Chapter Twelve
Herod’s persecution of the Church: the killing of James, the imprisonment of Peter and his miraculous release (1–18). The death of Herod in Caesarea (19–23). The return of Barnabas and Saul to Antioch (24–25)
Acts 12:1. At that time King Herod raised his hand against some of those belonging to the church, to do them harm, “About that time” — that is, while Barnabas and Saul were carrying out the commission from Antioch (Acts 11:25). “Herod the king.” This was Herod Agrippa I, son of Aristobulus and Berenice, grandson of the so-called Herod the Great who had sought to kill the Lord after His birth and instead had the Bethlehem infants slaughtered (Matt 2:1 and following), nephew of Herod Antipas of Galilee — the murderer of John the Baptist (Matt 14 and following). Such is this family of murderers, who stained their hands with the most precious blood in the Christian world... Born around 10 BC, Herod Agrippa was educated in Rome. Upon the accession of Caligula, he received from him the tetrarchy of his deceased uncle Philip (Matt 2:22; Luke 3:1) and the tetrarchy of Lysanias (Luke 3:1) with the title of king. Shortly afterward he united the tetrarchy of his other uncle, Herod Antipas, under his rule. Finally, Caesar Claudius, Caligula’s successor, added Judea and Samaria to his domains, so that he, like his grandfather, ruled all of Palestine (Josephus, Antiquities, XVIII, 7, 2; XIX, 5, 1; 6, 1; Jewish War, II, 9, 6; 11, 5), and there was no longer a separate Roman procuratorship over Palestine. He died in AD 44, having reigned no more than 4 years, after which Judea was once again turned into a Roman province. “Stretched out his hand... to harm” — whether by imprisonment, corporal punishment, or other harsh measures, up to and including killing, of which an example is given further on.
Acts 12:2. and he killed James, the brother of John, with the sword. James, the brother of John (the Theologian), son of Zebedee, was the second Christian martyr, upon whom the prophecy of the Lord (Matt 20:23) was precisely fulfilled. Supplementing the brief account of the narrator of Acts about his martyrdom, Church tradition says that the one who had accused the apostle was himself converted to Christ by the one he had accused, and together with him was granted a martyr’s death (Clement of Alexandria, cited in Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, II, 9; Menaion, April 30). So, exclaims St. Chrysostom: “No longer the Jews and the Sanhedrin, but a king stretches out his hand to do harm. This is higher authority, a heavier assault — all the more so because it was done to please the Jews.”
Acts 12:3. Seeing that this pleased the Jews, he proceeded next to seize Peter as well — now those were the days of Unleavened Bread — “Now it was during the days of Unleavened Bread” — the days of unleavened bread began with the day of Passover and lasted 7 days. If Herod normally resided in Caesarea, the residence of the rulers of Judea at that time, the mention of the days of unleavened bread indicates that for the persecution of Christians and the imprisonment of Peter — to the delight of the Jews — Herod took advantage of his presence in Jerusalem for the Passover feast. In any case, the base calculation that guided him was to please the greatest possible number of the people with his actions — fully in the manner of Herod, and worthy of those for whose pleasure it was done.
Acts 12:4. and, having arrested him, put him in prison, and handed him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending to bring him out to the people after the Passover. “Four squads of soldiers” — that is, four shifts of four men each. Such reinforced guard was assigned only to particularly important criminals, and in this case it served its purpose in a manner entirely different from what was expected, for “the more careful the watch, the more remarkable the manifestation of God’s power...” (Theophylact). “Intending after Passover.” During a feast, and especially such a great one as Passover, it was not permitted to condemn to death; and for this reason Herod Agrippa wanted to sentence Peter after the end of the feast. “To bring him out to the people” — for a solemn public trial, condemnation, and execution. A lover of spectacles, reared on the bloody spectacles of Rome, the king wished to make a public spectacle also of the condemnation and execution of the first among the apostles.
Acts 12:5. So Peter was being kept in prison, while the church was praying earnestly to God for him. “But constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church.” This remark conveys that the apostle’s miraculous release was granted especially in response to the Church’s prayer for him. “They were now in the most dangerous situation. They were frightened both by the killing of the one (James) and by the imprisonment of this one (Peter)... But they did not grow agitated, did not cause disturbances — rather they turned to prayer, took refuge in this invincible advocate...” (Chrysostom).
