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Acts 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.

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.

2. And he killed James the brother of John] One of the two sons of Zebedee, who had been among the three specially favoured disciples of Jesus. It is therefore likely that he would take a leading part in the labours of the Church, and so Agrippa’s attention would be drawn to him as a proper person to be first struck down. All the accusations which had been laid against Stephen, that the Christian leader spake against the Temple and the Law, would be used with effect to such a zealous observer of Mosaic ritual as Herod Agrippa was.

with the sword] This was the third in order of the modes of execution appointed among the Jews. These are stoning, burning, decapitation, and strangulation. In connection with the execution of James the words of the Mishna are interesting: “The manner of putting to death by the sword is as follows: the man’s head is cut off with the sword as is wont to be done by royal command.” See Surenhusius on Sanhedrin p. 238 (misprinted 248), where there is a discussion about the position of the prisoner, whether he should stand erect or have his head on a block.

3. And because he saw it pleased the Jews] Which was so great an object with him. This Josephus notices (Antiq. xix. 7. 3), for, comparing Agrippa with the Herod who ruled before him, he mentions that the latter “was more friendly to the Greeks than to the Jews,” in which matter he says Agrippa “was not at all like him.”

he proceeded further to take Peter also] The Greek is a rendering of a common Hebrew form. Literally, “he added to take Peter also.” Peter was the other most conspicuous figure among the twelve, for John, as in his Gospel he keeps himself from view under the designation “that other disciple” (John 20:2-3; John 21:20; John 21:23), so in the work of the early Church he is but little noticed after the first persecution at Jerusalem.

Then were the days of unleavened bread] Literally, “and those were,” &c. The expression refers to the whole feast, as may be seen from Luke 22:1, “The feast of unleavened bread, which is called the Passover.”

4. And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison] To keep him a prisoner till the termination of the feast.

and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep [guard] him] A quaternion was a set of four men, which number was at one time occupied in the work of the guard, two soldiers being chained to the prisoner, and two keeping guard outside. These latter are called (Acts 12:10) “the first and second ward.” There were four such sets appointed to have charge of Peter, one company for each of the four watches by day and by night.

intending after Easter (the Passover)] The rendering “Easter” is an attempt to give by an English word the notion of the whole feast. That this meaning and not the single day of the Paschal feast is intended by the Greek seems clear from the elaborate preparation made, as for a longer imprisonment than was the rule among the Jews. Peter was arrested at the commencement of the Passover feast (14th of Nisan), and the king’s intention was to proceed to sentence and punish him when the feast was at an end on the 21st of Nisan.

to bring him forth to the people] that they might take notice of the zeal for Judaism which would be shewn by the sentence passed upon Peter. The verb is employed by St Luke about the trial of Jesus (Luke 22:66), “As soon as it was day … they led him into their council.”

5. Peter therefore was kept in prison] Another indication of the longer duration of the imprisonment, and that he was not arrested on the day of the Paschal sacrifice with the purpose of being brought forth on the morning of the 15th of Nisan, as some have maintained.

but prayer was made without ceasing [earnestly] of the church unto God for him] The same Greek word is used in the description of our Lord’s prayer (Luke 22:44), “Being in an agony he prayed more earnestly.” The prayers of the Church were offered by assemblies of Christians meeting in various private houses (see Acts 12:12), for the persecution would now render public Christian services dangerous, as we know was often the case in the early days of Christianity.

6. And when Herod would have brought him forth] Literally, “was about to bring him forth,” and this should be expressed, because it is an additional note of the delay and lapse of time between the arrest and the intended punishment.

and the keepers before the door] Read, “and guards before the door,” i.e. the two soldiers of the quaternion who were not chained to the prisoner.

7. And behold, the [an] angel of the Lord came upon him] The verb is the same which is used (Luke 2:9) of the angel appearing to the shepherds. The idea conveyed is that the heavenly visitor appeared over those to whom he was sent. The passage just quoted continues “and the glory of the Lord shone round about them,” words which are strikingly parallel with this description of St Peter’s release, “and a light shined in the prison.”

in the prison] The word is not the same as in the last verse. To make the distinction clear read here “cell” or “chamber.” The light was due to the presence of the angel who came with the glory of the Lord.

and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up] Rather, roused him up. The verb indicates that he awoke him from his sleep, but not that he helped him to arise.

8. Gird thyself] A binding up of the loose Oriental robe, so as to be fit for expeditious movement. Thus the Passover was to be eaten (Exodus 12:11) as if by persons prepared to depart at once. So Gehazi was bidden (2 Kings 4:29) to make himself ready for his journey to the house of the Shunammite.

Cast thy garment about thee] The Greek word signifies the outer dress as distinguished from the under tunic.