Bibelkommentare

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 (Luke 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 Acts 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.

(2) He killed James the brother of John with the sword.—Had the Apostle been tried by the Sanhedrin on a charge of blasphemy and heresy, the sentence would have been death by stoning. Decapitation showed, as in the case of John the Baptist, that the sentence was pronounced by a civil ruler, adopting Roman modes of punishment, and striking terror by them in proportion as they were hateful to the Jews. The death of James reminds us of his Lord’s prediction that he, too, should drink of His cup, and be baptised with His baptism (Matthew 20:23). The fulfilment of that prophecy was found for one brother in his being the proto-martyr of the apostolic company, as it was found for the other in his being the last survivor of it. What led to his being selected as the first victim we can only conjecture; but the prominent position which he occupies in the Gospels, in company with Peter and John, probably continued, and the natural vehemence indicated in the name of Son of Thunder may have marked him out as among the foremost teachers of the Church. The brevity of St. Luke’s record presents a marked contrast to the fulness of later martyrologies. A tradition preserved by Eusebius (Hist. ii. 9) as coming from Clement of Alexandria, records that his accuser was converted by beholding his faith and patience, confessed his new faith, and was led to execution in company with the Apostle, who bestowed on him the parting benediction of “Peace be with thee.”

(3) Because he saw it pleased the Jews.—This was throughout the ruling policy of the Herodian house. The persecution did not spring from any fanatic zeal against the new faith, but simply from motives of political expediency. A somewhat touching incident is recorded, illustrating the king’s sensitiveness to popular praise or blame. It was at the Feast of Tabernacles, and the Law was read, and he heard the words of Deuteronomy 17:15 : “Thou shalt not set a stranger over thee,” and he burst into tears at the thought of his own Idumæan descent. The people saw him weeping, and cried out: “Trouble not thyself, Agrippa; thou also art our brother,” and the king’s heart was comforted (Jost, Gesch. des Judenthums, I., p. 420).

Then were the days of unleavened bread.—The crowds of Hellenistic and other Jews who were gathered to keep the feast at Jerusalem naturally made this a favourable opportunity for courting the favour of the people. A tradition recorded by St. Jerome states that St. James was beheaded on the 15th of Nisan, i.e., on the same day as that of the Crucifixion. Peter was arrested probably at the same time; but the trial and execution were deferred till the seven days of the feast were over.

(4) Delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers.—Agrippa apparently followed the lessons of Roman practice which he had learnt by his own experience. The four quaternions relieved each other at set times, and the prisoner was chained to two of the soldiers of each company, while the others were stationed as sentinels at the door of the dungeon. (Comp. St. Paul’s chains in Acts 28:20; Ephesians 6:20.)

Intending after Easter.—Better, after the Passover, as elsewhere. In this solitary instance the translators have introduced, with a singular infelicity, the term which was definitely appropriate only to the Christian festival which took the place of the Passover.

(5) Prayer was made without ceasing.—The adjective is rendered by “fervent” in 1Peter 4:8, and implies, as in the marginal reading, intensity as well as continuity. The words imply that the members of the Church continued, in spite of the persecution, to meet as usual, probably, as in Acts 12:12, in the house of Mary, the mother of Mark.

(6) Peter was sleeping between two soldiers.—The picture of the calm repose of the Apostle as of one to whom God had given the sleep of His beloved (Psalm 127:2), undisturbed by the fear of coming suffering and death, will be felt by most readers to be one of singular interest.

(7) The angel of the Lord came upon him.—The phrase is identical with that of Luke 2:9. The absence of the article in the Greek leaves it open to render it either as “the angel” or “an angel.” The “light” in this instance corresponds to the “glory of the Lord” in that.

In the prison.—Literally, in the dwelling, or chamber. The term appears to be used as an euphemism for “prison.”

(8) Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals.—In lying down to sleep the Apostle had naturally laid aside his “cloak,” loosened the girdle that bound his tunic, and put off his sandals. As regards the latter we note his continued observance of the rule of Mark 6:9.