Acts 12:6. When Herod was about to bring him out, on that very night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and guards at the door were keeping watch over the prison. “That night” — the night before the day when Herod wanted to try Peter. “Peter was sleeping between two soldiers,” chained to them with two chains, as was required by the reinforced guard (Josephus, Antiquities, XVIII, 6, 7; Pliny, Letters, X, 65).
Acts 12:7. And behold, an angel of the Lord appeared, and a light shone in the prison cell. The angel, striking Peter in the side, woke him and said: Get up quickly. And the chains fell off his hands. “A light shone in the prison” — φῶς έλαμψεν εν τῶ οιχήματι — Slavonic: “light shone in the chamber” — perhaps not throughout the entire prison, but specifically in that section of it where Peter was sleeping. Peter’s sleep in such alarming moments was so deep that only a strike could wake him. “Do you see,” says Chrysostom, “Peter is sleeping, giving himself over neither to dejection nor to fear. On that very night when they were about to bring him out to death, he was sleeping, having committed everything to God.”
Acts 12:8. And the angel said to him: Fasten your belt and put on your sandals. He did so. Then he says to him: Put on your cloak and follow me. “Dress yourself and put on your sandals.” “He orders him to put on his belt and sandals, so that by this also he might suggest that this is not a phantom — so that he might rouse from sleep and be assured that this is reality; and for this reason at once the chains fell from his hands, and it was said: ‘Rise quickly.’ These are words not of one who confuses, but of one who persuades not to delay...” (Chrysostom).
Acts 12:9. Peter went out and followed him, not knowing that what was being done by the angel was real, but thinking that he was seeing a vision. Acts 12:10. When they had passed the first and the second guard posts, they came to the iron gate leading into the city, which opened to them by itself; they went out and passed through one street, and suddenly the angel was no longer with him. Acts 12:11. Then Peter, coming to himself, said: Now I see truly that the Lord sent His angel and delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting. Acts 12:12. And, having looked around, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was called Mark, where many had gathered and were praying. “John who was also called Mark,” who later accompanied Barnabas and Saul to Antioch (Acts 12:25). Several different traditions exist about this John Mark: according to some, he is one and the same person as the evangelist Mark and Mark the nephew of Barnabas (Col 4:10). Others distinguish him from St. Mark and also from the nephew of Barnabas (Menaion, January 4). A third view, while distinguishing him from St. Mark, identifies him as the nephew of Barnabas (Menaion, June 11, Life of the Apostle Barnabas). This disagreement cannot, of course, speak against the full historical reliability of what is narrated in this passage of the Acts.
Acts 12:13. When Peter knocked at the gate, a servant girl came to listen, by name Rhoda, Acts 12:14. and, recognizing the voice of Peter, in her joy she did not open the gate, but ran inside and announced that Peter was standing at the gate. Acts 12:15. But they said to her: Are you out of your mind? But she kept insisting it was so. And they said: It is his angel. “You are out of your mind?” — Greek μαίνη — Slavonic: “are you possessed?” — that is, are you raving? Such was the degree to which what was reported seemed astonishing and incredible. “It is his angel.” As always happens in cases of confusion before something improbable and inexplicable, one tries to find an explanation for what is happening that is no less difficult and miraculous, and equally fails to explain the possibility of the improbable. The teaching about the guardian angel and guide of every person’s salvation could be grounded in and confirmed by the Lord’s teaching about the angels of little children. This teaching is also known to the Apostle Paul (Heb 1:14).
Acts 12:16. Meanwhile Peter continued knocking. When they opened the gate, they saw him and were amazed. “When they opened” — no longer the servant girl alone, but all who had gathered rushed to the one who had come and opened the door for him.
