12
Enter Herod
1 Now about that time, Herod the king laid hands on some from the church to mistreat them. 2 James, the brother of John, he put to death by sword.* 3 When he saw that it was pleasing to the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter as well (it was during the days of the unleavened loaves) 4 —upon seizing him he put him in prison, turning him over to sixteen soldiers† to guard him, intending to bring him out to the people after the Passover.
Enter angel
5 Well Peter was being held in the prison all right, but the congregation was making earnest prayer to God on his behalf. 6 So when Herod was about to bring him out,‡ that night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, with guards protecting the prison in front of the doors. 7 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord was there, and a light shone in the cell; striking Peter on the side he roused him saying, “Quick, get up!” and the chains fell away from his wrists. 8 Then the angel said to him, “Fasten your belt and put on your sandals.” So he did. Then he said to him, “Put on your cloak and follow me.” 9 So he went out and started following him, not realizing that what the angel was doing was real; he supposed he was seeing a vision. 10 Passing through the first and second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, that opened for them by itself;§ upon exiting they advanced one block, and suddenly the angel left him.
Enter Rhoda
11 When Peter had come to himself he said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord sent His angel and delivered me out of Herod's hand and from all the expectation of the Jewish people.” 12 Upon reflection he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John (the one called Mark), where a considerable number had gathered and were praying. 13 When Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer. 14 Upon recognizing Peter's voice, she was so glad she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter was standing before the gate! 15 But they said to her, “You're crazy!” but she kept insisting that it was so. So they said, “It is his angel.” 16 But Peter kept on knocking; so when they opened the door and saw him, they were astounded.* 17 Motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he related to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. Then he said, “Tell these things to James† and the brothers.” And going out he went off to a different place.‡
Poor guards!
18 Now as soon as it was day, there was no small commotion among the soldiers about what had become of Peter! 19 Well after searching for him and not finding him, Herod examined the guards and ordered that they be executed. Going down from Judea to Caesarea, he stayed there.§
Herod gets his ‘comeuppance’
20 Now Herod was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon; so they came with one accord to him, and having won over Blastus, the king's chamberlain, they asked for peace, because their country was supplied with food from the king's.* 21 So on an appointed day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat on the throne and started to deliver an address to them. 22 But the crowd started calling out, “The voice of a god and not of a man!” 23 Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give glory to God, and being eaten by worms, he died.†
24 And the Word of God kept growing and multiplying.‡
The Gentile Church
25 Now Barnabas and Saul returned to Antioch,§ having fulfilled their mission, also taking with them John, the one called Mark.
* 12:2 So far as we know, James was the first of the Apostles to die (discounting the Iscariot), and he was martyred. † 12:4 Why so many? Had he heard about Peter's spiritual power? ‡ 12:6 ‘Bring him out’ means to execute him. § 12:10 The angel used supernatural power; and if we ever learn how to do it, we can too—Ephesians 3:20. * 12:16 They evidently did not expect their prayer to be answered. After all, they had probably prayed for James first, and he was killed anyway. When we pray about a difficult situation, we should start out by asking what the Father is doing—John 5:19. † 12:17 This James is the Lord's half-brother; he became the leader of the church in Jerusalem. ‡ 12:17 Presumably this means that he left Jerusalem; it was prudent to disappear for a while. § 12:19 He had doubtless told the Jews that he had Peter, and when he couldn't produce him he lost face. But the circumstances probably left him uncomfortable as well, so he decided to get away for awhile—none of which saved the poor guards. The guards were part of an evil system, and presumably would never have converted (although, if Peter had preached to them, some may have believed before the execution). * 12:20 The famine mentioned in chapter eleven may have made them especially dependent. † 12:23 The worms, of unusual size and impressive number, would come out of the corpse, indicating the cause of death—really gross! ‡ 12:24 Growing in influence and multiplying its effects. § 12:25 We have here an important set of variant readings, wherein the evidence is rather badly divided. The discussion is quite complicated and extensive, so I refer the interested reader to the Appendix: “Where to place a Comma—Acts 12:25”.