Acts 12:4

"Delivering him to four squads of soldiers" Each squad consisted of four men, thus sixteen soldiers guards were responsible for his safekeeping around the clock. "If the question be asked why such security measures were taken for this prisoner, it must be remembered that this is the third time Peter has been in jail; and the last time he escaped through what must have appeared to the authorities to be mysterious circumstances (Acts 4:3; Acts 5:18)" (Reese p. 429). These soldiers may have taken shifts, for the night was divided into four different watches, each three hours long. We do know that two soldiers were in the cell with him (Acts 12:6) and two more kept watch before the door. "Intending after the Passover to bring him out before the people" The trial and execution were delayed because it was deemed improper to do such during the feast. "Passover" Here the King James Version has "Easter", yet the Greek word here is the same word translated other places for "Passover". Clearly, Herod who is arresting Christians is not observing "Easter". The translation "Easter" entered the King James Version because the translators were told that they were not to change any of the accepted terms found in the Bishops' Bible (which was more or less the basis for the KJV). Before that version, Tyndale and Coverdale had used the word "Easter" at this place; and hence, it had become. customary rendering. Actually, the word "Easter" is Anglo-Saxon in origin. "The Anglo-Saxon races had. spring festival, celebrations at which they offered sacrifice to the Teutonic goddess Estera (or Eastre). She was the goddess of light and spring, so the sacrifice and festival was observed in April; and by coincidence the time of the festival corresponded roughly with the time of Christ's resurrection. Sometime about the 8th century, the name Easter was transferred to the Christian festival which had by then been observed some 300 years in honor of the resurrection of Christ" (Dale p. 138). Thus the annual celebration of Jesus' resurrection did not begin until some 500 years after lifetime of the apostles. Remember, the early Christians celebrated the resurrection of Jesus on every first day of the week (Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 11:26). They did not celebrate His resurrection, birth, or any other event in His life with. special service one time. year.