (Jos. Antiq. xviii. 6. 7.). [Meyer supposes that the additional precaution was adopted, as it had already been decided that Peter should be executed.—Tr.]. Two sentinels, accordingly, occupied the interior of the cell, and the prisoner was tied to them; the others stood before the door, and thus the four men composing the company were all on guard at the same time. Then an (not the) angel of the Lord suddenly stood at the side of the sleeper, and celestial light shone in the place (οἴκημα means the chamber or cell of the prison occupied by Peter, and not, as Meyer supposes, the entire prison.). [“Οἵκημα in the special sense of the place in which prisoners are kept, i. e. prison, a delicate designation of the δεσμωτήριον, frequently employed, especially in Attic Greek; Dem. 789, 2; 890, 13; 1284, 2; Thuc. 4. 47. etc.” (Meyer).—Tr.]. The angel awakens the sleeper by smiting him on the side, and the chains at once fall from the hands of the latter. The angel now commands him to resume, first of all, the articles of clothing which he had laid aside in order to sleep more comfortably—the girdle, sandals, and upper garment, and then directs him to follow. Thus Peter, walking behind the angel, first passes beyond the door of his prison-cell, without as yet being conscious that all that occurred was real, since it appeared to be a vision seen in a dream, Act_12:9. Both passed through the first and second guard; and here the term διελθεῖν suggests that each station was occupied not merely by one man, but by several, so that it was possible to pass through or between them. [Hackett is also disposed to adopt this view, and Robinson, too, (Lex. N. T.) understands φυλκή to mean here, collectively, the persons, the guards, not a watch-post, or station. But this explanation would imply that at least one or two other quaternions were also on duty during the same watch. Meyer says: “Two soldiers of the τετράδιον which kept guard, were in the interior of the prison, chained to Peter, and two were stationed on the outside as guards (φύλακεζ), at a certain distance from each other, forming the πρώτην φυλακὴν κὰι δευτέραν of Act_12:10.” Alexander takes φυλακή in the sense of “ward, or subdivision of the prison, which,” he adds, “is much more natural than to understand it of a first or second guard or watch.”—Tr.]. They reached, at length, the iron gate, which conducted them from the precincts of the building into the city; after it had opened spontaneously to them (consequently, without being either unlocked or broken), they entered an open place, and continued to walk together along one street; but then the angel suddenly disappeared from the side of the apostle. Επέστη in Act_12:7, and άπέστη in Act_12:10, are parallel terms; the verbs express the suddenness of the appearance and disappearance of the angel.
b. And forthwith [suddenly] the angel departed from him.—Hitherto it had seemed to Peter as if he were dreaming, Act_12:9. But now, when he stood alone in the midst of the city, his consciousness first returned fully and distinctly (γενόμενος ἐν ἑαυτῷ, Act_12:11), and he said: ‘Now I perceive in truth—and I am sure that I do not deceive myself—that the Lord has sent his angel, and delivered me from the power of Herod and the eager expectation of the Jews, which shall now not be fulfilled.’ Hence Peter, as soon as he had fully recovered his consciousness, gladly and gratefully recognized alike the author and the design of his recent experience. It is the Lord, my God—said he—who has sent his angel to me, and He has delivered me from the power of Herod who sought my death, and from the expectation of the Jews.—The manner in which Peter views the whole occurrence, and which Luke, throughout the entire narrative, represents as alone correct, is precisely the opposite of that adopted by those interpreters, who explain the whole as a natural process. It has been, for instance, alleged that Peter had been freed from his chains by a flash of lightning (Hezel), or that the jailer himself, or others, at whose proceedings he connived, had liberated Peter, who did not himself understand the manner in which his escape was effected (Heinrichs). The event is indeed most graphically described, and exhibits no features that can embarrass any one who believes in the interposition of the living God in the real world, and who admits the actual existence and the operations of the angels. Hence, no sufficient reason is apparent which could induce those who admit the miraculous character of the historical facts, nevertheless to assert that legendary matter has been commingled with the pure historical elements. (Meyer). For Act_12:9, οὐκ ᾕδει - - ὁ̓ραμα βλέπειν, is psychologically so true, that it furnishes no opportunity for transferring the whole appearance of the angel exclusively to the inner world of Peter, and converting it into a mere process of his soul.
Act_12:12-16. And when he had considered [had become aware of this.]. (Συνιδών, from συνοοͅᾷν is not equivalent to συνειδώς, as Kuinoel appears to take it; the usus loquendi would rather authorize the interpretation: considerare, thus: re apud se considerata, scil. quid agendum esset.). Peter reached the house of a member of the church, a certain Mary, the mother of John, who was surnamed Mark; the latter went with Barnabas and Saul from Jerusalem to Antioch, Act_12:25, and, according to tradition wrote the second Gospel. [“His mother Mary was perhaps the sister of Barnabas: see. Col_4:10.” (Alf.).—Tr.]. Many Christians were at the time assembled in that house, offering prayer to God, and the congregation had, indeed, according to Act_12:5, been continually engaged in prayer in behalf of Peter, since his arrest. When Peter knocked at the door of the gate [“or rather of the porch, the front or street-door.” (Alex.); see Exeg. note on Act_10:19-21.—Tr.], a maid-servant, Rhode, came forward from the interior, in order to listen (ὑπακοῦσαι, i.e., to ask for the name of the person who knocked). When Peter mentioned his name, and she also recognized him by his voice, she forgot, in her extreme joy, to do the most obvious act, namely, to open the door, and hastily ran to the inner apartment in which the Christians were assembled, in order to bring the intelligence that Peter was standing before the door. It is a touching instance of the genuine fraternal equality existing between masters and servants in the primitive church, that this servant, who was doubtless also a Christian, was filled with such delight when Peter, whom she had believed to be a prisoner, appeared, that she omitted the simple act of opening the door, in her eagerness to make all the others partakers of her joy. It is easy to conceive that the assembled Christians began to fear that she had lost her senses, when she affirmed that Peter was standing before the house. But the meaning of their language is less clear, when they said: ὁ ἅγγελος αὐτοῦ ἑστίν, on receiving the repeated assurances of the girl that the fact was as she had stated. It is not credible that they should have supposed the person to be a messenger [ἄγγελος, e. g., Mat_11:10] sent by Peter; for how could they assume that he had sent a messenger from the prison, whose voice, moreover, had a deceptive resemblance to that of the apostle? And another conjecture has been offered, which is also entirely unsupported, viz.: the Christians surmised that an angel had intended to announce by the voice and by knocking, that Peter’s death was now at hand, or, in other words, that it was a so-called presentiment, On the contrary, the most probable supposition is the following: the Christians believed that Peter’s guardian angel had assumed his voice, and was standing before the door. But when Peter continued to stand there, and to knock, all the brethren approached, and opened the door, in order to ascertain the nature of the fact; and when they really saw him, they were filled with astonishment. [Alexander remarks: “Their wonder has been sometimes represented as a proof of weak faith, since they could not believe the very thing for which they had been praying. But their prayers may not have been exclusively for Peter’s liberation; or they may, to use a natural and common phrase, have thought the tidings too good to be true.”—Tr.]
Act_12:17. But he, beckoning unto them with the hand, to hold their peace [to be silent].—(Κατασείσας τῇ χειρὶ, i.e., moving the hand downward.) He was apprehensive that the brethren might express their astonishment so loudly, as to expose him to danger. [The expression, κατασ τ χ., here means that the speaker designs to utter remarks to which he desires those who are present to listen in silence and with attention; comp. Act_13:16; Act_19:33; Act_21:40. (Meyer).—Tr.]. He at once stated the direct mode in which God had effected his deliverance, requested his hearers to communicate the fact to James and the other brethren, then left the city on the same night without delay, and withdrew to another place. Whither did he proceed? Every attempt to ascertain, has been made in vain. The Romish theologians naturally suppose that Rome is meant; but Luke himself does not appear to have known the details. Meyer even thinks that it is an error to suppose that this ἕτερος τόπος lay beyond the limits of Jerusalem, since, according to the context, ἐξελθών cannot mean relicta urbe, but relicta domo. However, we do not learn from the context that Peter had actually entered the house; the terms of the narrative allow the interpretation that, when the door was opened, Peter at once, and in brief terms, related the facts, and gave the directions respecting James, without entering the interior of the house. But even if he did actually enter it, the whole narrative conveys the impression that he immediately retired from the city. For he could easily understand that God had not led him forth from the prison solely for the purpose that he should remain in the city, in which his life was threatened; comp. Act_12:19; and it was, unquestionably, more dignified that he should repair to another place, if he was at liberty, than to hide himself in any secret spot in the city. The James mentioned in Act_12:17, is, as we are convinced, not the apostle, the son of Alpheus [the other James, the son of Zebedee, (Mat_10:2-3), having already been slain, Act_12:2, above.—Tr.], but [a third James], the Lord’s brother [Gal_1:19; Gal_2:9, who presided over the church in Jerusalem, Act_15:13; Act_21:18. (de Wette).—Tr.]
Act_12:18-19. Now as soon as it was day.—It may easily be imagined that the soldiers who had been commanded to guard the prisoner, and who were responsible for his safe-keeping, were greatly embarrassed when it was day, as they knew not what had become of Peter. And when the diligent search which was instituted, led to no results (ἀπιζητεῖν, when used in reference to the chase, designates the act of tracking), Herod subjected the guards to a trial before a military court (ἀνακρίνας), and directed that they should be executed (ἀπάγειν is the judicial term applied to the act of conducting a criminal to the place of execution). After these transactions he did not feel disposed to remain in the city; he was ashamed that he could not fulfil the eager expectations of the Jews in reference to Peter, and immediately withdrew from Judea, taking up his residence in Cesarea (Palestinæ) [the city mentioned in Act_8:40; Act_9:30, above.—Tr.].
Act_12:20-23. a. And Herod was highly displeased [exceedingly hostile].—Luke describes in these verses the circumstances attending the death of Herod Agrippa, which soon afterward occurred; he evidently regards it as a judgment of God occasioned by sins which the king had committed against Christ and His apostles. He describes the first attack of illness of Herod as having occurred at a public and solemn audience which the latter had granted to the ambassadors of the Phenicians. It appears that Herod was θυμομαχῶν with the people of Tyre and Sidon. This word is found only in the later Greek writers (Polybius, Plutarch, Diodorus Siculus), and seems to have always been employed in the sense of actual, and, indeed, imbittered warfare, or literal fighting (Steph. Thes.). But as it is improbable in itself that Agrippa should have actually commenced hostilities with these Phenician cities, which, like himself, were in alliance with Rome, and as no trace of such a war is found in history, the word is probably here used in a modified sense. Herod was imbittered against the Tyrians and Sidonians (θυμο—), and warred against them (—μαςῶν) as far as the circumstances allowed, possibly, by not allowing them to enter his territory, as the facts that are subsequently stated, seem to indicate. The people of the two cities now appear, by their representatives, in the presence of Herod with one accord [ὁμοθυμαδὸν may possibly imply that they had previously been at variance among themselves, (Alex.).—Tr.], and sue for peace [“i.e., sought to avert a rupture of it.” (Hackett).—Tr.]. They were influenced by the circumstance that their territory derived its supplies of food (τρέφεσθαι) from that of Agrippa, that is, the Phenicians imported grain from Palestine, and, besides, the exportation of their products to that country was a source of profit to them. [These commercial relations existed at a very early period; comp. 1Ki_5:9; 1Ki_5:11; Ezr_3:7; Eze_26:17.—Tr.]. In order to attain their object the more certainly, they endeavored to gain over an officer of high rank at the court of Agrippa, named Blastus. (The term ὁ ἐπὶ τοῦ κοιτῶνος is, probably, not to be taken in the original sense of præfectus cubiculi, but rather in that of treasurer, or, minister of the royal finances, since the treasure belonging to the court and the state was usually deposited for the sake of security in the king’s private cabinet.). Herod granted the ambassadors an audience on a day which had previously been appointed, and appeared in state, arrayed in a royal garment, and sitting on the tribunal. (The βῆμα was not a throne, but the suggestus or tribune, which the judge or orator occupied at public meetings). Here he delivered an address to the people (ἐδημηγόρει). The latter applauded him aloud, and exclaimed with heathenish flattery that they heard the voice of God, and not a human voice. And immediately an angel smote him, as a punishment for receiving this idolatrous honor in silence, and not giving to God, to whom alone it belonged, the honor which the people were willing to pay to him. The stroke which the king so unexpectedly received, is described not only as a divine punishment, but also as one inflicted by an invisible messenger of God, an angel of the Lord. In consequence of this sudden attack of sickness, Agrippa was consumed by worms, and thus he died. Does Luke intend to say that his death occurred on the spot? The terms employed in Act_12:23, could not possibly be understood in any other sense, if the three words: καὶ γενόμενος σκωληκόβρωτος, had not been introduced. But these words certainly imply that there was an interval between ἐπάταξεν and ἐξέψυξεν, during which the worms in the entrails performed their horrible work.
b. Let us compare with this report of Luke (Act_12:20-23), the narrative which Josephus furnishes of the death of Herod Agrippa (Antiq. xix. 8. 2). According to the latter authority, this king came to Cesarea, and there instituted shows in honor of Cæsar (Claudius), which were witnessed by large numbers of his officers and other men of high rank. On the second day of these shows, he arrayed himself in a magnificent robe, wrought entirely of silver, and of a wonderful texture, and at the break of day proceeded to the theatre. When the first rays of the sun fell on the silver, the latter reflected a dazzling light; his flatterers in every direction exclaimed in language which deified him [ἀνεβόων θεόν προςαγορεύοντες]: “Be thou propitious to us! If we have hitherto feared thee as a man, we shall henceforth own thee as superior to the nature of mortals.” The king did not by a single word decline to receive this impious flattery. Soon afterwards, on looking up, he saw an owl sitting on a rope that was extended over his head, and recognized in it a messenger of evil, in accordance with a prediction which he had received at an earlier period. He was at once seized with unutterable anguish, and was racked by violent pains in his bowels. He forthwith said to his friends that his death was now inevitable, although they had, a moment before, declared that he was immortal [ὁ θεὸς ὑμῖν ἐγω, φησὶν, ἤδη καταστρέφειν ἐπιτάττομαι τὸν βίον κ. τ. λ.]; and he added that he yielded to this inevitable dispensation of God, since his life had been happy and brilliant. In the mean time his pains increased in severity, and he suffered torture, so that it was necessary to carry him to the palace with the utmost speed. After five days of agonizing pains in his bowels [τῷ τῆς γαστρὸς ἀλγήματι διεργασθεὶς], he died, in the fifty-fourth year of his age.
The narrative of Josephus agrees with that of Luke, which is much shorter, in the following points:—(a) The sudden sickness and the death of Agrippa occurred in Cesarea, where he had arrived not long before; (b) the first attack of illness coincided with the king’s public appearance at a solemn assembly, on which occasion he wore a magnificent royal robe; (c) immediately before the first attack of the fatal malady, certain acclamations in honor of the king were heard, which not only flattered but deified him, and these he did not decline, but received in silence; (d) on this he was suddenly attacked by a disease of the bowels, in consequence of which he soon died.
The two reports differ, on the other hand, in the following particulars:—(a) Josephus makes no mention either of the embassy of the Phenician cities, suing for peace and a friendly intercourse, or of the address of the king, to which the idolatrous shouts of the hearers referred. This circumstance can create doubts only in the mind of a reader who ascribes to Josephus a most perfect knowledge of all the events of that period, and of the connection between them; while the statement of Luke, considered in itself, contains nothing whatever that is improbable. The flattering terms, moreover, in which the king was addressed, may be far more easily explained, if we assume that, according to Luke, they were preceded by a public discourse of Agrippa, than if, according to Josephus, these acclamations were due solely to the splendor of the royal robe; Luke, indeed, also refers to that robe.—(b) Luke, on the other hand, does not mention that an owl appeared as the precursor of death, and that at the sight of it, the king was filled with terror. The statement of such an incident is due to a purely heathenish and superstitious source. Josephus, namely, relates (Antiq. 18:6. 7) that at an earlier period, when Agrippa was in Rome, a certain German informed him that the presence of an owl, to which he pointed, was then a sign of good fortune, but that if this bird appeared to him a second time, it would be a sign that he must die. It was this prediction which Agrippa is said to have remembered on the present occasion. Instead of such circumstances, Luke mentions simply the stroke which the king received from an (invisible) angel, and with which his malady commenced. Eusebius, who in other points adopts the narrative of Josephus (Hist. Eccl. ii. 10), has here, however, attempted to reconcile it with that of Luke, by substituting an angel for the owl, and implying that the king saw only the former. This is an unfortunate attempt to reconcile the two accounts, while the miraculous punishment inflicted by the angel precisely corresponds to the miraculous deliverance by an angel of Peter, whose life Agrippa had sought.—(c) While both accounts essentially agree in regarding the bowels as the seat of the disease, the two descriptions differ in so far, that Josephus speaks only of violent and torturing pains. Luke’s account, which specially mentions worms (not lice, φθειρίσις [as Kühn, Elsner, Morus, etc erroneously interpret (Meyer)—Tr.]), may, however, be easily combined with that of Josephus. While the former more fully describes the nature of the disease, the latter states with greater precision the time of its continuance, namely, five days; this statement is not in conflict with the terms employed by Luke.—Accordingly both accounts agree in very important features, and in others are complementary to one another, while in the main points in which they differ, Luke merits the preference.
Act_12:24-25. But the word of God grew.—At this point Luke resumes the history of the church of Christ, with which the events recorded in Act_12:19-23, were only indirectly connected. And yet the remark that the word of God multiplied (namely, by accessions to the number of those who received it), seems to imply that this increase was related to the death of the persecutor Agrippa as the effect is related to the cause: after this prince was removed by a divine judgment, the Gospel made the greater progress. Barnabas and Saul now returned from Jerusalem (which city was not expressly stated in Act_11:29-30, to be their ultimate destination), and established themselves permanently in Antioch, after having fully discharged the duty assigned to them; they also brought an assistant with them, John, surnamed Mark, who is mentioned in Act_12:12 in connection with his mother. The place at which this notice respecting Barnabas and Saul is introduced, when compared with Act_11:30, implies that all the events mentioned in Acts 12, (the execution of James, the imprisonment and deliverance of Peter, and the death of Herod Agrippa) occurred during the interval between the departure of these two men from Antioch, and their return, so that perhaps they did not reach Jerusalem until after the departure of Agrippa from that city, and his death. We thus obtain a fixed chronological date, since it distinctly appears from Josephus, Antiq. xix. 8. 2, compared with Act_12:21 ff., that Herod died in the year 44 A. D., and indeed, soon after the Passover of that year.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. Whatever the circumstances or reasons may have been, which induced the historian to mention the death of the apostle James in such brief terms, it is still certain that the wisdom of the Holy Ghost, by whose inspiration this history was written, is specially revealed precisely in the adoption of these concise terms. We are furnished with a very full account of the martyrdom of Stephen, while that of James is mentioned with extraordinary brevity; and yet the latter was one of the Twelve, and, indeed, one of the three favored disciples—the first, too, who was permitted to glorify the Redeemer by his death. If we desired, even with anxiety, to ascertain all the details respecting that scene, when one of the sons of Zebedee drank of the cup of which his Master drank before him, and received the baptism of blood which Christ had promised (Mat_20:22-23), we would still be completely disappointed. This holy silence is a sign given to us, that that which is most exalted and acceptable in the eyes of God, is not necessarily the subject of which men, even devout believers, are always competent to speak and judge, but that our ‘life is hid with Christ in God.’ (Col_3:3). That which constitutes the true life and the most holy death, is hidden with Christ in God—hidden, not only from the world, but often, too, from the children of God, and yet it is very precious before God; it is a work which follows the soul into eternity (Rev_14:13).
2. This deliverance of Peter from prison is one of the most remarkable facts on record, as an illustration of the hearing of prayer. Two powers are, as it were, struggling with each other, Act_12:5—the one, secular power, attempting to hold the apostle fast, and slay him; the other, the Church of Christ, desirous of rescuing him, and preserving his life and liberty. The former has all material instruments at its disposal—a prison, chains and fetters, soldiers and weapons; the latter has none of these, but in place of them, prayer—united and fervent prayer. Faith in God, who was in Christ, love to one another for Christ’s sake, Christian hope—indeed the whole inner life that proceeds from redemption, infuses itself into such intercessions, and thus prayer lays hold on the omnipotence of God in faith. This united prayer in the name of Jesus Christ is heard; it accomplishes more than all the power of the world can attempt to do.
3. This twelfth chapter offers fuller testimony concerning the angels, than any other in the Acts. An angel of God appears in the prison, awakens the apostle, and, by leading him forth and restoring him to liberty, effects his deliverance from impending death. When Peter presents himself before a house occupied by his friends, and the believers receive the tidings, they suppose that it is his angel who appears. It is, lastly, an angel of God who smites Herod, when the latter has reached the summit of prosperity and honor, and he, consequently, soon afterwards dies. The first and the third incident may be regarded as connected with each other; the angels are, on both occasions, the servants and agents of the holy and righteous Providence of the almighty God who governs the world. God interposes both times in the course of events by sending an angel who executes his commands. In the first case, the angel is a ministering spirit, sent for the sake of a human being who was an heir of salvation (Heb_1:14); in the second, an angel inflicts a just punishment on an impious man, who assumed divine honor, and tormented and slew the children of God. The word of God affords us a glimpse of the hidden springs on which the movements of Providence in the government of the world depend, but which the eye cannot perceive. Thus the angel mentioned in Act_12:23, was invisible, and, according to Act_12:10-11, it was only after the angel had departed, that Peter fully came to himself and perceived that the Lord had sent His angel in order to deliver him. But the intermediate case, in which an angel is mentioned, Act_12:15, is of a different character. The Christians, who cannot yet believe that Peter himself is actually standing before the house, only say here that it must be his angel. They were in fact, in error, as it was Peter himself who appeared. This circumstance alone is sufficient to cause us to refrain from attempting to establish a doctrinal point on the language employed by these believers. And, specially, the opinion that there are guardian angels, who are assigned to individuals, finds a very frail support in this passage.
4. These occurrences furnish the evidence in a visible form that Christ extends and protects his Church, as its Lord and King, even though hell should rage. Herod Agrippa, the grandson of Herod the Great, whom he resembled in disposition, and whose entire kingdom he inherited, takes pleasure in harassing the Christians, Act_12:1, and even puts the apostle James to death. He proposes to adopt the same course in the case of Peter, for the sake of gaining popular favor, imprisons him, and places a guard over him in strict accordance with the Roman system. This procedure pleases the Israelites who eagerly await a scene that will afford full gratification to their fanatical desires. It is the first occasion on which the civil government and the people of Israel with their hierarchical rulers, combine against the Church of Christ. At an earlier period the hierarchy alone assumed a hostile attitude in reference to the servants of Jesus Christ (Act_4:5; Act_4:17 ff.); subsequently, they acted in concert with the mass of the people, whom they had artfully inflamed (Act_6:12 ff.). But now Herod, in whom the whole political power was concentrated under the Roman sovereignty, unites with the people, whose passions were already aroused, in assailing the Church of Christ. Sufficient grounds were thus afforded for entertaining the most serious apprehensions. But Christ always abides with his people, and all power is given unto him in heaven and in earth (Mat_28:18; Mat_28:20). He protects his church, and, when the believers intercede for Peter, miraculously delivers the latter through the instrumentality of the angel; not only are the hopes of the people frustrated, but the military power also is confounded, and Herod himself suffers a most painful humiliation; his vengeance falls on the guiltless guards, and he forsakes the city in which he had been so openly put to shame. He arrives in Cesarea, where the highest conceivable honor is paid to him, and where his flatterers even deify him; but at the very moment in which he reaches the summit of glory, he receives the stroke of the angel, and his death is the result. The power of the world, which attempts to resist God and Christ, suffers a most ignominious defeat, while the Gospel and the Church of Christ advance with power. Christ is king; and yesterday, to-day, and evermore, he enlarges his kingdom, and the gates of hell shall never prevail against his Church.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
We might appropriately prefix the words occurring in Pro_10:25, as the title of this entire chapter:—“As the whirlwind passeth, so is the wicked no more: but the righteous is an everlasting foundation.” Or: “The righteous man is a pillar which sustains the world, and he is designed by the counsel of God for such lofty ends, that his unobtrusive and humble labors are of far more importance than the noisy efforts of the wicked, which assume large proportions, but, like the whirlwind, are destructive in their results, and soon pass away.” Herod is a whirlwind that attempts to destroy, before it passes away; Peter and James are pillars which stand forever, in union with the divine word, for which their sufferings open an avenue. (Rieger).—This entire chapter places before our eyes a glorious sketch of the wonderful and blessed government of God in his Church. We here behold a Church that is persecuted, and that, nevertheless, increases amid its trials—two upright servants of Jesus, of whom the one is abandoned to the sword of the enemy, while the other is miraculously rescued—a furious enemy, who is as malignant and cruel when he persecutes, as he is despicable and wretched when the judgment of God overtakes him. He who beholds these ways of divine Providence with an eye of faith, will not only be cheered, but also be encouraged to follow the leadings of eternal love with confidence and joy; he may look forward, with an assured hope, to a happy issue of the trials which the Lord sends, however obscure their purpose may now seem to be. (Ap. Past.).
Act_12:1. Now about that time.—An affliction seldom comes alone; at first, the famine; now, the persecution. (Starke).—The vicissitudes which the church experiences, resemble the changes of the weather in April, when, at one moment the sun shines, and then rain and snow succeed. The sun shone brightly, when the disciples in Antioch were called Christians [Act_11:26]; but a dark cloud soon arose, when Herod began to persecute the church, (id.).—The king stretched forth his hands, etc.—The conversion of emperors and kings could not be effected, until the prayers and the blood of martyrs had been poured forth during three centuries [Constantine died A. D. 337]. (Quesn.).—The family of Herod, like that of Saul, might be termed a “bloody house” [2Sa_21:1], and the Herods, bloody men. The grandfather ordered the massacre of the children of Bethlehem, when Christ was born; an uncle caused John the Baptist to be beheaded; the grandson now sullies his hands with the blood of James, and would willingly have committed other atrocious acts. (Rieger).