Acts 12:17. He, motioning to them with his hand to be silent, told them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison, and said: Report this to James and the brothers. Then, going out, he went to another place. “Tell James” — that is, the head of the Jerusalem Church, the brother of the Lord — “and the brethren” — that is, the rest of the believers — to reassure them. “Went to another place” — as required by prudent caution, and fully consistent with the Lord’s instruction (Matt 10:23). “He did not tempt God, and did not himself rush into danger, for they did those things only when commanded...” (Chrysostom). An ancient tradition exists that Peter was in Rome in the early years of the reign of Claudius (Jerome, Catalogue, ch. I; Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, II, 14–15). If so, the most convenient time for such a journey of Peter was precisely the time under consideration. This was in all probability the year AD 44, after the Jewish Passover, in the 4th year of the reign of Claudius. The narrator of Acts makes no mention of Peter after this departure to another place until the very apostolic council (Acts 15). During this period (several years) he could very well have made the supposed journey — both for greater safety and to satisfy his zeal, which had drawn him to preach Christ in the very center of life of the world of that time.
Acts 12:19. But Herod, after searching for him and not finding him, examined the guards and ordered them to be executed. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and remained there. “He went down to Caesarea” — the usual residence at that time of the Roman rulers of Judea. The Passover feast had ended and he could leave Jerusalem; besides, it was now inconvenient for him to remain in Jerusalem — he must have felt ashamed before that portion of the people, with the Sanhedrin at its head, whom he had so recently raised to such expectations of the free spectacle of the execution of the apostle.
Acts 12:20. Herod was angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon; but they, having come to an agreement, came to him and, having won over Blastus, the king’s chamberlain, they asked for peace, because their region depended on the king’s region for its food supply. Describing the death of Herod immediately following the account of Peter’s release, the narrator of Acts intends to present this death as God’s punishment of Herod for his persecution of the Church of Christ. “Herod was very angry” — the reason for this is unknown. “Blastus the king’s personal aide” — τόν επί τοῦ κιτῶνος τοῦ Βασιλέως... — the chief attendant of the king’s person, custodian of his life and treasure. Such attendants very often became the highest officials of the state as well, wielding great influence over the king and affairs of state (cf. Acts 8:27). “They asked for peace” — which the anger had disrupted — friendly relations, especially necessary in view of the threatened famine (Chrysostom). The Phoenicians received most of their grain from Palestine, being themselves a predominantly commercial rather than agricultural people. Therefore Herod without going to war could harm them greatly, which compelled them to ask him for peace.
Acts 12:21. On an appointed day Herod, having dressed in royal robes, took his seat on an elevated place and delivered a speech to them; Acts 12:22. and the people were shouting: This is the voice of a god, and not of a man. Acts 12:23. But suddenly an angel of the Lord struck him down because he did not give glory to God; and, having been eaten by worms, he died. The reception of the ambassadors took place on a specially appointed day in a solemn public audience. “Arrayed in royal apparel” — according to the account of Josephus, woven from silver. The Jewish historian Josephus recounts the circumstances of Agrippa’s death in considerable detail, with some additional particulars and differences (Antiquities, XIX, 8, 2; cf. Acts 18:6) while generally agreeing with the narrator of Acts. According to Josephus, the king attended games in Caesarea in honor of Caesar; one of the days of these games could very well have been the occasion for the reception of the ambassadors by the king. His magnificent, silver-woven garments gleamed in the sunlight with a dazzling brilliance; this gave flatterers occasion for the most immoderate praises, in which they called him a god and entrusted themselves to his mercy (θεόν προσαγορεύοντες). The king apparently welcomed such base flattery, which did not long delay in drawing upon him the wrath of God: seeing an owl above him, he fell into superstitious fear and at the same time felt such a severe pain in his stomach that he was immediately carried to the palace in the arms of others, where after five days of suffering he died. Agrippa’s fear of the owl is explained by the fact that in Rome an augur had made a prediction to Agrippa that he would die when he saw an owl above him for the second time. When this occurred, Agrippa fell ill, recalling the prediction with horror. This explanation does not exclude the other, more serious one given by the narrator of Acts, who places the cause and onset of the illness in the invisible striking of Herod by an Angel. Nor do the two accounts contradict each other regarding the duration of Herod’s sufferings — Josephus directly indicating five days, and Luke expressing himself less precisely: “having been eaten by worms, he died.” The account of Herod’s death is important for its chronological date (AD 44), which allows one to determine the time of the specifically Christian events that preceded and followed it.
Acts 12:25. Barnabas and Saul, having completed their mission, returned from Jerusalem (to Antioch), taking with them also John who was surnamed Mark. Cf. Acts 11:28-30.