Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible · Acts Chapter 12

Acts 12:1. Herod the King— The Syriac version reads, Herod the king, surnamed Agrippa: Josephus styles him Agrippa; which probably was his Roman, as Herod was his Syrian name. He was the grandson of Herod the Great, by his son Aristobulus; nephew to Herod Antipas, who beheaded John the Baptist; brother to Herodias, whom that incestuous tetrarch married; and father to that Agrippa, before whom St. Paul made his defence, ch. Acts 25:13. Caius Caligula, with whom he had an early friendship, when he became emperor, released this Agrippa from the confinement under which Tiberius had on that very account kept him, and crowned him king of the tetrarchy of his uncle Philip; to which he afterwards added the territories of Antipas, whom he banished to Lyons in Gaul: in this authority Claudius confirmed him, and made him king of Judea, adding to his former dominions those of Lysanias. This person desired to ingratiate himself with the Jews by every method; and finding that the Christians were under the popular odium, he stretched forth his hands to harass and molest them; he did not reflect upon the injustice of persecuting the Christians, though he and his countrymen had taken it so ill that the heathens, and particularly Caligula, had persecuted the Jews; as if it had been persecution only to molest the Jews for their religion, but had lost its nature, and ceased to be persecution, when practised by the Jews upon the Christians. See on ch. Acts 9:31

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Acts 12:2. And he killed James— Thus was our Lord's prediction, relating to them, fulfilled, Matthew 20:23. I know not how far we areto depend upon the tradition which we find cited by Eusebius, from a book of Clemens Alexandrinus, now lost, in which he reported, "That the person who had accused James, observing the courage with which he bore his testimony to Christianity, was converted, and suffered martyrdom with him;" but it seems very beautifully observed by Clarius, who had a great deal of the true spirit of criticism, that this early execution of one of the apostles, after our Lord's death, would illustrate the courage of the rest in going on with their ministry; as it would evidently shew, that even all their miraculous powers did not secure them from dying by the sword of their enemies. Hereby the number of apostles was reduced to eleven; but no other apostle was substituted in the stead of James, nor had the apostles any successors in their apostolic office, authority, and dignity

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Acts 12:3. And, because he saw it pleased the people— This prince, as Josephus tells us, was a great zealot for the Mosaic law; dwelt much at Jerusalem, and was as fond of all opportunities to oblige the Jews, as his grandfather Herod had been of pleasing strangers—a character very agreeable to what St. Luke here says of him. St. Peter was apprehended about the beginning of April, and most probably in the third year of Claudius Caesar.

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Acts 12:4. To four quaternions of soldiers— That is, to sixteen, consisting of four in each party, who were to watch him by turns, four at a time; two of them being chained to him, and two of them watching before the door of the prison: one end of one chain was fastened to St. Peter's right hand, and the other end to the left arm of one of the soldiers; the other chain was in like manner fastened to St. Peter's left arm, and to the soldier's right arm: see Acts 12:6. Very likely the Jews remembered how all the apostles had escaped when they had formerly put them in prison; and perhaps they suspected the fidelity of the guards. It was therefore most probably at their request, that such a number of soldiers were appointed to guard the apostle. But the confining him was not all; for Herod intended after the Paschal Lamb was eaten, and the seven days festival quite finished, to bring him out to the people, and gratify them by putting him to death, and that publicly. During the festival the Jews used to spend their time in such mirth and festivity, that prisoners were commonly released, rather than executed. But notwithstanding all their zeal about rituals, they could submit to be concerned in the vilest immoralities. See chap. Acts 28:16. Instead of after Easter, the Greek would more properly be rendered after the passover.

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Acts 12:5. Without ceasing— The original word 'Εκτενης signifies not only continuance, but likewise earnestness, importunity, and vehemence.

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Acts 12:7. The angel of the Lord— An angel of the Lord. Instead of smote Peter on the side, Dr. Heylin reads, touched Peter on the side.

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Acts 12:9. And wist not— And knew not.