Act_12:2. And he killed James, etc.—The petition of James is now granted, Mat_20:20 ff. Although the Scriptures mention his death in very brief terms, it is precisely such a simple account which gives him the noble testimony that he suffered in silence, with calmness and holy joy, and thus demonstrated his entire self-renunciation, and his devotion to Christ. (Leonh. and Sp.).—Although the death of the Lord’s saints is precious in His sight (Psa_116:15), the Scriptures employ but few words in describing it, and thus distinguish in this mode also the meritorious sufferings and the atoning death of Jesus from any other case in which an individual dies. (Rieger).—The noble end of James, or, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints”: I. In the sight of men it was a sad and melancholy death; (a) bloody and cruel—the noble head of the apostle falls under the sword of the executioner; (b) premature and sudden—before he could accomplish a great work in his apostolic vocation, he is called away from this earthly scene; (c) unhonored and obscure—he dies without receiving honor from the world, or praise even from the word of God. Nevertheless, II. His death was precious in the sight of God, and his end was glorious; (a) he had obeyed his call on earth—the great point is, not how long, but in what manner we have lived; (b) he died in the service of his Master—his blood preaches as successfully as the word of his fellow-apostles (see the tradition to which reference is made above, Exeg. note on Act_12:2); (c) he hastens forward to his heavenly home—he is the first of the brethren who receives the crown of martyrdom, and to whom a seat at the right hand of Christ is assigned, in accordance with the petition which his youthful enthusiasm had offered at an earlier period [Mar_10:37].—The witness which the disciples of the Lord bear unto him even by their silence: I. If not by splendid deeds, at least by a gentle and humble spirit, which is precious in the sight of the Lord; II. If not by mighty works, at least by patient suffering and a holy death; III. If not by occupying a place in the annals of the world, at least by their position in the fraternal circles of the children of God.—The happy lot of those who die at an early period: I. They ripen early for a higher life; II. They are soon delivered from the sorrows of this world; III. They are affectionately embalmed in the memory of their friends.—The wishes of youth, and the experience of life: I. The former are often painfully disappointed by the latter; but, II. They receive through it a salutary purification; they are thus, III. Most gloriously fulfilled (illustrated in the case of James, in accordance with Mat_20:20 ff., and Act_12:2.).
Act_12:3. And because he saw it pleased the Jews.—Herod, who often acted in opposition to the wishes of the people, was fickle enough to gratify them at least on this occasion, since it was at the expense of Christianity. How often such scenes are still repeated in the world! How much is done to please others, in order to gain their assistance in return! (Rieger).—Then were the days of unleavened bread.—It was precisely at this season [Luk_22:1 ff] that Peter’s remembrance of his denial of the Lord, and also of the sufferings and resurrection of Jesus, might be expected to strengthen him in the patient endurance of evil, in fidelity, and in confessing his Master. He who thus bears the cross after the Lord, will, like the Lord, find his sufferings converted into victories; for if we are planted in the likeness of his death [Rom_6:5], we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection and glory. (Leonh. and Sp.).—That “Hereafter” of which the Lord spake to Peter [John 13], has now drawn nigh both to Peter and to the church. (Rieger).
Act_12:4. Delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers, to keep him.—The extreme rigor with which Peter is guarded, is an evidence both of the evil conscience and excessive rage of the enemies of Christ, and also of the force of character which the servants of Jesus manifest even in their deepest afflictions; they inspire the devil and his adherents with terror, even when they seem to be altogether in the power of the latter. (Ap. Past.).—Intending, etc.—God permits the enemies of his kingdom, indeed, to adopt certain counsels and to form their plans, but the execution of such plans is controlled by His blessed government. Herod intended to slay Peter; but it was the Lord’s will to preserve Peter and slay Herod, (ib.).
Act_12:5. Peter therefore [Now Peter was indeed] kept in prison: but prayer was made.—A most happy expression! “Indeed … but.” [μὲν οὖν … δὲ, indeed therefore, then … but. Robinson’s Lex.—Tr.]. Herod, make thy preparations, if thou wilt, but they cannot be of avail; they are opposed by a powerful But, which thou canst not overcome.—What is this But? Apparently less than nothing—mere prayers! And yet, a single word of believing prayer can overthrow all the power of hell. Why may it not then prevail against Herod and his sixteen soldiers? (Williger).—God can refuse nothing to a praying congregation. (Chrysostom).—By the blood and the prayers of Christians, Herod’s arm was paralyzed, and his sceptre broken, yea, the Roman Empire destroyed.—Brotherly love remembers the prisoner; never let us cease to offer devout prayer for those who are in bonds and suffer from oppression, as well as for those who are soldiers fighting in the holy war! (Leonh. and Sp.).
Act_12:6. That same night was Peter sleeping between two soldiers.—Peter in the prison, sleeping between two soldiers—a beautiful image, I. Of Christian faith, which even in the gloom of the prison, and amid the terrors of death, can peacefully repose on the bosom of God; II. Of divine love, which watches day and night even over its sleeping and imprisoned children.
Act_12:7. And, behold, the [an] angel of the Lord, etc.—The angels are faithful ministers of Christ and companions of his servants. In the case of James, they were employed to convey his soul to glory; in that of Peter, they were the agents by whom he was freed from his bonds; in that of Herod, they effected his destruction. (Ap. Past.).—The servants of God are in duty bound to acknowledge that a sovereign Lord rules over them, who has power to send them life or death, sufferings or repose. The Lord allows James to be killed. But in the case of Peter, he performs a miracle, and sends an angel to deliver him. It is one of the greatest mysteries of Providence, that God removes many of his faithful servants at an early period, and allows others to experience the most severe afflictions; some, again, are preserved, in place of being overwhelmed by their trials. It here becomes our duty to refrain from judging our fellow-servants, and, in our own case, to submit with humility to all the dispensations of the Lord. We all have one Lord, and one treasure, but neither our lot, nor our guidance in life, is the same. “For whether we live, etc.” Rom_14:8. (ib.).—And a light shined in the prison [chamber].—“Unto the upright there ariseth a light in the darkness, etc.” Psa_112:4. (Starke).—O how many gloomy chambers of affliction have been made bright and cheerful, at one time by consolations which opened heaven to the heart, and, at another time, by external aid! And how often a messenger of heaven, like him who came to Peter, is sent to us! Surely, if our internal eyes were opened, we would often see bright forms near us, and would then dismiss all care and fear. But even when we see nothing, while we walk by faith, not by sight [2Co_5:7], we nevertheless know that angels are still the ministering spirits of eternal love, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation [Heb_1:14], so that we may confidently say with David: “The Lord is my light, etc.” Psa_27:1. (Kapff).—Saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands.—Thus the word of the Lord is stronger than iron, stones, and bolts. But then the preacher who desires to apply the divine word to the hard heart of a sinner, must proceed like an angel or messenger of God, not employing the chaff of man’s wisdom, but speaking and acting in the name of Jesus, in demonstration of the Spirit and of power [1Co_2:4]. (Ap. Past.).
Act_12:8. And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, etc.—The angel is not satisfied with the rescue of Peter’s person, but, with great fidelity and condescension, provides for every want of the sleeping man. He first awakens the latter, and then, as it were, hands him the girdle, sandals and mantle—offices which might almost seem too mean to be performed by an angel. (Kapff.).—None of his effects are to be left behind in the hands of his enemies, so that his departure may not resemble the flight of a criminal. “There shall not a hoof be left behind.” Exo_10:26. Such events afford very great comfort to a faithful servant of Jesus; he may be assured that neither the world nor Satan can touch a thread of his garment, or a hair of his head, or a latchet of his shoes, without the will of his Father. What a faithful Saviour, and a watchful guardian of his people, Jesus Christ is! How were Herod and the soldiers terrified, when they found that with all their rigor, they could not retain in their hands even a thread belonging to Peter! (Ap. Past.).
Act_12:9. But thought he saw a vision.—Peter seemed to be dreaming when the Lord delivered him from great danger. And such is still the experience of the people of God, when he hastens to afford them relief, and grants them a wonderful deliverance from great distress. The sacred poet says: “When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream.” Psa_126:1.—May the Lord grant us such grace, and deliver us from the prison of this tabernacle, especially in our last struggle, so that we may enter as joyfully into eternity as Peter here throws off his bonds. (Ap. Past.).
Act_12:10. When they were past the first and the second ward.—Then the words were fulfilled that are recorded in Isa_45:2 : “I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron.”—They came unto the iron gate that lead-eth into the city.—Peter is delivered from the prison, but is, nevertheless, again led into the city, in order, I. That his faith might be exercised; “even when the contest has been successful, the end is not yet gained”; II. That his deliverance might be made known to the Church, and thus strengthen the faith of many others. (Ap. Past.).—And forthwith the angel departed from him.—Extraordinary dealings of Providence continue no longer than they are necessary. (Starke).
Act_12:11. Now I know of a surety, that the Lord hath sent his angel.—He who looks back on the way in which God had led him, will, with wonder and adoring gratitude, see many divine purposes, which he did not understand before he reached the end. (Quesn.).—Thus God desires to be acknowledged as our help in time of need, so that the honor may not be given to men, but to Him alone. (Starke).
Act_12:12. And when he had considered the thing, he came to the house … where many were gathered together, praying.—The issue is always favorable in the kingdom of Jesus; Peter is conducted, for his own consolation, from the gloom of the prison and the company of rude soldiers, to a band of praying brethren; these distressed believers, on the other hand, suddenly see Peter in their presence, whom they had already supposed to be lost to them. Thus their faith is strengthened, and they receive new and cheering evidence that ‘the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.’ [Jam_5:16].—“But were not these meetings held in secret? Were they not secret conventicles? So the world then called them, and so it still calls them. And yet those are blessed meetings, when the worshippers of God assemble in spirit and in truth.” (Gossner).—However, when believers are under no such necessity, and are free from persecution, religious assemblies should be held, as far as possible, in the day-time.(Starke).
Act_12:13. A damsel … named Rhoda.—How many lofty titles and dignities will hereafter be hidden in the dust! How many names which once glittered in the eyes of the world, will be consigned to eternal oblivion, or even to dishonor! But the names of those, on the other hand, who truly love Jesus—of those who give to His people only a cup of cold water, although they may scarcely have been known to the world, or may have seemed to be insignificant, will be crowned with eternal honor. (Ap. Past.).
Act_12:15. And they said unto her, Thou art mad.—They prayed for the deliverance of Peter, but that it should be effected in such a manner, was not expected by them, and seemed to be incredible. (Rieger).—“When the proper time arrives, thy help will come with power; and, that thy fears may be put to shame, it will come unexpectedly.” Such is always the experience of praying believers; a certain leaven of unbelief is constantly mingled with their faith, so that they have reason to pray: “Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.” [Mar_9:24]. (Williger).
Act_12:17. But he, beckoning to them, etc.—It was Peter’s first thought, after he had been delivered, to give praise to God. Hence he does not merely describe his escape, but also declares how the Lord had delivered him. If the divine grace which we have experienced, is to be profitable to the souls of others also, it becomes necessary to explain to them the way in which the Lord had led us. Unconverted teachers dwell only on the ὅτι, and pass over the πῶς in silence, because they have never themselves trodden the ways of conversion. (Ap. Past.).—And went into another place.—The Lord himself permitted and directed his apostles to flee, as Peter does on this occasion, Mat_10:23. It is our duty to walk with humility in the way prescribed by Providence. (Rieger).—The Lord took away Peter from the Church, precisely at a time when it was most severely tried, in order that it might learn to sustain itself without his aid. At this very time, when the church had recovered him in a miraculous manner, it may have been most of all exposed to the danger of regarding his presence as indispensable. (Williger).—But persons like ourselves, should be able to furnish as many proofs as Peter could produce, of fidelity and firmness, before we appeal to his flight as an example for ourselves. (Ap. Past.).—The mission of the twelve apostles to the twelve tribes of Israel, was now accomplished. “For the earth which drinketh in the rain, etc.” Heb_6:7-8. Peter knew by the Holy Ghost that the other ten apostles had, like himself, been directed to depart from Jerusalem, and he consequently sends the assembled believers, not to any other apostle, but to James, the Lord’s brother [see Exeg. note above]; the latter occupied the first position among the elders who had previously, with great wisdom, been invested with office. (Besser.).
Ver 18. Now as soon as it was day, etc.—When the world rejoices, the servants of Jesus are in sorrow; but when the disciples of Christ rejoice, his enemies are troubled. (Ap. Past.).—These unhappy soldiers had not really been guilty of any offence in this case, but they well knew the wrath of Herod. Happy would it have been for them if they could have found the true way, like the keeper of the prison in Philippi on a similar occasion, Act_26:29 ff. (Williger)
Act_12:19. And when Herod had sought, etc.—He acted like his grandfather, who, when he could not find the child Jesus, shed the blood of the innocent children of Bethlehem. (Williger).—And he went down from Judea to Cesarea.—He had not gained many laurels in Jerusalem; Peter had escaped, and the death which he inflicted on James, was, plainly, not only an act of injustice, but also shed an additional lustre on the holy character of the apostle, (id.).—Great lords resort to means of every kind for freeing themselves from annoyances and vexation, 1Sa_16:14; 1Sa_16:16. (Starke).—Herod occupied himself elsewhere, and thus some relief was afforded to the people of God. So the invasion of the Philistines withdrew Saul from the pursuit of David, 1Sa_23:27. So, too, the Turkish war, and the help which thus became necessary, and also the rupture between France and Austria, materially aided the cause of Protestantism. (Rieger).
On the section, Act_12:1-19.—Seasons of trial, viewed as blessed seasons: I. They exhibit the power of faith in suffering and dying, Act_12:1-3; II. They exercise brotherly love in watching and praying, Act_12:5; III. They manifest the believer’s peace of soul in his external calmness, Act_12:6; IV. They reveal the power of God in granting help and deliverance, Act_12:7-11. (Florey).—The weapons employed by the Church in its contests with enemies: I. Undaunted courage in bearing witness; II. Unresisting patience in suffering; III. Unwearied perseverance in prayer. (Leonh. and Sp.).—The communion of saints: I. A communion of love among brethren, Act_12:5; II. A communion of aid with the angels, Act_12:8-9; III. A communion of grace with God, Act_12:11. (id.).—The kings of the earth arrayed against the Lord and His Anointed [Psa_2:2]: I. The manner in which their hostility is expressed; II. The manner in which the King of all kings protects his people. (Lisco).—The miraculous deliverance of Peter: I. The peculiar circumstances; II. The impressions which these produced. (id.).—The Lord, the helper of his people: I. In their greatest dangers; II. By wonderful means, (id).—(On the festival of the Reformation [Oct. 31]): The deliverance of the Church from bondage by means of the Reformation; I. The bondage of the Church, Act_12:1-6 : (a) Many faithful members and teachers were tortured and slain; (b) all Christians lay in bonds (what were the “two chains” (Act_12:6) in which Christendom was sleeping?). II. The deliverance of the Church, Act_12:7-11 : (a) The manner in which it was effected: Luther smote her on the side, and led her through the iron gate; (b) The manner in which the evangelical Church gradually became conscious of her deliverance, and of her duty to retain that consciousness. (From Lisco).—The manifestations of the wisdom and love of the Lord in the guidance of his people: I. His wisdom: (a) The church, invigorated by a long-continued period of repose, needs persecution; (b) James is slain, since, in the counsel of God, the church as well as the world, now needs a martyr, taken from the number of the apostles; (c) Peter is imprisoned, his self-confidence is humbled, and his future lot (Joh_21:18-19) is placed before his eyes. II. His love: (a) James receives the crown of eternal life; (b) to Peter the unexpected grace of deliverance from death is granted; (c) the praying congregation again obtains by a miracle that teacher whom their prayers had delivered from the danger of death. (From Lisco).—Human sorrow, and divine aid. (id.).—The help of the Lord produces, I. Holy joy among his people; II. Impotent wrath among His enemies.—The connection between the deliverance of Peter and the prayers of the Church, viewed as an illustration of the connection between prayer and the hearing of prayer, (id.).—God, giving above all that we ask or think [Eph_3:20]. (id.)—James dying, Peter saved, or, God conducts his people by different paths to the same end: I. By different paths: (a) The short period of labor assigned to James, and the long-continued labors of Peter; (b) the mournful end of James, and the glorious rescue of Peter; II. To the same end: (a) Both promote the interests of the kingdom of God—James by his death, Peter by his life; (b) both ultimately receive the crown of eternal life—the one after a brief struggle, the other after a long period of service.—The rescue of the imprisoned Peter: I. A triumph of divine omnipotence; II. A reward of apostolic faith and zeal; III. A result of the intercessions of brotherly love; IV. A defeat of proud and tyrannical power.—God’s angels of deliverance: I. They come in the night, Act_12:6; II. They raise us up from the ground, Act_12:7; III. They conduct us as in a dream, Act_12:9; IV. They lead us through iron gates, Act_12:10; V. At length they leave us, Act_12:10-11.—The angel who delivered Peter, an image of saving grace: grace conducts us, I. From the bondage of sin to the liberty of the children of God; II. From nights of affliction to days of gratitude and joy; III. From the pains of death to the light of eternal life.—Peter’s escape from prison, an image of our gracious rescue from the bondage of sin: I. The rigid confinement: (a) The chains; (b) the guards; (c) the sleep; II. The gracious rescue: (a) The heavenly messenger, with his cheerful light and awakening voice; (b) Peter’s terror and rapture on being awakened; (c) the first walk, with its difficulties and its encouragements (walking as in a dream through the first and the second ward, and the iron gate); III. The glorious liberty: (a) Peter, standing firmly, with entire consciousness; (b) his joyful reception by the brethren; (c) the impotent rage of the world.
(On Act_12:20. They came—and desired peace; because, etc.).—People are willing to pray for peace and fair weather, for the sake of food; they are willing, in such a case, to accept conditions to which they would never consent for the sake of God and their salvation. The world pays many compliments to Satan, but is not willing to address God in proper terms. (Gossner).
(On Act_12:21. And upon a set day).—It was not only the day appointed by Herod for this ceremony, but also the day appointed by the Most High for judgment. (Ap. Past.).—Sat upon his throne.—Many an individual has already supposed that he was ascending a throne, when in truth he was mounting the scaffold on which he was to die. 1Sa_4:18. (Quesn.).
(On Act_12:22. It is the voice of a god [of God]).—O accursed flattery! How shameless and presumptuous thou art! It is an art usually practised by courtiers, but it acts like a deadly plague on princes and lords, converting them really into objects that claim our pity. (Starke).—Carnal men, like the Jews, will not have the humble Jesus to reign over them as their king, but a vain boaster like Herod suits them, and they are even willing to make a god of him. (id.).
(On Act_12:23. And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him).—This word “immediately” is an awful appendage to the acclamations of the people, illustrating the saying: “He that, sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision,” [Psa_2:4]. (Williger).—It is true that this immediate retribution does not always follow crime; it may be delayed, but it will come.—The [An] angel of the Lord.—The world says: “It is a singular disease”; physicians furnish various explanations of its origin; the Scriptures say; “An angel of the Lord smote him.” (Gossner).—An angel rescues Peter; an angel smites Herod; the angels are friends or foes, according as they have the friends or foes of God before them. (Starke).—Peter, who is chained, guarded, and condemned to death, is rescued. Herod, sitting on his throne, surrounded by courtiers, and worshipped by the people, is punished. Who would not, in both cases, adore the ways of God? (Quesn.).—And he was eaten of worms.—The afflictions of the godly and the ungodly sometimes seem to be the same, but they are, nevertheless, not the same; they are, in the case of the former, trials sent by a loving Father, in that of the latter, punishments inflicted by a righteous Judge. Job, too, could say: ‘My flesh is clothed with worms.’ [Job_7:5]. (Starke).—When God designs to cast down mighty tyrants, he does not necessarily employ many horsemen; worms often perform the work. (id.).—Now, indeed, after the Lord had spoken in this manner, it might be said with truth: ‘It is the voice of God [θεοῦ φωνὴ], and not of a man.’
(On Act_12:24. But the word of God grew and multiplied).—Herod eaten by worms—the word of God growing or extending—what a striking contrast! Thus, too, one enemy—one Herod—after the other, will pass away, but the name of Jesus will continue to be exalted. (Ap. Past.).—Our God thus made room for his word and kingdom, by removing Herod out of the way. An angel said on an earlier occasion; ‘They are dead which sought the young child’s life.’ (Mat_2:20); it might now be said: ‘They are dead which sought the young child’s life in his members (the youthful Church).’ (Bogatzky).
(On Act_12:25. And Barnabas and Saul returned, etc.).—This visit afforded great encouragement of heart after fiery trials had been experienced. (Williger).—How insignificant the work of Barnabas and Saul seemed to be, and yet what lasting fruits it produced! How distinguished Herod’s position was, and yet, how worm-eaten and loathsome he has now become! (Rieger).
(On Act_12:20-25). The narrative of Herod’s death: I. Why has it found a place in the Acts of the Apostles? Not as if Herod’s death had been a punishment for slaying James, but because even political events may exercise a certain influence on the interests of the Christian religion. II. What lessons does it teach us? That the public welfare is promoted, not by flattery and by submission to the lusts and passions of men, but by a firm and well-sustained determination to avoid these evils, and by devout attention to the eternal and immutable will of God. (Schleiermacher, 1832).—The Lord is King! I. His enemies learn this truth, when he casts them down in the midst of their pride; II. His friends learn it, when He blesses, comforts and exalts them in the midst of their afflictions. (From Lisco).—The ways of divine Providence in the case of the primitive church of Jerusalem, a source of consolation to us: I. Its security, effected by the destruction of Herod; II. Its extension and establishment, effected by the growth of the word, and by the relief which other believers sent [Act_11:29]. (Lisco).—To God alone be all the glory! I. He who robs Him of it, destroys himself and others (Herod); II. He who honors God, honors himself and others (Barnabas and Paul), (id.).—All things work together for good to them that love God [Rom_8:28], as well death as life: illustrated, I. By the death of James; II. By the deliverance of Peter. (Langbein).—Herod’s end, or, Pride comes before a fall: I. Pride; II. The fall.—God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble [Jam_4:6; 1Pe_5:5; Pro_3:34.]: I. The proud (Herod): (a) how they scorn the majesty of God; (b) how the Almighty resists them; II. The humble (the Church): (a) how they humble themselves under the mighty hand of God—famine, persecution, imprisonment; (b) how God gives them grace—miraculous deliverance, destruction of enemies, fraternal relief [Act_11:29], growth of the word.—All things minister to the growth of the word: I. Martyrs (James) moisten the field of the church with their blood; II. Enemies (Herod) manure it with their mouldering bones; III. The almighty God interposes by affording miraculous aid (Peter); IV. His servants do not fail to perform works of love (Barnabas and Saul).—God, the absolute monarch in his kingdom: demonstrated, I. By the early departure of James; II. By the miraculous deliverance of Peter; III. By the awful death of Herod.—The angels of the Lord, ministering in his kingdom: I. They execute his judgment in the case of the impious Herod; II. They lead Peter, the captive, out of the prison; III. They conduct James, who had finished his course, to eternal joy.—[Peter and Herod contrasted, or, the believer and the sinner: I. Their respective views of religious truth in general; II. Their sentiments with respect to Christ; III. Their principles of action (Herod—self; Peter—divine grace); IV. Their condition, as determined by Providence; V. The earthly results of their course of action; VI. Their condition in eternity.—Tr.]
Footnotes:
[1]Act_12:1. [For the words: stretched forth his hands (Cranmer), the English Bible offers in the margin the less exact word: began. “It should be: laid hands on, etc.” (Alf.).—Tr.]
[2]Act_12:3. The article αἱ [before ἡμέραι] is omitted in the text. rec. [with B (e sil). G. II, etc.], but is sufficiently attested [by A. D. E. It had been omitted by Tisch., but was subsequently adopted by him, as well as by Lach. and Alf.; but it is not found in Cod. Sin.—Tr.]
[3]Act_12:5. a. Lach. and Tisch. read ἑκτενής [but the former appears to have afterwards preferred ἐκτενῶς]; the earlier editions gave the preference to the adverb, but Tisch. has, in his most recent edition, restored the adjective, which is far better supported [by E. G. H.] than the adverb. [The adverb in A. originally, and in B.; it was substituted as better suited to γινομένη, according to Meyer and Alf.; the latter accordingly adopts the adj., but the adverb occurs in Cod. Sin.—Tr.] … [For the words: prayer … ceasing (Wiclif; Tynd.; Cranmer; Geneva), the margin of the Engl. Bible offers: instant and earnest prayer was made. In the latter, the words instant and earnest represent the single Greek word ἐκτενὴς, which, in the text, is rendered without ceasing. Wahl’s definition of the adj. is: “extensus, metaph. assiduus, ardens,” and of the adverb: “intense, impense.” Robinson; “ἐκτεής ‘stretched out, strained’ trop. intent, earnest, fervent.—ἐκτενῶς, intently, earnestly.”—Tr.]
[4]Act_12:5. b. περί [adopted by Lach. and Tisch.] is preferable, both for external and internal reasons, to ὑπέρ; the latter, which is both more definite and more usual [with προςεύχεσθαι(Mey.)], seems to have been substituted by several copyists for περἰ. [ὑπέρ, in A. B. D., and Cod. Sin.; περἰ (of text. rec., and adopted by Alf., who regards περἰ as a correction from Act_8:15), in E. G. H.—Tr.]
[5]Act_12:8. The simple verb ζῶσαι [of A. B. D. and Cod. Sin.], is, at least, as well supported as the compound περίζωσαι [of text. rec. and E. G. H.], and is, for that reason, preferred by Lach. and Tisch. [and Alf.], since the compound verb could more easily have been substituted for the simple, than vice versa.
[6]Act_12:9. αὐτῷ after ἠκολούθει [of text. rec. and E. G. H.], is wanting in important MSS. [A. B. D. Cod. Sin.], and is, in accordance with the opinion of Lach. and Tisch., to be regarded as a later addition. [A later hand inserted αὐτῳ in Cod. Sin.—Tr.]
[7]Act_12:13. a. αὐτοῦ [before τὴν θ. instead of τ. ΙΙετ of text. rec.] is sufficiently attested [by A. B. D. Cod. Sin.; Syr. Vulg etc., and is adopted by recent editors]; τοῦ ΙΙέτρου [of text. rec. from E. G. H.] was substituted for the pronoun, as a pericope [an ecclesiastical reading lesson] began at Act_12:12.
