Acts 12:18

Acts 12:18. As soon as it was day. The angel's visit and Peter's escape must have taken place during the last watch of the night, between the hours of three and six; otherwise the absence of the prisoner would have been discovered before the break of day, when the guard of four soldiers was changed.

There was no small stir among the soldiers what was become of Peter. The inquiry on the following morning in the fortress endeavoured to discover whether any possible explanation could be given of the strange escape of the important prisoner who had been so carefully guarded.

Gloag remarks that we are not to think this execution of the guards an extraordinary act of cruelty on the part of Herod. A soldier to whom a prisoner was entrusted, and who permitted his escape, was guilty of a capital offence.