Acts 12:17
Ver. 17. But he beckoning unto them with the hand,.... This is what the Jews call hzymr, "an hint" {m}, which is a beckoning, or making signs, either with the head or hand: and this was now made, to hold their peace; to be silent, and not clamorous in their expressions of joy and wonder, lest it should alarm the neighbourhood, and the consequence be bad both to him and them; as also that he might have an opportunity of relating the whole affair to them; which he did, after he had entered into the house; which though not expressed is understood, and is added in Beza's ancient copy, and in the Syriac version:and he went in; that is, into the house: and declared unto them how the Lord had brought him out of prison: how he had sent his angel to him in prison, what a light shone about him, how his chains fell from his hands, and how the angel conducted him through the several wards, till they came to the iron gate, which opened of itself; and how when he had brought him into the public streets, he left him; he ascribes this wonderful deliverance not to the angel, but to the Lord himself:and he said, go show these things to James; the son of Alphaeus, sometimes called the brother of our Lord; for James the son of Zebedee, the brother of John, Herod had lately killed with the sword, Ac 12:2 and this other James very likely succeeded him as pastor of the church at Jerusalem, or at least had the superintendency of affairs there:and to the brethren; the rest of the apostles, and even all the members; whom he would have acquainted with these things, which he knew would be matter of joy unto them, and a means of strengthening them in the ways of the Lord:and he departed, and went into another place; to Rome, say the Papists, but without any foundation; if he went out of the city, and to any distant place for more safety, very likely he went to Antioch; but the words do not necessarily oblige us to conclude, that he went out of the city at that time, only that he went from Mary's house; "and went", as the Ethiopic version reads, "to another house": where another company of saints might be assembled, and where he might be more private and secure.{m} Bartenora in Misn. Gittin, c. 5. sect. 7. Acts 12:18Ver. 18. Now as soon as it was day,.... When it was morning; as soon as there was any light in the prison, by which the guards could discern one another and their prisoners:there was no small stir among the soldiers: the two between whom Peter slept, and the rest of the quaternions that were employed in the wards to keep watch; who were now all in an uproar, and in the utmost concern and fright:what was become of Peter; whether he was in any other part of the prison, by what means he could escape, and whither he was gone. Acts 12:19Ver. 19. And when Herod had sought for him and found him not,.... Neither in the prison, nor in any part of the city:he examined the keepers; of the prison, and those that were upon the watch, whether they had not been accessary to his escape:and commanded that they should be put to death: or brought forth, not before a judge to be tried and judged, because they had been examined by Herod already; but either that they should be carried and laid in bonds, or be led forth to suffer punishment; and so our version directs, and which is confirmed by the Syriac; and the Greeks say {n}, that apagwgh is a kind of punishment:and he went down from Judea to Caesarea; not Peter, but Herod:and there abode; of this journey of Agrippa's to Caesarea, Josephus makes mention {o}; this place was distant from Jerusalem six hundred furlongs, or seventy five miles {p}.{n} Harpocratian. Lex. p. 32. {o} Antiqu. l. 19. c. 2. sect. 2. {p} De Bello Jud. l. 1. c. 3. sect. 5. Acts 12:20Ver. 20. And Herod was highly displeased with them of Tyre and Sidon,.... Two cities on the sea coast, in the land of Phoenicia; with the inhabitants of which Herod was so enraged, that though he had not declared war against them, yet he had meditated it in his mind, and intended to do it at a proper time: what gave him this offence is not certain; that it should be for entertaining and concealing of Peter, when he made his escape, is without any foundation; and nothing but this following on that account, could ever occasion such a thought:but they came with one accord to him; the ambassadors from both cities united in an address to him, and joined in ways and means to reconcile him to them:and having made Blastus the king's chamberlain their friend; not merely by arguments, entreaties, and good works, but very likely by gifts, by making presents to him: persons in such an office had usually very great interest in the princes they served {q}, as Blastus doubtless had with Herod; Commodus the emperor did every thing at the instances of his chamberlains, and so other princes; for these officers had access when others could not, the king's bedchamber next to sacred; and therefore the Tyrians and Sidonians privately applied to him first:desired peace; either of Herod himself, to whom, by the means of Blastus, they were introduced; and in their address to him, entreated he would forgive the offence, and be at peace with them; or else of Blastus, whom by some means or another they made their friend; and therefore entreated of him, that he would use his interest with the king, and procure peace for them: and this sense the Arabic version inclines to, which renders the words thus, "and they prayed him that he would take care of reconciliation and peace"; though the former seems to be the true sense: "because their country was nourished by the king's country". These cities were seaports, and the inhabitants of them were much concerned in sending ships to sea, and in merchandise; and it was in Judea and Galilee, which were under Herod's jurisdiction, where they vented the goods they imported, and from whence they were supplied with wheat, honey, and oil, both for their own use, and perhaps to export abroad; see 1Ki 5:1Eze 27:3, &c. And it looks as if Herod had forbid all commerce with them, which if it had been continued, would have been the ruin of them.