[8]Act_12:13. b. [For to hearken, (Tynd.; Cranm.; Geneva) the margin offers the less appropriate paraphrastic version: to ask who was there; see Wahl, Robinson, etc., ad υ. ὑπακούω.—Tr.]
[9]Act_12:20. a. [The text. rec. inserts before θυμομ. the words, ὁ Ηρώδης, with E.; the article and name are omitted in A. B. D. Cod. Sin.; Syr. Vulg. etc., and by recent editors. The addition was made here, says Meyer, as a special section, (describing the death of Herod,) began at Act_12:20.—Tr.]
[10]Act_12:20. b. [For the words: was highly displeased, the margin offers: bare an hostile mind, intending war; see the Exeg. note below.—Tr.]
[11]Act_12:20. c. [For the king’s chamberlain (Wiclif; Tynd.; Cranmer; Geneva), the margin offers the more literal version: that was over the king’s bed-chamber. (Rheims: chief of the king’s chamber.)—Tr.]
[12]Act_12:22. [Cod. Sin. has here the peculiar reading: ανθρώπων, for which a later hand substituted ἀνθρώπου.—Tr.]
[13]Act_12:23. The article τήν before δόξαν, is wanting, it is true, in several ancient MSS. [D. E. G. H., but inserted in A. B. and Cod. Sin.]; but as the phrase δόξαν δοῦναι θεῷ is the established reading, without any variations of the MSS. in Luk_17:18; Joh_9:24; Rom_4:20, it may be conjectured that the article, which is found in A. B., and some other manuscripts, is the genuine reading; it has, therefore, been adopted by Tisch. [and Alf. but is omitted by Lach.].
[14]Act_12:25. a. [The margin substitutes charge for ministry. Lechler translates the word, διακονίαν, somewhat freely: Liebesdienst, i. e., office of love; comp. Rom_15:31. It here designates the administration of the gifts which B. and S. had carried to Jerusalem.—Wiclif; Rheims; ministry; Tynd., Cranmer, Geneva: office.—Tr.]
[15]Act_12:25. b. καὶ after συμπαραλαβ. is wanting, indeed, in several manuscripts [A. B. D. (a prima manu); Cod. Sin.; Syr. Vulg. etc.], but is, probably, genuine, rather than spurious, as it could have more easily been dropped as superfluous, than have been added to the original text. [Such is also the opinion of Meyer. The word occurs in D. (as a later addition), E. G. H., and is adopted by text. rec., but is omitted by Lach., Born. and Alf., and recently by Tisch.—Tr.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv2–19 killed James . . . with the sword--beheaded him;…
killed James . . . with the sword--beheaded him; a most ignominious mode of punishment, according to the Jews. Blessed martyr! Thou hast indeed "drunk of thy Lord's cup, and hast been baptized with his baptism." (See on Mar 10:38-40.) A grievous loss this would be to the Church; for though nothing is known of him beyond what we read in the Gospels, the place which he had as one of the three whom the Lord admitted to His closest intimacy would lead the Church to look up to him with a reverence and affection which even their enemies would come to hear of. They could spring only upon one more prized victim; and flushed with their first success, they prevail upon Herod to seize him also.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 17, 19 IV. PERSECUTION OF JERUSALEM CHURCH BY HEROD; ITS AVENGING,…
IV. PERSECUTION OF JERUSALEM CHURCH BY HEROD; ITS AVENGING, Act_12:1-25.
1. James Slain; Peter Imprisoned and Released, Act_12:1-19.
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1. Now—Luke now narrates a persecution less sweeping than the Sauline “havoc,” but severe enough, in addition to the departure of the apostles, to give the Jerusalem Church another check, while the Gentile Church is rising into power.
About that time—Contemporaneously with the Antiochian benefaction.
Herod the king—This Herod Agrippa I. was the accomplished and fascinating, but wicked, grandson of Herod the Great and Mariamne; his father being the unfortunate Aristobulus, and his sister, Herodias, the adulterous wife of his uncle, Herod Antipas. (See notes on Mat_2:1; Mat_16:1-11.) He was born at once a prince and a pauper, with a splendid rank, but no other support than the purses of princely friends. He was the brilliant accident of a variety of romantic fortunes. In the palace of the Emperor Tiberius, having been the special mate of the emperor’s son, he was driven from court at the son’s death, because Tiberius could not bear the sight of one reminding him of the deceased. He wandered into Idumea, and would have committed suicide but for the kindness of his sister, Herodias, who induced her husband, Herod Antipas, to give him an office in the town of Tiberius. Being insulted for his dependence by Antipas, he departed, after various vicissitudes, for Italy, when Tiberius, made aware of his heavy indebtedness to the treasury, forbade him his presence. But having borrowed the whole amount from Antonia, the mother of Claudius, (who was afterward emperor,) Herod Agrippa paid the debt, and became intimate with young Caligula, who was prospective heir to the sceptre. But Tiberius, being informed that Herod Agrippa had expressed to Caligula a wish for the emperor’s speedy death in order that he, Caligula, might succeed, ordered Herod to be chained, clothed as he was in purple, and sent him to prison preparatory for execution. Suddenly news was received of Tiberius’ death, and the jailer forthwith releasing Herod Agrippa, invited him to his table; when, suddenly again, the news being contradicted, he sent the unlucky prince back again in chains to prison. Again the news was confirmed, and Caligula, at the earliest practical period, took him from prison, and made him king of the tetrarchy of Herod Philip. When he came into his new dominions a king, Herodias, whose husband, Antipas, was but a tetrarch, fired with jealousy, forthwith started with her husband to the Roman court to obtain a like royal title. But the object of their embassy being known to Herod Agrippa, when the unhappy pair arrived into the presence of the Emperor Caligula, the emperor received a letter from Herod Agrippa charging Antipas with having seventy thousand stand of arms accumulated for rebellious purposes, and they received sentence of banishment into Lyons, in France, and their tetrarchy was conferred upon Herod Agrippa. Upon Caligula’s death, Claudius, whose friend Herod Agrippa had taken care to be, conferred upon him the kingdom of Judea, so that this man of strange fortunes became, as here we now find him, sovereign of all the dominions of Herod the Great!
Certain of the Church—Rather, certain selected from the Church; being, doubtless, its leaders, since if the shepherds are slain the sheep are scattered.
The king—Paley remarks upon the striking proof of Luke’s historical accuracy here exhibited. Save the three years of Herod Agrippa’s reign, there had been no king of Judea for thirty years; there never was one after him; yet Luke perfectly incidentally places a king with the right name in the right place.
Hug, in his Introduction to the New Testament, has some striking remarks upon the impossibility that a forger, or even a truthful writer of a later age, should not commit geographical or historical mistakes. Of truthful writers Curtius, Virgil, and even Livy, are found applying the geography of a later to an earlier period. Of forgers, the author of the Life of Apollonius, (a book written as rival to the Gospels,) though claiming to copy his facts from ancient authority, largely describes Babylon as a stupendous city when it was a desert, and confounds the Spartans with the Lacedemonians, making them a free republic when they were the subjects of the Romans. Difficulties of avoiding mistakes are immensely increased when great changes are sweeping in succession for a long time over a country. But seldom in history have revolutions so vast, so constant, so swept a country as these did over Judea during the century of Christ. Changes of geographical names, of forms of government, of boundary lines of countries, were constantly succeeding each other. “Under Hadrian,” says Hug, “fifty important places and nine hundred and eighty-five villages and hamlets were razed to the ground.” The very language of the New Testament writers, a dialect of blended Grecism and Hebraism, was swept away with the overthrow of the Jewish state, and by the next century no one wrote or spoke it.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19 Act_12:1-12. Herod’s persecution of the Church. Peter’s miraculous deliverance…
Act_12:1-12. Herod’s persecution of the Church. Peter’s miraculous deliverance from prison
1. Now about that time] The events here narrated must have shortly preceded Herod’s death, and so the chronological note here given must refer to some date near a.d. 43.
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Herod the king] This was Herod Agrippa I. He was the son of Aristobulus and grandson of Herod the Great. See Dictionary of the Bible.
stretched forth his hands to vex (injure) certain of the church] Agrippa, according to Josephus (xix. 7. 3), was anxious to be esteemed a devout Jew: “He loved to live continually at Jerusalem, and was exactly careful in the observance of the laws of his country. He therefore kept himself entirely pure, nor did any day pass over his head without its appointed sacrifice.” Such a man might easily be roused, by the Jews whom he was so anxious to please, to the perpetration of cruelties upon the Christians.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 19 (1) Herod the king.—The previous life of this prince…
XII.
(1) Herod the king.—The previous life of this prince had been full of strange vicissitudes. The son of Aristobulus and Bernice, grandson of Herod the Great, brother of the Herodias who appears in the Gospel history, named after the statesman who was the chief minister of Augustus, he had been sent, after his father had fallen a victim (B.C. 6) to his grandfather’s suspicions, to Rome, partly, perhaps, as a hostage, partly to be out of the way of Palestine intrigues. There he had grown up on terms of intimacy with the prince afterwards known as Caligula. On the marriage of Herod Antipas with his sister, he was made the ruler of Tiberias, but soon quarrelled with the Tetrarch and went to Rome, and falling under the displeasure of Tiberius, as having rashly given utterance to a wish for the succession of Caligula, was imprisoned by him and remained in confinement till the death of that emperor. When Caligula came to the throne, he loaded his friend with honours, gave him the tetrarchies first of Philip, and then that of Lysanias (Luk_3:1), and conferred on him the title of King. Antipas, prompted by Herodias, came to Rome to claim a like honour for himself, but fell under the emperor’s displeasure, and was banished to Lugdunum in Gaul, whither his wife accompanied him. His tetrarchy also was conferred on Agrippa. Coins are extant, minted at Cæsarea, and bearing inscriptions in which he is styled the Great King, with the epithets sometimes of Philo-Cæsar, sometimes of Philo-Claudios. At the time when Caligula’s insanity took the form of a resolve to place his statue in the Temple at Jerusalem, Agrippa rendered an essential service to his people, by using all his influence to deter the emperor from carrying his purpose into execution, and, backed as he was by Petronius, the Governor of Syria, was at last successful. On the death of Caligula, Claudius, whose claims to the empire he had supported, confirmed him in his kingdom. When he came to Judæa, he presented himself to the people in the character of a devout worshipper, and gained their favour by attaching himself to the companies of Nazarites (as we find St. Paul doing in Act_21:26) when they came to the Temple to offer sacrifices on the completion of their vows (Jos. Ant. xix. 7, § 3). It would seem that he found a strong popular excitement against the believers in Christ, caused probably by the new step which had recently been taken in the admission of the Gentiles, and fomented by the Sadducean priesthood, and it seemed to him politic to gain the favour of both priests and people, by making himself the instrument of their jealousy.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19 Put for stretched, A.V.; afflict for vex, A.V. The…
Put for stretched, A.V.; afflict for vex, A.V. The phrase, About that time, as in Act_19:23, points to what had just before been related (Meyer) The interposition of the narrative in this chapter between Act_11:20 and Act_12:25 evidently implies that the bulk or rather the chief of theevents narrated happened in the interval. Which of the events was the chief in the mind of the narrator with reference to his general narrative, and what are the coincidences which he wished to note, it is not easy to say with certainty. The narrative in this chapter doubtless overlaps at both ends the embassy of Paul and Barnabas, but perhaps the object was to show the harassed state of the Church from famine and persecution at the time that Paul and Barnabas were at Jerusalem. Herod the king here mentioned is Herod Agrippa I, grandson of Herod the Great, and son of Aristobulus and Bernice. During the reign of Tiberius he resided at Rome, in alternate favor and disgrace, sometimes banished, sometimes a prisoner, sometimes a guest at the imperial court. He was a great friend of Caius Caesar Caligula, and, on his succeeding to the empire on the death of Tiberius, was promoted by him to the tetrarchy of Herod Philip, with the title of king. He was further advanced three years afterwards to the tetrarchy of Herod Antipas; and, on the accession of Claudius to the throne, Judaea and Samaria were added to his dominions, which now comprised the whole kingdom of his grandfather, Herod the Great. Agrippa, in spite of his close intimacy with Drusus, Caligula, Claudius, and other Roman magnates, was "exactly careful in the observance of the laws of his country, not allowing a day to pass without its appointed sacrifice;" and he had given proof of his strong Jewish feeling by interposing his whole influence with Caligula to prevent his statue being placed in the holy of holies. This spirit accounts for his enmity against the Church. He was a man of very expensive and luxurious habits, but not without some great qualities.
HOMILETICS.
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Vers. 1-25. The world and the Church.
There is, perhaps, no passage in Holy Scripture which contrasts more sharply the principles of the world and of the Church respectively, and the practice flowing from those principles, than the chapter before us. The results of each stand out no less sharply defined.
I THE WORLDLY PRINCIPLE AND PRACTICE. Not right, or truth, or justice, but sell seeking policy; to gain some selfish end without regard to the will of God or the welfare of man; the unscrupulous use of any means by which the wished-for end can be attained; the employment of craft or violence, according to circumstances; utter contempt for the rights and feelings of others; utter disregard for the happiness of individuals or communities which stand in the way; taking everything into a man"s own hands; in a word, self-will and self-seeking, as the beginning and ending of human action.
II THE CHURCH, OR CHRISTIAN, PRINCIPLE. To do the will of God irrespective of self-will; to love all men, "specially those that are of the household of faith," and consequently to work ill to no man, however great the apparent gain may be; to suffer, rather than do, wrong; to endure evil meekly and patiently; to help and comfort others in their time of need at his own cost; to leave all in the hands of God.
III THE RESULTS OF EACH.
1. The worldly policy ends in failure. The well-laid schemes end in disappointment; momentary successes slide into defeat anal discomfiture; expected glory turns into lasting shame.
2. The Christian practice, on the contrary, though its beginnings may be in clouds and darkness, ends in sunshine and in light. Right has a vital principle in it. It bursts out into success at last. Being linked to the will of God, it partakes of the power and life of God. Momentary shame turns into lasting glory. The cross becomes the crown. See all this exemplified in the history before us. Agrippa was the perfect type of a successful man of the world. The friend of emperors and kings; himself a prosperous king of fair character for the times, of pleasing manners, and considerable power of kingcraft, he stood high among his equals and contemporaries. His liberality and magnificence secured him a fair share of admiration and popularity among his subjects. His zeal for religious observances, his scrupulous performance of the rites and ceremonies of the Jewish Law, brought him a fair amount of respect from the priests and Pharisees of his day. And this popularity was as the breath of his nostrils. To be applauded; to be well spoken of; to be admired; to make a sensation wherever he appeared; to be on terms of friendship with Tiberius, with Drusus, with Caligula, with Claudius; to be a great man among the petty dependent kings of the neighboring countries; and to be an authority with the priests and people of the Jews; all this was his ambition, was what he lived for. As to the means of obtaining it he was not scrupulous. By flatteries, by mean compliances, by large expenditure of money, and even by shedding innocent blood, this end of self-idolatry was to be compassed. The murder of a saint like James, the imprisonment and intended execution of an apostle like Peter, were in his eyes on a par with splendid games or magnificent largesses, as means of purchasing or retaining the good pleasure of the Jews, perhaps with the further design of strengthening his influence with Claudius by showing how he could keep a turbulent province in quiet subjection to imperial Rome. And so at last he seemed to have attained the highest pinnacle of the coveted glory when, all glittering with the silver robe, which reflected the rays of the morning sun, and seated on the bema to make his oration to the people, he was greeted with acclamations which told him he was no longer a mere mortal in their eyes, and that he spoke, not with the voice of a man, but with the voice of God. Five days of agony, and he lay amidst all his splendor a lifeless corpse. Now let us turn to the Church. We have four pictures presented to us of Church life.
3. The love of the Church of Antioch for their unseen brethren of the Church of Jerusalem. They were poor themselves, it is likely; they had dangers, and difficulties, and wants, and necessities: no doubt, at home. But no sooner do they hear of the approaching famine in Judaea than they make collections, every man according to his ability, for the relief of their fellow-Christians, and send two of their most trusted members to carry the gift from Antioch to Jerusalem. Surely a beautiful sight, that loving-cup passed from Gentile to Jew, a pledge of their unity in Jesus Christ.
4. The defense of the Church of Jerusalem against the tyranny of the world. The strong hand of unscrupulous power has slain one of their most valiant leaders. Another greater still is shut up in a dungeon, expecting immediate death. The whole Church is in danger of destruction. It must defend itself against its terrible foe; it must sharpen its sword; it must put on its Armour; it must prepare for the fight. And bow does it do this? Our second picture shows us. It is night. The great city is hushed in sleep; its hum has ceased. The weary are at rest. The prisoner"s eyes are closed in forgetfulness, and all things are shrouded in darkness. But in one house in the city sleep has no place. Under its roof are gathered together many of the soldiers of Jesus Christ. And in that dead hour of the night they are watching unto prayer. From one and another the voice of prayer and supplication is going up to Heaven prayer for Peter"s safety; prayer for the preservation of the Church; prayer for the mighty help of the Holy Ghost; prayer for holy patience; prayer for holy courage; prayer for wisdom how to act and for strength to act; prayer for the weak in faith; prayer for the tempted and irresolute; prayer for their enemies, persecutors, and slanderers; in short, every variety of the cry, "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil!" is breaking the stillness of the night, and is the Church"s preparation for battle and for victory.
We have in these the portraiture of two individual members of God"s Church. The first, James, we see only in his death the blessed death of a martyr of Jesus Christ; a death which tells of the life which went before, and also of the life that shall follow after and have no end. He was a son of thunder in his assaults upon the strongholds of Satan; a witness for Jesus Christ and his cross and his salvation, before the hard materialism of Roman power and the withered formalism of Jewish bigotry and hypocrisy. As we think of him, as of his saintly brother John, we think of the unworldly faith with which, leaving his father and all that he had in this world, he was obedient without delay to the calling of Jesus Christ; we think of the indignant zeal which flashed out when the Master whom he loved was rejected by the Samaritans; we think of him as persevering steadily, through ten years of opposition and contradiction from elders, and priests, and Pharisees, and Sadducees, in the one great purpose for which he lived, at the end of which, as he had long since been warned by the Lord, there was a cup of suffering to be drunk, and a baptism of blood to be baptized with. But he shrank not nor drew back. To him to live was Christ, and to die was gain. And so his end came the end of his toil. But surely he is among those whom his brother John saw in vision half a century afterwards: "I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the Word of God, and they lived and reigned with Christ s thousand years." Blessed in his death and glorious in his resurrection, he will shine forth with a brighter glory in the kingdom of his Father than Agrippa his murderer did in his silver robe of marvelous texture in the theatre of Caesarea. Our last portrait is that of Simon Peter, the Galilaean fisherman, called by Jesus Christ to be fisher of men. What a life was his! gathering three thousand souls into his net at the very first haul; laying the foundations of that building which during eighteen centuries and a half has gone on growing towards those vast proportions which will at last fill the whole earth and mingle with the skies in its length, and breadth, and depth, and height; unlocking the gates of the kingdom of heaven with his keys of office for myriads and millions to enter in. What a life of toil and danger! journeying, preaching, healing, teaching, like his Divine Master before him, with his life ever in his hand; now escaping, now returning to the scene of persecution, but always intent upon the work of Christ. Ah! surely he has fallen at last; the hand of the tyrant has found him out. He is fast in prison. He is fastened with two chains to his jailors. He is sleeping his last sleep on earth. To-morrows sun will rise upon him for the last time, and before it is noon he will have joined his brother James in the land where all things are forgotten. So thought man. So thought the Jews. So thought Agrippa. So thought Peter himself when he closed his eyes in sleep under the protection of God s wings. So had God not ordained, The night watches had advanced. The great city lay in stillness and darkness. The sons of toil and of pleasure had all left the busy thoroughfares, and the streets were a desert. But lo! the iron gate of the prison opens noiselessly upon its hinges, and two men issue forth into the open way. They walk rapidly along, and then one vanishes and only one is left. He stops for a moment"s thought, and then goes to the house of Mary. Yet another moment, and he is in the midst of a praying Church, which he never thought to have seen again in the flesh; and the brethren are all around their great primate, whom they thought to have seen no more forever. It was a great surprise. But how great the joy to know that it was God"s doing! Now they knew that their dangers, their sorrows, their fears, and their prayers, were all known of God. Now they knew that their lives were precious in God"s sight, and that he that was for them was stronger than he that was against them. Peter"s hour was not yet come; his work was not yet finished, and till it was, all the power of Herod and all the expectation of the people of the Jews would be baffled and disappointed, not a hair of his head should perish; and instead of the Church being wasted and destroyed, the Word of God should grow and multiply. It is growing and multiplying still. Peter"s work is not yet finished. What he began is still going on. The overseers are still feeding the flock of Christ; and they with him, when the chief Shepherd shall appear, shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.
HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON.
Vers. 1-19, 24. Sin in high places.
Sin has many aspects, and it is not only curious but instructive to see how it shows itself under different conditions. Here we have it manifesting its evil spirit in "high places." Herod"s action at this juncture reminds us of
I ITS CONTEMPTUOUSNESS. "Herod stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the Church" (ver. 1). He did not stay to inquire whether these men were in the right or not. They had with them the most convincing credentials strong evidence, miraculous power, a truth which met the necessities of the human heart and life; but all this went for nothing. From his place of power he looked down superciliously on this new "way," and with a light heart he determined to vex its adherents. How often does a high place beget an unseemly, unwholesome, injurious arrogance which, smiting others, inflicts a deathblow on itself.
II ITS BRUTALITY. "And he killed James... with the sword" (ver. 2). What was the life of an enthusiast to him? "He commanded that the keepers should be put to death" (ver. 19). What signified it to him that a few soldiers were executed? It would not spoil his meal nor disturb his slumber that, at his bidding, a few of his fellow-men had their lives cut short and that their families and friends were mourning. This was the spirit of the age, an unchristian age: it was especially the spirit of human tyranny. The ruler on his throne, too often attained by violence and cunning, was indifferent to the blood he shed, to the rights he violated, to the sorrows he caused. Such has been the history of sin in high places from the beginning until now, from one end of the earth to the other.
III ITS MEANNESS. "Because he saw it pleased the Jews," he proceeded further (ver. 3) in the same course. What a miserable reason for imprisonment and execution of subjects! Not because any crime had been committed, or any folly wrought, or any danger incurred; but because it pleased the Jews, more violence was to be done, more wrong inflicted, more grief and lamentation called forth. To such shameful depth will sin in high places stoop, "justice" prostituting its high vocation (1Pe_2:14) to win a mean and despicable popularity at the expense of innocence and truth.
IV ITS IMPOTENCE.
1. How vain are bolts and bars to shut in a man whom God intends to be his agent among men! (vers. 4-10; see Act_5:19 Act_16:26)
2. How vain are swords to slay and prison doors to confine the living truth of God! A James may be killed and a Peter imprisoned, but the chapter which narrates these incidents of human tyranny does not close without recording that "the Word of God grew and multiplied." We may learn these two lessons.
(1) We may well be contented with our humbler lot. Obscurity and comparative powerlessness are far less attractive to an ordinary eye than eminence and power. But who of us can say that a "high place" might not prove to be a "slippery place," wherein virtue and purity would fall, never to rise again; or on which some of the finer graces would be dulled and dimmed, even if some of the sadder sins were not nourished and practiced?
(2) We may well rejoice to be on the side of the Lord our Savior. His cause will meet with such checks as this chapter records; there will be times when his disciples will mourn the loss of one champion and be alarmed for the safety of another; but unhoped-for deliverance will come, God will appear for us in ways we dare not expect, and the end will be the growth and multiplying of his living and life-giving Word. C.
Vers. 1-19, 25. The strength and weakness of Christian discipleship.
These verses bring out very strikingly the fact that there is both power and weakness in us who are the followers of Christ. We see it
I IN APOSTOLIC FUNCTIONS. The apostles of our Lord were invested by their Divine Master with unusual powers. The Holy Ghost descended upon them and conferred great gifts on them. (see Act_5:15, 16 9:31-41) Peter was the chief channel through which this Divine efficacy flowed. But while he was charged to do such great things for others, he was not permitted to do anything for himself; his function of working miracles stopped when he was personally concerned; he was not at liberty to open a bolted prison door that he himself might escape. We may find a certain illustration of this strength and weakness in the case of those who have such strength to arouse the souls and stir the activities of others, but who are painfully and pitifully weak in con- trolling their own spirit.
II IN APOSTOLIC AND ORDINARY CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE. One short verse (ver. 2) disposes of the fate of the Apostle James. We have no graphic account, as in Stephen"s case, of his martyrdom. But it is enough that we know the event. We naturally place it beside the predictive words of the Lord. (Mar_10:38, 39) And we see here how weak and yet how strong Christian discipleship can be. Weak enough
(1) to cherish a mistaken ambition; (Mar_10:37)
(2) to under-estimate altogether the sufferings of its Lord they said, We can;
(3) to under-estimate the severity of its own martyr-witness, for James and John had little thought at that time of the future that was in store for them. Strong enough to accept with cheerfulness the trying lot when called upon to endure it. We may take it, though we are not told it, that James drank without a moment"s hesitation the bitter cup of sudden and violent death when Herod"s sword was drawn to slay him. How frequently do we find the same thing with us now! At one hour, the weakness of serious misconception of Christian truth or of Christian life, or, it may be, serious failure to attain the spirit or illustrate the principle of Christ; at another hour, beautiful resignation to the will, or admirable exemplification of the truth, or noble devotedness to the work, of the Lord.
1. We should not judge hastily; the error or shortcoming of one period may be more than redeemed by the excellency or even heroism of another.
2. We need not be exceedingly depressed by our own failure; we should be truly penitent when really at fault, but we may hope that, further on, our Master will give us an opportunity of drinking of his cup, of having fellowship with his sufferings.
III IN THE MATTER OF DEVOTION. "Prayer was made without ceasing of the Church unto God for Peter" (ver. 5). It may be confidently concluded that the "many who were gathered together praying at Mary s house (ver. 12) were asking for his deliverance. His escape, then, should have been the very thing they were expecting. If their strength had not been exercised in weakness, they would have anticipated the knock at the door, which they refused to believe was from the hand of Peter. We know how great was their astonishment that their prayers were heard and answered (vers. 15, 16). Prayer is the strength of the Christian man, of the Christian Church; but when in the very act and exercise of this our privilege and power, how great is our weakness! for how unspiritual is, too often, our word! how languid our strain! how slight our hope! how faint and feeble our expectation!