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Acts 12:10. When they were past the first and the second ward,— The first and second watch, where the guards were placed to secure the prison. Heylin renders it very agreeably to the Greek, the first and second guard. It was usual among the Easterns to plate over their gates with thick iron. Pitts tells us, that Algiers has five gates; and some of these have two, some three other gates within them; and some of them are plated all over with thick iron: and Bishop Pocock tells us the same of some gates not far from Antioch. The angel having conducted St. Peter into the street left him; for when things are within men's own power, it is folly and presumption to expect extraordinary assistance.

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Acts 12:11. Now I know of a surety, &c.— The apostle may be understood here as alluding to a similar deliverance, chap. Acts 5:19. Thetime in which he was delivered was very critical,—it being the night preceding the day appointed for his execution; and if the apostle had not been thus miraculously freed, he would probably have been put to death like Stephen or James.

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Acts 12:12. And when he had considered the thing,— And making haste, (σπευδων ) Hammond. And deliberating with himself, or recollecting where he was; Heylin and Doddridge. The Mark here mentioned is thought by Grotius to have been a different person from St. Mark the evangelist. He was the Son of Mary, as we are here informed, and he is spoken of as sister's son to Barnabas, (Colossians 4:10.) who appears to have had a great affection for him, not only by taking him with him to Antioch, and thence to Pamphylia, but by his insisting afterwards, when setting out upon another progress, that Mark should go with them to visit the churches, to which Paul was so averse, that they parted; chap. Acts 15:37-40. We have no further account of him in the Acts; but he appears to have so far retrieved his character, that he is recommended afterwards by the apostles to the Colossians as above; and when he was at Rome, St. Paul mentions him among his fellow-labourers, Phil. Act 12:24 and at last speaks of his desire to see him, as one who was useful to him in the ministry, 2 Timothy 4:11.

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Acts 12:13. At the door of the gate,— The word πυλων, here, properly signifies what we generally call the gateway of a large house; and it is probable that this was no small house, as many were assembled there. Rhoda signifies in English rose; and Grotius has observed, that the Jews frequently gave to their female children the names of agreeable flowers or plants. Thus Susanna signifies a lily, Hedessa a myrtle, Tamar a palm-tree, &c. See the note on Mark 2:4.

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Acts 12:15. It is his angel.— Many commentators understand this as if they had said, "It is his messenger, or one sent from him;" and it is certain that the word Αγγελος has frequently this sense in the scripture; but as the maid averred that she knew his voice, and was assured that it was Peter himself, it seems clear that they judged it to be something supernatural. Possibly they might imagine that it was an angel who assumed his form, to bring them some tidings of him; or that he had been executed in prison, as John the Baptist was, in the night, and that his separate spirit appeared as a token of its being employed, asangels are, in ministering to the church on earth. See Matthew 18:10. It is by no means certain that they imagined this to be his guardian angel; for Philo speaks of it as a received notion among the Jews, that the souls of good men deceased officiated as ministering spirits.

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Acts 12:17. Unto James,— As James the brother of John was dead, Act 12:2 the person here referred to, must have been St. James the Less, the son of Alpheus, who was probably the only apostle then at Jerusalem, except St. Peter. He was in great esteem among the apostles, and wrote the epistle which bears his name. The papists will have it that St. Peter, at this time retiring fromJerusalem, went to Rome, to found a Christian church there; but they say so, only because they apprehend that it makes for their purpose to have men believe so: for they have no ancient or authentic history to support their assertion of his going thither so early, if at all.

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Acts 12:19. And commanded that they should be put to death.— And commanded them to be led away to execution. It is well known that the word απαχθηναι has this signification; thus the wicked suffered in the room of the righteous. Herod, probably, punished the keepers with such severity, lest the apprehension of a miraculous deliverance should have prevailed, and so Christianityhave gained, as it probably did, additional strength. What had so notoriously happened to all the twelve apostles, in a circumstance muchresembling this, ch. Act 5:19 would no doubt add great weight to such a representation; and it seems that this seasonable interposition of Divine Providence, joined with the death of Herodsoon after, put a speedy end to this persecution.

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Acts 12:24. Grew and multiplied.— The expressions here used relate properly to vegetables, and may be intended to signify, that the growth of the gospel, that is, its prevalency in the minds and lives of some, was, as it were, the means of sowing that divine seed in the hearts of many more. See Mark 4:26; Mark 4:41.

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