{q} Vid. Pignorium de servis, p. 480, 481. Popmam de operis Servorum, p. 33. & Alstorph. de Lectis veterum, c. 12. p. 63. Acts 12:21Ver. 21. And upon a set day,.... Either on some feast day of divine appointment, as a feast day was by the Jews called dewm, "a stated day"; or on some day appointed by Herod, for the receiving of the ambassadors of Tyre and Sidon, and of hearing their petitions; or as Josephus {r} says, it was on the second day of the sports and plays, instituted by him in honour of Caesar:Herod, arrayed in royal apparel; the same Jewish historian in the same place says, that this his apparel was all of silver, and of a wonderful contexture; and that going in this very early in the morning into the theatre, the silver shone so with the rays of the rising sun, that it struck the spectators with terror and admiration:sat upon his throne; and very likely with the other ensigns of royalty, as a crown on his head, and a sceptre in his hand:and made an oration unto them; either unto the ambassadors from Tyre and Sidon, or rather unto the common people, the multitude that were gathered together in the theatre, where the above historian says he was.{r} Antiqu. l. 19, c. 8. sect 2. Acts 12:22Ver. 22. And the people gave a shout,.... At the end of the oration; these were flatterers, as Josephus says in the place before referred to, who cried out one from another, saluting him as God; saying, be merciful to us, hitherto we have revered thee as a man, henceforward we confess thee somewhat more excellent than mortal nature: and so it follows here,saying it is the voice of a God, and not of a man; the Vulgate Latin version reads, "the voices of God and not men"; and the Ethiopic version, "the city shouted in, or with the voice of God", with the voice of man; as if this referred to the acclamation of the people, and not the speech of the king; very wrongly. Acts 12:23Ver. 23. And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him,.... With a disease after mentioned; this angel, according to Josephus, appeared in the form of an owl; for he says, that a little after (the shout of the people) the king looked up, and saw an owl sitting upon a rope over his head; whom he immediately understood to be an angel, or messenger of evil things to him, as it had been before of good things; for it seems by the same historian {s}, that when he was bound by the order of Caligula, he saw an owl sitting on that tree, on which he leaned; when a certain German predicted, that things would in a short time be changed with him, and he should be advanced to great honour; but remember, says he, whenever you see that bird again, you will die within five days. Eusebius {t}, out of Josephus, makes no mention of the owl, but relates it thus; that a little after (the oration and the salutation of the people) the king looked up, and saw an angel sitting over his head, whom he immediately understood to be the cause of evil things to him, as he had formerly been of good: the reason of the angel's smiting him was,because he gave not glory to God; or as the Jewish historian says, because he reproved not the flatterers, nor rejected their impious flattery, but tacitly took that to himself, which belonged to God:and he was eaten of worms: Beza's most ancient copy adds, "while he was alive"; Josephus only makes mention of pains in his belly, but these were occasioned by the gnawing of the worms: this was accounted by the Jews a very accursed death; they say {u}, that the spies which brought an ill report on the good land, died this death: their account is this, that"their tongues swelled and fell upon their navels, and worms came out of their tongues and went into their navels, and out of their navels they went into their tongues,''of this death died many tyrants, oppressors, and persecutors! as Antiochus,"So that the worms rose up out of the body of this wicked man, and whiles he lived in sorrow and pain, his flesh fell away, and the filthiness of his smell was noisome to all his army.'' (2 Maccabees 9:9)and Herod the great, the grandfather of this, according to Josephus {w}; and Maximianus Galerius, according to Eusebius {x}, and many others:and gave up the ghost: not directly, but five days after, as Josephus relates, in the fifty fourth year of his age, and when he had reigned seven years; but before he died, and as soon as he was smitten, he turned to his friends and said, I your God am obliged to depart this life, and now fate reproves the lying words you have just now spoke of me; and I who was called immortal by you, am led away to die, with more, as related by Josephus: by such a token as this, a man was discovered to be a murderer with the Jews; for so they say {y}, that"out of the beheaded heifer went a vast number of worms, and went to the place where the murderer was, and ascended upon him, and then the sanhedrim laid hold on him and condemned him.''{s} Ib. l. 18. c. 7. sect. 7. {t} Eccl. Hist. l. 2. c. 10. {u} T. Bab. Sota, fol. 35. 1. {w} Antiqu. l. 17. c. 6. sect. 5. {x} Hist. Eccl. l. 8. c. 16. {y} Targum Jon. in Deut. xxi. 8. Acts 12:24Ver. 24. But the word of God grew and multiplied. The number of those who were converted by it, and embraced and professed it, increased; otherwise the word is the same, whether the professors of it be more or fewer; and this it did, notwithstanding the persecution raised against it by Herod whilst he was living; and after his death, it still gained more ground, met with less opposition, and was more freely professed. Acts 12:25Ver. 25. And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem,.... Two of Beza's exemplars, the Complutensian edition and the Syriac version, add, "unto Antioch"; and certain it is, that from thence they were sent, and thither they returned, for we find them there in the beginning of the next chapter:when they had fulfilled their ministry; which was the carrying the relief, or the money collected by the Christians at Antioch, for the brethren in Judea, on account of the famine that was there:and took with them John, whose surname was Mark: the son of Mary, at whose house the disciples were met together, and praying; and where Peter first went, after he was delivered from prison, Ac 12:12 him they brought with them from Jerusalem to Antioch, being a kinsman of Barnabas; and a man of promising gifts and usefulness, and judged to be a fit companion with them in their travels, for the spread of the Gospel.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.