IV IN OUR RELATIONS WITH OUR FELLOWS. (Ver. 25.) Barnabas and Saul returned from their ministry in Jerusalem, carrying with them the blessings of the poor whom they had relieved. But they also carried with them one, John Mark, who was to be the occasion of a bitter quarrel and a lifelong separation. While they were rejoicing in their hearts that the ties between the brethren of Antioch and Jerusalem were so happily, strengthened there stood by their side a man whose action was to cut in twain the bond which bound them in loving and active brotherhood. As fellow-members of the Church, we feel and do many things which bring out into bold relief our most Godlike affections and aspirations; but as those who worship and work side by side, we often do things which give displeasure to our Lord and should give pain to ourselves. C.
HOMILIES BY E. JOHNSON Vers. 1-25. The persecution at Jerusalem.
I THE PUTTING TO DEATH OF JAMES, AND THE SEIZURE OF PETER. The narrative of the former event is short and dry. But, remarks a commentator, whatever the reason of this may be, it is certain that the Holy Spirit, by whose inspiration this history was given, manifested a peculiar wisdom in this very brevity. The holy silence is a sign to us that that which is highest and most pleasing to God is not precisely that of which men love to know and speak. "Our life is hid with Christ in God." The peculiar life in life, and the holy dying in death, these are hidden with Christ in God, not merely from the world, but from the children of God; precious, nevertheless, before God, a work following the soul into eternity. The frivolous persecutor, who has been an enemy of the Jews, now, to please them, sacrifices the Christians. The cruelty and frivolity of tyrants has been permitted to work much evil and cause much bloodshed. Our only consolation in meditating on such facts is to reflect that Christianity is an ideal system, and has compensations not of this world.
II THE DELIVERANCE OF PETER.
1. His imprisonment fell in the days of unleavened bread the Passover-time; doubtless reminding him, not only of the passion and resurrection of the Savior, but of his own frailty and denial of him. Now was the prophecy of Jesus fulfilled: "Hereafter thou shalt follow me." All in the scene, the memories, the immediate prospects before Peter"s mind disposed him to sad and serious thought.
The strong guard placed over him seems to bear witness to the respect felt for his person, the fear of his influence. The parts of the prisoner and that of the tyrant are often really reversed; he is at peace, they tremble when they have him most in their power. Behind the scene a purpose was working mightier than all human force. The persecutors intended to bring him after the Passover feast; but God intends to save him. Herod plots Peter"s death, while God wills the preservation of Peter and the death of the murderer. Another view of spiritual force working to counteract physical force is given in the statement of the unceasing prayer of the Church on Peter"s behalf. "God can refuse nothing to a praying Church." One true prayer can strike down the whole power of hell; why not Herod with his sixteen soldiers?" "By the blood and prayers of Christians Herod"s arm was maimed, his scepter broken, and the Roman empire brought to ruins." Peter in the prison may remind us to pray, "That it may please thee to show pity upon all prisoners and captives!" Meanwhile Peter sleeps; as a child flung into the strong arms of a father, so in the extremity of his distress he has flung himself on God, and rests. And over hint Divine love watches with all the tenderness of the parent"s eye and heart.
2. The delivering angel. The angels are ministers of God to the bodies and souls of the "heirs of salvation." Whether we speak of angels, or of instruments, or providential means, the truth at bottom is the same. All agents and instruments may be considered Divine which are set in motion by the Divine power and love, and providentially meet the need of the hour. So too the shining effulgence which accompanies the angel"s visit. We do not expect such phenomena now; but the light in the heart, the joy which comes of having surrendered the soul to God and of being conscious of his presence, is not less real than ever. "To the upright there ariseth light in the darkness." We may if we please allegorize what follows to our own account. "Arise quickly!" and the chains fell from his hands. For the word of the Lord no iron is too hard, no stone nor bolt too strong. There are worse prisons than those of stone.
Stone walls do not a prison make, Nor iron bars a cage.
It is our own fettered thoughts which cramp and. oppress the soul Again, with the Divine command, "Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals," the power to obey comes. And so again when he is bidden to cast around him his garment and to follow. A reason, attentive to the smallest details, is discovered in every call to duty and freedom. And all this passes as in a dream. So often when swift help and wondrous deliverances come by the Divine hand. "When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we wore as them that dreamed." So doubtless in the last conflict, the escape from life and all its troubles will appear as a dream to the departing soul. So swiftly on, through the first and second guard, to the iron gate leading into the city, which opens of its own accord; the street is reached, and the angel departs. The extraordinary and the marvelous lasts no longer than it is needed. We are governed and guided by constant law, which is the expression of loving and constant will. We are taught by experience to build on the constancy of law; but lest we should adore law instead of God, he appears from time to time from behind law, as will, personality, love. The knowledge left behind on Peter"s mind is that God has interfered for his deliverance from the hands of his enemies. That is the lesson for us, whenever by a change of circumstances, not to be foreseen and not to be commanded by human forethought, God"s ways with us give rise in retrospect and reflection to thankfulness. We see not the good hand that is leading us, the wisdom that causes all things to work together for good, before we have reached the goal and end of his purpose.
III PETER"S REUNION WITH THE DISCIPLES.
1. Notice the coincidences of events. For his refreshment, Peter is led from the cold prison and the rough society of soldiers into that of praying brethren. And they who had been in the depth of trouble because of his supposed loss, behold the beloved brother in the midst of them for the strengthening of their faith.
2. The struggle of faith with unbelief. Here, though they had been praying, and praying doubtless for Peter"s release, when the answer comes, they find it difficult to accept and believe. How true is this to the human heart! People are not conscious that they are not quite sincere in their prayers until some event like this brings them face to face with their own thought. When Rhoda tells the simple news of joy, they reply, "Thou art mad!" Faith in the heart says, "God can work wonders if he will;" an opposite feeling says, It is not likely that he will work them." A man may argue, "My faith in the goodness of God is shadowy, but my faith in the constancy of his laws in nature is absolute: it is the contrast of one faith with another." We cannot find a solution to this contradiction; but it does seem in the course of events as if it were solved for us by a higher light and leading.
3. The result. Peter continues knocking, till those within open, see him, and are astounded. After grasping their hands in friendship, he tells the story of his deliverance, bids them repeat it to James and the brethren, then departs to another place. So had the Lord commanded. (Mat_10:13) The protection of Providence does not supersede the exercise of caution and prudence; it should rather encourage us to observe these. By removing Peter, the main pillar of the community, the Church was taught that no one man was indispensable to its existence and welfare. They were to learn to stand without him. The break of day brought a great disturbance among the soldiers. What had become of Peter?" Herod takes prompt measures for his arrest, and betakes himself to Caesarea. So ends an episode of apostolic history. We may extract from it the following lessons:
(1) The time of trial is the time of Divine education. Faith in the trial of fire is proved more precious than the gold which perisheth. "Count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations.
(2) Brotherly love in affliction, in watching and waiting power of soul in rest and endurance; Divine power in healing and saving; these are the fruits and energies which spring up in the soil of persecution: these the "precious pearls for which men dive in sorrow"s sacred stream.
(3) The arms and defenses of the Church against its foes are unflinching courage in witness, calm patience in suffering, unwearied urgency in prayer. J.
HOMILIES BY R.A. REDFORD Vers. 1-19. Herodian persecution of the Church.
Connection of events showing the working of Divine providence. After Stephen"s murder, Caligula persecuted the Jews; hence the diversion of their enmity coincident with conversion of Saul On the accession of Claudius, a time of comparative peace. Appointment of Herod Agrippa renewed their hopes; hence their attempt to crush the Church. The contrast between the Jews and the Christians is seen at this point. They put themselves in the hands of Agrippa, appointed successor to Herod Philip, with the whole Syrian province under him, by their persecutor Caligula, and lately under Claudius, receiving Judaea and Samaria; so that he was equal in power to his grandfather, Herod the Great. He was a shameless blasphemer, and feared neither God nor man. Yet the Jewish rulers, in their exasperation, incited him against the Christians. The simplicity of the narrative testifies to the simplicity and sincerity of the disciples. The second martyrdom has only a single line given to it. But how eloquent the silence! The position of Peter was a more prominent one. Herod"s wickedness became bolder. He aimed a blow at the very leader of the Church. Contrast the two histories of James and John one so early cut off, the other surviving to the end of the century. The narrative illustrates
I THE SUPERINTENDING CARE OF GOD OVER HIS PEOPLE,
II THE TOWER OF FAITH IN SUSTAINING COURAGE AND CALMNESS IN TIME OF TRIAL. Peter slept.
III THE EFFICACY OF PRAYER,
IV THE CONTRAST BETWEEN THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND THE KINGDOM OF THIS WORLD.
1. The ease of Divine victory.
2. The peaceful brotherhood over against the cruel tyranny of Herod.
3. The manifestation of the Spirit contrasted with the vain show of power and display of authority. Withdrawment of Herod to Caesarea a sign of defeat. R.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv1, 5, 7, 12, 19 Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth…
Act_12:1-19
Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the Church.
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Herod the king
The previous life of this prince had been full of strange vicissitudes. The son of Aristobulus and Bernice, grandson of Herod the Great, brother of the Herodias who appears in the gospel history, named after the statesman who was the chief minister of Augustus, he had been sent, after his father had fallen a victim (B.C. 6) to his grandfathers suspicions, to Rome, partly perhaps as a hostage, partly to be out of the way of Palestine intrigues. There he had grown up on terms of intimacy with the prince afterwards known as Caligula. On the marriage of Herod Antipas with his sister, he was made the ruler of Tiberias, but soon quarrelled with the tetrarch, and went to Rome, and, falling under the displeasure of Tiberius, as having rashly given utterance to a wish for the succession of Caligula, was imprisoned by him, and remained in confinement till the death of that emperor. When Caligula came to the throne he loaded his friend with honours, gave him the tetrarchies first of Philip, and then that of Lysanias (Luk_3:1), and conferred on him the title of king. Antipas, prompted by Herodias, came to Rome to claim a like honour for himself, but fell under the emperors displeasure, and was banished to Lugdunum in Gaul, whither his wife accompanied him. His tetrarchy also was conferred on Agrippa. Coins are extant, minted at Caesarea, and bearing inscriptions in which he is styled the Great King, with the epithets sometimes of Philo-Caesar, sometimes of Philo-Claudios. At the time when Caligulas insanity took the form of a resolve to place his statue in the temple at Jerusalem, Agrippa rendered an essential service to his people, by using all his influence to deter the emperor from carrying his purpose into execution, and, backed as he was by Petronius, the Governor of Syria, was at last successful. On the death of Caligula, Claudius, whose claims to the empire he had supported, confirmed him in his kingdom. When he came to Judaea, he presented himself to the people in the character of a devout worshipper, and gained their favour by attaching himself to the companies of Nazarites (as we find St. Paul doing in Act_21:26) when they came to the temple to offer sacrifices on the completion of their vows. It would seem that he found a strong popular excitement against the believers in Christ, caused probably by the new step which had recently been taken in the admission of the Gentiles, and fomented by the Sadducean priesthood, and it seemed to him politic to gain the favour of both priests and people, by making himself the instrument of their jealousy. (Dean Plumptre.)
James, Herod, and Peter
How strangely our prayers are sometimes answered! James and John had prayed that they might sit, the one on the right and the other on the left of the Lord when He came to His kingdom. And now the cup and the baptism came to James in the form of a terrible and disgraceful martyrdom. May I covet the best gift, not the most conspicuous position. May I keep in remembrance that they at the front fall first. But may I not shrink from the front if it be the will of the Lord to assign me that position. Peter was kept in prison. Kept in prison! All work suspended, and apparently all usefulness at an end. Peter, the most active of them. What does the Lord mean? This question comes up so often in Christian experience. To suffer James to be killed and Peter to be imprisoned would not be our way of propagating the Church. Now, I pray that I may never be scared for the cause of Christ. For my personal comfort let me learn from Peters case that the Lord may not always keep me out of the hands of the enemy, but He will keep those hands from destroying me. I may see the two soldiers to whom I am chained, blot not the ones that in secret are pouring out prayers for me. Oh, the unknown helpers! The unseen forces of the universe are stronger than the visible agencies. (C. F. Deems, LL. D.)
The martyrdom of James
One might have expected more than a clause to be spared to tell the death of a chief man, and the first martyr amongst the apostles. I think the lessons of the fact, and of the slight way in which the writer of this book refers to it, may perhaps be most pointedly brought out if we take four contrasts--James and Stephen, James and Peter, James and John, James and James. Now, if we take these four I think we shall learn something.
I. First, then, James and Stephen. Look at the different scale on which the incidents of the deaths of these two are told; the martyrdom of the one is beaten out over chapters, the martyrdom of the other is crammed into a corner of a sentence. And yet, of the two men, the one who is the less noticed filled the larger place officially, and the other was only a simple deacon and preacher of the Word. The fact that Stephen was the first Christian to follow his Lord in martyrdom is not sufficient to account for the extraordinary difference. The Bible cares so little about the people whom it names because its true theme is the works of God, and not of man; and the reason why the Acts of the Apostles kills off one of the first three apostles in this fashion is simply that, as the writer tells us, his theme is all that Jesus continued to do and to teach after He was taken up. Since it is Christ who is the true actor, it matters uncommonly little what becomes of James or of the other ten. What is the reason why so disproportionate a space of the gospel is concerned with the last two days of our Lords life on earth? What is the reason why years are leaped over in silence and moments are spread out in detail, but that the death of a man is only a death, but the death of the Christ is the life of the world? James sleeps none the less sweetly in his grave, or, rather, wakes none the less triumphantly in heaven because his life and death are both so scantily narrated. If we self-infold the large results of faithful service, we need not trouble ourselves about its record on earth. But another lesson which may be learned from this cursory notice of the apostles martyrdom is--how small a thing death really is! Looked at from beside the Lord of life and death, which is the point of view of the author of this narrative, great death dwindles to a very little thing. We need to revise our notions if we would understand how trivial it really is. From a mountain top the country below seems level plain, and what looked like an impassable precipice has dwindled to be indistinguishable. The triviality of death, to those who look upon it from the heights of eternity, is well represented by these brief words which tell of the first breach thereby in the circle of the apostles.
II. There is another contrast, James and Peter. Now this chapter tells of two things: one, the death of one of that pair of friends; the other, the miracle that was wrought for the deliverance of the other from death. Why should James be slain, and Peter miraculously delivered? A question easily asked; a question not to be answered by us. We may say that the one was more useful for the development of the Church than the other. But we have all seen lives that, to our poor vision, seemed to be all but indispensable, ruthlessly swept away, and lives that seemed to be, and were, perfectly profitless, prolonged to extreme old age. We may say that maturity of character, development of Christian graces, made the man ready for glory. But we have all seen men struck down when anything but ready. Only we may be sure of this, that James was as dear to Christ as Peter was, and that there was no greater love shown in sending the angel that delivered the one from the expectation of Herod and the people of the Jews, than was shown in sending the angel that stood behind the headsman and directed the stroke of the fatal sword on the neck of the other. James escaped from Herod when Herod slew him, and could not make him unfaithful to his Master, and his deliverance was not less complete than the deliverance of his friend. But let us remember, too, that if thus, to two equally beloved, there be dealt out these two different fates, it must be because that evil, which, as I said, is not so big as it looks, is not so bitter as it tastes either; and there is no real evil, for the loving heart, in the stroke that breaks its bands and knits it to Jesus Christ. The contrast of James and Peter may teach us the equal love that presides over the life of the living and the death of the dying.
III. Another contrast is that of James and John. The close union and subsequent separation by this martyrdom of that pair of brothers is striking and pathetic. By death they were separated so far: the one the first of all the apostles to become a prey to Satans rage, the other lingering out his fellows all, and dying in bloodless age, living to be a hundred years old and more, and looking back through all the long parting to the brother who had joined with him in the wish that even Messiahs kingdom should not part them, and yet had been parted so soon and parted so long. Ah! may we not learn the lesson that we should recognise the mercy and wisdom of the ministry of death the separator, and should tread with patience the lonely road, do calmly the days work, and tarry till He comes, though those that stood beside us be gone.
IV. Lastly, James and James. In his hot youth, when he deserved the name of a son of thunder--so energetic, boisterous I suppose, destructive perhaps, he was--he and his brother, and their foolish mother, whose name is kindly not told us, go to Christ and say, Grant that we may sit, the one on Thy right hand and the other on Thy left, in Thy kingdom. That was what he wished and hoped for, and what he got was years of service, and a taste of persecution, and finally the swish of the headsmans sword. Yes! And so our dreams get disappointed, and their disappointment is often the road to their fulfilment, for Jesus Christ was answering the prayer, Grant that we may sit on Thy right hand in Thy kingdom, when He called him to Himself, by the brief and bloody passage of martyrdom. So let us leave for ourselves, and for all dear ones, that question of living or dying to Him. Only let us be sure that whether our lives be long like Johns, or short like Jamess, living or dying we are the Lords. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Herod vexes the Church
1. The scene changes. After intimating that the door was open among the Greeks, the historian shows us that it was shut among the Jews. By His apostles as well as in His own Person Christ came to His own, and His own received Him not.
2. The king who appears here was mild in his natural temper, but fond of popularity. The persecution was not of his own motion, but to please the Jews, as was the case with Pilate.
3. Keeping Judas out of view--this is the first breach in the apostolic circle. The Church had learned to walk by faith, and even the fall of an apostle will not crush them now. In the case of James, the Lord shows that He will not always interfere to protect His servants, and in the case of Peter that He will sometimes, lest the spirit should fail before Him. This first apostolic martyrdom marks a law of the kingdom, and illustrates the Masters word, My kingdom is not of this world. Not an inch of territory will Christ maintain for Himself by the sword.
4. Observing that no Divine power was put forth, either to protect James or to avenge him, and finding that one murder procured him favour, Herod determined to perpetrate another. Peter was imprisoned, but the remainder of the kings wrath it pleased God in this instance to restrain. Peter was kept in prison, but prayer was made, etc.
a remarkable antithesis. Man proposes, but God disposes; and the prayer of faith reaches the Disposers hand. James was suddenly seized and taken off, but there was time to pray for Peter. God opened the door of opportunity through Herods desire to keep all quiet till after the passover; the Church eagerly entered that door.
5. Peter meanwhile was sleeping, and his sleep brought as much glory to God as his wakefulness, although he had sung psalms till the rafters rang again. He slept in Gethsemane through weakness of the flesh: he sleeps here through the strength of his faith. How sweet to lie down every night ready, if the Lord will, to awake in heaven! (W. Arnot, D. D.)
Herod and Peter
I. Herods persecution.
1. Now about that time--we know that troubles never come alone. A time of famine was prophesied (Act_11:28). Famine might kill slowly; Herod would find a quicker way! How well it would have been when Herod stretched forth his hand to have kept it there! Such would be our way. Gods thought has a wider compass, and He needs more time for the exemplification of His purpose.
2. He killed James the brother of John with the sword. This was not a Jewish method of killing people. But what is crime if it cannot be inventive? What if a king cannot take a short cut to the consummation of his purpose? Beheading is quicker than stoning! The wicked cannot wait. They need no further condemnation. Justice can wait. Though hand join in hand the wicked cannot go unpunished.
3. Having performed this trick of cruelty, Herod proceeded further. That is the natural history of wickedness! It gathers momentum as it goes. You cannot stop with one murder. You acquire the bad skill, and your fingers become nimble in the use of cruel weapons. Murder does not look so ghastly when you have done it once. How many people have you murdered? Murder is heartbreaking; life-blighting; hope-destroying! He proceeded further. The one glass needs another to keep it company. Crimes do not like solitude; and so one crime leads to another. If you calf do one sin, the whole life is lost. We are not thieves because of a thousand thefts; we are not liars because of a thousand lies; we find our criminality in the opening sin. Therefore, what I say unto one, I say unto all, Watch!
4. Because he saw it pleased the Jews. There are those who like to see you play the fool and the criminal, but what will they do for you in the critical hour? All the while Herod thought he was king; in reality he was a slave. Sometimes the judge has been the prisoner. Sometimes the conqueror has been the loser. Herod lived upon the popular pleasure. Therein he tarnished his crown, and sold his kingdom, and lost his soul!
II. Peters deliverance. In verse 5 there is a pitched battle. Read it: Peter therefore was kept in prison: there is one side of the fight; after the colon--but prayer was made without ceasing of the Church unto God for him. Now for the shock of arms! Who wins? Prayer always wins. You can only be of a contrary opinion when you take in too little field. There is no action of any importance that is bounded by a single day. Such prayer as this is irrepressible. The prayers you could keep down if you liked will never be answered. This prayer was answered by a miracle, in which observe--
1. Last extremities (verse 6). Have we not been in that very same darkness, when we were to be injured, or impoverished, not seven years from date, but the next day? Have we not taken up the pieces of the one loaf and said, This is all? So far, then, you have no difficulty about the miracle.
2. Appearances dead against us. Thus--two soldiers, two chains, and the keepers keeping the door before the prison! These were compliments to Peter! The devil cannot avoid paying us compliments all the time he is trying to destroy us. Why all this arrangement about a man like Peter? Why all these temptations addressed to a man like one of us? It is a reluctant but significant tribute to the character whose destruction is contemplated. Have not appearances been dead against us? No letters, no friends, no answer to the last appeal, no more energy, no more hope, the last staff snapped in two. So far the miracle is true.
3. Unexpected deliverers. Have we no experience here? Is it not always the unexpected man who delivers and cheers us? But a certain Samaritan came where he was, that is the whole history of human deliverance in one graphic sentence. Mans extremity is Gods opportunity. It is always darkest before the dawn. All our life properly read is a chain of unexpectedness. Deliverance shall arise from an unthought of quarter!
4. Spiritual transport (verse 11). Have we not sometimes taken down our harp from the willows and struck it to some new tone of joy and gladness and hope? Peter did not understand this miracle at first. He thought he saw a vision. And when Peter was come to himself he said--that is the point we must wait for. We are not ourselves just now. Our eyes are dazed by cross lights, and we cannot see things in their right proportion, distance, and colour. Do not let us imagine that we are now speaking final words or giving final judgments. Innumerable visions float before my wondering eyes. The righteous are trodden down; the bad man has a plentiful table. The little child is torn from its mothers arms. What is it? When we are come to ourselves we shall know and praise the Lord, whose angels have been our ministering servants! (J. Parker, D. D.)
Herod and Peter
I. The value of small accuracies in the expressions of the inspired history. Paley places the first verse among his evidences of Christianity, because Herod is called the king. For he declares that there was never a period, for more than thirty years previously, nor was there ever subsequently at Jerusalem one who wielded such authority as entitled him to the name of monarch. No one except this Herod, and he only during the last three years of his life, could have been properly called the king.
II. How little the New Testament makes of the martyrdom of even the best of men. Only two words in the Greek describe Jamess execution: killed--sword. The Bible does not dwell upon the deaths of Christians so much as upon their lives. Whitefield used to remark, You will have no dying testimony from me, you must take my living witness for my blessed Lord.
III. That there is a limit set to the wickedness of the wickedest of opposers (verse 3). Herod was a time server and a trimmer. His political motto is found in It pleased the Jews. He thought he had made a hit when he slew Johns brother. But even in that crime he only helped to fulfil a prophecy of Christ (Mar_10:39). So Herod proceeded further; but all he was suffered to do was to take Peter. There he had to pause before a higher power. The all-wise God permits sin to move on for a while, but He may be trusted to interpose when the time for restraining wrath arrives (Psa_76:10).
IV. That prayer is the welcome instrument of communication between separated friends (verse 5). A friend when I was abroad sent me a letter with a triangle in it. At the top of it he wrote the mercy seat; and drew for the base a rough wavy mark, which he meant for the ocean; then he wrote his initials at one angle and mine at the other. He felt that I knew that the shortest path to those we love is around via heaven, where our faithful High Priest is to receive our petitions.
V. That true religious trust is always tranquil and undismayed (verse 6). Peter must have understood that he was now in the power of a wild bad man. He could not expect to fare any better than did James. But evidently he was not in the least troubled. This old fisherman meant to have as easy a night of it as was possible with the poor accommodations. He took off his outer garments and sandals before he lay down, as was his habit anywhere. And now think of it: while Herod in the palace was uneasy, and the soldiers wide awake, and the outsiders getting ready for no small stir (vers18), and the disciples holding an agitated prayer meeting, and an angel on the errand of relief, so that it seems to us as if the whole exterior world was disturbed, Peter went quietly into a sweet good sleep as usual. We have no record of his experiences, but we conjecture he said over the old psalm (Psa_34:7).
VI. An affecting illustration of the unhurried exercise of Gods patient power (verse 8). The angel had nothing to fear there in the prison, and he knew Peter could take all of time and care he needed without danger. It was not necessary that he should dress in the dark; the messenger from heaven lit up the room for him, and calmed him with tranquil words of direction; and the apostle put on his shoes and his loose garment before he started. The chains had already been removed so cautiously that they made no clanking. There was no hurry nor confusion; when God takes care of a man, He takes good care. How calm God is in the heavens where He reigns; and how little He respected the ingenuities of Herod (Psa_2:4). We have no wonder that Peter afterwards quoted Isaiahs words with a fresh turn of interpretation after such an experience (1Pe_2:6). The only thing Herod could do the next morning was to kill his own soldiers; Peter was cut of his reach. Why are we so troubled? How calm is the service of such a Saviour as ours (Isa_40:22).
VII. If people are surprised by answers to prayer, it is because they do not consider. Peters conclusion (verse 11) is in edifying contrast with the petulant rebuke which Rhoda received from the Christians (verse 15). He had considered the thing (verse 12). That must be the reason why he was not astonished as they were (verse 16). Rhoda was not mad, only glad. A clearer mind was never known than Peter had, only he had now and then to come to himself, and get his bearings. The one grand conclusion is found well phrased in the remark of Christian in Pilgrims Progress. After some days of useless suffering, he suddenly exclaimed, Why, I have all along had in my bosom a key called Promise, which is able to open any door in Doubting Castle! What is the reason anyone now is afraid of the power of Giant Despair? (C. S. Robinson, D. D.)
A short-lived triumph
We have here a royal persecution in its beginning, progress, and end. We see it in its success, failure, and punishment. We have before us a whole career, in its pride and its humiliation, its triumph and its discomfiture, its short-lived arrogance and its frightful dismay. That is the aspect of the chapter towards them that are without. Its aspect towards the Church within shows what danger, anxiety, and death itself is to the Christian; enough to bring out great graces and to exercise faith and patience, but not enough to make a single true heart doubt where safety, strength, victory lie. Let us look--
I. On the dark side of this picture. There is a king stretching forth his hands to vex certain of the Church.
1. His first act of aggression was directed against an apostle. He killed James the brother of John with the sword. Such is the short record of the first and only apostolical martyrdom of which we have any record in Scripture. Far more was told of the martyrdom of the deacon Stephen. Such is the character of the Scriptures. One thing is dwelt upon and another briefly told. Simplicity, naturalness, undesignedness, absence of rhetorical trick and stage effect, this we notice throughout, and we think we can see it to be of God. Thus one of the chosen witnesses passed away early from his work to his reward. It was scarcely fifteen years, I suppose, since he had first heard that word which had changed him from a fisherman into a fisher of men. He had been one of the favoured few in various striking occurrences of the Saviours life and ministry. He had been one of two brothers, who, in days of ignorant zeal, had proposed to call fire from heaven upon a Samaritan village, and who, again, in days of a no less ignorant ambition, had asked to sit on His right hand and on His left hand in their Masters glory. Boanerges, sons of thunder, He had named them, in days when the impetuosity of nature had not yet been checked by the influence of grace. But now this was past; past too the mighty transformation of Pentecost, and the devoted years of the ministry which that day had opened. To him, first of the brothers, is that prophecy fulfilled, Ye shall drink indeed of My cup, etc. And see how lightly the inspired record passes over that great transition. Not one word of the circumstances. No death bed scene, no dying testimony, save indeed that best of testimonies which the death itself afforded. He had given his life in one sense; now he gave it in another. Nothing is made of it. He did his duty; and to him, as a matter of course, belonged the recompence of the reward.
2. The fate of the next destined victim is widely different. He too seems to be marked out for martyrdom. The appetite for blood is ever whetted by its indulgence. It was a crowded time in Jerusalem: strangers from all parts of the world flocked together to the festival; and the spectacle of an apostles execution was to be their pastime in the intervals of religious duty. Such is religion when it is once possessed and saturated with bigotry, fanaticism, and party zeal! All seemed to promise well and surely for the persecutor and his people. Peter then was kept in the prison: by night and by day he is the one care of sixteen armed men. Surely nothing can elude such vigilance? So might man well judge. There is one, there is but one, impediment, which brings us to--
II. The bright side of the picture.
1. But there was fervent prayer going on by the Church unto God concerning him. Is there not great meaning in that little word but? The Church below was calling in a help, not of man, to counteract mans design. Little would Herod or his friends account of that; but He who neither slumbers nor sleeps has Israel in His keeping, and let no man presume to say, apart from Him, what one day or one night may bring forth!
2. The last night is come, but not gone. Peter sleeps, while the Church prays: it is their time for action, it is his for repose. In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength; Cast all your care upon Him, for He careth for you. What if his martyrdom is to follow close upon that of James, and they who were so lately partners in a fishers calling, and have since been associated in a noble ministry, are to be speedily reunited in a blessedness not of this world--lovely and pleasant in their lives, and even in their deaths not divided?
3. And, behold an angel of the Lord stood near, etc., etc. God does nothing in vain: He begins where man must end, and ends where man can begin. Deliverance achieved, reflection follows. He comes to himself, and to the right conclusion.
4. And whither shall he now betake himself? He knows the deep anxiety with which the Church of which he is a pillar must have regarded his imprisonment; so he bends his steps first to one of the homes of the Church. His knock brings to the door a maiden of the household; not at once to open--for they were hard and evil times, and peril might lurk in the admittance of a stranger--but to hearken to the voice which should tell its errand and report upon it to those within. The voice which calls to her is one well known. She had heard it often, we doubt not, leading the devotions of that pious home: she knew it at once for Peters, and for very joy ran in before she opened. Her tidings were incredible. They said, It is his angel; one of those ministering spirits who have in their charge the heirs of salvation, and who, in the character of the angels of Christs little ones, do always behold the face of His Father who is in heaven. But no; there is no mistake here, and no apparition; the angels office is ended, and Peter himself, in flesh and blood, is seen, when they open, to stand before the gate. Silencing with a motion of the hand their eager and wondering exclamations, he tells his own story and bids them, while he departs elsewhere for security, to carry the report of his miraculous deliverance to James, the Lords brother, and to the brethren at the headquarters of the Church.
III. The narrative would be incomplete without a record of the end of the persecutor and his instruments.
1. Just as when the faithful three were thrown into the furnace, the flame of the fire slew those men who acted as his executioners; even so the activity of Peter was fatal to the soldiers to whose charge he had been consigned. Disappointed rage must have its victim. If it cannot be an apostle, it must be an apostles keeper. But the retribution ends not there.
2. Herod himself goes down from Jerusalem to Caesarea. There was at this time a feud between him and the people of Tyre and Sidon. They were ill able to part with his friendship, and came to him therefore imploring reconciliation. This was the crowning point of Herods triumphs. With an ambition glutted with success, and a vanity inflated by flattery, he appeared gorgeously arrayed. Flattery ran on into impiety, and they all with one accord shouted, It is the voice of a God and not of a man. This cry was the signal of the Divine punishment. Immediately an angel of the Lord smote him, etc.
Conclusion:
1. The chapter before us is an epitome of all history. In it the world and the Church are arrayed on opposite sides, the hosts of God and of Satan being marshalled for the encounter. On the one side there is kingly power, on the other poverty and insignificance; but the one calculates without the Divine arm on which the other depends. For a time the one succeeds, in the end the other wins. Herod is eaten with worms, but the Word of God grows and multiplies.
2. The practical lesson is to learn the power and practise the grace of that effectual fervent prayer which availeth much. (Dean Vaughan.)
And he killed James the brother of John with the sword.--
James noble end, or precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints
I. Before man--a melancholy death.
1. Bloody and cruel: the noble head of the apostle falls under the sword of the executioner.
2. Premature and sudden: he quits this earthly scene before effecting anything important in his apostolic calling.
3. Without glory and quiet: he departs uncelebrated by the world, unpraised even by the Word of God.
II. Before God--a noble end and a beautiful death.
1. He had fulfilled his vocation here below: not how long, but how we live, is the chief matter.
2. He dies in the service of His Lord and preaches as powerfully by his death, as his fellow disciples do by their word.
3. He hastens towards his heavenly destination, whilst he as the first among, the brethren receives the martyrs crown, and is honoured by sitting where he desired at Christs right hand. (K. Gerok.)
The bleeding James and the rescued Peter
or, God leads His people--
I. By many paths.
1. James short hour and Peters long day of work.
2. James sad end and Peters glorious deliverance.
II. To one end.
1. Both promote the kingdom of God--James by his death and Peter by his life.
2. Both carry off the crown of life--James after a short contest, Peter after a long service. (K. Gerok.)
The martyrdom of St. James
As the apostle was led forth to the place of execution the person who had accused him was so touched with the courage and constancy which he displayed, that he repented of what he had done, came and fell down at his feet and earnestly begged pardon of what he had said against him. St. James tenderly raised him up, kissed him and said to him, Peace be to thee, my son, and She pardon of all thy faults. At this, his former accuser publicly professed himself a Christian, and so both were beheaded at the same time. (Clement of Alexandria.)
Early death
1. This is one of those incidents in sacred story which had we lived in the apostolic age would have moved our wonder if it did not shake our faith. The Church is yet in its infancy, and already a chief pillar is moved, leaving the edifice deprived of what was certainly one of its best supports and fairest ornaments--one, in fact, of its twelve precious foundations. What token was there here of Divine love watching over a Divine institution? How shall such a dispensation be reconciled with what we believe of the power, and wisdom, and mercy, and justice, and love, and truth, and faithfulness of God?
2. On the Festival of St. James, we never can do amiss if we refresh our memories by recalling the events of the apostles life. And this is soon done. Originally a disciple of the stern Baptist, and therefore a man of no common earnestness, James was brought to Christ by the report of his brother John--and therefore was the fourth to become a member of the apostolic band. Subsequently, we are shown his former call to apostleship. On him, with his brother, our Lord bestowed the title son of thunder; and (no unapt illustration of the name!) the two proposed to call down fire from heaven on the inhospitable Samaritans. But subsequently there is nothing characteristic recorded of St. James, with the single exception of his ambitious desire for a chief place in the kingdom of Messiah. He was indeed highly distinguished on other occasions--as when he was made a witness of the raising of Jairus daughter, and yet more of our Lords transfiguration. Again, he was with our Lord during His agony, and lastly, he was one of the four who heard His prophecy on the Mount of Olives. But of the characteristic events of his life none are recorded--save his call; the token of a fiery spirit alluded to; his ambitious aspiration; and his death.
3. When we say something similar of other members of the apostolic body and rehearse the meagre chronicle of the recorded lives of the other apostles, we all secretly feel that their unrecorded history must have made full amends, by its fulness and variety, for the scantiness of the gospel record. Thomas in India; Matthew in Ethiopia; Andrew in Scythia; Philip, Bartholomew, and the other James--the life must have been most varied, and doubtless was most eventful. But in the case of James we know that this was not the ease. His history brings home to us the familiar phenomenon of a precious life early shortened--a burning spirit suddenly quenched--a large and a brave heart, which was willing to do and to dare all in his Masters service, early laid to rest; the goodly promise of his youth and early manhood all unfulfilled--the work which he longed to do left unaccomplished--a legacy of tears left to friends and kindred; a subject of wonder and perplexity to all.
4. I do not pretend to have anything of importance to say on this difficult problem.
(1) The uses of bereavement to the survivors have been often insisted upon. No doubt it is a salutary medicine--just as salutary as it is inexpressibly bitter and repugnant to the natural taste. In this way we speak of the death of children especially; but the wonder is greater when men of grand promise are taken away in their prime, especially at any great crisis of affairs. We are more perplexed at the sight of a John Baptist imprisoned at the end of a years ministry, a James beheaded before his ministry on a great scale had begun. Add that the first was slain at the instigation of a dancing girl, and the other at the caprice of a cruel tyrant--and the wonder is complete. Where is the Lord God of Elijah? Will not the wrath of heaven fall on the head of the guilty? Rather--Why was not this prevented, and the life prolonged to the full term of years allotted to man?
(2) But do we not, in all our reasonings on this and similar subjects, confine our regards much too exclusively to this world?--think of time and its concerns, too much; the things of eternity and of God, too little? Since, however, this life is inappreciably short in comparison of the life to come--and the concerns of this world inconceivably petty if contrasted with the concerns of the next; we should, in our meditations on the subject now before us, never fail to give a considerable place to the possible share which the concerns of the other life may have in determining the affairs of this. What shall we say, then, of the deaths of the young and the promising--nay, of those whose promise has begun to ripen into performance--so reasonably as this; that it would certainly appear that they were wanted elsewhere? that their appointed work in another world could no longer be kept waiting for them? that they had done quite enough here below to warrant their removal; and that therefore, and only therefore, they were removed?
(3) Shall we not, too, further open our hearts to the comfortable thought that the race, however brief, may yet have been fully run? that the spirit may have been perfected, although in an increditably short space of time? that the allotted work may have been accomplished, although the bud of life has scarcely yet expanded into a blossom? and that wondering angels may have already carried away the subject of so many tears to the enjoyment of an imperishable crown? (Dean Burgon.)
The quiet disciples of the Lord, how they yet bear testimony for Him
1. Though not by shining gifts, yet by the meek and quiet spirit which is precious in the sight of God.
2. Though not by mighty deeds, yet by patient suffering and holy dying.
3. Though not in the annals of the worlds history, yet in the brotherly circles of the children of God. (K. Gerok.)
Times of trial testing times
Then is tested--
I. The sincerity of faith in suffering and death (verses 1-3).
II. Brotherly love in watching and prayer (verse 5).
III. Spiritual peace in rest and waiting (verse 6).
IV. The power of God in rescuing and helping (verses 7-11). (Florey.)
The weapons of the Church in the contest against its enemies
1. Inflexible courage in witnessing.
2. Quiet patience in suffering.
3. Unwearied perseverance in prayer. (Leonhard and Spiegel.)
Lessons for the Church
The Church--
1. May expect to be attacked by its enemies so long as it has any.
2. Often has had to sustain the loss of leaders who seemed to be almost indispensable.
3. Has had to learn that God will not always interfere to save his servants from death--that ones death may be of more service than his life.
4. Often has had to suffer from those who attacked it simply to curry favour with others.
5. Has been taught that many a seeming calamity has turned out to be a blessing signally manifesting the glory of God.
6. Has found that prayer is its best weapon in fighting with persecution.
7. Has found through prayer that God could overcome the enemies whom it was too weak to encounter. (S. S. Times.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On v1 Chapter 8
Chapter 8
THE DEFEAT OF PRIDE.
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Act_12:1-3; Act_12:23-24
THE chapter at which we have now arrived is very important from a chronological point of view, as it brings the sacred narrative into contact with the affairs of the external world concerning which we have independent knowledge. The history of the Christian Church and of the outside world for the first time clearly intersect, and we thus gain a fixed point of time to which we can refer. This chronological character of the twelfth chapter of the Acts arises from its introduction of Herod and the narrative of the second notable persecution which the Church at Jerusalem had to endure. The appearance of a Herod on the scene and the tragedy in which he was the actor demand a certain amount of historical explanation, for, as we have already noted in the case of St. Stephen five or six years previously, Roman procurators and Jewish priests and the Sanhedrin then possessed or at least used the power of the sword in Jerusalem, while a word had not been heard of a Herod exercising capital jurisdiction in Judaea for more than forty years. Who was this Herod? Whence came he? How does he emerge so suddenly upon the stage? As great confusion exists in the minds of many Bible students about the ramifications of the Herodian family and the various offices and governments they held, we must make a brief digression in order to show who and whence this Herod was concerning whom we are told, -"Now about that time Herod the king put forth his hands to afflict certain of the Church."
This Herod Agrippa was a grandson of Herod the Great, and displayed in the solitary notice of him which Holy Scripture has handed down many of the characteristics, cruel, bloodthirsty, and yet magnificent, which that celebrated sovereign manifested throughout his life. The story of Herod Agrippa his grandson was a real romance. He made trial of every station in life. He had been at times a captive, at times a conqueror. He had at various periods experience, of a prison house and of a throne. He had felt the depths of poverty, and had not known where to borrow money sufficient to pay his way to Rome. He had tasted of the sweetness of affluence, and had enjoyed the pleasures of magnificent living. He had been a subject and a ruler, a dependent on a tyrant, and the trusted friend and councillor of emperors. His story is worth telling. He was born about ten years before the Christian era, and was the son of Aristobulus, one of the sons of Herod the Great. After the death of Herod, his grandfather, the Herodian family were scattered all over the world. Some obtained official positions; others were obliged to shift for themselves, depending on the fragments of the fortune which the great king had left them. Agrippa lived at Rome till about the year 30 A.D., associating with Drusus, the son of the Emperor Tiberius, by whom he was led into the wildest extravagance. He was banished from Rome about that year, and was obliged to retire to Palestine, contenting himself with the small official post of Ædile of Tiberias in Galilee, given him by his uncle Herod Antipas, which he held about the time when our Lord was teaching in that neighbourhood. During the next six years the fortunes of Agrippa were of the most chequered kind. He soon quarrelled with Antipas, and is next found a fugitive at the court of Antioch with the Prefect of the East. He there borrowed from a moneylender the sum of £800 at 12.5 per cent. interest, to enable him to go to Rome and push his interests at the imperial court. He was arrested, however, for a large debt due to the Treasury just when he was embarking, and consigned to prison, whence the very next day he managed to escape, and fled to Alexandria. There he again raised another timely loan, and thus at last succeeded in getting to Rome. Agrippa attached himself to Caligula, the heir of the empire, and after various chances was appointed by him King of Trachonitis, a dominion which Caligula and subsequently Claudius enlarged by degrees, till in the year 41 he was invested with the kingdom of the whole of Palestine, including Galilee, Samaria, and Judaea, of which Agrippa proceeded to take formal possession about twelve months before the events recorded in the twelfth chapter of Acts.
Herods career had been marked by various changes, but in one respect he had been consistent. He was ever a thorough Jew, and a vigorous and useful friend to his fellow-countrymen. We have already noticed that his influence had been used with Caligula to induce the Emperor to forego his mad project of erecting his statue in the Holy of Holies at Jerusalem. Herod had, however, one great drawback in the eyes of the priestly faction at Jerusalem. All the descendants of Herod the Great were tainted by their Edomite blood, which they inherited through him. Their kind offices and support were accepted indeed, but only grudgingly. Herod felt this, and it was quite natural therefore for the newly appointed king to strive to gain all the popularity he could with the dominant party at Jerusalem by persecuting the new sect which was giving them so much trouble. No incident could possibly have been more natural, more consistent with the facts of history, as well as with the known dispositions and tendencies of human nature than that recorded in these words-"Now about that time Herod the king put forth his hands to afflict certain of the Church. And he killed James the brother of John with the sword." Herods act was a very politic one from a worldly point of view. It was a hard dose enough for the Jewish people to swallow, to find a king imposed upon them by an idolatrous Gentile power; but it was some alleviation of their lot that the king was a Jew, and a Jew so devoted to the service of the ruling hierarchy that he was willing to use his secular power to crush the troublesome Nazarene sect whose doctrine threatened for ever to destroy all hopes of a temporal restoration for Israel. Such being the historical setting of the picture presented to us, let us apply ourselves to the spiritual application and lessons of this incident in apostolic history. We have here a martyrdom, a deliverance, and a Divine judgment, which will all repay careful study.
I. A martyrdom is here brought under our notice, and that the first martyrdom among the apostles. Stephens was the first Christian martyrdom, but that of James was the first apostolic martyrdom. When Herod, following his grandfathers footsteps, would afflict the Church, "he killed James the brother of John with the sword." We must carefully distinguish between two martyrs of the same name who have both found a place in the commemorations of Christian hope and love. May-day is the feast devoted to the memory of St. Philip and St. James, July 25th is the anniversary consecrated to the memorial of St. James the Apostle, whose death is recorded in the passage now under consideration. The latter was the brother of John and son of Zebedee; the former was the brother or cousin, according to the flesh, of our Lord. St. James the Apostle perished early in the Churchs history. St. James the Just flourished for more than thirty years after the Resurrection. He lived indeed to a comparatively advanced period of the Churchs history, as is manifest from a study of the Epistle which he wrote to the Jewish Christians of the Dispersion. He there rebukes shortcomings and faults, respect for the rich and contempt of the poor, oppression and outrage and irreverence, which could never have found place in that first burst of love and devotion to God which the age of our Herodian martyr witnessed, but must have been the outcome of long years of worldly prosperity and ease. James the Just, the stern censor of Christian morals and customs, whose language indeed in its severity has at times caused one-sided and narrow Christians much trouble, must often have looked back with regret and longing to the purer days of charity and devotion when James the brother of John perished by the sword of Herod.
Again, we notice about this martyred apostle that, though there is very little told us concerning his life and actions, he must have been a very remarkable man. He was clearly remarkable for his Christian privileges. He was one of the apostles specially favoured by our Lord. He was admitted by Him into the closest spiritual converse. Thus we find that, with Peter and John, James the Apostle was one of the three selected by our Lord to behold the first manifestation of His power over the realms of the dead when He restored the daughter of Jairus to life; with the same two, Peter and John, he was privileged to behold our Saviour receive the first foretaste of His heavenly glory upon the Mount of Transfiguration; and with them too he was permitted to behold his great Master drink the first draught of the cup of agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. James the Apostle had thus the first necessary qualification for an eminent worker in the Lords vineyard. He had been admitted into Christs most intimate friendship, he knew much of his Lords will and mind. And the privileges thus conferred upon St. James had not been misused or neglected. He did not hide his talent in the dust of idleness, nor wrap it round with the mantle of sloth. He utilised his advantages. He became a foremost, if not indeed the foremost worker for his loved Lord in the Church of Jerusalem, as is intimated by the opening words of this passage, which tells us that when Herod wished to harass and vex the Church he selected James the brother of John as his victim; and we may be sure that with the keen instinct of a persecutor, Herod selected not the least prominent and useful, but the most devoted and energetic champion of Christ to satisfy his cruel purpose. And yet, though James was thus privileged and thus faithful and thus honoured by God, his active career is shrouded thick round with clouds and darkness. We know nothing of the good works and brave deeds and powerful sermons he devoted to his Masters cause. We are told simply of the death by which he glorified God. All else is hidden with God till that day when the secret thoughts and deeds of every man shall be revealed. This incident in early apostolic Church history is a very typical one, and teaches many a lesson very necessary for these times and for all times. If an apostle so privileged and so faithful was content to do work, and then to pass away without a single line of memorial, a single word to keep his name or his labours fresh among men, how much more may we, petty, faithless, trifling as we are, be contented to do our duty, and to pass away without any public recognition! And yet how we all do crave after such recognition! How intensely we long for human praise and approval! How useless we esteem our labours unless they are followed by it! How inclined we are to make the fallible judgment of man the standard by which we measure our actions, instead of having the minds eye ever steadily fixed, as James the brother of John had, on His approval alone who now seeing our secret trials, struggles, efforts, will one day reward His faithful followers openly!
This is one great lesson which this typical passage by its silence as well as by its speech clearly teaches the Church of every age.
Again, this martyrdom of St. James proclaims yet another lesson. God hereby warns the Church against the idolatry of human agents, against vain trust in human support. Let us consider the circumstances of the Church at that time. The Church had just passed through a season of violent persecution, and had lost one of its bravest and foremost soldiers in the person of Stephen, the martyred deacon. And now there was impending over the Church what is often more trying far than a time, short, and sharp, of violence and blood, -a period of temporal distress and suffering, trying the principles and testing the endurance of the weaker brethren in a thousand petty trifles. It was a time when the courage, the wisdom, the experience of the tried and trusted leaders would be specially required, to guide the Church amid the many new problems which day by day were cropping up. And yet it was just then, at such a crisis, that the Lord permits the bloody sword of Herod to be stretched forth and removes one of the very chiefest champions of the Christian host just when his presence seemed most necessary. It must have appeared a dark and trying dispensation to the Church of that day; but though attended doubtless with some present drawbacks and apparent disadvantages, it was well and wisely done to warn the Church of every age against mere human dependence, mere temporal refuges; teaching by a typical example that it is not by human might or earthly wisdom, not by the eloquence of man or the devices of earth that Christs Church and the people must be saved; that it is by His own right hand, and by His own holy arm alone our God will get Himself the victory.
Yet again we may learn from this incident another lesson rich-laden with comfort and instruction. This martyrdom of St. James throws us back upon a circumstance which occurred during our Lords last journey to Jerusalem before His crucifixion, and interprets it for us. Let us recall it. Our Lord was going up to Jerusalem, and His disciples were following Him with wondering awe. The shadow of the Cross, projecting itself forward, made itself unconsciously felt throughout the little company, and men were astonished, though they knew not why. They simply felt as men do on a close sultry summers day when a thunderstorm is overhead, that something awful was impending. They had, however, a vague feeling that the kingdom of God would shortly appear, and so the mother of Zebedees children, with all that boldness which affection lends to feminine minds, drew near and strove to secure a boon before all others for her own children. She prayed that to her two sons might be granted the posts of honour in the temporal kingdom she thought of as now drawing so very near. The Lord replied to her request in very deep and far-reaching language, the meaning of which she then understood not, but learned afterwards through the discipline of pain and sorrow and death: "Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?" And then, when James and John had professed their ability, he predicts their future fate: "My cup indeed ye shall drink." The mother and the sons alike spoke bold words, and offered a sincere but an ignorant prayer. Little indeed did the mother dream as she presented her petition-"Command that these my two sons may sit, one on Thy right hand, and one on Thy left hand in Thy kingdom"-how that prayer would be answered, and yet answered it was. To the one son, James, was granted the one post of honour. He was made to sit on the Masters right hand, for he was the first of the apostles called to enter into Paradise through a baptism of blood. While to the other son, St. John, was granted the other post of honour, for he was left the longest upon earth to guide, direct, and sustain the Church by his inspired wisdom, large experience, and apostolic authority. The contrast between the prayer offered up to Christ in ignorance and shortsightedness, and the manner in which the same prayer was answered in richest abundance, suggests to us the comforting reflection that no prayer offered up in sincerity and truth is ever really left unanswered. We may indeed never see how the prayer is answered. The mother of St. James may little have dreamt, as she beheld her sons lifeless body brought home to her, that this trying dispensation was a real answer to her ambitious petition. But we can now see that it was so, and can thus learn a lesson of genuine confidence, of holy boldness, of strong faith in the power of sincere and loving communion with God. Let us only take care to cultivate the same spirit of genuine humility and profound submission which possessed the soul of those primitive Christians, enabling them to say, no matter how their petitions were answered, whether in joy or sorrow, in smiles or tears, in riches or poverty, "Not my will, but Thine, O Lord, be done."
II. We have again in this twelfth chapter the record of a Divine deliverance. Herod, seeing that the Jewish authorities were pleased because they had now a sympathetic ruler who understood their religious troubles and was resolved to help in quelling them, determined to proceed farther in the work of repression. He arrested another prominent leader, St. Peter, and cast him into prison. The details are given to us of Herods action and Peters arrest. Peter was now making his first acquaintance with Roman methods of punishment. He had been indeed previously arrested and imprisoned, but his arrest had been carried out by the Jewish authorities, and he had been consigned to the care of the Temple police, and had occupied the Temple prison. But Herod, though a strict Jew in religion, had been thoroughly Romanised in matters of rule and government, and therefore he treated St. Peter after the Roman fashion: "When he had taken him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quarternions of soldiers to guard him; intending after the Passover to bring him forth to the people." He was delivered to sixteen men, who divided the night into four watches, four men watching at a time, after the Roman method of discipline. And then, in contrast to all this preparation, we are told how the Church betook herself to her sure refuge and strong tower of defence: "Peter therefore was kept in prison; but prayer was made earnestly of the Church unto God for him." These early Christians had not had their faith limited or weakened by discussions whether petitions for temporal blessings were a proper subject of prayer, or whether spiritual blessings did not alone supply true matter for supplication before the Divine throne. They were in the first fervour of Christian love, and they did not theorise, define, or debate about prayer and its efficacy. They only knew that their Master had told them to pray, and had promised to answer sincere prayer, as He alone knew how; and so they gathered themselves in instant, ceaseless prayer at the foot of the throne of grace. I say "ceaseless" prayer because it seems that the Jerusalem Church, feeling its danger, organised a continuous service of prayer. "Prayer was made earnestly of the Church unto God for him" is the statement of the fifth verse, and then when St. Peter was released "he came to the house of Mary, where many were gathered together and were praying," though the night must have been far advanced. The crisis was a terrible one; the foremost champion, St. James, had been taken, and now another great leader was threatened, and therefore the Church flung herself at the feet of the Master seeking deliverance, and was not disappointed, as the Church has never since been disappointed when she has cast herself in lowliness and profound submission before the same holy sanctuary. The narrative then proceeds to give us the particulars of St. Peters deliverance, as St. Peter himself seems to have told it to St. Luke, for we have details given us which could only have come either directly or indirectly from the person most immediately concerned. But of these we shall treat in a little. The story now introduces the supernatural, and for the believer this is quite in keeping with the facts of the case. A great crisis in the history of the Jerusalem Church has arrived. The mother Church of all Christendom, the fountain and source of original Christianity, is threatened with extinction. The life of the greatest existing leader of that Church is at stake, and that before his work is done. The very existence of the Christian revelation seems imperilled, and God sends forth an angel, a heavenly messenger, to rescue His endangered servant, and to prove to unbelieving Jew, to the haughty Herod, and to the frightened but praying disciples alike the care which He ever exercises over His Church and people. Here, however, a question may be raised. How was it that an angel, a supernatural messenger, was despatched to the special rescue of St. Peter? Why was not the same assistance vouchsafed to St. James, who had just been put to death? Why was not the same assistance vouchsafed to St. Peter himself when he was martyred at Rome, or to St. Paul when he lay in the dungeon in the same city of Rome or at Caesarea? Simply, we reply, because Gods hour was not yet come and the Apostles work was not yet done. St. Jamess work was done, and therefore the Lord did not immediately interfere, or rather He summoned His servant to His assigned post of honour by the ministry of Herod. The wrath of man became the instrument whereby the praises of God were chanted and the soul of the righteous conveyed to its appointed place. The Lord did not interfere when St. Paul was cast into the prison house at Caesarea, or St. Peter incarcerated in the Roman dungeon, because they had then a great work to do in showing how His servants can suffer as well as work. But now St. Peter had many a long year of active labour before him and much work to do as the Apostle of the Circumcision in preventing that schism with which the diverse parties and opposing ideas of Jew and Gentile threatened the infant Church, in smoothing over and reconciling the manifold oppositions, jealousies, difficulties, misunderstandings, which ever attend such a season of transition and transformation as now was fast dawning upon the Divine society. The arrest of St. Peter and his threatened death was a great crisis in the history of the primitive Church. St. Peters life was very precious to the existence of that Church, it was very precious for the welfare of mankind at large, and so it was a fitting time for God to raise up a banner against triumphant pride and worldly force by the hand of a supernatural messenger.
The steps by which St. Peter was delivered are all of them full of edification and comfort. Let us mark them. "When Herod was about to bring him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and guards before the door kept the prison." It was on that fateful night the same as when the angels descended on the Resurrection morning; the guards were in their rightful place and discharging their accustomed duties, but when God intervenes then human precautions are all useless. The words of the narrative are striking in their quiet dignity. There is no working up of details. There is no pandering to mere human curiosity. Everything is in keeping with the sustained force, sublimity, elevation which we ever behold in the Divine action. Peter was. sleeping between two soldiers; one chained to each arm, so that he could not move without awaking them. He was sleeping profoundly and calmly, because he felt himself in the hands of an Almighty Father who will order everything for the best. The interior rest amid the greatest trials which an assured confidence like that enjoyed by St. Peter can confer is something marvellous, and has not been confined to apostolic times. Our Lords servants have in every age proved the same wondrous power. I know of course that criminals are often said to enjoy a. profound sleep the night before their execution. But then habitual criminals and hardened murderers have their spiritual natures so completely overmastered and dominated by their lower material powers that they realise nothing beyond. the present. They are little better than the beasts which perish, and think as little of the future as they do. But persons with highly strung nervous powers, who realise the awful change impending over them, cannot be as they, specially if they have no such sure hope as that which sustained St. Peter. He slept calmly here as Paul and Silas rejoiced in the Philippian prison house, as the Master Himself slept calmly in the stern of the wave-rocked boat on the Galilean lake, because he knew himself to be reposing in the arms of Everlasting Love, and this knowledge bestowed upon him a sweet and calm repose at the moment of supreme danger of which the fevered children of time know nothing.
And now all the circumstances of the celestial visit are found to be most suitable and becoming. The angel stood by Peter. A light shined in the cell, because light is the very element in which these heavenly beings spend their existence. The chains which bind St. Peter fell off without any effort human or angelic, just as in a few moments the great gate of the prison opened of its own accord, because all these things, bonds and bolts and bars, derive all their coercive power from the will of God, and when that will changes or is withdrawn they cease to be operative, or become the instruments of the very opposite purpose, assisting and not hindering His servants. Then the angels actions and directions are characteristic in their dignified vigour. He told the awakened sleeper to act promptly: "He smote him on the side, and awoke him, saying, Rise up quickly." But there is no undue haste. As on the Resurrection morning the napkin that was upon Christs head was found not lying with the rest of the grave-cloths, but rolled up in a place by itself, so too on this occasion the angel shows minute care for Peters personal appearance. There must be nothing undignified, careless, untidy even, about the dress of the rescued apostle: "Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals." St. Peter had naturally laid aside his external garments, had unloosed his inner robes, and taken off his sandals when preparing for sleep. Nothing, however, escapes the heavenly messenger, and so he says, "Cast thy garment about thee, and follow Me," referring to the loose upper robe or overcoat which the Jews wore over their underclothes; and then the angel led him forth, teaching the Church the perpetual lesson that external dignity of appearance is evermore becoming to Gods people, when not even an angel considered these things beneath his notice amid all the excitement of a midnight rescue, nor did the inspired writer omit to record such apparently petty details. Nothing about St. Peter was too trivial for the angels notice and direction, as again nothing in life is too trivial for the sanctifying and elevating care of our holy religion. Dress, food, education, marriage, amusements, all of lifes work and of lifes interests, are the subject matter whereon the principles inculcated by Jesus Christ and taught by the ministry of His Church are to find their due scope and exercise.
Peters deliverance was now complete. The angel conducted him through one street to assure him that he was really free and secure him from bewilderment, and then departed. The Apostle thereupon sought out the well-known centre of Christian worship, "the house of Mary the mother of John, whose surname was Mark," where stood the upper chamber, honoured as no other chamber had ever been. There he made known his escape, and then retired to some secret place where Herod could not find him, remaining there concealed till Herod was dead and direct Roman law and authority were once more in operation at Jerusalem. There are two or three details in this narrative that are deserving of special notice, as showing that St. Luke received the story most probably from St. Peter himself. These touches are expressions of St. Peters inner thoughts, which could have been known only to St. Peter, and must have been derived from him. Thus we are told about his state of mind when the angel appeared: "He wist not that it was true which was done by the angel, but thought he saw a vision." Again, after his deliverance, we are told of the thoughts which passed through his mind, the words which rose to his lips when he found himself once again a free man: "When Peter was come to himself he said, Now I know of a truth that the Lord hath sent forth His angel, and delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews." While, again, how true to life and to the female nature is the incident of the damsel Rhoda! She came across the courtyard to hearken and see who was knocking at the outer gate at that late hour: "When. she knew Peters voice, she opened not the gate for joy, but ran in and told that Peter stood before the gate." We behold the impulsiveness of the maid. She quite forgot the Apostles knocking at the gate in her eager desire to convey the news to his friends. And, again, how true to nature their scepticism! They were gathered praying for Peters release, but so little did they expect an answer to their prayers that, when the answer does come, and in the precise way that they were asking for it, and longing for it, they are astonished, and tell the maid-servant who bore the tidings, "Thou art mad." We pray as the primitive Church did, and that constantly; but is it not with us as with them? We pray indeed, but we do not expect our prayers to be answered, and therefore we do not profit by them as we might.
Such were the circumstances of St. Peters deliverance, which was a critical one for the Church. It struck a blow at Herods new policy of persecution unto death; it may have induced him to depart from Jerusalem and descend to Caesarea, where he met his end, leaving the Church at Jerusalem in peace; and the deliverance must have thrown a certain marvellous halo round St. Peter when he appeared again at Jerusalem, enabling him to occupy a more prominent position without any fear for his life.
III. We have also recorded in this chapter a notable defeat of pride, ostentation, and earthly power. The circumstances are well known. Herod, vexed perhaps by his disappointment in the matter of Peter, went down to Caesarea, which his grandfather had magnificently adorned. But he had other reasons too. He had a quarrel with the men of Tyre and Sidon, and he would take effective measures against them. Tyre and Sidon were great seaports and commercial towns, but their country did not produce food sufficient for the maintenance of its inhabitants, just as England, the emporium of the worlds commerce, is obliged to depend for its food supplies upon other and distant lands. The men of Tyre and Sidon were not, however, unacquainted with the ways of Eastern courts. They bribed the kings chamberlain, and Herod was appeased. There was another motive which led Herod to Caesarea. It was connected with his Roman experience and with his courtier-life. The Emperor Claudius Caesar was his friend and patron. To him Herod owed his restoration to the rich dominions of his grandfather. That emperor had gone in the previous year, A.D. 43, to conquer Britain. He spent six months in our northern regions in Gaul and Britain, and. then, when smitten by the cold blasts of midwinter, he fled to the south again, as so many of our own people do now. He arrived in Rome in the January of the year 44, and immediately ordered public games to be celebrated in honour of his safe return, assuming as a special name the title Britannicus. These public shows were imitated everywhere throughout the empire as soon as the news of the Roman celebrations arrived. The tidings would take two or three months to arrive at Palestine, and the Passover may have passed before Herod heard of his patrons doings. Jewish scruples would not allow him to celebrate games after the Roman fashion at Jerusalem, and for this purpose therefore he descended to the Romanised city of Caesarea, where all the appliances necessary for that purpose were kept in readiness. There is thus a link which binds together the history of our own nation and this interesting incident in early Christian history. The games were duly celebrated, but they were destined to be Herods last act. On an appointed day he sat in the theatre of Caesarea to receive the ambassadors from Tyre and Sidon. He presented himself early in the morning to the sight of the multitude, clad in a robe of silver which flashed in the light, reflecting back the rays of the early sun and dazzling the mixed multitude-supple, crafty Syrians, paganised Samaritans, self-seeking and worldly-wise Phoenicians. He made a speech in response to the address of the envoys, and then the flattering shout arose, "The voice of a god, and not of a man." Whereupon the messenger of God smote Herod with that terrible form of disease which accompanies unbounded self-indulgence and luxury, and the proud tyrant learned what a plaything of time, what a mere creature of a day is a king as much as a beggar, as shown by the narrative preserved by Josephus of this event. He tells us that, when seized by the mortal disease, Herod looked upon his friends, and said, "I, whom you call a god, am commanded presently to depart this life; while Providence thus reproves the lying words you just now said to me; and I, who was by you called immortal, am immediately to be hurried away by death." What a striking picture of lifes changes and chances, and of the poetic retributions we at times behold in the course of Gods Providence! One short chapter of the Acts shows us Herod triumphant side by side with Herod laid low, Herod smiting apostles with the sword side by side with Herod himself smitten to death by the Divine sword. A months time may have covered all the incidents narrated in this chapter. But short as the period was, it must have been rich in support and consolation to the apostles Saul and Barnabas, who were doubtless deeply interested spectators of the rapidly shifting scene, telling them clearly of the heavenly watch exercised over the Church. They had come up from Antioch, bringing alms to render aid to their afflicted brethren in Christ. The famine, as we have just now seen from the anxiety of the men of Tyre and Sidon to be on friendly terms with Herod, was rapidly making itself felt throughout Palestine and the adjacent lands, and So the deputies of the Antiochene Church hurried up to Jerusalem with the much-needed gifts. It may indeed be said, how could St. Paul hope to escape at such a time? Would it not have been madness for him to risk his safety in a city where he had once been so well known? But, then, we must remember that it was at the Passover season Saul and Barnabas went from Antioch to Jerusalem. Vast crowds then entered the Holy City, and a solitary Jew or two from Antioch might easily escape notice among the myriads which then assembled from all quarters. St. Paul enjoyed too a wonderful measure of the Spirits guidance, and that Spirit told him that he had yet much work to do for God. The Apostle had wondrous prudence joined with wondrous courage, and we may be sure that he took wisest precautions to escape the sword of Herod which would have so eagerly drunk his blood. He remained in Jerusalem all the time of the Passover. His clear vision of the spiritual world must then have been most precious and most sustaining. All the apostles were doubtless scattered; James was dead, and Peter doomed to death. The temporal troubles, famine and poverty, which called Saul and Barnabas to Jerusalem, brought with them corresponding spiritual blessings, as we still so often find, and the brave words of the chosen vessel, the Vas Electionis, aided by the sweet gifts of the Son of Consolation, may have been very precious and very helpful to those devout souls in the Jerusalem Church who gathered themselves for continuous prayer in the house of Mary the mother of John, teaching them the true character, the profound views, the genuine religion of one whose earlier life had been so very different and whose later views may have been somewhat suspected. Saul and Barnabas arrived in Jerusalem at a terrible crisis, they saw the crisis safely passed, and then they returned to an atmosphere freer and broader than that of Jerusalem, and there in the exercise of a devoted ministry awaited the further manifestation of the Divine purposes.
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 12, 13, 18 1. About that time. While Saul and Barnabas were…
1. About that time. While Saul and Barnabas were at Antioch. Herod the king. Herod Agrippa, the grandson of Herod the Great. See notes on Matt. 2:1. In the year 41, the Emperor Claudius had added Judea and Samaria to his former dominions, so that, at this time, Herod ruled over all Palestine. While voluptuous, and exhibiting in life none of the restraints of religion, he was a strict observer of the Jewish ceremonies, and hostile to Christianity, because it was subversive to Judaism. To vex certain of the church. Some of its leaders.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v1 Act_12:1. About that time (compare Act_19:23).—I.e., before, or about…
CRITICAL REMARKS
Act_12:1. About that time (compare Act_19:23).—I.e., before, or about the time of, the arrival of Barnabas and Saul at Jerusalem (Act_11:30). The incidents recorded in this chapter seem to have occurred during the stay of these brethren in Jerusalem (Act_12:25). As the predicted famine broke out under Cuspius Fadus, who was sent to Judæa after the death of Agrippa—i.e., after August 6th, A.D. 44—the visit of Barnabas and Saul most likely took place before Agrippa’s death. Herod the king.—Herod Agrippa I. was the son of Aristobulus and Bernice (Jos., Ant., XVII. i. 2; Wars, I. xxviii. 1), a nephew of Herod Antipas and grandson of Herod the Great (see further in “Homiletical Analysis”). To vex certain of the Church.—Better, “to maltreat certain of (lit., from) the Church,” ἀπὸ conveying the idea of proceeding from, and hence belonging to. James the brother of John.—The elder of the two sons of Zebedee (Mat_4:21; Mat_10:2), and to be distinguished from James the Less (Act_1:13), as also from James the brother of our Lord (Act_12:17; Act_15:13; Act_21:18; Gal_1:19). James’s martyrdom fulfilled our Lord’s words in Mat_20:23. “It was wonder Herod killed no more, seeing this took so well with the people” (Trapp). That so little is said about this apostle’s martyrdom has been explained (Weizsäcker), though wrongly, on the grounds partly of Luke’s want of knowledge concerning the incident (which is hardly likely, since he knew both John and Paul), and partly of the unhistorical character of the narrative which, it is said, was composed mainly for the glorification of Peter.
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Act_12:3. It pleased the Jews.—This remark is assigned, though without cause, to Luke’s pragmatism, and pronounced inaccurate (Hausrath, Holtzmann), on the ground that somewhat later the Pharisees in a particular instance sided with the Jewish Christians against the Sadducees (Jos., Ant., XX. ix. 1), as if popular bodies were not proverbially variable in their judgments and actions! The opinion is as likely to be correct (Zeller) that Herod found the murder of James to be not so popular as he at first imagined, and accordingly winked at Peter’s liberation from prison!! The days of unleavened bread.—The festival of the Passover, so named because of the injunction to remove leaven from the house during its continuance (Exo_12:15; Exo_8:7).
Act_12:4. For Easter read the Passover, meaning not the paschal supper (Wieseler), but the whole period of the festival. To the people.—To gratify them by the spectacle of his execution.
Act_12:5 The Church.—(See on Act_2:47; Act_5:11; Act_8:1; Act_11:26.) Now a large community which must have assembled in different buildings throughout the city. Without ceasing.—Rather, earnestly, ἐκτενής, a word of later Greek, signifying “that which is stretched,” hence “intent” or “fervent.”
Act_12:6. The same night.—Emphatic, the night before the day on which Herod contemplated making his exhibition of the Apostle. Sleeping between two soldiers.—Two of the quaternion entrusted with his keeping (Act_12:4). Bound with two chains.—I.e., by one to each soldier. The keepers or guards before the door were the other two soldiers of the company of four. This, the Roman method of imprisonment, custodia militaris (which, however, usually fastened the prisoner to only one soldier), as indeed imprisonment of any kind, was unknown to the Mosaic law. The kings were the first to introduce this form of punishment, especially for the chastisement of free-speaking prophets (2Ch_16:10; Jer_20:2; Jer_32:2).
Act_12:7. The or an angel of the Lord.—The various attempts to explain Peter’s deliverance on natural grounds are all unsatisfactory (see “Homiletical Analysis). The light which shined in the prison, lit., house (a euphemism), was the usual supernatural radiance or “glory of the Lord” that encompassed angelic visitors to earth (Luk_2:9; Luk_24:4; Mat_28:3).
Act_12:8. Gird thyself, etc.—Shows Peter had divested himself of his outer coat or tunic and shoes before lying down to sleep.
Act_12:10. The first and the second ward, or watch.—I.e., the two soldiers stationed at the door of Peter’s cell, and two others posted near the iron gate which led out to the city. The situation of the prison is unknown.
Act_12:11.—Suggests that until the angel had left him Peter had not come to himself, or recovered his ordinary consciousness, lit., become in himself. The expectation of the people of the Jews reveals that the populace were now against the apostles, and eagerly looking forward to Peter’s execution; changed times since Act_4:21.
Act_12:12. Considered the thing.—Better, having become aware of τὰ γενόμενα, what had happened. Whether John whose surname was Mark was the second evangelist is uncertain, though he is commonly supposed to have been the Mark whom Peter terms his son (1Pe_5:13), i.e., spiritually, as having been converted through his instrumentality. He was sister’s son (rather, cousin) to Barnabas (Col_4:10), whom he accompanied on an evangelising tour, after Barnabas had separated from Paul on his account (Act_15:37; Act_15:39). He had formerly attended these two missionaries as far as Perga, and there deserted them (Act_13:13).
Act_12:13. The Greek name, Rhoda, Rose, does not prove that the maid who acted as portress was not a Jewess (see on Act_1:23). The office of doorkeeper among the Jews was commonly assigned to a female (Joh_18:16).
Act_12:14.—Peter must have spoken, perhaps told his name, to cause his voice to be recognised.
Act_12:15.—The doctrine of tutelary angels (see “Homiletical Analysis”) is neither affirmed nor denied, but simply cited as a popular opinion (compare Mat_18:10).
Act_12:17. Went to another place.—Hardly in the city (Meyer), but outside of it, though not to Rome (Catholic expositors), or Antioch (Kuinoel)—perhaps to Babylonia (Nösgen), or some one of the cities of the Diaspora named in his first epistle (Act_1:1) (Zöckler). The place of Peter’s concealment would no doubt, for prudential reasons, at first be kept secret, and might easily have been unknown to Luke’s informant.
Act_12:19. Put to death.—Should be led away—i.e., to execution.
HOMILETICAL ANALYSIS.—Act_12:1-19
The Days of Unleavened Bread; or, the Persecution of the Church
I. The imprisonment of Peter.—
1. When it happened.
(1) “About that time”—i.e., about the time when Barnabas and Saul went up to Jerusalem.
(2) In “the days of unleavened bread”—i.e., during the Passover festival, which continued seven days, and was so named because during its currency no leaven was allowed in Jewish houses.
(3) Shortly before or after the death of Herod.
(4) Hence about the spring, end of March, or beginning of April, A.D. 44.
2. To whom it was due. Herod Agrippa the First, that “vile Oriental,” as Renan styles him (The Apostles, p. 199), Aristobulus’s son, and Herod the Great’s grandson, who on the accession of Caligula, A.D. 37, received the title of king with the former possessions of Philip and Lysanias (Luk_3:1), at a later period the tetrarchy of Antipas, and later still, in A.D. 41, from Claudius, Samaria, and Judæa; so that, like his grandfather, he swayed the sceptre of kingly authority all over Palestine, besides possessing a royal residence in Jerusalem with an income of twelve million drachmæ (see “Hints” on Act_12:1).
3. By what motive inspired. A desire to please the Jews. Anxiety to win the favour of his Jewish subjects had already caused Agrippa I. to unsheath the sword against the Christians, and even to behead the son of Zebedee, James the Just, whose execution tradition (Jerome) places on the 15th Nisan, or the anniversary of the Crucifixion. Combined with this was more than likely a fanatical zeal for the Jewish religion which he personally affected, and which, it has been well said (Renan), inevitably led a weak prince like him to become a persecutor.
4. In what manner carried out. Having been arrested, the apostle was securely lodged in the Tower of Antonia on the north-west corner of the Temple—a fortress originally built by John Hyrcanus for a residence, and subsequently enlarged by Herod the Great “in a magnificent manner.” Four quaternions of soldiers—i.e., sixteen warriors were told off to guard the apostle lest an escape or a rescue should be attempted and perhaps effected. Clearly Herod was afraid of the Christians or of the Christians’ God, or of both. “Had Peter’s captors regarded him as a common every-day criminal, they would have deemed it preposterous that sixteen soldiers or even four at a time should be required to keep him safe. That such unusual precautions were judged necessary is one of those indirect and latent marks of historic truth with which this narrative abounds, and which are even more valuable than direct proofs, because of being undesigned” (Whitelaw, The Theological Monthly, No. 24, p. 406).
5. For what purpose intended. To keep him securely till the feast was passed, when he should be brought forth before the people and despatched into the other world after James. Agrippa, being a “pious” sovereign who had begun to “attend to his devotions” (Renan, The Apostles, p. 200), suffering not a day to pass over his head without its appointed sacrifice (Josephus, Ant., XIX. vii. 3), would not profane the sanctity of the season by an act of bloodshed. Beautiful piety! Besides, the spectacle could be performed with as much effect when the festival had closed and before the congregated crowds dispersed to their homes. Behold, another Solomon arisen in the land!
6. To what action it led. It set the Christian community a-praying for their incarcerated leader. Had Agrippa known, that calling in of Heaven’s aid on behalf of Peter and against him was ominous. Where is the creature that can stand when God Almighty takes the field against him? “Judged by ordinary standards, the fate of Peter was sealed. The probability of his escaping the headsman’s axe was small, if not absolutely nil. Nevertheless, as people who had not been initiated into ‘modern science,’ and in their lack of nineteenth century culture saw no irreconcilable contradiction between the reign of law and answers to prayer, but believed that ‘all things were possible with God,’ the Jerusalem disciples betook themselves to besieging Heaven with their outcries and their supplications, appealing with exquisite naïveté to Him in whose hands were all men’s lives, those of kings as well as common men” (The Theological Monthly, No. 24, p. 407).
7. How it affected the prisoner. “Incarceration was for Peter unfortunately no new experience (Act_4:3; Act_5:18); and although in the present instance grounds existed for apprehending that he would never leave his cell till he was marched forth to die, it does not appear that the prospect filled him with dismay or even disturbed his nocturnal slumbers.” “That Peter exhibited such quietness of spirit when on the verge of martyrdom was a proof that he was then a better man than he had been when, after having boastfully exclaimed, ‘Lord, I will lay down my life for Thy sake,’ to save his skin he first ran away and then denied his Master with oaths and curses” (Ibid., p. 406, 407). See “Hints” on Act_12:6.
II. The deliverance of Peter (Act_12:7).—
1. Brought about in answer to prayer. Renan, who has scruples about “the angel,” and is silent concerning the Church’s prayers, for reasons not specified, nevertheless entertains no doubt that Peter was lodged in the Tower of Antonia by command of Agrippa I., and that on the night before the morning fixed for his execution he escaped—in this agreeing with such critics as Zeller, Weizsäcker, and others, who, while rejecting what they style the mythical embellishments of the story, do not question that Peter was both imprisoned and made his escape; but if between these two occurrences, the imprisonment and the escape, it really happened that the Church prayed as above described, it will be hard to convince an ingenuous mind that Peter’s deliverance was not something more than a happy coincidence, was not a conspicuous fulfilment of that Scripture which says, “Before they call I will answer, and while they are yet speaking I will hear” (Ibid., pp. 407, 408).
2. Effected by miraculous intervention. Exactly this was Peter’s own account of the matter to his friends assembled in the house of John Mark’s mother (Act_12:17). Luke’s report—of the descent of the angel into Peter’s cell, of the falling off from Peter’s hands of the chains with which he was bound, etc., etc. (Act_12:7-11), was probably derived from Peter himself or from John Mark, whom he subsequently met in Rome (2Ti_4:10-11); and unless his report is to be set aside as utterly unhistorical—and Renan admits “it is so lively and just that it is difficult to find in it any place for prolonged elaboration”—it will need to be conceded that Peter’s rescue was brought about by miracle. Other explanations of a naturalistic sort—such as the bursting open of the prison by a flash of lightning or an earthquake (Hegel), as at Philippi (Act_16:26), the bribing of the apostle’s guardians by the apostle’s friends, or the conniving of the former at Peter’s escape through sympathy for him or hatred of his persecutor (Eichhorn, Ewald), or finally some unknown but still natural cause (Renan, Zeller, Weizsäcker, Beyschlag), are insufficient to account for the incident, unless first the credibility of the record be broken down. To challenge the authenticity of this portion of the Acts on the ground that it relates what is supernatural is to beg the question at issue.
3. Confirmed by the trustworthy character of the narrative. In addition to those already indicated, the following signs of verisimilitude in the story may be pointed out.
(1) The return of Peter to the house of John Mark’s mother (Act_12:12), a statement which receives explanation from the circumstance that John Mark was one of Peter’s spiritual children (1Pe_5:13).
(2) The behaviour of Rhoda (Act_12:13), which points to the equal footing upon which bond and free had by this time begun to stand in the early Christian Church (Act_2:44; Act_4:32; compare Lechler, Apostolische Zeitalter, p. 323).
(3) The exclamation concerning Peter’s angel (Act_12:15), which harmonises with the well-known belief, then current among the Jews, that “every true Israelite had specially assigned to him a guardian angel, who, when he appeared in human form, assumed the likeness of the man whom he protected” (Plumptre).
(4) Peter’s instruction to report what had happened, unto James and the brethren (Act_12:17), which is exactly what one would have expected from the prominent position in the Church at that time held, according to both Luke (Luk_15:13) and Paul (Gal_1:19; Gal_2:9), by the brother of our Lord.
(5) The excitement among the soldiers when it was discovered that Peter had escaped (Act_12:18), which could hardly have arisen had an earthquake happened or had they themselves been privy to his flight. The idea of their pretending an excitement they did not feel is out of the question.
(6) The fruitless search of Herod for his prisoner (Act_12:19), which shows at least that Peter had been delivered.
(7) The execution of the guards for allowing him to escape (Act_12:19), which abundantly attests that they had not been able to prevent Peter’s release.
Learn.—That Christ’s Church and people will certainly suffer persecution.
2. That both have strong encouragement to pray.
3. That it is better to have angels on one’s side than soldiers.
4. That Christ is as able as ever to watch over and defend His Church and people.
5. That whatever deliverances are enjoyed by either should be thankfully acknowledged by both.
HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Act_12:1. The Persecution of the Church by Agrippa.
I. The persecutor.—Herod Agrippa I.—His character.
1. A heathen. Addicted to public games, musical festivities, and gladiatorial combats.
2. A hypocrite. If he practised the outward forms of piety it was not because he loved them. Jost (Geschichte Judenthums, i. 420) relates that once when reading in a public service, “One from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee; thou mayest not set a stranger over thee which is not thy brother” (Deu_17:15), Agrippa burst into tears, and that the people cried out, “Be not distressed, Agrippa, thou art our brother.” This incident Plumptre cites as an illustration of Herod’s “sensitiveness to praise or blame”; if authentic, it may, with as much reason, be interpreted as showing that this “pious sovereign,” like other potentates that have lived since, was a skilful actor and knew how to play a part.
3. A hater of Jesus. He had inherited the passion of hostility against Jesus from his fathers, one of whom, Herod the Great, had persecuted the child Jesus, and another, Herod Antipas, had beheaded John the Baptist (Besser: Bibel Stunden, III. i. 588).
II. The persecuted.—The Church in Jerusalem—i.e., the Church—
1. At its headquarters. Paralysed at the centre, Herod doubtless thought it would become inactive at its extremities.
2. In its leaders. These cut off, the king may have reasoned, the followers would be dispersed.
III. The persecution.—
1. Its motive.
(1) To gratify his own hatred of the new faith.
(2) To ingratiate himself with his Jewish subjects.
2. Its time.
(1) When the Church was forming for itself a new centre of operations at Antioch—which showed how greatly Herod had miscalculated.
(2) When the Church at Jerusalem was becoming distressed on account of the impending famine—which shows how God sometimes allows the trials of His people to multiply when these are least able to bear them.
3. Its form.
(1) Violent death for James.
(2) Unjust imprisonment for Peter.
(3) Cruel harassment for the disciples.
Act_12:2. The Death of James.
I. Early.—About ten years after the Ascension; a testimony to his ripeness in grace (Mat_20:23). James died first, John last, of the Twelve.
II. Violent.—Probably by decapitation; a fulfilment of the Saviour’s promise.
III. Sudden.—No reason to believe he either languished long in prison or was put to the trouble of a trial, though Clement of Alexandria and Eusebius of Cæsarea say there were both an accusation and a defence.
IV. Lonely.—Hardly likely he had the presence of any friends except God and Jesus Christ to comfort or cheer him at the fatal moment. Yet these, one need not question, would not be absent.
V. Submissive.—Not to be doubted that James met his doom without a murmur. Tradition speaks of the fortitude exhibited by him on the way to excution as having led to the conversion of the officer who guarded him (see below).
VI. Triumphant.—If the Saviour manifested not His glory to His dying servant as He did to Stephen, He assuredly left not that servant to meet the headsman’s axe without the inward supports of His grace; and if the heavens opened not to James’s mortal vision in the death hour, unquestionably they would roll back their pearly gates to receive his departing spirit.
VII. Lamented.—If uncertain whether he had a burial at the hands of devout men as Stephen had, little question may be entertained that “devout men made great lamentation over him.”
VIII. Remembered.—Where the precious dust of the slaughtered disciple found a resting-place has not been told. No reason to suppose the Armenian convent within the walls of Jerusalem covers the spot. Yet the existence of such a shrine witnesses to the affectionate regard with which the Christian Church has preserved the recollection of her apostolic martyr.
Note.—Clement and Eusebius report an incident connected with the martyrdom of James, which, if true, lends a pathetic interest to the tale. Struck by the calm fortitude of his prisoner, the officer who guarded the apostle, or, according to another version, the false witness who had testified against him, was moved to repentance, confessed Christ, and was led forth along with the apostle to be put to death. On the way to the scene of judgment, having asked the apostle to forgive him, he was at once pardoned; the apostle, having paused, looked upon him with a glance of love, embraced him and kissed him, with the words, “Peace be to you!”
James the Brother of John.
I. Honoured in the family to which he belonged.—
1. His father, Zebedee, a well-to-do fisherman on the sea of Galilee (Mat_4:21).
2. His mother, Salome, one of the pious women who had cast in their lot with Christ (Mat_20:20).
3. His brother, John, the beloved disciple who leaned on Jesus’s bosom (Joh_13:23).
II. More honoured in the office which he bore.—The apostleship. An office which—
1. Admitted him to closest personal intimacy with Christ (Joh_15:15).
2. Opened up before him a wide sphere of service for Christ (Joh_15:16).
3. Conferred on him high privileges from Christ (Luk_5:10; Mar_1:29; Mar_5:37; Mat_17:1; Mat_26:37).
III. Most honoured in the crown of martyrdom he received.—
1. After a short period of service. He was called to his reward, not so soon as Stephen, but much earlier than Peter or John
2. Probably without much pain. Not like Stephen stoned to death, but most likely beheaded with a swift and sudden stroke.
3. Certainly with great glory. The crown of martyrdom was for him a crown of life (Rev_2:10), a crown of righteousness (2Ti_4:8), a crown of glory (1Pe_5:4).
Act_12:5; Act_12:12. The Prayers of the Church should be—
1. Addressed to God. A not unnecessary reminder.
2. By a united congregation. United, if not in place, in purpose and heart.
3. In an earnest spirit. Not formally, but sincerely, as if the suppliants meant them, which they do not always.
4. For ministers of the Gospel. Not excluding all sorts and conditions of men (1Ti_2:1), but specially for ambassadors of the Church’s King and Head (Eph_6:19).
5. That they may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men (2Th_3:2). If in any measure faithful to their calling, ministers will be exposed to trouble from such. 6. That their lives may be prolonged. If not for their sakes, for their Master’s and for the sake of their work. If any lives are valuable to a community, those of good ministers of Christ are. And
7. That their usefulness may be increased. A true minister desires not personal advantage, fame, or wealth, but growing ability to serve in the Gospel (2Co_12:14).
Act_12:6. Sleeping on the Eve of Martyrdom.—Illustrations:
1. In the beginning of the Marian persecution, writes Froude (History of England, v. 488), “Rogers was ‘to break the ice,’ as Bradford described it. On the morning of the 4th of February (A.D. 1555), the wife of the keeper of Newgate came to his bedside. He was sleeping soundly, and she woke him with difficulty to let him know that he was wanted.
2. Those acquainted with Scottish history will recall the last sleep of the great and good Argyll in Edinburgh prison before he stooped his honoured head to the loaded axe of the maiden.
3. A tradesman of Lyons, of the name of Grivet, was, during the reign of terror in France, sentenced to death, and brought into the cave of the condemned, where were several others who with him were to suffer next morning, and who, on his arrival, pressed round him to sympathise in his fate and fortify him for the stroke he was about to encounter. ‘Come and sup with us,’ said they, ‘this is the last inn in the journey of life; to-morrow we shall arrive at our long home.’ Grivet, who was calm and composed, accepted the invitation, supped heartily, and then, retiring to the remotest corner of the cave, buried himself in the straw and went to sleep. The morning dawned, the other prisoners, tied together, were led away to execution, without Grivet, who was fast asleep, not perceiving anything or being perceived. The door of the cave was locked. On awakening he felt astonished to find himself in perfect solitude. Four days passed without any new prisoners being brought in. During these days he subsisted on provisions which he found scattered about the cave. On the evening of the fourth day he was discovered by the turnkey, who reported his omission to the judges. In a moment of leniency these set the prisoner at liberty” (Percy Anecdotes).
Act_12:12. The Church in Mary’s house.—A study for present-day congregations.
I. Numerously attended.—“Many were gathered together.” A healthful sign of piety when Christ’s disciples forsake not the assembling of themselves together (Heb_10:25)—a practice greatly declining at the present day. The advantages of social worship are too obvious to require detailed rehearsal. The worshipper frequently forgets that even though he may not himself derive benefit from the services of the Christian sanctuary, he may by his presence impart benefit to his fellow-worshippers. Besides, apart from benefit either given or received, it is the duty of Christ’s people in this way to honour their exalted Lord.
II. Seriously occupied.—The assembled disciples were “praying.” Prayer, though not the sole, yet an important, part of public worship, and should be conducted with intelligence, solemnity, and earnestness. Amongst the objects of a Church’s supplications place should be found for all that concerns the welfare of the Church itself, its pastors and teachers, its members and adherents, the progress of the spiritual life among believers, the extension of the gospel in the world.
III. Delightfully surprised.—By Peter’s appearance in their midst—no doubt an answer to their prayers. So will praying congregations and praying individuals experience similar surprises, if only their prayers be united, believing, and in earnest (Mat_18:19; Joh_14:13; Jas_1:5).
IV. Wonderfully instructed.—By Peter’s story of the Lord’s dealings with him in prison. So should Christian pastors edify their congregations by occasionally relating their own experiences and always giving their hearers the benefit of those higher views of truth and duty into which they themselves have been led (1Pe_4:11).
V. Suddenly let.—Peter departed and went into another place. It would certainly be wrong to derive from this an argument against a stationary and in favour of a circulating ministry; but the incident may be used to recall the thought that here the Church’s ministers, like the Hebrew priests, are not suffered to continue by reason of death (Heb_7:23).
Act_12:13. A Maid named Rhoda.
I. A slave girl and yet a Christian.—Christianity adapted to the deepest wants of all sorts and conditions of men. Believers of all ranks and degrees may be found within the Church of Jesus Christ.
II. A servant and yet attending a prayer meeting.—Many regard the Church’s services as only designed for the leisured classes. But Christian devotion oils the wheels of all forms of industry.
III. A humble individual and yet the bearer of a joyful message.—It is not the medium through which a communication comes, but the character of the communication itself that imparts to it its chief value. It is not the preacher that saves, but the gospel he preaches. Nor is great talent required for telling the glad tidings of the gospel. A very unimportant person may blow the trump of Jubilee.
IV. A weak woman, and yet able to do important service in the Church.—Compare the service rendered to Naaman the Syrian by the captive maid (2Ki_5:2-3). No one too insignificant to work in the Christian vineyard. Many of the noblest deeds are done by feeble folk. Women and children can do acts of high renown when inspired by love for Jesus Christ (Joh_12:3; 1Co_16:15).
Act_12:17. The Three Jameses of Scripture; or, Three differing Types of Christian Service.
I. James the brother of John, the first apostolic martyr.—A representative of the Church’s confessors. A type of those who serve Christ by suffering—an honour reserved for the few.
II. James the son of Alphens, or James the Little; also one of the Twelve, concerning whose life and labours nothing is known. A representative of those who fill humble and obscure stations in the Church. A type of those who serve Christ without attracting, or perhaps even seeking, the notice and applause of men—an honour bestowed on the many.
III. James the brother of our Lord, the president of the Jerusalem Church.—A representative of those who are called to fill public positions in the Church. A type of those who serve Christ by acting as the guides and leaders of their fellows—an honour mostly conferred on persons of special gifts. All sorts of servants are required by Christ to do His work in the Church and in the world.
Act_12:1-17. Peter’s Deliverance.
I. We obtain a pleasing view of the deep and tender sense of brotherhood which pervaded the early Christian Church.—This sense of brotherhood is one of the best gifts which the gospel brought to men. It is indeed the primary, unique element of the human race as a special, distinct creation. As a variety of intelligent creature, intended to carry still higher the proof of God’s creative wealth, the fact of its interlaced brotherhood, instinct with a common life, mutual love, and fully-shared joys, was its distinguishing feature. We know what a disastrous blow sin struck this distinguishing principle of human nature—how the members of the one family fell apart; how dissociation came into play, with all its destructive consequences. If reclamation should ever come for the race, if it should ever be started afresh upon a career of honour and blessedness, this principle must be called into life again. It must become the regulative power of human action. Men must be taught not only to know God as a Father, but each other as brothers, if they would attain to their true destiny. How beautifully did the early Church display this elevated, this transforming principle! How closely were they joined together! How constantly they assembled for mutual instruction! How tenderly they loved one another! Out of the fruitful soil of loving brotherhood sprang up the intense concern of the whole Church of Jerusalem for Peter, now in the hands of a relentless enemy. It is the true cement which binds Christians of every name and country together in an indissoluble bond.
II. We see the Church of Jerusalem in the attitude of prayer for an imperilled brother.—The Christians of Jerusalem are described as constituting one Church. 1. It was a praying Church. When they had returned to the city from the Mount of Olives after witnessing the ascension of the Lord into heaven, they entered into an upper room, and all continued with one accord in prayer.
2. By the habit of prayer the Church was prepared for trying emergencies. “While therefore Peter was being kept in prison, prayer was being made of the Church unto God for him.” Here was a great emergency. It was a fair, full test of their faith. They had no carnal weapons with which to fight. They had no distinguished friends at court to whom they might appeal. They had no treasures to offer as a ransom for the valuable life.
3. They prayed in concert. All hearts were touched, all minds agreed; not two or three, but the entire Church of Jerusalem.
4. They prayed unceasingly. There was no relaxation of energy, no manifestation of doubt, no giving over of entreaty.
5. The prayer was not only unceasing; it was instant, earnest—intense perhaps better expresses the meaning of the word. They prayed not coldly, nor over the fields, says John Calvin, but so long as Peter was in the conflict the faithful did what they could to help him, and that without wearisomeness. What a power is this intensity in the field of prayer!
6. They prayed to the point. It was all for Peter. Self was forgotten.
7. And to God direct they spoke. No living man is called on to help; no message is sent to Herod. They cast themselves on God nakedly; they invoke the Divine Power only. The case is urgent, and the mighty Presence alone filled the scene.
III. The appeal has been made, the Divine Power invoked; let us see the issue.—W. C. Craig, D.D.
Herod and Peter.
I. God knows all about His children.—Beyond the bare fact of Peter’s arrest, the disciples were in profound ignorance concerning him. The secrets of the Roman prison-house were well kept. But there was One whose seeing and knowing could not be hindered. God kept watch over Peter, knew in what corridor and cell he was confined, knew the names of the guards to whom he was chained, knew just where and when and how to send His angel to visit him. Peter had no occasion to feel solitary or forsaken. His best friend never let him for one moment out of His sight. Our recognised afflictions are not the hardest to bear. The tears we shed in secret, the disappointments of which we never speak, the sorrowful hearts which we hide under smiling faces—these are the things that test and strain the fibre of manhood. It greatly helps us to bear troubles like these, to remember that God knows all about them.
II. God keeps Himself informed about His children in order to help them.—His knowledge is not accidental, nor the result of mere curiosity. He has it, and uses it to succour us in our times of extremity. He kept watch over Peter, in order that; when the right time came, He might deliver him from prison. We lose a part—and the best part—of the great truth of Providence by our false accentuation. Providence is Providence—the foreseeing and arranging that precedes helpful doing. No small part of the anxiety that disquiets us arises from our failure to apprehend this gracious method of the Divine working. Men have too mechanical an idea of life. They have a great deal to say about “cause and effect.” Our common blessings are supposed to come in what we call the “order of nature.” What we call “nature” is only the material form in which God embodies His will and power. The results of physical processes are only the Divine Word “made flesh and dwelling amongst us.” What we call “law” is only God’s method of working. In proportion as men realise that truth they get towards the heart of things. “The Lord of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.”
III. When God helps His children He expects them to help themselves.—It was easily possible for God, in working a miracle for Peter’s deliverance, to have wrought out every item of it. But that is not the Divine method. There were some things which the apostle could do for himself. He could obey the command to “rise up quickly”; he could gird himself and bind on his sandals; he could cast his garment about him, and follow the angel; he could find his own way, when the angel left him, through the well-remembered streets to the house of his friends. What he could not do for himself was done for him; what he could do he must do, or it would not be done. It is an old proverb, but a weighty one, that “God helps those who help themselves.” Men have a certain range of natural abilities, inside of which God does not step to interfere. We come into life equipped for its duties and responsibilities, and are not expected to let our furnishings rust from disuse. In the Divine economy of the universe, there is no provision for idle blood. Prayer is a power, but not such a power as allows men to fold their hands, and expect results which they might secure by the proper use of means within their grasp. We are “workers together with God,” and, so long as we are idle, the heavens keep silence. God will never do anything for man that man can do for himself.
IV. When God moves in behalf of His children no obstacle is too great for Him.—Humanly judging, how many and what insuperable difficulties stood in the way of Peter’s deliverance! The prison was secure against assault; no mob could force its massive gates. The guards were deaf to either bribes or threats. Each one must answer with his life for the safe-keeping of the prisoner. The shrewdest strategist could contrive no plan of escape or rescue that held out the least promise of success. But how easy for God to do that which was impossible for man! He had but to will it, and the keepers were helpless and asleep. And yet how apt men always are to magnify what they call the impossibilities in the way of answers to prayer! They limit the range of their petitions to the things which it seems to them can be done, and have no heart to ask God for what seems too hard for them. Our philosophies of prayer often ignore the fact that Omnipotence is at the head of the universe. We try with the measuring line of human probabilities to determine the sweep of Almightiness. We have nothing to do with probabilities. The hand that holds all worlds is able to work beyond our thought. We must trust God fully. Herod and Peter stand as representatives of two distinct types of humanity. The one, in the world’s estimate, was rich, strong, and sovereign; the other was poor, weak, and a prisoner. The contest between them seemed most unequal. But God was on what men called the losing side, and that determined the issue. It is a truth to be remembered. In our schemes of life we give overweight to merely human advantages. Social position, wealth, natural capacity—if we have these, we think that we are equipped for success. We are too hasty in our conclusion. The real question is Is God for us or against us? In Him are all the treasures of wisdom and righteousness. With Him nothing is too hard for us to compass or attain. Apart from Him, our brightest prospects are only dreams, without substance or warrant.—Monday Club Sermons.
Act_12:1-19. The Great Struggle; or, the powers of light and darkness in conflict.
I. The contending forces.—
1. The powers of darkness. Represented by
(1) Herod the King.
(2) The Jewish people.
(3) The quaternions of soldiers.
2. The armies of light; represented by
(1) The angel of the Lord.
(2) The praying Church.
(3) The servant Rhoda.
II. The invisible commanders.—
1. Of the powers of darkness, Satan, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience (Eph_2:2).
2. Of the armies of light, the Lord, the exalted Christ, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks (Rev_2:1), and who is a constant presence with His people (Mat_23:20).
III. The important prize.—The life of Peter.—
1. That of his body, which was now imprisoned, which the arch enemy desired to cut off, but which the Lord of Glory determined to preserve.
2. That of his soul, which, on the one hand, was seriously threatened by the persecutions so thickly directed against him, but on the other hand was efficiently supported by the grace so richly manifested toward him.
IV. The ultimate victory.—This lay completely on the side of Christ and His heavenly army.
1. Peter’s body was delivered from the prison. The purpose of Herod, the expectation of the Jews, the vigilance of the soldiers, were all outwitted.
2. Peter’s soul was also rescued from peril. Peter, it is known, continued faithful to the end, and eventually obtained the crown of life.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 5, 9, 12, 16, 18 1, 2. This Herod Antipas was the grandson of…
MARTYRDOM OF JAMES
1, 2. This Herod Antipas was the grandson of the King Herod reigning when our Savior was born, and notorious for slaying the infants of Bethlehem, and even himself, while the innocents were bleeding, and Jesus safe in Egypt, summoned to stand before God and account for his diabolical atrocities. The Herodian dynasty reigned over several of those Asiatic provinces of the Roman Empire, simply as proconsuls, though retaining the honorary title of king. When James and John, the sons of Zebedee, honored by our Savior as sons of thunder because of their oratorical power, assisted by their mother, sought of Jesus the first place in His coming kingdom, thus aspiring to the episcopacy in the gospel church, and unhesitatingly meeting the conditions by answering in the affirmative our Savior’s question, “Are you able to drink of my cup and to be baptized with my baptism?” i. e., the cup of Gethsemane and the bloody martyrdom of Calvary, little did they understand the force of those words. James, the elder, doubtless led the way in this application to the Master for the pre- eminence in the coming kingdom. He got it, and was the first of all the apostles to seal his faith with his blood. They all passed out of the world through the bloody martyrdom [but John, who was banished, and as we believe translated]; but James led the Way, having his head cut off with the cruel sword of Herod at that early day. So he got his request, — first in martyrdom and first in heaven.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Sermon Bible 1900 · Public Domain On v1 The Blessing of Death.
Act 12:15
The Blessing of Death.
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I. What was the meaning of these strange words—"It is his angel"? It was the opinion of many of the Fathers, and notably of St. Chrysostom, that the saying is a witness to the belief of the early Church in the existence of guardian angels, as if each Christian were under the care of a spiritual being, like the genius of whom the poet Horace writes:
"Natale comes qui temperat astrum"—
a being who was, as it were, a sort of higher self, who guided his life, who was associated with him in every joy and every sorrow, and who, on supreme occasions, but none knew how or when or why, would assume the likeness of his personality. But there is another view, which is the more perhaps to be considered as it is the view of Waterland, expressed in the fifth sermon of his second volume, viz., that when the surviving disciples said of St. Peter, "It is his angel," they thought that he was dead, and that it was his spirit, or, as we should say, his apparition, which Rhoda had seen and seemed to recognise at the gate. And, if so, one is led in the light of this verse to dwell for a moment upon the laws of communion between the living and the dead; for, perhaps to all of us, there is no more touching subject than this as life grows older, and they whom we loved the most on earth are ever drifting from us to the shadowy land. "It is not only when men are next to us that they are nearest—Nicht nur zusammen wenn sie beisammen sind, as Goethe nobly says in Egmont, but the distant too and the departed are alive for us." Has God one blessing only—the blessing of life? or is there healing in the wings of the angel of death? Shall we shrink from death as the Greeks in Herder’s simile, like children covering their eyes with their hands, to hide its horror? or may we welcome it as an angel of the All-merciful, although it robs us of our best and best-beloved, and say in the spirit of St. Francis, "My sister Death"?
II. There are some purposes which cannot be wrought out by life, but must needs be accomplished by death. It is not the faiths for which men are ready to argue, although they forge never so cunning a chain of arguments; it is the faiths for which they die that conquer the world. God buries His workmen, but carries on His work. Nay, He makes their very death a strength and solace to the generations which are the heirs of their high purpose.
J. E. C. Welldon, The Spiritual Life, p. 193.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
F. W. Grant 1903 · Public Domain On v1 Subdivision 6. (Act 12:1-25.)
Subdivision 6. (Act 12:1-25.)
Israel in full unbelief under their apostate king; but with God’s hand over it.
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1. While the Church is thus being enlarged, unhappy Israel becomes only more hostile to the followers of Him whom they have crucified, and a new king (Herod Agrippa I.) rises up to give their enmity effect. Though we may be little able to interpret the details, yet the circumstances undoubtedly suggest an anticipation of the last days, when the lawless king will exalt himself against God, assuming for himself divine honors. We have here, also, in effect, the slain and the spared remnant represented in the opposite lot of James and Peter: the one given up, as it might seem, so strangely, his service but begun, to a violent death, while for the other an angel must be sent from heaven, to rescue him in a wonderful manner "from all the expectation of the people of the Jews," about to glut their evil desire with the death of another apostle of Jesus. Yet James was one of the three specially in the Lord’s confidence, along with John and Peter. His life is to us a blank, and his day went down at noon! How little can we see of the divine ways! and, if we judge a course merely by its results, how surely shall we misjudge! In the events to which we seem to be looking forward here, those that are martyred under the beast have their part in the first resurrection (Rev 20:4-6); while the spared remnant has but its portion on earth: and thus will eternity reverse our present apprehension of how many things!
The story of Peter’s deliverance is told vividly and in detail; but while it yields much food for meditation, it scarcely requires an interpreter. It may appear even too far out of the usual course of God’s ways to find ready application to our common lives; yet it is the same God with whom we have to do; and, if we had but skill to trace His ways with us more; we might find more reason to wonder at the essential resemblances than to be perplexed at the apparent differences. The veil is over His governmental dealings, for it is a dispensation of faith and not of sight; but it is yet the part of faith to take away the veil, and through all disguises to recognize the well-known features of the Love that seeks to be apprehended by those who are the objects of it; and that before the veil is drawn away, as soon it shall be, and we shall know, even as we are known.
The angels too are still "ministering spirits, sent forth to minister to those who shall inherit salvation;" and we easily remember how in Elisha’s day the eyes that God opened could see the "chariots and horses of fire" round about the man who to common sight looked absolutely unprotected. Did we seek with more longing that intercourse with the unseen which surely we may attain, how would our spiritual vision gain in clearness, what recompense should we have from Him, who still as of old, "satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness"! There are other prison-doors, and better guarded than these that could not hold Peter, which may need to be loosed for us, that we may go forth into the great spiritual world around us! and the prison perhaps is one out of which, in reality, we have hardly been, or not been, -then most secure, of course, when we scarcely recognize that we are shut in at all, or, therefore, think of deliverance! Perhaps the gates would open to us of their own accord, if we on our part were not so well satisfied to have them shut.*
{*For some reason, the Spirit gives the name of the damsel who announces Peter’s deliverance. It is Rhoda -a rose.
Peter’s angel is evidently to be understood as his spirit, without his body. They thought he had been put to death. S.R.}
2. Israel, as we see; is going onward to doom; yet they have a king under whom now the whole land is once more united. They will in fact have a political revival at the end, when all will seem to be theirs except the life from God without which all is death still, and only worse corruption. The picture of the wilful king is, no doubt, here; as has already been remarked, though it may be slightly drawn. Solemn it is to see, that whether faintly or plainly to be seen, wherever Christ is rejected Antichrist appears. So it ever is: "I have come in My Father’s Name; and ye receive Me not; if another come in his own name, him ye will receive." In every individual case; such is the spiritual law: and there is nothing arbitrary or strange about it; in it men are but a law to themselves, in fact: there are but these two alternatives; not to choose the one is in itself to choose the other.
Of all this one can say little; however, as to its bearing upon what is before us in the Acts. It is easy to see that we have in this part the divergence of two roads that never can meet. Israel and the Church here part. Save for a moment to reaffirm the freedom of the Gentile from the legal yoke; the history returns no more to Jerusalem, until the last sad days of Paul’s arrest and imprisonment from which he escapes only by the appeal to Caesar, which carries him eventually to Rome itself. Jerusalem and Rome are alike the prisons of the gospel, however much it be true nevertheless, that "the word of God is not bound." But this lies yet a good way before us.
3. This portion does not close with the death of Herod, but with the increase and multiplication of the word of God; which in fact is now not merely to have large fruit among the Gentiles, but to expand into a glorious revelation of things hitherto kept secret -the manifold wisdom and the marvelous love of God, which is to make the Church for all eternity the temple of His praise.
It is Paul, as we know, who is to be in this respect the "completer" of the word of God (Col 1:25); and it is Paul whose course we are now especially to follow, himself the most perfect display of grace towards the "chief of sinners," and now to proclaim that grace in an unequalled manner, the record of which we have in his fourteen epistles. The Acts does not give us indeed, in any sufficient manner, the doctrine of Paul. It presents us rather with the character of his work, as we shall see; together with the reception given it by the legalist and by the world, -a lesson for the days since then, by which we must seek to profit, as God may give.
From Jerusalem Barnabas and Saul now return. The ministers of Gentile love to their brethren of the circumcision, the opposition that we shall but too soon see springing up comes from no failure upon the part of him who once wished himself accursed from Christ for his kindred according to the flesh (Rom 9:3). That they would not receive his testimony he had been already warned (Act 22:18); yet his heart could not be kept back in its overflowing affection for them. We are to see how it was repaid, -alas! and yet no wonder; was it not Christ, and Him crucified, whom Paul proclaimed? and to the people who had crucified Him? Such is man! and in the sovereign grace of the God of grace alone is there hope for any.
The mention of Mark as accompanying the return to Antioch has a moral with it, which develops later. He was sister’s son to Barnabas (Col 4:10); and this touch of nature prevails in the end to separate the two zealous laborers with whom he is for the present united. And yet Mark -here the failing servant -is by and by the one who records the Lord’s own unfailing service in the second Gospel; and of whom the untiring Paul will one day say, "He is profitable to me for the ministry" (2Ti 4:11). How will grace triumph at the last over all our failures!
F. W. Grant, The Numerical Bible (4th ed., 1903) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On vv2, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17
Acts
THE MARTYRDOM OF JAMES
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Act 12:2.
One might have expected more than a clause to be spared to tell the death of a chief man and the first martyr amongst the Apostles. James, as we know, was one of the group of the Apostles who were in especially close connection with Jesus Christ. He is associated in the Gospels with Peter and his brother John, and is always named before John, as if he were the more important of the two, by reason of age or of other circumstances unknown to us. But yet we know next to nothing about him. In the Acts of the Apostles he is a mere lay figure; his name is only mentioned in the catalogue at the beginning, and here again in the brief notice of his death. The reticent and merely incidental character of the notice of his martyrdom is sufficiently remarkable. I think the lessons of the fact, and of the, I was going to say, slight way in which the writer of this book refers to it, may perhaps be most pointedly brought out if we take four contrasts-James and Stephen, James and Peter, James and John, James and James. Now, if we take these four I think we shall learn something.
I. First, then, James and Stephen.
Look at the different scale on which the incidents of the deaths of these two are told: the martyrdom of the one is beaten out over chapters, the martyrdom of the other is crammed into a corner of a sentence. And yet, of the two men, the one who is the less noticed filled the larger place officially, and the other was only a simple deacon and preacher of the Word. The fact that Stephen was the first Christian to follow his Lord in martyrdom is not sufficient to account for the extraordinary difference. The difference is to be sought for in another direction altogether. The Bible cares so little about the people whom it names because its true theme is the works of God, and not of man; and the reason why the ‘Acts of the Apostles’ kills off one of the chief Apostles in this fashion is simply that, as the writer tells us, his theme is ‘all that Jesus’ continued ‘to do and to teach after He was taken up.’ Since it is Christ who is the true actor, it matters uncommonly little what becomes of James or of the other ten. This book is not the ‘Acts of the Apostles,’ but it is the Acts of Jesus Christ.
I might suggest, too, in like manner, that there is another contrast which I have not included in my four, between the scale on which the death of Jesus Christ is told by Luke, and that on which this death is narrated. What is the reason why so disproportionate a space of the Gospel is concerned with the last two days of our Lord’s life on earth? What is the reason why years are leaped over in silence and moments are spread out in detail, but that the death of a man is only a death, but the death of the Christ is the life of the world? It is little needful that we should have poetical, emotional, picturesque descriptions of martyrdoms and the like in a book which is altogether devoted to tracking the footsteps of Christ in history; and which regards men as nothing more than the successive instruments of His purpose, and the depositories of His grace.
Another lesson which we may draw from the reticence in the case of the Apostle, and the expansiveness in the case of the protomartyr, is that of a wise indifference to the utterly insignificant accident of posthumous memory or oblivion of us and our deeds and sufferings. James sleeps none the less sweetly in his grave, or, rather, wakes none the less triumphantly in heaven, because his life and death are both so scantily narrated. If we ‘self-infold the large results’ of faithful service, we need not trouble ourselves about its record on earth.
But another lesson which may be learned from this cursory notice of the Apostle’s martyrdom is-how small a thing death really is! Looked at from beside the Lord of life and death, which is the point of view of the author of this narrative, ‘great death’ dwindles to a very little thing. We need to revise our notions if we would understand how trivial it really is. To us it frowns like a black cliff blocking the upper end of our valley, but there is a path round its base, and though the throat of the pass be narrow, it has room for us to get through and up to the sunny uplands beyond. From a mountain top the country below seems level plain, and what looked like an impassable precipice has dwindled to be indistinguishable. The triviality of death, to those who look upon it from the heights of eternity, is well represented by these brief words which tell of the first breach thereby in the circle of the Apostles.
II. There is another contrast, James and Peter.
Now this chapter tells of two things: the death of one of that pair of friends; the miracle that was wrought for the deliverance of the other from death. Why could not the parts have been exchanged, or why could not the miraculous hand that was stretched out to save the one fisherman of Bethsaida have been put forth to save the other? Why should James be slain, and Peter miraculously delivered? A question easily asked; a question not to be answered by us. We may say that the one was more useful for the development of the Church than the other. But we have all seen lives that, to our poor vision, seemed to be all but indispensable, ruthlessly swept away, and lives that seemed to be, and were, perfectly profitless, prolonged to extreme old age. We may say that maturity of character, development of Christian graces, made the man ready for glory. But we have all seen some struck down when anything but ready; and others left for the blessing of mankind many, many a day after they were far fitter for heaven than thousands that, we hope, have gone there.
So all these little explanations do not go down to the bottom of the matter, and we are obliged just to leave the whole question in the loving Hands that hold the keys of life and death for us all. Only we may be sure of this, that James was as dear to Christ as Peter was, and that there was no greater love shown in sending the angel that delivered the one out of the ‘hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews,’ than was shown in sending the angel that stood behind the headsman and directed the stroke of the fatal sword on the neck of the other.
The one was as dear to the Christ as the other-ay, and the one was as surely, and more blessedly, delivered ‘from the mouth of the lion’ as the other was, though the one seemed to be dragged from his teeth, and the other seemed to be crushed by his powerful jaws. James escaped from Herod when Herod slew him but could not make him unfaithful to his Master, and his deliverance was not less complete than the deliverance of his friend.
But let us remember, also, that if thus, to two equally beloved, there were dealt out these two different fates, it must be because that evil, which, as I said, is not so great as it looks, is also not so bitter as it tastes, and there is no real evil, for the loving heart, in the stroke that breaks its bands and knits it to Jesus Christ. If we are Christians, the deepest desire of our souls is fuller communion with our Lord. We realise that, in some stunted and scanty measure, by life; but oh! is it not strange that we should shrink from that change which will enable us to realise it fully and eternally? The contrast of James and Peter may teach us the equal love that presides over the life of the living and the death of the dying.
III. Another contrast is that of James and John.
The close union, and subsequent separation by this martyrdom, of that pair of brothers is striking and pathetic. They seem to have together pursued their humble trade of fishermen in the little fishing village of Bethsaida, apparently as working partners with their father Zebedee. They were not divided by discipleship, as was the sad fate of many a brother delivered by a brother to death. If we may attach any weight to the suggestion that the expression in John’s narrative, ‘He first findeth his own brother, Simon,’ implies that ‘the other disciple’ did the same by his brother, James was brought to Jesus by John, and new tenderness and strength thereby given to their affection. They were closely associated in their Apostleship, and were together the companions of Jesus in the chief incidents of His life. They were afterwards united in the leadership of the Church. By death they were separated very far: the one the first of all the Apostles to ‘become a prey to Satan’s rage,’ the other ‘lingering out his fellows all,’ and ‘dying in bloodless age,’ living to be a hundred years old or more, and looking back through all the long parting to the brother who had joined with him in the wish that even Messiah’s Kingdom should not part them, and yet had been parted so soon and parted so long.
Ah! may we not learn the lesson that we should recognise the mercy and wisdom of the ministry of Death the separator, and should tread with patience the lonely road, do calmly the day’s work, and tarry till He comes, though those that stood beside us be gone? We may look forward with the assurance that ‘God keeps a niche in heaven to hide our idols’; and ‘albeit He breaks them to our face,’ yet shall we find them again, like Memnon’s statue, vocal in the rising sunshine of the heavens.
The brothers, so closely knit, so soon parted, so long separated, were at last reunited. Even to us here, with the chronology of earth still ours, the few years between the early martyrdom of James and the death of the centenarian John seem but a span. The lapse of the centuries that have rolled away since then makes the difference of the dates of the two deaths seem very small, even to us. What a mere nothing it will have looked to them, joined together once more before God!
IV. Lastly, James and James. In his hot youth, when he deserved the name of a son of thunder-so energetic, boisterous, I suppose, destructive perhaps, he was-he and his brother, and their foolish mother, whose name is kindly not told us, go to Christ and say, ‘Grant that we may sit, the one on Thy right hand and the other on Thy left, in Thy kingdom.’ That was what he wished and hoped for, and what he got was years of service, and a taste of persecution, and finally the swish of the headsman’s sword.
And so our dreams get disappointed, and their disappointment is often the road to their fulfilment, for Jesus Christ was answering James’ prayer, ‘Grant that we may sit on Thy right hand in Thy kingdom,’ when He called him to Himself, by the brief and bloody passage of martyrdom. James said, when he did not know what he meant, and the vow was noble though it was ignorant, ‘we can drink of the cup that Thou drinkest.’ And all honour to him! he stuck to his vow; and when the cup was proffered to him he manfully, and like a Christian, took it and drank it to the dregs; and, I suppose, went silently to his grave. But the change between his ardent anticipations and his calm resignation, and between his foolish dream and the stern reality, may well teach us that, whether our wishes he fulfilled or disappointed, they all need to be purified, and that the disappointment of them on earth is often God’s way of fulfilling them for us in higher fashion than we dreamed or asked.
So, brethren, let us leave for ourselves, and for all dear ones, that question of living or dying, to His decision. Only let us be sure that whether our lives be long like John’s, or short like James’, ‘living or dying we are the Lord’s.’ And then, whatever be the length of life or the manner of death, both will bring us the fulfilment of our highest wishes, and will lead us to His side at whose right hand all those shall sit who have loved Him here, and, though long parted, shall be reunited in common enjoyment of the pleasures for evermore which bloom unfading there. ‘And so shall we ever be with the Lord.’
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 Imprisonment of Peter. Death of Herod
Imprisonment of Peter. Death of Herod
1-19. Persecution of the Church at Jerusalem by Herod. Martyrdom of James the son of Zebedee. Peter's imprisonment and miraculous release. The Church was persecuted (1) by the Sadducees and chief priests, Act_4:1; Act_5:17; (2) afterwards by the Pharisees, Act_6:11. and now (3) by the king of the Jews. Not till later was persecution to come from the Romans.
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1. About that time] viz. when relief was sent to the Church of Jerusalem (Act_11:29-30). The death of Herod (Act_12:23) fixes the date as 44 a.d. Herod the king] i.e. Herod Agrippa I, son of Aristobulus (Herod the Great's son) and Bernice; born 10 b.c. See art. 'The Dynasty of the Herods.'
2. James] i.e. James the Great, son of Zebedee.
4. Four quaternions] four parties of four soldiers each, relieving one another at intervals. Easter] i.e. the Passover.
5. Without ceasing] RV 'earnestly.'
7. The prison] RV 'the-cell.'
10. The second ward] i.e the second guard of soldiers. And they went out] D adds, 'and went down the seven steps' (probably an authentic detail).
12. Mary] This Mary, mother of Mark, and aunt of Barnabas, was a widow of considerable wealth, as her style of living testifies. Her house had a gateway into the courtyard (not a 'door,' as AV), which was kept by a portress. There was room within for the Church to worship (Act_12:12). Many suppose that her house was the scene of the Last Supper, and of the descent of the Holy Ghost.
John.. Mark] the evangelist: see Intro, to Mk.
13, 14. The gate] i.e. the gateway or vestibule.
15. His angel] They thought that Peter's guardian angel had assumed his voice and appearance: see on Mat_18:10.
17. Unto James, and to the brethren] The meeting in Mary's house was clearly an unofficial one. Observe that Peter recognises James (i.e. the Lord's brother) as the head of the local Church of Jerusalem.
20-24. Death of Herod Agrippa I, 44 a.d. Josephus's account of Herod's death, which is quite independent, confirms St. Luke's (see 'Ant.'
19.8).
20. Tyre and Sidon obtained their corn and provisions from Palestine. Hence when a dispute arose (perhaps over some commercial or tariff question), Herod forbade the exportation of corn to Tyre and Sidon. Famine prices prevailed, and the cities were obliged to come to terms. They 'persuaded' Blastus (AV 'made him their friend'), probably by a bribe, and desired 'peace,' i.e. a cessation of the tariff war.
23. The angel] RV 'an angel.' This is, of course, the Christian interpretation of the incident. No angelic appearance is to be assumed.
24. So signal a judgment upon a persecutor was an indication of the righteousness of the Christian cause. It is a remarkable fact that most of the early persecutors perished miserably.
Act_12:25 to Act_13:3. Separation of Barnabas and Saul for missionary work, 47 a.d.
25. Returned from Jerusalem] the best reading is 'returned to Jerusalem,' i.e. to fetch Mark to Antioch.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain On vv1–19 XII: 1, 2. The historian does not follow Barnabas…
XII: 1, 2. The historian does not follow Barnabas and Saul in their tour through the districts in Judea, but, leaving them for awhile, introduces a very interesting episode concerning events that were then transpiring in Jerusalem. (1) “ Now, about that time, Herod the king stretched forth his hand to afflict certain persons of the Church, (2) and killed James the brother of John with the sword.” The persecutions which we have hitherto noticed were conducted by religious partisans in Jerusalem, without any active assistance on the part of the civil authorities. We are now introduced to one in which the reigning prince is the leader, while the old enemies of the truth are working behind the curtain, if at all.
This Herod was a grandson of that Herod by whom the infants of Bethlehem were slaughtered, and a nephew of “Herod the Tetrarch,” by whom John the Immerser was beheaded. He grew up in Rome, where he wasted what fortune he had inherited in princely extravagance; but while doing so he acquired an intimacy with Caius Cæsar, afterward the famous Caligula of history. When the latter ascended the throne, at the death of Tiberius, he elevated his friend Agrippa, as this Herod was most usually called, to a kingdom, which was subsequently enlarged by Claudius until it embraced all the territory ruled by his grandfather Herod the Great. He was now in the zenith of his power, and living in the utmost magnificence. Why he undertook this persecution it is difficult to tell, unless he was instigated to it by the old enemies of the Church. This appears most probable from Luke's statement below, that he seized Peter because he saw that the death of James pleased the Jews.
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A number of brethren suffered in this persecution, though James the brother of John is the only one who is said to have suffered death. He is designated as the “brother of John” to distinguish him from the other James, who is the author of the epistle bearing this name. He was the first of the apostles to suffer death, and his brother John was the last. In the death of both were fulfilled the words of Jesus, uttered on a memorable occasion, when they asked him for a seat, one at his right hand, and the other at his left. He asked them if they were able to undergo the immersion which he would undergo. They said, “We are able.” He replied, “You shall, indeed, drink of my cup, and be immersed in the immersion in which I am immersed; but to sit on my right hand and on my left is not mine to give, but to them for whom it is prepared by my Father.” As the sword of the executioner was made bare, and the neck of James laid upon the block, he could but remember these words. He understood, too, far better than when he first made the request, what it is to sit at the right hand of Jesus.
Why James was selected for this murderous example, in preference to any other of the apostles, we are not informed; but we have already seen that the brunt of persecution uniformly fell upon those most prominent in the scenes which were the immediate occasion of it. This consideration gives some ground for the conclusion that, though Peter and John had hitherto acted the most prominent part in Jerusalem, at this time James stood in the foreground in the conflict with the unbelieving Jews.
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv1, 4, 5, 8, 9, 11 Herod Agrippa I., grandson of Herod the Great, (See…
Herod
Herod Agrippa I., grandson of Herod the Great, (See Scofield "Mat 2:1"), a strict observer of the law, and popular with the Jews, see Act 12:21.
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Herod Agrippa II., Paul’s Agrippa, was his son.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 1. The great Persecution by Herod Agrippa I (Act…
CHAPTER 12
1. The great Persecution by Herod Agrippa I (Act 12:1-5).
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2. The miraculous deliverance of Peter (Act 12:6-17).
3. The Presumption and Judgment of Herod (Act 12:18-23).
4. Barnabas and Saul returning to Jerusalem (Act 12:24-25).
With this chapter we reach the conclusion of the second part of this book. Jerusalem had heard the second offer concerning the Kingdom, and mercy was ready even for the murderers of the Prince of Life. But that offer was rejected. Stephen’s testimony followed by his martyrdom marked the close of that second offer to the city where our Lord had been crucified. Then broke out a great persecution, and they were scattered abroad except the Apostles. From our last chapter we learned that others who were driven out of Jerusalem preached the Word in Phenice, Cyprus and Antioch. The twelfth chapter, with which this part of Acts closes, is an interesting one. It is not only interesting on account of the historical information it contains, but also because of its dispensational foreshadowing. Once more we are introduced to Jerusalem and see another great persecution. The wicked King is reigning over the city. James is killed with the sword, while Peter is imprisoned but wonderfully delivered; the evil King, who claimed divine power and worship, is suddenly smitten by the judgment of the Lord. Then the Word grew and multiplied, Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem to Antioch, from where the great missionary operations were soon to be conducted. The events in Jerusalem, James’ martyrdom under King Herod, Peter’s imprisonment and deliverance, as well as the fate of the persecuting King, foreshadow the events with which this present age will close. After the true church is taken from the earth, that is when 1Th 4:16-17 is fulfilled, the great tribulation will take place. While great tribulation and judgment will come upon the whole world, the great tribulation will come upon the Jewish people who have returned in part to their own land. In the midst of the masses of unbelieving Jews, there will be found a remnant of God-fearing Jews, who are converted and bear testimony to the truth. A wicked King, the man of sin, the false Messiah, will then be in power in Jerusalem. Part of that Jewish remnant will suffer martyrdom; these are represented by James, whom Herod, the type of the Antichrist, slew. Another part will be delivered as Peter was delivered. Herod’s presumption and fate clearly points to that of the Antichrist (2Th 2:3-8). All this may well be kept in mind in the study of this chapter in detail.
Interesting is the account of the prayer meeting held in behalf of Peter. When God had answered their prayers they were reluctant to believe it. Not one of the company believed that Peter had been released. Rhoda was the one who believed that it was Peter. And this is undoubtedly the reason why her name is mentioned in this book. The poor maid, perhaps a slave girl, pleased God because she had faith. While there was great earnestness in that prayer meeting, when the prayer was answered, unbelief manifested itself.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv1, 6, 11, 17 Herod Persecutes the Church at Jerusalem and is Punished…
Herod Persecutes the Church at Jerusalem and is Punished by God. Act 12:1-25
James beheaded, Peter imprisoned:
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v. 1. Now about that time Herod the, king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the Church.
v. 2. And he killed James, the brother of John, with the sword.
v. 3. And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. (Then were the days of unleavened bread.)
v. 4. And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him, intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.
v. 5. Peter, therefore, was kept in prison; but prayer was made without ceasing of the Church unto God for him.
At that time, at the time when Barnabas and Saul were sent on their embassy of charity, very probably in the year 45 or early in 46 A. D. Since the year 41 Herod Agrippa I, a grandson of Herod the Great, occupied the entire country which had formerly been governed by his grandfather, with the title of king, under Roman supremacy. His power exceeded that of an ordinary governor, and he took good care to maintain his standing by a proper attitude of flattering deference to the emperor. He had risen to his present station by a gradual promotion, having been given first the tetrarchy of Philip (Batanea, Trachonitis, and Auranitis), a little later the tetrarchy of Lysanias, with the title of king, soon afterward the tetrarchy of Herod Antipas (Galilee and Perea), and finally Samaria and Judea. Without any special occasion, apparently merely for the sake of showing his tyrant’s power, this Herod let his heavy hand strike certain members of the church at Jerusalem, to treat them badly, to torture and vex them. First of all he killed, deliberately murdered, James, the brother of John, with the sword. Luke purposely does not use a word to designate an execution, even with some show of right, but he applies the proper, fitting word: murder. This James the Greater, the son of Zebedee, must be distinguished from James the Less, the son of Alphaeus. The prediction of the Lord, Mat 20:23, was here fulfilled: James, the first martyr from the ranks of the apostles, drank of the Lord’s cup, and was baptized with His baptism. This cruel and absolutely unjustified act of the king must have been the cause of great grief to the congregation at Jerusalem, removing, as it did, one of the foremost teachers of the young Church. The fires of persecution had died down to a few smoldering embers, but the action of Herod fanned them into new flame; the Jews, inveterate enemies of the Cross, were pleased with the removal of a leader of the hated sect; they found the action in total accord with their wishes. Herod, therefore, who prided himself upon his Pharisaic piety, added a second unjustified act, that of taking Peter captive, of arresting him without reason or charge, simply because it suited his fancy. Since just at that time, however, the Festival of Unleavened Bread was being celebrated, Herod, eager to show his zeal for Jewish religious customs by all means, had Peter arrested and placed into prison, his intention being to arraign him in the presence of the people after the days of the Passover Festival. The names of the feast are here interchanged, since they were applied indiscriminately. To be sure that his victim would not escape, Herod took unusual precautions, delivering him to four quaternions of soldiers, four soldiers for each of the four watches of the night, for safe-keeping. The Roman custom was probably followed, according to which the prisoner was chained to two guards in the cell, while two watched outside. With great numbers of people in Jerusalem for the festival, Herod hoped to gain further popularity by these measures: but especially by the final condemnation of the apostle in the presence of the people. He did not realize that by his action he was pitting his puny strength against the power of Almighty God and of the exalted Christ, a fact which Luke brings out by the contrast: Now Peter indeed was guarded in the prison, but prayer was made without ceasing by the congregation to God on his account. It is a sad fact that the might of prayer is not realized sufficiently in our days. If the congregations individually and collectively would but make use of prayer, unceasing, importunate prayer, the success of a great many enterprises would be a foregone conclusion. Note that the prayer of the Christians was made in behalf of Peter, very likely not exclusively for his release, though they knew that this was an easy matter for the Lord, but for strength and fortitude to bear persecution and martyrdom, if need be, for the sake of his Lord.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 16, 18 Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
This begins the new persecution, first of James' death and then of Peter's imprisonment and then release.
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General Information:
This is background information about Herod's killing James. (See: Background Information)
Now
This begins a new part of the story. (See: Introduction of a New Event)
about that time
This refers to the time of the famine.
laid hands on
This means Herod had the believers arrested. See how you translated this in Acts 5:18. AT: "sent soldiers to arrest" (See: Idiom)
some who belonged to the church
Only James and Peter are specified, which implies that these were leaders of the church in Jerusalem. (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
so that he might mistreat them
"in order to cause the believers to suffer"
He killed James ... with the sword
This tells the manner in which James was killed.
He killed James
Possible meanings are 1) Herod himself killed James or 2) Herod ordered someone to kill James. AT: "Herod gave the order and they killed James" (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
Herod Antipas
church
James (son of Zebedee)
sword
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 18 12:1-5 Jesus had clearly predicted persecution and hardship for…
12:1-5 Jesus had clearly predicted persecution and hardship for his followers (Luke 11:49-51). For the first time since Jesus’ death, Roman authorities took direct violent action against the church. James, the brother of John, was one of the first called to be a disciple (Mark 1:16-20; Luke 5:1-11), and he was one of the first Christians to be martyred for his faith. • King Herod Agrippa attacked the church (cp. Acts 12:20-23), a move that he found to be politically helpful with the Jewish people. The letter of James, the brother of Jesus, was probably written after this persecution to the scattered Christians (see 8:1-4; James Book Introduction, “Date of Writing”).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.